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Everything posted by dpberr
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Arizona Cardinals: A lot of trust in an unproven college coach with a losing record and a 5'10" #1 draft pick rookie playing quarterback. Baltimore Ravens: Season hinges on defenses not spending the offseason figuring out Lamar Jackson. He might make Tyrod Taylor look like Dan Fouts. New York Jets: This is Buffalo Bills Rex Ryan redux. Adam Gase should have taken a year off to figure out what went wrong in Miami but will instead continue making the same mistakes in New York because of his ego. (Fine by me.)
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Democratic 2020 Presidential Primary Thread
dpberr replied to snafu's topic in Politics, Polls, and Pundits
He legitimately could be one of NYC's worst mayors in modern history beating out Lindsay and Beame. -
Democratic 2020 Presidential Primary Thread
dpberr replied to snafu's topic in Politics, Polls, and Pundits
You'll laugh but Cory Booker lost any Democratic support he had when he rolled out Rosario Dawson as the all of a sudden heterosexual girlfriend. This comes after years of rumors he's spent a lot of money keeping it quiet that he's gay. I understand why he does this: While the majority of America is now pretty cool with homsexuality, the African American populous residing in the Northeast of the United States may vote Democratic but they are exceptionally socially conservative when it comes to matters of sexual orientation. If he went all Pete Buttigeig in New Jersey, he'd be lucky to be mayor of a shore town. He was in the Catch-22. Come out as gay and lose his base. Try to concoct a story about how Rosario Dawson is totally into him and everyone knows you're a liar and can't be trusted. -
I personally never understood his appeal but I admire his keen business sense. He understood how to modify his product according to the sensibilities of the era and he wasn't afraid to do so. If he tried even 25% of the stuff he did on his early 90s "Morton Downey Jr. era" television show today, the culture cops would make sure nobody would ever see or here from him ever again. It's likely the internet required him to change too as his access to the adult film industry and culture was no longer special or unique. I think all the atonement talk is just weathervane marketing. He's telling everyone what they want to hear. It is funny to think that back then, it was commonplace and expected to turn the televison on and see people brawling on the sets of Jerry Springer, Downey Jr. or Geraldo.
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The Iranians don't strike me as irrational Jihadists. Even in the worst case sceario of the Iranians pulling off some sort of Tet offensive and catching us off guard in Baghdad (taking hostages) and/or in the Strait (sinking a ship), to what end? Where is the victory in that for them? I think the price for that would be the complete dismantling of their military and infrastructure by the US Navy and Air Force and giving the Israelis and Saudis a green light to wipe out all their proxies by any means they deem fit.
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EJ Manuel and CJ Spiller to me are cautionary tales about picking athletes instead of football players high in the draft. Both guys were phenomenal athletes but both could not grasp the complexity of the game of football.
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Bigger chokers than the Jim Kelly Bills?
dpberr replied to Pine Barrens Mafia's topic in Off the Wall Archives
I don't know if the loser of a Game 7 buzzer beater can be a choker. Somebody has to lose. The one thing I'd keep in mind in regards to the 2018-2019 76ers is with all their trades, they essentially rolled out three different teams during the course of the season and still made it work to get that far in the playoffs. As for biggest chokers, I submit the Atlanta Braves. They owned the National League for nearly two decades. They were divisional champions 14 years in a row, likely 15 if the 1994 strike hadn't occurred. Five world series, just one win. -
Agreed. Once the corporates (Greggs and Karens) who use the phrase "workflow synergies" start making the real decisions, you're well on your way to average.
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What is better, no guns, or more guns?
dpberr replied to Security's topic in Politics, Polls, and Pundits
IMO, this is more evidence that there is a big problem with the mental health of adolescent young men, mostly white, in this country. Whether it's bullying, hate, untreated mental illness, etc. There is certainly something afoot and it's bad. Not a knock on caucasians or men. Eyes wide open on the trend. -
I don't know about that....Japan is one of the most homogenous countries on the planet with hundreds of years of rule with emperorers, etc to rely upon. They don't have the numerous ethnic and religious factions that a New Palestine would have and Palestinians have never experienced a stable government that can get the job done. The West went out of its way to carve a place out for Israel and a successful Palestine state needs the same. Risky, absolutely but nobody knew the Israelis could govern until the West let them try. (I'm on neither side of the Israeli/Palestinian debate personally.)
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“New Palestine” would not be allowed to form an army but could maintain a police force. No government is legitiatmate without the ability to defend itself. They (United States) are making the same "huge" mistake they made in Iraq. You need to give all the guys you want to disarm...a purpose and something to fight for. You can't just take their weapons away and expect them to be cool with it. All you're doing is stoking an Islamic insurgency that will overthrow the "puppet" Palestinian government. Israel may not like it but New Palestine should be allowed to form their own armed forces. Imagine the British telling George Washington to disband the Continental Army in return for Delaware and Pennsylvania.
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Baltimore will be the worst team in the AFC and John Harbaugh will be fired.
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What happens after the lights are turned off at revolution headquarters? The Iranians have no history with "democracy." While Iran does not have all the varities of ethnic tribes that Iraq contends with, their recent history pre-revolution is invasion by foreign powers, meddling by foreign powers and the Shah. I've always been fascinated by their ability to keep their F14 airframes operational. It's weird seeing them in the air today, but also flying with a flag that isn't ours.
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I don't know about this threat but you'd think Iran is the last country in the world that'd want Trump's personality committed to turning it into 1999-era Belgrade. They have no backup in the region and Israel and the Saudis would jump at the opportunity to pile on. I read several of Jane's scenario's for Iran and in all of them, Iran gets a few shots in (asymetrical warfare in Iraq, possibly sinks a carrier) before getting completely clobbered back to medieval times. What sucks, upon reflection, is that Iran could have been such a different country. The 1979 Revolution likely never happens if the US and UK don't overthrow Mosaddegh in the 50s all because the Iranians no longer wanted to share oil profits.
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You know you've reached peak overexposure when the mock drafters are celebrities still in the news weeks after the event. There are days where I legitimately wish for an old-school draft on television. Just a bunch of people at a bunch of tables with phones, walking picks up to a Commissioner in some hotel ballroom .No draft shows, no draft "experts", no 300,000 people. I think it'd actually be more suspensful without the Kiper and McShay blabber for six months leading up to the event. In the alternative, have a draft where once the pick is announced, the GM has to explain "why" they picked the player to the fans. It would be must see tv watching Dave Gettleman up at the podium sweating through a tangent of explaination for picking Daniel Jones.
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I have direct experience with this sort of question as my family has completed a few transactions around the same scenario, albeit in PA. The bad news: If you're serious about purchasing it, you're going to spend money on a survey and title search. My advice to you is knowing the real metes and bounds and *all* the easements. You want clean title, no tax liens, no surprise owners. Knowing these details assists in... The appraisal. The appraisal will consider those easements, access, zoning, etc. A piece of property with a large underground easement for a pipeline is worth less than land that does not have it. Land that has frontage on a road is worth more than property that does not. Land that is zones for agriculture or restrictive residential use is worth less than land zoned for commerical or industrial. If you are thinking about the property for future development, you may want to explore the soil quality for on-site septic and how deep the water table is for wells. If you want to develop the property for houses, for example, the soil needs to support the septic and the water can't be 700 feet down. If this property has fill on it, you'll want to investigate that too. Remember, back in the day, it was "ok" to use battery casings as fill. (Just an example.) Bottom line: The more you know about the property before negotiation, the better you will be prepared to negotiate. Absolutely, positively use your own agent in the transaction. Don't be conned into using their agent. You want your own person representing your interests. Everybody is friendly until you start talking money.
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April Movies: Avengers, Shazam!, Hellboy, & Pet Sematary
dpberr replied to Mark Vader's topic in Off the Wall Archives
Avengers Endgame was so well done that any Marvel movie that comes after it will surely disappoint. It's good that Guardians of the Galaxy got pushed back. I don't think they missed a single main or secondary character in this movie. They even had the kid from Iron Man 3 in it. The only one I can think of is Justin Hammer from Iron Man 2. I have superhero movie fatigue. I invested in Iron Man back in 2008 and saw most of the Marvel movies since, but I think I've had my fill. -
What have you learned about the media since 2005?
dpberr replied to OCinBuffalo's topic in Politics, Polls, and Pundits
My big takeaway: If cable and network news abruptly went off the air one day, it'd be a smaller disruption to "life as we know it" than anyone would ever imagine. It'd be just like the final couple minutes of the Truman Show. -
How many miles currently are on your car?
dpberr replied to Another Fan's topic in Off the Wall Archives
150,000 on a 2010 Chevy Avalanche that I really enjoy driving. It's the first vehicle I've had where I've never once thought of trading it in or selling it. I put nearly 200,000 on a first generation Jeep Patriot. I traded it in because Jeep was not repairing the CVTs and I felt like I was on borrowed time. I can't beat my dad though - he put just over 300,000 on a 1988 Ford Taurus. Needed a refurbished transmission and the fuel gauge didn't work (we all had to estimate gas based on a *very* careful reading of the odometer) but it faithfully served for a lot of years. -
We'd likely make a lot of the "end of life" pain for patient and family a little better if we permitted assisted suicide for anyone over the age of 18. If you want to check out, let's do it peacefully, clinically appropriate and not leave a police scene for the family. We are all ok with not making our pets suffer but when it comes to ourselves, we've got to hang on to life no matter the cost, no matter if you really want to be here or not. We all talk a good game about free will but when it comes to dying, the collective "village" runs in with suicide hotlines, meds, therapy and 100 different ways of trying to talk you out of something you'd like to do to yourself.
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The Worst Bills Draft Picks of the 2010’s
dpberr replied to BillyWhiteShows's topic in The Stadium Wall Archives
IIRC, Watkins had the foot issue appear late in his collegiate career at Clemson, which suggests to me it was a chronic condition that developed in college and the Bills likely knew about in their draft research. It's like Lawson's shoulder. Injured at Clemson, required surgery, a long recovery period and IMO, he's been behind in his development because of that. If he's a 3rd round pick, nobody cares. 1st rounder though, everyone cares. I think Whaley was correct in his opinion of the talent of Watkins. He was/is talented. However, they totally blew it (or chose to ignore the risk) of how a chronic issue could affect his availability for games, and further, in the games he could play, play at a high level. -
The Worst Bills Draft Picks of the 2010’s
dpberr replied to BillyWhiteShows's topic in The Stadium Wall Archives
The Bills picks generally break the commandments of drafting: Thou shalt not select players with chronic health issues with your high picks. (Watkins, Troupe) Thou shalt not pick superior athletes who are superiorly lousy at actually learning the game of football with high picks. (Spiller, Manuel) As long as you don't agregiously violate these commandments, the outlook for your picks is generally positive.