AKC

I didn't realize this board attracted such a large number of abaya salesmen who hope to breath some serious life into their businesses by licking a little Al Queda butt ;-)

The best teams in the league agree with you- NE plays a 3-4 and has more quality down linemen on their roster today than we do, yet we're supposed to be going into '05 playing a 4-3. Philly just played in the Super Bowl and spent their 1st round pick on a DT. AJ Smith is considered by many to have the hottest hand for personell in the league right now- and with a team in the bottom of the league in passing D he used a first-rounder for an interior D Lineman. The other side of your point is that you CAN have too few quality linemen and right now that's the status of our roster. Entering this season with the unproven Tim Anderson as part of a 3 man front that already includes another lineman who has failed to display good run stopping skills over his career is teetering on disaster in a division with the league's #1 rusher from last season PLUS Corey Dillon and Rickey Williams. In my dreams we end up with Corey Simon- if the Eagles allow their off-field distractions to end up sending him our way we will immediately graduate from a "less than convincing" DLine to one of the best in the league. If we enter the regular season with the roster we have today I'd be surprised to break .500 based upon the quality of running backs/offenses our schedule is throwing at us. Corey would change that dramatically because unlike Ron Edwards he plays with a center of gravity around his beltline and he consequently forces runners to move away from him. Edwards plays way too high and gets pushed all over the field by guards who get low on him.

It's quite simple if you have an honest desire to understand it: A) The welfare states of the Middle East have been breeding idle youth for many years, few of whom even consider a "career" or "vocation". Instead these oil welfare states bring in foreigners who do most of the actual work performed in these countries.The idle instead sit around listening to the radical Wahabi brainwashing that says they have forever been the red-headed stepchildren o fthe world and only through a strictly Wahabi interpretation of Islam can they ever rise to the level of grreatness they deserve. B) The Wahabs are able to play out their fantasy world in much of Saudi Arabia and after the Soviet abandonment of Afghanistan they get to play Wahabi full time and subjugate all women in a return to the 7th Century, wiping out the huge gains even Afghani women had made against the Koran over the course of history. C) Gaining full control of Saudi Arabia would require getting rid of other military presence in the region, hence the Wahabs adopt the "all infidels must leave or soil", simply a necessity in their quest to conquer the Saudi Royal family. D) Wahabs attack us on our own soil in order to convince the weakest members of our society that we should "leave the Middle East" to appease the Wahabs. E) Our administration moves the fight from our soil and citizens to the Middle East. F) The weakest in our society buy into the Wahabi con. And history repeats itself just as it did when Hitler conned the weakest in the West before his run at the same goal the Wahabs have- imposing their rule upon their neighbors and then beyond.

Not that I can't appreciate the Village Idiot approach, but to come into a string without a single fact and spouting off a completely unsupported opinion is a lot easier to digest if the topic is something inane like football- it's a lot less palatable when it's about our country, something others of us still respect.

And adopting that incredibly naive conclusion requires that you completely overlook what Bin Laden and Co. did once they gained control of Afghanistan. Now if you've already decided to play Bin Laden Lap Dog you can try to ignore the fact that his mission is all about imposing Sharia Law throughout the region first and then exporting it, but the facts are the facts and it's obvious to anyone who wants to understand the overall picture regarding the Wahabi movement EXACTLY what they intend to do. And it has ZERO to do with the presence of "infidels", that's merely an obstructon to their obvious goal. But it's a nice little fantasy for whimps to adopt in their zeal for grasping at anything the terrorists feed them. Hitler did a real good snow job on whimps too- cehck out Neville Chamberlain.

Real point of pride for the #2 Dem in the Country Teddy Kennedy- the same shamefull embarrasment who allowed a woman to drown in his car by swimming away in an attempt to save his political life, something not one of his three brothers would have ever contemplated (instead I believe any of them would have died instead trying to save her): "Shamefully, we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management: U.S. management." Here's a group responsible for disrupting recruitment It's amazing you need anyone to offer you examples. You should get out more.

Thanks Rock- Gates sounds like he'll end up our pre-season phenom with lots of yards against second string Ds. The jump will be from there to being a game day producer-something few of the pre-season phenoms ever do. Sounds like his hands would make him valuable if he can make the step up. As the level of competition heats up I hope we hear that he's breaking some tackles.

How dare you paint the hundreds of thousands of patriotic citizens of this country who held their tongues during WWI and WWII and those who are doing it today, so that they do not hurt the efforts of those who ARE doing the fighting, as cowards. They prove their courage and willingness to sacrifice through their decision to control their feelings and every one of them is far more courageous than the whole body of big mouths who run down our troops and country at a time of war.

And once again you find yourself on a baseless and unsupportable end of an argument: My family has been represented in every action in the history of this nation. My father was granted a waiver to join at 17 years old to fight during WWII and my Uncle flew over 120 bombing missions during the war- all dropped on your buddies the Nazis. I've served my country as well and I realize how important the qualifications and skills of those in your unit can mean to your own well-being during wartime. And I'm disgusted by those who hurt recruiting- but I figure I've probably earned the right for that disgust. Please don't thank me for wearing the uniform to protect your right to do something disgusting, I'd rather kick somone's ass for burning an American flag than accept that as a appropriate expression of free speech. But then, I'm kinda' old fashioned that way ;-)

Why would he agree with something I never said? I stated very clearly that there are good and bad Americans, with the worst being almost exclusively cowards. You can be a great American and oppose the war, but the moment you take actions that hurt recruitment of the best to fight the war you become a bad American. And I find little in the life more cowardly than to hurt those who have chosen to fight by denying them the best to fight at their sides.

Hearst a right winger! I hope for the sake of the nation's children you're not teaching history! Hearst and Lindy Partying You're comletely lost on the Lincoln reference and continue defending your attempt to change the fact reported to some way to keep from drowning in your own lack of sustainable argument- In war historically the "absolutes" of reasoning the war virtually always evolve. Perhaps that's why the current administration offered 22 different reasons for going to Iraq- they knew they could confuse those of you who can only focus on one thing at a time ;-)

Ah- Reality! Try it on! Hearst, who served as a Democratic in the House of Representatives and ran for the Democratic nomination for President represents (in my analogy) the liberal press of today. Like today's press, there was then in his papers outright opposition to any attempt to contain Hitler and the plea to his reader's to understand that "Hitler is no threat". Lindbergh was possibly the major celebrity of his day, and with that celebrity he insisted Hitler wasn't a bad guy- in fact dining with Hitler in his travels. You may not sense the Deja Vu in that with our current celebrity meltdowns, I think others may find it interesting that the parallels between the foolish celebrities of both eras are so obvious. You might find this of value: Lindbergh's role in bringing Hitler to power Since there's no reference in my post to George Bush at all I'll simply assume you were so flummoxed trying to find a logical way to support your position that you simply fabricated that fantasy. You used to be better at this ;-)

They've only seen how easily the most cowardly and politically opportunistic of us scare- but then again it is the weakest among us that the terrorists hope to convince that we should simply allow them to have their way first in the Middle East and then beyond. Thank God for the brave Americans who recognize the enemy and are willing to fight for us, and may there be a viscious penalty for those who would hurt their mission by interfering with our ability to offer the best of our youth an opportunity to sacrifice as others have before them. May the best of us also truly support them by controlling our tongues back here so we can avoid what happened to the poor unfortunate heros of Vietnam who continue to be scorned because of the hateful tone of that anti-war movement.

Yes. Contrary to the sniveling cowards who constantly berate our government and troops in this time war, the reality is that there are better and lesser Americans. The best are in uniform overseas. The worst are interfering with the free speech rights of our military recruiters. And based upon your lack of respect for our country it's hard to imagine that your kids would make very good soldiers anyway- better for them to sit back here and merely enjoy the freedoms won for us by those brave enough to stand up and fight in our name.

I recall multiple incidents within my own division while I served of others being crushed, drowned, electrocuted and poisoned. Apparently his number is low- Military Mortality Report

We will persevere because luckily many of us do recognize that this monster that is Wahabi radicalism is NOT what the pacifists believe it is- some type of rational reaction to our "intruding" on their land. In fact, anyone with even a limited set of live brain cells should be able to recognize why the Wahabis have been insistent on getting American Troops out of the Middle East- they are right now backed up after losing Afghanistan as their little Sharia experiment and they are desperate to take over Saudi Arabi, the place which except for oil revenues and royal palaces they rule over already. The terrorists knows the stakes in Iraq- it's the Super Bowl for them; they lose Iraq and a Democracy evolves in one of the most strategic and wealthy countries in the Middle East and their game is over. It's only American pacifists, the same group (Dem Pols like Kennedys and the Liberal Media like Hearst and celebs like Lindburgh) who told us Hitler wasn't such a bad guy if we would all just leave him alone. They're all out here again telling us "Iraq has nothing to do with blah blah blah". And once again we'll suffer them as our fellow citizens, as wrong as they are- once again. And how about poor Abe Linccoln- can you imagine today's crybabies during the Civil War- YOU LIED ABOUT WHY WE WENT TO WAR WE DIDN'T WANT TO DIE OVER SLAVES WE WANT OUR MOMMIES!!!!!!!!!!!

Like the fence-sitting Muslim who is partly responsible for the rise of radical Islam, so is the Westerner who either ignores it or worse yet insists it's no real threat to us. Refusing to recognize that the battle our enemy had hoped to wage on our shores has been moved to his area of the world is hardly different than the Muslim who sits in his Mosque listening to the radicals and does nothing to discourage his own children's participation.

Ignoring perspective is a leading cause of ignorance. 35 Americans wil be murdered today. 2000 Americans will die of a heart attack today, another 1800 from cancer and 2500 more from other health issues. Even on a terrible day in our battle against a global enemy, less than 2 tenths of one percent of American deaths that day were caused by that action. I'd invite you to name a more critical measure by which to assess the cost in American lives of our defending ourselves- the premise of my post was "perspective" and to ignore total American deaths seems to me to offer zero chance at achieving any level of perspective on the issue raised by the original poster. Raising the naked number without perspective would be like 12 Tongans killed in a war without considering that only 15 Tongans die any the average day. Of course it's awful to lose lives in the action- as it was in many past actions. But America has survived hugely debilitating actions like the Civil War and we are a better and stranger country as a result. Sacrifice is Patriotic and essential to the protection of our society.

Perspective is necessary in analyzing the true impact of our necessary battle to answer the actions of radical Islam. Yesterday in the United States nearly 100 people were killed in automobile accidents. The same number will be killed today and that will happen every single day of this year. Do we find time for a cumulative mourning for these dead citizens who have died for no good purpose, in the name of nothing? Or do we accept this risk of turning that key for the convenience of the mobility offered- knowing that the danger can be mortal? At the same time do we risk allowing a movement which has proven itself to want one thing above all else- the imposition of Sharia Law upon first its own region and then the world- to spare some of the bravest and best among us who have chosen to fight this battle for us? Do we accept that our enemy has determined that we will tire so easily by their persistence that we will stand aside and allow their threat to spread throughout the world? Or do we stand for the freedom of women and that of our own safety, do we support our brave soldiers and their families as best we can? Do we force ourselves to show the same faith and hope that our soldiers must rely on every day to face their mission? Do we stand as proud, courageous Americans or do we become some historical joke like the cowardly French who without our American courage would today speak another language? The answer should be easy- unfortunately for the most gutless and cowardly among us it is not. Those who obstruct the mission of our soldiers by harming the recruitment of the best we can attract are the worst of all Americans. They stand behind the lie that "we support the troops but...". There is no "but"- the simple fact is that the only way you can support our troops is to allow the most effective recruitment of our youth to give those who choose to fight the best possible members fighting at their sides. Anything that obstructs recruitment leaves our bravest at a disadvantage, and theree's no patriotism in hurting those most of us honor.

Get a chance to see Goldsberry at all? I'm especially interested in his foot speed in run blocking-

If you’re into a desert hike this is one of the best in the area: http://www.birdandhike.com/Hike/Other_Area...ard/Lombard.htm Scott’s suggestion of Hoover is a good one for the family- book tickets for the tour, it’s pretty amazing: http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/ One of the absolute best dive bars in America, you can gauge the “accuracy” of this site once you’ve been to the hallowed grounds: http://www.vegas.com/nightlife/bars/pogos.html Another dive bar I like, but hardly the same caliber as above: http://www.dinoslv.com/ One other recommendation- this is a real old-fashioned gambling town, really the last I know of in Nevada. It’s an easy two hour drive, plus it’s located right down the road from maybe our best Western Ghost town named Rhyolite. I’ll link that here also- you’ll recognize Rhyolite since it’s one of Hollywood’s favorite location shoots for desert background. If you head to Beatty for a day/overnight you can also drop down another 40 minutes into out most awesome National Park in its full summer glory- Death Valley is just past Beatty. In fact I just got back from there yesterday after a 4 night campout ;-) http://www.beattynevada.org/ http://www.rhyolitesite.com/

Perhaps because over the course of a couple of seasons he both mentally and physically collapsed while playing on the Super Bowl Front-Runner?

Boulevard? El Centro?

St. Croix has the most dangerous golf courses in the world ;-) My cure for "shrinkage" was always a quick hop to St. Martin or St. Barts, according to how much human contact I wanted. That charged the batteries pretty well.

I may have overlooked the grandiosity of your eminence, Sir!