UConn James

This is an intellectual thread? The original post has the intellectual depth of a teaspoon. What do you expect anyone to reply with based on that? Cities/towns have the right to access the first 5' of property for capital stuff, and in the West especially, with mining rights and such, you only own something like 10' down... and Daniel Plainview can come in with his straw and drink your milkshake from across the room. This kind of stuff isn't exactly news to anyone here.

Do we need to look up how many times wealthy campaigning pols from both sides have made this joke?! And if memory serves, Romney used this a lot in '08 primaries. Now they want to make something of it? Lame.

I get the fullest sense of it being a deja vu of 1980. A presidency where things are coming apart at the seams economically and a president who lacks the ability to do anything about it. I'm not saying Obama has Carter's... insecurity(?)/ineptness --- and in contrast to the Iran disaster, after a bad start the bin Laden raid ultimately went all right --- but there is a serious feeling of "Hey, I've seen this movie before" here.

That happened in 2007/8. Even PBS ran their "The Mormons" several times. I don't know. I hope that certain contingent has been able to see the light that someone's religion matters a whit when so many people don't have a job, the dollar's value is going down, and spending and taxes are going up. Maybe those people might vote with their pocketbook and tone down on whatever perceived notion they have regarding Romney's religion, whose moral value stances are not so very out of line. Also, Mike (Pardon Me, Mike! Pardon Me!) Huckabee is not running this time, which should probably cool down the tenor that took then. And then there's the whole thing that Massachusetts actually did NOT turn into a Mormon theocracy when Romney was elected governor....

Per polling released yesterday, Romney is tracking at -2 points in a general election against Obama (45%-47%, which is in the margin of +/-). Everyone else, including a hypothetical Palin candidacy, is minus-double-digits. Frankly, Romney is the strongest candidate in terms of being able to raise $, tenure of executive experience, taking over disasters and turning them around, and knowledge of the economy. If the economy is still in the tank and unemployment is still above at least 8% (and I don't see how anything near that can happen with current conditions and present tax/healthcare policy that scares the **** out of business owners), there is every chance that Romney will wipe the floor with Obama. Too many people/Independents who voted for someone without a record because he spoke well, wasn't 80 years old and didn't threaten to bomb Iran, now know exactly what Obama is. Add in a shift of ~10(?) electoral votes to "red states" in Census redistricting.... I don't know about Bachmann as a veep choice. At this point, if Romney were to win, I'm thinking Herman Cain. But it's a looooong road to that point, and you never know which bridges might get burned.

Just so. But it would be nice to be able to dump guys like Mike Williams and Maybin (unless by some miracle he comes in and impresses) without their signing bonus scorching the cap. I've heard nothing about a rookie cap, but if nothing changes, Dareus' contract might be the biggest in Bills history wrt "guaranteed $." I haven't followed the NHL's business side closely, but is that the deal with those wacky 15-year $100M contracts?

It may have some role in future manned space exploration. Trying to remember from NOVA, but it's something like for every pound of the space shuttle (and the payload), it took 20X that weight in rocket fuel for escape velocity. Now, for missions to Mars or further, it's going to take a lot of supplies b/c there are no rest stops or NAPA stores in space. If they can reduce the food payload by some method, yaknow.... The idea may not be the nicest, and it has next to no purpose here on earth, but there is a practical side to it. They actually already have a system onboard the ISS that recycles urine into water.

Signing bonuses absolutely count against the cap. Just, they can be amortized over the course of the contract. Unless, iirc, that player is traded, cut or retires; then, the balance/unpaid portion counts toward that year's cap. Ostensibly, that was Butler's choice when he released Andre, Thurman and Bruce in [ON EDIT] 2000 --- to put the Bills through a shorter-term "cap hell" in order to come out fresh the next year.

A civil right does not trump the freedom of religion wrt churches being able to define their own rites, rules, membership, etc. Most of the concerns about this are unfounded. There may be some navigating to do wrt to OC's example of parentage and alimony, but I'm sure there's case law that will help guide the way. Regardless, that's not a valid excuse for the government to continue to deny freedom and equal rights/protections. Like I've said before, I'm ashamed at how fellow Republicans continue to impose their moral orders on people who don't hold those moral orders.

That is so un-Canadian!

You realize of course, that this is just going to raise the average salary across the league? It doesn't mean that the Bills will be able to add an extra superstar or two.

"Those who remember the past are condemned to repeat it too. That's a little history joke." --- Michael Herr in "Dispatches"

♫ You're crazy but I like the way you !@#$ me ♫ --- Buckcherry, (Link lyrics NSFW, in case you couldn't guess that.)

You mean the "NVITATION"? You'd figure that for something like that, at least two people would've looked it over and one of them might have used spell-check. But... you'd figure wrong. Actually, I'd wager that with the WNY diaspora, the majority of Bills fans don't live in the 1989-time-trap vortex of scary weirdness that is WNY.

Linchpin in hunt for bin Laden back with al-Qaida

What is wrong with the system that so many articles of this sort include that same phrase? It's !@#$ing catch and release. Parole boards/judges should be held personally liable for sex offenders to whom they grant parole.

So in Buddy Nix-speak, it seems like the contractions have finally started. Call me when the baby's delivered.

Just a couple of seasons ago, you'd never think could happen, but this team has a surfeit of WRs. The barn is full --- we're going to have to let a horse out as it is. Resources would be much better spent at TE.

Link

I'm with you on the first count, but Luke is a living reminder of his legacy. Why shouldn't he be touted a bit? RIP, Uncle Tim.

For the liberal set who hold up Bradley Manning as a hero... how is what Manning did materially different from this case (besides the fact that classified docs actually were delivered to unauthorized parties, and published)? Both of these !@#$ers should be / should've been in front of a firing squad.

This is the first time I've heard of it.... +1 BFNC.

But if there were time to climb it back into the air, there was surely time for everyone to run away far enough. The ballast theory seems to make sense. Losing the motor likely loses control vis-a-vis altitude.... I just wonder if there could've been an "All jump on 3!" option. And, do understand that I'm not trying to take anything away from the pilot by this. This was Hero-Plus.

I'm not quite understanding why he took the blimp back up in the air when it was on fire....

I don't know how he thinks he's going to be able to get anything done in Congress.... nevermind actually get people to be able to look him in the eye. If and when he comes back, the only thing it'll take to get him slinking in his chair will be a certain lingual stress on Congressman Wiener. So, he's working through the Hosni-Mubarak-style full progression of concession as he grasps at the straws of power. At least Lee had a sense of shame and decency after the fact, to not put his family and the national dialogue through a full front-page account of every detail of the private life that he made public. We say it all the time. I want people in Congress who are there for specific goals and a reasonable idea of ways to accomplish those goals. Don't elect people who see Congress as a career path and a way to make a name for themselves / "be somebody." I want there to be term limits so there is less inclination to use an office for whatever launching board someone sees it as... a way to score a lucrative job for favors done, a vehicle for sexual dalliances, etc. I want people of character who respect their office too much to pull this kind of crap. And that's the thing. There are few honorable people in this world. And what honorable people there are rarely run for office, and even more rarely get nominated, because they want to do productive things instead of flinging mud and having to read the verbiage of 2,700-page bills that no one can understand.