UConn James

The first item is ridiculous. Next, it's going to take a permit and a visit by a botany inspector to tell you if you can plant hydrangeas in your front yard. These people with Napolean complexes who get appointed to boards think they're entitled to tell other people what nonsensical things they have to do in matters that go beyond their authority or knowledge. Not that it's any different than Reagan imposing a federal ban on lawn darts. How many people are so stupid as to stab themselves with pens and pencils? Those are banned.... But as far as the second goes, exotic animal trafficking is a big problem. If it's not a domesticated species, they should be left in the zoos or better yet, the wild. Most people have neither the money, time or will to properly care for them, and the animals suffer as a result. This probably comes on the heels of a number of incidents with crocidiles let free in the sewers and Central Park, and that guy with the tigers in his closet NYC apartment. This opinion held by the writer shows his sheer knowledge of animals....

The problem with that logic is the majority decides what is "right." If ID becomes the norm in elementary and high schools, it becomes what entire generations think and believe. Who's there to tell them they're wrong? The creationism movement is comparable to the borg collective. And someday, when you least expect it, your kid walks in the door and says, 'Hey you know what? Maybe blah blah blah....' We don't need Christian madrassas in this country. If people want their kids to learn it, that's what Sunday School is. Science class is about studying, hypothesizing and experimenting with observable fact.

You mean, UCan't? Graduated last year. Those kinds of losses will happen over the course of a season to every team, esp. now that the talent pool is evening out more and more. Even for the women's game. It'll be a couple of years before another major push in the tourney. A few years back I caught a few ND games w/ McGarrity and you had to respect them b/c they played smart and could shoot and do the classic lay-up rather than slam and Look-at-me ball. I prefer the fundamentals that went the way of the dodo b/c they haven't raised the hoop.

Ugghh. G'luck, laddy! If I never have to do that again it'll be too soon. Best advice I ever got, ignored and learned the hard way in a frosh history class, then used and flourished.... don't change your first answer on a multiple guess exam unless you are absolutely positively sure it's wrong. And eat fish for omega-3s. 3.925.

Living in the land of All Patsies All The Time, I can vouch that McCown played like ass vs. the Pats last week. Underthrows, overthrows, off-to-the-side-throws, right-to-the-hands-of-the-opponent-throws.... He had one good pass that went for a TD b/c the Pats DBs either had a serious brainfart, or they were just pitying the guy. I don't call that "decent."

Lest we forget, these are relatively the same bunch that took us to OT last year. Say what you will about injuries to Moulds and Henry, etc. But they showed today against the Pats, too, that they're not going to roll over. If Palmer's knee injury is serious, Kitna has an element of surprise. Rudi Johnson, that WR with the long-arse name, Chad Johnson.... Better not take this team lightly.

Exactly. Seven times out of 10, those balls get picked up at/roll down to the 1. It's a MUCH different drive b/w starting at the 10 and starting at the 1. Want to give a DL motivation (especially one as good as CLE)? That's the way. A sack or holding call in the end zone and the game turns.

Bitteres Biergesicht.

Yeah, yeah. Where're the Hooters pics?

I was thinking of voting for him. But then I saw the Lando Calrisian avatar and figured he'd be way too soft on terror.

Bobby April has done a 180 from what our sorry-butt ST were the past several seasons. But no one hires a ST guy to be a HC. He should stick to the area where he has shown remarkable success in this league when given the tools. I'd apologize to Bobby but I think he accepted this a long time ago. Jerry Gray is one of the better coordinators and he'll get a chance sooner rather than later. You don't have a consistent top 5 D and not get noticed.

What is the process for Cabinet nominees? Do they essentially just sit at home until their confirmation hearings? Or are they brought into the department and shown the ropes by the outgoing secretary as part of a smooth transition? Maybe Kerik was shown the inner workings of HS and changed his mind? This doesn't really fall in line with the "I serve at the pleasure of the President" attitude needed just to be considered. Maybe someone has compromising photos or information about him? On edit: (AP) -- In a surprise move, former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik abruptly withdrew his nomination as President Bush's choice to be homeland security secretary Friday night, saying questions have arisen about the immigration status of a housekeeper and nanny he employed. This is one of Bush's campaign issues; to give aliens temporary work permits for jobs like these. WTF? And I guess no California, Oklahoma, or Florida farmer can ever run for elected office.... Can you still run if you've ever shaken hands with an illegal? Geez-us. The Republican witch-hunt of Clinton's nominees comes back to bite them. Ye shall reap what ye sow.

This concept of desire-and-receive is something I was wrapping my brain around too. Maybe the c.r.a.s.h was "wished" by the (justifiably) crazy lady Sayid met. She did say somesuch thing like she was lonely.... Well, here's some company for her, even tho she doesn't want to be with them. Maybe Sayid's short prescence was enough. Or maybe it c.r.a.s.h.ed b/c she wanted her jewelry box to play the song again. Sayid fixed it. The desires do seem to be either something small or some quality w/in the character. Some people have said they don't know how this can last beyond one season. I don't see that being a problem at this rate of discovery.

The fact that Rumsfeld wasn't prepared to answer a question that's obviously on the soldiers' minds might lead one to believe that situation was already in place independent of the reporter. He was a conduit that facilitated the question to go over the microphone in clear wording.

He didn't create a story. He "created" a question. The fact that it was a valid question made it a story. What would have happened if Rumsfeld had a valid answer? Instead, he reached into his bag of tricks. The examples were in response to the false generalized maxim that "reporters shouldn't be or create the news." Rest assured, I'm not confusing the two.

Excuse me for poking a hole in the whole "reporters should not be/create the news" issue that people are concentrating on rather than the pertinency of the question. And this might help all of you in your future of reading the news and reactions to it. Let's look at some reporters who have "been" the news for what they did to report a story. --- "Ten Days in the Mad-House" by Nellie Bly exposed brutal mistreatment in NYC asylums. The only way she could do this was by pretending to be a patient. --- One Stephen Crane (he was mostly a journalist throughout his career, did you know that?) put himself in just about every story he wrote. Competing newspapers often titled stories "Journalist Crane ..." and his method of reporting so they could try to capitalize on his popularity. --- George Orwell. The famous drop-out narrator. --- "The Death of Captain Wascow" by Ernie Pyle. --- "The Bronx Slave Market" (1950) by Marvel Cooke, who became a housecleaner and reported the conditions, the backbreaking work they had to do, and the crap wages they were paid and often cheated out of by white families. --- "Black Like Me" (1960) by John Howard Griffin, who over the course of a year traveled to Northern and Southern states, going b/w being white and black (he got a pigment from a doctor to change his skin color). Really one of the first stories that started to change opinions b/c it was written by a white man who was brave enough and crazy (for the chance he took) enough to "make the news." --- "Tiananmen Square" by John Simpson, who was there when it all went down. Supported the students but helped save a few people's, including a govt policeman's, lives and made what happened there, before the Chinese put up black drapes around the entire square so what they did couldn't be seen, known. These among many more who, when they see something they don't agree with or an issue that's being disregarded by people in charge, DO something about it rather than wait for the "right time" or the "proper source," like that's going to happen. Don't get me wrong, there are times when it can go too far. A reasonable effort should be made to get the story by the conventional methods. The conventional reporter-official was not allowed in this case. I can see where people might not appreciate the method this reporter used to get attention to the issue. If it's an issue you and the 2,300 soldiers you travel with care about deeply enough to want to get it asked of their superior.... If 2,300 people (and I'm sure many more soldiers wanted it asked too) call your newspaper and say there's a question on their minds that they want asked, you ask it or you hand in your reporter's notebook. Reporters aren't supposed to be part of the story? Where did you get this? Where did you get this? Is this like the one where lawyers aren't supposed to lie? Getting information out into the world is damned difficult as it is. Objectivity is a bunch of crap. By definition of being a human being and having your own eyes, there's no way for anyone to be objective. What matters is fact.

Word is that Weis has an interview scheduled for the ND job for either Fri. or Sat. 1. He's an alum B. maybe there's another reason he hasn't gotten a shot at being a HC in the NFL besides not being able to interview earlier. Maybe he needs to prove he can be successful out from under BB's wing? Maybe there's concerns with his health? I'd like to have Clements stay for the sake of continuity.

Well, obviously. It's late. Or early, depending on your perspective....

That's not the meaning of irony. Irony is when something happens that is the exact opposite of what you'd almost surely expect to happen. Like, the Pope admitting on his deathbed that he was a pagan the whole time. April developing another good returner isn't entirely unexpected. Grammar lesson over, McGee is one of the best kick returners I've ever seen. The article on the TBD frontpage says that he limps in practices during the week but brings it on gameday. He's injured and he's doing all this? We can only hope that he isn't like the Chiefs returner who burned it up last year and now this year he's been so good that I can't even remember his name.... TD needs to lock him up. If he hits the RFA market, someone will gladly give up a 4th rounder for him. Also agree on Clements. Nice post. As for Jennings, I'm just not convinced he's worth the offers he's likely to get elsewhere. Buffalo is not his first choice, it's just where he went in the draft. He hasn't grown into the area and longs for Ga. Buh-bye.

"A conscience which has been bought once will be bought twice." -- Norbert Wiener (As for the last name, I'm leaving it alone. Too easy. ) Why do you think Bush suddenly tweaked his stance late in the game to say that civil unions are a viable alternative? I agree, but then again, I saw the logic of it back in 1999 when it first came up. I guess it just takes longer for some people to do a day's work....

Nope. (BTW -- my given name is not UConn.... My friends and enemies just call me James. ) How was he not reporting on an important issue? As has been this admin's MO, he wasn't allowed to ask a question. He helped someone else who could, ask in their own voice and words. Clever reporters find ways to get answers to their questions when they get stonewalled. "The question is whether or not the soldier who asked the question really believed in it, and my guess is that he did, or he wouldn't have asked it," said Loory.... Wow, other media outlets decide to put his name in their own papers and make a big deal of that rather than the issue in question. What a surprise. Fabrication means to make something up with the intent to deceive. Or are you just using every media criticism cliche and buzzword you've got? How does any of this make the question that was posed any less pertinent? Don't know about you guys, but when I got a math problem, I figured out the answer rather than piss and moan about the guy who came up with the question.

In all fairness, it was actually Bush who sued to stop the manual recounts in Florida. Hence Bush v. Gore. The Ukraine story just gets seedier every day. We are nothing like that, thankfully.

Reported on ABC that three companies that make the specific type of armor that was being discussed each say they are not producing at full capacity. They haven't even been asked to. That's in addition to the $70B in supplies and parts the DoD doesn't even know where it put, according to the GAO. The excuse underneath this is laughable. Fuggin' WalMart has better computers than this; they can tell you how many strawberry PopTarts are sold in the 24 hours before hurricanes. Maybe someone needs to take a look at their system, or "requisition" it under some eminent domain statute. Necessity is the mother of invention. Good news. There's a lot of steps along the way for that. I can accept small steps and the process; it's the standing still on it and Rumsfeld acting like it's a news to him that raises my blood pressure. I daresay that not every roadside bomb has been 200 pounds of explosives in a car; have you seen some of the more recent videos the soldiers have taken themselves? In reality, it wasn't a 'planted' question. A proofreader does not make up the meat and bones of a question, simply recommends ways to phrase it that someone can decide to use or not. A reporter helped the Sgt word his question to ask one of the most powerful men in the chain of command. There's many people who, when they walk into the Oval Office, simply lose the power of speech. I guess preparing a serious question in advance is against the rules tho. And I guess the reporter did a ventriloquist act on the Sgt and forced the 2,300 other soldiers cheer and clap too.

Judging by the early sack totals, they were standing straight up with a befuddled look on their faces and using their fingers to spell that out.

Thanks for your serious input, BiB. My heartrate increases a little too much over this issue at times. I personally know 15 people who are over there right now. This most certainly isn't a video game to me. It burns me up that they don't have the protection and supplies needed. How is it that this has been an issue for well over a year and the fact that the commander of this unit reports that 95 percent of the 400 vehicles they have are not properly armored (BTW, this is not an issue of armoring vehicles that don't need/shouldn't be armored) is somehow news to Rumsfeld? The indignation and muted outrage that was in that question yesterday reflected this frustration. My brother can escort Bush's white F-250 (which, I don't need to get into in this forum but the retrofitting on it...) in "his" C-130 to Crawford in three hours for 4-wheeling with Vlad, and we can't get armor to the guys in the sand. What happened to the days when FDR had the lights turned off in the White House to conserve electricity (I know, it had the dual use of not giving potential kamakazis a lit target...). Sacrifice? What's that? But no, we needed an $89B tax cut. I don't have a problem with the govt spending money --- when it's spent wisely and with a practical goal, i.e. vehicle armor. Whether it's the govt, consumers or industry spending the money, the GNP is the same. C+G+I+NX=GDP. Of late, Consumer and investment spending is down b/c it's being saved or used to pay debt. In a capitalist system these are the areas we most value and produce the best results. But in the absence of that, gov't or exports have to take up the slack to keep the GDP from going down the commodus. We've had record trade defecits for the past umpteen years, so what does that leave to put money into our economy? Better to have it go where it's needed NOW until C and I recover and start spending than to languish in a trust fund goody-goody's account so they don't have to work a day in their lives.