EvilMonkey

QUOTE(GASHWOUND @ Jun 20, 2005 -> 04:48 AM) Is that like a punching bag? I have a this old ass punching bag from the 70s..it weighs like 200 pounds..I have it in storge..Its ugly.. I have boxing gloves from like 5 years ago that i got as a gift..they collect dust too Yeah, sort of. More like a punching dummy. It Has a face and torso with lights for the eyes, mouth and in several spots on the chest. In the dark, it looks like a person. It stands about 6ft tall and is filed with about 200 lbs of sand. You hit is, it gives enough so you don't break anything, but it isn't falling over. There are 'programs' so when you turn it on, the lights light up and that is where you are supposed to hit the dummy. Some are a preset pattern, some are random. It's kinda fun, actually, but I can't do that motion with my right arm anymore. After about 4 or 5 punches, I can't move my shoulder.

QUOTE(winodj @ Jun 20, 2005 -> 12:17 PM) He said he'd apologized a thousand times and would gladly apologize a thousand times more for being a part of the KKK. I can live with a man who's admitted his mistakes and seeks to correct them. How about Trent? He apologized. Even went on BET to do so. But even though Byrd has said he is sorry, he has also consistently lied about his involvement, trying to whitewash it, claim it was for only a few years, etc. These statements are in his book which is just coming out, so even today, he is still lying about it.

QUOTE(GASHWOUND @ Jun 20, 2005 -> 04:39 AM) Just wondering what the most dumbest and most expensive thing you've bought with your own money? You used it for 2 days and just collects dust.. ME? I bought these 100 buck 2-way radios like 5 months ago..I don't know why..with 7 mile range and s*** and I've used them approximately twice in that time span..they just sit in my drawer..doing nothing.. Other things I've bought that cost some dime and just collect dust... $75 buck binoculars I bought last year..used them like 4 times I upgraded my graphics card..I bought ATI Radeon 9800 Pro for like $170 for just in case i start maybe playing computer games..nope, I haven't played a computer game since like Jan..so basically I have a high-end graphics card to browse the Internet..I can name a ton of stuff that I've bought..$15 bucks here, 20 there of junk i don't use..its pathetic... I bought a $250 SLam Man. I used to box, and thought it would get me back into shape, and take out some aggression as well. After about a week, I tore my rotator cuff, and never used it again. I put my dirty shirts on it until I can take them to the laundry. Looks kinda creepy at night.

"Oh my god, our Canadian pervert neighbors!"

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 20, 2005 -> 03:34 AM) Are you able to do anything for your employees? That's where I think the greatest benefit to our economy would come. By making small business competitive in benefit packages, talented employees would be more willing to start or go to work for a small business. I have a policy for my salesguy, costs about $400 per quarter. Doesn't cover general doc visits, but if he breaks an arm, he is covered. So if he gets a cold, he doesn't go running to the doc for some pills. But if he breaks something, he won't go broke (unless it is his legs, preventing him from driving and selling, and then he is s***-out-of-luck). Not the best policy, but better than nothing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8272822 After reading this, it seems like he tries to make the Klan out as a Rotary Club or something : tries to make himself seem like a victim who was simply just forced to be a racist, and lies about how long he was involved with the Klan Trent Lott merely tries to say something nice about a retiring collegue during a speech and he gets run out of the majority party's leaders post, while Byrd has said things like and voted against the Civil Rights Act (filibustering it for 14 hours even!), still gets elected.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 06:38 PM) Currently yours and my health care is being determined by an insurance company which is trying to maximize profits for their share holders. The insurance company employs medical professionals to look over the Doctor's shoulder and make certain he isn't spending too much on your care. They are sitting states away and deciding on your treatment. This system is flawed as well. Kinda OT, but I am on sort of a different plan, sort of like a medical savings account. Get $1000 per year, no questions asked. After that, the next $4000 is all me. Then after that, it is 80/20. For the last 3 years, haven't gone over the $1000 (anything left gets rolled into the next year, with a $3000 maximum carryover). I spend a little more time choosing my doctors (I have one by my house, and one by my work, since I work too damnmuch). The work doc is more expensive, but when time matters, I go there. otherwise, I wait and use my less expensive guy. I tell the docs upfront that I am paying for this, I need straight answers and stuff, and so far they have been pretty honest with me. While I will agree that the people you mention above need some help, if you dig into data, you will find that alot of people without insurance are not in that class, but rather younger people, 18-30 who COULD afford insurance, but choose to spend the money elsewhere (vacations, new car, whatever). The Sun-Times ran a piece about that several months ago, interviewing all these people that just thought nothing THAT bad could happen to them, so why waste all that money on insurance.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 04:01 PM) I disagree that waste and inefficiencies are unique or even more so in government If we cannot trust the government to cure a cold, should we trust them to execute citizens or what types of health care should be available and to whom? There you go being so all-or-nothing again. Where there is money to be stolen, someone will find a way. It may be an employee embezzeling money, or it mau be someone cheating the system. Or it may be both. How about a system that is designed to not catch cheaters? We talked about school lunches in a different post. KNow how they qualify you for a free lunch in schools? They ask you how much you make, and if you are working. The schools are not allowed to verify that info, they just have to take you for your word. Your kids shows up in the office sick, asks to call mom. School calls the home number, she isn't there. "Oh, she's at work", says the kid. Can the lunch now be taken away? Nope. It is a program set up to help those in need, being abused by people, and the beauracratic idiots who set the program up in the first place. Where is the accountability? Social Security, once designed to help us when we retire, now also helps drug addicts and people with disabilities. PLus, long ago the funds got co-mingled with the general revenue to prevent a budget shortfall, thus contributing to its almost inevitable demise as the money we all pay into SS goes to fund roads in Arkansas or a dam in Kentucky instead of what it was intended for. Locally, riverboat casino revenues go towards school funding. Well, they still go there, but the more they increased, the more they took away from other sources, leaving the total funding the same, or in some cases, less. Then current gov. Blago tries to tax them to death, resulting in layoffs, cutbacks (in the riverboats) and a DECREASE in the revenue generated from them, despite his much higher taxes. Even more locally, look at Chicago with the Hired Trucks crap, or even just the asphalt scandals. Where there is money to be made, someone will try and find it. Not everyone is bad, but there are enough to make you wonder. Oh, and I will agree with you that inefficienceies are not limited to governmental employees/programs. I have come across many places that I wonder how they are still in business.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 12:14 PM) You are so right. There are many issues like that. I believe most Americans have a very difficult time identifying with either side in the abortion debate. Killing Doctors and 8 1/2 month term babies are difficult concepts to embrace. I think hell just got a little bit colder. I agree with that statement comlpetely.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 12:27 PM) So if I understand your statements, we could not run the program any better than Canada? Sure, we could probably run it 'better', but it would still probably suck. Maybe the same way the liberals can keep saying they support the troops then turn around anc call the Commander in Chief a Nazi or a liar. Can you think of a well run government program? I'm sure there are, but they are probably pretty small. Social Security is a f***ing joke, with the mismanagement, waste and fraud that goes on there. Medicade is screwed up, with doctors taking advantage of poor management and double billing, ghost billing, etc. Every year, a report comes out from the GAO that there is money out there that the government just can't account for. Can the government do somethign right? I sure hope so. But I don't want to find out with health care.

http://www.wavy.com/global/story.asp?s=348...tType=Printable PETA President Denounces Dumping, Defends Accused Workers Adria Joy Hinkle Andrew Benjamin Cook By SUE LINDSEY Associated Press Writer (AP) - Dumping the bodies of dead dogs and cats in the garbage is wrong, but the president of Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Friday that animal cruelty charges against two employees won't stick. "It's hideous," Ingrid Newkirk, president of the animal rights group, said of the dumping. "I think this is so shocking it's bound to hurt our work." But she told a news conference there was no indication of "pain or suffering" among the 18 animals that police in Ahoskie, N.C., found in a shopping center garbage bin or the 13 found in a van registered to PETA. The animals received lethal injections, Newkirk said. Adria Joy Hinkle, 27, of Norfolk, and Andrew Benjamin Cook, 24, of Virginia Beach, appeared Friday in Hertford County District Court and their trial was set for July 19. Each faces 31 felony charges of animal cruelty and nine misdemeanor counts -- eight of illegal disposal of dead animals and one of trespassing. Each felony charge carries a maximum of 15 months in jail, and the maximum term for each misdemeanor is 60 days. Investigators arrested the two workers after staking out a garbage bin where animals had previously been dumped, police said Thursday. Newkirk said the workers were picking up animals to be brought to PETA headquarters in Norfolk for euthanization. Veterinarians and animal control officers said the PETA workers had promised to find homes for the animals rather than euthanize them, according to police. "PETA has never made a secret of the fact that most of the animals picked up in North Carolina are euthanized," Newkirk said. Neither police nor PETA offered any theory on why the animals might have been dumped. Newkirk said no one from PETA noticed that over several weeks Hinkle was returning from her weekly trips to North Carolina without animals to be euthanized. Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh said at least 60 to 70 animals were dumped in the garbage over four weeks. "It just gets to you after awhile," he said. PETA spokeswoman Colleen O'Brien said the organization euthanizes animals by lethal injection, which it considers more humane than shooting or gassing them in groups, as some counties do. Hinkle was suspended following the arrest, but Cook, a new employee, was not. Hinkle has been with PETA for two years in its community animal project division. Neither Hinkle nor Cook had any comment as they left court. Newkirk said PETA also runs a program in the three North Carolina counties to sterilize animals, and has encouraged them to set up programs for animal adoptions. PETA has euthanized animals for years. In Virginia last year, the activist group euthanized 2,278 animals, sterilized 7,641 and found homes for 361. _____________________________________________________________ I wonder how many of the PETA wackos know that PETA actually kills animals themselves? Or are they OK with it because they do it 'humanely'? Dead is still dead.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 12:08 AM) Are you saying our government isn't any good? That Americans cannot govern and run a program? I am saying that whenever a program is taken over by the government, it grows exponentially because there are crooks on all sides that want to get their 'piece of the pie', paperwork will increase and productivity will go down.

I wouldn't trust it merely because it would be run by the government. The waste and fraud would rival that is any current federal moneypit, probably topping the next 2 or 3 combined. It's bad enough they run my retirement, try to run my business and keep trying to intrude into my life, get out of my doctors office.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jun 15, 2005 -> 10:57 PM) I totally agree which is why forcing people off welfare after a certain time limit has expired is such a good idea. Additionally it's for the very reason you mentioned that "social programs" are curse words to me. Yeah, what he said!

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jun 15, 2005 -> 03:03 AM) If someone wants to trash the entire system as being abused by people who can afford big screen TVs and living on public aid, I am certain there are many examples. However, I'll bet there are many, many more who are not abusing the system and just trying to survive. Why are you so all-or-nothing? TRash what system? I was responding to an article that said kids are malnurished. I pointed out that in many cases, it is because of laziness or bad consumer choices, using 'poor' as an excuse. Yes, there are cases where poor IS an excuse, which is why I didn't say ALWAYS. Balta early on here raised the best point, that there was no definition in the story to define going hungry. I also pointed out that you CAN buy fruit cheaply if you look, and then took a slight jab at Bush bashers by saying that it was Bush's fault. And now you have devolved this post into me being against government program helping the poor? Get real. If anything, I could stand for more programs, but only if there is accountability. If you can AFFORD to spend $2 or $3 a day buying Doritos, you can pay for your own lunch instead. If you can afford the big screen TV, don't ask the schools for free food. Choices and accountability are the key.

Read your own post. 99% of those CAPTURED fighting the US were Iraqui. Maybe that is because the foreign insurgents are big pussies that run away at the first sign of trouble. Or maybe they are killed instead of captured.

I don't think they refused to 'come out against lynching', they just refused to apologize for something they didn't do that happened a long time ago. Maybe it's a little like doctors not wanting to say they are sorry when they screw up for fear of it being used against them later. Ask the 16 if they are against lynching, I bet they all say yes, they are against it.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jun 14, 2005 -> 02:08 PM) Not everyone who can't afford food has a big screen, or rims, or even a car.. You are not entirely correct. Actually, we both are correct. I worked for Rent-a-Center for about a year and a half in both Joiet and Kankakee, and I couldn't tell you how many houses we delivered a rented washing machine to, that had a stereo system in it to make a Dj drool, big screen TV's and leather couches! the rest of the house looked like crap, but they had those items. Over half had at least one big-ass dog that probably ate more food than a kid and regardless of race, they all had lots of bling. There are alwasy exceptions, but as the article itself noted, alot of it was poor consumer choices. I can't tell you what school, but my mother works at a suburban school, fairly mixed, but has a large percentage of the kids (also mixed) getting 'free lunches'. After eating their 'free lunches', these same kids then have money to buy all the junk food they (used to) sell. If they have money for chips and a candy bar, why not money for lunches? Poor consumer choices. As for Jewel, I didn't mean go there for your every day needs, but they DO have great deals on fruit and veggies quite often, that are cheap by anyone's standards.

Just remember: It's always George Bush's fault. not the parents, for choosing other needs over food. Maybe forgoe that bigscreen tv and lose the $500 rims on the $1000 car and buy food. Eat the rottweiler, or however you spell that. Stop smoking. Quit buying junk food. Bulls***. they aren't looking hard enough. Jewel always has fruit on sale real cheap. Aldi's has canned veggies extremely cheap. Meijer just had canned veggies 3 for $1 a few weeks back.

Drese sucks! If he can't get wins with all the runs that Texas puts up, I don't want him anywhere near the Sox rotation.

QUOTE(winodj @ Jun 8, 2005 -> 02:30 AM) None of them are dumb. I think Kerry, however, had a better grasp of some of the international relations concepts that the Bush administration didn't seem to know existed this time last year. I hated when people on my side of the fence talked about how much of an idiot Bush was - his bumpkin accent and mispronunciations are all an act anyway. Listen to him speak in 1998. Then today and you'll see what I mean. It may not be entirely an act. It is easy to slip back into a southern drawl. Heck, it is easy to pick it up. I used to spend summers and my grandparets down south, and when I came back, it was 'y'all' and 'howdy' for months!

QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Jun 7, 2005 -> 05:39 AM) I don't agree that Rather had a personal agenda. What backwater hell-hole do you live in to believe that? Oh, that's right, canada. If you can say that you don't think rather had ANY personal agendas in his many stories about the Bush administration, with a straight face, you need new meds.

QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Jun 7, 2005 -> 02:49 AM) Balta did exactly that! Do you have a link for that? I'm interested because that's a good point if it's true. Okay maybe it is, but those who have the public duty of reporting the news aren't supposed to be doing it with profit margins in mind. Or personal agendas (aka CBS's Danny-boy).

That lady was just like all the wierdos that think the black helicopters are out to get them. Act like an ass to a cop, refuse to listen and hassle the cop, get tased. I love towards the end where she says 'you never told me to get out of my car'. yeah, right.

I think the disgust enters into this not from WHAT he said, but by how long he said it, and the apparent glee he was expressing while he said it. It wasn't just a line or two, he went off. If he would have had a similar rant about the Boston or NY managers, he would have probably been fored by the east-coast slanted sports channel. I also thought OZ made a mistake (more than one!), but Brantley crossed over the imaginary line. He also assumed that Hermie would have gotten them out 1-2-3 during his rant, which he should know better that nothing is automatic, except Konerko hitting into a 6-4-3 double play.