LTS

Where we differ on this... my entire viewpoint on this is that there is no party in no meaningful way. It's like the good cop, bad cop routine. They are both cops. They are both working towards a goal and they do so by playing the prisoner from both angles. That's my take on being a citizen of this country. They use each other to distract away from the real changes that continue to occur, under our noses, enacted by "anonymous" forces. As cheeky as it sounds, the line in Iron Man 3 has a lot of merit. Anonymity is the real key. When you give evil a face you give people some to concentrate on. The real players are behind the scenes. That's my problem when each time i hear people justifying "their side" by saying the "other side" isn't as bad, or at least we're not doing this, etc. You're in the forest, you just don't know it.

Despite all the evidence, people still believe Big Macs actually look like they do on TV. Idiocracy is real.

I would imagine they would be pissed... and also concerned. I'm not even sure how that would happen. I don't see Canada just agreeing to this so what's left, an invasion? The US has not made Puerto Rico a state in all these years, but then again, they don't have oil like Canada does. If someone found a livable planet.. I'd be on the first ship.

I can imagine being upset that my team lost. I can imagine also putting that in context of life and saying, at least they won twice in a row. I can't imagine being "devastated" although hyperbole seems to be the way of the world these days. Criticizing Chiefs fans for how they feel is just being bitter about your own team's failures. Meh. There's zero doubt in my mind that if the roles were reversed those there'd be no difference in reaction from people. The KC fans would be commenting on how "How can Bills fans be devastated and complain about losing when they've won 2 in a row before this?" Blah. We need to stop trying to live in everyone else's house.

It's like having to watch the SafeSport Guidelines. The first time I watched it I was disgusted beyond belief because it outlines how sexual predators groom children. It was effective. However, imagine someone who might not be sure how to go about it but was interested? It also read like a guidebook on how to groom children. I am saying 1984 might have put ideas into people's head about how bad government can be while also giving people ideas about how to make a bad government if they were so inclined. That is all. As I said, either way it doesn't matter. The actions that sparked this thread are disgusting.

Do you think this current Trump regime is like the last one? I see a lot of stark differences. I wager a lot of people are wondering about it as well. I didn't want the buffoon in office the first time or this time. But yes, the country, in it's ever solidifying binary opinion, thought a retread idiot would be the best choice. The population continues to only push for two options, so we can't be surprised that we get two bad options. Perhaps its time to stop supporting Idiot Party A or Moron Party B and try something new.

Please tell me where Social Security has anything to do with denying medical care, the right to marry, or the ability to serve in the military? This is the basic problem with your arguments and those like you regardless of what "party" you subscribe to. You are trying to justify Social Security as legitimate because it's not as bad as the things you pointed out. That's not how it works. Republicans use the defense "Look at what the Democrats did, we're not as bad as that." Democrats use the defense "Look at what the Republicans did, we're not as bad as that." News flash.. it doesn't matter. It's all bad. I'm not going to accept the "lesser of two evils" F that. It's all evil. Evil is evil. There are other options out there and that's what I choose to support. As for SS? I don't sit around with articles bookmarked, but here's one I went out and read. It's not bad.. and certainly highlights the problems which are indicative of a "group solution" when the "group" continually changes. As is the problem when we are all pulled into a "group solution" where the group membership is highly diversified. It means the benefits of the "group" program will predominantly benefit some over others. This is fine if one OPTS into it, but it sucks if you are FORCED into it. https://siepr.stanford.edu/news/social-insecurity-nows-time-act Make people work longer to get their benefits. - The never ending finish line. Require workers to pay more. - this is known as raising taxes Cut benefits for all or some. - Guess you don't always get what you pay for. Yeah, no thanks. https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/social-security-trust-fund-myth#introduction I feel so much better. It's all fictitious money, that when the economy goes tits up will be meaningless. If I were able to control my OWN money I could diversify my financial holdings into more meaningful investments. It's broke, it was always going to be broke and it ain't going to be fixed without seriously screwing some people over.

Or he gave people a shitload of bad ideas... Either way.. ugh.

Time to go...

Re: SSA: Your choice. You assume that because that is all I posted that it's all I know. I don't care if we have a discussion or not. Re: Middle East - I'm pretty sure I'm just going to quote you "Perhaps the most short-sighted and uninformed take. Safe to say we have no more to discuss on that subject." So, it's okay for the United States to get involved in other countries because it protects "our interests" and prevents opposition from exerting influence. The same United States that is taking action within its own borders now to protect "its interests" and prevent opposition from exerting influence? Once again we are back to the crucial question "Whose interests?" There are always two sides. You will argue that the other side is wrong because it goes against what you believe in. They will argue the same. And here we are.. no progress is made.

I'm just waiting for the day when the majority of people who voted for this administration are shocked they are getting what they voted for. I'm just sad for all those who knew this crap would happen have to deal with it. I'm just afraid of what the over correction will bring in the future - or if there will be a future.

For what it's worth, I wasn't saying it was. I had said apparent misuse of funds and was directing more at the "uncovered" items. My commentary earlier regarding cutting things like a museum exhibit fall more in the "useless is in the eye of the beholder". I have not seen the museum exhibit on Fauci, I'm not sure I give enough of a damn to want to. I could see how it's wasted money in wondering is there really a need for THAT exhibit? I don't know. And I will say it again. The Social Security system is an absolute scam that takes my money and redistributes it, theoretically, to the "masses". Social Security is the "safety net" for people who cannot figure out how to save their own money and invest it themselves. Worse yet, the government loves to "borrow" that money when they need to. The government, run by both Democrats and Republicans, that have amassed an insane amount of debt because they can just up and spend money without having the revenue to back it up. A very simple concept that every business owner (and human) should understand. The first mistake is involving themselves in the affairs of the Middle Eastern countries in the first place. The United States need to intervene to protect oil interests have led to continued rise and fall of dictators and terrorists. The Democrats and Republicans are both on the same team when it comes to funding the up and coming resistance to only find out that it's yet another power hungry individual hell bent on wiping out those with opposing ideology. In the Middle East I think we don't need a crystal ball. It's best to stop intervening in their affairs and let them be. I don't want people walking in my house telling me how to live my life. Why should they accept that we are in their countries attempting to control their very existence?

Overall I think it's fascinating that suddenly Elon Musk's team (and others apparently) can find all these apparent misuse of funds, etc. It's almost as if someone just looked it would be so obvious. I'd like there to be a new news network called CorrupTV where they do nothing but expose corruption. Or, it's all misdirection to keep us focused away from what else is happening.

Certainly a way to avoid tariffs.

And vice versa sadly. Maybe one day people will wake up and realize the world is not binary and it's not really us vs. them and that there are alternatives. Everything happening right now is designed to divide people all to the same goal. Allow the government to take over our lives. Sadly people don't want to realize it and instead can only be a 1 or 0.

I'm not necessarily advocating or speaking up against anything at the moment. But I would caution that when cuts are made the value of things being cut might be in the eye of the beholder. We can all look at where money is spent by all kinds of organizations and wonder if it was wasteful. If everything were diluted to the bare, only what's needed, model of pure efficiency then the world would become quite sterile. It's what leads to the elimination of art. Again, that's not me saying any of this is right, or that corruption doesn't exist because it certainly does and the government is full of it. Just that caution must be had when any single entity or group begins wielding the machete.

I'm not attempting to explain how anyone is any better off. I'm explaining what happened. That is all.

If I am recalling the situation correctly, Colombia was going to deny the planes. It doesn't matter what they had done prior. It matters that they said they would deny the planes. Trump threatened a tariff and Colombia changed course. Regardless of opinions on the matter those items seem factual. Also, let's not interject petty personal attacks regarding spelling. You knew what was being discussed. If you were unsure if the poster meant the country Colombia you could have asked for clarification.

Wanting to retain players and being able to are two different things. Don't get hung up on the "public speak" of sports. Zucker has also said he's interested in staying here, it doesn't mean he will. Both are statements of possibilities, not probabilities.

For someone...

Really? This is a disappointing response from a mod. We should encourage posters to not only share their opinions but support them. If a post is too long, just skip it.

Well, Ceci isn't good, so no. Granlund is okay. Either way, I don't think the Sabres are trading for any UFA with the hope of them signing in the off-season. There's no debating Buffalo as a destination players want to be right now. They don't help Buffalo make the playoffs either, so its going to create ill will to the Sharks organization if they trade them to Buffalo as rentals. That's a seller's trade only and it takes what Dallas gave up to get it done.

I have not looked it up but I seem to recall that the NHL has begun pushing events to happen early enough that they won't interfere with the normal start time of the game. I think they allow for some ceremonial puck drops but anything that reaches the level of multiple speakers, etc. starts long before the game so that the game timing is not messed with too much. It seems to me that this is a more recent trend as I used to recall seeing longer events where the opposition team is standing around on their bench waiting through the others teams event.

As the game evolves it's really hard to nail down what a C is supposed to be. I think Thorny has it down. Face-offs aren't necessarily taken by the "C" any longer. They are taken by the forward who gives the team the best chance to the the face-off in that particular moment. Left vs. Right dot, defensive vs. offensive zone. I think if you had a "C" that is particularly strong on the dot then that helps, but ultimately it's not the end of the world. As far as of the offensive zone goes, it's such a cycling game at this point that you just need to make sure you have a distribution of skill sets that achieves the output expected from that line. In the defensive zone it can be a bit more defined if you want C who is better at assisting in closing down the net front area. I think the game has become so much more transitional now that it's not too often that teams end up establishing a zone presence (the Sabres defensive coverage notwithstanding) and that they play more F1, F2, F3 than anything. I think Kulich and Thompson work well together so far. So I'll be happy with that. Peterka seems to be benefiting as well.

Any relation to Ethan Bear?