LTS

It would take me 100 takes just to get the first puck flipped properly. ? That was impressive.

Honestly I don't want everyone to vote a third party, I would just live to see a third party thrown into the mix such that there were was more nuance to our governance. Imagine a place where it's 40/40/20 split. I would love to see that... but we won't. I would actually prefer to see proportional representation, but that's never going to happen. The party uber alles. Sadly that's how many voters see it. Even worse when they're out there supporting Collins. That situation is a total turd blossom.

I'm so glad they are back... I hated waiting to watch the Sabres play. Here we go now.

If the Sabres go to Stockholm next year..... Just saying..

I'm right there with you. I prefer Hofmann's over Sahlens though. Zweigle's are shite.

Let me start with I appreciate the level of information and the thoughts you have put here. I want to also state it (if I did not before) that I do vote, have voted, and will vote in the future as it suits my beliefs. I realize that no candidate is suited for the way I think. In fact, the only one that would be, would be me. I understand, in exceptional depth, the political process. It's probably also important to dispel a perception that I am not involved. Your comment "Do something." is off base if it is applied to me. So, if you've perceived me as detached from the process it's misplaced. I don't like our current political process as it relates to campaigns and electoral processes. Our government is broken. I am involved, but it's not necessarily in furthering the machine that exists. Voting for the "best of the worst" is not something I subscribe to unless the "worst of the worst" is so bad that I really need to lend my support to that "best of the worst". Voting for candidates that I believe in as being a "not bad" choice is something I will willingly do. Voting for the greater good is a subjective concept. I understand your ties and how that influences your voting. What people consider as the greater good is quite subjective and even more so are their relative values placed on one issue versus another to define what is really most important or weighs out as the best of the options. I am being careful in how I phrase these things because it should not be perceived that I am trying to argue against what you've stated as values that are important to you. It's not my intention to project that I am in opposition of those things. I made the comment about "What if I were inclined to vote Republican?" know that in general it would stand in opposition to the things that you were getting at. I don't have a love of Republicans, by any stretch. It's quite possible I would vote Democrat, but again, it depends on the Democrat. There are candidates that I had hoped would make the ballot from either Republican or Democratic aspects but never did. I am a registered independent so I don't get to influence who gets put on those ballots (with regards to the Republican and Democratic ballots). I do speak, at length, with my Republican and Democrat friends about the prospective candidates and hope their party will put forth a candidate I can support, it just so happened that it did NOT happen this time. I'm not all that interested in breaking down my personal political viewpoints. More or less I get tired of hearing that you need to vote because you can. I understand why people say it. It just resonates poorly with me. Most people are not involved enough with how our country is run and for them to be voting is disturbing to me. They don't bother to understand who they are voting for, they just vote to say they did it. I do think that over the past couple of years people have found a reason to become more informed with their government. I hope that we begin to see genuine change in how our government works, especially as some of the old curmudgeons leave and the world continues to change. I think there is evidence that in some parts of the country a very different face was elected. I hope they are good at enacting change as well.

Who am I protecting when I vote? Who is at risk? You talk about voting and not see more gerrymandering/negative outcomes that affect more at-risk communities. There are certain presumptions buried within those statements. The presumptions lean heavily towards voters that would vote Democrat. What if I would be more likely to vote Republican if I were "forced" to vote? That would work in the exact opposite of what was intended by those statements wouldn't it? Gerrymandering is a practice that has been employed by both sides of the aisle. Negative outcomes are in the eye of the beholder. What you consider negative may not be considered negative by someone else. The entire system of how districts are drawn and how representation is determined is horribly broken. If one looks at the options and believes they all lead to negative outcomes wouldn't it make more sense to NOT participate in making that happen?

Where did you expect to see it? It was advertised during Sabres games. If they used the Google Ad Network I am sure they could. I don't know that they do or any NHL or AHL team does really. Not sure I've ever seen team specific ads popping up. Of course I don't pay attention to them all that much either.

There are better ways to fix the defense than taking on someone else's problem.

People consistently find a way to disappoint me. The only thing I understand about this happening is that it is clear that as a whole our population is losing its moral compass. I want to make a bit more of a statement on not voting yesterday. I have the RIGHT to vote. I have the RIGHT to speak freely. I have the RIGHT to own a gun. I also have the RIGHT to NOT do those things if I feel they are not beneficial. Having the RIGHT to vote is a critically important RIGHT to have. It's despicable that ANY citizen was never allowed to vote in the past. I accept that those who fought for those RIGHTS are incredibly important pieces of American history. However, when you are chided and goaded to vote it begins to move us away from the RIGHT to vote and more toward a REQUIREMENT to vote. We are a society founded on freedom and that freedom means it is important for us to have rights, but also to have the right to not act as well. There's a difference between someone who doesn't vote because they don't care and someone who doesn't vote because they don't support any candidate for the positions listed. As an independent voter I do not get to choose which candidate the Republican and Democrats put on the ballot. Frequently I am unimpressed with those candidates. Yes, there was a 3rd party candidate on the ballot, but I also did not like that 3rd party candidate either. Imagine for a moment that I went out and voted for the 3rd party candidate just to demonstrate that 3rd parties are important. Imagine if the guy won. I would have to live with knowing that I helped elect someone who I don't support. By NOT voting for what I feel are unqualified candidates I am actively engaged in the political process. The problem is that people don't see that differently than people who are just too lazy to vote or do not care. I encouraged all to vote who had a candidate (or policy) that's on the ballot that they want to support. I made no statements yesterday about my not voting (on here, on FB, on twitter, etc.) until after the polls had closed pretty much everywhere. I am thankful that it's mostly over. It seems that in some areas of the country there were some significant events. I am always curious what comes of it.

Well, it is true. If people did actually vote for the 3rd party candidates thing would change. The problem is that rarely do enough people vote for them and by the time any decent 3rd party gains ground in the eye of the constituents one of the major parties "adopts" the idea and kicks the third party away from the table.

It's a metaphor. No, you have to get up, go to the store, wait in line to get a turkey. You can choose Turkey A or Turkey B. You don't like either of them. You'd be willing to accept Turkey C (Smoked Turkey) but that's not an option. You can ask them for it, but they won't give you one. Do you leave the house to go to the store just so you can ask for Turkey C?

Furthermore, on this great day that celebrates our freedom of choice and in so doing celebrates those who helped create this wonderful country... Why the hell are you all crapping on the bird that Benjamin Franklin wanted as the national bird? ?

Fine, I can find a different word. My point is the act of governing the country is incredibly important. The political process by which the United States has devolved into doing so is incredibly less so. It's basically a pile of shite. No need to get salty. Curious @Eleven - if you had to go somewhere and choose your turkey but smoked wasn't an option and if you asked for it by name they wouldn't give it to you, would you still show up to get a turkey?

It's not like I never vote. I didn't vote this time. As I said, I could go to the polling place and choose my own flavor but that flavor isn't going to be elected. The options this time around did not impress me.

Politics is not governance. Governance is useful. Politics is nothing more than trying to figure out if a whopper or big mac are better for you. (When neither are).

I don't think you are selling me. I don't support any candidate on the ballots.. why would I vote?

After spending 4 years in college getting a degree in political science I learned one thing. Politics are anything but useful and I learned to despise them. Pretty awesome that. Every now and then something meaningful happens, but most of the time it's the same old predictable garbage. I hate elections in this country. I didn't vote. I didn't feel like taking the time to leave the house and wait in a line (if there was one) so I could choose between two flavors of crap. Sure, I could create a flavor of my own choosing by writing it in, but we all know that's not going to go anywhere so why bother?

My most hated night of the year.... It's almost over.

You are stating it quite clearly and I think what you have to ask yourself is whether you believe Botterill is incompetent or not. I happen to believe that he is competent and as such he knew that ROR needed to be moved and he did it. He knew that keeping him around would be a problem for this season. So he made the move. There's also a concept that why wasn't there a better deal on the table if ROR is such a prized piece around the league? You'd think that GMs might be willing to give up something more for him, but why wouldn't they? Sure we don't know, but I the league is run by people who have more knowledge about everything that goes on within its walls and I have to give that some value when evaluating why decisions are made. It is the point to win a Cup, but it's not the point to win it this year. If that's the case, then you allow the Amerks to continue developing and not disrupt it right now. If they start losing then perhaps they shake it up a bit, but you don't mess with the winning.

So, the issue being raised, specifically, was the validity of your story regarding the personal impacts of illegal immigrants with regards to kidnapping, rape, and murder. No. I allow for the possibility that @Scottysabres was not fully following what was in question.

The border situation is so fluid at the moment that I'm barely paying attention to it until something happens. Right now it's all FUD. The only thing certain is that there are a group of people moving towards the border of the United States. I think it's painfully obvious that a migrant caravan of 1,000 people is not going to enter the US illegally. Illegal immigrants do not enter the US that way. I also doubt 1,000 people are going to be able to claim political asylum or any other protected status and gain entry.

Sometimes man, sometimes, you just don't seem to hear what's being said. It's not to protect him from learning in Rochester, it's so that he doesn't change what is in Rochester already. I'm not sure why you won't see that point being made. Do you think there was a better deal available and the GM turned it down? I sincerely doubt you do. The more likely feeling from you would be that the deal should not have been made and that ROR should still be on the Sabres. We've addressed that by indicating that while this deal did not provide a HUGE return for ROR it was evident that Sabres management felt he needed to be moved. You can disagree with it, but at this point the Sabres are a better team than last year and the Blues still suck. As for Thompson... I think they hope he might be able to bulk up and that he would fit into the lineup but right now the other players on the team are outplaying him. I think if things in Rochester weren't going as they are right now they would have already made the move, but you don't mess with winning, even if it's the AHL club. The point is development and that's a long term goal, not a 2 week goal. Thompson's best spot right now is with the Sabres and he'll learn the same there as he would in Rochester at this point. So there's no need to move him down there.

Well that's a curious move. It really will be interesting to see which team snaps him up because you know it's coming.

No, it's not an excuse... and I'll explain below. Yes, I would imagine they might be slower in a sense. Thompson doesn't fit the game they want the prospects learning. So, putting him down there might ruin the Amerks because he pretty much HAS to play whereas in Buffalo everyone can see why he's scratched. I went from thinking "Why he should be in Rochester" to "Why isn't he in Rochester?". There's a reason and I don't think it reflects well on Thompson's future with the Sabres.