Rocky

THIS brings up an interesting point. In the USA, exercising one's freedom of speech is NOT without consequences. That's correct. People who make outrageous statements -- whether it's a teenager just trying to get attention or challenge authority, or someone who seriously believes some generally accepted belief, idea or notion needs to be challenged (for example, by organized protest, or letters to editors, etc.) -- SUFFER CONSEQUENCES for doing so. In most cases, however, those consequences revolve around social pressures rather than state sanctioned legal problems. Personally, I think the expression "political correctness" is OVERused as an excuse to ridicule things people say that we see are absurd or otherwise outrageous.

I smoked weed a sum total of ONE time in my life. Got stoned pretty easily. I actually drove my car while stoned. For the life of me, I can't see any (physical) reason I didn't get in a horrific collision while driving under the influence. I laughed an awful lot. But I detested the awareness that I was not as in control of my actions as I usually am... and that was plenty of motivation for me to not do it again. I also REALLY detest the idea of putting any kind of smoke in my lungs... I have enough trouble with allergies as it is... So, that puts me sorta into one or more of the categories Groucho and/or Excie listed. But I would have (and therefore did) phrase it differently. I probably would not be happy with it if I knew my daughter was a marijuana user. Perhaps for those who enjoy it... as long as they are able to properly function in jobs/vocations/social relationships (i.e. be successfully handling all relevant responsibilities), I likely wouldn't care whether a person used it regularly or from time to time. My daughter is not at a place in her life (given her age, 17) where she could either financially afford it or reasonably sacrifice time she should be focused on school and other productive pursuits.

OR... to put this very point in different words... WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER.

When I took Sociology 101 back in college, one of the things that made a lasting impression on me was on the topic of what it takes for people at various ages/stages of development to make genuine changes in their deeply held values/convictions. For young children, parents make a huge difference, to different degrees at different ages. But for adults (I know, whether PH is one of those is still an open question), it takes a "significant emotional event." Which is why it's so difficult to rehabilitate criminals sometimes. As bizarre as we all probably realize this whole media frenzy has been (over PH going to jail), it seems pretty clear that for her, this actually WAS a significant emotional event. Which is why it has also appeared that she has indeed undergone a genuine change of heart. Notice I said "appeared." The possibility still exists that this whole thing has been a put on by her... but I suspect the judge actually got through to her. Which, if it did occur, would be a very good thing.

And more than likely, so will I! :)

Somebody caught some of the stRangers STREAKING!!?? I'm shocked!

Last I knew, he was working for the San Jose Mercury News. Don't know if that's still the case, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is.

Yeah, Gracies okay. Just as laid back and conversational doing games as he would be in person, or in interviews. Can't even come close to comparing him with Mr. Scully, of course. Gracie and Daren Sutton banter back and forth, quite playfully... they do well together. Sutton replaced Thom Brenneman, who left to work with his father in Cincinatti. Brenneman was good and I thought I'd miss him but I don't. Sutton is a mellow guy... as one might expect, he played some baseball (pitcher of course) but never made it past the minor leagues. Both Grace and Sutton are guys you would feel comfortable sitting down and having a beer with. And yes, I did notice that Vin was alone in the booth. I just can't imagine what LA area baseball fans will go through when he's actually done, one way or the other. No doubt there will be plenty of grieving. btw, I LOVE your avatar! Who do you think you are, George BUSH?! ;)

Hey Hiway29... You got the Dodgers/Dbacks game on? It's on tv here in HD, but last inning, Mark Grace and Daren Sutton (Don's son, now doing TV work for the Dbacks) showed Vin in the booth at Chase Field... so, apparently he made the trip to Phoenix... and we got to listen to him for a couple of (way too brief) moments. I still envy you! Of course Grace and Sutton made at least as big a deal about, as Sutton said, Mr. Scully, as about anything else in the game... and so far Penny's throwing a pretty good game (DRAT!).

You SHOULD have it. It is a GSC feature. It's just to the left of the "undo" and "re-do" buttons, which are just above the buttons for justifying paragraphs (i.e. right justify, and one for left AND right justify at the same time). It's NOT a feature of the "fast reply" box.

He DID.

Dooj, It's a button on the upper right side of the "replying to..." box. It looks like a checkmark with "ABC" inscribed over it.

An ode to Shooter: Rod Beck (1968 - 2007) R.I.P. Rod Beck

And apparently the two-year-old was a witness to the violence. Given the child's age, I would expect him (the child) to not remember it when he is grown... which will probably be a good thing. But the tragedy is already unfathomable. Let's hope they lose the key to the guy's jail cell (but make sure he's in the cell first).

Good for you, and hopefully good for them too. Congrats. I hope it all plays out simply (as in not complicated) enough to allow everyone to be at ease, comfortable, pretty much happy AND nicely, or elegantly enough to make for wonderful, lifelong memories for them and for you.

but George... someone once told me that "life's a BEACH, then you die." So, at least we'll have a good suntan... Actually, most of us, by choice or by default, don't think about it much. Having lost two siblings (I'm the oldest of three), and my dad passing away 10 years ago now, I think about it a little bit, from time to time. Me thinks this question presents one of the great existential dilemmas. I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds good. Actually, like my mother, who just celebrated her 74th birthday (she's too fiesty to die)... I'll probably just keep on truckin, unless some unforeseen tragedy occurs that I don't find a way to either avoid or get through (safely?). For a long time, I've confessed (out loud) that I intend to live to be at least 93 years old... I chose that age because the Vitamin C doctor, Linus Pauling lived to be 93, finally succumbing to prostate cancer at that age. And I'm working on health issues to do my best to stay healthy enough to last at least that long. I work out at least 4 times/week (80+ minutes of cardio exercise, in addition to 15-30 minutes of weightlifting each time)... my cholesterol is way down, blood sugar and blood pressure are good... I'm still heavier than I'd like to be, but I'm moving that in the right direction... AND... giving back to the community with some volunteering... What's this got to do with being ready or prepared for death? I'm not sure, but I want to be able to go having felt that I've done some good and left things better than I found them, in at least a couple of areas.

Rumor has it... that tomorrow, June 23, is the (HAPPY) birthday of our own EXCATHEDRA! We love you Excie! Mwah! (source of rumor... shellon, posted in the open forum)

Yeah, Mstar, but it messed up the YANKEES... which team just finished getting swept in three games in Denver, with the lucky loser of today's game -- ROGER CLEMENS!

So, Cowgirl, does the winning name contributor get a cut of the proceeds?

Dude.... you sound like you need a My treat!

Arizona FINALLY... after 9 and a half seasons, gets its first WIN against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays! And it's didn't come cheap. Dbacks were down 7-1 and fought back to finally tie the score at 8-8 in the bottom of the 9TH... on a 2 run HR by Tony Clark. Then, CHRIS YOUNG (rookie centerfielder) hit his 3rd walk off HR (2 run) of the season, in the 10th inning.

Awesome! I'm almost surprised you didn't mention one Ricky Henderson... that sounds like the kind of thing he would to... hoping to get a call from an MLB team in the hunt for the playoffs before Sept 1!

YOU are defending Mr. DISINGENUOUS. Me, forgive? NO. Forget, YES. The man does not need to be in the public eye anymore. Now, IF the "discussion" were to revolve around HOW to prevent this kind of political abuse of power... THEN there's something to discuss. Until then, YOU are obviously just piling on (me). To which, I shrug and say, "so what?" YOU answered your own question. He was an elected (after first being appointed to the ELECTIVE office) official abusing the authority of his office. THAT *IS* politics. So, he belongs in jail. That's a matter for either the North Carolina law enforcement/court officials and/or federal courts because of his apparent violations of federal civil rights laws. However, THIS thread is ALL about POLITICS. No measure of denial on YOUR part (and mr DISINGENUOUS'S part) will change that. I also do NOT do caffeine. I would think you'd be GLAD for that! ;) I kicked the caffeine habit close to two years ago. And not drinking alcohol is simply a matter of no interest in it... I've NOT had a drinking problem before... so, no need to apologize for anything on that.

THAT would be a pleasant surprise.

Yes, you have the right to LIE to others about what you claim I did/said... oh, wait, you REALLY do NOT. "like protecting" is nonsense. I did NOT defend him. I called your poor judgement in question. In response to YOUR expression of interest in him, I called into question why anyone would care, since he had resigned his office the day before. THAT is NOT defending him. Instead, what occurred is that in order to divert attention away from your obvious lack of common sense, you attempted to shift reader attention to me, FALSELY claiming that I was defending him. THAT is a demonstration of YOUR inability to be HONEST about your own conduct. You continue to demonstrate same. And you're doing quite the tap dance trying to convince everyone that you're interest in Nifong's situation was NOT political. That is COMPLETE bunk. If Nifong had gotten disbarred for something he did either in his private life (like commit a felony... rob a bank, domestic violence in his own home, bank fraud, arson or whatever...) THAT would NOT be about his politics. This guy got in trouble for -- as YOU also indicated -- abuse of power. What role was he attempting to fulfill when he abused power? Did he abuse power while he was acting in his role as a public official, in an office usually filled by an ELECTION? Can you answer NO to that? (Not truthfully). Defend your stupidity all you want, but don't accuse me of something I didn't do... you have NO right to do so. Have Dmiller... I don't drink. Nyunknown, How can you say this... the great DISINGENUOUS says THIS is NOT a political thread. You sound like you don't agree with him on that point. And I don't blame you.