btq96r

  "In God We Trust" was put on money in here and there for a while, but it wasn't the official motto of the US until 1956, when it was added to all the money (mostly catching up to the paper money).  We needed God to help set us apart from communism, apparently.    I wonder how we survived until an act of Congress made it offical... :huh:

  There is no such thing as a simple prayer when it comes from someone in any position of authority.  When a paid employee of government- the school principal in this case- is the one asking (read ordering) students to pray, the establishment clause is broken because a representative of a government has made his religion of choice the position of their institution.  Even when someone isn't forced to actually pray, they force to partake in the process by simply being there.    Honestly, if you need a comparison as to how this feels, be in the crowd as a group prayer from a religion other than yours is conducted by someone in control of the event.  Having spent years of my life living in a Muslim country that had an official religion, I know this unease from different angles.  But that part of the world doesn't have an establishment clause, so I had to endure it.  I expect better in America.    I respect the rights of any individual to pray how they please, or not to pray.  I know religion is a very personal and important aspect of many peoples lives.  But nobody in a position of public office has the right to invoke their religious beliefs in any way during the performance of their duties.  Prayer belongs in places of worship, in the home, in private groups of like believers, but not in the public sphere as directed by a governmental official.

What Mike said.

Situational awareness is still the best survival tool anybody can have.  If you think you need to fortify your home with ballistic level protection, moving to a more civilized location would more than likely be cheaper than making the needed fortifications to the entire house.  I suppose you could pile sandbags, if you had the time, energy and didn't mind living in a Vietnam movie.    Knowing how your neighbors would respond in a crisis, and knowing how where the likely hot spots are (i.e.: places likely to be looted, areas where violence will spring up from, ect) are your best bets to let you gauge how much time you have to decide to either bug out, or man battle stations inside your home.

Montana is on my short list of places to move if the perfect situation aligns itself.  I'd rather it not be sullied by an asshat like George Zimmerman.

  Shotguns can serve the purpose just fine in a civil unrest scenario.  I'd have a handgun as backup, but I would have a handgun as a backup with an AR or AK as well.   The mob mentality is to follow the person in front of you and any courage in that mob is collective by default.  If a mob comes to a persons house with ill intent and the first one through the door gets a slug center mass, I think the rest would be pushing over each other in retreat after loosing their collective courage.   If I had to chose between my shotgun and my AR, I am taking my AR.  But if all can get my hands on is my shotgun, I'm comfortable in my ability survive a civil unrest scenario.

Got mine today and wore it to go pick up some food. It feels okay for now (still getting used to the difference from my old holster). But I've noticed that there is about a half inch of play up and down in seating the gun. Even subtracting the 3/16" needed for the front sight to clear, it's still too large by 5/16". You can see it on the left in the pic. Is this normal, or could they have made a mistake during the production process by putting on the wrong plastic? They also half-assed the logo stencil. I have the alien head, but not the brand name. Little things like that indicate a lack of attention to detail and irk me to no end after I had to wait a month from time of order. For that much wait time, my pistol should fit in it like a glove and I should be wowed by the craftsmanship. I'm debating sending it back.

  Whatever Apple does, Google will do just as intrusively on privacy, but more user friendly.  No way only one company gets a monopoly on a digital payment system like that.   I don't own iAnything, but I also don't like the Google Knows Best attitude they have.  But I use Android products since I can alter the OS as I please.  I run Cyanogenmod on my phone in place of Android OS and also have my tablet rooted.   I'll never give up a real wrist watch for some fancy gadget like watch, though.  That's one idea I'm just not going to get on-board with.

  The only thing Open Carry Texas is ready to "go to war" on is the local Golden Corral judging by the looks of many of them.

Moms Demand Action demand a specific action be taken by Panera Bread.  Panera Bread does not give them what they want.  No analysis of what happened here should tell us Moms Demand Action won in this instance.   Recognize the scoring rules of the game being played for what they are.  Just because a business doesn't tell Moms Demand Action to piss off and sign up for a lifetime membership with the NRA doesn't mean it's a loss for our side.   As an aside, Panera may have some high prices, but their bread bowl soups are good. 

Titans have a legit shot at going 9-7, maybe 10-6 if they play the disciplined level of football they did today.  I don't see a playoff trip this year, however.   Long term, they should let Locker walk, using this year to get Mettenberger up to NFL level competence and letting Wisenhunt groom him into an NFL starter.  They have a sneaky good WR corps right now, and Ray Horton knows how to get the best out of a defense.  They need to replace the hole Alterun Verner left for a real playoff run, but that can be done in the off-season. 

I take both. You'll get used to the frequent pissing. Just make sure to keep fluids going in as replacement for what comes out to avoid dehydration. Between the frequent pissing and all the sweating I've done walking around during the day this summer, I've gotten dehydrated a few times. If the pills do what they're supposed to, you feel colder than normal in AC and when winter comes. That will be a good thing as it means your BP is going down.

  Chicago isn't the whole state of Illinois, but too often gets represented as such.  The rest of the state isn't near as far right as Chicago is when you take a look at it.  Take away the Congressional districts in Chicago and you see the state isn't all blue.  One of their Senators is Republican.     The number of applicants as soon as the permitting system opened up is a good indicator of how many people were waiting for this to happen.  I think you'll see some traction once they look at the crime rates after a few years of allowing people to carry.

  I'm not absolving the Congress for how they voted, I'm just saying in the political realm, they were masterfully backed into a corner by the Bush administration.    My issue is that the Iraq war didn't need to happen.  We could have kept Saddam in check through various means (sanctions, air strikes, even limited ground incursions like the Israeli's do in Gaza and the West Bank) to protect our interests in the region.  He was valuable to us as a regional counter to Iran.  But instead, our actions destabilized the entire country and the only way we could have prevented ISIS from being in Iraq would be to have keep enough troops stationed there for a generation.    I will say, the intel that took us into Iraq was cherry picked by Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rummy, ect...to get the desired effect.  I can only imagine the conflicting views that never made it to the President's desk for review.  I also don't subscribe that Bush was either an idiot or some diabolical genius.  He was just pressured into a bad decision by those he trusted presenting him only their side of the story.  I do think his "Freedom Agenda" was horribly misguided for that region.  The middle east at large is most certainly not ready for democracy.   I concur that President Obama's foreign policy has been a disaster; "if wishes were horses" comes to mind.  So, while I agree that ISIS should be on the target deck, I also think it's fair to say our actions 11 years ago are directly related to the reason they are a factor today.  But yes, they need to be dealt with.  I would just want Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, ect...put their skin on the line as well, rather than the US and the UK doing it all like we all know is going to happen.

I think it's important to remember that Illinois is just starting out in the world of concealed carry.  It will take time for them to come around to what we consider proper with states recognizing each others permitting authority.  Take the win for what it is, no state in our union is without a mechanism for their citizens to arm themselves.  Some may have absurd standards to qualify, but look at the history of where we were on this a generation or two ago.  The trend line is unmistakeable.   I agree with Mike, recognizing there permit instead of being spiteful is the proper play here, not to mention the right thing to do.

Gun company stocks are subject to speculation and confidence from investors like any other stock.  I remember the day after President Obama's re-election, gun companies were did pretty well when the Dow Jones droped over 300 points, due to the then fiscal cliff scare.  Investors knew that with a Democratic President re-elected, that gun sales would get a boost and saw that as a safe investment for a bit.  Now that gun sales have tapered off, they want something better to invest in.   Just regular market practices at play, nothing out of whack.

  They may be used by the folks you mentioned, and should be investigated for that, but law enforcement has been using Stingray tech as well.

  President Bush took almost unfair advantage of the post 9/11 patriotic fervor.  Voting against another Iraq war was a non-starter for any politician or else they would be demonized as soft on terror.  It wasn't a fluke that the vote took place in October 2002, the month before that years mid-term elections.  They knew that election would keep enough votes in their favor.    The truth is that his administration (especially Cheney, Rumsfeld & Wolfowitz) were looking towards Iraq as they were still cleaning rubble in NYC and at the Pentagon.  Every memoir I've read from the Bush administration can attest to that.  They went looking for a fight in Iraq despite having no legitimate reason and got what they wanted.

  Screw that, LE needs a warrant for anything they collect.  "Don't break the law" and "I have nothing to hide" are conditioning tools to get the smallfolk in line.   I don't break the law, and I want to hide my privacy.  They need a warrant if they want anything from me.

  Classic fantasy football conundrum.  I have the same decision to make on Week 8.

  AP was a solid #1 overall pick.  You still need to slot a RB each game and Adrian Peterson is as safe a bet as they come to get you quality points any game he plays.  He'll also be even better than last year since it seems he's going to be in the passing game a bit more than in years past.    The quality of RB's falls fast once you get outside what I call the big four (AP, McCoy, Charles, Forte...yeah, I left Marshawn Lynch off, on purpose) since they are true 3-down backs.  A lot of teams are using as many as three RB's, with a different RB for each situation these days which limits their value in fantasy.

  Considering the TE you drafted in the 1st round was Jimmy Graham, it doubt you'll have drafters remorse*.   *Barring injury of course. :D

Don't forget to consider the league rules when drafting. Biggest things to be aware of are it's a PPR league, we have a lot of WR/RB/TE slots to fill (6 per lineup), and I set up negative points for missed field goals inside the thirty-nine yard line.

  With the eForms system down to somewhere in the 30 day range for turnaround, I think you'll start to see more of these "quick fix" services offering NFA trusts to take advantage of the impulses we shooting enthusiasts have.    TGO is the kind of place where a service provider who isn't treating you fairly will be disclosed quickly.  Likewise, it is a place where a service provider can be endorsed with a personal recommendation when they meet or exceed a customer/clients needs.  Both John and Chip Cain have multiple endorsements across this site that speak for themselves.  In a community like this, with the services they provide, that should mean something.   John Wells did the setup for my trust, and I'm convinced the quality of his work is the reason I got a 1st time go on my initial NFA submission.  He is also lightning fast to respond to every "hey, what about..." question I have.  I don't regret spending a bit extra to have that comfort.

  Bench scoring will only be used as a tiebreaker if needed.    Draft time is listed on ESPN as 8:15pm eastern time, so if you're in central time, it will actually be at 7:15pm.