btq96r

  I don't care if it's a late night run to McDonald's or take-out dinner from Mafiaoza's...I don't leave a place until I check the order to make sure it's what I ordered.  I also check the receipt as soon as I get it, because more than a few times the issue was it being input wrong, and the person in the back just filled out what the ticket said.   Bottom line, as my old battalion Command Sergeant Major used to say, "if you expect it, inspect it."

I doubt you'll find what you might consider a "good" deal for an iPhone 6 since they are so new.  Maybe after the holiday's you can find a deal, but I wouldn't hope to find one until the demand for them thins out a bit.

  While I do think it would be lower than the cable companies are charging now, I don't know what the prices would be if we got to the point of a la carte cable.  But we shouldn't be surprised if it isn't the great savings we are hoping for.  If cable is on a per channel menu, I think you'll see the cost of ESPN dwarf the others due to their contracts with the NFL and NCAA being whoppers.   I also think that some of the smaller specialty channels that are put onto your packages won't survive on their own.  Not enough people would think to add them, and if they can't generate the revenue, they will be off the air quickly.   Regardless of what could come to pass, getting rid of the cable companies is the best way forward.  With them in the picture, we have a middleman that is beholden to shareholders and will raise rates on the consumer to make sure there is a good dividend at the end of the year for them.  I'm all about getting rid of a middleman who isn't worth their drag weight.  There is no need for them with streaming services and devices like Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV being affordable options.

LEO's accept the risks that come with their job when they put on the uniform and collect their check every pay cycle.  Bringing up the dangers they face doesn't change the fact that they are allowed to quit the job anytime they want if they're unable or unwilling to handle that risk.  I hope for their safety on every shift, but I'm not willing to accept any violations of individual rights to mitigate the risk they assume by choice.   I may never have worn a police uniform, but I've worn a uniform and faced danger from those who would want to kill me.  So, excuse me if I laugh when I hear about LEO's, or their representatives who proclaim that they're in a wartime environment.

Love my Roku 3.  You have to take a deep look around at the channel list (Google searching also helps) to find the ones you like, but once you have it set up, you'll wonder why you didn't make the change sooner.

  It's possible, and it wouldn't shock me if you were right, but given that this isn't DISH Network's first dispute with a channel I think they're at it again.    The last time I remember them doing this was with AMC when Breaking Bad/Mad Men/The Walking Dead were pulling in a lot of viewers for that channel and all of a sudden DISH was going to drop them when their contract expired.  Then things got resolved.  Seems like the same play here.

That's the top dollar kit we bought them.  Glad to see it wasn't all thrown on the ground when they retreated in the face of the ISIS advance.

Sounds like a classic hardball negotiation.  DISH want's to pay Fox News less than they are now to carry their channel, and Fox News thinks they can get enough pressure from DISH customers to force their hand.    I don't really care who wins, but I am interested in the broader implications for getting cable channels individually instead of in packages. 

  I wanted to practice, but I only have a 2-door truck.  I guess I better get a 4-door vehicle and start practicing before my luck runs out.

  If the Titans deal for Cutler, and the massive contract he comes with, they deserve all the misery that move would bring.    I'm not sold on Mariota being the real deal for the NFL, plus I think he goes to Tampa Bay at #1.  The Titan's would do best to get a good offensive lineman or linebacker that they can develop and keep around for a long time.Mettenberger is their best bet for next year and I think a full off-season with him as the starter would be good for his development.  Regardless, the Titans are in for another year of suck next year.  Just too much rebuilding to do all around.    On the plus side, with them having played Thursday, I actually get to watch some good games today.  The NFL should consider ending the arcane broadcast rules that prohibit showing other games when the local team is playing.

  Governor Cuomo won re-election this years election by 13%.  His 2nd term starts in next month. 

  You don't think the Democratic Governor would back up the Democratic Mayor of NYC if he needed a National Guard call-up?  I bet he would in that situation.    Hell, using the NYPD salary that would suddenly become available would help offset the costs of a guard activation.  The cost is usually why Governors want the President to declare a disaster and let him be the one order the activation since it puts the Federal government on the hook for the costs instead of the state. 

  I must have missed the "sitting around all day on milk crates" clause in the 4th Amendment that allows practices like stop & frisk.        What dangers is he putting his officers in that they don't already face as a part of their job?

  In that scenario, would you be cool if Mayor De Blasio fired the lot of them and replaced them like Reagan did with the striking Air Traffic Controllers?

  Well, the kid looks a lot more black than he does white.  Then when you consider that over 50% people who get caught up in stop and frisk are black or 14-24, the Mayor has a point that his son was at a higher risk of being in an encounter with police through no fault of his own, and was doing the responsible thing by teaching him how to act in that situation.   So, no.  That isn't racist, it's just life.  Sad as it is.

  Can I be a guest star?  I'll wear my old Army uniform, but it seems to have shrunk a good bit just sitting in the closet. 

This was a tragedy, but I don't know how it could have been avoided.  We have some truly messed up people in our society, more so in an urban environment like NYC. LEO's know the risk when then show up to work and can only mitigate it so far without violating a citizens rights.  Good situational awareness is the only thing that can be applied going forward.   I get that people are upset with Rev. Al and the usual suspects, but the blame is with the sick mind that pulled the trigger, nobody else.  Blaming them is like when far left zealots blame the NRA for every gun death.  It's counterproductive at best.   As to the NYPD being upset with the Mayor, some if it is from his campaigning against, then ending stop & frisk, but the rest seems to stem from him admitting that he had a conversation with his bi-racial son about how he needs to behave around a police officer because of how he looks.  Hard truth's cut deep, but that doesn't make them less true.  

A terrible event.  Hopefully it's an isolated incident and there won't be people who attempt to copycat it.

Ehh, if I had to be out shopping this time of year, I'd at least check out the ammo shelves for a good deal while I was there.

An F-250, even a used one is a hot commodity overseas since most foreign producers don't make work trucks that size.  You'd be surprised how many big Fords and Chevy's I saw in Kuwait.  Gas prices aren't much of a problem since the countries sell it very cheaply.

  I'm not saying we'd save $20 billion a year, just pointing out how much it costs.  The country is still protected by a nuclear shield if we trim the fat a bit.        Unless you get some special briefing from the National Security Council, we're both just two guys on the internet with a difference of opinion.   Is there a point that the guy who went to Cuba is also one of their defense officials?  Our own SECDEF and sub-cabinet officials make visits to countries and meet with their leaders all the time, it's not news.  Unless you think there is some nefarious scheme to put Russia's nuclear weapons in Cuban territory again, why they big to-do?   As far as the debt write off, the Russians know they wouldn't get back that amount- slight of half of Cuba's GDP- anytime soon, so why not.  It bought them some more good will in future negotiations.    I'll say again, it's not about how many nukes we have, but how we deploy and use them.  Our targeting systems are pretty advanced these days, and make tactical nukes a lot more useful than strategic ones with no need to keep up in a count with the Russians, or anybody else as long as we have the capability we want to have.  We should stock and deploy our inventory based on our needs, not any round count from the other guys.       I'm reading and listening to what you're posting, but it ain't blowing my skirt up.  Rubio's interview with Levin was particularly disappointing.  The only valid point was how we let go some pretty bad people, but that happens with many reconciliations.  The rest was all emotional appeal that comes from his conservative constituency down in Florida.  But is Cuba really worse than other countries we have normal relations and trade with like China or Saudi Arabia?    I also get Russian nationalism, I just don't think it's enough for us to be paranoid over.  Cautious, sure.  But not paranoid.     How have human rights been in Cuba during the embargo years?  They won't get better if we keep up the embargo and only communicate to them through whatever country we go through for message running.   I'm analyzing the situation, still not scared.

No duct tape?  You obviously haven't tried to solve the problem. :cool:

  I get that Putin isn't someone to take lightly, but he's got his own domestic problems to solve for the moment.  He also hasn't said a word about Cuba that I can find, and he isn't shy about lambasting us for...well anything.  He has an economy falling out from under him to worry about, a new region in Crimea to administrate, propping up the separatists in east Ukraine... us re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba has to be near the bottom of his worry list.       4,804 nuclear weapons isn't enough?  Just how many do you think we need?  I'm all for getting rid of more.  There expensive to maintain- over $20 billion a year- and the only ones that are operationally sound are the submarine based ones.  The ICBM program is an embarrassment and the bomber based nukes aren't reliable enough to penetrate a decent air defense system if they can't fire cruise missiles from afar like deep targets inside Russia and China would require.   The numbers game on nuclear weapons isn't valid anymore.

  Happened early last month.  http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/sumner/2014/11/04/sumner-votes-raise-property-taxes/18448859/   People love to rail against the federal government, but local government still has the ability to make changes that can be felt just as deeply.  I'd bet those will be the most pissed can't name the county executive or their district commissioner off the top of their head.

  They can park their boats at any port where the host nation allows it.  What's your point?