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  Her anger was probably just general bitching like any of us are prone to do spur of the moment, so I trust you didn't take it personally.    Paying taxes on the money you save through a coupon?  If that doesn't show how asinine and petty tax laws are, I don't know what will.  I'm fine with large tax sources like income or sales/VAT, but these mosquito-like taxes that people don't are some BS.   The sales tax on coupon savings should be payable with the EBT card.  Regular sales taxes are if I'm not mistaken, why not that?  I'm not seeing the difference that makes it ineligible.

File this rash of abusing welfare benefits in the folder marked "nothing new under the sun."    Hell, even back when foot stamps were printed and looked like Monopoly money, I remember my mother would try to sneak in her cigarettes with the milk and bread at the corner store.  This isn't a recent problem that came about when we put the benefits onto a card to make the system more efficient.   The abuses of EBT/SNAP are as much a legislative failure as individual ones.  WTF do we expect to happen when we set up a system that is so fast and loose?  You would think with damn near every store using a digital scanning system to tabulate how much you owe, we could put what food items are EBT/SNAP acceptable and which aren't into the programing code.  You can use the EBT card to pay what you are authorized with it.  Everything else, on you.  Old country store doesn't do it that way?  Tough.  Call this an unfunded mandate to upgrade your tech or you loose out on getting that money from your customers.   Dairy products, real juice, baby food, formula, meal ingredients, anything fresh, ect... should be allowed.  With the sheer amount of processed heat and serve stuff in the stores today, I don't think you could get rid of having it on the EBT card, but I would like to see the amount of it capped at no more than 50% of what you get to spend per month.  Arguing on what is healthy or not would be a chore in and of itself.   It's also worth noting that the states have a lot of discretionary power over these programs.  Some use that ability more than others.  Tennessee's program is light years apart from California's.  But even our Republican trifecta knows that any major changes would have those EBT card holders casting ballots en masse. 

  Forgot to add, if you know anybody who lives near an Army or Marine post, they can probably find one that fell off of an M4 at a reasonable price.

Don't be afraid to get an older, beat up looking carrying handle.  You can get it touched up with a fresh paint job and it will look brand new, but you know it's going to last.  I have a carrying handle that is over 15 years old sitting in my spare parts pile.  With no batteries required, you best believe it is going in my get out of town bag if worst comes to worst. 

  $hitty ones, but yes.  :stir:

  Sorry, dude, this change looks like it can't be switched by the user.  I poked around, but can't find any way to revert to the old design.  I was a fan of the old page as a quick glance for breaking news, how the market was doing, ect...now we're stuck with the current version.  They want anything run by Microsoft to look like Windows 8.  Why I don't know- it sucks and reminding people of that doesn't seem like a smart move.   I've switched to https://news.google.com/ while I scout for new sites. 

So, this guy made it further into the White House than was first reported.  Like into the "As Seen On TV" East Room further.  I can't imagine how many levels of failure there were in this.    I'd like to say the Secret Service should have the authority to use lethal force at their own discretion, but this incident has me wondering if they could make a good shoot/no-shoot decision on the fly like that.

Every major casino in Vegas has top notch restaurants, at least a few shows you can take in and spa's if you want to surprise your wife with a few hours of pampering.  Just depends on what you are in the mood for.   For shows, I've seen Penn & Teller at Rio, Carrot Top at Luxor (funny as hell), Phantom of the Opera (The Venetian made a theater just for that show), Wayne Brady's Making S**t Up at I think Tropicana (also funny as hell).    Just be ready for some shock on the prices.  Nothing in Las Vegas is cheap.

  Give it a try with their creamy tomato soup.  I think it's pretty awesome.

  I blame MIke.357, he started it :D.   But honestly, to me, the demarcation when someone gets engaged in debate on religious views seems to be when it's not involving a direct personal impact.  I think that's a fair method since I would never want to give someone going through a tough time with themselves, family or friends more on their plate by engaging in a topic as hot as religion. I would also consider someone who couldn't keep their thoughts to themselves in that instance in bad form.   But for generalities, I think it's a fair topic.  Especially this one since it involves a public institution which we all have at least some investment in- they get state and federal money.

I think it's important to look at this incident and remember that we currently have warplanes dropping ordinance in multiple countries.  I'm the last guy to overreact to a terror threat (I think standard vigilance is sufficient in most cases), but someone hoping the fence, then having enough time to make it into the executive mansion is a way wrong answer given the external circumstances.

  Maybe this was a subliminal message get you to order more and fill the box next time (it wasn't).    Though, I'd imagine the suprise of those filling the order was greater than yours at the size of the packaging.  "One box of ammo...nobody orders only one box.  We're always shipping it out en masse."

  Your link was about the name of Popeye's nemesis.  I'm talking about how there is no proof to back up the title of the thread, "Now the libs are going after Popeye."

I'm still waiting for proof that there was a liberal plot to change Popeye.  More likely, this was just the normal changing of a cartoon to meet modern times.    Popeye is/was a sailor, right?  Well, the public image of sailors isn't rowdy guys with cheap tattoo's anymore.  I'm sure there are plenty of rowdy sailors with tattoo's, but the Navy has cleaned up is image over the years.  Also, pipe smoking is no longer in fashion.    So, the cartoon changes to keep relevant with the times.  No evil plan liberal attack on Popeye, just a company trying to sell their product in today's market.  I'm sorry if some of you older folks feel slighted, I too remember the old Popeye comics, but they make cartoons for kids, not adults.

I think there are two different markets to look at with regards to AR's; public and private.   I think the public market for AR's is at or about near the bottom for prices.  Simple economics tells us the vendors can't sell them for much lower unless it coincides with liquidating inventory before closing shop.  The price should stay steady for now if external factors are left alone.  AR prices will go up on November 9th, 2016 if a Democrat wins the Presidential election, so keep that in mind if you're debating the best times to buy.   The private market is a different story.  I think those prices will go lower than they are today.  Way too many people bought AR's "just because" during the crisis, at the inflated prices, and the day may come when they will need to sell those AR's, at a loss to pay some bills.  No shame in that at all if the situation requires it. I also expect the costs of private sales to come down, and help out those who will settle for a used AR for cheaper than a commercial vendor has them new if companies raise prices for any reason before the '16 election.

  It can be difficult, and it is in this case.  For those who deny the existence of a God or use another name like Allah, Jehovah, YHWH (or Yahweh)...et al, it doesn't work.    Setting aside the objections of non-believers since I know that isn't taken into high account here...this situation has a public school (aka: a government institution) pushing a specific Christian God- take it or leave it.  That's a no-go when you account for the source and the ACLU knows a winning case when they have one.

  What about those that don't believe in a God, or have a different noun to define their version of a God?  Not so simple a word to use in those cases.

  "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.