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I have no love or hatred for Tennessee football, so I tend of view the team with little emotion. No coach in their fifth year can hide from the results. Butch Jones has always come across to me as the worst stereotypes of a used car salesman- lots of great talk about a flawed product that you buy at your own risk. Rest assured, there have been, and will continue to be staff in the finance office of the UT athletic department working spreadsheets on his buyout. The only question is how fast they need to action it.

@bersaguy I understand why the vet is giving you the options. Some people will take every last moment with their faithful pet feeling it's not that bad for the animal, others will give the gift of mercy as they know it. Hard to fault either when emotions like this are involved. You've been adamant from the start that you'll do what you feel is right for Kasey. Follow your heart, and you know we'll all be here for you, come what may.

You're in my thoughts, Doug. I'm quite willing to help out with some duckets to ensure Kasey receives care and handling worthy of the love she gave you. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk. OhShoot very much likes to know when we're using Tapatalk.

I wouldn't go so far as to say anything is being revised just yet. This from a letter the Commissioner sent to all 32 teams. "Like many of our fans," Goodell wrote, "we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem. It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us. Key word there, should. This is in line with NFL policy, and I can't see the players union allowing the league office to enforce anything that isn't specifically detailed in the collective bargaining agreement without taking them to court. The NFL office and team owners are hoping this goes away, but I doubt the players protesting are of the same mind.

The gun and the rounds helped him kill people. Everything else he had (location, magazines, bump fire stocks) and everything else he could have had (training, scopes, match grade triggers) are just accessories to the gun and the rounds. But we'd never think of banning the gun and the rounds. And I have a good feeling you'd not be in favor of some of the other items on the accessory list being up for a ban.

Using this analogy, your rook isn't in danger at this moment. So why give up the pawn before you have to (ie: when Democrats get enough leverage back)?

We won't see national reciprocity in this kind of deal. The only way it comes is if Republicans push it through by forcing votes they have the majority for. If they have to do that, what's the point of regulating bump fire stocks?

The time for trading is when you're forced to by divided government, or by being in the absolute minority so you can at least soften the blow in exchange for allowing the other side label it bipartisan.

Okay, but why even give on this? A Republican President, a Republican Congress...and all Democrats can do is hold press conferences until they realize it's almost time for the Thanksgiving recess. Republicans and the NRA are caving on something they don't have to, and can wait out with no real consequences.

As soon as I saw that Republican legislators were open to regulating bump fire stocks, I felt they were on a standing 8 count. Now with the NRA chiming in the direction they did, I think it's only a matter of time and legislative momentum. That this could happen with a Republican Congress and President Trump in the White House is astonishing to me. My curiosity on this is why now? Sandy Hook, Orlando, both brought nothing, and this too would have passed I think.

Well, I'll be there for a visit in about a month and a half...I'll let you know if I see anything different from my prior trips.

As others have said, it's Vegas. A lot of luggage, or hard plastic cases on wheels for only one person aren't out of the ordinary. Think of how many large scale trade shows & conventions come through town a year, and how much stuff an individual working the show for their company has to lug around for it. Very easy to hide a cache like this guy had in plain sight in that town.

Bingo. Based on the crowd size and rate of fire, the shooter approached this as an area target, not a point target. And with a crowd size like that, it was a massive area target indeed. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk. OhShoot very much likes to know when we're using Tapatalk.

I'm waiting for the holiday sales like a vulture waiting for a battle to end between two Roman legions...for AR stuff and other goodies. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk. OhShoot very much likes to know when we're using Tapatalk.

So, what is the acceptable variance of negative experiences? I'd argue we strive for a variance of 0%, knowing as human beings we'll fall short, and taking notice when we have systemic problems...which I think we do. Those protesting feel that the variance is worse in their field of view than it is for you or I, and are raising awareness the only way that can get our attention short of violence it seems. If they don't feel America is treating them equally enough for them to identify with the flag and the anthem as I do, my first instinct is to find out what their grievance is, not attack their protest.

Ehh, all she's done is type up a Facebook post. I'd call it a "look at me" moment, but on Facebook that's the whole point it seems.

We had enough volunteer to carry us through Grenada, Panama, Desert Shield/Storm...all of those while the end strength of the military was way higher than today. Then continue through the Balkans interventions, all the way to the kickoffs of Afghanistan, and Iraq. Not sure when all these tributes to the troops became fashionable in sporting events, but part of me wonders if it came about during the heyday of Iraq when people started questioning how wrong it was go topple the country in the first place. Regardless of when it started, like any good public control tool, it passed from administration to administration. I think as long as we don't see the disgraces we saw in Soldiers being spit on coming off the plane or automatically equated to baby killers, there will be volunteers enough. The adventure, steady paycheck, opportunity to escape the economic circumstances of youth, and being able to serve your country are too alluring to be otherwise...all four were enough to get me to sign up, acclamations and public praise were never in my mind.

I think it only changes or changed (not sure if it's been made a Congressional restriction yet or not) because the story about it broke. And when I said propaganda, I meant targeting citizens at large, not potential recruits. Any all volunteer force has to recruit where the talent pool is, I get that...but I doubt anyone was stirred to service by seeing someone from a nearby military post or the local Guard/Reserve unit getting a shout-out during a break in the game. In my mind, the NFL and other sports are being used to flat out preempt questioning of the military industrial complex by chaining support for the troops to avoiding hard questions about just how listless we are in our policy.

Imigur is good enough for most online posting needs. Far from perfect, but far better than Photobucket became.

Why? The pentagon loves the NFL so much they were paying for the pomp and "salute to the troops" during the games out of the recruiting budgets. I think it was little more than a way to create patriotism through propaganda, but the military liked it well enough. It seems to have worked judging by the outrage at a perceived slight against the troops and their sacrifices.

Why would Congress get involved? All the stadium funding deals are done at the municipal and state levels, Congress couldn't regulate this if they wanted to.

For football at least, showing the anthem on TV has been a normal thing. Maybe that goes hand in glove with how the DoD admitted they were paying the NFL for "tributes to the troops" as a recruiting tool, but showing the anthem on NFL broadcasts isn't a new ratings check block.

I don't know about every player who took a knee or raised a fist on Sunday, but Colin Kapernick as put his money where his knee is at least, being named the Week 1 Community MVP even as a free agent. He's been donating to various causes on the way to a total of a pledged million...not an insignificant amount when you consider he may never see another NFL contract again. https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/09/15/colin-kaepernick-nflpa-charity-community-mvp

The calculus on this changed on Friday night, when President Trump, at a podium with the seal of his office, made the comments he did. Now, I get that he was at a campaign event, and that he doesn't have the unilateral authority to fix the NFL to his wants (though he surely wishes he did I'm sure). That said, for a man who took an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution to argue with all the influence of his office the way he did was quite disheartening to me, even for this President. Also, my comment was as much in response to a perceived insult to those who served. I know I speak only for myself, but I have no issues as I can see how they are using the attention of the anthem as a amplifier for the message versus an insult of my service. I'm actually iffy on the employers authority in this case as the NFL isn't a traditional workplace and subject to the agreements between the league and the players union, but it's clear that both the NFL offices and a great many teams (the most notable exception being the Cowboys and Jerry Jones) are okay with it for now. So, I'm not seeing your point on employment rights since aside from Kapernick not being hired by teams that could clearly use his talents, nobody has been fired for their protesting. In contrast, the NBA took efforts to clean up their image a while back, putting in place a dress code for team travel to and from an arena, and mandating players cease warm-up activities and stand respectfully for the national anthem. The players union accepted it. How much that is enforced or even changed in light of what's happening is in the air.

I've only made it through the first episode so far, but I can tell this is a series that needs to be seen by many. Would that those in positions of power could be swayed by the lessons it has if they cared to listen.