MacGyver

That's a neat story, Doug. Having grown up outside of Tennessee, I missed Tennessee history in elementary school. What a mess.

I'd bet that if we played our cards right we could hit Central, the BBQ shop and Germantown Commissary all in one day. Somebody else is going to have to drive home, though...

Maybe we could carpool over there and at least get some Central Barbecue with Chucktshoes after it's done.

Man, just slap a sign on the house, put out a donation box and go ahead and make it a museum. I'd pay $10 to go see all that...

I used to try to carve out room for capital punishment in extreme cases where there was no shadow of doubt. But, that "shadow of doubt" is an interesting phrase. It's interesting how many of the exonerations I've read about left none at the time - after all to be convicted of a capital crime, that's the burden - you must convince a jury of 12 peers unanimously that there is no shadow of doubt. But then a witness recants. Or a witness comes forward to having been pressured to tell a particular version of a story in exchange for a deal. Or evidence is withheld. Or forensic or lab results are tainted. Or whatever... The list simply goes on and on. With all of that, I'm with Capbyrd that I simply do not trust my government to only apply the death penalty to perpetrators of heinous crimes. But, I'll also expand on the rest of my thought process a bit - as it's evolved over the years. As a person who believes that none of us are the worst versions of ourselves - that has to expand to believing that no one is only the product of worst thing they've ever done. Sometimes actions have immediate consequences. If you get shot by a homeowner as you threaten their family - well, sometimes big actions have big consequences. But, a redemptive and restorative philosophy of incarceration means that we seek justice - and realize that it may in fact take a long time. There are some people that should probably never be let out of jail. I'm sure there are some that would choose to be put to death as opposed to spending the rest of their natural life in prison. There are no easy answers. But, I'm convinced as a civil society that capital punishment shouldn't be a part of it.

Just a reminder to do like your mama taught you - and play nice. We can certainly disagree with one another - but doing so should follow the same rules as it would if it were to happen at the dinner table. Be respectful, be prepared to back up your arguments, and avoid personal attacks. Otherwise, don't be surprised when people quit inviting you to dinner...

Worth considering in this argument - though it could be a thread in it's own right. This article in the Times this morning mentions that of the 166 exonerations in 2016, 70 involved government or prosecutorial misconduct. The case cited involves Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich - regarding a case that set her on her upward trajectory politically... https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/magazine/she-was-convicted-of-killing-her-mother-prosecutors-withheld-the-evidence-that-would-have-freed-her.html?referer=https://t.co/mlRL0Wmk5v?amp=1

Forget the evidence that taking a case all the way from trial to death row to the execution chamber is way more expensive than maintaining a prisoner for life without parole. Forget the moral arguments - for or against the death penalty. With the exonerations we've seen over the last few years regarding new evidence, tainted forensics and dishonest prosecutions, I simply do not trust our government to kill people. Again, there are people who should almost certainly spend the rest of their days where they cannot do harm to the rest of the population. But, even in those cases I'd argue against the death penalty. At some point it's not about them - it's about us as a society.

I hope that in my lifetime we see a more jurisdictions move to a view of restorative justice as opposed to the punitive vision that most use today. If from nothing other than a pragmatic perspective - what we've got now clearly isn't working. From a faith perspective - which informs a lot of my thought on the matter - if we believe people can be redeemed, then our prisons need to model that, too. Yes, there are people who need to be in jail. But, there are a lot of people who should not - and their families and communities are suffering systemically as a result. North Dakota is trying an interesting model right now: http://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2017/07/north-dakota-norway-prisons-experiment/

No one deserves to be treated like that. When you lose sight of a person's humanity, that ought to be a good indication that you need to find another career.

Hey, congrats! That's awesome! Know that you guys are in our prayers.

The number one rule of shotguns is that if you're not shooting it, you need to be feeding it. Where most are really lacking is in practicing to reliably develop those skills. The Aguilas are fun little lower recoil shells, but all-in-all you'd be way better of spending that money on more of your normal ammo and really honing your skills. The shotgun is round for round just about the most destructive personal weapon system we have. But, when it comes to fighting with one - if you don't have your stuff really squared away it's liable to bite you. I'd just go with some 00 buck and call it a day.

Nice! That's a great bow.

I tried to jam a squid into mine one time, but it just made a mess... Glad you noticed and we're okay. I've only ever had one squib - factory match grade ammo, too.

Nothing turns a bad news cycle quite like blowing some stuff up... Cynical, but the consequences of getting it wrong are beyond a scale that's been seen in our lifetimes.

We're not going to get too many more WWII movies - especially not big budget ones. Forget the fact that most of our own population has forgotten or simply never cared to learn. They don't play well in China - and that's pretty much a requirement for the big studios to make them these days. It's a rare movie that recoups its budget in domestic sales alone, so they want pictures that play well globally. The movie business is a sorry business these days... I'll probably venture out to see it.

Man, I know what I would do with 12 weeks of forced inactivity: https://www.coursera.org https://www.edx.org There are so many things I'm interested in, and so little time to dedicate to exploring. We're at this weird juncture where there's some really great information at availabile at your fingertips - for free. I've taken a couple of Stanford courses recently that were truly on par with graduate level courses I've taken. Between that and a free Amazon Web Services account I'd build something. Congrats on the retirement and it sounds like you're feeling pretty content about it. That's a pretty rare accomplishment these days.

Have you shot that thing yet?

If I could take my room down to about 60F when I sleep, I would. I'm so close to backing this thing: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/smartduvet-breeze-dual-zone-temp-self-making-bed-home-innovation#/

As I've gotten older I've found that sleeping well requires work on my part. I need to be physically and mentally tired. A good hard days work usually takes care of the mental part, but I need to make sure I'm physically tired, too. Basically, I'm a better husband, father, friend and person in general when I work out. I don't have a specific routine that I follow all the time. I try to mix it up. But, my rule is to do something that makes me sweat everyday. It's amazing in modern life how easy it is to avoid this. For me, I don't drink coffee after about 3:30 in the afternoon unless it's a special occasion. The half life of caffeine in the body is about 6 hours. So, if I drink it later than that it messes with my sleep. When I was young I didn't notice it at all. But over the last 10 years with sleep tracking apps like the Fitbit, I notice that even if I don't wake up, my sleep is more restless and generally about 10-15% worse than if I abstain. I'm not a drinker, but a lot of people find that alcohol later in the evening really messes with their sleep. Forget the fact that you're going to have to get up a bunch when you drink. For a lot of people as those alcohols turn to sugars, it too causes issues. One of the most helpful hints that I do these days is that I walk for 30 minutes before bed. Not trying to exercise - just trying to switch phases if you will. No screens. Just walking and trying to be thankful. For some folks insomnia can have an underlying medical cause and mental stuff factors in a lot. I'd definitely talk to your doctor about it. And, don't discount the stress of the last year. Lord knows y'all have been through more than you should have, and I know you're likely still carrying a lot of that load to try and take some of it off of your wife. It's easy for that stuff to accumulate. Don't be afraid to talk to someone about that. You know where to find me if I can help.

Man, I totally understand. Luckily I'm past it now, but a couple of years ago when I was recovering from a shoulder injury, I commented to my wife that I totally understood how people got addicted to painkillers. It's not even that the pain is so bad - it's wanting to be able to sleep more than about 3 hours at a stretch. Have you talked to anyone about it?

The hearing on the bill got dropped after the shooting of Majority Whip Scalise. I haven't seen that it's been rescheduled.

Got my first two tomatoes in yesterday. Early this year, which is surprising since I didn't get them out until late. I don't usually have ripe tomatoes until the 4th.

A cheap pour over filter is maybe $5 and totally worth it. Seriously. If you're wife is not totally into camping, that's a little convenience that'll buy you a lot of grace. Or heck, the flash dehydrated stuff is way better than the Foldger's of old. Either are likely to win you a few points.

I can see the logic in that argument - and I'm sure some curricula were originally based on that reasoning. That said, if I were going to teach it to my kids, I'd start with the rules that govern the universe, build in chemistry and then take both of those into biology. That said, today's student isn't really prepared to take physics or chemistry earlier in their academic careers. They don't have the math for it. Even a trigonometry-based physics curriculum is going to be out in front of where most freshman are from a mathematical perspective. I guess we could flip the whole thing up on end and teach the math as we come to it in the sciences...