tntnixon

I was a Ed Bryant supporter during the primary. I pretty much hate Corker. However, when faced with the very real possibilty of Ford getting the seat, I held my nose and voted for him in the general election.

The truth is that I'll vote for any Republican over BHO, at this point. I just hope we have better choices. If we can keep Romney and Huckabee from splitting the conservative vote this time (that's how we got McCain, in case anybody doesn't know) or something similar, we may end up with a good candidate on the GOP side. I'm really more of a Libertarian, but usually vote Republican and if pressed will declare myself as one. While, I don't like the two party system, I understand it. I also understand that half a loaf is better than no loaf. I also am aware that every vote I give to a third party is in effect giving a vote to the Dems.

about 600 rounds

Does anybody remember the Sundquist income tax? I had some friends in some rather high places during that administration and they all said it was Corker's idea.

I have a Beretta Mini-Cougar that I'm thinking about letting go. I've actually enjoyed the hell out of it but I'm anxious for a new 9mm. I've got 3 15 round mags with spacers. 1 10 round mag with spacer and 2 10 round standard mags. Any idea what I should ask for it? It's more complicated now that Beretta rebadged it as a Stoeger and dropped the price. Is it more valuable because it is the original Beretta model?

I wish someone could have taught me how to shoot the thing before I got rid of mine. Never could deal with the long heavy trigger pull in the DAO version I had a few years ago. Gave me too much time to get off target. Very reliable though. Fired thousands of rounds through it without one FTF or FTE before I got rid of it. Just never could become accurate enough for my taste.

And I forgot about the first pistol I ever bought, a Sig P220. Never could hit the broad side of a barn with it. Saying the trigger pull was long is an understatement. I could start pulling the trigger and read War and Peace before the damned thing would finally go bang.

Colt Defender. It never met a cartridge it couldn't jam. I never made it through one magazine without at least one stovepipe. Even clearing the jams was a bitch. Sent it back to Colt and received the same POS I sent them, Not one bit better. Had a 1911 smith work on it. No help. I might as well had bought a Jennings/Bryco. Bought as a carry gun but never trusted it to carry. Finally sold it to a guy who just loved it. I did disclose it's problems beforehand but he thought he could get it fixed. Guess what, he couldn't get it fixed either.

Interesting enough, at the time I wrote my paper, I was a liberal myself. But somehow, over the course of 20 years, experience and logic has made me more and more conservative. My Grandfather was actually the president of the AFL-CIO and cast the deciding vote at the 1960 Democratic Convention that gave JFK the nomination (he was one of JFK's best friends and I hate to admit it but he did actually have some mob ties). So I was indoctrinated as a liberal from the time of birth. Only as I experienced life on my own terms did I become conservative. He would roll over in his grave if he knew I generally vote Republican, now.

The bill was ultimately defeated but only after the justices had already conceded. I wish I still had my term paper I wrote on this when I was still a history major (Originally I was a double major in history and biochemestry until I realized I couldn't afford the debt of med school and changed to Nursing). I had a lot more documentation and original sources cited than this Wikipedia source. But on short notice this is the best I can do. My original paper took me three months to research. Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just as a little history lesson, I will tell the story of how these programs became "constitutional". Roosevelt's "New Deal" was losing badly in the SCOTUS, basically every decision that was handed down. So FDR had a plan. The US Constitution does not spell out the number of justices on the SCOTUS. So he proposed to keep adding justices until he could completely overule the court. Unfortunately, the Senate (highly dominated by Democrats) was willing to go along with this plan. So, SCOTUS met with FDR and negotiated their decisions away to prevent this from coming to fruition. So, now all the decisions, not so suprisingly, started to go FDR's way. These cases, which were being decided by a blackmailed court, started setting precedent. Those decisions and their derivatives are still being used by the courts today. So, when liberals talk about constitutionality of laws, such as Social Security, it has to be seen in light of the fact that it would have been declared unconstutional by an un-blackmailed court.

First of, all Ralph, you want me to respond to the mortality rates. Most of the mortality rates have little or nothing to do with health care spending. They have to do with lifestyle and heredity. Take the former Yugoslavia, they have no healthcare system, are relugated to third world status secondary to war, yet they have lower mortality rates. Genetics play a far larger role than you or your kind want to realize. All things being equal, Asians will always have lower mortalities, followed by Europeans, followed by Hispanics, and finally people of African decent have the highest mortality rates. This formula is proven even when you look at socio-economic status and access to care. What you fail to realize is that America has the most diverse population on the planet. And, unfortunately, statistics will always show their ugly heads. I may flip a coin a hundred times and it land on heads each and every time, but at some point with enough flips, it will even itself out. One other thing you fail to realize is that prenatal care is already free in this country to those who don't have insurance. Ever heard of WIC? The problem is that in spite of the availability and even plastering billboards, radio and tv advertizing, and signs and posters all over the projects, government offices including postal, and multiple free clinics including the health department, these people still refuse to take advantage or change their lifestyles, for the sake of their babies. Will nationalized healthcare fix that? Only if you try to take even more freedoms away from the populace and fully make us a police state. As far as costs, they will continue to rise. You may not know this but one reality of the nationalized systems that are around the world is the fact that America subsidizes them. We pay more for our drugs than other people because the drug comanies have to recoup the losses that they have in other countries. Having done clinical trials, research is extremely expensive even when most of it is done in academia. Someone has to pay for it. Also, the other countries don't have such loose malpractice laws or the ability to sue drug companies like we do and your side refuses to relax like those nations. One other note, those other countries which you love so much, have more ready capital because they rely on our defense department to pick up their slack. Britain, for instance, has a lower defense budget than the United States spends on one aircraft carrier. They feel comfortable with this because they know they have a big brother across the pond who'll cover their asses. Now lets look at the uninsured. approximately 10% of our population. Half of that number are illegal aliens. A quarter are those under 30 who think they're six foot tall and bullet proof and basically refuse to get coverage because nothing bad will ever happen to them. Another 1/8 are people making over $50,000 per year, who can afford coverage but don't get it because they'd rather have that new TV. So, that leaves us with about 1% who truely need help. If your willing to cut the subsidy to cover only those people, I'm sure you'll get a lot of support even by Republicans. $130Billion is a hell of alot different than $1.3 trillion. As far as credentials, mine are a lot better than yours. I don't use a fake name and hide behind it. I've been an RN for the last 15 years and have done everything from bedside nursing to administration and everything in between. Before I got my license, I ws a nursing technician. I've been working in academic medicine for the last 14 years at one of U.S News and World Report's honor roll of hospitals facility. as far as my sleeping habits, I have a lot of trouble. My "greed" gets the better of me when I think of all the charity time I donated, the money I've used to help the truely needy, and the time I wasn't getting paid just to go visit a very special patient. Thinking of all that money and time that I've lost gives me night terrors. And if you don't get it, this is a joke. Greed has never been a part of what I do or why I do it. I just have a significantly different view of the role of government than you. Now, if you have nothing better to say than to make accusations like "right-wing nut" and call true facts "propaganda", then we have nothing to say to one another. You asked about facts, I'm giving them to you because you're too lazy to actually get them yourself. Either that or the true facts don't meet with your agenda, so you disregard them. Now you asked about the shouting match, I'd rather be shouted at than have my finger bitten off by a Pacifist liberal. I thought that conservatives were the violent war-mongers. Unfortunately, therir are a lot of people, who aren't educated, who'll believe that artcle that you didn't cite. That's the part that makes me angry. When you make up "personal stories", plant "fictional doctors" at town hall meetings, you just show your true motives are less than glorious.

Of all my knives, my favorite is my Beretta BH Tactical. Not my cheapest or my most expensive. Not the prettiest or the coolest(not even spring assisted). But it's, by far, the best. Great balance, grip, sturdyness, and sharp enough to shave with. Although it's a bit large to keep in my pocket, I always have it in my truck just in case all hell breaks loose. It's the one knife I want with me in an emergency.

OK, Ralph. I'm your huckleberry. If you read my earlier post, I think I clearly stated that the "facts" in your post were indeed lies. They have no factual basis at all. And people who say things that are lies are-I'll let you fill in the blank. There are many people on here who can out shoot me and know more about guns than I'll ever know. But if you start talking about medical issues and policy, your in my wheelhouse!!! I've spent my entire career in the medical field, at many different levels. And I'll tell you one thing I have spent a hell of a lot more time thinking about, talking about, reading about, and meeting about healthcare with some of the brightest minds in our country than you will in your entire life. I've seen more birth and death than you'll ever dream of and I take life and health seriously. It's not just another fun political topic or campaign issue. What I do makes a difference between someone living and someone dying and how they'll live in the future and on what terms. What you and many others fail to understand is that "Nationalized Healthcare" is not the same care only now it's free. It's less health care and at a greater cost. If you'll check my earlier posts you'll see one called basic math. I don't have the time or the patience to re-post it, but it's basic breakdown of the numbers involved. It's mindboggling. But your one of those folks who won't be persuaded by facts. Lies are the only material you seem to be comfortable with.

Sorry, I was so PO'd by what Ralph said (knowing they were outright lies) I immediately started writing before seeing any replies. Sorry for restating the previously stated and also being so stupid as to believing that this was Ralph's own essay on healthcare. I should have known it was plagiarized. I would almost think that that post would be grounds for being banned but maybe I'm wrong.

First of all, Ralph, I don't know what you do for a living, but as a medical professional, there are some falsehoods in these stories. Lithotripsy is not standard therapy for gallstones. As a matter of fact, I've never seen it done because it wouldn't be effective. Gallstones are far different from kidney stones(renal calculi) in their makeup, size, and method of elimination. So, guess what, her insurance company was right. As far as her choice of doctors goes, she made her own decisions and unfortunately, sometimes our decisions are bad. That goes for her choice of surgeon and PCP. Nationalized healthcare won't fix that, I can assure you!!!! The story about the man who couldn't re-enroll in his insurance is patently false on all counts(I don't know where you get your info), HIPAA(It was signed by Clinton in 1996, so you ought to know what it says) would come into play at that point. Now let's jump to the 20something. Here's the deal. At some point or another, most of us have made bad decisions in our lives. Most of us have had a choice between I higher paying job (more takehome) and one that gives a lower paycheck but provides insurance and other benefits. Forward thinking people take the lower paying job. People looking for immediate gratification take the one without benefits. Some of our decisions have long-term implications and it appears that your 20something made some bad choices. 1.She could have gotten a job and she and her husband could have had two incomes 2.He could have gotten a lower paying job that offered insurance 3. They could have used birth control until they were financially in a better position to raise a child. But you think it's our responsibilty to pay for their bad choices. If you trust the people that told you these stories, you need to find new friends because I'm gonna tell you right now the second story is a LIE!!!!! The first story is very misinformed and the third is the result of bad decision making that had long term implications.

I'm with you. My understanding has always been that an amendment changes the constitution. Therefore an amendment, in this case the second, changes all other artcles and clauses that would prevent that amendment from coming to fruition. Why is this argument never made?

Redisticting (under a Democratically controlled legislature) has saved him for the last several years. Remember that Steve Gill almost beat him when Franklin and Brentwood were still in his District. If they had kept the district lines the same, there is no way he would have kept his seat as that area has become more populated and more conservative. Now, not that shockingly, that we have a GOP controlled legislature, one of our congressmen, John Tanner-D, has proposed HR3025. This bill will prevent our Republican controlled legislature from having the same redistricting control that the Dems have enjoyed for so many years by federally mandating how the districts are drawn (does anyone remember the 10th amendment). Also, just for the record, Jim Cooper-D TN nad Lincoln Davis-D TN, are co-sponsors. It appears that they only want gerrymandering, if they are the ones doing it. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3025/show

One added thing, I was shooting like crap with my G-27 (was hitting the target but my groups were all over the place) until Sunday. I went to the G&L meet and shoot and after watching and asking a lot of questions of the other guys, I was shooting pretty damned good by the end of the evening(this is my first Glock). Thanks guys. P.S. If you're around me and don't want me to know any of your secrets, be quiet because I'm an information sponge.

On the G-27 the pearce pinky entender is nice(doesn't really add to the weight or size very much) and gives you a little extra stability. But the thing that really makes a difference is the Pachmayer grip sleeve. It makes all the difference in the world because the small Glocks are slick as owl S**t. I was afraid the damned thing was gonna fly out of my hand until I added the grip. As far as weight, the baby glocks are 26.1oz vs 31.9oz, for the full size Glock, fully loaded (almost half a pound). I'm a smallish guy(160#'s) and half a pound makes a huge difference to me tugging on my belt.

Monthly would be great.

The most important thing I learned yesterday is that Kano should never have to buy another weapon. Ed Brown should pay him to go to the range. He probably sold several Browns yesterday. The amazing part will be when people get their new weapon home and realize that they can't get the same result. All kidding aside, I learned more about shooting from a 15 minute conversation with Kano than all the rest of the minutes of my life, combined.

Enjoyed the evening and appreciate the opportunity to soak info off of you guys. Thanks , Daniel, for being such a gracious host and for giving me so much to think about with putting my AR together.

Well I took a warning shot at a skunk last night and he ran off (the thing just kept coming towards us until I fired a shot). Didn't want to actually shoot him (what the hell are you gonna do with the body). He ran away, fortunately. I was able to draw a good bead with just a handheld light and could have gotten him if I had wanted. This made me feel a little better. I've never fired a gun in the dark before so I wasn't sure if I could get a good aim with iron sights. I don't know what it is about this year, but it's like wild kingdom around here and I live in the "burbs". Fortunately, we have very large yards in my area.

The eastern cougar: historic ... - Google Books Take a look at this. We know that cougars are an indigenous species. We also know that the last documented killing was in 1920. We know that the last official and confirmed presence was in 1971. Now, the question is are there cougars today? My suspicion is that there are because most animals that are declared "extinct" are usually documented some time later, although in very small numbers. Do I have proof, No. As for the TWRA declaring that they exist, Missouri and Arkansas both deny they exist even though they have bodies to prove otherwise. If I shot one outside my window tonight and called the TWRA to pick up the body, they would still deny that there is a breeding population. By the way "Oh Shoot" I want to personally thank you for teaching me how to use my computer. Before I starting posting here, I didn't know how to copy and paste. But since you constantly question the validity of every statement made on here by me or anyone else, I had to learn. As for a black panther(leopard), I'm with you they have never populated TN. As a matter of fact they have never populated North America, to my knowleged, in other than prehistoric times.