Fall splendor on the Sunday OPEN thread
Shot by Dan along the Roanoke River Greenway
“It’s the Power of the Almighty, the Splendor of Nature, and then you.”
Al Franken
October 14, 2012 - 10:00 AM
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October 14, 2012 - 10:00 AM
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Saturday, May 25, 2013
THE ROANOKE TIMES
Weird and cool.
http://fluxmachine.tumblr.com/
Hey Dan, I’m in Canada Duck Hunting. You should move up here damn near impossible to own a handgun. Thank God for our Second Amendment.
Another beautiful GOD made season.
With no apploogy, so far, from Suzie, I’ll fast forward to this to, yet, another open thread.
How about it? Suzie? Where is the apology for your use of the term “genius” as insulting and sarcastic mockery of Contrasuzie’s comment.
In fairness, I’ll acknowledge that you did admit [ October 13, 2012 @ 8:47 am on http://tinyurl.com/8actdgt ] that you didn’t know what you were talking about. But, where your apology to Contrasuzie?
Interesting read:
http://tinyurl.com/9htdyc4
**
We have no health care system
By: John J. Nance |
Published: October 14, 2012
SNIP
Ours is a different dilemma, exacerbated by un-American irresponsibility from both political parties, which thrive on confusing the public for political gain, and made byzantine by incorrect public perceptions of what American health care is and is not, let alone what it could and should be.
* * * * *
How do I give a succinct answer?
SNIP
Some of my colleagues think creating a healthy system requires a Kennedy-esque moonshot dedication, and they may be right. But it starts with understanding the problem, and if we can’t define it and explain it, how can we hope to achieve it?
I turned to the lady, knowing we had two hours left in the air. “Let’s start with this: We don’t have a health care system in the United States, and we desperately need to build one.”
**
The number of kids killed in car wrecks around here seems to be on the upswing. I can’t see how this crisis is far, far bigger than that of drunk driving.
That IS very weird and very cool, Debbie!
“Hey Dan, I’m in Canada Duck Hunting. You should move up here damn near impossible to own a handgun. Thank God for our Second Amendment.”
Fear not, Michael! You are very unlikely to need your handgun in Canada. The homicide rate there is 1.6 per 100,000 people. That’s 1/3 the U.S. homicide rate.
Which is surprising. I thought less guns = more crime?
Glad you liked it Contra.
#4 We don`t apologize….That equals `political correctness` and it is on the way out. Got to be that you couldn`t blow your nose w/o some crybaby liberal screaming for an apology…grow a backbone and quit your whining.
No, Dan…more responsible gun owners = less crime…at least in my neighborhood.
“10.#4 We don`t apologize..”
Who “we”? You and the other nutty voices in your head?
Dan:
“Fear not, Michael! You are very unlikely to need your handgun in Canada. The homicide rate there is 1.6 per 100,000 people. That’s 1/3 the U.S. homicide rate.”
It must suck to be in that third. You, personally, get the same 100% wrong treatment (rape, murder, what have you), but no means to protect yourself. Screw that. I’d rather live here with three times more chance of crime, but 100 times more chance of defending myself. Overall, the prepared are better off.
I’ll say it again; there is no moral superiority in being wilfully unprepared.
13 John – Prepared? Packing a gun makes you prepared? Man that fear you are living in must be a hell of a burden.
Re: Comment by Dan Casey — October 14, 2012 @ 3:18 pm
Dan,
Check out http://tinyurl.com/8qhmb5s
For a good example of how it should be done from NIH see: http://tinyurl.com/9bzkv4o
OTOH, from the International Journal of Epidemiology http://tinyurl.com/988ym7u
In other words, your approach to statistics leave a lot to be desired, IMHO.
What I don’t understand is why the homicide rate in Canada would be 1.6 per 100,000, while in the U.S. it is 4.8 per 100,000 people.
It must be because they have a LOT more guns. Because More guns = Less Crime, right? Isn’t that the title of a book?
Or maybe it’s because there are simply too many fundamental differences between the two countries to compare. You know, like the fact that it’s on a different continent, has a different form of government, that the people speak a different language and all that mumbo jumbo.
I’m sure the gun crowd feels happy for Canada that its murder rate is so low.
/sarcasm font off now.
Comment by John Wilburn — October 14, 2012 @ 5:51 pm
John,
It isn’t “100 times more chance of defending myself.” It is something more akin to infinitely more chance.
A multiplicative inverse (or reciprocal) for a number x, denoted by 1/x or x−1, is a number which when multiplied by x yields the multiplicative identity. As zero does not have a reciprocal, if you grant even a small chance of successful defense (such as disparate force encounters with criminals provide to the unarmed victims) the reciprocal decreases from infinite as the small chance of the victim defending herself/himself increases from zero.
Canada is on a different continent?
“#4 We don`t apologize….That equals `political correctness`”
Comment by Jeff Doto — October 14, 2012 @ 4:13 pm
Most would argue that an apology is the hallmark of an rational, intelligent, mature, civilized human being who’s willing to admit when they’re wrong, Mr Doto. I seriously doubt anyone is expecting such trivialities from you. Way to aim low, buddy.
Re: Comment by Dan Casey — October 14, 2012 @ 8:02 pm
“I’m sure the gun crowd feels happy for Canada that its murder rate is so low.”
—————
Actually I am quite happy. And don’t understand your sarcasm font.
I do reject simple correlation as proof of causation. The very fact that throughout primary school there is a strong positive correlation between shoe size and both math and reading skills is meaningless. Ditto the meaninglessness of the strong positive correlation between the sale of ice-cream and drownings.
OTOH, the fact that in this country there is no correlation (negative or positive) between the Brady scores of all the States and the DOJ violent crime statistics for the States is highly suggestive. As is the fact that as the relaxation of draconian restrictions on the RKBA by individual States has not increased crime stats in those — in fact, crime has gone down.
I do find it interesting that you reject the social and economic relationships in the consideration of systems of meaning in causation.
As to the title of a book, your reliance on discrediting a book is akin to the “Guilt by Association” fallacy — the attempt to discredit an idea based upon disfavored people or groups associated with it (or in this case a book or author associated with it).
But more importantly, please consider the “Fallacy” fallacy — as it can become a source of very fallacious reasoning. To say that an argument, or a book, is fallacious or otherwise suspect says nothing about the truth-value of your conclusion or of the conclusion of your opponent. Hence, it is unwarranted to conclude that the proposition itself is false or true simply because some argument for or against it is fallacious.
Ernie:
14.”13 John – Prepared? Packing a gun makes you prepared? Man that fear you are living in must be a hell of a burden.”
Ernie, my being prepared by carring a gun makes me no more fearful of life than your having a fire extinguisher in your house, a seat belt in your car, or any kind of insurance. You know that; you just wanted to to take a jab.
Actually, it is very much peace of mind to know that I have an ACTUAL defense for violent crime; something those who don’t carry cannot know.
Dave Hicks:
“It isn’t “100 times more chance of defending myself.” It is something more akin to infinitely more chance.”
Yes, you gathered what I meant.
From Reuters; Obama opens wide lead among early voters. Let the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin…
LOL
http://tinyurl.com/92cjwbx
**
Google results can go ‘completely wrong’
CNN|Added on October 13, 2012
Using Google to search for candidates can create some surprising results. CNN’s Athena Jones explains.
[video]
**
#17: Dave Hicks, with your affinity for ostentatious displays of “empiricism”, how about applying that formula in #17 with a more specific variable “X”. Apply it to your chances of emerging safely if you are seated in the middle seat of the middle rows of a full, dark theater when many people with no more gun training than the online course for Va. CC start blasting away at someone they think is shooting in front of you, while those in front blast away at someone they think is shooting from behind, regardless of whether the initial report was from a gun, the movie audio, or an M60 explosive. And assume that those shooting are allowed any amount of firepower they desire.
Or to frame it in non-gun terms, simply answer why you think the best response to someone falsely yelling “fire” in a crowded theater is to knowingly encourage more people to falsely yell “fire”?
It’s predictable that you’ll try to discredit the fire analogy, but unwise individual reactions in a world that does nothing to put the worst in human nature at a disadvantage is the nexus that makes it valid. After all, immoderates insist that more guns equals a safer world, so the fire analogy, with immoderates claiming that tragedy is minimized by increasing the number of reactive shots in a public setting, holds up.
I know you’re proud of your VCDL allegiance, but let’s note that the VCDL has not made a huge push to toughen the Va. CC course requirements. Why? And despite their insistence that they are about the 2A and not just guns, they seem to focus exclusively on guns, and offer no support for those who feel that the 2A allows them the right to other, more broadly lethal weapons types; in fact, the VCDL is conspicuously and perhaps selfishly silent on the right to bear those arms. Why?
It occurred to me that your bring up “the” book, again, and Ernie’s concern with being prepared likely justifies me bring up my earlier rebuttal to to “need” to carry.
I sugest you try to move pass that concept. IMHO, “need” based carry is not “needed” or wise. When the one incident actually arises where I want my firearm, what I might have thought I might “need” prior to that outing is imaterial. I don’t only carry a spare tire in the vehicle bassed on fear or anticipated need on any one trip.
As I have posted before, What does “need” have to do with the American way?
Do we “need”:
o Cars that can exceed the speed limit, sometimes more than twice the max speed limit?
o SUV & trucks that can haul or tow far more than some owners will ever haul or tow, again often well above the speed limit?
o More vehicles registered to private owners than there are licensed drivers?
o The square footage of the average new single-family detached home?
o Theater sized TVs in those homes?
o Cell phones for instant gratification – especially while driving?
o All the rest of the high tech devices to provide instant gratification – excuse me, connectivity / communication?
o Devices w/ 4G connections, when many consumers would not recognize 4G even if 4G hit him or her in face?
o To be answering those devices in restaurants, churches, and all sort of public places?
o A plethora of fast food chains and local joints serving far more salt, fat and calories in a meal than a body needs in a day?
o Store shelf after store shelf and freezers full of high-salt, high-fat, high-caloric, caffeine added, adulterated foods?
o Store shelves stacked with beer after beer brand, including many from around the world?
o Bin after bin of fresh out-of-season and non-local produce flown in from around the world?
o A fishing pole unless to catch fish for food in order to survive?
o Fire extinguishers — as they are difficult to use in an emergency? (Why not just call the fire department. They can get there as quick as an LEO. When seconds count what are a few minutes, anyway?)
o A first aid kit? (Shouldn’t injuries be tended to by a professional and the ambulance can get there as quick as an LEO. If that’s quick enough to stop a crime, why not for injuries?)
Once we as a society actually function on the bases of “need”, I’ll consider “need” relative to the ready availability of a gun or guns. In the meantime, I’ll work on the same level of “want” not “need” that we-as-a-society operate on — across the board.
#18 “..hallmark of an rational, intelligent, mature, civilized human being…”
Dolto, of course, has no idea what any of this means.
For anyone interested in area high school sports, former Salem mayor and ALHS football coach Eddie Joyce Sr., who was portrayed as “Eddie Henry” in the film “Remember The Titans”, died today in North Carolina.
Outstanding read: http://tinyurl.com/99umq2j — albeit I would focus more on the authoritarian aspects of communism, were a a good enough writer to be published. IMHO any totalitarian right or left should be despised as should the toadies of the extreme right and left who worshiped them.
**
Communism, in life and death
By Jeff Jacoby — Globe Columnist
October 14, 2012
SNIP
Nguyen defied communist totalitarianism, sacrificing his freedom in defense of the truth. He refused to pretend that there could be anything noble or uplifiting — let alone ideal — about a revolutionary movement that pursued its ends through mass slaughter and enslavement. Like so many other dissidents, from Andrei Sakharov to Liu Xiaobo, he was a champion of liberty, sustaining hope and keeping conscience alive in the teeth of regime that persecutes decent men for their decency.
Hobsbawm, on the other hand, was a lifelong Marxist, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party from his teens until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Long after it was evident to even true believers that the Bolshevik Revolution had unleashed a nightmare of blood, Hobsbawm went on defending, minimizing, and excusing the crimes of communism.
SNIP
Yet Hobsbawm was fawned over, lionized in the media, made a tenured professor at a prestigious university, invited to lecture around the world. He was heaped with glories,
SNIP
Such adoration is sickening. Unrepentant communists merit repugnance, not reverence. Compared with a true moral giant like Nguyen Chi Thien, Hobsbawm was nothing but a dogmatic leftist creep, and the toadies who worshiped him were worse.
Nguyen knew all about such toadies, as a few tart lines from his 1964 poem, “Today, May 19th” — written about Ho Chi Minh — make clear:
Let the hacks with their prostituted pens
Comb his beard, pat his head, caress his arse!
SNIP
**
“Canada is on a different continent?”
JMW,
Only when the sarcasm font is on.
I’ll make my debate prediction early. Any sign of life by 0bama will be interpreted by the leftwing media and a huge comeback win. This is serious now. The Democrats are 0-2 and have looked bad in both debates. 0bama basically needs a miracle now, and I look for the MSM to try their best to give him one by claiming he’s won even though Romney will likely win.
It’s a shame that in the current media environment, our guy always has to be 15 points better than the other candidate to win an election. Perhaps it’s this huge unfairness that produces GOP winners of such high quality. Conversely, it’s the non-vetting and kid-glove treatment of the Democrat candidate that has given us the worst three presidents in history, all in the past 36 years.
That same system, though, has given us a candidate of high moral character who has been finely honed under fire and pressure for months and months. We saw the results of that in the first presidential debate. Romney was going against a candidate too lazy and shiftless to even prepare. A candidate of weak moral character who has never been tested, who has been given everything he’s gotten, right down to the presidency. A candidate who skipped out on preparing because it was a “drag”. Probably wanted to skip preparation to go out and smoke weed like he admitted to doing in school.
Arlen Specter dies. May the lord have mercy on his soul. 40 million little faces might be looking down on him in pity.
Re: Comment by Warren — October 14, 2012 @ 9:59 pm
“CC start blasting away at someone they think is shooting in front of you, while those in front blast away at someone they think is shooting from behind, regardless of whether the initial report was from a gun, the movie audio, or an M60 explosive.”
———-
Pure fantasy. Not unlike your delusion of “best response to someone falsely yelling “fire” in a crowded theater is to knowingly encourage more people to falsely yell “fire.” Not unlike all the chicken-little “the sky-is-falling” rants whenever a draconian restriction on freedom and liberty is rolled back.
According to GAO [see: http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592552.pdf ] of the state reporting, there were approximately 8 million active concealed carry permits in the United States as of December 31, 2011.
Were your chicken-little fantasy at all in real, it should have happened, by now, given 8 million active concealed carry permits.
Arlen Specter, creator of the Warren Commission’s infamous “magic bullet theory.” RIP, Senator, wherever you may be.
Re: Comment by Suzie — October 14, 2012 @ 11:50 pm
She / he will never forgive Arlen Specter’s renunciation of the GOP takeover by the extreme Right wing.
Suzie:
31.”I’ll make my debate prediction early. Any sign of life by 0bama will be interpreted by the leftwing media and a huge comeback win.”
This was my prediction after the first debate. I’ll make my prediction early too: Obama will try to be cool, but still forceful, yet not look like the completely disrespectful jerk Joe Biden was. Having prepared the victory notes ahead of time, the media will give the win to Obama, thereby also giving him something to have overcome and look better to the his voters.
The substance of the debate won’t matter in the least; that hasn’t mattered in decades. The media might spin it as such, but let’s be honest, aside of the two dozen people they put in the room and interview before and after the debate, no one who watches the debate is undecided. Only the informed are into watching the debates.
Oh, and Dan could give the win to Obama right now. He won’t even need to watch the debate to write his first post-debate blog post to declare such.
All this said, I hope I’m wrong. If the LW media were to score the debates 0-3 for team Obama and chatter about it for the week, that actually could affect the election. My guess is they won’t let this happen and with three weeks left will start promoting Obama’s coming from behind to win the last two debates.
Thanks for posting that comment, Warren. My mom will be interested to know that. She was at the actual championship game played at Victory Stadium, but she wasn’t a student at ALHS, yet. I think she was about 8 years old.
#25 – Warren
VCDL sees no need to “tighten” CHP requirements. Our goal it to loosen them. Ideally no permit should be necessary – perhaps an option, like Alaska has.
On bearing other weapons – we have been trying to make the CHP a CWP to allow for other weapon types, including knives, to be carried concealed. VA used to allow all weapons to be carried concealed with a permit. But guns are our main focus.
I thought this was an interesting thought.
http://business.time.com/2011/10/13/could-occupy-wall-st-and-the-tea-party-unite/
I thought this was an interesting poll. Look especially at Item # 6.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postbloombergpoll_100911.html
Suzie, it is actually closer to 53 million.
Deadliest place in America is the mother’s womb. Only a 78% survival rate
Suzie:
32.”Arlen Specter dies. May the lord have mercy on his soul. 40 million little faces might be looking down on him in pity.”
This makes me wish there were an obituary writing contest for “Suzie”. Something tells me she won’t be remembered the way she expects to be.
“4 We don`t apologize….That equals `political correctness`..”
The more I see this, the dumber it gets. Of all the idiocy we’re treated to by the RWers on here, this could be the dumbest post ever.
#37 I also saw the championship game. Not nearly as close as portrayed in the movie. I remember folks being absolutely astounded at the size (actual numbers) of the T.C. Williams team and the fact that they had all these different players for specialty teams.
#43 Right you are, Kristen. Ultra stupidity. But, really, what else do expect from the Dolto?
“Canada is on a different continent?”
JMW,
Only when the sarcasm font is on.
Comment by Dan Casey — October 14, 2012 @ 11:46 pm
Ah, I see. I’ve been away for the last week and I thought something crazy may have happened. I feared that maybe they had seceded from North America and established Canadia as it’s official continent. Those crazy Canucks. You just never know.
Bonus: useless Canadian and firearm-related anecdotes:
I went fishing at Savant Lake in Canada years ago. The very first morning I were there, I went down to breakfast and asked the proprietor if there was anything I could do to help. She asked me to get a bag of seasoned flour from the pantry. The bag was Big Spring Mill flour from Elliston. Apparently, her husband hunts down here every year and won’t use any other brand of seasoned flour. I covered a thousand miles and still couldn’t get away from home. Small World.
I have a 1905 Ross rifle chambered in .303 British. They were made in Quebec. It’s built on the Steyr straight-pull action (meaning you don’t have to lift the bolt to disengage it), which makes some people think it’s dangerous. It’s not. It is one of the most accurate iron-sighted rifles I’ve ever owned. My stepfather hit a piece of plywood, dead-center, ranged at 850 meters with it… three times in a row. The Canadians made fine firearms. It’s a shame that Ross isn’t in business today.
“I were there”? Jeez.
I r a gud typer.
Canada’s what the US could be like if we weren’t overrun with guns and fundies. Polite, civilized, reasonable.
Kristen,
For the most part I agree with your post about Canada at 11:23 this morning. However, my recent trips to parts of French speaking Canada and my stumbling attempts to use my limited French enabled me to find some less than civilized, polite Canadians.
#48 -Kristen: The US could be what it is suppose to be if all Liberals would move to Canada.
Warren@28
I think you are incorred about Eddie Joyce being Eddie Henry. Fact is, Eddie Henry or Ed Henry existed as the coach of Marshall High School in Fairfax County. The Titans beat Marshall to play Andrew Lewis for the State title. The film departed from the actual events for what ever reason.I also attended that particular game played at WT Woodson high school.
I know this cause my day coached with Ed Henry at Annandale High School, where he won a state championship in 1966, and I later played for coach Henry at Robinson High School and remained in touch with him after high school as he worked on George Welsh’s staff at UVA. I worked at UVA too and occassionally would go visit with him.
#48 -Kristen: The US could be what it is suppose to be if all Liberals would move to Canada.
Comment by pistol pete — October 15, 2012 @ 11:34 am
And just what is the US “suppose[sic] to be”, pp? That whole “United” part of the United States evidently escapes you. Way to illustrate the problem by being a part of it. I’ll tell you what: if liberals move to Canada and conservatives move to Mexico, we can use the mainland US the way God intended – as a resource pit and toxic waste dump.
If you REALLY want to know what the liberals are up to: https://ubersite.com/m/126108 (Warning: this site is relatively unmoderated. Some of the language in the comments is foul and may offend delicate sensibilities)
Hey Mike Scott, I think Warren is spot on.
Coach Henry was, no doubt, a long time, well-regarded high school football coach at several northern virginia high schools, including Annandale.
Also, there is no doubt that Eddie Joyce, Sr., was a long time, well regarded local high school football coach at then Andrew Lewis High School….which was the actual team which played the Titans of TC Williams in the actual high school football championship game depicted in the movie.
The fictional name in the movie for the head coach of the opponent football team to the Titans in the championship game was… Eddie Henry.
Warren reported that Eddie Joyce, Sr. passed away today.
Seems pretty straight-forward to me.
pistol pete, what would it take to conquer Canada? Two slingshots and a shield for hockey sticks?
“Two slingshots and a shield for hockey sticks?”
…and how will you deal with the moose-mounted cavalry, Mr. Wilburn?
#54 And we would want to conquer Canada — or even speculate about what it would take — for what reason?
@54- Just an FYI – the US failed every attempt to invade Canada in the War of 1812. However if you’re mounting another invasion. I’m game.
Pp, assuming that the US is “supposed to be” a regressive third-world hellhole…maybe. You can thank us at your leisure.
RonMay…hey, blame the French! Now I’ll get yelled at by MarkJ.
JohnW, Canada manages not to alienate 75% of the planet. Maybe they don’t need guns as much as we do.
Canada’s what the US could be like if we weren’t overrun with guns and fundies. Polite, civilized, reasonable.
The biggest thing Americans and Canadians had in common up until 2008 was both wanted to live in the United States.
Wilburn, forget about (aboot?) attacking Canada’s military. Conquer the syrup factories and the Labatt’s brewery, and they will surrender.
gdad:
56.”#54 And we would want to conquer Canada — or even speculate about what it would take — for what reason?”
gdad, do I really even need to explain that I was being facetious? J.M. White got it. I’m merely pointing out what a pitiful unarmed “militia” their people would make, eh?
Labatt’s Blue is a great beer!
JohnW, stop threatening Canada already. Or I’ll be forced to go all RT on you and call in the secret service.
J.M. White:
“I’ll tell you what: if liberals move to Canada and conservatives move to Mexico, we can use the mainland US the way God intended – as a resource pit and toxic waste dump.”
Actually, if the leftists would move to Canada and the religious moron fundies would move to Mexico and let the libertarians run the US, it would be interesting. Of course, the Libertarian Party would let whatever happens in the nations that hate us happen, but at least we would have a real, sustainable domestic policy and be fiscally sound.
Hey, politically there would be some BIG winners here! For one thing, the honest residents of Detroit would have more firearm liberty and be able to regain control of their own backyards… they could drive the crime across the way to defensless Canada the way Virginia does to Maryland now, LOL.
Kristen:
63.”JohnW, stop threatening Canada already. Or I’ll be forced to go all RT on you and call in the secret service.”
Pointing out a country’s inadequacies is not a threat. If Canada shared a border with Mexico, you bet you’d see a call for arms emerge! dobbs, it’s aboot time you shewed up; we need another slingshotter on the flank!
I vaguely remember an SNL bit from years ago where Father Guido Sarducci was warning us about the strong likelyhood of a Canadian invasion of the USA.
Kristen:
“JohnW, Canada manages not to alienate 75% of the planet. Maybe they don’t need guns as much as we do.”
Are you kidding me?! Domestically, we don’t alienate anyone. America is a fountain of welfare asking to collapse under its own weight. We do alienate a lot of other countries by meddling in the middle east, especially by supporting Israel for reasons of historic religious guilt and superstition.
“If Canada shared a border with Mexico, you bet you’d see a call for arms emerge!”
If Canada shared a border with Mexico, then it’s neighborhing country would have a LOT fewer guns.
Canada’s crime rate has less to do with guns (or lack thereof) and a lot more to do with their drug laws. Strangely, they don’t often incarcerate non-violent drug offenders. Through an insanely radical, determined effort to not fill up half of their prison beds with drug offenders, they’ve managed to… have less than half of the criminals.
It’s sheer madness, I know. If I can’t get a fix as a Canadian citizen, I can check in to rehab (paid for) and get help. If I choose to go get a fix instead and get caught, I’m not likely to get convicted of a felony. Curiously, I’m not likely to even get jail time. And to top off this utter lunacy, state-funded rehabilitation is many times cheaper for the taxpayer than incarceration. Whodathunkit?
It’s almost as if not having to worry about going to prison for 20 years because I’m addicted to cocaine actually works out better for me as an addict. With such extreme punishment hanging over my head, I’m much more likely to do something rash and violent to achieve my ends. After all, I’m looking at the basically same amount of prison time, either way.
See? Canadians are crazy.
Canada’s the best neighbor on the planet. Ideally, we’d be an island surrounded by Canada.
Dan:
“If Canada shared a border with Mexico, then it’s neighborhing country would have a LOT fewer guns.”
Take that up with the administration YOU voted for! Besides, there you go blaming the guns again. Where there are drug runners with no regard for life, they’ll slit your throat if they can’t stay cleaner by shooting you instead. Take that up with the authoritarians who won’t decriminalize recreational drug use.
Kristen:
70.”Canada’s the best neighbor on the planet. Ideally, we’d be an island surrounded by Canada.”
I’ll agree to that. Let them be filler for our inland moat.
Actually, if the leftists would move to Canada and the religious moron fundies would move to Mexico and let the libertarians run the US, it would be interesting.
Now, Mr. Wilburn, you know damned well that in an election year, there is no such thing as a third party, you silly idealist. It’s all black and white; all the time. And I should know; I’ve been called a liberal on the internet.
I suppose we’ll let you guys stay behind as a labor force for the extraction of resources and toxic waste disposal. We will need boots on the ground, so to speak.
~~~~~
In all seriousness, though: I applied for dual citizenship in Canada once – talk about a bureaucratic nightmare, the Canadian gov’t was as helpful as could be, but the post-9/11 US gov’t was convinced I was either a terrorist, a spy or a terrorist spy. I actually had a US gov’t representative try to convince me that it would “be best” if I renounced my US citizenship completely! I politely told him that he should go vigorously copulate with himself, of course.
Fortunately or not, the job in Vangroovy fell through at the last minute. British Columbia is phenomenally beautiful, by the way, and I recommend it to anyone.
Canada is so lucky to have us to sponge off of. Without us, they’d be Greenland.
Mike Scott and others:
According to his online bio, “Remember The Titans” screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard was a military kid who’d lived in Va., but only learned about the T.C. Williams team in the ’90′s from others. He sold the script within a couple years and says it was little changed by the studio for filming. The film compressed events a bit, and it may be that Howard either deliberately combined figures minor to the story, or simply got the names mixed up, or that there were potential rights issues with living figures that the studio wished to avoid wherever possible. I’d lean to a combination of the latter two possibilities.
My guess would be that those who told Howard about the T.C. Williams story, being NoVa natives, were much more aware of Ed Henry’s stellar career in HS football, being that it occured for decades in that area and led to state championships, durably dominant programs and his eventual VHSL Hall Of Fame induction. The screenwriter probably was told much more about Ed Henry than Eddie Joyce, and conflated the two, perhaps unintentionally. For those very same reasons that Henry’s reputation was so well known in NoVa, those across SoVa then, when AAA rivalries encompassed a territory from Halifax, Danville, and Lynchburg to Bluefield and Tazewell, knew about Eddie Joyce’s equally successful program, and since he was indeed the coach of TCW’s championship game opponent, it is understandable that those in this area think it’s him portrayed in the movie. As with Henry, many of Joyce’s assistants and players became head coaches too. So both fit the profile of a “wily veteran coaching legend” described in the film.
It does remind me of how parochial sports can get, and occasionally when I encounter someone being boringly, boastingly nostaglic about their own era in a Springsteen “Glory Days” kind of way, I like to ask them in an innocent voice about who won it two years later, or four years earlier, or that sort of thing. The frequent blank stare in response is proof that they never realized that their own experience was more common than they’ve told themselves.
The 60′s and 70′s were also the time when Va. saw suburbanization impact school enrollments, reflected in the careers of both men. Henry moved over to Robinson when it was still fairly new in it’s role of absorbing students from existing schools to alleviate crowding, including T.C.Williams. Joyce presided in Salem during the transition from the era of big urban AAA schools to proliferating suburban schools, until Andrew Lewis eventually had only a AA enrollment.
I hadn’t realized that Ed Henry had been on the UVa. staff, I presume he was valued for his NoVa recruiting as much as a position coach(?). I had also forgotten that Eddie Joyce had coached the semi-pro team in Roanoke. His talented QB son, Eddie Jr., signed with Tech during a turbulent time in ’73, and was thrown into starting action as a true freshmen before he was ready, skills wise or emotionally.
One last thing, I was at the TCW/ALHS championship game, and also at the semi-final game with E.C. Glass at Victory Stadium the week before. Since the statute of limitations for youthful opportunism may be past, I now confess that along with a running mate, we gained entry to that semi-final game by scaling the Wiley Drive-side fence at about 5pm, sneaking in to the restroom under the bleachers, and hiding in the stalls for two hours until the gates opened. So, I remember the Titans that season, but I also remember two hours spent standing on a toilet seat, probably humming Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up”!
J.M. White:
“I politely told him that he should go vigorously copulate with himself, of course.”
LOL. I’d love to hear that story! Whether there’s ever another blogger get-together or not, we should meet.
Some folks are never satisfied. They even critique the good neighbors.
I also read an article about Canada refusing to let pastor Terry Jones enter their country last week.
Warren,
Hollywood does what it wants with the facts. I was somewhat disappointed that the Remember the Titans script shortchanged ALHS in the story and seemed to want to keep the focus on NoVa for some reason. It ain’t the way it happened.
RIP coach Joyce. Coaches can have such positive impacts on so many people.
I think coach Henry is still alive somewhere. Love to talk to him again. He was quite a coach and a great friend of the family.
Speaking of Canada…
We went to see Argo over the weekend – great movie..and a true story about how our friends to the North helped rescue 6 Americans who escaped from the embassy in Iran when it was stormed and breached. You will come out thinking better of the Canadians than those ill-informed comments posted on this thread.
I recommend the movie highly – funny, tense and a true story. What else do you need? And oh there is Ben Affleck…
LOL. I’d love to hear that story! Whether there’s ever another blogger get-together or not, we should meet.
Comment by John Wilburn — October 15, 2012 @ 4:45 pm
Of course! You have my email address; feel free to use it, good sir. I’d definitely be up for a meet.
There are quite a few people on this blog I’d like to meet, actually, but I’m far too poor to be able to host such an event.
Oh, and Dan could give the win to Obama right now. He won’t even need to watch the debate to write his first post-debate blog post to declare such.
All this said, I hope I’m wrong. If the LW media were to score the debates 0-3 for team Obama and chatter about it for the week, that actually could affect the election. My guess is they won’t let this happen and with three weeks left will start promoting Obama’s coming from behind to win the last two debates.
Comment by John Wilburn — October 15, 2012 @ 12:28 am
John Wilburn,
And notice the MSM is setting the stage for the “comeback” by saying 0bama has to have this debate win tonight to stay alive. But as you say, the script has already been written.