StrangeSox

Then we have a case of the Federal government sending in the US military to kill dozens of US citizens extrajudicially on US soil. I think it's more likely that the man who appeared to be a pathological liar was telling another self-aggrandizing lie than the alternative.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 01:26 PM) Just curious...how or who would collaborate these Katrina stories, tbh? It's not like the top of the Superdome is some inconspicuous place. Plus there'd be the matter of a few dozen dead bodies shot with high-powered rifles.

I'd say an important difference there is that Pat Tillman was made into a hero with a bulls*** story crafted by others for their own purposes. Chris Kyle supplied his own bulls***. He was a willing participant in the glorification.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 11:56 AM) I thought it was just his sniper buddies who were actively deployed to keep order and not him personally? http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/...-the-crosshairs

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 06:47 PM) I don't think we as Sox fans should pretend cubs news doesn't really bother us. It bothers us man. That's the enemy. That's our most hated rival, the enemy constantly at the gates year round. They have control of the town. A part of growing up a Sox fan is the hope that one day maybe the Sox could be SO good that the cubs become irrelevant in this town. How can you not want that, to own the town one day? Everything positive about the cubs is so annoying to me. I mean, do you really want all your cub fan buddies calling you non stop for eternity if they finally win it? Please heavens mercy no. Not calling you out or anything, just saying some people feel this way and can't have a cavalier attitude about it. I'm usually more worried about Detroit, Minnesota and now Kansas City in any given year than the Cubs.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 09:36 AM) This. I see that someone vandalized a billboard for the movie with the word "murderer." Our country has some stupid sheeple in it. FWIW Kyle told an almost definitely made-up story about him and a sniper buddy going to New Orleans right after Katrina and shooting dozens of people from the top of the Superdome. That would make him a mass-murderer, but it was something he was trying to brag about. He also just seemed to have incredibly simplistic "good guys versus bad guys" views of the world.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 09:45 AM) To be fair, civil forfeiture was a good idea in theory. It was meant to seize drug money. But obviously as with most laws, the enforcement became corrupted and abused by people. We can thank John Oliver for this move. While people were fighting this stuff it didn't become widely known until his show did a whole segment on it. The Washington Post also did a fantastic series on it.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 10:31 AM) Might have sonething to do with facing one of the best defenses in the league.The win probabilities are based upon the entire league averages not against one of the best defenses. This just like all of the stats used in baseball become meaningless in the playoffs when you face the best teams. Which is why you need to maximize the scoring opportunities when you're within the 5 yard line.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 07:26 AM) My question is why are Sox fans offended? Ricketts was talking at Cubs Convention with Cubs fans and made a joke. First of all, the attendance problem is real and true. Second, it's an innocuous joke. Sox fans would get a similar kick out of a joke told by KW at the Cubs expense if the circumstances were similar.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 01:13 PM) I just hiked the South Kaibab and Bright Angel in August. We got really fortunate with the weather and it was a great trip. Will do this at some point Hulu has this awesome 8-part series on the Alps called "The Alps from Above." Beautiful shots throughout the Alps, and despite the name, it's not just a bunch of aerial footage. They also focus on people who live and work in the areas doing unique things either for a living or as a hobby. It's usually some traditional arts/craftsman thing.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 09:10 AM) This is an excellect typo/autocorrect. (it's a Colbert skit from last year about the NFL's logo and name restrictions)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 09:01 AM) Send a PM to Tex to get his attention. This was more or less a post for him, but I thought there might be some others who have been out that way.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 08:58 AM) I know this is an old post, but I thought I'd say something about it anyway. 30 lbs, not 50. If your pack weighs that much, you're taking wayyyyyy too much stuff with you. People commonly overpack cloths and food on these types of trips. I'd recommend getting the pack as near to 30lbs as you can. That's true. One of the funnier parts of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" about the AT is when his friend goes "yard sale" on all of the extra crap in his pack. I've 50 lbs as the upper end of the common range for longer (week+) trips, but for a night or two that's really unnecessary. Whiskey has a better weight/alcohol ratio!

Anyone ever been to Big Bend NP in Texas? Considering a short trip there late March/early April.

McCarthy should have gone for it on those first two field goals. When will nfl coaches learn to start paying attention to win probabilities?

What is with the Richard Sherman hate?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/17/us/supre...WT.nav=top-news WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether all 50 states must allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The court’s announcement made it likely that it would resolve one of the great civil rights questions of the age before its current term ends in June.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2015 -> 03:40 PM) So if the GOP does one nice act that you agree with you'll never complain about their history ever again? That's how gripes work? I think the Bears brass has set up decades of disappointment that led to those gripes and complaints, and the fact that they've done the opposite once or twice in their entire history doesn't really change things. When it becomes a trend going the other way, then you can cross it off the list. If you're still clinging to the "they're so cheap, they'll never spend any money!" idea, you have multiple instances over the last several years indicating it just isn't true anymore. It's not about whether they're making good moves or should be praised.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2015 -> 02:22 PM) Ugh: "Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, said, “There is some grave concern about the possible loss of significant funding while local police and state police are being asked to do more and more each year.” It's literally stealing money from people you asshole. I don't give a s*** that the PD can't have a Margaritaville for its break room anymore. It's the same thing we're seeing with the NYPD and stopping enforcement of all sorts of low-level fines and what Radley Balko documented in St. Louis County. Most Americans are ideologically opposed to anything called a "tax," so we end up with all sorts of fees and fines and stuff like civil asset forfeiture in order to fund state and local governments.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2015 -> 02:18 PM) How does the AG of the DOJ stop state and local cops from applying existing federal law? He can't invalidate the law. And he has no jurisdiction over state and local cops. Radley Balko explain: The Equitable Sharing program was created by the DoJ, not by statute, so the DoJ is free to change this policy/program whenever it wants.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2015 -> 02:58 PM) That they've made a competent decision once so I'm not going to forgive 30 years of mostly s***? That wasn't a list of "Good decisions" by the Bears but a list that counters the typical "they're so cheap! they always do the same thing!" message that's been out there forever.

Civil asset forfeiture abuse was brought up in one of these threads, but Eric Holder just took a significant step to curtail it. http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...3ddc_story.html

There's also a video from NASA showing the four-year average anomaly through time:

There's a map for that! 2014 Temperature Anomaly (deviation from 1951-1980 baseline) The US and Canada east of the Rockies were colder than usual, but most of the globe ranged from slightly to much warmer than usual.