Texsox

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 12:46 PM) So how do you respond to me stating that this statement in support of Fidel is not over the line for any team that doesn't have to market to Cuban Expats? See above.

But I believe we would know it when someone steps over the line. I do not believe any of the examples you just gave would be worthy a suspension. Now wouldn't you want to suspend a manager who on 9/11 expressed regret that more people were not killed? Who on 12/7/41 cheered Japanese planes? Perhaps someone who believes that Hitler wasn't all wrong or who believes that handicapped infants should be euthenized? I can handle that slippery slope.

I love his reasoning.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 10:29 AM) This an entirely different argument, Tex...you're trying to equate behavioral/environmental changes to feeding them a substandard diet based on their biological equipment. It's simply not a good analogy. If you want to get into whether the domestication of dogs was good or bad for the species, you can look at the plight of the wolf and other wild animals in North America...I think the dog is probably a pretty lucky animal to have been domesticated and incorporated into our lifestyle, rather than trying to compete with us for resources to maintain their own. And even if we were to concede that domesticating dogs was bad for the species in general, how would that somehow justify feeding them a s***ty diet? What I am trying to equate is on one hand we are saying they are wild animals, then we lock them up. You want to split apart their digestive tract from the rest of the animal. Let's put the animal back together and make it whole. The best food is for the dog to hunt, as a pack,and catch prey and eat the whole thing. Anything humans do to remove them from that social and digestive process is not ultimate for the animal. You pay a lot of attention to the dog's digestive tract and psyche. But even as careful as you are, you are many steps away from the wild ideal. How large of a territory would a Great Dane roam during the course of a day? How often would they be confined? I agreed a very long time ago that the very worst of human produced food is bad for them. But I believe the very best isn't any further away from the ideal diet than locking a dog up is from their social and physical ideal.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 08:15 AM) All of the above. After all he is a rich Republican and has no morals. Actually doesn't this happen in both parties? Hillary comes to mind. Cutting a deal do pave the way for the Presidency has been around since at least the Corrupt Bargainm, and I'd guess long before that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 12:21 PM) Not directly, but the victim's family has repeatedly suggested that they believed he was a flight risk, and usually that makes things like "don't leave the state" orders happen. Who wouuld issue such an order?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 07:45 AM) Yeah, but do you really want to go off and start judging "Inappropriate/ill-informed political beliefs" to be detrimental to the league? Yes.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 08:18 AM) No, see, this is what you're not seeing! That roadkill IS a better meal for the dog than a bowl of food you might get at your local grocery store! The reason is because dogs have evolved to digest a meal such as roadkill over tens of thousands of years, most likely more. Regardless of how disgusting it is to you and I, a dog's stomach is equipped to break down that roadkill in its stomach and then its very short intestinal system. The bacteria that would put you and I in the hospital for weeks wouldn't so much as phase our dogs. The dog's gastrointestinal system would much more efficiently process that meat and bones of a dead squirrel roasting in the sun than a bag of Purina you got from Sam's Club. Again, for an analogy, it would be like saying I shouldn't eat leftover salmon from yesterday at the restaurant because it isn't super fresh, so I should eat a 2 pound bag of skittles instead. OK, then how is locking them inside crates and homes better for them? If they are better off as wild animals, what are we doing by keeping them as pets?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 07:42 PM) Get rid of the gun. One of the oddities of the gun debate that I have never gotten around comes to mind. The anti-gun people generally do not own guns, nor have they ever owned guns. This is normal and expected because they would be a bit of a hypocrit to own guns and advocate for them being illegal. At the same time owning a gun and being a responsible owner adds some insight to the argument that I believe is important. Everyday people use things incorrectly and harm comes to people. From cars to cheeseburgers, cigarettes to scissors, stuff happens. Responsible gun owners see the differences and the similarities. Non gun owners see a gun as an evil weapon with no value.

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 10:14 PM) Ok...but none of those diets includes grains and carbs heat pressed into pellets... It's like you suggesting it's alright to eat pop tarts instead of fresh fish because fresh fish may not be ideal for a high jumper... Yes, some protein sources are better than others. Some people think some vegetables have important nutrients or form combinations with nutrients in meat that deliver better results than without...but 99% of all dry kibble isn't even in the same stratosphere as even the worst raw protein sources. If you want me to agree that there are terrible man made foods, I already did that a long time ago. But it really means about as much as if I mention feeding a dog a raw diet of road kill that has been sitting in the sun for 24 hours.

Complete this Romney quote: Drop out of the race and I will offer you . . . VP? Cabinet? Hookers? Stocks?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 9, 2012 -> 09:52 AM) I can't see how you could suspend him for that. You could have management fire him for hurting their specific business, but I don't see that it's the league's business to regulate this type of speech. If some team hires a coach and then he comes out as a communist, is that a suspension-worthy offense? Don't most of these guys have clauses in their contracts about actions detrimental to the league?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 09:29 PM) You're not talking about caloric needs, Tex. you're talking about feeding an animal something it is not biologically equipped to digest well. That would be like me feeding you old shoes or something because you're not participating in the decathalon. Dogs simply do not process grains well. They also do not process carbohydrates well. This is what a large portion of cheap kibble is comprised of. Then they eat more and more trying to reach the proper levels of nutrition, and get obese and develop allergies. What you're trying to argue is that their caloric needs might vary. I can buy that. But whether or not they will need proper nourishment will not vary. I am talking about fuels for a long, slow exertion compared to fuels for a short burst of energy or for no exertion of all. It's your position that the same food is correct in each of those cases, I'm not so certain. And from what I've read from trainers of greyhounds and sled dogs they each have special diets they place their dogs that they have found to work best. And again I will quickly and easily concede that there are some very poor dog foods out there that are not very good for dogs.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 04:15 PM) My answer will continue to be what is the most biologically appropriate. This isn't going to change based on whether or not he is hunting lions or sitting on the couch. Think about it for a minute. A husky pulling a sled in Alaska for 12 hours, a greyhound about to run flat out for 90 seconds, and a lab sitting in a jon boat waiting for a chance to swim through cold waters to retrieve a duck, and a pocket pooch living in a high rise all have the same nutritional needs? I'm not so certain.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 04:16 PM) Whichever one makes them not puke all over your couch and doesnt make their hair fall out all over your tiny apt. I hated when my ex would buy cat food with artificial dyes. My cat would puke it up and stain the carpet.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 04:11 PM) I think it's pretty 100% clear that the kid is dead. Do you disagree? You shouldn't be able to chase a kid and wind up gunning them down without punishment. I don't care what the details are, the part everyone agrees to, the part documented by recorded phone conversations, says that is what happened. If it's legal to do that, because some stupid state has decided that everyone should be armed to the teeth, then that state is wrong and people shouldn't be armed to the teeth. I agree. Here is the but . . . The problem is in writing the law you should be allowed to chase a criminal* and stop him. You should not have to run because some criminal punk is in your neighborhood. Now write a law that allows me to follow someone who will commit a crime while not following someone who will not be committing a crime. I do not believe it can be done. But recognize that there are law abiding citizens who want to take back their neighborhoods. They are tired of watching criminals out their closed windows because they are required by law to give the criminals the streets. The old law requires us to run away from criminals. That ain't right either**. *We know Martin was not a criminal now. ** Earning my screen name lol

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 04:09 PM) You know, I'll just add too that it's odd to me that someone like Balta (liberal-commie....j/k!) is probably on the other side of the fence when it comes to the death penalty because it's rare to have a case where it's 100% certain that someone did the crime, and in some cases because of DNA testing and whatnot convictions have been overturned. So in those cases it's "NEVER assume anything, ALWAYS assume that the evidence is wrong and the person is 100% innocent." But in this case it's absolutely flipped. We STILL do not know exactly what happened, it's all a bunch of reports, which if the last Illinois men's basketball coaching search taught me anything, it's that reporting and journalism is pretty f***ing worthless these days. Even so, he's 100% guilty and a dirty racist to boot, and now he's going to go scot-free and this just proves that all whites hate all blacks and the world will end in 21 days. Jenks that is an awesome post. You tossed in everything from Illini basketball to commies. I have no f***ing idea what you meant, but I loved reading it. I think I agree with most of your thoughts, but I did get a little lost.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 04:01 PM) No. They recommended diets which, as you mentioned, were cheap and could feed the masses most efficiently. Unfortunately, when you do nothing but sit on your ass and stare at a screen for the majority of your days, that diet produces heart attacks. Which brings up an interesting point. A dog's diet should be the same if they are roaming the woods trying to bring down game or sitting on a couch and going to a dog park?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 03:59 PM) Tex...it's not a wild dog thing...it's about feeding the dog the foods its biology digests most efficiently...I understand what you are trying to get at...but our pets are not some "experiment" for most of us... But aren't we doing just that when we provide food instead of allowing them to hunt their own? You have a very large breed that I doubt evolved to sit on couches. It seems like you are running an experiment to see what food and excercise routine works best for them. You would make changes if you saw something wasn't agreeing with them. You wouldmake changes if your researched convinced you there was something better. I'm not suggesting you are doing a bad or wrong thing. I wish every pet owner cared for their dogs as much as you care for yours. I just also leave open the possibility that other caring owners have found their dogs thrive on other diets, other training, and other socializations.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 03:53 PM) But that decision should be made by a jury, not by a Prosecutor who is concerned about their conviction ratio. Actually part of our system is the prosecutor can't just charge people and let juries sort it out. We have demanded that prosecutors be more careful than that. It is a waste of taxpayer money and clogs our courts. And I am not specifically stating that applies to this case, just to the idea that prosecutors should prosecute first and ask questions later.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 03:51 PM) Some would call a law that raises the threshold for charging a guy with a gun crime in a self-defense case to an obscene level, where prosecutors default towards not charging people, to be a perversion of justice. Some would also call having a 17 year old kid dead because some guy found him suspicious to be one huge perversion of justice, no matter what happens. I agree with the idea behind what you are saying. I would not have stated it that way, but I understand what you are saying. It's a bad law. But it is the law. We should work to have it changed so this sort of thing does not happen again.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 03:38 PM) Tex, We don't even understand how best to feed ourselves. You think we can outsmart nature when it comes to feeding our dogs? The best approach is to feed as large a variety of good proteins as possible. That way we are most likely to cover all the nutrients dogs need. Unfortunately, this is very expensive and beyond the reach of most people for large dogs. Check out a product like Darwin's versus something like what most people feed Iam's. There is a huge, huge difference, because one caters to the needs of the dog, while the other caters to the needs of the dog's owner. As I said much, much earlier. If we are going to compare the best and the worse of processed animal foods, than the conclusion will be much different. But as long as we are feeding the animal and they are not hunting and killing it themselves, the system is different. We're providing food for an animal. How close to perfect is the dog owner comfortable with? I don't have a dog in this fight, just some things I was thinking. We want this wild dog as long as it doesn't pee or poop in the house, rip the carpet trying to make a den, is agressive when other animals invade its territory, etc. The whole pet thing becomes strange to me at some point. And I love dogs and cats.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 03:42 PM) I'm still incredibly skeptical that there will be any punishment. However, he would have been let off the hook completely and the case would have been closed without the public outcry. Which is a damn shame in itself and something others should be punished for. It is getting harder to sort the facts and how the law is applying them. There seems to be so much pressure to prosecute that everyone from the locals to the feds are trying to get this guy to court. I'm not suggesting the public outcry is a bad thing. I just don't want it to pervert our system of justice. After all he is innocent until proven guilty. We seem to have found him guilty and are trying to figure out a way to convict him. It might feel right, but it isn't how our system was meant to be. I really believe he escalated this and should be held responsible. I also do not believe it was premeditated. As I've said before, two guys who feared each other meet and a terrible thing happened. One guy is dead, the other should also pay some price.

Sounds like you made the correct first step and the teachers let you down. I'd reschedule a conference with the teacher of the subject where the problem is. We team teach here and you will always have three of the four core teachers there. (The fourth is handling our tutoring groups). We'll pick the class where the student is doing best to not be there. A couple thoughts that may help your daughter. Prioritize the most important stuff like reading and math. Do more if you can, but be certain that reading and math is taken care of. Help her to understand there is a difference between doing homework and studying. Find her learning style, what works best, and find additional materials that suit her style. Find a different textbook that covers the same material, find videos, etc. Check over her class notes or help her to create some. Note taking is an art and it takes a while for people to get better at it. If it is serious enough an outside tutor can be a real help.