KRAM1

Wow, I cannot contain myself with the optimism that I am reading on this thread! The "things are getting better" folks seem to far outweigh to "doom and gloom" folks. Even a few pseudo-doom and gloomers have predicted a "non-disaster". Way to go folks. I do think some are a bit over optimistic, but I am down with that...much better than the doom and gloom. My crystal ball is always positive when it comes to the Mean Green (does that surprise anyone?), but still I think 7-5 is a bit of a stretch...so I'll say 7-5! What's wrong with a bit of a stretch anyway? It's early and everyone can think happy thoughts...well, some people can't, but most of us can from time to time. GO MEAN GREEN!!!!!!

OK, let's see everyone jump on Rhyner now since he said something negative regarding baseball, and "perhaps" the Rangers. Come on where are you guys when we need you. GO RANGERS...still your FIRST PLACE Rangers and it is almost June! Yes, very good to wave goodbye to Detroit! What's up with the Rangers when they go to Detroit anyway? Global warming perhaps???? Or, was Bush in town for the series...you need someone to blame it on, it certainly cannot be that Detroit was the better team over this series, can it? UGH! Let's just blame Bush. It's so much easier that way...remember now, let's see everyone jump on Rhyner! Just kidding!

And, there will be plenty more of his "messes" that he will have to clean up...the guy is a walking "mess machine"! Easy to talk, but a bit harder to actually back up your pretty speeches with credible action. I think we should send the guys in Gitmo to live with the dems who voted to fund Obama's non-plan...or maybe Tina faye could take a few in and write her next comedy script around her "gentle houseguests"...plenty of space in some of those hollywood mansions...hhay, Sean Penn...got and extra room or two???

Seems to me this issue has been decided in the courts on numerous occasions. The parent, legally, does not have the right to withhold treatment. Whether you like it or not, from a legal standpoint the issue has already been decided. As a parent, it is totally beyond my scope of immagination that these folks would withhold treatment that they have been told has over a 90% chance of saving this kid's life. It is, indeed, a very sensitive issue when it comes to such matters, but as far as the courts are concerned...matter closed! This is certainly why the mother has fled with the boy. I doubt Canada...more like Mexico perhaps. Tough deal, and my heart goes out to this young man...I pray for a miracle.

Way too early to tell. Even the Republican Party has no clue at this point, and "Washington Insiders" are trying to guess. I would think that a leader will emerge in the next couple of years to help lead the party. We'll see who that might be. Could be Jindal, but it is way too early to tell.

Play the best to be the best. UNT has a real shot at building a very good program into a Great program with the women's soccer team. Nice to see. Too bad these teams won't play UNT in football more often. These teams KNOW that UNT could beat them yet they still schedule UNT. Looks like the women aren't "afraid" of taking on solid competition in their non-conference games. What's up with the men? Pansies!!!! OK< just kidding about the men, but this is a really nice non-conference schedule and should prepare the Mean Green for the conference battles to come later in the season. You go ladies! Great job of scheduling too!

We'RE #3...WE'RE #3!!!! Actually that is good to see. It does show a bit of a level playing field for athletics at UNT and shows the quality of the entire athletic program compared to our "peers" in the Sunbelt. I know most on this board would find it hard to believe, but there are folks out there that prefer the non-revnue sports over football and basketball. Some of those folks give $$$ to UNT because the sports they follow have been doing well. I know Football rules and most might judge a university's athletic program on its football team's success alone...can you imagine that...but, this is a good showing by UNT overall. Way to go MEAN GREEN! Just think where we will be ranked at the end of next season with football, women's basketball, softball, soccer, golf, etc. doing even better. GO MEAN GREEN!!!!!

Good grief...always someone out there to play the "poor me, it's not fair" card. "Economic" discrimination???? Hmmmmmmmmm, I guess compared to Bill gates most of us suffer from "economic discrimination". So, if you are stupid enough to commit these crimes at least you get credit for knowing where the "good stuff" is located, right? Yep, go rob some depressed neighborhood and find all the diamonds, cash, plasma screens, etc. That way when they catch you...and they will...you can get a slap on the wrist. I wonder if these idiots stop and think like that before they do the crime? But, of course, let's worry about who gets what type of sentance AFTER they commit the crime. Foutsrouts...not all all saying that you "economic discrimination" theory is not correct or is not worthy of study, it's just that I can't get too worked up over "discrimination" when it comes to burglers. But, it seems to me that your "money rules" applies to lots of areas in life...like politics for instance, professional sports teams, oil-rich vs oil-poor nations, people who actually work for a living vs peolple who live on the dole...you get the idea. This stuff exists. If West and his guys made so much money...how come that "money talks" thing didn't buy them a better lawyer?

AMEN to that!

Sorry...a 6-6 team should never be in a bowl game. There are way too many bowl games and the financial condition of many of these so-called bowl games is beginning to reflect just that. I am wondering if the "economy" will have an effect this year on travel by teams and their fans to bowl games....not the big boys, but the second and third tier bowl games? Just wondering? I am old enough to remember when all the bowls that meant anything at all were played on New Yera's Day. Now even a New Year's Day bowl can seem sort of second-tier. Hey, I like watching the bowl games...1st, 2nd, 3rd tier, I am just wondering what some "others" on here might think about the number and quality of bowl games these days. NOW, if UNT were to get an invite to a bowl this season it would be a MAJOR BOWL no matter when or where in my opinion!

I doubt UNT will see many predictions above 8th in the 'Belt. If all they knew was what they have read or seen (maybe even here on GMG.Com, who knows????) then 8th it is until UNT proves them wrong. Seems fair to me. What I will/do find interesting are the "whys" given for the various predictions. One guess, most, if not all will mention Riley and the success he and TD had at Southlake. You think some of these folks might just think they will be able to recapture some of that old Southlake-Carroll magic?

I said "to" me not "on" me! I guess age is creeping up on you Silver Eagle...remember I met you in the Drunk Tank at the spring game!

Talk about calling people out without understanding what was being said...the discussion was regarding consumer's...not small businesses. I think we can all agree that the small businessman has "taken it in the shorts" lately in Texas (and elsewhere). That "business tax so we can lower property taxes" was/is the biggest scam I have ever seen. It ended up being a not-so-clever way to simply raise tax revenue while not lowering it as promised elsewhere. But, that was not part of the original discussion. If Chase charged you 23% (and you signed it????) why in the sam hill are you still doing business with Chase? If your credit is solid (you indicate that it is) why are you not talking to local independent banks about moving your business there? I don't know how large your credit line was/is or what business you are in or where you are located, but there are, believe it or not, opportunities to move your business to a more "small business" friendly bank. Most of the "big boys" are not overly interested in small business lending...simply not "big enough" for the time, costs and risks involved. Sure...so go lend to GM and see what you get. Look I was in banking for 30 years in the DFW area and do have some decent knowledge in that area...I now work for a small non-profit, so I share your pain in trying to work with bank's these days...yes, we have loans and credit card balances as you do that cannot be paid in full each month. So, don't go all "high and mighty" on me about "your pain"...lots of other folks share it as well. If you would like to PM me with some contact info, I would be happy to talk with you about your situation and see if I do not know of a local banker who would, at least be willing to talk to you about your business needs. The small businessman/women is the real backbone of this economy...and yet they tend to get the shaft no matter which party is in office. Go figure.

Now, there is a headline in today's Wall Street Journal (5/20) I thought I would never see: "DEMOCRATS PLAN TO BLOCK GITMO CLOSING".....man, how fast things can change. I seem to recall a certain presidential candidate that promised to close GITMO as the first thing he would do upon taking office. Hmmmmmmmmmm, perhaps reality is not quite stacking up quite like someone thought it would. The article goes on to say; "Bowing to political pressure, Senate Democrats said Tuesday that they planned to withhold funding to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, until President Barack Obama presents a plan for handling its 241 detainees. Democrats also plan to prevent the admisistration from spending any money to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. during the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30." Do you think the administration thought it could strong-arm its way with everything? Looks like it just might not be as easy as the administration thought it would be. Interesting how reality sets in to allow for a little re-thinking of some of the "change" that was promised while on the campaign trail...sort of like the release of those prisoner photos, etc., etc, etc. Life does have a way of setting its own parameters for "change" now doesn't it...maybe we should ask Dirk about that right about now!

Except for Cajun food and some great fun in New Orleans maybe!

And, just what about that little article did you think would hold any interest to me at all????? Appreciate the PR, you know, "any pub is good pub", but you should at least know something about what you are talking about if you want to use it in your heading, right? Just saying.

This will be interesting to watch. While the current administration goes about "change" it does seem to me that some pretty "regular" folks are going to be paying more and more for all these "changes". It will be well into next year before any of these credit card changes are seen by the public, but I would prepare now if I were you. You might want to think about getting rid of so many cards before you are forced to do so by new annual fees, etc. It will be interesting to see if the "free ride" grace period is eliminated for all card holders. I have not paid a dime of interest on a credit card in probably 10 or more years, but I charge on a very regular basis to keep getting those air miles and other benefits. If I have to pay interest even when I pay the card balance in full each month, I think it will be the debit card for me and my bride going forward. And, then there is that new auto mileage thing...car prices go up anyway, but here we have "change" helping to raise the cost even more. I wonder how many people will be put out of work in the auto industry by this and how many more folks in the banking industry will lose their jobs when all the "good" credit card owners start cutting back? It is true that the "local" banks one mentioned earlier rarely keep their credit card portfolios. They simply do not have the capital to do so, and they can make some good change selling their portfolios to another/larger institution. So, if you think you can rid yourself of the "big boys" by going to a smaller "local" bank, you might want to check into that a bit further. Amazing how fewer and fewer folks are paying the way for more and more people all the time. I think this is the kind of "change" I could do without. Let's beat up on the auto industry and the banking industry some more...they are both doing so well these days and employment levels and earnings are just through the roof, right? OK, I know, there is that "other side" and "rest of the story" too. I get that...a little sugar with all this nasty tasting medicine would be nice once in awhile though.

Yep, long time. Maybe the jury was trying to send a message. Do these sort of messages ever work? Don't seem to have much effect to me. He'll probably be out on "parole" soon enough.

I'm pretty conservative and I darn sure do not want to ban beer, whisky, playing cards, Vegas, bikinis or sex in general. Why can't the liberals leave "my stuff" alone? I'm helping them out here! Life ain't tough, it the politicians who want to make you think it is! Life is fun...MEAN GREEN FOOTBALL and BEER!!!!!

This is, at least, an interesting signing. Agree that as Cal once was a suitor it makes it a bit better, but there has to be a bit "more to the story" here. However, I am pretty excited to see what Coach Stephens is doing to "re-make" the women's team. I would imagine that she wants "her" coaches in and "her" players as well to get things going with the "Stephens" system. Seems appropriate to me. I am hopeful that she knows more than most about the players she is bringing into her program. GO LADIES!!!! GO MEAN GREEN.

No, actually I voted for a higher total ppg. The defense will be much improved, but as was mentioned earlier, the offense needs to do its part to help that average...keep the ball and eat up some clock so our D can at least catch it's breath. Tough to keep the ppg avg. down when you are "running on empty" in the 4th qtr.

Hey, I believed it when I heard it from some very prominent folks...90% of the guns in Mexico used in crimes come from the US! Looks like that is not really the case and the number may actually be more like 17%, but we all know what "they" say about statistics and the politicians who use them. Ha! Check out the article...yes, for some it will not be "good" because I did get it from Fox....but, read the darn thing and you decide what you think. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/...number-claimed/ I sure hope that link works!

NO WAY! GO MEAN GREEN. Yes sir, very good things are happening for the Texas Rangers in May. Hey, you got to give them their due. These guys are playing "lights out". We can all hope it continues.

One HS town! Sounds like a decent idea to me if you have only one HS ala Southlake Carroll. Why not? Seems that way you can develop players early into a system that they will run as they get into HS. Go for it...works well in one HS towns I would think. At least it will be easy to remember who to cheer for...just cheer for the Tigers! I just want to know how the town has survived all these years with drex moving away? And, his bride...both from the same HS.