SCREAMING EAGLE-66

--- Flyer is right... The Damn fence is worthless except in urban areas. Those who have never been to the sparse areas of Texas just don't seem to understand how worthless it is. Mexico has a big problem ... a poor economy and a history of government corruption. The USA contributes largely to their problem... so many here now use illegal drugs which creates the highly profitable gangs there. --- Jobs would help them but the quick large money by drug cartels is too tempting. I pity the honest policemen and courts that do exist there. Their life is in danger. As for the border jumpers.... everyone (even our families) left were they where because of bad economic conditions or a poor political situation (war, corruption, not in the group in power, etc.). I feel sorry for them but we need to protect ourselves.... decreasing drugs to the level it was during the 50's would be nice but likely impossible. ---I don't see as much the conflicting opinion as Rick... they can be courageous but poorly trained and some may be trying hard while others are on the take. They have serious problems with law enforcement including courts and there are no easy answers. Fighting organized crime is tough... they don't play by any legal rules.... they buy their way out or just shoot folks that get in their way.

Citizen Soldier by Ambrose (nonfiction). It has seen around a while. About WWII and mostly from the common soldier's point of view and not some General. Easy to read awhile and then come back later and read another section. I liked Angels and Demons... but I have been to most of the places in the book and movie. Interesting blend of fiction and facts. Not very controversial as was Da Vinci Code. Not easy reading and very packed with details, more complicated than the movie. As for Friday Night Lights.... I have started several time and can't seem to finish it ... I know several of the people in it. Interesting take of Texas HS Football.

------ I think it is a good choice… lot of experience, first Hispanic, and will be the only woman on court when Ginsberg soon leaves (very ill) . Sotomayer has been involved in many high profile cases. Has been appointed to positions by both Bush Sr., and Clinton – [but not Bush Jr., who always tried to please the religious right on everything... still can’t believe he first picked Harriet Meyers (SMU) who had never been a judge and maybe never even made an appearance in a courtroom… was a paper-pushing lawyer only…how dumb to appoint her to ANY court position …much less to the Supreme Court.. ] --- She looks pretty even on things… not radical right or left. Has decided in favor of “money” at times and sometimes against them. I expect the religious right will oppose her but the right in general (true conservatives) should not.

----It would not have happened if they had not been legal to buy. It was not acquired illegally. It was not used to defend himself either. As I am saying ... a lot more are used by criminals than people to defend themselves. Especially in drive-bys. No defense against those. Even the police are often outgunned. The problem now is there are so many... and have become easy to obtain... legally or illegally. The only way to half control them now is not sell ammo to them and even that is a problem since some fits other non-assault guns. Let me guess you live in a large town and have little or no contact with rural America... Rural people have no use for them as a general rule. Just city folks seem to like them for what ever reason. No hunting use for them either. They are designed to only shoot people. ( that and to feed the ego of the powerless than they now have power)

---The extreme right wingers keep claiming there is a big effort to ban all guns... That is BS. There is an effort by many to ban these assault weapons and for "big city" people want to have controls on some others. Granted there are a few on the EXTREME left would ban guns but they are as nutty as those who think there is a big effort to ban them. Guns used for hunting (assault guns aren't) and normal pistols are not even suggested by anyone to be banned. Those of us in semi rural areas who have rural property understand guns are needed and more tools than toys. ---As for gun controls, there pretty much has always been some controls in place...(at least the past 100 years). You just can't carry anything anywhere and certain ones are just banned period. Shotguns with extremely short barrells for example. Of course gun companies and the NRA love to talk this and get people all excited that they are going to be banned... it gets people scared and they go buy more guns and weapons....good for business.. Some people try to claim one political party is more gun friendly than the other..... that is sort of crazy too. It is more about where that politician lives..not their party... big city or small town or rural area...... not which party they are members of. Granted at the moment, Big city politicans tend to members of one party so it appear that party is more anti-gun... In general it just isn't true....it is a function of their location.. --- Locally a college age person was shot (his car was) about 50 times with an assault weapon at a bar parking lot last winter. I can't even think of a situation in the news that a regular person needed or used an assault weapon to defend himself. I know a lot of situations of drive-bys shooting up a house or location with one. . It is a bad trade-off. --- As one person stated..... youth, beer, and a gun .... is a bad mix.

--You are right but it is a crazy argument.... Getting to campus is neccessary in order to get an education ( crazy automobile argument) .... carrying a gun is purely an option. I just think that with more guns available on campus that accidents will occur and hotheads and drunks will shoot a few people. How many crazy terrorist events like at Virginia Tech have happened on Texas campuses in the last 50 years that could be prevented with a person with a gun.. I remember none... the closest is Whitman at UT Tower about 1965. Students having a handgun that day would not have helped at all. How many accidents and shootings would have happened in those 50 years if students had carried guns..... don't know but it would not be zero. ---This is not about a person's right to own a gun but about a trade off of a lot more deaths due to accidents and anger on campus vs. very few saved because someone has a gun... Besides someone having one is a nearby car is safer and is often almost as effective.... --Are you proposing we raise the driving age to European standards. ???? There is a huge difference in geography, population density, and culture.... having been there a lot I can tell you mass transportation is very good there even in smaller places..... Except large cities, it is awful here. The most fatal age here is 17, or about one year after learning how to drive. At that point their confidence exceeds their abilities and they start driving recklessly. It probably would be the same if raised to 18, 19 would likely be the most fatal age. --- We may get to find out... just remember this discussion and some of us warned against it. Ever wonder why carrying laws were put into extence in the first place and we don't do as we did 100 years ago? ....safety... with less guns quickly available. Besides-----What would you expect to be the largest the reason for deaths for people age 15-20.... cancer, heart attacks, or strokes..?? It is almost a given that it would be some type of accident and cars are in very common use, unlike guns.

---Saddam was hoping that Iran thought he had them... he was fangless after the Gulf War when we had destroyed his tanks and air force, plus he had no way to resupply himself..... most of his weapons had come from the USA in Reagan era when fighting Iran and the Soviet Union which had now collapsed. He had nothing... but he feared Iran and the Islamic crazies that existed there. Saddam was a complete thug... but not an Islamic crazy which really is our problem. ---Nukes, no possibility... chemical maybe, he once had some.. but neither he or Iraq citizens had never committed a terrorist act on us or Europe. Also no Iraq person was involved in 9-11, most were citizens of Saudi Arabia...... our buddies,. ---What you want to be believe was true... just wasn't... accept it. !!

---Damn... I went to college about 3-4 years too early.... Girls were required to wear skirts (they weren't that short unfortunately) until 4:00 when I graduated in 1966... Supposedly the end of the "business" day. Even "the Zoo" (TWU) had more liberal girls dorm hours than UNT did. I went back in the summers of the early 70's and the world had changed... greatly.

Nope--- I think it is a bad idea. Really tough on very small businesses. (shock for once I agree with you... but I'll bet whatever I post first ..you would disagree with..as usual)

---Totally different environment... besides today's army is not just filled with college age kids (as you claim) which the Viet Nam era army was (avg. age of PFC was 19). The WWII one wasn't either, the average PFC in WWII was 26 which means a lot were 30+ considering 18 was pretty much the youngest age. Lower ages would mean even more older ones to get that average. . ---You must be completely isolated from todays college age people and their lifestyle. .

--Obviously you did not live with some of the morons I had in my dorm.... they could have passed a background check but made a lot of bad decisions. --- I also have a problem with just safety... The lady I knew just dropped hers and it entered below her belt and out her neck. (end of her life) Concealed guns are not as secure as those exposed in a holster. I am a semi-rural person and have handled them forever. Some people are total idiots when handling a gun....safety course or not ... then adding a few drinks or a bad temper really compounds the problem. --I have no problem with one kept in a car.

---Absolutely correct... Gambling undermines the credibility of the sport...and puts it on the level of wrestling. If Rose bet on games that he was involved in... then he should gone forever...... He knew the rules. ---I'm no Vick fan and hope that any team I support doesn't touch him but he has paid dearly. If someone wants to sign him, let them.... and with no or a short suspension... which is likely meaningless anyway since he would need to get into shape and learn the playbook. I would play him as a Randle-El type player, not the QB (at least at first) because that position is the face of the team. That way he could quietly re-enter the league.

---You just explained one reason why a lot of people go into education. .... A lot women do this also to be home with kids when they are off... which saves on day-care costs which means they can earn less and still be at the same point financially.. I also felt sorry for kids who were off in the summer and both parents were working... no supervision in many cases and not a great deal for them. --This is very unlikely to pass.

---The idiot Texas Senate has approved a bill (first vote 20-10) to allow college student to carry guns on campus. If it gets final approval it is a given that Perry will sign it since he proposed it some time ago. How long will it be until some drunk, dopped-up, or hot-headed kid shoots someone in his dorm or on campus. I know they undergo background checks but people that age rarely have a criminal history ....yet..... The losses will be a lot worse than the gains. Private colleges can opt out of this law and forbid them. ---I have no problem them with them kept in a car but not carried. I also knew personally a lady that dropped hers and it fired and killed her. This is a bad deal. I teach on a college campus and have never feared a problem... The chance of an accident or a drunk/dopped up hothead is much more likely than some nut like at Virginia Tech showing up. . Students having a gun in a car might be helpful if such incident occured. That I have no problem with. I am far from an anti-gun person but this is crazy. (my oppinion) --I am surprised no one has posted this.

---The title of this thread is a good example of an oxymoron.

--- He was pretty much following orders of the guys in White House... and what they provided to him and told him to present... it was that or resign... which he did pretty quickly after that. The prez and VP were claiming the same and he basicly was their employee. It was obvious in the beginning he wasn't gung-ho about it but he chose to serve the administration when he likely should just resigned. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle2042072.ece That is a British source not some political site biased to either party. As a former military person he also understood the problem better it seems. Give it up... this was an all Bush/Cheney war. Back to-- "the truth and what you want to believe is true"..... they aren't the same.

I wondered the same... Smaller local banks are much more "friendly to small business" if they have good credit. . Big nation-wide banks are handy when you are in multiple cities or travel a lot.

Iraq has WMD and we know where they are. (guess who) Obama is not the only Democrat... many others were opposed its complete closing. Also once he got into office I am sure things start looking a bit different. He has removed most of the prisoners from there... just as he said he would... just not closed it. Things change.... as did the economy in the final half of 2008.. which Bush presided over.

--- I once witnessed a Corvair with a light pole (still standing) in the back seat. A female TCU student had some how hit the pole head on in front on the old KTVT station near the Camp Bowie exit and it went through the front bumper and into the car's interior and stopped at the rear engine. Needless to say she did not survive. I was on way my back to UNT and had to drive by it. At that point I knew I would never buy a car with the engine in the rear. She might not have survived in any other car either, don't know, but sure would not have looked like that.

---Some people just believe everything they are told by the radio crazies. When the mainstream media reports things that are much closer to the truth ...they just yell "LIBERAL". They just believe what they "want to be true, not the real truth..... and now we have a financial mess. ---eeally: you aren't the people that are being discussed... I feel for you. It is the average non-business situation that runs up their cards just to maintain a life style for things they doesn' have to have that I have no sympathy for. Here is hoping the banks free up cheaper money for your business use. You are the guy the bail out money was designed to help... let us hope it does. At least you realize who is largely responsible for this financial mess we are in...taking away government controls on financial institutions was not the thing to do, -- just as no rules in a classroom is equally dumb. Good luck..!

--Here is hoping that we don't do something UNT has never done before..... zero wins. Dodge owns the UNT record for the worse season ever. 1-11 and also the NCAA record for most points allowed in a season-- 10,000 ----or at least it seemed like that. .

---LaTech is the ultimate screw-up in the NCAA.. I just can't see how they can afford to be in the conference that they are in. [ travel costs and nothing even close to a regional rival to attract fans]

--Kram : I agree with you almost completely. Don't blame the car companies, banks, other businesses, or even the government for your own stupidity. [ It's not my fault syndrome ] Credit card problems were created by those who used them... If you are going to play... learn the rules of the game. And quit thinking credit cards are offering "free" money. They try to find ways to earn money from you.

---I don't mind the credit card companies considering me one of their dead-beats. It is true that I get free 30 days loans (no finance charge when paid off). If they are going to offer it, then I will take it. I did not make them do it. ---To eulissismore: "Redistributing the wealth'???.. "HOLY MOLY". First the very poor don't have credit cards and most do not even use banks. Their rip off locations are these check cashing places. Credit cards users are mostly middle class and above people and some just don't understand "money" much at all.. I teach math and one of the classes I teach is mathematics for finance majors. A whole lot of them just don't get it but a lot of them do start changing their habits once they see the numbers "crunched". Those who feel exploited by credit cards are doing it to themselves because of their lack of knowledge. Most businesses are no better than banks.... car companies sell cars to people who really can't afford them and it happens in every sector. People buy clothes and even expensive food they should not buy including using expensive restaurants. As long as there are foolish people.... other people and business will exploit them (unfortunately). ---One of the big problems is that younger people think they should start off with the same life-style their parents took years to accomplish.... so they charge everything... and get screwed.

Lawyers don't either... at least most don't. Also English teachers don't teach math and elem. teachers don't teach the items on that test. It is a stupid test and has nothing to do how good a teacher the person will be. [ personal note... oldest son passed the bar this month... took the oath at Texas Supreme Court last week. ]