atx_newbie

To clarify my post, I'm not saying I would have acted any differently than the homeowner in this situation. A fake gun, in the dark of night, would look real enough. But that man will probably have nightmares for a while, even if he knows he acted correctly, and I doubt that he is celebrating or has any positive feelings towards the event. Also, an occurrence like this will actually hurt the 2nd Amendment/gun-rights movement. This story could easily be spun to damage the agenda of the NRA and other pro-gun groups.

Not to get political or anything, but why exactly does he deserve a medal? He killed an unarmed man. Sure, the other man was robbing him and the man had the right to defend himself, but he still killed someone.

I'm really looking forward to this one. Tim Burton is really the only one who I think could do justice to the literary acid trip that is "Alice in Wonderland."

I think that's something we can all find common ground on!

This thread reminds me of exactly why I love college football. The trash talk and the process is so much more fascinating than any other sport. Please don't change to a playoff system, because it would take away so much from that. So just to throw in my $.02... I think LSU needs to be given some serious respect this year, and I'm not just saying that as a fan. Jordan Jefferson showed amazing capability in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl, Russell Shepherd is big and talented enough to contribute right away, though I'm not sure if he's going to redshirt (Catt or Sam, any input on that?), and like Catt said earlier, Rahim Alem is beast at DE. He reminds me a lot of Brian Orakpo from last year's Longhorns. Add in an almost completely returned defense and many of the secondary problems from last year should be taken care of. That being said, there are a lot of other serious competitors out there. Not many big stars left: Tebow, Bradford, McCoy, and many others are all coming back. Georgia and Tex Tech are the only teams that I expect to be down from last year.

'nuff said!

Yes, they did lose the first 2 games. In the big tournaments it works like this: The teams are split into "groups" of 4, and those 4 play a round robin against each other. Your win/loss record is irrelevant, because you are given points based on the game: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and no points for a loss. Then the two teams from each group with the highest point totals advance to a bracketed, single-elimination tournament. So if I understand it, you can go 1-2, a losing record, and still play for the championship in your bracket? Ties in the playoffs? Man, all sports should have playoffs like that. On second thought, Maybe a team with a losing record doesn't deserve to play for the championship. In my opinion, won/loss record should be the determining factor, not irrelevant. If ties are allowed, why keep score? JMHO. Still, hats off to our guys! They were 2-2 before losing to Brazil in the finals. And they were able to advance because they were tied with another team in their group, and advanced off of goal differential (their goals for to goals against ratio was higher than the team they were tied with). The playoffs in other sports are very similar, maybe even more forgiving. In basketball, a team can be well below .500 and make the playoffs, and pretty close to that in football. Look at the chargers from this past year. Then for baseball, once you make the post-season, you can lose a lot of games (9 out of 16) and still make it all the way to game 7 of the World Series. Remember, there is no regular "league" for the national teams. So when these tournaments come around every year or two, the group stage essentially acts as the "regular season," and the elimination stage could be looked on as the "playoffs."

Yes, they did lose the first 2 games. In the big tournaments it works like this: The teams are split into "groups" of 4, and those 4 play a round robin against each other. Your win/loss record is irrelevant, because you are given points based on the game: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and no points for a loss. Then the two teams from each group with the highest point totals advance to a bracketed, single-elimination tournament.

Yeah, pit's don't have a locking jaw, but it is a powerful jaw. My dog is a mutt, but definitely has some pit in him, and he hasn't yet come across something that he can't snap in two pieces after one bite. I'll give him a bone from a beef rib, and it'll be crushed to powder in about 30 seconds. When I'm smoking a rib rack or brisket or something, I have to keep the wood chips out of his reach, because he eats them for fun. When I first got him, I tried to break him of the habit because I was afraid he would puncture something in his belly, but it never caused him any harm, so I just let him do it now.

I had a 1993 Mitsubishi Eclipse, 5 speed with a 2.0 liter turbo. It was the first generation Eclipse, which many consider to be one of the best sport-touring cars ever produced. I loved that car. But as I was driving it one day, at around 120,000 miles, the harmonic balancer (a $60 fix) broke loose, and in the process broke the a/c compressor, alternator, power steering pump, and power brakes. Looked in the rear view to see parts the size of footballs cartwheeling down the road behind me, while the warning lights lit up like a Christmas tree. Yeah, it was not the best thing to have happen at 80 mph

Trainspotting, for sure. A great movie.

I'm with you a little on this one. They say that we only use 15% of our brains' capabilities, so I think that the possibilities are almost limitless for someone who could tap into that extra, previously unused ability. It's kind of like the internet. When it was first developed, people only saw it as a way to more easily communicate information within an office. Now, people can use the internet capabilities of an iPhone to drive a car.

...under the direct supervision of the wife/girlfriend. I had a simple reason for going: my couch was broken, so I was doing a simple, quick fix requiring a couple 2x2s and a couple simpson straps. Should be a quick, cheap trip, right? Well, long story short, 2 hours and $200 later, I'm now pulling a home improvement all-nighter. There was a great sale on ceramic tile, so I'm refurbishing an old coffee table/end table set with a tile mosaic top, then probably moving on to replacing some light fixtures, etc...

The soccer vs. America argument has been going on for ages, and as a soccer fan who was once an adamant voice in support of soccer. I can't remember a time when I didn't play soccer, it's my first love, and my first hate: I've got 3 concussions, a broken ankle, torn ACL, and many other injuries as well as a decade of lost weekends spent on trips to tournaments across the country. That being said, I have given up trying to defend the sport to people who choose not to watch it. The sport will never attain the level of support in America that baseball, football, and basketball have achieved, and I believe that even lacrosse will soon be more popular. It's nothing to get upset about as a soccer fan; you shouldn't feel personally insulted that ESPN doesn't talk about it as much as other sports, or that Hank Hill doesn't respect the game. I'm pretty sure there are no baseball players who lose any sleep over the fact that I don't care for baseball.

Ahhh, you beat me to it! There is a psychic office right down the street from my house, and there is a big neon sign saying "Ring Doorbell for Psychic." I chuckle every time I walk past it.