MattPie

That seems to run contrary to what TM said himself... Interesting.

Meth labs happen, sometimes in "safe" places because they know the cops won't be looking that hard. I don't know for sure, but I suspect something was up with one of the houses in my generic suburb neighborhood. It went to forclosure for awhile, then someone came and put a dumpster in the driveway and opened a few windows for days (rain, snow, cold, etc.). Last, they tore all the drywall and floors out. Could be mold, could be meth, who knows.

A desert market with a very transient population. Unless the Roulettes are very good, the building will be half-filled with opposing fans and tourists.

I wish, far less yard work that way.

IMHO, there's almost no chance Bettman moves another team into the east. Vegas, KC (Sunshines?), Seattle, Portland, or Salt Lake (Slugs?) are more likely. (I threw SLC in there for Chris in UT).

Interesting, I can fully believe that person named Jesus died on the cross, as it was a fairly common thing at the time. Why do Muslims not believe this part of the story if they believe other parts?

Learn to spell or GTFO. :)

LGR thinks biodork is CHZ's second account, but for some reason hasn't hit on her yet.

WJAG is a Walmart Judge And Greeter. You do not want to be in Walmart Court when he's on the bench.

Somehow with your avatar, I think you might be a bit biased. :)

Dude, spoilers!

You know what they say about Anglicans/Episcopalians? There's never four in a room without a fifth. :)

Thanks for summing my thoughts up. :) I'll add one more: morality is a society construct more than religion. Many societies take cues from their predominant religion in their code of morals, but the wide variation of "morals" in Christian societies over the course of history (and even just looking at the present) says to me that the religious morals aren't really what's governing the population.

Pencilling in Zadorov as a top-4 D is a little premature. He looks promising, but hasn't proven anything yet.

I have my eye on something like that for when the WRX is done. I'll miss AWD, but the WRX is terrible on gas.

Nicely done.

PastaJoe prefers Gluten-free pasta.

I used to drink stouts all summer long, so maybe it's just me. :)

I'm curious, did you intend to paraphrase that Budweiser commercial or did it just subconsciously come out? :) FWIW, you mention that you like regular beer more than lite for the taste and alcohol content. You can can get just as drunk on 4 7% beers as 6 4.5% (macro lagers), so really the cost isn't that different. I did the math once, and two Victory Hop Devils (as an example) has the same number of calories and alcohol as 5 MGD 64s. I know which I'd rather drink.

Is this the same Hope, or A New Hope?

Tried a new pizza joint last night (that delivers because it was storming and I was dirty from working in the yard). I kid you not: passable wings. Not Bar Bill or anything, but if I were in Buffalo they'd be average. They were even relatively hot, although that could be more about me being way out of practice.

This is all fascinating to me. A few thoughts: - I had my Sienna parked next to my friend's Suburban and noticed the Sienna is at least as big if you discount that the floor is 6" lower than the Suburban. I just looked and the Sienna is bigger than a Suburban inside based on cargo volume (It truly is gigantic). Unless you need to tow something more than 3500lbs (Sienna rated capacity), there aren't a lot of reasons for the Suburban. The 'burban does have an extra 1.5" of ground clearance (8" vs. 6.5"; I thought it would be more); 8" is slightly less than a Subaru Outback. - I've driven my two Subaru WRXs through some pretty hairy snow storms, and those had 6" of ground clearance. One night, it was me and the tractor trailers, and one pickup that I saw spin off the road in my mirror. I thought about turning back but I saw someone else stop and I'd have to reverse on snowy a highway to help. - The answer is never a Harley. Even if you ascribe to the power == death theory, there are plenty of bikes with reasonable power to weight ratios that can turn. But, I don't believe power is an issue if you have some self-control; most single-motorcycle crashes are caused by a failure to negotiate a corner. I take my chances on a bike that can corner far faster than the street allows than a Harley that can easily reach speeds that it won't be able to corner at. - Speaking of cornering, I had a chance to try the Sienna out on a fairly twisty road on Saturday. As long as you're smooth, it'll corner far faster than most traffic allows. I'm talking 35-40 MPH marked corners at 65 with little drama. Smooth is the key though, it doesn't like sharp steering inputs. I'd have more data, but a fart of Harleys were holding me up and there wasn't a good place to pass. - Built-in Nav systems suck. Not only are smartphone (not to mention bespoke) solutions better these days, but the Toyota system makes using the radio for music a chore. To change the radio I need to look at the stupid thing and hit on-screen buttons. I'm really hoping that there something in the manual to make it easier.

I think you're underestimating people again. :) I look at soceities as people understanding that what's "good for me" might be worse for everyone else, and in the long term worse for me too. Humans seem to natually organize themselves into groups with at least some leadership structure, I think because it's easier than being out for yourself 100% of the time. Sure, it takes away some of my personal freedom, but I don't have to constantly defend myself from everyone else too. Morality is a learned concept, either from religion or soceity in general. I can't deny that I was raised moderately Christian (semi-regular church, etc), but it's not like I'm walking around thinking that God will be mad at me if I do something "bad" to someone else; I treat other people with respect because I want to be a positive aspect in someone else's day. I don't need a book to tell me that. :)

1st para: equating what happened in Russia over the course of the 20th century (and especially Stalin) and the official lack of religion is in my mind questionable. I honestly don't believe that religion or a lack thereof played a part in Stalin's plan other than to be a convenient excuse to get rid of political undesirables (in his eyes, of course). Stalin was plenty of psychopath that he'd have found a reason to execute those people while paying lip-service to being a Christain if required (like most other dictators). I'm not going to call it Utopia, but as an example polling in Sweden reports that 17% of people believe in god (although 45% believe theres a spirit-force of some description) and 34% are atheist. Only 2% in Sweden regularily attend religious services. Norway has similar numbers. Those two countries aren't exactly spiralling into death camps and debauchery. I think saying that people can't rule themselves without religion severly underestimates people.

FWIW, 47% of Russians self-report at Christian.