Drunkard

My post was somewhat tongue in cheek because somebody had to stick up for the yellow corn water those of us with unsophisticated palates or lessor budgets choose to enjoy. I'm not a wine drinker but beer seems to be moving in that direction. I can tell the difference between a $5 bottle of bum wine and a $20 bottle but can't really tell the difference between a $20 bottle and and pricier $50 or $100 one so to me it's just wasted money in that regard. Maybe some blue bloods out there can truly tell the difference between a $200 bottle and a $1000 bottle (probably after spending big bucks on wine tasting classes) but I imagine for the majority of the people who spring for the uber fancy and expensive stuff do it more to flaunt their wealth than anything else and would fail a Pepsi challenge when push came to shove as long as the wines were the same style (both Merlot or both pinot noir, etc).

Didn't someone a while back do a stats breakdown that shows forwards actually reach their peak in point production much earlier than generally assumed? From what I remember they often peaked around 22-24 and then plateau for 4-5 years before declining. I can't remember who it was but it was a really good break down. I'd love to get a guy like Malkin but his age and injury history along with what he'd cost in assets to acquire concerns me. He's nearing the end of his plateau and even if he's not this team won't be in serious contention until his decline begins in all liklihood. No way I'd give up any of Eichel, Reinhart, or Ristolainen to acquire him. We suffered through 2 complete garbage seasons two acquire Eichel and Reinhart and seemed to have lucked out with the run on forwards to acquire Ristolainen at #8 in his draft year. Those 3 players are our future core I would think and they would absolutely be off the table in any trade negotiations. Zadorov isn't up there with those other 3 but he has the potential to be and I hope within a year or two he winds up there.

Another good point. I believe a lot of Russian Christians are Eastern Orthodox like a lot of the Greeks.

All this talk about bald eagles makes me want a bald eagle omelet. I hear they taste just like freedom.

I never knew that background, but that's probably because I was never all that into the Clash, but thanks for posting it. I was more into the Dead Kennedys when it came to punk rock.

Yes, sir. We are fellow swill drinkers. I like Labbatt Blue and Molson except that they are more expensive down here (NC) so I stick with the cheap stuff and usually only drink those when I'm up in NY or I'm at the Canes arena and can find the Labbatt cart/line since everything is overpriced in the arena anyway so I might as well drinking something I don't normally get if I'm going to overpay anyway.

I wouldn't call it a war. The rich have already won. Just take a look around. The game is basically over, they are just running up the score.

Freaking beer snobs. I don't care for light beer because I personally prefer the full calories and alcohol content so I tend to go for Ice versions, but that being said my go to choice is usually Milwaukee's Best Ice and when I go to some restaurant or bar that doesn't have a wide selection, my default is generally Budweiser rather than going through the rapid fire Q&A session of "Do you carry this? No, how about that?, etc. Sure the mass produced stuff isn't hand crafted by some beer geek in his basement who is constantly trying to find new ways to either cram as many hops into a batch as he can or else trying to infuse his latest concoction with whatever fruity nonsense is currently tickling his fancy and it wasn't made from an ancient recipe found in a church from some 700 year old Franciscan monk in the dark ages, but it gets the job done. I salute Murray and Eichel for drinking the hallowed yellow corn water of the unpretentious while you guys have fun paying 10 times the price for whatever pumpkin spice ale infused with cloves or oatmeal stout with blueberries and mango kiwi pale ale nonsense. Maybe if your beer was any good to begin with, you wouldn't have to spike it with all the other filler and you could stick with the classic recipe of water, malt, hops, and yeast.

That movie was funny as hell with a huge cast of characters in roles you'd never expect out of some and fairly expected out of others. My favorite was probably the Leprechaun scene with Stifler, Johnny Knoxville, and Gerard Butler.

The fact that you believe the stories doesn't make them true either though. The reason I called them fables is because they are a bunch of stories (whether they were based on actual events or not) that are designed to convey some type of moral whether it's about Adam, Eve, and the talking snake, Noah and his family, Jobe/Job or however you spell it, and so on. By definition that makes them fables, whether you want to believe in them or not. I realize these examples are from the Old Testament but I see the stories of Jesus's miracles in the same vein, whether it was walking on water, healing lepers, curing the blind, or feeding hundreds or thousands of people (it's been decades since I've read it so I can't remember). Maybe they were allegories and not meant to be taken literally. Maybe Jesus just fed the spiritual hunger of all those people and didn't actually feed tons of people with just a few fish and loaves of bread. Maybe he cured the man of his spiritual blindness by convincing him that he was the son of God and didn't cure his actual eye sight because it could be possible that the man wasn't actually physically blind to begin with. Maybe (just maybe) none of it really happened and there was no Jesus Christ. Maybe he was real and he was an awesome guy and role model and the people who knew him exaggerated his story and/or put words in his mouth, especially after he died when he wasn't able to do anything about it. Secondly, to try to cherry pick Russia as some sort of proof that you need God/Religion is flat out intellectually dishonest. This thread has remained pretty civil but I can name a half dozen examples of countries that did horrible things and used their religion to justify it. Just look at the way women and homosexuals get treated in many of the Muslim countries even to this day, look at the Crusades and Inquisition that went through Europe hundreds of years ago and look at the way religion was used to justify treatment of the Indians and the way they used it to justify slavery here in the United States as well less than 200 years ago. There are examples on both sides of good and bad so to attempt to cherry pick in order to make a wide sweeping generalization like that is just cheap.

I was really happy when the Sabres first matched Edmonton's offer sheet for Vanek. Looking back now we should've started the massive rebuild right then after 23 and 48 walked for nothing. I wonder how good those four 1st round picks would have ended up being.

Oh I understand that, but in this country the majority of people are Christians and because of that it is easier for them to push their dogma onto others than it is for other groups to successfully push their agendas. From putting under god into the pledge of allegiance to fighting against teaching evolution in schools or trying to make creationism get viewed as a viable scientific alternative to evolution. There's also sin taxes, dry counties, other restrictions on sales of otherwise legal products, and doing everything they can to keep gay people from being able to get married. There are certainly other examples and I'm sure you could list many as well but when it comes to sheer volume and influence I'd focus on the group(s) with the largest numbers and influence rather than some vegan group's quest to end the beef industry (just an example of a non-religious dogma/agenda).

You've brought this up before and it still doesn't make any sense. The problem with this conspiracy theory is it assumes Nolan was in on the tank which doesn't seem to be anywhere near likely. The other problem is if Nolan and Hodgson were in on it together then why was Hodgson in his doghouse and stuck on the 4th line? Wouldn't the good soldier still be given his ice time and not demoted to grinder line duties. The only way this would make any sense would be if Murray and Hodgson were in on the tank and Nolan wasn't. Hodgson stinking up the joint and Nolan preaching effort while being anti-tank coupled with Murray taking a hands off approach to team handling besides deciding on the actual roster would explain Hodgson being in Nolan's doghouse and Murray letting him stew there. I still don't see how it benefits Hodgson though or why he'd be willing to jeopardize his career so Murray can bring in his replacement though.

I think Psysk has the talent and ability to be a top 4 defender but I chose solid bottom pairing guy because unless they play him out of position on the left hand side, he will be behind Bogosian and Ristolainen. I also have no interest in trading him right now because I believe his value will go up after he gets a chance to show what he can do for a full season this year.

How much more expensive are smart tvs than regular high definition tvs? I'm just curious because I have 3 older high definition tvs (a plasma, an LCD, and I believe the newest one is either an LCD or an LED) and from what I've seen a smart tv doesn't really do anything extra that a $60 blu ray player can't do (Netflix, hulu, youtube, a dozen other minor apps, etc.) plus the blu ray player has the added bonus of being able to play blu rays and regular dvds. Is the price about the same? Do they even sell similar models of tvs that have the option of smart vs regular LED?

Of course. Ryan O'Reilly will be paid a kings ransom because his defensive awareness makes him without true equal. Saad can't match up with ROR because nobody can. Even though we are stacked with southpaw LW/C's we need to do everything we can to land him. His tears can cure cancer ... too bad he has never cried. Plus, I heard he once walked down the street with a ###### ... there were no survivors. His grandfather defeated the Nazi's single handedly with only his bare hands but proceeded to allow the Allied Forces and Russkies to share the credit so he and his family wouldn't be thrust into the spotlight. We must acquire him at any cost (both in trade value and contracts).

Just find it online for free. Sites like couch tuner, watch tv links, and watch tv series have just about every show known to man available to stream. Just make sure you install adblock plus for whatever browser you use first. I cancelled Showtime a couple years back after Dexter ended and I still watch Shameless (an awesome show that airs on Showtime) every week when it's in season. Most time the newest shows are available to stream within an hour or so of it airing on tv.

My biggest concern with Reinhart playing in Rochester is that there seems to be even more head hunters and cheap shot artists down there (AHL) than there are in the NHL. Ristolainen got a concussion down there and I believe Girgensons did as well if I remember right. Reinhart is a blue chip prospect and if Murray and Bylsma believe that's the best place for him then I'm ok with sending him there but we better find a goon of our own who can skate to put on his wing, similar to a guy like Deslauriers. Hell, maybe if Kaleta fails to make the roster or get a new contract they can sign him to play in Rochester. He's certainly fast enough to keep up with Reinhart.

Yeah you should be fine with standard internet speeds. Every now and then I have issues with buffering streams but they are few and far between and it hasn't happened to me in months, even when I'm watching something in the living room and my girlfriend is watching something else in the bedroom. Same story if we're both watching netflix, hulu, from an online site like couch tuner or whatever combination. I upgraded to a faster speed a year or so back and didn't notice any difference so I went back to standard after about a month.

I'm not trying to flame. I enjoy the discussion and outside of a few sarcastic remarks here and there I think this entire thread has remained pretty civil. The problem with your argument is that is all hinges on the Bible being true and I'm not convinced that it is. From there it just goes to circular logic and a tailspin of beliefs without facts or evidence to support them and the further back you go the more outlandish the story gets and it's less and less possible to verify to those of us who don't accept the book as true because the only proof that it is true is the book itself saying it is. It also isn't unique. They are several religions that pre-date both the Jewish and the Christian faiths that claim many of the same things from resurrection to virgin births to creation in general. Claiming uniqueness is simply ignoring these other similar stories/religions and if it's so easy to dismiss them as falsehoods then it should be easier to see why many of us are able to do the same thing with Christianity. I think much of the bible is something along the lines of Aesop's fables. A collection of stories (some of which are highly warped, twisted, and even demented but that's another tangent) that are designed to teach people lessons about right and wrong, devotion, faith, or other concepts. Some of them may even have a basis in reality and some are likely conjured up out of thin air. If it gives meaning to your life and gives your mind and body less stress when you contemplate your own demise, then that's great and I'm happy for you. I personally can't consider something to be fact when the only evidence is the book itself claiming it to be the truth or directly from God or however it's currently being spun. Lastly, if all religion was simply about following your beliefs I wouldn't be nearly so skeptical of it in general. The problem is when religious tendencies infiltrate the government (and in some cases downright overtake it) and try to legislate their beliefs on the rest of us then it only makes me question their motives even further. It's one thing to spread your faith to those who willingly want to hear it and another to enact laws that push a religious agenda on the non-religious.

I have standard internet through Time Warner (15 mbps) and I stream Netflix to all the bluray players in my house using a wireless router and I usually have no problems even streaming one show in the living room and a different one in the bedroom or garage.

Definitely. We usually get our inflation cola/pay bump of 1% in January (when the budget allows) and in June we usually get our merit raises/bumps and bonuses based on our previous period evaluations. Because of me switching jobs (promotion but in a completely different field) in Sept 2013 though and whatever HR rules regarding the time you have to be in a position before your supervisor can evaluate you, so I didn't get evaluated last year and I'm assuming I got whatever standard increases for my job position/description. I got a great review from my boss this past time though so I'm hoping for a steady stream of decent increases thanks to get good reviews from her until I either max out for my position or move on to another one.

From how I remember it Gore wanted to put SS in a lockbox and Bush wanted to privatize a portion of it by putting it in the stock market. I'm pretty sure that's how each side was, although to be completely honest I remember the spoof of that debate from SNL better than the actual debate.

I guess it's a grass is always greener kind of thing. 40's with precipitation is generally pretty miserable but I just hate hot weather. My area is pretty nice for 3 out of the 4 seasons though so I try not to complain too much although the summer season definitely seems longer than the other 3.

I was just informed I'm getting a 3% pay raise, a small bonus (roughly 30%) of a two week pay check and a bonus vacation day. Better than I got last year (2% raise and 22% bonus with no bonus vacation hours) so I'll definitely take it.