Free Republic

Perhaps I saw you there...

Here are a few photos from the complete album.

It was very encouraging to see so many people with creative signs at this event. Was kind of surprised how good the turnout was since people were divided across the various "parties" around town. All the support (thumbs up, honking, etc.) from the people driving by was great, too.

"History is not rated 'PG-13.' In many cases it is 'R,'" Malett wrote to the board. "When students leave my class, I want them to understand the potential consequences of hate, stereotyping and mistreating other people."

There's your money quote.

Yup.

With that in mind, I'm sure Mr. Malett will also find something nice and graphic to show the potential consequences of, oh... to use another example... teen sex. I'm thinking a documentary showing abortions in all their glory would make for some nice viewing.

Or, do you think, perhaps Mr. Malett wouldn't find those consequences worth understanding?

+1 on Nelson-Atkins Museum.

+1 on Jack Stack Barbeque (best beer selection of the BBQ joints, BTW).

+1 on Arabia Steamboat Museum.

Berbiglia Wines and Sprits, Lukas Liquor, or Gomer's for booze runs.

Kansas City Zoo isn't great, but it's getting better.

Thai Place Restaurant, if you like Thai food (make sure to ask it to be cooked "Thai hot" for the ultimate experience).

Tell you what... we'll dump you in the water and then pull up a half-mile long tuna net under you and see how you fare. Yeah, those nets are really that gigantic: take a look at a few, remembering that a fathom is 6 ft.

Sometimes I think about the one thing I'd like to do if there's ever the opportunity (post apocalytic event or something): drive from Kansas City to Denver in under four hours. That is, actually be able to drive a car built for the autobahn the way it was meant to be driven: fast. I can dream, can't I?

If you've ever driven across Kansas on I-70, you might realize that speed might just not be quite as dangerous as boredom...

And in the spirit of this thread, just remember one of the rules that makes the autobahn so safe, despite the speeds:

Rechtsfahren!

So am I the only one who found the use of "[snip]" to be strangely inappropriate in this copy of the article?

Yup, Darla is pretty bad. Annoying laugh, not very good with callers, has a hard time putting together coherent thoughts, and a poor listener. Something tells me she won't be around for too long.

For a couple of weeks, they put Laura Ingraham on in that morning time slot and that was great!

I'm embarassed for my state.

I wish some brave news person would stand up and ask a question like, "Is the real press conference going to follow this self-serving award ceremony?"

Oooohhhhhhhh... I like that 50 GI cartridge's profile -- it looks more like a bomb than a cartridge!

Never heard of it until now.

I'm lusting more after a 50 BMG, though.

... and maybe a 50 BMG pistol instead of the all-too-common rifle.

Hey, I've got a P229. It's a great piece. Never jammed on my even once, although I probably haven't even put 1000 rounds through it.

Got both a .40 SW and .357 SIG barrel for it. Barrel swap just takes a few moments. I've found that I'm much more accurate with the .357 SIG barrel and ammo than .40 SW.

Hmmm... haven't gone shooting in quite some time. Maybe the coming Christmas holiday would be a good time to go blast away with some of the toys. The AR15 needs a workout, too.

Still lusting for a .50 BMG, though. It'll have to wait quite awhile, though. Too many other things are ranking higher on my list.

Looks to me like a vehicle they'll be able to use (and even park overnight) in the 'hood -- those wheels look like they'd be pretty hard to steal.

That's what I was getting at, Sam -- the principle here is more important than the specific issue. As I try to find my own political moorings, I often find myself struggling between "just leave me (and others) alone to interact with others as I wish" libertarianism vs. some sense of community-oriented agreements (religously inspired or not) that some things maybe should be restricted a bit.

My analytical side tells me that freedom should reign supreme, but my practical side has to acommodate much that that I've witnessed, which often includes a little more of a cesspool environment than I'm willing to accept.

FWIW, I think we've strayed way too far from real freedom, but I suspect that's a topic for another thread. :-)

Sorry. '90 928S4 The car that turned me from a "a car is just a tool to get from Point A to Point B" to a "car guy"!

From the people who gave the world Lucas electrics.

From a car guy, :-)

To be fair, '90 Porsche isn't a whole hell of a lot better...

[Click the photo to see what I'm faced with maintaining!]

Far too much Brit bashing going on here lately. This is a left-wing rag so don't lump all of Britain in with their opinions.

Strongly agreed. Do you folks realize that this is the single, strongest ally we have in the world? Tony Blair -- kind of crossing party lines in a way -- is surely walking a tightrope over there trying to help us. Don't trash our friends.

The same way I square the laws on speed limits, drug usage, drunk driving laws, pornography laws, age limit laws on liquor purchases (applies to those between the ages of 18 and 21), etc.

I see these issues as being a bit different, as it to me that liquor sales on Sundays is a somewhat arbitrary and unnecessary imposition of your will on others as to when they are allowed to conduct business, but to be honest, it's not really that major an issue to me.

I generally get a little nervous any time I see attempts to restrict freedom unless I'm pretty darn convinced that it's necessary. Example: anti-smoking laws, as they apply to restaurants. Hate smoke myself, never smoked, annoyed by it, but also don't see why it's necessary to prevent others from gathering as they wish in restaurants and bars to engage in their vice; I've got a few of my own and thoroughly understand the trade-offs and have a higher regard for upholding the freedom to make the choices.

I actually find it kind of interesting to travel to other countries where things kind of shut down on Sunday, and it has its own attraction. Kind of an agreed-to community time out.

Just exploring your thinking. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

BTW, good luck with any attempt to engage in politics on the Missouri side. It's beyond me as to how anyone would have the patience and fortitude to deal with some of the stuff that goes on over there. I look at the K.C. school district, and just think "this is as intractable as the Middle East".

OK, just 51% of them.

:-)

Of course, now I'm thinking about how nice it would be if we could just rework our living arrangements across the globe and voluntarily regroup by philosophy. Atlas Shrugged, anybody?

Liquor sales are available 6 days a week now. Having a 7th day would only encourage more drinking and more drinking related events such as domestic violence and drunken driving. Sunday is a day for God and family, not the liquor store. Most of the stuff I've read on liquor sales on Sunday only show that there not much revenue benefits for the store or the state. It sometimes costs more for the store to stay open due to utilities, payroll, etc than the store brings in. Some small stores cannot afford this and in some instances...Sunday is the only day off most of the employees have....why take that away or force the store to hire people it cannot afford.

(suddenly feeling the libertarian side of me percolating to the surface) How, exactly, do you square this with the concept of freedom?

OK folks, before this turns into yet another anti-Brit thread (whoops, too late!), remember that every country is populated with people with a variety of political leanings. Proportionately, there are probably just a slightly higher percentage of libs in may of the European countries as there are here (witness the 48% of our fellow Americans!).

Please don't be so quick to rip people across the pond (or anywhere on the planet!) just because you see this nasty stuff. It's here, too! And you've got like-minded friends all across the globe. Judge individual thinking and debate political philosophy, rather than branding an entire nation as being jerks based on some left-wing tabloid headlines.

I'm just a little sensitive about this because I've found the U.K. to be populated by some wonderful people and found it to be the one place outside the U.S. that I believe I could actually live and be happy.

5. Liquor sales on Sunday - I don't believe in liquor sales on Sunday. There is a trend to lower the percentage limit on food sold so a business can sell liquor on Sunday. Currently that limit is 50% of their business must be food related, they want to lower that to 30%...I am against this issue.

Hmmm... I was especially interested in that one, too, since as Johnson County Kansan, I've been known to pop across the state line to make some acquisitions. Allowance of Sunday booze sales in our county and the county to our north have been in question and in the news quite a bit over the last year or two. Missouri has always been a reliable source!

A few years back, they actually had unmarked cars nailing Kansans crossing back from Missouri with trunkfuls (trunksful?) of booze during the holidays. Sunday sales and tax rate differences create some interesting incentives!

BTW, enjoying a Balvenie 15 Year at the moment ... Lagavulin 16 Year up next ... surfing for some more election Schadenfreude stories on FR at the moment ... Life is good!