Now, that makes more sense

For all those "pro-lifers" who are also "pro death penalty". Make up your mind! Either you believe in thou shall not kill or you don't! Or those who want a 16 year old rape victim to have the child because it is God's will but she's on her own for insurance, after all, it isn't our fault you got raped why should our tax dollars help you out.

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Beating the system

I was doing a job in a mall in upstate New York and decided to grab some fake chinese food (I call mall chinese places that because they are like the McD's of chinese food). Anyway, when I got to the spot to pay and get soda I noticed they were charging $2 for a large soda but the guy was filling the cups to the brim with ice first. I have seen this before, they fill it with ice so they really only give you a good four sips of soda and they get $2 for about .50 worth of soda. I don't think so.
I asked for a large coke, no ice. Yeah, that's right, no ice for me buddy. He didn't immediately fill the cup, first he stared at me for a good 5 seconds then asked "no ice"? Nope. None. Surprisingly, he filled that cup to the brim. When he put the top on some came out of the straw hole on top. That's what I'm talking about, I want my $2 worth of soda and not a drop less!
Beating the system, even the small victories are sweet.
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Just in time for the RNC

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The face of Jesus

I found this picture online, I like it, it looks a lot more how Jesus would have looked than the long auburn haired figure we are used to.
I'm sure many Americans would be offended if we showed Jesus as a middle eastern man, but that's what he was. He was an Israeli Jew. He had dark skin and woolly black hair.
People think I don't believe in him but that isn't true, I'm sure there was a peaceful man named Jesus who many believed to be the Son of God. That part I don't buy, but, I do see him as a good role model and good leader who inspires millions of people. You don't have to think of him as a Messiah to think of him and you can still follow WWJD even if you don't believe he is Christ.
Are there any other world leaders or people you would look to as a role model of how to act or what to do in a situation? Gandhi? Washington? Lincoln? Caesar?
The problem is we have lots of facts on many historical figures, but not so many on Jesus. We do have The Bible, but how much of that can we say is true? I'm sure some of the stories are, and some do have great life lessons, but is it 100% factual? Of course not.
I'm getting off topic here, but this is the face I picture when people talk of Jesus, a peaceful, respectable, Middle Eastern man.
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Oh Rex, you crack me up

In three preseason games the New York Jets have scored 0 touchdowns. Any worries in Jet camp? Here's what Rex says "we do some stuff on offense that is undefendable"
What?
They are standing by the claim that they are playing a vanilla offense on purpose and will unleash this new unstoppable offensive plan in Week 1 against the Bills. We shall see...
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It's only preseason but...

I have to say, I like what I'm seeing from the Giants starting team. The team has only won one game, but the starters have had good halftime leads before the backups take over.

We get to see Luck vs. Griffin this weekend and enjoy the play rivalry kinda thing now. In a few years Luck/Griffin won't be a big deal...at all. These QB's who like to play like they're runningbacks who can throw never last, they'll have a good three, maybe four years but then they'll fade away. They take too many hits, and take big hits because big defensive players want to put these flashy guys down. I think 4 of the NFC's top 5 pass rushers are in the NFC East (and NY has 3 of them), that will mean pain for Griffin and lots of it. Plus, the NFC East plays against the AFC North this year. Not only will he face DeMarcus Ware, Osi, Tuck, and JPP twice this season but also Ray Lewis and James Harrison. Good luck!
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I don't give a sh*t about the RNC

Why does every news station have to make a big fucking deal about the Hurricane and the Republican National Convention, who fucking cares? Does anyone on this planet care if it is delayed a day?
How about just giving updates on Isaac and how it will affect the residents of Western Florida and the Gulf Coast. I don't give a shit about the RNC and how this will affect them, can we focus on some real news?
This is why I watch the "news" less and less, it's all bullshit.
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Fate and Karma

Okay, so, as I was saying before....fate and karma rule this world like a force of nature and I have a little story here to show both of them at work.

Now, this starts by going back a few weeks...kinda.

Work has been pretty slow lately, and when work is slow, hours are tougher to gather up. The one major advantage that I have had at my job that many businesses don't have is overtime. We have no hours limits, as long as it takes to get the job done, that's what your hours are. I could have three stops on Monday and get 9 hours and have a tough install on Tuesday and get 13 hours and when we are busy I usually get a steady 45-50 hour week; which is nice because OT pay is what makes it all worth it.

Lately, I've been ranging in the 35-40 a week area, which can make a $200 a week difference. That is a big difference. So, work has been slow the past two months and it is beginning to show. Plus, add in my car needed a new tire, back to school shopping coming up and the always rising gas prices; so I've been looking for a break. That is where fate comes in...

I pulled into a gas station to send a text to my mother about coming over to move a door (a long story) and as I'm pulling back out I see a mans wallet sitting there on the ground. So, I hop out of my truck and pick it up and of course I think "fate has left this here for me to find, because times are tough". Before you think ill of me, just remember that I also believe in Karma.
Karma has used fate to test me and earn me some good karma.
I look into the wallet and find the mans drivers license, I see there's no cash it in but a few credit cards and some gift cards. He doesn't live far from the gas station so, I decide to drive to his house and return it rather than leave it where it was.
I pulled up to the house and his wife answered the door, I gave her the wallet and she thanked me profusely. Now, I waited for karma.....nothing happened, she thanked me, closed the door, and I left.
I called my wife and told her the story, kind of bummed because I thought karma would earn me something, but I took it as I did something that most people won't do and will have luck in my near future because of it.
Not two minutes goes by and I receive a phone call from my office. Jeremy asks me if I just returned someone's wallet and I said yes I did. He says "I have a woman on the other line, said a guy from Arnco just brought her a wallet and she would like to send him a reward". Now, what happened was...the woman called her husband and told him about the found wallet, she then asked him what cards/cash he had in it, when she discovered that nothing was missing she called my work (luckily I was driving my work van which says Arnco with our phone number all over it) and asked who she can send a reward to. She told Jeremy that she didn't want to reward someone that just stole from them, so she wanted to check with her husband first.
Anyway, it has only been two days and I haven't received her card yet, but karma did find me and it used fate to get test me.

Now, I don't go doing nice things just to be rewarded, that's just the kind of guy I am, but it is nice when someone recognizes a good person and does reward them for it, I'm sure that woman will earn some good karma of her own.

Next subject you may be wondering is how I can believe that everything happens for a reason and that people can earn karma (bad or good) and I still don't believe in God, well that answer is simple....because, that why.
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Ignore last post

Sent that by accident....there is a story to that coming later
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Karma and Fate

I may not believe in a God, but I do believe in a higher power of some sort, and that is karma and fate. I do think everything happens for a reason and you are given tests throughout your life to earn karma.
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The Stand

So, I have taken on the challenge of reading The Stand, under normal circumstances this would be no challenge, BUT this is the uncut extended version clocking in at around 1,125 pages. I've read books close to 1,000 pages before...well, just Swan Song, really. The longest Harry Potter book is around 800 and I did read about half of It and promised I would finish it....eventually.

I'm not saying this because I am intimidated by long books, just because of my short attention span with books. Most that I read are between 400 and 600 pages, with a few 250's thrown in. I don't get a lot of reading time, so if I'm taking a solid month to read one book, it has to be worth it. So far...eh.

The problem I have with King is he tends to ramble on and on and on and on with tons of back story. I don't need back story, character development does not require it. I am identifying with characters just fine by skimming through the back stories. Of course, when I picked the un-cut version I should have realized I was going to get more blah, blah, blah than people who read the original....about 400 more pages of blah.
Still, I am 51% done so far, and it isn't bad but I do believe Swan Song by Robert McCammon is a better post apocalyptic tale and keeps the reader way more interested. You learn the background of the main characters immediately instead of constantly going back and droning on.

Oh, and, surviving after a nuclear attack with everything destroyed and a seven year nuclear winter is a lot harder than living in a world ravaged by a super flu, so hats off to the characters in Swan Song for dealing with that.
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Andrew Luck

Boy, oh boy! I might have to change around my picks for this year, Andrew Luck looked like a veteran out there in his first preseason start. He read and reacted like the guy who was there before him (can't remember his name right now).
Now, the former Colt QB had to carry this team at times, and since it is only preseason and against the Rams we don't know for sure yet what Luck will be, but he gave a very nice preview.
One thing I like to see is Luck isn't afraid to throw the ball away, he took a few less completions and there are some NFL QB's that won't do that, Favre come to mind. For the past two years Eli Manning has been one of the least sacked QBs and not because of a great O line but because he would rather pass for 60% and not get hit/intercepted than pass for 65% and get rocked.
Most young QBs won't do that (Eli didn't for a few years) but Andrew Luck looked like a pro out there. I'd like to see his composure in a real game when he's down by 4 with 1:30 to go, 1st and 10 at his own 20 before getting really high on him, but, I think Indy fans may have gotten as lucky as Green Bay did in going from one franchise qb to another.
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Been bad, getting better

I finally put Blogger in my bookmarks on my Kindle (which is now my primary source of internet). I have been lax in replying to comments and visiting/commenting on other blogs that I used to read daily.

The Red Mosquito is back, and I have a lot of catching up to do...
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NFL Predictions!!!

Okay, the pressure is on, in the past five years I have correctly picked these conference winners; Patriots, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Patriots. To go with that I have been wrong 5 times on the other Conference winner (actual winner); Cowboys(Giants), Giants(Cardinals), Ravens(Colts), Ravens (Steelers), Packers (Giants).

As I said, I had this all worked out perfectly with the schedule but lost the sheet so, the standings may not add up correctly but it will be a good estimate.

AFC East

New England Patriots 12-4 (1)
Buffalo Bills 9-7
New York Jets 8-8
Miami Dolphins 5-11

North

Baltimore Ravens 10-6 (3)
Pittsburgh Steelers 9-7 (6)
Cincinnati Bengals 8-8
Cleveland Browns 3-13

South

Houston Texans 12-4 (2)
Tennessee Titans 10-6 (5)
Indianapolis Colts 6-10
Jacksonville Jags 4 -12

West

Denver Broncos 10-6 (4)
Oakland Raiders 9-7
Kansas City Chiefs 7-9
San Diego Chargers 6-10

I can see Buffalo making a push for the final spot, who knows. As I have it here, here's what I have.

Wild Card

(6)Pittsburgh Steelers at (3) Baltimore Ravens Ravens win

(5)Tennessee Titans at (4) Denver Broncos Broncos win

Divisional

(4) Denver Broncos at (1) New England Patriots Broncos win haha

(3) Baltimore Ravens at (2) Houston Texans
Texans win

AFC Championship

(4) Denver Broncos at (2) Houston Texans

Texans win the AFC

Now for the NFC

East

New York Giants 11-5 (4)
Dallas Cowboys 9-7
Philadelphia Eagles 8-8
Washington Redskins 6-10

North

Green Bay Packers 12-4 (1)
Chicago Bears 11-5 (5)
Detroit Lions 9-7
Minnesota Vikings 2-14

South

Atlanta Falcons 12-4 (2)
New Orleans Saints 10-6 (6)
Carolina Panthers 7-9
Tampa Bay Bucs 5-11

West

San Francisco 49ers 11-5 (3)
Seattle Seahawks 9-7
St. Louis Rams 7-9
Arizona Cardinals 4-12

Wild Card

(6) New Orleans Saints at (3) San Fran 49ers Niners win

(5) Chicago Bears at (4) New York Giants
Giants win

Divisional

(4) New York Giants at (1) Green Bay Packers
Packers win
(3) San Fran 49ers at (2) Atlanta Falcons
Falcons win

NFC Championship

(2) Atlanta Falcons at (1) Green Bay Packers

Green Bay wins the NFC

Super Bowl 47

Houston Texans vs. Green Bay Packers

And of course, I have already said I like the NFC to win the Super Bowl.

There we go, no need to even watch this season, we already know what will happen.
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NFC

Now for a run down of the NFC, home of the future Super Bowl Champs for 2013. I really think the AFC is an underdog no matter who shows up for the big game, the good teams in the NFC are just that good. I would have to see something big to change my thoughts on that.

The NFC East may look like a weak division when looking at last year; the Giants won it by winning 9 games as the only above .500 team, but then won the Super Bowl. I think each team is just so equal that no one can run away with the lead. I know the Eagles have prematurely declared they are a dynasty...last year they called themselves the Dream Team and didn't even make the playoffs. Vick is a playmaker but he's older and always injured, they have the best RB in the NFC with McCoy, so I'll give them that. Dallas could be the Giants biggest competition for winning the division, with Washington being a slight pest. Tough one to pick.

I expect the NFC North to be just as tough if not tougher than the East. If Cutler stays healthy the Bears have a scary offense, and we know what Stafford and Calvin Johnson can do. The Bears and Lions have a better overall defense than the Packers, as of now anyway. The Pack have the best QB, WR's and LB's in that division (or the NFL maybe). If the Lions or Bears D plays better than the Packers O there could be trouble, although, I still think Green Bay wins this division and possibly more than that.

The NFC South is questionable. I'm not sure what to expect from the Payton-less Saints or from an under achieving Falcons team, and don't forget the Panthers. The Falcons and Bucs have the best D's in that division and Atlanta can score with passing or running attack. The Saints will score no matter what, but hopefully with Coach Payton gone we won't see them running up the score so much. I think the Falcons have to take advantage of a weakness in the Saints and pounce on it, and if Coach Smith can't get this talented team to win in the playoffs again he has to go. The Falcons have the talent to be title contenders and should win the South. They are close to becoming the Chargers of the NFC, great regular season team horrible post season.

The NFC West. What to say? The Niners D is huge, they stopped two big offenses in the playoffs but just couldn't slide by the Giants in maybe the best NFC Championship in the past 10 years (it's close with NY/GB and NO/Minn..GB/Chi wasn't bad either). The Seahawks have picked up GB back up Matt Flynn, and have that big home field advantage. They can be a real pest for San Fran. St.Louis should be worlds better with Fischer as Coach now and if they still had Williams as D-Coordinator I'd say they win 7 or 9 games, but they don't. As far as Arizona...eh, maybe a 6 or 8 win team, they can pull an upset or two but for the most part they are out of the Wild Card race.

Overall, I think this will be a big season for the NFC. I do have my Super Bowl picks ready, and not posting them yet, BUT I will say the NFC will take it again this year, making it four in a row for the NFC. Wait, is that right? Saints, Packers and Giants won the last three and Steelers the year before the Saints...yeah, I'm right. Seems like the NFC has won more than that, either way, the AFC is still weaker.

Totally off subject, but, thinking about it, we've seen a lot of repeat title teams in a league that prides itself on being equal.

Seahawks vs. Steelers (Seattle was new and Pitt hadn't been there since 94 but this is just to show pattern of Steelers)

Bears vs. Colts (both new SB teams but Colts had been good for a while, Chicago was a surprise)

Giants vs. Patriots (Giants hadn't been there since 2000 but Pats making 4th trip in decade)

Cardinals vs. Steelers (Cards were a shock, but Pitt in again)

Saints vs. Colts (Saints are new but been good for past four years, Colts are repeats)

Packers vs. Steelers (Pitt again, GB in first title game since 97(?) but I'm sure they'll be back again and they did host nfc title 3 years prior)

Giants vs. Patriots (rematch of 4 years ago)

Four teams have made more than one trip in past 7 games; Colts, Giants, Steelers, and Patriots. And, I expect to see another team repeat a trip this year....

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AFC

I have my season picks pretty much ready to go, I went through each week and marked wins and losses to get an accurate count on standings but I lost the paper. Fuck. Anywho, here's what I see with a wide open AFC this year.

I can say I don't see a dominant team, but there are so many questions in the AFC. If the Patriots defense is better, if Shaub is back to form after a season ending injury, is Peyton back, are the Bengals a real threat, is Luck going to stun everyone, are the Titans a threat, is Pittsburgh still a top team?

In the AFC East, I still see New England as the team to beat. If the defense steps up they should roll through their divisional foes. I think the biggest thorn for New England will be Buffalo who has a decent offense and upgraded defense. I think we will see Buffalo in the Wild Card race. I don't know about those Jets or Dolphins, I just can't see either being a challenger for the division, although the Jets may be a .500 team.

The AFC North is tough again. The Ravens have got to depend on Flacco picking up his game. They have the running attack but will be missing Suggs this season and have Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to deal with. This will be a true black and blue division with three good defenses. I think Cleveland could be the worst team in the AFC, but stranger things have happened. As to who wins the division?? Hard to say right now.

The AFC South should be Houston's for the taking. Luck has a rebuilding Colts team and I'm not huge on Jacksonville with Drew-Jones so unhappy. The Titans are the wild card, they could win 10 games or 7. They have the defense but who knows about Chris Johnson, he sucked last year and needs to be a major factor. The Texans could be my AFC Champ pick...

The AFC West is one HUGE question. All four teams are in the fight. The Raiders defense and running attack, the Chargers offense, the Broncos have an okay defense and Manning, and the Chiefs play a nasty D but can't score. If Manning is Manning the Broncos could win 11 games and easily take the West, but I like the Raiders as a Wild Card contender, and the Chargers. We could have both three playoff teams from the West with Denver, Oakland and San Diego but I can say the same for the North (they had 3 last year; Baltimore, Pitt, and Cinci).

The East and South probably won't be as interesting of a fight as North and West but you never know.

I'll run down the NFC tomorrow, where every division should go down to the last two weeks.
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I wonder how Taco Bell feels about Social Security?

So now we have fast food restaurants taking stances on social issues? Can't they just make chicken sandwiches and keep their mouths shut?
I saw this picture on Facebook and had to comment on it, and someone else said "sounds like you are scared of Christians".
That couldn't be further from the truth. I like Christians, some of my favorite people on this planet are devout Christians, I just don't like how some use the Bible as a crutch for social issues or political issues.
I don't believe in Christianity but I'm not going to dump on those who do, yet, many Christians like to dump on me for not believing what they do. How un-Christian of them.
I dislike the Pope, I think he should be in prison. The Catholic church has run a pedophile cover up that makes Penn State look good. How un-Christian of them.
But now, they stand up in droves against gay rights and for fried chicken sandwiches.
I'm all for chicken sandwiches, don't get me wrong, but let's all be a bit more like Christ and little less unlike Him.
"I like your Christ, I dislike your Christians, they are so unlike your Christ"- Gandhi
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Coughlin vs. Ryan

I hate Rex Ryan, and living in the NY area where I have to listen to his fat mouth every day makes it worse. Okay, prime example, here's what each NY Coach said about this upcoming year.

Rex Ryan (Jets had 9 wins, no playoffs)- "I'm the best defensive coach in the league, I have the best defense and I have the best team. I'm a better defensive coach than Bellichick, just a fact".

Tom Coughlin (Giants had 9 wins and won Super Bowl) - "We sucked last year and we're going to suck this year if we don't fix our defense and running problems. Our defense was horrible, at times our team looked horrible, if we can't improve we'll struggle to win 8 games".

In three years Rex has guaranteed a Super Bowl win 3 times. He has none.

In nine years, Tom has guaranteed 0 Super Bowl wins and has two.

What does this mean? Well, maybe nothing, but Rex is still a fat idiot with no rings.

That is all.
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