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Disgusting! Anyone that serves our country is a hero. Wartime, peacetime, or any time. Anyone that doubts that, well, wish we still had the draft.

I really wonder... does anybody take all this seriously? I mean... really. A PDB being debated as to whether anything should have had immediate action. This is NOT the purpose of the PDB. It is (according to a former CIA official who wrote them for Clinton) at times as much as a couple of days old. Any immediate actions should have already happened. The best way to think of this is an Intelligence newspaper. Relitively timely, but not up to the second. Anything with immediate action required would have been brought to the President's attention right away. Now, to the story on NPR (as leftist as any organization in the news business). The former CIA analyst that they were interviewing stated categorically that the PDB of August 6 that referenced the bin Laden info was nothing more than an update of older information. This is a common practice, whenever the analyst writing it feels an update is needed to bring every up to date on progress. We are making much too much of this single document. Beyond that, it was so unspecific that it was impossible to act upon. Ela, you brought up the Pearl Harbor example. The same information was availble to the folks in that instance. Unsubstanciated rumors, disconnected facts, and unreliable human intell. There is no true blame to place in either case.

Amen Kendren! And have a wonderful Easter everyone!

Beethoven, I understand your yearning. I am conflicted by the commission. I have studiously avoided any mention of it in the news or anywhere else. However, I did see some of the testimony by Dr. Rice. Two things: one, not one of the commissioners I saw had any interest in what she had to say. They, to a man, had a preconceived notion of the truth of the matter. Two, Dr. Rice wasn't, rightly or wrongly, gonna give them one shred of evidence that they did not already have. I don't know why, maybe they already have it all. The one question I have is: What good is all this doing? No one can be brought back. The systems have already been changed. And any thinking person knows that when one administration hands off to another, of another party, they are less than candid about what they have been doing or should do. I really don't feel there is any blame to be placed. Except where it really belongs. Osama bin Laden. If in all this mess, our society that is, there is any blame to be placed on an American, it is on every one of us. We are all to blame for not taking personal responsibility for our actions, good or bad. We are all to blame for not making others take personal responsibility for their actions, good or bad. Just the way it looks on Lick Creek.....

That's great sinjin, keep it a "happy family day"! I know the times I've been most happy have been doing the little things with my son. He's 18 now, and too grown up for Dad, I miss him. The Aquarium in Chattanooga is wonderful and relatively inexpensive. Make a weekend of it and eat at the Choo Choo, see Rock City, take in Stone Mtn (they have a great laser show in the summer). Most of those are not too much, and alot of fun. There is always Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and the Park. Kids love all the things to do there. Of course I love battlefields, so it's Shiloh, and Lookout Mtn, etc. for me!

Texas23, I agree with you that the strategy of putting the hurt on the other guy is a legitimate one. The real fundamental difference I see is in the methodology. Walmart would, if they follow their normal practice, handle that scenario in a different way. They would rent the movies for 1 cent, give away a free one with every 2 rented, AND force their supplier to give them the movies. Then when finished with them, sell them for $10. Thus preserving their margin at the expense of the supplier. The mom and pop would go out of business. Then the supplier would have to sell new movies to them at or below cost, while they were renting them at 3.99 a night. The supplier would then go out of business all because they tried to maintain a presence in the market, without which they would have gone bankrupt anyway. Walmart would then import cheap copies from overseas with reduced quality and questionable legal status (patent/copyright infringement type of thing happens all the time with some Asian countries). All the while enjoying a tax free business because of the concessions gained from the city when they moved there. Now I know that is an extreme, and not likely to happen exactly that way, but it illustrates the type of thing I have personally seen happen. Just as we punish overseas suppliers that "dump" into our market, I honestly feel that Walmart is no better. Yes, they are the largest employers, in sheer numbers, but that is only if you count low paying, part time, and no benefits being employed. Some might call me a bleeding heart, in the political sense of the term, nothing could be further from the truth. But, I do have a special place in my heart for all of the Americans put out of work by the "Walmartization" of this country. Maybe I shouldn't pick on them, but they are the biggest fish, and the most visible example of what I feel is wrong. It's a discussion we have had on here before and most of us have agreed to disagree about. That's the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country. The resultant loss of tax base, and the inevitable increase in Gov't spending to support those that can no longer support themselves. Low paying service jobs are not the answer, if no one is buying, no one can sell! And someone has to be creating wealth in this economy to keep it going. The dotcom bubble burst is a prime example. No one there created wealth, they just redistributed it, creating a false "value" to the stock. It had to go, and many folks were hurt in the process. Anyway, I'll leave this discussion now... have a wonderful Easter and remember the sacrifice that made it all possible! Vaya con Dios I just saw 'Ettes post. Yes, it is about outsourcing. But we really have to get to the root cause of it all. Companies outsource because in order to stay in business they have to lower cost. The whole reason that has to happen is that companies, like Walmart, have told us that we must have the lowest price possile, regardless of the consequences. I guess if we get to the root of the dandelion, we all need to exercise the self control our ancestors did when it comes to getting things. but it doesn't mean I have to let those companies off the hook, they do bear some responsibility for it. Just my $.02.....

sinjin, what do you like to do? I know there is a relatively new thing called Geocaching. Geocaching.com has alot of info on it. It's kind of like a hitech treasure hunt. Gets you outside and doing things together. A little expensive, you do need a good GPS unit.

Texas, Thank you for the well reasoned and reasonable response. While I agree with you, that a similar statement is made by most that leave an organization, it does not inevitably discount the truth of the matter. If you discuss the question with anyone that was with the organization both before and after the death of Mr. Sam you will have the same response. There was a massive shift in focus. I still refer to them as Mr. Sam and Miss Helen because I have nothing but respect for them and what they accomplished. They did it with a concern for people, a genuine caring for their employees and the good of the country ( the America first campaign). The "young guns" that took over completely scrapped most of the ideals the company was founded on. I started working for them during college part-time, and moved into the trainee program afterwards, even though I have an engineering degree, I loved working with the people. The change I'm talking about is not a gradual one, but a very sudden shift immediately following the death of Mr. Sam. From a customer's perspective, check the coincidence of the change in customer service policies with this time period. Ex.: requiring a receipt for return of merchandise, this is something Mr. Sam was vehemently opposed to. I suppose I failed to make my point with the examples I presented. These were not "loss leaders", these were the way business was done. The entire burden is borne by the supplier, with Walmart preserving it's margin. There is one difference with doing business with Walmart than anyone else. If you are in a product line that they sell, and you are not in Walmart, the future is short. They have and will sell at a loss to gain marketshare of any or all products, until they put the competition out of business then the price goes thru the roof. I wish I had the data at hand... but a couple of years ago a news story came out about a Walmart store I believe in Miss. or Ala., anyway the gist of the matter was that they dropped all of their prices until they were the ONLY retailer left in this small town, then the prices came up to a level that they recouped all of the losses in less than a year. AND STAYED THERE. I wish I still had that article, I saved it for a while. Strategy yes, ethical... well..... I'll leave that up to you and your conscience, I know where I stand. The only folks hurt... the folks that lost their jobs, the folks that had no choice but to shop at Walmart with it's higher prices, and the county tax base that suffered because of the loss of jobs and the concessions made to Walmart to get them in town. On a side note: If you think it's tough with Exxon, since the tariffs went into effect the Chinese are coming to us to build their products. They are importing the tape to seal the boxes because they are convinced it's $0.007 cheaper per Unit. Yes that's right 7/10s of one cent. I have news for them, their useage is wrong and it's actually $0.002 higher. But there is no reasoning with them.

Tejas, You have me there, I haven't been to the corp headquarters, only on a few dozen conference calls. Yes, they and the companies that supply them sell below cost. Case in point: the ITC is imposing tarriffs of 24% + (depends on product content) on Communist Chinese television imports for dumping. The vote for final disposition of tarriffs is on April 15th. Walmart is selling the tv's at less than the cost of materials (in fact, less than the cost of the picture tube alone) that goes into them. By the way, that is a worldwide constant as all materials for all consumer electronics are sourced worldwide. The only way the Chinese could do this is to sell at below cost. Only one explaination: winning market share. Enough so that Philps is closing it's North American development office. By the way, thats 300 - 400 lost TENNESSEE jobs in the last 2 years. Another case in point, 1993, Walmart in ET began a price war on Castol motor oil with Kmart. At the end, Kmart had to quit because they were losing money. Walmart was selling the stuff at $0.25 a quart, and the invoices were coming in marked complimentary from the distributor. And it was coming in straight from the distributor not thru the normal distribution net. The same thing happened in 1996 on Prestone antifreeze, but I don't remember the prices. I will change the name of the company because of my connection to it, but a "food product" company was approached by Sams Club 3 years ago. They were told that they would be selling these products (which they supplied exclusively to all SamsClubs everywhere) at a given price I saw the original fax from Sams. This price was 5% below production cost. When the Sams rep was told this, his answer was "tough, that's what you will sell it to us for, make up the difference on the other customers". That kind of flew all over the COO for the "food product " company, and being a stubborn hillbilly, he told the Sams exec to stuff it. There was a truck in front of every Sams the next day picking up all of that product brand. Only then did the Sams exec see the light and beg him to put it back in (it was priced about 15% less than all competitors already). He was told to stuff it again. Six months later, Sams finally had that product back, at a price increase to them. Your question about Wallyworld becoming a hated company? When they started treating their employees, customers, and suppliers like crap. By the way, they don't have a printed, published policy limiting advancement of females either, but quite a few judges think it's true. Dandy, You really should apologize to ELA. But yougun, get a clue. If you look at most of my comments, I'm agreeing with you. I just have personal experience with this disaster that has colored my outlook. As to the insulting tone, I do not deserve it and neither does anyone else in this discussion. As to the "causes" you mention, I'm an avid hunter, fisherman, gun collector, and drive an SUV, what do you think? As for working for them, yes I did. Up until the time the policies changed, let's just say the door didn't hit me in the posterior on the way out after that, nor have I been back since.

Actually, Walmart "had" a policy of made in America. That is no longer true. Their policy is "cut the throat of anyone who dares sell anything"! I do know whereof I speak, having worked for Walmart, and having worked for a supplier to Walmart. Here are some facts for you: 1. Walmart is China's eighth largest trading partner, ahead of oh... the UK, and Italy. 2. Walmart TELLS it's suppliers what the price of an item will be, regardless of cost to produce. If a supplier wants to keep a toe in the market, they have to sell to them or go bankrupt, as many have. If you don't believe it, visit MECO in Greeneville, nearly gone now because of Walmart. 3. When Sam Walton was alive, he believed in America. He made sure all of his management did, and his company did. When his "kids" took over, even Miss Helen Walton (mother) distanced herself from their management plans. This was documented in internal Walmart memo's. Miss Helen said so in a visit to Greeneville for a store inspection, I heard her with my own ears. Walmart represents all that is wrong, they are not the root cause, but they are the biggest cancer. Greed simply cannot be allowed to destroy people. It's funny that Microsoft has been in court for monopolization, but Walmart (that is the biggest grocer, retail store, jewelry store, toy store,......) has not. Wonder who was bought off? Before I'm flamed as a liberal, know that is as far from the truth as it can possibly be. I just call it like I see it, and right now I see a blight on our society.

Beet You're right, we don't understand those hatreds. Mostly because they are baseless, stupid and pointless. That's part of what we are trying to show them, unfortunately, their "spiritual advisors" are invested in keeping them in the 13th century. By keeping them technologically, culturally, and politcally isolated the "leaders" are able to maintain control. It's just another form of slavery, the people are just too ignorant to understand that. Not unintelligent, just ignorant.

You can bet this tickles me! It's gonna be nice cheering for Mark instead of hoping SOMEBODY can cut him off! Can't wait. I didn't get to watch the spring game, but I was told that OL is a big concern. Hopefully some of the 14 OL they signed this year will step up and make a difference. I guarantee that Cody Baugh, Cory Russell, et al will get the ball to Mark if they can just get the time. By the way, if you come down to see Mark play, just look for the biggest tailgatin' party going on, that'll be us!

I have spybot and popup blocker installed, and still have a popup now and again. Hey, technology is not perfect, it's easy enough to live with.

So Dandy82... in other words, You don't have any real answers and you don't care about what happens to our national debt, the little man, or anything else as long as you don't have to pay too much in taxes (none if possible). The problem is you don't seem to have any real solutions. NONE OF US LIKE TO PAY TAXES, but it is for our collective good! The only way to get out of this mess is to STOP THE LEAK in the bottom of the boat. Bush can't give away the money fast enough because all he wants to do is get re-elected! He will pass on the mess he has made to the next President and future Congresses to fix. We can't wait that long, we must find a way to stop this boat from sinking RIGHT NOW! Ela, if I may, I believe you and dandy are just having a little trouble communicating the ideas each of you hold to the other. Ela, you desire a rapid fix to the deficit through higher taxation, by the way this is not by definition a monetary give-away as it is not the gov'ts money. Dandy has an answer to the problem from another direction. Lower taxes, enable small businesses such as himself to expand and hire, thereby increasing the tax pool, and driving the deficit down. Gentlemen, to me the real question that each of you needs to answer for yourself is: Do you desire the deficit to be wiped out quickly or long term? Having answered that will tell you which of the plans will satisfy your needs. Then, decide if either of the plans is a long term solution or a quick fix with long term reprocussions. Just my $.02....

Industrial/Manufacturing.... with the economy the last few years jobs are few and far between. Of course, living in NET the cost of living has been lower until the last 2 years also. Now, with cost rising to meet the rest of the state and salaries stagnant... well, I'm sure you understand. I just thank the good Lord that I still have a job, over 50% of the salary employees at our facility have been downsized in the last 2 years.

Never got caught!

Wow! Just saw my degree on there.... anyone out there willing to give an experienced engineer what they saw the starting salary should be? By the way, the real answer to what your degree is worth is.... what someone is willing to pay you to use it!

I have no idea what Kucinich (sp) was saying last night, I've long since given up on all politicians. But I can give examples of some of the things I saw at ETSU. 1. All men required to take a "sensitivity" course: one day, and I have no idea if it has been continued. Was supposed to make up more sensitive to the needs of female students in our dating situations. This at a university that was 60% commuting, and nearly that percentage married. It made no difference your marital status, you still had to attend. 2. Shutting down a sports program that had produced over 30 conference championships and had hosted the 1st NCAA championship, and due to host the next when cancelled. All at the total cost of one scholarship, and the loan of a van for some of the furthest matches. The rifle team was not PC enough and cancelled in favor of golf. I have no problem with the golf team, but it was presented as a money saving step, even though many more scholarships were awarded and fees to courses paid. 3. Shutting down the only Div. 1-AA program in the area in football, again, cost savings. Lost 900,000 dollars a year according to the papers. Of course, the number was 400,000 the first time the articles were printed. They made that sound outrageous, however, quite a few Div 1 teams lose even more. Example: Univ. of Miami, the Hurricanes reported losses of $1 million dollars in 2002, a common occurance. 4. Shifting all of the money in the Engineering Tech programs to the (as I call it) cartooning class. This is the Alia/Wavefront program that millions was spent on. I watched as (I personally know) $2 million in university and matching funds were spent on a program that placed a total of 2 students in the first 3 years. Now the school has lost accreditation in most of the Tech fields and is losing it in the Computer Graphics also because of a lack of funds for new equipment. 5. School funds (from student fees) spent on "greek" celebrations, while student learing organizations could not get the loan of a school van to travel to trade shows and seminars to further their education. These are just some of the examples I personally saw / participated in between 1990 and 1996. PM me if you would like any of the pertinent details of some of them, all to glad to provide them to a fellow alum. To me, it's a simple matter of the university not having it's priorities in order. The only school that I know of in the last 15 years not threatened to have it's accreditation taken away is the Med school. That is where the entire emphasis is at ETSU. All while vocations that will build the region (most of the Med students seem to leave the area asap), are cut and discarded. Sorry for the rant, just a very disaffected grad.

Not if you went to ETSU! When I was there I was amazed. Here we sit in one of the most conservative parts of the country, and I have never seen the like. I've been to U of Md. and to Louisville, and by comparison they were Draconian in their conservatism. ETSU is, in my opinion, on a par with these Northern, "lost in the fantasy world of academia", "elite" universities when it comes to the idiocy spouted by the administration.

I've been keeping a eye out in the papers and the boards for news, just haven't been able to get the info! Kim Richardson has been doing some great stories on the Betsy Wrestlers, just waiting on one about my favorite! Hope everything goes great for you, him, and all the Cyclones!

Uhhh... 'Ette dear..... just where do you live.... and are you going to be gone some weekend? Gotta love that chestnut!

Takedown is right, the white paint was used for preservation and consisted originally of standard whitewash. The paint then evolved into a mild-based paint for durability and the key ingredients were already on the farm. Red, well, some folks liked the color! White was common, so they went to red with the addition of iron oxide in the milk-based paint. Some few even added red clay (for color) to the white wash ealier. Hey, these were the materials they had at hand, and the old weathered barns just didn't look good! Oh, and takedown's is also right, the trend really started in Penn and NY.

Uh... Red.... The majority of the instate MD players are from predominantly white suburbs. Several from towns with "0" minorities (thanks to the Klan! Gaithersburg, and Eldersburg for example). Having been a student at U of Md., and at a couple of Tennessee universities, the student make-up is pretty close to the same. Now, I went to high school in La, my brother in Ga, the quality of athletes is not tremendously different. Coaching is different, community support is terrible here, and funding, well, did you notice that all of the revenue raising measures failed during the recent election? I guess you get what you pay for. I think perception is the biggest factor. Tennessee athletes are percieved to be inferior, therefore they aren't recruited; because they aren't recruited, they are inferior. Circular reasoning, and a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I think it's really simple what the French are doing. For years their courts have lead the way in interpreting their constitution as meaning "Freedom from religion" as opposed to "Freedom of religion". The US courts are doing the same thing, just following the lead of a socialist state. No where in the Constitution does it say that we impose our religious ideals on anyone, but it also does not say that we must have anyone's atheistic ideals imposed on us. By the way, Chirac made the statement that by next summer all religious symbols will be outlawed in all government buildings.

Yeah, Eric is on the way to Tusculum. I can't really say who the other is, papers aren't signed yet, don't want to jinx it ya know. But, he's a great kid! Glad to hear Byrd and Chrisman are in the game, any link to a list, kind of like to see who all is on it. Tell your brother we are all pulling for him down here, especially since we don't have to face him every year! All joking aside, I really do wish him the best.