Now one of my nieces is getting me into pro football so I will be a Seahawks fan. And my daughter's best friend from grade school (who visits me regularly - she is my second daughter, Ha!) is committed to getting me to be a Blazer's fan, so that means I need to learn about pro basketball.

One thing I've learned about sports is that it is pretty much all about the players and they are humans with really interesting personal stories/lives. Just in tiny little Oregon the Ducks/Beavers rivalry means so much more than the sport. The Beavers, just this year, took out a full page in The Oregonian to congratulate Marcus Mariota (sp?). What a GD class thing to do! Beavers - OSU draws (and has alum) from rural OR, from conservative areas and offers lots of ag classes. UofO draws from urban very liberal areas/parents, and offers many degrees, but lots are simply 'liberal arts' with an eye on the master's or PHDs to follow. The sports rivalry has reflected the cultural disharmony in the state.But for the Beavers to congratulate a Duck in the Portland paper is just so great.

I have a post-it up by my computer saying "I am a *Duck* fan" so I do not say (according to my friend) a "Ducks" fan. Sports are just so complicated, but if I ever make lots of mistakes pls school me. I am very willing to learn.

Sending you love and strength to deal with whatever's ahead; if there's anything we can do, please just put it out there.

"We live in a world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have, if we seek them with our eyes wide open."

I do not envy your task, my friend. It's not easy to have that sort of conversation. I had one earlier last year with the girls, to prepare them for any eventuality since my own disease was quite aggressive at that point.

Like your own children, they had also watched me battle through several bouts of malignancy while growing up, so I truly thought they'd understand and appreciate my bluntness in imparting the reality of my particular situation. And yet the obvious denial in their eyes was at once fierce, piercing and overwhelming. It really took me aback, and I was not at all prepared for that.

So for what it's worth, Slado, I think it's important to that when you do have that conversation with your children, you seek always to maintain both hope and promise in the forefront of not only your loved ones' thoughts, but also your own as well.

Because honestly, that hope and promise is testament to our own true faith and our affirmation of life. And with that faith and affirmation comes the comforting reassurance and belief that no matter what the future may hold for us, everything is going to be fine in the long run, as sure as the sun will rise.

On xmas eve a very close personal friend of mine suddenly fell and damaged her already damaged body and had to spend the night in the ER. She has to take Cumidin (a blood thinner) and so her damaged face showed serious bruising pretty much immediately. Her rescuer husband was pretty much accused of abusing her. She has now a cast on her arm that is in the colors of the Oregon Ducks. And, for me, the last 4 mights were among the most horrid in my life, trips to Drs and wards from, apparently, a severe reaction to some calcium blocker BP med my Dr insisted I go on. My friend had to go on that too and it caused (or added to) her heart problems and she has had to spend many weeks in hospitals and has to now take many heart meds and more. Permanent damage, at least for her.

But this is all to say that people on TL do understand how life can lead to uncertain conclusions. At those times, love in families and friends is the utmost importance - to the sufferer and to the people who love that sufferer.  You dealing straight with your children is great - I'm just starting to learn that in my personal life. I think it is just as important for them as it might be for you and your wife.  And maybe, for many generations to follow.

I'm very glad you have hope for this year. I've had to face death so very many times in the last 15 years so that now I am at peace with it. I see death as just another step - and life is all about steps. Death is just a next step in life. I don't "believe" in "life after death", but I do think/know that life does not end with death.

Didn't know that many cops are killed each year.  

But as you say there in lies the rub.  What should the numbers look like?  More citizens are killed by cops then vice versa so is that acceptable?

My answer was to just suppose that it is almost statistically impossible for there to be no cases where the cops are not justified in using deadly force against a suspect that may not ve armed.

What I do believe is that number should be very, very small and we need to establish a clear definition of what is and what is not a situation that justifies the use of both deadly and physical force.

While the officer is grabbing ahold of Big Mike, he kind of loses grip around his neck

So then the grip around Brown's  neck was momentary, right??? and would not have left an injury per the prosecutor and military forensic pathologist, right!!! or did you miss that part in the report???

that's how I knew he had a good grip. He never fully let Big Mike go, now he has a good grasp on his shirt.

On his shirt, Jim -- good grasp on his shirt -- probably under his neck twistng it under his throat like tough guys do.

Once again let me ask are you comfortable with police causing the death of unarmed citizens on a regular basis?

The issue is the lack of attention.

As for Brown...Arresting and trying the police in LA resulted in what... The Simi Valley riots.... only cost over a billion and 53 people killed.. So arresting Wilson as a prophylactic to prevent the riots would not have worked UNLESS he was convicted.

The Ferguson Lt. Colonel was the second of 3 persons in the chain of command the Sgt. _notified of the "incident" by unanswered phone messages. Sgt._spoke to call #4, a Captain in person.) Sgt. __sent DW back to the PD without the appropriate procedural admonition to speak to no one except a superior officer. We believe he did speak to the one person, Officer Spradling ("Barbie" his pregnant girl friend) who was on Officer Light Duty and we believe also dispatching. The couple talked, DW admits it although her name and condition are redacted. It seems they are interrupted by an ambulance that has been sent to the PD. The couple told them medical care was not needed and the medics did not even enter the building.

it was some time before the Ferguson Lt. Colonel arrived and the three discussed the "incident". At some point, "Barbie" left to drive to the couples' home to get new clothes for DW and we believe it was at this time that she took the duty belt and placed in the couple's car. (The duty belt was not returned and put into evidence for a month.)

At 1:30pm, approx. 50 minutes after the case had been transferred to the County PD and eighty-seven minutes after the final shot killing Michael Brown, StL County Detective #1 from the Department of Crimes Against Persons arrived at the scene and was surprised to learn a Medical Examiner had not yet been summoned. As he spoke to the Ferguson officers another StLC Detective arrived to assume the case management and he (StLC Det.#1) was sent to FPD for a first cursory interview with DW.

StLC Det. #1 went to a second floor common room where four people  (DW, "Barbie",DW's Lawyer and the Ferguson Lt. Colonel) were sitting. Somehow this Det. #1 did not consider it "relevant to ask" what each of their roles were
"at the time". He was, however, surprised to see DW had already removed his duty belt (it lay on the floor), wiped and bagged his gun and washed his hands & arms. The StLC Det. briefly talked with the group but "not about the actual incident" and left.

The four then decided DW needed to go to the hospital and DW was issued another gun by the Lt Col.

So we should all ask why the Lt. Colonel does not appear to have testified at the GJ. Or haven interviewed by the StL police Detectives.

We should ask why "Barbie" was neither interviewed by StLPD or ask to testify at the GJ.

Have you consulted the website fatalencounters.org. Brian Burghart is attempting a gargantuan task- a comprehendsive listing of people in America who have been killed by police.
I'm sure he will allow me to use his own words:

"The nation's leading law enforcement agency [FBI] collects vast amounts of information on crime nationwide, but missing from this clearinghouse are statistics on where, how often, and under what circumstances police use deadly force. In fact, no one anywhere comprehensively tracks the most significant act police can do in the line of duty: take a life," according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in its series Deadly Force (Nov. 28, 2011).

This site is founded upon the premise that Americans should have the ability to track that act. This idea was conceived in the wake of the Oct. 6, 2012, killing of a naked, unarmed college student, Gil Collar, at the University of South Alabama. Media reports contained no context: How many people are killed by police in Alabama every year? How many in the United States?

It turned out that Collar was on drugs, including marijuana and the hallucinogen 25-I. It also turned out the freshman never got within 5 feet of the officer, and the officer attempted no less-lethal methods to subdue Collar. On March 1, 2013, the policeman was cleared of wrongdoing.

You can contribute by adding data about people killed by police."

I would suggest you read the two links Politix posted in this thread in comment #30.

The administrator gave his name as "a Ryan Cleary," but further questioning revealed he was not the same Ryan Cleary who was convicted of hacking into the CIA and other agencies as part of the hacking group LulzSec.

In answering his players' plea for help, the 68-year-old Hall of Fame coach quickly restored stability and confidence to a team in obvious turmoil in the wake of a 59-0 shellacking by Ohio State in the Big 10 championship game, which was then followed by Head Coach Gary Anderson's unexpected and sudden departure for Oregon State the very next day.

It was like old times seeing Coach Alvarez once again roaming the Badger sidelines and calling the shots. In the post-game press conference, he admitted to having serious reservations about doing so when first approached, and only acceded to his players' request when they came to him a second time. He said that this past month's stint as interim head coach was personally rewarding, because the team had total buy-in to his game plan and it showed in their effort today. Afterward, the Badgers had carried him off the field on their shoulders.

Paul Chryst now officially takes over as Wisconsin's new football coach. As for Coach Alvarez, he resumes his duties as the university's athletic director.

Hat's off to one of the classiest men in college athletics, who won his 119th game today as a head football coach, nine years to the day after he had closed out his earlier and now-legendary coaching career with a bowl victory -- coincidentally, also over Auburn.

It's interesting to note that at various points during the regular season, seven SEC teams held spots in the AP Top Ten -- Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

Five of those aforementioned seven SEC teams also held down positions in the top five at one time or another. And two -- Alabama and Mississippi State -- were each ranked No.1 for significant portions of the regular season.

Yet of these seven teams, all but two of them -- Georgia and Texas A&M -- have since been faceplanted by their respective opponents this postseason. Meanwhile, perennially underrated Boise State just won the Fiesta Bowl yesterday for the third time in seven years, this time over No. 10 Arizona.

So. if we're really going to do a true college football playoff, then let's get rid of these stupid weekly polls, which have clearly become nothing more than vanity items and popularity contests highlighting ESPN's flavors of the week.

Let ALL of the various conference champions enjoy an opportunity to compete for a national title, and not just those programs who can employ public relations personnel to plead their cases to pollsters, or those conferences who can negotiate a near-monopoly of the network and cable TV coverage.

All of the carriers, cable and satellite, are facing price pressure from the consumer.

The content providers want to sell bundles because that way they can keep channels on the air that aren't supporting themselves. It's called cross subsidization and allows a content provider to experiment without having to risk substantial capital.