Tim McG

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Properous New Year to all on the Organissimo BBS! Tim

Anybody recognize this TV show:

I concur

I figured it out when I caught my parents putting gifts under the tree....I must have been 8 or so. My own kids caught on the same way. Kids are sure sneaky little critters

You can't have chili con carne without beans. Same as you can't have chili con carne without chili. Reminds me how weird people up North are. When you ask for a burger or hotdog with chili(& mustard and slaw). They give you chili with beans in it. wtf, If I'd asked for chili con carne on my burger, I'd of said chili con carne. But you know, "He's from the South, he don't know beans." Chili burgers are awesome, MoGrubb. To wit: It just doesn't get any better than this!

Thanks for link, Dave

Clear and cool. High 40s today, low 30s tonight.

My homemade spaghetti sauce is like that...tastes better the next day. It is also a recipe I don't measure...I tend to cook by taste and by touch. A little of this, a little of that....

Here's one I've seen a couple times but can't make heads or tails of it: QFP Anyone know what this means?

OK. There so many different abbreviations used in e-mails and on posts at this and other websites I thought we might compile a list here as a kind of reference tool. Post the ones you use or know about and be sure to include what they mean. Here are a few that I use: TBH- To Be Honest OTOH- On The Other Hand FWIW- For What It's Worth BBS- Bulletin Board System What are some others?

Well the Ca'boys had to sneak past the less-than-sterling Lions two weeks ago. Then they get whapped by Philly. I can't wait to see that jackass TO go sideways on Romo and blow up the team chemistry

I love the sound of hand bells...especially around Christmas time. Hope they work out for you

I hope Jessica goes to every game from here on into the first round of the playoffs. After that, we won't need her to show up anymore.

Especially when their 1st round draft pick [from the Niners] is going to the Jets. Is there a trade that I didn't hear about? Nope. It was all part of the NFL sanctions/fines levied against the Pats for filming the first Jets game, remember?

Especially when their 1st round draft pick [from the Niners] is going to the Jets.

Any bets on when the media jackals are going to let Roger Clemens off the hook? They like him. He asks for "patience." Nice. Like Barry Bonds got that. To wit: "I am disappointed that my 25 years in public life have apparently not earned me the benefit of the doubt, but I understand that Senator Mitchell's report has raised many serious questions. I plan to publicly answer all of those questions at the appropriate time in the appropriate way. I only ask that in the meantime people not rush to judgment." Yeah. How about that. Story: Clemens Denies Then Asks For Patience

OK. All due respect, I think you might be riding a fine line there. It will be interesting to see how much benefit of the doubt Clemens gets compared to Bonds. I for one find his stunned denials a little hard to take. The thing about these top-level athletes is, they've been told how good they are since they were 10. Everyone around them and everything they've done through their entire lives is designed to build them up and make them the "best." When they are suddenly confronted with their own failings (we all have 'em) they don't know how to deal with it. They're just not equipped. They fall back onto people who will prop them up. So the weaker ones lie rather than deal with the truth. Even Pettitte's "confession" was slimy, IMO. "... If I did something wrong ...." Ah, yeah, you did something wrong. Just freakin' come clean. Fair enough.

Ah, but "slander" is a legal term, and has to be proven in a court of law, yes? And so if anyone in this report believes he has been slandered, I would think they'd be running to the courthouse to clear their good name (as opposed to offering semi-apologies/excuses ... cough, Pettitte, cough). I'm not sure -- beyond the Bonds thing -- why you feel so strongly that this whole steroid/HGH mess is a bunch of lies, or some huge conspiracy. At a certain point, the body of evidence has to persuade you that something is going on, no? You're entitled to your opinion, but ... Palmiero, McGwire, Sosa. Those three were pretty much exposed during the hearings a couple of years ago. Any doubts about them? Palmiero was flat out nailed. McGwire looked like a lying fool. And Sosa forgot how to speak English and left the country for a year. And Canseco, of course, admitted to using. Bonds is up on federal charges. If he's convicted, will that convince you that there's something amiss here? Or will that just reinforce the notion that it's all a witch hunt with no evidence at all? I never said the steroid issue was a bunch of lies. I was reacting to the comment that if these are lies, why don't the ballplayers sue. My reasons are what followed. Clearly, though, speculation rules the roost here. And that isn't proof.

Same here....and thank God, too.

Not exactly. The tabloids are just full of lies, half-truths and outright slander. People do not sue because it is at the very least an incredibily difficult thing to prove and at most, expensive. Lawsuits or not, lies stand for truth in this country on a regular basis. There is a difference in severity between tabloid trash and the accusations that are being directed towards the ballplayers. If I were Clemens and I were innocent and I would be livid right now. He obviously has the resources to go after Mitchell et al (as do others) and with MLB agreeing to indemnify Mitchell, there are plenty of deep pockets. Even if you don't have the cash, there are plenty of attorneys who would take this on. If you were clean, why wouldn't you go after these guys? I agree with this. There is a world of difference between tabloids and a considered investigative report. And so, if these fine athletes have been wrongly accused, let them file suit to restore their good names. ... We may be waiting awhile. And btw, put yourself in the shoes of a "clean" athlete. How do you think he/she feels about cheaters gaining an advantage, both on the field and in contract negotiations? Having said that, an interesting letter to the ed in today's NYTimes points out that there are legitimate uses for both steroids and HGH. Prescribed under the supervision of a doctor, they can aid healing, etc. ... Maybe baseball and other pro sports shouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water here and consider whether "regulating" the use of these substances is the more reasonable approach. ... Don't know, just something to consider. I disagree. Besmerching ones image in the public eye is as insidious as any baldfaced lie accepted as truth. What does it matter if the tabloids or the Mitchell Report perpetrate it? Slander is slander and it is still pass off as fact in this country and on a wholesale basis. The McCarthy Era speaks volumes on this point.

Basically, that's it...yes.

PayPal Spoof -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This has been mentioned before [that there are phishers using false PayPal e-mails to access your account info, etc], but there is a new wrinkle: I recently went to [via a service@paypal.com e-mail] what I thought was a PayPal site. The security icon at the bottom of the page checked out and the SSL certificates were up to date. I surfed the site and it came up with every item I searched for and looked legit. In fact, I got this e-mail from this "PayPal" almost immediately after ordering a CD. A coincidence, I am sure...but it still is something to worry about. Today, we noticed three charges against our account via PayPal totaling over $1200 bucks. Long story short, between our bank and PayPal it appears two charges have been removed and the third should be refunded to us within ten days. The scary part was whoever was doing this [some guy from the UK we found out] completely hijacked my account by blocking my access and adding his own e-mail address. In fact, even as I was changing the log-on info, I was kicked off of the PayPal site. I am telling you all this for two reasons: #1 DO NOT open any unsolicited PayPal e-mails, period. None. Zip. Nada. #2 Be mindful of your own e-mail boxes that may have messages coming from my e-mail address. If they can hack into my PayPal account, they surely can hack into my e-mail address book. I am in the process of and have done so on numerous accounts [including my e-mail] changed my access information. Just a heads up: DO NOT OPEN anything with my e-mail address for the next couple weeks or so. OK? Rest assured, I have sent nothing to anyone here and I am doing everything within my power to change any/all log-on information to stop anything further from happening. Be ever diligent, my friends....I just dodged a bullet. Tim

Not exactly. The tabloids are just full of lies, half-truths and outright slander. People do not sue because it is at the very least an incredibily difficult thing to prove and at most, expensive. Lawsuits or not, lies stand for truth in this country on a regular basis.

That's absolute nonsense. It says that Mitchell was conducting research under an imperfect set of circumstances, namely that many parties refused to cooperate and he had no legal authority to compel them to cooperate, and that therefore the report is likely to be incomplete. This is an entirely different thing from saying that his research practices are poor. It is nearly certain that the vast majority of ballplayers who used steriods or improperly used HGH are not named in the report, but that can not be reasonably blamed on Mitchell. On the other hand, there is very damning evidence provided against most of the players who are named in the report, especially the cashed checks written to dealers. Larsen, He asked people to speculate....that isn't hard evidence; it is hearsay. His chief rat, er..."witness" is a convicted drug dealer, fer crissakes. The rest is forced MLB/Giambi testimony or the tabloid media jackals or waton assumption. Did you read the article?

Please notice his plea in a press conference reported on the Evening News today. He asks that no ballplayer be punished as a result of his [obviously piss-poor] report. Now what does that tell you, eh?