birdland

This is the most exciting birdwise that has happened here in the tower.  I think it's a raven and not one of the other varieties of big black birds because of the hooked beak, though I am no birder.  I've also had doves, full grown pigeons, a blue jay who hit the window with a thwack, and laid like dead for maybe half an hour before he picked himself up, dusted himself off and presumably went back the way he came.  On a daily basis I have house finches, cheery little fellows.

As conquerors the Turks weren't bad, after the initial massacre.  You could keep your king, your way of life, your religion, and other than paying a healthy tribute, life went on.  As a matter of fact they didn't want you to convert because Christians paid taxes at a higher rate than muslims.

I think Beagles is saying that if the gummint demanded Old Betsy from him that would denote the demise of the once great nation so therefore its laws would be moot, so therefore none would be broken by Beagles holding Old Betsy with that death grip made famous by Charlton Heston. 

I hear this term failed state bandied about  much of late, and I am not a fan of it.  It's definition seems to be fluid, meaning anything between a nation temporarily on the rocks to one that doesn't exist anymore.  I don't see where it defines anything specific and I vote to oust it from serious discourse/

Not a big burger fan myself, but they are a handy go to item when nothing else on the menu is particularly interesting.  I always selected medium because, well, that's what everybody else asks for.  Then one day I got a wild hair up my ass and, since I like my bbq with a bit of char I selected well done.  It was dry and tasteless.  The next time I selected medium rare and I have to say it was quite tasty and the next time I have a burger that's what I will choose.

But I'm skeptical about these best burger in the world, or the country, state, county, city, or whatever claims.  A dead cow is a dead cow, and a hot grill is a hot grill, how can one burger be that much greater than other burgers?

This whole states rights vs the feds seems a bit unwieldy.  If you are talking about a specific law that might make sense, but the principle just seems too vague,.  And usually the way the argument is made is it's just to protect some law they like, whereas if it's a law they don't like than the principle doesn't apply.

It's a little like the current war against regulations.  To say there are too many without specifying which ones you oppose doesn't make any sense.