Caveman

I read a lot of the political "discussions" on here and I find a disturbing trend. It seems all we do in politics today is demonize the opposing political party. I've heard the word "Pinko" thrown around quite a bit (Sorry Doc), "liberal" has become a form of insult. And conservatives get the same thing from the left side. Politics has become a Yankee's-Redsox playoff game, you can cut the tension with a knife. Aren't we all Americans first and foremost? Can't two people disagree on something without one being called a Nazi, and the other a communist. This is why I stopped associating myself with political parties. George Washington warned us against the formation of political parties and although that's not a feasible goal, I bet he never dreamed it would get this bad. Looks like he was right after all

A bit of an extremist attitude. I am currently a member but there was a three month period where I didn't renew my membership. They annoy me like a swarm of mosquitoes on a summer night. Every week it seems I get something in the mail begging for more money. I feel like I'm in a Catholic Church sometimes. (No offense to the Catholics) "If you're not NRA you're nothing!" is a bit extreme don't you think?

Interesting read

I just read your post on the other thread. That was a really good decision on his part going for computer science. I'm regretting my decision for criminal justice mainly because of the reputation that major gets for not being very challenging. That's why I vainly make an effort to mention the school of criminal justice's national ranking or my law school intentions when people ask lol

In theory I respect the marriage contract and I have every intention of getting married. My parents have been married for 24 years now and that is because they respected and honored that vow. The reason I call it laughable is because unfortunately the majority of our society does not seem to share this view with myself, you, and people like my parents. "Till death do us part" has become "Eh, we'll see what happens," and as unfortunate as it is it's only getting worse. The divroce rate in this country is over 50%, I'm not sure about you but I think that is a disgusting statistic. That's why I'm so pessimistic I suppose. Why pessimistic? Because many people don't get it? You'd be better off taking an example from your parents who have managed to stay married 24 years... you get out what you put in.. and that applies to nearly everything in life...the real problem is people give up before they even get started.... if your parents hav been married 24 yrs I'm guessing you're in your 20's... believe me there is a lot more to learn about life for you young man... so take the optimistic appproach.. you're life will be far better for it I think you misunderstand me. I have faith for myself and whoever I choose to marry (hopefully because I won't choose her unless she shares the same views on the subject that I do). It's the rest of my generation and those slightly older I have no faith in. I guess in a nutshell I'm optimistic for myself and pessimistic for those around me.

Though I do agree that the decision is subjective the fact that it has yet to be overturned is evidence that the majority must still agree that religion has no place in law. And case law handed down by the Supreme Court is to use your words, "legal and binding." I can't remember if it was you who said this (if not I apologize) but someone said something about "shacking up." This bothers me and is the reason that I re-registered independent when I used to be a Republican. Not you, not me, not anyone else has the right to judge the life choices someone else makes. You may not like the idea of two unmarried people living together, that doesn't mean they shouldn't. And you may not want to be gay but that doesn't mean they don't deserve rights. I'm generalizing about conservatives which probably deserves a preemptive apology.

The separation of church and state is not in the Constitution word for word. It is however in the establishment clause of the First Amendment. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." The US supreme Court has interpreted this clause to be evidence of the "wall of separation between and state" in the case of Reynold's v. U.S. and other subsequent decisions. These decisions have yet to be overturned and are still regarded as relevant case law. As for laws being codified morals, yes to a degree that's correct I suppose. However, we should only codify those moral breeches that have tangible harm associated with them (Ideally). Which is where morals give way to something more utilitarian and less subjective. Also I'd like to apologize for the comment about your education. I've always believed that two people can debate without resorting to petty insults and I broke that rule with my previous post. I tend to get fired up when people try to force their own views or beliefs on someone else. Again, that was out of line and I apologize.

I would not recommend a degree in criminal justice. I am finishing mine up and am somewhat regretting my choice. First if you want to be a police officer criminal justice is not a requirement for most departments. Your degree can be in almost anything. My buddy's dad is a trooper and his degree is in chemistry. Also outside of law enforcement there is not exactly a plethora of things you can do with the degree. My last complaint is the stigma. Unfortunately when you tell people you're a criminal justice major their reaction is almost, 'oh really, you couldn't do anything else huh?" I hate to say it but not many people are going to be impressed with your degree depending on where you get it. If you want to go for criminal justice though I would highly recommend University at Albany. It's criminal justice program is ranked 2nd in the country. You can't exactly slack off if you want to be accepted into the program but if you make it you have some of the best professors in the world. Some examples: One of my professors is a very high up consultant for the DOJ and was frequently canceling class because the pentagon flew him out to Washington in the middle of the night. One professor recently proposed a new plan for homeland security to the department of Homeland security, the joint chiefs, and various others - oh and he was on Oprah for a controversial book he wrote. Another had a Ph.D and a JD from Duke Law. Long story short incredibly intelligent, and highly respected staff there. My recommendation - your best bets as far as degrees go are computer science or a J.D. if you don't become a gunsmith.

Graduating in May from University at Albany with a degree in Criminal justice with a concentration in constitutional law, working for a year as an EMT and beginning at UB law school in fall of 2012. At the moment I make my money putting up with people's sh** in the lodge at Dick's.

Not to mention half your pension if you've got one and extra every month if you've got the kids. And that's why I'm going into domestic litigation law. Help some of the men keep what's theirs in the first place.

In theory I respect the marriage contract and I have every intention of getting married. My parents have been married for 24 years now and that is because they respected and honored that vow. The reason I call it laughable is because unfortunately the majority of our society does not seem to share this view with myself, you, and people like my parents. "Till death do us part" has become "Eh, we'll see what happens," and as unfortunate as it is it's only getting worse. The divroce rate in this country is over 50%, I'm not sure about you but I think that is a disgusting statistic. That's why I'm so pessimistic I suppose.

Morals have no place in law because of the extreme subjectivity of morality. What is moral to you may not be to me and vice versa as evidenced by the general tone of this thread. And yes you are correct on the wording of the 1st amendment. That shows that you took and successfully completed a high school government class. However you also seem to forget a concept known as the separation of church and state. In case you're not familiar with this one it's the idea that the government should not be imposing any sort of religious views on the public. I won't go as far as to say that "under God"should be removed from the pledge, however we do need to keep a watchful eye that our government remains a secular one. As for your moral views you're certainly entitled to them, just don't make the dangerous assertion that yours is the only correct line of thought.

I don't have time to read the entire thread as I have to be at work shortly so admittedly I may have missed something important. However, it seems to me that many people here take issue with the fact that he lives with his girlfriend. While I understand the fiscal concerns about paying for her, it seems the actual issue is the moral disapproval for his living situation. So it seems to me that morals and religion are the issues at question here, neither of which have any place in law, What makes a marriage any different from any other committed relationship? A piece of paper? A contract that is broken in our country more often that it is respected? Marriage in our society carries little more weight than dating these days. Also what would you say if his situation did not allow for him to marry? The most prominent example would be gays. Would we not want to pay for a politician's committed life partner because they did not have a laughable "contract" they were not allowed to enter into in the first place? And don't get to thinking I'm a bleeding heart as I belong to neither political party so fear of being associated with any set body of political views.

I feel like the majority of my year is spent looking forward to the next season.

I'm from Buffalo and I know the smallmouth fishing is great but not having a boat makes it difficult to go after them. I usually fish small lakes from a kayak but there's no way in hell I'm taking a 10 foot kayak out on Erie!

I know there's still open hunting seasons but I can't even bring myself to go hunting these days because all I can think about fishing this spring/summer. It probably has something to do with the deals I've been getting at work. I got a new St. Croix premier casting rod for $39, about 12 rapala lures for $24 and a new Penn M-H action combo for striper and catfish for $24. With all the exposure to fishing these days I'm going to go nuts waiting for April for the striper to run.

I do have goals. However one has to be realistic about those goals. A few years down the road, yeah, I'll have the means...next couple of months, not a chance lol

Haha I'd be inclined to agree however being 21 years old about to graduate college without a real career lined up just yet...money is definitely an object lol

I think I'm going for the .308 for nostalgia purposes. And as for the glass, I haven't decided yet but I know It'll probably be a 3.5-10x mil-dot reticle. Down the line a few years I'm also looking into a Macmillan A-5 stock. Not cheap but the factory set -up is less than ideal. Go big or home right?

.30-06 has the advantage of availability of factory ammo and I can find it anywhere from 125-220 grains.

So through work I can get a "Prostaff discout" on almost any gun I want. Discounts ranging from 30 to 50%. I've decided on the Remington 700 but I can't decide on what I want it chambered in. I was thinking maybe .308. I grew up shooting with a .308 and it's an excellent long range cartridge out to 1000 yards. However it is still a short action round. Someday in the future I'd like to chase elk out west and moose up north and there's some debate as to the adequacy of .308. So basically I'm deciding between .270 (also debatable for adequacy), .308, and .30-06. Any suggestions. And please keep it between these three. I'm not interested in 7mm-08, .300 win. mag or any other popular cartridge. Just these three.

I've got a Ruger 10/22 my friends call Frankenstein because I built it out of the best parts of three guns. It's a great, reliable little gun for around $210 at Dick's. Best .22 out there for the money in my book.

Weird question but was there any squirrel activity? I was gonna head up there for squirrel today but with the storm coming in I didn't feel like chancing it.

Went out on thursday. No dogs. Found the tracks where they were hanging up just on the other side of the brush. Highlight of the day was watching my buddy fall through the ice into waist deep water as we crossed the swamp.

I hunted Partridge run for deer season this year. Kicked up a lot of grouse all over. Unfortunately I can't tell you exactly where because I don't know the street names. There's plenty of them out there though. Try around White Birch pond.