Definition of Opinion:  A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof.

Please be respectful to others with differing opinions. 

Greg Watkins

Dennis Moran

Well, I almost attended the get together and someday I will make it...

I have been working on loosing weight...funny in high school i couldn't gain anything and made it up to 139 lb as a senior I was 5'10" yep if I turned sideways and stuck my tongue out i could of doubled for a zipper...well later on i packed it on and have been trying to turn around to loosing weight an eating more sensible....well in Jan i dropped 10 lbs wich was amazing.. I can now eat and stop when i am full. gave up coke but still have a rootbeer or sprite...but mainly water....its amazing how great a glass of Ice and water are...just try and describe the taste of water....its amazing.  I don't exercise much more than normal I have moved onto wearing suspenders and have noticed how loose my pants are..yep Im still a fatty but am thrilled to know its working.

Politics have change alot since i became and independent..I just didn't fit being a Democrat or for that matter a Republican.. I try to applaud good things vs concentrating on bad things. Last  election only one candidate i voted for was elected and all the others didn't even show. I'm more interested in whats happening in Arizona vs national level.

Well; I am curious about a common ancestor from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago who enabled me to have blue eyes...I tend to notice more the various people and others that have blue eyes and it only makes me wonder about sheep in this ancestor rich time..... ok fess up im not the only one.....its sure wasnt nuns...they all had brown eyes.

I always wanted to go to a public grade school. Madison 2 was my answer- most if not all my friends went their and they didn't have a single nun , or a flock of nuns..

I am amazed at how well so many of you write its greats being included on some of your adventures.; my most memorable trip  involved driving to chandler; and having to enter a crumbling gas station to relieve my floating back teeth.. no toilet paper and dark enought to develop film....yes I did make it out of their...made sure that would never happen again.

one last thing to ponder how did we get the word happy...was it originally hap pee.  shared many moments like that...probabaly why I never joined the nudist parks....lacked discipline for going to the designated place...

Jim Coats

Patty:  It is my understanding that China has a 3-bus sized "Civilian Weather Balloon" floating over Montana.  China says "no harm, no foul."  I'm skeptical.  Since Buzz is a Marine and ALL Marines are riflemen, you and Buzz have the green light to shoot that sucker down.  Of course a 60,000' shot will be difficult, but I have faith in Buzz.

AMERICA FIRST!!  SECURE THE BORDER!!  TERM LIMITS!!

Patty Meyers (Anderson)

Jim, Buzz is a dead shot, ask everything in my freezer, but Missoula is in the western part of the state and Billings is in the middle, about 350 miles away.  The more I think about it, what is in that balloon?   Could be very toxic, maybe we should wait until it's over Chicago to shoot it down.

Jim Coats

Regarding this China balloon.  My experience is microscopic, but I saw Viet Cong probe our lines at one point and the main attack came elsewhere while we were shoring up the the point of original contact.  This analogy is to state that I hope.....HOPE....that this is an innocent "weather balloon" gone astray and we have nothing to be concerned about.  BUT, I don't believe it for one second.  I think this was meant to test the perimeter and they are now overtly inside the wire and it looks like we aren't going to do anything about it except for a stern finger wag.  I won't even go into China buying up farmland next to our missle sites, Tik Tok spying and the college invasions to steal intellectual properties.....ad infinitum.  China is our enemy....period!  I have to believe/hope that the military under Biden's "leadership" is on alert and making sure something more harmful isn't coming from another direction....like Taiwan, So. China Sea, etc.

AMERICA FIRST!!  SECURE THE BORDER!!  TERM LIMITS!!

Greg Watkins

Mike Lorts

Do any of you remember MAD MAGAZINE's SPY V SPY cartoon. We (the US) are spying on every country, including allies and every country is spying on us. Although China's balloon is more like a Roadrunner cartoon.

Frank Wiley

Thanks Cheryl for posting Jim's Obituary.

Frank Wiley

I guess the Chinese are using the "Balloon" to verify the info they got from Hunters and Swalwels whores?  Or, how about this scenario?  "Hello President Chi, these Hunter Laptop story's and Classified Documents stories are really heating up.  Can you send a Weather Balloon over the U.S. to change the narrative?  By the way, Jill's making Chow Mien tonight."

Michael Kelly

I guess that the Question of the Day and maybe for longer than that, is whether whatever lighter than air gas keeping the 3 Bus Sized Chinese Balloon aloft is a Viable Host for Sundry kinds of Viruses and/or Bacteria, and if the controls on this dirigible Vehicle allow for "dumping the Cargo" on a selected Target. Hope for all of our Sakes that we have that figured out BEFORE THE DUMP, INSTEAD OF AFTER! The other thing I have heard is that today Mike Pompeo, our former Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State, under the orange haired :"Meany" will make a Statement on Fox News today about what he can reveal about the Balloon and what if may mean to our National Defense. The News is saying it is about 60 Thousand Feet in altitude which is supposedly above the elevations that our Warplanes can fly. I remember that the SR-71  of which two are mothballed about two miles away from where I live, is capable of flying above 100 Thousand Feet, but is not equipped with Weaponry capable of downing the Balloon. The current White House occupant won't even talk about it, which I consider a real confidence builder. Maybe we could learn something about more specifics on the Balloon by referring to the information in Hunter Biden's previously non-existant Laptop.

When your Enemy has the Temerity to fly a Slow Go Balloon over your entire Nation's Airspace, that cannot be called anything else but a Dare. And we are in very Sad Shape if We cannot, or Will not Respond. When President Trump was rightfully in Office, then Chinese Communists would not have dared try any such In Your Face Move because they knew in their Guts He would Not Stand for It. He called the Runty Little Tyrant heading up North Korea "The Little RocketMan" and all the moderates grabbed their doilies and put them to their lips and choked back the murmurs of disapproval. Rocketman didn't Launch.Then when biden "Took over" and promised the "return of civility and reason" to Washington and all the doilies went back in the Breast pockets and Gucci purses, then biden abandoned Afghanistan and left 85 Billion dollars of Equipment, War Equipment behind. The Communist Chinese recognize who he is, so now we must endure slow flyinp Balloon's with who knows what kind of Viruses/Bacteria they carry. I've never been on board with just sweeping under the rug what ever happened with the 2020 Election and biden's supposed election and I never will be. Problem is, we may be too late to change things and i think alot of people in DC know what happened in 2020 know, but their Goats are Tied with monetary gain at the expense of our National Existence and I don't Forget Easy.

Jim Coats

Balloon-Gate:  Red Dawn (original)....watch it, and One Second After.....read it.

How does it feel to be spayed/neutered by China?

We're being invaded at the Southern AND, now, Northern Borders PLUS via the stratosphere.  Thank you for keeping our nation safe and sovereign, Mr. Biden.

Michael Kelly

UPDATE ON THE CHINESE BALLOON: Upon closer Examination it has been found that the Balloon Reads: "ERIC  Happy Valentine's Day, Love Fang Fang"

Frank Wiley

I don't want to make light of the Balloon, but one good thing about it is that every time it comes on TV, I can't help it but "Up, Up, and Away" (in my beautiful balloon) by The 5th Dimension starts playing in my head.  Always liked that song!!  (Now it's playing in your head too, isn't it?-----Sorry!)

DeWitt Bacon

Mike L. Yes, I remember the SPY vs. SPY cartoon in MAD magazine. One of my favorite features in my favorite magazine at the time. And you are right. Every country spies on other countries. But I don't remember a time since WWII that a country had the gonads to send a slow-moving, controllable spy balloon over a country. You may remember when studying WWII that the Japanese would send spy balloons over the west coast. We would just destroy them. Simple as that. 

Mike Lorts

All of the 7' centers in the NBA love to block shots. They usually swat the ball into the stands. Bill Russell said that he preferred to make a blocked shot into a pass. Maybe that was not so macho but it sure was smart.

Shooting the Chinese balloon would be macho but wouldn't it be better if we could bring it down and study it?

Michael Kelly

I'm worried that if as Lorts suggests, we bring down the Balloon instead of destroying it, that China and perhaps the rest of the World, would look upon that as being an Offensive move, instead of a purely Defensive one. I think we would need to take such an aggressive action before the UN and ask permission before doing such a bold, decisive maneuver. What do you think???

Michael Kelly

Now Fifty of our most respected Intelligence Officials have signed a Letter stating that the Balloon is not a Communist Chinese Balloon, it is Russian information and really it belongs to President Donald J. Trump! Really, Its True by Golly!

Bill RIHS

Shot the balloon down. I think that was a racist action and probably was secretly planned by Trump.

Jim Coats

Well, whoop-de-doo!  We shot the balloon down, eh?  That's after it traversed the entire country and sent whatever intelligence back to the CCP that it gathered....and if none....after it made the USA look impotent.  It's like watching the bank robber rob the bank, get away and then decide to chase him down after he has hidden the $$.

Greg Watkins

Mike Lorts

It's almost comical to read your post regarding "the balloon"". No matter what the outcome, Biden was wrong.

Bill RIHS

It is comical that one person on this forum thinks Biden makes no mistakes and is not incompetent no matter what!

Greg Watkins

Frank Wiley

Sunday Funnies--1. Random Acts of Kindness are good!  Like feeding your Vegan neighbors toddler pepperoni slices through the Mail Slot.  2. You want to see Social Distancing---Lend someone some money!  3. "Your call is very important to us. Please enjoy this 40 minute Flute Solo."  4. I pretended to fall asleep in my recliner and then fell asleep.  It worked so good that now I'm going to pretend to be skinny!  5. Most people are at the age where they use their Smartphones to take pictures to document good times.  I'm at the age of taking pictures of Lables so that I can blow them up to read them.  6. Two Pigeons sitting at a bar.  First one, "Phil, are you still working at that lab delivering urine samples?"  Phil answers, "No, I got a promotion, I'm now the Stool Pigeon!"  7. The older I get the more I'm like a Computer.  I started with lots of memory and drive.  now I'm becoming outdated, crash sometimes unexpectedly, and now having my parts replaced!

Frank Wiley

The Commies are criticizing us for shooting down their balloon.  This would be my response----We're sorry but we can't trust you.  You killed over a million humans all over the World with a pandemic that came from your Country.  You have not done anything to help as those people died.  The World might be intimidated by you but the United States is not.  We will not trust you until we get some answers!