I haven't read ANY of the other posts, so I have no idea what other bile has been spewed, but all I can say is that if she believes she was raped, she should testify. IF she doesn't think she was raped, she should not have accused anyone of raping her. And this comes from someone who really has been raped.

A-ha's "Take On Me" is the GREATEST. SONG. EVER.

If there were two women in the world, and one man, and the man had sex with both women, and the women don't have sex with each other, then the man has had twice as many sex partners as the women have had, right? Each woman has had 1 sex partner, and the man has had 2 sex partners.

I always assumed that the stats were explicable that way, but statistics are not my strong suit.

In 47 states, including Virginia. And transporting dogs over state lines for dogfighting is a federal crime. It doesn't seem to be in dispute that a felony was going on here--what is in dispute is how much Vick was involved.

I love dogs, and participate in dog sports with my dogs (stuff like Agility and Flyball, NOT bloodsports). And I'm disgusted primarily that this major sports figure, liked and admired in theory, was AT THE VERY LEAST allowing stuff like this to go on on his property. C'mon, the guy had a breeding license--what do you think, he got it to raise Cavalier King Charles Spaniels?

And the fact is that the dogs probably cannot be rehabilitated in any real sense--once their usefulness is over as evidence, they will be destroyed, I am sure more humanely than they would have been otherwise.

Shadow's straw man about "he only shot a few dogs--hey, you kill your food" isn't really worth responding to. Except Vick (or whoever) didn't kill these dogs in any humane way, and he certainly didn't kill them for food. He killed them because they wouldn't perform, or their usefulness was over. In the economy of dog fighting, that's a perfectly reasonable thing to do. The dogs aren't useful in any other way. You can't sell them as pets, that's for sure.

But dog fighting is a FELONY. Transporting dogs over state lines for dog fighting is a FEDERAL CRIME. And guess what? It doesn't MATTER if this is relevant to your "culture" in some way. It's AGAINST THE LAW.

I think one of the reasons that people are angry is that this stupid, brutal "sport" is being validated by someone like Vick.

As I understand it, that's significant (and I am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) because gambling on ANY sport would allow the NFL to apply penalties, up to "suspension for life".

Ummm... I thought that was a sign of unhealthy high blood pressure?

Or sunburn?

I don't care about the cultural implications that I can't understand, being a middle-class urban white guy who hasn't been influenced by gangsta hip-hop. Culture can be overcome. If Michael Vick wasn't smart enough to say, "I wish I could do this, but it would cost me my whole career if I did, so I won't," then he just isn't very smart.

Sums up my feelings on the matter, certainly. Thanks, King.

Oh, and Canuckistan Bob--I think that in ANY profession, if you plead guilty to a felony, your career is basically over. Once you've done your time you may be able to reestablish yourself, but probably not at the level you once were.