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March 11: Looks like virtual Hahn is more antsy to get some value out of James McCann than some of the posters here. He's shipped McCann north of the border to Toronto for outfielder Derek Fisher. March 20: Another favorite Soxtalk topic has found a home. Puig to the Padres for a one year deal, $5.3 million. March 26: An Opening Day trade? Sure. Kansas City sends Trevor Rosenthal and Jackson Kowar to the Brewers for catcher David Freitas, for some reason. Whats our Opening Day Sox look like? Well, the rotation is unchanged. Fulmer has been sent to Winston-Salem (!) and Jimmy Cordero to Birmingham. Jaycob Brugman has also replaced Adam Engel on the roster, while Ian Hamilton and Zack Collins have joined the active roster. Luis Robert is also back in AA for some reason, with Palka taking his place. I'm starting to worry about Robo-Hahn. March 26: White Sox 7, Royals 2. Lucas Giolito absolutely eviscerates the Royals (7 IP, H, 2 BB, 9 K) and the Sox start out with six runs in the bottom fo the first, chasing Brad Keller after 2/3 of an inning. Encarnacion went deep for the first time. 1-0 March 28: White Sox 5, Royals 3. Keuchel nearly matches Giolito. (8.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, BB, 7 K) Bummer gives up two runs in the ninth, but the Sox hold on. Edwin goes deep again. The Brugman as starting CF experiment isn't going as hot. (0-4, 3K, 5 LOB). Soxtalk is also not sure how to feel about Renteria's lineup today (Anderson SS, Enarnacion DH, Jimenez LF, Abreu 1B, Grandal C, Fisher RF, Moncada 3B, Mendick 2B, Brugman CF). But, whatever, it worked. 2-0 March 29: White Sox 5, Royals 2. The Sox start out the year with a sweep. Cease isn't quite as sharp as the first two starters (4.2 IP, 3H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) but 4.1 innings of relief from Hamilton, Marshall and Colome (two hits allowed total) shuts the door on the Royals. Eloy gets his first two home runs of the year and Grandal also gets on the board with a solo shot. Encarnacion continues his strong start with a 1-3 performance and his second (!) stolen base of the year. 3-0 March 30: Indians 4, White Sox 3. Looks like 162-0 is out of the question, but not because of Reynaldo Lopez. (5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Rather Kelvin Herrera coughs up a 2-0 lead in the sixth, and Jace Fry allows two runners to score and the Sox fall behind 4-3 and cannot come back. Moncada is only hitting .077, and Abreu isn't doing much better at .154. Thank God Danny Mendick is hitting .500 (7-14, 1 HR, 6 RBI). 3-1 March 31: White Sox 6, Indians 4. What about Yoan? He gets going with a 2-5 performance, but it means nothing compared to March MVP Edwin Encarnacion (3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI). It looked like the Sox were headed to another loss, down 3-2 after the sixth inning, but Edwin stepped up to the plate in the seventh and brought in Moncada to take the lead with a two run dong. He then tacked on an insurance run with a solo shot in the ninth. It's not all roses, however, as Gio Gonzalez' long awaited Sox debut lasts just four pitches before being removed with an injury. Seven Sox relievers cover the full nine innings as we await the news on Gio. 4-1 Sox leaders in March Jimenez (.421 avg) Encarnacion (10 RBI, 4 HR, 0.6 WAR, 1.435 OPS, 2 SB...) Oh, and we heard back from Gio. He's day to day with strained abdominal muscle. Robo-Hahn has also apparently gone rogue, as Jace Fry and Steve Cishek have been optioned to AAA, replaced with Matt Foster and Codi Heuer. Cishek had pitched two perfect innings, while Fry carried a 2.70 ERA thru 2.1 IP.

That would be the 27 at bats he had where you weren't impressed? Please do yourself a favor and don't look at how Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncado, Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez, or Edwin Encarnacion did this spring...

It seems pretty simple, but unfortunately the country is run by people who you wouldnt hire to be an assistant to your secretary. They dont know what they are doing and if they shock the economic system into collapse its going to create an even worse disaster.

Sounds like someone needs to up the difficulty

Shut it down...the entire country for 30 days. GM, Ford, Fiat/Chrysler about to shut down. Airports not far behind. Then hotels. Etc. The government can’t afford to bail out every individual company...but they can make the workers whole. No rent collection, no interest charged, loans deferred...everyone needs to take a break with their family and have the entire government take over. Do it incrementally and it’s months or years to get back to normal.

The roster I went with is as follows and goes with what my best guess about what the opening day roster would look like. SP: Giolito, Keuchel, Lopez, Cease, Gonzalez RP: Colome, Bummer, Cishek, Cordero, Fry, Fulmer, Herrera, Marshall Catcher: Grandal, McCann IF/DH: Abreu, Encarnacion, Garcia (IF/OF), Mendick, Moncada, Cuthbert OF: Mazara, Robert, Engel, Jimenez -- That's literally the only thing I'm setting. I'm gonna do a post for each month after that....it's a boring spring break 'round these parts, so why not.

I just downloaded the pre-release yesterday.....thought I would run a sim and post some stuff here. I plan to set the opening day roster to about what I think it will be and then sit back and we can see how the team was mismanaged.

The hype about Yermin is not just based on spring training numbers. It is about what he was doing last season and now during spring training.

Nah, that contract is starter money. Mitch is done, Foles knows this offense

Baseball, as in every team sport, needs players who understand and intuitively execute on the things, often imperceptible, that help teams win. I'm guessing Madrigal possesses that ability in spades. He has been a winner at every level, including NCAA champ. The value those kind of players bring doesn't always show up in the box score. Taking the extra base, extending at-bats, hitting behind runners, calming pitchers down during mound visits, making every play, every throw, every decision correctly. He was the same player now as he was when he was drafted from a team that included Trevor Larnach, a check-all-the-boxes, Law kind of player and there wasn't a team in the league that wouldn't have drafted Madrigal before Larnach.

Richard Quest on CNN was estimating a $3-4 trillion price tag....for government/taxpayers. That doesn’t count all those hurt by the roughly 35% fall in equity markets, with a long ways to go now before the absolute bottom. Imagine the hospitals even 75% where Italy is at now health crisis wise, Boeing and car manufacturers shuttered...2/3rds of American jobs now in service industries. That’s 10-25% unemployment quite easily. Eventually, the state unemployment offices will be shuttered, banks closed. We are approaching our second paycheck (first February 25th, then March 25th) with no salary because the school is claiming they have to physically go into the bank and do it manually. The credit card company is lenient for now (have to take money out of ATM and physically go into bank to deposit into onto wife’s card.) All the expenses for two months on there (food deliveries) for four...but we have never failed to pay off full amount but no practical way to pay until banks actually reopen physically and tellers/cashiers are working.

April 1: White Sox 13, Indians 7. The run continues. But at a cost. The Indians rocketed out of the gates to a 5-0 lead before Giolito (1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) was pulled due to injury. Codi Heuer (3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, K) and Matt Foster (2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, K) didn't provide much relief, but thankfully the bats did. Home runs from Abreu (1), Anderson x 2 (2), Collins (1) and Encarnacion (5) paced the Sox on the day. Nomar Mazara is also playing in his first game for some reason, going 3-6 with 2 RBI. Every Sox starter with exception of Eloy gets a hit on the day. 5-1 April 4: Bad news on Giolito. He's got a sprained ankle and will miss 5 weeks. Sox purchase the contract of Alex McRae from Charlotte. April 4: Red Sox 5, White Sox 3. Red Sox 4, White Sox 2. A rain out leads to a double header and a pair of losses for the Sox. Cease (3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and Keuchel (5.1 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 6 K) both get hir around a bit in Fenway Park. Abreu goes 2-4 in the opener and Encarnacion goes 1-2 with 2 BB. Moncada's average is sitting at .147 while Danny Mendick is hitting .360. Time to shuffle the lineup? 5-3 April 5: Red Sox 5, White Sox 4. A four hit day out of Jose Abreu (.351, 2 HR, 7 RBI on the season) isn't enough, nor are two hit games by Anderson, Brugman and Mendick (.379). A pedestrian effort by Lopez (5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, K) and another mediocre outing by Aaron Bummer (2.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K; 7.71 ERA) allow the Red Sox to get the sweep. 5-4 April 6: Mariners 7, White Sox 5. The slide continues. Alex McRae debuts and gets rocked, allowing six runs on eight hits in 3.2 IP. Despite the bullpen allowing just one run on three hits the rest of the way, the lead was too much to overcome. Yoan Moncada has his first three hit game (.214 on the season), but it seems Encarncion is coming back to Earth (1 of his last 12, hitting .289). Mendick is still hitting .375 - should he be moved up in the lineup? And how long are we going to let Derek Fisher (1-4, .188 on the season) look like this with Luis Robert waiting in the minors? For that matter, Leury has had to play center with Brugman not playing well. Without Edwin and Mendick, this team is below .500. 5-5 April 7: White Sox 5, Mariners 1. Gio Gonzalez is back. In his first full start for the team that drafted him, he struck out 10 Mariners in 5.2 IP, while allowing just one run on six hits. Herrera, Hamilton and Marshall allow just two hits the rest of the way. The Sox did all their damage in the fifth, scoring all five runs off of Mariners starter Marco Gonzales. Eloy's third home run of the year paced the Sox on a rare Mendick off day. 6-5 April 8 results in a slew of moves for the Sox. Michael Kopech is prompted to replace Alex McRae. A number of Sox farm hands are released including Tayron Guerrero, Jacob Lindgren, John Parke, Blake Battenfield, Vince Arobio, Craig Dedelow, Danny Dopico, Zach Thompson, Caleb Frare and Victor Diaz. And, hey, Fulmer was promoted from Winston-Salem to Birmingham. April 8: Mariners 4, White Sox 1. Alas. Michael Kopech makes his debut for the 2020 Sox and throws 5.1 hitless innings, but spotty control (four walks, HMP) end his day in the sixth. Codi Heuer gets lit up in the seventh, allowing three runs on home runs by Dan Vogelbach and Kyle Lewis. Yusei Kikuchi scattered seven hits through eight innings. Derek Fisher is still hitting .189. Will the Sox make a change? Or maybe play Mazara more? 6-6 April 10: White Sox 9, Twins 7. Maybe Derek Fisher read the criticisms, as a three hit day helped pace the Sox against Homer Bailey and the Twins. Mendick added three hits as well (.375) and Moncada and Abreu peached knocked in a a pair. Cease allowed three runs on three hits in 5 innings, but the Sox bullpen remains questionable. Alex Colome was chased in the ninth after allowing a run on three hits, but Aaron Bummer was brought in to slam the door for the save with two runners on. The Sox are currently one game out of first, behind the Royals (!). In other news around baseball, Avisail Garcia goes deep three times as the Brewers beat the Mets 31-3. Garcia finished the game with 12 RBI, and Robinson Cano and Jed Lowrie both allowed five runs in relief for the Mets. Matt Adams, Jake Marisnick and Rene Rivera also surrendered runs in relief. 7-6 April 11: White Sox 9, Twins 3. The Sox rock Kenta Maeda off of an Ecarnacion three run shot (6) and three hits from Tim Anderson (.370). Danny Mendick remains the teams best hitter (.372) and Nomar Mazara plays in his second game (2-5) for some reason. At least Ricky is optimizing his appearances I guess. Moncada commits 3 (!) errors in the game, but it does matter as Keuchel goes 7 strong, allowing three runs. Bummer picks up a win in relief (4.50 ERA on the year) as the Sox score six in the bottom of the eighth. 8-6 April 12: Twins 6, White Sox 0. The Sox manage just two hits (Abreu, Fisher) against Matt Wisler in 8.2 IP. Lopez allows just one earned run and lasts into the sixth, but a three run shot by Nelson Cruz against Kelvin Herrera in the seventh (15.00 ERA on the year) pushes the game out of reach. But moves are happening! The Sox sent down Palka (of the one at bat on the year Palka's) and recall Luis Robert. Lets see if he debuts in the lineup. 8-7 April 13: Royals 4, White Sox 2. Luis Robert does debut in CF, but the Sox can't get any offense out of him or anyone else. A solo shot by Tim Anderson (.373, 3 HR, 14 RBI) and a single by Danny Mendick (.370) are the only hits for the Sox. Robert goes 0-3 in his first game for the Pale Hose. Kopech's command remains spotty (4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, HBP, 2 K) as the Royals continue their terrifying run to the top. 8-8 April 14: Royals 7, White Sox 6. Can we get Danny Mendick some help? He gives the Sox an early lead with a three run shot in the second (2-4 on the day, .380 average on the season) and Jose Abreu adds a solo shot to push the Sox lead to 6-1 in the third, but Gio Gonzalez does not escape the third and the Royals pull to within 6-5. Matt Foster and Aaron Bummer both allow runs in relief and the Sox bats fall silent after the third. 8-9 April 15: Bad news from Birmingham. Andrew Vaughn has broken his foot and will be out 3-4 weeks. In lighter news, Robo-Hahn has switched out Jaycob Brugman for Adam Engel. Will it make any difference? April 15: White Sox 5, Royals 0, Lets say the Engel move did make a difference. Or maybe it was the 4 hit day out of Tim Anderson (.397 on the season). Or maybe those three walks by Grandal (who is only hitting .157 on the season). In reality, a well balanced effort out of the Sox lineup with thirteen hits paced the Sox. Oh, and Edwin stole his third base of the year. Dylan Cease was masterful (6 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K) and the Sox bullpen only allowed two hits over the final three innings. The Sox finish the first half of April at 9-9.

Don't single out dumb kids. Plenty of dumb older people acting like this isn't a big deal too.

Apologies. I'll rephrase. The fans who weren't impressed by Madrigal's first ever 27 spring training at bats should totally refrain from looking at the spring training totals of Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncado, Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenex or Edwin Encarnacion.

I think the talk here about Madrigal is funny. I’m an old guy now but was 5’7 and 165 in high and college when I played. I was the number 3 hitter most of the time. I hit the ball over fences and was usually also the fastest kid on the field. I didn’t strike out much but I never had bat control like Madrigal. my point here is that Madrigal could hit for power if he wanted too. He’s certainly strong enough. Hitting the ball hard is timing and leverage. He chooses to spray the ball and not strikeout He’s probably as strong as just about everyone he plays with. to say he’s a weakling is laughable. His swing will change over the years as he adjusts. one thing that I like about him was when he was playing in college and there was a meeting at the mound he was the only one I saw talk. Everybody else listened. That was impressive. he gets ripped her just like all the players do before they get their footing. Just sit back and enjoy the way this kid plays. He’s an usual dude.

Big Dick Nick! At least Bears finally have a QB with Super Bowl (MVP) credentials.

Oh he might start, but they didn't find themselves a starter.

Dude, a virus doesn't compromise. This is exactly why Tony said you are uninformed. ESSENTIAL businesses will continue to function unless something truly catastrophic happens sitting in fucking Starbucks because five other people are there isn't essential

lol he isn't backing up and you know it

The trick is that you can't know that an infected person wasn't in there before you. Maybe it's not your coffee shop, but with 10,000+ infected people in the country, if every coffee shop had 5 people in it, someone in one of them would be infected. The virus has been shown to survive on surfaces for some time, minutes to days depending on the surface. So, one person in one coffee shop infects 3 or 4 people, they infect their families, they go to a coffee shop again 3 days later and now they contaminate a surface, and now you've got a cluster of 20 people infected and you probably kill someone.

Nice thoughtful post. I agree with your second and third sentences a lot. I don't like reading or listening to news either because of the uncertainty. It seems to me there have been rash decisions after rash decisions with the obvious goal to make us all stay home. I personally don't think it's un-American to question this a bit. We've gone from a carefree country mostly discussing partisan politics this past year and doing whatever the hell we want to do, go wherever we want to go, to being told to stay cooped up and don't dare leave your abode. I happen to question why we can't sit in a coffee shop and work when there always are no more than 5 people in there. While I tend to agree with social distancing nobody knows for sure if sitting in a coffee shop in Lawrence Kansas at 2 p.m. on.a Wednesday is harming me and the world both. I liked the fact there was a story that Kansans are "outraged" the decision was made to close all schools at all levels. While I may agree with the decision I think some of these decisions are a bit harsh with no public input. Just shut up and do what the experts say. Forgive me for not handling staying home very well. It's difficult for some of us to deal with even if it may be a selfish attitude.

I can't explain anything worth a damn via typing though haha

Can't get full tweet to open. Sounds like still trying to play and been dealing with personal stuff. Wish him well. Sometimes posters rip people and forget that there is a real person on the other side and it is their life, not just our entertainment, that is effected. (Not pointing this at anyone, just an observation)

If I'm the Bears, I'm going after Jacoby Brisset. With this defense I just want someone who isn't gonna turn the ball over. He's also cheap and would allow you to invest more into the team.

It would work because if there would be 30 series in a 90 game season and each team would play 2 interleague series. There would be one interleague series at all times. Not like they're going to use it anyway haha.

Treasury Secretary warns US could see 20% unemployment rate due to coronavirus, source says From CNN's Jeremy Diamond Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned Republican senators Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic could drive up US unemployment to 20%, a Republican Senate source told CNN. Mnuchin's comments came as he urged Republican senators to act on economic stimulus measures totaling $1 trillion designed to avert that kind of worst case scenario. In the same meeting, Mnuchin also said he is concerned the economic ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic could be worse than the 2008 financial crisis, the source said. Depending on the fallout from all this, who gets saved or made whole and who ends up “back in their mom’s basement“ like a decade ago...there’s going to be a further shift in the country coming mostly from the group who got left behind during the Financial Crisis and political left/Millennials/Hispanics (it’s not clear yet which direction union members and non college educated whites will go) for wholesale societal changes. No matter what happens in November, it’s pretty clear the country is splitting into three main groups (with the Democratic party further dividing into two opposing camps)...based on those issues like economic inequality, climate change, breaking up massive corporate oligopolies, universal health care, UBI/worker displacement, college costs, etc. The establishment/moderates/centrists rightfully value stability....and they do comprise 40-50% of the people in the US today, but go left or right along depending on economic or social/moral issues and beliefs. Then there are those further on the left and right who just want to blow up the entire system for completely different reasons (immigration arguments, for example.) In times of crisis, the middle always wins. That said, it’s going to be fascinating to watch play out. Assuming that we get through this...with deficits nearing $30 trillion, we’re likely again in the near future to hear terms like austerity and balanced budgets with tax raises and/or accompanying Social Security Medicare/Medicaid cuts. From a historical perspective, 2024 is looking like it will be the reverse of Taft/Wilson/Roosevelt...with the left splitting off instead of the GOP...except it feels like the period of time from Wilson to FDR is going to be cut from 20 down to 8-12 years. 2032-2036 is when the government and country is FINALLY going to have to reckon with the financial policies and resulting income equality of the prior fifty years. Of course, I might be totally wrong and all these wholesale societal changes are going to happen much more quickly, with the pandemic being the critical inflection point, haha.

Man that Hopkins-Johnson trade is so fucking terrible for the Texans. I’m honestly not sure I can remember a dumber trade in my life.

Uh, yeah...a virus you didn't know would exist caused this on a global stage. You sure called it.

i'm not a conspiracy theorist. There's too much transparency to be one. It's really not even that deep. Rich people love money. They love it more than anything other than themselves. It's a sad hollow life to be obsessed with money. People wtih money should be giving $100 tips to waitresses instead of buying a 4th car. The rich run the world and always have. They use that money to make their voice heard. money = power. I sincerely don't even think they are fully ill intended with their actions - but money talks. And humans are humans. Flawed apes that are still evolving just trying to figure out what the hell we're doing here and not killing each other. We make mistakes. Unfortunately the FED is ass backwards in how to handle shit. They are supposed to be a group of people serving the people and helping to smooth over tough times and keep things stable. Control the ebbs and flows. Problem is they are creating issues more than solving them. And this bailout will just lead to another bailout - except i think the next one doesnt take 12 years... it take 5-7 years. And it will be bigger than the last. And don't forgot about the ripple effect here. Pensions that were already underfunded? good luck. and who does that hit? That hits the next tax vote to the individuals. Casinos? average man tax. Lottery? Stupid person tax. Gas tax goes up. But according to bmags, " how is the fed eating into peoples hard earned money" --- it's not 1 for 1. each action has a consequence. the consequence is the more the fed pulls these stunts the more the income inequality grows, the more the average person has less in their paycheck. But i guess if you're 65 and benefited literally your entire life and are going to cehck out before SS runs out -- then enjoy a cocktail at your winter home in FL or AZ. That's really my probelm - we should all be stewards for the people that come next. To love and live and to create a better world. But there are so many greedy people in the world who care about getting their own.

Off by a few years. Fits exactly with the mindset I"d expect though. Everything went well for him. Every other generation has left it better for the next except now. But that's the mindset of many 60-75 year olds. Who cares that Social security wont be around for the next generation. Too bad that pensions are underfunded with no way out except for tax hikes, property tax hikes, etc. Enjoyed the benefits personally, so who cares about the next generation.

Yikes. Houses as a savings vehicle? Where? This isn't 2000 anymore. That ship has sailed. Go look up Dennis Rodkin for Crain's. He focuses on real estate in IL. Houses are selling in 2020 for what they did in 2004. They just ran an atricle about house prices and time on the market there were like 12 neighborhoods in the whole entire state that improved in 2019 -- news flash they were all small towns with median home prices at like $140k a house... I can tell just from your post .... let's peg you at 50-60 years old? You graduated from a Big Ten school, have a had a nice mid-tier job making 6 figures for a while. You saved into a 401k and have watched the stock market take off during your career -- really hitting it's stride post 2008 when you started having more disposable income. Now your 401k exploded for 12 years and the system has worked well for you. Social security will still be there when you retire. Am I close? I've got a thousand bridges to sell you - because this system is a damn mess. We're not even on fractional reserve banking anymore. We're on the trust us, its all okay banking system. I can talk finance and economics with you until the cows come home. If you don't have a problem with companies like Boeing funding stock buy backs with debt and then drawing down on a $13B revolver then you're part of the problem. Boeing knows because of their role in defense budgets that they are free and clear from ever going bankrupt. They are exempt. They can be the biggest crooks in the world and the government pays for it. Let me ask you something. What's your definition of money? What is the dollar - and what is its worth? How is that worth determined? In this homework assignment, I'd like you to research the history of the dollar.

For a period of time? Ha. My god, this whole financial system is a mess and the little guy, the average citizen has no effing clue. None at all. Airlines are an easy example to explain ..... They cut planes, run at optimization -- fine, good, that's how business is done. They cram you in, give you shit service, charge you to bring a bag, to move your seat up, to board early, to sneeze. Oil drops, they keep prices the same. THe consumer pays and pays and pays and they make bank. They free cash flow out the ears. Then they take that money and buy back stock. They don't save it for a rainy day, they buy back stock because the C-Suite people have stock incentives in their plans. They don't have customer happiness plans.. they don't have employee hapiness plans. They don't give their employees more money. They don't up their 401-k match ... nope they buy stock. Hell, Boeing issued debt to buy back stock. All to prop up prices and so they could get fat bonuses and buy their 5th house and another fancy car. Then shit hits the fan -- and look, no rainy day fund. But what will we do without airline companiesss??@!!?. Fuck them. fuck all of these companies. let them learn their lesson. let Bezos buy an airline for all i care. Companies need to learn their lesson. But nope, we'll bail them out... the taxpayers do it again. They'll spin this as too big to fail and that they'll pay back with interest. It's all horseshit. The Fed is a joke that just prints money devaluing hard earned savings. These companies are like cracked out addicts. The Fed is the enabling parent. Instead of saying no, enough is enough, no bailout, no money. We give it to them. And they go out and use/buy. It took 12 year for a repeat. There's no consequences to leveraging up a balance sheet to the gills. Worst case scenario they bankrupt the compayn, chapter 11 and repeat again. or get a bailout. We've learned nothing from 2008, just heads in the sand as citizens. This county is full of sheeple. Just follow whatever clown in congress or in power and act like they're smarter and know what they're doing. They dont. and wont. Ever. All events like this do is create bigger wealth divides. we're doing what we did in 2008 on a larger scale. how sick is it that we are 4 weeks from an all time high stock market (fake numbers -- terrible P/E ratios) but nonetheless 4 weeks from the top to the largest bailout in history? It's a sham, always has been.

I think EE was injured last year so Merced will be insurance.