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And those workers are making shit pay and receiving very little protections and have no benefits; we're literally sitting here arguing that these people are essential for the basic functions of human life in this country, and we treat them and pay them like they were replaceable garbage. They've been treated as subhumans for a long time and even in the media today, politicians openly state that it's not real people getting sick, it's the immigrants in the meat processing plants in places like Iowa and etc. The best part is many of them feel threatened or etc, and are working for less than the $600 they'd get on unemployment. It's shameful. No one is saying close the doors on the entire world. That is not feasible, but drastic measures, restrictions and closures clearly saved a lot of people elsewhere, but we're too damn worried about the bottom line to give a shit about the people who actually produce those goods.

Let me break some news to you; the government can print as much money as it wants. Do you know why we have not seen massive economic hardship quite yet? (and don't get me wrong, there has been some as food banks have been packed). Because the actual income levels for 60% of the country went UP with the $600 unemployment add. It's sad to me that the majority of people in this nation working full time aren't even taking home 50,000 a year. If you look at ANY financial growth chart - I can analyze this in 100000 ways, whether Minimum wage hikes or Middle Class growth - the stagnation of the middle class and low classes for 40 years has been breathtaking. If you take the middle class and lower class and give it the same wealth growth as the top 1% since 1980, the middle class income per person (not family) is $280,000 and the lower class income is $115,850. THINK ABOUT THAT! Instead, what happened is every inkling of financial growth in this country since the late 1970's has "trickled down" to the .5 percent beneath the top .5%. You could have still normalized wealth growth at the top 1% and gotten the middle class and lower income people to well above a livable wage. And people shout about inflation! People who do NOT put their money back into the economy are bad for the economy. Billionaires and generational wealth are bad for the economy; they remove a vast majority of their wealth from the actual money pool by hoarding it for generations. Money that is removed from the true spend market and only remains in the investment market inflates the true value of the market, as well as prevents businesses from making profits off your money. So the moral of the story here is for years they taught you - and ME! - the fallacy that was inflation in order to sell the concept that poor people couldn't be helped with safety nets and that if everyone had money, inflation would destroy the country. It's COMPLETE nonsense. The government just printed money that equated to 35% of the national GDP and the value of the dollar and the price of goods DID NOT budge a cent. The price for taking all people out of extreme poverty in the USA? Well under the 5 trillion we just printed. As economics evolves rapidly - which is what is happening right now - we get a better understanding. The national debt took 300 years to reach 2 trillion, then doubled every two years under Obama and now it added 2 trillion in six months under trump! Obviously at some point you need to begin to balance things, but as long as the US dollar is the global currency, and the US remains the wealthiest nation on earth by a SHIT TON, there is absolutely NO EXCUSE that we should have as many people living at such a disadvantage. It's embarrassing, and the people have had enough. That's why the streets are talking now. This by no means is arguing inflation does not exist, but again it exists in a supply and demand world but there is a supply shock right now, and the demand has shrunken for many items. Giving people money to survive - money that is put RIGHT BACK INTO the economy - in no way causes trauma or inflation. The poor people and people struggling are by far the best people to give money too because they spend every dime buying things they have to. This is basic modern Econ 101; and as someone who is going back to school in September to get my masters in Data Science solely to attack big data in economics from a more modernized angle, this is something I love and am passionate about and it's also something that enrages me. Econ has a dark and evil past, and it's riddled with racism and sexism to this day. It is the whitest and malest profession of any of the advanced degree professions. The models that we have used for generations are riddled with racial and class biases on the data inputs, and it has destroyed the lives and opportunities for millions and millions of minority and/or impoverished people. It needs to change and it needs to be fixed.

This type of commentary makes me want to stab my eyes out. I said this three months ago on this very forum, but the move the country should have made three months ago was to shut down the entire country for 6 weeks. Take care of whoever absolutely had to work - support the workers and companies with a massive stimulus that actually works for small business and all employed people - by getting them access to all the testing and equipment possible. The rest of the nation is closed; the virus would have dissipated and could have been traced/reduced. When you reopened, the economy would have taken a bit to recover, but the recovery would have happened much sooner. I'm not sure what people are watching, but the virus is getting awful again and places are shutting down again, it's just a matter of time before that is everywhere. The confidence in a V shaped recovery is gone. Some states - so worried about a FUNCTIONING economy - reopened way too early and way to lax and now the economy in those states is going to be crushed for another month or two. In 30 days the extended unemployment benefits run out, and 40 million are still out of work and it's going to get even worse as states are forced to shut down a second time but this time there is no unemployment enhancements, there is no PPP. No more mortgage or rent forgiveness. There is no one helping those people anymore, but the virus isn't going away. Of the 40 million that lost their jobs, about 25 million lost their insurance with it. I'm sad and fearful for all those people, and the answer many who aren't at risk have is - those are the breaks, "you gotta take risks in life." Frankly CWS, I'm sick and tired of the poor people in this nation biting the bullet and sacrificing their ass without any help or assistance from people like us - I've been tired of it for a long damn time, and this pandemic just made it that much worse. No person, out of desperation and fear of homelessness, should have to provide me with a damn thing just so I can go on about my life in a convenient and blinded way.

I'd watch just a shot of the field while they practice, just train a camera and stream it somewhere.

Not all companies are inherently evil at all, but the companies that are most rewarded under the current system absolutely are. And frankly, the greatest issues with the system and the lack of decency shown to many workers - by whom these companies were built - is being magnified even more so due to the pandemic. We can go on and on about what behavior is rewarded. Predatory banking and lending. Undercutting labor laws and outsourcing to impoverished nations. Tax evasion. Employee contracting. Avoiding benefits. Environmental shortcuts. Caufield tries to make this always a left vs right issue, and frankly it's a bunch of BS. While the right is far worse than the left at this point in time - especially with the dear leader promoting no masks - the bottom line is both parties have nurtured this system of inequality for 60+ years. Both parties have ignored the growing wealth gap, and both have produced mass propaganda to discredit and devalue the work done by millions of people in this nation. That's why you see people all over the internet hating on unions; people literally fighting for better pay, better working conditions and workers rights. Why? Because the entire machine that we operate under hates a unified voice to negotiate. Because a unified voice has power and money to compete vs the corporations power and money. While unions aren't perfect by any means and many were mismanaged, the core basis of the union is to lift up the majority and give them a fair pay. People in the middle class fight against minimum wage hikes - despite minimum wage hikes correlating positively to middle income wage increases. People against that absolutely baffle me. And under the current system? Being profitable doesn't even matter; it's all about having the biggest bank account of investors; the biggest venture capitalist. The way the market works now is companies lose endless amounts of money undercutting an industry that operated on micro-margins to begin with (Uber vs Taxis for example), until eventually the companies that can't operate at a loss have to fold, all because the other company could afford to undercut them for a decade - losing money year after year - and now they've obtained the entire market share. Most every massive startup in America now makes money solely off your data - that's the only thing they generate any real revenue off of. That data belongs to you and me and etc.

The best thing about today is 2020 is halfway over.

And spare me all this - we did what we had to do for the economy. The EU has more people than the USA, its borders are as open as states, and they were infected first... they have managed the virus well and things are returning to normal in many places. They didnt need to declare martial law or any of the other dumb bullshit nonsense americans try to fear monger into everyone. On 9/11, 3700 americans died and we went to war and signed away our freedoms in the patriot act. We were terrorized as a nation. 130k people are dead, and people are talking about how not getting a hair cut, their nails done or going to the bar is destroying their life lol.

Well first of all I'd really like to watch an expanded playoffs because I enjoy the playoffs. Second, we know darn well that good teams go into slumps and this year they'd have only 1 chance to do so before having to come right out of it. Third, this year some teams are going to lose substantial number of players to quarantines and that could easily be the difference between 33-27 and 27-33.

As long as he wasn’t dipping in front of children, I’m all good.

Saw that too. Could just be mad about not getting on initial summer camp invite. He’s already off the 40 man and Sox have no reason to cut him loose really. Really sucks for guys like him though that are controlled by a team that has no real intention of using them this year, other than deep insurance depth and no minor leagues to play.

More stuff to whet the appetite for White Sox baseball https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/white-sox/white-sox-reliever-steve-cishek-working-out-chicago-alley-camp https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/white-sox/yoan-moncada-white-sox-still-track-success-2020-even-after-layoff https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/white-sox/see-how-guaranteed-rate-field-has-changed-2020-white-sox-summer-camp https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/white-sox-questions-to-answer-at-summer-camp

Give this man some room, he is ready to do some things.

I don't think companies are inherently evil because they don't want to go under either. I do think that they should make whatever sacrifices necessary to make working conditions safe for the employees while still at the very least breaking even if possible. IMO the idea that companies are entitled to a profit no matter the social cost has to end. Business is fine. I believe in capitalism with a conscience. I support the founding of socialist companies that want to go further than the government can, but social democracy(aka the Nordic model) is as far as I'd go on a federal/governmental level. Anything further allows for corruption to take hold. I believe that a business is far more than solely a profit machine. They have social responsibilities as well, such as to protect the environment, treat their employees well and fairly, and contribute philanthropy toward the communities in which they're located. Btw I'm as pro-labor as you can get but labor has to have more common sense than it does. Protecting bad employees is not a good practice.

Rooting like crazy for the kid.

Maybe if a certain someone actually stood up and modeled the behavior of pretty much everyone in the GOP now except for Rand Paul and wore a mask in public, and cared at least a little bit about global human rights violations (well, we did bomb a couple of runways in Syria when we were assured Russian soldiers were already safely bunkered) more Americans would actually be aware of atrocities around the world. Think if all the time talking about hydroxychloroquinine or weekend golfing was invested in something much more productive?...definitely not sending out late night tweets bragging about being the “Lone Warrior” left fighting a vast majority of his own countrymen over something quite simple to do that wouldn’t make him less of a man. He’d just have to admit he was actually wrong for the first time, well, ever.

I love how easy it is for many to tell people to go into work and take risks; no businesses bottom line is worth the life of someone else. Period. End of Story. Why is the virus is killing far more minorities and lower income people? Because they have shit work and safety conditions in meat processing plants and other factories. It's despicable. Why do they HAVE to go to work while so many American's are furloughed or working from home? Because their jobs are deemed essential by you, and the government and etc. ESSENTIAL WORKERS who frequently don't have health care, don't make much more than minimum wage, and certainly don't have paid time off. These people have to work because if they don't work, they won't have a house over their head or food on the table for their kids. I was lucky enough to work from home for quite a while, and then we just closed until who knows when because Chicago isn't really open and there's really not business even if some exists. It sucks being out of work - never been in my life - but it sure as hell beats being poor and forced to go take risks you shouldn't have to. I know the virus isn't very dangerous the many, but the poor people that are being forced to work? Well they tend to live together as a family unit in one house - with more at risk people around them. They don't have the choice, and you acting like some strong union proves that the system is fine is laughable to me. No one should have to sacrifice their life or risk the life of their relatives (you only live once in case you didn't notice) so that you can feel more comfortable in your bed at night or at the grocery store. And you better believe if you think their jobs are so damn important that they should put themselves at higher risk than the average American, than they should be compensated accordingly. It's really sad to me that people feel like they have to go to work right now because if they don't, they'll lose their job, or house or life. The system stopped working long about but it was never on display more than when people started citing the importance of the economy as the death toll climbed.

After camping this weekend I would report that no match will light kindling and so we are probably safe.

No but obviously some people did...dude was suspended 50 games. Do we even need to know? It was 8 years ago. Baseball doesn't need anymore negativity right now. This is the last news it needs, especially for a fanbase whose team is pretty much ignored around the league to begin with.

Maybe he can at least play in the expanded AFL this fall. IMO he should also be on the taxi squad. Even if he's overmatched at least hed be getting reps and could work thru it. The Sox need him to develop as much as possible before they showcase him in the AFL as trade bait. Obviously he has no future here at either his original spot or at 1B/DH so just try to avoid selling low by getting him to increase his value.

So this was from the 6 months after we re-acquired him for freddy and pre-re-dealing him for swishers cocaine traveling circus?

cleaning out my old graphic folders, here's an unused one from 2007

If they were too socially distance (which with a camera seems pretty easy to do) and take proper PPEs, I don't see why they couldn't. Obviously there won't be any personal interviews, but some footage seems reasonable.

I am going to guess CSN will get as much of it as they are allowed to get.

I would say that u of illinois mcs-ds online program is one of the better value programs out there now.

Finance and Data Analytics Honestly though, all my coding skills and etc have been self taught online; my education is much more formal on the math and finance side of things. There are a couple free courses I would recommend you try first, and see if it's something that is interesting to you. I would recommend a Python Course to start and learn the basics of the language. In data science you shouldn't really be pigeonholed to any industry. I find the biggest hurdle and issue I see with many machine learning/AI/Data Science people is that they understand code but they don't understand what is useful inputs and they don't really know how to implement operational change that coincide with their tellings/findings. A big part of data science is collecting and analyzing, but the valuable part for business is being able to convert those reports into operational usefulness and a language that everyone can understand. This is a hurdle that many are having a difficult time overcoming. Never forget, regardless of how much money you save the company and how streamlined you make efficiencies, you will never be considered a "revenue generator" for a business.

As roster settle out, it wouldn't shock me to see his name come up. The kid needs reps worse than pretty much anyone in this organization.

His swing is on his Twitter by the way, I'm not delusional

I don't disagree with this. There are obviously companies and industries that are essential to people living. People have to eat, and the food comes from somewhere. Everyone in that supply chain is essential. The feds needed to intervene early to make those conditions safer, however. At least 8 workers at a meatpacking plant in Greeley, CO died from COVID. That's just unacceptable. Mask up the employees, enforce as much social distancing as you can, and furlough your at-risk employees who are taken care of by a beefed up unemployment system, and whose jobs are waiting for them when it's safe for them to return to work. The solution to this problem is not insulate the meatpacking plant from any liability for COVID deaths - it's make it safer for them to operate. We also have to come to terms with the fact that there are industries which are essential - like the food supply chain - and there are industries that are not essential, and in fact as designed are set up to be spreaders (looking at you bars and clubs). I love bars. I spend a lot of time at bars. But there isn't a safe way to sit at a barstool inside right now. Businesses shouldn't fail because of a pandemic - so how do you balance public health and the bar/restaurant industry? You get massive stimulus on a federal level. Long story short. We need to make working conditions as safe as possible for the industries that need to work for society to function. And we need to provide funding to the industries who are not essential to the functioning of society so that people don't lose their business because of a global pandemic.

Bernstein.

Really happy to see him back and playing again. Even past the baseball aspect, but for his own mental health.

Many if not all of the countries that have handled this much better than the US have much more robust social systems including (especially) health care.

The next hammer coming is homelessness. Evictions are occurring again. People who haven’t been able to work will be out in the streets, and once they get employed again will find it more difficult to find housing with an eviction on their record.

And we’ve simply never had a viable tracing program ramped up when we knew this was potentially coming as early as January 8th, if not late December....either on a Federal, state or local public health department levels. Information is now coming out about water supply contamination in Northern Italy the last two weeks of November...when many business travelers/tourists were going back and forth from the Wuhan area in pretty significant numbers. There’s no way that it wasn’t on the radar screen as early as December, at least in the Pentagon/national intelligence community (which a certain someone always ignores, almost as if the Daily Brief was covered in germs.)

Because they have strong union representation pal. That is far from normal in this country. And even then, as you said the option was come back or were done. Most workers have no bargaining power and it's "do the job or take a hike." Again, impoverished people are literally risking the lives of those around them out of fear of being homeless and starving. The company shouldn't have to chose between bankruptcy or putting people at risk for production that is not life or death. That's really the point. The idea that the decision is one or the other is absurd and shows how broken this is. Should the economy have shut down? Uh yeah dude, there's 130,000 dead fucking americans - many of societies most vulnerable - because we as a country decided their lives were expendable and 35-40% of the country didn't give a shit and care about them. That's despicable man. Were some people going to die? Sure, it's a disease. Did this many have to die? No man, look at the rest of the world. And its because the dollar has come before the heart beat, and that's something everyone should be ashamed of. Ones treatment of those who cannot speak; cannot protect; cannot fight; cannot stand up for themselves defines their true character.

There's a coronavirus thread conveniently designed for this conversation.

This & lets have a mandatory federal mask order in place.

Whoooooo Carrrrrrrreeesssssssssssssss

He still tweeted it and ran the story. Regardless, this is the last thing baseball needs right now.

I am glad I am working lol.. God please no more unions

Welcome. I love that 76 logo!! ps....Is this Andy?

Clearly 2019 first 60 games and 2020 first 60 games should be evaluated the same. honestly why does your above factoid even matter to you? We are to feel bad or something because last years world champion took 162 games to get to the playoffs and they won't be afforded the same chance this year? Everyone knows the stakes this year. You come out flat, you don't play in the post season. Sorry

George Costanza?

I hate Bernstein's reporting. "Uh yeah we just heard from someone that Yasmani Grandal took steroids 8 years ago and was suspended for it. Let's bring this into light right before the season starts." If he was suspended for it, people already know about it. The only point in making this news is to stir up drama. GTFO Dan.

That person’s name is Carson Fulmer and he’s already on the 40 man roster and has no options. I just don’t see Detwiler being a fit unless players opt-out / get quarantined.

Yeah, this sounds like bullshit.

Gummies laced with HGH? Yeah that isn't how it works. HGH needs to be injected I'm fairly certain.

Seeing the discussion around California, Michigan, and now NJ and New York debating wheter to include indoor dining/bars as part of reopening has me dreading the next week. It also is what annoys me about the trying to blame state and local actors equally with fed. That perspective will put blame on governors/locals for reopening if it leads to a surge. It's pretty clear there are specific industries are in the age of covid a specific threat to public health and its the entertainment industry. They make up so much of the real estate and makeup of every town and city in america, and should n't just be told they can't operate and forced to fail, but compensating them with the mechanisms that local and state governments have at their disposal is extremely difficult. You want them to take out loans to support a bunch of individual owners in an industry that is notoriously difficult to keep afloat anyway? If federal lawmakers stepped up and created a bailout for that industry that allowed them to stay closed and would be reimbursed and employees paid at some level there would be nowhere near the local and state pressures to reopen them. Notice how much easier it is for states and locals to keep schools closed - the funding is by and large set, so they are only discussing public health impacts, and despite much less of a public health issue as entertainment it is still up in the air whether they will reopen in many places. Not so with restaurants. Illinois/Chicago should let outdoor dining continue, but this is so stupid to allow indoor dining/bars open from a public health standpoint.

I’m as optimistic about Vaughn as the next guy, but come on. Abreu was a good hitting major league first baseman last year. Even draft year fatigue considered, Vaughn struggled in A-ball. If he can hit like Abreu as a finished product we should be happy.

Just because you and your family are not represented properly because you aren't supported by a union doesn't mean others shouldn't fight for workers rights. In fact, you should be rooting for the players and people fighting for all workers rights - even if you that person makes more than you.