Controlled Chaos

QUOTE(TheOcho @ May 3, 2007 -> 07:49 AM) I'd tap it. I did. Nah actually I can think of so many hotter if I had to pick. but i wouldn't kick her out of bed.

QUOTE(retro1983hat @ May 3, 2007 -> 08:36 AM) LAst night's losers were easy to predict and although I thought he was the worst of the bunch, I kind of felt bad about Phil leaving. He seemed like a genuinely good guy and went and hugged his fellow sailors, wife, the judges and contestants during his last song. I hope it's Jordin vs. Blake in the finale. I been hoping for a Jordin Blake finale for the last month.

uggh....I been to a couple for bachelor parties, but I was 25 the first time I went. It never interested me at all. I can't ignore the fact that this chick sitting on your lap was just sitting on some 350lb sweaty scumbag saying and doing the same things 5 minutes ago. It just screams of desperation to me. That and the whole fact of paying for that kind of s***. I had girlfriends to do that...I don't need to pay for it.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2007 -> 12:00 PM) What is "average" now? MEN USA 5 ft 9.4 in 20-74 USA 5 ft 10.9 in 20-39 non-Hispanic whites USA 5 ft 11.7 in 20-39 non-Hispanic blacks USA 5 ft 5.8 in 20-39 Mexican Americans

I actually forgot 2 go tonight. I think Lakisha and Chris.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ May 2, 2007 -> 10:11 AM) Look what happened yesterday. He stuck him out there, Javy had nothing, walked a guy, and was responsible for another run. How does that help his confidence? Look what happened with Buehrle pitching the Royals game...nobody wanted him coming out for the 7th.(I won't list posts from the game thread) All he did was get 2 strikeouts throwing 9 pitches in a 1-2-3 inning. I personally didn't want Ozzie bringing Javy out last night, but it's a crap shoot. He gives the benefit of the doubt to the pitchers. I don't always agree, but it probably evens out over the course of the year as far as it working and not working.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ May 2, 2007 -> 09:57 AM) 3-2 B8 and a really solid pen which hadn't worked in three days and is off tomorrow. May as well use them. Gullien has a tendancy to leave guys in for one hitter to long and rely on the L/R thing way to much. This was a questionable move but not terrible. Pinch hitting Cintron for Ozuna......... and Vaz at 105 pitches....This was just the case of Ozzie trying to get his starter a win. Some agree with it and some disagree with it.

A Lesson in Open-Borders Math By Michelle Malkin Wednesday, May 2, 2007 The New York Times is always ready and willing to serve as lead public relations staffers for the open-borders movement. On May Day, the day of mass illegal alien protests across the country, the paper saw fit to print a front-page sob story decrying rising illegal alien deportations. "Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, facing intense political pressure to toughen enforcement [read: do their jobs], removed 221,664 illegal immigrants from the country over the last year," the Times reported ominously. That's "an increase of more than 37,000 -- about 20 percent -- over the year before, according to the agency's tally." 221,664. Big number. It certainly sounds like we're getting serious about immigration enforcement, if you believe what the Times tells you. But you know better than that. It's what the paper didn't tell you on the day of the pro-amnesty demonstrations that provides the truly alarming news. Far from a nation that takes its immigration laws seriously, we remain in a shoddy, dangerous state of immigration non-enforcement nearly six years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- chaos that will only worsen if Congress and the White House join hands on a "comprehensive" illegal alien amnesty plan. In March, the Homeland Security Department's inspector general disclosed that the feds have lost track of 623,292 fugitive illegal aliens. These "absconders" were apprehended by immigration officers, placed in the immigration court system, ordered out of the country and released. Never to be seen again. 221,664 "removed" illegal aliens vs. 623,292 released illegal alien fugitives. In other words: There are nearly three times as many officially designated illegal alien fugitives freed by the feds as there are illegal aliens who have been removed over the last year. This inconvenient truth was glossed over by the Times. So was this: Despite more than $204 million earmarked since 2003 for 52 special fugitive operations teams across the country, the "backlog of fugitive alien cases has increased each fiscal year since the [fugitive apprehension] program was established in February 2002." While pro-amnesty marchers stressed this week that they are "law-abiding" (except for those pesky immigration rules), more and more of the illegal aliens caught by immigration authorities and ordered to appear for deportation hearings are skipping out. The DHS inspector general's office explains that thousands of illegal aliens ignore orders to appear at their immigration hearings. Of the 460,000-plus immigration judge decisions and administrative closures issued by the Executive Office of Immigration and Review (EOIR) between 2001-2004, 39 percent (181,807) were issued to illegal aliens who had been released but later failed to appear at their respective immigration hearings. And the total number of aliens failing to appear is increasing. In fact, according to DHS's Detention and Removal Office, 85 percent of the illegal aliens released that have been issued final orders of removal will abscond. That goes not just for illegal aliens from Mexico, but for illegal aliens from terror-friendly and terror-sponsoring nations. Homeland security? What homeland security? Compounding the danger: The federal Detention and Removal Office estimates that in 2007, "there will be 605,000 foreign-born individuals admitted to state correctional facilities and local jails during the year for committing crimes in the U.S. Of this number, DRO estimates half (302,500) will be removable aliens. Currently, most of these incarcerated aliens are being released into the U.S. at the conclusion of their respective sentences due to the lack of DRO resources." That's upwards of 300,000 convicted criminal aliens who will walk out of their cells and onto the streets. Never to be seen again. Just doing the context-setting and number-crunching the rest of the mainstream media won't do. Now, back to your regularly scheduled, emotion-driven, one-sided coverage of America the Oppressor. Over to you, New York Times. 10 Differences between Conservatives And Liberals By John Hawkins Friday, April 27, 2007 Conservatives and liberals approach almost every issue with completely different philosophies, underlying assumptions, and methods. That's why it's so hard to find genuine compromise between conservatism and liberalism -- because not only are liberals almost always wrong, their solutions almost always make things worse. With that in mind, let me take a few moments to explain some of the key differences between liberals and conservative to you. Bonus) Conservatives believe that judges should act like umpires instead of legislating from the bench. That means that judges should determine whether laws are permissible under the Constitution and settle debates about the meaning of laws, not impose their will based on their ideological leanings. Liberals view judges as a backdoor method of getting unpopular left-leaning legislation passed. They don't want umpires, they want political partisans in black robes who will side with them first and then come up with a rationale to explain it. 10) Conservatives believe that individual Americans have a right to defend themselves and their families with guns and that right cannot be taken away by any method short of a Constitutional Amendment, which conservatives would oppose. Liberals believe by taking arms away from law abiding citizens, they can prevent criminals, who aren't going to abide by gun control laws, from using guns in the commission of crimes. 9) Conservatives believe that we should live in a color blind society where every individual is judged on the content of his character and the merits of his actions. On the other hand, liberals believe that it's ok to discriminate based on race as long as it primarily benefits minority groups. 8) Conservatives are capitalists and believe that entrepreneurs who amass great wealth through their own efforts are good for the country and shouldn't be punished for being successful. Liberals are socialists who view successful business owners as people who cheated the system somehow or got lucky. That's why they don't respect high achievers and see them as little more than piggy banks for their programs. 7) Conservatives believe that abortion ends the life of an innocent child and since we believe that infanticide is wrong, we oppose abortion. Most liberals, despite what they'll tell you, believe that abortion ends the life of an innocent child, but they prefer killing the baby to inconveniencing the mother. 6) Conservatives believe in confronting and defeating enemies of the United States before they can harm American citizens. Liberals believe in using law enforcement measures to deal with terrorism, which means that they feel we should allow terrorists to train, plan, and actually attempt to kill Americans before we try to arrest them -- as if you can just send the police around to pick up a terrorist mastermind hiding in Iran or the wilds of Pakistan. 5) Conservatives, but not necessarily Republicans (which is unfortunate), believe it's vitally important to the future of the country to reduce the size of government, keep taxes low, balance the budget, and get this country out of debt. Liberals, and Democrats for that matter, believe in big government, high taxes, and they have never met a new spending program they didn't like, whether we will have to go into debt to pay for it or not. 4) Conservatives believe that government, by its very nature, tends to be inefficient, incompetent, wasteful, and power hungry. That's why we believe that the government that governs least, governs best. Liberals think that the solution to every problem is another government program. Even when those new programs create new problems, often worse than the ones that were being fixed in the first place, the solution is always....you guessed it, another government program. 3) Conservatives are patriotic, believe that America is a great nation, and are primarily interested in looking out for the good of the country. That's why we believe in "American exceptionalism" and "America first." Liberals are internationalists who are more concerned about what Europeans think of us and staying in the good graces of the corrupt bureaucrats who control the UN than looking out for the best interests of this nation. 2) Conservatives, most of them anyway, believe in God and think that the Constitution has been twisted by liberal judges to illegitimately try to purge Christianity from the public square. We also believe, most of us anyway, that this country has been successful in large part because it is a good, Christian nation and if our country ever turns away from the Lord, it will cease to prosper. Liberals, most of them anyway, are hostile to Christianity. That's why, whether you're talking about a school play at Christmas time, a judge putting the Ten Commandments on the wall of his court, or a store employee saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays," liberals are dedicated to driving reminders of Christianity from polite society. 1) Conservatives believe in pursuing policies because they're pragmatic and because they work. Liberals believe in pursuing policies because they're "nice" and make them feel good. Whether the policies they're advocating actually work or not is of secondary importance to them.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ May 2, 2007 -> 08:19 AM) So... who outside the organization seems good? Anyone have any info on hitting coaches with good reputations, or who turned teams around? I say anyone from the twinkies organization. They been doing things the right way for so long.

I usually size them up and be like...Pfft I can take them. If my head only comes to their shoulders I just have to go all patrick swayze on their ass. Take the biggest guy in the world, shatter his knee and he'll drop like a stone.

33 5'10"

I kinda dug Blakes rendition. Thought it was one of the better performances ever on idol. Jordin for the first time looked vulnerable, but it was kinda predictable with the genre.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ May 1, 2007 -> 02:58 PM) I was shocked at the flow Olsen had actually. For a white guy, he can spit pretty well (although he says he didn't write the lyrics, but whatever). Kudos to the #31 pick in that regard. Yo yo yo m boy G_Reg gots flow he give girls the big O and he ain't white boy slow. WORD!

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 1, 2007 -> 02:51 PM) Ill give it a go. I embarrassed a charger last night. Also i found out that my 19 in wheels with potenzas are worthless in the snow, so I have to go buy some snow tires for the winter. Thats exciting. Did you ened up going with the lease?

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Apr 27, 2007 -> 06:21 PM) The SWA one with the woman who runs into the airport bathroom to fix her contact, only to find out she ran into the men's bathroom. Voice asks, "Wanna get away?" First of all, it's not like anyone in there would care. You apologize, laugh, walk out, and noone even remembers it in an hour. And more important, she's in an AIRPORT. She'll never see any of these people ever again. What the hell would she be getting away from? Geez dude you put way to much thought into it. I thought that commercial was ok.

If you can't talk about banging chicks and bustin nuts when you're a freshman in college then when can you talk about it.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 1, 2007 -> 06:04 AM) Actually that is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. I am going to give that a whirl when I get home tonight. Could also try reinstalling the drivers for the mouse.

Sopranos Rewind: Chasing It Posted by Alan Sepinwall April 30, 2007 4:24AM Categories: The Sopranos WARNING: This column contains major plot spoilers for last night's "Sopranos" episode. And the inner circle draws tighter. Each episode of this season has seen Tony driving a wedge between himself and a trusted ally -- first Bacala, then Chris, then Paulie and now Hesh, whose friendly $200,000 bridge loan last week turned ugly once Tony realized Hesh actually expected him to repay it. We've had hints in recent episodes that Tony was gambling too much, but episode four, "Chasing It," has him in full-on Davey Scatino mode, losing big at every game he tries: horses, roulette, blackjack, football, everything short of jai alai or an Oscar pool. Carmela finally sells the spec house (to cousin Brian, a sign the house wasn't a hot attraction) and Tony immediately wants to put a chunk of the profit on a Jets-Chargers game. When she refuses and Tony wins less than he otherwise might have, he explodes, laying hands on Carm for the first time since "Whitecaps" and dismissing her familiar fears about financial security by screaming, "When I'm gone, you can live in a (bleepin') dumpster for all I care!" This is dangerous behavior by Tony, who has historically resisted most of the vices available to him. He doesn't use drugs like Chris or Ralphie, and he had nothing but contempt for Davey when Davey lost his business. Now he's paying a vig to Hesh? What's happening? For the answer, you may have to look to the scene after Hesh rejects Tony's boat show invitation. Carlo, in Tony's doghouse for his failure to run the Family construction business as profitably as Vito, mentions an old "Twilight Zone" episode featuring a thug named Valentine. Tony cuts him off, but Carlo's apparently referring to "A Nice Place to Visit," an episode about Rocky Valentine, who dies during a robbery and wakes up in an afterlife where his every wish is granted. Every woman wants him, everybody thinks he's wonderful and every bet he makes is a winner. Eventually, Rocky grows so tired of what he assumes to be Heaven that he asks to go to "the other place," only to be told, "This is the other place." Tony's existence isn't quite Rocky Valentine's, but it's close. He's been boss of North Jersey for nearly a decade, can do whatever he wants or order someone to do it for him -- and still he's not happy. So he's sabotaging himself, just to make something different happen. He's looking for disaster around every corner, maybe even expecting it. He won't get The Star-Ledger from the driveway out of some paranoid fantasy, assumes all his confidants are out to get him and, after years of living slightly beyond his means, is simply throwing money away on gambling. Several times, we see Tony win big, then immediately lose it all on another bet. Making up with Carmela after their fight, he notes that the odds on surviving Junior's gunshot were so lousy that, "If you look at it big picture-wise, I'm up. Way up." And he'll squander that advantage too if he can. He can't help himself, maybe doesn't even want, deep down, to enjoy his victories. He's trying to get to the other place, see if that's more satisfying. Years ago, he described Davey Scatino as "the happy wanderer," envied how Davey could always have a smile on his face even when he was losing. Where Davey's default expression was a slightly bewildered grin, more and more, Tony is scowling. He's either killed or alienated all of his real friends, and even his relationship with Melfi is in danger. She's finally recognized that, with the panic attacks gone, he doesn't view this as therapy so much as "an oasis in my week," and she won't stand for that. As Tony tries to see if misery will make him happier, other characters suffer without even working at it. Hesh's younger girlfriend Renata dies unexpectedly in her sleep -- which ironically saves Hesh's life, since Tony takes pity on him and pays off the debt. Vito's widow Marie tries to get 100 grand from Tony to move troubled son Vito Jr. -- who, like A.J., gets expelled from school for relieving himself in something other than a toilet -- to a new home in Maine, but Tony blows the money on another football bet and instead forces Marie to send Vito Jr. to a boot camp. (Tony doesn't care about Marie's concerns about corporal punishment, so long as the price tag is smaller.) I should make some mention of the cameo appearances by Bing customers Muhammed and Ahmed. For a long time, I've been dismissing their presence, and Agent Harris' attempts to turn Chris or Tony into anti-terrorism deputies, as one final tease by David Chase, something to spin the audience's wheels without taking them anywhere. But the fact that the show keeps coming back to them -- this time, Tony is uncomfortable seeing them in the presence of so many Arab-American men in more traditional dress, rather than just as two lowlifes who frequent the Bing -- makes me wonder if I'm underthinking this. A key theme of this season has been the unintended consequences of seemingly minor events. Who even remembered that Tony dropped a gun in the snow when he was running from Johnny Sack's house, let alone imagined that he'd be arrested for it? Who still cared about the money Carm stole out of the duck feed, or the HUD scam that cousin Brian gave to Tony and Ralphie? I'm not expecting The Russian to come back (even though Tony's still laundering money through Russian mob boss Slava) or Melfi's rapist. But, as Chris so aptly put it while discussing Vito's death, actions these characters take are "Like a pebble in a lake. Even the fish feel it." If Tony's going to have a downfall brought on by external forces, maybe it'll be a ripple from obscure characters like Muhammed and Ahmed, or this truck-hijacking deal with the Cubans from Miami, or, hell, the HMO hustle Tony tried way back in the pilot. All I knows is that it feels like the giant piano Carmela talked about isn't just hanging over Tony's head, but everyone's. There may not be a lot of carnage (outside of Renata's peaceful passing, this was a completely bloodless hour), but doom is coming. Some other thoughts on "Chasing It": -A question that's come up several times in e-mails and chats: Is Blanca pregnant? It would explain both her moodiness at the "Cleaver" premiere and those odd looks she kept flashing at the news that cousin Brian is having a baby. But if so, why would she give back the engagement ring? If there is a baby, maybe it isn't A.J.'s? -Is it just me, or is Bacala a changed man since the Canadian hit in the premiere? For the first time, he seems like an unapologetic tough guy, particularly when he encouraged Tony to ignore the debt to Hesh. -The more screen time Marie gets, the more distracting it is that she's played by Lorraine Bracco's sister. -In one scene, Sil is gluing together a busted lamp in the Satriale's office, and a few minutes later we see why, when Tony trashes the Bing office after losing a big football bet. When you work for Tony, furniture repair is a mandatory skill. -So Frank Sinatra Jr. played in the Executive Game against Davey, and now Nancy Sinatra serenades Phil at his coronation dinner (with, appropriately, "Bossman"). Is it too late for a Tina cameo? -Due to outside circumstances, next week's Sopranos Rewind may not get done in time for the Monday print edition, online, or both. If that's the case, we'll put a notation in both the paper and the Sopranos blog explaining exactly when and where you'll be able to find it. Sorry for the potential inconvenience, but as Nancy's old man said, that's life.

Here's some pics from the Grinder Bash last year. That's me on the BP phone. I was a little upset cause I wanted to rest Bobby that day. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome...mSB&notag=1

Finally a smart decision. BA has the opportunity to get his swing back. At least now the ball is in BA's court. He controls his own destiny and I hope he takes the challenge head on. Up here we could blame Ozzie for not getting him any AB's and it's a valid complaint, but down there the accountability is on him.

There are gun safes with keypads. It can sit right on your nightstand and I'm guessing you can punch in your 6 digit code in about 5 seconds. Now if you're worrie about a kid hacking the code then that's another story.

This kid is a straight A student. He isn't an idiot...how could he write anything about inspiring a shooting in a high school. WTF kind of creating writing is this? I can see the teacher saying write me an essay..be creative...don't censor yourself and exagerrate. So from that the kid writes this stuff?? I don't know if he should be charged with anything, but I definitely think the teacher did the right thing.

Nuke, regarding the bomb makers being let go. Can you elaborate anymore on that? How is that f***in possible? I mean with the evidence you provided, how can the brass over there allow them back on the streets. We are holding people in Gitmo for less than that, so what gives? Are they going to give up some intelligence or something. I just can't fathom any scenario that these bomb makers should have been let go. Their release will most likely result in more death. Godspeed!!

So this went from Sox catchers to Sox players to anyone?? I saw Mo Green at Lens Crafters.

I saw Willie Harris working at Hollywood video the other night pushing O, Brother Where Art Thou? to anyone that would listen.