Chisoxfn

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 15, 2010 -> 03:34 PM) Obama is just as negligent and criminally liable (yea, I know, can't happen, but in reality this is true) in this as BP now. It is absurd what this guy has gotten away with. Ya he's smooth on camera, but outside of that he is worthless. Basically that has been my opinion of Barack from the get-go. He just isn't seasoned enough to be president and the gist I get from the international arena (reading FT, watching BBC, etc) is that there opinion is pretty similar. Now for the most part the oval office runs itself but in certain times you need to have the president influence the way something is handled and this was one of those times, much like 9/11 and Katrina were. Bush handled 9/11 superbly, Katrina (not so much) but as far as I'm concerned this has been 10 times the f***-up Katrina was. Our response was slow but our failure was because we relied heavily on our state legislation and it was compounded because our state govenrment was completely ignorant. President Bush did't step in quick enough from the federal perspective but he got involved a f***load faster than Obama has. The main difference is obviously on the loss of lives in Katrina vs the oil spill but the long-term impacts of this environmental disaster are HUGE.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 15, 2010 -> 03:32 PM) It's another "too big to fail." It doesn't matter how awful they ran their business and how many risks they took; their collapse would effect too many people and so we have to prop them up. There is a legitimate argument for BP sticking around so they can continue to pay for cleanup costs and (lifetime) loss-of-wages damages. Not to mention they aren't a bad company. We put Arthur Anderson out of business because of one f*** up (and it was later found out that they should have never failed). We can't put BP out of business because of one f***-up, albeit a pretty massive one. Especially since everyone was well aware that eventually something like this was bound to happen. Clearly BP has failed and this will be something that all oil companies learn from but the blame is shared with our own federal governments complete ignorance in handling the situation. It is embarassing what our government has done to deal with this mess. And again, I don't think our government would have fixed the problem but they certainly have the power to ensure more resources are poured into a crisis and they completely f***ed up in that. Institutions, other countries aid/resources (which our administration turned down due to a bulls***, outdated law), forcing BP to allow independent consultants to perform there own assessments of the leaks (no way should something like this have been left just to BP's statements. BP clearly isn't independent of the situation and would most likely be best suited by putting out their most beneficial estimates). I'm just really dissatisifed with the way everything has been handled. BP f***ed up, but our government majorly f***ed up too in the handling of a crisis and helped perpetuate the situation.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 15, 2010 -> 03:30 PM) I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for them. The US government isn't even asking for enough at this point IMO ($20B isn't going to cover everything). Investing is inherently risky, and when you invest in a company with transparently awful practices, well, you risk getting burned. I never said it was a safe investment, but I think that people are over-reacting from a business perspective and the assumption that BP can't afford this mess is most likely incorrect. Now it could get a whole lot worse, but the US is going to bear some of this burden as well and I don't believe BP will be allowed to fail. The British government certainly wouldn't stand for it and regardless of what we believe the US isn't going to ignore the criticisms from our largest allies and one of the more powerful nations in the world. I would also say that the fiasco was intensifed by our own governments ignorance and unwillingness to step in. BP also f***ed up but this would be a much less of a mess of Obama even did a deplorable job. And I'm not saying the government would solve anything as I tend to believe the governmetn is worthelss, but the government does have more power than BP when it comes to working with other countries, institutions, etc, to ensure that all of the resources possible are involved in a clean-up. This mess was too big for just BP to clean up and the government was completely worthless in the way it has handled this mess. Obama's legacy is heading straight into the s***ter as far as I'm concerned (and he's pretty much been a gigantic failure in my book prior to this and I had been pretty willing to give the guy a chance becasue I won't deny that my republicans f***ed up immensly in the way they behaved during the 2nd half of Bushs' adminastration).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 12, 2010 -> 09:23 AM) Well, first point...it's in U.S. waters, it is a U.S. licensed rig, the U.S. owns the mineral rights, and the U.S. would be taking royalties on the oil that was sold. It is a U.S. problem involving a multi-national company that the U.S. licensed to do the drilling. Second point; as I noted a few pages ago; other nations with expertise in these areas have offered help. The U.S. turned them down. It was because of an old ass rule indicating something along the lines of how we don't allow foreign ships to do some sort of random business in US waters. I dont' have it exactly but it was some outdated legislation if I ever heard of it and it should have been immediately looked past given the state of the oil spill.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jun 12, 2010 -> 06:42 AM) Which kind of makes me wonder, shouldn't this be a world wide response, not just a BP / US response? You mean the other coutnries that immediately offered up its ships and resources to help with the Gulf clean-up? Oh wait, our government ignored those offers. If they did we would have had a lot more ships out there cleaning things. Countries were offering assistance pretty damn immediately and our govenrment as well as BP looked the other way (albeit, our government is far more responsible for accepting governmental assistance from other countries than BP). This has been an epic f***up and the Obama administration is culprit 1B along with BP.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 10, 2010 -> 06:59 AM) So, serious question for those who know better. I've been holding 20 shares of BP for the last decade that my Aunt gave me when I graduated high school. If BP goes into Chapter 11 to protect it from creditors, what typically happens to common stock shareholders? Is it worth holding those shares or should I look into dumping it and taking the $600 loss now? They will not go bankrupt.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 12, 2010 -> 07:02 AM) I find it hard to have sympathy. BP was a transparently awful company, and investing in inherently risky. Holy cripes, you guys should have heard the British news outlets talk about Obama and the way the US is handling this thing. They are ballistic. They talk I heard was not what I typically associated with England and the US. It calmed down a bit after Cameron had his talk with Obama but they are f***ing livid at the Obama administration and they refer to him as the Great Joke (instead of the Great Hope). The British citizens are getting killed as there retirements are heavily impacted by what the US government is asking for. I personally have a major long-term buy status on BP because they will recover from this and right now they are incredibly undervalued. However, I could be a complete dumbass and be wrong. I tend to believe people over-react.

Hey Dan. Sorry for the belated wishes, but Happy Bday to one of Soxtalk's finest!!!

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 8, 2010 -> 06:02 PM) AGREED! He has some of the best pure stuff ever. But right now Jimenez is putting up the single greatest season in baseball history (from a pitching perspective, imo).

That is awesome Jeremy. I think I will use it for booking a room for Shipps wedding. You are the man

QUOTE (HeGone33 @ Jun 14, 2010 -> 11:49 AM) I'd like to use either the White Sox or Bulls intro music for the introductions and entrance at my wedding reception next month. I was wondering if anyone could provide the audio files of each for me? For the white sox version, I would use everything up to the Thunderstruck song. Thanks Go with the Bulls. That was what I did for my wedding intro music. Of course the DJ f***ed up.

QUOTE (SHIPPS @ Jun 15, 2010 -> 08:12 AM) I bought my sissy ass 02' Jeep Liberty from them last Febuary some of you might remember. This car in the last week has over heated and left me stuck twice. I feel like I have been sold a lemon. What are my options here? What are they going to do for me? I dont want them to fix it anymore because its a unreliable piece of s*** car. I want a new one. I bought an extended warranty but I just want another car. They arent yet to open so I dont know what to come at them with. I am just pissed off right now ! You are pretty much screwed. I believe the lemon law only applies to new cars. However, the fact that you have your extended warranty should cover you. I also should piont out that Jeep is notorious for having serious issues with there products. I know there will be people who will tell stories about there jeeps that have worked well, but in general, they build a very very poor product. The reason it is popular is because of the uniqueness and the Jeep Wrangler is a fantastic off-road vehicle.

f***. UCLA finally gets past the Titans. Fullerton has PWNED them over the years. s***, sucks, we blew game 2 and Rasmussen was money in game 3.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Jun 14, 2010 -> 12:53 PM) http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writ...walt.lee/1.html If this is true, it's not surprising at all. And it's sad as well. Ozzie needs to go. Unfortunately I dno't think it will happen. JR needs to have more faith in Kenny than Ozzie but I know JR is loyal, sometimes to a fault and in this case it is a major fault.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 12, 2010 -> 07:26 PM) Wow, UCLA with a two-run shot with 2 outs in the 9th. Puts them on top 7-6 Tell me about it, ugggh. Hopefully when I land back in the US tomorrow and log onto my computer I see that Fullerton has advanced.

How is the Stanley Cup possibly ahead of the World Series. No American sports profession has fewer teams make the playoffs and historically even less teams did. Teams in the NHL, NFL, and NBA have a much easier time getting in and from there like most sports, it is a bit if a crapshoot. World Cup I could buy into because of the 1 out of every 4 year thing and the fact that some countries have almost zero chance. Baseball has a few teams that have almost zero chance too.

US did ok. Some defensive breakdowns on the outside but they were all over the jump balls and our goalie was insane. Was very fun to watch the first game in Europe but I look back to getting into the US for Game 2 and catching the game with American commentators. I just don't understand the french ones all that well, haha. Huge game for the US on Friday.

USA USA USA Lets kick some ass. And I'm in France right now. What I would have done to see all of the french people crying like little b****es.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 11, 2010 -> 06:50 PM) JR would be foolish to allow KW to quit over Ozzie and his family. Kenny will be done at the end of the year and be promoted to another role. He can't just keep working as hard as he does with the stress that he goes through. He might go back and become another teams GM down the road again. That is what I believe will happen. Hahn has the job, they won't even need to really interview.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 8, 2010 -> 03:49 PM) As opposed to a team like Missouri going to California often. The geography sucks, there is no way around it. Multiple teams get shipped half way across the country every year. Haha. YOu've had to meet the Titans enough time over the past couple years. Than again, so has UCLA and I'm hoping after today they will be disposed of

QUOTE (Felix @ Jun 5, 2010 -> 09:00 AM) sup Haha. Your ace did his job though. He's a real good Friday starter with a nice MLB future. It has been super hard following from out of the country but I've been lucky to find a couple sports bars to catch some of my Titans post-season games. Hopefully Renken can do his thing tonight against UCLA and we can head back to Omaha!!!

QUOTE (girlslikebaseballtoo#26 @ Jun 4, 2010 -> 10:31 AM) YES ..She is taken!! Recently engaged actually! YAY ME!! ..I was single for a long time before this relationship though ..dated around, but couldn't be with a guy who would insist NASCAR is better than Baseball ..one who insisted men in firefighter uniforms were more attractive than ones in Baseball uniforms ..one that said Football was more of a man sport because it's full contact ...THEN I WENT OFF ..How is baseball not a contact sport? Watch a guy try to steal home and see if he doesn't get smashed on by that catcher ..Baseball requires a little bit of brain power also, which I LOVE!! I believe it takes a real man to stand at the pitchers mound and let a 5oz ball fly at them at speeds of up to 105mph. (depending on the speed of the ball thrown and the strength and accuracy of the batter), furthermore it takes a real man to sit behind a batter and catch balls off the bat at similar speeds from a shorter distance. ..SORRY ..I get carried away ..BREATHE BREN!! lmao Haha. I assume Blackwood is your fiance? If not, how do you know Blackwood? School?

Guys, I look forward to following the draft coverage on FS while I'm away on my honeymoon. I never miss the draft but I look forward to reading the threads while I'm in line at the Louvre, etc, haha. So here's to one awesome draft!!!!

Viciedo is back in the lineup.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 3, 2010 -> 03:13 PM) Hmm, I think maybe you're seeing it that way through your yellow and black sprint-colored glasses. I know they take some flak because they have been the exclusive provider for the iPhone for the last 4 years or so, but there isn't much they can do about that. I also understand their network has been pushed a bit because of the wild success of the iPhone, but I wouldn't say they are "getting hit with tons of negative PR," or that their plan has been an "epic failure." Do you really think Verizon would be spending the amount of money fighting them through their ad campaign if they thought AT&T's plan was an "epic failure"? I agree with you that they were caught off-guard by the huge amounts of data that the iPhone users are consuming, but to say that paying $ for an exclusive contract for one of the most successful products of the 21st century and having more users than you anticipated, to the point that it is straining your infrastructure - to say that is a failure - that seems to be a bit inaccurate to me. I guess what matters now though is how they capitalize on their position in the marketplace going forward. Because you're right, the exclusivity contract will end sooner or later (2012?). ATT was the one who had there ad campaigns launched against Verizon (who I personally think is the best network around...pound for pound). And in terms of negative PR, I might be a little biased because I work really closely with a lot of IT types (who are huge Apple fan boys) but won't thing they won't ever quit jabbering about is how weak ATT's network is and everything along those lines. Same with my casual friends. Pretty much all of us, including those that have iphones, are pretty willing to admit it and this trend isn't just in my little click of friends and it is why ATT has begun advertising significantly about there coverage maps with the guy from Old School (not Jason Lee but the other one).