Jake

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 09:00 PM) Anger isnt very becoming. Luke 12:48 and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. From a practical standpoint, if the US was to go completely bankrupt and money was worth nothing, who loses more, the guy on the street with nothing but debt, or the billionaire? Its actually in their best interest to help fix the US economy, they have more to lose. No no no, using the Bible as backing to support policy or moral beliefs only counts when it serves the God-loving Republicans

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 08:03 PM) That right there is what's f***ed up about the Union of Socialist Republics, er, I mean the United States of Socalism, er, I mean the United States of America today. If you want to dismiss the very core of what the Constitution is about, I'll just start calling you comrade. Times have changed. As time goes on, things become too interconnected to have everyone doing things 51 different ways. I certainly believe that the Constitution, as currently interpreted by the Supreme Court and amended by the USA, is the law of the land. However, as an amendable document, I believe it needs to be changed to suit a changing world or it will just help drag down the country it rules over. States are good at running debt, f***ing up national elections, withholding civil rights, etc. People hate bureaucracy but the federal-state-local system is like the worst kind of bureaucracy in which no levels care about the directives sent out by the other. In terms of a topic by topic evaluation, how can you look at this (or others) Presidential election and not see that things need to be made uniform across the states? Obviously the states will have to carry it out, but they need to all be doing things the exact same way with the exact same rules and in a manner that provides an easily countable, trustworthy result. Right now it is a giant clusterf*** that is at least partly influenced by state-local partisanship and the other part caused by mere incompetence.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 09:42 PM) 12/27? Close to the holidays like that, there won't be a ton of deals coming. I'm trying to decide if AirTran doesn't have a flight for that day (or within 3 days either direction) or if they are actually sold out already.

Every time you let states run anything, they f*** it up. These national elections need to have national oversight and legislation to enforce it.

People are getting really worked up about the debt and they won't wait much longer for progress before just electing other people that are willing to fix it immediately instead of waiting for economic recovery to boost revenues/cut entitlements

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 04:24 PM) I wish they sold the chocolate bock by itself. 2 in a twelve pack isn't enough. I think they have it available in some alternate way. Check out their website for more details, including every place you can buy it

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 02:31 PM) That depends. When is the date of the first flight? Typically - and this can vary a lot - flight prices bottom out about 3-4 weeks prior. Then inside 3 weeks they go up, then again at 2 weeks, and 1 week. But, there is a small percentage of them that go into wholesale mode during the week before. I wouldn't depend on that, though. Our target date is 12/27 for departure (we're driving back, so it's one way) I checked my credit statements from last year and I bought a ticket on 11/30 for an 12/27 flight for $185 a year ago. Not sure if that will hold up or not. It was AirTrain to Bloomington-Normal (BMI) -- so far the cheapest I see are to MDW and not BMI via AirTran

I just can't believe that Nate Robinson can average 15 points a game for a team that will probably finish over .500

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 01:20 PM) Except those people could go on the state insurance exchanges. I talked to my dad, apparently he is pretty sure those people are just going to pay the tax. lol

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 12:14 AM) Talked to my friend who is a world renowned doctor who works on the sickest and most needy people out there and he's "ecstatic" by Obama's re-election. He said he didn't want to go into it, but basically said healthcare is going to become accessible to most of us now and we are so lucky. Just passing on what he told me. My dad runs a small business (trucking company) and has lots of employees that are earning in the range that puts them generally just out of reach of things like Medicaid. There is a company insurance plan and he offers them the chance to be on it -- they could take a small pay increase if they had their own health insurance, basically as a thank you for saving him some money. They would almost without fail take the pay increase, not buy insurance, and respond simply that they could go to the emergency room for healthcare. I think those days are over now.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 08:40 AM) Some numbers on "going over the fiscal cliff" http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2012/1...g_over_the.html He makes the case that you really should break the "cliff" up into the individual issues. Some will be relatively easy to walk back after January 1st, some will be a bit more complicated. Also, related to what ss2k5 was saying earlier: I agree that everything should be negotiated separately and hopefully some good faith agreements can be reached (you can promise to vote for this in a meeting and you will actually vote for it on the floor). I know that a separate train of thought is a much broader scale tax reform that would effectively address all these issues without directly extending them. I would be okay with modest tax increases on everyone, ideologically -- just like like paying 10 cents more for your pizza or whatever else gets your fellow man health insurance, I can certainly see why everyone and not just the top earners need to share the burden of our debt and the social programs that we all benefit from. I am not sure if it would really harm the economy, though...obviously a big part of this stuff is perception and confidence and if the prevailing news story is tax hikes, we're in trouble because people will horde their money even if they don't have to. As far as spending cuts, I am against them in principle -- if we're cutting funds to the poor, disabled, unemployed, elderly, you name it...I don't see much good coming from that. However, I have to think that there are some inefficiencies out there. Just like I don't expect the Republicans to view every single proposed revenue increase as pure evil without individually evaluating each one, I will be willing to hear the arguments for spending cuts as they come. I won't respond well to "the poor don't deserve my money!" but there MUST be some things worth cutting back on. For instance, I have a side job in the dietary supplement industry and the FDA is raiding people for having technically banned yet benign ingredients, banning even more new things on technicalities, etc. In my view, the FDA need not be spending money on that. There are probably more examples like this.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 10:46 AM) We'll be heading up to Bolingbrook this Saturday for dinner and the light show at the Promenade. And since there's a Binny's there... I'd like to find some good porters or stouts I haven't tried before. The trouble is, I could spend hours and hundreds of dollars in Binny's. A very good app I use is Beer Buddy. It's linked to ratebeer.com, and I've been reviewing beer over there for about four years. The app is nice, as you can check out a beer's info (including fellow drinkers' ratings) right on your phone. I use that too! A Binny's opened in Bloomington-Normal a couple weeks ago, I can't wait to get back home (Pontiac) to check it out.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 07:56 AM) Set up email alerts from Kayak or Hipmunk or the like. It will tell you when the fares change. On top of it. Should I expect rates to drop or more flights to be added as I get closer to the date, or am I about to cost myself money by waiting? I know waiting until the very last minute can get you cheap tix, but I'm not really comfortable with that.

I've never met Urlacher, but I met the Bears' former "other white linebacker" Hunter Hillenmeyer once upon a time and he was really cool

Any chance Hamilton pulls a Boras and signs a lucrative 1 year deal to re-test the waters next year? Risky business at his age, but if he isn't getting anything close to what he wants he might think about it.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 06:34 AM) Thats just blaspheming....I went through 4-6 Pumpkin beers in the last few weeks, and by far, Pumking was the superior one IMO. Been looking for this one for a while. Am I going to be able to find it when I get to IL this weekend? QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Nov 13, 2012 -> 09:11 AM) I had a Ska Autumnal Mole Stout this weekend. Very interesting and exceptionally tasty beer. It is brewed with chocolate and three types of chiles, as the name mole would suggest. The chocolate is noticeable in the aroma, and it's a bit sweet up front. Finishes fairly spicy. The craziest thing is after drinking it you can feel the heat of the peppers...like you just ate a mildly spicy mole enchilada. I also picked up the Sam Adams Winter Sampler. The Old Fezziwig is one of my favorites, and the Chocolate Bock is outstanding. The White Christmas tastes to me like the White Ale they discontinued a couple years back. Oh, how I love this time of year for beer. I really like the Sam Adams Winter Sampler. My top 3 are definitely the 3 you mentioned. The flagship is of course always a great fallback and the winter lager is just okay for me. Holiday Porter is okay but I don't love it yet either, definitely don't mind having it in the pack though. I've already gone through two of those Winter Classics 12 packs

Fuuuu, the flight that popped up yesterday for $190 on AirTran already disappeared. Back to waiting for a better price, lol

http://www.examiner.com/article/ugandan-le...-christmas-gift Yes, it literally allows the government to give the death penalty to those guilty of "aggravated homosexuality" ... one must hope they can get off easy with "offense of homosexuality," punishable by mere life imprisonment. Thank you, European colonizers and American missionaries. This one's for you.

His couple publicized benders are a really big deal and he himself admits that. Just because it didn't cost him his overall sobriety when it happened, that does not mean he is still at a high risk to lose it every single time he goes out. It's not always a super smooth road to recovery, but you certainly can't pretend that he didn't break sobriety on at least two different nights. It's troubling.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 12, 2012 -> 04:08 PM) I enjoyed the caller on the Score today that suggested Cutler was actually benched by Tice at halftime, and the concussion was just a lie because it sounds better than getting benched. If you don't know anything about any of the people involved, it makes sense

I doubt Headley becomes a bust, but there is a very high chance that you overpay for him. You just have to hope the players you give up fizzle out like prospects often do. Then you have to not give Headley a s*** ton of money

I think I'll be okay having her fly AirTran, but I'll look into bus/train as well. My girlfriend traveling alone will probably have some reservation about being on a bus or train...unfounded or not, I won't push it if she does

QUOTE (RZZZA @ Nov 12, 2012 -> 03:40 PM) *sigh*....6 concussions for Jay Cutler.... why does this injury s*** always have to happen to Chicago teams? I can't even think of a recent season in any major sport that wasn't ruined by injuries any more If this sort of thing leads to a premature end to the Cutler era, all the people that loved to hate him will suddenly herald him as the missing link to a title run that never was. Think Jim McMahon

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 12, 2012 -> 12:26 PM) By what measure is Memphis the highest traffic airport? Certainly not for passenger flights. It is a busy airport primarily because of the FedEx hub, so... unless you want to ship yourself via FedEx, that doesn't help you much. I lived in Memphis for a few years. Back then, there were three airlines running non-stops to Chicago: American, United and Northwest (which is now part of Delta). Northwest had a hub in Memphis. Are you saying no one does that route non-stop now? That would be really hard to believe. EDIT: I just looked. At least three airlines run it non-stop now; American, Delta and United. So I am not sure where you are getting the idea no one does that non-stop. The Southwest rumors have been around for at least a decade. Maybe now that Northwest is no longer, it will actually happen. Must have missed those non-stops due to price (cheap skate me!) And yeah, I just meant in terms of all air traffic. I'd have to guess the passenger air traffic is poor compared to other similarly-sized metros, actually. There is plenty of runway space for expanded air traffic. Southwest met up with the airport people a few months ago, but nobody really said what came of it. AirTran's current presence certainly guarantees some Southwest involvement in the future. I also heard Delta is on the way out here, which would certainly leave a void if true.

While we would probably wheel and deal to dump some salary, I think the only way we get Hamilton is if we're bluffing a bit in terms of how much money we have. If I'm the White Sox, Hamilton or no, I'm probably going to claim I'm up against salary restraints. It gives you some bargaining room with free agents. I'd imagine just about everybody is telling FAs and the media that they're strapped for cash.