bmags

Great lakes christmas ale taps at a party tomorrow. Not sure when it will hit stores though.

Wait, seriously? That's what he had?

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 03:43 PM) He said he was "probably" going to do it today on "the Twitter" Damn, 140 characters? Must be a whopper then.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 05:09 PM) I could not disagree more - the entire Fringe library being on there is awesome, they have a ton of selection. Also, how difficult is it to select the "Amazon Prime" section to see which movies/shows qualify as free under Amazon Prime? There's tons. I'd say your review mostly tells us user error. Eh, I am using it through my vizio app, so it's possible that it's terrible interface there. BUt, still not impressed by selection. OH MY GOD, ROMANCING THE STONE IS AVAILABLE!??!

QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Oct 24, 2012 -> 02:46 AM) Get rid of the bands they have outside the main gate and the gate across the street. Unless the contract is huge, get rid of the guys offering vacations outside of the park. Leave the Pirates of the Carribean video at the beginning and keep "Thunderstruck." It's a little loud but that intro gets fans pumped up and on their feet before the game. Some of the promotions are crap during the game, and the handouts before the game aren't as worth it (save for the $1 off Aldi's milk). That will solve the attendance woes?

That was a fairly clean campaign, but to be fair Obama also ignored the savings and loan scandal with McCain in the late 80s.

I walked away from yesterdays Apple event pretty impressed by their laptops and desktops. As those aren't sexy any more htey don't get much press. But the 13" Macbook Air looks about as perfect as you can get for a laptop. And I'd be interested in testing out the fusion drive on the imac (was that on the air?)

QUOTE (vandy125 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 08:58 PM) If you really wanted diversity, you would strive to get more diverse opinions on the issues from a wider range of groups. Instead this is more of a how come "MY" opinion doesn't count more than it already does? Why does someone with a different viewpoint have an affect on what "I" want? It's a good thing to have more viewpoints. That's my opinion as to why the electoral college appears to help out with that (I haven't looked at Jake's responses yet, but I am all for anything that advances a wider range of diverse opinions being heard). There is no diverse options right now. Every debate is dominated by coal and manufacturing. Tailoring all our elections to these two industries is ridiculous. If they paid more attention to the problems of companies in San Franciso and New York you'd see a lot better policies. But regardless, the idea that cities are a homogenous voting class is ridiculous. Dallas is not the same as Seattle, Portland is not the same as Washington DC. Yet all are marginalized in the current system.

QUOTE (vandy125 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 08:32 PM) LOL, changed it for better accuracy on your opinion from what I have read so far. You think that we should grant people in rural areas more powers because...I haven't heard a good answer. You act like cities are some homogenous block that all votes a single way. This way if a city is 53% republican and 47% democratic, all get their voices heard. Cities wouldn't be over represented, they would get perfectly represented because more Americans live there.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 08:28 PM) Only if we're concerned about chunks of land or "settings" getting representation and not actual citizens. How much would Romney really campaign in NYC, anyway? He could solidify upstate new york a lot more than he has. He could fly into manhattan and make even more loads of cash.

QUOTE (vandy125 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 08:22 PM) Do I really need to tell you that Illinois, New York, etc have already pretty much made up their mind? There is a reason that a big part of the state of Illinois would like to split off from Chicago. It is because their concerns are not addressed. In Illinois, it is all about Chicago. Chicago/Cook county picks everything regardless of the concerns of those in the other parts of the state. That in itself is a small subset of exactly what would happen in the National election. There are all kinds of examples of this exact thing happening within individual states. See New York City and the rest of New York as well as East Washington State vs West Washington State as more examples. It wouldn't matter if "New York" made up their mind if we didn't have the electoral college. If the, say, Republican candidate, worked to more in NY to get 47% of the vote, that would be huge to to add to their coalition of republican voters across the country. New York and Illinois dont' vote 100% democrat, California has a HUGE Republican base and Texas has a much larger amount of democrats than Montana has republicans. This way those people can be more motivated to participate. Instead their votes are largely null. To conclude, the rest of Illinois can cry me a river about getting bullied by chicago area.

QUOTE (vandy125 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 08:03 PM) Great. Good to know that representation would be in only 1 of 2 of the elected branches. And since the President has such a large say in the appointment of Supreme Court justices, there goes the 3rd branch as well... I would like the President to actually have a concern for other parts of the country. If we are talking "National", then the President should have concerns for the entire "Nation", not just the larger subset that lives in large cities on the coasts. It is always a bad idea to focus in on one area. A leader of the nation should have a broad view of the concerns of the entire nation. How would representation be in only 1 of the 2 branches? They could still vote.

QUOTE (vandy125 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 06:48 PM) Actually, it would be a complete shift in the issues. It would turn into "should we build more roads or have more subways?". You'd effectively remove any voice for a large amount of issues that should be represented. I'm surprised that any liberal would be in favor of removing the ability for a minority population to have their concerns addressed... But they would have their concerns address because we have a US congress. BUt more subways than roads? That's a great idea! It would be amazing if that was covered on a national level!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 06:22 PM) Historically, it is how we have done business. They also started out with chattel slavery. If these places have a voice in congress, then they are being heard. They could make their own farmers party that sells their votes to whoever gives them the most goodies to their areas. Just because something is done some way doesn't mean it's the best way of doing things.

QUOTE (vandy125 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 06:25 PM) There are completely different concerns in rural areas compared to metropolitan areas. If you only ever care about the majority, then they can just run over any minority. Sounds like the American dream to me... But that's what congress is for.

QUOTE (vandy125 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 06:18 PM) Say hello to the coasts choosing the presidency every election. Nobody in "fly-over" country would have their concerns listened to. The vast majority of Americans live on the coasts, though?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 06:10 PM) Instead of swing states, the election will be concentrated in higher populated areas. But a lot of Americans live there, by it's very nature.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 06:08 PM) It is two different branches of government. Do we need to overrepresent rural areas in every branch of government?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 05:31 PM) I think if you got rid of the electoral college, you would just disenfranchise a different sector of the country. I have said before that we as a country did built in minority (as in not the majority of the votes) protections. I think the electoral college was another method, much like the senate, to try to limit the power of urban areas in a country that has a large agrarian history. But they are already way overrepresented in the senate. There's your minority power.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 05:25 PM) This is speculation. Recent history has shown this to not have much of an effect. Moody's predicts that at our current pace, we will gain 12 million new jobs by 2016 (that number sound familiar?). This would probably encourage a sitting President to wait it out. It would absolutely boost growth. It just would not make up the revenue they claim it would.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 05:20 PM) Europe has shown pretty clearly that austerity will only make things worse, as well as our own experience with the Bush tax cuts. Europe hasn't cut the revenue they've enacted higher taxes and less gov't spending. Romney's plan is stimulus, it's just republican stimulus. Tax cuts and military spending. Spending on military doesn't count against deficit IYAR. It would work though. If Obama is elected, Republicans will demand austerity. If Romney is elected, they will allow huge tax cuts and increased spending. Vote republican! They won't hold the economy hostage if you do!

I couldn't believe they were leaving Tillman all alone in the end zone with CJ. And he held strong, it was an unbelievable performance.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 22, 2012 -> 10:00 PM) It was a throw away post, but if you want to keep the back and forth going . . . the Sox have a much better idea where the economy is heading than you or me. LOL

For the first time since week 1, I've won in both leagues I'm in. Same s*** every year, week 1 I have the best team in the league, I'm super pumped. Then TD droughts galore for 4 weeks. Then I try to claw back and narrowly miss playoffs. Sitting at 3-4 in both leagues. Killed by lack of real QBs. Every year I want to get one, but then either draft too late or get bid out.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Oct 23, 2012 -> 03:54 PM) That it would be. I forgot to mention (though it says so at the link) the Louisville AD mentioned the home-and-home for basketball AND football. That's why I really like it. I want to add a frequent non-conference opponent that isn't Ball State, and Louisville seems like a solid choice. That would be an awesome travel game.