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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 29, 2011 -> 06:03 PM) This is why these issues never go anywhere. A roadblock is instantly thrown up to prevent any real progress from being made. then prove it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 29, 2011 -> 04:57 PM) This is for council, mayor, and clerk. Honestly I put more into the locals than I do the Presidential, because these are the people that affect my life more than anyone. Perfect, I think simplifying it down to what we just did would increase participation.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 29, 2011 -> 04:34 PM) http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2...owners-players/ Dear god that would be awful. Just as a reference point, the Bulls payroll for 2011-2012 is $60,726,162 for ONLY 10 players (Boozer, Deng, Rose, Noah, Korver, Brewer, Watson, Asik, Bogans and Gibson). And the Bulls have to re-sign Rose to a max deal. This is gonna be a long long long winter without any basketball. One, that will never happen. But 2, without guaranteed contracts it gets a lot easier to not give a s*** about possible bad contracts.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 29, 2011 -> 03:24 PM) It never ceases to amaze me how little voting is done in local elections. Our local primaries saw 4500 votes in a town of 30000. I understand it. It is hard for me to keep up what's going on in my neighborhood and I have no family or anyone to take care of. With national politics you can, rightfully or not, sort of pin point all of the things you think are going right or wrong on those personalities, it's an easier way to sort all of these things you notice in your head. Add ot that the absolute onslaught of democratically elected positions locally. There are too many. There is no way anyone could know how a local judge is performing easily. But we have to vote for them. And there is no real study that shows that judges voted in are any better. If we simplified that process people may be able to focus in on one or two positions (state reps and aldermans).

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Jun 29, 2011 -> 03:05 PM) I figured that most of it would be from people with long-term or incurable things like cancer or something like that. This is likely the case. I know we like to stigmatize poor people as being lazy and are at fault for making the wrong choices. But it should be said that it is much more difficult to make the right choice in low income areas with little access to fresh fruits and vegetables. It's no surprise that people with more money tend to eat healthier, with access and means to afford whole foods and the like. Being poor really, really sucks. And when you are constantly doing transaction costs in your head it's exhausting. I'm fine in conceding we shouldn't tax unhealthy foods, if you'll all consider that we shouldn't subsidize unhealthy ones.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jun 29, 2011 -> 01:39 AM) I don't really consider PER a true efficiency stat. chw42 has gone on about it in this thread before, it's simply a very flawed stat. But sure, even using that, there isn't a significant difference between Smith and Richardson, which was my point in the first place. I'm torn on the two, I feel like attitude wise I'd much, much prefer Richardson, but I like the fact that JR Smith has a lot of confidence. Down the stretch the team had a bunch of guys scared to take the shot. JR Smith would not be. On the other hand, that could be a disaster in itself.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 29, 2011 -> 02:52 PM) Tax cuts are bulls***, mostly because the idea behind them doesn't really exist. What I mean is, the idea behind tax cutting is simple...more money into the pockets of the people who buy things/do things, which of course, gets the economy churning. On paper, this idea makes perfect logical sense...and it would work if they actually cut taxes. However, what actually happens is the federal government cuts taxes, but the city/state/town/etc turns around and raises them...so there really is no more money going into the pockets of citizens...they're just shifting the collector around. Be it in soda taxes, water taxes, entertainment taxes, sticker fees, parking rates, property taxes, you name the added tax. In the end, if the fed lowers your tax by 5%, you can be damn sure it will rise 5% elsewhere. I do agree, but this is also an example of why people should put more effort into local government. And it will only get harder with the shift away from newspapers.

QUOTE (FlySox87 @ Jun 28, 2011 -> 01:33 AM) Like lowering taxes to stimulate the economy, a strong national defense and less government interference in citizens' lives? Those ain't no leftist principles I've ever heard of. Reagan also had raised taxes during his eight year term and signed into law a bill that guaranteed the treatment of anyone coming in the ER. What a leftist. He also gave illegals amnesty, clearly he didn't love America. He even appointed a drug czar!

not me. He seems way too emotionally attached to players, has no idea how to put a team together. As a whole, he seems like a nice guy that isn't prepared for the harsh realities of being a GM.

wow. Did not see that comment coming.

QUOTE (SoxFanForever @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 08:26 PM) So now that the draft is over can we please get a real 2 guard so that Bogans is riding the pine or on another team? I'm in the OJ Mayo camp personally and wouldn't have minded dealing Omer for him. Any chance we use resources from this draft to make a trade in the coming days? I'm interested to see if there is movement or the whole league shuts down now.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 06:45 PM) It doesn't necessarily mean it would get cheaper, it could just be cheaper for the companies to accept the fines and let the subsidies and the people burden the load of expense... I see what you are trying to say here, but there is no guarantee the opposite doesn't happen. Just because companies dump people onto the exchanges it doesn't mean it's because its cheaper than private insurance at all...it could just mean that they'd rather you and I foot the bill than them. but that insurance is already subsidized by being tax free. And adding more people onto exchange would make it cheaper, you'd have more buying power the more people are on it.

Toni Kukoc 2.0

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 06:39 PM) As I said in the post, I never claimed the odds were good. True, there have been good picks in that range. But some of those definitely took time to develop. I just don't think it was reasonable to thinkt he bulls would use the draft to upgrade SG. They did not make that trade for Fernandez, but I hope that's because they are targeting someone they deem a better fit performance or salary wise.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 05:09 PM) Long story short: I really wanted Jujuan Johnson. Didn't think he'd be there when we picked first. He was there when we picked first. We took a guy that might help us in 2015. I got pissed. Didn't break any board rules. The end. I'm not suggesting you get banned, I just still want to talk about last night's draft, terrible a pool of talent as it was.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 04:53 PM) In theory, yes. But if suddenly truckloads of doctors say they're not accepting such insurance, it undermines the system as it's designed. It's exactly what they're doing with a lot of HMO's and Medicare...simply not accepting new patients that have it. Then they will have no patients. Simple as that. You think all the doctors in the country will be able to exclude a group that includes the most likely to need insurance? Those doctors are very few in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure every doctor would like to not get medicare rates, but the group is too large to ignore.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 04:56 PM) It's the NBA Draft. Everything posted about it was reactionary last night. He was just negative in his reaction. Reactionary wasn't the right word, but he was putting way too much emphasis on this draft and the bulls future. If this was cleveland/utah/minnesota, i'd understand. But it wasn't. If we traded rose for derrick williams I could see it, but this draft was so bad I don't think it will be the turning point for any franchise, let alone ours.

But I don't think this should include game threads. THere have been times during games where I have cursed voodoo spells on juan pierre, and then the play happens and whatever. It's way too hard not to be hyperbolic in the heat of a game.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 04:46 PM) And in the end, he was very much right on his first and main part of his infamous post: This board incredibly overrates Omer Asik. The fact that we may have just drafted someone in the first round to play 12 MPG 3-4 years from now should only scare people, especially when the Bulls should be in win now mode. And that's all he was trying to address at the time. Well, I hate to break it to you, but championship teams rarely find their missing pieces in the 25-32 range of the NBA draft. Players like Asik, and hopefully Mirotic, are exactly the time of role players that help you win championships. I don't think any of us expect the offseason to be over, except for 1. I like J4L but he was incredibly reactionary last night.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 05:30 PM) Examples of hyperbole are: Its a 3-1 game, White Sox are winning: "Sox will never win" That's a terrible example.

If companies dump off insurance, the exchanges will get stronger and more affordable.

Let alone what drove me crazy is using the bpa comment against the bulls, when clearly they weren't drafting on need. They didn't need a 7 ft forward, they needed a SG. And all these talks about drafting a sg in 20-32 that could contribute right away is crazy. He'd never see the floor. How many of those players have been great? Eddie Jones?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 24, 2011 -> 04:10 PM) I'll say, with a lockout looming, drafting someone with a buyout clause never made more sense. Let Mirotic rock it overseas and add some bulk to his frame. exactly. I still can't believe the circus comments from last night happened.

I'm laughing hysterically at those who thought our 28th or 30th pick was going to put us over the top in any draft let alone this one.

Bulger terrorized Boston on a large scale. It affected businessowners, cops, politicians...this was a very significant arrest and there really should be no romanticizing about it.