YASNY

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 12:23 PM) There's a difference between bending the rules and breaking the rules. I'll give you a counter-example. A few years ago, the U.S. learned from some source that there were a few Cole bombing suspects in a car in Yemen. The U.S. Blew them up. Was that the right decision? In my view, 100% yes. We had to violate a country's airspace to hit them, and we did , but we eliminated a potentially immediate threat to the U.S. That is a wartime operation, and it's the type you tolerate in this sort of flexible war - the targeting of the opposition's leadership wherever they are. On the other hand, there is a very different thing going on at Gitmo. There we have people who are no longer a threat, who may not have been a threat in the first place, being held indefinately, with years going by before any of them were granted POW status. The law in this country is actually very clear, and it was upheld in the Hamdan case...either those captured are actual criminals, and therefore deserve the simple right of a fair trial before they are shut away forever, or they are prisoners of war and should be accorded as such. The people at Gitmo are off the battlefield. They are no longer a threat to anyone. Some of them may not have even been on a battlefield to begin with. There is simply no benefit to the United States to hold them indefinately without trial. It makes us look horrible, and it gains us nothing. The last paragraph is a contridiction within itself. They are off the battlefield and no longer a threat. That is the benefit to the United States to continue to hold them.

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 12:15 PM) Lieberthal went to LA. I'm aware of that. That has nothing to do with Hall other than Philly may have an opening for a catcher. So do we. QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 12:19 PM) I'm aware of that. That has nothing to do with Hall other than Philly may have an opening for a catcher. So do we. Never mind. I just checked Philly's roster. I see your point.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 12:06 PM) I remember being skeptical of the US government and their assurances even though data, research and human rights groups have debunked a lot of their assurances. But I don't remember doing that. C'mon YAS. You're better than that sort of vitriol. And before you ask, I was trying my best to be respectful in my long post in this thread. I just had the images of Abu Ghraib in my head too when you were talking about inhumanity. And with this Americans vs 'terrorists', what about the idea of: Wrong is wrong. No matter who does it or says it. That vitriol wasn't directed your way. As for the wrong vs wrong question ... I see it as us vs them and they aren't playing by the accepted rules of war, so therefore we have to at least be able to bend the rules. Yes, we humiliated some of the at AG. It wasn't right ... some soldiers got out of hand ... but we aren't executing them, burning their bodies or dragging their corpses through the streets. In fact, I've seen footage of a US soldier or marine get hit with a sniper's bullet .. but his body armor saved him. After retaliation and capture, this very soldier treated the wounds of the sniper. But you never hear about that s***. Yet, humiliation at AG gets thrown in our faces over and over and over and over and over again. I'm tired of it. And I'm tired of kowtowing to liberal agenda in this country. It will eventually be our downfall.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 12:05 PM) Well, if it winds up being anything actually noteworthy, I will apologize. No need. Breaking news turns out that way sometimes.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 12:00 PM) Giving someone a trial = ass kissing. Remarkable. What the f*** ever. More concerned with terrorists than Americans. Remarkable.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 11:59 AM) Thus far, these aren't even big enough stories to show up on either CNN or MSNBC, and we know how those networks love to jump at any sign of kids in jeopardy. Somehow, I get the feeling this will be fairly unimportant overall. It's getting top coverage on FoxNews. The Channel, not the website.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 11:53 AM) That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes an aeroplane, Lenny Bruce is not afraid... Hmmmm ... cracking jokes. Some people are more concerned with the safety of terrorists than they are with well being of American elementary school kids.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 11:51 AM) The level of inhumanity on display here sometimes is just staggering. The level off terrorist ass-kissing on here, at our own peril, is incomprehensible.

Damn ... now an elementary school has been evacuated in Dallas.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Dec 12, 2006 -> 05:33 PM) POTM worthy. I just heard a weather forcast for Mt. Hood. Brutal conditions coming tonight. Winds up to 130 mph with plummeting temperatures. This doesn't look good at all.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 11:29 AM) But what about the ones who weren't actually guilty of anything, and were picked up due to the scale of the sweep-ups/size of the rewards being offered without confirmation of anything? What about the people who weren't actually top-level AQ folks? That's why war sucks. Innocents suffer. It's always been that way, always will be that way.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 11:22 AM) That columnist did in fact sound like he actually knew a thing or two about the intrecacies of baseball though. That said I've seen Floyd pitch mighty fine at times so I'd like to see what Coop could do and Gio has made a ton of strides and has now emerged as a near upper echelon prospect (not quite there yet, but if he were 6-4 he'd be one of the stud prospects in all of baseball). Conlin is no dummy. But he's been in Philly a long time, so you know he's got to be jaded.

Just heard a newsbreak .... a teacher opened an envelope and had a reaction to soem substance inside. The school has been put on lockdown. The teacher was taken to a hospital and now the ER is on lockdown. That's all I know at this point. QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 11:18 AM) Just heard a newsbreak .... a teacher opened an envelope and had a reaction to soem substance inside. The school has been put on lockdown. The teacher was taken to a hospital and now the ER is on lockdown. That's all I know at this point. Correction ... Apparently the name of the town is Willingborough

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 11:12 AM) No question. The offseason isn't a failure or success until the season starts. But it seems like the gist of most of the comments in this thread is "thank god KW didn't waste the team's money on any of the FA's that have been signed." Of course I didn't want KW to throw away big money on a stiff like Gil Meche, but there have been some good opportunities to spend money which KW has eschewed. Apparently, he disagrees with you.

QUOTE(whitesoxin @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 10:33 AM) I have Bush, Tiki, and Jones-Drew. I'm playing in the semis against the #2 in points team, but 4 seed. (I'm the 1st seed) WHO SHOULD I START? I'm tempted to go with Bush and Jones-Drew. Check the rush defense of the opponents and go with whichever back is facing the weakest defense. Do your backs all have healthy offensive lines, or are there 3 backups starting?

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 11:03 AM) The Sox saved $10 million by trading Garcia. Do you think KW is going to spend that money on someone? If he doesn't, then it looks like a straight payroll cut to me. I know there have been a lot of crazy contracts signed this year, but it doesn't mean that there was no player available who was also affordable. Abreu, Jose Guillen and Lugo would all have been affordable and significant upgrades for the team. Why is pocketing the money better than spending it on an upgrade? Of course KW still has the chance to spend that money to improve the team. I hope he does it, instead of pretending that there was no way to spend the money that would actually help the team. But he's not a slap hitting speedster! It's mid-December. Before we bend KW over a barrel, let's just see how this all shakes out.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 10:49 AM) See, to me, this country and the Constitution are great because of the protections put in place for those we hate. Fair trials for all. Nazis can have their picnics. People can express dissent. I'm not saying these guys should go free. I am saying that it is our responsibility as a nation to not stoop to the level of our enemies. And I'm talking about the kind of people that will slit a reporters throat on camera and braodcast the tape across the world or the type of people that will hang and burn the bodies of non-combatants from a bridge. The type of people that will drag the beheaded bodies of American's through the street. The are not deserving of the protections of OUR constitution and have no legitimate claim to those protecetions. The method of war that they have chosen to wage denies them the protections of the Geneva convention. They made their choices and they started this s*** by slaughtering nearly 3000 of our citizens. As far as their human rights are concerned, I could care less. f*** them!

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 10:04 AM) A little overblown, don't you think? No less overblown than Milkman's comments about steroids, IMO. Though I do get your point. Kind of. Disagree with it, though. No, it's not overblown. Something can happen to a quote can be taken out of context and twisted to fit a person's agenda and someone's reputation is raked over the coals. I've been on the receiving end of being quoted out of context ... in Sports Illustrated no less ... and it's not a pleasant experience.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 09:54 AM) I don't think KW is just going to spend money to spend money. If the market is out of control it seems like he is just going to wait out the storm. If all he does is add a backup catcher and one more reliever, the payroll will be lower for 2007. This situation will give him huge flexibility at the trading deadline. Nor, do I want him to spend just to spend. If things work out to where payroll is a smidge lower, then something fell through. That is a possibility. That doesn't mean they have an agenda to cut payroll.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 10:19 AM) Then find out what does apply. And it sure as heck isn't infinite and unregulated detainment. That is not OK, it stands counter to what our country is supposed to stand for, and it makes us look like buffoons to everyone else. We can't go criticizing China for their human rights violations when we decide that some people in our custody get no rights at all. Sorry, I don't care about the human rights of terrorists. They want to kill us. That's all I need to know.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 09:48 AM) wasnt 04 one of those years in question? Several players were due raises and were traded/let go, and I think that although salary did go up minimally, the general consensus was that the team basically added by subtracting The payroll went up.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 09:41 AM) alomar, widger, oh god no. i want toby hall. the sox need a catcher that can actually hit and not be automatic outs. I read today that Hall will 'probaly' go to Philly. I have no clue as to why that was said, though.

QUOTE(whitesox1976 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 09:39 AM) I hope Williams isn't cutting payroll. If he trades any more starters then I would be inclined to think that he is trying to cut the payroll. They have never cut payroll before any season when the profits from the previous season allowed them to increase or maintain. They have ALWAYS put back into the club. Why, after all this time of the having a well established pattern, would think this year is different?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 14, 2006 -> 08:28 AM) Thank you. I even put the word in italics, but I guess that wasn't clear enough. I'm waiting like everyone else to see if it actually happens. I just found the slight sort of amusing, since talking about at least a temporary freeze is one more step than the "brave heart" (opposite of bleeding heart?) GOP Congress was willing to do. It ain't going to happen. And this is not a stab at the Dems. Neither party is willing to give this 'earmark' stuff up. What the Dems may do, is to convince everyone they are trying, but blame the GOP when they can't pull it off. And if the situation was flip flopped, it would be the same thing.