YASNY

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Apr 7, 2006 -> 12:45 PM) Well, that's true regarding NIE briefings. Not removing CIA cover though - that itself is illegal period, I believe. And the Vice President does not have the power to declassify unless given in writing by the President. Two months ago or so, Cheney said Bush has given him that power.

If we strike Iran, China and/or Russia is going to be pissed. This would not be a good thing.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Apr 7, 2006 -> 07:16 AM) YAS, the learn English thing comes up all the time. Yes, you would learn the language for the country you are in, but if you and I met in a restaurant, we would converse in English. If the shopkeeper speaks English, you would be more comfortable speaking English and he would get more of your businesses. Yet, the language thing always comes up, and I find it rather silly. I wonder if deaf and mutes (is there a better term?) should be allowed to use sign language? Just don't pin it to a quote of mine because I didn't say it.

Now there's a well thought out, unemotional post if I ever saw one.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Apr 7, 2006 -> 11:53 AM) Seriously...a dog without ketchup is just not very good to me. I could care less what others do, but I've had ketchup and mustard on my dog since I was a kid and thats the way it tastes good. Chili can be a nice treat though. I'm more of a brat guy though. I will now and forever think of any hotdog with ketchup on it as being "Gaged".

Ketchup on hot dogs is a hanging offense.

When posting about a recent book, movie or TV show and your post may spoil it for someone that hasn't seen or read it yet, always precede your post with a definitive spoiler warning.

From an article called "Dining in Chicago". So apparently it does exist. At least, it apparently did when this undated article was written. Dining in Chicago Editted to add: The above is ONLY reference I can find about this place, so I still can't say for sure if it does or ever did exist.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Apr 7, 2006 -> 02:04 AM) And that's exactly what they're going to have to do if they still want to have a pretty good farm system (and still be a very sucessful team at the MLB level, hence not going any high draft picks). Think outside the square a little, and get these guys from the Dominican Republic and Brazil. And so far, from what we've seen over the past couple of years, they're making some progress on this regard. You can add Venezuela to the equation with the new baseball academy there.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Apr 7, 2006 -> 02:07 AM) I don't even know about Byrd. He's only struck out 181 hitters in the past 2 years (50 starts equals just above 3.5 hitters a game). And a few seasons ago, he gave up 36 homers. If he's not careful, if he goes back to his flyball ways, that ERA could jump. Johnson is just really not good. 6.66 ERA away from Comerica last season equals trouble. That's a beastly ERA.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 01:52 PM) It isn't illegal at all, it's just sleazy as all hell. I'd imagine if a Democrat was in office for the last six years, he or she would have been impeached about eight times over by now. And if the Dems held the congressional majority, Bush wouldn't have been? Pot-kettle.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 12:48 PM) Then why such an outcry that anyone speak English? Why would it be necessary to speak at all? And Bush wants to change things so they aren't ilegal, and then we will both be happy. It has been illegal forever and every decade of two we dream up a program to document these workers. The economy needs it, there are no extra cogs. I am saying there are reasons to break a law. Some valid, some invalid. I business owner who is faced with closing his doors, or a farmer who can't get his crops picked, may have a valid reason to hire someone without documentation. A business who is just trying to exploit people, may not be on the same moral or ethical grounds. I am certain there are examples of both out there. Getting back to the terrorist angle. I'm not certain where the 90% mark comes in, but any terrorist that has invested money in their plot is not going to risk death in a desert march when they can arrive as tourists, or recruit someone already here. I don't recall ever saying they should have to speak English. From a personal perspective, if I relocated to a foreign country I'd attempt to learn the native tongue. But that's just me. If the congress and the president can come up with a plan that fairly allows some of the illegals to achieve a legal status, I'm all for it. The terrorism concern is not that a terrorist will cross the border, but what he can smuggle in when he comes. This is on par with the recent ports issue.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 12:14 PM) Ok, so if he had no smoking gun, what about Mark McGwire's andro bottle in his locker in 1998? What about Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco's steroid admissions in the early 00's? What about the power surge, which was questionned at the time by many people (Remember the years that everyone was saying how the balls were being wound tighter?) You don't convict everyone in baseball without a smoking gun, but that doesn't mean you don't start looking into things. What about McGwire's andro bottle? In '98 that was a legal otc supplement. It's now illegal and Selig had something to do with that if you care to read the 3rd paragraph of JR's and AM's letter to the CST. After the Caminiti-Canseco thing in the early 00's, he implemented steroid testing in the minors in '01 and bargained in the original major league steroid testing in '02. That qualifies as early 00's to me.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:24 PM) Blahbady blahbadee blah. . . Exactly what I was thinking.

QUOTE(watchtower41 @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:59 AM) I could be wrong here, but I thought Nancy was not coming back because her contract weas not re-newed by the Sox??? I believe they are looking to ditch the organ all together. Nancy will be there for all day games. She's tired of the late nights. When she quits entirely, I believe the organ is history.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:54 AM) If there is 1 person in baseball who could hang a sign saying "The buck stops here", it's Bud Selig. Don Fehr's job is not to protect the integrity of the game. Bud Selig's job is. That is the key difference. Don Fehr's job is to represent his players and make things as good as possible for them. Bud Selig's job is to protect baseball. Fehr takes his share of the blame because he was wrong, but he's certainly no where near the man at the top of the blame pyramid in my book. Maybe Bud was protecting the existance of the game.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:55 AM) Brooks isn't a big Nancy fan. Even the Yanks don't have a live organist anymore if I recall correctly. I think Brooks is going to have to deal with it until she's ready to hang up her keyboard.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:51 AM) If it's gone to a grand jury...an apology should make no difference. The only thing that would make a difference is a prosecutor or the cops themselves deciding not to go ahead with charges. Which an apology may achieve.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:50 AM) Bingo. Fehr and Orza are at fault for the lack of a drug testing policy for so many years. That's the way I see it. As contentious as the 'relationship' between the owners and the union was back then, there was no way Selig could taken a hardline stand on this issue. Baseball, as we know, would be dead.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:41 AM) According to the APthis morning...it may or may not be too late...the police have finished their investigation and given their information to a federal prosecutor. That prosecutor now has to decide whether there's enough information to head to a grand jury. Even if there is an apology, she should probably go to court anyway...and she should probably face an ethics charge in the House ethics committee too, but of course, that thing has been completely shut down. It has bben taken to the grand jury. Today. Waiting for news on it now.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:41 AM) I agree with that to a certain extent, but the owners sure could've used the issue to demonize the MLBPA. Given that the owners took most of the blame for the strike in the eyes of the fans (particularly Sox fans), exposing the steroids issue to the public and blaming the MLBPA for stone-walling them during negotiations would've been a smart tactical move. Much, if not most, of the blame should be placed on the shoulders of the MLBPA, but the owners could've done something in '94 or even before. So why is Selig being the only one raked over the coals in here? Not one person has mentioned Donald Fehr.

ZeroHour should post more often.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:01 AM) She will be...and I think the fact that she decided to make this a racial issue has only hardened the resolve of the capitol police. Had she just come forward the next day and apologized, I bet they would have dropped it, but it's going to the grand jury, and it's what she deserves. She just apologized on the floor of the house. We'll see if it was enough or if was too little, tooo late.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 09:34 AM) Exactly right. I should have broken that sentance in two. Politicians and pundits (of all colors and religions) are fanning the flames, and many are using (white) unemployment as a device. It's a white US for the most part and that gets action faster. They are linking terrorism with illegal workers, which is such a thin link. It seems impossible for anyone is this to not see it as a racial thing. Mexicans vs. Americans, etc. The undercurrent I feel is that Latinos of all countries are exploding in population and becoming more political. Businesses are working overtime to sell to this market and advertising in Spanish, which makes people who do not speak Spanish uncomfortable. We are already the worst world power in terms of being mono-lingual, yet we want to further retreat. It isn't some obscure government document being in 12 languages that most people fear, it's walking into The Gap and hearing the clerk sell a pair of jeans in Spanish. It's being at lunch and the conversations around you are in Spanish. That's what people fear. Now from my personal perspective, this is bull. I do not have anything against Latino people. In fact, I respect the hell out of them because they are such hard workers. I'm against illegal immigration for one reason and one reason only. It's illegal.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Apr 6, 2006 -> 10:16 AM) IIRC, steroid use had been going on in MLB since at least the late '80s. The owners had to know about it by the early '90s or so. I don't see why Selig couldn't have pushed for steroid testing after the '94 strike. Because the '94 strike was the worst thing to happen to baseball since 1919. There was nothing but bitter contentiousness between the owners and the union and the fans were majorly pissed. They had to get back to playing baseball, not fighting anymore battles.