Balta1701

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 09:55 PM) Hmmm let's think... DOT? Bad. I still haven't gotten my Hazmat. Luckily I don't need it, but its been months. Then somehow a 3 year old speeding ticket on my Class D in Wisconsin put a hold on my license and gave me CSA points, and I got it before CSA even started. My company (thankfully) has taken up that fight for me with the FMCSA assholes because what helps my score helps their score. I did manage to get my license reinstated for $50 after sitting on hold for 3 hours. Nice. So you got yourself a speeding ticket and blame everyone else for the consequences. At least that one makes sense.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 05:43 PM) Not true for me, unfortunately. I have an individual plan with BCBS. My premium is going from $90/month to $306/month in January. I'm trying to look into the exchanges, but healthcare.gov is totally overloaded with traffic and non-operational. You're an ideal exchange person.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 05:56 PM) I predicted this in a paper as a sophomore in college 20 years ago. Still waiting for it to happen. Did you get the order of Korea-Taiwan-China-India-Southeast Asia correct?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 04:24 PM) Like you can keep your health coverage if you want it, it won't cost any more, etc.? yeah. It's entirely true for me. And I really wish I could drop mine and get into a fully government-run plan.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 03:43 PM) One thing I think we'll find in terms of "job-killing" by Obamacare is, there will be very little of that for corporations of significant size (say, a few hundred people or more, who already have infrastructure to handle the regs), or with 95% of small businesses (which are well under the 50 person mark). But what you will have, I believe, is a weird blip in the curve between about 40 and 100 people in a company. For those firms, the reg requirements and paperwork, as well as in some cases pure cost, will be difficult. That means some companies under 50 may aim to stay under 50 if at all possible, unless they are ready to make a big burst. And companies 50+ and less than a couple hundred will have huge burdens that may effect how many people they can employ. The result of this is two-fold. First is the actual job losses (or more accurately, lack of jobs created), which hits in the short term. But in the long term, you are creating an artificial horizon, which essentially becomes a barrier to growth. Most large companies started very small, and at some point transited through the 50-100 people level. What will equivalent companies do now, when they approach that line? Some may decide to go on as normal. Others may hesitate. I doubt it will be 100% of either. But that sticky number becomes an impediment to growth. This is not to say that makes ObamaCare totally invalid or all bad - it is just a subtle point I haven't seen discussed much, but which I think may cause issues down the road. We'll have to see if the good parts of the law outweigh the bad. There is abig benefit to note as well...At least one friend of mine runs an internet business and his premiums will be dropping by $1000 a month starting in January. The U.S. has long lagged other countries in the number of people who start their own businesses. It's entirely sensible that a big part of that has been people being locked into work they don't want because it's the only way they can get health insurance. Fixing the individual market makes it possible for those people who want to start a business to actually do so.

H. Christ, Curiosity is being put in standby because of this. We can land a 1-ton engineering marvel on the surface of another planet, but hell, if we have to choose between that and poor people seeing the doctor, screw it!

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 02:36 PM) You are confusing record profits to the Fortune 500 as record profits for all. Yes, a lot of the mega corporations are doing better than ever...but they don't employ the majority of people. Small and medium businesses do, and they're not all doing quite as well as Apple. I can't even check to see is this is true because the employment data is down.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 01:27 PM) I don't even know why Gillaspie is an option. He's just a body. He's not a good fielder and he's a blah hitter, mediocre at very best. Why is he a White Sox option for anything? It'd be nice to upgrade both spots, but given the choice of 3b and 1b upgrades, 1b is far more important. 1b was murder on this team this year, it killed te entire lineup. Our 1b hurt us far more than Gillaspie. It only makes sense to make a 3b move if we find a real upgrade. A trained chimp would be an upgrade on our 1b slot after last year.

My crazy sounding 3b move is Gillaspie and Santiago for Lawrie. But I sincerely doubt Toronto has any desire to move him.

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 12:51 PM) Trade John Danks for a better 3B. Can you give a name that makes sense for both sides? Danks is about the one guy on the roster I'd actually trade for Headley but no idea why the Pads would take that on

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 09:25 AM) You know those are the extreme outliers in this situation. And, on top of that, both spent well over $100 million in free agency to get there. I would be more than a little Angry if the white sox do not spend $100 million this offseason given that they knocked their payroll down below $50 million right now.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 11:23 PM) Would anybody bet that Tank-De Aza-Garcia is out starting outfield next year? I guess no. What are the chanes the Sox play Garcia in CF? I guess not likely. Who's more likely to be out. De Aza or Tank. If the sox don't add someone to te OF that's exactly the lineup I'd put out there, but I'd also have had Garcia know he was moving to CF a month ago. In terms of dumping a guy, I don't like losing either for nothing but I don't know how things went behind the scenes. How the staff reacted to de Aza and Viciedo is something we only have glimpses of from Harrelson and Venturas refusal to bench guys. I won't be mad if they are replaced but I will be if they're dumped but we still have a gaping hole at 1b.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 10:31 PM) How would you guys feel if the Sox got Salty,Abreu and Ellsbury. Possible? Too much money? I'd want to know how the lineup was going to work, I don't like giving up de Aza or Viciedo for nothing.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 05:18 PM) I don't think anyone will argue passing a truck on the right side is the best way to go unless the truck gives you no other option. It is pretty much everything else you said that has made everyone against you.... But te problem is, we have one trucker who insists both that truckers can't be criticized for hanging out in other lanes and 4 wheelers should be criticized if they pass those same truckers on the right when they hang out there. After all, those cars are just making things unsafe while trying to shave 2 minutes off their commute, but the truck in the center or left lane is just an honorable soldier trying to make an honest living and that extra minute for him or her is worth more than our lives.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 09:52 PM) What young star hitter is available? CarGo? Stanton? Hopefully Abreu is that.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 09:33 PM) MLB continuing to show they are the biggest embarrassment in pro sports when it comes to technology. I hate changing who I am rooting mid game because of umps.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 08:57 PM) Will Shawnee national forest be closed because of this All the offices yes. Probably campgrounds too, and any other facilities. They might leave a major road open if there are any.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 05:14 PM) I disagree. There aren't many cases of "first to worst." They happens sometimes, but most of the time team's need to get decent before they get good. Next year, for example, I'd be plenty happy with 75 wins if I feel like team came by them via legitimate, sustainable improvement. That means we're moving in the right direction and can keep getting better. It seems like both the Indians and the Red Sox went from worst (or close t worst) in the al this year.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 05:21 PM) Beckham's arm is his plus tool at second. The range is solid, the gloves is solid. He's a slightly above average defender, but not nearly good enough to justify the bat. You don't cut him by any means, but you don't let him stand in the way of someone better. To me, we have enough old-ish MI prospects that someone needs to move out of the way. Ideally, you move the aging Ramirez, but if there's no deal there, I say a strong spring training from Semien or Garcia should relegate Beckham to a part-time role or DFA. Problem is Beckhams range was solid 2 years ago but has been getting worse every year and was a real weakness this year.

The problem with that thinking is it can get you in trouble as well. If you swing out of the zone trying to make contact and drive the run in, you're not likely to make solid contact. You swing at an unhittable pitch, get into a bad count and then that's it.

Big cojones Perez!

Oh, and NASA is scheduled to launch a $500 million Mars mission in November but 97% of NASA employees won't come in tomorrow, so if this goes on for a couple weeks we might lose that entire mission because work preparing for the launch is unfunded. Link

QUOTE (Tex @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 02:45 PM) My guess is there is a gulf between theoretical scientists that are working on pure research and scientists that are trying to create a new and improved mouthwash or a kitty litter that will handle three cats. Where do the people who work for industry get their education? Oil companies aren't stupid enough to hire from these scam for profit colleges, they raid the state schools as much as possible.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 01:43 PM) that's weird. i just saw an Obama speech where he said we had an extreme scientist shortage and needed to bring in scientists from overseas to fill the the millions of open scientist jobs. i don't even know what to believe any more. He's absolutely right. Which is why we should stop screwing around with science funding, because this season is a terrible thing for science. I didn't apply for overseas jobs until this year. I am now. I want a us job but the us doesn't want scientists. And that's not sarcastic, the us is behaving like a country that wants its scientists to leave. And the rest of the world is smart enough to jump on that.

This is going to be a fun sports night.