Balta1701

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 02:31 PM) I know that it seems less likely now that Pettitte is gone, but what does Freddo do if he doesn't make the team? Does he come crawling back to the Sox? If he doesn't make that team he might well retire. Or spend another 6 months in rehab.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 12:56 PM) That being said, there have been elected European leaders who are arguably far worse than any leader in the Middle East. Who knows how it will turn out, but in my opinion there is a very real possibility that revolution/reform does not end in the US being on great terms with Egypt. The biggest reason why this might be true is that the tanks surrounding the capital are U.S. made M1A1 tanks, paid for with U.S. aid dollars. If they fire, the bullets are American made bullets. The Tear gas canisters proudly state that they're made in the USA. If we wind up in a worse situation here, it's because we made 30 years of choices in favor of a stable Egypt and that's how things turned out. If someone wants to argue that we'd have been better off with no Treaty between Israel and Egypt for the last 30 years and instead waiting for the population of Egypt to form a pro-u.s. democracy, they might have a point. But...favoring stability over favoring democracy, particularly in this region, has been a choice the U.S. has made for 75 years. It has cost us things like the pro-U.S. Iranian regime. But it has gained the U.S. 75 years of cheap, reliable, hydrocarbon supplies.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 02:35 PM) edit2: here's an article that contains a response from the Department of Health and Human Services explaining their rationale. It also seems that it was DHHS's call, not Obama or the White House. Ok dude...technically, Housing and Human Services is a cabinet office...and the Cabinet is subservient to the Executive office of the President. So it might not be President Obama sitting there and manually stating "i like this company and I don't like this one", but it's still an executive branch decision.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 10:54 AM) [/b] I have yet to see a public transit system that didn't struggle with this problem. I wish I knew the answer, because I'd be a rich-assed consultant. In the long term, I think smartphones are the answer to that problem, but only a limited selection of the population has the ability to access that data right now.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 2, 2011 -> 10:16 PM) in a swing state... smart move FWIW, it's been noted since the Dems announced their Convention that there is no statistical evidence for any positive local vote gains due to the presence of a nearby party convention.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 08:50 AM) @sportsguy33 In person, Rose is like a young Marbury but faster/taller/more explosive. I've never seen a PG like him in person before. He's illegal. Except for the Marbury part...yeah we know.

Really got a lot done myself the last couple days, about 4 classes worth of lectures produced in 2 days.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 07:29 AM) I cannot imagine what country would export inflation throughout the world with over a trillion dollars of easy money? But who cares stock prices are up. Actually, the commodity price inflation right now appears to have a lot more to do with growing demand and in fact hording of goods in china than anything else. Edit: oh, and there is also a second thing really driving certain commodities; weather-related disasters. For example, Australia has had major shutdowns of its mining industry due to flooding, and Russian resource production was devastated last year by drought and fires. (Of course, I'm not sure I'm allowed to note that, since that would wind up being evidence supporting the scientific community's conclusion of "Holy f***, we didn't know the climate would change this fast.")

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 12:05 AM) I disagree, I think he actually is a pretty solid ball handler from when Ive seen him play. On top of that he is more of a 2/3 than a 3/4 and we have no legit backup SF and SG is a position the Bulls are weak at too. Yes, the Bulls have Korver but I think JJ brings more to the table. I think something happened behind the scenes that put him in the back of the line. I think he was doing a Tyrus Thomas deal when he was on the court as well...he wasn't in position well, especially on defense, and with a coach who actually knows defensive positioning and other legitimate options on the roster, you're either going to learn or you're not going to play. I really hope he's traded this year...just because I want a SG.

QUOTE (Pale Sox @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 04:40 AM) It would have to be for more than that with his service time. We likely don't have the payroll to up his 2011 salary, so something like this might work. 2011: 6MM 2012: 9.5MM 2013: 13.5MM 2014: 15MM 2015: 16.5MM w/ 2MM buyout club option. 4 years/46MM makes sense to me. If John Danks pitches 2 years without getting hurt, he's a $100 million contract pitcher. He hits FA right in the middle of his prime at age 28, as a lefty with an ERA in the low 3's in the AL and good peripherals. He'd be leaving >$50 million on the table by signing that deal.

If you could magically combine the increased patience of the 2009 Alexei with the .290 batting average of the 2008 Alexei Ramirez it wouldn't be the worst option in the world, because he'd wind up with a .340-ish OBP and that's not awful at leadoff (we've survived with worse, 2008 OC). That said, the only reason why you'd put Alexei there is if everyone else in your lineup was going to hit 35 HR.

QUOTE (Pale Sox @ Feb 3, 2011 -> 05:25 AM) Other than thinking Alexei is about equal to Tulo, I have no real problems with any of this comments. In fact, it's the opposite. I thought he was sincere and humourous. My only concern is with the Joe West stuff. Again, I think it's hilarious, but at the same time I'm a bit worried about the repercussions. Umpires are a tight-knit group. Of course they're supposed to be subjective, but if you really think they are, you're delirious. Are we getting to the point where we might be facing a somewhat regular disadvantage? I sure hope not, but it does worry me a little. That said, I don't really think West is taken too seriously these days, so it could be insignificant. I hope so. Yeah, we're at a regular disadvantage when Joe West is umpiring our game, but half the league can say that. Even when he's right about something, like how long the Yankee/Red Sox games take, by being the way he is, he makes it clear that the show is about him and not the game. Everyone else has to suffer through it too.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Feb 2, 2011 -> 09:44 PM) kap you're badly mischaracterizing the government's message/foreign policy on those 2 things. On Iran in 2009 they came just short of calling the thing an outright fraud and didn't want to give the impression they were directly interfering in Iran's internal politics since that would fall right in line with their propaganda (which is based in truth pre-1979). Over time the support for the protesters got louder and stronger, but the "revolution" eventually faded since the military and security services still support/are controlled by the regime. Never at any point do I recall them saying Iran had the "right" to govern aside from bland diplomat-speak. In Egypt, right now, they are trying to hedge their bets so they don't end up on the wrong side and trying to walk a fine line. And still they don't want to be seen as directly interfering and don't want to put a "made in America" stamp on it since it really doesn't have anything to do with the US one way or another really. This is decades of foreign policy, having nothing to do with this administration and Mubarak's regime is fatally wounded but might still survive. They aren't going to come right out and say "Mubarak, time to go." Given the choice between letting the Muslim Brotherhood take over and having Mubarak stay in power, they'd keep Mubarak. Welcome to American foreign policy for the last 30 years. Least bad of a series of bad options. One other point...so far this month, we've seen the Sudanese referendum, we've seen the government of Tunisia fall, we've seen the government of Egypt almost fall, and we've seen the King of Jordan fire his government. A lot of dominos have already fallen. There's kind of one more, really big, dictatorial, country sitting in the MIddle East, next to Egypt, Jordan, etc., which the U.S. happens to have a gigantic vested interest in...due to the oil, and if that one were to start to teeter, that would be much more likely an actual Islamic one. For that reason...the U.S. would absolutely play anything like this close to the chest, because the House of Saud is the one we can't lose.

If anyone wants to see the sequel to the Bill O'Reilly "Tide goes in, tide goes out" proof of God's existence, here it is. How did the Moon get there? I recommend the comments. (p.s. Having a number of friends who are actively working on the minor details of how the Moon, and Sun, etc., got there, how they got their final isotopic compositions, etc., I find this priceless).

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 2, 2011 -> 09:07 PM) Small sample size, but here are Viciedo's pitch values from last year. Fastball: -3.4 Slider: 5 Cutter: 1.4 Curveball: -1.1 Changeup: 0.4 Those numbers would suggest anything but Viciedo being a dead fastball power hitter. Actually that really makes sense; the pitch that was beating him CONSTANTLY before he got sent back down was the high fastball up and in that he couldn't lay off of.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 2, 2011 -> 09:17 PM) Um, it's called a food riot. That's what started this whole thing in Tunisia, now Eqypt, etc. People are getting sick of not being able to eat. Funny how that snowballs. I also love the extremely hypocritcal stance from our great leader of the free world when contrasting Iran and Egypt. Allah-meni-f***tard = government's right to excercise authority over one's people. Mubarack = evil dictator who needs to get the f*** out and let the hardcore islamists take over. Egypt2010 = Iran1979. Well, first of all, would you expect any other leader of the U.S. to respond differently? Secondly, this isn't an Islamic led revolution, at least not yet.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 2, 2011 -> 09:11 PM) And Balta, the hotels (and JerryWorld ™ for that matter) that the teams are staying at for the Pooper Jerry Bowl are exempted from the blackouts. Ain't that nice of them? Stupid f***ers.LOL, excellent priorities.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 2, 2011 -> 06:31 PM) Just for the record. I hate 9:30 starts to any sporting event. Then move to California. Nothing starts after 8.

Things that have currently changed: Medicare payment rates for prescription drugs increased Research institute focused on comparative effectiveness of differing treatments established Temporary high-risk pool for adults with serious illnesses established Lifetime insurance caps prohibited Dependents can stay on insurance plans until age 26 Insurers banned from exclusions for pre-existing conditions for anyone under age of 19 Co-payments and deductible charges for preventative care (i.e. flu shots) prohibited 50% of the "donut hole" in prescription drugs for seniors on medicare is closed. (eliminated by 2012) Restrictions on insurers annual spending caps (eliminated by 2014) Recissions (dropping policyholders who have become sick) are banned Insurers are required to begin spending 85% of their revenue on patient care A program is established to help companies pay for health care costs of people who retire early A temporary credit program is established to encourage private investment in new therapies for disease treatment and prevention Chronic disease prevention grants established in Medicare 5 year grants to employers that establish wellness organizations Grants to states to evaluate tort reform proposals Nutrition labels required at chain restaurants Prohibits medicaid from paying states for treating preventable infections that occur within a hospital Increased number of graduate medical education slots Medicare advantage program phase-out begun

"I don't think that taste is there."

Perhaps you can use the extra hour of free time to your advantage?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 2, 2011 -> 02:33 PM) I'm hearing from my co-workers that there are rolling blackouts in Texas today...the utilities are having all kinds of difficulties...anyone hear from Kap or Tex today? Tex noted that he was having them in the alphabet thread. (Can't wait til the lights go out at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday).

QUOTE (Disco72 @ Feb 2, 2011 -> 02:22 PM) In order to make a fair comparison, you would have to compare his right/wrong rates for the Sox versus all other major league teams because all teams' prospects fail at an incredibly large rate. I for one am still impressed at his ability to continue ripping on Alexei's OBP while ignoring everything else he's doing.