Balta1701

You do realize that X-rays pass right through most tissue, correct?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 05:23 PM) Thome was still putting up a mid .800 ops with us, Dye couldn't bring .800 in 09 and that's while being one of the worst regulars in baseball the 2nd half of that season. Not to mention he's been out of the game for a year now and it'd be a terrible pick up. The question I still ask is...what in the world happened to JD the 2nd half of 09? He went from a .942 OPS in the first half to a .590 OPS in the 2nd half. Hitters aren't supposed to do that, especially veteran ones who know how to get themselves out of slumps and fix swing problems. Was he tired? Was he hurt? Was he just not caring somehow? You can't tell me that the guy's skills had diminished in 2009 and that alone is what did it, because I can point to that .942 OPS. Something changed with him very, very rapidly right around the AS break. That's not the usual pattern for "This guy is old and wearing down", unless he just suddenly hit a point of exhaustion, which seems kinda weird. Even if you look at a guy who was wearing down, say like Vlad this year, he had a bad 2nd half, but still was rested enough to put up an .880 OPS in September.

Well, that and your, um, digestive system. That too.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 04:50 PM) Anyone familiar with French Media in the US? Like major or semi-major publications? Define Familiar? I've heard of France24 broadcasting, Le Monde, AFP and the IHT are based in France I think, that's about it.

QUOTE (shipps @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 04:50 PM) That hotel looks great but rooms are scarce. Is there any other hotels you would recommend if that one doesnt pan out? Honestly, I can't recommend a hotel in the Nashville area, I haven't stayed there at all. You'll have as much info as I'd have just by going on Tripadvisor.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 04:57 PM) And lots of people have gotten on the banks about this stuff, which you know because you've pointed them out: judges, AG's, auction companies, county sherriffs, mortgage holders, REO's, etc. That's a lot of pressure, and its a good thing. I've been impressed by how little effect that pressure has had.

Until you have your cholesterol checked.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 04:53 PM) Yes, but as I just said, its good that the courts and auditors and what not are now forcing the banks to prove it and do it right. I haven't gotten the impression that the courts are forcing the banks to do that at all. A handful of AG's are trying, but they're so, so, so, so, so late to the game here.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 04:40 PM) But other than pointing out the exceptions (which he characterizes as much more than exceptions), his whole article is basically a piece making out banks trying to get back what they rightfully own as being somehow evil. If people all think that way, that's very, very dangerous, because if banks become unable to recover defaulted loan assets, then guess what happens? If they don't have the documents, do they actually own them?

In terms of stuff to do, the Opryland hotel is re-opening in a few days after the flood, and it seems to run an enormous number of Christmas-related events.

Sometimes it's not your mouth that hates the food, sometimes its your digestive tract.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 04:13 PM) You don't know how this works at all, do you? And I'm not trying to mock you, I'm asking you a question. Are you willing to learn why this story is a non-story, or are you just going to dismiss what is factual here? Ok, enlighten me?

Matt Taibbi has another long, totally worth reading tome out in this month's rolling stone, this time he's sitting in on one of the Foreclosure kangaroo courts in Florida. Some fun parts are the judge trying to admonish him for coming into what is by law an open courtroom, his actual examinations of bank documents, and the point at which a homeowner who is about to be foreclosed on actually shows up and it turns out that the plaintiffs hadn't brought her documents at all; had she not shown up, she'd have been foreclosed on without any documentation. A portion of one good section:

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 04:06 PM) But China isn't. Nothing they provide is true. You say that as though it's a real unique situation.

Maybe there's just something you need to know...

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 03:23 PM) I was just thinking about that. Seems like he'd get par money with what Jenks would get via arbitration, maybe even less, so why not? The best answer is...that figure itself would be $6-$7 million ish. I think that's way more than I'd pay for Putz.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 03:27 PM) He can always ask for a trade! [crossesfingers] Wouldn't that make them better than they were in the 2nd half last year?

Kindly let me in on the joke please?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 03:23 PM) All of that assumes confidence in the system after their general public learns of the generations of lies they have been told. Would you keep sending money to Bernie Madoff after his collapse? Part of the issue here though is that I think everyone who matters to the system sort of realizes that they've been lied to. It's that weird, quasi-police state thing where you know bad things are happening but you're not strong enough on your own to do anything about it. Especially in the economic arena, the people with the money both here and there aren't stupid enough to believe the Chinese government. Instead, they're willing to close their eyes and protect the system, because it's a system they're benefiting from.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 03:13 PM) it was an article linked on the Huffington Post. Could you please provide a working hyperlink? Gracias.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 03:01 PM) "just apologize profusely for everything I ever did." Honestly, I'd kinda like that

QUOTE (chw42 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 02:56 PM) We don't even need to sign a closer. Just give Putz some fair market value and you have your closer. It's not like he's going to get more money than Jenks will get in arbitration. Why does Jenks's arbitration number matter? Jenks isn't going to be offered arbitration.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 02:11 PM) Wonder how true this is? When Crown Publishing inked a deal with George W. Bush for his memoirs, the publisher knew it wasn't getting Faulkner. But the book, at least, promises "gripping, never-before-heard detail" about the former president's key decisions, offering to bring readers "aboard Air Force One on 9/11, in the hours after America's most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; at the head of the table in the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq," and other undisclosed and weighty locations. Instead, Crown got a mash-up of worn-out anecdotes from previously published memoirs written by his subordinates, from which Bush lifts quotes word for word, passing them off as his own recollections. He took equal license in lifting from nonfiction books about his presidency or newspaper or magazine articles from the time. Far from shedding light on how the president approached the crucial "decision points" of his presidency, the clip job illuminates something shallower and less surprising about Bush's character: He's too lazy to write his own memoir. Did you excerpt this from somewhere? I'd just like a link to know where.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 01:59 PM) and for them as well in the future. IF...their government doesn't collapse the second they hit a legitimate economic blip.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 12, 2010 -> 01:50 PM) Nice number manipulation. Their capacity also fell about 15,000 seats too. And I also gave the raw numbers too. So they lost capacity yet sold a ton more tickets. You don't think there's any chance there's a major ticket sales transient in there? Anyway, you're the one who said "They packed that stadium", which is why I included the %ages. 60% on average isn't packed.