Balta1701

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 09:27 PM) But we do have social security and medicare now. So why would a MSA be a bad thing? If people withdraw for non-medical reasons, the almighty government makes sure to get its huge slice right off the top, not bank fees. Because every rate-payer that withdraws for non-medical reasons pushes the rates higher for everyone still in the insurance pool. And every time they wind up hitting their plan limits...they're on the taxpayer.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 08:16 PM) Tillman didn't exactly do a ton to help his case this year either. Completely flopped in the majors (again), saw a decrease in his K/9, and an increase in home runs, and this was his 2nd go around in AAA too. I'm not going to suddenly say he's not a prospect, just that it's possible. Considering that something along the lines of 60-65% of top 100 pitching prospects fail, it wouldn't surprise me in the least. If KW got his hands on a guy like Tillman at the time that he started AA, he'd probably have used him in a trade within the 2 years before he hit the bigs.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 04:47 PM) wait that was ol? sorry i drulk. cant spell. It's been so long since I've just sat around drinking white russians. Damn this adult responsibility and life.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 05:29 PM) Doesn't hurt one team was fresh while the other flew in late to play that night on a back to back. Thank god it's pre-season though. Bulls just looked sloppy from the get go. Something that the team has to get used to along with Thibs. First time they've had a coach in 2+ years, completely reassembled team, best post player injured.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 04:40 PM) It's funny, Danks has been referred to as a #3 and also as Ace-like in this thread. I wonder how other GMs/organizations view him. My guess is he is somewhere in between the two. A really good #2, who has the talent to be a #1 but hasn't had the consistency? Yeah, that fits all those descriptions.

Memories...

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 03:44 PM) It's classic Post-Brand Bulls basketball. If they can't feed the ball inside, they mostly run ISO plays and run around like chickens with their heads cut off. When Boozer gets back they can thrive off the pick and roll, but until then they're going to move the ball around and look for open shots off the perimeter. Do you really expect better out of the Bulls backups? If Rose and Boozer aren't in, who else is left to create their own shots? If you took Kobe and Gasol out of the Lakers, wouldn't they be the same way?

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 03:22 PM) The Rangers look like the better team two games in. Hopefully, there's no more bullpen mishaps and they can nip another Yankees World Series run in the bud. You left out the most important detail. The Rangers look like the better team 2 games in despite Cliff lee not pitching.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 03:17 PM) Can't be nearly as hard to get as the hotties either. Depends on which part you are trying to avoid. There can be other difficulties.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 02:46 PM) I've been in some of the country areas and they are crapholes. But the infastruture in the cities is impressive and that is the start. India doesn't even have anything close to that. Honestly, you take the poorest crappiest place in America and it doesn't compare to the nice areas (outside of the few 5 star hotels in Mumbai) of Mumbai. Only was asking based on my trip to Xinjiang province a few years ago. Can still picture the people mining coal by hand, some of the crumbling houses, compared to the nearby new skyscraper construction and the "birthday of the communist party" celebration.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 02:44 PM) Quite frankly the banks aren't in the business of buying/selling homes and even negotiating with its borrowers. That isn't what they do. Whether it's what they're supposed to be doing or not, it's the mess they got into.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 02:43 PM) But they are not foreclosing on people for no reason. The people that modify try and still fail, bank still loses. It just delays the process of when they stop making payments. Sure they get an extra 12 or 14 months worth of payments but than at that point forward, they go into foreclosure and that process is taking about 16 months on average. And I'm not confused at all on this subject. A big problem is the industry is scared of the precedent that would be created if it went into full blown principal reduction and quite frankly it won't happen until the government backs it. Oh and did I mention taxpayers win, because of these loans getting sold for way less they are kept at a reduced rate and thus the gov doesn't need to kick as much in for all the govnmt backed loans out there (thus savings the taxpayers here too). A couple points. First, I'm afraid the last paragraph doesn't make any sense to me. The loans are kept at a reduced rate, somehow making government-backed loans cheaper? Doesn't that mean that the taxpayer's losses on the taxpayer mortage portfolio is increased? Secondly, there's no difference between industry and government on this issue. The industry easily beat back the effort to allow for courts to alter the principal value. They made sure it went this way. And the government waltzed along there with them. Here's a great example story of how this mess has worked. People have gone into it whether they're on the path to losing their houses or not. But the trial payments don't wind up counting towards the loan principal, so if the trial modification is denied, the House is immediately behind on its payments and ont he path to foreclosure. Just one example

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 02:28 PM) Is it me or is the pace of any playoff game featuring the Yankees unbearably slooooow? It's not just you. Someone did have the balls to say something, unfortunately it was Joe West.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 02:08 PM) Nah, I mean they are whining about Cutler sucking. Was just on the phone with my dad and He's giving me that about Cutler, saying he just seems to struggle to find people open enough to use his arm.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 08:32 AM) That is the thing though, Ankiel never stays healthy. The Sox can't afford throwing money at a player that spends as much time on the DL as Ankiel does. I'd still rather have him at that spot than Kotsay again.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 12:50 PM) Screw Kemp, I want Ethier. Screw Ethier, I want Kershaw.

Awesome, a strip club filled full of size XL's... Wait a minute...

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 07:48 AM) Dude, have you been to India? They are light-years behind China, light years. I can't even comprehend how big of a dump the parts of India I have seen (and while in no way does that mean I've seen it all, but Mumbai and the surrounding areas is a decent population to make a decision on) and how s***ty the infastructure and overall technology is here. China was pretty fascinating as it opened up my eyes a whole lot. In comparison, India has done the exact opposite. Just because they have a huge population doesn't mean anything. China has had a huge population forever and they are just finally industrializing and making its way onto the world fore-front and I'll give them credit. I'm curious to see where China is 5, 10, and 20 years from now. I can't say I've been through India so don't argue with me on this one, but I am curious...have you been outside of the major cities in China? To the legitimate back-country areas?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 07:23 AM) I have not heard of any situation in which they are foreclosing on people who have been making payments. Banks are not profitizing on these deals. They did receive bail-out funds and they are selling assets already reduced or nearly written-off for some sort of value. I'm not close enough to the process and investments as I was a couple years ago when I worked for a company where I had access to a lot more information, but I think what you are saying Balta is far from the reality of the process. My understanding was that the party that started this whole foreclosure stoppage was a home in Maine and the ultimate issue was that the bank wasn't doing enough to work with the homeowner and part of that was that basically the homeowner would be willing to provide more for the home than the general public (or market price) could/would. And when thta is the case, it makes you wonder, why can't we do more to keep people in there homes. I think your confusion really stems from the mismatch between these 2 paragraphs. On one hand the banks aren't profiting on these deals, on the other hand the banks are turning down what would seem to be opportunities to avoid foreclosures. Either the banks are the worst businesses in history (well...), or the banks have a way to make money while foreclosing on people who could otherwise find ways to afford modified payments.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 07:31 AM) And a class action lawsuit won't fix anything anyway. A few law firms win and everyone else loses. Which is why I think that has a shot at happening...because it's a really low hanging fruit for a couple of law firms to jump on. Hell, even if it doesn't benefit homeowners, increasing the costs of fraud for the banks would be a good thing; they're getting way too used to fraud for free.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2010 -> 07:25 AM) One problem, if you modified and are paying for another 12-16 months, than they can't start the foreclosure process at that time and the foreclosure process isn't something that by law can happen overnight. In fact your scenario above is completely in-accurate based upon all of the real world real life real estate stuff that I'm privy to. 2 points. First, paying for another 12-16 months, on top of the additional fees, is exactly what you talk about with the failure of the HAMP program in your other posts. Second...the foreclosure process isn't supposed to happen overnight, but that hasn't stopped them.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 16, 2010 -> 07:48 PM) The more I think about it the more I can't see how the hell the Giants are going to be able to score enough runs to make this series competitive. Cody Ross?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 16, 2010 -> 06:55 PM) Me gusta cerveza. Oh wait that says "berry" not "beer." Nevermind. Now you've inspired me to drink. Good work.