Balta1701

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 02:11 AM) That's definitely interesting. While it is possible Peppers will just dog it and/or suck this year, and thus the Bears would use that clause, I think it's more likely they put that in the contract in case they miss the playoffs again this year and want to clean house among the coaching staff and front office. If that is done, I see no reason why they'd keep Peppers around (unless he has a REALLY good year, and if he does, I'd expect them to be in the playoffs), and now we know they have an out. There's another potential reason for that clause, the lockout.

With the amount of improvement that we've seen in Rose's mid-range jumper this season, especially in the 2nd half, I have to think it's only a matter of time before the 3 pointer enters his arsenal.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 9, 2010 -> 08:09 AM) Well to be fair, they used to be against it, until they needed it... And you used to hate the filibuster.

This is one reason why everyone's yard should contain a few appropriately located evergreen trees.

Stay out of the big banks. Stay away from them like the plague. I'm working on slowly extracting myself from BofA, but it takes a long time. Sometimes a big bank can be acceptable for a credit card if you don't carry a balance (I don't), but otherwise, you're going to get yourself screwed over royally on terms and fees that you had no idea existed. You'll also get worse interest rates by a lot, especially now that they all have implicit government guarantees. For a checking account and services of the sort that a teller would provide (check cashing, maybe cashing in bonds, whatever), look for a local bank or see if you have access to a credit union (I've had a membership at a credit union that had a deal with my high school for over 10 years). Worth noting about smaller banks...they'll value your deposits more than a big one, but sometimes they also have a tendency to be grabbed by the FDIC. This can be a double-edged sword. A bank that is in some trouble may pay higher interest rates in order to try to attract accounts and stay solvent. On the other hand, occasionally they'll change names in the middle of the night on a Friday. As long as you stay below the FDIC limit though you won't have to worry about that hurting you except on some changes in your terms (i.e. that can cause interest rates to change). If you're just wanting to avoid that whole mess, here's a weekly-updated list of "problem banks" (currently over 600 nationwide), many of which will probably fail within the next 2 years.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! The good news about these continuing post-recall is...I can continue using Toyota as a punch line.

So, over the week while I was gone there was a trial balloon floated of actually just trying KSM and his ilk in military tribunals, which of course remains a terrifically bad idea. Today, I got an explanation of why that was floated. It's another round of Lucy putting the football down. I'm sure this time, they'll really mean it.

Link. Heh.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 04:34 PM) New York needs a governor who doesnt care if he gets re-elected. Spitzer?

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 04:39 PM) Too bad James Jones isn't batting. Would love to see him hit.. good looking spect. (was a fan of his comming out of the draft) There's a Tuiasosopo and a Thomas Jones in this game? When did we start Jets/chiefs?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 04:35 PM) Just giving an example. Game to game, teams could choose whether or not to use the DH based on whether the pitcher is a decent hitter or not. Basically, the only time the pitcher would ever hit would be Owings in your model. That's my point. A backup IF produces more offense than 99% of the league's pitchers.

Sigh

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 04:20 PM) I prefer the DH, but how about making it optional? Say the Brewers and the Cubs play. Milwaukee decides to use the DH with Prince Fielder, but the Cubs have Zambrano pitching, so they don't. Let the individual teams decide what to do game by game. As was noted earlier in this thread...Zambrano with the bat is basically the equivalent of Wilson Betemit. Career .639 OPS. The only pitcher in MLB that anyone would have hit by choice is Micah Owings, and he's basically been the last 2 years the equivalent of what we're praying we get out of our DH slot this year, which is "mediocre but not awful".

Rios murdered that ball. 2-1 Sox.

Sigh. I have a feeling we'll be seeing that a lot.

Consecutive singles by Pierzynski and Rios.

HR PK14, 1-0 good guys

And G pitches out of it.

And Floyd nails Figgins in a rundown.

Floyd K's both Suzuki and Guttierez

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 02:44 PM) The city and state dont have enough money to be building a new $400-$500 million stadium This sounds cheap to me.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 02:25 PM) I am insured completely. I didnt pay that amount, but thats what was billed. The insurer itself probably won't pay that amount either.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 8, 2010 -> 02:23 PM) So I have a deviated septum and went into a doctor to get a consult on possible having a procedure. 500 dollars for him to look up my nose for 2 min, then tell the nurse to schedule me sometime in the next 6 months. I need to bill people like that. Are you uninsured? No one pays that but the uninsured. Health insurers get vastly lower rates through negotiated contracts.