Balta1701

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 9, 2009 -> 10:18 AM) Who do you have? I see Viciedo and Retherford moving up, but i see guys like Danks, Marrero, and Gallagher repeating If Viciedo struggles in the AFL there's a good chance he repeats too.

Tough job it'll be for that GM, building a team made of no one but White People, because everyone else gets deported or arrested.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 9, 2009 -> 10:14 AM) I'm wondering how left of center in Norway compares to left of center in the US. The Green Party in the U.S. = the Conservatives in most of Europe.

I'm sure I'll get criticism for posting words by an unqualified, non-village, hippy-dippy blogger, but I found this to be an interesting take.

has anyone posted the official Nobel committee press release?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 9, 2009 -> 10:07 AM) Get rid of Netanyahu and that's a realistic possibility. There is an old Vulcan proverb. Only Nixon could go to China.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 9, 2009 -> 10:06 AM) Anyone remember who won it last year? Appears it was a career diplomat from Finland.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 9, 2009 -> 09:56 AM) I agree with his second point, but the first one is suspect. Forecasters would have known such a basic mathematical fact, and yet, sales beat expectations resoundingly across the board. And yet, based on the articles I posted earlier, they've been "Beating expectations resoundingly across the board" for several different months of this year. I really don't trust forecasters to understand things like seasonal adjustments or the reality behind their data. the best example I can give is the huge job gains we always record in January after a terrible X-Mas season that winds up spurring a big stock run-up, because a bad X-mas season means fewer seasonal hirings and therefore fewer workers laid off in January.

Quality team, the St. Louis Rams are.

Has anyone ever won a pair of them? Polishing off the Israeli-Palestinian mess or something like that in the next few years would certainly give him a shot at another.

Obviously, it's like drinking a lot. Killing brain cells = fun.

And there was much rejoicing. (Seriously, 99-1 he'll be back next year).

Long ways to go you're saying?

CEPR co-director, Blogger, and guy who was calling the housing bubble back in 2001 Dean Baker on those numbers we were discussing last night. Seems to agree with me that it's a same-store sales number that was being touted yesterday.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Oct 9, 2009 -> 09:31 AM) Funny how DNC skipped over ARAFAT and HEZBOLLAH. Surely an oversight. I think this comment is silly, but I'd like to say that I think the DNC's Guilt by Assoc. you're all evil terrorists memo is equally silly.

Just in time this morning to start catching up on the excitement. Yay.

Haven't read through the whole thread yet, but doesn't "Winning the presidency in a state with historically huge racial tensions while being a member of the main minority" count as a step worth recognizing? That was my guess when I heard about that.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 8, 2009 -> 08:14 PM) I'm not a big fan of bunting with sacrificing figgins. You better get used to it.

If this is a normal Red Sox/Angels series, teh Sox tie it up right here.

Lotta pitches being thrown early in this one.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 8, 2009 -> 05:58 PM) I still think Beckham makes a meanass leadoff hitter. Joe Mauer would make a ridiculous leadoff hitter for the Twins, but you just don't want him there.

Didn't really think there was any chance the Dodgers would take both of the first 2 games against those pitchers.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 8, 2009 -> 05:39 PM) Makes some sense, sort of... its a measure of performance at same stores open at least a year. Now, if it were a matter of business coming to fewer stores, that shouldn't cause a jump NOW, different than recent months and different than expectations. Maybe part of it, though. Gas prices aren't part of this, gas sales aren't in the measure. I personally think that part of the dip in retail business was an overcorrection by consumers. I think people, in the spring and summer this year when news really was getting bad for consumers, and also even before then during the market crash, panicked. They retrenched their spending more than most can realistically maintain, and their old habits are coming back. This doesn't apply to the 5% more people that are unemployed right now than before, of course. Just my theory. It depends on how the number you're reading is calculated. If it is a year over year same store sales thing, then yes, it can absolutely cause a jump now, because you're comparing it not to last month but to the same period last year. Worth noting, increasing same store sales has been a common feature this year. Here's the report from April. Here's Augusts's data, which also shows an increase even after you exclude cash for clunkers. At the same time, total retail spending was down 5% despite the same store sales.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 8, 2009 -> 05:20 PM) The big surprise today, to me, was that retail store results across the board were better than expected, and actually went up a slight amount. I don't think anyone expected that, and it wasn't a couple stores pulling everyone up - it was broad-based. Not sure I understand why that happened. If it's a same-store sale number, then one thing that is making a consistently large difference this year is the number of stores that have been shut or the number of companies that went out of business. Circuit City gone = better same store sales for Best Buy, for example. Also, it's difficult to tell how gas sales play in to that; last year gas prices were through the roof and that was affecting demand on that product.

What's Beckett's health like?