Balta1701

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 09:45 AM) What's wrong with Nick Johnson? Injured a lot? Yes. He'd be a very, very intriguing option as a DH on a gamble. I know KW really trusts his medical staff, but they'd really need to do their homework first. If they thought he could stay healthy as a DH it could be a game changing move.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 09:44 AM) The President of Iran seems to subscribe to this newsletter. Really? Is this deliberately over the top or do you really have that little of an understanding of the Sunni/Shi'a split?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 09:39 AM) Iran =/= Osama bin Laden (by the way, his brand of religion is basically made up by people who have no religious authority whatsoever) Here's the ≠ sign. Please keep it stored wherever you store that smiley.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 09:31 AM) I chose Paulie, Pena, Garcia and Castro. See maggs for explanation on first 3. Castro is a damn good backup catcher. And if Flowers is ready, he can be DH/emergency catcher. Maybe even some 1B thrown in there, if he's done that before. I don't want Flowers playing 1b (See: Toby Hall). Bring Kotsay back and you've got that position covered. The DH spot could be a complicated one next year. I would like to try Flowers out there for several hundred AB's, but that also would require having another backup C, which means I picked castro as well. If we're carrying 2 catchers on the bench, that leaves 3 other spots if you count the DH position, and 1 open OF slot, assuming 12 pitchers. If Kotsay and Nix take up 2 of those spots, then you have a single backup at each position, and 1 more opening for a DH who can play the field some and split time with Flowers. Frankly, someone like Abreu does fit that bill, although his defense isn't exactly stellar.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 09:24 AM) Its also a big difference in capability. Religious zealots don't value their homeland very much, it is whatever fate they are trying to fill that matters. Serious question...can you cite an historical example of this happening? Of a country's leadership willingly destroying itself and its country to fulfill a religious belief, in the way you say we should worry about Iran doing here?

Link There's still a possible avenue for the Mass. Republicans to mount a legal challenge if they're so inclined. We'll see.

link

Here's a good read on the malpractice issue that keeps coming up. It tries to cover both sides...yes, there's probably some additional spending due to the fact that we haven't fixed the malpractice system, this author estimates about $60 billion annually (about 3% of health care costs, not something to sneeze at but not anywhere near the difference between us and the rest of the world). But at the same time, there's an awful lot of malpractice going on that could be fixed, is never dealt with because the barriers to doing anything about it have been set so high, and also makes people more sick and more injured.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 09:06 AM) There's a pretty big difference between that, and knowingly and intentionally sending your country on an irreversible path to obliteration. "We will bury you!"

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 08:59 AM) My surprise player is Konerko. I dont know that he quit, I just think that its time to cut the cord. I could believe that if you told me it happened. I'd be shattered if I showed up here and Buehrle had been traded.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 08:50 AM) I personally still think he ends up going. I'll bet they think there's some benefit to playing coy about it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 08:54 AM) I could make a really convincing argument that it very well could have if nothing was done by the fed and Congress. I think they'd all have cascaded down one after the other. Although the scary thing is...watching how much influence the banks lobbyists have, part of me wonders if that might not have been the best thing. 5-10 years from now when the next bubble pops because the Obama admin didn't push nearly hard enough to reregulate this sector, it could well be an even worse calamity.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 08:40 PM) can you guys remember a worst august/september than this? 2006 and 2003.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 05:57 PM) Cubs DFA SP Thomas Diamond - former 1st round top 10 pick of the Rangers. Think he'd be someone to try to fix? All we'd need is Volquez to get the acronym back! Anyway, why'd he miss 2007? Injury I assume? Even with whatever it was he put up a 1.75 WHIP this year as a reliever. and 1.70 in 2008. If he's fixable, sure, take a flyer on him as a minor league deal. Worst that happens is he doesn't make the team. Boo-hoo. But with a guy like that, it winds up being him having to choose to come here.

Huffington Post's reviewer gave it a pretty decent savaging.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 08:02 PM) Leo Mazzone can't find a job. Can't find or doesn't want?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 07:48 PM) Forced relocations? Sweet. My God, you read that and that's what you come up with? Jesus H. Christ. "There is no correlation between number of doctors and health care outcomes but there is a strong correlation between number of doctors and increased costs" = "We're going to force doctors to move at gunpoint."

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 07:38 PM) According to Hawk in the booth from the game, he said its torn and Bobby is wearing a walking boot. Not sure if surgery is needed as of yet. There goes trading him.

Here's a commentary on one of 2k5's favorite arguments; that we can't possibly treat 45 million more people because we don't have enough doctors. From the author of the book "Overtreated".

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 06:59 PM) Obama offered Russia the carrot - and it looks like they'll go for it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090923/ap_on_...r_wh/us_us_iran I mean, really, that is apparently all it took. If you are Russia why would you have bothered otherwise? Russia is a rogue state who is run by a power-mad dictator. We gain nothing by negotiations. We should keep the system there to spite them. That'll show them.

I'm a gonna hope this was fake, but here's what it would look like if Glenn Beck Killed a frog. Or alternatively, here's Glenn Beck killing a frog.

Go with TFlow!

Be kinda useful if torres could give us a good outing from the pen today.

Yeah, so maybe I'm just padding my post count, but here's a game thread. Nix Beckham Pierzynski Konerko Ramirez Dye Quentin Rios (CF) Flowers (DH) Now that's a lineup.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 04:32 PM) bulls***. without the bailout, those banks DO NOT go under. if it was a GOP president, you would not have agreed with ANYTHING you just posted. They didn't go under because the Fed stepped in as well and because we've allowed them to pretend that the assets they're holding are worth more. It's certainly plausible that the fed actions could have been enough. But I'm 100% convinced that BofA and Citi and the others would have been in FDIC hands somehow had the Feds (including the federal reserve here) not stepped in. Especially when you consider the amount of paper the Federal Reserve has bought. (This, btw, is a great argument for why we need to support the bill in Congress calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve).