Balta1701

Well, the good news is...hypothetically speaking, this gives Anderson one last chance. Possibly.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 01:37 PM) Either way though, I agree Fields needs AB's, I just think it won't be in this organization most likely. Not sure he's got much more to prove in AAA. I know why you guys are saying this, I just think it's so silly. Someone's going to pick up Fields off of us for nothing, teach him a better swing, and he'll spend the rest of his career putting up Troy Glaus in his non steroid year numbers over at 3b, and that someone will be very happy with it.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 01:38 PM) You really strongly believe in social utopia, don't you? No. But I believe that a health care system is a unique beast...because a modern society just can't function without it.

It would have taken Jim winning a couple trophies and having a few big W.S. moments to outweigh the years he spent in Cleveland.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 12:50 PM) Fields out again - message being sent. Fields is a terrible matchup against Verlander right now. Anyway, do we have anyone at AAA who can play backup infielder? I'm starting to wonder if Josh wouldn't be better off in Charlotte getting daily at bats.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 07:42 AM) Money. Do you really think that is a particuarly lucrative type of practice? Especially if you factor in what you have to pay in things like security, perhaps life insurance, etc.?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 01:04 PM) Again, where did I say I didn't support health insurance? Quit putting words into my mouth. Believe it or not, economic freedom was probably THE primary motivation for the creation of this country. Sure freedoms of speech and religion get most of the talk, but in reality, the s*** hit the fan over money. I believe that my freedom to economically live my life how I please, without harming others, is just as important as any of the other rights in this country. In that right, I do not have the obligation to support the rest of the country. Could other people benefit if they took more of my income? Sure. But to me, just like in a right of privacy, there are people who could be harmed by my ability to do what I want in my privacy. I could be building a bomb, and without due cause, no one would ever be able to find out. That could harm people to. Does that mean we should get rid of the rights to privacy? People can be inflamed by hate speech. Should we not allow people to hate other races publicly? The country was founded on a different set of ideals. Sometimes people pay the price for them. To answer your question of where you said it...it's a corollary of your view that people should be able to opt out. If you allow that, then you're rejecting the concept of a health insurance risk pool. There's no way around it. The argument I'm trying to make is that by living your economic life how you please...you're actually hurting others and hurting yourself at the same time.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 12:38 PM) Which still doesn't explain why someone should be forced to provide health care for someone else, such as citizens of other countries. I understand how the pyramid scheme works, God knows we have created enough multi-trillion ones of those in this country, I just don't support it. So then in that case I have to ask the question the other way since you don't support health insurance...what happens to the person who is working a minimum wage job at Walmart and actually gets sick or hurt? Gets in to a car accident, develops cancer, etc.? Just let them die because their job doesn't pay them enough?

By the way, I'd like to say again...how dare the Department of Homeland Security suggest that right-wing politically motivated violence/terrorism is a legitimate threat!

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 12:36 PM) Not to mention he would be one year farther from FA. So unless he gets a huge offer compared to the 15 mill the Nats will offer from a team next year, it wouldnt be worth it. Also add in the risk of injury etc. Either way...I'm not admiring the job the Nats GM has to do over the next month or so. That won't be pleasant.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 12:33 PM) I thought Letterman was a Republican? Not that that matters, still a really douchy thing to do/say. Letterman clearly swings back and forth, although you can't always tell how much is from his writers. He hammered McCain last fall...but that was in no small part because the only effect of McCain's "Campaign suspension" was to piss off Letterman by allowing the Senator to cancel his appearance on Dave's show.

QUOTE (bighurt574 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) Except for Manny, I guess. Someone on baseball tonight had a pretty good idea -- take a similar approach to the Dodgers and Manny -- offer Strasburg a record-setting contract right off the bat that is also pretty close to a best and final offer, say around $15 million, and leave it to Boras to reject it if he wants. Boras can come up with all of these "comparables" but if no one is buying them he's just talking to himself. The question winds up being...how much is it worth to them to not have to go through the draft again next year? If the best Washington offers is $15, do they think they can hold out next year and get a richer team with the #2 pick who will actually go significantly higher? The odds of the Yankees/Red Sox/Cubs picking #2 is pretty low.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 12:00 PM) Not at all. I am saying the system shouldn't be something required for all, and it shouldn't be something that is government owned and operated. That's exactly the point. The entire concept behind health insurance, or any sort of insurance for that matter, is that the people who don't need the services are paying for the ones who do. If you allow the ones who have a very low probability of using the system, say the young and healthy, to opt-out and keep their money, then the only ones in the system are the sick ones. That drives the price of insurance towards infinity. I'm a perfect example; I've been to the doctor about 3 times in the past 6 years, 2 for knee injuries and one for a wrist injury, both times just having x-rays to make sure I didn't break them. But my employer has paid an enormous amount more in health insurance than I have used. It would be a huge benefit to me to keep the money they've spent on health coverage for the next few years until I'm older and my probability of disease goes up...but if that money hadn't gone in to the pool, the insurance rates for the people in it would be higher. More people would therefore have reason to opt out...and as more people opt out, the higher the costs go and the more people are forced out.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 11:42 AM) You call it opting out, I call it exercising economic freedom. Believe it or not, the top half of this country was not put here with the obligation to support the other half in every single way, shape, and form. Basically then your argument is that there should be no such thing as health insurance.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 10:01 AM) This is a completely unpersuasive argument. The exact same can be said about him. He's using a century or two of data to prove a warming trend. What happens when you look at the last ten thousand? Couldn't we just be in another warming "step?" Then there needs to be an explanation as to why the planet's climate has decided to move in steps.

I'm not sure we need a new thread for this.

Link

Holy crap.

So yeah, my softball practice tonight had to work around the helicopter that made an emergency landing on the playing field.

So, we get to see Poreda now I hope?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 05:04 PM) And a lot of this number are people who opt out as well. Don't you realize that having people actually opt out is a big part of killing the system?

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 04:49 PM) completely different demographics. You're right. The Demographics are completely different. Europe has a significantly higher %age of over-65 citizens than the U.S. does. Normally, one would expect that would make health care for them a fair amount more expensive. What bit of demographics were you citing?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 04:59 PM) Hey look, a football player - outfielder with speed. What a surprise. You're kidding, I was right when I said they'd pick a football player?

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Jun 9, 2009 -> 03:13 PM) free health care for the world. why not? you can get here somehow you get free health care. everything free; surgery, doctor visits, hospital stays, everything. we can afford it. the country is only 12 trillion in debt. How does every other Western country afford it then?

Link.