Balta1701

QUOTE (fathom @ May 18, 2009 -> 08:17 AM) Thankfully no Lillicurse. Still, someone explain to me why Betemit is even on the roster anymore? So that we have someone else to start in CF when Anderson returns.

The Republicans, who have no interest in obstructing things but are solely interested in good legislation, have lined up a series of 450 amendments they intend to offer to the Waxman Markey climate/energy bill. Perhaps the most fun is an amendment raising taxes on Alcoa, Chrysler, GE, pepsi, Ford, etc. Why? Because they're part of the US Climate Action Partnership, which has supported action on Climate change. I wish there was more vindictive tax increases in government. It'd really improve our budget situation if we started taxing companies that give support to specific issues.

NY Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd plagiarizes verbatim, including the commas, a paragraph from Talkingpointsmemo.com. Dowd apologizes, says the line was given to her by someone else and she did not know it had previously been published.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 17, 2009 -> 03:12 PM) Please explain how this quote would be valuable in any way to a U.S. soldier who happens to be Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, etc: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…To deliver their soul from death.” The issue here is not whether this has meaning to a soldier, or whether they should be more careful in case things ever leak...the reason why this should bother people is what it says about the personality of the people making the decisions and the decisions they make. To adopt Tex's metaphor...there may be no atheists in foxholes...but I'm not sure I want the guy next to me jumping out and charging forwards in to a hail of bullets because he feels God is going to protect him. These covers aren't designed to encourage people to find solace in their faith, or comfort, or strength, whatever. Look at them...they're made by people who believe they're fighting a religious war and they can be arrogant, cocky, etc., because God is on their side, not on the enemy's. God could not let them make mistakes because he's on their side. "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." They're fighting their war with God at their backs, and there can be no doubt that everything they do is right and justified because God supports them. If things go poorly, they don't need to worry or change strategy; God will bring them success. If things aren't going well, any action is justified because it is in the service of God. A leader seeking solace in religion, or praying a decision is correct or finding wisdom in the words of a deity, this is not. A group of leaders believing their decisions are guided by God and thus they can do no wrong...

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ May 17, 2009 -> 12:36 PM) Its times like these I wish Nick Swisher was around to do a CRAzzZY dugout dance to lighten up everyone and change the mood within the team. That'd switch around their fortunes. I think everyone misses the "I struck out 3 times today!" dance.

QUOTE (Texsox @ May 17, 2009 -> 08:24 AM) Whether you believe in a deity nor not, the advice, counsel, and wisdom contained in religious texts, from all religions, is valuable. To ignore that, does more harm than allowing it. The quotes are, and among other things, wisdom and thoughts from previous generations. Would it be ok to quote other people's thoughts if they were atheists? Can we quote Plato but not Jesus? Quote Socrates but not the Buddha? Doesn't make sense. Any other speech you care to stop? Shall we eliminate Chaplains from our service? Shall we stop our soldiers from witnessing to each other? Only allow atheists into the military? I believe we should ban all atheist from ever speaking to balance this out. Really tex...do you honestly see this and believe it fits the description you just wrote? That they're sharing 'wisdom from previous generations"?

It's a comedy show so I'm sure that someone here will rip me for posting it, but this discussion between Bill Maher and Elizabeth Warren is darn intelligent. It basically is looking at how the banks have moved to a system where they're making a killing by confusing people and taking advantage of people.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ May 16, 2009 -> 05:09 PM) How come everyone always assumes we're the ones who would be so far behind technologically? Who's not to say we're the super-advanced society compared to what else may be out there? Because we've had the ability to do this sort of communication for less than 100 of our Earth years. If there is another civilization out there that has developed to the level of using radio, by the time the signal gets to us it will have taken thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or hell, 10^9 years. And if we're the first ones to get to this point, then the universe is a very boring place.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ May 16, 2009 -> 04:57 PM) I don't think he actually officiated that game, but I do know that he said 2 of the refs made calls in favor of the Lakers to extend the series to a Game 7. This is correct. However, he's going to jail as a liar anyway and giving up that information,whether it is correct or not, provided a benfit to him with no possible chance of a counter-suit or anything bad happening to him, so it's hard to give it 100% belief.

QUOTE (Baines3 @ May 16, 2009 -> 03:36 PM) If things continue the way they are right now does any one thing Ozzie might get on thin ice? No. Dude won the division last year, out-performs the "Computer expectations" every year, has a world series and 2 division titles to his credit in 5 years.

Since I wrote this thread up, Viciedo is 6/16 with 2 doubles, 1 walk, and 2 k's, including a 4 hit game.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 16, 2009 -> 12:40 PM) I'm not trying to be an ass, but go back and look what I said: with Manny out, there's little question they're the best in the NL. When Manny returns in 2 months, who knows who will be on the DL. And my retort continues to be that they're simply not the best team in the NL right now. Give them Zambrano back and healthy, Harden somehow healthy magically, Marmol back to where he was last year, and no other injuries, and maybe they still are, although they're not as good as they were last year unless Theriot keeps putting up this .900 OPS.

QUOTE (BobDylan @ May 16, 2009 -> 02:24 PM) This stuff never ceases to amaze. Whatever is out there, I am sure it is beyond my imagination. And I'm sure that whatever is out there...resistance to it will be futile.

Soccer? How French.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 16, 2009 -> 12:28 PM) Wouldn't you agree though that the Cubs offense to start the year was about as bad as it was going to be? Lee and Bradley aren't going to hit under .200 all year, and it's likely Soto will pick it up. The Cubs aren't as good as they were last year, but none of the teams in the division are. And the Caridinals aren't going to get better as the year goes on if Carpenter comes back? And the Brewers can't keep going or get more out of JJ Hardy? The Reds can't get better as Votto and Bruce develop? And what happens when Soriano makes his DL trip? Or when Ryan Theriot either stops doing his Chris Shelton impression or gets suspended for steroids?

Good work everyone.

Nix gave it a ride to the track, but nah.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 16, 2009 -> 12:24 PM) KW won't have a meltdown...he should just thank his stars that he's not the one being called out for having this mediocre roster after the offseason. Everyone knew it was a terrible offseason for the Sox with regards to helping out the big league squad, and we're paying for it now. At some point this season this team is still going to wind up whipping off a winning streak and all this "Terrible offseason" stuff will vanish for about a week.

Nix PH for Lillibridge.

You're never as good as you look when you're on a roll (Toronto), you're never as bad as you look when you're in a slump (White Sox).

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ May 16, 2009 -> 12:19 PM) Too bad this didn't happen last season. Jesus people, we'd rather lose every year and stockpile draft picks than win the damn division?

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ May 16, 2009 -> 12:05 PM) How much worse could it really be? If we screw up any of the hitters on the Barons and sabotage them by bringing them up too early and having them start getting in to bad habits...a lot worse.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 16, 2009 -> 11:59 AM) Who else? Cardinals have come crashing down to earth, Brewers just don't have the positioning, and the NL East beats up on each other. I was shocked to see the Marlins around .500 after their amazing start. The Brewers, Cardinals, Reds, and Mets all have similar records to the Cubs, and until you tell me how the injuries are going to work out or which teams are going to be buyers at the deadline (the Cubs have nothing to offer except money), it certainly seems like they're no where near as far ahead of the rest of the league as they were last year. If the NL East is just beating each other up...the Central has 4 teams with virtually identical records.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ May 16, 2009 -> 12:00 PM) A Ram might need to spend a week at Charlotte to clear his mind. Can say that about 1/2 of our team.

The Bills are starting to turn in to the Bengals.