Balta1701

I think I'd rather watch 60 minutes.

So, let's see, if I told you before the game that Nix, Lillibridge, Betemit, and Alexei had 5 hits between them, including an extra base hit...and I told you Nix was having a great game at 2nd base...how would you feel about our chances in this game?

Does this ump have any formula?

Damn that was close.

Damnit Josh that was just awful.

Solid hits by Alexei, Lilli, and Nix. Nix 2/3. Worst offense ever.

Did not need to see the pick of the nose by Danks there.

Hits by Alexei and Lillibridge. World ending.

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 3, 2009 -> 04:10 PM) get off your high horse. we're not freaked out about the 1-0 game, we're pissed at the s***ty handling of this ballclub. that's it. This team is ridiculously beaten up right now. It happens sometimes. A lot of it is accidental also; aside from Thome it's not really age related, it's guys getting plunked or accidentally pulling muscles. 2005 didn't end when Jermaine Dye had to play SS for an inning.

Free wilson betemit!

Nicely done Nix. I love how freaked out you guys are about a 1-0 game.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 3, 2009 -> 03:58 PM) No company would ever fire him and risk his racial discrimination lawsuit. ESPN fired Harold Reynolds

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 3, 2009 -> 03:54 PM) Joe Morgan might be the worst commentator in all of sports. Steve Phillips says hi.

Man was Q mad at that popup. I like him yelling things more than I like Konerko's bat slam down.

God damnit, not again I think they're trying to hurt us.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 3, 2009 -> 02:12 PM) There is another factor you are missing - housing. Prices were still dropping, but home inventories started dropping too in recent months. People are dropping prices and selling their homes. That puts cash in some people's hands, and equity in other people's hands - which creates some cash to spend, for SOME of them. A way, way, way, way more blown up example of this is, as I pointed out on this very board, the 2004-2006 economic boom was unsustainably drive by phantom home equity. The sad thing is though, it's going to be another bump that hits soon. It's still people trying to reinflate the bubble. Add together Congress chipping in $8000 with the fact that people are looking at how much housing prices have dropped rather than whether or not the housing prices are actually affordable, and the reason those inventories are dropping is that people are still doing exactly the behavior they were doing at the peak; figuring that the housing prices have to go up from here and they can't possibly drop more so now it's a great investment. The Alt-A resets are just going to hammer this thing. I'd wager that a majority of them are underwater.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ May 3, 2009 -> 02:08 PM) Obama is goign to put in a pro-Democrat windsock. what else is new. We're owed at least one. You guys have 4 of them. The Dems on the court currently are leftists on a number of social issues but the court is still very conservative economically. Even the liberals.

Interesting things out there in the world of data. If you paid attention to the GDP numbers last quarter, you probably noticed that the stock market jumped when it saw a couple of things, like a decrease in inventories and a slight uptick in certain types of spending. The Markets reacted wonderfully...inventories are going down, that's a great step towards recovery. There's something odd about that data...it happened at the same time as the savings rate went up. So somehow, people were still saving more but yet they were also spending more without making more money and without being able to take on more debt? How do you do that? Turns out, the answer is actually Social Security. Social Security payments took a big shot upwards last year compared to the year before...because of the ridiculously high inflation numbers driven by the gigantic spike in energy prices that ended last year. Thus, the elderly got more money to spend, and they spent it (which is of course exactly what we keep saying about how to target stimulus dollars, but that's another debate). The problem with that increase in spending is...it's unsustainable. Social Security is expected to cut back on outlays for the next 2 years, with virtually no cost of living increase for 2010 or 2011 because of the big spike in 2009 and the possibility of deflation replacing the inflation of last summer.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 3, 2009 -> 01:59 PM) For #2 you could easily insert the name Alito and it would fit the same, except he was confirmed. That guy is nothing more than a conservative politcal windsock, which is the opposite of what you want for a SCOTUS justice. I'd still say there was a big difference between Harriet and Sam. At least Sam is a Conservative windsock. I think the other nominee is nothing more than a windsock for admiration of W. (Seriously, go google some of the letters she wrote him praising his intellect. It's just scary).

A serious question that I don't know the answer to yet. It's been reported several times now that one of the distinctive things about recent pandemics, especially the legendary 1918 one, was that they started with a brief flare up in the spring, died off, but then re-emerged later in the year in a far more dangerous/virulent form. Thus, the CDC/WHO et al. are all trying to get people to stay vigilant for a long time to come even after the wave of school closings stops. My question is...why exactly does the flu come, vanish for a while, and then come back like that? I can see an evolutionary reason to buy it, that the bodies fight back, then the flu mutates in some way and the fact that the bodies fought back enables it to evolve in some way to work around the body's response, but I'm not sure that's the answer and I'd like to know more.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ May 3, 2009 -> 01:51 PM) Obama might as well just put Dr.Phil on the supreme court. It's the kind of move many of constituents demand. Really, this was just silly. It's not even a clever insult at us.

Kelly Dwyer spends like an hour of writing just ripping VDN. More ripping happens at link.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ May 3, 2009 -> 09:10 AM) ^^^ And there's been some "selective leaking" already of the results. This will bring back the market back to near the lows. Wow, all 3 of us agree on something.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 3, 2009 -> 11:32 AM) I disagree it should be a judge. More people than judges are capable of understanding the constitutionality of our laws and the rights guaranteed by that document. The way the confirmation process has evolved over the last 20 years thanks to 2 events, it probably will almost have to be a judge. The 2 events: 1. The nomination of Souter. A guy nominated by a Republican president, who turned out to be a vote in favor of keeping Roe v. Wade in tact. Because of that guy, Presidents are now going to be vastly more careful to make sure they understand exactly how their nominee is going to vote on an issue before it ever comes up, because the President can't afford a surprise pick that turns out to be towards the other side. This requires a long record of their decision making on legal issues...hence, they almost need to have a judicial record, unless you're nominating someone who's already served in Congress or ran for high level office. 2. Harriet Miers. Bush nominated a complete moron to the position who didn't even survive to the confirmation hearings because she was totally unqualified for anything other than utter subservience to the President. What this has done has made it difficult to nominate someone who doesn't have an extensive record of work in the actual field of law, because if it's a surprise pick, they're going to be compared to her, and no comparison to her can possibly be positive. You can probably add in the defeat of Bork as a 3rd reason if you want, although I think that those 2 are the key changes.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 3, 2009 -> 09:46 AM) Lillibridge is not going to be of any help with the bat so I hope he can show some leather tonight if he plays CF. I don't doubt the kid is trying hard, but pretty weak with the lumber is all I can say Every time he pops one up he owes us 20 pushups.