Balta1701

Does this go in the Dem thread or the Rep thread given the whole nomination/withdrawal thing? Somehow, I just wonder if there wasn't a call or two placed related to this story and the withdrawal part. Either this story driving the withdrawal or his withdrawal pissing someone off enough to leak it.

Usually we're not this good in the spring. This has to change. it worries me.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 02:16 PM) you make a good argument, and I had forgot about the knee surgery. I still think Kyle Orton is probably the best QB the Bears could start this upcoming years with the other options available. A guy like Chris Simms is intriguing, but if Angelo can find a couple of receivers and the offensive pans out and allows the QB time to throw the ball... this offense (in theory) should be better than last year. There are still too many IFS for my taste, but its not as bad as it could be. The Bears Offensive needs IMO from now are: 1. A veteran WR. Spend what it takes to fill that spot. The team just isn't going to develop a WR from this draft or last draft fast enough to make a dent on their WR hole. 2. Additional O-Line help, specifically a Right Tackle. A high draft pick would work, as would a FA signing. 3. Backup RB and Backup QB. Between the 18th pick, their 2nd round pick, and the $31 mil or so in cap space they have with no one to extend, there's no reason not to fill those holes.

For what seems like the 3rd time this week, the Coleman legal team has made an effort to prove that they are in fact more inept than the team that was prosecuting Senator Ted Stevens. They're caught trying to cover up a witness. And yes, this is still going on. The Republicans want to keep this going as long as possible so that it keeps the Dems from getting that extra vote (and they've stated so publicly and repeatedly).

Governor Jindal's office is forced to somewhat edit the sequence of events in the Hurricane Katrina story he told in the response on Tuesday after people (mainly those crazy liberal bloggers) called him on the fact that the timeline didn't make sense as presented.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 12:43 PM) I wonder if Jerry Angelo would consider trading for Derrek Anderson. It looks like the Browns are trying to get rid of some of their economic waste, and Anderson must be a costly back-up for them. Its unclear how good Anderson might be, but it wouldn't hurt to have another QB with experience in camp to challenge/push Orton. I really think that there are going to be better, cheaper options out there who are at about the same level (I don't hold him any higher than Grossman right now). The NFL is the only league who hasn't really been hammered by the economy yet, but that's because FA hadn't started yet and ticket sales packages weren't going out yet. Now those things are happening.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 09:28 AM) Obama's popularity rating has fallen 10 points in 4 weeks. Barack's popularity rating jumped 8 points in 48 hours. So, we can either stop playing these silly games or we can keep doing so. Obama's popularity was going to drop in Feb., because there was going to be a moderate inauguration speech bounce. Inevitable. Then, Obama chimed in with a not-really-the-SOTU-so-let's-call-it-the-STFU-speech on Tuesday, and his numbers jumped right back up. Similarly inevitable. Next, either this bounce will fade naturally as the speech moves in to history, barring some other amazingly Presidential looking event. It's the same cute little game as with the stock market.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 09:04 AM) If anyone else watches Num3ers on CBS, they're apparently shooting someone in the stairwell down the hall from me today. Haha, David Sinclair just winked at me

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 01:30 PM) I'm already hearing a lot of people I know that are heads of businesses that are doing exactly this. They either have to make $400K + to say even or make less then $250K, so they will make less on purpose. I've heard this personally from at least 5 different small business owners that I know. Am I completely wrong on this or isn't the tax code or at least the upper tax part of it supposed to be structured such that only the parts over $250k see the higher tax rate?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 11:19 AM) I used to love when they would be doing some pregame chats and whenever Jordan would do that you could hear him stifling laughter. The camera wasn't on him but you knew what it was about. Either that or covering up a cough.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 09:47 AM) Something I agree with Palin on... Without explicitly taking sides, I will give the argument against it. I'd say it's likely the sort of homes where this would be an issue that tend to be ones where things aren't exactly the greatest. Otherwise, you'd expect that the child would be willing to speak to their parents about it in most cases. In other words, that type of requirement gives a child in a broken home who makes a mistake, which probably directly relates to the fact that they're in a broken home, a choice between having the child and putting it in an even worse environment or going to the parent and getting herself beaten senseless or worse.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 09:42 AM) But doesn't the market already know that "things are really bad?" Isn't that stark reality already factored in? I'm not naive enough to think that the President's words are meaningless, but it isn't like he's disclosing heretofore secret information. Things have been bleak for a long time now. I can accept that the market might be a little better off at the moment if he had taken a different tact to get the bill passed, but I have trouble comprehending how it would be appreciably better (especially long term) if he played Pollyanna instead of Eeyore. Obama's approval ratings would be farther down as he'd be looking like a dishonest, out of touch, imbecile. And since Democrats hate Wall Street and Wall Street always gets its best returns under Republicans, that's exactly what they'd want. I mean, take a look at the stock market during the Bush years. From Jan 2001 to Jan 2009 it absolutely soared.

I'd just like to say, this is entirely the fault of Obama being negative in his speeches, and Obama's being too negative just to get his agenda passed. Things aren't really that bad.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 09:11 AM) Balta, you're getting better at Baltabole then I ever thought about being as Kaperbole. I feel like I need an "R" sound in there somewhere to make it work. Just sounds awkward as written.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 09:22 AM) It'd be pretty bad ass if I could just take KSM out back, plug him in the back of the head a couple times, then toss him in a ditch, then like 6 months later people start talking about him and someone says "oh yeah someone shot him in the head, that's over" Just the kind of attention he deserves. Of course I know this is the real world unfortunately. As a great speaker once said, I want us to do the right things in these cases, "Not because they are easy but because they are hard."

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 09:22 AM) Dick's a dick... I agree. But it's also well documented that ALMOST every time the Messiah opens his mouth, the markets go down. Funny how that is. They have a lot of confidence in this guy, huh? Seriously, you're actually going to reduce yourself to playing the level of this game? The markets are dropping virtually every day. Obama is the president and speaks almost every day. Therefore, the markets are dropping because Obama is speaking. This rock on my countertop keeps tigers away. I would like to sell it to you. You don't see any tigers around here do you?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 05:41 AM) But if he is hurt, he can't destroy the clubhouse I think you're underestimating him.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 09:08 AM) He shouldn't. At points, Rondo has carried that team this season. Marbury shouldn't get more than 10 mins a game, unless they want to keep Rondo fresh down the stretch (which wouldn't be a bad idea actually). Keeping him fresh down the stretch would be quite a bit different from how Rondo was treated last season. He got the same treatment as the Bulls give their kids when Cassel showed up, and it hurt the Celts a fair amount. Rondo's play suffered because every time he made a mistake he was looking over his shoulder to see if he was going to be taken out, and Cassell didn't give them as much as Rondo was giving them in the first place.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 06:40 AM) KG's gotta keep Starbury in line. I think he could do more harm than good though, which as a Magic fan pleases me. IMO it depends a lot on whether or not he takes good minutes away from Rondo. A-la Cassel last year.

(Places some powder on his hands, claps a few times)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 05:50 AM) I fully believe they are much more capable of making better decesions and being more isolated from the outside influences of the business sectors than the current governmental structure we have now. How do you rate the response of Helicopter Ben to the last year? How do you rate the response of Mr. Bubble and Helicopter Ben as the problem was growing? It sure seems to me like they willingly turned a blind eye and denied vehemently that anything was wrong until it blew up in their faces, and then he's responded by flailing around as wildly as possible.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 07:04 AM) If there really are some assholes getting their last kicks in, then I hope they are prosecuted and jailed for it. They're the true American heroes.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 07:05 PM) Read it: http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4797/2009...actsheetns8.jpg I included option years. Impressive. So it's Kroeger, Nix, Wise, Owens, Betemit, and a backup catcher who are minor league deals/out of options and have to pass through waivers.