Balta1701

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 05:15 AM) And yet Obama was trying to put this man into his cabinet, dispite all of his campaign pledges and speeches to avoid this exact kind of person. I wonder if deep down the President doesn't yet understand the level of populist discontent in this country aimed at the sheer corruption of the business world, the government, and the media. He adopted the language of that discontent with great effect to get himself elected in one of the biggest blowouts in recent history, yet he still took steps like appointing Daschle, Geithner, loading up the stimulus package with tax cuts, etc., that suggest he is still trying to play the game the old way at some level. It's entirely possible he could have adopted that language but at the same time he may have still been insulated enough from the real rage that is brewing in this country that he might not have caught on yet.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 04:16 PM) What are your plans for the next 15-20 years while we wait? I plan to cheer loudly.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 03:38 PM) I'm hoping we do actually control him beyond the 4 years of the deal, cause the kid just might be a monster. Only if we can work out an extension for him.

The Bad Bank bad idea seems to be going out the window. I really wonder which came first...the plan, or the deadline for the plan to be unveiled.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 03:11 PM) If I was a pro-baseball player I would have juiced too. I'll admit it. So much of the league was caught up in it, I wouldn't want to be at a disadvantage because I refused to use PEDs. Which of course brings us to another key question...how the Hell are Selig, Fehr, and Orza still employed?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 03:27 PM) All of the sniping over "pork" is a bunch of PR bulls*** (granted, its working). Its a very very small part of the package. I just wish they'd give the real reason for opposing it, that they disapprove of the government spending, instead of pretending they have ideas of their own (they don't) and demanding concessions with no intention of voting for the bill if they have no intention of voting for it. It's the only way to make the bill bad enough that it won't do the job, and thus they can blame the President when it doesn't do the job.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 02:35 PM) Personally, if I'm getting Beasley in the offer, and that cap space it's a done deal. So either that offer was complete BS or as you stated Amare ain't goin' nowheres. Perhaps the Suns really think they can win this year and therefore are still looking for pieces that can play with Shaq and Nash?

If you've got 10 minutes and can watch a video that sums up almost completely how we got in to this mess, I recommend this video highly. CNBC scores an interview with Nouriel Roubini and Nassim Taleb (author of the book "The Black Swan"). Roubini and Taleb spend their time elaborating on how the system has broken itself, how the mass of credit has screwed everyone, how everything is over-leveraged, how the corruption in the system has absolutely burnt everything down, and how we need complete reform and we need to clear out even the people running things right now because they were too dumb to see things coming and that helped build the problem. In response, CNBC keeps asking them for stock picks. Over and over. It's a true marvel. Edit; seriously, take the time to watch this video. They're explaining not just how the stock market is going down, but how the whole system itself, including the government, the media, Wall Street, etc., is fundamentally broken and needs reformed. The guys doing the interview are just fundamentally unable to process this idea. To them, this is all just another business cycle, things go down, then at some point they turn around. They simply can't assimilate the concept that the system itself is fundamentally broken or that if the appropriate action isn't taken now, it could just spiral down 1930's style. Watch how they blurt out "how does executive compensation have anything to do with this?" without realizing that executive bonuses based on short term profits directly feed in to over-leveraging and bubbles.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 02:26 PM) Unless they saw the re-acquisition of Marion as a PR nightmare? Clearly the idea would be to cut him immediately.

I'd be interested in chipping in.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 01:34 PM) I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Phoenix turned that deal down already. Either that or they weren't interested. If they turned down an offer like that, then first of all they're crazy, and secondly Amare won't be moving.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 01:45 PM) LOL It's actually better than that. That's a clip from a Maryland DNR page last updated during the Ehrlich/Steele administration.

So, let's see, Viciedo is 19 right? That means if he averages 50 home runs a year for the next 20 years, he should be able to put that record well out of reach of the steroid abusers. When can we get started?

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 01:49 PM) As unsavory a character as Canseco is, this issue arguably wouldn't have gotten anywhere near the exposure without his book. Many negative things can be said about the guy, but he's been pretty much on-target at exposing these guys. I'd rather listen to a hypocrite like him than have the entire issue swept under the rug. It says an awful lot about the people running the game currently that people like Canseco and McNamee are the ones coming out of this looking positive. Canseco seemingly got half his teams juiced, stole a couple MVP awards and a WS ring or two, and is a general scumbag, yet at this point he's been right about virtually everything. Brian McNamee's an admitted steroid distributor, and he mistrusted a hall of fame pitcher who was supposedly a wonderful family man so much that he kept documents and needles safely stored away implicating that pitcher.

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 12:56 PM) Yeah, but it's still sort of BS. I can't believe that he just started in 2003 and then stopped because he was no longer dumb and silly and loosey and goosey. If he stopped in 2003, then why would Gene Orza have tipped him about the date of the upcoming steroid tests in 2004 so that he could be cleaned out for them?

I'm a fan of the fact that the only piece of data that editorial uses to build it's case is the # of pages the Bush Administration added to the federal register. Not what they said, not what their effect was, not what was being done outside of those pages. Yup, total # of pages. Wonder what they might have said... All work and no play makes for a dull stock market All work and no play makes for a dull stock market All wrok and no play makes for a dull stock market All Work and no Play makes for a dull stock market

QUOTE (lostfan @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 12:10 PM) Anyone who's running for elected office is acting out of self-interest. Anyone. Even when their earning power in the private sector would be significantly higher for most positions?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 11:53 AM) There are plenty of guys who had clean tests who were using. They were warned they would be taking the test. ARod is a victim here for sure. That test was supposed to remain confidential. Its weird. The positive tests during the annoymous portion that were supposed to remain confidential only seem to be naming big names. The guys getting suspended for the most part were weak players. Something doesn't add up. A couple things bearing on that...first, a number of substances weren't tested for in the 03 trial run. Specifically the BALCO supplied THG, which Bonds was on, was in fact found in his 03 sample but there wasn't a test for it used by MLB at the time. Second, in terms of no big names getting caught...the first year that it was "1 positive test and you get exposed" was 2005. The guy you may remember going down that year was former future HOF Rafael Palmeiro. That's a fairly big name.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 11:41 AM) Why would the Heat give up on Beasley so soon. for the amount of minutes he plays he puts up pretty solid numbers and is just a rookie. He could definitely be a better player than Amare in near future. Because any team with D-Wade on it is going to be locked in to "Win now" mode.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 11:30 AM) Link is here Well I'll be damned, and it wasn't the "I only did it one time" B.S. either.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 11:09 AM) According to the Daily Herald, the rumor is Miami would be willing to offer Marion and his expiring $17 million contract and Michael Beasley for Stoudamire and some cap matching filler. Could the Bulls beat that? Depends on how they value Tyrus vs. Beasley after seeing them both in the league, and what type of cap relief they're looking for. Honestly though, it'd be really tough. Could beat it by including Rose.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 11:10 AM) Luckily for the US, there is already a stable government in place that are allies in the US. Now they've just got to deal with the Taliban, because like 5 years ago, they are coming to the forth again. I really don't think I'd call them a stable government any more. That's a big part of the problem. The recent years of neglect have reduced the influence of the government that was organized after the fall of the Taliban to nearly zero, and has discredited it in the eyes of most of the population.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 11:06 AM) No real surprise I think, considering the state of affairs in that country over the past couple of years. I think the point I'm making is just how much of a challenge fixing that country after neglecting it for all but 6 months out of the last 20 years will be.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 10:56 AM) I honestly do not know. Do venues charge TM a fee? What kind of an infrastructure do you need to handle the volume? You have to ask yourself why they have such a strong market share. Why are venues entering into exclusive contracts? The analogy of the jeans is we really do not know the margin. We see it with concert tickets. If the acts just charged $60 and you didn't see the fee, would there be the same outrage? While we don't exactly know the margins, there is data that can bear on this argument...the rate of increase of ticket prices. There are 2 forces at work here. First, people still are paying money to see these shows. As long as they're still paying, then it makes sense for the price to increase. But at the same time, the market is behaving like one where there is a monopoly...uncontrolled price increases. It's not conclusive, but it's an interesting piece of data.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 10:53 AM) Hasnt the guy turned down multiple offers from the dodgers that would have given him 20+ million a year? 2 years, $45 million rejected outright, with Boras saying they'd only listen to "Serious" offers. That was back in Nov. 1 year, $25 million (2nd highest yearly salary in the game) rejected a week or so ago.