Balta1701

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 02:44 PM) All's fair in the world of politics, as long as your guy wins. I understand. So, in other words, you're recommending we form a mob, go and break down the door of whatever court/elections commission is currently deciding things and threaten them to the point that they won't count any more ballots?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 01:00 PM) To echo ss2k, what planet are you living on? Show me ONE condemnation of Hamas in the UN. You might actually find one. I'll show you HUNDREDS condemning Israel for DEFENDING itself. As for Israel attacking schools, get the f***ing rocket launchers out of schools and they dont get hit! Shooting rockets from a school is against all the so-called rules of war, but are they called on it? Maybe on your planet, but not on this one. Too lazy to look for more than one. But hey, it's less than 3 weeks old. And on the specific matter that the Israelis used as their reason to start their bombing campaign.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 12:26 PM) Maybe. I'm not so sure. Probably. When to take in to account the # of rings he has and the accumulated numbers of things like postseason hits, it's pretty darn likely.

The Gaussian age distribution so far is kinda interesting.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 11:29 AM) Blyleven, Raines and Dawson, IMO, are all obvious picks. They should get in. I can't believe how low Raines' vote numbers are. I think Rice getting in will give Dawson a major boost.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 11:13 AM) I argue with you calling it the Clinton Recession, but I don't blame it on Bush, either. How about Greenspan bubble #1?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 11:11 AM) He'll own it more than many previous Presidents, but you can't logically fault or credit him (or both) until a number of years later. Depending on the type of package he puts together...yes, you'll be able to. This package will make the economy his almost as much as the new deal did for FDR. If he screws this up by wasting it on poorly-designed, impossible-to-implement, low-multiplier business tax cuts...then if it turns out not to be enough to avoid the deflationary spiral that is still on the horizon, then he'll deserve a majority of the blame for that, because he'll have wasted his best shot.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 10:55 AM) I think he means by Western governments, the strongest thing that is ever said to Israel is a glorified "hey guys can you try not to do that, thanks, if it's too much trouble no big deal though" when they get rebuked. And by "Western Government" you basically mean the United States.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 11:01 AM) I can think of no one who did that, and I don't recall anyone in 2001 blaming the economy on Bush. I'm sure there were a few haters who did - the kind of people who like to hate on everything and anything. Except, I'd like to think we are all smarter than that here. Bush was no more at fault for the 2001 economy than Obama would be in 2009. Once he signs off on the stimulus package, B.O. is going to own this economy pretty quickly.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 08:44 AM) The most recent guess on Abreu is 2 years and $20 million...a bit more than Burrell, who will be a full-time DH in TB unless Crawford is injured yet again. My opinion on virtually everyone out there right now is this. We keep hearing we're bumping right up against the budget, or perhaps even are already over budget given the sudden constraints imposed by the economic collapse. If that is the case, then if we are going to spend any additional money, given our current roster, it makes more sense to spend those scraps of money trying to add a cheap starting pitcher, perhaps coming off of an injury (i.e. Garcia-level) to potentially eat up some innings in our rotation than it does to try to scrape together the funds to sign or trade for an expensive player to fill any position. On the other hand, if we can clear some salary, i.e. by moving a guy like Konerko or Dye, and in the process get back additional pitching or money or both, then we ought to be all for this kind of move. But adding in anyone right now other than help for the rotation, if we're at our budget, isn't the best way to go.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 09:39 AM) Not to mention he seems to be able to win, even if he is topping out at 88-90. If he can fire up that nasty split finger pitch he was sporting at the end of 2006 without it tearing apart his shoulder, in addition to his old repertoire, then he can be successful even if he's in the mid-upper 80's. Successful of course does not mean he's going to go out and be Johan Santana, but he can certainly go out and win games for a team. Was he working the splitter at all end of last season or did he drop that after the surgery?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 09:32 AM) Yet, even still, he was their best shot. Their best shot since Arafat walked away in 2000 perhaps.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 08:13 AM) I mean, we knew something was going to happen. All we were hearing in Sept. and Nov is how if something big doesn't happen soon the two state solution is dead in the water. Really, the Palestinians had their best shot with Olmert. Now, a total hawk is going to be elected, and there will for sure be no peace accords. Granted, his career was over, which allowed him a certain candidness, but he advised giving back land won in the war. You certainly won't get this if Netanyahu wins again. Olmert? Between the corruption in his government, his internal weakness, the split in the Palestinian government, and the casual opposition to so many people in the U.S. to a peace accord, he really didn't have a chance even if he wanted to organize a peace accord.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Jan 12, 2009 -> 08:44 AM) Is there any evidence at this point that Miller is better than Gooden? I guess he would be a better defender against centers, but I'm not sure he's that much of an upgrade other than that. What's his contract situation? His contract ends in 2010, and is about $1-2 million different from Larry Hughes's. Their contracts are pretty darn similar.

Takashi Saito signed with Boston

A month or so ago, minority leader John Boehner put out an ad asking for economists to come forward who would agree with him that the economic stimulus plan was a mistake. Without noting here the problem of opposing a policy without bothering to ask an economist first, the results of his plan so far are very interesting. So far, only a handful of economists think this is a bad idea, and even the top Republican economists aren't among them. Remember that when people lecture us on how the Bush/Bush/Reagan deficits are the real problem.

Filibuster-only, Presidents?

ITS. BAUER. TIME.

Last thing I've been keeping open to post...

Anyone ever keep a link open for 4 days because they were waiting to post it on a vanished message board? Thank Goodness for tabbed browsing. Anywho, one of the Minnesota Elections commissioners, a Ventura appointee, responded to that WSJ hit piece on them a few days back.

Holy crap this website exists again!

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Jan 6, 2009 -> 02:28 PM) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123111967642552909.html So let me just get this straight. Bmags posts a 538.com piece that absolutely thrashes a piece from the Wall Street Journal. Your response to that is to post the Wall Street Journal piece that 538 thrashed. Um, yeah. I think that's all I need to say.

Indians sign Carl Pavano.

Read whole thing, lots of details. For once, you can safely say this man has the scars to prove how well his captors treated him.

CNN's Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General?