Balta1701

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 06:23 PM) So yeah, the whole Gordon is terrible defensively and doesn't deserve a large contract because he's 6'2 and not 6'7 has no credibility. Give me a 6'2 basketball player over a 6'7 bum (Hughes anyone?) Look, if your argument is going to be that we should be giving minutes to me over Larry Hughes...I doubt you'll get much disagreement on that.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 02:27 PM) I would think a trade of either Camby or Kaman is next, otherwise that's going to be a pain to split their minutes. Too bad the Bulls don't have a whole lot of bargaining chips anymore, Kaman would be a great fit. The Bulls have a ton of bargaining chips, the Clippers just don't want/need them. 2 large expiring contracts, multiple young guys, couple of trade-able veterans with contracts that actually decrease with time. But unless they're willing to go to the total rebuild and shoot for a 2010 expiring contract, they won't take it.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 02:18 PM) Nice video. What's crazy is that meteor is probably the size of a car and it still lit up the night sky. Probably smaller.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 12:51 PM) I just looked at the IRS site like a month ago, and its still there as active for 2008. I'll end up with $2800 from the feds. I will now go see if its still there. Pretty sure that was included in the $200 billion we added to the bailout package.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 12:50 PM) Careful which companies you get gift cards from. Some of them may actually go bankrupt (like Circuit City just did), and they might negate those too. Circuit city is actually still honoring those. Went with Target, Applebee's, and Kohl's. All 3 will get used fairly quickly by my family.

CNN is running with a denial of that report.

Thanks for the opinions folks. Figured I'd play it safer and just cashed in $250 worth of gift cards. They'll get used at some point guaranteed, at that way I don't have to worry about it.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 12:01 PM) Well, in a way, we do. As SS has pointed out, our behavior is what is most responsible for the energy mess we are in (which will only get worse over time). If more of us did more to change our behavior and our energy choices, it could make the transition to alternatives smoother and cheaper. I'll give you a concrete example. In per capita terms, over the last 34 years or so, in 49 states of the union, the average electricity consumption has gone up by a factor of about 2. The average household burns 12000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. California has held its per capita electricity consumption constant over the last 34 years and if anything has nudged it down a bit. Your average Californian burns 7000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. This has been accomplished mainly through intelligent regulation of the electric companies. Most electric companies make money based on how much electricity they sell. You leave your lights on longer, they make more money. California's companies make a finite return on investment. So when they put money in to building a new plant, they make a return on it. Or, if they spend money to increase efficiency somewhere else down the line, they make money on that. So they offer people credits for taking up efficiency projects or for simply doing things like controlling demand. It's possible to cut the average American's electricity consumption by 40% and still live life like a California. And the people out here tend to like air conditioning.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 12:00 PM) No doubt they are in deep doo-doo. But from a consumer banking perspective, I just don't think its panic time. Now, higher end investors have a whole different picture to deal with of course. Heck, even money market funds may suddenly start having issues. But people won't lose their bank accounts. At least from a personal side, I'm not worried about a bank account, I'm worried about a non-FDIC insured rewards program. I think I'm going to play it safe and pick myself up some gift cards.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:52 AM) C won't go insolvent. They don't have enough bad plays, and still have quite a few positive cash flow centers. Plus their market presence in retail is huge. Even if they are broken up or acquired, of course, they won't just get rid of people's points or what not. That would cause customers to flee - the opposite of what they want. Oddly, they'll take away employee benefits before customer benefits. This is the same for the Big 3 auto companies. Unless they become truly insolvent and inoperable, the warranties on cars will remain intact, or else they'd be writing their own corporate death warrants. Your argument makes sense to me. So should I do a cash dump from there or should I be cautious and hold?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:42 AM) I would say so. And quick. That's what I figured. Glad I blew 80% of them in Vegas last summer.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:41 AM) Their chance? You have to be kidding. Unions have been crooked for decades. I can't be the only one to remember people like Jimmy Hoffa, right? And yet, somehow you've forgotten or at least decided to ignore Walmart.

Time for me to cash out the rest of my citibank credit card points?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:22 AM) You miss the point. Why do they get a secret vote, when they want to take it away from employees? What are they afraid of? Being ostracized like Joe? Having committee assignments taken away from them if they didn't vote for Waxman? Because it has already been established that this secret vote you're so desperate to protect simply isn't working, and it's allowed for enormous abuse of labor laws by businesses. If nothing else, big business has had its 50 years of abuses. Now it's time for the labor unions to have a chance to overstep things.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:28 AM) That is f***ing moronic. The US already has millions of acres of leased land specifically for the purpose of drilling with minimal impact (after studies). So, apparently, we can't drill there, but we need to drill in protected space??? Idiots. Drill here, Drill Now. Drill baby Drill. What did y'all think that meant?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:10 AM) Expound good sir. Here's the endangered species act one while we're at it. Basically saying "Why do we need scientists to tell us anything about the science?" I'm a big fan of how they reviewed 250,000 comments in like 2 hours.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 11:28 AM) So then we'd be trading Vazquez for a 7th inning reliever? Considering he's refusing to stay a reliever any more...it seems that way.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 10:56 AM) I can't wait until the Pardon's start. Pardon list: George W. Bush Dick Cheney Alberto Gonzalez Donald Rumsfeld Paul Wolfowitz Scooter Libby Karl Rove ....

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 10:38 AM) Agreed, but most Presidents sort of spazz out in their last couple months trying to make a good mark on the world through various executive orders. This president, on the other hand, is trying to make sure that the endangered species act is as dismantled as it can get and the drilling and mining on national park land has already started.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2008 -> 06:06 AM) Because we all know Democrats don't threaten to expell people from their caucus if they don't vote their way... Please, name one who was threatened with expulsion.

And I quote from their caption: "Governor Sarah Palin keeps talking while turkeys get slaughtered behind her."

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Nov 20, 2008 -> 06:34 PM) Funny how a secret ballot rtoo remove Dingall is good enough for the dems, but they want so bad to do away with the secret ballot for workers regarding unions. Just sayin. Yeah, because there were so many people threatening to expel Democrats from the caucus and leave them unemployed if they didn't vote a certain way...totally comparable.

Everyone gets a Free Dr. Pepper coupon this weekend to celebrate Guns & Roses actually putting out an album.

With our GM I know the chances of this happening are remote...but even with the lack of a true leadoff hitter, if our roster wound up starting the season as it is currently constructed, without any other big trades or signings, I'd be content. Not thrilled, but certainly not angry.