Balta1701

And in case you were going to say Newsweek was an Outlier...ARG, 27%. With an even higher disapproval number.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 10:15 AM) Now THAT was the problem with Afghanistan, IMO. Seriously, how often do you and I get to agree in a thread?

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 10:03 AM) And I completely disagree that the Government is in the best position to manage such a system. Let Government create the boundaries, let the private sector put it in motion. Haven't we learned yet that Government makes everything worse? Public is just about always worse than private (in terms of management). And I totally disagree with this claim, and I think that the system we have now is the best possible example of that. Study after study has shown that the system where every single insurance provider is using different forms, there is no standardization across any system, and the biggest goal of insurance providers is to not find a reason to treat people, instead of actually treating people, is vastly more expensive than what happens in any government run system. Study after study shows the same trend. Canada spends 1/3 as much on administration and paperwork as the U.S. health system (New England Journal of Medicine study). Medicare spends an order of magnitude less on paperwork than the private health care system. Paperwork in the U.S. is somewhere between 20 and 30% of health care costs. That is an absurd amount. Several hundred billion dollars are wasted on health care paperwork each year.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 10:08 AM) The whole Afghan was another one of Reagans huge mistakes. The USSR invaded Afganistan to help the goverment against the Mujahideen. The Mujahideen were heavly funded by Ronald Reagan. We all know the famouse person that was spawned from the Mujahideen. Well, the question of course is...was the original problem that we funded the Afghan fighters, or was the problem that we totally ignored any efforts to rebuild that country in the early and mid 90's which allowed Afghanistan to fall into failed state territory?

Barack Obama has come out with a list of all of the earmarks he has requested during this fiscal year, and has challenged the other candidates to do the same.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 09:48 AM) As far as the USSR goes, what economic polices? Arms race? An awful lot of Reagan policies helped in the matter. SDI, whether effective or not, played a big part in potentially eliminating the Russian ICBM stockpile's usefulness. Reagan's arms buildup left the Soviets unable to keep pace without destroying their economy. The U.S. support of the Afghan fighters, esp. with the Stinger, bled the Russians just like Vietnam bled the U.S. And turning around and negotiating after all the buildup, without making the mistake of war, gave the Russians a way out that helped crack everything. I wouldn't underestimate at all the effectiveness of 40 years of the containment system outlined by Truman, or the actions of any number of presidents, but I also wouldn't underestimate the job of the Reagan admin. in actually pulling the coup de gras and finishing the job.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 09:45 AM) That's quite an interpretation there. Open up those gates and where does it stop? I have a right to life and pursuit of happiness, so I better get a nice home and 150k a year salary. It stops at the point at which your right to those things begins to interfere with the right of others to those same things. The right of everyone to some sort of health care is a right that can be accomplished without significant interference in the right of the huge majority of people to any of those other things, IMO. QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 09:44 AM) I'll come back with some stuff later as the debate unfolds. But... why should the GOVERNMENT be the provider (which is a totally different direction then where I was thinking about this going)? So, that is a much more interesting question, and it's where this debate actually goes. Once you accept that it's a bad thing to have people randomly die somewhere because they don't have health care and no one will take care of them when an unexpected illness crops up, then the question becomes...what is the best way to achieve those ends. I would argue that the reason the goverment is the provider is that the private sector has failed to be the provider that it needs to be, for all of the reasons that one can go on (costs 2x per person what any other country in the world spends, an enormously inefficient bureaucratic mess, 45 million or so uninsured, and outcomes that are at best on par with other nations in the world, but in many cases are severely lacking compared to the results of other system designs)

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 09:38 AM) I'll ask again... why is healthcare treated as a right? I've said this before, and I still haven't gotten a good answer. I hold it to be self-evident that humans have in fact a right to life and the pursuit of happiness, and that health care is absolutely a necessary part to both of those, and that therefore, men have the ability to request and demand that their government will take actions in that field to protect those rights.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 22, 2007 -> 09:36 AM) This is a great move for the Braves. Ledezma has a good arm and good stuff. He has the ability to be a pretty damn good pitcher in the majors. And you just have to wonder if Leo Mazzone might suddenly be available...

Which is the bigger mistake; underestimating the contribution Mr. Reagan did have to the downfall of the Soviet Union, or overestimating it?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 09:11 PM) He's had two doubles the last two days back in CF, so we k now he's finally good to go. Here's something you don't see in the stat lines every day: BATTING 2B: Young, E (7, Anderson), Anderson (7, Anderson).

Destroy them.

WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 06:42 PM) You know what really makes me sad about this? When it comes right down to it, when almost every politician in Washington needs cleaned out and sent home, a lot of these morons (from both parties, mind you) will get re-elected. And it's a damn shame. Congress #'s were like 15 or 20 points higher before the Dems caved into Bush on the Iraq funding bill.

QUOTE(Jim Spencer @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 07:32 PM) Anyone care how BA is doing???? He's batting .236 now Much of that still being while hurt enough that he's been only able to DH for about the last month or so.

So, if the question is...would I rather have a guy who puts up slightly worse numbers but actually tries or a guy who puts up better numbers but isn't a grinder, I'll take the guy who's giving it his all. To me, there are a couple great examples of teams built of guys just putting up great numbers, and very few of them wind up being winners. Think: New York Yankees.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 09:02 PM) A player who doesn't give it his all, plays decent D, but with numbers of .310, 30-40 HR, and 100+ RBI. IMO, Aramis does not play decent D.

Maybe if it was someone who was not only grindy, but could at least take a walk, we could talk. How about the Erstad of 2000 versus the current Aramis?

The fight isn't over yet, as some of the auto-industry-"friendly" Dems are saying, but the Senate passed a measure which is now hooked to the upcoming energy bill which will raise the CAFE standards to 35 mpg within the next 13 years. It's a start.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 04:45 PM) I hate to keep bringing this up, but how convinced are you all that Contreras will actually waive his NTC before this season ends? I'm pretty sure it's complete. Count strikes me as a guy particular about his environment, and he's made it clear that Chicago is comfortable to him. It's fully possible to deal him after the season is over, first of all. Secondly, we don't know how things have developed in that locker room recently; he signed that deal before 06, and he's gone through another season and a half of personnel turnover, and Lord knows what else, since then. And third, it may well depend on who is doing the asking and whether or not Jose would want to pitch there. SI this morning was passing along rumors that JC may be available, so it's not out of the question

QUOTE(Greg The Bull Luzinski @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 04:41 PM) I read that that Sox former manager The Scarecrow may be up for the O's job now that Girardi turned it down. Manual has been rejected a few times already so this may be one of his last chances. IMO, Manuel makes a ton of sense for that team, as much as any coach can right now, given that it's entirely a transition period and he's got to be a guy looking to just get another short stint somewhere on his resume.

Gavin Floyd's last 6 games: Date OPP W L ERA SV IP H ER BB SO May 26 OTT 1 0 3.00 0 6.0 7 2 1 5 May 31 LOU 1 0 5.68 0 6.1 7 4 2 6 Jun 05 @LOU 0 0 1.13 0 8.0 7 1 0 6 Jun 10 IND 1 0 1.29 0 7.0 5 1 3 8 Jun 16 SWB 0 0 2.57 0 7.0 3 2 2 7 Jun 21 @NOR 1 0 1.04 0 8.2 6 1 2 8 Overall ERA in this stretch: 2.30.

Newsweek: 26.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jun 21, 2007 -> 10:56 AM) Then his reputation will be hurt if the Mets don't win it all. People will look back and say he spent all of Michael Wilpon's money to put together this great team- and all he had to do was move some prospects to acquire a Barry Zito or a Mark Buehrle and put them over the top- and he wouldn't do it. I think he feels more pressure than we realize. Whether he has eyes for Zambrano next season or not, Minaya has to realize how important it is for Kenny to get high value for Mark to please our fanbase. Minaya may just need Buehrle to win it all, and I would think ultimately a player like Carlos Gomez won't stop him from realizing that. Some of his guys, i.e. Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green, Billy Wagner, Pedro, Glavine, and Moises Alou aren't exactly getting any younger either.

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