NorthSideSox72

The Wynkoop rocks. Not a bad way to win a lifetime supply - they rotate through all kinds of brews seasonally. He'll never get bored.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 12:28 PM) http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/txprecinct OK... a primary-caucus? WTF? I'll read the link but, that just sounds bizarre. Also, since its down to just two people, the caucus weirdness should be less of a factor anyway. Its all about ground game.

QUOTE(bmags @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 12:16 PM) I've heard all these polls don't mean anything with how strange texas's system is. How is that? Its a primary, not a caucus, so the only complicating factor I can see is the regionality (delegates assigned on regions of the state).

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 12:05 PM) Haven't we had more than a few of these "General Iraq threads" and usually each time they wind up falling off the main screen and vanishing? Sort of. We've had one specific, like the one that last for a while that was titled something like "Democrats want war to go badly!!!!!1!111!!!1" or whatever. I may have changed it to a general thread at some point.

Some of you may recall, back when violence began to drop, I cited a few articles here, written by journalists actually on the ground in Iraq (as opposed to the national news windbags). They had indicated that the drop in violence could only be attributed in small part to the "surge". Bigger factors were a voluntary calming of sectarian violence by Sunni's, an internal squabble among the Shia army with half going for alignment with the Iraqi gov't, and then also a change in US military tactical style. Those first two were predicated on one very important message - that the Sunni and Shia groups that were militants, were willing to dial down the violence (although its still quite high) if they could be allowed more involvement in the political process. I had stated that, if the Iraqi government and the US didn't act swiftly to do that, the lull in violence would be only temporary. Well, it appears the rumblings of an end to this cooperation have now begun. Let's hope this can be addressed.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 10:44 AM) The issue would be an extra inning game. Parking and traffic would be brutal. You have thousands of cars leaving the area right before you have thousands coming in. Also, if there are rain delays and other issues, it would complicate the scheduling. It would be possible, but it could get ugly really quick. You could take the schedules the team has anyway, which overlaps at most one or two games, and put them together pretty easily with minimal fuss. Those 1 or 2 days, you would have to adjust, which should be no problem. If it is a problem, then you only have that double-header situation once or twice the entire season. Nothing too huge.

Any competent court would find him eligible, I'd bet big money on it. He was assigned overseas by the US military, and working in American territory, born to US citizen parents. The Constitutional phrase is sufficiently vague that he'd fit in there just fine.

Its been my experience that you increase your exposure, interviews and chances at jobs dramatically if you find a good recruiter or two in your field(s). They will be able to get you to the top of the stack at a lot of companies, if they are good. Trying to apply to places blind (without a connection or recruiter or internal recommendation) is very tough.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 09:10 AM) You think the cycle looks bad like that, wait to see what happens if they lock the banks into the bad loans that exist out there today. The thing that has always kept the US moving forward through credit crunches is the ability to write off bad debt and move on. The best example I can give you of why holding on to bad debt doesn't work is the Japanese housing bubble of the eighties. There economy is still stalled because it is culturally unacceptable to write off debt. That is why they haven't had real growth for decades. The scary thing is that the US would be a much bigger scale. Yeah, that's a problem too. But on that note, I'll throw something else out there that has been mentioned here before - the credit default swap market. On the one hand, all that high risk, unregulated risk out there is a huge time bomb. That's bad. But, I'd suggest that in the long run, if that market can get tacked down a bit, it could actually help spell a way out. Banks will be willing to take on a bit more risk if they can insure against it via the CDS markets. And they will be more than happy to let bad debt go to the insurer (swap guarantor/receiver) according to the contractual stipulations for doing so. That could be an efficient method for the release of bad debt.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 08:52 AM) In all seriousness, this might be the worst economic crisis since 1929. I'm not being a smart ass, either. Unless something drastically changes, and quickly, we could be in a LOT of trouble. The credit markets need to get moving again, and if that doesn't happen, the Fed could lose control of the whole damn thing. As far as the credit market goes, here is yet another problematic dynamic to think about... the US' embarrassingly low savings rate. Normally, that means higher consumer spending, which has been pushing the economy forward in recent years. But, think about this - banks need to raise cash to give out more credit. They can't raise cash as easily if people aren't investing it. And if people can't get credit for loans, and take steps backwards financially, they will save even less. That's a negative spiral right there. The only way I see to get out of that is if enough people decide they can't afford or get a loan for a home, and they rent instead, and they actually save/invest the money that would have gone into the house. But the American household doesn't tend to do that - they spend the money instead.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 08:54 AM) It really wouldn't be that big of a deal, they usually both aren't home on the same dates very often. Yeah, that is something that is done anyway, every year. You see the Cubs and Sox in town at the same time maybe once or twice a year. So scheduling wouldn't be a huge issue.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2008 -> 08:41 AM) I don't even know if this idea is even true, but I do know the White Sox have some sort of power that could block it from happening and if you remember when the concrete started falling at Wrigley, Reinsdorf made it clear the Cubs wouldn't be at USCF. Well, the Sox don't own the stadium. Are you thinking maybe their lease has some sort of first-refusal stipulation in it or something? Or maybe that JR would just use his sway with the owners to not approve such a move?

As if on queue, the House today passed a bill to lower current tax incentives (or raise taxes, depending on your perspective) to oil companies, resulting in $18B in revenue that would be turned around as tax credits for alternative energy and technologies. The Senate plans to use some sort of fast-track procedure related to budget items to avoid the GOP filibuster thread, and get the bill passed. Bush is promising to veto it... naturally. So, when oil was $55/bbl, Bush says that the oil companies don't need tax breaks anymore. Now at $100/bbl, Congress takes some of them away (roughly $1.8B per oil company), and Bush says its unfair and promises a veto. I guess this is the legend he wants to etch in history for his Presidency - abject stupidity. So frustrating. Please, for the love of God, bring on Obama, or McCain, or hell even Clinton - anyone but this buffoon.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 08:26 PM) I disagree. I for one think the time to get serious on alternative energy, by removing the tens of billions of dollars in subsidies given to the oil industry, investing heavily in research into alternative energy, increasing the CAFE standards, investing in mass transit, etc., was the mid 90's. Back when Energy was in its last low cost period before the end of the era of cheap energy. Now, we're slapping a band aid on a gushing wound. Hopefully we have big enough bandaids to stanch the bleeding. Well hell, if you want to look back, you can say it about the 80's, 70's... I think that goes without saying. But the opporunity is ripe right now, and the battle will be much harder to fight later. But also, there is one thing about now that is better than any of those periods - this is the best political opportunity we've ever had. The combination of factors that are directly impacting consumers is at a high, and its enough that some decent leadership could use it to overcome the momentum of big oil, etc. I stand by my statement.

Not to sound like I'm making a stump speech, but, I really have to say, now is the time to get serious on alternative energy. We need to lower energy costs, we need to generate jobs in new sectors, we need to get on the strong side of the negotiating table, we need to strengthen the dollar, mass transit infrastructure needs work... its got to be done right now. All those technologies - solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydro, non-corn ethanol - are just starting to grow and are on the verge of getting cheaper and better. I really hope that the folks we send to Washington in 2008 can see that .

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 07:40 PM) They need to build the Olympic Stadium so that the Cubs can use it while they gut the Urinal. We'll know about the Olympic status by next year I think, right? The cities go down to like 2 or 3 finalists this year, then I think the final decision is early in 2009. But they won't start building the new arena for a while I'm pretty sure.

QUOTE(JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 06:39 PM) As long as we get a cut of the money for their ticket sales and concessions and everything, I say do it. The stadium belongs to the Illinois Sports Authority, not the Sox. The Sox lease time in the stadium - Cubs would have to do the same. The money may help the Sox indirectly - more funds for improvements, some sticky fans as Balta said... but directly, no cash for the Sox.

QUOTE(jenks45monster @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 06:28 PM) Why not Soldier Field, like the good old days? A number of reasons. One, it would have to be constantly configured for baseball, then reconfigured for other events. Two, Soldier is actually heavily used in the summer for a variety of things, so scheduling would be a nightmare. Third, the playing surface is not ready for baseball. Hell, its barely ready for football. Fourth, you's start conflicting with the Bears come August. Fifth, the seating is really not conducive to a small field.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 06:16 PM) Honestly, for a 1 year thing, I wouldn't mind this at all. This would be a great way to market the Sox to all the Cub fans who have never been anywhere but historic Wrigley Field. Some of them would come back. ^^^ And this has been a given for a while. Wrigley needs serious work or a rebuild, and the only real alternative is the Cell.

Wassermann K'd the one lefty he faced. That's good. Too bad he walked Tulo.

Wassermann K'd the one lefty he faced. That's good. Too bad he walked Tulo.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 03:48 PM) Can you give an example of this? I'd say the people who are more statistically aware tend to hold an even greater appreciation for the game. There's also a "statheads aren't fans and only care about the numbers" tone that's in this thread. Not surprising, but it's there. It's a completely ignorant view, too, but again -- not surprising. I've seen plenty of posters be equally (or more so) dismissive of those who feel that some factors in the game can never be captured in the numbers. Some things just have to be seen, and sometimes, there is more (or less) to a player than their stats indicate.

QUOTE(SoxUK @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 01:12 PM) Try following them from the UK! Welcome aboard! Overseas, the internet is great for following the team. I actually first joined this board when I was in India on business, and was looking for a way to get some up to date info online.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 11:46 AM) Race also tightening in Pennsylvania. If Clinton doesn't pull a pretty big win on 3/4, PA won't matter.

Nicely written, CC. Bravo!