NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 11:47 AM) Has anyone answered my question yet as to whether or not any sort of trade prohibition, as one would get with a free agent, applies for a player who's option you decline but who's contract you renegotiate before the FA period starts? I'm afraid I don't know. I bet someone here does, but I'm not that guy.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 10:28 AM) My point is, what IS more effective? I never have stated the only way to get anything done is to torture someone. I want to know what the most effective way to get information out of people is and why aren't we using it? We have studies that say torture doesn't work, so what are the studies saying is working? Why would would the US be dumb enough to torture people if something else worked better, and didn't violate the Geneva conventions? Once again back to my example, what would be the most effective way to get information out of someone to prevent a terror attack? I honestly do not know.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 10:33 AM) McCain is the only candidate out there that really could gain from the war going better in Iraq. If they really have slowed down the sectarian violence on a reasonable level, and they can actually get out to rebuild the country, he could get a nice bounce. I don't think there is long enough in the cycle for that to happen though. There are a lot of things pointing towards a McCain rush up the standings at this point. Whether its enough to finish Top 2 in IA and NH (which is what he needs to have a shot), I am not sure.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 10:13 AM) Does it bother anyone else that big corporations are starting to promote how great they are because they are going (or have been) "green?" Case in point: NBC. All week long their logo has been all green and in just about every prime-time commercial segment there's an ad about all the great energy saving products and environmentally friendly practices they promote in their company. Yet, it's GE. Their products still pale in comparison to European products in terms of energy savigns costs. And really they just paint this completely unrealistic picture when they show famous characters planting trees in the middle of Manhattan. I guess I just laugh because at the end of the day it still comes down to money, not actually making the world better. They see a profit from promoting the fact that they are green - even though in reality they produce so much waste and continue to do more harm than good. I'd much rather see this self-agrandizing when a company builds plants that are eco-friendly or decide that they're doing away with X plastic and instead are going to use biodegradable plastic. I think Hyundai or Toyota (some Japanese auto maker) opened up a plant a year or two ago that's totally eco-friendly. I remember watching the commercial and thinking - that's great they are promoting their new plant and not trying to sell people on the fact that their entire company and its practices are perfect. It was Subaru.

I think we should all keep in mind that this may end up meaning absolutely nothing. The team now has Uribe locked in for $4.5M for 2008, and I'd suspect they are still looking to deal. Uribe is the backup plan. He may or may not be the starting SS. So in other words, we still know nothing.

QUOTE(ChiSox_Sonix @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 08:18 AM) Guy didnt make an error all season...thats gotta count for something It does, but it doesn't mean everything. I don't really know what Youkilis' range is like, or his arm, or his field command.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 09:59 AM) No real answer? Serious question here. The US captures someone who they know has information regarding an imment terror attack on US soil. They have no idea who, what, or where. What is the most effective way to get the information from him? I always here about what doesn't work, but what actually does work? What is the US government missing? I think the point to be made is that torture might be no more effective than, say, nothing. Or incentivizing. Cutting deals. Whatever. Point is, its not like torture is the magical key to the truth. And since it happens to be abhorrent and something that this country shouldn't be part of except in the most extreme of circumstances... maybe we should be trying other things.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 08:17 AM) Speaking of weird endorsements... Pat Robertson and Rudy Gulliani? http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007...e_giuliani.html Robertson has become so marginalized, that I don't think his endorsement means nearly as much now as it did a decade ago.

The City of Chicago lays out its ambitious "Green Plan", which will be helped along with a large chunk of money from various corporations. Slick Willy will be in town soon to kick things off for his part of it, as Chicago becomes a test pilot city.

I love Ozzie.

So here is a bit of a surprise. Sam Brownback, a favorite of some religious conservatives who recently dropped out of the race after failing to top 3% in most polls, is endorsing John McCain for the nomination. I would have thought he'd endorse Huckabee, Thompson or Hunter, who seem more in his mold. Brownback had been drawing about 5% in Iowa, so that's a nice boost alone. But more importantly, this is a signal to the religious right, that McCain might be their guy. Weird. I could be reading too much into this, but... I have a feeling that the religious right is so uninterested in the current leaders in the field - Giuliani and Romney - that they are looking to back the one horse who can beat them. I think they dislike Giuliani personally, as well as on his social issue stands... and I think, in some cases, Romney's religious beliefs scare them. McCain is a moderate, but as I recall, he's actually more conservative on the social issues than either of those two. He's more a moderate in areas like immigration and the environment.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 7, 2007 -> 07:44 AM) Wow. You would think there would be some correlation there. That is pretty odd that it is almost completely inverse. Yeah. If it was around 50/50, you could say it was just random. But at that low a success rate, its almost as if being an early front-runner itself has a negative effect in the Democratic races.

Just an open thought for consideration... I really hope that with all the discussion of CCGW, which has so dominated the environmental discussion in recent years, that we don't come to think of that piece as the only thing worth worrying about with the environment. I am equally concerned about air quality, water supply, pollution generally and assorted other important factors. I think the push for green spaces and lowered pollution should still be very important. That is all.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 6, 2007 -> 06:39 PM) Why you'd look at only national polls and not Iowa/NH is beyond me. I believe I've been saying that in here for quite a while. The national polls may give you some idea of trends, but that is really about it.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Nov 6, 2007 -> 11:22 PM) wouldn't want to participate in that study. "ok, we're gonna torture you for a while then you fill out this questionnaire. " Like that scene in Princess Bride... "Now tell me... how do you feel? And remember, it is for posterity, so, be honest."

QUOTE(GreenSox @ Nov 6, 2007 -> 10:10 PM) There's not a legitimate major league hitter on the bench in either 2006 and, indeed, it was worse in 2007. Mack was the best of the bunch. Mack, Ozuna and Gload are all legitimate major league hitters. Unfortunately, the 2007 team was without 2 of those, and only had Mack for part of the season.

Interesting story on the accuracy of polls 1 year before elections for the Presidency. Short version of the story: for Dems, the person leading 1 year out almost never wins the nomination. For the GOP, the leader 1 year out almost always does.

Interesting story on the accuracy of polls 1 year before elections for the Presidency. Short version of the story: for Dems, the person leading 1 year out almost never wins the nomination. For the GOP, the leader 1 year out almost always does.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Nov 6, 2007 -> 05:46 PM) I believe he is the best of the GOP bunch. I would tend to agree he's the best in there of the viable candidates (remove Paul). Three interesting things to note on McCain... 1. If the drop in violence in Iraq ends up continuing (which is to say, the Iraqi warlords keep cooperating with the US agenda), McCain stands to gain more than any other candidate from that. 2. McCain is the one GOP candidate who can reasonably claim to be an "environmental" candidate. He's the one who had been first among GOP'ers to work on the committees and task forces about CCGW, and he's leaned pro-environment on more votes than the others. As gas prices go up and energy policy becomes a bigger focus, this will help him too. 3. If Giuliani continues to falter (which he is doing - he is already losing his leads in IA and NH, as well as nationally), then McCain stands to take that moderate vote from him more than the other candidates can. And as the younger, more moderate part of the Republican party focuses more on energy policy and Iraq, being slightly more socially moderate, that works nicely in McCain's favor too. Just a few things that point positive for his chances. If he can put on a good ground game in IA and NH, I think he has a real shot.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 6, 2007 -> 04:44 PM) ABC We talk in here about if torture is OK under certain circumstances, and what exactly constitutes torture, where the line is, etc. But this sort of story brings to light another important aspect of the discussion - how effective is torture anyway? How often can you rely on what is said?

QUOTE(Linnwood @ Nov 6, 2007 -> 04:13 PM) In a vacuum I could support replay for home runs, but this is why I can't. It won't stop here, it never does. Why would you want it to? I'd love to see as many things able to be replayed, if necessary, as possible.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Nov 6, 2007 -> 04:48 PM) We were the victim of a bad hr call in the WS IIRC You mean Crede's double that should have been a HR in Houston?

Phoenix loses 1-0. Sox players... Getz: 1-4, CS (hitting .280, getting lots of AB's) Lucy: 2-3, 2B (6 for his last 14, average now up to .227, he's also thrown out 5 of 11 attempted base stealers) Hernandez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (His line so far in the AFL: 10.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K)

Excellent.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Nov 6, 2007 -> 03:13 PM) I've seen the same. Yup, Rotten Tomatoes was at 93% last I looked. Not so good for Lions for Lambs though, also out this week - I had high hopes for that one.