NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(Texsox @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 09:51 AM) Do we call peanuts, non-deadly? Why do we have a category called non-deadly or non-lethal? I believe it is to make people believe the weapon is soft and cuddly and not as dangerous as it is. And why would the police want to make something warm and cuddly? soft and cuddly? Where do you get this stuff? Why do we have a category for non-deadly? Because the more tools the cops have at their disposal that are less dangerous (for less dangerous situations), the better, don't you think? Or would you rather we go back to when they just carried a gun and stick?

Speaking of celeb sex tapes, sort of... Alicia Silverstone will be appearing naked in a PETA add promoting vegetarianism, to run in Houston (as its generally considered the least healthy city in terms of diet). Here is a link to an article about it and a pic, and the video is on PETA's site. I gotta say, she still looks... quite nice.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 09:42 PM) Campus security, not cops. BIG difference. I was curious about this too - what these "cops" really were. I looked around, and it turns out that U of F does have an actual, state-trained police department, like any other municipal department. So, at least from an expectation of training and legal responsibility, I think they need to be held to the same standard as, say, the Gainsville PD.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 01:31 AM) Just curious here, which means of force is the most likely to leave the kid with as little permanent damage as possible - tasing him or forcefully pinning him to the ground? I suppose one could compare the number of people killed by tasers to the number of people who have died while in forcible custody (this is a crude comparison, but, here we go)... According to Amnesty International, the total number of deaths in the United States (tasers have been used widely since the 80's) that occurred shortly after use of a taser (but not necessarily caused by it) is 245. Now, given that other things were inevitbaly going on in those circumstances, including forcible custody, its hard to say how many of those were actually caused by tasers. Half? More? don't know. On the other hand, looking at custody death, there are a number of different studies as to how often this happens, but it looks like it could be anywhere from 25 to 125 people a year. That is obviously a much larger gross number than those dying from the taser. However, forcible custody of course happens far more often. So coming up with a relative percentage would be difficult if not impossible. The only thing clear, really, is that either situation represents some limited potential danger to the subject. Given the very small number of deaths from either one, in relation to how often people are taken into custody, the assumption can be made that in 99%+ of all situations, neither would cause permanent damage. It is then more a matter of which method achieves the means most effectively.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 09:00 PM) No, those certain posters still wont budge from their stance winning meaningless September games (the previos season) was better than losing for the purpose of gaining draft position. We'll have to wait until those drafted ahead are producing in the majors for anyone to acknowledge their mistakes. And even then, I'm sure they'll just shrug their shoulders and say something such as "it is what it is." Here's one prevailing question the 'winning' crowd has yet to answer -- what's the most beneficial part of winning out the remainder of the season? Name me ONE legitimate benefit. I could give you one benefit to losing out the remainder of the year -- having the opportunity to draft a HOF calibur player at #1. No, that player may still be available wherever we select, but they'd also be there at #1. As I see it, there's much more benefit to our argument than the constrasting view held by Greg and the Gang. Atleast we're facing Santana on Friday. Although would it shock anyone if the White Sox mounted their highest offensive output, post-changeup era, against him? I'll give you a positive to winning now - same reason you are better off scoring a few runs late in a game than just dying off. Psychological momentum. Some people like to think that baseball is something that happens in a vacuum like a video game, but of course its not. Players, particularly young ones like the ones developing right now on the club, will be better off next year if they can build some winning attitude right now. How much benefit does that have? I don't know. Maybe very little. But I think your statement that there is NO benefit is not entirely accurate.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 08:23 PM) September doesn't mean a thing, remember. MLB throws out all the stats for September games. The games your watching tonight, they aren't even real.... I think, given JC's previous years of true success, that even the anti-Septemberists on the board would say that it might mean something that he has settled down.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 07:48 PM) I really don't see what the risk in swapping Floyd in for Contreras would be. Contreras has been god awful this season and I find it tough to believe Floyd would be much worse. Ya know, I am starting to think otherwise. Contreras seems to have gotten back on track, finally, his last few starts. Looking good again tonight. If the early part of this season really was a glitch - and his odd behaviors seems to indicate such - then maybe he can be pretty good again. And the other, possibly more important point - Contreras would get very little in trade, if anything, whereas Garland will fetch much more. I am starting to think I'd rather they trade Garland than Contreras.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 08:01 PM) Oh yea, good point. that plan could have totally backfired. Nice avy.

QUOTE(scenario @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 07:00 PM) Absolutely. CJ Retherford had a GREAT year. There are good reasons he was selected MVP of this year's Great Falls team... He finished the year with 1.000+ OPS... He lead the Pioneer League in extra base hits... and he broke the all-time Pioneer League record for doubles (he hit 30). I think he'll be an interesting player to follow and watch the progress of. To put his numbers in perspective, there have only been two players in the last two years to have a .900+ OPS at Great Falls: Francisco Hernandez and Chris Carter... both who are considered Top 10 Sox prospects. I posted some additional information about him awhile back on the scout.com board. Too much to copy. Here's a link. Excellent info - thanks for posting it! I am interested to see what this kid does next year.

I find this similar to the draft choice discussion. In that case, people point out rightly that sometimes, lower picks do better than higher ones, and that a high pick does not guarantee a star player. That is true, but misses the point - the frequency of star players is higher, as you go up the draft. Here, there are some people pointing out rightly that some players have had September performances early in their career, then flopped. We could just as easily name the Jack McDowell's of the world too, who had great late season callups and then solid careers. But the point is, if a player can show some success - and Floyd has done that for 2 months now (not just September), then they are more likely to succeed again later. It is not a guarantee - it just makes it more likely. But if folks want to go ahead and protect their original predictions by nitpicking negative scenarios, go right ahead. Same for people who are saying that because Floyd has had success before, he is a lock to be good. But it isn't that simple, of course.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 05:10 PM) http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kgzfu_b6v44 Awesome. The most honest ticket possible.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 07:14 PM) Jackson is a closet racist himself, I think. But it is rather interesting how many closet racists there are. Closet? That dude is out like Richard Simmons.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 04:45 PM) In this case, I'm not saying it's inappropriate. Even a single person can injure another person if they are truly resisting, and in that case, it could well be justified. One of the other little notes with the taser is that the deaths that occur with it have also been associated with drug use, especially stimulants. All I'm trying to say is that there needs to be a little discretion used with them. If a person is resisting and has the ability to injure someone else and therefore needs to be restrained, its usually fairly useable. Definitely agree. The use of any weapon at all requires discretion and caution.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 04:47 PM) I thought the important note about that story was that the 7% drop prediction was an updated one from like the 3% or so prediction they made less than a year ago. Yeah, that was very interesting.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 04:49 PM) Unfortunately...that means to my eyes that you can't trade either Garland or Contreras until the end of spring training...which means we will have no FA money to spend and will get nothing back until that point. Which, to me, means that you absolutely have to pencil him in as that #5 starter this offseason, because you need to clear one of those salaries and you need to try to find a way to turn Garland into a SS. I think it means you can definitely trade one - just not both. Because given Floyd's performances, I think he has shown there is a good chance he will be a serviceable starter. Add that to a few guys like Gio and others who will be vying for it, and I would feel confident that one of them will be OK. Now, trading both, that might be taking a big risk.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 04:31 PM) Let's see where he ends up at the end of the season before we start to proclaim him a new man. Agreed 100%. ETA: Actually, he probably only has one start left. 2 at most. I would even say they shouldn't crown him starter #5 unless/until he also "shows up" in Spring Training.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 04:25 PM) Garland, Danks and Contreras have been very shaky. His WHIP says he is giving up a whopping 1 more baserunner per 9 innings than Mark Buehrle. Clearly, he is not allowing baserunners at a "terrible" rate.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 04:16 PM) I was clearly being facetious, but I will admit that the great Gavin Floyd has put up more quality starts than I predicted. Good for him. Unfortunately for Floyd, he's still allowing baserunners at a terrible rate, his control hasn't been hot and he's had significant circumstances tip in his favor of late that have little to do with him. Is he for real? I don't think so. We'll have to wait and see, I guess, if he can be good in his next start, if he makes a start after, and whether or not he can win a job that's been once again gift-wrapped for him next Spring Training. I wouldn't have mentioned the terrible Gavin Floyd and was in fact going to keep from mentioning it but Kap had to prompt it and who am I to deny that Gavin Floyd sucks?! But really, I'm happy we've found our Opening Day starter next year. How can we lose?1 Floyd's WHIP since you made your 8/1 post: 1.34 WHIP's for other starters on the team this year: Buehrle: 1.24 Vazquez: 1.15 Garland: 1.39 Danks: 1.54 Contreras: 1.62 Yup. Terrible rate. So terrible that its... better than 3 of the 5 other starters? And very close to Buehrle's?

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 04:16 PM) Seriously though, if Ron Paul keeps going to the GOP primary debates I think Sean Hannity might crash the stage and tazer the poor guy. No joke. It could happen. And I like Ron Paul, I'm just worried about his safety. You're really stuck on this whole taser thing now, aren't you?

Yikes. Moody's is now projecting a 7.7% average drop in home values nationally over the next few years. Drops will exceed 10% or more in 86 of the 379 major metros, according to their research. Some areas will see 25% drops or more. That's a lot. Good news: Chicago is not among the 100 areas with the biggest drops. If you look at the 100 list (bottom), Chicago isn't on it, and the bottom city (Memphis) is projected at 1.1%. So, I don't see the specific number, but I suppose that means Chicago is projected to do no worse than a 1% drop.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 03:51 PM) I honestly don't see why Ron Paul is being completely ignored by the MSM. He seems to connect with a lot of people. Same reason why 98% of the news we see about candidates is about the top two or three in each party - laziness. Nevermind that those top two or three candidates don't have anything like 98% of the vote.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 03:28 PM) Not wanting to get into whether or not the taser was appropriate in this circumstance...let me just say that stating a taser is a non deadly weapon is simply false. In a majority of cases it is non-deadly...but there are more than a few cases where it actually does wind up being deadly, especially in cases of pre-existing conditions. Sending that much voltage through a person's heart is not a healthy thing to do, and it can kill a person. Drudge even has a link up right below the Kerry story today of a person who died after being hit repeatedly by a taser. Balta, you are wrong on this one. The phrase "non-deadly weapon" does not mean it 100% will never kill anyone. It means that the millions and millions of times it is used, only a very small number of people died, as a result of some pre-existing condition (like the severely overweight dude in Cincinnati a while back). Similarly, OC spray, mace and tear gas are classified as non-deadly weapons - even though there have been a few isolated incidents where people died. Further, people sometimes die in police custody when no weapons are used at all - some have even gone so far as to give that situation a name: Custody Death Syndrome. Think this through to its conclusion - if you are going to consider tasers deadly weapons, then so to are mace, tear gas, batons, saps, handcuffs, leg irons and pretty much every other implement used by a cop. If you call all those deadly weapons, they what they heck is a cop supposed to do with someone resisting arrest? The taser is a non-deadly weapon with non-permanent damaging effect in 99.99% of situations, therefore, it is in the same category (though a step up on the force continuum) as many types of manual restraint.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 03:39 PM) He wants Obama to defend them because they are black and he is black. That is the same narrowminded bulls*** that has the radical Muslims up in arms, defending terrorists, because the are fellow Muslims. Flassox, those nooses were bad. very bad. but what they did wasn't any better. Catch the guys who hung the nooses and try them for the hate crimes the left loves so much. The black kids got caught. Kinda like in football, the one who retaliates always gets the penalty. How Obama handles this will, I think, be one of those key moments in his campaign.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 03:13 PM) Pft. What a country. Where else can a person use racial slurs to call out people and be defended for it. If he wants to call out Obama for not doing enough, that is fine, but at least have the decency to not re-enforce the very same racism that led to this incident in the first place. Or maybe that is just me not acting white enough or something. Oh I don't know. You're pretty white.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 02:03 PM) Hundreds of reporters and hundreds of sources on the same story, I should have been more specific. Plus we now have access to foreign coverages as well. You also can search hundreds of news papers, getting local slants on news from out of your area. There is so much more depth that is delivered to your (door) computer. Yes, one now has ACCESS to much greater depth, via alternative sources. But that isn't what we were talking about, was it? You said "network news". They aren't the in-depth sources.