NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 15, 2006 -> 07:39 AM) That hasn't seemed to work at all so far. There are significant portions of America who can't identify with either political party, as they have deserted the entire middle 80% of the US. If you aren't on one extreme or the other, you haven't been represented in decades anyway, so while being a valid enough reason to do away with the electoral college, evidently for some it isn't reason enough for a third political party, like we have seen many times through out our history. Yeah, because the "other party" did so incredibly well when it was completely in charge I should have known hope for a third party would turn into a "Republicians are the bane of all that is evil in politics" thread, I just would not have guessed it would have happened within the first post. I would have to disagree on two points here. First, the parties were not this far apart until recently. In fact, the American political parties (the two big ones) were far more centric than parties in countries like, say, Europe. Until recently, that is. While they are centering, we are pulling to the outsides. Interesting trend. But I don't think they've been this polarized for "decades", at least not in the broad view. Second, where and when did this turn into a Republican-bashing thread? I seriously do not see a single post that does that at all. In fact, I was surprised to see that it hadn't happened. The only off-shoot I really saw here was the electoral college bit (which has been argued on this board ad nauseum).

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 14, 2006 -> 03:30 PM) The race for re-election isn't looking good, so Joe is thinking of back up plans... My hope is that if he is will to run as an independant for Senate, he would be willing to do so for President and take a couple of true conservatives with him to form a 3rd MODERATE party in the US. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/14/D8I84U105.html Here is a discussion question on that topic... Which would be more effective - creating a viable third party, or having the leaders of one party or the other drag the party back towards the middle?

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 14, 2006 -> 01:58 PM) I did NOT use the word "liberal" as an insult. I used it as a general, non-derogatory label. I couldn't say "Democrat" because I have no idea how he votes. I'm sorry that you misinterpreted my comments. You changed a quote from Sleepy from "my opinions" to "my blatantly liberal opinions", all the while ridiculing his stance. You absolutely used it as an insult. Like I said, you want to do that, go ahead. But if you don't even realize you are doing it, that's kind of sad. I've said my peace and am done on this topic.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 14, 2006 -> 01:49 PM) I don't agree with that. The labels "liberal" and "conservative" are used (in a non-derogatory way) all of the time to describe general political philosophies and typically do not refer to extremists (that would be "left-wing" and "right-wing"). I have no problem with people calling me a "conservative." It's what I am. I think perhaps you missed the point here. What I was commenting on was using either of those terms as insults. Like you were doing to Sleepy in this case, and like what a lot of people here have resorted to. Its as if they just replace "asshole" or "jerk" with "liberal" or "conservative". All that accomplishes is to automatically discount the opinions of half the country, and make you look like you don't have anything material to contribute. You are of course welcome to post whatever you'd like. I'm just exercising my right to point out that I think its childish. And I don't just mean you specifically - not at all.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Jun 14, 2006 -> 01:33 PM) note how only 1 person has commented on the use of a Cell Phone in baseball and how its use might change the way communication works (felix). Im not sure what the other comments are supposed to be in favor of them? are they breakthrough? Not really? Crains Business thinks this is a big deal too, not sure why, its a CELL PHONE, theres nothing new about it Hangar, people aren't upset about the topic. They are upset that you started a thread with a laughably vague title and lead post, failing to cite any sort of article backing up your claim about people going nuts on it. You want a comment on the topic? Here is one. Its a stupid idea if they don't use an internal, proprietary system with some sort of encryption. Why? Its called a scanner. Most cell phones and wireless devices operate in specific freq ranges, often the 800- and 900- trunk bands. These bands can be listened in on, and detected for proximity, by easy-to-find police/fire scanners and other such technology. So, the communications could be intercepted, if another team wanted to do that. Football had that problem at one point I believe, and changed their systems to accomodate.

I'm going to say here that the whole use of the terms "liberal" and "right-wing" and all those other labels are growing tiresome. Its childish, petty and lacking in any sort of intelligent thought. The insults are getting old, and so is the demonization of anything outside of the poster's party of choice. Being "liberal" isn't some excuse people have for a lack of personal responsibility, any more than being "conservative" is an excuse for leveraging hate in politics. Both are examples only of a minority on either side.

Not really a new concept, though. They've been used by numerous countries, the U.S. included, for decades. Nuclear-powered ships and subs. Of course, those are admitedly of a different scale...

Recently finished Enchantment and Exploitation by William DeBuys. Highly recommended. Few people realize there is a part of this country that in many ways culturally correlates for the US what the Basque region is to Spain. Now working on 1491, by Charles C. Mann, and Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. 1491 has a lot of interesting information, but the writing is oddly paced and wanders a lot. In my pile: This House of Sky by Ivan Doig, and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (Yeah I know, I can't believe I haven't read it yet either).

Congrats CC, that is awesome. Enjoy your new family!

go cubs. woohoo.

I don't believe that random traffic stops for drugs are warranted in any situation, nor do I believe that someone doing 30 days for dope should be in the same jail as a murdering gang-banger. That all said, I still like this guy on the whole. Prison should be prison, not band camp. If that happened more often, they prison would have an actual deterrent effect (something it currently lacks). I haven't read anything he has done with the prisons (patrol aside for now) that I disagreed with.

I'm not sure why CNN is being blamed here. I didn't watch the video (blocked), but I saw nothing in the article pointing to the specific location of this information. And that is exactly how they should have reported it - we need to know, but don't give criminals an easy entry. But I sure as heck am upset with any gov't agency allowing that information to float around out there. Unfortunately, given the record of agencies like the FBI (whose computer system is a joke), I have little faith in most of our government to secure our information.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jun 14, 2006 -> 04:51 AM) They are embarrassed because they effed up? IMO, the could have prevented most of this fraud. Yeah. I bet if they put Haliburton in charge of the contract, all would have been well with the world. Sorry, couldn't help myself. Back to reality, Steff, I do completely agree with you. Its amazing how poorly the response to Katrina was managed at all levels, from day 1, and still continues.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 11:38 PM) Clarence Thomas is a beneficiary of affirmative action. It's how he got into the College of the Holy Cross and how he got into Yale. He probably also was nominated to the Supreme Court because of his color, to replace the retiring Thurgood Marshall. This isn't to say that Justice Thomas isn't qualified, but rather that his nomination was at least in part because of the color of his skin. yet I don't hear many federal circuit court judges whining about getting passed over because Clarence Thomas was black. He may criticize Affirmative Action as something that isn't right for America, but if it wasn't for it, nobody would care what he thinks today. You really think a federal judge is going to call out a Supreme Court justice on something like that? Even if they do feel slighted? Not a chance. There is no such thing, societally, as a beneficiary of affirmative action. Because in the net, you just gain one and lose one. And worse, you do it for non-job-related reasons. Its not even a zero sum game - its a negative sum game. Its organized bigotry at worst, and a depreciating social investment at best. No race or individual is made better by propping up someone in a position they weren't most qualified for.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 07:52 PM) Let's back up here. I don't believe that, not in the least. I said it mockingly, as in mocking the KKK. I am not a Klansman, in the least. Although it is true that the Klan believes that the White Race is threatened by minorities in schools and our cities, interracial marriages, etc. etc., no? And so I was mocking them for that. I figured - but the sentence wasn't clear. Understood.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 05:47 PM) Well, they take themselves seriously because the white race is being threatened. If you don't mind good sir, I'd like you to place this line in reference for me. Are you stating that the KKK feels the white race is being threatened, or that you do? Because grammatically, you state it as if it were factual information. I assume that was not your intent, but I'd like to have that clarified.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 02:45 PM) And for awhile, Bill Clinton was losing Arkansas to George H.W. Bush in 1991 and 1992. You keep bringing up polls that don't mean anything, and I'm quite tired with your circular posts. Anything can happen, but Bayh and Richardson > Vilsack, who isn't even known!!! Blah blah blah. Not once did I say polls don't mean anything. They mean a lot. I said this poll, in one small state, at this time, is pretty irrelevant. And that any results related to that state's governor are even more irrelevant. Further, even if you assume the poll has some validity, the fact that Vilsack couldn't do better than 10% in his own state is pretty indicative of his poor chances in a Prez run. But if you'd rather not accept those pieces of different information, you go right ahead and believe whatever you'd like.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 01:52 PM) What technology was this? They tried for 4 years to attack the US homeland with no success at all. As close as they ever came was that comical attempt to land saboteurs on Long Island. Their "America bomber" program was an utter failure. Their ballistic missile technology ( V1 / V2 ) programs were able to hit England a few times but it was still in its infancy even as allied armies crushed the Nazis. The Japanese were actually a greater threat to reach the US than Germany of course. And they did, in Alaska. And (little trivia here), there was that lone Japanese fighter-bomber that dropped an incindiary bomb in northern California in an attempt to start a forest fire. One way trip - pilot ditched the plane, I think. And that guy eventually became a US citizen, amazingly.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 01:45 PM) I thought about that, but the person in question posed it to me as if he heard this 3rd or 4th hand, and openly questioned this. the fact that he "heard it somewhere" is exactly what the Trib likes to do. I told this person where that LIE originated from, a guy named Morrissey. I assured him that I was at that same parade, and it was all SOX FANS. I told him how the Chicago Police (who are in charge of estimating crowd sizes) were SURPRISED at the numbers of people (2million) and were expecting hundred thousands or so. Plant a lie, and watch how it becomes an even bigger lie down the road. thats the Trib when it comes to the SOX. How many fans have I met who think that Comiskey is "dangerous" and "stabbings" "home break-ins" and "robberies" happen outside the park all the time? If I had a dollar. But then, these same people who "heard" this, also hear that the other park is "Fun" "Safe" "good times" "historic". Where would you want to go? Wasnt Mark Twain the one who once said "Tell a Lie and watch it run halfway around the world before the Truth has a chance to tie its shoes". By the way, the Tribune owns the LA Times You are hilarious. I just have no response to your post. No need.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 01:37 PM) Man, your opening a can of worms here, where do I start, there have been so many compelling moments ..............Hmmmmmm. OH, ok everyone remembers William Ligue right? how can you not, the Trib makes sure to link all of his troubles and court dates with a quick blurb in the Trib. In Fact, they would often link his adventures in the SOX section! Has nothing to do with sports or the SOX. Well, the Trib (on the other website) commented that it Indeed had something to do with the SOX, people wanted to "know" what was happening with him, it was a major event. Both papers put that event on the Front and back Covers of their papers. it was a BS answer on the Tribs part. But when that guy got murdered after the game in front of Wrigley a couple years ago? Where was that story? It happened in front of the stadium didnt it. Well, the Trib this time decided this was a "non-baseball" issue, even though one fan was ath the game, and the other fan, was driving into the area to "party" after the game. The Trib buried it on page 3 of their Metro section called it a "traffic incident, and left it at that. Anyone remember the way some in Radio ripped on the Trib and Times for their portrayals of this? Nonsense. Well, SunTimes decides for once afterwards to take the high road, openly wonder why it wasnt on the "front page". Anyone remember the way TV crews portrayed this? CLTV and WGN BOTH made sure their cameras of the incident pointed AWAY from that bogus marquee of theirs, and towards the CubbyBear Lounge, to make you think the incident occured there as opposed to directly in front of Wrigley. We never did hear about the guy who was caught, never heard of any subsequent court dates, and basically never heard anything else about the story. Ligue attacked a coach DURING A GAME, and INSIDE THE STADIUM. Thus, it was by nature, a sports event. The homicide outside Wrigley? Not sports. Why can't you accept that the media delivers what people want to read? If they don't they go out of business. And the Ligue mess was absolutely something people, including Sox fans, read about and cared about.

QUOTE(Hangar18 @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 01:24 PM) Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune. It was a pretty big thread back when it happened, pissed off alot of SOX fans. And you know what? I was in Anaheim few weeks ago, chatting with some Angel fans. Someone casually mentioned that they "heard not a lot of SOX fans were at their own parade". Trib prints more stories about certain team. Perception is that certain team must be more important. You think some random Angels fan said that because the Tribune (a paper from 1000 miles away) mentioned that some people at the parade weren't Sox fans (which is true anyway)? Did it occur to you that he/she may have said that because... oh, I don't know... THEY ARE AN ANGELS FAN?! The team we beat in the ALCS?!

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 12:36 PM) As long as it doesn't cut a major artery, the amount of blood you will lose will be decent, but not life threatening, unless it's not treated. He was certainly in the hands of paramedics within a few minutes and they would have worked to control the bleeding. And as long as you keep a certain amount of blood in your system, you can stay alive long enough to reach a hospital and get an infusion of O-. If he had a 9 inch gash running across his aorta, that's a different story. I'll just add a bit to this. As a general rule, unless you are talking about a gash that penetrates the skull, head wounds tend to be very messy but not a big deal medically. Lots of blood, looks scary, but unless you have lots of big cuts (which it sounds like Ben may have), your life is probably not in danger from that alone. But, the problem is, if you got cut up on the noggin, you may also have a serious head injury that cannot be seen on the outside. And in fact, the blood and swelling from the wounds may mask certain indicators (deformities of the skull, Battle's sign, etc.) of those more serious potential conditions. So it complicates things.

QUOTE(minors @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 11:26 AM) Such a good move by our president. He bolsters our troops and caught the liberals off guard. With all eyes on camp david waiting for another vulnerable GOP spin to come out of it, Democrats were once again outsmarted by President Bush. Dems were stammering in disbelief when next they saw Bush strolling the marble halls of Saddam's old Palace greeting Iraq's new leader of a fresh government. With their tears of mourning barely dry from Zarqawi's untimely death at the hands of the murderous Bush, Democrats have the rest of the day to make the case as to how Bush made a big mistake by visiting Iraq and hosting a video conference from a totally surprising end of the screen. But they were outclass Remember those tests from the SAT's? You know, something like: circle is to square, as banana is to XXXX? Here is one... Hangar18 is to the Cubs as Minors is to the Democrats

QUOTE(Steff @ Jun 13, 2006 -> 09:38 AM) Which I'm going to guess has nothing to do with the crack on the back of his skull... Correct. Sinus cavity is behind the orbital bones mostly, but also behind one's forehead. But orbital fractures can range in effect from no biggie to life-threatening. Everyone here is rightly saying they hope he recovers. I hope he recovers his health for certain, but I could care less about his career. The guy was asked, in the press (and I'm sure behind closed doors too) to just wear a damn helmet. For the money he makes, he could do that, and didn't. In fact he flaunted not wearing one, as witnessed on his website. If his career is over or never the same, maybe that will send a message to the other idiots out there riding donor-bikes without a helmet.

This thread is hilarious. The same right-wingers (to borrow a phrase) who complain about the schools sucking are calling this kid, who agreed with them and had the balls to express it in the open, a whining f***tard who couldn't get a date.