NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 01:45 PM) Agree on House, disagree on Senate. Lots of already-red states on the slate for the Senate. And I think in cases where the state is not deep red or blue, the GOP is going to be hurting (pending on other world/national events of course). They will likely lose Senate seats IMO. House will likely stay red, but lose some ground and get close to even - but that is harder to predict and depends a lot on the economy in the next year. RE: The Senate, I want to revise my statement. Looking at the races that are even remotely in contention, I don't think the Dems are likely to pick up seats, though it is possible if the GOP keeps shooting themselves in the foot. But the GOP would basically have to sweep all the currently close races to break even in the Senate, and that just seems incredibly unlikely right now. I'll say the Senate likely stays around where it is. House races are just really tough to predict this early.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 01:40 PM) Probably not. Dems don't do well in midterms. Senate likely to flip red. House would be impossible for Rs not to hold. Agree on House, disagree on Senate. Lots of already-red states on the slate for the Senate. And I think in cases where the state is not deep red or blue, the GOP is going to be hurting (pending on other world/national events of course). They will likely lose Senate seats IMO. House will likely stay red, but lose some ground and get close to even - but that is harder to predict and depends a lot on the economy in the next year.

I'm OK with Obama meeting with Congress, if and only if it is to discuss a grand bargain to encompass the budget AND the debt ceiling. And even though I am not a huge fan of ObamaCare, I'd hope (and I'm pretty sure) that won't be on the table for defunding. Allowing for some specific tweaks or changes makes perfect sense, but defunding it or delaying it en masse is absurd, for many reasons. If that isn't a topic for discussion - addressing the full boat for a long term solution - then the GOP can roast on the fire they built.

No one from Sox on SAL T20. Was expecting Micah Johnson. If anyone plans to join their chat this afternoon, you can ask about Micah. I won't be able to join. Would be curious if he was on their radar.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 09:16 AM) My friend paid $75.00 a month for healthcare same policy under Obamacare is $184.00 a month. She is single and her out of pocket pocket cost will go up 4000%. This is not what I call affordable healthcare. Obama lied his ass off. There will be lots of examples in both directions, but... seriously, where is anyone getting individual insurance of any kind for $75 a month?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 08:23 AM) Right, but most people don't. It seems like most people are at 3 years or so...and Rock is right, I don't think they ding you too badly on returning the car unless you exceed the mileage. Especially if you're considering re-leasing from them. QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 08:24 AM) If you're in a constant new-car cycle, leasing makes sense. I hate car payments, though. That is probably a major factor here. If someone is doing a new car every year or two, and as long as they aren't using their car in situations where small damage or high mileage will occur, leasing might make more sense.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 03:41 PM) Eh, if you dont keep cars very long leasing is great. I've never got dinged on penalties when returning a leased car, ever. My last two leases actually were worth more than the buyout at the end as well. How long did you have the cars? I generally look at having a car for 5 years or so, on average.

Here's a good guideline... when anyone says something along the lines of "ALL (insert any profession here) are (insert demeaning descriptor here)", you can automatically dismiss anything else they type after that. Clearly they are not functioning within the bounds of reality.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 04:20 PM) There is abig benefit to note as well...At least one friend of mine runs an internet business and his premiums will be dropping by $1000 a month starting in January. The U.S. has long lagged other countries in the number of people who start their own businesses. It's entirely sensible that a big part of that has been people being locked into work they don't want because it's the only way they can get health insurance. Fixing the individual market makes it possible for those people who want to start a business to actually do so. You are talking about an entrepeneur, that's entirely different from what I was discussing. There are real benefits like the one you describe, but that has nothing to do with the artificial horizon problem.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 07:12 PM) I see some companies opening a subsiderary instead of making the jump. A 25 person sales, marketing, and research company and a 40 person manufacturing plant. Not sure that flies. Depends on how the law is written, exact phraseology used.

One thing I think we'll find in terms of "job-killing" by Obamacare is, there will be very little of that for corporations of significant size (say, a few hundred people or more, who already have infrastructure to handle the regs), or with 95% of small businesses (which are well under the 50 person mark). But what you will have, I believe, is a weird blip in the curve between about 40 and 100 people in a company. For those firms, the reg requirements and paperwork, as well as in some cases pure cost, will be difficult. That means some companies under 50 may aim to stay under 50 if at all possible, unless they are ready to make a big burst. And companies 50+ and less than a couple hundred will have huge burdens that may effect how many people they can employ. The result of this is two-fold. First is the actual job losses (or more accurately, lack of jobs created), which hits in the short term. But in the long term, you are creating an artificial horizon, which essentially becomes a barrier to growth. Most large companies started very small, and at some point transited through the 50-100 people level. What will equivalent companies do now, when they approach that line? Some may decide to go on as normal. Others may hesitate. I doubt it will be 100% of either. But that sticky number becomes an impediment to growth. This is not to say that makes ObamaCare totally invalid or all bad - it is just a subtle point I haven't seen discussed much, but which I think may cause issues down the road. We'll have to see if the good parts of the law outweigh the bad.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 12:42 PM) Anyone? I personally avoid leases like the plague. With car loan interest rates as low as they are, leasing doesn't make much sense. You are restricted on mileage, they have tight requirements on getting regular maintenance done in small windows (and will hit you with charges if you don't meet those to the letter), and you get dinged left and right on turning the car back in for all manner of things. All that for not having an asset at the end of the lease period. Yes, cars depreciate. But do some comparison math. You'll find that if you lease versus own for some period of years, with current loan versus lease rates, then look at the asset value versus no asset... they break even more or less. And THEN you start in on the charges and limitations in a lease. Just my view. Buy, new or used. Find a brand and model that holds value well (not sure if the Cherokees are in that group, I know a few years back they were not, maybe they are now).

Taking a look at who the Sox drafted in 2013 and how they did this season.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 11:32 AM) Maybe not in national primaries, but Dick Lugar going down and McConnell's polling seems to indicate they are rational here. They need to perform these crazy destructive acts just to prove how much they hate socialism/Obama/democrats because if you work with em you work for em! Of course there are examples here and there. But the Lugar thing happened a while ago, when the tea party was still peaking in popularity. and McConnell's numbers are about a lot of things, and not being conservative enough is only one. If you read the articles about that race, they are getting on him for all sorts of things. And every district and every state is different of course - that is always the case. As a whole, support for the Tea Party is down a big chunk in the past couple years. And you are seeing some buyers' remorse. I'm not saying they have NO influence - I'm saying their level of actual support nationally doesn't have nearly the power to truly control the GOP with it. It is fear. That just won't last long. Another thing about this that bothers me... the whole Tea Party thing started as asking for smaller government regulation, and was a natural partner to the Libertarian groups. This showed some early hope for them, but then they were quickly co-opted by all manner of conservative groups, and now they are just the WE ARE REALLY REALLY CONSERVATIVE group. Their hard lines on social issues (where, again, nationally, they are in the minority), combined with their severe tactics on the small government stuff (which if they made reasonable change to would actually be popular), are running them quickly off a cliff.

Leaving aside the obvious here - like the fact that this is pure idociy, etc. - from a political point of view, this is the GOP commiting Hari Kari. The schism keeps getting wider within that party. But what is really stunning about it to me, is that the Tea Party crowd is actually just a couple dozen house reps and a few Senators. And all the data tells us their influence is waning. Yet the GOP establishment still continues to cave to them. This whole thing where the GOP feels that you have to stay hyper-conservative in order to survive primaries is a mostly unfounded paranoia. The fear is not placed in much reality. And as they keep going down this "No I'M More Conservative!!!" route, they are continuing to marginalize themselves as a party. They continue to kowtow to a minority of their own party, continue to refuse any attempt at working across the aisle, and continue to find more and more extreme politicians for office. This cannot end well. They either become a regional party with no real power, or they change course to become a little more moderate and reasonable, or they split in two. Anyone want to guess which will happen? I honestly don't know. The whole thing is sad to me. I've always been an independent, but I voted GOP more than Dem until a few years ago.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 12:17 AM) Balta, I love it when you mock people for working for a living. So now the only people on the road who are working for a living, are the truck drivers? None of those "other" people are going to a job? Or doing a job? Or have a job?

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Sep 29, 2013 -> 04:08 PM) Can we talk about the Sox having the 3rd pick now? Still too soon? I wanted to check with everyone before bringing it up again because of the thin skin around here. WTF is this post? That's all we've BEEN talking about in here. Why wouldn't you talk about it?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 04:17 PM) He needs to talk to Mariano Rivera about that cutter and his curve is ML caliber too. His slider and change are so so. He doesn't need to talk to anyone about his cutter. He needs to change his approach.

QUOTE (RegionSox @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 02:58 PM) I didn't get to see much of Rienzo this year, but did anyone see his cutter? I recall hearing at least one scout saying it was a MLB caliber pitch. Keith Law said that. He's trying to be too fine, seems maybe a little afraid of early contact. Makes his pitch counts too high. He may be a reliever long-term, but he's got the stamina to be a starter if he can keep the pitch counts down and stop walking as many guys.

QUOTE (RegionSox @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 02:56 PM) If our top prospects are flawed, why would other teams want to trade for them? Wouldn't we just get other flawed prospects back? I think the point was, all prospects are flawed. No such thing as a sure-fire prospect, for any useful purpose of the definition. And that is true.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 01:48 PM) I'm getting a little annoyed hearing that. I've been living in the back of this truck for a month, I haven't been home in a month, I haven't spent more than one consecutive night in the same place in a month. I've spent a combined 5 hours with people I've known from before this job in a month. Its actually been more than that but whatever, on a bad day this s*** is not easy for anyone. Guy who's been driving his whole life died in his cab 4 weeks ago and they just found him. So cut the bulls***, I see the job hunt thread and all the b****ing that goes on in Buster about "WHERE ARE THE JOBS???!??!?", well here's one. I'd be demeaned less if I were some welfare baby working part tine at McDonalds. Wow. For the record, I personally think truck drivers as a group are better drivers than people in cars. AS A GROUP. There are exceptions, and I don't think there is a LOT of difference, but if I had to pick one group for having a slightly higher percentage of road competence, I'd go truckers. But you are truly making it difficult for anyone to agree with you, even if they did before they read posts like the above. How can you not read the last few pages and see that?

No one is untouchable. That said, I don't see the Sox trading away many, if any, notable prospects at this point. I think it is much more likely they acquire some.

This could be a very interesting topic. But Duke, man, your posts on this are condescending to the point of narcissism. From a guy who has been trucking for a month. You won't get useful responses doing that.

1B bat w/ power, OBP. Abreu is my top choice ATM, but anyone who can at least provide close to league average production at the position will do.

This is terrible treatment by the Sox. Call a press conference a day in advance, so the media can broadcast it live... to tell them the exact same thing they've been saying for months? Either we are all being faked out here, or the Sox completely bungled this.