NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 22, 2009 -> 09:28 AM) Failure on the part of policymakers, not the intelligence professionals Sort of. The whole Curveball thing was a pretty big failure across the board, including at CIA.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Dec 22, 2009 -> 09:12 AM) .290 AAA hitter, isnt horribly bad. To some people, all players are either horribly bad piles of s***, or the best thing ever.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 22, 2009 -> 09:18 AM) Mr Genius. In a post above he said how the rest of the world had it all figured out and that's why they're already out of the recession creating new jobs. I just don't know where he got that info...because the rest of the world wishes it was true. Europe included. I think you need to get to know mr genius and his posts a little better. Not saying that as a slight against you, or him - just that... I think you need to know his posting style to understand what he's saying.

QUOTE (Soxy @ Dec 22, 2009 -> 09:14 AM) I have this theory let me know what you guys thing: There is a very strong negative correlation between believing in aliens and believing in global warming. I accidentally stumbled across a website the other day, where this person had a bunch of images of jet contrails in the sky - and wanted to know why the US government was poisoning all of us with silver nitrate. Why is this related, you ask? The site also extolls a theory I have heard people actually speak outloud, where they think the Very Large Array in New Mexico is actually a weather changing device, meant to re-route rain to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, so that the big cities have more water. Confluence of these points? Many people seem to believe that a small number of human beings can alter the weather, or manipulate all of man kind in some way, in some vast conspiracy (usually within the government). And yet, they cannot believe that Mother Nature - a force immensely more powerful than all of humanity - isn't going to act to defend itself when changes are introduced. I find that amusing.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 22, 2009 -> 09:10 AM) Oh, add Spain to that soon to be bankrupt list, also. While we are at it...add the UK, too. The UK is living in fear of a credit rating cut right now since they're in the same boat as Spain and Greece. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/10/u...edit-rating-cut Things are NOT as rosy over there as Americans seem to think. Just curious... who is it you guys think is saying that Europe is all rosy?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Dec 22, 2009 -> 09:09 AM) About as much of one as anybody else that's drinking the "man is destroying the earth, droolz!" koolaid. Or, to say it another way, about as much as the Goracle. You're not even trying anymore.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Dec 22, 2009 -> 09:07 AM) Amen. That's part of my "global citizen" comment from yesterday. We have to be so much like everyone else that we tend to forget this is America, and I'd rather lead then follow. As stupid as it may be to think everyone else has it all figured out, its equally stupid to think that America has it all figured out. It never hurts to look around at your competition and look for some ideas to steal or use.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Dec 22, 2009 -> 08:35 AM) Unless youre in an IRROPS situation where you have planes coming in, but a ground stop preventing planes to leave. You can still cycle planes in and out of gates. And if the airlines have to do that often enough (which costs them money), they will adjust. Its a pain for the airlines, but in this case, I don't feel badly for them at all. They put themselves in this position.

The 2000-2009 decade for the Sox has been without a doubt, the strongest decade of baseball for either team in Chicago since at least the 'teens. 3 divisions, 1 WS, and only 2 teams with less than 80 wins.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 11:26 PM) Many times what looks like a productive out on the surface, in all reality, is the exact opposite. All of these articles coincide at some point... Pretty much two of the first articles written on the subject... I'd like to point out this text from the WSJ blog you linked to: Does anyone else see the problem in the assumptions made here? I see three, in fact. For one thing, he's say that a .16 of a run differential is meaningless, but in the SAME PARAGRAPH, says that the difference between 1.14 and .97 (which is .17) IS meaningful. And does the same while comparing .88 and .69 (a .19 difference). He's arguing against himself. Second, he forgets the fact that hits and outs are not of equal frequency in baseball. What he is therefore not factoring in, is that since an out is the 70% likelihood, how it is used should be weighted more heavily than as if it were an A or B comparison between hits and outs. Third, looking at his .88 vs .69 comparison, he doesn't account for the fact that within the actions which take you from .88 to .69, is a certain percentage of both hits and outs (some productive, some not). The resulting .19 difference is assuming the same balance over time. Now, what he doesn't know, and can't know, is, would the difference be the same if, say, the amount of SAC bunts was doubled. Would the gap decrease? You could actually dig further into numbers over time to get a decent correlation on this, probably, and that might be worth something.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 09:53 PM) I remember trying to convince you all this guy was a huge pile of s***! Well, if you say that about enough players, sometimes you might be right.

But if we all post like this, just like the person before us, where does it end? When does it become insulting? What if every post ont the board were like this? I mean, I love SoxTalk, and I think this board is great, so let's keep it that way!

QUOTE (qwerty @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 05:58 PM) Let me hear your thoughts, please? The bad is, in general, the plot lines and writing in modern movies has generally been getting shallower. A lot shallower, on average. There are exceptions of course. But for most modern films, there is so little attempt at challenging the viewer to think a little bit. And I don't mean think as in solving a puzzle, necessarily - I mean really think about the human characters on the screen. They are just so shallow now, most of the time, and so predictable. I think decades ago, movies were better at providing something deeper. That's just one example. As for the opposite side, I think the dialogue and small scale human behaviors, are more believable now. They may not be trying as hard to reach as far, but they feel more real. They sound more like something someone would actually say. And I'm not talking about generational gap here either - a lot of the dialogue in those older films was beautifully crafted, but it wasn't anything someone was actually going to say, even then. There's a couple examples for you, to start with.

Oh, and I liked Children of Men.

I can't believe how good the reviews have been for Avatar. The previews looked like it was just a big long video game. I might have to go see it. QUOTE (qwerty @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 11:24 PM) They just don't make movies like they used to... it's that simple. Which is both good and bad, IMO.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 04:35 PM) I wonder what it would take for the Sox to get Luke Scott? He seems to be the type of guy that would fit into that last hole. I don't have much confidence in Andruw Jones as anything more than strictly a backup. If they're planning on using him as the primary DH or going with a Kotsay/Jones platoon at DH they're not going anywhere. Getting a guy like Luke Scott would allow them to rotate Scott, Quentin and Pierre as DH while all remaining in the starting lineup. This would help keep Pierre's legs fresh and hopefully help keep Quentin healthy. I am probably in the minority on this, but, I predict Jones has a big year. Even still, I think the team is much more potent and complete with one more LH power bat.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 05:08 PM) We do the same thing for ex-Presidents and VPs, including pay for life and protection for life. As bmags said, not really the same, in my eyes. And Presidential compensation is half that anyway, and the protection aspect is something different and necessary. Here, we are talking about a House Speaker, and we're not just paying his health care, we're paying half a million a year in official benefits as if he still worked for the government. AND he's a lobbyist, with that income.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 04:22 PM) http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30846.html That kind of post compensation should be banned. I don't mind giving former Congresspeople access to the health care plan, or giving them free passes to the building, etc. - cheap little stuff that says "thank you". But $40,000 a month doesn't say "thank you", it says something else inappropriate for this forum. That's half a million a year for a job he doesn't do, at all. Hell, the annual salary for these guys was less than half that, he's actually making much MORE money, effectively, than he was in office. That is f***ed up.

Still looks to me like an ALC winning team, if we just get one more LH bat with some power. And maybe that even without the added bat. I don't see this team needing major rebuilding as it stands, unless they suddenly have $20M more to work with. And I'm not saying you don't improve the team in existing-filled positions if you can - you still try for those A-Gon type deals if they work. They just aren't likely to work.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 03:07 PM) Actually, its really only gonna turn IRROPS messes like the blizzard we saw this past weekend into bigger s***shows than we've seen before. It's going to be hard to get these people off the tarmac in a groundstop with every gate full, plus it basically means that if you hit three hours on tarmac and you get your clearance 20 minutes later, you'll have to reboard - and get back into line... usually at the back of the line. If people don't make it to reboard, if they've checked luggage This is a great way to turn a three hour delay into a six hour delay to be honest. I think its a good thing, even considering the logistical nightmare. For one thing, it forces the airlines and airports to be more realistic with gate allocations. For another thing, we aren't talking about all delays here, but 3 hour delays - and at that point, most people would rather have a 5 hour delay with some time in the airport and use of a bathroom, than a 4.5 hour delay entirely on a plane. I know I would.

I have a female friend who has to wear her underwear in the exact order in which it came out of the dryer. She also uses a new toothbrush... every single day.

I think some aspects of enviromental action have to be national by nature. Also, regional and national transportation networks need some serious re-thinking, and that's national. Can't think of anything else off hand.

Obama and the US DOT passed rule changes in the past few days, to protect flyers against unnecessarily long tarmac holds on passenger aircraft. 3 hours max is the short story, and there are further protections, and exceptions, as well. This is good, and has been needed for some time.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 09:09 AM) There are a lot of really bad reasons tossed around on this site to "fire Ozzie." Batting Beckham 6th would actually merit termination. What? Beckham in the heart of the order at 6 actually makes some sense. I'd rather have him there, and Ramirez at 2. Not only is it not a firing offense, its an idea a lot of people like, myself included. Now, eventually, Beckham may be a #3 hitter. But not to start the season.

I check my alarm clock repeatedly each night - re-check the time, re-check that its on, turn it off, turn it on... a few times. Not sure why I bother, as its always set for 5:15am anyway, and if I missed it, I'd be awoken by the sounds of a crying toddler shortly after that anyway. I don't do that for anything else, really.