NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 02:29 PM) http://www.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?si...perwin_pddwin_1 Danks and Retherford in the lineup today. CJ already with a base hit an RBI. En fuego.

Starting to look like Health Insurers will lose their anti-trust exemption.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 11:25 AM) Wow, I've thought for like 4 years that he was a lefty. I'm a dumbass. I swear when he was drafted they announced him as a lefty and I never look at stuff like that once I get something in my head. My bad. For further background, check out his AAP page.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 11:21 AM) Actually I'd say it was directed at the folks, some who visit these threads, who continue to insist it's all the union's fault and if they'd have gone away we'd have kicked Toyota's arses. Well, the unions and more importantly the labor contracts they wriggled out of the Big 3 are definitely PART of the problem. Just not all, not by a long shot.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 11:19 AM) By the way, I just want to say, you need to post more. You are an excellent poster. I'd be curious to see how the Sox plan on using Cassel in the long-relief role because I question whether he has the command of his "so-so" stuff to succeed at the major league level. What he does against some of the elite prospects in the game in the AFL should be a good indicator for Kenny as to where you can project a guy like Cassel. I'd personally rather see a guy like Torres, but the Sox love carrying two lefties and Cassel's pretty muc our only other option because I highly doubt Randy Williams will be back on the 25 man roster (at least I hope not). Cassel is right-handed, unless he switched arms during the season (maybe that explains his walk rate). There are essentially NO lefty relievers in the top two tiers of the Sox' minor league system right now. Williams appears to be the only option in-house for a 2nd lefty to Thornton.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 11:01 AM) Think for a moment...which am I more likely to do...bash the union, or use an article pointing out how management sucked to highlight the people who continue to blame everything that went wrong with the automakers on the Unions and those crazy middle-class wages and health care that the workers get. So your comment was directed at those business leaders, then?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 10:56 AM) And this is the Union's fault because? Who said it was? My post was making the point that this aspect was NOT about the unions and labor, or getting better cars to market faster, etc.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 09:37 AM) Religion...bwahahaha. Atheists... bwahahaha. Pointless.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 08:30 AM) Cassel's variation in velocity really worries me. There's no consistency (or life) behind that fastball. I guess I haven't seen the inconsistency in velocity. My worries are other things. First, his fastball doesn't top 90, and is usually lower than that. You can get away with that in the majors, if you have great movement and great control, can induce a lot of ground balls, etc.. But look at his walk numbers last year, they went way up - so the lack of control is problematic. And I haven't seen anythign in scouting reports telling me he has any plus moving pitches, nor does he seem to be able to locate them. So really, he just doesn't have it, at least right now. Also, its disturbing that he did so well in AA in 2008, then got beat up in the same league this year. I'm hoping this year was an aberration, and that he can get the control back, and maybe have a shot at a job some day. But he needs to step it up in AFL, and ST next year, and AAA next season.

By the way, for anyone interested in learning more about the derivatives world and the exchange-traded one specifically, a new documentary film is debuting later this month, called "Floored", about the last open outcry trading pits in Chicago. Looks interesting.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 09:47 PM) I havent gotten a moving violation since I was 16 and Ive gotten a few bs things like front plate. Addison is where one of the courthouses is and a lot of west suburban traffic cases go there. One of my friends has worked there for a few years and has seen everything you could imagine in there. Another one of my friends brother in law is a defense attorney and does a lot of cases there as well. If you walk up to the judge and say anything but guilty or not guilty they will ask you again or tell you to wait for after the cases are called. Also, if you are saying going up there and saying why the ticket is wrong with out pleading not guilty is A. not going to make things worse for you or B. going to do anything to help than that is comically wrong. This isnt a sitcom, they dont let people explain anything before pleading not guilty. Whats comical is that, apparently, you managed to find the one judge who belongs in a sitcom. Seriously, I've never heard or seen such a thing as a judge giving worse penalties or the like because you plead not guilty. I'm sure it exists, but, its got to be a very small minority. Read the other posts here - people get out of tickets all the time, on all sorts of excuses. And yes, you usually do get to explain your side, because if you couldn't, then the ticket itself would be illegal.

So here is a really fascinating story about the Obama administration's main guy who dove into GM and Chrysler prior to the auto bailout. Its interesting because, in addition to all the factors we discussed in why the US automakers were in such trouble - union labor contracts, lack of agility in release hybrid/alt technology, overseas competition, price of raw materials, price of gas, etc. - there was a big huge one we really didn't touch on very much. Finance and accounting. Apparently, the financial and accounting practices, as well as the overall management and leadership of both companies was "shockingly poor". Worth reading.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 11:50 PM) They could solve that by allowing clergy to marry. That and their crazy secrecy and inability to apply the laws of god and punishment to their own. Lets excommunicate the young rape victim who has an abortion, yet Father Pokey gets a new address because of the complaints from the locals on his production of Roman Polanski's greatest home hits with the local altar boy population. Of equal importance is allowing women to be clergy. If the Catholic priesthood includes men and women, and allows marriage, this isn't going to change existing priests that are creeps into non-creeps. But it attracts a very different and much broader audience to the priesthood, and so the priesthood is no longer seen as a place to run and hide from your issues in that regard.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 09:23 PM) Frontline is showing an interesting piece on the regulation (or completely lack thereof) of the OTC derivatives market and why everyone ignored/ shouted down Brooksley Born. Fixed for ya. The exchange-traded derivatives market, the one much more commonly used, is highly regulated, and wasn't a contributor to the meltdown.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Oct 21, 2009 -> 07:43 AM) http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-21-arizona-fall-league-oct21,0,4568224.story It also looks like the Sox are trying to fit Cassel into the long relief role next season. They may see Carrasco moving to the 7th inning role. The byword for Cassel, who split 2009 between Double A and Triple A, is "consistency. With the style of pitcher I am and where I am in the organization, I see myself as a spot starter or a long-relief, multiple-innings guy. I'm happy they made a move with me last summer to see how I did out of the bullpen." Well, that is what Justin is shooting for, but that doesn't mean its what the Sox plan to do. I am not sure Cassel has major league stuff. I thought he did at one time, but I am doubtful now.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 07:14 PM) Eh I think he's starting to get annoyed with the news cycle being hijacked by stupid s*** that he's forced to acknowledge and thought he had to do something. For a while he was trying to ignore them but that just lets the bulls*** gain traction. At the end of the day I don't think this will hurt him politically. Conservatives have been doing the s*** for 40 years incessantly, has it hurt them? I just don't agree with you guys. But as for the bolded, they've really amped up the MSM s*** in the last decade, and yes, it has hurt them. They come off like the angry white guys, and they have lost the political moderates - this is of course only part of the reason for that, but its a factor.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 06:45 PM) This isn't hurting them at all. The vast majority aren't paying attention/don't care, and Fox, for the first time I've seen has to defend itself and is damn near acknowledging slant. Politically this at worst does nothing to Obama and at best gives cover to other news networks not to cover dumb f***ing stories like czars and tea partiers. I think you are missing the bigger picture here. The right-wing crazies won't care, might get more incensed, but they don't matter here because they are so allergic to Obama anyway. Far lefties also don't matter here, this won't do anything to help or hurt. People in the middle, split them up. If they watch Fox, they aren't going to want Obama telling them their network is biased - they aren't going to say "oh, better switch!". They will not care, or care and be more likely to watch Fox. The middle of the road people that don't watch Fox will start wondering what the hubub is about - AND WATCH. Its politically dumb. Not over the top dumb, I don't think its a huge effect, but the effect there will be is negative. It gains nothing other than making ObamaCo look defensive.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 20, 2009 -> 05:53 PM) I guess I don't understand. They compiled fox news clips of them making s*** up. Fox is completely on the defensive right now, it will harden their base but this whole thing will probably not be good for them. I disagree - I think Obama going after Fox is politically stupid. If you want to convey the idea that Fox is a partisan non-journalistic news network (which... duh), then you treat it as such - ignore them, maybe laugh at them a little bit when the opportunity presents itself, and just go on doing your job.

It does seem odd that if you search Google for any articles in News with the key words here, the only articles that come up are from blogs and the Wash Times. No actual news sources. I'll reserve judgement until an actual journalist covers the story. Especially since, reading the linked article, you will note the complete lack of any official statement of any kind - just suppostiion from the writer.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 04:22 PM) well here's your final resolution... because the customer filled the complaint so early, and because I don't have a tracking number, Paypal automatically refunded the customers $ even though the item isn't supposed to arrive until the 22nd. (which would be 11 business days from the 6th) when i asked about why they would refund money before the delivery due date, i got the typical "we understand your frustration... BS" Then they said, let's hope that the package does arrive, and then he sends his money back in. (yeah right) insanity to refund $ before a delivery due date. Yeah that's not acceptable, to me. If this doesn't end well, you may be able to go after eBay for the money, instead of the seller, for the early refund.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 19, 2009 -> 08:03 AM) Daddy Balloon is F***ED As he should be. The more we learn about him and his wife, the more clear it seems that these folks are unstable and probably ruininf the lives of their children. Maybe the media attention this has gotten will result in something positive - that these kids will end up being raised by someone who isn't a lunatic.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Oct 18, 2009 -> 08:59 PM) Keep up defending the coverage of this guys, I feel like you really proved me wrong. LOL, keep up trying to win a war no one disagrees with while picking the wrong battle.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 18, 2009 -> 04:00 PM) I think he's simply trying to distinguish Bradley from guys whose own teammates dislike them, as he said, such as Bonds or Kent. Again, I don't think anyone is trying to paint Bradley as an angel or as an ideal guy to acquire. But he's not quite the antichrist either. It seems as though you have a very particular dislike for him. I suppose I do, but really, its more that I am puzzled why everyone thinks that he's suddenly going to change if he's here. This is the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Its just bizarre to me. So part of it is my being confused by other posters, and part of it is that I have zero patience for guys who make 7 figures of fan-paid money to play a game that then have zero respect for the game and the fans that supply them with a career.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Oct 18, 2009 -> 01:46 PM) I think there were good reviews in SD as well. Bradley's a headcase, but he's not a prick (ala Bonds/Kent). I think he became a bit of a scapegoat last season. He's not a prick? Are we talking about the same guy here? The one who has attacked fans and umpires repeatedly? Tried to attack a scorekeeper? etc., etc., etc. The guy is a grade A asshole.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Oct 18, 2009 -> 01:32 PM) saying that he didnt receive it. i just find it fishy, when someone files a dispute 6 actual days (not 6 business days, probably 4 business days) after shipping. Especially when the auction lists the delivery time as being 4-11 business days. Once the shipping period is up, see if he received it. if he says he did not, file a grievance of your own with eBay and PayPal, stating everything you did here, and that the whole thing is incredibly suspicious. Also, you may want to consider filing a police report for theft, though you are flying a little blind there without the delivery confirmation. Just make sure you tell him about BOTH those things, and tell him now, that you plan to do them. Might scare him straight, and give him the idea that you won't be easily taken for a ride.