NorthSideSox72

I'll admit, when I first saw the Enquirer thing (in here probably) about Edwards, I was highly skeptical. Not because I liked Edwards, in fact I think it was known I really didn't like him... but as someone said earlier, it was the damn Enquirer. Once it started to appear this wasn't just grocery store checkout line crap, then I started believing it.

I haven't yet read the details of the bill, but I suspect its another case of a generally good idea, poorly executed. The whole far-right take on climate change (or whatever you want to call it) is pretty hilarious. Basically, it goes like this... Liberals/Moderates: Thousands of peer-revied scientific pieces all agree basically 100% that its real, and a large chunk of those see an anthropomorphic effect. Conservative: They don't all agree, look at these scientists! *pulls out link to article written by non-scientists gathering anecdotal data* Liberal/Moderates: But, that isn't science, or its lousy, unreviewed, silly science. Conservative: Well hey, at one time, science thought (fill in with silly assumption made at some point in history), so what makes them right this time? (this is what I call the scorched earth method of argument - since my stack of evidence is so much smaller than yours, I'll level the playing field by saying all evidence is useless) There is no point in even having a logical discussion when the other side is basically going to say they will ignore the overwhelming majority of evidence in favor of their gut feeling or some columnist they like.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 11:30 AM) How do you figure this? It sounds like you're talking out of your ass a little bit here. Not trying to call you out, it just seems like I've seen people say this a lot. Besides reading scouting reports, I'd bet most people talking about Beckham's defensive ability at SS have never seen him play there. That said, the only way you learn the position is by actually being in the field for an extended amount of time, and Alexei still has the benefit of the doubt, bad plays or not. Based on what I recall from scouting reports during the draft about Beckham, based on watching the two of them play (and yes, my watching Beckham play is very limited at SS, plus a little at 3B now too). Also note, I was careful to say "probably", because its just a future projection based on what evidence I have. I obviously can't say for sure.

So, Dan Remenowsky, after putting up some ridiculous peripherals as Kanny's closer and looked ready for promotion, has not pitched in a week. And he has apparently lost his closing job during that time to Tyson Corley. Anyone have any news on what might be going on there?

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 10:45 AM) Not good news, IMO... wasn't it because of his fastball-slider combo that made him so attractive in the first place? At this point, anything we can get out of him is a bonus. He'd been pretty much written off the board.

Sec 522, Row 1. Win. Please. My Cub Fan sister is sitting with me. She'll be unbearable if the Cubs do well.

Lost in the extremities of this fight is that there is enormous opportunity here for win-win. Getting quickly into alternative energy sources that are renewable means becoming a technological leader, world-wide, in those areas. Not sure if people have missed this, but, for the past few decades, America's world strength has NOT been manufacturing. Its being the leaders in something, anything, cutting edge. Get there first, produce it, sell it round the world. Then when it matures a bit, other countries start building their own and ripping off the designs, that's fine. We can't compete price-wise in those secondary stages of manufacturing, so we should accept that reality and push to the front of the line again. Get there first. This has the side effect of the US actually leading. Someone has to go first, so, let's do that and make money in the meantime. Out of this, we get a better economy, cleaner air, the ability to wipe our hands of many things in many bad foreign regions, a better natural environment, and jobs. So, there can be plenty of debate on HOW to do this, but whether or not to do it is no debate at all, IMO. Do it, do it right (the most worrisome part), and DO IT BIG.

QUOTE (Soxy @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 11:13 AM) Have you ever had Belgian beer? Chimay rocks.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 09:05 AM) This has been the rumor all along, my bet is this is a trial balloon to see how much flack they will get. Also, if this health plan is the BEST THERE IS, then why are senators, representatives, and the president exempt from it? If they legislate this healing pile of s*** on us, they need to live in the same health care system. QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 09:08 AM) It's an idea that's been brought up in discussion supposedly. It's already written in stone according to conservative blogs. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics...3-48810402.html Rumors, huh? Well, whatever, a few people in Congress may favor the idea, but no way it gets passed, or even out of committee I'd guess.

Kevin Dubler is starting the year in Great Falls. This may change when Phegley gets into the organization, but, we'll see.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 07:57 AM) Alaska Baseball League Where dud prospect Po Yu Lin pitched at one time.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 08:51 AM) So the Dems are floating an idea that would tax insurance benefits, with Obama's blessing, but, they would exclude UNION EMPLOYEES. WTF? Talk about a payoff. IMO this will never pass. I'm looking around at articles on the health care bill right now, and not seeing this. I would highly doubt they would do this. What is your source? And if you are right that it is being proposed, you are also right in that it would never pass.

The more I think about it, the more I am changing my mind on this - I really do think that having an affair, even itself, does indeed effect someone's ability to govern in high office. I say high office, because that is key here. If you are a governor or someone else in that level of spotlight, in the modern age, you simply have to assume it will probably come out eventually. So really, by making the selfish choice, you are also choosing to give away your political capital. Its nearly inevitable.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 07:53 AM) A young player/ rookie is expected to make physical mistakes. The mistakes Alexei's making are mental/ not giving full effort, and may not be correctable by him "learning" anything. It may be low baseball IQ, or IQ in general. Also, this isn't really true some of the time anyway. One of his two recent errors was on a leap for a line drive that he just plain misjudged. That is something physical, and something that would improve over experience, probably.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 07:53 AM) A young player/ rookie is expected to make physical mistakes. The mistakes Alexei's making are mental/ not giving full effort, and may not be correctable by him "learning" anything. It may be low baseball IQ, or IQ in general. If so, then he's going to do the same thing somewhere else anyway, so moving him doesn't help things unless you want to DH him.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 07:45 AM) Meh that is between the two of them as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't have anything to do with his job but I am still free to laugh at his bizarre behavior. Well, the press ASKED her about his job. Also, the fact that he had an affair, is not in itself something that would effect his ability to govern. But, the fact that he left the country for a week without telling ANYONE where he was going while sitting as Governor... the fact that the affair is now public and used as a rally cry for his opponents... the fact that he apparently used state funds (at least in part) for his little trysts... all DO have an effect on his ability to govern.

Short memory? Alexei has been pretty good at SS this year after not playing there for a while. He needs some work on his range to his right, and he makes the occasional dumb mistake, but overall he's been pretty good. Also, those dumb mistakes aren't going to just vaporize if you move him somewhere else. No matter where you put him, he'll always be a player who makes some spectacular plays, but will also botch some simple ones. Moving him makes no sense right now. Next year, depending on how the roster falls out, maybe. But even then, Alexei is probably already a better shortstop than Beckham could be.

Yeah, hard to know where to begin on this, so I'll skip right to present time updates. They interviewed the wife yesterday, after the family had gotten together to talk. She then left the house, seperate from the Gov. When she was asked if she felt this would effect his career, she basically said, that is none of my concern. Then Sanford walked out later, and was not in a talking mood. I think she dropped the hammer on him. Good.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 07:33 PM) Omogrosso really struggling in AAA. He's only pitched twice, I wouldn't worry too much just yet. Remember also, he's now in the pen, even though he was starting previously at AA, so he's got that transition to make as well.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 02:17 PM) What is that image in the top one supposed to be? Is this the gantry we all walk down and jump off, like a metaphor for the economy?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 02:21 PM) So now we're blaming millions of uninsured on laziness? Some probably should be. Others not. Which is one of the rather large elephants in the room... how do you bifurcate the pool to treat them differently as many are suggesting?

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 02:11 PM) I wonder what the percentage of uninsured are who claim they can't afford healthcare have cable and internet in their house/apartment? Like you said, it is often about decisions. The system isn't perfect but there ARE affordable health care options if you look hard enough. Sort of off-topic, but, I'd suggest that if you are unemployed nowadays, the internet may in fact be a high priority item. Cable TV, not so much.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 01:46 PM) I definitely agree with your line of thinking there. I'm just a couple years removed in college and they job I have today is a result of my hard work in school to get said job. However, for about 6 months after college I did not have health care b/c I didn't have my job yet. Did I b**** about it or complain? No. I was a little careful not to do stupid s*** for a while but that was my decision. I always could have bought coverage but I didn't. I chose to work part time so I didnt feel I had the money. If I really wanted to buy health insurace I would have gotten another job (or two) to help finance it. And I agree with your last line. I'm not sorry for doing things the right way growing up and I don't feel too sorry for some of my friends who dicked around in HS and came to class high and have still yet to get a college degree. It's their own fault. Just to play Devil's advocate here... What if you had gotten very sick during that 6 months? Or some whacko hit you while DUI? If you had only gotten ER treated and streeted, had to live 6 months (or a year or more with a pre-existing condition) while suffering through something and acquiring 10's of thousands in debt, do you think that's a good situation?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 01:14 PM) The VA is cheap because they are paying a fraction of the wages of their peers. They are paying military personal at whatever their paygrade is, not at a competitive wage as compared to most doctors and medical personel. They also have their own facilities which they own and care for, also at below market prices. Its easy to be cheaper when you can dictate WAY below market costs. Medicare is cheap, because again, they force doctors to receive less than they would for other patients getting similar procedures. That's why many doctors don't want anything to do with Medicare, not to mention the nightmares of being involved in government paperwork for everything. I don't know Medicare that well, but in the case of VA, it certainly isn't a good example of how government could do health care well. Quality of care has been awful, as we've seen all over the news for some time. It may be cheaper, but it isn't high quality.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 22, 2009 -> 01:13 PM) Well, I am ok with that. I didn't sit on my front porch drinkin' 40z with my boyz when I was younger, I went to the free public school system so I could learn something and get a job, then worked 2 part time jobs when going to college so I could -- and now I'm not f***ing apologizing because my family is covered. And there is some validity there, IMO, to saying that. You worked hard to get to where you are, to insure the health of your family. I can respect that.