NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 12:15 PM) It's not so much about the dollar amount of the salaries, but about the current system that pays doctors for each service they do. I agree, that needs to change. This gets partially to what I was saying earlier, about removing Doctors from more things going on. Sort of a corner case, but, there is a neat example of this that I learned about back when I was an EMT. There was a large rural area in New Mexico that was underserved for medical care (also a mostly poor area, with a few pockets of very wealthy folks). There wasn't enough business in any one town for a decent clinic, and travel times were long for reasonable medical care. If people were unable to drive, that made the problem much worse. What they did was, they took some of the more senior paramedics from local volunteer fire/EMS departments, and put them through a pilot training course on long term care - immunizations, basic meds, checkups and the like. They actually went out to those communities as a team, and handled some 80 or 90% of what was needed, by themselves. The other smaller percentage, they referred them to specific medical clinics or arranged for doctors to come to them. Point is, this was a significantly cheaper option than building underutilized medical clinics in the middle of nowhere, but also saved people money in transportation, and dramatically raised the level of medical care in those areas - all without doctors.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 11:53 AM) No runs. No RBI's. No extra-base hits. 1 walk. A .133 average. You can't honestly say there aren't better options. I'm certain that David Cook (who is not even a real prospect) could out-produce those numbers in 10 at-bats. That's how bad Dwayne Wise is relative to all other CF's in baseball. Exactly. There may not be any GREAT options, but there are sure as heck better ones. There are even a number of pitchers, apparently including some on the White Sox, who can hit better than that.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 11:01 AM) Bristol will get guys like Holmberg and some of the other prep arms we signed. If we get Thompson signed soon you'll see him in Bristol as well. If Phegley is in GF, where does Dubler fall? He started horribly last year, but picked it up late. He was a high round pick. You really think he gets jumped already, and repeats Bristol? If so, where do you put that low round catcher they drafted? Looking at the Sox catching depth below AA, its bad. The starters are Ricks in A+ and Curtis in A-, neither of which are real prospects. I therefore thought we'd see Dubler hit Kanny, Phegley in GF and that 30th round catcher whose name escapes me in Bristol. But for whatever reason, Dubler hasn't been in Kanny.

I just took a look at the Bristol and GF rosters online, and they are still stale, just shows the guys from last year that didn't already move to other teams or organizations. Anyone recall when those clubs post their rosters? Obviously they won't have the draft picks on there right away until after they sign, but certainly some guys will move form one to the other, and they start play in just a week.

I predict that at some point during one of these three games, there may in fact be an alcohol-fueled fight somewhere in the stands. Bold, I know.

These cross-town series' have a habit of being game changers for both teams. They tend to start or end trends, one team or both tend to go on good or bad streaks afterwards. Let's hope this starts something good for the Sox. GO YOU WHITE SOX!!!

I don't think we need to look at cutting Doctor salaries - I think we need to look closer at having doctors do less of the medical work. This is already a trend underway, of course. But I think a lot of things we currently go to "the doctor" for - regular checkups, immunizations, many basic treatments - can be handled well by medical professionals who are not doctors and whose time is cheaper.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 07:45 AM) I'm probably going to come off real square for having this position, but I tend to side with the Palin's in their "feud" with Letterman. I'm a Letterman fan and I do think the Palin's may be taking it a little far, but Letterman's research staff really dropped the ball by not realizing it was her 14 year old daughter at the Yankee game. There's a whole big discussion of this topic in the "Republican" thread in the Filibuster forum. Actually, we should probably break it out of the generic thread into its own, but just FYI, its there.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 10:05 PM) A friend of mine was a PI for two years working for a third party that specialized in insurance fraud on medical conditions which prevented these people from working, while collecting insurance for their injuries, and (by his words) 99% of the people he followed were cheating over that span. This is where the phrase "lies, damn lies and statistics" comes from. First, if a PI is following people, you are already dealing in the small percentage of claims that the insurance companies SUSPECT fraud to begin with, and are planning legal action. So even if the 99% number were accurate, its only 99% of 2%, or the like. Second, I'm sorry to say, I find that 99% number to be not believeable. Even among the high-suspicion cases, you think they are essentially ALL faking it in a way obvious enough for a PI to see it? I think that is probably an exaggeration. Even if its not, we're talking 1 or 2 percent here.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 07:52 AM) If you wanna match anecdote for anecdote, explain why McAllen, Texas is among the most expensive cities in the country for healthcare - and yet Texas has the very same malpractice reform that people who whine about malpractice reform want? Because frivilous malpractice claims are actually only a small part of the problem in health care. It exists, its worth addressing, but by itself it isn't something where we fix it and all is well.

Hineybird calling someone else's act "stale"? There aren't enough LOL's in the world for that one.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 10:34 PM) I think it's too late to rescind the trade. Looks like they jumped the gun trading Castillo with Andy Phillips filing for free agency. Just means we'll get a couple AA > AAA promotions. Cook will probably be one, but, who would likely be the other?

Cook has 13 HR in 190 AB. In a full season that's 30-some-odd HR in a park notoriousuly hard to hit them in. He's also only struck out 28 times in that period, and has walked more than he has K'd. 26 of his 48 hits are XBH. And he's done most of that in May-June after a bad April. And I agree that Greene, who is raking and also old for his level, needs to be promoted.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) If this doesn't lead to a promotion for David Cook to Charlotte, I don't know what would. Nothing has so far, despite having mostly garbage in front of him. I'd think this would have to do it.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 03:57 PM) Why, I don't know. UPDATE: He filed for free agency. He was hitting the ball pretty well. He must have decided the org wasn't going to give him a shot.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) This thread has a very long shelf life. And it will continue, I'd guess, for as long as Wise is on the roster.

QUOTE (RME JICO @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 03:44 PM) I would respect Wise more as player if he asked to be sent down. There is clearly something wrong since he returned. Before his injury he actually put together a few good games. However, since his return, he has played worse than any player in the bigs. Just man up, asked to be sent down (or put on the DL), work on your issues, and try to fight your way back. Others have done it. Very few have done it, and they are usually players that are very experienced or are high end prospects who know they will be back. For Wise, he has to know if he goes down to AAA, that's probably it for him. You can't reasonably expect him to do this, much as we may want it to happen.

QUOTE (Nixon @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 12:03 PM) And you really think any of that will change just because English gets a shiny pin attached to its sash saying "OFFICIAL"? By itself? No. Has to be a series of policies.

I think people here are underestimating the importance of a catcher's game that doesn't involve hitting. Its not even just defense, although there alone, catcher is the most important position on the field. Its game calling, field captain role, dealing with baseunners, pitcher handling, toughness and agility... there is just so much going on there. Now, look at Flowers - he has played basically 1.5 seasons of pro ball at catcher. That's not enough for players at most positions, let alone catcher, and this guy wasn't a catcher to begin with (in the pros). The best way to develop him is to have him catch as many pitchers and as many games at as many levels as possible. That, to me, means this year in AA, next year in AAA, then maybe he's ready. You make him a backup now, you do gain the influence of AJ (who isn't a great defensive catcher anyway), but you lose everything else. You make him a DH now, forget about him catching worth a damn at all. Put him at AAA next year, maybe he can learn a bit from someone like Lucy who is polished defensively (and maybe Lucy can take some hitting pointers while they are at it), or whomever is around.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 11:28 AM) I voted no. I dont need my time or money wasted with this type of stuff. You'd rather it was wasted on providing multiple language support to people who move here and won't learn the language? Its really a matter of where the cost and time should lie. I feel it should lie with the people who move here for a new life. They can choose their path, but they shouldn't expect the government to cater to them if they don't figure it out. Now, there are exceptions. Obviously places like airports and other gateways require some guidance in other languages, for example.

QUOTE (Soxy @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 11:14 AM) the big move in linguistics now is to try and undo the damage that we had done to these languages. There is a strong preservation and resurrection program for native languages that is having moderate success. Good. Its too bad so many of them are completely gone now, with no way to get it back, but hoepfully this will help us document the ones that are left.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 11:15 AM) I hate to say this, well I don't hate it, but I'll break the news, Flowers will be with this team next year at the latest. The Sox love his bat and they'll find a way to get him ab's, maybe with AJ here, maybe with AJ elsewhere, who knows. OK, well I think that's maybe not a good idea, unless Flowers is a whizz kid at improving defensively in a real hurry.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 10:54 AM) Aren't Indian reservations considered and treated as sovereign and independent territories? Sort of. I wrote a 30 page paper on the Dawes Act, the reservation system and microfederalism. Its convoluted to say the least. But they are independent in that they are not controlled by states or localities - they fall under federal jurisdiction, and are subject to some laws and rules specific to them.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 10:52 AM) would this have an effect on native americans, eskimos or hawaian islanders. don't we have special arrangement with these true americans about languages and laws. They basically have to speak English to do anything outside their tribe anyway because essentially NO one speaks their languages. Sometimes they don't even speak their native languages anymore, many of those languages are gone. And since none of them had a written component originally (a few, like Cherokee, developed a written version to deal with Europeans), they are well and truly extinct.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 10:45 AM) Please don't take this as me being snarky or anything because it's an honest question - what would the point of it be? We've never had an "official" anything for our whole existence. I can't think of any reasons outside of nationalism. Practicality and efficiency. Anything government or official being in just one language makes government cheaper to run, and it encourages people to have one language they all know so that business can be conducted in a reasonable fashion. The only danger I see with it is, make sure it doesn't restrict someone's ability to continue speaking or knowing other languages. It should only serve to say, this is the language that government business will be conducted in domestically - if you don't know it, it is at your own peril.