NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 12:05 PM) Here's another pretty catch from over the weekend. The Washington Post's definition of tossup/lean McCain/lean Obama. could be history, or, could be that WaPo agrees with my repeated stance on this. McCain will beat polls by around 5% in most places.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 12:08 PM) Now we all know that there will be whining about long lines and the requisite court order will be granted to keep the polls open for an extra 1-2 hours because people couldn't get their asses out to vote in the allotted timeframe. Where? Cleveland, St. Louis. to name a few. 1. When there are polls where there are consistently multi-hour lines to vote, because they didn't have enough machines, then they SHOULD be allowed to stay open late. That happened all over Ohio in 2004. 2. Why is it you think, since you seem to have a theory, that CLE and STL would be the problem areas?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 12:47 PM) I decided to check in on my 401(k) today. That was a mistake. It has dropped about 55% this year. This plan (through Principal, who has a ridiculously awful website) just flat-out sucks. We're given about 20 options. Every single one except for one (a short-term fixed income fund) is down 20%+ year-to-date. The worst part is that there's no cash, money market, CD, etc. options, so I'm forced to stick my money in one crappy fund or another and can't take it out to stash it somewhere. Oh, and as a kicker, most of the funds are high-fee funds. It makes me want to smack our HR director in the head. Is there any way for me to take money out of the 401(k) and stick it into an IRA without penalties? 55%? Wow. The general markets are down only about 30% ATM on the year, I think. I'm not 100% clear on how those rules work, with 401k vs IRA. It can be done when you change jobs, but I'm not sure if you can just move your 401k to any firm's IRA and use their funds. I'm just not sure.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 11:55 AM) http://www.the9513.com/actor-ed-harris-sin...coming-western/ Hm. there wasn't much worded-music, except in the end credits. I didn't pay attention. The actual score was written by Jeff Beal, who, looks like he's mostly done TV and low budget stuff before. It showed.

Major equity markets now up 7% or so on the day.

Early voting starts TODAY for Cook County. Unless you are still undecided, go out and vote!

We already have a Willy Taveras, only a lot cheaper.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 10:26 AM) In about a week or two, if the dow keeps going back up, we'll hear the sob stories from the idiots who paniced and sold their stocks and ira shares when they were worth s***. Too bad for you. I should also add... the ones this crash really hurts are folks who are near retirement, and hadn't moved their assets to safer securities. With a lot of baby boomers right at that cusp, I think we'll see a segment of them have some problems, and put off retirement a bit further. That's bad news for the jobs market, BTW.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 10:26 AM) In about a week or two, if the dow keeps going back up, we'll hear the sob stories from the idiots who paniced and sold their stocks and ira shares when they were worth s***. Too bad for you. I don't think we'll go rocketing back up and stay there - more likely we'll see a lot of up and down, but with a general, small upward trend. You're right though, as things go up, some people will complain, after they made bad decisions. I don't think the number of them will be very large, but there will be a few here and there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 10:49 AM) OK, so how in the hell did the failure for the first bailout vote fall on the GOP with most journalists, when they aren't in control of Congress? I don't know - ask the voting public. They are doing what they usually do. The party of the current administration gets the flack for the economy, even though they often have little control over it. So, with the GOP in the White House and the Prez already not well-liked, the GOP becomes the scapegoat. You don't see me blaming them though, do you?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 10:03 AM) Dow is up about 1000 points from the intraday lows of just under 8000. Intraday low on DJIA was about 8462?. Not below 8000.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 10:16 AM) PERSONALLY, I do think that having a split party Congress/WH is usually a good thing. HOWEVER, for the next few years, I want to see Health Care done, so the Repubs can go sit in a corner and cry about following their leader. But clearly the tensions between Clinton and Gingrich led to some fiscal responsibility that really moved us forward. Unfortunately of course, that fiscal house GOP method that took over in 94 turned into the evangelical conservatives of today. I agree that its usually a good thing. I also agree that for a couple years anyway, to get some things done on the environment and other areas, it should be an OK thing for there to be single party majority control. It won't last long that way in any case. It never does.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 10:18 AM) Well you have 22 Rep. Senators named in and on the letter. Almost 50% of their caucus. So if you want to think that they stopped this, fine. Would you like to buy a bridge? What I'd prefer is to know what actually happened, instead of taking your conclusion from an article on a non-journalistic site. That's an assumption based on a derivative. I may look around later to see what actually happened. It may indeed have been killed by the Dems, but given the GOP control of the senate, I think that's not likely.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 10:37 AM) what did you think of Ed Harris' musical debut? Oh jeez, did he do the music? I knew he directed and co-wrote. I am a bit of movie music snob. I personally didn't like the music much. In fact, I thought at times, it took away from the movie. Some moments were good, but overall, I found the score to be substandard.

Markets up big today. 5 to 6% on the major boards. Oil recovers too.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Oct 13, 2008 -> 09:12 AM) http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28973 McCain should hammer Obama on this issue in the debate. 20 Repubs want reform and the Dems kill it on the floor of the Senate. Why Barry, why? I saw nothing in the article about the Dems killing it. In fact, at that time, the GOP controlled the Senate, so it seems maybe it was the GOP who stopped it?

Saw Appaloosa last night. The plot line was pretty stale - your basic town-run-by-evil-rancher, hired guns come to town to clean up, type thing. Love triangle thrown in. Acting was superb though - it was like a cast of Hollywood's craggiest men. Ed Harris, Viggo Mortenson, Lance Henrickson, etc. All that was missing was Willem Dafoe. They all did a great job with the characters, which is mostly what made it worth watching. Sets and settings were well done too, made for a belieable feel. As westerns go, it was pretty good, but not great, overall. I'd give it 3 stars out of 4.

I wasn't sure where to put this, so, here it is... We've talked in here a lot lately about some of the goofy, pedantic, petty and/or untrue personal attacks made on both candidates. We've wondered aloud which ones were even worth believing or mentioning, which ones matter and how much. One of the oldest and least believable in the books for this election is the old "Obama is a muslim" or "Obama is an Arab" schmear. So here, in case you were curious, is how the Trib sees it having started. Ground zero is, apparently, Andy Martin, aka Anthony Martin-Trigona. Sort of an interesting read. Martin is quite the character, and appears to be a bit off his rocker. Hannity hosted him on a major Fox News expose this past week, as a source for the Obama character study. Love me some Faux News.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Oct 11, 2008 -> 11:37 AM) My kids were down to 3 electives over 4 years.This would give them (1) three month break and (2) two month breaks. they took only 3 elective courses over 4 years? Wow, I must admit, I hadn't realized that was the case. I was taking 3 music classes a semester in high school, and also managed to fit in an extra year of science, an Aeronautics class, and a finance/econ class that wasn't required. I guess things have changed.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 11, 2008 -> 10:48 AM) lets switch a few things around. Say a McCain staffer hosted a community meeting/pep rally and some of the people who were INVITED (not just attended, but they were INVITED) were unsavory? Maybe a few people with strong ties to white supremecy groups, or something along those lines. Just a yawn? I can guarantee you that within 5 minutes of it being printed or broadcast anywhere, AHB would have a post on here about how bad this is for the McCain campaign, followed by 30 more posts from you, Balta, Kip and others trying to downplay AHB's enthusiasm, but reiterating that it sure looks bad. I just can't believe that Obama's ties and connections to some pretty bad people like Ayers, Dorn and others doesn't bother you guys in the least. I can understand that it may not change your mind, but how can it not give you pause, just for a moment? The word INVITED appears once in that article. It describes exactly what happened - a campaign staffer was INVITED to attend a meeting where, as it happens, some unsavory characters were also INVITED. And to answer your question, I am 100% sure that McCain staffers have ended up at meetings with some slimeballs. And I don't care, as long as there isn't any sort of endorsement or encouragement of anything illegal or slimy.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Oct 11, 2008 -> 11:04 AM) I agree, but when you look over what is already required, it is tough to fit in more required courses. Low math and science scores? Add required courses. Fat kids? Require more PE. Teen pregnancy? Sex Ed. My solution is longer school years. A four week "minimester" in June or August that addresses stuff like this. It would be required during two of the three High School summer vacations. Health, Finance, etc. Or complete a private program approved by the school district. It could even be on-line. Eh, I think its important for kids to play in the summer. Even high school kids. I'd rather see fewer electives.

By the way, sort of an aside I noticed in the Trib article about this... So, this makes it sound like the investigation may not be over? Which seems odd, since they released their findings already. Or perhaps, this just means that, in general, they should be saved like any government email for future reference.

I've said, I don't know how many times in here... high school curriculums should REQUIRE a full class on basic finance in order to graduate. It staggers me that many students graduate high school not even knowing how to balance a checkbook, or knowing the basics of what a mortgage is.

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 11, 2008 -> 02:04 AM) You may disagree and be disgusted by this political malfeasance, but, it still won't change anyone's mind, come November 4th. I think it will make a small difference. A few more on the fence will move to Obama, a few of those Dems who went to McCain/Palin because they were sore about Clinton not winning, and maybe a few GOP'ers who just won't who up. If this was still a tight race, I'd say it wouldn't make much difference. But since McCain is already well behind, the 1 or 2 point swing on this sort of thing could make the difference. I really think a substantial portion of McCain's fall the past month has been Palin anyway, regardless of this report. The economy is the biggest reason of course, which people associate with the Republicans right now (which is both right and wrong). And McCain's campaign nastiness is a factor too. But Palin, in general, has gone from being an uplift for McCain to a weight around his neck.

I was kinda wondering why the Palin reps were so vehemently criticizing the investigation today. Now I know.