NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 01:03 PM) I just cannot justify applying the constitution to non-US citizens. I agree, but I find the idea that they can just be held by our country in some sort of legal black hole equally reprehensible. It makes us look like buffoons, not to mention its morally wrong. After weeks in detention, if they aren't charged with something (militarily or otherwise), then they are basically POW's. And we need to treat them with more respect than we do. Its one of those things that SHOULD seperate us from other, lesser nations. It makes me ill that we fell down to their level.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 12:35 PM) Cook can play all three outfield spots and play them well. He's only played RF and CF this year though. Charlotte will finally have plenty of outfielders now. No more Chris Getz and Fernando Cortez in LF. Persichina would fill Colina's void perfectly. Colina played 1st, 2nd & 3rd for the Warthogs and so can Joe. He can even play OF in a pinch. So Cook is a solid OF defender at all positions? With his bat, if he can mash at AAA too, and if he's that good defensively, he may turn into something really valuable.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 11:16 AM) It can be very difficult for a player with no MLB experience to play only once a week and be effective. I don't know if I would do that in a season where we may be able to contend for a playoff spot. That's a good point, but I think Getz's role is probably as a utility guy anyway. So why not start now? Looking at his history, and the scouting reports I've read, I think he'll likely out-produce Ozuna this year if given the chance. Plus from what I've read, Getz is a better defender than Pablo too. And Getz hits lefty - which is a real need for this team. If he does well in that role, then you can give him a chance to compete against Richar for the starting 2B slot in 2009.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 12:12 PM) Please for God's sake yes. I figured that would be pointed out. And some of that is fine, but ultimately, I think it does only a little good. It might widen the pipe a bit, get more refining going - but all that does is help bring down the price of gas by a small amount. The only way that ends up being truly good news is if they invest in non-fossil fuel infrastructure. Which they might do, but if that's your aim, then do a re-structered tax bracketing to encourage THAT.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 11:09 AM) Well David Cook has been promoted to Charlotte. (Sad fugee face) Dewon Day is demoted to B'ham, Ryan O'Malley is released from B'ham. Javier Colina is promoted to B'ham from Winston-Salem. The Warthogs will have an open roster spot now. My guess is either Sergio Miranda will return from Kanny or my money would be on Joe Persichina to move up there from Kanny. He's an awesome, hard-nosed ballplayer. Good to see Cook move up (sorry to the Barons fans!) - I wonder where he'll play. Colina is deserving it looks like. As for the W-S spot, while Miranda appears to be getting it figured out finally, I doubt they will re-promote him again that quickly. I'd bet on Persichina.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 09:55 AM) Windfall tax for oil companies is a really dumb idea, IMO. Agree, and there is a big reason why that I don't even see GOP opponents getting into yet. Think this through. The tax law goes to be signed. I can guaran-damn-tee you that the oil companies will do the only smart thing in response - lower profits. How, you might ask? Simple - put the cash in places where it isn't profit... pay down debt, invest in hard assets and infrastructure, hold inventories longer... anything they can to keep the value outside of true profits from a balance sheet perspective. So guess what happens then? The net tax revenue received from these companies doesn't go up at all. The tax is thus rendered pointless.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 09:12 AM) Jerry Owens seems to have woken up... Hitting .381 over his last 10 games. (Up to .261 now.) Ditto Jason Bourgeois... who is hitting .378 in his last 10 games. (Up to .248). Josh Fields... batting .333 in his last 10 and .266 on the season. Chris Getz remains hot. Batting .389 in his last 10 and averaging .312 on the season. I may be in the minorty, but I think Getz is ready. I'd like to see him on the bench instead of Pablo at this stage.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 07:30 AM) McCain's GOP Problems... A lot was made of Obama not getting support from ONE democrat. How about 14, and possibly as many as 26+ not supporting good ol' John McCain? http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/new-ga...2008-06-11.html I think this election will break some rules. There will be people crossing party lines both directions, the cabinet for either candidate will includes some people from the other party, and the electoral map will be very different. Should be interesting.

QUOTE (jackie hayes @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 06:42 AM) I think the idea (NSS's, anyway) would be to levy the tax only once, for new car purchases. Of course, that would raise the price of used cars as well (since the substitute -- new cars -- would be more expensive), but only by some part of the original tax, so it's unlikely that people who would otherwise buy used would switch to new cars. The problem is that we really want to tax according to the amount of pollution produced, and a tax like this does not distinguish between those who drive 5k miles a year and those who drive 20k miles a year, so it's a poor proxy for the 'right' tax. And, of course, it's political suicide. Yes, that was the general idea. Keep in mind though, in many states, the registration fees for cars are already on graduated scales based on, say, the value of the car. Colorado does this. Having the registration fee have a pollution component is not that novel. Chicago charges more for city stickers on larger vehicles, under the guise of they simply take a larger toll on the roads and the air quality. Other villages do that too. Its not such a huge leap. But just to be clear and reiterate here, I see that as a mostly local thing, and not a large part of the solution. The bigger chunks need to be tax incentives and research and results-oriented grants, etc.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 01:56 AM) .212/.316/.455/.770 in June Ya know, I'm a proponent of Walker being shown the door, but in this specific case, let's not make any assumptions just yet. Its entirely possible, maybe even likely, that Quentin has made changes himself without Walker. Just sayin', we don't know. All hitters get into funks. If Carlos' "funk" is a .770 OPS, I'm not overly concerned. Just give him a day off here and there, until he gets back swinging.

It amazes me that some people are still deluded into the idea that Fox News is only as far right as the MSM is far left. Really, I am not just saying this, it really does amaze me. I mean, its not even close. The MSM leans left, no doubt (though there is variation there, depending on the network). But Fox News is just blatantly, intentionally, fully in the right gutter. How is it that people can't see this?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 06:09 AM) Exactly. The lifespan of a typical car might be 10 years, not 30-50 like a power plant. And now you're forcing people who would be buying cheap, used cars because its what they can afford to buy new cars or pay more in taxes. Awesome. You're not going to fix this problem through taxation. That will just lead to backlash against any green movement. You're going to have to have some of that, I think. No one is forcing anyone to do anything (assuming you use a pollution-pegged fee on new cars only as I suggested). There is no "right" to drive, or to own a car, or to buy some gas-guzzling SUV. Its a privilege. Cars take a serious toll on roads, the air, etc. And those tolls cost money for everyone. Its just reality. You could structure the tax in a way that didn't charge said tax on cars that were ELEV qualified. That way, some cars would not be taxed at all. I agree with you in general that taxation is not the way to fix the problem. But I think that it will end up being part of the larger solution, in concert with tax incentives, research and production grants, loan guarantees for patent holders going to production, etc. Just make sure that any taxation is non-regressive, non-retroactive, and avoidable by behavior changes.

Boy, Victor Mercedes has been surprisingly good so far for B-Ham this year. Hitting almost .300 now. And Sergio Miranda, after having a very rough start at W-S and getting demoted to Kanny (and starting rough there too), now has a 7-game hitting streak (hitting .333 w/ 3 doubles during), and is back to taking more walks than strikeouts like he did last year. Hopefully that means he's getting back on track.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 04:30 PM) Gookie Dawkins was released from Charlotte to make room for Clayton Richard. Poreda took Richard's spot in the rotation and on the roster in B'ham. Salvador Sanchez was reinstated from the bereavement list in Winston-Salem and took Poreda's roster spot. I still think Jeff Liefer is on the DL in Charlotte as well as someone else, either Matt Anderson who hasn't picthed since June 3rd or Rob Bell. It would be so nice if they'd update the roster properly or at least respond to e-mails. I assume Lucy is also on the DL.

QUOTE (29andPoplar @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 04:29 PM) Brian Anderson in the lineup tonight, Konerko out. Cabrera SS Pierzynski C Quentin LF Thome DH Dye RF Swisher 1B Crede 3B Ramirez 2B Anderson CF Probably good. I still would like to see Quentin get a day off, since he's a little cold at the plate and looks like he might be wearing down a bit (after carrying the offense for a month or more). Hopefully that happens tomorrow.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 03:08 PM) I'm also starting to doubt your claims about sniper fire when landing at Midway earlier this year. OK, well, there was sniper fire in the general area. Ya know, the south side and all. Besides, that's not the point. I went to the war zone that is the south side of Chicago in order to help the people there. That's what's important. That and the photo op.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 02:47 PM) Is it true Blago flies in on a personal jet everyday from his regular home out there somewhere (forget where exactly) to Springfield? I haven't heard that. Blago lives in the city of Chicago, as I understand it. Or did, anyway. If he does that on his own dime, or the dime of his contributors, it doesn't bother me (unless I was one of those contributors). If he does it on government dime, then he can sit his ass on the Amtrak or his car like everyone else who goes to Springfield from Chicago. OK, check that, Amtrak won't work due to security. His driver can get him down there.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 03:16 PM) The moves are official now. Any compensating moves announced?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 03:32 PM) Poplar, I really like what you have to say normally, but why do you always get so upset if people raise topics you don't feel are pertinent enough or timely or what have you? This is several times I have seen you criticizing folks for that. Can we just follow the natural course of things? If the topic isn't necessary or pertinent, it falls down the page due to lack of discussion and eventually disappears into the oblivion of Soxtalk. If enough people find the suggestions a bit strange or unfounded, then posters will respond. And that, too, is part of the site. I personally find it kind of ridiculous to take a first place team on a serious roll, and try to add Fields (who has serious swing issues and isn't doing so hot in AAA anyway) to replace Konerko or Thome's at bats, and to look at adding a pitcher (who hasn't pitched in many moons and was fading when he last did) when every team in baseball is salivating at the ones the team already has. Therefore, I pointed out how silly I thought the ideas were, and why they were silly. I've had my ideas shouted down many times here, and that's part of the deal when I post something.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 02:42 PM) NY Times rates ballparks' food and says what to get and what to avoid. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/06...APHIC.html?8dpc For the Cell, they say "avoid: everything" I thought the park was known for having good food/ concessions? I've been to a few ballparks. The Cell's food is better than most, in my experience. To say that its all bad at the Cell is a joke.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 02:23 PM) My impression is that people don't really like Rich, they deal with him because they don't have a choice. Daley is still very popular, so yes, they are under pressure to cave to him a lot. But also, they know that his initiatives and stances are in line with the voters, and they have been very effective. So they are more than happy to ride his coattails.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 01:51 PM) Woah, woah, woah. Revisionist history. He did not do his first tax rebate check after 9/11. It was a campaign promise and the bill was signed June 2001. Checks went out in August. Really? I have to say, I misunderstood that. I just did some internetting, and you are correct. My bad.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 01:39 PM) The problem with that strategy though is that it has a flaw, and it's a flaw that's shown up in the U.S. coal plant system. The U.S. coal plants grandfathered in a bunch of the older, highly polluting coal plants when all of the clean air legislation was written. But because they were allowed to keep running, they just kept running without upgrades, and because there was no punishment built in to the tax system to discourage them from still running, there was no motivation to do anything about them. So when a new power plant was built, it was built up to code, but the older ones keep chugging along without any reason to invest money in building more efficient and cleaner plants or upgrading them, and the companies that owned the older ones always fight to keep them open and hold on to them longer because it's more costly to do the upgrades than to pay the lobbyists. Cars die in a few years, for the most part. They aren't coal plants that run for decades. I'm all for change in this regard, but you have to allow the system to grade its way into that change. You start slapping retroactive and regressive taxes on people, and you will get some very upset voters, thus undoing any attempt and making positive ground.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 02:18 PM) OK, but there have been increases in inventories in gasoline and distillate fuels. Where is the lower inventories coming from? Is it coming from the refiners themselves - seeing slackening demand? Or is it because refining production shrank over the last month marginally? Or is it because of genuine usage increases and less supply? crude oil prices are futures contracts. As such, you are trading on an anticipated future price. A decline in inventory will result in higher prices in the future. A temporary spike in gasoline inventories may be helpful of oil follows suit, but as it doesn't (in fact they go down), then the future trend is for higher prices due to lower supply.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 11, 2008 -> 02:15 PM) http://www.bizzyblog.com/2008/06/10/dirty-...-climate-taxes/ While I agree that the retroactive aspect of the UK law is a horrible idea, I do think that a bracketed tax based on pollution levels is not a bad idea FOR NEW CARS UPON PURCHASE. This way, everyone is making a choice on how to spend their money.