southsider2k5

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Mar 22, 2011 -> 07:35 AM) He actually has principles and hasn't been bought out by special interests like 98% of the rest of Washington. I agree totally. He is one of the very, very few people whose message doesn't change based on who is in power. I don't know if I can think of more than one other person like that in the entire Congress.

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 22, 2011 -> 07:15 AM) I agree with all your underlying points, but come to a different conclusion. I believe the big difference is "coming to town". Amazon is not coming to town. You are giving an incentive for an Oregon company, who employs a ton of full time people out of state, to continue to use part time employees in your state. Plus, I really question how much these affiliates contribute to their home states. I suspect many are on par with eBay sellers. I was thinking about the 10,000 affiliate number in California. How much business would Amazon have to have to support 10,000 full time workers? If it was truly that much, would they really walk away from that much business? They were being asked to do exactly what they are in their home state, collect sales tax on sales to that destination. Another thought, is it fair that an Oregon business ships sales tax free into Illinois, yet an Illinois based internet business would have to charge sales tax? It seems like states have a really tough time with this. I would rather offer the incentive to create an Amazon competitor in my state, than give an incentive to an out of state company. None of it is "fair" The newest companies get the biggest subsidies as the older ones are weened off of their initial benefit package. A perfect example is that Michigan City's original mall was opened in 1966. In the late 80's they offered a 10 year tiered property tax abatement to what ended being the second outlet mall built in the country. Was it fair to the other mall? Not really. But it brought what ended up being about 100 stores worth of jobs, not to mention an assload of tourist dollars to the community. We lost in dollars up front, as we didnt' collect full property taxes for 10 years there, but we made up for it in other ways (keeping unemployment much lower, adding sales taxes, having more people come to MC etc). Like I said, I see this issue in the same light. Sure you would rather give it to a company that is there already, but that isn't how the system works.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 11:11 PM) Exactly. f*** the suspensions our best players would receive and hurting our possibility of making the playoffs. As long as we get a few punches in, and we all know how great the fights on fields have been, this team would be considered a success. I don't know about you, but I measure success by wins and losses versus expectations.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 09:47 PM) I'd like to know if the changes to his swing are legitimate, or this is just a small sample size/spring training illusion. Either way I'd bet he's traded at some point. The team was pretty quick to trumpet adjustments. Who knows.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Mar 22, 2011 -> 12:21 AM) Freddy probably won't make the Yankees out of spring training, I think that's pretty telling considering his competition and the number of jobs that were open for the taking. From what I have read, he is losing to Nova and Bartolo Colon, of all people, for the final rotation spot. He really should've signed a major league deal with someone. Garcia would be available if we really needed someone from the sounds of it, but why would he have wanted to be our sixth starter, when chances were for him he could have been 4th or 5th starter for the Yankees?

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 22, 2011 -> 05:51 AM) Would you allow a brick and mortar store to operate as a sales tax free zone? After all that actually adds jobs in the community, not at a service center and warehouse many states away. Currently if Amazon happened to be an Illinois company, with a warehouse in Illinois or service center Illinois, residents wold have to pay sales tax on items bought there. Offer an incentive for getting that part of their operation. The affiliates are often times part time sellers with hobby businesses, not full time, businesses employing a lot of people. States understand what is at stake as well and will eventually push for a share of on-line sales taxes. They have to with so many sales heading in that direction. Honestly it depends on the situation. The reality is that it isn't any different in theory than giving property tax abatements to a factory full of union workers to come to your town, which happens all of the time, and is perfectly acceptable in today's political world. The only real difference is the taxing body involved here, and the way laws are currently written. Right now, at least in the state of Indiana, there aren't any exceptions for brick and mortar stores. If there were, I wouldn't have a problem with it being used like any other business recruiting tool that is used.

I will have to say Dennis Kucinich is the most consistent politician I have ever seen.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 07:13 PM) Notre Dame losing was due to a series of cold shooting games. I believe they came about because the starters got major fatigue at the end of the year due to Brey's unwillingness to play his bench during the season. The team only went 7 deep and the starting 5 averaged 30 minutes a game. You have to give credit to FSU though.

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 07:12 PM) Duh, that's what I'm saying. If you continue to allow on-line retailers to ship tax free into your state, you will keep losing sales tax revenues. Ten years ago on-line sales were less than 1%, now they are 15%, where will they be in 5 years? Under the current system, states will continue to see revenues from sales tax to fall as more people shop on-line. What should they do to maintain that revenue stream? The law was to establish that Amazon would pay on all their sales, not just through the affiliates. Just like you have to pay sales tax on internet orders from companies located in the same state as the customer. The law claims that Amazon is in Illinois. The trade off is jobs. City's make that decision all of the time by subsidizing businesses to come to their communities. Interest free loans, property tax breaks, incentives... I don't see sales taxes as any different. If states are willing to forfeit them in the pursuit of attracting jobs, it is their right.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 06:24 PM) Why do you guys hate the innocent civilians in Congo and Yemen? Where is your outrage to have the US help them? We should be helping them.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 06:14 PM) Thats what UM thought when they allowed Evan Turner to take that very same shot. And I would still contend that there are at least 100 times that it didn't happen.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 06:41 PM) That's your right. Have fun with that. I'll never not express my views and thoughts due to the possibility of somebody putting me on ignore. I find blind homerism every bit as annoying as you do me and my 'negatism.' I know that's not a word. That's your misconception. You're not anymore a fan or dedicated to the Sox than I am. You're the ultimate optimist. I've evolved into a pessimist. That's fine with me. This franchise has gone backwards since '05 and I have no problem with voicing my opinions. I give credit to the Sox where I feel it's due. I went nuts, in a good way, when we signed Dunn. Pull up the thread if you think I'm lying. Shouldn't be too hard to find. But I'm not going to be a blind homer to every single move the team makes. How are you gonna tell me I should turn the TV off and not watch any games because I'm not a Hawk Harrelson clone? That's bulls***. I never said I was a better fan. All I said was I can't understand wanting to find the negative in everything. Even when something is going well, you are there to piss on the parade. Instead of being a blind homer, you are pretty much what you think I am, except 180 degrees. You have become a blind hater. Instead of Hawk, you are a Jay Mariotti clone. Like I said, I don't get what the attraction that mentality is. I don't expect everything to go well, but I sure as hell hope it will. If I expected failure and was that upset about it all of the time, I wouldn't waste my time on the team. There are way better things I could be doing than waiting for failure. I know none of this is going to change anything, but it is how I feel, and it doesn't seem like I am alone in it.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 05:59 PM) That's fine with me. I'll be the new devil of the board. I'm NOT being mean or whatever, but I don't give a s*** what Humber has done this spring or what he's added. He's hippos***. If this were the Cubs, we'd all be laughing. But since it's the Sox there's some kinda fake hope that he can be good. That won't work on me. If I turn out to be wrong, so be it. But the odds that I'm wrong are pretty low. Like really low. I feel like you have become the exact opposite. You'll search out the best of our competition and believe that, while assuming the worst for us. Almost like some sort of bizarre overcompensation so that no one can ever call you a homer and you can remain some kind of superior fan/purist or something. It sucks all the joy out of anything to do with the team, because no matter what, the conversation instantly goes negative. I don't get what the fun of following or coming here when every single conversation is how something is going to fail. Why even bother with it if that is really how you feel? I know if I get pissy about the team or game, I just turn it off and walk away.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 05:59 PM) What % chance does a shot have to be "makeable" that you will call a foul on a defender running into & bumping the shooter? 3%? 5%? Does have to be a certain distance away from the hoop? Like if the shooter is beyond halfcourt, you can foul him all you want cause the shot is not "makeable", so a foul won't be called? If Mack doesnt run into him, maybe he can get a jump stop, square up and at least get a clean look at the hoop. Mack's physical bump prevented him from doing that, hence the required foul call. About the Pitt foul, I disagree but I can see the reasoning. But the first foul directly affected the shooter's ability to make the shot, no matter how tough it would have been. You have to call that. You could have said the same thing about the Howard foul. Just looking at the plays, neither had a realistic chance of happening.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 05:31 PM) And when Barack Obama campaigned against Bush's excessive, poorly planned military operations, he felt it politically convenient to use a War Powers Act interpretation against those efforts. When I'm opposed to an Obama military operation, I feel it appropriate to use the exact same standard. Obama is a hypocrite. Welcome to 2009.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 05:27 PM) That first foul absolutely could have changed the outcome of the game, with a little over 2 seconds left and where the Pitt player caught the ball you can get a makeable shot, not a good shot but a makeable one. That last shot would have been a prayer if Howard even gets it off to begin with so that is a little more questionable even if it was a clear foul. From the extreme sideline of half court isn't a "makeable shot", especially with a defender in the area. That is a miracle shot. Howard's throw would have just been a bigger miracle. The combined chances of either of those shots going in would be under 1%.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 05:05 PM) I wouldn't be so sure. A lot of the thinking around here is that the penalties will be reduced b/c we got rid of Pearl. Loss of a couple scholarships over the next few years and maybe a year postseason ban or something. I can live with that. The main violation was Pearl lying to the NCAA. What he lied about was a secondary violation. Now that Pearl is gone, I don't think the secondary violation he committed is going to result in "hefty" sanctions. Someone will take the job. It is a great opportunity to get into the SEC at a close to top tier school, with the built in excuse of sanctions if there isn't instant success. At worst someone from a mid-major will jump at the job in a heartbeat.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 05:18 PM) That's fine, but if you make the calls there's no argument against that. People are going to complain about a late call either way. If it's a clear foul and they call the foul the only person you can blame is the player committing the foul. I'd rather blame players for doing something stupid than the refs. This seems like a no brainer to me. You'll never hear my argue that it wasn't the players fault to put themselves in that situation. It still doesn't mean I want to see a foul called 90 feet and 50 feet away from the basket when the plays has a combined chance of zero in changing the outcome of the game prior to the whistle blowing.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 03:59 PM) What are you talking about? I just said that I wasn't surprised by the setback and never bought all the fluff that he was on this ridiculous pace and that he could be ready by opening day. It wasn't like, 'Hahahahaha, I told you Peavy wouldn't be ready. I was right and you were wrong.' Ozzie was harder on Peavy than I was. You really get the sense with Ozzie that Peavy is now a luxury, not a necessity, at this point. I was right and you all were wrong is pretty much the definition of gloating.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 03:40 PM) Yeah, my Dexter season rankings go... 2-4-1-3 - 5 Two was awesome. I agree with 1 being down the list, as I was ready to quit watching it early on. Four was great unless the ending of it ends up being something cheesy. If that is the case, it truly changes things for me.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 03:14 PM) I don't see what's so dumb about it. A foul is a foul no matter what point of the game it's during. Should a baseball umpire call pitches differently in the bottom of the 9th than in the top of the 2nd? Technically, they should. Do they? I don't know, I try to change the channel by that point. Plus, there is way less contact going on at that point of the game. Yes they should call the game differently, and do all of the time if it is a 10 run game in the 9th versus a tie game. And they do call basketball games differently based on score. It happens all of the time.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 03:09 PM) Nope. I won't even be here. Shades of Felix Diaz, Jason Grilli, Arnie Munoz, Danny Wright, Josh Stewart and Mike Porzio are upon us. If any of the top 4, or even worse, multiple guys from the top 4, fail to produce at an acceptable level it's going to be a longgggggg year. That means Gavin can't suck ass for the first 6 weeks. Edwin has to develop this thing in sports we call consistency. Buehrle just has to get by, of course. And Danks has to be really good. You just spent the afternoon yesterday gloating about Peavy. I don't see this being any different.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 02:59 PM) The refs shouldn't be put in the situation to make judgment calls. A foul is a foul is a foul. Don't like it? Tell the player not to foul. It's much simpler that way. An officials job is always to make judgment calls. With all of the contact and offenses that take place on a floor, you realistically couldn't go five seconds without calling a foul if you really went by the letter of the law. Lean a little on a screen? Technically that is an offensive foul. Get too much of your hand on the ball? Traveling. Knock into a screener? Foul. Take a shot after the whistle blows? Delay of game. Argue with an official? Technical foul. Go past the coaches line? Technical. If there weren't judgments made every second of a basketball game, the game itself would never get played.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 02:12 PM) I got a whole 8 of the 16 right but I still have 6 of my elite 8 and all 4 of my ff so I'm just as alive as anyone. I was 7 of 16, with 7 of my 8 left, and all of my final four.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 21, 2011 -> 12:19 PM) Done in the playoffs, yes. But done in the regular season, no. But it's not good, but they should still have enough to make the playoffs. We are only a few points from being home from the playoffs. Something like Sharp could very well make the difference.