southsider2k5

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 10:42 PM) Is Flowers our new DH? It wouldn't surprise me if AJ gets some swings over there while Tyler works behind the plate.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 10:41 PM) What did the sox get back.. is the million dollar question? Someone should change the title soon too. I am sure it isn't much for a month's worth of baseball.

Damn. I'll miss Thome. Hopefully Kenny laid the groundwork for him to go to a contender, and maybe to come back next year.

QUOTE (b-Rye @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 10:02 PM) Last 30 days.. Beckham .222 Dye .186 CQ .244 (.144 last 7 games), Rios .192, Konerko .244, Thome .250, rest of starters .250+.. Linebrink 8.49, Williams 8.60, Conteras 7.66, Buerhle 5.44, Pena 3.97, Dotel 4.91, everyone else under 3.60era. That pretty much saids it all.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 10:18 PM) Peavy is fine per Cowley. fathom you can come off heart attack alert now.

Wow. I wonder who is looking at him?

QUOTE (SHIPPS @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 04:09 PM) That reminds me of the times when I f***ed up yard equipment...I would say I have no idea how that happened...it just stopped working...and started on fire....and ended up in the pool... I just got the mental imagine of Bill Murray in Caddyshack.

I'll give them $10 for it. I hear the neighbors are real dicks.

Proven time and time again if you ask me...

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 02:47 PM) Hawk will be excruciatingly painful for the next 3 games. Not nearly as painful as what happens on the field... Bye,bye second place.

Now tell the rest of lazy people what it means!

So while cutting the grass at my mom's house, the lawnmower blew up today. The gasket blew, and oil came pouring out of it. That can't be good for it...

Zelda kicked all of their asses.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 02:34 PM) Not convinced that what is not what? Constitutionally legal.

Any other word yet on who else is coming up?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 02:32 PM) Car insurance is required. Is that constitutionally legal? Health care, like driving, is a legal privilege, not a legal right. I'm not really convinced it is, but that is neither here nor there.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 02:28 PM) What exactly is the choice you're referring to? The same type of choice that allows Klan speech to be freely flowing, and for them to assemble in public. It isn't ideal, but it is a freedom none the less.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 02:24 PM) So this would tend to indicate a deeper flaw within that economic structure, no? You can call it a flaw if you like. I call it the freedom of choice. Not all freedoms result in ideal situations.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 02:18 PM) ...so, when the public option comes out, and it sucks, why, exactly, will all employers dump their coverage without fear of talent leaving for places that don't dump coverage? Because it will be cheaper for them, result in higher stock prices and bigger profits. Its the same reason companies dump superior American workers and send jobs out of the country.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 02:09 PM) And the ones that don't tend to get worse talent. And the companies that offer worse health benefits tend to get worse talent. Isn't this free market in all its glory? What's the problem? Great, so mark down another against governmental health care!

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 01:54 PM) I think you might be able to trace that to the decline of labor organizing movements than you can the advent of social security. Also, weren't there things like 401ks and IRAs that came about in the late 1970s that had more to do with the elimination of a pension than Social Security? I actually think you are kind of supporting my argument here. Both of those are plans that shift costs away from the companies, just like will happen with "the public option". They also came about because companies had dropped pensions, and not because of a fall of the labor movement.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 01:55 PM) That's kind of my point - companies still have to compete for good employees, so there is always a balancing act. You cannot just say "its a cost, we'll drop it", all the way down. Its not just a cost, for many companies it is their largest cost besides actual salaries. For lower waged workers, it would be higher than their salaries. I have no doubt it would go the way of the dinosaur.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 01:50 PM) First, if this was true, then companies would provide no benefits and pay minimum wage for all jobs. Obviously that is not the case, so also obviously, there is clearly something different going on here. It is simply part of the benefits package. And as time has gone on, companies are in fact offering MORE benefits (and less salary) than they had previously. And as I said earlier, the only time they will drop coverage is in truly dire circumstances, which is no different (or little different) than it is today. By the way, here is something to throw out there... IMO, the ultimate solution to this whole problem is not government-provided healthcare, nor is it employee-provided health care. Chew on that for a minute. Then why don't companies offer to pay a zillion dollars an hour? Let's not pretend there aren't competive factors at work here. There are also tons of shareholder and stock price pressures that go on here. All it takes is one company to stop, and pretty much an entire industry stops, or at least that has been the argument for generations about why work gets oursourced outside of the United States.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 01:49 PM) But I thought pensions were bad. Isn't that why the auto industry went bankrupt, because the unions wouldn't let them adapt to the new economy and dump their pensions? Plenty of people got pensions well beyond Social Security's introduction - generations beyond it in fact. How is that trend going?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 01:41 PM) Interesting analogy, since the combination of 401k's and social security are much better for everyone involved than pensions. The only way employers start begging off insurance offerings in any great numbers are if: --They are deep financial trouble (in which case they might do that anyway) --The government plan somehow becomes a truly better alternative, which I find doubtful --Unemployment gets to some ridiculous number like 20% and employees lose all leverage Ha. You know as well as I do if companies feel it will boost their bottom lines and/or stock prices, they will dump coverage in a heartbeat. Once the government plan comes in and starts being cheaper and starts closing up insurance companies, they will drop coverage for employees faster than they drop employees in a recession. At the end of the day, it is a cost to the company. If they can get rid of it, they will.