Jenksismyhero

Anyone have thoughts of bringing in Shaq? On the one hand I think a guy like that playing 10-15 min a game would be good. But nearly every team he's been on has become pretty disfunctional. I dunno if the Bulls want to mess with what they've got going, which seems to be a bunch of guys that get along.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 15, 2010 -> 08:32 AM) Really, no it isn't. Taking fruits and vegetables yourself and using them to prepare a meal takes a lot of time and effort. Going to McDonalds is a convenience. Taking public transit anywhere except NYC (to first order) takes a lot of effort, compared to walking outside and getting in your car. And that's exactly my point - spending an extra 10 minutes a day on proper food choices/preperation versus rearranging your whole commute to and from work. One is a pretty simple alteration to your morning and shopping routine, the other is ranges from impossible (in non-metro areas) to completely impractical.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 15, 2010 -> 06:47 AM) 10% from a warning you got 3 years ago (if you have anything over 0% you probably already know even if you think you don't. I think sending a PM of some kind is a mandatory field) ah yes, I remember it well. NSS yelled at me good

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 15, 2010 -> 07:43 AM) answer the question. Why aren't you criticizing the people buying subsidized oil and causing us to lose leverage with dangerous "rogue" nations, causing people to die from air pollution and destroying industries in the gulf, when they could just be less lazy and pay a little more for cleaner energies, walk more or use public transit. This is choices, and these people are just lazy. Having parents buy fruits and vegetables instead of Big Mac's is a little different than telling people to stop using their cars and start walking/using public transit (though those that can should be expected to I agree).

How long are you there? Starved Rock is ok, but Matthiessen, like 4 miles up the road, is better. I've been to both a million times. Starved Rock is a good time, and the bluffs are cool, but at Matthiessen there normally aren't as many people, it's more "natural," and you get to hike up and down the creek (which is nice on a hot day). Assuming there's some water down there, I'd check that out too.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 02:02 PM) So basically, your argument is that everyone should go to a religious school so that the government doesn't have to help. Seriously...everything in terms of college aid in this country runs through the government. Even the private donations. And private contributions absolutely pale in terms of amount. Why are you narrowing it to that? I'm talking about everything involved in your hypothetical impossible life - day care services, food services, job placement services. So yeah, the government gives out/borrows money to allow people to pay for school, but the government doesn't have to provide everything else while they do it. YOU should be the one expected to do it on your own, but if not there are PRIVATE groups that can help too.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 01:49 PM) But don't you dare think you need a computer or a cell phone to get through school. And cook those kids dinner! And I have to ask... Did you really just write that? Who do you think puts those programs together? Jesus? Arguing with you is like arguing with a wall. You don't even try to respond. Christian groups and churches often offer their services. PRIVATE groups do as well. It doesn't have to be government groups.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 01:43 PM) And my point in response is that it's you who are pretending that they actually have a choice. You tried to outline the other things they could do...and basically it comes down to "Stop giving your kids TV and Cell phones", "Find a better job" and "stop being so lazy!" and sticking your hands in your ears when someone points out that working full time isn't exactly easy and that there aren't a whole lot of jobs available out there. To me, this is a symptom of a cycle that is nearly impossible to break. To you, it's tough luck, here's a lecture and my scorn. And to you it's a defeatist mentality. Well, can't blame them for it, too tough to break out of it, now it's the government's responsibility. They do have a choice. As I said earlier, produce is insanely cheap compared to these processed foods we're talking about. McDonalds doesn't have to be the only option (thanks Walmart!) And yeah, jobs are tough right now, but there are PLENTY of available options to better your position in life. Go to a tech school, go back to a community college, do anything. Does it suck for some people? Sure. But there are ways. There are tons of programs/people out there to help. The government's help shouldn't be the expectation.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 01:32 PM) Unless you decide to pay for a cell phone. lol, you crack me up. so you think it's wrong of me to judge a woman with a kid who pays 100 bucks a month towards her cell phone instead of spending a little more on quality food for her kid, or regardless of how much she pays, simply providing her kid with healthy food options instead of pre-processed crappy food because she's too busy and/or lazy? I'm not saying the government should create a law banning these types of people from having cell phones or other luxury items. My point was you blame that individual for making that choice when her kid ends up obese and with health problems, you don't blame the government for not assisting them more or the food company for providing the unhealthy food OPTION.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 01:24 PM) Well, good thing there's the time to spend a full day with the kids as well as working a full time minimum wage job and attending classes. How dare you not make your kids a nutritious dinner! Hey guess what, life's a b****. You pay for what you get.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 01:15 PM) Yup. Because you know what's ridiculously plentiful right now? Jobs! Not only that, good, better than Walmart jobs! They're all over the place. Or maybe they could go back to college. But wait, they have to get through that with no computer and cell phone. Oh god! What to do! Maybe use a computer lab?! Oh the humanity!!!!!!!!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 01:12 PM) Yup. They should sit around in the dark thinking about how bad their life is! OR, they should get a job/better job so the government doesn't have to provide everything for them. Again, what an AWFUL expectation.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 01:06 PM) No, it means that you're insisting the government ought to be saying "It's the right of the wealthy to decide that you can't buy these products." You're the one who started bashing the government on that issue. I did?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 01:05 PM) they stuff their kids full of processed fat because that's what is cheap. Now why is it cheap? Government. I love how when the government is legitimately into peoples lives you act like they aren't. If fruits and veggies were subsidized the same amount as meat and corn you'd see how much more "responsible" these peoples food choices get. as for your hypothetical welfare person that you create to show why welfare people are all evil communiss lazy and hellbent on stealing your money, well, who cares. Enjoy it, it makes your life easier. Are you kidding? Have you bought groceries recently? Produce is incredibly cheap. You can spend 20 bucks and get a weeks full of produce pretty easily. It has nothing to do with the government. They're not forcing people to buy certain products. Lazy people choose to buy the convenient, pre-packaged products. It has nothing to do with the price. That person isn't hypothetical. It's a pretty good chunk of the welfare recipients I've seen and worked with. Got no job (or have a s***ty job), their food and housing is paid for, but they got cell phones and tv's and other "necessities" that get them through life.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 12:50 PM) Frankly, yeah, it is pretty awful of you to say that. It's also worth noting that you can't defend your opinion that poor people don't need to make phone calls or use the computer without blaming the government. I thought the whole point was to keep the government out of our lives! Except for where it decides when you're too poor to have a cell phone. That's ok. Why is that so awful? Because we should expect people to have some fundamental priorities in their lives, i.e., their health, their kids, their kids' health, and that those are more important than personal luxuries? Yeah, what an awful position to take. What does that second point even mean? It's the government's fault that these people aren't provided phones or computers to use? Who said that? Is that a right I missed somewhere? That in the constitution? "We the people will provide every citizen of the United States every piece of technology deemed necessary by the masses?" Ridiculous.

Yeah, cuz it's SO awful to say that someone on welfare or on food stamps or who stuff their kids full of processed crap because they can't afford/spend the time on healthy food, walking around with a cell phone and watching TV on their 60 inch flat screen, doesn't have their priorities straight. God f***ing forbid our society has some sort of expectation of self-responsibility. Life would just be easier if the government gave us everything! it's so hard to live life without a computer or cell phone or tv! The wealthy people have them, so I should have them too!! It's my right!!

I bet mine is ~30%?

Are land lines no longer in existence? I mean, come on. It's not enough that TV's are necessities according to this survey, but FLAT SCREEN tv's are as well. What a joke. And an Ipod? Dryer? AC? I'll give you a car, for certain people, in certain locations. The rest are luxuries.

I think we're working on different definitions of "necessity."

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 10:02 AM) I love how your standard for arguing that poor people don't need cell phones is "What allows me to survive" and then you immediately jump to health care as another thing poor people don't need. I didn't say they don't need it. I said that you think it's a right, and I clearly don't. But it's not a wonder that you think health care is a right given that you apparently think cell phones are so necessary to function in this world. Please explain why a cell phone is a necessity in life. So far your reasons are (1) because it's a necessity and (2) because I live under a rock.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 09:49 AM) So, you're saying that something has changed regarding warming of the climate? Anyway, if you're seriously going to argue to me that a cell phone isn't a basic necessity for both kids and adults these days, then really, I ought to get off your lawn. You're just not paying attention to the world. Because in the summer you need AC? Yeah, it was never hot and humid before humans ruined the Earth. GMAB. I'm 28 and don't feel like a cell phone is all that necessary. I did without one as a kid and turned out just fine. I'm sure most of the people on the board did too. Why is it a basic necessity? It surely makes life more convenient, but you'd survive without one. It's a wonder you think health care is a right! Might as well make tv/cable/cell phones/internet/computers/any piece of technology a right provided by the government too. It's just so hard to live without them!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 09:02 AM) And what's a 5 minute sack lunch going to wind up being? It's going to wind up being a sandwich of some sort, maybe wheat bread if we're lucky, sugar/HFCS loaded peanut butter, sugar/HFCS loaded jelly, and a piece of fruit that has half the nutritional value that it did 20 years ago. Oh, and a pudding cup or something like that for dessert. We haven't become a lazy country. We've become a country that you have to work like a dog just to be able to afford to pay the interest on your credit card bill that you've got left over from the time you were laid off or got sick without health insurance. So you make due as well as you can. And can we please stop pretending that a cell phone isn't basically a mandatory thing to get by in today's society yet? I think you can make your kid a pretty healthy meal if you take the effort to do so. Just because it's tough or takes some extra time out of your day isn't an excuse. It's pretty damn difficult to go to college and get a job. Guess i'll just complain about it and expect the rest of society to provide for me. Nor is it an excuse that those foods are less nutritious. An apple that might be less nutritious than an apple 50 years ago, but it's still more nutritious than a pudding cup. And we haven't become more lazy? Are you kidding? As a whole we're a bunch of zombies that sit on couches, watch tv and shove processed foods into our mouths. Compare a child's activities on a typical day in the past to today. I see it with all of the kids under 10 that I know. They'd rather sit on a couch in the AC playing a video game than out and about exploring their world and running around. We're insanely more lazy as a whole. And I agree that we're worked like dogs compared to past generations, but how can you discount the fact that "middle class" now encompasses more and more "things" that aren't requirements, but instead are choices? A cell phone IS a choice. There's absolutely no need for one except pure convenience. If you absolutely NEED one, it's for business purposes, that's it. Why is it mandatory? It's no more mandatory than the internet, which is a great luxury, but isn't necessary to function.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2010 -> 08:38 AM) See previous post about both parents working full time. So because parents work two jobs they can't spend 5 minutes making a sack lunch? I'm in agreement with those that argue it's the responsibility of the individual instead of the government. While a lot of dietary issues are general to our species, in reality it's an individual thing. We're all different. We all could use more of X and less of Y. We've just become a lazy country. Balta I get the point that it's more difficult as parents now, but at the same time that comes down to choice. 50 years ago parents weren't spending hundreds of dollars on cell phones, video games, cable, etc. Kids were forced to play outside and run around to keep in shape. Meals were moderate in size (regardless of the source). Today it's "what is the quickest and most convenient solution?" I could spend 5 minutes making my kid a nice sack lunch for school, or I could buy the lunchable pre-processed crap. I could make a real dinner, or I could shove a frozen pizza in the oven and save myself the hassle.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 13, 2010 -> 03:12 PM) I know PER isn't everything, but here's my case. I'll give Wade, James, and Durant as above Bosh. Paul...well, I hold injuries against people more than others do. He could come back and put his name right up there. then again, DR1 could take a step forwards this year and do that too. Last year though, if we're talking what other player I put in my top 4 ahead of Bosh, you can fire Kobe at me, but between him already missing 10 games last year and the fact that when I watched him, he was not the same dominant force that he was in the previous years...he's stepped back enough for me to drop him out of my top 5. I think the best player on the Lakers right now is Pau Gasol. The only other one I think legitimately belongs up there is Howard. And between Howard and Bosh, it's a question of defense versus offense. Howard has a bigger body, Bosh is more athletic. Howard is ridiculously bad on offense for his skills. At the very worst, I'd be willing to call it a tie, but I think Bosh is just lesser known because Orlando has done a better job building around Howard. Balta, what exactly has Bosh won? Seems to me he was the "man" on a non-playoff team. I dunno how you can put a franchise guy who can't win as the 4th best player in the league. I think he's being incredibly overrated. He's an allstar, not a superstar.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 13, 2010 -> 02:15 PM) That's only if the 2 of them coming in were done as sign and trade deals though. I thought they were?