Texsox

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 08:14 PM) My notebook is now back up and running. Damn, I hope you can catch it

If a person looks through news stories, pulls out negative articles about Republicans, then screams liberal bias over and over again, you have the GOP PR campaign that their die hards have bought into. They have insulated themselves from criticism and that scares me. Are there cases of liberal bias? Yes. Stories are written by humans. Are there cases of conservative bias? Yes. Stories are written by humans. There is also religious bias in the media, gender bias, racial bias, and every other kind of bias. There has never been a totally bias free human. You will never be able to read a single article and not find it positive or negative to someone. With a two party system, any positive article to one party is a negative to the other party. It is impossible to add up the column inches each day and write enough positive articles to balance the negatives. During the Lewinsky junk, should the press have not written some articles until some positive could be found? If someone is screwing up the coverage will never balance.

And that made sense to someone

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 09:59 AM) It took the morning radio to jump start my brain to add a seminal album to the top 10 most important rock albums. Carole King's Tapestry. Possibly the closest thing to a perfect pop album. A huge musical talent at the top of her game, given the freedom to make her masterpiece. So far Away still chokes me up every single time I hear it. I finally bought that about four weeks ago, and was blown away how well every song fit. I've heard every song at least 100+ times as singles, but until I heard the album, start to finish, I never really appreciated just how incredible the album is. If I was putting together a Top 10 Pop Album, that would be the first I added, then I would stop and just listen. The list would be complete.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 05:01 PM) Nothing to say, I just thought the picture would look nice repeated. BTW, God Bless Texas

This is why the NBA is going from one of the best leagues to being in serious trouble. The players are jerking around everyone from the fans to the owners. For basketball, I am skipping the pro game and watching college.

Even with these moves, they are still one of the favorites to win their division.

The only thing I would change about my HP is the power connection is always coming loose. Have you checked the HP web site for error codes?

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 10:34 AM) On what, exactly, do you base the first sentence of this post? That was stated as fact, not opinion. A 45 second report will not make the same impact as a 3 hour discussion with a dozen people calling in and agree with and complimenting the host on how smart he is. Humans like to be part of a group, and talk radio is able to do that. Through the host, the listener can feel like he's "in on it" and part of the superior intellect. A talk show is designed to sway opinion. They bring in experts to amplify and "prove" how smart and correct the host is. Don't you agree? And to reply to another post, talk radio is able to bring followers tighter into the fold. Once the people are inside, they become more ardent followers. At first they may disagree with some points, but after hearing the points made over and over again, and by expert after expert, and hearing from all those listeners who agree, they start to agree also.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 10:31 AM) Wait. Doesn't this go along with the liberal agenda of taking money away from the rich and putting more in the government coffers? Legit question. Not trying to be a smart ass .... this time. Not exactly what you are asking. The government takes money from everybody except the poorest.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 10:52 AM) Tex- I'm a little confused on the Q&A portion. In my debate, after the opening statements were made, Flaxx asked his first question. Then I asked mine. Is that how it goes? We each ask one, each answer, each respond? Then onto question 2? Or was I supposed to answer Flaxx first, then he responds to my answer, then I ask MY first question? I was thinking they would be asked concurrently and have both asked before answering. Perhaps with the second question the order of asking could be reversed, in case there is a built in advantage I don't see.

Some people believe it is every Christians responsibility to witness and lead others to the Lord. Some believe words are the key, others deeds. This also falls somewhat on your denomination.

nice. I wonder how much that professor gets paid to say that with a straight face?

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 10:11 AM) just from my standpoint, i don't need a guy to report happy news to make me think he's doing a good job. i want a guy to report the news accurately and fairly, and i want him to develop good enough sources that when the time arrives, a big story can be broke. i don't mind the reporting of bad play or bad incidents, because i'd rather have an accurate view of the happenings on the team than one that's been polished up for public consumption. Same with me. But just watch during the season and when some reporter or analyst picks against the Sox there is a 50 post thread talking about what a moron he is and how the Sox get no respect. Once I left the Chicago market and wasn't surrounded by "homers", my attitude changed. Accuracy wins out over attitude.

I think this came up during the debates about Presidents being good debaters. I find that being a great debater not that important in choosing a POTUS. What I do want is someone who can listen to all sides and make the right choice between many options. Even more difficult, is many times, all the options are terrible choices. I can not picture (pitcher?) Bush and Bin Laden debating to solve any problems. I do see Bush deciding how to hunt Binny down and choosing between different plans. So I don't mind how poorly he answered that student's question. Likewise, if he was a brilliant debater, I wouldn't be too impressed. I worry that by taking the profit out of student loans that it will become harder to get these loans as banks may limit how many they will process.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 09:49 AM) I said I wouldn't peer into this thread during the current debate, but I did sneek a peak at Tex' opening statement. It sounds like "Piss Christ" is a perfect poster child for the federally subsidized art of questionable value you are referring to. Once the current debate round is over I'd enjoy sharing my thoughts on why that art piece and other controversial pieces are of value to society, even if they are not your cup of tea or mine. I actually didn't have any one piece in mind. I am enjoying reading the well thought out opinions so far.

Not allowed to touch him? Somehow, that seems very sad.

I think by "best", people really mean who runs the most flattering articles about the Sox. Sox fans never have had much tolerance to any bad news. Who cares how they write as long as it is nice and makes us feel better.

He will be a poster boy for every GM in the game to show young players. There isn't player in sports who the game needs more than the player needs the game.

One of the best examples of how to cheer on the visitors I ever saw was at a Black Hawks game. A guy was sitting in front of me and about 5 minutes before the game turned and said "I'm grew up in Toronto, and have been a Maple Leaf fan for 20 years. I know I will cheer, and I know that may be annoying. I don't want any trouble, so how about this, when the Maple Leafs score, I buy you guys a beer? He would up buying about 10 beers after every goal, thankfully for him there was only 2 or 3. He turned out to be a nice guy, very good hockey fan and even with a little cheering, no one really bothered him. But as any Hawks fan knows, it could have been ugly.

I knowmy talents, and my weaknesses, are God given. I think him daily for many gifts, but prefer to keep that private. I know that God wasn't pulling for me to sink a putt, but I thanked him for the two good arms and the eye/hand coordination. What we do with our talents is up to us. I am never comfortable with the grandstanding. And I suspect some people use it as a PR ploy.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 24, 2006 -> 08:16 AM) You think? I agree, it seems logical enough. Proactive healthcare costs 1/5 to 1/10 of what reactive healthcare costs. But it is perfectly clear we're not really serious about ever moving to a federally guaranteed proactive model. It seems to come down to what is fair. I've always believe when people who are getting government benefits are receiving more than what the middle class has, there are problems. A classic situation I remember was a young mom who worked for me through a temp agency. Both her and her husband worked at minimum wage jobs, and their children qualified for some programs. One was dental. The same time I was writing a large check for orthodontics for my daughter, she was b****ing she couldn't select which Orthodontist to take her daughter. Stuff like that creates a backlash against programs.

It was suggested we have a public comment thread running alongside the debate threads. Funding for the arts is an interesting area for me. I've placed it alongside items like public parks, libraries, 4th of July fireworks shows, etc and believe they make our society a better place to live. What I struggle with at times is the artistic freedom we allow some people to create items that frankly I find disgusting, immoral, and without any social value.

Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, and their liberal counterparts (none here so I can't name names), have a greater impact on people's opinions than the 10:00 news. And opinions and the subsequent voting is what counts in the political arena. The GOP wants to steer people away from news accounts and towards conservative talk shows that push the party agenda. That is good business for them. Neither party wants people to make up their own opinions when they have prepackaged opinions there for the asking. They want us to just listen to them (dem or rep), agree that the the media lies, and they (the parties and politicians) will tell us the truth. I here way more people talk about Rush's show than the newscast. That is influence.