Texsox

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 03:51 PM) That's exactly what it sounds like. "Hey honey get some popcorn, I'll get the blanket, I think the wierd neighbor boy is finally gonna drill the dog". Going to hell laughing all the way . . .

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 03:52 PM) I just got back from beautiful McAllen, TX last week. Man, it gives Miami a run for its humidity money. Phoenix temps should be 105-112 today and every day for the next 100 days. Good thing I work outside. What brought you down here?

Not with any woman I know Next time it might be really bad He's going to enjoy a little prison time.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 02:52 PM) Everybody went nuts during "I Love This Bar", "The Taliban Song" and (of course) "The Angry American". Funniest part of the night was after he was talking about being on tour with Willie Nelson, they wrote a song called "Weed With Willie". So they played the song which was pretty damn funny. Then Toby says: "Hey, if you're seventy-two years old out doing 200 concerts a year, you have the right to smoke anything you want to." I've always been surprised that a pretty lefty hippie like Willie Nelson has been able to get over with a pretty traditionally right wing crowd that, albeit stereotypically, prefers country music. LOL thinking of Willie on Lake Street, under the L tracks, buying some weed. I think part of Willie's appeal is he is kind of an outcast. That sells in country a lot of times. Willie has also been the master of being other artists little buddy. He has hitched his wagon to more thoroughbreds than anyone else I can think of.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 01:06 PM) Are they all being raised Sox fans and Beatles fans as well

All valid concerns and ones I think we can contain. The school funding issue is so true. The slight of hand is wrong. There wasn't a net gain or corresponding decrease in tax rate to accommodate the lottery. I also agree that increase costs hamper businesses, especially small business. Health costs are a big expense for small business, which is why I think we need to improve the system. At least in Texas, when we first moved here, you needed to show evidence of being on some sort of assistance (Lone Star Card). There is so much poverty here that well over 85% of the families qualified for free or reduced cost lunches. Which is why the school board decided it would be cheaper to just give everyone a free lunch. Is was costing almost the same to collect and account for the money as they were taking in. Currently yours and my health care is being determined by an insurance company which is trying to maximize profits for their share holders. The insurance company employs medical professionals to look over the Doctor's shoulder and make certain he isn't spending too much on your care. They are sitting states away and deciding on your treatment. This system is flawed as well. For the sake of debate, let's say there will be waste and inefficiencies beyond what the private sector would have. Do you think it would be more than the profits the insurance company is making and which would be better for your care? Over treatments and possibly needless tests or under treatment and refused treatments? I agree this is a daunting task, unrivaled in history. I also think Americans can make it work. We need to find a way to cover the working poor. Those people working 40 hours a week at $6, $7, $8 per hour who cannot afford private insurance. And sorry for the capital punishment reference. I always find it interesting the varying levels of trust people have for our government. I don't trust them to execute citizens, but would trust them to oversee a single payer health care program.

I know we have a few dads around here.

War is hell. I cannot imagine the stress these guys are under. I wonder if these incidents have increased or decreased since we went with an all-volunteer military?

Do you think a Barry Bonds uniform will go for $1,000,000 in 75 years? me neither. Imagine deciding that you would pay $1,000,000.01 for a Babe Ruth uniform in which the authenticity is in question. :headshake

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 10:27 AM) Then again, so am I. yes you are.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 10:48 AM) It happens all of the time and we say nothing. Women in places like Iran/Iraq/Afganstan get raped, beaten, stoned, etc for reasons such as looking at another man, not wearing a veil, or having the audacity to get raped. Good point. I was trying to point out that every religion gets perverted by mankind.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 01:50 AM) Toby Keith was a whole lot of fun. He put on a very good live show. Singing along with all the songs is quite a great experience. About the only thing I dislike about Toby Keith is he is on the wrong side of the Red River Rivalry. Instead of singing I should have been a cowboy, he should be singing I should have been a Texan I imagine "I love this bar" must have been huge.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 10:18 AM) I was about to email Kap with our weather forecast. Sunny and 77 degrees, just for revenge about ya'lls winters. still a little cool for my taste. Something in the mid 80s would make me envious.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 10:15 AM) Government run programs by their very nature inspire waste and ineffeincy. There is ZERO incentive to keep costs down, and service up, like there is in the private sector. As an economist, I would argue that the downfall of US medicine is already having too much government influence and a lack of competetion created out of excess lawsuits. Plus when you factor in the subsidies paid in the form of insurance and government aid, you have all of the artificial price increases, plus a monopolistic pricing structure. All of these things would only get worse with the government being the only choice. I disagree that waste and inefficiencies are unique or even more so in government programs. Listen to posters here rant about their employers. Look at the front page of executives going to jail and paying record fines. Look at the lawsuits against HMOs, private insurance companies, etc. Be one of the millions of Americans that cannot get health insurance, and see how great the current how much profit can we make based system is. The incentive to keep costs down is their budget is voted on every year. Unless we build a system that requires citizen A to only go to Doctor A, I don't see how the government would be the only choice. It would be the only choice in guaranteed payments to the Doctors. I would also envision people being able to spend their own money and visiting private Doctors as well. Insurance companies have profit as one of their primary responsibilities, tell me how that helps patients get the best care? If we cannot trust the government to cure a cold, should we trust them to execute citizens or what types of health care should be available and to whom?

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 09:16 AM) I think hell just got a little bit colder. I agree with that statement comlpetely. LOL

Anyone want to believe that Bill's career was the reason they wound up in New York?

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 09:26 AM) Sure, let me know - but it would have to be Monday night as I have class Tuesday night. You got class every night

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 09:14 AM) Sure, we could probably run it 'better', but it would still probably suck. Maybe the same way the liberals can keep saying they support the troops then turn around anc call the Commander in Chief a Nazi or a liar. Can you think of a well run government program? I'm sure there are, but they are probably pretty small. Social Security is a f***ing joke, with the mismanagement, waste and fraud that goes on there. Medicade is screwed up, with doctors taking advantage of poor management and double billing, ghost billing, etc. Every year, a report comes out from the GAO that there is money out there that the government just can't account for. Can the government do somethign right? I sure hope so. But I don't want to find out with health care. If KipWellsFan or another foreign based poster made the above statement, we would run his ass off the board. Fraud in government programs are almost always the result of recipients, not the employees that work there. Compare it to Tyco, Enron, and others, our government seems a whole lot more honest than the private sector. There isn't an organization, public or private, on this planet anywhere near the size of the federal government that can account for 100% of their expenditures. And it probably isn't worth the time to try. Is it worth an hour of your time to find a missing $2.00 receipt for your business? Worth hiring an employee at $10 per hour to spend 40 hours tracking a $200 per week expense? That would be waste. The fact that we have caught dishonest Doctors shows that the system is working. Those same Doctors also try and deceive the private insurance companies as well. People rob banks, are the banks mismanaged? Showing they are victims of crimes does not make them poorly managed. Social Security is in trouble because we have bought into a belief that we can somehow have things without paying for them. If we cut taxes enough, we will then collect more money to pay for this stuff. Waste is such a small drop compared to offering more in benefits than what has been paid in. Eradicating Polio was a government program. The TVA was a government program. Our environment is much cleaner because of government programs. We are slowly becoming more fuel efficient, again government programs. Our military is pretty damn good. Our USPS is amazing. $0.37 for a letter from Los Fresnos Texas to Moosejaw, Maine and you know it will get there in under a week. But hey, I love my country and think Americans can do anything. I guess that's the problem with being a liberal. I'm too enthusiastic about Americans.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/s...ll/11881816.htm More at link.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jun 19, 2005 -> 09:01 AM) Ours is about the same, Tex. I'm going to be up starting next Sunday for a few days. Any chance of catching a Ranger's game? They are playing the Angels. I have to check my schedule and see if I can get away either Monday or Tuesday night. I fly back on Wednesday evening.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jun 18, 2005 -> 10:20 PM) I would make the argument that the 50's had less talent. Someone like Randy brown would have been a starter back then. The celtics probably had 3 or 4 of the top 15 players in the league. Russel and cousy were probably 2 of the top 10. How does that effect the rankings of coaches? For the sake of debate, let's say that the top 120 players are better today, you still have more parity in ability during Red's time from top to bottom.

SunTimes link. More at link. I guess he'll have a new career soon.

MTV-style prank nets charges for ‘Jackass’ imitators http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=...id=482260&rfi=6 I don't think we have to worry about these guys reproducing anytime soon.