Texsox

Heading east this year. Monticello for the July 4th Naturalization service then up to Maine, across Canada (probably) and down to Chicago.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Apr 17, 2017 -> 02:02 PM) Going to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons this summer (staying in Driggs, Idaho). Anyone have any recommendations for specific tour companies to either park? And just general recommendations to do around the Jackson, Wyoming area? We've been there three times. Get out and walk. Once you hike a 1/4 mile from the road you lose 90% of the crowd. We really enjoyed the Mammoth Hot Spring area.

This is actually a good reason to lower the drinking age to 18 (19?). Get the drinking more out in the open where you can drive a kid to the hospital without the threat of punishment for underaged drinking. These things also happen away from fraternities, but if this was a local bar, image the response.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 21, 2017 -> 02:58 PM) Any Notre Dame grads? I wondered what you thought of 100 students getting up and leaving the graduation ceremony to both boos and cheers when Pence was introduced as speaker. Do you think it's proper to cause a disruption on such a big day for many? My guess is the over-riding memory of graduation for those folks who graduated today (I applaud you all, Golden Domers! ND is a difficult school; Happy Graduation to You!) will be the protest rather than the happy occasion. Yes it is our right that we embrace to be allowed to protest. But is it proper? Those who protested could have simply not attended their own graduation and let the others have their day. I don't have too much of a stance except to say I think protesting outside of the stadium would have been better. Or protesting right after the Pence invitation to speak was announced to try to get it stopped. I'm not crazy about the protestors stealing the show and ruining the day for others proudly wearing the cap and gown. Basically the best time to exercise your rights to assemble and speech is when you have the biggest crowd. Which will have the greatest impact. Of course a quiet protest in the privacy of your own home would be nice for those that disagree with the protest.

What I like about cutting the link between employer and insurance is it allows small business to compete in the job marketplace more effectively. Small businesses are much less likely to outsource jobs to other nations. I believe long term it will really benefit our economy thus making America great again™* *Used without permission

I think it will be interesting the shift when the GOP's Trumpcare is the law of the land. We'll see how magically it will work better for Republicans and worse for Democrats, just like the Affordable Care Act only caused problems for Republican voters.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 4, 2017 -> 08:13 AM) Greg, saying "why haven't the Boy Scouts been mocked as much as the Catholic Church for pedophile behavior" is a piss poor argument. Seriously one of the worst you have ever had As a long time Boy Scout leader getting mocked was preferable to the usual looks.

The selling of sports in America.

Billy Botch would like his 15 seconds of fame as the player to have his worse years with the Sox.

QUOTE (Donaldo @ May 2, 2017 -> 06:41 PM) Starting pitchers only play once every five days. No matter how good Chris Sale was/is, he has ZERO impact on 80% of his team's games. Making that trade was the right thing to do. Hmm. Addressing your conclusion about starting pitchers and their importance. I think you are missing something. You could say that about every starting pitcher on the roster only being involved in 20% of the games. Which leads to a logical conclusion that starting pitching has minimal impact, which we all know is false. Starting pitching is important. And while each starting pitcher is only involved in 20% of the games, having guaranteed bad starts every 5 days is bad. Having great starts every five days is better. Now line up five quality pitchers and you have quality starts every day. Line up five horrible pitchers and you have horrible starts every day. Now, having said that, ask me when this team is 5 games under .500 in July about the trade. I agree that making the trade was the right thing to do.

The two biggest protections we have from a tyrannical government are our courts and a free press. The government writes a law that is against our constitution, it is up to the judicial branch to stop them. (Some use the pejorative term activist judge to describe that protection) Democracy is also protected by a free press that can expose the wrongdoings of the government. Some call reporting those wrongdoings "Fake News". But some people would rather toss those out believing their personal guns are all they need.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 21, 2017 -> 02:35 PM) Going to go finalize the purchase of our car tonight. 2017 Kia Optima Plug-In Hybrid, with the Tech Package. It will be very interesting to see how we do with the electric and mileage. In theory, this car gets 29 miles of electric-only, then goes to hybrid mode. My wife's round trip commute is about 28 miles, but they also have chargers at her parking lot. It should function like an electric car almost all the time for us, with her commute and some errands/kid stuff here and there. Might go months without getting gas. I'll report back here in a few months to let y'all know how it goes. These cars, by the way, are hard to obtain. When we went to purchase, there were only three Optima PHEV's in the entire Chicago area in stock, and only one was at our trim level (but not a color we wanted). They had to ship one from Ohio. Dealers say they get them in, but they can't keep them as they immediately fly off the lot. The plug-ins are about 4k more than the regular, but the tax rebate is almost 5k, so for the life of me I don't know why anyone would buy the regular hybrids. Congrats.

My official stance is Trump's term so far has been a moderate success.

My players won her playoff the following day. She crushed a drive and made a great putt after her opponent made a Seve worthy 100 yeard bump and run to within 20 feet. My top male player also advanced to the regional competition. Next week I'll be out all week coaching. We have a couple of the top teams in the country in our region. It will be very difficult for with of my players to advance to the state meet, but it is possible,

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 12, 2017 -> 02:32 PM) IMO people are more outraged at things that seem relevant to their lives, or something that could happen to them. People have had bad experiences flying, especially with united, and so they are paying attention. Because people are clicking, more stories are being written. Another factor is this was avoidable. There was a clearly better choice, continuing to offer more and more compensation until someone accepted. When we see a problem that has a solution we become more frustrated and outraged when it isn't followed. Then when the problem seems to be corporate greed and valuing money and employees over paying customers it becomes compounded. School shootings and other evil without clear answers? There isn't a direct and clear channel to vent.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 02:25 PM) Just a very stupid group of people made worse by their stance of never, ever backing down when they are shown to have made a mistake. x2 The repeated denials in the face of hard evidence is just mind boggling. And it seems a sizable portion of the population believes it. I feel like we're in a great Monty Python skit.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 12:46 PM) At least Marchman can throw just as much shade on the Cubs, too. http://deadspin.com/cubs-celebrate-first-c...dium=socialflow Awesome, thanks for posting.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 11, 2017 -> 02:03 PM) No, it was in a parking lot. Most would say, hmmm, what's that and either throw them away or laugh and kick them harder. Think about it. Who would say, "I bet these keys belong to somebody in this hotel." I believe most people would turn them in. But I live in an area known for hospitality and being neighborly.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 8, 2017 -> 09:40 AM) Conversation Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump The President must get Congressional approval before attacking Syria-big mistake if he does not! 6:02 PM · Aug 30, 2013 Just about everything he has criticized Obama about, he has been guilty of in less than 100 days. Trump is a joke. What would Trump be tweeting at 3 AM if Hillary dropped some missiles on an airbase and forgot to hit the runways? I'm going to make a small statement in defense of the President. Speaking generally and not to any one specific situation. I really hope that the decision making from the Oval Office is much different than from anywhere else. There should be more information that the average citizen does not have access to. So I applaud his willingness to reverse his previous positions based on the new information. We should view this as a positive, not a negative. (And you conservatives bookmark this for future needs)

Our girl's district tournament was yesterday and today. I'm sitting in the clubhouse and my #1 was in 1st place, but probably going to drop to 2nd. She would qualify to advance to the regional tournament no problem. We're sitting these hoping a friend at another school would have a chance to get in a playoff to advance as well. Everything is looking fine when out of nowhere a Freshman shoots a personal best and boom, we're in a playoff for 2nd and 3rd place. Like a scene out of Caddyshack a storm is blowing in. We eventually head to the #1 tee to start a sudden victory playoff. Our opponent blasts a nice hybrid down the middle that ends up on the right side of the fairway. My layer pushes one into some tall grass and trees that line the hole. One of the things I really like about golf is everyone rushes over to look for the ball. Just as we were about to give up a member of the opposing team finds the ball. What sportsmanship. Without a clear shot we had to pitch out to the fairway. The opponent hits to the right side of the green with a tricky 25' putt coming up. My player hits a wedge to about 12 feet. The opponent lags one to about 2 feet. We miss and tap in for the 5 and wait. The girl slides it by on the high side, tied. Horn blast, lightning, rush to the clubhouse. To be continued tomorrow at a different course. LOL Boys start at 7:30 tomorrow for their two day event.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 10, 2017 -> 07:48 AM) Good for Sergio. So who is the new best player to never win a major? Westwood has the most starts without one, it seems like Fowler is way overdue too. Rickie in my book, especially after the Player's win.

Are we using this as a golf "catch all"? If so, while I always enjoy Master's Week, next week is our district tournaments. I have the favorite on the girl's side and a top four on the boy's side. Both should advance to our regional tournament. It's interesting plotting strategy with them the past couple weeks. One we are building a plan so she doesn't beat herself, the other we are looking for high percentage gambles to find a couple more birdies. He's going to need to shoot right around even par for the two days to win. 155 or so should allow him to advance. Coaching is far more stressful than playing.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 6, 2017 -> 09:16 PM) We spent probably over $100m to cause some mild damage to run ways that'll be fixed quickly. https://t.co/eAaAd8izda The military-industrial complex needs to be repaid. Let's burn some inventory and restock.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Apr 4, 2017 -> 08:57 PM) Tesla just overtook Ford and GM for the most valuable car company in the US. Didn't even notice their stock is up over $300 a share now. Told my dad to buy 4 years ago or so when it was around $110. They will go down has having the best business plan, especially in regard to marketing, than any company in the 21st century.

Syria, North Korea, etc are complex problems with really no perfect solution. We choose between the bad. It may be comforting to the masses hen a president makes it seem like he has the "one" solution, but it just does not reflect reality. Whatever Trump does will succeed and fail on certain levels. I hope if he is reelected he blames his previous administration for any problems. That would be so awesome.