Texsox

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 03:53 PM) They don't die just because a gun is present. A human action is required. Guns are inanimate objects and do not just go off and hunt people down. Exactly. Of course you could also say that about land mines, bombs, etc. In balance guns were developed and improved to kill things not put holes in paper targets. They were used for survival. You eat better with a gun than a stone tipped spear. The fact that they are versatile and can do other things does not obscure the fact that they are the most efficient killing "inanimate object" that Americans can legally own and use. They kill and they kill really good. Someone mentioned that there are laws on the books to prevent that from happening. Laws do not prevent anything. They never have and never will. If we judge a law by how many people break it, and decide if people break the law it is bad and we don;t need it, we would eliminate every law. We have laws against murder, murder happens. We have laws against robbery, robberies happen. All laws do is establish a punishment for those that break the law.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 07:50 AM) Yeah, because multiple people having a shootout in a dark theater would've been much better. What did you want the police to do? Ask him politely to surrender? Give me your recipe for make believe. Over the past fifty years we have become conditioned to fear criminals. To believe that only the police can protect us. We've allowed criminals to walk around without fear while the good people of the world lock themselves behind three locks in their own homes. We're enabling criminals while losing our liberty.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 07:55 AM) Carrying out of anger seems pretty terrible. You aren't angry that a 59 year old guy decided to kill a bunch of people? You aren't angry that some people would rather take other people's stuff than actually get a job and buy it? You aren't angry that parents feel like they can't allow their kids to play unsupervised in their neighborhoods? It's time for the good people to stand up to the criminals instead of hiding in the dark hoping to be saved.

I was just thinking most of the people I know who carry, men and women, don't do it out of fear, but out of anger. They don't want to be cowering under a theater seat praying someone comes and solves their problem. They want to stop the SOB who is terrorizing their community and terrorizing the good people. They want to stand up to the evil instead of hiding in the dark waiting for help to arrive and hoping it is in time. I'm certain there are some who are afraid of criminals and carry out of fear, just as there are people who are afraid of guns and the people who carry them. Perhaps we need better education to bridge some gaps there.

I'll be chiming in on this in a week or two when the first grandbaby is born. My kids are boring now. All they want to do is take me to bars and shows. And those changing boys, you need a supply of these http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywo...sl_8q3ubslohl_b

QUOTE (Brian @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 07:06 AM) I do it all the time and feel comfortable doing so. I chose not to live in fear. I have other problems to worry about. I'm not certain how carrying and living in fear are linked. To me it's like saying I don't wear a seat belt when driving because I chose not to live in fear. I don't lock my doors at night because I chose not to live in fear. It's just a simple safety device like wearing a helmet when skateboarding. I carry because I don't fear a gun. The fear thing is just a silly connection to make in my mind, but I think I get what you are saying. Some security steps may seem severe. A home security system is excessive to some, they might see that as living in fear. Locking doors. Keeping ladders locked up. Car alarms, etc. So maybe we are all living in fear.

And just from memory the "f*** you all I'm leaving!!! posts are never the last

Steff

YASNY

I happened to be looking at a members profile and I noticed it tracks the last post. That got me to thinking we usually don't know when that last post will be. I looked up to popular posters with over 25,000 posts and here is how they left.

I don't know how anyone can go to the movies, or really anywhere in public, without a handgun for protection.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 23, 2015 -> 10:37 PM) Wow. I always knew it was the fear of kidnappers. Nice post. But that also really oversimplifies the situation. Our perception of what a great parent is gets shaped all the time by our society. ChiSox isn't going to the park with his daughter as a bodyguard, but as a dad who wants to spend time with his daughter. As the Donna Reed, Laura Petri, Carol Brady moms began working as the norm there were images of the woman who could earn the bacon, fry it up, and make her man remember he was a man all the while being the same involved in the PTA, packing their lunch, watching games, mom. That also extended to the dads. But we have been growing up with an image of the world as a hostile place filled with bad people who only look out for themselves.

I was just coming to mention the kidnapping angle. There is a 40 year old child disappearance that is just now being prosecuted and they point to that even as the start of the watch your kids all the time generation.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jul 23, 2015 -> 04:24 PM) I dont have any more time to waste on this argument. Look who you are arguing for! A guy who was traded for a bag of balls and released in the last 12 months! This is my last on this topic and responding to you - however I'm sure you'll respond and try to bait another response - it's what you do. Are you always this angry?

One thing that hasn't been discussed or factored in. It seems that older players elevate or decline based on how the team is doing. Playing s***ty on a s***ty team has me wondering how a change of scenery or a reversal of Sox fortunes would do for him. At some point a player is championship shopping, getting up for the potential of a playoff berth, maybe a championship. When that goes away . . . On the other side, he's not giving it the contract year bounce.

If, and it appears as if it will be here forever, there is a minimum wage law, it needs to be indexed to inflation in some manner. This every few years huge jump does not help anyone. Minimum wage really becomes almost like a union wage scale in some industries. As long as everyone is paying it, to the employer it almost doesn't matter what it is. I'd rather see 2 or 3% raises annually than these jumps. But once we accept that minimum wage laws are here to stay we should be able to work on a better way for them to work.

Finding a balance between smothering the kids and being labeled a helicopter parent and ignoring the kids and never attending is the challenge for some parents.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 23, 2015 -> 07:27 AM) So basically every fast food place in the state is going to close about 10% of its least profitable stores and put a whole bunch of people out of work. Aren't most of the fast food places owned by franchisees? I'm not certain McDonalds can close a franchise operation.

I grew up a few blocks from a lake. We were always "trespassing" on people's docks. Fishing, swimming, goofing off. We were never asked to leave. I can't imagine that today.

Wow, that was six years ago? And the legal battle continues. Another glimpse of why your best legal defense is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 12:06 PM) There's no reason to assume that agriculture would just instantly stop if slave-owning plantation owners suddenly had to actually pay their workers instead of owning them as animals. There's still cotton fields in the south. There are. But you only have to look at a list of the richest people in the world currently. See all those middle eastern princes from OPEC nations? When you have the lowest prices on high demand products you become rich. The south was producing a rare double. The highest quality product at the cheapest prices. American cotton was prized for it's quality and it was really cheap. Once slavery was abolished would consumers around the world want to pay the same or more than what they could buy locally? American farms and factories were the China of the day. Low prices. Soon they would be the same or possibly even higher. QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 12:07 PM) I get the point, but in a sense it's meaningless. We're all supporters of child labor given our continued support of mobile technology (or really any cheaply made goods). But it's not like we're going to change anytime soon despite our collective agreement that child labor is a terrible thing. I think it's difficult to judge non-slave owning people back then since we're all doing the same exact thing now. I wasn't judging. It is meaningless if you believe change can happen without knowing why something is going on. There are interests in allowing humans to be exploited for their labor. The companies that make profits, the consumers who gladly save the money. I don't believe we can get away with exploiting workers until we do realize that buying that $4 made by exploited workers t-shirt over a $7 made with a fair wage t-shirt promotes child labor. We also have to connect the dots for the consumer to the point they see how it benefits them. And that is the hardest thing of all. This connects to racism and the battle between the races here. Some people see the challenge as white Americans giving something up for minorities. This is fueled by politicians who see it as an easy way to encourage voters. A much more difficult sell to the white population is that a rising tide raises all ships.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 11:47 AM) By this logic everyone in the world was a de-facto slave owner because everyone bought southern goods made/sourced by slave labor which then provided the financial resources necessary to continue the practice. I don't believe it was everyone in the world. But looking at the south, if you were a transportation company shipping raw cotton to the mills up north, you were dependent on slaves. If you built the boats that the shipping companies used etc. That was why the end of slavery would destroy the southern economy. It wasn't just slave owning plantation owners that would suffer. The blacksmith that repaired their equipment was doomed. The small farmer who provided produce to the plantation who didn't own slaves needed their biggest customer. This isn't an indictment of them, just a perspective on why change was so difficult. Being the last major country to outlaw slavery was a huge economic benefit to the north and south. The early wealth was also brought about by tobacco. We also found great wealth in the land we took from Mexico. Our success wasn't always pretty, but it is what it is.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 11:08 AM) It's strange that all caucasians can be painted with a broad brush and its ok. I had one guy ask me what it was like having family members who were slave owners in the south. Uh my family was still in Germany dude, but I appreciate the accurate history lesson. So how many Jews did they kill? My wife asked if my grandparents spoke any German at home when I was growing up. I replied that with WW2 it was kind of uncool to speak German. Seriously it should be noted that the economy of the south was dependent on slave labor. Even if you did not personally own slaves you probably provided a product or service to a plantation.

A couple things I've learned teaching in schools with the majority of the schools population being minorities. If you generally disagree with my liberal politics please skip to paragraph three then loop back. In 2015, right now, American is still hugely different based on your appearance. Their parents, their parent's parents, their parent's parent's parents, etc. have all been victims of racism by the ruling classes in American. A few marches and a couple laws does not change that. The only thing that will change that is many years, decades or lifetimes, of not being discriminated against. There isn't a magical switch that can be made and attitudes changed. Some of the stories that are handed down are about racist cops, racist employers, racist landlords, racist banks, etc. And don't kid yourself that isn't still happening. There are a lot of messages out there for minority kids and their parents. You shouldn't feel this way about Y, or you should feel this way about X. It boils down to you should feel like us. We aren't offended by a Confederate battle flag and you shouldn't be either. We feel there are a lot of really good cops and accept a few bad ones will skip by and so should you. Everything would be perfect if you felt and acted just like us. We're happy and you should be too. GOP START HERE --> I believe a lot of the stress is there are two things happening by good people trying to do the right thing. On one end we have the power structure in this country changing. I look at my lifetime. President Obama and I were born two weeks apart. When we were born there were a lot of places we could not have hung out together. Public pools, hotels, restaurants, the same Boy Scout Troop, etc. In my lifetime that has changed and he was elected President, twice. As a "privileged white" that is amazing change in my point of view. And the changes are still on going. As a country we did it while emerging as a stronger nation, unlike other places around the world that had groups battling for change. Those that changed (metaphorically) in powerful ways want some recognition for that change. They want some respect for all that change. That seems fair. America today is far better than the America I was born in. For everyone. From the environment to the workplace. On the other side are the generations raised in a far less equal America. One filled with racism that can't be erased as fast. When you go from a (hypothetical) 30% of equality to 70% of equality, that doesn't mean you can somehow ignore the inequalities that still exist. The gains are still not enough if you believe in "all men are created equal". So how do we celebrate the changes, credit those that have worked for that change, while continuing to remove the inequalities? I don't know. I do know that when we are all outraged at racist cops we have won a small victory. I believe Alpha when he said he hired the person that can make him the most money. So he will hire a gay fat man or a bisexual Hispanic woman (did she tell you or did you ask?) that is a victory. The battle is over when he chooses between Robert or Sonia and he or any person hiring doesn't check off any boxes. We see each other as simply humans. Balta's comments caused me to really think. When I was his age, I felt much of the same way. Now I sit here and think, hey Balta, I've spent 53 years trying to make America better by pushing for an America where everyone can contribute to their maximum capacity. You're acting like it's all crap and we haven't done a damn thing. Then I realize I probably didn't respect too much the contributions that were made in the 1950s and 1960s. All I saw what was left to be done. We've come a long way from sit-ins and forced integration. It's up to the next generation to build on what we accomplished and continue to make America's promise a reality for everyone. Finally, when big issues like this have arrived over the past ten years I think of SS2k5. He and I are at almost opposite ends of the political spectrum. Yet, when he explains his vision for America, it is very similar to mine. We disagree on how to get there, but the goal is the same. Perhaps of we focus on that, we'll arrive at that dream quicker. Now back to a bunch of white people arguing about the plight of minorities in America

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 19, 2015 -> 01:00 PM) Such a straight shooter, tells it like it is and then sticks to his guns. You should be proud. No flip flopping at all. I like The Don. No fake military medals. We know he was born here. We know he isn't a closet Muslim. His Mexican workers love him.