Texsox

We know it really didn't start until Mike and I arrived . . .

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 13, 2013 -> 03:26 PM) 9/11 is pre-Soxtalk. The fact that we've been kicking around 10 years is pretty crazy.

That caused me to stop. 9/11 is that distant and Twitter is that new. Wow.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 12, 2013 -> 02:05 PM) "Whose" starting these threads? A teacher? Just for you here's the alternate title. Hoosier Favorite Comedian?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Sep 12, 2013 -> 02:36 PM) Why aren't you in jail then! And all your contemporaries! Hell, I got whooped too. Not often, but often enough you never wanted it again. Somehow I managed to avoid jail for most of my life. it was just back then, if some adult said you were breaking windows or something, your parents believed THEM, and you got in trouble. Now, you can get caught on video and parents will insist that their kid is an angel and that it never happened. Hardly happens today. Parents "stick up for their kids", etc. There is probably a balance somewhere between the extremes.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Sep 12, 2013 -> 01:47 PM) Sounded like what he is saying is that they are excused way too much when younger that it leads to overkill when older. Exactly, and by "they" I mean everyone, not just blacks.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 12, 2013 -> 01:45 PM) Are you of the opinion that punishment for crime in the African American community is not harsh enough? No, in fact I've seen statistics to the effect that it is harsher than other ethnic groups for the same crime. I believe as a society we are too lax in the formative years (for everyone) and only when things have progressed too far do we begin to enforce any consequences. If we applied correction sooner, it could be lesser.

http://www.imdb.com/list/xqtUYuXCxaM/ Agree? Disagree?

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Sep 12, 2013 -> 11:16 AM) At some point you're going to have to hold someone personally responsible for their actions, not blaming lead content. That is an excellent point. While, Balta does bring up a nice counter, that people are held responsible, I think we would have broad agreement that the point where the individuals are held accountable today is too far down the path. Kids are allowed to slide on stuff, beginning at home, then in school, then in society, before we say enough is enough. Let's forgive this kid for hitting his brother because he's been sucking the lead paint off his crib. It's not his fault.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 11, 2013 -> 04:00 PM) I get that, but if the composition of the group is 50% of one kind, you would think that 50% of all crimes across the board would be committed by that group, across all levels. Yes. But that is a different stat. And if you think about it the stat would be which group gets caught, arrested, prosecuted, or convicted more. We could never truthfully have a stat of who commits the most crimes. Even this stat has flaws. If, for example, one group does not believe anything will happen if they report a crime committed by another group, they may choose not to report that crime. Even worse, if they believe there would be retribution for reporting the crime, they may be intimidated into not reporting. Finally, I'm not certain what conclusion we should draw. I believe it really comes down to nature versus nurture. Does this one group commit more crimes because of environmental factors, poverty, lead poisoning, boredom, etc. or is it just in their nature to commit crimes? I believe we could all agree there are circumstances we would commit a crime. Generally revolving around our children or spouse.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 6, 2013 -> 01:20 PM) Not much of a case there. He assumed the risk of operating that thing. And he was an expert on remote controlled helicopters. Haven't there been cases where later it was determined that there were fundemental safety issues with the product, that the manfuacturer knew aboutn those issues, and ignored them, or hid them from the public? For example, and being hypothtical here, let's say there was a programming flaw where if you try X while depressing Y, in a northwind between 10 and 15 mph, the helicopter will fly due north instead of the expected line. Perhaps the manufacturer caught that, but since the chances of someone doing that were so remote they ignored it. The only way to know that is to sue and request documentation. Cival attorneys, keeping the world safe!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 11, 2013 -> 02:56 PM) IIRC, there are WAY more whites in poverty than blacks in terms of total numbers. Which is something us liberals like to point out when discussing social programs and rejecting the myth that the majority of that money goes to inner city minorities. The biggest group are single white mothers living outside of the major cities.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 11, 2013 -> 02:57 PM) Also worth pointing out that teh states with the highest poverty rates aren't the highest crime states in the union. That is a strong point. Poverty isn't the only predictor of criminal activity. Could that be explained by "you need somebody to rob"? For there to be prostiution, you need people with disposable income, same with illegal gambling, theft, etc.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 11, 2013 -> 01:53 PM) I would think statistically, if a group makes up a certain percentage, they would commit that percentage of crimes across the board. IE, if whites are 78% of the population, they should be responsible for 78% of crimes versus whites, 78% of crimes versus blacks, etc. If I understand Balta's point, the stat he mentioned doesn't mention percentage of the overall crimes. It starts with 100% of all crimes committed where a black person is the victim, and of that 100%, 10% are committed by whites. Then taking 100% of the crimes where a white person is the victims, 13% of those are committed by blacks.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 11, 2013 -> 02:06 PM) 2005 World Series final out. On the phone with Kapkomet.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 11, 2013 -> 01:11 PM) Miracle on Ice Working at Foot Locker in Lakehurst Mall, Waukegan with Don and Mike Sklu, both former pro hockey players.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 11, 2013 -> 12:58 PM) That changes the scope, a lot. Even though whites are about 78% of the population, they only commit 10% (according to your stats) against blacks. Blacks commit 13% of crimes against whites, while only 13% of the population. I am trying to follow you because I think you are making a good point, but I think the flaw is while you are adjusting for the number of criminals, don't you have to also adjust for the number of victims? Let's toss some numbers at it and see what it says. Suggesting there are 100 people in the US, of the 78 white people, 7.8 will commit crimes against 13 black people. Of the 13 blacks, 1.5 will commit crimes against 78 white people. And this stat really doesn't tell us who commits more crimes, just which is group is more willing to cross racial lines to commit those crimes.

The angle I used in discussing this with them is just like the Kennedy assassination changed the world I was raised in, an event I had no first hand experience with, 9/11 has shaped the world they are growing up in, and they have no first hand memories. We spent some time discussing pre and post 9/11 worlds. It is easy to mark events like Pearl Harbor, JFK, and 9/11 and the whole everyone remembers where they were. But I couldn't come up with a similar list of "happy events". The moon landing and ??

My students today were the same age when the Towers fell as I was when JFK was assassinated, two. Interesting thoughts they have.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 10, 2013 -> 10:01 AM) I got the opposite read because of his personality. He will literally do anything to win. Stomp on a guys head as he rounds third base, knock a guy down in the baseline, etc. How thick is the line between something like that and steroids? I will preface that by saying I have no evidence or anything one way or the other, but more his personality is as competitive as anyone in the history of baseball. That is what I am going off of. I don't know the guy at all, and don't pretend to. I had not thought of AJ that way, but you make a nice argument. We could also add a "guilt by association" argument. However, I would be surprised if he did.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 9, 2013 -> 01:19 PM) Bad things only happened between 2001 and 2009. Somewhere between that statement and nothing happened is the truth.

So did the world stop when Bush left office and started over? Or perhaps the world continued on, just like it will continue after Obama leaves office.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 6, 2013 -> 03:21 PM) Just read an article about the Samsung smartwatch. Am I the only one who thinks this is the dumbest f***ing idea ever? Other than a select few hipsters, who is buying this thing? Who needs ANOTHER smart device on their person? I don't get it at all. When it replaces my phone, it will be a huge hit. Why have a huge phone in your pocket when you can have a sleek watch on your wrist? It needs to be paired with some form of screen and in-ear wireless bud. I'll take it a step further, I'm hoping to be alive when you insert a small device in your ear, slip on glasses, and that's all you need.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Sep 8, 2013 -> 02:09 PM) Tex, when i get off this netbook, I will find you at least 2 links where urrent admin offials and Dem politicians have said that events in Syria are a result of Bush era policies and his fault. And of course they are wrong because everything was completed and the world restarts when a new US President is elected. The GOP position is once a new President is elected, everything starts new. That just doesn't reflect reality. World issues, especially in that region, go back years, decades, even centuries. Solutions have to take in the history. Suggesting that we not learn from history, not look past the start of a current presidency, is dangerous. It doesn't matter who the President is. Just like the next president will be tasked with carrying on what every President since Washington has started. The only guy who didn't have to worry about that was Washington and he talked about what had happened under the Articles of Confederation.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Sep 7, 2013 -> 01:27 PM) Those are the first sane, sensible things I have ever heard come from him mouth. I am just surprised that he didn't find a way to make it Bush's fault. But give him time...... Still trying to keep Bush's name in the news? I like the technique of complaining about something that isn't happening in hopes that people will think it is. Nicely played sir or shall we say Mission Accomplished!