Texsox

I guess we're limiting this to players. I remember Kenny Williams holding a little press conference circa 2002 and most were hoping he was announcing his resignation. Instead he announced he just saved a bunch of money on his car insurance or some such nonsense. And I guess Jerry Manual is just too easy after he won Manager of the Year.

My son has been riding a Trek for a couple years now and really loves it. It was one of their more entry level models, I believe he paid somewhere just over $1,000 a couple years ago. I'm wishing I had a road bike, I have a Cannondale mountain bike I love, but it is rather limited to where it fits best down here.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 30, 2010 -> 09:06 AM) Don't worry Tex, in a few months, the only history version you'll be allowed to print is the one approved by the Republican Party of Texas. Not exactly, but you are close. They prescribe the minimum that will be covered. And it is embarrassing how political ideology drove the committee.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 30, 2010 -> 09:17 AM) Like the Assault weapons ban? Yeah, that worked out great for everyone. Anyway, ignoring the politics of the matter for a moment, strategically, I actually feel this is one issue that is best controlled locally, because it strikes me that Chicago ought to have different gun laws than western Wyoming, for example. I usually favor as local control as practical.

If the media is somewhere near down the middle centralist, they will appear conservative to liberals and liberal to conservatives. Hmm . . .

So no one has figured out how your insurance company's requirement to produce a profit results in better health care for you? I wasn't able to figure that out either. Currently insurance companies control what your Doctor, hospital, etc are being paid. Do you believe if your insurance negotiates lower reimbursment rates (increasing their profits) it will cause you to receive better or worse care? If Humana (to pick on one) pays a Doctor $25 per office visit, do you think he's thinking, hey if I offer superior services they will increase what I am getting paid? Or is he thinking, I'm only getting $25 for this patient, but $32 for that one, if I spend less time with the $25 patient I can increase my profitability? After all, profits drive innovation and better care.

For overall crime rates, my hypothosis would be less guns equals less gun crimes. So I'm not certain that the ban would have no affect on gun crimes.

While I'm not certain we want to go down the atomic bomb path I will say that the ban on nuclear weapons keeps most countries from helping their allies develop and produce those weapons. Without a ban, you know the Soviets for example would have been further tempted to help out an ally. The UN, as little as the do, at least can offer a legit, recognized, forum to ban countries together against those developmental issues.

I love how we go from Asian Carp to school reform At least in the 8th grade Texas' TAKS test for History there is an emphasis on analysing information and drawing conclusions. The students are looking at maps, political cartoon, cause and effect and being asked for information. While not perfect, it is not as bad as it is widely perceived to be. The scope and sequence we follow is closly tied to the test, anything else would be unfair. Teaching X and testing for Y doesn't make sense. So "teaching to the test" makes for a better slogan than real criticism. We all had college profs that lectured on one thing and tested another, and we intuitivly knew that was unfair. What you loose by having this standard end of year testing is variation from classroom to classroom. Every 8th grade History teacher in Texas covers pretty much the same material. While I would like to spend more time on the roll of Spanish explorers and Mexican influences (which is a big part of our local heritage) I really can't. There just isn't enough time. Sadly for students around the state and around the country, they will learn that America was started in 1607 at Jamestown or 1620 at Plymouth Rock. We have a sort of civil religion about our country's creation. Each November we retell this creation myth about Indians and our Pilgrams Fathers, leaving out the stealing, infliction of disease, etc. So as a final thought, do you want the thousands of 8th grade US History teachers each teaching a slightly different version, or radically different version, or one cohesive, approved by the state, version? Do you want kids to pass Texsox's US History or Texas' US History?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 09:51 PM) It is an experience you will never forget. I got to ride out Alicia when I was 10. Wow was that somethingelse. Well I am sitting at home, 80 miles or so inland. I am reminded the story of the chicken and the pig at a bacon and eggs breakfast. The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. Hanging around as a tourist while friends boarded up their businesses and homes seemed wrong. Plus there was a bunch of stuff we could do back here. Hopefully Alex will keep hooking west and make landfall about 120 miles south of the island.

While not a fan of handgun bans, I believe the logic to how this helps law enforcement and perhaps lowers the crime rate is anytime they catch someone with a handgun, they have caught a criminal and have the opportunity to punish them however the law allows. Additionally, if they use a handgun while committing a crime, there can be additional penalties. I decided that while my kids were growing up the dangers of having a handgun ready for protection were worse than the potential for someone breaking into my home and threatening bodily harm. People who live in different areas or think having the gun in less of a ready state are free to differ.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jun 28, 2010 -> 10:44 PM) Think of it as taking one for the team. If you gat a direct hit it means the storm will pass well south and west of Deep Horizon ground zero. Stay safe. It seems too greedy to catch a hurricane so soon after catching Dolly. I'm thinking I'll let deep south Mexico catch this one. But we are grateful it isn't churning up towards LA the panhandle.

Thanks SS. The past two days have been wonderful. Currently it is sunny and cool. Best weather since I hit the island. Thank God for weather forcasting. We took down camp yesterday and finished up some small stuff this morning. We're packing up our personal stuff and thinking about when we are going to leave. One possibility has us riding the storm out with friends here on the island. While I would really like to experience what a hurricane feels like first hand, it seems pretty dumb to stay.

Once again, I'm in the cone of a hurricane. At least this one has a better name than Dolly . . . Wish me luck. We spent t6he day taking down the camp, now we surf and wait . . .

Kap, you never answered, how is your insurance company helping improve your care by them trying to make a profit? It seems those two aims are opposing each other. And isn't most research either done at Universities or private (drug) companies? I know there are teaching hospitals, but are there many research hospitals?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 04:44 PM) There's our first possible storm forming that could head towards the gulf. I am reading some reports here that there would be some benefits with a major storm. Mostly breaking up the mass and allowing more oxygen in. Of course there are a whole list of negatives.

Since I spend two months at the beach, board shorts, t-shirts, flip flops or Teva Dozers. I will toss on a nicer pair of shirts and shirt for dinner.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 04:22 PM) Ok, but hospitals try to maximize their own profit by spending money to update facilities and employ the best doctors right? So, the more a hospital makes, the more it re-invests into specialty practices (and overall, better doctors) to attract the most customers. True, to the point that insurance allows it. So the areas where the insurance companies offer the best benefits get improved at the expense of the others. In other words, we have this new whiz-bang machine, the insurance company pays $XY dollars per treatment, let's use it. That may or may not lead to better treatment for you. Also, and all other things being equal (malpractice especially) they prefer the Doctors with the most active practice regardless of "quality". The doc keeping the operating room booked with lap band surgeries is better for them than a highly skilled, but lower volume doc.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 03:48 PM) more money --> better facilities and programs --> easier to attract better doctors and more specialists --> you recieve better and more sophisticated health care. Except insurance companies do not want to pump more money into facilities and doctors, they want lower and lower costs, fewer and fewer treatments. That is where their profit comes from.

Hands Across the Sand tomorrow at noon (local time everywhere). I'll be at beach access 18 on South Padre Island. http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 02:54 PM) Stop working for a paycheck... you shouldn't have any "profit motive". No house, no car, no food, no anything. It should be all given to us. How does a hospital and insurance company trying to make a profit improve your health care?

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 01:42 PM) From the FanGraphs comment section:

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 11:15 AM) I'm pretty sure anyone trying to balance a county or municipal budget in Indiana would gladly give him to you. Hey, while that may be true, neither Kap nor I like ours. How the hell can you be disliked by Kap and I?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 24, 2010 -> 12:28 PM) A little anecdotal addition to this disussion.. A few doors down from us, back in 2008, someone bought a single city lot (in a slot between Bucktown and Lincoln Park), with an existing but dilapidated 2-flat, for $580k. He took out a total loan of $1.1M for the property and cost to build. Asked for a zoning variance to go 3 units, was denied due to neighborhood resistance, and decided to build a single family home. Needless to say, things didn't go well - I don't see what single family home you can build on a single lot in our neighborhood that would net you above $1.1M. The building went up, framed, but the guy lost the building in foreclosure before anything other than the frame could be finished. So there was this partially built structure just sitting there for 2 years. Bank just sold the property for... wait for it... $180,000. It listed at that price from the bank, and was under contract within a week (hell, the land is worth twice that, even with the big price drops). Someone, long run, got a steal there. Hopefully we won't have a derelict building there for long. There was a similar story down here, but the kicker was the group that bought the lot and partially finished building was controlled by the guy who originally had it.

Over the last twenty years a growing segment of the population doesn't care what happens to America as long as their side "wins". So we have Liberals wanting Bush to screw up and Republicans wanting Obama to screw up. That same segment will defend anything "their" party does and turn around and attack the other party for doing the exact same thing. The Tea Party folks are perhaps the most visiable of that group, but there are a lot more, and again, on both sides. There has never been a better time to be a politician. When they screw up, and they do, their mistakes can be blamed on the media, judges, the other party, you name, anyone and anything other than themselves. One way to turn the tide is to have people demand that their party be fixed. Sadly, I do not see that happening anytime soon. The other is for people to be greedy and cheerfully accept gains the other party makes. But I don't see that happening. Too many GOP fanboys want, for example, health care to be an epic fail, much like Dem fanboys wanted Bush's war to fail. Running our country has now become much like sports and soft drinks. It would be funny if it wasn't so damn tragic.