Texsox

QUOTE (juddling @ May 21, 2008 -> 03:38 PM) so nice....you had to say it twice.......LOL It's the only way I can stay on pace for 50,000 lifetime posts.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ May 21, 2008 -> 03:34 PM) The date on the video says May 8, 08 That's what I was trying to figure out. At first I just thought it was one of those internet things that circulates forever. (Did they ever pass that tax on emails?)

QUOTE (juddling @ May 21, 2008 -> 02:22 PM) maybe Ted can hop on down to Cuba with Mikey Moore and get some of that great Cuban healthcare I've been hearing so much about...... Actually this highlights that even with the best health care money and power and gain, some stuff just sneaks up and kicks you in the balls. But clearly he is better off than the average worker in American, and for them, a trip to Cuba would be an improvement.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 21, 2008 -> 01:41 PM) I find it quite interesting that your instinct was to care more about the race and age of an Obama VP choice than to care about the policies they advocate or their leadership skills or anything else. I believe with McCain and Obama, the major issues will be pretty well defined. It's going to be intangibles. If a Dem wins, I will be very wrong on a statement I've made for two decades. I always felt the first minority or woman President would be from the GOP.

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 21, 2008 -> 01:57 PM) She helped get me through puberty. Along with And

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 21, 2008 -> 02:31 PM) Scrubs I should have offered that option, but I felt her role was too small and not frequent enough.

I think the GOP and DEM only threads have gone about the way I envisioned they would. A nice place to commiserate with like minded posters. Mild disagreements are fine, but a Dem in the GOP thread is about the same as a Cub fan in Pale Hose. They may be welcome, but act nice. Like SS said, it's nice to not get stalked. For the upcoming general, candidate specific is necessary, and we should try and keep the trolling down. I'd rather see smaller issue dominated threads, then a massive everything thread. I'd also like to have a non partisan discussion on the overall campaign.

So basically Oregon is requiring private crews have an English speaking chief, plus Spanish speaking, if that private company employs any Spanish speaking employees. Seems like a fair provision to write into the contract. Far different than if they were state employees.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 21, 2008 -> 12:39 PM) Most overrated hottie of my life time. 2 out of 3 celebs disagree

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ May 21, 2008 -> 11:56 AM) The original story I heard was on the radio and from what I gathered it sounded like it was a state job, not temporary. Really? All the dates on the stories seem to be from 2006?

Pretty solid list so far. I at least considered most of these players. I considered Halas, but more for coaching and owning. If we had a Chicago Sports legend list, I'd consider him for the top spot. I thinkn Big Ed was too low, but he's usually forgotten anyways.

QUOTE (rangercal @ May 21, 2008 -> 12:31 PM) Trust me. This is not the year of the #3 Pick. There is no consensus #1 either. Always better to have a higher pick, but choosing #1 isn't fool proof. Plus, if the #1 consensus player does not fill a need, it becomes even more over valued. The Bulls got lucky the year they picked #3 and took MJ. They were hoping for a big man, and settled for the guy on the Olympic team who was flashy and would sell some tickets.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ May 21, 2008 -> 12:41 PM) Gagne is as qualified as anybody. He was an undrafted nobody in the Dodgers system, suddenly and randomly gained 7 MPH on his fastball and a biting slider, missed almost two full seasons (2005 and 2006) to injury after three dominant seasons, and now has not been able to get people out since he came back despite only being 31 and now 32 years old. We have a closer. If the team stays healthy, do we have a WS team?

#1 picks are nice and all, but MJ was available at #3.

I just had a telemarketer hang up on me! They called and wanted to send me a $25 gas card. I was asking bizarre questions, and in general poking holes in their $2.95 shipping charge. Of course these are scams, I'm certain.

Let me toss another reason why each firefighter should have a rudimentary knowledge of English, protecting the public. There should be a presumption that the public speaks the majority language, English. I understand these are forest firemen, not house firemen, but we do see these fires encroaching on homes.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 21, 2008 -> 11:09 AM) Palmeiro won a gold glove at 1b and you've got him @ DH and McGwire @ 1b? Gagne closes and that shouldn't even be close. Could really use a CF upgrade. They could platoon Is Gagne tainted enough? I was just tossing out a name, I prefer Gagne if he "qualifies".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:46 AM) Does it work both ways? Actually in my mind it should work 1.5 ways. At some point every firefighter should be speaking firefighter's English. At least enough to maintain safety on the job. Like any other job skill used in evaluating employees for promotion, being bilingual should be viewed as a positive attribute and added to reasons to promote someone. Not speaking Spanish should not be used as a reason to demote someone.

At the root seems to be this Oregon law that requires the supervisor to speak the language of all the Crew members. I wonder if this was to encourage the hiring of more English speaking firefighters, or more bilingual supervisors? Either way, it seems to have backfired on them (no pun intended).

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 21, 2008 -> 09:40 AM) Tell that to the millions of people around the world who go hungry. Or the people in this country who go hungry. If we're going to be paying farmers, might as well pay them to grow something and give it away to countries in need. That has been discussed. The difference comes down to money. Estimates run as high as 80X more to have them plant, maintain, and harvest. The cheapest route is this. Plus some of the crops that fall under this are used to feed live stock, not direct consumption by humans. Which in and of itself is amazing. How many crops we raise just to feed live stock which we slaughter and eat. Far more efficient if we raise grains and vegetables for humans to eat. But as long as Americans love our meat, we perpetuate an inefficient system. I'm not saying I agree, just offering some of the rational as I know it, to these bills.

BTW, this is a two year old story

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:09 AM) If the firefighters cannot speak English, they should have never been hired to begin with. The report opens with "There is an urgent need for firefighters in the west to fight two dozen wild fires" Are you suggesting let the fires burn until enough English speaking firefighters are hired?

I wasn't clear based on the report if these were temporary workers fulfilling an urgent need, or they are being hired as permanent employees. If they are temps, segregating like NSS suggests would seem a better solution. At the minimum, how many words are really necessary to know? They probably do not need to be 100% fluent, but should know specific commands concerning firefighting. And that challenge would face native speakers as well. Every job has specific jargon and terms that a lay person would not know. Private companies down here would be shooting themselves in the foot if they did not have Spanish speaking employees. The best customers are our Mexican nationals that visit and shop. Likewise, we appreciate government employees who are bilingual and can efficiently service everyone. It is like the Visa check card commercial. A non Spanish speaker would just grind everything to a halt. Bottom line, I just cannot agree with laying off any worker for not speaking Spanish. Border Patrol trains all their employees in Spanish or French, depending on where they will be stationed. Seems if this is that big of an issue in Oregon, they could offer a similar training.