JUGGERNAUT

Garland has always been mentioned in the early Vazquez trade talks. Contreras was never mentioned. So I think any deal for Vazquez is definitely going to include Garland. Again this goes back to whether the SOX can sign Koney to an extension. If they feel that won't happen then they are better off trading him now where is value is the highest. If they think they can sign him to an extension then they need to figure out a pkg AZD would want built around Garland. Vazquez is still valued as a front rotation starter. That doesn't come cheap. He's more likely to bounce back vs ALC than Clement is to succeed vs the ALE.

I noticed your use of "inaccurate logic & premises" & yet your faliure to provide any basis to it. Typical. The rest of what you said is completely irrelevant to the general debate of the discriminatory practice of specializing religion outside of any other non-profit organization pertaining to philosophies of life. On the subject of school customs: If there is no written, spoken, or any other explicit representation of a government institution compelling a student to practice a faith than such a circumstance does not exist. As long as a teacher clearly distinquishes his views from that of the goverment institution which pays his salary there is no act of compelling a student to practice a faith. As long as there is no written, spoken, or any other explicit representation of a consequence upon a student for not participating then there can be no claim of compelling a student to practice a faith. With no basis for such a claim limiting the individual rights of teachers & students to both express & practice a custom pertaining to their beliefs is censorship. To limit it to a distinct group of beliefs, practices, or customs is discrimination. It really is that simple. The only basis by which moral relativists can get away with justifying this discrimination & censorship is by specializing religious faith from other philosophical beliefs. The act of doing so discriminates against religious faith.

The Iguchi talks: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...tesox-headlines - Sox have become a desirable destination for Japanese players - "We have become extremely popular in Japan for some of the things [Takatsu] has done" - "The Japanese press tells me there is a great desire from players to come here." Williams envisions him a the regular 2B near the top of the order. 2004 Iguchi.333A, 24HR, 89RBI's. Both AJP & Iggy are to be resolved next week. He expects the ST team to be in place by end of next week. Some NYY press are still including Koney in trade talks for Vazquez. Kenny's going to have a busy week Is KW selling the Japanese connection to JR in those comments & does that mean they are willing to bid for Iggy's services against the other interested teams?

Another shake your head signing: Wade Miller (7-7; 74; 3.35; Astros) 45W in 3 yrs. BOS signed him to a 1.5M/1yr deal + 3M in incentives. I can't help but think .. Kenny .. did you call his agent? This is not a 69-75 career Matt Clement signing for 26M/3. This was something the CWS could afford it. If it didn't work out, you lose a small amount of money. If it does work out, you reap the rewards. It bounces Contreras/Garland out of the rotation but I'll take a healthy Miller over them any day.

After months of negotiation it appears done. AZD gets an extra 500K. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball...2p-228675c.html Details: - NYY get a 72-hr window to sign RJ to 32M/2yr entension & waive his no-trade clause. - All players must pass physicals (standard practice after Sirogate) - AZD gets 9M paid in increments over Vaz contract, Vazquez, Halsey, & Navarro. Speculation: The AZD have a premiere catching prospect in Koyie Hill so Navarro is likely to be used to acquire S Green from LAD. The LAD covet Navarro. The AZD are expected to auction Vazquez. It is said that they have made an internal decision to oblige his preference to remaining on the East Coast. Leading contenders are: The Phillies, Orioles, Tigers and White Sox. AZD is expected to ask for at least one established starting pitcher in return. Apparently Texas dropped out & the White Sox are back in. As the world turns ... Apparently that demand a trade right was a part of the last labor negotiation & applies to all MLB contracts: A player being traded in the midst of a multi-year contract has the right to demand a trade after serving at least 1/2 the years of the contract. I have to believe there is compensation awarded to the team facing such a demand.

We should just re-name this thread moral relativism because that's really what it's about. There are those on the left who pay homage & devotion to evolution, homosexuality, censorship, & other liberal causes as if they were tenets of their faith. And then there are those of us who disagree with them. Observing their debate skills & behavior in thier posts amuses me. The latest topic that surfaced was the antiquated & ridiculous notion of separation of church & state. Since they have little ability it seems to debate an issue on a macro or general concept level they will of course cling to the tenets of their faith to justify their opinion based on their moral relativism. But those of us who are capable of debating an issue on a general concept level can demonstrate how this concept amounts to discrimination. The first question to ask is what is a church? When you strip it down to it's most general definition it is simply a group of persons who choose to assemble to discuss & pay respect to their philosophy of life. Considering anything else requires specializing it & when you specialize any group to where you define specific rules & regulations that apply to only that group you are if effect disciminating against that group. How so? Again in reference to the most general definition of church there exists both secular & religious churches in America. The religious enjoy a tax free status analogous to MLB's anti-trust exemption & the secularists enjoy government grants. There is simply no purpose or need for the tax free status if you remove the discriminatory status of religious vs secular philosophies. After all the secularists are no less zealous in their beliefs as the religious are. There are simply less of them. Now there exists a phobia associated with the Roman Catholic & Anglican churches in their history with European empires of the past that leads people to believe that such discrimanatory laws need to exist to prevent such coersion & corruption between those two bodies from happening in the future. That is an antiquated phobia ignorant of the by-laws for doing business in America. Yes, that's right. When you remove the tax-free status & the specialization of religion all churches become registered non-profit businesses. Just like the secular churches. Neither the US goverment or any state or local government can endorse, promote, or support any one church over any other any more so than they can endorse, promote, or support Wendy's over McDonald's. It's why you never see a politician endorse a product, a restaurant, or any other buisness (profit or non-profit) over another. If they did, the government they represent can be sued for substantial damages. Since it has happened in the past there is case precedent on this issue. So when you view a church as a non-profit business & understand that buisness by-laws prevent the government from showing any favoritism to one business over another the conclusion is that the discriminatory practice of separation of church & state is no longer needed. Now immediately some of you are going to ask what about PPH & defense contracts? Contrary to what you believe they are not exceptions to that rule. If a competitor to PPH were to surface the government would then be obligated to show that competitor the same respect as PPH. That could be done by splitting the funding or creating a process by which to detemine the funding such that both parties have the ability to compete for it. That's essentially what happens with defense contracts. A process is created for which companies compete for funding. Now no system run by humans is not without corruption which is why situations like Haliburton always pop up. But again that is not an exception to the by-laws. A government official might make a claim that Haliburton was the only viable choice for a contract. Those who disagree can use due process against that claim & present compelling evidence against it. If they make a solid case then Haliburton loses some portion of the contract. That is exactly what happened. Which means the process works even in the defense dept which could be considered the most discriminatory agency of the government when it comes to contracts as such. In conclusion the separation of church & state is an antiquated & unneccessary from of discrimination that should be done away with.

The thread was suppose to be hijacked for support of free-speech rights to use slang in a present-day & historical context in posts as well as a general argument of it's usage in society as a whole. Yet it's now become a debate on specifically developmental biology vs evolutionary biology & generally text book vs REAL scientific knowledge. I guess I have to teach school .. again. It's so sad. I realize you're clueless on how to go about reading Sciencedaily.com so I will help you out. Just put in the search words "genetics natural selection". Amongst the articles you will find this one. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/...20807065302.htm Computational Geneticists Revisit A Mystery In Evolution - any functional genetic network that is complex enough has this built-in property of fidelity. - Natural selection doesn't matter much during development - It's the nature of the developmental system that can give you this property. Now it's not hard to reference various papers on the subject of computational genetics. If you haven't figured it out, "the nature of the developmental system itself" is analogous to "intelligent design". Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection must be taught in schools. I hope there is no disagreement on that. It is still the most complete theory going with respect to biology. But it is not so complete as to ignore it's obvious weaknesses. Genetics is as equally important today so that students understand that natural selection does not explain everything & that design in nature plays a primary role in developmental biology. In relation to genetic networks it is a simple understanding of what intelligence is that gives rise to intelligent design. Intelligence is simply the application of knowledge. The complexity of the networks include a sense of knowledge about the development of the organism & the functions of the network represent the application of that knowledge. Hence intelligent design. What mathematicians & physicists are doing is working out the probabilities & statistical analysis of such design occuring from coincidence rather than purpose. When the numbers don't add up for coincidence they lean toward purpose. This is why the majority of persons in these disciplines belief in a creator concept. That's a stark contrast from evolutionary biologists & biologists in general. In those disciplines less than 25% believe in a creator concept.

Well considering I didn't write that .. you must be one. I guess lying is part of your moral relativist code as well.

The source of your knowledge of science comes from high school text books. You my friend, are clueless. Go to the library or go to the web site & learn! In case you missed it, it's sciencedaily.com. They have actual scientific papers you can read. You know the stuff text books of the future are based on Please, that was just too funny! Time to call it a night. She's getting pissed. I laughed too loud. I have masters degrees in science & engineering disciplines & I am working on my Phd. Any time you want to debate science I'm game. But I should warn you .. outdated text books will not represent the source of my knowledge Too funny! If text book readers represent the deep end, I'm damn proud to be a member of the other side. We read actual scientic papers over here G'night

Oh this is a novel concept: Because it's a PUBLIC school the PUBLIC should decide what is best for it. PUBLIC being those who make use of the school. Oh, but wait that would mean the moral relativism of that PUBLIC would supercede your own moral relativism. Hmmm, is that right? Should the moral relativism of the people making use of the school supercede that of someone who doesn't? I of course am debating this from a macro level dealing with the all issue of censorship & majority rights. But interjecting my own moral relativism into the debate specifically on the issue of school prayer it seems to me that this about customs & practices. School prayer is a custom & a practice of a school. Since we now live in a global community all customs & practices should be welcomed. The only limitation is time. I'm sure that can be managed easily enough. Maybe do the Christian thing 3 times a week & anything else 2 times a week. An all-inclusive approach is better than censorship. Likewise defining it as a custom opens it up the non-relgious as well. References to philosophy are always a good choice.

Let me see here. I have one person referring to Wikpedia as the de-facto source of Intelligent Design & I have the other person demonstrating absolutely ZERO understanding of the mathematics behind the Universe. Ok. I'm done. The bias is clear. There is no point in debating the math & science because it's clear they are not open to understanding it. I suggest both of you go to your public libary & look up intelligent design under the study of mathematics & physics. Of course if you're really not interested than I can provide you links to papers on the subject that have both accreditation & approval of their respective communities. Why don't you just visit Sciencedaily.com & look it up? Oh, I forgot. Your so open-minded that you have no read to continue learning. Really if you're going to teach or debate issues of science you really should increase your knowledge of the subject & keep up to date with it. For those who are curious (open-minded) I suggest you visit the site. What you will find is that through the expansion of the field of genetics mathematicans & physcists are now able to apply real numbers to the evolution processes. That has very little to do with outer space. We are talking species on Earth. This is where natural selection is breaking down as a plausible theory. The numbers are simply not adding up.

Yes it is. You are making a judgement based on your personal bias that ultimately restricts the free speech & free assembly rights of the majority of persons affected. That is the difference between us. I view censorship as restricting those freedoms of any person. I measure the impact of that censorship by the number of people it affects. It matters to me not what that freedom is. For example: Suppose there is a school in a town where the majority believe that the creator is an alien from a different dimension. Suppose that believe is so strong that they choose to begin each day with some acknowledgement of that belief. Let's suppose a Christian family moves to that school district. Should that child have the right to censor the custom of that school? The answer is no. So what options does the kid have? Arrive late, participate out of respect to the class, town, & school, asked to be excused during the custom, home school, & long distance learning. With that many options there is no dire need to censor the custom.

And you call yourself a teacher? Do you know what Intelligent Design is rooted in? Physics & Mathematics. It's rooted in probabilities, statistics & numerical analysis of physics based data on the creation & evolution of the Universe. Now if you didn't know that, I pity your students. ID has nothing to do with religion. It's the math that proves evolution to be very weak (in some areas) & it's the math that makes alternative explanations more accurate in the models. Close-minded: teaching a theory of the Universe ignorant of the math behind it. Open-minded: teaching theories of the Universe consistent with the math behind it. Should I direct you to math & physics links so that you may expand your knowledge & increase your intelligence on the subject? FSJ: The testing & standards imposed upon schools was simply a logical response to the fact that enough tougher standards imposed on schools in Japan, S Korea, Singapore, India, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, & England are producing more productive & more capable students than the US. You had 30+ years of freedom in how you wanted to teach. It helped lead to a trade deficit that is approaching 1/2 a trillion a year. Play time is over.

I'm sorry but I can't buy your argument. You are essentially it is right to offend 99% of the people in order to be satisfy the needs of 1%. It's ridiculous to suggest that the 1% feels any stronger about their faith than the 99%. And there is nothing about our being a republic that suggests that such censorship is reaosnable or desireable. It is more desireable & reasonable of the 1% to respect the needs of the 99% over their own. That's called being kind, respectful of others, good-natured, good-willed, well-manned, polite, & charitable. I would tell you that a true student of Muslim/Jewish/Buddhist/Hindu/Zoroastrian would be mindful of the tenets of their faith & show respect to the overwhelming majority faith in the class.

open-minded intelligence: Darwin's natural selection theory has it's strengths & weaknesses as a tool for describing cross-generational change among species. It stands alone on it's strengths but there are stronger alternative explanations with respect to it's weaknesses. Those are rooted in physics, philosophy, & metaphysics. close-minded intelligence: Darwin's natural selection theory is the de-facto standard & anything alternative explanations or theories are ridiculous.

ESPN has more details on the RJ trade: Somewhere betw 8.5-9M + Vazquez + LHP Halsley + C Navarro to AZD. Navarro could then be spun in a deal for S Green LAD. Teams interested in dealing for Vazquez: Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit and Texas. Money owed to Vaz: 10.5+11.5+12.5 = 34.5M. There is no mention of the CWS. I do not want him landing in Detroit. Ilich has turned into a big spender this year because he's saving 10's of millions with the NHL lockout.

What makes you qualified to JUDGE that they screw over eduction & academic freedom? And how exactly does it screw over academic freedom? It's a very simple concept. Go become a teacher & go find the right school for you to teach in. Don't assume you know everything or that you are right about everything & everyone else is wrong. That's pompous & historically people who are pompous to that extent hurt society more than they help it. Learn a little humility. Competition is a prime characteristic of humanity. It's aristocratic of you to believe that you are the all-knowing all-seeing entity of the Universe that should limit competition because your way is the right way. Can you say with a strong level of certainty that a school that CHOOSES to begin each day with a prayer won't outperform a school that doesn't? If you can I certainly would like to see your basis for doing so. What measure of performance should we use? How about graduation rates? That's a pretty important aspect of performance for a school. Yes? Some might argue it's the most important. Again, it's a simple concept to understand. Those who attend/run the school (local school board, parents, students, & teachers) should decide what is best for them. Standardized testing & graduation rates will push those methods that work to the top & weed out those that don't. That's the basis of competition. The strongest survive.

Why is it so important to you? Why can't you just mind your own business & let people live as they choose? In the case of a school it means the people who attend that school should decide what is best for them. Why is that concept so objectionable to you?

AJ's Fldg stats: Caught Stealing %, Catcher's ERA 2001 110GP, .323, 4.50 2002 124GP, .297, 4.10 2003 135GP, .303, 4.15 2004 118GP, .227, 4.23 2004 is such a departure from his MIN days that I'm willing to accept that the SFG pitchers were more to blame that AJP. Davis: Less than 1/2 the GP'd as AJ. 2002 .439, 3.99 SEA 2003 .347, 3.88 SEA 2004 .292, 5.21 CWS Burke: Less than 70GP over 4 yrs. 2004 .421, 4.78 You know what you're getting in AJ, but the other two combined have played less than 1/2 the GP as AJ. You don't know what you'll get.

Because it's not about God, nor about a reason to pray. It's about freedom & free-speech rights. It's ridiculous to suggest that a person should censor that which they feel strongly about simply because you or someone else doesn't agree with it. If a teacher wants to interject God into the classroom as a metaphor or a possibile explanation of a mystery you have no right to censor them from doing so. If a student wishes to interject God into the classroom as part of their explanation of something when called upon you have no right to censor them from doing so. If 99% of the students, faculty, & parents wish to begin the day with a morning prayer you have no right to censor them from doing so. If you claim that right then you do not believe in democracy or freedom. It is impossible & impractical to legislate society such that anything that someone says or does will not offend any one else. When you take away someone's right to prayer or right to mention God you are offending that person. The stronger they feel about that right the greater your offense. Since it is impossible not to offend someone democracy or if you will majority rule should decide which is the greater offense: To deny someone's right or to deny someone's right to censor another. Yes this is relevant to use of slang & slurs because it is a similar form of censorship. Which is the greater offense: To deny someone's right to use slang or to deny someone's right to censor slang. I'm against censorship of any kind. I think human beings are intelligent enough to know when it's ok to say certain things & when it's not. I also believe in communative inteligence to help that process. People get the message without having law enforcement rules taking away their rights. What Hillary said was not wrong wrt to the community of people she was speaking to. That is way she got a loud & supportive response to it. But as a Senator of the US Congress whenever she speaks she is speaking to the nation & in that context it was wrong. Ghandi is above ethnic slurs. She should have known better. With respect to the use of the word gay I have a few questions for the pc people: If the poster had made the reference to something Mariotti said, did, or wore would you still consider that a sexual slur? It's clearly not a reference to a person or a sexual reference in that context. It's slang usage of a past idiom that was common at one time. In a broader sense what if the poster had made an historical reference to something in the past in which an athlete was quoted using the word. Are historical references to slangs & slurs objectionable? If you believe it is then are you likewise stating that it's ok to re-write history such that it fits the current context of your opinions?

Keep telling yourself. Keep living the lie. Since it's obvious your fragile ego will bust if your don't. You are without question the most vulgar, vindictive, abusive, ill-mannered, disrespectful, rude, & indecedent poster I have ever met. If you need a clue do a search on your posts & count the number of personal attacks that exist within them. If you have the time read the context of your abusive words. You confuse decency & respect for your own pompous opinions with that of real human beings. I'm sure the fictitous persons in your mind who you think you are protecting from references like dago, mick, & pollock applaud your efforts. You should thank them personally when you see them some day. As for those of us who live in the real world I've never met any one who was a dago, mick, or pollock whoever took offense to the term. But of course I live around people who believe in MYOB & let other's live as they choose to live. They aren't devoting their time & effort to mandating what people should say, think & feel like you do. They don't subscribe to the theory "It Takes a Village". Still waiting for any factual evidence that your cause is even needed in this world. Or I guess for that matter that you are as well.

I share your sentiments It's too early for April's Fools.

After the last Red Cross scandal I have to believe most of the money will be put to good use. But I hope it does not just end there & business goes on as usual. We have the science & technology to develop & deploy & vibration detection system where the fault lines lie for early warning for events of this magnitude. It will cost billions to implement but I think that is a small price to pay for saving 100's of 1000's of lives. But that it not enough either. The area is prone to quakes of that magnitude at least twice a century. If you try to prevent quakes you can cause the Earth much greater harm with an even greater potential for loss of life. They are neccessary processes for the Earth to remain stable & inhabitable. At some point we have to ask is it wise to keep building there? Would it be better for the Earth & all of us to simply turn those areas into national parks? The beaches would still be open to the public but the hotels would no longer be on them. This would help protect the beaches & reduce the polution that flows into the inlets. No, it's not the capitalist way but I think some things are more important than capitalism. The protection of life & the environment is one for sure.

This guy has gotten a bad rap. It just doesn't fit w the numbers, & the effectiveness of the pitchers he caught in that time. I like him for the CWS. He knows just about everything with the MIN starters, & hitters. That's a big plus. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6109 A.J. Pierzynski: Hitting Pierzynski generally hits the bad pitches at which he's hacking. He is a gap hitter who uses all fields. Team officials believed he could develop into a 25-plus home-run hitter. Baserunning & Defense -One of the league's best behind the plate. -Eexceptionally good at blocking low pitches, -Better-than-average arm and calls a solid game. -Smart baserunner w good-speed con: he argues w umps too much VS. LEFT: .227 / .544 VS. RIGHT: .283 / .775 HOME: .283 / .737 AWAY: .261 / .720 A major improvement over what we have. If Davis is worth 1M than AJP is worth at least 2M.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/yankees/37383.htm CWS not even mentioned. I think we're done. Roberto Alomar signed a 1 yr deal with STL for 1M. That leaves Cairo, & Cora.