caulfield12

However, in addition to having more population, blue states also have higher GDP per person. The average GDP per person for a blue state is $55,194 and the average GDP per person for a red state is $48,725. The blue states also have a much deeper lineup in terms of GDP. Seven blue states have GDP's over $500 billion- California, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey. Only one red state has a GDP over $500 billion- Texas. In fact, Texas produces 27% of the entire GDP of the red states. Among the blue states, although California produces $670 billion more GDP per year than Texas, it still only constitutes 20% of the GDP of blue states. This image, like the ones that adjust the map for population, provides a different perspective than the typical election result maps that show the geographic space in which each party wins. This image also makes it clear how ridiculous the Republican's contention that Republicans are generally "makers" and Democrats are generally "takers" is. To be clear, we don't know from this data how much of the GDP is created by Republicans in each state vs. Democrats in each state. But, many of the most liberal cities and states have the highest GDP's per capita. For example, in the most recent mayoral election in San Francisco (2011), the two Republican candidates combined received 0.5% of the vote, and San Francisco has one of the highest GDP's per capita of any city. Clearly, we do not live in a country where either party has a monopoly on "makers" and if anything, the more liberal areas tend to have a slightly more productive citizenry. These results are consistent with the general tendency for the economy to perform better under Democrats. It is also consistent with the correlation between education and economic productivity at the state level. See more graphs about: GDP

Well, short of some crazy wack jobs assassinating Supreme Court justices and turning real life into a Grisham/Clancy/Dan Brown thriller, there isn’t anything left to do except wait for 2020 and make vague intimations of changing the Constitution to make it possible to recall/impeach individual S.C. justices for unspecified “criminal acts.” https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/05/opinions/gop-outplayed-dems-opinion-zelizer/index.html How the Dems got outplayed (once again) on Kavanaugh

Paragraph 2 is no longer a viable or winning political strategy...it’s simply going to be spun as taking money/opportunity from hard working Americans (whites) and redistributing it to Muslims/immigrants/undeserving/lazy/blah (Balta’s phrase) people. Of course, it won’t be spelled out quite so explicitly...it will just be intimated. At any rate, there are more adamantly opposed to affirmative action/redistributionist policies than in favor. In fact, you can’t even get Dems winning on a consistent national basis arguing that the Top 80% should benefit from taxing the Top 10-20% at considerably higher rates...as a way to pay for all those things you want to provide in Paragraph 1 without going trillions more into debt.

One of his classmates disagrees. In a statement obtained by theNew Yorker, which he signed and anonymously submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the FBI, the classmate wrote thathe remembers hearing Kavanaugh “talk about Renate many times,” giving the impression that “Renate was the girl that everyone passed around for sex.” He writes in the statement: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/kavanaugh-treatment-renate-schroeder-high-170338460.html

Manchin and Bredesen (TN candidate) are having their funding cut off by some liberal PAC’s after expressing their cases for Kavanaugh.

“Progressives may claim Trump is Caesar at the edge of the Rubicon, but they have embraced the bastard love child of Joseph Stalin and Franz Kafka and enlisted the American political press to smear, defame and attack anyone who stands in their way.” If the mainstream media and George Soros were so influential as claimed, the GOP wouldn’t have control of all three branches of government, and the majority of state legislatures and governorships. Very few legitimate national Democratic candidates are extolling getting entirely rid of ICE, or guns, or believes that Medicare for All is feasible. In fact, almost everyone prefers to close the loopholes for small business owners and independent contractors, rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater. What they do agree upon is that unchecked/unregulated corporate power constitutes a threat to democracy and our shared system of values.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/susan-collins-kavanaugh-speech-diagnoses-americas-deepening-division-235214542.html We are on a dangerous road, and the judicial confirmation wars are going to get a lot worse for our traveling down it,” wrote Benjamin Wittes, editor in chief of Lawfare, in a column for the Atlantic arguing that Kavanaugh should not be confirmed because the preponderance of the evidence, in his mind, “leans toward Ford.” The story of how we got to this contentious and ugly place has many chapters to it. The most recent was written only 18 months ago when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did away with the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees in response to a decision by Democrats to refuse to allow a vote. At the time, Democrats were retaliating for McConnell’s refusal to give Obama’s choice in 2016 for the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, a vote. And in 2016 McConnell had his own justification for blocking Garland, based on what he saw as Democratic sins of the past. The tit-for-tat has gone on for decades, escalating over the past 15 years or so. The losers of this fight are not Democrats or Republicans but the American people, especially minorities and those without power, for whom an independent and trusted judiciary is a crucial bulwark against abuses. As Collins said in her speech, “It is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy.” The law is supposed to be a central protection against unfairness. But the Supreme Court may now be truly broken in that it is viewed as a political institution rather than a body where outcomes are decided by an agreed-upon set of rules. “There’s no time for nuance; there is only time for war,” wrote Amy Walter, national editor of the Cook Political Report. “So, war it will be for the foreseeable future.”

Other than Francona, what “great” managers can we list that at least SEEM to be relatively humble? Bochy, I guess, would be another.

Even couples who successfully save $1-2 million for retirement can see it quickly destroyed by long term care expenses. My mom’s assisted living cost in Iowa is $4500 per month, and that’s considered very cheap/affordable. Nursing homes, $7-10,000 per month...and this is the Quad Cuties, not Chicago, NYC or SF. It doesn’t take long to run out of assets...until you’re only left with the family home (if it hasn’t been reverse mortgaged to draw out more cash flow), and sometimes even then the government will try to seize that before Medicaid finally kicks in, and being taken care of by the government at the end of life is not a situation anyone would wish for. There has to be a better way.

https://eand.co/will-and-should-america-break-up-with-america-7a2dfbab5224 Should a collapsing America Just Break Up with Itself? Americans don’t agree on two things anymore. Personhood and violence.They don’t agree that all people are people, or should be, or even can be — and therefore, many Americans appear to believe in many or most of the following things. It’s perfectly acceptable to rape women if you can get away with it, it’s perfectly fine to put children in camps, it’s perfectly desirable to suggest, believe, “know that” some groups are inherently superior to others, it’s quite alright to want to ethnically cleanse a society, it’s perfectly healthy to “debate” ideas like authoritarianism and fascism (as if two world wars hadn’t settled the question). Need I go on? Agreements about these two things — personhood, the idea that all people are equal persons, and violence, the idea that because all people are equal persons, no one is to do violence to another — are the fundamental building blocks of a democracy. Unless people can agree on both, definitionally, a society will cannot remain a democracy — it cannot really forge a social contract through consent, because some people are not people, but inhuman, and the people who are will therefore have license to do violence to them. But that is precisely where America is today. So where will it be tomorrow? Let me try to answer that question, by referencing another one. The question “will America break up?” is often seen as about differing political attitudes within a democracy. But I think it cuts much deeper than that. It is about differing attitudes to democracy — different attitudes to political systems entirely.

It’s interesting to note the Brewers are having a lot of success with ex AL Central guys. Moustakas, Cain, Kratz, Jeffress from KC, we contributed Saladino, Swarzak last year, Junior Guerra, Cedeno, Soria. And their huge breakthrough hitter, Aguilar, came from CLE.

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2018/10/4/17939512/dallas-mavericks-hire-bob-voulgaris-in-front-office-role-gambling-research Or even what the Mavericks are doing...

Where’s the proof that the White Sox are doing anything Interesting or remarkable? The rebuild is riding on Moncada, Kopech, Anderson, Jimenez, Cease, Robert and Madrigal being studs. How did they use analytics or non-traditional avenues to scout any of those guys? The only positional player they’ve really been right on is Abreu in the last half-decade. KW and Paddy are the ones who pursued him, how did analytics play a role? Heck, they might have the most boring name for a proprietary database system in the history of the sport. At any rate, for months and months, we’ve been hearing the strength of the system was high end collegiate pitching...and that many of these guys would end up in the bullpen. But the results down the stretch were not exactly confidence boosting. What is it that the White Sox actually do well, right now? We have a pretty terrible defensive team...other than Anderson, Moncada (when focused), and Engel, who can’t hit. We’ve got fielders who can’t hit and a bunch of hitters who can’t field, to many to name. Our one seeming advantage is overall team speed and aggressiveness...but we also stopped stealing bases, and that philosophy runs counter to nearly every team in baseball (anyway) and also causes lots of injuries/wears down players to boot. We have a bottom 5-10 manager and a bottom 5-10 front office. The ONLY thing saving the White Sox is being in the worst division in baseball, with 3 rebuilding small market teams, and the Indians being small market, too. If we were in either the AL West or AL East or all the teams played balanced schedules with top five advancing, this franchise would be in pretty serious trouble.

Meanwhile, Sasse/Flake/Murkowski/Collins can all pretend to be more principled...defending the values of the Constitution, uniting the country, etc.

Okay, after the first and second rounders, what one singular area stands out about Sox drafting the last 2-3 years? It’s high upside collegiate arms, many of which will end up in the bullpen. Or we’re also selecting a lot of pitchers who don’t end up making it as starters, like Nola/Wacha vs. Buehler vs. Fulmer.

He’s never going to be the type of baseball broadcaster who paints a picture with words...or who loves the White Sox.

How many games did the Rays go with relievers for 6+ innings this year, including starting relievers? What did the A’s try to do tonight against the Yankees? Since the White Sox only have two starters right now, and Rodon’s health down the stretch was questionable, at best...what do they have to lose, exactly? See current AL Wild Card thread (at the end) if you still need further clarification.

Which ring was that, 1989 as a player?

Still think he’s more a voice talent evolving into a baseball announcer rather than someone who the sport comes to instinctively, like a John Rooney. For most White Sox fans, at least the die hards, they appreciate a little pure, unbridled emotion from time to time. Doesn’t mean you have to be an overt homer. Where you know that broadcaster is just as invested as you, the fan, in the final results. Vin Scully was the perfect example. Heck, I’d take Bob Eucker.

Wonder how long before Trump tries to shut down the NY Times in the “interests of national security”?

That’s the mlbtraderumors of politics. They just link to articles at both sides of the political spectrum. A small amount is original content from their own writing staff, 90% is not. So simply being linked there doesn’t mean it’s not right or left wing publication. Where does the content originate? If the FBI report isn’t comprehensive (and lots of witnesses/lines of questioning are being excluded) and has been “politically guided/massaged” by the Trump Administration, what real probitive value does it actually have?

To what level of effectiveness? They might as well go with the Rays’ and A’s bullpen approach...at least that would be original, especially since relief pitching is supposed to be the strength of their drafting philosophy. Experiment. Do something, anything different. Besides overbunting in a “runs are not at a premium” stadium.

Who are the guys who supposedly are analytics-based picks? Call and Fisher, that’s all we heard about with them. Steele Walker? Burger? Collins? Dunning? Guys like Beck, Adams and Hansen were supposed to be pure stuff guys. It seems the only consistent philosophy is drafting high potential collegiate arms (most end up in the bullpen), but, for this to work...they’d have to remain healthy and they’d have to have a better record of success than other teams in extracting value, yet we haven’t had a season like that where inexperienced pitching surprised/overachieved since 2012.

During the summer, why would that make any sense? He had to be up on the weekends for church on Sunday morning, right? Besides, it wasn’t even a big party, it was pre-party gathering of a small group. But if he was already drinking/drunk before he arrived, why would that be credible to believe his denial? Many have already corroborated his heavy drinking habits. Nobody has argued that with Ford, at least yet.

Yet Moncada, Jimenez, Robert, Kopech, Cease and Madrigal all appear to be traditional scouts’ dream guys...either in raw talent or baseball aptitude.