caulfield12

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 24, 2017 -> 10:50 AM) I fail to see the connection to what was being discussed. QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 24, 2017 -> 10:29 AM) Of course there are exceptions, but the democrats have never been the party personal accountability. Needless to be said, the action of the left has been more concerned with expanding entitlements and measures to "level the playing field" for those who aren't achieving (relatively speaking). Past the actual legislators, it's just a matter of their use of rhetoric generally speaking. Just as relevant as your erroneous generalizations about the Democratic Party...you say personal responsibility, we say don't care about anyone else. And it goes round and round. And if Democrats didn't care about personal responsibility, why were Clinton and Obama able to generate more jobs growth than any president other than Reagan (second to Clinton) in modern times? Clinton removed the highest percentage of people from welfare, food stamps, WIC, TANF, etc.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 24, 2017 -> 10:29 AM) Of course there are exceptions, but the democrats have never been the party personal accountability. Needless to be said, the action of the left has been more concerned with expanding entitlements and measures to "level the playing field" for those who aren't achieving (relatively speaking). Past the actual legislators, it's just a matter of their use of rhetoric generally speaking. Apparently you missed Bill Clinton ending welfare as we know it, executing criminals right and left in Arkansas and Hillary referring to implicitly minority criminals in the inner cities as "super predators." George W. Bush expanded the Medical Part B entitlement...gave it away for free and blew another trillion plus dollar hole in the budget. (Before you list Obama spending, please give examples of world economies that were nearly destroyed and didn't have to rely on government/stimulus spending to avoid a real depression...what would you have done differently in those four years after the financial crisis blew up that would have saved the economy and lowered unemployment more quickly and cost-effectively?)

Kind of like the Republicans have been the party of free trade, limited government intervention and balanced budgets until Bush and Trump...and are usually ready to send the country to war at a moment's notice (except for the children of the politically-connected). In those cases, we usually just get poor people and contractors to die in their place.

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/oscars-la-la-l...-140250277.html Oscar nominations...pulling for Hidden Figures, but expecting La La Land. Can't even pick between the two nominated songs, haha. Watching Jackie now...it's hard to stomach, at least for Democrats (especially Baby Boomers) already demoralized by November.

Now that I'm thinking about it more, what if he was speeding away from these robbers and that’s why he crashed? Reports say speeding is what caused the wreck and his girlfriend said he never speeds because of what happened to Oscar Taveras. That would certainly tie into why these people didn’t save his life and took his stuff. Let's hope this speculation is untrue...that he was targeted and pretty much everyone in that area knew his Jeep. Supposedly the fog and 15 mph speed limit were the biggest factors, stretch of pretty mountainous road. Some say the road was in very good condition, others disagree. Others are hearing speed or alcohol, a ton of conflicting reports. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/the-brief...-004334903.html Jeff Passan article

Yordano Ventura was another outlier throwing 96-100 at 5'11', 165ish.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 11:00 PM) First of all Trump is wrong. According to this very message board Trump couldnt have "lost" because he didnt try. (insert laughter) Second of all, I think we can now say that Bernie Sanders somehow mindf***ed America. TPP/NAFTA/free trade were all in line with Republican ideals, now they are on their way out because of Trump ideas. When you read Sanderes on the issues ( http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Bernie_San..._Free_Trade.htm ) its almost as if Trump is just parroting Sanders. When you remove the "I voted against" part, its basically Trump. Trump/Sanders/sort of Clinton arrayed against Obama, and then the entire GOP that could never cooperate with him as president. http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/23/politics/tru...know/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/23/opinions/kil...nion/index.html Bad for Americans, great for China Bizarro World, then you have Bannon (brilliant mind pretending to be alt-right), Conway (requisite blonde spokeswoman who faithfully defends his every word), Kushner (lifelong Jewish Democrat who's already trying to control the gates to Trump, especially against Conway) and Priebus, Mr. GOP Establishment. Team of Rivals indeed. Maybe Trump and Sanders can align together for 2020, haha...adding universal free tuition/vouchers available on an indexed needs based score (good for final two years of university, with qualifying GPA of let's say a 2.5 GPA) to the platform. Mind-F***ed

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 11:00 PM) First of all Trump is wrong. According to this very message board Trump couldnt have "lost" because he didnt try. (insert laughter) Second of all, I think we can now say that Bernie Sanders somehow mindf***ed America. TPP/NAFTA/free trade were all in line with Republican ideals, now they are on their way out because of Trump ideas. When you read Sanderes on the issues ( http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Bernie_San..._Free_Trade.htm ) its almost as if Trump is just parroting Sanders. When you remove the "I voted against" part, its basically Trump. Trump has had mixed messages about big banks (mostly critical but look at his Cabinet) and virtually nothing to say about free universal tuition....btw, they're now phasing the latter program in the state of Rhode Island under a Dem. governor. Yes, much smaller state with only three schools affected. Similar conflicts internally about military/isolationism, although Trump clearly wants to be super popular with them, as he probably fashions himself qualified to be a general and attended a military boarding school. You can't increase the defense budget and VA budget by 20% and be isolationist simultaneously unless we're simply planning on utilizing missile defense strategies to counter-punch. And there is one significant benefit with Trump so far...he's stopping his own party from running away on ethics oversight and he's really forcing them to come up with what just might be a better version of the ACA after 22 years of partisanship.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 09:03 PM) Courts block $37b Aetna-Humana merger http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/0...erger/96948570/ Two victories today. That and the Texas ID/voter suppression ruling.

I listened to a really well informed guy on CSPAN. Their best estimate was 12-13 million undocumented, currently, and 900k with criminal backgrounds/prior arrests. Obama has surprisingly effected roughly 2.5 million, or thereabouts. Someone called in to argue that 9 million illegal immigrants voted for Trump somehow, with no evidence...and that he would have won the popular vote by 9, forgetting he lost by 2.9-3 million. Then there's the old, if he had actually contested NY and California he would have won the popular vote theory. You know who never once mentioned the popular vote and electoral college in their speeches? Abraham Lincoln. He never cared about popularity his entire life, neither did Truman.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 10:27 PM) JMHO but a solid 2B is nothing compared to DeLeon's potential. I'm sure they tried to get more than 1-1 but that was the deal they could make. So i don't think they could have gotten more. It's a steal for the Rays. Dozier is unlikely to repeat, but he put up some unreal numbers in a pitcher's park. Once again, the defensive value is getting so much attention it's almost reverse Moneyball.

John McCain. "President Trump’s decision to formally withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a serious mistake that will have lasting consequences for America’s economy and our strategic position in the Asia-Pacific region," he said. "This decision will forfeit the opportunity to promote American exports, reduce trade barriers, open new markets, and protect American invention and innovation. It will create an opening for China to rewrite the economic rules of the road at the expense of American workers. And it will send a troubling signal of American disengagement in the Asia-Pacific region at a time we can least afford it." "Abandoning TPP is the wrong decision," he continued. "Moving forward, it is imperative that America advances a positive trade agenda in the Asia-Pacific that will keep American workers and companies competitive in one of the most economically vibrant and fastest-growing regions in the world." Many mainstream Republicans and economists were in favor of the agreement. Prior to the election, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who sought the Republican Party's presidential nomination in this cycle, was tapped by Obama to help promote the deal and get Congress to pass the agreement. The National Taxpayers Union, a conservative taxpayers advocacy organization, also said Trump's move to withdraw from the agreement was not the best decision. "President Trump should re-engage in TPP negotiations while pursuing these pro-growth goals and resist a move toward protectionism," NTU’s Executive Vice President Brandon Arnold said in a statement. "Further, as the president reexamines NAFTA, he should strive to update and modernize the agreement in a manner that reduces the taxes and burdens that impede international commerce." The decision was also met with skepticism from those in other countries involved in the multi-lateral deal. Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, went as far as saying the decision to dip out of TPP — considered by some to be a renegotiation of NAFTA as both Canada and Mexico were involved in the deal — was a huge win for China. "Historians will look back at US cancellation of TPP as a major milestone in America's retreat from global leadership," he tweeted. "Big winner: China."

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 08:36 PM) This is why collecting pitchers is the way to go. JR will never pony up 200 million dollars for a couple of pitchers if the Sox get all hitters and need to buy pitching later. He would be inclined to pay for hitters as he did with joey Belle when the Sox signed him to that (at the time) massive deal. Yeah, that's clearly supported by Sox free agent pitching spending and even attempts to trade young pitching/prospects for veterans like Todd Ritchie, Edwin Jackson, Javy, etc. (Robertson's a clear anomaly here.) Not to mention Buerhle and Danks remain the two biggest non-Abreu deals, both were not external free agents but pitchers Schneider and the staff were already comfortable with, trust built over time. It's all the fault of Jaime Navarro!!! (Obligatory 90's reference now included. Belle makes two.)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 08:30 PM) I am going to guess a list of Cubs prospects from the 90's. The increased volatility of top pitching prospects that we all witnessed from 1998-2003 with our very own farm system isn't relevant? Hasn't someone already thoroughly analyzed past BA Top 100 lists and determined bust rates and who ended up with higher career WAR numbers, pitchers (proportionally, as there are less on a roster) or hitters? Perhaps you would accept that.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 08:24 PM) Huh? My post has nothing to do with the Cubs, and I was talking about acquiring pitching prospects. No idea where you're going w this one. They're always the default example because they are the antithesis of the Sox, stockpiling positional talent. Someone earlier in the thread posted that stockpiling, let's say 10-12 pitching prospects, would inevitably diminish their value becaause not all of them could possibly populate the roster...some would end up blocked, and theoretically the Sox would have less leverage in trade negotiations. That's the theory, at least.

Forsythe had put up some pretty impressive war numbers when healthy...has that Maddon/TB positionally flexibility Friedman still apparently covets, and Kiki Hernandez was brutal last year in that role. Also seems like the Twins overplayed their hand. What do they do with Dozier now? They still can't compete with him, and won't pay him to forego free agency.

So essentially the worst case scenario is their hitters (Cubs) still brought valuable pieces back. On the other hand, you could look at injuries to Rauch, Stumm, Biddle, Barcelo, Wright, Parque, etc., and argue the best collection of pitching prospects in the game 15 years took a pretty huge hit. Ginter was overhyped, another big name that comes to mind. Sirotka and Baldwin went down as well, although they came earlier, along with Snyder. Buehrle, Fogg, Garland and Kip Wells were the only ones to have long/er starting careers. That's a huge swath of talent that was basically turned into Todd Ritchie and Damaso Marte. Were it not for trading position prospects for Garcia and lucking out with Contreras for Loiaza, they would have been screwed. The two best since then, McCarthy and Hudson, also eventually went down. So all that...TJS risk and especially labrum/shoulder issues, are what make those 60's equal 55's. If not for the blip up in reliever values, you could even argue 60=52.5, and also for the fact it's been impossible to pry young hitting prospects loose this offseason after the Sale trade and the Chapman/Miller deals at the deadline. Or you can argue the White Sox in recent years have done an excellent job by and large keeping pitchers healthy compared to other orgs.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 04:26 PM) And then what? Let their value go to s*** because you don't have enough spots in the rotation in a year or two - so you're either moving SP prospects to the bullpen out of necessity, or you're keeping them in AAA because there is no room? Again, I am not saying the Sox should take less in a trade to get a bat. But the headliner in a Q deal should be a bat. I don't mind taking back another pitching prospect, but I want multiple bats for Q. Taking a Glasnow, Keller, Newman + package, and saying f*** it, we'll acquire hitters later from our excess pitching is going to bite us in the ass down the line. Other than Soler, what elite Cubs' prospect has lost value for this reason? Vogelbach? Fringey.

If Pop looed like JFK Jr., he'd be a shoo-in.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 04:02 PM) Often times for the most expensive procedures, there isn't actually time to "price shop" because it's an emergency situation and even if you could, there are very strong emotional incentives against choosing the cheapest option when it comes to your own life and well-being. Market forces don't work in health care for a variety of reasons. More in terms of the costs of getting diagnostic tests done, pretty wild variations and fairly arbitrary in terms of willingness to adjust if you try to dispute the charges. And yeah, emergency situations...no time, but aftercare, inpatient vs. outpatient, there should at least be more options available. In theory, that competition should help to improve costs and force the lower quality providers out of the market. A good example was raised today. In those state reimbursements, they can hold back 2% for state population wellness...let's say, HIV and AIDS prevention in Louisiana, which has huge problems with this particular issue. Every state is better positioned to determine on a local level how best to allocate those funds. Iowa or Wisconsin might use it more for elderly/senior care programs due to aging populations, for another example. As long as the revenues provided states are the same or higher than under ACA, the argument that Washington can better administer the program doesn't hold up. That said, we won't have "replace" fully functioning until 2020, an election year. And we won't know how the insurance markets and pools will react until at least 2018/19. We do know that a lot of insurers opted out because the Medicaid reimbursements were too low...it went from 23 to 5. Arizona, obviously an aging state with numerous retirees, saw over 100% premium hikes in the last year, and had some counties that almost ended up with nobody willing to cover from an insurance pool standpoint.

ACA was also causing numerous issues with rural health care...let's see the GOP fix for that.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 01:59 PM) Also have Avi and Davidson listed as DHs. They're looking at Asche for RF or DH? Isn't he more of a LF? Well, Melky will be gone and it likely won't matter 2-3 years from now anyway, other than positioning their 2018 draft picks.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 10:06 AM) Even if you throw out the division aspect, I don't see them having a top end position player future star that would catch the Sox interest. Makes zero sense...but it would probably be some combination of Cuthbert (who they might DH and need for 3b in the future), Strahm (who they need this year), Zimmer (Mr. Injury) and Mondesi Jr. (stock is down). If they could acquire also Cain and get him to sign an extension foregoing free agency, but that realistically won't happen.

That's why someone had Bill Nye the Science Guy as well. I basically just went through 3-4 existing responses to this question and threw all the names together. For someone with a science background to make it, something close to cataclysmic will need to happen in the world first...where it's hard to logically claim there's no tie to global warming/pollution. If there were elections here in China...that moment would be getting closer and closer, especially for cities from Beijing/Tianjin to Shanghai to Nanjing, in that triangle of dangerous pollutants in the air everyday. Another version of An Inconvenient Truth is needed, with Gore basically gone from the scene.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 12:31 PM) I'm interested in the middle part...why would a grad student like you end up dead because of this clause? Trying to better understand, becuase even when the system was broken, wasn't there the ability to go to free health clinics or in an emergency just go to an emergency room. Not saying it was a good answer, can then such person is saddled with debt, but I thought people could still get treatment at certain types of hospitals regardless. Remember, I am pro healthcare for all, just trying to understand. There are a not insignificant number of people with ACA plans where the deductible is set at $4000-$6000. That doesn't make sense. That's basically catastrophic insurance, but it's going to expose families to either financial ruin or not seeking urgent care that could be life saving in that $1000-$3000 range (because it would all end up out of pocket), which covers quite a bit of threatening eventualities. Another issue being addressed is transparency. When possible, you should be able to keep your own doctor from previous plans. You especially should be told the cost for any test or procedure at 3-4 competing health centers and hospitals so you can make a determination of quality vs. cost, and the hospitals should be forced to compete with each other on pricing...rather than just dumping a completely unexpected bill on a patient when it's too late for them to make an informed decision.