caulfield12

Why is Trump meeting with Steve Harvey? He has time for that, but not intelligence briefings? https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-ceo-meeti...-075711066.html More Trump ethics/conflict of interest concerns....this time weighing in as the deciding factor and "dealmaker" with large multinational mergers and acquisitions

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/matt-garza-se...-161115262.html Matt Garza might have just put himself on Trump's radar for a job. Also some great suggestions every hospital in America greets you with Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" when you come in to register for TrumpCare.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 13, 2017 -> 12:38 PM) Isn't that true for almost every issue in government? If both sides were willing to listen to each other and compromise and ignore the lobbyists who control them, then we probably could get some great laws put together. http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/13/health/obama...-aca/index.html Let's call Obamacare a C, the premise of the article. Why can't it be improved to at least a B? Older, more traditional family practice doctors who trend conservative and want more time with their patients dislike it. The younger generation of doctors under 40 or 45 is much more willing to acknowledge the ends justify the means for coming up with a program much closer to universal coverage. And if we go back to a system where 1 in 7 or even 1 in 6 Americans is without insurance, premiums will continue to rise on those who can afford to pay. Pre-existing condition patients will be screwed because no insurance company wants the added pool risk. The overall cost or negative externalities cost to society will be much higher because preventive care will be thrown out the window for so many poor people...and the system will continue to be reactive rather than proactive. Unless we are comfortable allowing millions of people to die due to purely economic reasons, what does it say that those Congressman want nothing to do with helping their fellow Americans have the same standard of care they're privileged to enjoy as elected representatives subsidized by OUR tax dollars? In the end, the system will leave the poor more vulnerable (again) and the rest of America paying even more until costs are controlled (See Big Pharma and the insurance lobby.) But Donald Trump made some vague promise about drug companies and competitive bidding, so surely they've got it under control 100%.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 13, 2017 -> 11:22 AM) Who is this Brian Bilek clown? The guard on Prison Break?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/13/health/obama...-aca/index.html What doctors really think about ObamaCare...

BIG 10 looks wide open...but definitely no dominant teams. Except for Rutgers, you have pretty good depth, but not much in terms of high quality. You've got a top tier of Wisconsin, Michigan St., MSU, Minnesota (for now) and Purdue. And Purdue has been pretty disappointing recently. Iowa really should be 4-1 in the conference (NUMEROUS chances to win at Nebraska but they're still last in conference RPI, 119th before the game tonight). Starting four freshman, just wish they had one more year with Jok to gel together but he's graduating, unfortunately. Then you have NW, Illinois and Nebraska all roughly in the same neighborhood (could be in, could be out). Finally, Indiana's strange season...along with major disappointments in Columbus and Ann Arbor.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 09:13 PM) That could help get my attention. Does Guerrero even profile as having the athleticism to play a corner outfield spot? His father was an excellent defender the first half of his career with one of the Top 3-5 throwing arms on most scouts' historical records. Isn't this Guerrero going to be a 1B? Unless you can play a position well (defensively), his upside seems fairly limited despite the bloodlines. Fwiw, I saw a cousin of his play for the M's (Clinton Lumber Kings) a couple of years ago and the whole family tends to have that long/rangy athletic frame, but none of the explosiveness of Vladimir as a youngster.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/12/opinions/int...dley/index.html Ex-spy who wrote intel memos is a pro FAKE NEWS ALERT 16. Chaffetz has investigated security breaches by the U.S. Secret Service such as White House intruders. In retaliation, the agency leaked that he applied for and did not receive a job with them in 2003. “It’s a little bit scary. The Secret Service diving into my background as a sitting member of Congress?” Chaffetz told CNN on Thursday. “It’s not about me, but it is about: What are they doing over there? These people are trusted with guns by the president for goodness’ sake.” He was a placekicker for BYU, is Mormon, controls his Twitter feed 100% personally, sleeps in a cot in his office quite freqently and enjoys Modern Family. GREAT GUY!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/a-problem-for-se...-232024580.html Senators hesitating on blocking Trump cabinet appointments because the alternatives might be even worse (see Bolton/Giuliani)

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 05:43 PM) Fyi, I'm not advocating they trade him now just that we might be looking at the best offers now. Hopefully July brings us some surprise contenders if they end up not trading him now. Granted all the teams can't put together a competitive enough offer to trade for him. Ideally, Yankees are playing well going into July. Just a couple of things....pitchers like Archer, Gray, Verlander (especially if Tigers eat contract partially) might become more attractive as the season goes on. Greinke as well, depending on the financial terms/subsidies. Will in general agree that Duffy/Kennedy (not a great contract, but not horrible either)/Ventura are unlikely to go anywhere unless the Royals are well below .500 and one or two of those guys is lighting it up. Ventura's at the point though, like Rodon this year, where it's close to he "is what he is" if he has yet another inconsistent/erratic season. Plus he's got the make-up/temperament baggage that other teams aren't going to want to deal with. Change of scenery candidate though, etc. But just in our division, you've got most of the Tigers' staff (starting with Zimmerman/Verlander) and the entire Twins' veteran staff (Santana/Santiago/Hughes/Gibson). There's the POTENTIAL FOR A LOT OF OPTIONS TO BE ON THE MARKET, COMPARED TO NOW. Even a veteran rental pitcher like a Jason Vargas or Ryan Vogelsong becomes a possibility for teams not willing to dump 3 top prospects onto the White Sox at mid-season. Not to put them over the top, but just to get them across the finish line to the post-season. FINALLY, IF the White Sox don't field a quality defensive outfield, Q's peripherals are going to be affected to an extent, although obviously there are advanced defensive metrics to mitigate that somewhat. Obviously his W/L record is going to be pretty abysmal, but it's hard to argue that he could possibly UP his value unless he just kicks it into another gear and shows the ability to have a low to mid 2's ERA (which is pretty darned unlikely).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-nemesis-ro...-174454134.html Rosie O'Donnell pulls a Greg, asks for martial law to be declared until Trump is cleared of Russian charges/allegations.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/repealing-ob...-131500075.html Repealing ObamaCare taxes gives the superwealthy back an average of $7 million per year.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/16/travel/world...ions/index.html The closest comparisons are probably going to be Canada and Australia. On the other hand, after you get past China and India wth superpopulations....is it entirely fair or realistic to compare the US to developing countries like the Philippines, Brazil or Indonesia? A better way to put this is like comparing the US with the EU as a whole. Are there individual US states that are happier than Norway/Sweden/Finland/Denmark...not to mention Switzerland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany? Wouldn't California, Oregon and Washington State end up in comparatively the same area? Florida? Colorado? Massachusetts? Arizona? Minnesota? Some of those states have pretty diverse populations, yes? I pulled up a couple of articles where you have Hawaii (very diverse), Alaska (white and Native American/Eskimo), Montana (white), Colorado (diverse) and Wyoming (white). Another similar survey has it Utah (more diverse than most think, but there is the religious divide), Minnesota (increasingly diverse), North Dakota, Hawaii, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and CA. A lot of mostly white states on that list as well, right? https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-states/6959/ Basically, you should live in Hawaii/Colorado/MN/CA....or an almost all-white state, according to these two surveys. Not very different from looking at countries in the EU as being comparable to states. Or even NYC, Boston, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego, LA, etc., as being similarly attractive. With some of the states, it's tax policy...individual states or property taxes. Other areas seem to be more associated with freedom/anti-government feeling as well as natural beauty and much less diversity in local populations.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 12, 2017 -> 07:54 AM) There are two significant differences in the medical system between the US and countries like Sweden. The first is the medical malpractice. The US uses a tort system with all of the litigation as we know it. It is very costly and dramatically raises malpractice insurance thus raises healthcare costs. The "no tort" version in Sweden is much less costly and more efficient but also severely limits the patient's options for getting compensation for medical malpractice. This leads to the second difference. The regulations for medical practice are much more strict with the FDA in the US as opposed to the other countries. So what you see in essence is that the other countries are using medical and pharmaceutical practices there that aren't approved here. If that new techniques doesn't work there, they have limited compensation. If the same thing was tried here, it would be in litigation for years. So what happens is that the new techniques are tried there, they work out the bugs in the technique, without the cost of litigation, and they are perfected here. This is why the people in those countries who can afford it come to the US for the surgeries because they aren't experimental here. I still think the protections provided huge multinational drug companies like Mylan with the Epipen patent are surely not in the best interests of the public. If you can prove xx amount of research and development dollars has gone into a new cutting-edge drug that changes the world, fine. There have to be incentives for private companies to innovate and be protected. Capitalism and all. On the other hand are drugs or treatments like the example above...or the Martin Shkreli case, where enough is enough. There has to be a balancing. Just like consumer protection agencies determine a "fair and reasonable" amount of interest on credit cards versus usury rates. There has to be some type of compromise in the middle where consumers are protected as well as shareholders.

Because they have consistently higher math and science scores than US students. They prioritize education. They don't accept teachers for certification programs who aren't in the top ten percent of their classes. They pay those teachers an upper middle class salary so they don't have to work two jobs or teach summer school. Second, how can the greatest country in the world with the best doctors, medical schools and modern technology/equipment have such poor outcomes? In those countries, the pharmaceutical and insurance companies don't overrun the system and blow up costs. Heck, even in Canada, Mexico or Cuba the same drugs are 10-15% of the cost for the same drug in America. How is that logical? How can we be back to aspiring to be a country where only the rich and upper medical class have access to quality health care under the GOP? How is our prison system logical, compared to that of Norway? http://www.businessinsider.com/why-norways...cessful-2014-12 Read this article or refer to Michael Moore's Where Do We Invade Next? Can you argue that our education, health care and prison systems are better in any measureable way than those countries? A final argument. Those countries (along with Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, etc.) always end up higher on "happiness/living standards" surveys. How do you explain why this has consistently been the case for a couple of decades DESPITE the winter weather that citizens from that region of the world have to suffer through for 5-6 months every year? Or just use your eyes. People there participate in sports year round...even in the winter. Much better physical conditioning. It's that Nordic look that was the Aryan model so desired by the Nazis/Hitler. Of course, aesthetics is always going to be subjective...but most people in Middle America could learn a thing or two from the diets and nutrition regimens of people from lots of areas outside the US.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/11/opinions/tru...nley/index.html Trump Nailed It (press conference analysis)

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/polit...WT.nav=top-news How a Sensational, Unverified Dossier Became a Crisis for Donald Trump

How is it helpful to have a late inning/high leverage reliever with control problems? Seems the main reason you see guys get converted to the pen is their repertoire is limited and/or they can't get their secondary stuff over for strikes/K's. Another obvious reason is they have a dominant fastball with movement (see someone like Mike MacDougal.) Not sure how conversion to relief will "fix" Glasnow, especially if the problems are mechanical more than psychological.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 11, 2017 -> 10:51 PM) Look, my position on Trump is clear. I did not vote for him. BUT I did not vote for Hillary. I feel she is just as bad as Trump, yes I do. My other statement is if they can find something REAL to impeach him on, by all means do so. I am not in favor of Pence replacing him. I am in favor of Obama remaining president a year (if Trump did something illegal with the Russians and Pence is on the same ticket so he can't take over) and an emergency election next November if Trump is kicked out of office. You say the logical succession would apply here and Pence has to be President. I say IF Trump is guilty of something, this is unprecedented, hence Congress should be able to concoct my scenario in a national emergency. This isn't the Revolutionary War. What is the "national emergency?" Lack of faith in government and elections? Well, that's been the case since 1968 and definitely since Watergate. We can't just change the US Constitution (in this case, an amendment) and allow Obama to stay on another year. We also can't change the fact that they would have to PROVE Mike Pence was involved in SOMETHING REAL (in other words, colluded or was part of a conspiracy with Russia) and that would make Paul Ryan of Wisconsin the president. In terms of impeachment, we do have Clinton, Nixon (if not for preemptive resignation), Andrew Johnson...but that's IT. John Tyler came awfully close. 2/45 works out to be about 4.4%. None have been ultimately successful. The House impeached Johnson on February 24, 1868, three days after he dumped his secretary of war, a radical Republican named Edwin M. Stanton, allegedly in violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The U.S. Senate acquitted Johnson later that year by a narrow margin. Johnson was spared conviction and ouster from office by a single vote. See JFK book "PROFILES IN COURAGE" for more details, Greg. Why Impeachment Isn't More Common Impeachment is a very somber process in American politics, one that has been used sparingly and with the knowledge that lawmakers enter it with an extraordinary burden of proof. The result, the removal of an American president chosen by the citizenry, is unprecedented. Only the most serious of offenses should ever be pursued under mechanisms for impeaching a president, and they are spelled out in the Constitution of the United States: "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

What was the statistic, after FDR, and the Clinton/Reagan years....Obama's eight years have seen the most job growth/creation in the last 100 or so years? There's no doubt the lower middle class has been hollowed out (even more), but to say Republicans weren't generally happy with the economy under Obama, or that their retirement/investments decreased, would be borderline nutty. Now, of course there are those pockets of workers in Iowa, WI, MI, OH, PA...who aren't so happy, but that's just part of the process that started LONG AGO under Reagan/Bush and is finally winding down in terms of those manufacturing/industrialized blue collar or labor jobs being outsourced to other countries. Without globalization, those same families who voted for Trump would be paying 25-50% more for their I-phones and typical Wal-Mart purchases. In turn, as those developing economies that are taking on the burden of manufacturing improve their economic efficiency, they end up becoming consumers for value-added products from the US, Europe, SE Asia, etc. Theoretically.

#FAKENEWSHASINFECTEDSOXTALK

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 11, 2017 -> 09:31 PM) Um...I have a different and fairly obvious alternate theory about why the FBI might not have been investigating Donald Trump... Well, let's wait and see how many of the top FBI echelon maintain their positions...that should be telling. Interestingly, the new season of HOMELAND is based on the "presidential transition" between election and inauguration, but their hypothetical example has an isolationist/negotiations over "boots on ground" (think female Rand Paul) as President-Elect. Deals with the issue of the CIA and NSA trying to maintain their own clandestine/black ops in the face of a soon-to-be oppositional leadership on foreign policy.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 11, 2017 -> 09:35 PM) Anywho, a BBC reporter wrote this today seemingly attaching a bit more credibility? What's the Eastern European version of Interpol? Or that means a "spy shop" working out of an autonomous Eastern European nation? I would think the Baltic States, in particular, would be interested in anything they can dredge up on Russia, Trump and/or their connection/s.

If you're the Braves, and your scouting is on point, aren't you thinking that giving all those prospects at least another year to "percolate" will give you even more weapons in your arsenal to trade from a year from now? Especially when there will more trade options on the table, as well as FA's available to use as leverage in trade negotiations? Is Q that compelling (compared to Archer/Gray) that you can't wait until at least mid-season and most likely into the off-season? The only reason for the "rush" is the belief that all those teams like the Astros, Pirates, Yankees, Rockies, Dodgers, etc., aren't willing to pay Hahn's price...and that a "slight overpay" (but not the Shelby Miller equivalent) would be warranted because of Quintana's more flexible contract for a "mid market" payroll team like ATL? STILL, in the first year of a new stadium, would the Braves winning 78 games vs. 68 games even make much of a difference financially? You can at least understand the argument (especially going by Hawks/Falcons/past Braves' attendance) that there's a NOT insignificant amount of pressure to be competitive for the second year in the new stadium...but why NOW?

This begs the question why the FBI, at the behest of the Obama administration, didn't begin a more formal investigation of Trump a long time ago? One would guess that it's because nobody took seriously how much of a threat Trump was to actually win the election. If Hillary hadn't been "leading" for much of the 18 months prior to November, one wonders if they would have taken a different (albeit more political) approach. https://www.yahoo.com/news/marco-rubio-gril...-174525761.html The scariest part of this whole article is that Dr. Ben Carson and especially Jeff Sessions are in the "top half" in terms of the future Cabinet popularity ratings. Tillerson at the bottom, unsurprisingly. Of course, it's almost human nature for Americans to consider military leaders to be more likable than typical Wall Street/finance/banking figures in the last 10-15 years.