lostfan

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 7, 2010 -> 06:34 PM) The reports of his arrest may have been incorrect. That's what I get for linking Huffington Post. This type of s*** always happens when the Pakistanis arrest somebody, 2 or 3 times it's the wrong guy before they eventually get arrested.

The Islamic Traitor Enemy Within Administration's cancelling of the war on terror results in the arrest of Adam Gadahn - I'd say this qualifies as a pretty big deal, the guy was charged with treason http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/07/a...q_n_489124.html Someone please muzzle Liz Cheney.

lol did I read the above post right? Sick of Derrick Rose because he doesn't rebound? Really?

QUOTE (since56 @ Mar 7, 2010 -> 08:30 AM) For those of old enough to remember when the DH first started, it was a way to get the pichers bat out of the lineup. Instead of an automatic out in the 9th spot you put a 9th place hitter. As the homer era took over and aging stars could not play the field the trend toward a power hitter as Dh took over. But any bat you need is an option there. It also meant you could pinch hit that spot with out replacing your pitcher. If you have a great hitter for that spot fine, but if not use it for situational match ups. The situational matchups are all well and good if you have decent players in those matchups and not way past their prime/fringe MLB players.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 6, 2010 -> 10:48 PM) Where at Keith? Massanutten VA, but the thing I never knew about time shares is that you can trade your week (for a fee) for another time share virtually anywhere else.

I just bought a time share - does that officially make me a yuppie?

They should be able to get some fair prospects in this draft. The last couple of years have been pretty good for OL.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 6, 2010 -> 10:13 AM) Making a trade for a quarterback still on his rookie contract is not the same as dropping 120 million dollars on 3 players. Sure. they extended Cutler, but it is still a reasonable contract. And I am not saying the Bears /McCaskeys have been cheap, Im just saying I cant remember a time that they went out and acted like the Cowboys on the first day of FA signing. the only thing close I can remember is the Ted Washington/Robert Traylor offseason True, I can't either, but I also don't know of any time where the Bears had a player of Peppers' caliber come available at a position they had a hole on at the time. Maybe Alan Faneca, but he was well into the wrong side of 30 and the Bears already had a lot of old ass linemen that year (plus, Angelo is clueless with OL). They went after Archuleta and Randle El before Washington swooped in and paid them ridiculous money but those were just the best players available at the time, not top-tier players, plus they (stupidly) traded for Archuleta anyway.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Mar 6, 2010 -> 06:06 AM) The best way to get success in the NFL though is to build through the draft and not overspend in FA. This off-season the Bears can afford to do that because it's an uncapped year, so they can give out contracts with so much up front money and guarantees etc., but if you look at the successful teams over the past 10 years etc. the majority of their talent has come through the draft. Obviously you brought up Dan Snyder Lostfan, and the Redskins are a perfect example of why you shouldn't overspend in FA. Jerry Jones used to be like that also, but he finally figured out that developing your own talent to fit your systems is the best way to go about it. Yeah, the bolded part is why the Bears have been failing, not because of what they do in FA. I just brought up Jones because everybody knows he has a s***-ton of cash, not necessarily that he spends it. At the end of the day everybody has the same salary cap (in the past I mean, not in the uncapped year coming obviously)

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 5, 2010 -> 07:19 PM) Honestly, the Bears should've been in on Boldin. Given the needs of the Bears starting WR > Backup RB. They should've traded for him IMHO. Overall, if you're a Bears fan, you have to be happy. I just think they should've concentrated more on skilled offense. Upgrading at WR would be nice especially another tall one) but it really isn't something that's a critical need. The need for depth, or, well, non-s***ty players in general on OL far outweighs that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 5, 2010 -> 01:03 PM) You know, if all of this winds up going down, it's only going to take a few months again for people to start complaining about how cheap the Bears are. They signed him and I bet come next year in FA when the Bears inevitably pass on someone the fans want, they will still say this.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 5, 2010 -> 02:55 PM) I cant remember a time the Bears got out the company credit card like this Last year. Hi, my name is Jay Cutler.

Why do some of you guys keep up this "McCaskeys are cheap" meme? Really that hasn't been true since about the 80s, maybe early 90s. Fact is Mike doesn't do much, if anything, regarding management, and Virginia doesn't do anything at all except collect dividend checks. In the last decade or so where Phillips has been running the team and Angelo has been GM, they haven't been known as bank-breakers like Jones or Snyder, but that doesn't mean anything especially seeing as how the Bears don't pull in as much revenue as those teams (and, really, Snyder is not the example you want to compare yourself to). Other than that they pretty much run the team like any other NFL team does, i.e., a business. No, the Bears don't usually go out and go after the top of the FA list every year and spend big money but how many times has there been a big name available, where the Bears had the cap space, and there was a clear position of need that management wanted to fill at the time (I will give you OL, but this is more because of a fundamental mistake on Angelo's part than a lack of willingness to spend money)? How many other teams actually do this? It's not a good way to run a team and you get saddled down with big contracts you can't get rid of. Where there has been an opportunity/need to spend money and the Bears have it, they do... see some of the FAs they've given healthy contracts to (Muhammad, Tait, Miller, Clark), also see all the massive extensions they give to guys like Urlacher, Kreutz, Harris, Briggs (not an extension but that's just a means to an end), Tillman, Vasher, Hester, Cutler... actually I thought trading for Cutler at great cost and risk to the franchise, and subsequently extending him, would've put that idea to rest for a while since it directly contradicts that statement, but I guess not. Also if I recall correctly they ate some of Benson's contract, and probably Darwin Walker's too. Sometimes they even get very close to the cap because they like to pay out their bonus money early in the deal so they can cut players later if they want to - if I'm wrong on the Benson/Walker statement this is probably why. I realize that me saying this isn't really going to have any effect, and I also realize that the signing of Peppers, like the trade for Cutler, won't change the fact that people will continue to blurt out "the Bears are cheap" when it doesn't have much basis in fact next year, as if these things never happened. I'm not really defending Bears management here, there are plenty of reasons to criticize them and there have been some bad decisions made, but not because they've passed up numerous opportunities to immediately make the Bears better and just chose not to because of the price tag.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 5, 2010 -> 12:23 PM) Newest outrage: OMG Obama is only giving the troops a "1.4% pay increase for active duty military in 2011. This is THE LOWEST SINCE 1973!" (psssttt.... because of the economy, I didnt get ANY pay raise!) Someone posted this on my Facebook page, I give the same kind of response I always give... I am willing to bet that the majority of people who post and re-post this message also criticize Obama's spending and the deficit (even though he is only partially responsible for it and they don't acknowledge that it's mostly caused by policies they supported in the past). So I tell them that even during the recession defense is, by far, the biggest part of the federal budget (after Social Security and Medicare which don't count, at least they have their own tax). The government is broke, where is the money coming from? It's just like when people lament how much money teachers and cops make. Okay... so are you willing to pay more taxes? No? Ok, that's the end of that conversation, I guess. I guess we could generate revenue by cutting more taxes though since that makes a whole lot of logical sense. Even though what actually happens is people with money buy bonds to finance their tax cuts, and then people wonder why the economy doesn't grow and suggest cutting more taxes, to make the deficit even bigger! No but it's Obama's fault.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 5, 2010 -> 04:09 PM) There are few topics where I see such extreme craziness in political discussions, as I do about unions. Everyone seems to either see them as the great savior of the working class, or some sort of mafia out to steal money from companies. Both sides are truly ridiculous. I don't know that this is completely true. I mean, GoSox and people like him seem to have a more favorable view of unions and the idea of them than most people, but I've never seen people saying they are the "great savior of the working class." I think much more often than not they just want to recognize that the labor movement earlier in the 20th century had a positive effect on the rise of the middle class and everything after that is counter-rhetoric from the "unions are the worst thing ever" polemic. In the end it gets represented as 2 sides that are equally extreme, whether one side is valid or not, just like everything else having to do with politics in this country.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Mar 4, 2010 -> 10:01 PM) And what are they trying to do now? Jesus, wake up. But, yes, lf, just dismiss it as a meaningless post. You have to remember that I (and basically everyone else here) don't categorically accept your view of the world as some kind of absolute truth - you say "Jesus, wake up" and I yawn. I know what I know, I trust who I trust, I dismiss who I dismiss. Just like you. It doesn't work in reverse, either, if I did the same thing without explanation and expected you to accept it you'd roll your eyes.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 4, 2010 -> 08:40 PM) Welcome to 2001 to 2009. The Democrats try this but they don't do it anywhere near as effectively as the Republicans, the GOP is basically a well-oiled machine and has been doing this for a couple of decades now whereas the Democrats still are what they are. Actually on policies and general politics and such the Democrats haven't changed much at all since the 60s, and socialism never got into the mainstream left in the United States like it did in Europe

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Mar 4, 2010 -> 04:44 PM) Not to sound like a polemic, but in my opinion - the crazies have run that asylum for a while now. In the meantime, I'm looking at my state which just elected a Republican governor. He froze state aid to schools, NJ Transit subsidies and took over budget procedures with an executive order that may or may not even be legal. The media (which believe it or not is largely GOP in the state itself - Gannett Newspapers and the largest radio station in the state) is all over themselves in a honeymoon and people are approving of his measures. Because what isn't being reported is this. Within 6 days, he announced that there would be a business tax increase this year. Within 3 weeks, he froze state aid to school districts which will result in local property tax hikes next year. (But it doesn't violate his no new taxes pledge because those taxes will be local and not state) He also froze a transit subsidy which means that the transit authority will lose out on matching federal funds and balloons the authority's deficit. Tomorrow they are expected to announce service cuts and fare increases of up to 30%. In a transit heavy state, this is basically a tax to anyone without a car or who commutes into New York City (read: almost half the damn state). He cut unemployment benefits. Again, the cut loses out on federal matching funds, so a $25 deduction in benefits from the State of New Jersey = a $50 deduction in benefits in your weekly unemployment insurance benefit. And then, because this will somehow improve the state budget.... he let a temporary tax increase on people making 400,000 dollars a year or more expire early - expanding his budget hole next year to 11 billion dollars. And yet, nobody seems concerned. Funny how that works/ Have you ever read the book The Big Con? He basically says the bolded in the book. The book is not an attack on conservatism but he talks about how the party's been hijacked by hucksters and BS artists, how they always seem to manage to escape accountability, why they can get away with strict party discipline and the Democrats can't, etc.

I'm getting pretty tired of hearing about socialism. It's really irritating how the right always sets the terms of the debate (whatever it is) basically by screeching really loud enough times until people believe it's true, which is a part of a larger strategy to make whatever they're advocating at the time seem like it's the "standard" or that they can claim that they speak for the "majority of Americans" when, honestly, most of the public doesn't actually pay attention to public policy like that outside of a vague understanding that "Congress is debating healthcare" or "tax cuts" or things like "the national debt."

Sometimes I get bored and read politicians' Facebook pages to see if any smart people are talking. I went on Mike Pence's page today and the answer is clearly no. Here is why: "Good morning Mike! I have a question....if the Dems actually use the reconciliation process to pass this healthcare bill that is directly AGAINST the "will of the people", isn't that a direct violation of the Constitution since they are "required to govern according TO the will of the people"? Wouldn't that be a justifiable reason for impeachment?" I mean, really, I'm not sure where to start. Opposing the healthcare bill is one thing. Making it clear you've never seen the actual Constitution and don't know what a representative democracy, federal republic, or an election is is quite another.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 2, 2010 -> 06:02 PM) Could you loan me that? It might help me measure dimensions to build a high horse that’s as large as yours. this response was pretty brilliant. that is all.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 1, 2010 -> 10:10 PM) http://mashable.com/2010/02/17/facebook-unseats-yahoo/ Facebook overtakes Yahoo for #2 in most visited internet site. Google = #1 I blame it on Yahoo's new homepage. That thing is a clusterf***. Yahoo is even worse than Facebook with the unnecessary changes.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Mar 2, 2010 -> 09:26 AM) And ACORN has done a lot of good for the working poor in urban areas, no matter what anyone else has said. I got registered to vote thru ACORN originally. And yes, only one time. I was actually pretty bewildered at all the stories people started making up in '08, everything since then is basically completely manufactured.

You know something Balta, that's never going to make it in the information loop, the other version has already been accepted as fact before the fact was even established. It's pissing into the wind.

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Mar 1, 2010 -> 02:34 PM) Anyone rooting for Daniel Cabrera to get his head straight and develop some control and at least have a decent ST? I am. I completely forgot he was on the team.