The Sir

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 08:25 AM) Congrats. Also what is a "butter bar stigma"? I made up that term, but the stigma still exists. A 2nd Lieutenant wears a gold bar as his rank, aka the "butter bar". And there's a definite stigma of "oh, he's an officer, yeah, but only a butter bar", sort of hinting that our inexperience makes us retarded or something. And while 1st Lieutenant is just an automatic promotion after 18 months, it pretty much erases that inexperienced stigma.

Promotion to 1st Lieutenant today. Nice little pay raise (especially when combined with the two year mark that I hit on the 29th), and I'll escape the "butter bar stigma". Woohoo!

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 07:45 AM) "Victims" of what exactly? Are you really claiming that 7 million people in this country are poor because they're victims and not because they've contributed to their own position in life? +1

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 19, 2011 -> 07:51 PM) Ozzie needs to go. He's totally mismanaged this inning. The most important thing managing in MLB is managing your pitching staff and this inning he has been about as poor as you can get. This is typical Ozzie.

I hate Ozzie.

There was almost a catfight in the stands for that bat...

None of you live in the damned desert. Quit yer b****in'!

I'm so tired of Rios. What a lazy swing that was. Dunn sucks, but at least he tries.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 05:38 PM) Most definitely. Yuck. That place f***ing stunk.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 11:56 AM) There are some amazing photos done of Gary in the same vein. When I was kid, we used to pass through Gary on roadtrips to the east coast all the time. It ranked as one of the foulest smelling places I've ever encountered, and it still does. I haven't been that way in 13 years, but is that still the case?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 06:23 AM) I take it you haven't visited modern day Detroit recently. It's all that and worse. Abandoned skyscrapers and all. To be totally honest, I'm just gonna assume every horrible thing I've ever heard about Detroit and avoid it entirely. This might sound weird, but the thing I find fascinating about cities like Chicago and New York is that they're sort of...umm...Gotham-esque. Those pictures of the South Bronx, and the horror stories I've heard about Cabrini Green and the Robert Taylor Homes, all that crap happened within mere miles of beautiful, wealthy downtown areas like Manhattan and the Mag Mile. I find pictures like this one really interesting, with this girl so close yet so far. But Detroit doesn't have any of that duality. The whole place just sucks.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 17, 2011 -> 12:52 PM) I thought it'd look like an impoverished hellhole with mediocre architecture and crumbling buildings and infrastructure. It looked like a modern city, I guess I kind of figured it would look like the pictures of the Cuban countryside that we see here (Cuba is a place I'd someday love to visit if things ever changed to the point where I could). I don't know how they got all those things with their borderline non-existent economy. I guess the trade with China helps them out a lot. The picture I had in my head of Tehran looked like a typical sterile medium-sized Middle Eastern city with no personality. It's not like that at all. Then I forget that Iran/Persia is thousands of years old and it's only been what it is now for slightly longer than I've been alive and before that it had a lot of Western influence. They basically have everything we have over there. Yeah, it is surprising that Pyongyang and Tehran don't look like run down s***holes. But at the same time, they still creep me out. Tehran might look nice, but with the underlying Islamic lunacy, I don't really have any plans to travel there. Also, Riyadh is definitely on my skip list, along with the rest of Saudi Arabia. I love to travel, and to weird places too, but Saudi Arabia just sounds horrible. Islamic fundamentalism isn't fun. A few Middle East cities that I really want to see are Jerusalem, Istanbul and Cairo. Me and my girlfriend have created a plan to take at least one foreign vacation a year, and Istanbul's high on that list. Cairo is somewhere I would like to go as well, and I believe it would be far from the "typical sterile Middle Eastern city with no personality", but in light of Arab Spring, I think I'm going to avoid it for a while. If you want to see another interesting set of pictures on Google Earth, go to the South Bronx and pick out some of the ones from the late eighties and early nineties (such as here, here and here). There are many more like these in that area from that time period. You expect that sort of scenery in Chechnya or Mogadishu, but in New York City? Only miles away from the riches of Manhattan? Freaky.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 17, 2011 -> 06:59 AM) I was checking out places like Tehran and Pyongyang. They look nothing at all like you probably think they look like. At least not for me. I don't know what kind of picture I had about Moscow in my head, but that city is really, really advanced, as much as NYC, Paris, or any Western city, or even Tokyo for that matter. I love to travel, maybe you should start a thread, that's a decent idea. Maybe it's because I know how horrible the life is there, but I think the pictures of Pyongyang look creepy as Hell. Where are all the f***ing people?!? It seems like every picture, except for the ones of the Subways which are oddly the nicest I've ever seen, are completely desolate. I've seen pictures of highways, and monuments, and palaces, and temples, and just random streets on nice, sunny days, where there simply aren't any people. Any place in the west, such areas of town would be full of people frolicking in the sun and enjoying life. But not there (and there are 3 million people who supposedly live there). And then you've got the unfinished Ryugyong Hotel looming over the city, seemingly reminding everyone what a crappy system they live under. I don't know what you thought that city looked like, but it's sort of as I expected. North Korea is different from say, Afghanistan, where they don't pave the roads, and they can't seem to build the buildings straight, and the people look obviously dirty and poor. North Korea seemingly tries to put on a semblance of normalcy, yet fails. It's not a dangerous place as far as I know. In fact, follow the rules and you're sure to be OK. It's more just an extreme version of Big Brother/1984. And try not to blue falcon (lostfan will know what this means) your obligatory guide.

I just want to say, Google Earth is the coolest thing ever. I used it a long time ago, but now, with the endless supply of pictures from anywhere in the world, it's even more incredible On a similar note, why doesn't this board have a dedicated travel thread?

Valverde fail.

4-0 Sox!

RBI for Gordon! 3-0 Sox.

Jackson's coming out to try to finish this one, regardless of runs scored here. Everyone agree?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 16, 2011 -> 10:38 AM) No, it was clearly sarcasm from SS as well. That surprises me. Leftists play the race card so much I don't see any sarcasm in it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 16, 2011 -> 10:34 AM) That was clearly sarcasm from him. It was sarcasm from Jenks, but not from Strange.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 16, 2011 -> 09:18 AM) tbh that's more reasonable than whatever real reason they're refusing to make a deal. You really think race has something to do with this? Wow. Jackson-Lee is completely insane (did you guys hear about Neil Armstrong going to Mars?), and as far as I'm concerned, one of the most despicable people in Congress. Just ask her staff. I don't oppose Jackson Lee or Obama because they're black. I oppose them because I believe their policies are terrible for America, and in Jackson Lee's case, she's just incredibly idiotic and mean spirited. Yet people like yourself will still pull the race card in order to delegitimize your adversaries. It's pitiful, and honestly, being called a racist by some leftist goon isn't even an insult anymore. Grow up, dude.

Too late. He GAWN!

QUOTE (SouthSideTeacher @ Jul 14, 2011 -> 10:43 PM) HOLY LORD. has anyone seen the deadspin video of the 2 girls arm-wrestling? I'm horrified. *I'm new to the board and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link it. Is this the one? I'm honestly disappointed. Except for hearing the snap, that wasn't all that gruesome.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 14, 2011 -> 08:27 AM) Because of the hypothetical scenario i came up with? First off, let me say, I don't believe Obama is a Muslim. I believe he's a horrible president for many reasons that I won't get into, but I do not believe he is a Muslim. I don't believe he was born in Kenya either, but I don't really mind people trying to put him through the vetting process. That said, I don't think I would ever vote for a Muslim. But not because of that alone, but because of the beliefs that would likely come with it. You find me a Muslim politician who is far right, supporting capitalism, American military might and exceptionalism, who loves Israel, and demands the annihilation of al-Qaeda around the globe, and supports the Constitution down to the very last word, etc etc...I'll give that guy the same consideration I give my political heroes such as Allen West, Rick Perry or Herman Cain. But do you really think such a guy exists? I don't.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 14, 2011 -> 08:22 AM) I'm curious how you would react if Obama started going to national prayer events held at mosques. Of course it would be on his free time and these would be privately funded events. For some reason, and I don't know why, I could imagine a huge uproar from you and most conservatives in this country. He's free to do it if its on his own free time and no tax dollars were funding it. My response would be to encourage everyone I know to vote against him and to vote against him myself. I wouldn't file a lawsuit to stop his private beliefs though. That would be the actual violation of the Constitution.