CentralChamps21

Signing a 40 year old right handed DH, albeit one who was really good at age 39, only makes sense if the Sox sign Bauer or make a deal for another 1/2 type starter to be all in for this year.

I think he's getting paid in Goose Island products.

A pardon means that you're determined to not be guilty, so it's essentially like being charged but found not guilty, so I would imagine that wouldn't eliminate your right to possess a gun. A commutation means that you're still guilty with a conviction on your record, but your sentence is reduced to time served, but he hasn't been convicted yet so I don't think he's eligible for commutation.

They care about the length of the game because the people who think it isn't too slow and boring are older. Younger people aren't watching baseball nearly as much. If I didn't have a dad that was a huge Sox fan, I doubt I would have ever started watching baseball. Even when I do, I'm on my phone texting friends, checking Facebook, etc., during the game in a way that I don't do watching football. Also, I'll watch several college and NFL football games in a weekend that don't involve my favorite teams. Outside of the World Series, I've never watched a game that didn't involve the Sox. That said, I don't know how to shorten games without doing weird stuff, like shortening games to 8 innings, making foul balls strike three, or limiting the number of times a pitcher can throw to first.

This is a perfect example of the intelligence level of people who think the election got stolen from Trump.

Tampering with erection is definitely a serious crime.

OK, no idea why I had the wrong number in my head.

We still need someone to come off the 40 to make this official, right?

I would make a terrible Senator because I couldn't get through a floor speech without mocking him at least a little bit and I'm sure that would get me thrown out.

Yes, loan forgiveness under the umbrella of urban poverty elimination would be great. The cost would probably be in the trillions. I'm not going to say state and local governments have been blameless in fighting poverty, but the amount of investment needed is far, far above what state and local governments can provide. Get corporate America involved too. When the Democrats roll back the tax breaks Trump gave them, allow them to gain some of it back by being partners in the program. I haven't seen any elected officials proposing anything at the level I'm suggesting. It doesn't get votes because it takes a generation to see real results and politicians only support things that produce results quickly so they can get re-elected. I'm hoping the COVID relief bills have greased the skids because we've approved $trillion+ packages.

We need something that fixes the problem long term. In the most impoverished communities, we need resources that care for, educate, and guide kids from birth through high school graduation. Jobs for their parents, child care so they can go to those jobs, world class schools and teachers, mentors who help and guide kids outside of school hours, and some kind of community-law enforcement partnership that keeps bad influences away from kids. Basically everything that kids in Lake Forest, Hinsdale, and Munster get without needing the government to provide it. Create real opportunity for kids to graduate from high school and become productive members of society who don't drain the criminal justice system because they're committing fewer crimes, don't drain the healthcare system because they're not on drugs, and actually contributing money to the government by being taxpaying job holders. It will take a couple generations, but poverty starts to decline dramatically. It's essentially reparations, paid out in a very unsexy way. A second level to this would be to build HBCUs (well, if they're new they're not historical so I guess BCUs) in large cities in states that don't already have them. In the short term, help reduce drug dependency by offering treatment as an alternative to prison, flood poor neighborhoods with jobs, and provide GED/community college opportunities to adults, but these fixes become too costly in the long term if the ideas above aren't implemented to reduce the number of kids that are becoming a burden as adults. This really ought to be a much, much higher priority than forgiving student loans, but college grads in their 20s are a demographic that is both liberal and has low voter turnout so pandering will take priority over real solutions.

I don't need anything that impacts me directly. I need policies targeted at drastically reducing poverty, and I'm talking about long-term solutions and not just one-time handouts. Reducing poverty reduces crime, reduces the strain on the health care system, and adds taxpayers to the economy. I'm not sure I want to have kids and raise them in the US if something tangible isn't done about poverty. I can't go a week without reading a story about a teenager caught with a stolen vehicle. Kids in the worst communities need better schools, teachers, child care/mentoring, and job opportunities for their parents, so that they see paths forward other than stealing cars.

We could easily go from the ongoing NBA/NHL seasons through the next NFL season and have only 1 of 5 teams make the postseason when combined, 46% of teams in all leagues make the postseason. That's pathetic. Maybe 2 if the Bears back in again.

So what does everybody think: Will the insurrectionists actually take on the huge military/law enforcement presence in DC or will they back down?

I keep saying they need to have Biden and Harris in separate cities to be sworn in, just in case something does happen.

Is there a "critical mass" of House Republicans voting for impeachment that gives Senators enough cover to vote to convict?

Being a part of Maryland instead of their own state is not being marginalized. It's fair.

Increasing the size of the House to 1000 helps with both of those, and IMO it's worth trading DC statehood to get it if that's what it takes. What the people of DC really deserve is representation and they get that be becoming part of Maryland.

Yeah but Mendick can't hit. I'm looking for someone who wouldn't be a black hole in the lineup if Anderson goes on the DL.

Playing college teams would probably reduce the need for a better O-line, though.

PR statehood isn't rigging things. They're a territory of sufficient size and if they want to become a state they should regardless of how it plays out politically. If PR were predominantly Republican I'd feel the same way. I think DC is more of a pure power grab and that's why I'm against it. Expanding the size of the House significantly is way past due and while it may benefit Democrats initially, in the long term is creates more moderate districts and reduces the influence of money in any individual district and I think that's a win for everybody.

Making PR a state and expanding the house to 1000 already does plenty to tip the balance, plus adding the balance of DC to Maryland still adds a very blue seat to the House. Give up the statehood to grease the skids on the other things. It's still a huge win for fairness.

If the Democrats are going to get one bite at a filibuster-proof bill in the first year, this is what it should be: 1) Expanding the size of the House of Representatives to 1000, beginning on January 3, 2025 2) Statehood for Puerto Rico 3) Shrink the size of the District of Columbia to the area bounded by K St NW/NE, 11th St NE/SE, the Anacostia River and the Potomac River, and retrocede the rest to Maryland. I don't like the idea of the core of DC not being under Federal Control, and making a state and giving 2 Senators out of an area as small as DC is a blatant power grab and the Democrats need to be better than that.

Can either of them play SS though? It makes it a lot easier to have them both on the roster. I guess if you are OK with Leury at SS then it matters less.