Soxbadger

Im not sure why anyone ever has optimism for the Bears.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Mar 8, 2017 -> 10:18 PM) Just throwing this out there... years ago my company turned him down for a $40k loan request because his business credit was so bad. There was also a time when no American bank would lend him $. He was "black-balled" industry wide, forcing him to borrow from foreign banks, some of which are owned by their respective governments. Many of those loans are still outstanding and not paid in full. An interesting read is about Trump and Deutsche Bank.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 8, 2017 -> 09:47 PM) Haha i know i know but ignore that. What do you guys think about concierge medicine? Ignore the link if you want and just google it. Paying $50-$150/month for better care sounds great to me. I mean I pay $1500 every two months and that's about to go up when I add a new dependent shortly. I don't even go to the f***ing doctor, ever. The only catch is that you'd still need to carry insurance for catastrophic events. Not sure how to get only catastrophic coverage that doesn't suck and is cheap. BUT...Umbehr's argument on POTUS radio today was that if the country went totally concierge, and got insurance entirely out of routine healthcare, then prices for catastrophic insurance-only would plummet. Insurance companies would still be happy because they'd be making 100% profit on like 90% of policies, much like auto insurance, renters, home-owners etc. To me that's way closer to a free market answer. True competition, WAY better care. Then all the govt has to do is work with the states to fund medicaid. I mean the way we are headed with Obamacare or now GOPcare is implosion. Nobody is going to go to the doctor in 5-10 years except the rich & the poor. The majority are going to grt f***ed and then single payer appears as the nail in the coffin. The problem is, I dont think its possible. The big ticket items on insurance arent "Dr time" its tests, etc. A test that costs $1k, isnt going to be covered by insurance that costs $600. I mean there is no way to figure out where the fluff/padding comes in, but when it comes to insurance, there is one thing most people agree: the larger the pool, the more spread out the risk, the cheaper insurance should be. Now if Republican's didnt torpedo Obamacare, its possible that this could have been achieved. But when you have 2 parties who are working against each other and not in the best interest of the people, this is what happens. People just need to be honest, if what they want is cheaper/better healthcare, the best answer is not to destroy the current system, but to improve it. Instead of hating on something cause the "other" side came up with it, take the opportunity to improve it. But if Trumpcare gets pushed through, Id expect that in either 2-4 years (depending on how quick people get their first "Trump" insurance) you will see a lot of people in congress who voted for it no longer having positions in the govt.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 8, 2017 -> 06:32 PM) I just heard this doctor on the radio. Seems like a genius. At least the premise of his model seems smart to me. This is an old article but it still sums up his idea more or less. What are some of your thoughts on it? https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/2013/0...mine-obamacare/ He doesn't seem partisan. He's just one of the thousands of pissed doctors but it seems like he actually did something to help people get care. I read through it, the problem with his plan is as follows. You are charged $600 per year for "regular check ups", for many people those check ups are covered at 80-100% so they are actually paying less through their regular insurance. Even worse it is only for "regular check ups" it does not insure you against catastrophic illness or accident, which is what the real point of health insurance is. It doesnt include specialists etc. So as long as you dont ever break a bone, need a mri, need surgery etc, $600 per year covers you. But the second something actually "bad" happens, youll be personally on the hook for all the costs. That is ultimately what health insurance is "insuring" you against, a catastrophic health event that causes you to go personally bk. This Dr's plan would in no way prevent this.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 10:06 PM) Nice! Obamacare replaced with Obamacare. This is going to piss off the base big time. I don't see why Democrats are pissed at all- this is still going to be a hemorrhaging pile of govt waste. Now they don't have to be responsible. There's nothing bold about it. There's nothing republican about it. Quit trying to rush this s***. Back to the drawing board, take your time & get it right. Lets be fair. Its a more expensive worse version of Obamacare. That is why Democrats are pissed, because its going to be a disaster for everyone besides for people like Trump. And last I checked, Republican's voted in Trump. There is no difference between Trumpism and Republican's. Conservatism is dead. Trumpism, which can be defined as supporting anything that helps Donald Trump personally, is now what the Republican party is about.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 02:51 PM) Donald J. Trump ✔ ‎@realDonaldTrump 122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision! 6:04 AM - 7 Mar 2017 113 of the 122 were released by George W. Bush. Obama is George W. Bush. Trump is going to rip his mask off and then Bush will say "I would have gotten away with it too, if it werent for those meddling kids." Surprise twist, Trump is Scooby Doo.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 6, 2017 -> 03:56 PM) Of course he wouldn't have. But most are too lazy these days to actually spell out the detail of how those things work, and instead speak in short hand. In a case like this, anything done by the federal government during the previous eight years of the Presidency would be done by Obama. Starting January 20, anything done by the federal government is done by Trump... at least when you speak a large portion of the country. He called Obama a sad man, that implies Obama did it directly. Its entirely inaccurate and completely undermines how the United States system works. Its the equivalent of someone in criminal court telling the judge "Im being arrested because of Rauner/Rahm." If people arent willing to stand up to Trump and educate him on how the system, that he is currently the President of, works, then we dont deserve our freedom anymore. Its really that simple. (edit) SS2k, He may have been legitimately monitored. That is why he is framing this as "Obama" the "sad man" did it, so that any investigation's credibility is destroyed. He is hedging against a real criminal investigation.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 6, 2017 -> 03:48 PM) I definitely don't think the US spying on its own citizens is any sort of a leap of faith. President after President has does nothing but strengthen those powers and slowly but surely abuse them a little more with each passing term. Mix in any suspicious work with the Russians and you have a fairly easy and obvious reason to get a wiretap granted by the legal system. Ever wonder how these contacts with Russia became documented? Do you think it was random luck by our spy agencies? While the man is an obvious loon, in this case, I don't see it as a large stretch of imagination to see this happening. The real problem is that no one seems to understand how wiretap works. Even if Trump was under investigation, Obama couldnt have done it on his own.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 02:54 PM) Pass it to see what is in it? Monty, Ill take whats behind mystery door number 3!

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 2, 2017 -> 01:17 PM) Chicago people where are the good concerts coming up? What type of music?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 06:50 AM) This week I'm recovering from having about 4.5 inches wide and an inch high removed from my front right side, because I have melanoma (skin cancer). More fun! Stage 1- means it's beyond the first layer of the skin but not into the organs. Ok, that IS actually fun news. They're also removing my left earlobe. WHEEE. I'm going to utilize my wife's fancy health insurance and see a plastic surgeon. I already started behind the 8 ball handsomeness-wise, so removing an earlobe ain't gonna help. Anyway, fingers crossed they got the margins necessary with Monday's surgery. The moral of the story? This was caught during a routine skin exam with a dermatologist. I have fair skin and red hair so RED ALERT, but if you have the means, go ahead and schedule one as it could save your life. Good to hear it was caught early! My dad has gone through some similar stuff (red hair fair skin), but early detection is the most important!

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 01:49 PM) Day 2 sounds a lot less bad than it used to. They took him pretty high, he has shown competence, I don't think it's crazy to expect a 1st (especially after the Bradford trade) I dont know why people keep bringing up Bradford. Bradford and Garoppolo have noting in common besides for both being QBs. Garaoppolo's more like Matt Flynn than Bradford. Now Garoppolo may turn out to be a lot better than Flynn, but that is the type of risk the Bears would be taking if they trade for him. Not only giving up picks, but also having to sign him to an extension before getting to see him start for a full season. Its just not something I agree with.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Mar 1, 2017 -> 12:01 AM) Don't you naysayers at least LOVE the fact Trump is optimistic and a huge supporter of our great nation?? The man is an American through and through and doesn't apologize like some PC people always do. I mean isn't that SOMETHING to be optimistic about?? Don't you get sick of negativity all the time? p.s. I realize this is coming from a guy who is so so pessimistic about the Sox. I guess I need to work on that. Youre kidding right? His slogan is "Make America Great Again" he says that things are a disaster in every speech. He is the least optimistic person about the US that I can think of.

QUOTE (New Era on South Side @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 10:28 PM) Yep, how are we going to pay for it? How will they reduce the deficit? How did Ryan and McConnell just say it was a great speech and remain mum on how to pay for it? My direct question to him and his supporters would be, "even if the manufacturing jobs did come back, how would they withstand automation? Have you heard of automation and do you know what the impact is?" It is because of automation that I am going back to school for data science so that my job won't be automated in the future. They should consider these fair questions and even consider retraining or investing in green energy jobs, because the fossil fuel won't be around forever, just like the coal. Another problem of automation is going to be income taxes. Workers pay taxes, robots dont. That being said, I really just am not sure what I am witnessing. Have people become so tied to their "team" they dont even care when their "team" turns into something that doesnt resemble their beliefs? Its all just a joke. Paul Ryan is up there cheering like a school girl for more spending.

QUOTE (New Era on South Side @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 10:09 PM) Regardless of this being early in his presidency, the impression that I get is "all talk and no action." Prove yourself or shut up Mr. Populist. There is no way to do all of the things he promised, but since maybe 50% more are Democrat ideas, Im kind of confused as to what team I am supposed to be cheering for. I get that I dont want to pay more taxes, while I also want cheaper better healthcare, infrastructure improvements and cheaper/better child care. I just dont understand how we are going to pay for it.

Go figure, in the end Republican's killed conservatism. More govt spending, bigger federal govt, less states rights. RIP

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 02:09 PM) Apparently on a call today he was asked to respond and said that "it goes both ways". And nobody knew what that meant. Poop. It can go in and out of his mouth. He must have watched the South Park episode "Red Hot Catholic Love."

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 01:48 PM) If people die earlier, they don't need as much healthcare... you might be on to something. I never even considered that the best way to get rid of social security was to create a society where no one lives to 65.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2017 -> 01:39 PM) And they always will. It's fool proof. Everyone needs them. Not if we ruin the environment and teach people not to take medicine so that they get sick more! HAHAAA Trump's secret plan is finally revealing itself.

QUOTE (shipps @ Feb 27, 2017 -> 01:22 PM) This is a dumb question but are people allowed to livestream like an entire game on FB if they are at the park or is that against MLB rules? Who could stop you if you did? Are people doing this? Maybe we can watch the game if they are. Whoever owns the broadcast rights could try and stop them. I havent read a ticket in a while, but I assume that there is something that prohibits this.

The good news for most of us, is that Trump is so unprepared such a novice, that he keeps sinking himself. I didnt even know what a "gaggle" was before today, and I have to imagine that most others dont either. Whatever he said, was probably completely unimportant and having CNN, NYT whoever there would have done nothing to change his "supporters" opinions. But since he banned them, now he headlines are about the "ban" and its "outrageous" precedent. He doesnt even get why its helpful to his position to let CNN in. Who knows what happens, but he is clearly letting the "fight" with the media, get in the way of his agenda. So in a way, the media is winning.

Jenks, Exactly what I was thinking about, haha.

It will catch up to him. When you try and put something in a box, it just makes more people wonder whats in the box.

The problem is that either way they are depending on luck. If they keep Butler they need to get lucky and hit on a FA or guy later in the draft. If they trade Butler than they have to hit on a player who is at least as good as Butler.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 23, 2017 -> 03:29 PM) So was it both Nets picks that were on the table (I can't read twitter)? I think I said yesterday that to me fair value was Brown and the two Nets picks. The tweet claimed it was both Nets picks.