Balta1701

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ May 22, 2007 -> 12:49 PM) If you compare his 748 OPS, he'd be right in the middle of MLB CFers. Once again, not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. That would put him ahead of Andruw Jones, Damon, Taveras, Ryan Freel, Baldelli, Crisp, Cameron, Victorino, Lofton, Bautista, Pierre, Borchard, Patterson and Duffy. It's also possible that if you filter out the worst 43 at bats of those other guys, their OPS might improve also.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ May 22, 2007 -> 12:09 PM) Any info on the guy pitching for the A's besides that he was on the Drew Carey show. 1st round pick of Texas in the 1999 Draft (#38). 12-13 career MLB record, 6.76 ERA. Only seen 2 big league innings since 04; 2 innings pitched with Detroit last year. Usually puts up an ERA a little below 4.00 in the minors. Had shoulder surgery back in 04.

Kickass John.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ May 21, 2007 -> 09:51 PM) Having worked as a director @ Union Board @ Indiana University, let me tell you, that was the fee for a mid-level speaker of some notoriety. When we had Colin Powell or Elizabeth Dole, they were several times that fee for a single appearance.

That is a very surprisingly low price for a speaker of his level. Unbelievably low.

QUOTE(Texsox @ May 17, 2007 -> 10:59 AM) I thought with Social Security the problem has been that deductions alone are not paying for all the benefits and we've had to augment that with other tax revenue. I don't think it's Social Security has been a surplus and they are using it elsewhere. Social Security has been running a planned surplus since the early 80's and the Greenspan reforms. The design was to have Social Security take in more money for the 30 years from the mid 80's to the mid 10's so that when the baby boom hit retirement, Social Security would have extra money saved up. Social Security has therefore been running a surplus in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year for years now. The problem with that plan is that the Social Security Administration used that money to purchase government bonds...and the Congress treated the money coming in through those bond purchases as added tax revenue in the general fund. Therefore, the couple hundred billion Social Security surplus has been spent every single year. Without that revenue, the deficit would have been $200-$300 billion a year greater than what we've already seen it as. The problem is, those bonds are going to come due eventually when the Social Security system starts cashing them in. So either the government will be raising taxes again to pay for them, or it will decide to destroy the world's financial system and default on its debt. Al Gore's whole "Lockbox" thing was a proposal that the government should stop spending all the money in the Social Security surplus, so that the money would actually be available when the baby boomers retired, instead of constantly spending it as part of the general fund.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ May 17, 2007 -> 11:11 AM) If he keeps losing at such a ridiculous pace, do you think they'll actually keep him around for the entire season? Who do the Cardinals have right now who could replace him?

Do the Redskins have anything the Bears would want? Because they're quite desperate for anything resembling a pass rush.

There is no reason for him to come back to play in games he can't play in.

At least he got a hit before leaving.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ May 16, 2007 -> 04:38 PM) I hate the touchpad on the laptop. If I ever had to get a laptop, I'd have to get a mouse. I tried the touchpad for like a day or two when I first bought this thing. My hand hurt so much that I went out and bought a mouse.

QUOTE(Damen @ May 16, 2007 -> 01:29 PM) There's something bigger in that story, regarding the legality of the NSA program to begin with. Yeah, but we went through that here in detail a year ago, and I'm too lazy to go find the bloody threads. Armed Guards are more exciting anyway.

So does anyone out there think the 75 year old is better suited to go on 3 days rest than the 22 year old?

QUOTE(diegotony06 @ May 16, 2007 -> 11:59 AM) I'm gonna go out on the limb and say we are gonna score this inning!!!! Well done! Solo shots are better than nothing!!!

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 16, 2007 -> 11:41 AM) Im uneasy with Danks going against the Yanks with our offense already missing beachballs. At some level...it's just not his fault.

So, for anyone who missed it, there was a remarkable bit of testimony up on capitol hill yesterday. One of the former folks in the Justice Dept. who the AG is trying to blame for the US attorneys scandal told a story about how the Administration tried to sneak an approval for their warrantless spying program. Basically, James Comey, the guy in question, wouldn't give his approval, and he was in charge while Mr. Ashcroft was drugged up for surgery. So basically, the administration decides to try to bypass him, and see if they can't convince a drugged up Ashcroft to sign off on the program despite his refusal to do so previously. So basically you have a situation where there are armed FBI guards and Comey in Ashcroft's hospital room trying to keep the Administration from sneaking a signature from a drugged up man to approve an illegal program.

QUOTE(Texsox @ May 16, 2007 -> 09:17 AM) Drilling around the US and picking up 2 or 3% of our needs, or reducing consumption? Seems like an easy choice. Yup. Must increase drilling, it's the only one that makes more $$$$$$$.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ May 16, 2007 -> 09:09 AM) Johnny Bench sucks now. On a serious note, it looks like Gooch has had a sprained finger since April 8th. Obviously if that is the case, the injury would affect his swing. so why the f*** wouldn't he get some extra time off?

QUOTE(jasonxctf @ May 16, 2007 -> 09:08 AM) Moore's point is well made... and will be enforced when the movie comes out. That depends on how loose Mr. Moore plays with his facts in this film compared with his recent work.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 16, 2007 -> 08:56 AM) The United States Geological Survey estimates the Cuban deal involves 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the Times. The paper said that's enough oil and gas to power the U.S. for a few months. Ugh, I can't stand estimates like this, because they're so bloody misleading. The same thing happens with ANWR. Yes, 4.6 billion barrels of oil would be enough to power the U.S. in its entirety for a few months. But, that is if all of that oil could be pumped out within a few months. Sadly, that simply can't happen. What is a lot more likely is that a lot of money will be spent over the next 10 years developing these fields and overall they'll produce something on the order of a few hundred thousand barrels of oil per day. In reality, this is basically just a drop in the bucket. The output of these fields won't even be enough to offset the decrease in production of Mexico now that mexico's largest oil field in the Gulf has peaked. It won't even be enough to offset the growth of U.S. energy demand over 1 year (depending on how much the price goes up). If you start talking about not drilling here, not drilling in ANWR, and not drilling in the rocky mountain front region, you're talking about sacrificing maybe 1% of the U.S.'s oil consumption. The simple fact is, while these reservoirs sound big, they are microscopic compared with even the growth of U.S. energy demand, let alone the total bulk energy demand.

30 day suspension. Yawn. They'll barely notice.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ May 15, 2007 -> 06:59 PM) Orlando, FL. On a minor league field. And I believe they drew about 1000 more fans than they drew last year for an average game in a Rangers @ Tampa series.

The pistons do not come into the UC and celebrate. End of discussion.

Anderson with a bases loaded infield single.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ May 15, 2007 -> 05:34 PM) Glad he's doing well in AAA, though. 3/3 with 3 RBI now.