Balta1701

Well, I guess those guys in NE are certainly the gambling type, but they do know a value pickup when they see one.

AND WE'LL SEE YOU IN AUBURN HILLS.

Kick some Halo arse Jon.

Naturally, I had this posted a long time ago in the Dems only thread, but I'd like to add this little nugget.

So, this probably isn't even the correct thread, but a while ago someone asked for an image of the variation in atmospheric greenhouse gases over time with the modern explosion in atmospheric CO2 also put on it, and i couldn't find a very good version. I've finally found one. There you can see the dramatic increases in both CO2 and Methane concentrations in the atmosphere associated with the industrial revolution; a 30+% increase in CO2 for example, pushing the modern value well beyond anything that has been seen in any of the glacial/interglacial cycles for the last 600k years.

One would certainly hope they'd learn from this deserved negative press and perform better in the near future.

Just when I post one piece of Friday Bad news , 3 hours go by, and then the government decides to top it with an even more remarkable bit of bad news.

Hope the good Jose shows up tonight.

And man, did Goldeneye ever give me a lot of practice in terms of setting prox mines.

So, George Tenet seems to be the first of the folks intimately involved in the genesis of the Iraq debacle to put out a book. Perhaps not surprisingly, he's trying to say it wasn't his fault. He'll be on 60 minutes this weekend. I figured this might be worth a thread. Here's the NYT article on the book. Supposedly, Henry Waxman has asked Mr. Tenet to come testify before his committee in a couple weeks, so this won't be the only bit we hear of this, if nothing else.

It's Friday Night!

Unless one of them is Bill Frist.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 27, 2007 -> 12:09 PM) If the market is that weak to where the best available bat is a well below average offensive player then I guess you go out there with your best possible in-house options and pray that if the team does tank they tank hard so the soon-to-be free agents can be dealt at the deadline for young pieces. Losing Jim Thome is basically a worst case scenario for this offense. I think that's pretty much the point I was trying to make. If Thome is out for a long time, this team would almost certainly be done for the season. There just won't be enough offense available at a price we could afford to even come close to making up for that loss. So you cut your losses, dump the 2 big FA's, bring up the rookies, and try to come back next season healthy and reloaded.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 27, 2007 -> 12:02 PM) It would be impossible to fully replace Thome's offensive production but something would need to be done. At this point in the season it's not widely known who is available exactly but I'm sure if Thome did hit the DL we'd hear some names thrown out there in the press. Yes, you'd hear some names thrown out in the press, but simply consider this...with that gigantic of a production loss, who would be available that we'd even have a shot at? And beyond that, how much do you give up? Say hypothetically I found someone who would give me a player who could put up the same production Carl Everett gave the Sox in 05 out of the DH slot, but it was going to cost a major pitcher to pull it off. Along the lines of Gio, or maybe a couple of lesser guys instead. Is it really going to be worth trading away all of that depth we just built in our minor leagues for an in-between guy, which is probably all that will be available unless the Braves tank?

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 27, 2007 -> 11:32 AM) To add some actual discussion to this, if Thome does hit the DL with a rather serious muscle pull I fully expect a move to be made, there are no position players in AAA with a .700 OPS right now so expecting any of them to come up and produce at even a mediocre rate is probably asking a bit much. Dye would probably be moved to the DH spot considering his age, defensive abilities and injury concerns (that's if he's healthy of course). That would make the outfield Ozuna - Erstad - Mackowiak, quite possibly the worst in baseball. Considering an abdominal strain could linger throughout the year especially with Thome's violent swing a bat would probably need to be brought in to make up for the loss. Can someone name me a bat at the level of anything remotely close to Mr. Thome which might actually be available on the trade market? Hell, if it comes down to Thome being gone for a long time, the biggest bat available on the trade market could well be Jermaine Dye.

No sitting Congressman featured on Better Know a District has lost yet.

maybe we should stop hearting Huckabees. They might hurt us.

QUOTE(NUKE @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 08:23 PM) Who are they to whine about unfair economic advantages when they subsidize companies like Airbus with government money. Well, to be totally accurate, the U.S. government subsidizes plenty of things as well. Especially farmers, but then think about those brief Steel tarrifs Mr. Bush instituted, all of the subsidies given to energy companies, etc.

QUOTE(Brian @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 12:56 PM) I don't think it hurts his draft chances much. It is not like it is a knee or leg problem. Shoulder injuries suck, but he can recover easily from it and be fine. Well, the counterpoint is...this is his 2nd injury on that same shoulder, and there's a strong possibility it could cause him to miss a decent chunk of training camp just to let it heal.

The popular Iraqi blogger Riverbend and her family have decided that it's time for them to pack it up, leave Baghdad, and become refugees.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 10:16 AM) I know what will get everyone posting... You will see $3.00 gas nationwide on average within two weeks. Probably more like $3.50 in Chicago. For God's sake i'd love to pay $3 again. Haven't seen that since November.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 12:05 PM) I agree. I also find it amazing how much support he is getting from the grass roots level. All the $100 or less donations have added up to quite a large sum in Q1. He really has a huge buzz and feel-good aura about him that few politicians ever get. He also seems to be quite liked by moderates even though his voting record has been quite left-leaning. I think the most amazing thing about Mr. Obama goes along with this. Normally, at this point in a campaign, candidates can turn out people in the hundreds, even if they're going for bigger rallies and not small meetings with big donors. Obama has been turning out crowds in the tens of thousands and has been doing so regularly for months. It's simply hard for me to fathom how that will impact the race, but it's a phenomenon I don't think we've ever seen. At this point in 03, the Dean campaign was just barely holding its first meetups, and I doubt Dean could have turned out 10k from the entire country.

Never like to see that happen to anyone not named Bonds.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 10:54 AM) And in the continuing kicking of Mark Prior, because he was on the minor league DL when he had his surgery, this season will NOT count towards his major league service time. He will now have to wait until after the 2009 season to be a major league free agent. He still gets what, $4 million for this season? I'm not that concerned. The question remains...what will the Cubs decide to do with him next offseason if he comes at the same price.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Apr 26, 2007 -> 11:34 AM) I haven't heard too muhc about Richardson, but I like what I have (so far). Anyone have a good website with a comprehensive summary on the different candidates' positions? edit: I found this site. Anyone know if its any good? http://www.ontheissues.org/Bill_Richardson.htm I still like what I see on an overwhelming majority of issues. Part of the problem with this whole discussion about stances on issues is that we're still what, a year and a half from the general, and at least 9 months from even the first primaries? This process has become so bloody drawn-out that things which take time, like developing detailed policy reccomendations that go beyond the simple "Get out of Iraq" or "Universal health care" sentiments just haven't had time to be fully developed and vetted...by almost any of the candidates. And even if they have developed full plans, its entirely possible things will change from the details currently written down before the votes start coming in. So right now, all we really have to evaluate most of these guys is the way they carry themselves, their speaking abilities, and roughly one or two moderate policy differences (i.e. do we withdraw totally from Iraq or do we keep a rapid-action force of some sort nearby, etc.).