Balta1701

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 2, 2006 -> 11:28 AM) Because whenever the Govt gets their hands on something, they f*** it up big time. To my eyes, there's a lot more depth to that problem than just saying that the government f***s everything up big time. Specifically, I would say that from the point of view of just a relatively average citizen, every time lobbyists get their hands on something, they f*** it up big time for everyone except the company they're lobbying for. The one other point someone in this thread ought to say is this: just because some other system isn't 100% perfect doesn't mean that it isn't better than ours. Does Canada's sytem have some problems? Yes of course. But that doesn't mean ours is a priori better...Canada spends like 7-8% of its GDP on health care, we spend like 15% of our GDP on health care. Canada has longer wait times for doctors, but 15-20% of Americans can't even see doctors, and you can't by any means tell me that America doesn't have problems with wait times for doctors through HMO's (because I've seen them on my own). Canada doesn't allow, if I recall correctly, people to purchase their own insurance plans above and beyond what the government offers, so choices are limited, but on the other hand, companies like Toyota are choosing to put new factories in Canada instead of the U.S. because the cost of paying for its employees health care there is so much lower. There are a wide variety of health care systems around the world. Just because Canada's has some problems doesn't mean it's not better than ours, and it doesn't mean that any system that even looks like Canada's would be bad. France, for example, actually has, as far as I can tell, a remarkably good system, which costs much less than ours, but which does provide better care than Canada at the same time. The one thing that you have to admit, all of you, is that our system, as it is constructed right now, is on the verge of collapse. The employee-based health care system is falling apart. Companies are cutting benefits left and right to save costs, the number of uninsured keeps going up, and costs on every front, from insurance to drugs, is going through the roof. The system is approaching crisis level. Something has to change.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 08:43 PM) So you want to trade young good pitching, so we can get more hitting. Welcome to the 2004-2000 Whitesox. Maybe we can spend 130 million and have medicore pitching and finish 4th. Applause. If we're trading talent...get pitching in return. Do not sacrifice young pitching for young hitting. Do the opposite if you want to win.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 08:31 PM) Soxy, what kind of car(s) do youdrive? How big is your house? Do you eat out often? Drive a less expensive car, downgrade your house and eat out less, maybe you can afford better insurance. For alot of people, the type of coverage is a 'lifestyle' choice. Why spend the extra $200 a week on insurance when we can get the new sportscar, or take the vacation to Europe. Unfortunatly, those people who can 'afford' insurance but choose not to get it also fall under the uninsured catagory. I bet the amount spent on season tickets would get a nice upgrade in coverage. And before you join him on the high horse, I know that there are always exception. Spent most of the last 4 years doing nothing but driving a bike, no car. Never eat out. Rent, don't own a house. Still can't afford insurance for the Fiancee.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 08:33 PM) So basically, true intentions mean nothing, and bulls*** is what rules here? Just say the right thing, even if it is total crap, and you get the 'high ground'. Doesn't make sense. That is 100% the way diplomacy works. It is also why a specific segment of american politics (the segment currently dominating the government) despises diplomacy above everything else...because it is so nuanced, so contradictory, and so contradictory, all of which are bad things if you only view the world in black and white. But none of that means it doesn't work.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 08:20 PM) Well, nice to see that GP answered for me. Seeing as he isn't yet old enough to own a gun, I think maybe my opinions might be different... SoxFan1 - I'll lay it out for you. Here are my views on these subjects: --Restrictions on types of guns, magazine sizes, pistols specifically, etc. are worthless. They've been proven again and again to do zero to reduce crime (who expects criminals to follow such restrictions?), and they violate the spirit of the 2nd Amendment. Its akin to telling someone they can buy a Ford Taurus, but not a Mustang. They are both deadly weapons. --Registration of weapons is a mistake - it takes away the originally intended teeth of the 2nd amendment. --I DO agree with brief waiting periods, and background checks should be done always. Those restrictions are common sense, and don't violate the base principles of the freedom. So, on these 2 points, I feel I am going to be the one who disagrees with you. Specifically, on part 1, the assualt weapons ban, for example, despite all of the holes in in for gun shows, alternate varieties, and so on, led to a significant reduction in the number and lethality of assault weapons used to commit crimes while it was enforced. In other words, we banned the manufacture of specific types of guns, and those guns wound up being used in fewer crimes. If we ban the most lethal and most dangerous guns, therefore, it has been shown that it may be possible to reduce the lethality of crime, by making criminals use less lethal weaponry. I consider this to be a good thing. Similarly, registration of guns has one important potential benefit...being able to trace a gun used in a crime to a source. Especially if some sort of true ballistic fingerprinting technology is developed in the near future, which it may very well be, this could be an invaluable tool to law enforcement, such that a crime using a gun could be rapidly traced back to the owner/purchaser of the gun, or at least to a narrow group of owners of a specific type of gun, thus keeping the trail warm. When I purchased my car and licensed it, the government learned rapidly that I had purchased a blue Honda Civic. If a Blue 06 Honda Civic runs over a person tomorrow, and no one identifies a license plate, I would expect that my name would come up within the group of potential suspects. Given the purely lethal of guns and the likelihood that the information can be protected except in the event of a criminal investigation (i.e. there is a warrant), that is one type of information I am happily willing to pass to the government and law enforcement agencies, whether we are talking about a gun or an automobile. If someone shoots a person with either a gun I own or a gun similar to the one I own (if I were to purchase a gun), then I would feel the police would be fully justified in asking about the whereabouts of that gun and whether or not it had been fired recently.

QUOTE(supernuke @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 08:05 PM) I see a lot of people are talking about draft pick compensation. I thought that with the new CBA there was not going to be any compensation anymore. Can anyone clarify this? That was only a rumor. In fact, they did maintain draft pick compensation for Free Agent losses in the new CBA, although they decreased the value somewhat. Here is a summary of the changes according to Baseball America.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:12 PM) Err, I said that. I said, if we can get some good youthful pitching in a trade, then do it, but if we can't get something good then keep the five. If all 5 of the starters were signed for 2 years, I'd agree (which is where we were last offseason). But the reality is, we have 2 starting pitchers who will be hitting Free Agency after 2007, and it will cost us more than likely an additional $10-$15 million a year (at current going rates) for 5 years or so to keep both of them around. The fact is, it would be insane of the White Sox to sign both Freddy Garcia and Mark Buehrle to the type of deals they could command on this open market. Which means the White Sox have to face 2 options...try to resign 1 of them and trade the other one (Buehrle being the preferable signing because of simple age constraints and performance) or hold onto them both and almost certainly have one, if not both of them, walk as Free Agents, with the White Sox only receiving draft pick compensation. The latter option makes sense if we are planning to seriously contract salary after 2008 and go into a true rebuilding phase for a couple years, where our outfield is Owens, Anderson, Dye, our infield is Fields, ?, ?, Konerko, and our catcher is ?/Stewart/Molina, and our Rotation is Jose Contreras (for 1 year), Brandon McCarthy, Charlie Haeger, Lance Broadway, and whichever pitcher we can resign. But that's the only way it makes sense to me to hold onto all those guys and risk letting them walk. In 2008/2009, having traded one of our SP's for a bunch of prospects this offseason and signed the other one puts us in a much, much, much better position, given that the talent we could acquire now could be ready in 07/08, and anyone we get with the draft picks won't be ready until several years after that. We have to deal at least 1 SP, because I don't think we can resign them both, and we will be so much better in 2007 and 2008 by making a trade and putting McCarthy in if compared to holding onto both 07 FA's and risking having them walk for draft picks.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 06:22 PM) Well, Pods better toughen up, because it's very hard for speed players to stay healthy throughout the entire season. One more thing to suggest to Pods...I don't care what happens on the play, keep running full speed until you hit first base. And keep your damn eyes on the ball in the outfield.

QUOTE(TheOcho @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 04:16 PM) I also don't buy into his whole "injured" excuse. If he was really injured since ... last year? Shouldn't he NOT be playing? Oh yea ... then there is his fielding with no arm. So, as we all know, there are different degrees of being "Injured", some of which you can play through, some of which you can play through but at a reduced level, some of which you can't play through at all. In the 2nd half of 05, Podsednik was clearly injured, in a couple of ways. I believe he had a hamstring problem that made him sluggish, and he had a back problem as well. He was still able to be a productive hitter after he hit the DL for a stretch, which made him somewhat useful, but he was clearly reduced from where he was before the AS break. In the offseason, Podsednik had hernia surgery which both limited any chance he had to spend the winter recuperating and getting into playing shape, and when he hit spring training, he had if I recall correctly some problems with scar tissue. When ST hit, he was not ready for ST, and wound up being unable to play until the last week of ST. He then started the 2006 season basically after having a week to get in shape, and probably with some scar tissue and other problems still lingering. He was still able to play baseball, but at a clearly reduced level. Honestly, after having seen how badly he was reduced, it might not have hurt the team to put him on the DL for the month of April, send him to AAA on a rehab assignment, and actually give him a chance to get in shape and fully recover, something he never had. I can't guarantee that Podsednik won't come back at the same reduced level, or at an even worse one, next year. But it's at least possible that a whole offseason of rest, hopefully punctuated by getting into much much much better playing shape before the start of ST, might be just the thing Pods needs.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 05:07 PM) Then I guess my follow-up question can be directed to the both of you... What would you do to help preserve the sport of hunting and reduce the Anti-2nd amendment/anti-hunting groups such as PETA? Doesn't PETA do enough already to reduce their influence?

"Here's to the losers" - K.C., Pittsburgh.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 01:39 PM) You're right. My family members all invested in themselves, went to school, and have decent jobs that give them the choice of obtaining health insurance. They're not sitting around waiting for handouts. And what happens when a person is so sick no one will hire them?

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 09:32 AM) 2009, just enough time for George W Bush to have had a one year vacation.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 02:58 PM) I just don't think it be that bad for McCarthy to season up in the minors a little more if we can't get something worthwhile for one of our starters and that something has to be starting pitching. Brandon McCarthy's arbitration clock has already started.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 12:01 PM) quick! universal health care for all! let's set it up like the Canadian system cuz it works so well! You wouldn't say that if you had a family member sitting around suffering because they don't have health insurance.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 12:31 PM) It's pretty obvious that Ozzie doesn't feel the desire to get him into the rotation. That's why I have no problem at all if we trade him for a big time player. McCarthy's only role next year with the Sox should be as a starter. Anything else is just asinine. The big issue I'm still focused on right now is Free Agency. With the market ballooning once again, we're facing a situation where 4 of our 5 starting pitchers hit Free Agency at the end of 2008, 2 of which happen at the end of 2007. I think it is really, really, really stupid to set yourself up in a position where Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Tadahito Iguchi, and Jermaine Dye all just turn into draft picks because they hit the market and you're not willing to go to 6 years on Buehrle to match what someone else offers. They have so much more value right now. If we're looking at a complete, 4-year rebuilding process starting in 2009, then that's an acceptable option, but I certainly don't see that as the smartest move. Hopefully, this is just KW posturing before the winter meetings.

I can think of few stupider moves.

Does anyone else really, really, really want the Cowboys to lose this week, and badly, just so the "Romo=God" crap stops?

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 10:45 AM) That's the thing....our offense wasn't excellent during the 2nd half of the season. I'm pretty sure it was in the bottom 50 pct of the offenses in MLB during the second half. We've been joking about this for almost a year now. Have you ever been to a wrestling event where every single female that is slighty overweight has a Matt Hardy sign? That's how it feels to go to a Sox game. 16th out of 30 teams after the all-star break in 2006.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 09:40 AM) I also think we'll see Pods have a better all around season (even If he's not my first choice, I don't expect him to be near as brutal and I could see worse options at the top of the order). It's also possible that if he could manage another up season (in his career, he's thus far gone good, awful, good-until-injured, bad) he could significantly raise his trade value for next offseason.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 09:02 AM) Any system involving the electronic transfer of information is dangerous. Credit card purchases, emails, bank transfers, even regular paper mail is dangerous, s*** walking your check to the bank was dangerous back in the day. Basically you could write this story about any of those subjects and just interchange the title I think what's probably most noteworthy about this story is that it has the potential to affect a much larger group than anything else you cite (except the NSA). And it's compounded by the fact that banks go to extraordinary lengths to prevent people from being able to recover losses if they're stolen via a debit card.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Dec 1, 2006 -> 09:29 AM) Even with all of the career years and incredible second halves some of our players had in '05, the attitude that Ozzie and A.J. brought to this squad was what pushed that team over the hump, IMO. Personally, I'd say it was the pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching, and pitching...but a key part of that pitching is having a catcher who the pitchers trust.

Aw Jeez

Linkity.

$? Presumably this makes a trade a little easier if it's a reasonable number?