Balta1701

George W. Bush was so absolutely outraged by Mr. Limbaugh's statements about a man suffering from a horrific disease that he was a guest on Mr. Limbaugh's show today. The Words "Michael J. Fox, Stem Cells, Parkinsons disease", etc. all somehow managed to not come up in the conversation at all.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Nov 1, 2006 -> 11:19 AM) Here's the dilemma dealing with Minaya -- he'll likely demand Vazquez for a significant package. Anyone seriously believe Williams would trade him when you consider Garcia's impending FA status? It either comes down to New York paying more for an additional year of Javier, or paying less for one season Garcia. All extension talk aside. Only condition I'd consider trading Vazquez is if Heilman AND Pelfrey are included. If we're losing one of our best pitchers, it better be worthwhile. Minaya doesn't like it he can overpay for Zito or offer less for Garcia and negotiate an extension. If I understadn the deal correctly, Vazquez only has 1 more guaranteed year on his contract as well, and 2008 is an option year...an expensive option also. Such that the White Sox may find some benefit in actually moving him instead of having no choice but to pick up something like a $12 million option for a 5th starter.

His manager was also the insane guy running the South Side organization.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Nov 1, 2006 -> 11:55 AM) Roto is saying it hasn't been confirmed as steroids. MLB suspended RHP Guillermo Mota 50 games for violating the joint drug prevention and treatment program. The statement didn't say whether it was steroids. If it was, it would explain how his velocity, which had been down in Cleveland, suddenly climbed upon his signing with the Mets. Mota, a free agent, was set for a nice payday after such a successful run in New York, but he may have to settle for an incentive-laden one-year deal now. The suspension will take effect at the beginning of next season. As I understand it, MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program has different suspension levels for different things. Failing to take a required test gives a 15 to 25 day suspension, using specific prohibited substances (non-steroids) gives a 15 to 30 day suspension, and a steroid positive test will give 50 days (all on the first test). So in other words, if I'm reading this policy correctly, 50 days = positive steroid test. Other banned substances do not start off at 50.

So, I'm not yet sure whether or not this is a big deal, but it's probably worth noting. A little over a week ago, a U.S. soldier was kidnapped somewhere in Iraq. The U.S. military responded by basically closing off Sadr city, the Shi'ite slums in Baghdad controlled by the Madhi army. The U.S. held that area basically under seige for a week, undertaking searches, keeping the Madhi Army indoors (which may have allowed a few large bombs to go off in that area), and so on. Well, yesterday, Iraqi P.M. Maliki finally got fed up and ordered the U.S. to remove the checkpoints and the blockade. And, without having found the captured soldier (or the other death squad leader they were reportedly looking for) the U.S. agreed and lifted the seige. So, again, I'm not sure at all that it's the wrong thing to do to lift the seige, but if the U.S. genuinely believes that a captured U.S. soldier is being held somewhere in that area, didn't we just cede control over U.S. security and forces to another country? Full WaPo link.

Since he's good friends with Clemens, shall I just assume that some time around next January when Clemens signs again, he'll convince Pettitte to give it one more shot, for each of the next 4 years?

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Nov 1, 2006 -> 10:09 AM) The quote was stupid, and instead of lying about it, Kerry needed to say he misquoted and he made a mistake. God forbid that Lurch is human. Link.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Nov 1, 2006 -> 09:34 AM) A-Rod having an out clause makes him a lot less attractive. That means Boras is looming... Does anyoen in their right minds seriously think that ARod would actually be able and willing to use his out clause? 32, 33 year old SS/3B might be worth a lot to some teams, but is he seriously going to get anything remotely close to $25 million a year? He might get half that on the market next year if he used his out clause. QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Nov 1, 2006 -> 09:32 AM) In other words, they want to trade him but need him to waive his no trade. More specifically, they want him to demand a trade so that the Yankees can trade him without ARod making any additional demands, i.e. another year on his contract or something insane like that.

I really, really don't want to have to chant steroids for the home team.

We were thinking about a Sandals resort. Then the fiancee quit her job. We won't be taking a honeymoon.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 04:14 PM) Oh, I see, now I'll edit that part of my post where I spoke about his intentions. I don't give a rat's ass who he wanted to insult. He said pretty clearly that the uneducated end up in the military. It wasn't a statement that could be interpreted two different ways. Well, at least the other statement from the Kerry camp was that Kerry totally screwed up the line. If you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy, you'll end up screwing up a prepared line, helping keep the President in power, and keeping the country stuck in a war in Iraq.

QUOTE(BHAMBARONS @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 04:08 PM) Has anyone heard anything about Zona Senate race I have been to the Peterson Rallies they seem to be getting bigger and more enthusiastic each time the only polls that come out here are Zogby and an occasional Rasmussen. Rass last poll had this race tightening I just wonder if there is anything behind this Peterson momentum or if it is nothing. It's tightened up down the stretch, compared to a few months ago when Pederson was in the 30's. He's polling in the mid-40's right now, with Kyl polling right around 50%. It'll probably take either a flop on Kyl's part or a genuine Democratic wave to push Kyl out of that seat. It probably should have been polled more as close as it is though, so there's some chance that people are just missing a trend. Link.

- Kerry today.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 02:14 PM) You may be right. It could be just the specific polls I have seen. But it has seemed over the last couple months, in the polls I've watched, that its trending that way. We'll see. Its just guessing on my part anyway. I'm pretty sure I've seen the exact opposite. In August and September, the polls in generally were a lot closer, with Kean either tying or even comign out ahead more often. But in October, when most people started paying attention and realized it was Kean Jr. and not the same Kean who served on the 911 commission, Kean has more uniformly fallen back and Menendez has approached the 50% line. TPM's poll tracker also allows you to sort by race, if you want to look at this specific eleciton. Linkity.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 02:17 PM) As sort of an offshoot from this... Am I the only person who will occasionally, intentionally AVOID a certain company's product specifically because I find their commercials so horribly irritating? I know the supposed method behind that madness - advertising's main goal is placement in people's minds, even if its annoying. But for me, if its bad enough, that backfires and assures that I DON'T give them my business, when I otherwise might have. Oh Hell, I do that all the f***ing time. I can't remember the last time I ate at Burger King, and I will never eat @ Jack in the Box for exactly those reasons. QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 02:00 PM) I went with the "sometimes" option. Usually it doesn't enter my mind, but when a person is so over the top, IMO Cruise is a good example of this, it becomes hard to separate the character from the person. But as I said this is rare, and Cruise is really the only one that pops out to me now I can think of a few other specific behaviors. For example, if the White Sox were to sign Barry Bonds, I would cancel my MLB Extra Innings package next year and avoid buying tickets around July 4th when I'll be in town. I have been known to make the occasional purchase or avoid purchases based on the political donations of specific companies as well.

The title of this thread = What Shaq will be saying at about 8:00 my time tonight.

QUOTE(whitesox1976 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 12:37 PM) If there aren't any free agents out there better than Riske they our bullpen will be the same as it was this season. Except hopefully a full season from MMac, BMac in the rotation and likely Haeger in the bullpen, no 2 months of Cliff "10 ERA" Politte, and maybe with a little luck Cotts or Logan finding some cojones.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 11:58 AM) Kobayashi!!! I thought I read somewhere that his stomach is either shaped or positioned lower than that of most people (lower, maybe?). There's an 80% chance I saw it in Wikipedia. Either there or some article around the time of the Nathan's competition. Wiki:

QUOTE(The Critic @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 12:29 PM) They already have abstinence-for-adults programs. They're called Star Trek Fan Conventions. So the government is going to start funding Trek Conventions? Hallelujah! Finally I'll benefit from Mr. Bush's faith-based initiative! QUOTE(Steff @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 12:31 PM) Moved cause.....? Eh, it's political enough that when I originally posted it 3 hours ago I slapped it in the Dems only thread.

Padres picked up the option on Mike Cameron (so no we're not signing him, we have just as good of a CF anyway) and declined the option on Mike Piazza. Don't know about the money, but if we're looking for a 1 year rental as a backup catcher/right handed DH who could give Thome some extra time off...well...

Twinkies picked up the option on Silva.

QUOTE(juddling @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 12:04 PM) Tex, alot of therse people had their tickets many months before all the news of her Bush routine came out. Should they now just not go? WHile they may or may not have know ahead of time her political views, they probably didn't know (at least some of them, I should say) she was going to spout them during a concert. Come on, seriously, how in the world can you actually be enough of a fan to go to a show by someone like Streisand and not expect to hear their political views? Does anyone actually go to a Toby Keith show and not expect a lil' bit o' politics? If I go to a Pearl Jam show, I'm expecting some amount of anti-Bush stuff.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 11:56 AM) I'll go with... Dems winning MT, VA, TN, RI and OH GOP wins NJ, MO, AZ With a bonus of... a bunch of voting controversies! Man, you're giving the GOP NJ and giving the Dems TN? You must really like the upsets. You know what I'm honestly hoping for on some level? A bunch of voting machine controversies in districts that actually somehow hurt the GOP. Not because it would be helping the Dems, but because I'm sick of having the Republicans ignoring this issue because it seems like voting irregularities always seem to help the GOP and hurt the Dems (thus leading to all of the Dem conspiracy theories about 2004 in Ohio, the whole mess after 2000, etc.) If just once it actually hurt the GOP, it might give them enough motivation to actually work at fixing the problems with these things and supporting working voting machines with a verified paper trail. I think that the map of current state laws regarding these machines tells a lot (note how the GOP's strongest area, the south, is also the weakest in terms of paper voting requirements): Here's the list of 219 co-sponsors of a similar verified voting bill at the national level. If you're smart, you realize that 219 votes is enough to pass a bill...but the Congressional leadership just hasn't let it come up for a vote in committee, let alone to the full House.

QUOTE(knightni @ Oct 31, 2006 -> 11:51 AM) I looked at the free agency list for RPs. Not much out there any better than Riske. But...the White Sox have a ton of potential trading chips if that's what we want to use one for. Mackowiak, Cotts, part of the deal with one of the starting pitchers, Fields/Crede, Iguchi, etc. Remember how casually Vizcaino was slipped into the Vazquez and Podsednik deals? We're not looking for a Brad Lidge here, not that he'd hurt, but we really don't need a big name with the other fireballers in our pen, just someone moderately reliable.

You know, a lot of teams would like a guy who is a good 2nd half hitter.