Balta1701

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 09:18 AM) Wow, the Royals' starter has a lower ERA than our starter. How often does that happen? Are we confined to looking at this season?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 08:57 AM) Who is is brother? Dmitri? Correct. The one with the Tigers. The one facing, what was it, domestic abuse charges?

QUOTE(WCSox @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 09:16 AM) The new Iraq government can't provide social services? That's another load of crap. They've been doing so for over a year. Also consider that the vast majority of the violence in Iraq is in Baghdad (and mostly becuase Iran and Syria are sending terrorists there), while the rest of the nation is relatively peaceful. And how's that "internal peace" thing going in Hezbollah-run Lebanon? LOL. The counterpoint I'd give to that is that well, the gigantic deserts of Iraq, yeah, there's very little fighting in those. But the other areas, the areas where people actually are, are simply a disaster. The whole area. You don't hear a lot about it, because a.) we have a shiny new war to pay attention to, b.) the shiny new war isn't yet killing journalists, and c.) it's literally not safe for journalists to leave the Green Zone, so areas outside of Baghdad hardly get noticed. -Here's a sample of yesterday's events outside of Baghdad: 45 Shi'Ite refugees kidnapped near Ramadi British soldier killed in Basra in a mortar attack -Roadside bomb hit a fuel truck in Kut, 170 km from Baghdad. -A member of the Arab Consultative Assembly, a gathering for Arab tribes and political parties, was gunned down in northern Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad, police said. -A roadside bomb went off near a bus carrying Iraqi soldiers, killing 20 of them and wounding 13 near Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad. -Seven people were killed and 15 wounded when a car bomb exploded beside a police patrol near a hospital in the town of Muqdadiya, 90 km northeast of Baghdad, police said. -Two policemen were killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police said. -The bodies of three people were found in Baquba, 65 km north of Baghdad, police said. And that's just the stuff western new sources were able to pick up. There was a series of bombings in Fallujah yesterday also, which included the death of a Priest, according to some Arabic sources (the west seems to simply be unable to get there.) QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 09:30 AM) So does the conquering of the West in this country, though not quite the same. As I alluded to in a thread a few weeks ago. Not exactly the same, but similar. Yes, insurgencies have been put down in the past, but you know what it takes? Genocide. You have to literally kill everyone who might consider fighting you. That's how Saddam put down the Shia rebellion, that's how the U.S. stopped the Native Americans, and so forth. The same thing basically happened in the Philippines, the Americans literally started burning villages, forcing people into concentration camps, etc. But unless that happens, unless Israel is just willing to kill everyone in Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza, Hezbollah will continue to survive and strengthen, just as happened when Israel occupied this exact same territory for 18 years. QUOTE(WCSox @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 09:30 AM) These are definitely key. The Palestinian state has alredy been proposed by Israel, so that wouldn't be a problem. The international community would begrudgingly get off of their asses and become involved. The neutral Jerusalem would be a sticking point, though. Even if they could be "convinced" under tremendous pressure to give it up, extremists from Both Sides would try to take it back at some point. Fixed that for you.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 09:18 AM) There's no guarantee of an overthrow if Fidel dies. I expect little to actually change for a few months at least - and most likely a gradual moderation. If the US wanted to see Fidel's power disappear, we'd end the embargo and make it fair game for US interests to reappear in Cuba. I think the reality is that it's far more likely that we'll wind up ending the embargo and allowing that to happen the moment the Castros themselves are dead and all of the personal issues between the U.S. and that one man can be put aside.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 09:15 AM) Isn't every revolution an insurgency against an established nation? There are plenty of examples throughout history of successful revolutions. One in the 1770's stands out in my memory of history. Um, the American revolution would be yet another example of how you cannot put an insurgency down by force. Every example I gave was an example of a more powerful country trying to put down a guerrilla insurgency with overwhelming force, and failing dramatically, just as happened with the British.

So, several of the Kansas School Board members who last year again attempted to force language into their educational cirriculum saying that life was so complex it had to have been designed had to face voters yesterday. The board is now 6-4 against the ID folks. I think there can be only one response to this ruling. It's time to DANCE LIKE A MONKEY!! (and I'm not sure whether I'm more excited about the news or the fact that it gives me an excuse to link to that video.)

QUOTE(YASNY @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 08:53 AM) So, Isreal is just supposed to sit there and keep swatting mosquitos? Let me go a bit more in depth on my reply. What you are proposing has been proven to be ineffective. You can speculate on what will or won't work, but it's been proven over the decades that the status quo doesn't work at all. Let Isreal try and kick some major ass. Let them try and kill Hezbollah once and for all or cripple them to the point of ineffectiveness. But if 18 years of Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon didn't do a damn thing to cripple or kill Hezbollah, why exactly should we assume that 6 weeks of military campaigning will? You say it's been proven over and over that the status quo won't work there, but I'm going to counter by saying it's been proven over and over and over and over and over that you can't beat an Insurgency using brute force (Soviets in Afghanistan, U.S. in Vietnam, U.S. in Iraq, France in Vietnam and Algeria, Britain in India, Israel in the West Bank, Israel in Lebanon, Russians in Chechnya). Why exactly should we assume that it will be any different this time?

QUOTE(YASNY @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 08:58 AM) I see no way we don't pick up his option next year. At the end of last year, the only thing that would have stopped us was his legs falling off. His legs could fall off now and his torso would make $6 million.

But Yas, the other side of the coin is this one; if Israel standing down doesn't accomplish anything, what exactly does Israel standing up and fighting accomplish? Thus far, they've caused thousands of Hezbollah rockets to rain down upon them, they've taken Hezbollah and massively improved their standing amongst the entire middle east, to the point that there may well be pro-Hezbollah parades all over that region when the fighting ends (if the governments allow them), they've removed any urge that the Lebanese government might have had to disarm Hezbollah, and turned even the Christian population of that nation into Hez-supporters. They've pushed far into Lebanon, and caused more civilian casualties than Hezbollah casualties. They're not going to destroy Hezbollah...even 18 years of occupying that whole region couldn't do it. They've once again turned Lebanon into a totally failed state, the same kind of mess that gives birth to these sorts of terror movements. They've displaced over half a million people, and cut tens of thousands off from even the most basic supplies, all of which will just feed into the next set of Hezbollah recruits once Israel does pull back. They've raised the tensions throughout the Middle East, strained relations even further with everyone except the U.S, and made U.S. diplomacy look even more pathetic than it did beforehand. So yes, Israel standing down has not accomplished anything in the past, except maintaining the status quo. But what exactly has Israel standing up done except make the situation worse from every angle you look at it?

Remind me never to get excited over anything ever again. Although, this does raise my level of confidence for the things Lance did.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 04:49 AM) Possible replacement for Uribe mayb? Hmmm, the Angels interested in that guy? With Brandon Wood, Kendry Morales, Casey Kotchman, Howie Kendrick, Orlando Cabrera, Dallas McPherson, Maicer Izturis, and probably 1 or 2 more I'm forgetting all in their infield within the next few years or already there? Yeesh, that's just silly of them.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 07:29 AM) My uneducated lineup prediction is, as follows: Pods 7 Iguchi 4 AJP 2 Dye 0 Crede 5 Gload 3 Uribe 6 Mackowiak 9 Anderson 8 Anderson will for some reason be sitting tonight, and Mack will be in CF. Dont' ask me how it's going to happen, it's just going to happen.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 08:21 AM) I just don't agree. I doubt more than 1 game was turned significantly due to Mack's presence in CF, and he has won us at least one game I know of. So I don't see the huge impact. Now Pods, who plays every day, his bad D worries me more than Mack's once every 3-4 days in CF. Pods has played slightly more than 2 times as many innings in LF as Mack has played in CF.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 08:17 AM) That "depth" you thank KW for INCLUDES our back-up outfielder, Mack, who got two hits, stole a base and was generally clutch AGAIN last night. The guy is hitting what, .310 or so? With all the problems we have, I don't get your obsession with that. Its just not that important, and frankly, given what Mack contributes offensively, isn't even a significant drop-off when he plays. The problem is of course that ozzie insists that we need a backup Center Fielder who will start in CF every 3rd game, thus putting one of the worst defensive center fielders in the game out there for us, and costing us at least 1 run it seems every time he's out there. (Last time he was out there, on Sunday, he short-hopped 2 balls Anderson would have had easily, at least one of which turned into an RBI).

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 08:10 AM) Whats the point of the post? He is illustrating the point that correlation does not mean causation. Thome's days off correlated with a few wins does not mean that those wins are happening because Thome is out.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 08:09 AM) Why are we replacing Uribe next year? Seems he "doesn't care." You know what that list reminded me of? The Cubs signed Wade Miller last offseason didn't they. Wow, that worked out great!

So, yes, Gload should have bunted.

QUOTE(JimH @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 06:45 PM) Gotta get at least one more here. Would you squeeze here with Gload? If they're going to pitch to him, that would make sense to me. He's about the only guy whos' gotten a bunt down for us lately.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 06:45 PM) With this guys wind-up, if they walk Gload, I'd like to see Mackowiak hit for Anderson. Honestly, absolutely F***ing not.

Well, at least Sandy got his 1 hit for the day. Still better than Widger.

Fly balls = fine.

Bump... Some enterprising powerful person want to combine this with the new thread just created?

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 06:33 PM) I'm sorry, but a topic where myself, JimH, Dick Allen, balta, GPratt, and Milkman can joke around and get along is more important than this game. This gives me hope for peace in the Middle East. Get WCSox in here and we'll deal with that part. QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 06:34 PM) Wouldn't it be nice if we're the team that hits the big 3 run homer late in the game to break the other team's back? I'd be happy to manufacture a few runs too.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 06:33 PM) Too irish to be bad luck. "Naturally we blamed it on the Irish. We hanged more than a few."

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 06:31 PM) Buerhle is looking better today. Its the royals though, but this is a good start. The next ball that lands in teh seats i blame on you.