Balta1701

Damn I miss Jimmy Johns...

So, according to UPI, this deal would actually affect 21 ports, and not 6. I find it hard to believe that UPI isn't wrong here, since I just think that in the week since I started this thread, SOMEONE out there would have noticed "Hey, there are another 15 ports involved here" and written that up. Well, we'll see. They are owned by the same wonderful folks who own the Washington Times, but they usually do very good work.

QUOTE(minors @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 08:53 PM) And I really don't care I might just suprise you. I believe the Filibuster was created entirely so that people like Minors could have a place to chime in alongside people like me, where both of us can make arses of ourselves without being banned.

See, this is what happens when you're watching Family Guy DVD commentaries...Kip beats me to posting things. Yeah...so on it's own this is a bad sign. But on the other hand, if there was a simultaneous increase in level 2 or level 3 ready units compared to level 4, that would still be a positive sign, despite the fact that category 1 has declined from 3 to 0 in about a year. The problem is, the Administration has decided to use the moniker "In the fight", which has no technical definition, in order to come up with some statistic which makes it sound like things are improving, without telling us what "in the fight" means. So, on it's face, this is a bad sign, but it's possible that this could be a pointless bad sign...if the decline in readiness of those 3 units were associated with a rise in the average readiness level, which is something we can't evaluate based on the data we have, since all the administration has given us is the pointless phrase "in the fight".

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 05:14 PM) Duly noted. And the Knicks have scored 0 points in 4:17 of basketball so far. Welcome to the Madness Mr. Franchise. You'll fit right in. C'Mon Bobcats....

National Review's Michael Ledeen

QUOTE(minors @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 03:19 PM) Of course one solid answer is adpotion there are many loving families who can not convceve, who are just waiting for a child. It is really sad that we treat our convicted murdering thugs better than our unborn children. At least the thugs have tons of rights while the child has none real sad. As long as they're not Gay.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 02:35 PM) People who equate the 2 are completely clueless and stupid. Something tells me Nuke doesn't like the Catholic church

QUOTE(Be Good @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 09:54 AM) Dolphins, and Lions targeting Brees, who is set to be a FA in March, since the Bolts decline to tag him. Both teams would be making very smart decisions, IMO, if he can come back remotely healthy.

QUOTE(Yoda @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 04:09 PM) Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan vs. A Day In The Life - The Beatles

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 12:37 PM) Garland also cut his walk rate considerably from previous years to this year. If you're pitching to contact while putting that many guys on, you're playing with fire. On that I won't disagree with you. The only part i took issue with was talking about his strikeout numbers.

Dang, now my Soxtalk Firefox plugin is out of date.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 12:33 PM) As for Wang, he was decidedly mediocre last year. His ERA was respectable, but he had very few strikeouts and put a lot of guys on base. That's not a good sign for the future. Wang is a sinker-ball pitcher, so just like for Garland, Strikeouts aren't necessarily that important for him.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 12:27 PM) i worked some girl that thougth the onion was a real newspaper The Beijing Evening News once ran with an Onion Article for its 1.25 million subscribers. Link

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 12:16 PM) Wang is only 26 and has put up fairly solid numbers throughout the minors, and while he may not be able to crack the Sox 6, he isn't bad...probably better than mediocre. Given, it was his rookie season, and the league hadn't seen him yet, so perhaps they will adjust to him and start hitting him harder next year...just have to wait and see. IMO, the big concern with Wang is that despite being quite young, he's never thrown more than 122 innings at any level as far as BP tells me. Which to me, suggests that he might be a wee bit of an injury risk. BMac, for example threw 172 innings in 2004, between the 3 levels he played at.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 12:15 PM) But to believe that control of the Panama Canal could in some way cripple our economy of cause some military problem, is not accurate as I know it to be. Can modern destroyers/cruisers even get through there?

QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 12:09 PM) Like most, if not all, advances in technology, it will be profits that dictate how fast. If consumers decide that the risk of losing 911 calls makes VOiP unattractive, it will be solved quickly, if they don't care, it will take longer. BTW, the true leaders in innovation in technology are the porn industry. From VCRs to E-Commerce, they drove some technology and air freighted most of it How many consumers of VOIP realize that they have a 911 related problem before its too late? I bet you this guy didn't have a clue until his house was on fire. Saying that the consumers will dictate whether or not this changes presumes that the consumer is informed, which may require legislation or lawsuits before that happens.

Well, I'll agree with him that the firing of Mr. Donahue was probably somewhat politically motivated and a bit unfair...Methinks O'Reilly is probably just unhappy about being labeled the "Worst person in the world" so often. I wonder if this will earn Mr. O'Reilly another of those awards... Link to O'Reilly's petition.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 11:52 AM) I thought there was something in the works to widen the canal to be able to handle the modern supertankers and then some... Maybe I was reading speculation? Can anyone else help me out here??? I believe that Discovery did run a program covering whether or not it's possible, but they also covered Dave Stevenson's idea of using a nuclear bomb and a big blob of iron to send a probe down to Earth's core, so them covering it doesn't mean it's going to happen. A few years ago they did complete a project to Widen and straighten the Gaillard cut, the narrowest point on the Canal.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 11:51 AM) Or even better, maybe Oden next year. That would be acceptable as well.

QUOTE(Cuck the Fubs @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 10:12 AM) Eddy Curry. B/c of him, we had to trade Antiono Davis in order to trade Curry, and we hasd to get Tim Thomas in return who hasn't done squat for us. But we're going to get 2 nice top-5 draft picks, and hopefully 1 of them will turn into Aldridge.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 11:35 AM) And getting back to the Panama canal, how does it effect is at all anymore? Interesting story...Back when the U.S. was first considering constructing the Canal...there was a deal struck with Nicaragua for a canal through that country, which would have gone through lakes, been much easier to build than the Panamanian route, and which I believe would have been wide enough to process even the Nimitz carriers. But, it was basically sabotaged by Teddy Roosevelt. (Voice of America News)

QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 11:35 AM) Based on my observations of 20 years in manufacturing, and setting up sourcing operations overseas, that is my opinion. I will agree, I am not 100% correct, neither am I 100% wrong. Some larger, bulkier stuff will go sea. But look at any shippping trends over the last 20-25 years and see the increases for air cargo. We are making things smaller and lighter, which ships easier by air. From a financial standpoint, do you want you invoice to start on March 1 via air or April 3 based on sea? Rarely have I seen billing terms that start FOB shipping point. It is almost always the clock starting once the customer has possession of the goods. Another example, shipping the record player by parents owned by air would have been inconceivable. Shipping my son's iPod makes sense. And getting back to the Panama canal, how does it effect is at all anymore? Well, the other side of that token is that all evidence shows that the amount of goods coming in through ports in the last decade or so has absolutely skyrocketed. Every single major container-based port in the U.S. set a record for the amount of cargo it processed in 2005, according to the LAT. Air cargo may increase, and it may increase at a faster rate than shipping is growing, but that won't happen forever, espeically as fuel prices continue to increase. Many companies that manufacture things are happily willing to accept the difference between a 1 day delivery and a 2-3 week delivery if the price difference is large enough, and based on the size of those containers, the price difference certainly is.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 11:35 AM) Western music is wrong. But it feels so right.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 11:32 AM) You're absolutely wrong on this. Love Rex Kickass, the travel agent. Actually, I believe he's almost 100% right on that. Rex, you're wrong. How dare you ever show your face here again. Go listen to your western music.