Balta1701

After losing the site repeatedly during the playoffs last year...if we can fix it, I'd be in favor of it. Is there any way to move some of the long-running threads and keep them active? Like the General thread's in AJ's bar?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 12:59 PM) OK, that is quite possible the most ridiculous looking district I've ever seen. Wow. I can see why you'd want to split Durham from Raleigh, but what is the deal with the tail on that thing?! Something to keep in mind, though. That bizarre shape may or may not be helpful to the Dems, which i think is what you are getting at. It may in fact make other districts more Republican. Or not - I have no idea. Just saying it may not be so obvious. I still like California's 23rd myself...it's never more than 5 miles across.

The Texans are happy.

QUOTE(daa84 @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 10:27 AM) ill bet 9 of those hits were against us Based on their record against Tampa last year, my money says they all came against the Yankees.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 10:06 AM) Laike Balta said, there is no reason to think it would be left up to the states for very long. If the powers that be are willing to consider a constitutional ban on gay marriage then or course a constitutional ban on abortion would be dearer still to the anti-abortion powers. If that case were overturned, then why would they need a constitutional ban? It'd be a lot harder to pass, it'd take a lot longer, and it probably would in fact fail. They could do it very simply with just a simple majority in both houses by passing a law.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:54 AM) How would Harrington know? That would be a really good deal for the Clips, plus Brand and Artest were good friends IIRC. The Clips could use his toughness. It wouldn't be a bad deal for the Pacers either IMO...if they're actually trying to Move Artest, getting a guy like Magette is about as good as they're going to get. With Livingston, Mobely, and Cassel all in their backcourt, they were having trouble finding good ways to use Corey in their rotation earlier this season. Trouble of course is that it seems he's going to be out until probably mid-Feb. with that foot injury.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:43 AM) :headshake :headshake He isnt trying to shut the door in the 8th inning or something. He is the color man on the radio. Lighten up Francis. Aren't we talking about using rookies for exactly that?

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:38 AM) I'm sure this is some misunderstanding though. Nope. Right now it seems like the guy's probably done something pretty bad, although the details haven't leaked out yet. It might be worth noting however, that the guy who plea-bargained out was at one point President of a company that has done a large amount of work for DOD and the White House, including the IT Infrastructure for Bush's 2nd inaugural and the G8 summit last year. As Josh Marshall says though, if this guy didn't exist, the Republicans would have to invent him.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:38 AM) The states lines are carved in stone. The candidates within a state have nothing to do with a neighboring state. How do you explain the House? Excepting Texas, of course. Pulling that one out of your arsenal before you fire. I'll toss that one right up to Democratic ineptness, with only a hint of gerrymandering right now, as you note.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:31 AM) Then the will of the voter will rule. What a concept. New Yorker. I just always find that interesting...more voters for the Democrats for the Senate, but based on how the state lines are drawn, the Republicans wind up with a solid Senate majority.

QUOTE(Steve Bartman's my idol @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 09:15 AM) I don't put any credence into anything Chomsky says...he's an ignorant, f##king douchebag. That detailed, well-thought-out rebuttal of his points certainly convinced me.

QUOTE(Spiff @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 03:06 AM) I was just saying, the Bears didn't exactly move the ball that last game like the '01 Rams. Their only TD came on a 3 yard drive. Now, the Panthers didnt really move it either, but all this means is whatever team makes less mistakes is gonna win when everyone seems to think it'll just be the same game all over again. The Bears didn't move the ball, but they also had Orton at QB. Grossman might not throw for more yards, but even if he just makes 1-2 better decisions on 3rd down and converts them, and creates a better possibility of a deep ball so that the safeties can't cheat up to stop the run, their offense will be in vastly better shape.

I worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 05:33 AM) Now, let's think about this, though. If Roe v. Wade gets overturned, what happens? It doesn't mean that abortion is illegal!! WHAT A CONCEPT! It cracks me up how everyone just assumes that. All that simply means is that the STATES will determine their own law... which is the way it should be anyway. Interesting slant? Just curious what you think about that (no matter what your belief on the ISSUE is). But, if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, what would be out there to stop the Republicans from seeking a national ban? In the short term it would fall to the states yes, but if the Republicans still held solid majorities in the House and Senate, and could get a few of the pro-life Democrats in the Senate to vote for cloture, it could very easily happen.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Jan 12, 2006 -> 01:09 AM) Contreras for Brazoban and a couple pitching prospects? It's a deal that might make sense for us, but I don't think it makes sense for the Dodgers. They already have 4-5 starting pitchers depending on who's healthy, and they're hoping to bring up Billingsly at some point this season to start working him into the rotation, and Contreras would just be in the way. The Dodgers do have a bunch of lower-level talent though which could make it work if Coletti wanted to.

Here's an interesting little nugget from the Washington Post. It seems that one of the Colonel's running Abu Ghraib accepted an offer of immunity in exchange for testimony in a couple of the court martial cases involving the dog handlers. Right after that, General Miller, the guy in charge of "Gitmo-izing" Abu Ghraib, invoked the 5th amendment and refused to testify in that case. Couple of notes so I don't sound stupid...First, Miller didn't actually invoke the 5th amendment, he invoked article 31 of the uniform code of military justice, which basically includes the same right against self-incrimination as the 5th amendment. Secondly...I never knew the 5th amendment granted you the right to not testify on the grounds that the questions have gotten annoying. Is that something the military threw in to their rules?

By the way, quick question, stolen from a blog. Remember that Iraqi election about a month ago? Um, who actually won that?

A few weeks ago someone said that one possibility they were considering for Lopez was putting him at 1b. Seems like this would throw that possibility out the window. If people stay healthy and Tejada doesn't slow down at the 1/2 way point it's still a pretty good lineup. Not a great lineup, but a pretty good one.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 08:01 PM) Sadly, the delta isn't that close. Manufacturing workers on this side of the river, on average, make $8-$9 per hour. Real wages, with government mandated and union mandated benefits, on the Mexico side are $6 to $7. But add up thousands of hours a week times 52 weeks and the difference between US/South Texas and 20 miles south in Mexico makes economic sense. Now in some ways this helps us by opening up markets for our intellectual property and eliminates some of the desperation that temps Mexicans to risk their lives coming to the US as illegals. Um, Tex, with the $.4 an hour, they weren't talking about moving stuff to Mexico, they were talking about genuinely overseas, i.e. to Asia.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 08:31 PM) I agree. They try and filibuster Alito and the gloves come off. Ok, now this one is in all seriousness...what exactly can the Republicans do beyond what they've already done except for the nuclear option, which they'd do in response to a filibuster anyway? They're already passing bills in the middle of the night, totally rewriting bills in conference committees, holding votes open for many times the usual voting period, preventing any sort of investigations of anything they've done from moving forward, and saying that any question other than "Iraq war, great idea or greatest idea?" gives aid and comfort to the enemy. What else can they do? And if they do that, are they willing to tolerate the shutting down of the Senate in response? Even as a minority, don't underestimate the power that the Senate rules give to each side - remember Harry Reid's invoking of Rule 21 (I think that was the number)? There are a dozen procedural tricks that each side can use to totally hamstring the other if it comes to that, but almost none of them are ever employed. So what exactly can the Republicans do to "Take the gloves off"? Sending the Democrats to Gitmo? Anywho, almost certainly a moot point because I can't imagine the Dems being able to hold together a filibuster on this nominee, if the best thing they can throw at him is "Oh, back in college 30 years ago you joined this stupid group and you put it on a resume 20 years ago." Oh, and to the person who said 55-45...I have 1 word for you...Lieberman.

Dammit, as far as I can tell based on the fact that KW reportedly said that...the first thing my mind told me was that this means Hermy is worse than we know.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 06:24 PM) Yea, the f***ing bumper sticker to the organization had on it "we are racial, bigoted assholes who profile against minorities of all kinds... future supreme court nominees need not apply..." and Alito signed right up to become a part of a huge ass witch hunt 30 years later. GMAFB. :rolly (I don't really know if I care about this thing, and I'm starting to agree with your GMAFB, but this one is to play devil's advocate for a moment.) So if this was some pointless organization he joined, why did he feel it was important enough to include it on later job applications?

QUOTE(AirScott @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 04:54 PM) this offseason has left the Angels weaker, but not too weak to contend. the AL West is definitely going to be tight (especially if Beltre pans out for the Mariners), and if the A's sign Big Frank I'd say they're the favorites, but don't count out the Angels. Mathis played well last year in AAA (.276 and 21 HRs in 427 ABs), so if he can contribute regularly for the Angels right away the offensive drop-off from Bengie shouldn't be too bad. Bunch of points in reply. First, even if Mathis shows good power in the big leagues, that may very well not be enough to compensate for the loss of Molina, mainly because of the way the Angels are built. Unlike the Moneyball teams, the Angels are built to be a "get em on, get em over, get em in" club. They always have one of the lowest OBP's in the AL every year. They sacrifice people, they use up outs getting people into scoring position, etc. While I think this is a fine strategy, it does mean 1 thing: If you're hitting home runs, you will drive in less runs with a team like that than with a team that draws a lot of walks. The Angels scored their runs last year by being basically the best team in baseball hitting with RISP (or the 2nd best right next to the Bosox). They scored almost as many runs as us, while hitting liek 50 less home runs. Molina was a big part of that. With RISP, Molina hit over .290, and he hit over .360 in those key 2 out RISP situations. Mathis could very well hit .270 with 20 home runs and drive in less runs than Molina did, because all his home runs could be solo shots. Furthermore, the big dropoff for the Angels this year doens't look to be offense, it looks to be pitching. The Angels were in the bottom 5 in offense in the AL last year, just like us. They made the playoff just like us...because of their pitching. Their starting pitching has lost 2 key guys, they have 1 2nd year guy in there, and the health of another guy is in question. Their pitching may take a giant step back next year. And if that happens, the only thing that could make them competitive is their offense, and that means they need to not just be almost as good as their (poor) offense last year, they need to be significantly better. And it'll take major performances from all of those young guys for that to even be possible.

QUOTE(kevin57 @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 05:22 PM) KKK? You mean like Senator Robert Byrd (D. WVa.)? "WAR!"

Michigan State is currently shooting like 59% for the game. Hypothetically they have to cool off sometime right?