Steve9347

Well, we have an ace for the first half of 2017, it seems.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 10:20 AM) Republican party line seems to be that it's "Paid Activists" and "Paid Protesters" are jamming their phone lines. https://thinkprogress.org/anti-obamacare-co...e8e8#.xqubhgwnu http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/01/30/cory...olorado-senate/ The people have lost any power they may have had as those meant to uphold their constituents' wants and desires are no longer listening.

It looks like the Cavs have found the playmaker LeBron so greatly craves. Cavs to work out Kirk Hinrich

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 11:04 AM) Aaaaaahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahaa I really have no idea how these f***s can say such idiocy.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 09:48 AM) Pretty sure Celtics can't trade their pick because that would be three straight seasons of trading their 1st round pick It's not their pick. It's a Nets pick that's already been dealt and can be dealt again. I have no interest in the Celtics' pick.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 09:38 AM) You're not trying to land a Jimmy Butler, you're trying to land someone that can be the number 1 guy on a championship team. Jimmy is absolutely great but he's never going to be the number 1 on a championship team and we're not landing LeBron or Harden or Russ or Steph or whoever to make winning a championship "around him" feasible. I actually must take back my refusal to deal Jimmy. Superstars normally don't net a proper return, but a deal with Boston could do just that. If we can get their two picks from the Nets and some combination of these guys -Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Ante Zizic, well, that's one you roll with as you may be able to hit paydirt with either of those picks. Hell, this coming draft could wind up being the 1 overall. That gives the Celtics IT2, Al Horford, Jimmy, Bradley to roll deep into the East with. Ok, trade Jimmy to the Celtics!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 07:18 AM) This is where people have zero idea of history. Your mention of the "refusal to assimilate" couldn't be more normal in terms of history. Heck go all of the way back to colonial times. Religious groups struck out on their own. Ever heard of the Pligrims? How about the Quakers? The Amish? The Mormons too. Ethnic groups were no different. Indians, Africans, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Jews, Germans, over time were some of the more prominent targets. Typically these groups came here in search of something new, and met with resistance because they didn't speak English and their customs offended the people who were already assimilated. The first generations usually didn't try to blend. They stayed in their ethnic neighborhoods, spoke the old language, kept the old customs, and never really became "American's" Many even turned to crime to make their way as traditional ways were closed to these groups. Whether it was the "Irish Need Not Apply" or the redlining of entire cities to keep the undesirables in their own places such as Chinatown and Little Italy, it has been done over our whole history. But every, single, time an amazing thing happened. The second generation started to leave that behind. They spoke English outside of the house, and spoke the native tongue in it. They picked up American customs, and turned to education as their way out of the neighborhoods. By the third generations it might only be a last name that would sell out an ethnic background. By the 4th and 5th generations, the ethnic identities faded to the point they were really of the old world anymore, they were Americans first, and something else later. The incredible part of that is that it was all voluntary. It wasn't like Soviet Russia where assimilation was forced, or Nazi Germany where the undesirables were just disposed of. People became Americans because they wanted to be Americans. The greatness of America has always been that people, no matter where they came from, always turned into Americans in a matter of a couple of generations. Pretty much unless we put the boot of discrimination on their necks, the transition has been seamless. With the banning of Muslims of certain countries coming to the United States, nothing has really changed. These elements have always held power in the United States, and they have always hid under the veil of trying to save us from the latest group we should be scared of. At times, they got enough power to make lives miserable for their targets. We banned the Chinese from immigrating at times. We rounded up the Japanese and put them into interment camps. We tried to send the Africans back to Africa. Despite all of this, these groups have still turned into Americans over time. I am here today to tell you that using history as my guide, Muslims won't be any different. Give America a couple of generations with these immigrants, and while you might have a few bad apples, they will be fat and lazy Americans in two generations. To me that is the ultimate victory. Our culture and society is so incredible that it wins out, and it wins out voluntarily. If we ever get to the point where this history stops, THAT is when we quit being great. You want proof? My hometown is FULL of Syrian refugees and immigrants that haven't blown up any buildings. They haven't used a single suicide vest. Guess what, they have been coming here for over a century just for the opportunity to work. So while some want to live in fear of the latest boogeyman group, history tells me that fear is wasted. Quit being scared of immigrants. Don't live your life in fear. The ultimate in living scared is trying to hide from other cultures. You want to make American great? Learn from your history instead of being scared and wrong. I applaud you, sir.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 08:53 AM) That's fair and I understand your point. I disagree though. With the new CBA, young stars (Cousins) and potential guys (Davis, Jabari Parker, etc) will just stay with their teams because of the gobs of money that they can be offered. Jimmy keeps you competitive which never allows to cash in at the top of the lottery. If you don't have high draft picks, and can't sign really good free agents, I ask you again, How do they ever build a championship team around Jimmy Butler? The Kings have been tanking for a decade and haven't done squat with it. The Bucks have been complete garbage for a decade and are only starting to reap the benefits now. For every example you have of teams that have to build through the draft there are examples of teams who stockpile mid-round picks and strike when the iron is hot. I have no doubt the Lakers will be fantastic again in a few years by keeping a guy or two and then offloading other guys at the right time. The Bulls NEVER improve through trade, which is what they need to do. They need to not fall in love with their s*** drafted talent and make moves while the league still believes in them. Instead, we sit on these guys and they're out of the league. It's been a while since the Bulls hit on a draft pick. While Jimmy will go down as an all-timer, here are their picks since then. Denzel Valentine (can't crack the lineup) Paul Zipser (starting to show something) Bobby Portis (still finding time in D league) Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Harris (dealt away, the two best players on this list selected by Denver, NOT Chicago) Cameron Bairstow (out of the league) Tony Snell (worthless in Milwaukee and ugly) Erik Murphy (out of the league) Marquis Teague (out of the league) Norris Cole (out of the league) Not a great run here. It's hard to improve your team and build around stars when you don't have enough interesting pieces to deal for them. Stars come available often, the Bulls just never deal for them. This is the same team that refused to include Tyrus Thomas in a deal for peak Pau Gasol.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 27, 2017 -> 01:25 PM) This feels so liberating.... I'd sure be a happier person if I did the same.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 08:32 AM) Because there's no feasible plan to win championships building around Jimmy Butler. I'm all ears though. There are 6 banners in that building and 1998 was a long ass time ago. Surprised Bulls fans are as happy as they are to be a "playoff team". I'm not happy to be a playoff team, but it's a lot harder to get the three All-Stars you need to compete for a title starting with 0 instead of with 1.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 30, 2017 -> 03:29 PM) Surprised Hossa didn't make the list. At this point in time, he has probably had a better career than #19 or #88. As they keep playing, they would most likely surpass him, but kind of thought he deserved to be on there. Yeah, that's just dumb. Hossa spent his prime in the NHL when defenses were allowed to trap and do a bunch of bulls***, yet he is now 58th all-time in the NHL in total points and has considerably more points than guys like Rocket Richard, Keith Tkachuk, Pat LaFontaine, etc.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 08:15 AM) I'm a big proponent of the trade Butler idea. It should be Boston though and I want both of Brooklyn's picks. Not sure what else Bulls would need and how to match salary. I just know this: If they did this, it's likely they'd have a top 3 pick in this year's draft and another top 10 (their own pick). Getting one of these PG's would be essential in a really deep draft. This would also set the Bulls up for 2 more lottery picks next year (Brooklyn's and their own). They could totally f*** it up and draft bad players. But if they draft 2 cornerstone type stars, they could keep them forever in the current NBA. It's not a "great" plan and nobody likes watching 20 win seasons but it's better than patching it around Jimmy and being the 6th seed annually in my opinion. Why on Earth would we consider trading Jimmy Butler, a consensus top 15 player at 27 years old, simply to go into mega rebuild mode in the hopes of landing a Jimmy Butler?

Also from Mike & Mike: They were saying on Mike and Mike that one of the reason that the front office didn't like Thibs and Jimmy is that they tried to screw him on his previous contract and told him if he didn't sign his smaller restricted option they would give his minutes to Jimmy Snell and limit his stats so he didn't get a max deal. And that Thibs said no way and played Jimmy anyway. If that's true that is wrong on so many levels and it's no surprise that they never get free agents to come. I got the above third party and will try to verify.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 30, 2017 -> 01:22 PM) Our wealth is closer to Trump's than his wealth is to theirs. To them he is just a poor guy. Ha - ain't that the truth.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 30, 2017 -> 08:22 AM) http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-...-132039045.html Even Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and the Koch Brothers are against Trump/Bannon You know you done f***ed up if the Koch Brothers are against a policy set forth by a Republican president.

This is awful. Feels like it belongs in his thread. Multiple shot outside mosque in Quebec City. http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/0...;source=copyurl

But Hillary's emails.

QUOTE (New Era on South Side @ Jan 28, 2017 -> 09:55 PM) How can the average American man help the legal system? Donate to the ACLU? Pay legal fees for immigrants? Just curious. Donate, place calls, get involved, etc. I'm joining a group on Tuesday night whose plan is to write thousands of post cards for delivery to certain offices. Do what we can, I guess.

This really will either be our downfall or the shortest Presidency in American history. He must be stopped.

https://instagram.com/p/BPyhprHjsc0/ Derrick Rose is now dead. Kemba killed him tonight.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 27, 2017 -> 08:27 PM) Who is pumped for the Sixers-Bucks 2nd rd matchup in a few years for the right to play LeBron in the ECF? In a few years LeBron will be 36. If those two teams stay together, the King will likely be signing with one of them to play point guard and win more titles.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 08:36 PM) Hoiberg isn't going anywhere unless Gar goes with him. Works for me.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 01:01 PM) I am going to get back to work after this and don't take it personal but I have to defend myself after I just took all your s*** the other day. It's amazing you guys were taking shots at my credibility the other day and follow that up with some of the stuff you have. Steve saying a Republican president might get impeached with a republican house and senate in place after what? five days in office? Soxbadger saying Trump, the holder of the most powerful position in the world and a billionaire, is "never going to make it" in this world? He can't "make it" any more! I mean c'mon. Trump's a total goofball and I don't like him either but you guys just group attack any counterpoint to the "world is ending" echo chamber the filibuster has become. IE, don't let your hatred for Trump delude you from reason and acceptable discourse. Not the worst point so I won't s*** on this. I'm just looking for a quick escape.

I left a bunch of voicemails. Welcome to hell, Dick.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:34 AM) In real news, it looks like Mexico has decided to cancel the meeting with Trump. The problem for Trump is that this could embolden others because they are going to realize that Trump is all bark no bite. This is awesome news. Honestly, this has been so downright insane that the dude might just get impeached.