illinilaw08

QUOTE (Tuna @ Oct 16, 2012 -> 12:10 PM) This is very interesting. I would think this would cause even more arguing because someone always thinks they offered the better deal that wasn't accepted. Do you get that a lot? I would be pissed if I worked on a trade for a few days and someone just comes in and takes him from underneath me because he knew the outline of the trade (and what he had to beat). The Window Rule does provide something of a disincentive to owners to make deals knowing that they could get windowed. We had to add some tweaks last year as the rule was implemented, but the most important thing about the rule is that no one can complain about collusion or about owners using a veto as a weapon. Again, the structure of our league (keeper, dynasty league) leads to most trades being between contenders and non-contenders so the seller is usually getting future draft picks back. There isn't much of an incentive for the seller to not take a better deal that was offered, so we haven't run into that issue yet.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Oct 16, 2012 -> 09:07 AM) My league has never had a trade get through in 4 years. Our league instituted the Window Rule. Every owner has 48 hours from when the trade is published to make a better offer. Trade processes immediately after the 48 hour window closes. That way "The Market" dictates the price of the player. Note that this is a keeper league where teams that fall out of contention normally deal for picks in the next year's draft so there are usually tons of trades. Additionally, we have had to make a lot of tweaks to the Window Rule to make it work and prevent everyone from waiting 47 hours to try and beat the initial offer. But it gets rid of stupid vetoes and encourages trading.

Who has two thumbs and started Brian Hartline this week... THIS GUY

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Sep 19, 2012 -> 05:24 AM) Martin is recruiting well. Lots of commitments of late. About a month off from Midnight Madness' all around. Hoosier Hysteria will host quite a few visitors, including BeeJay Anya and likely Troy Williams. Looks to be another top class for Indiana. Doesn't IU already have 4 commits for '13? Would they really take 6 in '13?

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 09:32 AM) One night last week our dog threw up her food. Called the vet just to check, just said keep an eye on her, once in a while they throw up, etc. Last night, all the sudden she throws up her food on the floor. From what we can tell, she seemed fine and ran around the rest of the night after it. She hadn't thrown up at all since we've had her, but then once last week once this week. Is it just normal for dogs to throw up every once in a while, or should I be more concerned? One of my cats does this probably once a week. We were told it is probably because she eats too fast... ? I've never had an animal that didn't throw up from time to time.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 03:00 PM) Christian belief isn't covered as if it's one side of an argument, it's covered as a problem that needs solving. And it's not just "oh, that's interesting you believe that" it's "OMG, you're a f***ing dumb ass for thinking that way." Creationism? You don't believe in science, you're an idiot. Abortion? That's not a murder issue, that's an equal rights issue. Same with homosexuality. Oh, you don't like boobs on national TV, you're just old fashioned grandpa! Get with the times! Oh gawd, we have a President or Governor that believes that prayer will provide guidance? We're all f***ed! And on and on. Again, i'm not really religious, but I can see this plain as day. Religion, and especially Christianity, is still a huge part of society. No questioning that. But the coverage is almost ALWAYS negative. Some of it (priest scandals) for good reason. Most not. Come on now... "Evolution? You don't believe in the bible. You're an idiot." "Abortion? That a murder issue, not an equal rights issue." "Homosexuality? It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." "Boobs on TV? Perish the thought!" "Islam? That's not a religion, that's a cult!" See what I did there? And those are stated positions of our representatives in government. Again, how is there a War Against Christianity? The coverage isn't always negative. Of course there are instances where the coverage is negative because it SHOULD be negative. Our leaders should not be making decisions based on what they think the Bible says is right... especially when those views conflict with what the religious minority might think. And there are certainly plenty of people that paint Christianity with too wide of a brush (which is absolutely a problem). I just have a really hard time buying into "the War Against Christianity." If anything, there's a war to distance Christianity from government. You want your kids to learn about creationism? Send them to private school. You want to prevent gays from marrying, say they can't get married in church. You have a fear of any and all mosques that are built? Don't look at them or move away from them.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 2, 2012 -> 02:14 PM) I think liberals have won the fight because many don't believe in God and the best way to prove they are right and we are wrong is mock the side that believes in God. We sit back and take it and that is that. There is no question society is going down the tubes. The workplace is a joke nowadays with all the do nothing HR departments and rude bully executives who do no actual work except find ways to keep raises down and find the cheapest insurance companies possible to further bully employees. Our society is going downhill fast and I would like for anybody to prove to me otherwise. I think we were doing much better when people at least respected those with Christian beliefs. I honestly don't understand this "poor Christians" mentality. As a non-practicing Catholic, I can say that the Catholic Church (note I mean the Vatican itself) should absolutely be criticized for their handling of pedophile priests. Not all priests are pedophiles, but there were men in the Church who certainly turned a blind eye to the ones that were. It must be tough to be the majority religion. Christianity is mocked. Islam is mocked. Mormons are mocked. Every religion is mocked. Christians in government don't sit back and take it either. They amend state constituitions to make sure those icky gays cannot ever get married. They pass laws to make sure that evolution isn't taught in schools and that creationism is given equal time (without, of course, giving equal time to the creation beliefs of other religions). I don't understand what fight, exactly, it is that the Liberal boogeyman has won.

Don't know how much discussion there has been in here about discount pet stuff, but doggyloot is a really cool site. My fiance orders from them probably twice a week for our pup. Bully sticks, toys, and the like. Also, as an update on my pup, he's over what turned out to be a bacteria infection. He's back to his old self which has us very, very relieved.

Going shopping for a new car today. I got an offer in the mail from a Hyundai dealership telling me that they are willing to give up to $2k above KBB for my '08 Elantra since they have a shortage on their lot. I don't know how much stock to put in that offer. And I know dealers often will add money to a trade without taking money off of the price. My car is low mileage (32k) and in pretty good shape. I think I'm in a pretty good spot since I don't really need to get a new car, I'm just interested to see what they actually are willing to offer me. Any thoughts on how I should handle the dealer?

My pup (7 months old) came down with something yesterday. He has diarrhea and can't keep food down. Our vets office is closed on Sundays and I don't think this is something that requires a trip to the emergency vet (he's in fine spirits otherwise and we're making him drink water to avoid dehydration). Reading on the internets, I see boiled chicken and rice consistently recommended as a good food for dogs with upset stomachs. Any thoughts on that? As usual, I'll hang up and listen.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 27, 2012 -> 10:45 PM) Again, if a conference has 2 of the top 4 teams in the country, please explain why they shouldn't be in the playoff? You'd rather have some other "conference winner" in there because they won a conference when NO ONE thinks they should be in there? Does a 3 loss team that wins a conference championship game now deserve to be in the playoff? How do you quantify the "best" teams in the country when, after September, almost all games are played within their own conference? Bias comes into the equation when there is a perception that a conference (currently the SEC) is superior to everyone else.

Condolences on the loss. Losing a pet is one of the most difficult things you can go through. My pup came through the neutering just fine. As expected, he was extremely groggy when we first got him home, but this morning he was acting back to normal, trying desperately to run and jump and play. He's going to be on a leash for the next couple days inside so that I can hopefully keep the stitches in place... it's going to be a very long week before the stitches come out.

My Vizsla puppy is getting neutered today. As he will have stitches, the vet says no running, jumping, or playing fetch for the next week. He's a freaking puppy! That's literally all he does is run, jump, play fetch and sleep. I think we're going to try keeping him on leash in the house while he's recovering. We have two cats that he loves (and loves to chase) so hopefully the leash will keep him from chasing. And then we're going to have to take him on extra long walks every day to try and wear him down. Any advice on how to keep him calm over the next week?

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 12:48 PM) We thought about some sort of obedience classes. Not that she's awful, but I know a lot of people do that for younger dogs. Thoughts? Obediance classes for our Viszla pup were good for two things: 1) Training us - the classes provided us with the tools to train the dog at home. An hour a week isn't going to be enough to get your dog trained. I spend a lot of time in our backyard every day working with him on the stuff we learned in obedience class. 2) Socialization with other dogs. The first class our pup went to, he shook for the first 5 minutes or so because of all these other dogs being around. After that, he was fine.

QUOTE (danman31 @ May 31, 2012 -> 12:21 PM) Johnson was man of the match for the US and it wasn't even close. Chandler who? Gomez needs to work on his first touch though. He knows where to be, which the US doesn't have enough of at forward, but he doesn't quite have the skill to be dangerous at the international level. Chandler would look very nice at RB across from Johnson at LB... though I think Lichaj has a great future at RB if he can stay healthy. Johnson and Bradley were the two best Americans to me. I thought it was very odd that JK dropped Bradley deep and played Edu in a more advanced role, especially since those were reversed with great effect against Scotland. Excited to see a full American squad with Jozy and Dempsey on the field. Need to get younger at CB. There's no way Gooch and Boca are playing at a high enough level in 2014. Hopefully Ream, Cameron, George John, Goodsen, Gonzalez, et al can become international quality in the next 2 years.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 24, 2012 -> 09:47 AM) In one sense, jenks is correct in that juries do treat eyewitness testimony as the best possible evidence. In that regard, from the litigator's POV, it is the "best possible" evidence they can present. But from a neutral point of view, it is far from the best possible evidence in determining what actually happened. That disconnect between how juries view EWT and the unreliable nature of EWT is the source of the problem. Eyewitness testimony may not be the BEST evidence. But in a sense, it's the most important evidence because you need someone to tie the accused to the scene of the crime. When I was a prosecutor, we had to dismiss many a DV case because the abused would refuse to comply with a subpoena to testify (back together with the Defendant, scared about the consequences, etc.). The officer's testimony as to what the victim told him is inadmissible. So without that eyewitness that actually IDs the person, the State can't meet their burden. Eyewitness testimony IS important, but it's probably equally important that defense attorneys are schooled in some of the unreliability of eyewitness testimony and that jurors are advised to understand some common sense issues with eyewitness testimony. Taking the example you cited a couple posts back about the mistaken ID by a rape victim who was 100% sure that she had ID'd the right person, that's an extremely difficult situation. She is a witness to the crime, she should be allowed to take the stand and her testimony is going to be extremely powerful. It's a tough sell for the defense attorney to have to say to jurors, "don't think emotionally, think scientifically" and ask them to ignore that powerful testimony. Better education of the police is absolutely a must though.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 24, 2012 -> 08:58 AM) You're still not getting it. It's not about specific witnesses that aren't credible but about human memory itself and its fallibility. Go read about the Ronald Cotton case, then go read any number of reports and studies on this issue. Go read the DoJ report from 98 or 99 on the issue. Continuing to believe that "eyewitness testimony is the best evidence available, period" is exactly the problem. You've made my argument by stating that plainly. You, an educated lawyer, believe this despite quite a bit of evidence to the contrary that's out there. An overwhelming majority of jurors believe this and put an undue weight on eyewitness testimony just as you have done. That is the problem, and that's what has led to wrongful convictions. Attacking the credibility of a specific witness doesn't take care of basic misunderstanding of the capabilities of human memory. Jennifer Thompson was a completely credible witness and made a specific effort during the rape to remember her assailant's face. She was 100% sure that she had identified the right man, and her testimony led to his conviction. It was later overturned by DNA evidence. Jennifer Thompson's credibility couldn't be impugned beyond the very issue you're rejecting--fundamental problems with what you've termed 'the best evidence available.' There are solutions to this problem, such as the reforms recommended by the DoJ in the 98 report. Many of the papers and studies contain recommendations. Another important aspect is education and raising awareness of the problems with eyewitness testimony so that the general public is aware of what the research has shown and jurors are less likely to believe in false ideas like 'eyewitness testimony is the best evidence available, period.' How much of the literature on this issue have you read? This argument has happened before on this board... SS, what is the end game? Obviously there are situations where eye witness testimony is given more weight than it should. And obviously there are plenty of examples of the mind playing tricks on memory. But that doesn't make all eye witness testimony unreliable. There are plenty of situations where that isn't an issue. Take a domestic violence case. Abused wife is on the stand. The question is: What happened that night? The answer: My husband beat the crap out of me. Do we say, "Wait a second! Eye witness testimony isn't reliable!" In that case, of COURSE it's reliable. She knew the assailant. She was there. Those factors make her testimony extremely reliable. If you asked her to re-create every minutae, every single detail of what happened, then yes, reliability becomes a bigger issue. Not all eyewitness testimony is the same, but to echo Jenks, what is your solution: Do you want to exclude all eyewitness testimony? Do you want jury instructions in every case that cite to the inherent unreliability of human memory?

Assuming the prior DUIs resulted in convictions, the prosecutor's office should pick up the priors. In AZ (a state with fairly harsh DUI laws), he would probably be looking, on his best day, at 90 days in jail (depending on the severity of the two priors).

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 10, 2012 -> 08:36 AM) Obvious trolling can still result in reasonable discussion on a topic that needs to be discussed (the future of JFP with the White Sox) - the guy has pitched better than anyone in baseball so far. If JFP is still dealing at the ASB, what's a reasonable return for him? Also, I don't know the answer to this, but if the Sox don't move Peavy, and don't pick up the option, are they still entitled to compensation if he walks in FA?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 9, 2012 -> 12:08 PM) Yeah you've got to look a bit wider, both of mine were puppies from a shelter, my rot was actually within days of being euthanized. www.dogsindanger.com is a very sad website to browse but they have a good selection. I wasnt saying you werent looking hard enough, im saying that local shelters for whatever reason dont get alot of puppies which is a shame, because thats what people want. I rescued a 3 year old lab back in November from a rescue organization. We had him for all of a week when he bit my soon to be mother in law, sending her to the hospital (on her birthday no less... the dog was sitting in my fiances lap when she walked by and the dog lunged at her). Needless to say, he had to go back to the rescue organization after that which was one of the saddest and most difficult trips I have made. After that, we decided we needed to get a puppy, so we went through a reputable breeder. My sister has always had rescue dogs and they are some of the sweetest dogs I have ever met (and I have two shelter cats as well), but when you have a bad experience, you get gun shy.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 9, 2012 -> 07:45 AM) I have to get this out of my way real quick.... :lolhitting :lolhitting :lolhitting Donnelly isn't going to beat Mourdock anywhere but NWI where he is from. I've dealt with the guy on many occasions, and he isn't winning over the rest of Indiana. Mourdock could end up his own worst enemy with the rest of the state. He energizes the base, but a lot of people I know that consistently vote R here in Indy are going to do their homework on Donnelly (who I confess, I know nothing about) because of how extreme Mourdock is. Lugar would have won in a landslide, Mourdock might put the seat back into play.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 8, 2012 -> 02:47 PM) The same cat that jumped into the window makes the clicking too, but she never lived in the wild. My wife's old cat started as a stray they took in, so it was in the wild for a year or two. It still made these awful-sounding hunting noises when it would walk around with a toy. The first time I heard it, I thought she was dying. One of our cats makes the clicking noise as well. She was a rescue from a shelter when she was 6 months old. I always wondered why she did that...

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 4, 2012 -> 02:36 PM) To add. Check out Jackson Galaxy and his show "Cat from Hell" on Animal Planet. Yup, dude's "name" is Jackson Galaxy. Anyway, and we've always had one so it didn't matter for us since our cats are really well behaved yet mischevious, always have a high spot for the cat. Get a "cat tower". Whenever the cats have had their fill, they go over, beat the s*** out of that thing, then go up top. Cats really like having a "perch". Honestly 90% of problems with house-only cats are directly related to their having no "escape". Once you understand the feline, it can be quite rewarding. I love my two cats so hard. Our cats love to sit perched on the back of a loveseat and watch outside. Well, our 5 month old puppy has absolutely picked up on this habit, literally perching like a cat on the back of the loveseat. You see three heads moving in unison as they watch birds, squirrels, etc. The dog, however, isn't quite as passive about it. The animals outside end up winding him up and he jumps off the chair and runs around. The cats, in turn, just seem to give us looks that say, "that dude has NO idea how to watch outside." Love the cats. Ours have tons of personality.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 8, 2012 -> 07:39 AM) Great write up. I totally agree. Without a true farm system to grow really young players in (such as NHL and MLB have) there is such a wide margin for error. Many of these kids aren't ready for life, let alone NBA basketball. Also I am curious who the teammate was. The most interesting person I could find was Zach Randolph was a teammate of Kerr's as a rookie, and I know he isn't too bright. I couldn't find any straight from HS kids that were rookies on teams that Kerr played with. Agreed. Great write up. I have always been an advocate of the NBA creating a true minor league (not like the D-League) that they can fill with young draft picks, etc. following MLB and NHL models. Kerr talks about the fact that NBA teams are more than happy to have the colleges act as their farm system, but they lose control over the development and maturation of the kids that way. I'd be interested in seeing if having a true farm system would actually SAVE the NBA money down the road (presumably you would need to extend the draft, so lower salaries for late "potential" picks who the team would have control of mentoring outside the sheltered world of NCAA athletics).

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 2, 2012 -> 04:08 PM) Yeah, having lots of high places for cats to escape is key to their being comfortable in general. Having an up-high path out of the room is good, too. High spaces are huge for the cats' sanity. Our more social cat has been fine with the dog since day 1. She likes to be chased by the dog and tease the dog and lets him know if he's too aggressive. Our other cat who is very little and shy stays away from him when he's awake (in fact, we rarely saw her the first week the puppy was home), but she has adjusted pretty well and now likes to cuddle with him while he sleeps. The dog is sweet and loves them both but absolutely plays too rough sometimes. If your cats are ok in the car, see if you can bring them to meet the dogs.