NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 07:15 PM) God this argument gets so annoying. Because it seems like any comment about wondering about victory in a war seems to be a reflection on the job the military does. Maybe the solution isn't military. Maybe its more complicated than what our armed forces does or doesn't do. That's the part that most of America doesn't seem willing to face yet. We move to strenghten security at home, and we go after terrorists in Afghanistan, and we fight a (morally reprehensible) war in Iraq... meanwhile the same hatred that created groups like Al Qaida doesn't go away at all - it gets much, much stronger in appeal among a large swath of the world. This all leads to a fact that very few in the U.S. seems to want to face, and a solution that is so daunting in time and money and politcal capital that no politician will touch it. Fact: The hatred is, to some extent, founded. And we were a big part of creating it. Solution: Accept it, and work a social and political policy (not military) with contries in the Middle East that attempts to build a positive relationship not founded on bullying and greed. I wonder if that will ever happen. I await the floggings.

I noticed today that Mike Myers was declined arbitration. That plus the Marte thing has me hoping we move Marte for, well, anything useful, and then we try to sign Myers.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 8, 2005 -> 10:24 AM) Jose Macias? :puke Graffanino please. Boston has offered arbitration for Graff. If they want him to be around again (possibly) as a backup or starter, and if other teams would let him start, it seems unlikely he'd come here just to be a backup again. Sadly, I think neither Mueller or Graffanino are going to happen.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 02:56 PM) Hammerhead johnson in the "Gammons says Thomas to A's going to happen", Hey now, at least include the whole string! I tried to paste it all in, but it's a pain in the a**, so just read the five or six posts starting with... http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...ic=44033&st=45#

Once more, thanks again to all who posted here. I had no idea this site did this, so it was a pleasant surprise. Thanks, and have a great day!

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 03:43 PM) I think they should shoot to kill. Turn his clock right off so he can't do whatever it is he intended to do. Let's dispell a myth right here: In law enforcement, unless you are talking about a guy with a sniper rifle on a tripod, there is no such thing as shoot-to-wound. It's always shoot to kill - aim for center mass. Officers are not trained to shoot someone in the leg, or any other Hollywood nonsense like that (I am sure some have tried on their own, but it's not what they are trained to do). If the shot happens to not kill them, and they can subdue, then great. But shooting someone is pretty much always considered use of deadly force (again, with a few very unusal circumstances).

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 02:52 PM) Here ya go. Good. Long. Lots. Linguistic master. Passionate patriot. Penetrating intellect. Mildly paranoid. More than a little touched. Read: "Year 501 - The Conquest Continues" to see all sides he presents.

For the record, I don't think either one are conspiracies. They're both monumental testaments to how governments can miss the big picture. I just thought the argument that Pearl Harbor was allowed because we didn't act on certain specific information was similarly ridiculous.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 02:27 PM) Now while you're laughing at your silly picture of tinfoil hats explain to me why, having cracked the Japanese diplomatic codes and having intercepted dispatches instructing operatives in Honolulu to do a reconnisance of Pearl Harbor and report on the locations of American ships, that we did nothing about it. You mean like why didn't we do anything about all the now-obvious data about Al Qaida we had before 9/11? Or why FBI agents were pushed away from acting on it? Do you think that the Bush administration wanted 9/11 to happen?

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 01:40 PM) It's a Catch 22 it seems for most cities. The ones that need the best police protection can't seem to afford to pay even average salaries to its finest. True. But, that's why I mentioned in my post the choice of numbers versus salary and benefits. Cities that have chosen to spend the same money on fewer officers have, on the whole, had better results in crime rates and personnel problems. I will try to find links. The studies I saw were quite a few years ago. Example: Denver PD pays unusually well for a large city. Those guys start with a base at or just over 50k/year now I think, and Denver is lower COA than Chicago I believe. And they can pick up extra work for more cash too. Plus they make it so that people with college degrees and/or military experience have serious advantage. But Denver has one of the lowest cop/pop ratios in the country. And yet, look at the crime stats for Denver. Much lower per capita than a lot of other large cities, in both >property and >person.

QUOTE(Steff @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 01:49 PM) The COA of NO is roughly 14% less then in Chicago, and the pay scale just under 10%.. anyone know the starting pay of Chicago's finest..?? Last I checked it was 35k and change to start. That does not include special pay, like overtime and event work, which pretty much all those guys do. Plus side work in security if you want it (which CPD sort of allows, some other departments don't).

Wow. Noam Chomsky was born on the day that America was attacked. How ironic. Also the day that will live in infamy. And... my birthday.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 12:45 PM) We could have won Vietnam in 6 months if LBJ wasn't a moron. His mismanagement of the war cost us a ton of lives and allowed the North to win. We didn't lose Nam because LBJ was a moron. We lost because our military tactics were out-of-date and entirely useless in that type of war. We failed to adapt (until after Nam, anyway).

Wow. That is terrifying. My thoughts are with Joseph and his family, and I hope for the best.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 12:13 PM) Yeah, I dont attack you for at least a month. Cool! That's a whole month of me touting the great Ross Gload without you raining down verbal fire on me!!! Just kidding. Sort of.

Hey - I just saw this thread. Totally didn't expect that. Thanks to both of you guys, I appreciate the thought! Especially since I don't even know you. Wait a second... so if I'm 33, I'm in the older person's club? Is there a prize with that or something?

About a third of the NOPD was AWOL when they were called in after the storm. That probably selected out some of the biggest losers. NOPD takes the cake for the worst PD in the US, and that was before Katrina. Of course, they also only get paid 18k/year to start, in one of the highest crime cities in the country. They might as well be begging them to become entrepreneurs. There is a strong inverse correlation between the salary level and job requirements of PDs and their level of corruption and discipline problems. I've seen examples in studies numerous times. Better to have fewer, better paid and better qualified officers than tons of cheap, questionable ones.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 09:56 AM) "Are you a 6'5, 275+lb, hard-swinging black man?" How about 6'3" and coaches the company softball team? Come on, that's the same.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Dec 7, 2005 -> 09:55 AM) Are you 6'5 and approaching 300 pounds? It's reassuring if you're a major fatass or something along those lines. No offense if you are indeed a major fatass. 6'3" ~215 (at the time) Um... I'd like to think I'm not a major fatass, but I suppose that's subjective. I'm not a small guy, though. But no, I'm obviously not nearly as huge as Frank. I'd guess that he'll need to lose some weight for 2006 in any case. Less weight certainly decreases the risk.

In the Trib's article today, it pointed out that Thomas was walking around not only without a cast, but without any limp or favor... http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines Now, whether or not its game-ready is different. But I have had multiple fractures in my foot before (stress fractures in two of the little interior pebble-like bones), that were a pain in the rear to get healed. But once I got to where I could walk around without pain, I was pretty close to 100% healed.

QUOTE(hi8is @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 05:43 PM) encrypted in the message above is Kenny Williams cell phone numer... a friend told me that a friend told my other friend that all we have to do is call Kenny by cracking this code and we will then be able to trade 50 rolls of sourdough bread to tampa for Crawford..... all you math wizz nerds.... get crackin!!!!!! In case I haven't said this yet... dude, you are hilarious.

QUOTE(JohnStamos @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 04:02 PM) Your avatar is disturbing to me.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 01:53 PM) I don't know about that. Other countries are hyped up about this. I heard the Cubans wish they would field a team as well. Every other country is hyped up about this. In fact, everyone is hyped up on this minus American fans. Again, IMO, it's no different than playing Winter League or ST except it means more to the players. If you don't believe that, then there's something wrong with you. OK, let me re-phrase. The AMERICANS need to be pushed a bit to put something at stake.

QUOTE(kevin57 @ Dec 6, 2005 -> 12:44 PM) What's curious is that MLB created this series. Why, how did they do that if there's this much concern being raised? Another MLB decision where everything was clearly thought through. I don't see this as being not-thought-through. I think that for this to succeed, players and teams need to be pushed towards it. Otherwise, it would never happen. I have no doubt that MLB knew full well that some baseball execs would have objections. As I stated earlier, I think this is a great thing. If you want the phrase "World Champions" to mean something, then you have to try to head that direction. This is obviously only a small step, but it's going the right way.

*cough* Crawford in CF *cough*