Jack Parkman

Do I think Trump is dangerous? Absolutely. Will I vote for a 3rd party or a GOP candidate over a Dem? No. I understand how the system works. I'm more concerned about principles and integrity and not compromising them when a candidate goes to Washington or Springfield. I'd rather in-fight, sorry. If I'm not happy with my representation, I'd rather primary them and try to get someone in office who better represents my values. If I lose, fine. I'll re-elect the incumbent Dem. I find the GOP and 98% of what they stand for abhorrent.

The sponsors aren't being realistic then. They have a far larger demographic to lose on the other end. I wish I knew who these sponsors are so I could not buy their products. If you're going to ask an organization to do that, then put your name behind it and deal with the consequences, To do it behind closed doors is cowardice.

Yes rational people compromise, but is it really compromising when one side is always doing the giving and the other is always doing the taking, or is it caving? At some point you have to draw a line in the sand. I want people willing to draw that line. That is all. There are things that are non-negotiable. Unfortunately, with Republicans they draw the line in the sand with anything and everything. We have to have a period of stagnation and win the PR war IMO. My problem with the establishment Dems is that they are too soft on the GOP agenda. Sometimes fingerpointing and arguing is a good thing. I want people who have integrity and will stand by their principles. Establishment Dems have not shown this. If the GOP is going to dig their feet in the sand, the Dems have to as well. it might not accomplish anything, but we have to have reasonable people in Congress and we don't have that from the GOP. They remind me of the character Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate factory. They b****, whine and throw a temper tantrum until they get their way. I'd rather have fingerpointing and not accomplish anything over the Trump presidency than have him advance his policies.

I don't care what comes out of their mouth or what I read in their campaign flyers. If they haven't been in office, I ask how they'd vote on a certain issue. If they lie to my face I'll hold them accountable if I can. I look at voting records. Actions speak louder than words. The only times the establishment Dems don't vote with Republicans are if it is a hot button issue that is super important to their base.

It isn't going away anytime soon. Now you're going to have the other side upset. It benefits nobody to take a political stance on this issue. They were in a lose-lose situation. Damned if they do and Damned if they don't. At that point the status quo is the best option and just hope it goes away over time.

I don't understand this decision. They're in a lose-lose situation. You have people upset about players not standing for the anthem. and you have others who would complain about NOT allowing protest. The best course of action is to do nothing, to not risk labor strife and they made the boneheaded decision. Personally, I think not allowing the players to protest is disgusting and abhorrent, and un-American. Will I turn off the NFL completely, No, but you'd bet your ass I'm going to go out of my way to NOT watch anyone other than the Bears. Personally, blind patriotism isn't patriotism at all, it is nationalism and that opens up a can of worms that I'm not going to go down any further. You can also bet your ass I won't buy NFL products.

They gave Albies a 30 grade on power and he's 2nd in the NL in HR. Sometimes you never know. l l

Those two statements are one and the same. Moving on now. The problem I have with Establishment Dems is they are Republicans with some sort of conscience. There is virtually zero difference between the platform of mainstream Republicans and mainstream Democrats on anything but social issues, with the exceptions of healthcare/social security. Maybe Bernie wasn't as in tune to social issues, or maybe he thought the ills that are faced socially by minorities could be overcome if they were economically empowered. In any event, my ideal candidate for 2018 and 2020 has the economic platform of Bernie Sanders, combined with the social awareness of the establishment.

Also interesting is that McPhee (currently the GM of Knights) is also responsible for the majority of the Washington roster, as he was GM there from 2003-2014. He got fired for trading Filip Forsberg for the corpse of Martin Erat.

Just looked on Twitter at the most recent rotation shuffle. They're skipping Giolito, which begs the question: is he hurt or is he going to Charlotte when Rodon returns?

You have to take each rebuild in a vacuum. I'm looking at the Sox situation and only theirs, what Houston and the Cubs did has no bearing in what the Sox are doing. They had the fortune of having the majority of their talent come to the bigs in a short period of time. The Sox have them coming in waves which has its advantages and drawbacks.

Where can you farm without having to buy land? Don't have the $ for the land to farm? Call the bank. You have no Choice unless you're independently wealthy.

We don't have that choice really. They control everything, from food distribution to banking and more. If you want to starve to death and be homeless while doing so, you have a choice. If you have a problem with an entire industry, but your means of survival is dependent upon buying their products, you have no choice. It is an illusion.

By being a citizen you have implicitly agreed to cooperate with your government. Don't like it? Immigrate somewhere else. I don't get what you don't understand. It isn't like we're all subjects of a king or queen, exactly the opposite. I guess you don't understand democracy . The rules and regulations are agreed to by the population through their representatives. The government doesn't own us, we own the government. What is annoying is that private interests have hijacked the system and people are too afraid to take it back. Why? Because the same private interests control our ability to feed ourselves and provide for our families. If you think the only good government is no government, imagine when there is nothing to protect you when people want to kill you and take your shit. Limited government doesn't work because the private sector has proven that it lacks the ability to act in both their self interest and the public interest. It only acts in the former, and completely ignores the latter.

The difference is that I see a roster similar to the 2014-2016 teams until Robert, Rutherford, Cease, etc. are called up. The only players I will be counting on to build around are Moncada, Kopech, Lopez and Jimenez. They might get lucky with other guys but I'm not counting on it. Then you have basically a stars/scrubs roster similar to 2016. Might be good enough to win 75-79 games but not more than that. Basically you have Kopech/Lopez playing the role of Sale/Quintana and Moncada/Jimenez playing the role of Eaton/Abreu. Possibly Burdi playing the role of Robertson. It still won't matter, because stars and scrubs. I'm not expecting them to crack .500 until 2021 at the earliest. They don't have enough to complete the roster until those guys from A ball arrive. I was more optimistic about things this offseason, but injuries to Hansen, Robert and Burger have changed the timeline. I would have expected those 3 up toward the middle of 2019 but now I'm cautiously optimistic they(Hansen/Robert) can get here in 2020. Anything they get from Burger is Gravy at this point.

I know that already. I think a hybrid would work just fine though. For example, the Sherman antitrust law has been on the books for around a century but hasn't been enforced since the Carter administration. This has allowed monopolists to get around it by creating what I like to call cartels. The biggest cartel in the country is the Cable/Internet/Cell Phone cartel. There is zero reason why 4-5 companies should get all of the profit from something so essential to modern day life as the internet. I could go on, but I won't.

The issue, like others have said, is that most of the Sox best prospects other than Kopech, Jimenez and Collins are in A+. Because of that, IMO, the window doesn't open until 2021 at the earliest, and that is with perfect development of players. 2022 or 2023 is more likely for the opening of the window. Unfortunately by then Moncada will be rapidly approaching FA. Do you want Kopech and Jimenez to be close to FA as well? They could seriously have only a 1-3 year window because the best players are so far ahead of the rest.

That goes without saying, and is implied. People wouldn't lay themselves off though, they'd take a pay cut to make it through a tough time.

It was different because the games were competitive and it wasn't a foregone conclusion each year they'd win.

I know this, but I don't understand it. How do people get caught up in this sport anymore? Somebody explain to me why people still watch. It confuses the hell out of me. I don't understand how the best team on paper wins 80-90% of the time and people don't think it is a snooze fest.

Incorrect. You have a penalty from walking away from a job......you have no income. You can't provide your own basic needs, until you find a new one. So you become enslaved to the bank by taking out loans until you find a new job. The system is rigged. Do I think government has problems now? Of course. Government is intended to protect the public interest. It doesn't it only protects private interests now. It is not working as intended. Personally I don't think that the means of production should be in the hands of a few in the company. I think the rank and file employees should call the shots. Everyone shares in the success and failure of the company. Employees Elect upper management, similarly to how we elect representatives, senators and presidents. and if they are unhappy, they have the ability to remove them. It is called a Co-op. Look them up. We don't have those sort of rights at work. In fact we have nearly none. Our rights consist of STFU and do what you're told. The private interests complain about government because it puts a check on their greed and exploitation of labor. There has to be a balance between labor and management. You want to keep things similar in structure to where they are now? Sure. Collective bargaining for everyone. Otherwise, co-ops. Also, personally I don't think I'm spewing extremist propaganda, but I do think you are. Having labor relations be a two way street isn't extremist. Having it be a 1-way street is. think that if everyone was able to collectively bargain, we would have no need for co-ops because it is a nice alternative. People could choose to be or not be in a union, and not pay the dues. But don't expect to receive any of the benefits of collective bargaining. Just because the Mafia was a thing in the past and infiltrated unions doesn't mean that every union will be that corrupt. The mob is pretty much a thing of the past and doesn't have anywhere close to the amount of power it did 30 years ago.

No, that was agreed to by the people through their representatives to be the punishment for not paying taxes. Different. If you don't want to pay taxes, elect enough people to change the law. There are plenty of people that think paying taxes is a good idea, otherwise it would have been banished long ago through policy. (in theory.....the system isn't working the way it should or was intended anymore) Serious question: How does the government create revenue and fund itself without taxes?

There is a difference between national government and other forms of slavery. In a supposed democracy, the people theoretically choose(in the US through their congresspeople) to have themselves be taxed. Majority rules in that context. That is a voluntary payment, where the other forms are involuntary. Because of how society works, you don't choose how to divy up your labor really. You are owned by your employer. You can be discarded at any moment, unable to provide for yourself and your family. That is modern day slavery. There is only an illusion of choice. you don't really choose where you give your labor. Companies choose you. Your only choice is to work for those that will abuse you the least. Who gets to set the price in USD on goods and services? Supply and demand? I argue not. If you think that it actually costs $600 to make a $800 cell phone I have some news for you. Everything is overpriced everywhere. Should you be allowed to make money? Sure. I disagree with gouging prices to charge 800 dollars for a phone that probably cost $150 to make. $250 would be a reasonable price for that product. More of the risk should always be with the investors and the people receiving profit than with the consumers. You shouldn't be allowed to pass on expenses to the consumer. If you can't stay profitable? that is your problem. I just think the entire economy is a house of cards on the brink of collapse. They are squeezing the majority to extract the most profit out of everything. That is unsustainable. It is not a zero sum game. You can make the pie bigger for everyone. Wnen decent paying jobs are disappearing and only crappy ones exist in which one can't provide themselves their own basic needs, then everyone loses. Eventually it will all come crashing down, even for the aristocracy, because they won't have anyone to buy their goods and services anymore.

The NBA is a noncompetitive sports league. I have no idea how it draws viewers. One player out of 12 makes such a difference. Nothing matters other than the talent on the floor. Coaching is overrated. They are just adult babysitters. It is the most predictable sport in the world. You don't even really have to play the games, which defeats the purpose of sports. Chalk(best team on paper) wins 99% of the time. It didn't used to be this way, but it is now. Boring. zzzzzzzzz. Every year I try to get back into the NBA, which used to be my favorite sports league. Every year I continue to be disappointed. No more.

I don't know where to put this other than here. 1. I think that too much of the US economy is and always has been, except for a 2.5 decade period in the middle of the 20th century, dependent on exploitation of labor for business profitability. I wonder, what would the US economy look like if everyone was paid fairly? 2. I think that working at least 35 hours per week and not being able to support oneself completely with money left over for recreation too is inhumane and akin to modern day slavery at worst, and indentured servitude at best, with no guarantee of freedom. Our human rights standards worldwide are way too low. 3. One has to define what freedom actually is. In my book, you are not truly free if you owe money to another person or entity. If you "buy a house" but use a mortgage, you don't actually own the house. You are paying rent to the Bank until the Bank says you can have it. You don't own the house until the loan is satisfied. 4 If 1-3 are true, then freedom as we think we have it, is nothing more than a figment of our imaginations. We're all slaves whether by debt or by wages. The sooner we admit that, the better. Then we can start to solve the problem. The only people on the face of the earth who are truly free are the independently wealthy, who don't need to work but choose to. That is true freedom. /end rant