saangels

You're right.  I should have read the article thoroughly before posting it on the board.  I read the "anti-semite" bit on the ESPN bottom line, during the Red Sox/Yankees game, and just assumed that it was recent.  Seems like old news to be posting on today's bottom line; but, in the end, I take full responsibility for my actions.  I made a mistake, and I won't make it again.
 
I'd like to apologize to my friends, family, and anybody else who was hurt by my shoddy journalism.  But most importantly, I want to apologize to my fellow board members, the guys who aren't cutting corners, or pasting articles without reading them through to the end.  This game is hard enough to play without posters feigning knowledge, or fabricating the truth to gain an edge.  So I ask you, the AW message board crew, once more, for your forgiveness. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new day, a new me, a new you...and hopefully, by the end of our careers...a new era, that we will all be able to look back on...with pride.  Thank you very much.    

You're right.  I should have read the article thoroughly before posting it on the board.  I read the "anti-semite" bit on the ESPN bottom line, during the Red Sox/Yankees game, and just assumed that it was recent.  Seems like old news to be posting on today's bottom line; but, in the end, I take full responsibility for my actions.  I made a mistake, and I won't make it again.
 
I'd like to apologize to my friends, family, and anybody else who was hurt by my shoddy journalism.  But most importantly, I want to apologize to my fellow board members, the guys who aren't cutting corners, or pasting articles without reading them through to the end.  This game is hard enough to play without posters feigning knowledge, or fabricating the truth to gain an edge.  So I ask you, the AW message board crew, once more, for your forgiveness. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new day, a new me, a new you...and hopefully, by the end of our careers...a new era, that we will all be able to look back on...with pride.  Thank you very much.    

You're right.  I should have read the article thoroughly before posting it on the board.  I read the "anti-semite" bit on the ESPN bottom line, during the Red Sox/Yankees game, and just assumed that it was recent.  Seems like old news to be posting on today's bottom line; but, in the end, I take full responsibility for my actions.  I made a mistake, and I won't make it again.
 
I'd like to apologize to my friends, family, and anybody else who was hurt by my shoddy journalism.  But most importantly, I want to apologize to my fellow board members, the guys who aren't cutting corners, or pasting articles without reading them through to the end.  This game is hard enough to play without posters feigning knowledge, or fabricating the truth to gain an edge.  So I ask you, the AW message board crew, once more, for your forgiveness. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new day, a new me, a new you...and hopefully, by the end of our careers...a new era, that we will all be able to look back on...with pride.  Thank you very much.    

You're right.  I should have read the article thoroughly before posting it on the board.  I read the "anti-semite" bit on the ESPN bottom line, during the Red Sox/Yankees game, and just assumed that it was recent.  Seems like old news to be posting on today's bottom line; but, in the end, I take full responsibility for my actions.  I made a mistake, and I won't make it again.
 
I'd like to apologize to my friends, family, and anybody else who was hurt by my shoddy journalism.  But most importantly, I want to apologize to my fellow board members, the guys who aren't cutting corners, or pasting articles without reading them through to the end.  This game is hard enough to play without posters feigning knowledge, or fabricating the truth to gain an edge.  So I ask you, the AW message board crew, once more, for your forgiveness. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new day, a new me, a new you...and hopefully, by the end of our careers...a new era, that we will all be able to look back on...with pride.  Thank you very much.    

You're right.  I should have read the article thoroughly before posting it on the board.  I read the "anti-semite" bit on the ESPN bottom line, during the Red Sox/Yankees game, and just assumed that it was recent.  Seems like old news to be posting on today's bottom line; but, in the end, I take full responsibility for my actions.  I made a mistake, and I won't make it again.
 
I'd like to apologize to my friends, family, and anybody else who was hurt by my shoddy journalism.  But most importantly, I want to apologize to my fellow board members, the guys who aren't cutting corners, or pasting articles without reading them through to the end.  This game is hard enough to play without posters feigning knowledge, or fabricating the truth to gain an edge.  So I ask you, the AW message board crew, once more, for your forgiveness. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new day, a new me, a new you...and hopefully, by the end of our careers...a new era, that we will all be able to look back on...with pride.  Thank you very much.    

You're right.  I should have read the article thoroughly before posting it on the board.  I read the "anti-semite" bit on the ESPN bottom line, during the Red Sox/Yankees game, and just assumed that it was recent.  Seems like old news to be posting on today's bottom line; but, in the end, I take full responsibility for my actions.  I made a mistake, and I won't make it again.
 
I'd like to apologize to my friends, family, and anybody else who was hurt by my shoddy journalism.  But most importantly, I want to apologize to my fellow board members, the guys who aren't cutting corners, or pasting articles without reading them through to the end.  This game is hard enough to play without posters feigning knowledge, or fabricating the truth to gain an edge.  So I ask you, the AW message board crew, once more, for your forgiveness. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new day, a new me, a new you...and hopefully, by the end of our careers...a new era, that we will all be able to look back on...with pride.  Thank you very much.    

Very moving and deserves much more attention.

Speak for yourself.  I had to pay $400 out of pocket for an MRI on my knee.  Never spoke to a doctor, or was given any advice on how to treat the condition.  They gave me a CD, and told me I had a torn meniscus.  That's it.  Everything I learned, I learned from Youtube.  
 
My friend's mom just lost her house because she couldn't afford the co-payments for her cancer treatment.  She HAD insurance--full coverage, no less--but still couldn't save the house she'd been living in and paying for the last two decades.  Who cares if the quality of care is at least 1.5 times better than most countries if a growing number of Americans can't afford to reap the rewards?    

These are the things that the opposition party spends their time on.  This is the reason our government is screwed.  Instead of working together and trying to find common ground and get stuff done, they propose ornamental bills that will never make it into law in order to placate voters when they are up for reelection.  
 
"When I was in office, I fought to end abortion!"
 
No you didn't, asshole, you acted like a teenager rebelling against his parents.

Flush it down the john
The greatest team on toilet paper
God, it's hard to watch

Don't you dare. Don't you DARE think about locking this thread. This could be a masterpiece.

...meet the new boss... same as the old boss.
Im sorry i still laugh at anyone who thinks there is any difference whatever between political parties in this country.
 
Between this and the fact that they are also now monitoring Internet traffic, we have no right to privacy anymore and as far as im concerned have completely lost our identity as a nation.

Oddly enough, it has NOTHING to do with the team possibly making the playoffs anymore.
As a fan, it's the hunt for a Red October that drives our excitement every spring, but in addition to that hope, it's also watching some of the players that capture my interest during these terrible times.
Enter in Mike Trout and the defensive ability of Peter Bourjos, TrumBOMBS, the possibility of Howie Kendrick competing for a batting title and Jered Weaver pitching another no-hitter. Reasons to watch indeed... But witnessing Trout and Bourjos is incredibly exciting for me and like the terrible '94 club that I watched every game despite their awful record, they trotted out young exciting players such as Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds, Chad Curtis, Garret Anderson, JT Snow, Damien Easley and older vets who all-stars in Bo Jackson and one of my favorite Angels of all time in Chili Davis..
Despite the woes of Pujols and Hamilton, I'm still hopeful these two will go off and never look back. That mildly keeps me tuning in. But we're stuck with these two. We gotta hope they turn it around.
But really, if the Angels are well out of it come late July, the fact that they may become sellers with Dipoto at the helm, REALLY excite me! Remember, it was Dipoto who really liked Corbin and Skaggs and got them for Dan Haren.
Back to Trout and Bourjos. These two are worth the price of admission. Watching them run down balls in the outfield or going over the wall to grab a HR back, or circling the bases for a triple.

For the sake of engaging in a philosophical debate by which I hope to learn about the world and other people's opinions I will happily play the liberal for you, MT.  But frankly, the sooner we stop pointing the finger and playing liberal vs conservative, red vs. blue--or rather, black vs white--the sooner we can join forces, find common ground, and hopefully make some serious changes in this country.  We all agree that congress is corrupt, that too much money is influencing politics, that the government is overstepping its bounds...let's start there.  Gay marriage and abortion rights are minor issues in comparison to the potential totalitarian police state we are looking at down the road.  My point is: I think we have a lot more in common than you might think.  The more we haggle over paltry, relatively insignificant issues, the more we play into the pundits hands.
 
p.s. remember the thread a week or so ago that asked loosely what "law" we would change, if given the option?  I never answered because I couldn't decide; but now I know.  It's not a law, per say, but I would do away with the labels "republican" and "democrat" and force politicians to run without labels.  The way things are now people just flock one way or another like herds of cattle.         

For the sake of engaging in a philosophical debate by which I hope to learn about the world and other people's opinions I will happily play the liberal for you, MT.  But frankly, the sooner we stop pointing the finger and playing liberal vs conservative, red vs. blue--or rather, black vs white--the sooner we can join forces, find common ground, and hopefully make some serious changes in this country.  We all agree that congress is corrupt, that too much money is influencing politics, that the government is overstepping its bounds...let's start there.  Gay marriage and abortion rights are minor issues in comparison to the potential totalitarian police state we are looking at down the road.  My point is: I think we have a lot more in common than you might think.  The more we haggle over paltry, relatively insignificant issues, the more we play into the pundits hands.
 
p.s. remember the thread a week or so ago that asked loosely what "law" we would change, if given the option?  I never answered because I couldn't decide; but now I know.  It's not a law, per say, but I would do away with the labels "republican" and "democrat" and force politicians to run without labels.  The way things are now people just flock one way or another like herds of cattle.         

Just one quick reply here, as someone who has been around for majority of Jerome's career... I can vouch that he is almost always a better second half pitcher and usually starts out slow. This year has been a good one because the only time he started out slow was in the spring. That being said he will do what he has to do to help the team, no matter what role it is. His one negative for himself is a positive for the team in that he is versatile and can pitch either role.

There is no question that there are doctors who milk the system. Even with state contract physicians, there are those who try it. We had a contract OB-GYN (no longer with us) who almost immediately started complaining about his compensation (which made me wonder why he signed the contract in the first place). First, he tried running labs through his office and passing on the bill to us. The problem was (and we told him this when he was hired) that we have a contract with a laboratory company with negotiated prices that are well below the going market price because of the volume we do.
 
That said, there is probably no single group of businesses that I have less use for than health insurance companies. It is one of the few pure cash businesses left. Policies are deliberately written vaguely so that they can be interpreted more than one way - invariably to the company's benefit. Appeal procedures are window dressing, with the early stages performed by company employees and the latter stages performed by people under contract with the company, with a false implication of impartiality. (Think about it - if they deicided against the company too often, would they be kept?).
 
I am a veteran of what I call the "insurance wars". I have spent far too much time and energy fighting against companies with a profit motive to deny coverage. I had one appeal denied despite a written statement from an emergency physician stating that the proper level of care was sought. Of course, people who are taught to deny claims whenever possible, who have little or no medical training apart from what they parrot back out of their company manuals are far more qualified to decide that than a licensed physician.
 
Normally I don't trust the government to do much of anything. One major reason I support the Affordable Care Act is health insurance companies. I have heard of far too much unscrupulous behavior within them, and this comes from current and former employees. One health insurance company employee I had a chance conversation with said that he had to get away from his company. When I asked why, he said that they were having a party back at the office because a colleague found a technical reason to cancel the policy of a cancer patient, which would save the company thousands of dollars. The employee was given a $5K bonus, and the policyholder was given a death sentence.
 
Allowing companies with a profit motive to control who gets health care and how much, and allowing them to decide after the fact whether the appropriate level of care was sought is at best a laughable system.

LMAO.   
 
No, but seriously, Rand Paul and his dad are pretty cool.  I don't necessarily agree with everything they have to say, but I believe that they believe in what they say--and that alone means a lot to me.  They are consistent with the philosophy that they preach, and don't stumble over contradictions.  More power to them.               

That's because most of the Angels fans probably hadn't heard of Jim Edmonds.  He was before 2002.  The year our "fan base" quadrupled.  I hate to say it, but--just because the Angels have more fans than the average major league franchise, it doesn't mean that those fans have a very high baseball IQ.  Some of the conversations I hear at the ballpark are unbelievably idiotic.  Half the crowd at Angel Stadium cries for the starting pitcher to be taken out if he gives up two runs in the first inning.  Nobody has any clue about bullpen management.  I tried to explain to someone once that a sinker baller usually takes an inning or so to find his groove.  The guy looked at me like I'd asked him to solve the riddle of the Sphinx.        

IMO, what is done for cigarettes is a pretty good model for what should be done with most street drugs. Regulate them, don't market them to minors, don't allow media advertising, tax them, legalize sales but control them, and educate people about the consequences of using them. Beats the hell out of stuffing prisons with people for buying, selling and possessing them and having armed gangs roaming the streets armed to the teeth trying to protect their "business".

To Geoff's point, and I hope I am not opening a can of worms, but the idea of a democracy is that each person has the same status.  When you start factoring in money and 1% of the population controls 20% of the wealth then you get a big imbalance.  That is what campaign finance reform tried to achieve by limiting corporate sponsorship of political parties but as we know it totally failed.  No matter what the money always finds a loophole.
 
The other thing is the biggest money lobbies have their hands on both parties, which is one of the reasons why the biggest issues with budget, etc never get solved.  Energy, defense, etc.  Instead of addressing the issues with those budgets we end up cutting 100 little programs that actually affect lives directly because neither side wants to address the bigger issues.

Solution to "Campaigning for re-election as much as legislating"?
Limit ANY politician to one term, and to counter the argument that 4 years isn't enough time to make a difference, make them all 6 year terms.    If you can't make a difference in 6 years, get out! 
 
Time to get "being re-elected" out of every politician's agenda!  

Based on that very point, Angels N Skins, I would argue that democracy is dead.  What difference does it make if we have "the right" to vote for sh*thead A or sh*thead B?  In the end, it isn't our votes that count--it's the amount of money that the lobbyists and PACs raise to get these two candidates into a position to compete in the first place.  I, too, would like to vote for a third party candidate; but what's the point if that candidate has no chance in hell to win?  I can see voting in local elections; that makes sense.  But taking all the aforementioned information into consideration, without even getting into the debate about the electoral college, regardless of how many people died for this "right" of ours, I don't see how anybody can, in this day in age, still believe that their vote makes a difference.       

Part of the breathalyzer system in cars should include a cell phone jamming system.  That way phones could not work inside of cars when the ignition is turned on.
 
Real solutions! 

Yes, I read the whole article. According to wikipedia there were 1,793 abortion providers in the United States in 2008. Ten or so unsafe practices does not mean that we are dealing with a nationwide epidemic. I have no problem with people who are against abortion. It's a difficult issue to grapple with. But don't exaggerate the facts. I'm not saying that these are the only corrupt abortion clinics in the country--but they are the only ones mentioned in the article.  10 out of 1,793 is an aberration.  Furthermore, of those ten mentioned in the article, Gosnell's abominable acts are by far the most unscrupulous in nature.  I don't think you can compare the testimony of the poor girl who got victimized by Gosnell to Jayne Mitchell-Wirbrich's vague statement that her clinic in Delaware "was just unsafe.  I couldn't tell you how ridiculously unsafe it was."  Why can't she tell us?  I don't get it.  Is this a news article or a gossip column?  Regardless, I'm inclined to believe, that if there were detached baby feet involved, she probably would have been specific about it.  My point is: yes, it's tragic that "stuff like this," is being "reported across the country."  It's tragic for two reasons.  First, because nobody should ever be violated or abused the way that this Hawkins girl was.  But secondly, this is also a tragic story because it is a misrepresentation of reality and yet another indication that yellow journalism is taking the place of real, objective news. Gosnell's abortion atrocities is an aberration.  It's not a matter of opinion.  It's a matter of statistics.