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Q-o-t-D 5/23/13 |
| Posted by TheBEEZER 104 Minutes Ago
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Alright, sticking with the the theme....
Who do you think is the MLB All-time best second baseman?
And why?
...Read More
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 Recent Activity Items: 77  Recent Activity Items: 65  Recent Activity Items: 63  Recent Activity Items: 56  Recent Activity Items: 56  Recent Activity Items: 39  Recent Activity Items: 33  Recent Activity Items: 30  Recent Activity Items: 29  Recent Activity Items: 25
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Okay, TOTW nomination time Gabber's...but honestly I'm really going through the motions here. I smell another Dynamic Duo split! Whaddaya think?
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The flyover Air Force C5 after Stephen Tyler "sang" the National Anthem:
And just in case you're wondering...here's the view from inside:
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 The Boston Bruins went to the White House to meet the President, as all Championship teams do...But Tim Thomas decided to decline the invite saying...
“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers [ sic ] vision for the Federal government. Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.”
Umm, maybe Tim Thomas needs to go back to the University of Vermont and take a History class...People love to use The Constitution and The Founding Fathers as their reason for their beliefs...Let's take a look back at those Founding Fathers and their out-dated Constitution...They were all, un-elected, land owning, (raped the Native Americans of their land...Happy Thanksgiving! ) slave owning, white guys, who didn't allow women to vote...Didn't allow Indians to vote...Didn't allow Blacks to vote...Their Constitution considered Blacks to be three-fifths of a man...So right out of the gate Tim Thomas, using the Founding Fathers line makes you look like a dolt!
And the Founding Fathers' original vision, I would venture to say didn't include, roads, bridges, and railroads all over the entire country, going over, around, and through mountains...Crossing major bodies of water, and rivers...Or keeping up with the ever growing population, and their waste...And educating that population as well...
But I shouldn't be surprised...Often when people come into money, they become more anti-government, and anti-taxes...As Thomas has not been making his millions for very long...Hell, I'm broke, and I'm not a fan of the government, or taxes, but I understand they have a role, and that taxes are needed to take care of things...Thomas seems like one of those dopes that said, "Keep your damn hands off my medicare!" Never mind that medicare is funded by our taxes !
How about this then...Take your own trash to the dump...Plow your streets yourself...Repave those roads and fix those bridges yourself...Teach your own kids how to read and write and count...Just start with that, Mr. INDIVIDUAL, and tell me if you don't want government around...
Yes, Tim Thomas has every right not to attend...He said this was not about politics as he made it about politics...But the classy thing would have been showing a bit of respect for the Office of the President...No matter who is in there, that's the classy thing to do...
And in case you missed my point, The Founding Fathers were assholes!
Later, The Beeze.
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In Freakonomics, Dubner and Levitt discuss why testing for performance enhancing drugs adversely targets players from the Dominican Republic and come to the conclusion that the economics of the game provides these players more opportunity than they might ever get in several lifetimes.
Consider the economic environment from which Dominican players come. The DR is one of the most impoverished countries with one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world. Baseball, it seems, provides a way out from this destitute life and provides the opportunity to set one's family up for generations. The risk to health is worth the reward, even if it's just the reward of playing in the minor leagues.
Now consider this weeks' news that Fausto Carmona, the Cleveland Indians pitcher, isn't Fausto Carmona - he's Roberto Heredia. Nor is he 28, but 32. When the Indians picked up his $7-million option, he was set to make more money in one year than likely generations of his family had ever made. BUT there was a hitch.
It seems that the family of the real Fausto Carmona - the man who's identity Heredia had appropriated to get the documentation he needed to get into the United States - wanted more money from him for the continued use of the name. Just because they come from an impoverished part of the world, doesn't mean they don't understand the concept of licensing fees, it seems. Carmona's mom blew the whistle on him on a Santo Domingo radio show and the rest, as they say, is history.
You could look at it and agree on the surface it was a stupid thing to do in the first place, or even that it was stupid for him not to entertain increasing the "licensing fee." I wonder if he's doing the math, now that he's been released from custody, that he never actually has to work again. He's made millions along the way, and his family now generational wealth. Americans might look at it and think he had the opportunity to make millions more - as evidenced by his $7-million option - but rather than looking at it as lost money, he may well be looking at what he has already earned. In short, if Dubner and Levitt are correct in their analysis, he's probably looking at it as well worth the risk and that he had nothing to lose.
The real issue is how he could've gotten the documentation to stand up as long as it did, and why it would take a radio interview to bring his charade to an end - how could the US Government not known? Heredia is going to be fine whether or not he throws another major league pitch, and he may or may not care.
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