StL Cardinals

I know that only 1 of the 3 of you who read my blog care about sports, but here it goes.

I love the Cardinals. They have been my favorite baseball team since I was little. I've been a fan. I was18 during the summer of 1998 and a bit niave about performance enhancing drugs.

Since then I've learned lots. Including the fact that Mark McGwire, among scores if not hundreds of other pro's cheated by using steroids.

The Cardinals have now hired him to be their hitting coach. Yes, you read that right.

I believe Tony Larussa made it a requirement that McGwire be brought on board to stay another year as manager. I wish they hadn't done it.

Tony, you're a great manager. You've done some amazing things with pile of crap teams. Thanks, and goodbye.

That's what I wish they would've said.

Instead, we keep around a surly enabling manager and bring on board a cheater to coach our hitters. Great.

I'm not saying I won't cheer for them next year, but I will make sure I pay far more attention to the White Sox than I did this year! *Please Sox, don't be bad....*

And we gave them MFN status

Posty day (slow at work)

Thanks to my dad for this link. Economically we are pretty screwed as a nation.

Chinese refuses to even attempt to play fair on the world stage, and honestly, why should they? They have no self-interest in doing so. Dictato-capitalism the the route to go!

And, they own so much of our debt, I'm not sure what we can do about it either..... oi

I said this months ago...

Wow, maybe I should go into finance, or at least being an "expert" on it. I was saying what this article suggests earlier this year. (Horn-tooting found here....)

The system is broken. Why are we going to continue to let people make tons of money losing other people's money?

They want teachers to get paid on performance when they don't control the product coming in? Well, then I think investment bankers, paper pushers and the like should get the same thing. Not paid on how many millions they move, but how much they actually make!

Also, its finally being admitted that the "recovery" is only in the financial sector and the business world. Companies had bloated payrolls and have trimmed down. The issue is, people on the street need jobs. We're having a 2-tiered recovery. The rich get back to getting richer, the rest of us hold on and hope.

Blame it on...

Sinfest, possibly the greatest webcomic ever, (and in my humble opinion (IMHO) the 2nd greatest comic ever) has another great one.

Its never MY fault. Ever. Always somebody elses...

Comic

Inspiration for Atlantis?

Thought this was cool, figured I'd share. Plato might not have had the story correct, but its sounding like some of the "myths" might not be all that far off. Cool!

Another healthcare thought...

One of the concerns of healthcare reform is that the government will have too much of a say in who get's medical care.

Yeah, because the current system of letting corporations driven by profit deciding is working so well....

I'm not saying the government will have a good plan, its just the current system isn't tenable either...

OMG! Football!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!

Yes, I am poking a bit of fun at myself. And yes, its that time of year again. So, here's my opinions on the Bears so far and their prospects.

They're 3-1. That's good. They have a QB who is good. That's good. They have recievers who are actually catching the ball. Very good. They have a good special teams and the D-line is getting at least a little bit of pressure. (Very little, but I'll take what I can get.)

What concerns me. Our offensive line is bad. Just plain bad. Cutler is going to get KILLED by Jared Allen when the Vikings and Bears play. The defense is very meh. Not horrible, but not good either.

Our secondary is mediocre and our D-line REALLY needs to do more. Like I said, they are ok. But ok usually means a 1st round playoff exit.

Also, the Vikings are a better team. Brett Favre may be old, but he has an arm still. And he's being smarter with his passes than he has been. He's not forcing stupid passes. He has an amazing O-line who keeps him safe and breakage free. Oh, and that Adrian Peterson guy is pretty good too.

Their defense is solid and with Jared Allen on the end and the Williams fatboys in the middle, that is tough to get through.

I think they Vikings have a chance to go all the way this year, which would make my dad quite happy.

Plutocracy FTW!

So, just my 2 pennies about the whole healthcare thing. For reform, against reform, doesn't matter.

If health insurance is mandated (or you can pay a fine to not have it) and there is no public option we have just admitted that powerful lobbies own the country.

Just think carefully here. Everyone MUST have health insurance, but your options are completely controlled by a cabal of companies out for profit.

Don't buy into the "everyone has to have car insurance" bit. You don't HAVE to own a car. You are a living person, so, umm, you kind of have to exist. Or, if you cease existing, it doesn't matter anymore anyway.

If we are going to force everyone to buy health insurance then we need to also insure (haha) that affordable, useful options are out there.

Cut rate health insurance won't work like cut rate auto insurance. Heck, cut rate auto insurance doesn't really "work" if you do have a wreck, but it does keep you legal to drive.

So, just remember folks, no matter your views, if our Congress mandates health insurance for all without a viable alternative to private insurance or some sort of regulatory board with TEETH, well, let the nightmare begin.