JimBob2232

Little confused... Who is the washout? Spoon? What about winfield?

Minnesota is being VERY smart with their cap. Instead of giving players signing bonuses, they are giving them roster bonuses, mostly due in the first year. This causes the cap hit to be made in the year the FA is signed and not have the bonus spread out throughout the contract. It creates a very large cap hit the year of the signing, but for the remainder of the contract it is much lower, plus if they cut the player at some point in the future, the dead cap space is minimized. Very smart

The challange comes in the time to complete the test. That entire 15 question test posted on espn should take 5 minutes. I tried to do it (in 5 minutes) and only got 1 wrong (actually i didnt answer it), because it involved some brainwork and i wanted to finish the test and come back to it...which i didnt have time to do. But yeah...a six! Amazing

50= highest possible score, superior intelligence 21= average intelligence 14= equivalent to unskilled worker Below 14= moron BTW Dan Marino = 16 Drew Bledsoe -37 Elway 30 Aikman 29 Young 33 ESPN has a little bit of the test here (not this years, but an example) http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020228test.html

As usual Miami takes the "student" part out of student athlete. Frank Gore. A SIX are you kidding me? Brock Berlin...a QUARTERBACK with a 13. Amazing

Well at least jeff george wasnt on the list!! I think it has something to do with Kelley not being a starting QB. he is good enough to be one, but really hasnt been one for any extended period of time. I am still shocked he chose to come here and be a backup rather than stay in cleveland and likely be the starter this season.

Are you kidding me? What in the world makes someone think they can get away with stealing a laptop from an airport security screening station. Amazing.

It is on again right now (or after the commercial)

Not bad...not bad at all.

EXACTLY! Someone gets what im trying to say here. Is it practical to make everyone cut a check every quarter and mail it in? Probably not. For one, it would be very cost prohibitive to do so. It would also never happen because the people we elect to send to washington do not want us to realize how much we spend in taxes. And you are right, there would have to be increased law enforcement oversight to track down deadbeats. My point was that people simply do not know how much they pay to the government. You and I might, but the fact we are having this discussion means that we are much more intune to our financial picture that at least 50% of the population. If everyone realized how much of their paycheck goes to the federal goverment, they would be outraged. And washington would have no choice but to cut spending.

When you get a speeding ticket, it is a tax. Are you proposing we do away with speeding tickets because it gives the government control over the marionette strings? Ugh, I just dont know what to say anymore. If you read into what I wrote JUST A LITTLE, you would see that I AM NOT AGAINST A CONSUMPTION TAX. You would see that i AM for helping people achieve things that they otherwise couldnt achieve, ESPECIALLY when those achievements (such as an education) help better our society as a whole. Again I AM NOT AGAINST A CONSUMPTION TAX, but there are aspects of our current tax system which are very beneficial, and they should be incorporated into a new system, whatever that new system may be. I am against government regulation of our daily lives. I am against censorship of the airwaves and the internet. I am against the majority of gun control laws. I am against countless other regulations the government imposes on us. There is a difference between a government that gives an incentive to people to better themselves and their country and one which forces people to do as the government chooses. Nobody is forcing you to go to college, or buy an electric car, but if you choose to do so, the government helps you out and gives you a tax break to help it be more affordable. THIS IS A GOOD THING, and it is not to be confused with a controlling government (though other aspects of government are very controlling) As far as government funding of schools, I am completely against a public school system as we know it. I think there should be a system of for-profit private schools, regulated by the government, with annual achievement tests and published results, and parents should be allowed to choose where their child goes. Funding would come from the government based on the number of students each school enrolls. Perform well, parents want to send their kids to your school, you make alot of money. Perform poorly, parents pull their kids out and send them to a competing school. We keep throwing billions of dollars into education and get no results. Money does not solve the problem. Accountability and the profit motive would. I dont trust the government to do much of anything. But that doesnt mean I shouldnt trust the government to do anything. Once again, there is a difference between encouraging desireable behavior which is good for all americans, and controlling personal freedoms and choices.

Gulp....what in the world did we just pay him then???

Ya know... its tough to have a rational discussion when the person you are conversing with does not seem to be able to be rational. I dont see how giving people a tax break to help aid them in going to college and and bettering themselves (and their country) gives the government control over them. I dont see how aiding people in owning land, providing permanent shelter and a suitable place to raise their children is the government controlling them. Are you saying that all taxes levied to solicit a specific behavior should be removed from our laws?

Well, i had 2 listed...then i edited and added 3....oh well at any rate...I am NOT a socialist. In fact, I am about as conservative as they get. Making blanket statements about me is just asinine. If you have taken any sort of basic economics course, you will know that there are basically 2 kinds of taxes. Those that are levied to generate revenue, and those that are levied to elicit a certain behavior. The current tax code is set up in a manner to encourage people to act in a certain way, which benefits us all. An ownership society is a good thing. People driving electric cars is a good thing. Getting an education is a good thing. The government is trying to encourage this behavior by giving people tax breaks for doing these things. This benefit of the current tax system will be gone with a consumption tax. Any business needs to know what their revenues are so they can budget accordingly. This system has the potential to be very volitile in revenue streams to the government. A coordinated effort could make it MUCH worse. I personally feel that taxes are WAY too high currently, and I like every tax cut proposal out there. The government is too big, and has too many needless programs. But the proper way to go about correcting the problem is not to just instantaneously stop funding the government. The correct approach is to elect people to represent you who will actually work towards real meaningful fiscal reform in washington. And one clarification....IRAs were created for a reason. To encourage people to save for retirement. Obviously there is a need for people to save for their own retirement. A consumption tax would eliminate IRAs. They would no longer serve a purpose. And finally, I want to again clearly state that i am not outright against this consumption tax idea. It has some problems that need to be worked out. It is most definatly something we should consider. Is it the best plan out there? I dont know. We need to do something, but whatever it is, it should not completely eliminate many of the good aspects of our current tax system (and yes....there are some...not many, but some.)

Finish this sentence: Doronbos needs to be replaced because __________________.

Of course I should list some of the positives that have not been brought up. 1) current untaxed earnings (especially for illegal activities) now becomes taxable. If you are a drug dealer, or earn money through illegal gambling or prostitution rings, you would be stupid to claim that money on your taxes. But you know they are going to buy the jewlery, cars, houses, etc., and when they do, the government will get a cut of that. 2) You get to control the amount of money you pay in taxes. Invenstment income is tax-free.

I am for this in principle, but there are 2 big drawbacks. 1) No longer will there be tax deductions encouraging a behavior (i.e. student loan interest deduction, home mortgage interest deduction, emission free vehicles, charitable contributions, etc.) 2) A coordinated effort to curtail discresionary spending by a large group of citizens, could result in signifigant reductions in federal revenue. 3) Related to #1, IRAs and 401ks become meaningless without tax deferment. Why put my money in an IRA? Might as well put it in a non-ira account where i can have easy access to it. This could cause people spending money originally (and currently) intended for retirement. The biggest problem we have today is that people do not understand taxes. I spoke with a good friend today who was highly educated, with an engineering degree, and a well paying job, who had not a clue about taxes. He actually thought it was possible to recieve a pay raise and take home less money because you were in a higher tax bracket. The concept of marginal tax brackets was lost on him. My point is, if someone with as much education (and pays as much taxes as he does), has no clue how our current tax system works, something is wrong. Personally, I would like everyone to have to write a check every quarter for the taxes they have to pay. Do away with the payroll deductions. I would love to see everyone in this country pony up $1000, 2000 or $10,000 per quarter to the federal government. THAT my friends is how you solve the problem of goverment spending. Zell Miller said it best when he "people don't complain about taxes because they are selfish or stingy. They complain because they simply don't believe they're getting their money's worth." Make them cut the check...they will raise hell, and our problem will quickly be solved.

Leno should have a body double come in and deliver one Jackson joke a night....

Jonas has been fixed...

While we are doing captions http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/...ing_flrd114.jpg Is it me, or does mike piazza look like micheal waltrip in this picture?

You never heard of him because he played at HAMPTON. For those who dont know he: 1) Set I-AA Record with 5 Kickoff returns for Touchdowns 2) Led the country with an average 35.5 yards per KO return 3) Set school record with 394 all purpose yards in a playoff game. 4) Had 41 receptions for 993 yards. Thats 42 less than braylon edwards....in 2 fewer games. This guy is a gamer. 1st rounder? Probably not. First day pick, I think definatly.

I think you are looking into this just a TAD too much. If playing "2nd fiddle" to Harrison means 1210 yards and 12 TDs I think he is quite content. How many more yards can he want?! Hard to say he is even 2nd fiddle. Harrison had a few more catches and a couple more touchdowns, but Wayne had more yards.

Indeed they may...but throwing hillary up against them would not be taking advantage of the situation.

There are so many good GOP candidates out there. However, most of them are moderates. I think McCain wins the GOP nomination hands down if he runs (and age is becoming a factor for him). Nobody has mentioned Sen. Allen from Virginia! This guy will satisfy the most conservative voters, yet not alienate the left. I think he has a good chance if he wants it. Throw in Mitt Romney, Tom Ridge, Condeleeza Rice, Newt Gingrich and Sam Brownback and you have a pretty good crew to choose from. My personal opinion here is that Cheney will resign in the next couple years and allow bush to basically appoint the next GOP candidate. Should be fun to watch, but if the dems run hillary...wow...they will lose in a landslide.

Also, unless you are Jack, Tony or Aubrey, DO NOT LEAVE CTU.