Couple of things
- I wonder how long before Roger Clemens faces perjury charges, particularly since his former trainer and two ex-teammates confirmed him using HGH, his answers were inconsistent and it seems mighty weird that his wife would use HGH but not him. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy ... or a more overrated pitcher.
- Traffic is awful along Hawthorne Avenue Bob Bowen, and I intend to cover that topic in an upcoming post, but the reality is that particular stretch of the road is too narrow to safely accomodate four lanes. It's fine past the intersection with Oglethorpe Avenue, but between Atlanta Highway and there it's a mighty tight fit.
- Hillary Clinton says she doesn't care about what the actual voters want, but instead what roughly 800 superdelegates think. That and her top campaign advisor says all of Barack Obama's victories come in states that don't matter.
- How did I miss this? Yeah, I don't like the portable sign ban either, though Mark Bell is clearly overreacting.
- This was an interesting issue back when I served on the Clarke County Multicultural Task Force a few years back, but it extended from merely an intimidating presence by some law enforcement officials to a general non-hospitable attitude from some staff. Parents who spoke with us, as well as those who served on the board, said they simply felt as if they were an inconvenience when they would come by (that or they were flatly ignored).
- From a Republican-led Georgia General Assembly, there are two ideas I like! First, bumping up the tobacco tax and using the revenues to pay for health care (though I think some Democrats have been saying this for years), and then there's an effort to coordinate our transit systems to provide better service for rural areas which is something I've been saying for a while now.
- Personally, related to an above item, I still believe that Clinton is going to end up the nominee, and her admission that she plans to ignore the fact that Obama is leading states won, the popular vote and pledged delegates and pursue stealing the nomination via superdelegates does nothing to change my mind. Again, if she's the nominee, I'll back her, but I definitely don't want to.
- Traffic is awful along Hawthorne Avenue Bob Bowen, and I intend to cover that topic in an upcoming post, but the reality is that particular stretch of the road is too narrow to safely accomodate four lanes. It's fine past the intersection with Oglethorpe Avenue, but between Atlanta Highway and there it's a mighty tight fit.
- Hillary Clinton says she doesn't care about what the actual voters want, but instead what roughly 800 superdelegates think. That and her top campaign advisor says all of Barack Obama's victories come in states that don't matter.
- How did I miss this? Yeah, I don't like the portable sign ban either, though Mark Bell is clearly overreacting.
- This was an interesting issue back when I served on the Clarke County Multicultural Task Force a few years back, but it extended from merely an intimidating presence by some law enforcement officials to a general non-hospitable attitude from some staff. Parents who spoke with us, as well as those who served on the board, said they simply felt as if they were an inconvenience when they would come by (that or they were flatly ignored).
- From a Republican-led Georgia General Assembly, there are two ideas I like! First, bumping up the tobacco tax and using the revenues to pay for health care (though I think some Democrats have been saying this for years), and then there's an effort to coordinate our transit systems to provide better service for rural areas which is something I've been saying for a while now.
- Personally, related to an above item, I still believe that Clinton is going to end up the nominee, and her admission that she plans to ignore the fact that Obama is leading states won, the popular vote and pledged delegates and pursue stealing the nomination via superdelegates does nothing to change my mind. Again, if she's the nominee, I'll back her, but I definitely don't want to.
posted by Jmac at 9:39 AM
10 Comments:
Tobacco taxes are regressive. Who smokes? The poor.
Ughh...can you imagine the uproar from the Right when Hillary swoops in claiming victory despite losing the popular vote after 8 years of our whining, bitching, and moaning about W doing the same thing?! I maaaay have to move out of the country for awhile, at least until the remnants of Sean Hannity's exploded head are located and disposed of.
And while I agree he's a lying jerkwad, I don't think there is anyway you can say that Roger Clemens is overrated. Clearly the best pitcher of our generation and one of the best of all time, bar none. Hey, I loathe him too - and the numbers don't lie, unlike the pitcher himself.
Yes, but tobacco is a luxury (more or less), and a destructive one at that. Poor people who smoke are poor people who end up seeking treatment for a litany of health issues, so if higher taxes can a) fund health care and b) deter smoking, than it's not a bad thing in my book.
I don't think Clemens can hold a candle to either Greg Maddux or Pedro Martinez, personally. At the top of their games, they were untouchable (Maddux's string of sub-2.20 ERA years is insane), and, unlike Clemens, they delivered more than not in the postseason.
Well you knew I was going to respond to that jmac - take a look at these numbers:
12-8 3.75 ERA
6-2 3.40 ERA
11-14 3.34 ERA
Those are the postseason numbers for the three pitchers you named, Clemens, Pedro, Maddux in order. None of them were quite as dominant in the postseason as they were over the course of 162 games but all were effective and all have rings to show for it.
I would certainly not hold it against you if you want to say Maddux is better than Clemens - each will be talked about forevermore when discussing "the greatest". But as for Maddux's greatest years - 1992 through 1998 - Clemens had an equally incredible string from '86 to '92, even before steroids.
Pedro is a different animal though, he simply is not worthy to be mentioned amongst "the greatest" yet. He's only started 30 or more games six times in his career. Only had two 20 win seasons. If he can stick around, string together several more great years - then maybe. But as of right now, he's sort of in that Koufaxian territory of "when he was healthy, he was the best, but..." I count longevity and reliability as one of the most important factors when evaluating a pitcher so I can't include him.
And speaking of Pedro - don't you just love how no one gives a flip about how he supports cock-fighting!? Vick sits in jail and Pedro reports to spring training because, as Josh said, dogs are cute and chickens are not.
Pedro can't be mentioned?! WHAT?!
I'm so flummoxed I can't even put it into words.
Yes, but tobacco is a luxury (more or less), and a destructive one at that. Poor people who smoke are poor people who end up seeking treatment for a litany of health issues, so if higher taxes can a) fund health care and b) deter smoking, than it's not a bad thing in my book.
Alcohol is comparably destructive, but we don't see taxes on that being raised left and right. I would venture to guess it's because drinking is more evenly spread across the socioeconomic spectrum.
Also, have increased cigarette taxes deterred smoking? I mean, it's pretty addictive. It's not just a simple economic equation.
Also also, the proposed bill doesn't say funds will be used for health care, much less what kind (it also doesn't say anything about that in the Georgia Code [48.11.2], but I can't link directly there.
Tobacco taxes tax the poor?
GREAT! It's about time we found a way to get some revenue out of those deadbeats.
Smoke up, losers. It might be the only way you pay at least a portion of your freight.
Reggie
Reggie, no one here cares what you think. K thnx and bai.
As a smoker who's been fighting to quit for years now (smoked my first one at 15) I have to count every day I haven't smoked as a victory, and not look at a lifetime w/out cigarettes, or "quitting" altogether. Over the years I've quit for two or three years at a time, but always gone back.
I think there is some truth to the fact that smokers will smoke LESS than they do now, I know I do, now that packs have gone in my lifetime from 50 cents a piece, to over 4 dollars, for American Spirit.
I also know that as a smoker, I am part of the medical problems that cost so much to treat, and place a huge burden on the public health system, insured or not.
just that I'm very cynical about whether that money raised by the state will actually benefit the people who need it.
I don't trust the leadership, or our elected officials, to have used the tobacco settlement money well, c'mon, real support groups, medicines that may help, access to methods like nicotine replacement that cost WAY more than the cigs of death themselves, they were all cut way back as soon as Sonny got his hands on the settlement money.
And this state, via medicaid, doesn't cover the drugs that would help people quit, or nicotine replacement systems.
So if we really want people to quit, especially poor folks, we have to really watch where that money goes, and make sure it goes to those who really need it.
Priced nicotine gum, or patches, or lozenges yet? They cost about 2 cartons of mid brand cigarettes, and most poor folks buy by the pack, rather than the carton, because they can't afford to pay for cartons. And most programs that provide the first three critical days of nicotine replacement aren't available to those of us who need them most.
I don't trust these folks not to slip the money into the private medigap/advantage programs, which con people into giving up their medicare/medicaid coverage in favor of higher copays, deductibles, and fewer meds covered, and in fact cost the government MORE per patient than traditional dual enrollees.
A.Nony.Mous
I think the problem with Hawthorne is actually the 3-to-4 (and vice versa) transition, and not the 3-lane, per se.
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