1984Echoes

You are UNDERSELLING Trump... badly.

As much as China has been a total pain in the ass the past 20 years or so... This is the take I have to agree with. China still wants to push the US aside and dominate the world. That's not going to happen, and I think they know that now. So we still need to talk them into being a responsible world partner instead of a belligerent world chaos agent. They may not change... but we've still got to try to convince them to and there's no way to do that aside from sitting down with them and talking it out...

Exactly. Capitalism trying to survive inside of a communist structure. NOT 100% communism. This... I do NOT agree with. As long as a business is not breaking the law... there is almost 100% (I say almost because I never want to put absolutes on this...) certainty that the business will have no issues with the federal government. That would include taxes, waste disposal, code, etc... I'm sure someone can find or illustrate an exception... but, ok, let's say 99.9% no problems as long as the law is followed. Now, following the law may be burdensome in the US, we have more codes than any other country on the planet... but that doesn't change the narrative. Break the law, codes or tax or anything... yeah, a business may run into issues with US or state officials (if they even get caught); otherwise, it's business as usual in the US... with OUT worrying about state interventions or bribery or some such... THAT's how China is different than the US. And it's not even close.

I also don't think they'll get into a bidding "war" for any free agent... But I also think they'll put a $-Value on what's out there and something will shake loose for a "not bottom-feeding" starter. My hope is that they put a very high value on Yamamoto as a 25 y.o. FA and lower values on the plethora of 35-ish starters available. But even with that, I believe they'll still be able to get a mid-rotation guy if not one of the top guys and they'll still chase after an end-of-rotation/ comeback-value type of starter. But... we'll see.

Top two offseason needs are a "speed" rusher (not necessarily a complete type DE or LB but just someone who gets to the QB fast as all-get-out), and a top CB. With a late 1st and 2nd rounder, it'll be hard to get one of those let alone two... And I'm getting the feeling they'll need to draft backup/ replacement players for the O-Line as well...

Lions lead 24-10. This isn't acceptable. Especially out of the bye week. Fire the Coach, GM, and ALL THE PLAYERS NOW!!!

Next week. I forget who said that, Campbell or Johnson...?

There's actually a few decent relievers available this offseason, not just Hader: Craig Kimbrel (36), Matt Moore (35), Jordan Hicks (27 but command not much better than Lange's), Hector Neris (35), Will Smith (34), Reyaldo Lopez (30)... But that batch of relievers is no panacea for settling down our BP. In fact it's a list of other issues (age, lack of control, spotty history or health record, etc.) that tell me that, maybe, Kimbrel is the best option out of those non-Hader choices. But it also tells me: Hader is so far above all those other options, head-and-shoulders above, that: He's my Hader or Bust choice to sign for the Tigers BP. But... watch Harris pull a rabbit out of a hat that no one was even thinking of...

If I have this right... You believe the Tigers are some Black Hole Team that every single halfway decent or better starting pitcher will "Avoid-At-All-Costs" to come to...? Do I have that right? Is that what you think the Tigers are?

I think the Tigers will take one of these guys and their off-season rotation signs will be: A) One upper echelon guy... whoever they can convince to come to Detroit that fits within whatever budget amount they want to allocate to that... and: B) One end-of-the-rotation guy whether it's one of the guys listed by Petzold or some other back-ender they want to add as depth. The only thing I would say is: Make good decisions Harris.

I believe whoever offers the most Posting money to his team gets to exclusively negotiate with him. Unless I am mistaken on that. Meaning... it's out of his hands and ONLY in the hands of the Tigers or whichever team bids the most Posting. If the Tigers bid the most Posting $'s, he's ours. IIRC.

Exactly. Why NOT us. Wasn't there already rumors floating that the Tigers were interested in Yamamoto? They should be. 25 years old. Upper echelon starter. Make the investment.

And I'm going to keep yammering for them until the fat lady sings. Recommendation: Don't drink to my posts or you'll kick the bucket from alcohol poisoning. PS: Got "Bessie" on the TV right now... (Bessie Smith biopic with Queen Latifah...) So, the fat lady IS singing... but that don't count. Sorry.

Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump’s 2025 Immigration Plans https://www.yahoo.com/news/sweeping-raids-giant-camps-mass-164740438.html Fascism. Full-on authoritarian dictatorship. Trump's plans to **** all over the Constitution of the United States if he can gain the Presidency 2024.

PS: And I still want to sign Yamamoto & Hader which would really solidify our rotation & BP (or at least in theory) leaving only which bats to keep/ move on from and which bats to bet on/ add to the team. Perfect for offseason 2024, IMO.

The problem with Soto is he's a FA after 2024... Boras is his agent... He's already turned down (8 or 9 years at $40 mill/ year...? I forget what the actual offers were)... Which means either: Soto is a FA after 2024 and the Tigers would lose him for almost nothing after sending major trade pieces over to the Padres; Or: We're signing Soto to a 10-year $500 Mill contract (WAG) or something like that after treading half the team to get him. I'm either (would rather): Trading for Tatis... Or waiting until after the 2024 season when Soto costs "ONLY" money, instead of a major contract AND major team player assets... Anyone who wants Soto... my recommendation is to wait until after the 2024 season. That might be a good time to reassess where our current players (Mize/ Manning/ Skubal/ Olson/ Turnbull/ Greene/ Tork! / Malloy/ Keith/ Jung/ Carpenter/ Baez/ etc... have gotten us, or NOT gotten us; and adjust from there). Just my 2 cents.

Ukraine has been crossing over the Dnieper from Kherson City (west riverbank) into the rest of Kherson Oblast (east riverbank) with special forces, etc... Not heavy equipment yet. If they could do that (tanks and such), they'd be able to shut off land access into Crimea and attack Russian forces from the rear in Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province). Russia was hurrying a military convoy to Kherson Oblast to try and stem the riverbank landings and Ukrainian small team attacks resulting from prior landings. Ukrainian drones and HIMARS demolished that convoy (11 or so transport trucks, 50 Russian soldier deaths, many more wounded...). Is this what your comment is on? Avdiivka however, also, is a never-ending stream of equipment and fodder-soldiers sent to their deaths so I don't know what the latest is on that... But either or both of these stories are more examples of Russians' ASTOUNDING losses... Bottom line though, is: Putin Don't Care.

He must have been looking in the mirror when he was typing that...

It's not even 100% communist, let alone 1000%. Land and business ownership, millionaires and billionaires... It's a single-party dictatorship with both Communist and Capitalist elements. If it came to a fight though... Xi Jinping wins and therefore communism wins. He's initiated a lot of skirmishes and won multiple internal battles... but I don't believe it's a full-blown internal war, at least not yet... So I think my bolded statement still holds...

I'm still on for Yamamoto and Hader. That's my want list. If we wanted to add a #3/4 starter to lengthen our rotation options then I would love Wacha or Lugo out of San Diego. Either one...

Trump misogynizes his fraud trial, from A to Z: "I am not a misogynist": Ivanka's testimony shows how the Trumps exploit sexism to defraud people (yes, she is) https://www.yahoo.com/news/am-not-misogynist-ivankas-testimony-110001609.html

There are a lot of us in the middle... But I don't know what Manchin thinks he's going to do with us...

Good, straight-forward voice and delivery. Competence will be great for this team (yes... including the booth...).

More Existential Hyperbole: https://www.yahoo.com/news/secret-trumps-revenge-plot-hes-104501737.html

New York Daily on Trump's Unfitness (my highlights): https://finance.yahoo.com/news/editorial-testifying-unfitness-trump-testimony-090000605.html Editorial: Testifying to his unfitness: Trump testimony shows what he is about New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News Thu, November 9, 2023 at 4:00 AM EST·3 min read While under oath this week Donald Trump was instructed to answer questions about his financial documents as part of New York Attorney General Tish James’ civil fraud trial over allegations that he illegally altered the value of his assets. Unsurprisingly, the former president and would-be coup leader tried to answer very little, instead turning Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron’s courtroom into yet another venue for his never-ending campaign and crusade against his enemies real and perceived. In a representative exchange, he called the federal and state prosecutors looking into him “all haters.” It’s easy to snicker at Trump’s sophomoric attitude, his inability to keep calm even when his business — the source of his very identity and mythology — are on the line, his pettiness, his casual disregard for legal process. It all feeds into the image of Trump as buffoon, a kind of petulant and malignant forever child who’s always good for a laugh, an image that certainly provides comfort to his many liberal and moderate detractors. Yet that’s not necessarily the right way to view the theatrics on display in the courtroom downtown. To regard them as farce or entertainment ignores just how dangerous the underlying motivations are. Trump’s deepest and perhaps sole true belief is that he is beyond any reproach or accountability, owed nothing but devotion and subservience, and incapable of error. It might strike us as funny that he seems so intent on attacking the very judge that has the power to impose huge fines, hollow out his fraud-riddled real estate operation and remove him from the business via a prohibition on serving as a corporate officer. Really, though, it’s a display of power. Trump is indicating that he doesn’t care or doesn’t have to care what the judge rules, either because he’s already posturing for an appeal or, more likely, because he believes he’s simply untouchable by the law. This was driven home not just by Trump but his lawyers, particularly the similarly unpleasant Chris Kise, who among other things told the judge, when asked if he could control his client, that they should just allow the “former and future chief executive of the United States” answer how he pleased. The implication was clear: Trump is practically preordained to retake the executive reins of the country (note that Kise didn’t simply say “president” but used the term more commonly associated with the generally unconstrained leader of a corporation) and he has the absolute right to answer or not answer questions as he likes, something a lowly judge shouldn’t be able to constrain. From the start, Trump and his team has treated this and every other inquiry into his wrongdoing as a politically-motivated overreach, which would already be concerning if they were not also drawing up plans to exact supposed revenge via taking political control of the federal law enforcement apparatus the second he gets back in the White House. In that light, turning Engoron’s courtroom into a circus is much more sinister than it is amusing. Trump is sure that he just has to wait out the clock until he can get elected again and then will finally free himself from any remnants of legal inhibitions. For that reason alone, he can never be allowed back.