As for the wealthy who sit on their asses… I’ve just about seen that in most every job I’ve ever held. Of course, this doesn’t make it universal, and I guess these folks can show me how much work they really do. Right now I work with a sales team, and while they are on the phones a lot wheeling and dealing a number of widgets and whatnots, they aren’t out on the street building houses and roads. Talk to a construction worker (I am not one, but have had friends who are) and see what they do every day on properties paid for by folks who sit at a desk all day. Again, I’m not knocking it, but the man building the home makes about 1/4 of what the homeowner pulls down. That’s part of the complexity in our society.

Comfort, to me, is not being spoiled. It’s peace of mind.

We don’t have enough money to aid the ill. The mentally sick roam our streets all day because Reagan cut government aid to institutions in order to beneft…. Whom? Why, the folks who don’t want to pay taxes, that’s who. And so we’ve got crack heads and needle addicts walking the streets making them dangerous and the people more insecure. While those who don’t want to pay taxes, who have offshore accounts, and sit in those Big Chairs you describe, remain in their gated communities and houses on hills.

I’m not saying money is bad, and that having money makes you a bad person. I am not saying that folks shouldn’t strive to improve their lives. But the way I think stipulates that we invest in our society in order to make society better so that our lives are enriched by the quality of life for those around us all.

I don’t want my car broken into. I don’t want my kid approached by drug dealers. I don’t want a world filled with folks driving hard in the fast lane, not caring if they pass Go so long as they feel the excitement of what this planet can bring us. I want a world that takes the load off of us all. Mental Institutions are for folks who can’t handle a large society. If they need to be there, that is where they should go, and instead, in an effort to cut taxes, we give them to the streets. Only in America.

I also don’t think the Inheritance Tax is a double dip. Taxing those inherit means those who get the inheritance are taxed that one time. The money itself is not its own entity. Most importantly, though, by insisting that future generations actually earn their wealth rather than have it passed on to them means that society is actively making its people think of innovation and not get lazy on their asses.

I look to Israel as an example of this. One of the fastest emerging technology states on the planet. People ask how they can do it by being so small and always in the line of fire. And it’s because the people there are constantly thinking about the future. They need to protect their lives, and better themselves. Israelis invented the cell phone because they needed to communicate with loved ones should a bomb go off at the shopping mall. They are investing heavily in electric cars because they don’t want to have to worry about Arabian oil. They develop apps, and medicine, and water products because they are constantly on the move thinking how can they make things easier and better for the State and the world.

They are not sitting on their asses as our wealthy people tend to do. They can’t afford to be on permanent vacation. Not if they want to survive the obstacles that are in front of them.

I’m serious. What’s wrong with the wealthy paying a higher percent in taxes? What’s wrong with trying to better the lives of many by taxing the few? The wealthy will still be comfortable. They will still get their fancy food, and classy cars, and suave suits. (Like that alliteration?) Ryan Howard will still build himself a bigass mansion, and Mittens will continue investing in car elevators and whatnot.

I’ve been a fan of Buffett since he proclaimed he wanted his children taxed on their inheritance. He doesn’t want his kids to be spoiled. He wants them to have motivation in life rather than spend what they did not earn but through bloodlines on living lives of luxury. There’s nothing wrong with proper motivation.

But what we’ve got are the few who are fat and their descendents who are spoiled, talking down to a country that has issues which must be dealt with. My previous job had me on the same corner of the Salvation Army. The street isn’t pretty. The people are lost. These are the bottom of the bottom. The stink they leave, and the pestilence they represent, eventually makes it way up to the top.

My favorite adage is how an army unit is only as strong as its weakest member. The same goes for society.

Okay. Enough indoctrination of you. I’ve got to shuffle some pens and get out of here early.

That’s not an agenda. That’s a job. This is what they do. Of the previous 20 stories, one involves the Hall of Fame and, in particular, this blurb. Folks who don’t want to read this, don’t have to read this. Folks who don’t want to comment, don’t have to comment. I, for one, don’t feel snookered into responding to your comment because you posted a comment directed towards me. I don’t think you have an agenda.

The Torii Hunter story would not have been a blog post if Torii Hunter didn’t have Twitter. The fact he has a Twitter account means that Torii Hunter is telling a group of interested people what is on his mind. Personally, I don’t get tweets. I don’t follow anyone because it doesn’t interest me. Craig runs a baseball blog. He follows tweets. He did his job by announcing to the HBT community what Torii Hunter had to say. Of the 20 posts surrounding the Tori Hunter story, only the one Torii Hunter story carried the story of Torii Hunter.

Again, he is doing his job. The blog was not inundated with articles upon articles of previous run-ins Black baseball players have had with cops in America. However, the blog was inundated with various opinions that began with a commenter’s opinion about how Black people make-up the majority of America’s prison populace, and, ergo, it’s cool with that commenter that Torii Hunter had some cops pull their guns on him.

Did that commenter have an agenda?

But, hey, the cycle this will go on as long as the blog is here. And not because Craig gets his hits, but because this is human behavior. He writes something. Somebody wonders aloud what’s the real meaning behind it. Somebody else says there is no meaning. Another person chimes in explaining the meaning. Maybe there’s a long retort to that concept and maybe there isn’t. I am sure of this just as sure I am sure that Ryan Braun will be tagged as some cheater by somebody on this blog until we stop hearing about Ryan Braun. Around and around and around it goes. It gonna stop.

But I’ll tell you something. There are many agendas out in the world. Some are real. Most are not. We just had a Congressman yesterday announce that half the elected Democrats in the House are Commies. Now, whose got the agenda? The Commie Dems? The spouting Repub?

Just like this post that I have painstakingly written during my downtime at work today (a lot of downtime, but not enough to condense this shit) it might very well mean absolutely nothing.

He’s reporting baseball information. Because this is a baseball blog.

But your’e right. That’s so simple. And we all know, that means it’s subversive.

End of story.

No, but he did break the cardinal rule of baseball concerning gambling, .. the one that is posted in every clubhouse in MLB, .. the one that spells out the punishment for breaking that rule, AND lied about it for well over 20 years.

I loved Rose when he played but he’s in the position he’s in because of nobody but himself. If the gambling rule can’t be enforced in with such an egregious example as Rose than effectively there is no prohibition on gambling.

How anyone could read that (straight from the BHOF website) and say that the voters should be voting-in cheaters makes them either A. stupid, B. ignorant or C. delusional.

Counterpoint: There are already plenty of cheaters in the HoF, cheaters that the voters knew about and voted them in anyhow.

As long as the Museum continues to honor the greats with exhibits and artifacts and not white wash history, I could care less if the writers stand on their moral high horse and not allow the cheaters the ability to write HOF after their names.

There is a difference between being in the Hall of fame and being a Hall of Famer..

All in all, though, this place is a museum. They’ve got a gift shop of calendars, key chains, and coffee table books.

A Gary Carter oven mitt would be sweet.

Don’t blame the Game. Pete messed up, knew he messed, and he signed the paper. At that point, he should have known that chances were slim he would see his own induction.

The “partial scalp see-through” look…very chic.