Free Republic

First of all, the first base umpire is smoking crack. Or he's really desperate about his gambling debts.Second, Angels Stadium. Not only is that fake rock sculpture out past center field tacky, not only does it make the place look like a scene from the Flintstones, but those little fireworks that go off when a home run is hit out there are a really juvenile touch. Otherwise, it's a pretty good game.

Deregulation made the prosperity of the 1990s possible. Just ask Bill Clinton. Republicans had many things going against them this election, but the financial market implosion in September proved to be the final blow that sealed their losses, as voters almost always associate the economy with the party in power. And when the credit crisis emerged as the top campaign issue, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) pounced on his opponent with two basic messages. One was to blame the policies of deregulation that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted for. And the second was to hug former rivals Bill and Hillary Clinton...

...Barack Obama analyzed the causes of the credit meltdown. "Now, we also have to recognize that this is a final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush, supported by Senator McCain, a theory that basically says that we can shred regulations and consumer protections and give more and more to the most, and somehow prosperity will trickle down." One had to look far and wide in the spring of 2002 to find anyone who thought the Sarbanes-Oxley law was an experiment in cowboy capitalism. For example, on its front page of April 25, 2002, the...

CHICAGO -- Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has yet to solicit Ozzie Guillen's help or advice in relation to fulfilling his ongoing quest of bringing the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. Not unlike the shoot-from-the-lip manner Guillen has operated under since taking over the White Sox in 2004, the opinionated manager recently offered up his own solution to clinch the bid. It involves the Cubs and White Sox and a special postseason meeting that has not taken place since 1906, which astonishingly also marks the last time both teams qualified for the playoffs during the same season. "Like I said two...

This is a little off color, but if you follow White Sox baseball it is HILARIOUS. Click on link to see.

If Sarbanes-Oxley were a stock, we'd recommend selling it short. It's only a law, of course, and can't be sold in the literal sense. But on Friday a panel of judges who ride the District of Columbia Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals put it in what, in Constitutional terms, amounts to play. They decided, by a vote of two to one, to uphold the constitutionality of the law. But a devastating dissent by Judge Brett Kavanaugh all but begs for Supreme Court review. The issue is whether Sarbanes-Oxley's creation of an agency to police auditors of public...

We all knew Barack Obama is a White Sox fan, but the presumed Democratic presidential nominee took it a bit further in an interview with ESPN. Obama joked about the stereotype of Cubs fans, who probably are tired of being described as partying people-watchers instead of serious baseball fans. "You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there," Obama said, according to transcripts released by ESPN. "People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball." The interview, which took place Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C., will be aired on SportsCenter tonight at 5. Here...

Andrew Greeley's column in today's Chicago Sun-Times is "American warmongers excel at talking a good game." Greeley's writings are often unintentionally amusing, filled with the sort of kneejerk liberalism we'd expect from a Barack Obama contributor. This morning's article is typically hilarious: If we chant "USA!" Often enough, sing God "Bless American!" fervently enough, wear flag pins, fly the flag in front of our house and croak the national anthem loudly enough, we will win victory and honor our dead heroes. Who are those who reject compromise of a useless and criminally deadly war like Iraq? They are the blusterers,...

vs. Game 1 at Boston (Wed., Oct. 24, 8:35 p.m.)Josh Beckett vs. Jeff Francis Game 2 at Boston (Thurs., Oct. 25, 8:29 p.m.)Curt Schilling vs. Ubaldo Jimenez Game 3 at Colorado (Saturday, Oct. 27, 8 p.m.) Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Josh Fogg Game 4 at Colorado (Sunday, Oct. 28, 8 p.m.) Aaron Cook vs. Jon Lester Game 5* at Colorado (Monday, Oct. 29) Game 6* at Boston (Wednesday, Oct. 31) Game 7* at Boston (Thursday, Nov. 1) AccuScore has run more than 10,000 simulations for every World Series game for Yahoo! Sports, calculating how each team's performance changes in response...

EE Times: Semi News SAN FRANCISCO — Sipex Corp. (Milpitas, Calif.), an analog company so staggered by a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation and shifting market dynamics that it nearly went out of business, was relisted Wednesday (April 11) on the Nasdaq exchange after a two-year turnaround. The maker of power and interface devices returned to the high-tech exchange, trading at $8.60, after being delisted nearly two years ago amid an investigation into financial irregularities. Last fall, former Sipex CEO Walid Maghribi agreed to pay a $45,000 fine to settle SEC charges. The SEC alleged that Maghribi allowed...

In 1952, a major league baseball player did calisthenics and hula dances in the outfield and mocked pitchers when he got on base. When the team sent him to the minors, he climbed into the stands to lead cheers for himself, ran around wearing only an athletic supporter and sprayed home plate with a water pistol when an umpire called him out. The player was Jimmy Piersall. His book, entitled “Fear Strikes Out,” helped to expose the realities of mental illness, a condition that had previously been a source of whispers and embarrassment. Interestingly, it was in Chicago that Piersall,...

(first post) OK, they won ugly tonight. We left a ton of runners on base- Couldn't lay down a bunt- Our leadoff man went 0 for 4- They won on TB's horrible errors- But now they are a game and half up on the Twinkies and only 4 and half behind Detroit. I'll take them anyway we can get em. It would be nice to get the sweep before having to play a suddenly hot KC and the Red Sox at Boston... ----------------------- (liberal lefty cub fan) Seems like just yesterday doesn't it? I mean like when you were in...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Just to eliminate any confusion, let's get something straight. There is no way -- not even with a 40-homer, 100-RBI season on the horizon -- that Frank Thomas was returning in 2006 for one more year with the White Sox. This was a franchise that had spent the previous five years counting down the days, minutes and seconds to the instant Thomas and his catalog of contracts finally would be off the books. It was a divorce that was inevitable -- and it had nothing to do with sickness or health. When the dirty laundry got aired...

According to critics, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has caused a litany of ills: Executives are retiring early, public companies are going private, foreign firms are listing abroad and U.S. firms are losing their competitive edge. The sweeping law, written in the wake of the Enron scandal, has served as a scapegoat for all the evils facing corporate America since it was passed in 2002.

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 27 (Reuters) - Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Robert Greifeld said on Tuesday he expects changes to the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law in 2007. The Nasdaq chief said he sees the changes will come within the law's stiff internal controls accounting mechanisms -- known as Section 404 -- and how it is applied and judged. "I make the prediction that in 2007 we will see refinement of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act whether it comes directly from the legislature or Congress getting involved with the (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)," said Greifeld, speaking...

QUINCY, Mass. It may be the sign a Massachusetts man was praying for. After Dennis Thomson lost his 20-year-old son in a car crash, the Boston-area man prayed for a message that his son was all right. Now, Thomson's prayer may have been answered. His son's picture is on a Red Sox billboard that recently went up near Fenway Park. The son, also named Dennis Thomson, is shown with two other men. They're celebrating a home run by outfielder Trot Nixon that won a 2003 playoff game against the Yankees. Thomson was killed a year later by an alleged drunken...

Chicago Jews on Chicago White Sox Growing up, my family lived so close to Wrigley Field that on game days if I wanted to know if the Cubs were winning I only had to go out on the back porch and listen to how loud the cheers sounded. Add to that a father who was a newspaperman in the days when free Cubs tickets were distributed so liberally that sometimes even the nature columnist got them. So-in the ever-present debate over heredity vs. environment-you could say that being a Cubs fan was in the air that I breathed if not...

Will it be Rocket Launch or Rocket Failure? Clemens vs. Contreras

Game 2 Live Thread! Chicago leads series 1-0 Pettite vs. Buehrle

Starting Lineup: Chicago WSox at Houston Chicago WSox   Houston Pos Player HR RBI AVG   Pos Player HR RBI AVG LF Podsednik, Scott 1 4 .286   2B Biggio, Craig 0 4 .326 2B Iguchi, Tadahito 1 4 .207   CF Taveras, Willy 0 0 .357 RF Dye, Jermaine 0 3 .241   LF Berkman, Lance 2 8 .314 1B Konerko, Paul 4 11 .273   3B Ensberg, Morgan 0 9 .256 C Pierzynski, AJ 3 6 .259   1B Lamb, Mike 2 3 .273 CF Rowand, Aaron 0 3 .250   RF Lane, Jason 2 6 .237...