msi_cord

While I understand the real estate and casinos are not exactly the safest business opportunities out there, I am curious how a self-described smart and savvy businessperson put themselves in a position to lose this kind of money. This seems like an awful large mistake for someone who wants us to believe that he is good at his job.

Does it exist?

Do we need any further example than this year's Super Bowl? The best offense ever in the NFL was beat by a solid, consistent, and basic defensive scheme. The Seahawks did nothing flashy, nothing showy, and really didn't try to hide what they were going to do defensively. Their players simply played a good solid game. What does this mean for the future of the NFL? What will happen to all of the blitz-happy defenses with funky defensive fronts? Is the balance of power in the NFL swinging back to the defense?

I know this is quite early but I would like to know who I should consider keeping for fantasy baseball next year. My team has won the championship the last two years and would like to have a three-peat. The league I play in goes head-to-head and runs 6x6 stats (standard 5x5 with OPS and QS added). There are clearly some pick-ups that were made in the last match-up to win the title. Here is my roster:

C Buster Posey, SF C, 1B

1B Paul Goldschmidt, Ari 1B

2B Daniel Murphy, NYM 2B

2B Brandon Phillips, Cin 2B

3B Ryan Zimmerman, Wsh 3B

3B Adrian Beltre, Tex 3B, DH

SS Elvis Andrus, Tex SS, DH

SS Jean Segura, Mil SS

OF Justin Upton, Atl OF

OF Alex Rios, Tex OF

OF Nick Swisher, Cle OF, 1B, DH

OF Michael Cuddyer, Col OF, 1B

P Yu Darvish, Tex SP

P Casey Janssen, Tor RP

P Glen Perkins, Min RP

P Hyun-Jin Ryu, LAD SP

P Bruce Chen, FA SP, RP

P Tanner Roark, Wsh SP, RP

P Hiroki Kuroda, FA SP

P Anibal Sanchez, Det SP

P Hisashi Iwakuma, Sea SP, RP

P Travis Wood, ChC SP

P A.J. Griffin, Oak SP

P John Lackey, Bos SP

P Dillon Gee, NYM SP

Which two would you keep?

I have been offered a trade where I give up Encarnacion for Zimmerman. My team has plenty of power with Braun, J. Upton, Rios, Phillips, and Goldschmidt. My batting average has suffered a little with some of the players I have. I find that I am only playing Encarnacion about half the time because Goldschmidt has a better average and provides about the same amount of power. I currently have Beltre at 3B, but he has not been doing great this season yet and I don't have much to use in the Utility spot (I have been playing Willingham or Salvador Perez in this spot). Do you think I should pull the trigger on this trade?

I have the fourth overall pick in an eight team fantasy baseball league. I am fairly certain that the first three picks will be Braun, Cabrera, and Trout (in some order) and if they are not these three (wouldn't surprise me if number 1 is McCutchen knowing this guy), I will take one of them as my fourth pick. I am stuck between Cano and McCutchen as my fourth pick. Both are legitimate stars and I don't think I can go wrong either way but want to know if people think one is better than the other.

Arkansas recently passed a law which bans abortion after a woman has been pregnant for 12 weeks. Does this law have any chance of surviving the impending court challenge?

Article on the law:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/incensed-arkansas-a...

This weekend there was a large article in our local paper about the cost of special education in schools within my state. At a time when schools are being forced to cut teachers, cut extra-curricular programs, and ask local voters for more revenue, they are being required to spend huge amounts of money on special education. The article cites the average annual cost to teach a student in the state at about $9,000 and the average annual cost for a student using special education services at about $25,000. They seemed to very loosely define "special education" from everyone with a minor learning difference to those with severe emotional, behavioral, and/or cognitive problems. A few students with the most severe problems cost a school district upwards of $150,000/year the educate.

While I would not advocate eliminating special education, I want to know if there are reasonable limits that should be put on how much money is spent to educate a single student? Where do we draw the line between special education funding and funding for the education of all of our students? I would agree that special education greatly helps a significant number of students to reach their fullest potential but how can we ensure that all students are able to reach their fullest potential?

I have seen a lot of discussion about this both here and in other media sources. I really have one question. Would it be fair to assume that a teacher or school administrator who does have a concealed weapon would take action to stop a shooter? Think about the CT scenario for a second if you are a teacher who has been trained to carry a concealed weapon but has no military, law enforcement, or security experience or training. Are you going to directly confront the guy with at least an assault rifle and another gun with whatever handgun you are concealing or are you going to sit back and use your gun as a last defense? My guess is that most of us would sit back and use our gun as a last defense rather than go into a situation where you are clearly outgunned and really have little chance of stopping this guy.

I see a lot of people discussing the pros and cons of gun control, guns in schools, etc. but not many people talking about the real issue that lead to Friday's school shooting, a poor system to give mental health services and identify those who might need mental health services. Lets be honest, no amount of gun control short of banning the ownership of all guns (which is not going to happen) would have prevented Friday's tragedy. Armed teachers would not have prevented this man from entering school and opening fire. This shooter clearly had some underlying issues that someone should have spotted and acted upon prior to this incident. Most people, even people who do horrible things, are not going to wake up and decide to shoot up the school.

So why don't we talk about the real issue, the lack of appropriate mental health care in our country?

Can someone give me one solid non-religious reason that our government should define marriage as between a man and a woman?

Are you for or against gay marriage and why?

In my league, an 8 team head-to-head league with 12 scoring categories (the ESPN standard 10 categories with OPS and QS added), I have been offered the following trade: I send Gio Gonzalez and receive Rafael Furcal.

Currently, my only SS is Jimmy Rollins, who has been fairly abysmal this year (.232 avg, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 8 SB). Furcal is definitely an upgrade here for my team since I am not confident that Rollins is going to right the ship. As for other starters, I have CJ Wilson, Clayton Kershaw, Wandy Rodriguez, Gavin Floyd, Ian Kennedy, and a couple spots that I stream.

My main concern is fairly simple, I think Furcal's numbers are way too high and that he is going to fall the Earth and I will be stuck with Rollins part 2.

Any thoughts?

In order to have a more effective free market, why don't we prevent employers from providing health insurance to their employees and allow everyone to buy insurance in a free market? This would allow individuals to choose the types of coverage they want and do not want and would provide coverage if an individual loses their job or chooses to quit their job to pursue another career. This should also provide encouragement for health insurance companies to provide more competitive prices for their services (like auto insurance).

If Ron Paul does not win the Republican nomination but continues to run for President as a third party candidate, will you vote for him in the general election in November?

If you require people to have a state issued photo ID in order to vote, does this mean that the state will have to provide photo ID cards (not driver's licenses) for free to any eligible voter?

I have seen a lot of discussion on ESPN and in other places about the number of concussions in the NHL. Some analysts suggest that the game of hockey is faster and more violent today than it has been in the past. Others point out that we have better tests for concussions and more strict protocol about how a player with a concussion comes back to the game, so it only seems like there are more concussions. What do you think?

This may seem like a stupid question, but let me explain. Most high school teachers have a college degree where their major is education and they basically minor in the specific field they teach. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Is it better to have a math teacher whose major is education and minor is math or one who has a major in math and a minor in education?

This may seem like a silly question, but I am curious if anyone knows the answer. I was just sitting here on the couch and my cat is sleeping beside me. She suddenly meows for no reason in her sleep. I am wondering if she was having a dream or if it is possible for cats to dream.

I am not sure how many have read the story but here it is:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=...

The Kansas Jayhawks have a college basketball players whose mother and grandparents all recently died. They are paying to sent the entire team the the funeral and to bring his second grade sister back to Kansas since she has no other living relatives. They have also set up a scholarship fund for his young sister. This is above and beyond what I would expect any University to do for an athlete. I think they deserve a big round of applause.