Invader3K

I disagree. If someone is working at a burger joint (and not as a manager) by the time they're in their mid 30s, it's due to choices they've made in their own life, or they're simply content to not work harder to get ahead. It's not GM's or the government's fault. Big corporations aren't obligated to give people amazing benefits and financial guarantees for menial labor. As far as my own kids, I don't have any yet, but if I do, I hope they'll aspire to do more than hope for a union guaranteed factory job. Not that there is anything wrong with unions or factory work, but they don't necessarily guarantee a good financial future, as the people at GM Janesville are seeing. I would hope my kids would be driven to get through college so they don't have to sweat in a factory. We're moving away from a manufacturing and agriculture type economy to a service and information based economy in the United States. This is simply part of that trend. Basically what happened is that technology got cheaper while labor got more expensive. I guess I don't see the justification for someone without a college degree being able to walk into a factory without previous training and receive a high five figure income, with full benefits, in 2008. It just doesn't make financial sense anymore. However, new industries come in, and if a city like Janesville is smart, it will find ways to get workers trained for new jobs in new industries, and attract new companies to fill the void. It's easy to lament the passing of an era (which is sometimes view through rose colored glasses, IMHO), it's harder to actually do something to move forward into the 21st century.

Some people just don't get it. He definitely does what you described, the majority of the time, though.

Ten years? Try next year. Heck, we could cross six dollars by the end of this year, yet. I don't put it past our government to do nothing about the situation.

I don't believe I've ever sat in the club level at Miller Park. I guess I'm not high class enough.

I agree. The pervasive sentiment around here seems to be that going to a baseball game should be an ultra-high class, civilized affair, and that when a player in Hall's situation comes up, you shouldn't boo, because it might hurt his feelings (though I'd think being a pro athlete he should have thicker skin) or somehow cast the team and the entire state of Wisconsin in a negative light. You should instead have a calm discussion with fans seated around you about his splits against right handed pitching, right? It's a baseball game. You go there, sit with tens of thousands of people, eating nachos and drinking beer. People are going to boo and cheer who they want. There's no need to get agitated over it. Personally, I will not boo him since he is still one of my favorite players, and I understand he is simply frustrated with his current situation. However, it doesn't exactly please me that he has expressed that he no longer wants to be on MY TEAM. That is why other people are booing; and if they wish to, then I have no problem with that.

Four home runs in the last five games.

Yeah, when it comes out that you don't want to play for the team you're on, people are going to boo. It happens.

I don't know if Honda or Toyota are exactly seen as trendy brands. I know a lot of non-hipster people that own them because they are reliable and economical. Go figure.

Personally, I'm a big test drive guy. I spend a ton of time in my car (I drive put over 20,000 miles a year on it), so a car has to have a good feel, handle well, and be comfortable to me. Good gas mileage is also important. Four years ago when I decided to buy a new vehicle, I went to the local GM plant...test drove four different vehicles, and was relatively unimpressed by what I could get in my price range. Went down the road to the Chrysler/Dodge dealer, drove a Chrysler...and found out I could get a car that looked and felt much better, and had better performance, for about three grand less than what GM was offering at the time. So, obviously I bought that one. My wife has a Pontiac Vibe we bought brand new about three years ago, and that one has had all sorts of little mechanical problems. I'm guessing the engine will hold up forever, since that was a co-design with Toyota. Anyway, that's really neither here nor there, just my own personal experience.

I'm definitely not blaming the union solely. The upper level management clearly did not anticipate changes in the market, and failed to adapt. A lot of people are going to pay for their mistakes. I just think there has to be give and take on both sides. Didn't the union anticipate that GM would have to make painful changes if things didn't change with pensions and other issues? Was it really for the best that the union played hardball with GM for so many years, now that the plant is closing? Again, I don't work there and haven't worked there, but I have heard enough stories from people who do and have worked there to question a lot of the on-site policies that were in place.

Ditto. How long have companies like Toyota had hybrid vehicles they have been promoting, and people have been buying up, since they are getting tired of paying so much for gas? Meanwhile, some years ago, GM came out with the EV-1 to basically try and kill off the idea of an alternative vehicle. If you don't believe me, look it up. Yeah, it's the fault of Americans for supporting "Japs." This is a global economy, and companies will have to adapt or suffer the consequences.

Well, I think the city of Janesville saw that this might happen a while ago, and seems like it's taken some steps to diversify the local economy a bit, and bring in new businesses. Yes, it will hurt the city for a while, but they will go on. I don't think it will end up being like a Rockford or something. Not to get all political, but I do think the union there killed the golden goose, to a degree. I've heard plenty of stories of how employees were able to get away with being incompetent, no-showing, etc. A modern business can't work like that and expect to be successful.

Just announced by GM at their press conference in Delaware. Seems like the writing had been on the wall for some time. As someone who doesn't live far from Janesville and has a friend who works there, this is a pretty big deal.

I hope this is something that just blows over quickly. I think if Billy just continues to play well, he will be a starter on the team again, soon enough. I'm not interested in seeing the Brewers trade him for scraps.

I agree. That's probably where the bigger need will be down the line, assuming the Brewers are still contending after the All-Star break.

Suppan has been perfectly fine so far. He's a valuable asset to have on the team. Do we really want the rotation to be Sheets + four guys who are barely out of the minors? I personally do not.

Personally, I see the Brewers being pretty loaded with relievers right now. Barring some injury, I don't see the point. At some point the Brewers have to stop throwing guys on the wall and seeing what sticks.

I agree. As long as they're winning, I don't care if they're stripping down to their boxers.

The whole slant eyed thing probably puts the shirt over the line, IMO. Makes it look like some 1950s Asian comic book villain or something.

I agree with Gopher. All the statements about "Prince is clearly bigger than last year", seem to be based on personal opinion. I think he looks about the same, personally. No one has offered any serious concrete evidence that he is significantly bigger, or has lost muscle mass, put on fat, etc. No one really knows how he's eating, either. I know someone posted that they "know someone in the locker room" who said Prince eats salads with lots of cheese and Doritos and junk, but that's about it. Not exactly concrete evidence, IMHO.

chuckcrim, I'm sorry, but your pics prove absolutely nothing. They are at different angles, and the one is huge compared to the other one. Personally, I am not seeing the huge difference in Prince's phsyique from this year compared to last year. He looks like the same stout barrel of a man he did last year, he's just not hitting as many home runs, so we're all trying to figure out what happened. Oh yeah, he will regret not signing a Braun-esque contract if he doesn't pick things up. His season last year will be viewed as a fluke when he reaches arbitration.

I agree that Torres is a much more logical choice for the role of closer at this point. Gagne just has to start pitching even at an average performance level before the Brewers can even think of trying him in the close spot again. Honestly, I wonder if Torres falters, if the Brewers might try Tavarez in the 9th next. I know a lot of people here would hate that, but it might be something they're forced to do.

Agreed. It is lame...but the courts have decided over the years that if a company isn't proactive about protecting their claims, they can lose their rights to them.

I can't say for every bicyclist, but virtually every hardcore bicyclist I've met has had a serious sense of entitlement. I volunteer at a local chicken dinner held for charity pretty much every fall, and we always get a ton of cyclists coming in. OK, great, that sells a bunch of dinners. The first year I was there, I was handling trash all day (pretty glamorous job, considering all the chicken bones, corn cobs, and bees swarming everywhere). One bicyclist goes off on me about how we don't have any recycling bins. He said to me "Oh, we dont' like that." What the hell did he expect me to do, magically conjure up some blue bins so he could throw his water bottles in there? OK, great...it would end up in the same dumpster out back regardless. The holier-than-thou, I'm doing something great for the environment kind of atttitude really irks me.

A win is a win. You have to give Ned credit for playing for a win, and not a tie or something.