glunn

If you check out the link that I posted it looks like the reduction would be in the range of $100-200 billion per year, which would pay for a lot of public college and vocational education, as well as some roads and bridges. I also like the idea of re-tasking some of the military to humanitarian use. For example, aircraft carriers could treat poor people in their medical bays when they are at a port, and bombers could practice dropping food and medical supplies instead of bombs. This would keep the forces ready while spreading goodwill. The stakes seem too high to just go along with military escalation around the world because companies that make weapons control Congress. I suspect that we could feed every starving person every day if every country retasked its military to public works. I also fear that the day is coming when angry extremists will do very bad things on a very large scale unless we do a better job of winning hearts and minds.

It seems to me that we should cap our military budget at twice the combined military budgets of China and Russia, which would save a lot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures Our only real competitor seems to be China, and it would seem wiser/cheaper in the long run to negotiate the contested issues with China and its neighbors, like oil rights to the South China Sea. Both China and the U.S. would benefit from lower military spending and more spending on people.

My moderator powers/skills are insufficient to change that but I was able to insert a note at the top of the post. Hopefully Brock can do better.

One expert is predicting that Park will be the AL rookie of the year. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25533630/mlb-predictions-for-2016-divisions-postseason-world-series-awards

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25533630/mlb-predictions-for-2016-divisions-postseason-world-series-awards This is a link to the predictions of 5 experts. Interesting that 3 of the 5 experts predict that a Twin will win AL rookie of the year; however they each pick a different Twin -- Park, Berrios and Buxton. Also, 2 of the 5 predict Sano to be the home run leader. I will be thrilled if even one of these picks comes close to being true. "Picks come from senior writer Jonah Keri and Eye on Baseball scribes R.J. Anderson, Mike Axisa, Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder."

This is my favorite post of this year. Thanks for sharing.

I think that Warren is likely to run in 2020, unless Hillary wins the general. I also think that Hillary would be very wise to consider Warren as a running mate.

For the record, I deleted the post once I read it.

According to the Twins' website it appears that the roster is now fully set. Duffey and O'Rourke were the last 2 cuts. http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/169575372/twins-tyler-duffey-ryan-orourke-sent-down

Moderator note -- please be more respectful. Any further squabbling will result in posting privileges being suspended.

In hindsight I believe that getting involved with regime change in Libya was a bad idea, and I think that Hillary should bear some responsibility for that. On the other hand, I don't see her as reckless like Trump and Cruz.

Perkins gave up 3 hits but no runs. I wonder how he looked.

Those are all fair points. What bugs me the most is that we are the only advanced advanced nation in the world without universal health care, yet we spend far more per capita than any other country and get mediocre results. It seems clear to me that the system has been gamed by the special interests (insurance companies, big pharma and big hospital chains). Although this is part of a larger rape of the public, the health care situation makes me the angriest because a substantial number of people, including children, suffer and die because our system is corrupt. How can any American not be ashamed of the fact that children die in our country who would have been cured if they had been born in Europe or even Cuba? I also disagree with Dave's statement that if we crack down on corporate inversions then more companies will move overseas. One simple solution would be to disregard an inversion where the real management stays in the U.S. If Pfizer wants to be treated as an Irish company then a majority of the highest paid executives must move from New York City to Ireland. It's fun to think about how the top executives would explain this to their families. I like Bernie because he is showing us that the establishment emperor is not only naked, he is also corrupt. I disagree with Bernie on lots of issues, but I am thrilled that he is giving us messages that I think that people should consider. I am old enough to have lived through some massive lies that destroyed millions of lives -- including the domino theory and the Vietnam War. Now there are reports that the war on drugs may have been totally insincere -- I pray that our young people will become critical thinkers and not trust anyone, including Bernie, and I think that Bernie has at minimum done us a service by getting people to think outside the establishment box.

Three more things about Bernie: 1. If he can go to the convention with more elected delegates than Hillary, then there is a chance that the superdelegates will not want to thwart the will of the voters. 2. He has plausible plans for paying for his proposals. https://berniesanders.com/issues/how-bernie-pays-for-his-proposals/ 3. There have been polls showing him doing better against Trump than Hillary.

Millions of small donations. His supporters get emails several times per week and they are inspiring. Today he was outraged about people in Maricopa County having to wait as long as 5 hours to vote, because the Republicans cut the number of polling places from around 200 to around 60. After reading the email I was also outraged.

I am sorry to hear that Poulson did not work out. I was hoping that he could harness that 100 mph fastball.

I still use a flip phone, and keep a spare in case they ever stop making flip phones. And I charge it once a week whether it needs it or not. That said, it seems to me that most terrorists probably use more secure ways to communicate. Or maybe they buy the disposable phones at the supermarket. It also seems to me that we would be a lot safer if we had not invaded Iraq and destabilized most of the Middle East. Maybe we will be safer in the long run of we can ease our way out of an unwinnable position there?

I wonder whether the World Series wins have cleansed that situation.

Welcome to TD. One good way to get started here and to get to know people is to post in a game thread during a game.

I would like to see every human being have a chance to realize his/her full potential. I don't want to miss out on a cure for cancer because someone could not afford to go to college. That said, tuition has increased far beyond the rate of inflation while instructional time has decreased. This seems inexcusable and I have a few ideas: 1. Limit the salaries/benefits of college employees to what the U.S. President gets -- $400,000 annual salary. That would apply to all employees including football coaches. A college could elect out of this, but the price of electing out would be loss of its tax exempt status. I believe that if you want to make more than the President of the United States then you should not make it from a tax exempt charity that is subsidized by the public fisc. 2. Require states to restore funding to public education. I think that a major driver of tuition increases has been state budget cuts. Now that the economy is recovering, the states should go back to their prior levels of support. 3. Establish a blue ribbon commission of top educators and business leaders to devise strategies to better employ technology to produce better results and more opportunities at a lower cost. A few years ago I audited an online class offered by Yale University. I got to see all of the lectures by the top professor in his field and the class materials are available for free. http://oyc.yale.edu/courses It seems to me that with a some support from local community colleges, millions of students could effectively receive Ivy League educations. The students could watch the lectures online then go to a local classroom to have discussions of the material and take tests to show that they understand the material (and be graded). The class that I took was as good as any that I took in actual college, and I did not have to go anywhere near the misleadingly named pit known as New Haven. I also agree with those who believe that some students would be better served by a trade school, and I think that trade school tuition should be free so long as a student is making a reasonable effort. In the long run, this will save the taxpayers money. But it seems to me that using technology in an efficient manner, even Joe the plumber should have an opportunity to take some Ivy League classes if he wants to make the effort. As for Social Security, I have paid in the maximum for about 35 years and don't expect to get a great return on this. Hell, I might die before getting a dime. But I take great comfort in the fact that millions of old people don't have to eat cat food and sleep in doorways. And I think that Social Security can and should be improved in terms of long-run solvency and overall fairness.

My sense of the law is that, in general, there is no right to protest on private property. It also appears to me that there is generally a right to peaceful protest when a candidate is speaking on public property, such as a college auditorium, so long as the protest is not disruptive. In my view, protesters on public property would be wise to hold up their signs and wear their t-shirts, but keep their mouths shut. Such an approach would make it untenable for the authorities to drag them off. I believe in a right to protest, but when a candidate is holding a rally (be it Trump or Sanders or Cruz), the protesters should not be allowed to drown out the candidate. Otherwise, every candidate could have/hire protesters disrupt the rallies of the other candidates and trounce the rights of other citizens to hear their candidates. Here is an article that goes into more detail about this: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/faq/frequently-asked-questions-assembly

Good one.

I believe that NON-violent protest is the way to handle this.

Lots of good questions here. I would ask TR if he ever visits Twins Daily.

Maybe Park will turn out to be a lot better than a lot of people projected.