Everything posted by LCHorn
-
2025 - 2026 Astros Offseason Thread
Thatās a good point, although probably not apples to apples since Anthonyās bonus was $2.5m to $1m for Melton. Draft projections are hard, and Iām certainly not one to second guess one particular player over another. But I do take issue with the fact that the Dodgers have 7 dudes on Lawās top 100 (and if you hate Law, there is certainly corroboration elsewhere), none of whom were drafted in the first or second round by the Dodgers, and we have zero.
-
2025 - 2026 Astros Offseason Thread
Keith Law Astros Top 20 Prospects Gifted link in case any one wants to discuss. My TL:DR is the Astros continue to struggle to identify high potential prospects regardless of draft position and bonus pool limitations. A good example would be picking Dre Gilbert over Roman Anthony, who signed in Rnd 2 for the same bonus.
-
2026 Midterms ...
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it got the Talarico campaign headline attention on the NYT and Politico, and he needs it.
-
2026 Midterms ...
Are we moving on from mediocre black men to fat white women?
-
2026 Midterms ...
Disagree here, I don't think most voters outside of the terminally online Gen Z will care. Unfortunately, running as the candidate most approximating Jesus' message requires a flawless sense of discipline. I wonder if it's not better to own it than to deny it.
-
2026 Midterms ...
That's also been the message from effective governors in purplish states like Colorado, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. I don't think it's always appropriate (you can't run from everything controversial), but the party needs to be reshaped around the economic priorities of the majority of voters and not the cultural priorities of educated elites. Locally, I'd love for Texas Dems to start pointing out that taxes withheld or accruing to the state are way too high.
-
2026 Midterms ...
@Snake Diggity Disagree, there's what TwiceHorn wrote, but there's also the attention getting aspect of the win. Texas SD-09 is getting national attention, which is helpful for fundraising, obtaining more free press, and road testing your message and appeal. All the evidence you need is we're talking about it and it was totally off the radar for most 48 hours ago. I'd expect the November election results to be far closer as participation rises, but it's the win that's going to help Rehmet gain credibility and attention with the lower propensity voters that aren't reflexively voting R.
-
Iran
I had zero understanding of the first post, moreover Iām even more befuddled that someone was able to decipher it. Anyway, I donāt see why there needs to be a Gulf of Tonkin like incident. There isnāt a robust opposition to Trump domestically or internationally, and little support for Iranās sovereignty outside of a relatively small number of Arab nations that donāt want to be seen as collaborators.
-
2026 Midterms ...
Insert the old joke about āWould you sleep with me for a million dollars? Yes, huh? How about one dollar?ā I kind of prefer knowing itās a transaction to some misguided belief itās about representation or policy preferences.
-
2025 - 2026 Astros Offseason Thread
Adding one star every five years isnāt keeping the window open.
-
2025 - 2026 Astros Offseason Thread
I think it has some wins, but there are teams like Cleveland, Tampa, LA, Seattle, Minnesota, etc. that debut or trade away a 2 WAR pitcher every year (in other words, I don't think we're particularly unique in that regard). Maybe it's the Whitley curse. I don't know how meaningful this is, but I have criticized the Astros front office for essentially following the Luhnow playbook well past his departure (signing guys like Jose Abreu, for example). On the scouting and development side, they've been far less beholden to any particular strategy--one year it's sign undersized and overlooked prospects, the next it's big boys. One year it's all up the middle, the next it's outfielders, etc. Some of that may be just be trying to go heavy where the talent appears to be, but I at least credit them for not trying to pigeonhole themselves into a particular type of scouting and development staff (I'll excuse them for favoring spin over everything else with pitchers as that's become MLB norm).
-
2025 - 2026 Astros Offseason Thread
I'm sure this is preaching to the choir, but McDaniel and Keith Law have both commented previously that what separates the Astros from better ranked teams is the lack of high-end talent. Taking the draft out of it (well-trodden territory), our international scouting and development has really under-performed relative to the other large market teams basically since Luhnow's exit (and even then it was profiting primarily through finding overlooked prospects, either too old for big dollar bonuses or bad bodies needing projection). They've tried a ton of stuff since then (looking harder at Mexico, targeting Cubans, prioritizing athleticism over skill) but none of it has seemed beat industry averages.
-
Sinners - Coogler, Goransson, and Michael B Jordan
This makes me think about the Howard Hawks quote about great films--"three great scenes and no bad ones". I Lied to You is one--what are the other two? My vote would be the car scene with the Stack, Smoke, Sammie and Slim. Mid-credits? Rocky Road to Dublin? I also really liked the intro scene between Smoke and Annie where they reconnect. It's probably the one I think about the most when I recall the film.
-
Shrinking (Apple TV)
Funny, I was just reading an article that explained itās not green screen, itās that everything is shot in shallow focus because it looks better on smaller devices, and has the result of making the whole image appear a little weird.
-
2026 Midterms ...
I do have to applaud him for his rhetorical style-a generation removed from great orators like MLK, Kennedy, and later Obama, we finally have a candidate whose style best resembles a Southwest flight attendant welcoming passengers over the intercom.
-
Bourbon
Not there yet, unless you consider EHT on the shelf as a sign of progress.
-
The Democratic Party
Point of order, I donāt think Klein is that enamored with Marie (for one sheās an airhead). What he does suggest, and I agree with him, is you donāt run a Democratic-Socialist in Wyoming or Florida or Texas (at least in a state wide race). You make your peace that a John Bel Edwards type is better in a red state because heāll vote in support of Democratic policies 90% of the time and the only true purity test progressives should be demanding is ācan he/she win?ā.
-
The France Thread
I was just in Cassis in October. I liked it but I think itās a 2-3 day visit, tops, unless youāre just very comfortable being idle. Aix en Provence is a better jumping off point for hitting the mountain towns and wineries (like Gordes, which is amazing).
-
2025-26 Houston Rockets Thread - Back to Contention?
Iām starting to think the Rockets have borrowed the Astros training staff.