Huston is the Hindenburg.

Everybody else was gasping in surprise, and I was laughing like a maniac.

Dark Knight without Heath Ledger = good. Dark Knight with Heath Ledger = fantastic. I’ve said it before, but that was one of the ten best performances I’ve ever seen. Hell of a way to go out.

While the film was extremely dark and disturbing, I do like that message of hope for the inherent goodness of most people.

The scenes where he described his scars were also a little too heavy for PG-13.

They pulled back some, like the part when he cut that dude’s mouth and the camera cut away. I would have liked to have seen what Nolan could have done with an R rating.

Great movie, though.

“Your client’s nose was chopped off? How does he smell?”

“Terrible!”

there’s been some ado about it in the past … but I don’t recall the outcome … when I’ve worked out of state, though, I never paid out of state taxes …

Each state has the right to tax income earned in that state. Different states have different rules for how to determine what income is "sourced" in the state. In general, states tend to conform to each other, and there are established standards for allocating professional athletes’ income which most states will accept, but there are exceptions and lots of wiggle room in the details.

The state of residency has the right to tax all income earned by the resident. Most states allow you to deduct income taxed in another state. So, for example, if you live in California and pay tax to New York for games played in New York, California will give you a credit so that you aren’t taxed by both states on the same income. Note that you don’t get a credit for out-of-state income that is not taxed by the other state. So, for example, if you live in California and play some games in Texas, which has no state income tax, California will still charge you state tax for those games.

The problem is that each state can define its own sourcing rules, so if your state of residence defines it more inclusively than the away-game states, you could end up paying taxes in two states on the same income. I don’t know if they still do, but at one time the State of Illinois had regulations declaring that all income earned by an athlete who is an Illinois resident under contract with an Illinois team counts as Illinois income. This was challenged in court (by Sammy Sosa) and the state won. The decision was appealed and I don’t know what happened after that.

Taxability of out-of-state income is a muddy topic generally with lots of lawyerly wrangling, but neither the taxpayers nor the tax collectors bother much with small-time cases. Professional athletes get a disproportionate amount of attention because of the combination of (a) they get big salaries, and (b) it’s very easy for the state to track their whereabouts when working.

It sure beats another practice MBE

I certainly don’t have the research on it, so you’re right that I can’t be certain.

I’d never seen it supported by anything more than talking heads.

Even if the authorities had sufficient evidence to prosecute, the statute of limitations would have lapsed (if I remember crim law correctly) 2 years after she reached the age of consent, which was several years ago.

that could land Laroche and Poreda in Oakland?

He has been great so far. There is no reason to believe he will be either as great or less-than-great for the rest of the season.

If I’m trading for him, though, I’m trading for a 3.something ERA pitcher not a 1.8 (since I don’t get retroactive credit for his earlier starts. It’s the same principle as wanting Holliday but not at .950 OPS prices.

And here’s where the stat/scout “dichotomy” is actually relevant.

The scout “he’s not that good” argument (doesn’t throw hard enough, no MLB track record as a starter [despite the fact that he was a starter in the minors]), as you say, absolutely falls apart when applied to Duke.

But the stat argument that his peripherals don’t support his ERA should hold water (though there’s no guarantee it will).

And the stat argument in this case actually refutes the scout argument—because, as nevermoor says, even his peripheral stats are really good (just not as out-of-this-world good as his ERA).

Petit and Pennington actually look downright attractive when you look at what’s happening with shortstop prospects around the league.

I don’t know anything about Pennington’s D though.

... you’re right. This is why I want the A’s to play him in CF, since CarGon’s bat will supposedly play well at a corner spot. I don’t want to see Sweeney stay in right and get set up for the front office perpetually trying to replace him with a more powerful bat.