Excellent Dan Carlin this week, as always, about Iran and our changing attitude towards them. If you look at it pragmatically, Dan argues, engaging with Iran is really the only choice we have. I have to say he has a point.
In the second half, he engages in a fascinating thought experiment-what if corporate personhood were revoked, and corporations could no longer influence politicians in any way?
Dan is a disturbing, but fascinating way to spend an hour. I always end up thinking about topics from his show hours and days after I have listened to it.
***
A while ago, I posted one of those Top Five Things on Facebook about the Best Opening Licks to rock n roll songs. For some reason, last night, I was thinking that I forgot Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Ohio”, and, of course, I did. If I had to make the list again today, and, apparently, I do, I would go this way:
1.CSNY, “Ohio”
2.The Beatles, “Revolution”
3.Pearl Jam, “Even Flow”
4.The Who, “Love Reign O’Er Me”
5.Aerosmith, “Same Old Song and Dance”
***
An excellent point made on this week’s “Left, Right, and Center”(kcrw.com/lrc)-as bad as Muslim religious law is, in terms of its treatment of women and minorities, they are by no means the first or the only legal structure to encode despicable treatment of some of its people.
***
Seeing someone get handcuffed (for shoplifting, I assume-I was curious, but not curious enough to eavesdrop) is a humbling experience. In a certain way, it is a reminder of state power-the state has the ability to take your liberty away, instantly, just on someone’s say so. (They can give it back later, of course, if you’re found not guilty or whatever-but you’ll never get that time back.)It also seems a little unnecessary-assuming it was shoplifting and the person was guilty-surely shoplifting is a crime against property, and people who do it aren’t all that dangerous. Maybe they handcuff everyone. I don’t know.
Those of us who argue about government and law and justice should remember that it is real people who win and lose and live and die with these decisions
***
Fascinating TTBOOK (To The Best Of Our Knowledge) about men and masculinity, a topic particularly close to my heart, being, well, a guy. It is indisputably true that modern popular culture is hostile to men. It is also indisputably true that men have done much to earn the stereotypes that we are portrayed with. I’m not sure how to feel about all that. It is true that the reaction against thousands of years of sexism should not be reverse sexism. It is also true that oppressors always say this after they have been overthrown. I’m not sure how to feel about that either.
***
Then a tremendous TTBOOK, that I am pretty sure I have heard before, about atheism and its critics. This series is tremendous in every way, and perfect for polymaths like me-ricochets from pop culture to history and art and science and law. Lovely.
I am a Christian, albeit a nonenthusiastic one, but a reader of Richard Dawkins as well. Maybe that’s why I get so many headaches lately-I’m trying to hold too many ideas at once. Either that or a brain tumor.
***
School’s out, as Alice Cooper says, for summer. This event, which used to fill me with joy while a student, has just the opposite effect as a parent. I have never claimed to be an especially skilled parent-in fact, I rather steadily claim the opposite. But I am especially unskilled at parenting during the summer.
***
The third TTBOOK for me today is “How We Learn”, another outstanding program, this time about education. I send my child, at great expense, to what I am pretty sure is a good school. But I don’t think I know what that is-I am extremely wary of school rankings, as I am about hospital rankings. In such a hugely complicated field, the measuring sticks we are using seem inadequate.
I like to tease my son that he’s lucky I was not in charge at his school, because I would double his workload at the very minimum. But there’s a sliver of truth there-I don’t think he’s working hard enough, and I don’t have the mental energy to pick up the slack. I try to tell him that there are kids his age in India and China that are going to want his spot in college in about 5 years, and his job in 10 years, and I am relatively confident that is true. Of course, as sons do, he doesn’t listen.
Neither did I, of course, so turnabout is indeed fair play.
***
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Game Fifty Seven: Throwing Strikes Is Not Always The Best Plan
Dice K didn't walk any batters today.
However, that was because Texas' hitters were too busy bashing his pitches around the lot. During his 5 2/3 innings, Dice managed to throw 100 pitches, nearly 20 of whom were actually effective, allowing 10 hits and 5 runs. Texas' Vincente Padilla led his flotilla to 7 effective innings, giving Texas a 6-3 win over the Red Sox in Boston this afternoon. After a day off tomorrow, Boston welcomes a resurgent Yankee team, with 100% more ARod, on Tuesday.
However, that was because Texas' hitters were too busy bashing his pitches around the lot. During his 5 2/3 innings, Dice managed to throw 100 pitches, nearly 20 of whom were actually effective, allowing 10 hits and 5 runs. Texas' Vincente Padilla led his flotilla to 7 effective innings, giving Texas a 6-3 win over the Red Sox in Boston this afternoon. After a day off tomorrow, Boston welcomes a resurgent Yankee team, with 100% more ARod, on Tuesday.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
June 6, 1944
Shame on me for not recalling earlier. It is, of course, the anniversary of D Day, the Allied invasion of occupied Europe that helped turn the tide of World War II.
Men younger than me, by the tens and hundreds of thousands, hurled themselves at the seemingly impregnable walls of Fortress Europe, and said simply that tyranny would not stand. They died there, on the beaches, having faith that we, their children, would live a better life because of their sacrifices.
I hope we're not letting them down.
Why people hate athletes.
http://bit.ly/pWR52
Red Sox shortstop/pigeon sanctuary Julio Lugo says he is not happy about the amount of playing time he is getting.
Uh...Julio? You're batting .256. Try not sucking. Try batting more than .256 with a range in the field larger than a phone booth, then we'll talk about playing time. With the money he's making for the mediocre results he is producing, he should be grinning from ear to ear 24/7.
Red Sox shortstop/pigeon sanctuary Julio Lugo says he is not happy about the amount of playing time he is getting.
Uh...Julio? You're batting .256. Try not sucking. Try batting more than .256 with a range in the field larger than a phone booth, then we'll talk about playing time. With the money he's making for the mediocre results he is producing, he should be grinning from ear to ear 24/7.
Game Fifty Six: Not So Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
In Boston today, Jon Lester (the real one) made his 2008 debut (ha!) with a 2 hitter against the Rangers of Tejas. Boston comes away with an 8-1 win, powered by homers from Lowell and Ortiz.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Game Fifty Five: We Don't Do Fridays
The Red Sox continued their record of Fail Fridays with a real Fail of an effort from Brad "You Were Renting, Right?" Penny. The aforementioned righthander, who is rumored to be traded for everyone from Victor Martinez to Jon from "Jon and Kate Plus Eight", gave up 5 runs in his 5 2/3 innings, while Kevin Milwood allowed only an unearned run over his seven innings, giving the visitors from Tejas a 5-1 win.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Game Fifty Four: Winning With Half A Heart
The Red Sox beat the Tigers again tonight, 6-3, with Tim Wakefield, Bat Masterson, the Okey Doke, and the Lord of the Dance cleaning up. Sadly, the win had to come off of Dontrelle Willis. The D Train, once one of the most promising young players in baseball, seemed to have made his way back from baseball purgatory. The Red Sox interrupted the train with an unscheduled stop in a six run third inning.
Kevin Youkilis did play, suggesting he's ok, but left the game with "calf tightness", which suggests he isn't.
In other news, Randy Johnson punched his ticket to Cooperstown with his 300th career win.
Kevin Youkilis did play, suggesting he's ok, but left the game with "calf tightness", which suggests he isn't.
In other news, Randy Johnson punched his ticket to Cooperstown with his 300th career win.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Game Fifty Three: Whaddaya Know-Josh is Back!
Josh Beckett took a no hitter into the seventh inning tonight, handing the game off to Danny Ocean and Sensei Saito, who tried, with some help from errors by Our Man DP and Mike Lowell, American Hero, to give it away, but failed, finishing off a 10-5 win.
Sadly, Kevin Youkilis was involved in a spiking incident at first base late in the game. Hopefully, he will be fine. If he's not, this is probably going to turn into a blog about Andean mountain songs, because the Red Sox season will be over.
Sadly, Kevin Youkilis was involved in a spiking incident at first base late in the game. Hopefully, he will be fine. If he's not, this is probably going to turn into a blog about Andean mountain songs, because the Red Sox season will be over.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Game Fifty Two: Phew!
After the Official Dice K Stimulate The Economy By Making People Buy More Soft Drinks During The Game Outing, (5 innings, 96 pitches), Metropolitan District Commission, The Okey Doke, and New Guy RR held the door shut on the Tigres. Leading 5-1 after 8, The Lord of the Dance did a stunning Mitch Williams impersonation, allowing three hits to load the bases. However, also like Mitch Williams, having sustained the economy by inducing business for hypertension clinics throughout New England, he then struck out the side to end the game.
Of course.
So Boston wins, 5-1. They play these same Motor City Madmen again tomorrow, with That Guy Who Used To Be Josh Beckett facing Armando Galarraga. Who is not to be confused with Andres Galarraga, the Big Cat. Or Galaga, the video game.
Of course.
So Boston wins, 5-1. They play these same Motor City Madmen again tomorrow, with That Guy Who Used To Be Josh Beckett facing Armando Galarraga. Who is not to be confused with Andres Galarraga, the Big Cat. Or Galaga, the video game.
Kill Your Idols
Very entertaining TWiT (This Week In Tech) podcast Sunday (www.twit.tv) , that I finally got a chance to listen to today. After some assiduous searching, I finally found one of the articles cited during the program, an op ed about university education (http://bit.ly/oC7m3). The author, the chairman of the religion department at Columbia University, argues that the university system is producing graduates that are not suited for the workforce, and thus dramatic change is called for.
The TWiT panel expanded on this point, noting that high school doesn't work either. Kids today are being raised on a collaborative model-the old regurgitate what I told you, mass produce automatons model that has been around for 100 years doesn't work with them. Kids expect to interact with their media-and frankly, I do too. Particularly interesting is the fact that the leaders of many high tech companies (Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg) have little if any higher education.
True, the rotten teaching models in high schools are largely imposed by the state, so you can't blame teachers for it. But that doesn't make it right. As one of the panelists says, the person who invents the next Google isn't going to learn how to do that by spitting back the names of English kings on a history test.
The TWiT panel expanded on this point, noting that high school doesn't work either. Kids today are being raised on a collaborative model-the old regurgitate what I told you, mass produce automatons model that has been around for 100 years doesn't work with them. Kids expect to interact with their media-and frankly, I do too. Particularly interesting is the fact that the leaders of many high tech companies (Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg) have little if any higher education.
True, the rotten teaching models in high schools are largely imposed by the state, so you can't blame teachers for it. But that doesn't make it right. As one of the panelists says, the person who invents the next Google isn't going to learn how to do that by spitting back the names of English kings on a history test.
A little slice of awesome
Thanks to Surviving Grady for reminding me of this little slice of awesome-a Nike commercial featuring Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine being jealous of Mark McGwire's home run prowess. As far as I know, this is the source of the phrase, "Chicks Dig The Long Ball".
(Ironically, Glavine and Maddux were pretty good hitters, for pitchers.)
A Modest Proposal
http://bit.ly/2miRdd
From Randy Cohen, the "Ethicist" at the New York Times.
Ban all guns-from being owned by men.
Read it-it's silly, but in a Vonnegutian, sort of 80% silly way that makes you say, "wait a minute, maybe it's not so silly..."
From Randy Cohen, the "Ethicist" at the New York Times.
Ban all guns-from being owned by men.
Read it-it's silly, but in a Vonnegutian, sort of 80% silly way that makes you say, "wait a minute, maybe it's not so silly..."
The David Ortiz Problem (He Wears His Sunglasses At Night)
http://bit.ly/1BT5a
The Sporting News is reporting that the Red Sox may be interested in trading for Brewers OF Corey Hart. (No, not THAT Corey Hart.) David Ortiz, who is hitting like Roxie Hart at present (.185, 1 HR, 18 RBI), passed "struggling" several weeks ago. In fact, his average would have to come up about 50 points for him to make it to "struggling".
This creates a dilemma, which is how, if you are a close reader here, you know it is spelled. I think. Yes, it is. I dont know where dilemna came from, but I have been spelling it that way for a long time.
But I digress.
David Ortiz is, of course, literally a Red Sox legend. His heroics in 2004 give him a permanent place in the team's canon-back to back walk off hits to fell the mighty Yankee machine in the 2004 playoffs and claw back from the brink of oblivion alone make him a hero.
But it's 2009, the calendars tell me. And the 2009 Red Sox are interested solely in winning games during 2009, and David Ortiz is not helping them do so at the present time.
There are steroid whispers, of course, as there always are. There is no evidence at the present time. He doesn't look dramatically different than did 10 years ago-he mostly just looks fatter. He has had a dramatic drop off in production in 2008 and a cliff dive-sized drop in 2009. He has also had a horrible wrist injury that appears to be still bothering him.
You really can't do forensic statistics. Look at Jason Varitek, who went from "acceptable for a catcher with good defense" in 2007 to "Children, look away" in 2008, right back to "acceptable" so far in 2009. That wasn't steroids.
So I am forced to conclude I don't know if he used, and you don't know either.
In summary, it is nauseating to think of Ortiz on the bench or (shudder) playing for another team. But it is also nauseating to watch him continue to flail away hopelessly.
Sigh.
I'm glad I'm not Terry Francona.
The Sporting News is reporting that the Red Sox may be interested in trading for Brewers OF Corey Hart. (No, not THAT Corey Hart.) David Ortiz, who is hitting like Roxie Hart at present (.185, 1 HR, 18 RBI), passed "struggling" several weeks ago. In fact, his average would have to come up about 50 points for him to make it to "struggling".
This creates a dilemma, which is how, if you are a close reader here, you know it is spelled. I think. Yes, it is. I dont know where dilemna came from, but I have been spelling it that way for a long time.
But I digress.
David Ortiz is, of course, literally a Red Sox legend. His heroics in 2004 give him a permanent place in the team's canon-back to back walk off hits to fell the mighty Yankee machine in the 2004 playoffs and claw back from the brink of oblivion alone make him a hero.
But it's 2009, the calendars tell me. And the 2009 Red Sox are interested solely in winning games during 2009, and David Ortiz is not helping them do so at the present time.
There are steroid whispers, of course, as there always are. There is no evidence at the present time. He doesn't look dramatically different than did 10 years ago-he mostly just looks fatter. He has had a dramatic drop off in production in 2008 and a cliff dive-sized drop in 2009. He has also had a horrible wrist injury that appears to be still bothering him.
You really can't do forensic statistics. Look at Jason Varitek, who went from "acceptable for a catcher with good defense" in 2007 to "Children, look away" in 2008, right back to "acceptable" so far in 2009. That wasn't steroids.
So I am forced to conclude I don't know if he used, and you don't know either.
In summary, it is nauseating to think of Ortiz on the bench or (shudder) playing for another team. But it is also nauseating to watch him continue to flail away hopelessly.
Sigh.
I'm glad I'm not Terry Francona.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid
(which was my second choice for a blog title.)
http://ang-smiles.blogspot.com/2009/03/unspoken-words.html
Thanks to Ang, here's another memeful idea. Things left unsaid-things heard by me, in my head, that I wish I had been brave enough to say to people, some that I know, some that I don't.
-You looked spectacular Friday night.
-It's not that I don't believe you. What makes me angry is the fact that you're so childish about it.
-I love you, but I resent the fact that you exist sometimes.
-I have always, in some sense, loved you.
-If you asked me to come, I'd be there without hesitation.
-I will never get over you.
-You're so pretty it hurts me. I hope someone is being good to you.
-You were sitting outside the library, in a long skirt and flip flops, staring at nothing. What were you thinking about?
-I haven't seen you in more than a decade, but I can still picture every inch of your skin vividly.
-I miss you like hell.
http://ang-smiles.blogspot.com/2009/03/unspoken-words.html
Thanks to Ang, here's another memeful idea. Things left unsaid-things heard by me, in my head, that I wish I had been brave enough to say to people, some that I know, some that I don't.
-You looked spectacular Friday night.
-It's not that I don't believe you. What makes me angry is the fact that you're so childish about it.
-I love you, but I resent the fact that you exist sometimes.
-I have always, in some sense, loved you.
-If you asked me to come, I'd be there without hesitation.
-I will never get over you.
-You're so pretty it hurts me. I hope someone is being good to you.
-You were sitting outside the library, in a long skirt and flip flops, staring at nothing. What were you thinking about?
-I haven't seen you in more than a decade, but I can still picture every inch of your skin vividly.
-I miss you like hell.
Reorganizing The Meme (Mambo Number Five)
Searching for a theme, or an inspiration, or something that will enable me to put off balancing my checkbook for just a few more minutes, I tuned in to www.thedailymeme.com, which seems to provide, well, memes. And stuff.
The one that appealed to me was "5 Things You Want Your Children To Know", which can be found at www.fireball.lifewithchrist.org. That site was a little too earnest for me, so I then went on to discover that Ananda,(www.oodlesoffunch.blogspot.com) is counting down to her summer vacation. Today being number 5 on her list is just too perfect.
So today, with all these fives, and knowing that you all just couldn't continue without me for another 24 hours, I present to you my own FIVE THINGS.
FIVE THINGS I WOULD LIKE MY CHILD (OR SOMEONE'S CHILD, BECAUSE MY CHILD IS NOT ALWAYS TERRIBLY COOPERATIVE) TO KNOW, UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE, OR AT LEAST REMEMBER:
1. Jamie Moyer is only the tenth left handed pitcher to win 250 games in the major leagues. I tried to think of the other 9 at work today, while I probably should have been working-and I came up with Warren Spahn, Tommy John, and Steve Carlton before petering out. The other six are Gettysburg Eddie Plank, Tom Glavine, Lefty Grove, Randy Johnson, Jim Kaat, and Eppa Rixey. (How could I have forgotten Billerica's Tom Glavine? And the Lonacoming Lefty? And Kitty? And the Big Unit? I really should have gotten all of them except Rixey and Plank. Sigh.)
Point being: Being curious about stuff like this, and knowing enough about stuff like this that you can do it from memory, is both good training for the 'ol cabeza and a way to keep you from going insane. Caring about stuff is good for you.
2. It is critically important-more so than almost anything else I can tell you-to do something as a career that you love. If you can find something that you love, and get really really good at it, I think eventually someone will pay you to do it. Of all the mistakes I have made, I regret this one the most.
3. If you have a good book, you'll never be alone.
4. It really, truly does not matter what other people think of you. You have to live with yourself at the end of the day.
5. Skip school at least once. It's good for you.
And to wrap things up, also thanks to Ananda, we have this YouTube tribute featu ring two of my very most favoritist things, Billy Joel and Kurt Vonnegut.
The one that appealed to me was "5 Things You Want Your Children To Know", which can be found at www.fireball.lifewithchrist.org. That site was a little too earnest for me, so I then went on to discover that Ananda,(www.oodlesoffunch.blogspot.com) is counting down to her summer vacation. Today being number 5 on her list is just too perfect.
So today, with all these fives, and knowing that you all just couldn't continue without me for another 24 hours, I present to you my own FIVE THINGS.
FIVE THINGS I WOULD LIKE MY CHILD (OR SOMEONE'S CHILD, BECAUSE MY CHILD IS NOT ALWAYS TERRIBLY COOPERATIVE) TO KNOW, UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE, OR AT LEAST REMEMBER:
1. Jamie Moyer is only the tenth left handed pitcher to win 250 games in the major leagues. I tried to think of the other 9 at work today, while I probably should have been working-and I came up with Warren Spahn, Tommy John, and Steve Carlton before petering out. The other six are Gettysburg Eddie Plank, Tom Glavine, Lefty Grove, Randy Johnson, Jim Kaat, and Eppa Rixey. (How could I have forgotten Billerica's Tom Glavine? And the Lonacoming Lefty? And Kitty? And the Big Unit? I really should have gotten all of them except Rixey and Plank. Sigh.)
Point being: Being curious about stuff like this, and knowing enough about stuff like this that you can do it from memory, is both good training for the 'ol cabeza and a way to keep you from going insane. Caring about stuff is good for you.
2. It is critically important-more so than almost anything else I can tell you-to do something as a career that you love. If you can find something that you love, and get really really good at it, I think eventually someone will pay you to do it. Of all the mistakes I have made, I regret this one the most.
3. If you have a good book, you'll never be alone.
4. It really, truly does not matter what other people think of you. You have to live with yourself at the end of the day.
5. Skip school at least once. It's good for you.
And to wrap things up, also thanks to Ananda, we have this YouTube tribute featu ring two of my very most favoritist things, Billy Joel and Kurt Vonnegut.
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