Stick to baseball, 11/5/16.

My big news this week was the formal announcement of my upcoming book, Smart Baseball, which will be released in April of 2017. I have gotten many requests from readers over the years for a recommendation of a book to let them get up to speed on ‘new’ stats, and since the book on that topic didn’t exist, I decided to try to write it. You can pre-order it via amazon and other sites already; it will be out in hardcover and as an e-book, but Harper Collins has not decided on an audio version yet. I also do not yet know what appearances I’ll be making or if there will be any sort of tour.

I held my regular Klawchat on Friday this past week, and my latest boardgame review for Paste covers the Hanabi-like deduction game Beyond Baker Street, where you can’t see the cards in your own hand and must give clues to other players on what cards they hold.

My email newsletter has now passed 2500 subscribers; thank you to everyone who’s already signed up. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for?

And now, the links…

Comments

  1. “rof. Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, who wrote a book on Hitler’s use of propaganda, compares Trump’s use of the same to Hitler’s and claims to find similarities.”

    Absolutely. More than similarities. Other than target, and media of the milieu, there is very little of importance that separates Trump from Hitler. How Hitler rose to power ,and how Trump might, is virtually identical. Their attitudes towards demoracy are basically the same. It is FRIGHTENING how close we are to becoming Nazi Germany.

    • I’d argue that expansionist rhetoric is another key element (it’s central to fascism historically), but otherwise agreed strongly.

  2. That badger video is awesome, although when I clicked on it I was initially expecting to see a Tyrann Mathieu pick six.

  3. The North Carolina stuff is highly disturbing. Especially with the story I heard about white supremacist groups planning to mobilize and go to black neighborhoods and engage in intimidation. I really hope that ends up being not true. I don’t know what the hell has happened to that state. When South Carolina looks more progressive because they finally took down the Confederate flag……that’s a problem.

  4. As perhaps the lone voice of reason here, let me state that the voter suppression story is totally bogus. ANY person eligible to vote can do so…in any state. At most, you need to register & show up at the poll with a valid picture ID. In fact, the opposite is true – Democrats want to be able to cheat, which is why they oppose needing an ID. That way people vote multiple times, dead people vote, etc. Democrats are notorious cheaters. Democrats regularly round up winos, bums & druggies, haul them to the polls & give them their “fix” if to vote Democratic.

    It’s also false that the GOP will block HRC’s Supreme Ct. nominees. Scare tactics to try to get people to vote for Democrat Senate candidates. Obama got 2 people onto the Supreme Ct, so why wouldn’t HRC? Hopefully, it will be a moot point, since HRC is the most corrupt person ever nominated to be POTUS.

    • “As perhaps the lone voice of reason here…”
      I didn’t know it was possible for my eyes to roll that hard.
      Thanks, Jim.

    • Jim Rogers:

      Thank God You're Here

    • From this, I presume you believe it’s purely coincidental that the majority of the 6,700 people purged from the voter rolls are African Americans, who traditionally vote overwhelmingly in favor of Democratic candidates?

      In my experience, if a federal judge sees fit to reinstate thousands of disenfranchised individuals, there was shenanigans afoot.

      I also don’t see how you can say that it’s false that the GOP will attempt to block all of Clinton’s SC nominees, given that multiple senators (including John McCain) have already promised to do so.

    • lol

    • At this very moment there are people at NC State who have waited over 3.5 hours in line to vote, and who appear to have about 1000 people behind them. Voting, it’s a snap!

    • Facts don’t penetrate the bubble, everyone.

    • Jim bringin’ TEH LOLZ so hard!

      No but seriously, he is my new favorite stand-up comedian.

    • Right, forgot. Still leaving in the era of Tammany Hall. As a brave voice of reason, best look out for Boss Tweed.

  5. I don’t think we have to look too far to see how Hillary would be treated if she were to be elected.

    Julia Gillard was treated horribly in Australia. Lookup her famous speech. It’s awesome.

  6. Brian in ahwatukee

    Wiki leaks has regularly denied that Russia fed or helped with the leaks. I think that’s really important to note especially as they have not been wrong prior nor have anything they’ve published had a hint of fraud.

    I suspect it’s red baiting more than anything. I mean Putin did cause cancer and AIDS too.
    Probably the common cold also.

  7. Ryan, do you really believe that the GOP will block ALL of her nominees? Every darn one?

    • That’s what several GOP leaders have said, so yes, I do.

    • I suspect if they retain their majority they will at least try. Again, several senators have already stated as much. Whether or not such obstruction would be successful would really come down to whether more moderate GOP senators (if such a thing still exists) would be willing to break with their party.

  8. Brian in ahwatukee

    Jeremy- I don’t think we’ll know for sure the source but wiki leaks can only publish what they get. They’ve also have been very clear they loathe Clinton.

    Also a deeper look into red baiting brings up all kinds of recent absurdities in various countries. Putin is responsible apparently of cultivating Trump for years, as a dumb example. It’s so regular I can’t help but be skeptical that’s it’s from Russia. Critical journalists have cast a lot of suspicion.

  9. Would that Alberta judge’s ruling require some sort of legal definition of “girls’ clothes”?

  10. This is by no means sarcastic. Keith you’re the best and I appreciate everything you do. The only reason I have insider (although Mike Clay is pretty good).

  11. Jerious Norwood

    Doesn’t seem like the American Council on Science and Health is a very reputable organization.

    “Consumer advocate Ralph Nader once said of ACSH, “A consumer group is an organization which advocates the interests of unrepresented consumers and must either maintain its own intellectual independence or be directly accountable to its membership. In contrast, ACSH is a consumer front organization for its business backers. It has seized the language and style of the existing consumer organizations, but its real purpose, you might say, is to glove the hand that feeds it.”[1]

    Numerous ACSH publications (that do not disclose the corporations that have funded the organization) take positions attacking public concerns about various corporate products and practices, such as genetically modified foods (GMOs), pesticides, herbicides, and more, and have sought to downplay concerns raised by scientists and consumers.

    Some of the products ACSH has defended over the years include DDT, asbestos, and Agent Orange, as well as common pesticides. ACSH has often called environmentalists and consumer groups “terrorists,” arguing that their criticisms and concerns about potential health and environmental risks are threats to society.[2]

    ACSH has been funded by big agri-businesses and trade groups like Kellogg, General Mills, Pepsico, and the American Beverage Association, among others.”

    • That’s irrelevant to the content of the articles; you just offered an ad hominem-style response. And plenty of other outlets have offered similar critiques.