My first Big Board for the 2016 draft (assembled with an assist from Eric Longenhagen) went up for Insiders this week. I’ll have my 2006 redraft piece up Monday, and then my first mock (as in, an actual first-round projection) on Wednesday.
I also wrote a free news item on MLB’s investigation of the Red Sox’s July 2nd signings, and held my regular Klawchat on Thursday.
- The Harvard Public Health Review published an editorial that made a clear, rational call for the Rio Olympics to be moved or cancelled due to the Zika outbreak. This virus is no joke, and I have to wonder if we might have stopped or slowed it had we taken various other mosquito-borne illnesses (malaria, dengue) that primarily affect poorer countries more seriously.
- Ronan Farrow’s op ed on his father, Woody Allen, and the free pass the director gets on his child molestation allegations is a must-read for so many reasons. I particularly hope reporters interviewing the stars of Cafe Society ask one simple question: Why would you work with a man who stands accused of molesting his daughter?
- If someone overdoses on drugs given to him/her by a friend, is the friend guilty of murder? Even if you favor decriminalization of drug use (as I do), this question isn’t so easy.
- Don’t be shocked, but quack doctors in California, led by Dr. Bob Sears, are selling medical exemptions to the state’s tougher childhood vaccination law. The only real solution is to flood the state medical board – which, as the article states, is generally worthless – with complaints and hope they do something.
- Ontario has it right: Parents who refuse to get their kids vaccinated may be forced to take a class on the science of immunization. Good. Let’s do it here, in every state.
- Zika is coming, and it’s going to hit states in the deep south – states that have done their best to circumvent Roe v Wade and limit abortion rights – the hardest.
- Difficult longread of the week: The Boston Globe‘s Spotlight team looks at sexual abuse and cover-ups in New England boarding schools.
- Why is the Washington Post‘s science section touting the pseudoscience of acupuncture?
- Speaking of junk science, Louisiana is all in, pushing the state’s Health Department to study the “abortion reversal” nonsense. It doesn’t work, it’s dangerous, and most of all, it’s more men legislating what women can do with their bodies.
- Vox dives deep on the multitude of studies that contradict the conventional wisdom that you can lose weight by exercising. Note that it’s complicated, like science often is.
- How oregano may help reduce cow belches and fight climate change.
- Two silly stories from England: A British couple were told to restrain their cat by the Royal Mail because he’s grabbing the mail when the postman pushes it through their mail slot. Also, a different couple got a request for a larger wedding gift than the £100 check they gave in an email after the event.
- The New Yorker takes a somewhat serious look at how Michael Jordan became fodder for a mocking meme.
- Tweet of the week:
Um … so, a couple of things … https://t.co/S4mZqO3DnG
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) May 10, 2016
which referred to this quote:
.@HeidiSCruz compares her husband's journey to slavery: "It took 25 years to defeat slavery. That is a lot longer than four years."
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) May 10, 2016
Keith: thoughts on Catherine Shoard’s counter-argument on Woody Allen in today’s Guardian?
(link: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/13/woody-allen-polanski-cosby-dangerous-cannes-ronan-farrow)
Yeah, someone (you?) sent it to me on Twitter, and it’s circle-the-wagons material. She misuses the judge’s “inconclusive” comment (that was his rebuke to therapists who, in his words, were colored by their admiration of Allen and didn’t believe Dylan), and omits Judge Wilk’s comments on Allen’s inappropriate touching of Dylan and the need to protect Dylan from him:
If you’re going to make this argument that Shoard does, then you need to explicitly say you think Dylan Farrow is lying, even though the judge didn’t think she was and found no evidence that Dylan had been coached by anyone, even though other adults in the house corroborated aspects of her account.
I tweeted some of this at Shoard; we shall see if she replies.
It only took 25 years to defeat slavery? Phew. Here I was thinking it took a lot longer. I’m thankful people like Heidi Cruz are around to correct me with their superior knowledge.
The Hollywood Reporter was banned from an event after publishing Ronan’s article, basically proving his point.
Here’s a counter to the call to cancel or move the Olympics.
http://qz.com/683770/from-a-medical-standpoint-we-absolutely-shouldnt-cancel-the-rio-olympics/
““I think a person who supplies illegal drugs to a person that kills them is committing an act of violence,” said David Hickton, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, who in 2015 was tapped by then-U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to co-chair a national heroin task force. “It’s no different than a person who shoots somebody with a gun.””
Actually, it is very, very different. Unless the provider willingly misled (i.e., provides a laced or alternate substance unbeknownst to the user) or actes with willful malice (i.e., intentionally administered a lethal dose), then these charges are crap. If the provider is responsible for the user’s usage, than doesn’t that mean the user shouldn’t be jailef for using?
To the user: “You’re responsible for what you do to your body. You’re going to jail for putting this substance in it.”
To the provider: “You’re responsible for what the user puts into his body. You’re going to jail for giving him this substance to put in.”
While responsibility can be shared, this seems like excess. Will users who don’t die be charged with attempting to kill themselves? Are all dealers/providers guilty of attempted murder/battery
Also, will we charge doctors for prescription drug overdoses, given that these are the leading drug of addiction in America?
“Asked about Zika, the most senior member of the IOC, Dick Pound, mocked it as “a manufactured crisis” for anyone but pregnant women…”
Oh, only them? Pshhhhhft.
Sous vide duck recipe
butcher a whole duck. Score the breasts LIGHTLY. Season with Salt, pepper, thyme, bag with some evoo and cook at 125 for 60-90 minutes. Then remove to ice bath 15-30 minutes. Remove from bag, lightly salt the skin and then sear them off in a pan until crispy. This method gives you perfect texture, with crispy Skin and fat is rendered. Sear meat side to finish. Serve with a reduction sauce of your choice.
Then take the fat from the breasts and put it in a bag with the seasoned duck legs along with garlic and de-pithed citrus peel and sous vide at 165 for 8-12 hours then sear off in a pan. Absolutely perfect every time and so easy.
You referenced it in the klawchat, not this post. And it sounds like you already know to make stock from the bones and render all the fat and use it for potToes
Thank you for this!
My pleasure! I figure after all the enjoyment you’ve given me reading your stuff over the years the least I can do is give you a good recipe for sous vide duck 🙂 although that is my own recipe (the trick with breasts is undercooking by ten degrees in SV and chilling them so you can render all the fat but not overlook the meat … Also for the confit you may want more fat than the breasts give off), having a sense of your food/cooking outlook, I think you’d also enjoy the chefsteps.com website/community. If you’re not familiar with it, check it out. And thanks for being a good dude. If you’re ever in LA, drop me a line. I’d be happy to hook you up.