My one ESPN+ post this week looked at a few of the top names in the July 2nd market, including Jasson Dominguez (Yankees) and Robert Puason (A’s). I also co-hosted the Baseball Tonight podcast twice this week, on Monday with guests Eric Karabell and Eric Longenhagen, and on Tuesday with guests Dr. Meredith Wills and Sarah Langs.
My latest board game review for Paste covers Bosk, a beautiful game that unfortunately is very slow to play, with needlessly complicated scoring.
You can get more of my rants and raves – mostly rants – if you sign up for my free email newsletter, which appears two to four times a month, or whenever my spirit guide tells me what to say.
I’ll be appearing in Hudson, Ohio, at the Hudson Library and Historical Society this Monday evening, July 8th, at 7 pm, talking about baseball and other topics, then signing copies of Smart Baseball. I’ll also be at the Futures Game at Jacobs Field (yes, I know, I’m still calling it the Jake) on Sunday evening, and will tweet about a meetup with fans before first pitch.
And now, the links…
- Longreads first: WIRED tells the harrowing story of a cyberstalker in New Hampshire who was extorting teenaged girls for nude photos, and the effort to find and arrest him. (They did.)
- The Washington Post looks at how easily cancer patients can find bogus and even dangerous “treatments” online, including bullshit cures like baking soda and an alkaline diet.
- News coverage of a spate of “suspicious” deaths of U.S. tourists in the Dominican Republic is a textbook case of base-rate neglect, with journalists and members of Congress alike reacting to a story that isn’t there.
- Microsoft shut down its electronic book store – store of electronic books? – which serves as a reminder that we don’t own the digital content for which we’ve paid. It would be more accurate to say you’re leasing it, under the terms of the agreements you’ve made (when you clicked Agree) with the iTunes store or amazon or other purveyors.
- My alma mater’s Kennedy School of Government keeps putting its foot in it with some of the invitations they’ve offered to former government officials, but former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder bailed them out by withdrawing from a one-year fellowship after criticism of the appointment. Snyder was governor during the period when the city of Flint experienced the still-ongoing crisis in its water supply. I suppose the folks at the Kennedy School don’t have Google.
- Arizona Governor Doug Ducey filled his diaper over Nike’s decision, threatening to pull some state funding for a new Nike facility in Goodyear, but his tweets were probably a meaningless attempt to score political points, playing to his base and trying to raise his national profile.
- White Sox pitcher and first-time All-Star Lucas Giolito spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times about his progressive views on immigration.
- Prof. Noam Chomsky spoke to Truthout about Trump’s efforts to create an alliance of far-right leaders around the world, although I wonder if this is the efforts of the people below Trump.
- Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Donald Ayer, who served under George H.W. Bush, writes in The Atlantic about the dangerous plan of current AG Bill Barr to give the President unchecked power.
- Also in The Atlantic, a pediatrician who examined children at a Border Control camp found evidence of malnutrition, infections, and psychological trauma. We should be far more outraged as a society than we actually are.
- Two New Jersey judges ruled for leniency for privileged teenaged boys accused of rape, although both rulings were overturned or revised by higher courts.
- The Tennessee Smokies, the double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, tweeted and then deleted a series of pictures mocking Colin Kaepernick over his counsel to Nike to recall shoes with the Betsy Ross United States flag on them. It was a particularly tone deaf tweet, given the presence of multiple players of color on their roster.
- I rather enjoyed WNBA star Sue Bird’s rant on the Players’ Tribune, titled So the President F*cking Hates My Girlfriend. (Her girlfriend is USWNT star Megan Rapinoe.)
- I’ve been adopted into Phish phandom, and just learned about the clever, elaborate hoax the band pulled around its Halloween 2018 concert.
- Board game news: Plan B Games announced pre-orders for Century Eastern Mountains, a special edition of Century Eastern Wonders with a new theme and artwork to dovetail with their Century Spice Road Golem Edition.
- A reprint of Die Macher, the first game ever entered into the BoardGameGeek database, is about to wrap up a run on Kickstarter.
- Tweet of the week: I feel like everyone should watch this clip from Love Has No Labels, in which John Cena shares some thoughts on what it means to be American.
Thanks for linking to Love Has No Labels, Keith. Very inspiring, and very much needed in today’s society. I’d like it shown in American classrooms–before some of our kids are taught to hate “others” by their parents.
And the racist, pussy-grabbing pathological liar just called the concentration camps “incredible.”
The cherry on the Doug Ducey sundae is that he was seen at an event two days letter wearing a pair of Nikes.
I’m also surprised you liked a truth-out Chomsky article.
“News coverage of a spate of “suspicious” deaths of U.S. tourists in the Dominican Republic is a textbook case of base-rate neglect”
One possible, if not likely, flaw to the base-rate neglect narrative: the Maryland couple. It would seem extremely unlikely – as in, infinitesimally small odds – for both a 63- and 49-year old to pass away concurrently from the same “natural causes.” That, to me, is a textbook case of “suspicious.”
The article makes a fair point that more data is needed, but in the absence of that (didn’t the author effectively admit that historical data is a blind spot at present, so we can’t conclude either way if this is a trend or not?), I can see why it might be prudent to throw up a caution flag on a truly “life-and-death” matter.
I’d be inclined to give the news media the benefit of the doubt that they’re not just “manufacturing” a story. It’s entirely possible what’s happened recently is “newsworthy” and coverage on deaths in the DR previously was non-existent because they truly were occurring at a lower rate and/or were more easily explained (i.e. not suspicious).
Wow, what a change. For once, an athlete I root for has opinions I want to hear. Bravo, Mr. Giolito!
I am honestly confused by the Nike commentary. While pulling support for Nike that could cost his state jobs isn’t smart, the rest of Ducey’s comments make sense. The Smokies could have had more tact, but it’s minor league baseball, teams try to be bold and edgy to get publicity, and will continue to do so.
Apparently a tiny minority of people have adopted it as a white supremacist symbol. Instead of taking control of the narrative by responding to any negative commentary by saying that they supported Betsy Ross, and the white supremacists were worthless and irrelevant, Nike caved immediately. Nike only helped to legitimize the white supremacists and their use of that flag. Nike had a chance to stand up to hatred and probably sell more shoes than they would have in the first place. Instead, they appear weak, and helped (apparently) make our country’s first flag a racist symbol. Yes, they deserve any derision sent their way.
I am also confused. Historically, this was the beginning era of abolition in the northern states (all by 1804). Shouldn’t that be the narrative?