I had three pieces for subscribers to The Athletic around the trade deadline, wrapping up the Padres’ three moves, the Blue Jays’ and Mets’ moves, and five other trades in separate columns. I also had two new episodes of The Keith Law Show this week, one featuring Jessica Luther and Kavitha Davidson, authors of the new book Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back (which you can buy here), and another one with Will Leitch, which we posted Friday morning so you’d have it before the holiday weekend.
On Friday night, September 11th, I’ll be hosting a live talk with author Chuck Palahniuk about his new book The Invention of Sound through Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg. It’s a ticketed event, and with your purchase you’ll get a signed copy of the book as well as a link to the talk. (I just started reading the book about an hour ago.)
At Paste, I reviewed the tile-laying and set-collection game Succulent, and then ranked the five best tile-laying games I’ve played, which should include a few titles familiar to longtime readers.
I sent out a fresh edition of my free email newsletter on Friday, describing how I went from someone who hadn’t run in any meaningful way since 1985 to running 5 km without interruption in about four months.
And now, the links…
- In a story since confirmed by other outlets, including Fox News, the Atlantic reported that President Trump referred to soldiers killed in action as “losers” and “suckers,” which, in a rational world, would end any support he received from current or former members of the U.S. military.
- We will need a vast, coordinated effort to convince Americans of the safety of an eventual COVID-19 vaccine, or we will have too few people getting it to stop the pandemic. This assumes that Trump doesn’t coerce regulators into approving one before it’s adequately tested, and that very possibility is why we are where we are.
- Kuli Kohli was born with cerebral palsy, and in the village in India where she was born her parents were encouraged to drown her. They eventually moved with her to the UK, where she’s now a poet, a mother, and a mentor to other women writers.
- Daniel Thompson, the only full-time Black journalist at The Kenosha News, resigned his position to protest the paper’s use of an incendiary quote that cast protesters in an inaccurate light.
- Larry Flynt wrote a “final farewell to the Falwells,” and it’s a more nuanced and thoughtful note than you might expect, with kind words about Jerry Falwell, Sr., with whom Flynt waged a very public battle over his First Amendment rights, and damning words about Falwell’s hypocritical son.
- How did T. Denny Sanford, the richest man in South Dakota and a major Republican donor, get out of an investigation into his alleged possession of child pornography? ProPublica is asking for possible sources to come forward.
- Online hoaxes, like the myriad ones about COVID-19, are making doctors’ jobs harder – and the blame falls primarily on Facebook and other sites that have let this misinformation fester.
- Ars Technica reports that Facebook’s “plan” to combat election misinformation is the same as its plan for pretty much everything else that goes wrong on its site – doing nothing at all.
- Philly Inquirer columnist Will Bunch says that Trump’s “reelection scheme of a civil war” is kicking into high gear as the election approaches. I was always skeptical of those who said Trump wouldn’t leave office willingly, but my view is shifting as his rhetoric changes, and the rest of his party continues to enable him.
- Jean Guerrero, author of the new book Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda, writes about how writers and critics have questioned whether she, as a Latina journalist, is ‘qualified’ to write a book about a white man. It’s another example of the longstanding white-centric and male-centric views of mainstream publishing.
- The American Academy of Sleep Medicine called for the elimination of Daylight Savings Time, citing a large body of evidence showing that DST is harmful to our health.
- If you’re looking for an alternative to dairy milk, but are also concerned about the environmental damage wrought by almond production, the Guardian says oat milk is your best choice.
- Three mathematicians have solved a longstanding question about straight paths on the dodecahedron, one of the five Platonic solids and the only one for which this question remained unsolved.
- Board game news: Climate Crisis, a cooperative game with an educational goal, is about to end its Kickstarter run tomorrow.
- The Days of Wonder crossover game Small World of Warcraft is now out in stores and online.
I’m a fairly mainstream Democrat who has never voted for a GOP candidate in my life, but I won’t trust or take a vaccine until it is approved by regulators in Canada or the EU.
FDA approval is meaningless at this point in time given how their impartiality has been compromised by the Trump administration.
Even Almond milk is so much better for the environment (not to mention for cattle) than dairy milk. That said, I think oat milk is incredibly tasty. It’s my go-to for sure.
Cows are the best animal going. Milk, steaks, *and* baseball gloves?!? Nothing can top that.
I think anti-vaxxers are harmful and ridiculous but, like the poster above, do not trust a COVID vaccine that merely has FDA approval because I don’t trust that Trump is not pressuring the cutting of corners.
I’ll get a flu shot to make sure I don’t get both at the same time, and hope that the EU approves a vaccine in a trustworthy manner.
You recent letter was the most positive thing you have written in months. A few paragraphs lacking angst and anger. Refreshing to read, hopefully just as much fun to compose and post. Hopefully the exercise is helping your health across all aspects. I don’t believe the military stuff. The failure to stick your name to a quote, is actual cowardice. It is equal to the twitter burner account. Anybody who takes a shot at the current administration is given a heroic label, gets the talk show circuit and writes a book. Why miss out on the bounty- and why wait so long after it happened to mention it 60 days before the election as the polls tighten? The guy who wanted a military parade down DC insulting the military? Doubtful. Now calling certain third world countries shitholes- yep.
I think the military stuff is believable. I believe that Trump supports the military in the abstract as a show of American strength and patriotic symbolism (and cynically, because it sells well to his supporters). The military parade proposal seemed more like a tribute to Trump’s ego rather than a show of genuine support. He’s frequently criticized and insulted actual military people if they’ve dared to clash with him politically (McCain, the Khan family, John Kelly, Mattis). And he used to joke that avoiding STDs was his own private Vietnam. He seems personally selfish enough that he may truly believe that people willing to risk death for this country are suckers. Even if he doesn’t necessarily believe that in his heart of hearts, it’s easy to see him ranting childishly about such things when in a bad mood–he does it regularly enough on Twitter.
How about calling military personnel killed in action or captured “losers”? Is that insulting enough for you?
“…which, in a rational world, would end any support he received from current or former members of the U.S. military.” CORRECTION TO: “which, in a rational world, would end any support he received from anyone in this country.”
At this point, the government is going to need to pay people to get the vaccine. I think $1000 will put a lot antivaxxers bullshit to rest.
It’s Daylight Saving Time! No “S.” I’m beginning to question everything you’ve ever said, Keith. 🙂
Daylight saving time (DST), also daylight savings time or daylight time (United States and Canada)
Chuck Palahniuk is one of the nicest, most generous people I’ve ever met, fwiw. As a creative writing student at UO back when he was still doing Fight Club readings, he once called me after a reading to give me workshop group recommendations. Glad to see two of my favorite writers doing something together!
It’s daylight saving. You can’t use Wikipedia as a source to refute that. It’s not a savings bank – it’s to save daylight.
Agreed. This is definitely in my top 5 pettiest hills to die on.
Of the more recent arguments here, this one is by far my favorite. And I agree, it’s ‘saving’ and anyone who believes otherwise is a heathen 🙂
My bank refers to my account as a “savings” account. Is this is regionality thing?
No, it’s either. Merriam-Webster agrees. Prescriptivism is almost as pointless as pedantry.
I couldn’t care less what the proper term is. I do know that I would be furious if they eliminated it. Kill standard time if you must. I don’t need daylight in the morning before work, I need it in the evening to do stuff after work.
What they need to do is move the Northeast to Atlantic time. The Eastern Time Zone is far too wide geographically, and I notice a significant difference now living in Atlanta than I did when I was back in New Jersey.
Completely agree with this–live in coastal California…give me a few hours to go mess around after work while it’s still light out, please.
First Known Use of daylight saving time
1908, in the meaning defined above
From the same link Keith shared.
That is why we, and well-nigh every other dictionary of modern English, define this word. Remember that a definition is not an endorsement of a word’s use.
A definition is not an endorsement of a word’s use, but dictionaries record words as people actually use them. Words and their meanings evolve over time. “Leech” used to mean a doctor or surgeon. “Flux” used to mean diarrhea, which is still its first listed definition at Merriam-Webster. “Awful” used to mean great in the sense that we now use “awesome.” Words also change spelling; “catalogue” has largely lost its -ue ending, a vestige from its French origins. The same is happening to “dialogue,” at least in certain instances. These are all recorded in dictionaries because those entities document the language as it is actually used, and thus people who encounter such words and phrases in the wild can find them in such reference works. “Daylight saving time” may have been the original term, but “daylight savings time” is used so often that it shares the former’s listing, likely because of the use of “savings” independent of that of the singular noun, referring to the funds remaining after one’s expenses.
I find it incomprehensible that anybody would use Facebook as a source of information, much less “truth.” The Ars Technica article refers to Facebook’s Voter Information Center, which ” takes a user’s location—approximate or specific, if enabled—to display voter-registration information, vote-by-mail eligibility, voter ID requirements, and other state and local information.” This information is readily available from your local election board, where it is more current and and reliable than retrieving it from a third party. What am I missing?
Perhaps this is proof that I have entered the “get off my lawn” stage of life.