I had one new post for subscribers to the Athletic this week, looking at some breakout candidates for 2021. A reader suggested Gavin Lux in the comments as well, and I agree with them – he’s also a very good bet to break out, especially since it seems like he’s going to get the playing time to do so.
On the Keith Law Show this week, I spoke to my friend Tim Grierson about his new book This is How You Make a Movie, the Oscar nominations, and his Cardinal fandom. You can subscribe on Apple podcasts, Amazon, and Spotify.
For more of me, you can subscribe to my free email newsletter. Also, you can still buy The Inside Game and Smart Baseball anywhere you buy books; the paperback edition of The Inside Game will be out on April 6th.
And now, the links…
- Longreads first: The Atlantic’s Helen Lewis looks at people who fake being members of underrepresented by minority groups, calling it “social Munchausen syndrome.”
- The American Psychological Association issued a resolution opposing gender identity change efforts (GICE), as the evidence overwhelmingly shows that GICE – which, in lay terms, is trying to convince a trans person via bogus ‘therapy’ that they aren’t transgender but are suffering from some mental disorder – is harmful to patients.
- Bloomberg BusinessWeek looks at the bizarre family feud between the owners of the only medical swab manufacturer in the U.S. – a company that has been handed a de facto monopoly by the pandemic.
- The Biden Administration is terminating some hires with histories of marijuana use, even after telling them such details wouldn’t affect the. There’s no evidence-based argument to support this, and cannabis use is legal in so many places now that the policy seems even more out of step.
- Here in Delaware, New Castle County – where I live, with Black residents making up 26% of the population – released body cam footage of the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of two cops, and the video contradicts the officers’ claims that the man drove his car at them before they fired. The police department didn’t want the video released, but County Executive Matt Meyer did so over their objections. Also of note: “A police officer in Delaware has never been found criminally liable for a shooting.”
- Texas Republicans have introduced a slew of bills designed to keep people of color, or just Democrats in general, from voting, even as the state appears to be turning some shade of purple.
- A Florida man is facing felony charges for putting up a sham candidate in a 2020 Congressional election, and while he and the candidate might end up doing time, the ploy worked. Frank Artiles is alleged to have paid Alex Rodriguez (not that one) to stand for the election against the incumbent José Javier Rodríguez (D) to confuse voters. Alex Rodriguez took over 6000 votes, and José Javier lost by only 32 votes.
- A former anti-vaxxer wrote about his decision to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and why he’s encouraging others to do so. He doesn’t explain why he was opposed to all sorts of medicine before, although he may have been a Christian Scientist or in another similar cult.
- A pair of internal medicine physicians wrote about the need for a unified response to vaccine disinformation.
- The National Review decided to offer up a defense of the British monarchy. You know, the one we fought a revolution to escape.
- In the ongoing trial of three St. Louis cops who beat a Black protestor who was, in fact, an undercover cop, the defense argument is essentially that the Black cop had it coming.
- Board game news: Cheap manufacturing costs have led to a rise in counterfeit copies of popular board games, including Catan, Pandemic, and Clank!
- Z-Man Games, now part of the Asmodee empire, announced in a lengthy post why they’re ending reprints of their Euro Classics line, which included updated versions of Samurai and Tigris & Euphrates, while also cancelling a scheduled update of Princes of Florence. It’s disappointing, as these are good games that I think are still finding new audiences, but in the flood of new games every year it’s also easy for games like these to get lost.
- There’s a Kickstarter coming next week for a brand-new version of the 2005 game Fjords, with a redesign from one of my favorites, Phil Walker-Harding (Cacao, Gizmos, Silver & Gold, Imhotep).
- And there’s an active Kickstarter for a cheeky-looking take-that game called CULTivate.
My one British friend (small sample size) told me that the British people generally regard Meghan Markle as a “typical American narcissist” who is “in the same class as your recently departed and little lamented President.”
Personally, I always thought it was inherently un-American to care at all about any aspect of that family. Why U.S. news outlets devote any time to them is beyond me.
I wonder what the British people would think of her if she wasn’t mixed race.
“Texas Republicans have introduced a slew of bills designed to keep people of color, or just Democrats in general, from voting, EXPLICITLY BECAUSE the state appears to be turning some shade of purple.”
I mean, I know that was implied, but living here, I feel the need to shout it from time to time.
That National Review article is some really bizarre apologism. If the British people want to maintain the monarchy that’s their own business. But fighting to rid ourselves of expensive, unelected, and unaccountable figureheads is a piece of American exceptionalism that I fervently support.
A. I think our federal drug laws are stupid and should be repealed; they serve no good purpose and have had multi-generational harm particularly in the minority communities.
B. I think that our government should follow what the law is, not what the law should be; letting presidents and their staff pick and chose what laws to comply with is really bad. Change the law rather than ignore it.
So yes, presidential staff present use of marijuana or lying about past use is currently disqualifying even as I would applaud efforts to decriminalize at the federal level.
There’s an A1 in there, though: These staffers were told before they were hired that past marijuana use wouldn’t be disqualifying. That’s the problem.
The fact we still waste our time policing marijuana anywhere is a waste. The only demographic who still cares is over 65, which not surprisingly is still the demographic in power.