I had two posts for subscribers to the Athletic this past week, my annual MLB season predictions post, which never fails to rile up people who don’t read the intro despite all the disclaimers I issue, and a draft scouting notebook that covered a slew of likely first-rounders, including Brooks Lee.
Over at Paste, I reviewed the trick-taking game Shamans, which is semi-cooperative, as at least one player in every round is a saboteur working against the others. I think it’s a better version of The Crew, a straight cooperative trick-taking game that won the Kennerspiel des Jahres award a few years ago.
I sent out a new edition of my free email newsletter this past week. You can find both of my books, Smart Baseball and The Inside Game, in paperback anywhere books are sold, including Bookshop.org. My podcast will return shortly – travel has made it difficult for me to find windows to record the last couple of weeks.
And now, the links…
- A former assistant attorney general in Arizona has spent decades helping that state craft some of the most punitive laws against people convicted of crimes, including drug offenses and other non-violent crimes, even though he’s never held elected office. Arizona’s population isn’t this conservative as a whole, but the far right has the state government in a stranglehold.
- Brett Favre used his name and influence to steer Mississippi state welfare funds to his pet projects, and may have profited from one.
- This New Yorker review of Fintan O’Toole’s new book We Don’t Know Ourselves looks at how Ireland freed itself from the pernicious influence of the Catholic Church. We could learn from them.
- Humans are one of the only species that menstruates, but there’s relatively little research and treatment for the pain and discomfort it causes. That may be changing, along with a new hypothesis on why we’re one of the very few species to experience it.
- The ivermectin grift has completely fallen apart after more studies showed it’s useless against COVID-19, although the grifters haven’t given up just yet.
- More idiots on the right keep falling for the myth of “furries” in schools.
- The Justice Department has finally told states that they shouldn’t deny gender-affirming medical care to trans kids. These hateful laws, pandering to the religious right, are just going to increase suicide attempts among kids who are already at higher risk for it.
- The Chief of Adolescent Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital estimated that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law may lead to 4000 new suicide attempts per year in that state alone. Now more red states are pushing these bigoted bills. If you live in any of these states, have you called your state rep and senator, and the governor, to express your views on the bills?
- Abigail Disney wrote an editorial urging her grandfather’s company to stand up for love and acceptance.
- Entrepreneur Rhian Beulter shared a personal story of acceptance from her childhood.
- Sending social workers rather than cops to low-level mental health or intoxication-related 911 calls in Denver has kept police out of over 2000 such incidents. It saves money and it saves lives.
- The mass of the W boson may be higher than theory predicted, which would require changes to the standard model – although this new result isn’t final.
- 25th Century Games will publish a new (third?) edition of Reiner Knizia’s classic game Ra, launching on Gamefound in the next few weeks.
RE: Last month’s newsletter… Given that film is a visual medium, what’s the point of “watching” a movie by having it in the background while you write?
The whole tone of your question seems off to me, not least in the scare quotes around “watching.” I can watch a movie and also do something else at the same time. Other people may feel they can’t do that, or find it lessens their enjoyment of the movie, but I don’t judge them for that.
I frequently find myself doing something else while watching a movie when I’m watching by myself at home. It honestly helps keep my mind focused. I fall asleep a lot more easily when I don’t do something else. So it’s definitely a “to each their own” kind of thing.
It seems the CRT and Don’t Say Gay morons are now combining forces (they probably were the same people all along). A restaurant/brewery in my town were the target of these people because the bar refused to allow them space to host a meeting. Most of the CRT/Don’t Say Gay commentators were not from the area and as soon as someone showed support for the restaurant, a string of abuse and calls of “Pedo/Groomer” followed.
An article for the next STB, but it isn’t an easy read at all. Jerry Sandusky wasn’t the first serial sexual predator at Penn State. Todd Hodne, a member of the late 70’s teams, committed at least 12 attacks against women that started while a player on the football team.
https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/32496588/before-jerry-sandusky-penn-state-football-had-another-serial-sexual-predator-untold-story-crimes-fight-bring-justice
I used quotes around “watching” because if you’re not looking at the screen, you’re literally not watching it. And I’m not judging anyone, and feel my question is a valid one to ask of someone who publishes movie reviews.
You’ve assumed I’m not looking at the screen. That seems to be a key misunderstanding here. I can type without looking at the keys – as I tell my daughter, they haven’t moved in a very long time.
I also take some issue with saying that someone who isn’t looking at a screen isn’t watching a movie, since there are people who can’t look at a screen, such as the blind, but can still watch movies. That’s not the case with me, of course, but I wouldn’t seek to define the watching experience in that way.