links — Page 40

→ July 3, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 7/4/15.

I wrote two Insider pieces this week, one with some All-Star candidate thoughts and one on Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell. I also held my usual Thursday Klawchat.

There will be no Klawchat or any other content this week, as I’m officially on vacation now and won’t be online at all until next Friday at the earliest.

I contributed a paragraph or two on the term “umpshow” to a fun Rob Neyer piece on five bits of new baseball slang.

And now, the links…

Phil Plait of the Bad Astronomy blog tears into vaccine denier Jim Carrey, who lost his mind on Twitter this week when California did the right thing and eliminated the religious exemption from mandatory childhood vaccinations. By the way, I wrote to Delaware’s Governor and both of my state legislators asking them to pass the same law here. Meanwhile, a woman in Washington state has died from the measles, the first such death in the U.S. in over a decade. Good job, deniers!
How badly did Carrey lose his mind? He used a developmentally-disabled child’s photo, without permission from the child’s mom, who is now pissed off because vaccines did not cause the child’s issues. He later apologized.
A notorious crank vaccine-denier doctorkilled himself last week, and the denier crowd is joining his family in claiming it’s some nefarious murder conspiracy.
Also from the Washington Post, why municipal recycling programs are running into financial trouble. Turns out consumers aren’t very good at even the simple task of putting recyclables in the big blue bin.
The Internet makes you think you’re smarter than you are, or so sayeth a new study whose author spoke to the Harvard Business Review about it.
Creationists are selling their crap to science teachers at the NEA convention. The NEA shouldn’t have even allowed them on the convention floor: Not only is creationism wrong, teaching it in public schools is unconstitutional.
It’s behind a journal paywall, but you can at least see an abstract on a novel C. Difficile vaccine candidate. Clostridium difficile is a nasty bug that’s on the rise thanks to antibiotic overuse and mutations that have led to more virulent strains.
The Supreme Court had another good ruling this past week: They struck down an incredibly stupid, anti-free market economic program that allowed the USDA to seize raisin farmers’ crops.
Big data has come to the music industry. It’s good for consumers, and it’s bad for consumers.
Sonia Manzano, whom most of you will recall as Maria, is retiring from Sesame Street. She started on the show two years before I was born.
Extremely important: Tempe restaurant/coffee mecca Crepe Bar is expanding to over 2000 square feet. They serve heart coffee, one of my favorite small roasters in the country.

Last, my favorite troll tweet of the week … I guess maybe this guy thinks Rob is a vaccine denier too? (He’s not.)

.@JimCarrey, please #own @KeithLaw and his lies when it comes to vaccinations. Read his timeline and tell #ESPN to fire him. #BringBackNeyer

— j.d. noland (@JD_Noland) July 1, 2015

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: links, saturday five, vaccines

→ June 27, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 6/27/15.

My Insider pieces this week included a post on some Red Sox prospects, including Yoan Moncada; one on the Arizona/Atlanta trade involving Touki Toussaint; and a reaction to the release of the Futures Game rosters. I also held a Klawchat on Thursday.

My latest boardgame review for Paste covers the reissue of the modern classic Tigris & Euphrates, designer Reiner Knizia’s best game, now back in print with better graphics and clearer rules.

My good friend Molly Knight has a book coming out on the Dodgers, The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse, next month, and it’s so good I even gave the publisher a quote to use on the back.

And now, this week’s links…

We’re getting so much closer to vaccine sanity, as California is set to end religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccinating school-age children. The science is clear and unequivocal, and making the wrong, anti-science decision can affect hundreds of others’ lives.
A young widow’s heartrending letter to her late husband, who committed suicide a month ago after a long battle with depression.
The Moringa oleifera tree may lead to an inexpensive process for purifying drinking water in developing countries.
On a Tokyo coffee roasting master still roasting at age 100.
A former president of the American Humanist Association writes in Psychology Today that anti-intellectualism is killing America. I’m not sure I agree with the premise, nor do I think such unreason as racial hatred is “anti-intellectualism” per se, but I still found it an interesting read.
Roxane Gay wrote in the New York Times that she can’t forgive Dylan Roof, and why should she? Forgiveness means releasing your anger. If we forget to be angry, why would anything ever change?
The first segment of Thursday’s episode of BBC Outlook, on Canada’s abused aboriginal children is harrowing listening, but also makes a superb case for “truth and reconciliation” commissions to address past historical wrongs.
Common sense from VOX.com: People with mental illness are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crimes. Yet we don’t hear calls for greater mental health treatment options when the former is true, only the latter.
A recent meta-study has found that the phenolic compounds found in olive oil may help prevent neurodegenerative diseases, although it would be nice to see empirical evidence (via clinical trials) to back this up. Still, olive oil is delicious and may be really good for you.
The guys behind Animal and Son of a Gun have opened a pizzeria in LA, and it sounds amazing, of course.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: coffee, depression, links, pizza, saturday five, vaccines

→ June 20, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 6/20/15.

I wrote three new Insider pieces this week: an updated top ten pro prospects ranking, a look at where thirteen 2015 first-rounders rank in their new orgs, and a scouting piece on Jesse Biddle, JP Crawford, and Aaron Judge.

I’ll be back at Lakewood tonight to see Yoan Moncada and Rafael Devers again, with a post going up tomorrow or Monday on those guys.

I haven’t had a chance to review it yet, but I’m enjoying the new Of Monsters & Men album Beneath The Skin; it’s a big change from their poppier debut, shifting to better showcase Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir’s voice.

And now, this week’s links…

A great longread on Azerbaijan hosting the “European Games,”, focusing on the authoritarian regime’s corrupt history and misguided attempts to ingratiate itself to Europe. I do wish the piece had discussed the ongoing conflict with Armenia (also guilty of its share of crimes) over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is a massive failure for those who position themselves as international peacemakers. Something like 200,000 people have lived in a rogue state or under the “wrong” national authorities for over a decade.
How vaccine deniers are using social media to fight pro-vaccine legislation. The solution is simple: Make your pro-vaccine voice heard. Tell your state and federal legislators that you support mandatory vaccination for all schoolchildren who don’t have medical exemptions. End all philosophical and religious exemptions and you’ll see measles re-eradicated in the U.S. in no time.
There’s a raw fish eaten in rural Thailand that gives people liver cancer. The cause is a parasite called a liver fluke that lays eggs in the human liver, yet educating residents has been a big challenge for health officials.
Does killing jihadist leaders work? That’s the linchpin of our country’s current strategy against terrorism, and there’s a legitimate debate (with, I think, no clear answer) whether it’s effective enough.
I didn’t agree with the majority of you in the recent case of the Maryland “free range” parents scolded for letting their kids walk home a moderate distance from a playground, but I am guessing we can all agree that the Florida case of parents losing their kids for a month for letting their 11-year-old son play in his own yard is a terrifying governmental overreach. The busybody who called the authorities here should face charges, not the parents.
An op ed in the Guardian from a former prisoner discussing US prisons withholding menstrual supplies, often by pricing them above what indigent prisoners can afford. Sanitary supplies are a basic human right, not a luxury to be purchased by the well-to-do.
The Guardian was one of several publications to profile the victims of the Charleston massacre, an important step given how much ink is dedicated to the perpetrators in these attacks. Jamil Smith’s essay in the New Republic on the particular violation of these murders happening in a church was the best piece I read all week on the subject. Meanwhile, it’s high time that South Carolina remove the Confederate flag from all government buildings.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: food safety, links, saturday five, vaccines

→ June 13, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 6/13/15.

For Insiders, my recaps of the drafts for all 15 NL teams and all 15 AL teams are up, as well as my round one reactions and a post-draft Klawchat.

I don’t have another place for this, but I read Michael Ruhlman’s short autobiographical Kindle Single The Main Dish ($1.99) this week, right after the draft ended, and enjoyed it tremendously. I love Ruhlman’s writing in general, but the insight into how he became a writer – he even uses “accidental” the way I often call myself an accidental sportswriter – seems like it would be very valuable for anyone considering a career in prose.

And now, this week’s links…

Bill and Melinda Gates have given away over $29 billion, and Warren Buffett is dedicating another $70 billion of his fortune to their Foundation. Buried within this piece: There hasn’t been a new case of polio in Africa in nine months, a remarkable change given the continued violence perpetrated by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria. Polio is now only endemic in the undergoverned region that joins Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The House of Representatives voted to repeal the Country of Origin Labeling Act that required packaged meat indicate where the animals came from, because it conflicts with WTO rules. I’m of two minds on this: I favor more labeling that tells consumers about what they’re buying, but I also believe in free trade and don’t like the idea of us flouting our trade agreements when we rely on them for fair access to other markets. That said, there’s nothing that says meat vendors can’t tell you where the meat is from … and if you buy local meat, you’re covered.
In some local schools in England, teachers are confiscating Scotch eggs from lunchboxes as well as other foods deemed unhealthful. This strikes me as an outrageous overreach, and one likely based on very bad science that holds that dietary fat is bad for us.
Comedy writer Ben Schwartz wrote a fantastic essay on comedy and the “PC” response, although much of what he says applies to our culture as a whole.
Two great examples of people being misled by statistics, both stories from NPR: One on bluefin tuna selling cheaply in San Diego, because fishermen say it’s plentiful when in reality it’s not; and a possible link between some heartburn medications and heart disease, but from a study that doesn’t explain causation while ignoring potential confounding variables.
OK, one more great NPR link: How fad diets are merely pseudoscience wrapped in a veneer of ancient religious memes. I love the fake fad diet piece at the end.
Downton Abbey is filming its final season and Maggie Smith is glad it’s coming to an end.
I believe I linked to the New Yorker story from last year about Kalief Browder, a man held in Rikers for three years without ever being convicted of a crime. He was eventually freed, but took his own life last week. Browder was 22 years old.
I don’t remember the original Chip’s Challenge game, but this story on the arduous process of getting a sequel released was still fascinating.
This excellent New York Times profile of Gawker and its founder Nick Denton also discusses the important First Amendment ramifications of Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against the company for posting a clip of him having sex with his friend’s wife.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: food safety, links, pseudoscience, saturday five, vaccines, video games

→ June 6, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 6/6/15.

My third first-round mock for Monday’s draft went up on Thursday for Insiders. I’ll do one more on Monday morning. My final ranking of the top 100 prospects in the draft class is also up.

My latest boardgame review for Paste is on the D&D-themed miniatures and tile-laying game Temple of Elemental Evil.

Fewer links than normal this week because I’ve got this other thing going on…

A man held hostage for 977 days by Somali “pirates” tells the story of his captivity to the Guardian.
The Red Cross wasted $500 million in donations after the 2012 Haitian earthquake. You shouldn’t give them any of your money. Smaller charities working on the ground tend to produce a better return on investment; check Global Giving for a variety of strong micro-charitable options.
Pluto’s four smaller moons tumble and spin rather than rotating. In other news, Pluto has four small moons besides Charon.
Definitely trying this out – a recipe for a Bengali condiment called kasundi that the recipe’s author compares to ketchup in its utility. But can you put it on a hot dog?
I don’t usually do sap, but this story of a cop filling in for a teen’s dead parents at graduation was worth an exception. I actually believe most people are good by nature; the rest are on Twitter.
So, that Facebook post by Terry Coffey that criticized Caitlyn Jenner getting an award for courage by comparing her to soldiers on the battlefield? There’s a beautiful irony to the photo Coffey chose, and tremendous grace in his response.
Ben Lindbergh wrote a long piece for Grantland on macro trends in the MLB draft. While I found it interesting, this year’s class appears likely to buck his conclusions.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: links, saturday five

→ May 30, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 5/30/15.

This week I posted an updated ranking of the top 25 prospects in the minors and my second mock draft for 2015. I also held yet another Klawchat this week, still focusing on the draft.

And now, this week’s links…

A bipartisan editorial from Newt Gingrich and Van Jones calling for better treatment options for mentally ill nonviolent criminals. I couldn’t agree with this any more.
Twitter finally grew a spine and banned serial rules violator Chuck C. Johnson, who outed a rape victim and still was allowed to remain on the service.
Kansas has become a real political backwater, with their latest stunt the paternalistic $25 daily limit on welfare recipients’ withdrawals. The legislators supporting this awful law cite anecdotal evidence of waste rather than relying on research that gives the contrary conclusion.
If you can’t accept the reality of climate change, perhaps the fear of the extinction of coffee will get to you? That BBC piece details some of the efforts to breed hardier coffee plants that can adapt to a warming planet.
Still in denial? How about the loss of so much ice in Antarctica that it may be shifting the Earth’s gravitational field?
Bill Gates talked to Vox about the inevitable global flu pandemic, with a lot of additional reporting on the how, why, and maybe what we can do about it.
A funny take on helicopter versus free range parenting.
A fair question on why there isn’t more media coverage of Atlanta Hawks guard Thabo Sefolosha missing the playoffs because he was attacked by NYPD officers. You’d think an assault on a famous person of color would at least get the media’s attention.
Longread of the week: Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto (which I reviewed) and Being Mortal (which I haven’t read), writes about the plague of unnecessary medical care in America. There are a lot of expensive tests, procedures, and medications with little to no proven benefit (or a proven lack of benefit) that are routinely administered to patients in the U.S., and we all end up paying for them in our insurance premiums.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: climate change, coffee, links, saturday five

→ May 23, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 5/23/15.

My first “mock” draft for 2015 went up for Insiders on Wednesday night, although I’d already change a few things (e.g., the Red Sox’ pick). There’s also a new Insider minor league scouting roundup, with notes on Dylan Bundy, Luis Severino, Reynaldo Lopez, the Royals’ Cody Reed, and more. I held my regular Klawchat on Thursday.

Over at Paste, my latest boardgame review covers the highly anticipated Elysium, from the designer of Relic Runners. The game, which comes out on the 28th, has a great concept and theme, but I thought it was too short to let the mechanics play out.

And now, the links…

George Howell, artisan roaster and founder of the Boston-based chain The Coffee Connection (RIP), is
opening a new cafe near Downtown Crossing.
Ozy interviews Bill and Melinda Gates about the Gates Foundation’s work for global health, answering questions on new innovations, accountability, and working with non-democratic regimes.
The theft of rare books and/or pages cut from them is a rising problem in the rare-books world, so there’s a new effort afoot to stop them.
A great Washington Post piece on how a fish sandwich reflects the gentrification of a black DC neighborhood.
It hasn’t made global waves, but a young woman from a conservative part of Turkey was shot in the head for appearing on a reality singing competition. Her ex-boyfriend has been charged with the shooting.
Relevant to my work life: A somewhat frivolous NY Times piece on fighting over seats on airplanes.
Yet another study showing benefits of organic agriculture, this one saying it may promote biodiversity. You shouldn’t buy organic produce or meat because you think it’s more healthful for you – it’s almost certainly not – but you should buy it because it’s far better for the planet and thus for the future of our species.
From reader Garrett, a great longread provocatively titled Why it pays to be a jerk. The argument is more nuanced, though; the conclusion is more along the lines of “be a jerk when it can help other people too.”
The New Yorker ran a great summary/analysis of this week’s revelation that a major study on gay marriage support was a fraud. The grad student who claimed to have produced data showing that support for gay marriage could increase with just one conversation with a supporter is now accused of fabricating his results. This essay asks a number of pertinent questions, foremost among them whether confirmation bias among those who wanted to see such results made them less willing to see the signs the data might be faked.
Alton Brown offered NPR some basic grilling tips for the weekend, including the important tip that “flame is bad.”
The NRA fought to water down an anti-domestic violence bill in Louisiana. Because, you know, guns.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: coffee, food science, links, saturday five, vaccines

→ May 16, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 5/16/15.

My Insider content this week includes my redraft of the 2005 class as well as a recap of the first round picks who didn’t pan out. I also held my weekly Klawchat on Wednesday. My first mock draft will go up on Tuesday.

And now, this week’s links…

The illusion of memory in action: The New York Times shows two false eyewitness accounts of a shooting in New York City. This is one of the six cognitive illusions discussed in The Invisible Gorilla, which I reviewed this week.
Chef Hugh Acheson stars in the first episode of Eater’s Real Chefs Cook Dumb Recipes. This one, for chicken nachos, is really dumb: It’s from Kris Jenner’s cookbook, but it’s Nicole Brown Simpson’s recipe. Actually, it’s not so much dumb as totally tacky. Also, Acheson’s newest cookbook, The Broad Fork, just came out last week – it’s all about cooking with vegetables and fruits.
Why did Rehoboth Beach reject Dogfish Head’s expansion plans? Do they not like jobs? And beer? In fact, that’s my campaign platform. Keith Law for Governor of Delaware: Jobs and Beer.
Are seed libraries legal in your state? You won’t believe the bullshit reason some state governments are using to shut such seed-exchange programs down.
Good news on the vaccine front: California’s Senate is trying to end non-medical waivers. There are no good non-medical reasons to eschew vaccinations. None.
Frontline had a great series of reports on food-borne illnesses in raw chicken.
The Amtrak derailment this week brought out some regrettable social media behavior, including massive attacks on a music professor and violinist who sent an angry tweet to Amtrak about retrieving her instrument.
A cute followup on the Israeli professor who calmed a student’s crying baby. Apparently this is par for the course for him. (Pun intended.)
More bad news on the environmental front: NPR reports on the 42% drop in honeybee colonies from 2014. This comes on the heels of two more studies blaming pesticides known as “neonics” for their role in colony collapse disorder.
Also from NPR’s Science Desk, why would a fish have gained (through evolution) the ability to make its own sunscreen?
The BBC reports on ideas for improving how you learn and/or memorize new material.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: beer, environment, evolution, food safety, links, psychology, saturday five, vaccines

→ May 9, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 5/9/15.

My ranking of the top 100 draft prospects for 2015 is now up for Insiders, and I held a Klawchat afterwards to answer questions about it. I’ll be at UConn’s game today (Saturday) against Cincinnati to see Ian Happ before I head home for Mother’s Day.

And now, the links…

A grieving yet proud mother writes about losing her 29-year-old daughter to mental illness.
The New Republic offers a hopeful piece on the imminent decline of pseudoscience.
What’s the best way to fight science denial? This piece argues that it involves showing other pieces of science denial first.
A thirty-year study by the Rodale Institute found that organic agriculture beat conventional methods for energy efficiency, water quality, soil health, and other important variables. Organic produce probably isn’t any more healthful than conventional, there’s limited evidence that it’s more nutritious (that seems to be a function of the soil itself), and there’s minimal risk from pesticides on conventional stuff. But organic ag is way better for the soil and the water, and it should use far less fossil fuels as well.
From last week, a reader sent along this rejoinder to the pro-TPP link I included in that post.
Kickstarter is behind lots of success stories, including many acclaimed boardgames, but what happens when a crowdfunded startup goes south?
I haven’t followed football at all since the 1980s, but I couldn’t stop reading this New York Times “where are they now?” piece on the first-round picks from the NFL’s 1990 draft.
Excellent piece from the Washington Post on one woman’s 400-mile drive to end a pregnancy. Women who seek abortions are not merely heartless babykillers, and reducing access to abortion services doesn’t do anything to reduce the demand, only to increase the hardships for women who need them.
Scientists have found feathered fossils of birds from 130 million years ago, about 5 million years older than the previous hypothesized date for the first birds to appear on earth. Those scientists, man. They keep doing stuff.
You probably caught this one going around, but a school in Texas that taught abstinence-only sex education had a chlamydia outbreak. I’m sympathetic to parents who believe the choice to teach kids about sexual morality should be theirs, not the school’s, but there’s a public health aspect to the question too, and, more importantly, a growing body of evidence that abstinence-only education doesn’t work.
Turns out that getting vaccinated for the measles reduces your susceptibility to a bunch of other illnesses to which the measles would make you more vulnerable.
They didn’t have this class when I was there: Harvard engineering students spent a semester building the ultimate brisket smoker.
Speaking of barbecue, Aaron Franklin of Franklin BBQ in Austin (and of those AmEx commercials) became the first pitmaster to win a James Beard “best chef” award. If you’ve had his brisket, and I have, he deserves all the awards. Like, even the Nobel Prize for Economics, which is kind of a made-up thing anyway.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bbq, evolution, experimental cuisine, links, pseudoscience, saturday five, vaccines

→ May 2, 2015
→ By keith

Saturday five, 5/2/15.

My annual ranking of the top 25 MLB players under 25 is up for Insiders, as is another draft blog post on Vanderbilt’s Carson Fulmer and Dansby Swanson. My weekly Klawchat transcript is up.

I also appeared on actor Nate Corddry’s Reading Aloud podcast, talking mostly about books and pizza with a little baseball chatter thrown in.

And now, the links…

English college student Ione Wells wrote a letter to her assaulter as a statement of strength for herself and other victims of sexual assault. It’s absolutely worth reading (and re-posting, since I tweeted to it on Wednesday).
Anything with David Simon is an auto-link for me; with Baltimore in flames earlier this week, he’s a a natural commentator, and you might say he has some thoughts on the matter. The failed War on Drugs comes up, as you would expect.
Hugh Acheson and Empire State South barista Dale Donchey will open a new coffee shop called Spiller Park Coffee in Atlanta’s Ponce City Market, with a projected opening date in September. They’ll use a selection from a small number of the best small/third-wave roasters in the country.
Nearly all economists agree free trade is good, so why are some members of Congress fighting renewal of the President’s Trade Promotion Authority? Why is Elizabeth Warren, by all accounts a fairly intelligent person, on the wrong side of the table here – along with a good chunk of her fellow Democrats?
The New York Times was strong this week, between that op ed and this investigative report on the deep, unspoken support for the drone program within Washington’s inner circles of power.
Chipotle, the most responsible of all national food chains when it comes to sourcing ingredients, will no longer serve food made with GMO ingredients. That’s too bad, as it feeds into FraudBabe-style anti-science woo-woo; GMOs are completely safe to eat and can improve crop yields, although they have negative externalities regarding pesticide use. (I still favor GMO labelling, as it’s the consumer’s right to decide what to consume, even if they want to be stupid about it.)
Rubella has been eradicated in the Americas. You know why? Because vaccines. It’s the third virus that infects humans to be wiped out in this hemisphere and the fourth virus in total (including rinderpest, which infected mostly cattle and buffalo).
NPR’s Fresh Air dedicated a show to an interview with journalist Mark Arax about California’s water wars, especially the current conflict over almond farms’ use of water.
A short but potent piece from Ta-Nehisi Coates on Nonviolence as Compliance in Baltimore.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: atlanta, coffee, food science, links, saturday five, vaccines

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