{"id":10047,"date":"2023-11-04T11:40:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T15:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=10047"},"modified":"2023-11-04T11:40:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T15:40:28","slug":"stick-to-baseball-11-4-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2023\/11\/04\/stick-to-baseball-11-4-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 11\/4\/23."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/4987045\/2023\/11\/02\/mlb-free-agents-ranking-ohtani-bellinger\/\">My ranking of the top 50 free agents<\/a> this offseason went up this week for subscribers to the Athletic, and we\u2019re updating it as options and other news (e.g., Clayton Kershaw\u2019s shoulder surgery) affects the list, since it ran the day after the World Series ended. I\u2019ll be breaking down any major signings where a player changes teams as well as any significant trades this offseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a four-month hiatus, I sent out a new edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyletter.com\/keithlaw\">my free email newsletter<\/a> today, with some scattered thoughts on this World Series as well as a more thorough rundown of things I wrote in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now, the links\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Longreads first: This <em>Atlantic<\/em> column by Simon Sebag Montefiore on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2023\/10\/decolonization-narrative-dangerous-and-false\/675799\/\">the decolonization narrative around Gaza and Israel<\/a> has been shared, critiqued, attacked, and so on more than anything else I\u2019ve seen on the conflict. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s perfect, and I don\u2019t agree with every point the author makes, but it is thoughtful and does make some very good points. The twenty minutes it took me to read it was time well spent, and I can\u2019t say that about many things I read in general, certainly not on a topic as fraught as this one. Adam Serwer, also in the <em>Atlantic<\/em>, wrote a shorter piece arguing that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2023\/11\/anti-zionism-not-anti-semitism\/675888\/\">anti-Zionism is not antisemitism<\/a>. By the way, the staid <em>Financial Times<\/em>\u2019 editorial board <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/4668c628-9a5d-48d2-989f-90773ac2e25b\">called for a humanitarian cease-fire this week<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/article\/the-harassment-case-that-has-berkeley-at-a-boil\">This harassment case<\/a> at UC Berkeley is absolutely bonkers, yet there are students protesting in favor of the professor who harassed a colleague so extensively that she\u2019s been banned from campus \u2013 apparently because she\u2019s a person of color and her victim is not?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Verge\u2019s Amanda Chicago Lewis does a deep dive on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/features\/23931789\/seo-search-engine-optimization-experts-google-results\">the people who ruined the internet<\/a>,\u201d search engine optimization (SEO) consultants, asking if they ruined search or if search is even ruined at all.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When LibsofTikTok, the anti-LGBTQ+ Twitter account run by former realtor Chaya Raichik, tweets about a hospital, a school, a library, or a private individual, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/investigations\/2023\/11\/02\/libs-of-tiktok-tweets-death-bomb-threats\/71409213007\/\">threats of violence follow<\/a>. <em>USA Today <\/em>built off research from the liberal group Media Matters to find over two dozen incidents where bomb or death threats followed a LibsofTikTok tweet. She\u2019s particularly targeting public schools, with <em>USA Today<\/em> identifying at least twelve incidents where a school received threats after she tweeted about it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <em>New York Times<\/em> has the story of a French case where a 15-year-old girl falsely accused a 17-year-old boy, the son of Moroccan immigrants, of raping her, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/08\/world\/europe\/sexual-assault-france-farid-el-hairy.html\">only to recant 23 years later<\/a>. This very humanist retelling looks at the toll the false accusation took on Farid El Ha\u00efry\u2019s life even though he only spent a year or so in prison, and how difficult it still is for him to move on.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>JAMA<\/em> has yet another study showing that <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jamanetworkopen\/fullarticle\/2811136\">masks work in limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2<\/a>. I do still wear one when traveling, at least, since it\u2019s the one time I\u2019m in proximity to a lot of strangers. Very few others do, even on airplanes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There\u2019s a rising trend of hidden MLMs on TikTok, pushed by self-styled \u2018experts\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/tiktok-moms-nurture-detox-kids-013143669.html\">selling detoxification products for kids<\/a>. Just a reminder that for almost every human, the liver handles detox responsibilities. You don\u2019t need anything else.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org\/vaccine-confidence-falls-as-belief-in-health-misinformation-grows\/\">Increased belief in false health information is driving vaccine acceptance down<\/a>. Looking forward to the return of preventable childhood diseases!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>STIs are on the rise as states found out <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/syphilis-std-cdc-federal-funding-e82f78f3d30c393538e5e421548e7758\">they\u2019re not getting the last two years\u2019 worth of a $1 billion federal program<\/a> to fight these infections as the program was cut during the debt ceiling deal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A new preprint (meaning it\u2019s not peer-reviewed yet) available on the SocArXiv server argues that <a href=\"https:\/\/osf.io\/preprints\/socarxiv\/urhxy\/\">merely platforming extreme right-wing actors normalizes their viewpoints<\/a> even in the face of critical interviewing or coverage. In other words, sunshine may not always be the best disinfectant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Related: Stew Peters, who hosts a program on Rumble and has a sizable following on Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/stew-peters\/rumble-host-and-x-influencer-stew-peters-calls-shooting-catholic-charities-workers\">called for shooting Catholic Charities workers<\/a> who help would-be immigrants to the United States. Peters has had some prominent figures as guests on his show, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Arizona Republicans Kari Lake, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>NYC Mayor Eric Adams is now under investigation for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/02\/nyregion\/eric-adams-brianna-suggs-fbi-raid.html\">possible illegal campaign donations from the Turkish government<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mayor Adams and new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson have something in common \u2013 both believe, and say, that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/opinion\/msnbc-opinion\/eric-adams-mike-johnson-god-appointed-rcna122243\">they were put in their positions by God<\/a>. God is, as the article says, unavailable for comment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Several House Republicans introduced a bill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/ryan-zinke-republicans-expel-palestinians_n_65454496e4b01b258583b5de?utm_source=pocket_saves\">to expel Palestinians from the United States<\/a>, because it\u2019s 1933.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>WIRED<\/em> covers some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/how-to-improve-battery-life-tips-myths-smartphones\/\">myths and truths about smartphone batteries<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Littleton, New Hampshire, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/world\/new-hampshire-town-art-debate-1.7014430\">is considering banning public art<\/a> because some folks didn\u2019t like a diversity mural that was partly organized by a local Pride group. One of the town\u2019s three council members makes no bones about bringing her religion into her government job, saying that the Bible says that \u201chomosexuality is an abomination.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Speaking of bans, Republicans are trying to Newspeak their way out of their abortion-banning policies \u2013 the word \u201cban\u201d appears at least six times in relation to abortion in the Republican Party platform \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/nov\/01\/republicans-abortion-ads-virginia-election\">by pushing back on the use of the word \u201cban\u201d at all<\/a>. They\u2019re testing this out in Virginia, which has legislative elections on Tuesday, and if they succeed there, they\u2019ll roll this out nationwide for next November.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A lawsuit in Texas, filed there by an anti-abortion activist to try to get the most favorable court possible, <a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/176429\/texas-lawsuit-bankrupt-planned-parenthood-medicaid\">could bankrupt Planned Parenthood<\/a> by making specious claims that the nonprofit needs to return reimbursements to Medicaid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An Alabama mayor and pastor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.al.com\/news\/2023\/11\/fl-bubba-copeland-alabama-mayor-and-pastor-kills-himself.html\">killed himself after he was outed as LGBTQ+<\/a>. A right-wing news site posted photos of F.L. \u201cBubba\u201d Copeland in women\u2019s clothing and claimed he referred to himself as a trans woman.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>HBO CEO Corey Bloys <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/tv-movies\/tv-movie-features\/hbo-casey-bloys-secret-twitter-trolls-tv-critics-leaked-texts-lawsuit-the-idol-1234867722\/\">used sockpuppet and burner accounts to try to troll and deride critics<\/a> of the channel\u2019s programming or of him personally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-africa-67198511\">There\u2019s a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe<\/a> caused by a lack of access to clean water.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The BBC examines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/worklife\/article\/20231016-the-dark-side-of-touch-screen-tipping\">the dark side of touch-screen tipping<\/a>, and some of the psychology involved in why we tip more on these platforms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Over at Field of Schemes, Neil deMause exposes how Jackson County, Missouri, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fieldofschemes.com\/2023\/10\/31\/20551\/kc-officials-debate-how-many-billions-of-dollars-is-too-many-to-give-to-royals-owner\/\">might actually give the Royals over $6 billion in funding for a new stadium<\/a> the team doesn\u2019t need.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I linked a few weeks ago to the dubious reason that Target was giving for the closure of some Seattle stores, citing rising crime. Popular.info found data <a href=\"https:\/\/popular.info\/p\/update-the-truth-about-target\">showing those stores were affected less by crime<\/a> than those in surrounding areas. Do not just take corporations\u2019 words as gospel.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The wonderful, quirky Weckerly\u2019s Ice Cream in Fishtown, Philadelphia, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/food\/weckerlys-lil-pop-shop-fishtown-west-philly-closing-20231030.html\">closing in December<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Here\u2019s a nice palate cleanser: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/danny-devito-i-need-that-interview-2023\">GQ interviewed Danny DeVito<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My ranking of the top 50 free agents this offseason went up this week for subscribers to the Athletic, and we\u2019re updating it as options and other news (e.g., Clayton Kershaw\u2019s shoulder surgery) affects the list, since it ran the day after the World Series ended. I\u2019ll be breaking down any major signings where a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1300,899,1162,160,190,961,952,1268,1055,568,907,870,477,807],"class_list":["post-10047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abortion","tag-africa","tag-coronavirus","tag-health","tag-links","tag-longreads","tag-middle-east","tag-misinformation","tag-new-hampshire","tag-new-york","tag-social-media","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-texas","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10048,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10047\/revisions\/10048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}