{"id":11004,"date":"2025-11-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=11004"},"modified":"2025-11-14T20:54:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T01:54:17","slug":"stick-to-baseball-11-15-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/15\/stick-to-baseball-11-15-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 11\/15\/25."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nothing new from me at the Athletic this week as I wait for a trade or signing to write up. I did hold a <a href=\"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/13\/klawchat-11-13-25\/\">Klawchat<\/a> on Thursday here on the dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Endless Mode, I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.endlessmode.com\/article\/the-board-game-vantage-is-too-big-for-its-own-good\">reviewed Vantage<\/a>, the new open-world cooperative game from designer Jamey Stegmaier (Tapestry, Scythe); it\u2019s like the old Choose Your Own Adventure books converted to the tabletop, but despite incredible art and a massive amount of content in the box, I found it frustrating to try to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I sent out a new edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/keithlaw.kit.com\/\">my free email newsletter<\/a> this week, finally. I\u2019ve gotten a bit stuck with one or two of the ideas I\u2019ve had for newsletters and I think that held me back from writing one.<\/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: A group of New York-based investors used a loan program designed to help revitalize disused properties in Baltimore <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebanner.com\/community\/housing\/baltimore-housing-foreclosure-dscr-HFPWHAWCY5HRLPR2VZSUAQWW24\/?utm_campaign=feed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=later-linkinbio\">to borrow over $100 million to buy properties, and then default on the loans<\/a>, screwing over lenders, tenants, and the Baltimore housing market in general.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used a tax dodge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/11\/12\/us\/politics\/scott-bessent-irs-loophole.html\">to avoid paying over $900,000 in taxes<\/a> from 2021-23. He now oversees the IRS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/kristi-noem-dhs-ad-campaign-strategy-group\">steered a $220 million contract to a firm to which she is closely tied<\/a>, skipping the competitive bidding process by claiming there\u2019s an \u201cemergency\u201d at the border with Mexico.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I don\u2019t understand why this has received so little attention, but the Senate passed a bill that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/blog\/congress-reopens-government-reignites-prohibition\">would wipe out the U.S. cannabis industry<\/a>, which will do significant economic harm to a nascent industry and to the states that have benefited from taxing an activity that is just going to move underground anyway.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>KFF Health News looks at <a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/russell-vought-trump-omb-doge-public-health-budget-shutdown\/\">the destruction wrought by Russ Vought, the architect of Project 2025, on our public health infrastructure<\/a>. Holding these people accountable if and when they ever lose power is going to be crucial to preventing a recurrence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/canadian-government-kills-ostriches-afflicted-h5n1-despite-appeal-rfk-jr\">Canada culled a flock of ostriches<\/a> where at least some were infected with the H5N1 avian flu, despite some ridiculous interference and protests from anti-vax nut jobs. The ostrich farmers in question tried to hide the infections and didn\u2019t follow requirements for basic biosafety.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/11\/12\/fda-vaccine-policy-controlled-by-vinay-prasad-tracy-beth-hoeg\/\">two longtime anti-vax grifters are now overseeing the FDA\u2019s vaccine regulation program<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The unionized writers at the <em>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/em> have been on strike for over three years now, but finally got their day in court and <a href=\"https:\/\/newsguild.org\/post-gazette-strikers-win-three-year-strike\/\">won a ruling<\/a> that covers management\u2019s violations back to 2020.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Child rapist and cult leader Warren Jeffs went to prison over a decade ago, but the harm he inflicted on his community continues, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/health\/health-news\/tight-knit-community-was-recovering-cultlike-leader-measles-got-rcna240592\">measles has swept through Colorado City<\/a> because he preached that vaccines were part of a government plot to make people infertile.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The resident of a home in Whitestown, Indiana, <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/cleaning-worker-wrong-home-fatally-shot-indiana\/story?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=dhfacebook&amp;utm_content=null&amp;id=127276247&amp;fbclid=IwZnRzaAN6eThleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEegfiV4HdwEKhgfJCFUzFzrguVqbZS0OESUUj9_AW6wPQneTH6mCOKk0SVrVU_aem_5QPFo_pcVMEQE3v0sDZAxg\">shot and killed a cleaning woman who went to the wrong house<\/a>. Police have yet to name the shooter, who could (should!) face criminal charges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A corrupt police chief in Marion County, Kansas, abused his power to raid the offices of a tiny local newspaper there in 2023 to prevent the <em>Marion County Record<\/em> from publishing a story about a local restaurant owner who may have lied on her liquor license application. This week, <a href=\"https:\/\/kansasreflector.com\/2025\/11\/11\/marion-county-agrees-to-pay-out-3m-for-newspaper-raid-express-regret\/\">the county agreed to pay $3 million to the paper\u2019s publisher and several of the journalists<\/a>. The chief, who later resigned, is still facing criminal charges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The husband of Michigan Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson (D) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/opinion\/contributors\/2025\/11\/13\/saline-data-center-ai-jocelyn-benson-dte-whitmer-duggan-legislature\/87233172007\/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=false&amp;gca-epti=z114443p116450c116450u114543d00----v114443&amp;gca-ft=46&amp;gca-ds=sophi\">is the VP of development for a company<\/a> planning to build a massive data center in the state over objections from the local community. At best, it\u2019s a huge conflict of interest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is how you write a fair and honest obituary: James Watson \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/11\/07\/james-watson-remembrance-from-dna-pioneer-to-pariah\/\">co-discovered DNA\u2019s structure but later engaged in rank racism and sexism<\/a>.\u201d We do not have to paper over the misdeeds of the deceased to comply with some dated sense of decorum. Watson was part of one of the most significant discoveries of the 20<sup>th<\/sup> century. He was also a racist asshole.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A 13-year-old girl in Louisiana was expelled (and later reinstated on probation) for hitting a classmate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsaw.com\/2025\/11\/12\/girl-13-expelled-hitting-classmate-who-made-deepfake-porn-image-her-lawyers-say\/\">who made and distributed a deepfake porn image of her<\/a>. Her parents notified the school, which appears to have taken no action against the boy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/maybe-dont-talk-to-the-new-york-times-about-zohran-mamdani\/\">This LitHub piece<\/a> is well worth reading if only for how it explains why the phrase \u201cCritics say\u201d should not appear in serious journalism. You need to name those critics and show what they\u2019re saying and why it might be valid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Alex Berenson, dubbed \u201cthe pandemic\u2019s wrongest man\u201d for his consistently incorrect predictions about first the spread of the virus and then the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines against it, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.importantcontext.news\/p\/federal-court-dismisses-censorship\">lost his lawsuit claiming the federal government \u201ccensored\u201d him<\/a> when Twitter nuked his account in 2021. He\u2019s still making bank from his Substack newsletter, though.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A student from Colorado Academy applied early decision to Tulane and was accepted, but later backed out. The university then punished the entire school <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/10\/26\/business\/tulane-early-decision-colorado-academy.html\">with a one-year ban on early-decision applications<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chile named its Miss World winner this past week, which is newsworthy because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revolvermag.com\/culture\/death-metal-vocalist-ignacia-fernandez-crowned-miss-world-chile\/\">Ignacia Fern\u00e1ndez is also a death-metal vocalist<\/a> for the band Decessus and even gave a performance as such in the finals. There are very few female vocalists in that particular subgenre; I could only name two without searching, Arch Enemy (Alissa White-Gluz) and the defunct Nuclear Death (Lori Bravo).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Climate-Colored Goggles newsletter writes about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatecoloredgoggles.com\/p\/dodgers-winning-la-losing\">the Dodgers&#8217; partnership with Phillips 66<\/a>, a fossil-fuel company driving the same climate change that&#8217;s feeding the devastating wildfires that hit California just about every year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mystic Lands, the sequel\/update to the card-crafting game Mystic Vale, has six days left on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/alderac\/mystic-lands-from-aeg\">its successful Kickstarter<\/a> (although I am surprised it hasn\u2019t raised more money given the original\u2019s popularity).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nothing new from me at the Athletic this week as I wait for a trade or signing to write up. I did hold a Klawchat on Thursday here on the dish. At Endless Mode, I reviewed Vantage, the new open-world cooperative game from designer Jamey Stegmaier (Tapestry, Scythe); it\u2019s like the old Choose Your Own [&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":[821,47,1083,1489,1156,780,959,137,984,1014,190,961,1065,1173,799,870,940,1269,807],"class_list":["post-11004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anti-science","tag-baltimore","tag-board-game-news","tag-cannabis","tag-cults","tag-death-metal","tag-first-amendment","tag-frauds","tag-guns","tag-kansas","tag-links","tag-longreads","tag-louisiana","tag-michigan","tag-science","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-the-swamp","tag-unions","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004","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=11004"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11008,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004\/revisions\/11008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}