{"id":5074,"date":"2016-08-27T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2016-08-27T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=5074"},"modified":"2016-08-27T00:29:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-27T04:29:16","slug":"stick-to-baseball-82716","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/27\/stick-to-baseball-82716\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 8\/27\/16."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This week, for Insiders, I ranked the MLB players with the best <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2biN5F0\" target=\"_blank\">hitting tools<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2bPcwi7\" target=\"_blank\">fielding and throwing tools<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2bDUtfQ\" target=\"_blank\">pitching tools<\/a>. I held my weekly <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2bobcFk\" target=\"_blank\">Klawchat<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>For <em>Paste<\/em>, I reviewed the upcoming boardgame <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2bmfqZh\" target=\"_blank\">Tak<\/a>, which was designed based on the fictional depiction of the game in Patrick Rothfuss&#8217;s Kingkiller Chronicles novels.<\/p>\n<p>My last run at the helm of the BBTN podcast for this year came <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2bfNSqc\" target=\"_blank\">on Monday&#8217;s show<\/a>, with guests Jerry Crasnick and Joe Sheehan.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the links&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>TIME<\/em> ran a thoughtful piece on <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/4457110\/internet-trolls\/\" target=\"_blank\">how trolls are &#8220;ruining&#8221; the Internet<\/a>, looking at why trolls troll and what we might do to combat the inevitable problem.<\/li>\n<li>I linked to this on Twitter earlier in the week: Mylan <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/emilywillingham\/2016\/08\/21\/why-did-mylan-hike-epipen-prices-400-because-they-could\/#6e4bae0477af\" target=\"_blank\">hiked EpiPen prices when their competitor shut down production<\/a>. It&#8217;s basic economics, and while I&#8217;m very pro-free market, we do have protections against certain monopoly conditions. This is one such case. Mylan&#8217;s PR team is on the attack, with this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/27\/business\/painted-as-a-villain-mylans-chief-says-shes-no-such-thing.html?hp&#038;action=click&#038;pgtype=Homepage&#038;clickSource=story-heading&#038;module=second-column-region&#038;region=top-news&#038;WT.nav=top-news&#038;_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">semi-sympathetic portrait of their CEO<\/a> running in the <em>NY Times<\/em>, which also ran a more analytical look at <a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/24\/upshot\/the-epipen-a-case-study-in-health-care-system-dysfunction.html\" target=\"_blank\">why our healthcare system enables this kind of price gouging<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>We&#8217;re preparing to fight Zika in south Florida <a href=\"http:\/\/www.skepticalraptor.com\/skepticalraptorblog.php\/prevent-zika-virus-gmo-mosquitoes-frankensquito-returns\/?utm_content=buffer1a0ab&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_source=twitter.com&#038;utm_campaign=buffer\" target=\"_blank\">by releasing genetically modified mosquitos into the wild<\/a>. It&#8217;s the right move \u2013 doing the same in Africa could save millions of lives &#8211; but you can expect a lot of backlash.<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, a new virus <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/goatsandsoda\/2016\/08\/25\/491261766\/new-virus-breaks-the-rules-of-infection\" target=\"_blank\">appears to break the known &#8216;rules&#8217; of viral infections<\/a> by breaking itself into multiple pieces; the virus, which infects mosquitos (seriously, fuck them already), only works in the bugs if several parts of it are present.<\/li>\n<li>A teenager charged with multiple rapes and suspected of being a serial rapist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/2016\/08\/judge-sets-aside-rape-charges-for-probation-so-ex-athlete-can-enjoy-a-college-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\">was given probation by a Judge Thomas Estes<\/a> because reasons. There&#8217;s another movement afoot to remove the judge from the bench, which I support because no one convicted of rape should avoid jail.<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, a 14-year-old girl in Cleveland <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/metro\/index.ssf\/2016\/08\/murder-or-self-defense-bresha-meadows.html\" target=\"_blank\">is in jail and may be charged as an adult for killing her abusive father<\/a>. The system failed to protect her and her mother, and now she may pay the price for their failures.<\/li>\n<li>The Canadian Medical Association has called for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/national\/cma-urges-end-to-non-medical-exemptions-for-vaccines\/article31512561\/\" target=\"_blank\">an end to nonmedical exemptions to childhood vaccinations<\/a>, which is excellent because there is no good fucking reason on earth not to vaccinate your kids.<\/li>\n<li>Dr. Donald Henderson, who helped lead the successful effort to eradicate smallpox, <a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/22\/us\/dr-donald-a-henderson-who-helped-end-smallpox-dies-at-87.html\" target=\"_blank\">died last week at 87<\/a>. Despite the end of smallpox, he thought efforts to eradicate more quickly-mutating viruses like polio might be futile.<\/li>\n<li>Tom Scocca&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/gawker.com\/gawker-was-murdered-by-gaslight-1785456581\" target=\"_blank\">post mortem on Gawker<\/a> makes the key point that only money can protect any journalistic outlet from the likes of Peter Thiel. Not the truth, just money.<\/li>\n<li>Daniel Vaughn reviewed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tmbbq.com\/holy-smoke-bbq\/\" target=\"_blank\">a legit barbecue joint in southern Sweden<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>This <em>New Yorker<\/em> piece on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2016\/08\/29\/damon-baehrel-the-most-exclusive-restaurant-in-america\" target=\"_blank\">a very exclusive restaurant in upstate New York<\/a> is fascinating because it&#8217;s a portrait of food, a restaurant, and a chef who might be delusional.<\/li>\n<li>Some Idaho hot-taker decided to take a few shots at Neil deGrasse Tyson, and <a href=\"http:\/\/magicvalley.com\/news\/opinion\/columns\/larson-neil-degrasse-tyson-is-a-horse-s-astrophysicist\/article_ac14771d-2f5d-59ea-b6d1-73679deed140.html\" target=\"_blank\">Tyson responded with a huge mic-drop in the comments<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sports.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/the-ncaa-lets-college-olympians-collect-cash-for-gold-because-amateurism-is-a-self-serving-lie\/?utm_source=vicesportstwitter\" target=\"_blank\">Amateurism is a word fart expelled after wolfing down a nothingburger<\/a>, says Patrick Hruby in a piece for <em>Vice<\/em> on the gigantic farce that is the NCAA.<\/li>\n<li>Also at <em>Vice<\/em>, on <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/the-rio-games-were-an-unjustifiable-human-disaster-and-so-are-the-olympics\" target=\"_blank\">the unconscionable human disaster that was the 2016 Olympics<\/a>. Everything described therein, including the massive wealth transfers from poor to rich, will continue until cities stop bidding for the games.<\/li>\n<li>If you&#8217;re still stuck in the mindset that there are only two sexes, male and female, read about <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.longreads.com\/2016\/08\/18\/the-life-and-murder-of-stella-walsh-intersex-olympic-champion\/\" target=\"_blank\">Olympic champion runner Stella Walsh, who was intersex<\/a>. She lived as a woman, but after her death (she was murdered in a botched robberty) the coroner discovered that she had underdeveloped male gonads and no uterus due to a chromosomal abnormality. So, I ask Republicans in North Carolina and Mississippi, what bathroom would you have required her to use?<\/li>\n<li>Why do just 2% of the counties in the United States <a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/28\/magazine\/where-the-death-penalty-still-lives.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&#038;smid=nytcore-iphone-share&#038;referer=https:\/\/t.co\/40pUkOr46I&#038;_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">account for more than half of its death-row inmates<\/a>? Why do we even execute people, period? Only two countries in the western hemisphere actively use the death penalty, the U.S. and St. Kitts, which I believe has executed one person this century. The story features prosecutor Angela Corey, profiled in a link I posted here last week as perhaps the cruelest DA in the country.<\/li>\n<li>Two posts on the University of Chicago &#8220;no safe spaces\/trigger warnings&#8221; welcome letter: one <a href=\"http:\/\/www.intellectualtakeout.org\/blog\/univ-chicago-pushes-back-trigger-warnings-safe-spaces\" target=\"_blank\">that presents the letter with favorable comments<\/a>, and this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thetattooedprof.com\/archives\/650\" target=\"_blank\">dismantling of its words and intent<\/a> by Grand View University History Professor Kevin Gannon. I don&#8217;t think I like the ideas implied by safe spaces, but I speak without experience on that, and, hell, trigger warnings are just common courtesy, aren&#8217;t they?<\/li>\n<li>A rather peculiar research study showed (or claimed to show) that <a href=\"https:\/\/digest.bps.org.uk\/2016\/08\/22\/more-evidence-that-literary-but-not-pop-fiction-boosts-readers-emotional-skills\/\" target=\"_blank\">reading literary fiction was better than pop fiction for boosting readers&#8217; emotional skills<\/a>. You&#8217;ll have to read the article to see what exactly they thought it proved and to determine whether you think it proves anything. I&#8217;ll be reading literary fiction.<\/li>\n<li>We&#8217;re definitely an HGTV household, but not particularly fans of <em>Flip or Flop<\/em>. The stars of that show <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/investigations\/watchdog\/20160825-watchdog-gets-duped-when-hgtvs-flip-or-flop-stars-tarek-and-christina-disappoint.ece\" target=\"_blank\">have loaned their likenesses to a real-estate education &#8220;seminar&#8221;<\/a> that sure sounds like an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB126339524173527817\" target=\"_blank\">old-fashioned scam<\/a> to me. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, for Insiders, I ranked the MLB players with the best hitting tools, fielding and throwing tools, and pitching tools. I held my weekly Klawchat on Friday. For Paste, I reviewed the upcoming boardgame Tak, which was designed based on the fictional depiction of the game in Patrick Rothfuss&#8217;s Kingkiller Chronicles novels. My last [&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":[50,898,190,895,799,807],"class_list":["post-5074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bbq","tag-death-penalty","tag-links","tag-olympics","tag-science","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5074","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=5074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5075,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5074\/revisions\/5075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}