{"id":5256,"date":"2016-11-26T12:33:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-26T17:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=5256"},"modified":"2016-11-26T12:33:07","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T17:33:07","slug":"stick-to-baseball-112616","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/26\/stick-to-baseball-112616\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 11\/26\/16."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chris Crawford and I ranked and wrote up <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2gL6mFe\" target=\"_blank\">the top 30 prospects for the 2017 draft<\/a>, with Vandy outfielder Jeren Kendall at #1. I also wrote posts for Insiders on <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2gpXH9J\" target=\"_blank\">the Segura\/Walker trade<\/a>, on <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2gGpGDD\" target=\"_blank\">the Brett Cecil &#038; Andrew Cashner contracts and other moves<\/a>, and on <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2gDlIvm\" target=\"_blank\">the Astros&#8217; moves last week<\/a>. I also held a <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2flEl0P\" target=\"_blank\">Klawchat<\/a> on Tuesday, in advance of the holiday.<\/p>\n<p>Over at <em>Paste<\/em> I reviewed the new Martin Wallace game <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2gkmIB1\" target=\"_blank\">Via Nebula<\/a>, a great, family-level route-building game that we found simple to learn and quick to play.<\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2dtXS3S\" target=\"_blank\">preorder my upcoming book, <em>Smart Baseball<\/em><\/a>, on amazon. Also, please sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyletter.com\/keithlaw\" target=\"_blank\">my more-or-less weekly email newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the links&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some great longreads this week, including this <em>New Republic<\/em> piece on the <a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/138068\/last-unknown-man\" target=\"_blank\">ten-year odyssey to identify an amnesiac man<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>Another one comes from Bleacher Report, on <a href=\"http:\/\/thelab.bleacherreport.com\/finding-ali-dia\/\" target=\"_blank\">Aly Dia, who played one infamous game for Southampton FC<\/a> and has long been suspected of deceiving club officials about his experience to get that spot.<\/li>\n<li>One from VICE, a report exploring <a href=\"https:\/\/tonic.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/the-medical-mystery-behind-americas-best-selling-hair-loss-drug\" target=\"_blank\">the connection between the drug Propecia and serious neurological side effects<\/a>, with some patients committing suicide after taking the hair-restoration medicine.<\/li>\n<li>And the BBC explores <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/resources\/idt-d32c5bc9-aa42-49b8-b77c-b258ea2a9205\" target=\"_blank\">how British police let a serial killer slip through their fingers<\/a>, likely because the victims were young gay men with drugs in their systems.<\/li>\n<li>In &#8220;depressed rural Kentucky,&#8221; residents <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/11\/19\/502580120\/in-depressed-rural-kentucky-worries-mount-over-medicaid-cutbacks\" target=\"_blank\">are worrying about Medicaid cutbacks<\/a> under the GOP-dominated government. Trump carried Kentucky with nearly double Clinton&#8217;s vote total, and five of their six Representatives are Republican, with the lone exception coming from the district around Louisville.<\/li>\n<li>Democrat Roy Cooper continues to lead the vote count in North Carolina&#8217;s gubernatorial election, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/blogs\/outward\/2016\/11\/21\/pat_mccrory_is_trying_to_steal_the_north_carolina_governorship.html\" target=\"_blank\">but Roy McCrory and Republicans are trying to steal it<\/a>. If you live in NC, call your state reps, regardless of party, and make sure they know you oppose any attempt to subvert the results of the state&#8217;s popular vote.<\/li>\n<li>A <em>Boston Globe<\/em> op ed urges Washington to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/opinion\/editorials\/2016\/11\/18\/get-washington-out-organic-food-business\/x9HpqjqUdFtKIoj15ZuJTM\/story.html?event=event25\" target=\"_blank\">get out of regulating organic food<\/a>, in essence because there&#8217;s no clear defintion of &#8220;organic.&#8221; I&#8217;m about 90% in agreement here, but I do think consumers deserve the protection of truth in labeling laws, regardless of which agency is in charge of it.<\/li>\n<li>London has become <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thesalt\/2016\/11\/22\/502933703\/eat-it-dont-leave-it-how-london-became-a-leader-in-anti-food-waste\" target=\"_blank\">a leader in cutting food waste<\/a> via apps that connect people with extra food \u2013 restaurants or even individuals \u2013 with people and charities who need it.<\/li>\n<li>Chef Tom Colicchio talked to <em>Mother Jones<\/em> about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/environment\/2016\/11\/heres-what-top-chef-star-tom-colicchio-thinks-trumps-food-policies\" target=\"_blank\">food policy, hunger, and the incoming GOP government<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>An 18-year-old college student in Tennessee <a href=\"http:\/\/www.knoxnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/2016\/11\/23\/maryville-college-football-player-charged-fatal-shooting-central-cheerleader\/94327172\/\" target=\"_blank\">has been charged with shooting and murdering his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend<\/a> while she slept, because she&#8217;d ended their relationship. I&#8217;m surprised the story hasn&#8217;t gotten more coverage \u2013 pretty white girl gets killed equals headlines \u2013 but perhaps no one wants to ask 1) why he had access to a gun and 2) what this says about our male privilege problem.<\/li>\n<li>SNL Weekend Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost have come under fire for some tasteless (and unfunny) jokes about gender identity, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pastemagazine.com\/articles\/2016\/11\/michael-che-and-colin-jost-should-not-host-weekend.html\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Paste<\/em>&#8216;s Seth Simons says they should be replaced<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>NASA&#8217;s notorious paper on the EM Drive <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/it-s-official-nasa-s-peer-reviewed-em-drive-paper-has-finally-been-published\" target=\"_blank\">has finally been published<\/a>, and claims that the propulsion system \u2013 which appears to break Newton&#8217;s Third Law \u2013 actually works.<\/li>\n<li><em>Scientific American<\/em> wrote in the wake of Trump&#8217;s election that <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scientificamerican.com\/guest-blog\/the-higgs-boson-versus-donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\">he&#8217;s as anti-science a President as we could possibly have<\/a>. Money quote: &#8220;A mandate is what you can get away with.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Jeb Lund (aka Mobute) has a great piece at <em>Esquire<\/em> on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.esquire.com\/lifestyle\/news\/a50954\/election-thanksgiving-survival-guide-go-outside\/\" target=\"_blank\">surviving Thanksgiving by actually going out of your comfort zone<\/a> and talking to people who maybe don&#8217;t see the world the way you do.<\/li>\n<li>Dementia rates in the U.S. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/nation-world\/us-dementia-rates-dropping-even-as-population-ages\/\" target=\"_blank\">are dropping as the country ages<\/a> but researchers don&#8217;t understand why.<\/li>\n<li>Why did many Canadian writers, including the ostensible feminist Margaret Atwood, <a href=\"https:\/\/thewalrus.ca\/writers-do-better\/\" target=\"_blank\">speak out in support of a professor fired for sexual harassment and bullying<\/a>? You can find <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/canada\/2016\/11\/16\/prominent-authors-face-backlash-over-letter-to-ubc-over-steven-galloway-firing.html\" target=\"_blank\">more details on the case and the backlash<\/a> in the <em>Toronto Star<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>FBI data show <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jta.org\/2016\/11\/14\/news-opinion\/united-states\/fbi-criminal-hate-crimes-against-jews-rose-by-9-percent-in-2015\" target=\"_blank\">a rise in hate crimes against Muslims and Jews in 2016<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Slate<\/em> argues that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/technology\/technology\/2016\/11\/the_problem_with_facebook_runs_much_deeper_than_fake_news.html\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook&#8217;s problem runs deeper than fake news<\/a>, which is that Facebook itself is a media company but Mark Zuckerberg won&#8217;t admit or accept it.<\/li>\n<li>Journalist and writer Farai Chideya has a long, thoughtful, somewhat rambling essay <a href=\"http:\/\/farai.com\/the-call-to-whiteness\/\" target=\"_blank\">on this year&#8217;s &#8220;call to whiteness,&#8221;<\/a> those who answered the call, and those who chose not to speak out against it.<\/li>\n<li>Trump won <a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/138754\/blame-trumps-victory-college-educated-whites-not-working-class\" target=\"_blank\">because college-educated whites supported him<\/a>. Ultimately, that is the question Democrats will have to answer: why they couldn&#8217;t capture a segment of the electorate that tends to be more liberal (higher education correlates with more liberal\/progressive political views). <\/li>\n<li>Trump reportedly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/blogs\/xx_factor\/2016\/11\/22\/trump_reportedly_assured_vaccine_skeptics_of_his_support_at_a_donor_event.html\" target=\"_blank\">pledged support to vaccine denialists at an event in August<\/a>, in case you weren&#8217;t sufficiently horrified yet.<\/li>\n<li>He also once asked a reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/tamerragriffin\/trump-asked-if-its-wrong-to-be-attracted-to-his-daughter?utm_term=.kxGX3VoWx#.qhwA8Byzo\" target=\"_blank\">if it was wrong to be more attracted to his 13-year-old daughter than to his wife<\/a>, in case you weren&#8217;t sufficiently horrified yet.<\/li>\n<li>This <em>Philly Daily News<\/em> op ed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philly.com\/philly\/blogs\/attytood\/How-Trump-plans-to-distract-America-to-its-death.html?mobi=true\" target=\"_blank\">explains how Trump &#038; Co. will distract America<\/a> while looting the country and breaking all manner of rules, in case you weren&#8217;t sufficiently horrified yet.<\/li>\n<li>Trump <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/donald-trump-personally-blasts-the-press\" target=\"_blank\">continues to piss and moan about press coverage of him<\/a>, including personally dressing down several reporters in a meeting last week, in case you weren&#8217;t sufficiently horrified yet. But at least <em>New York Times<\/em> columnist Charles Blow <a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2016\/11\/23\/opinion\/no-trump-we-cant-just-get-along.htm\" target=\"_blank\">called him out on it<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chris Crawford and I ranked and wrote up the top 30 prospects for the 2017 draft, with Vandy outfielder Jeren Kendall at #1. I also wrote posts for Insiders on the Segura\/Walker trade, on the Brett Cecil &#038; Andrew Cashner contracts and other moves, and on the Astros&#8217; moves last week. I also held 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":[903,190,889,776,870,807],"class_list":["post-5256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-food-waste","tag-links","tag-organic-agriculture","tag-physics","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256","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=5256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5257,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256\/revisions\/5257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}