{"id":5645,"date":"2017-04-22T10:44:40","date_gmt":"2017-04-22T14:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=5645"},"modified":"2017-04-22T16:42:48","modified_gmt":"2017-04-22T20:42:48","slug":"stick-to-baseball-42217","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/22\/stick-to-baseball-42217\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 4\/22\/17."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Smart Baseball<\/em> comes out on Tuesday, so this is the last stick to baseball post before its official release. If you haven&#8217;t preordered yet, <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2foenM8\" target=\"_blank\">you can still do so here<\/a>, or by, you know, walking into a bookstore and asking them to preorder it for you. <\/p>\n<p>The media push for <em>Smart Baseball<\/em> has begun, with <a href=\"https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/5836292-poscast-with-keith-law\" target=\"_blank\">my hourlong chat with Joe Posnanski on his podcast<\/a>, including talk about the book, boardgames, and how Mike Schur is dead wrong about pies. The Baltimore County Public Library <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7uzwy7uk2o0\" target=\"_blank\">interviewed me about the book and asked about time management<\/a>. I also answered some questions in an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amny.com\/sports\/keith-law-espn-writer-takes-on-traditional-baseball-stats-1.13494306\" target=\"_blank\">interview for <em>AM New York<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I currently have signings\/appearances scheduled for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.undergroundarts.org\/event\/1426902-pitch-talks-speaker-series-philadelphia\/\" target=\"_blank\">Philadelphia<\/a> (May 8th), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.georgiacenterforthebook.org\/Events\/show.php?id=953\" target=\"_blank\">Atlanta<\/a> (May 16th), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moonpalacebooks.com\/event\/reading-and-discussion-keith-law-michael-fallon-and-peter-schilling\" target=\"_blank\">Minneapolis<\/a> (May 18th), Toronto (June 26th), and Miami (July 8th). There are a few more in the works, including a likely signing at GenCon in Indianapolis, but if you don&#8217;t see your city on there, contact your local bookstore and ask them to contact HarperCollins. It&#8217;ll depend on my travel schedule, of course, but I do have time for a few more of these.<\/p>\n<p>I wrote one draft blog post this week <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2pj98VG\" target=\"_blank\">on Vandy&#8217;s Kyle Wright and Jeren Kendall<\/a>, with notes on some Florida players as well. For <em>Paste<\/em>, I reviewed the epic boardgame <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2oQ4g9e\" target=\"_blank\">The Colonists<\/a>, which is actually a good game but punishingly intricate.<\/p>\n<p>As always, you can get even more Klaw by <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyletter.com\/keithlaw\" target=\"_blank\">signing up for my email newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the links&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The best longread of the week was the <em>Guardian<\/em>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tv-and-radio\/2017\/apr\/17\/harris-wittels-was-the-funniest-person-i-ever-met-amy-poehler-sarah-silverman-and-aziz-ansari-on-a-lost-comic-genius?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other\" target=\"_blank\">remembrance of comedian and writer Harris Wittels<\/a>, who coined the term &#8220;humblebrag&#8221; and was a writer on <em>Parks &#038; Recreation<\/em> who appeared a few times as Harris the idiot animal control guy.<\/li>\n<li>Also great if somewhat hard to swallow: <em>The Stranger<\/em>&#8216;s Ijeoma Oluo interviews <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestranger.com\/features\/2017\/04\/19\/25082450\/the-heart-of-whiteness-ijeoma-oluo-interviews-rachel-dolezal-the-white-woman-who-identifies-as-black\" target=\"_blank\">Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who says she &#8220;identifies&#8221; as black<\/a>, and comes off here as, to be kind, nuts.<\/li>\n<li>I also enjoyed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.themillions.com\/2017\/04\/afterlife-f-scott-fitzgerald.html\" target=\"_blank\">this look at F. Scott Fitzgerald and his unfinished novel <em>The Last Tycoon<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Worth remembering: in 2015, <em>Mother Jones<\/em> revealed that Bill O&#8217;Reilly <a href=\"http:\/\/m.motherjones.com\/politics\/2015\/02\/david-corn-response-oreilly-falklands\" target=\"_blank\">had lied about his experiences reporting on the Falkland Islands War<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>Most of the world&#8217;s greatest restaurants <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eater.com\/2017\/4\/13\/15265868\/restaurant-intern-staging-worlds-50-best\" target=\"_blank\">rely on unpaid labor in the form of &#8220;stagiaires,&#8221;<\/a> essentially interns who work grueling hours for no pay just to get the experience of working in a prestigious restaurant for an acclaimed chef.<\/li>\n<li>You probably saw the brouhaha over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2017-04-19\/silicon-valley-s-400-juicer-may-be-feeling-the-squeeze\" target=\"_blank\">the $400 Juicero juicer that can be replaced by a pair of hands<\/a>. Also worth pointing out: Juice isn&#8217;t that good for you, because you get all the sugar and none of the fiber.<\/li>\n<li>A licensed naturopathic &#8220;doctor&#8221; in California <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/brittmariehermes\/2017\/04\/10\/confirmed-licensed-naturopathic-doctor-gave-lethal-turmeric-injection\/#245d57a16326\" target=\"_blank\">killed a patient with an injection of turmeric<\/a>. Important lessons here: Turmeric is not a panacea \u2013 in fact, it probably <a href=\"http:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/turmeric-may-taste-good-its-not-cure-all-180961786\/\" target=\"_blank\">doesn&#8217;t work at all<\/a> \u2013 and naturopathy is bullshit.<\/li>\n<li>Anti-vax nutjobs are claiming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pastemagazine.com\/articles\/2017\/04\/the-anti-vaxx-movement-where-pseudoscience-and-abl.html\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Sesame Street<\/em> is &#8216;normalizing&#8217; autism by introducing a muppet character on the spectrum<\/a>. What the hell is wrong with these people?<\/li>\n<li>Herd immunity is a big part of why making sure everyone who can be vaccinated gets vaccinated is important. Here&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@gidmk\/herd-immunity-is-pretty-cool-adbc52630f9f\" target=\"_blank\">a post with some useful graphics showing why that matters<\/a>. You know parents who aren&#8217;t vaccinating? Don&#8217;t just avoid the subject. What they&#8217;re doing hurts their own kids and puts the whole community at risk.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/science\/2017\/04\/south-indian-frog-oozes-molecule-that-inexplicably-decimates-flu-viruses\/\" target=\"_blank\">Frog snot kills flu viruses<\/a>. Really, it does, at least if it&#8217;s from this one frog species found in South India (which I&#8217;m sure will die off soon <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2016\/09\/10\/493296149\/in-the-battle-to-save-frogs-scientists-fight-fungus-with-fungus\" target=\"_blank\">from chytrid disease<\/a> anyway).<\/li>\n<li>Alabama&#8217;s legislature voted <a href=\"http:\/\/www.montgomeryadvertiser.com\/story\/news\/politics\/southunionstreet\/2017\/04\/18\/senate-votes-end-concealed-carry-permit-requirements\/100608952\/\" target=\"_blank\">to repeal permit requirements for residents to carry concealed weapons<\/a> in the state. In a related story, I&#8217;ll skip the SEC tournament, held annually in Hoover, Alabama, this year, and will probably head to the ACC instead.<\/li>\n<li>If you live in Florida and believe that people convicted of nonviolent felonies should be allowed to vote after they have served their sentences, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridiansforafairdemocracy.com\/sign-the-petition\" target=\"_blank\">there&#8217;s a petition to get a question on the 2018 ballot to make that change<\/a>. Florida&#8217;s current rules are unusually draconian, and this amendment to the state&#8217;s constitution would still prohibit those convicted of murder or sex crimes from regaining their right to vote.<\/li>\n<li>An <em>LA Times<\/em> editorial claims the American right <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/hiltzik\/la-fi-hiltzik-carson-myth-20170206-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">is bringing back an old attack on Rachel Carson<\/a> that says her anti-DDT activism cost millions of people their lives, a response to a Paul Offit piece from <em>The Daily Beast<\/em> that I linked here a few weeks ago. Skeptical Raptor <a href=\"http:\/\/www.skepticalraptor.com\/skepticalraptorblog.php\/ddt-effects-paul-offit-record-straight\/\" target=\"_blank\">looks at this in much greater, evidence-based depth<\/a>, concluding that Offit&#8217;s take, that Carson&#8217;s writings and work had the unintended consequence of costing many people (mostly in developing countries) their lives, is largely accurate.<\/li>\n<li>Advances in technology mean <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2017\/01\/fake-news-technology\" target=\"_blank\">fake news is going to get worse<\/a>, with the potential arising for faked audio recordings and video clips.<\/li>\n<li><A href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/monkey-cage\/wp\/2017\/04\/17\/racism-motivated-trump-voters-more-than-authoritarianism-or-income-inequality\/?utm_term=.9e401c0995a2&#038;wpisrc=nl_most&#038;wpmm=1\" target=\"_blank\">Racism was a major motivation for Trump voters<\/a>, according to research by Ohio State assistant professor Thomas Wood.<\/li>\n<li>Trump&#8217;s appointments <a href=\"https:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2017\/04\/15\/us\/politics\/trump-appointees-potential-conflicts.html?_r=0&#038;referer=https:\/\/t.co\/sLtnsdKdkM\" target=\"_blank\">appear to be violating ethics rules left and right<\/a>, with &#8220;no transparency&#8221; on these hires and the elimination of a provision designed to limit such conflicts of interest.<\/li>\n<li>A new <em>Washington Post<\/em> poll found that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/plum-line\/wp\/2017\/04\/17\/this-brutal-new-poll-shows-that-fewer-and-fewer-people-believe-trumps-lies\/?utm_term=.3184e5069221&#038;wpisrc=nl_az_most&#038;wpmk=1\" target=\"_blank\">fewer people believe Trump&#8217;s lies, which may be a major reason <a href=\"http:\/\/nymag.com\/daily\/intelligencer\/2017\/04\/trump-is-making-the-gop-heinously-unpopular-again.html?mid=twitter-share-di\" target=\"_blank\">Trump is making the Republican party &#8220;heinously unpopular&#8221;<\/a> (according to <em>New York<\/em> magazine). But will it matter in 2018?<\/li>\n<li>Oklahoma, which is dealing with <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/in-oklahoma-earthquakes-and-lawsuits-keep-increasing-9e18eb91e3ca\" target=\"_blank\">earthquakes<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/fracking-aquifers-oklahoma-5c26a2f0c326\" target=\"_blank\">drinking water pollution<\/a> from fracking in the state, <a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/energy-environment\/329175-oklahoma-ends-wind-power-subsidy\" target=\"_blank\">ended a state subsidy on wind power generation four years before originally planned<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Historian Aaron O&#8217;Connell argues that <a href=\"http:\/\/one.npr.org\/?sharedMediaId=524654637:524654638\" target=\"_blank\">our ongoing efforts in Afghanistan are failing<\/a> (audio link), and that we&#8217;re losing &#8220;hearts and minds&#8221; in addition to losing ground to the Taliban. He has edited a new book of essays on the subject, called <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2ovz24x\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Our Latest Longest War<\/em><\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>The Pacific Island nation of Palau <a href=\"http:\/\/news.nationalgeographic.com\/2017\/03\/palau-marine-protected-area-ocean-fish\/\" target=\"_blank\">is seeing clear, positive results from establishing an offshore marine sanctuary<\/a> to restore the declining ecosystem in its waters. The irony of this is that Palau was previously a U.S. Trust Territory, becoming independent in 1994, and had that not happened their environmental efforts would likely be undergoing a reversal now (probably death by funding cuts) under our current Administration.<\/li>\n<li>Comedian Ian Abramson did a standup set on Conan <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vulture.com\/2017\/04\/a-truly-insane-possibly-dangerous-late-night-stand-up-set.html\" target=\"_blank\">while wearing a dog&#8217;s shock collar<\/a>, with an audience member holding the control. I&#8217;m including it because 1) the idea itself is kind of funny and 2) there&#8217;s a hilarious math joke in the set.<\/li>\n<li>Extra Crispy tells us <a href=\"http:\/\/www.extracrispy.com\/food\/2595\/where-to-get-a-great-croissant-in-15-cities\" target=\"_blank\">where to get a great croissant in fifteen US cities<\/a>. This is very important information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smart Baseball comes out on Tuesday, so this is the last stick to baseball post before its official release. If you haven&#8217;t preordered yet, you can still do so here, or by, you know, walking into a bookstore and asking them to preorder it for you. The media push for Smart Baseball has begun, with [&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":[934,113,416,190,870,807],"class_list":["post-5645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-appearances","tag-environment","tag-fitzgerald","tag-links","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5645","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=5645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5647,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5645\/revisions\/5647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}