{"id":6143,"date":"2017-11-11T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-11T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=6143"},"modified":"2017-11-10T22:05:16","modified_gmt":"2017-11-11T03:05:16","slug":"stick-to-baseball-111117","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/11\/stick-to-baseball-111117\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 11\/11\/17."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I have a new boardgame review at <em>Paste<\/em>, covering <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2hhPtPR\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the card-drafting game Skyward<\/a>. I also had two Insider posts go up earlier this week, one previewing <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2hcNeNA\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">some potential offseason trade targets<\/a>, the other ranking <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2hKWF7Q\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the top 50 free agents<\/a> this winter. And I held a <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2hXhz3t\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Klawchat<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Feel free to sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyletter.com\/keithlaw\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">my free email newsletter<\/a>, which I send out &#8230; I guess whenever I feel like it. I aim for once a week, although I&#8217;ve gone as long as two weeks between issues when I haven&#8217;t had much to say. You can see past issues at that link.<\/p>\n<p>Also, don&#8217;t forget to buy copies of <em><a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2foenM8\" target=\"_blank\">Smart Baseball<\/a><\/em> for everyone on your Christmas list! Except for infants. They might eat the pages. Get them the <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2hqKK2a\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">audiobook<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the links&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Longreads: You probably saw this remarkable <em>New Yorker<\/em> piece by Ronan Farrow on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/harvey-weinsteins-army-of-spies\" target=\"_blank\">how Harvey Weinstein used PIs and former spies to track and harass his accusers<\/a>. If he could do that, think of the other rich, powerful men who stand accused (or have yet to be accused) of sexual harassment and assaults, including a former president and a current one both accused of similar acts. They&#8217;ve probably done it too.<\/li>\n<li>This 2015 piece from the <em>Guardian<\/em> details a failed effort <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2015\/nov\/11\/the-bizarre-scheme-to-transform-a-remote-island-into-new-dubai-comoros\" target=\"_blank\">to turn the Comoros into a citizenship-for-sale destination for Bidoon<\/a>, stateless Arabs living in wealthy countries without actual citizenship or even documentation. The Comoros are a desperately poor island country between Madagascar and mainland Africa, beset by repeated coups since they became independent of colonial France in 1975. Needless to say, the plan didn&#8217;t work out well for the the tiny nation.<\/li>\n<li>ProPublica details <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/cheap-tricks-the-low-cost-of-internet-harassment\" target=\"_blank\">how right-wing trolls harassed three of its reporters via low-cost methods<\/a> like filling their inboxes with subscriptions to newsletters.<\/li>\n<li>James Bridle went very long on <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@jamesbridle\/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2\" target=\"_blank\">algorithm-driven kids&#8217; videos on Youtube<\/a> and more, arguing that such pablum is damaging our kids. (I would also suggest that parents not give their kids unfettered access to any part of the Internet, but that&#8217;s just me.)<\/li>\n<li><em>Scientific American<\/em> gives us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/more-guns-do-not-stop-more-crimes-evidence-shows\/\" target=\"_blank\">Journey to Gunland, on how more guns do not mean less crime<\/a>, even though many Americans believe the opposite. The more guns in a state, the more violent crimes, including shootings and rapes. They also ran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/more-guns-mean-more-violent-crime-or-less-a-researcher-aims-at-scientific-american1\/\" target=\"_blank\">a rebuttal from a pro-gun social scientist they mentioned<\/a>, and then (scroll down from there) a rejoinder from the original author.<\/li>\n<li>Are American private colleges and universities <a href=\"https:\/\/harvardmagazine.com\/2017\/11\/american-colleges-inequality\" target=\"_blank\">making inequality worse<\/a> as tuition increases and income gaps in the population of potential students grow?<\/li>\n<li>Roy Moore, who believes gays should be jailed or killed and Muslims banned from Congress, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/investigations\/woman-says-roy-moore-initiated-sexual-encounter-when-she-was-14-he-was-32\/2017\/11\/09\/1f495878-c293-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in 1979<\/a> and behaved inappropriately with several other women in their teens. Several leading Republicans called on Moore to withdraw from the Senate race <a href=\"http:\/\/www.al.com\/news\/index.ssf\/2017\/11\/mcconnell_other_gop_senators_c.html#incart_big-photo\" target=\"_blank\">if the allegations are true<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>David French of the <em>National Review<\/em> cautions conservatives <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/article\/453610\/roy-moore-sexual-misconduct-allegations-shouldnt-be-dismissed-conservatives\" target=\"_blank\">not to dismiss or ignore the allegations<\/a>. David Leonhardt writes in the <em>New York Times<\/em> about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/10\/opinion\/roy-moore-republicans.html?_r=1\" target=\"_blank\">the cowardice of the &#8220;if true&#8221; admonitions<\/a>, which leave the speakers a perfect out.<\/li>\n<li>Utah Representative Rob Bishop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/energy-environment\/wp\/2017\/11\/05\/powerful-lawmaker-wants-to-invalidate-the-endangered-species-act-hes-getting-close\/?tid=ss_tw&#038;utm_term=.30a530cf75f5\" target=\"_blank\">is close to his goal of &#8220;invalidating&#8221; the Endangered Species Act<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Trump&#8217;s voter &#8220;fraud&#8221; commission, which is itself based on a fraudulent premise that pervasive voter fraud exists, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/trump-voter-fraud-commission-dunlap-lawsuit\" target=\"_blank\">has been sued by one of its members<\/a>, alleging violation of transparency laws and other malfeasance by the Republican members.<\/li>\n<li>A Trump nominee for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench who was unanimously ranked &#8220;not qualified&#8221; by the American Bar Association <a href=\"http:\/\/beta.latimes.com\/politics\/la-na-pol-trump-judge-20171110-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">was approved in a party-line vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee<\/a> this week. The judge referred on his blog to &#8220;Hillary Rotten Clinton&#8221; last year and pledged support for the NRA. If you have a Republican Senator from your state, this would be yet another good reason to call and ask him\/her to vote against Talley&#8217;s confirmation from the full body.<\/li>\n<li>The swamp is so swampy that minor imbroglios like, say, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/danalexander\/2017\/11\/07\/the-case-of-wilbur-ross-phantom-2-billion\/#6ea89c197515\" target=\"_blank\">Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross lying about $2 billion in personal wealth<\/a> just sort of slip under the radar.<\/li>\n<li>They did, however, force one unqualified nominee to withdraw: Michigan state legislator Tim Kelly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2017\/11\/09\/trump-administration-nominee-muslim-air-travel-244756\" target=\"_blank\">has his nomination pulled after it was revealed he wanted all Muslims banned from air travel<\/a>. He&#8217;s also said that women aren&#8217;t interested in STEM careers, and efforts to encourage girls to pursue such careers are a waste of money. This leaves unanswered the question of what the hell his home district in Michigan is thinking.<\/li>\n<li>One of my Senators, Chris Coons, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2017\/11\/08\/senator-seeks-explanation-for-career-us-prosecutors-abrupt-resignation.html\" target=\"_blank\">is demanding an explanation for the &#8216;resignation&#8217; of U.S. Attorney Dana Boente<\/a> just days before Robert Mueller announced the first criminal charges in his investigation of the President&#8217;s campaign ties to Russia. Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked for Boente&#8217;s resignation in late October.<\/li>\n<li>A <em>Kansas City Star<\/em> investigation <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kansascity.com\/news\/politics-government\/article183205526.html\" target=\"_blank\">led Antonio &#8220;Rico&#8221; Soave to end his campaign for Congress<\/a>, as the story uncovered multiple instances of graft while Soave was the state&#8217;s Commerce Secretary \u2013 and forced Kansas Governor Sam Brownback to admit he&#8217;d fired Soave in June.<\/li>\n<li>A fungus called coffee rust <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/story\/20171106-the-disease-that-could-change-how-we-drink-coffee\" target=\"_blank\">threatens the world&#8217;s <em>arabica<\/em> crop<\/a>, exacerbated by climate change that extends the fungus&#8217; active season.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/isaresource.com\/2017\/05\/17\/climate-change-already-killing-farm-workers-around-world\/\" target=\"_blank\">Climate change is killing farm workers around the world<\/a>, contributing to the rise of a deadly kidney disease or disorder of unknown cause. I heard about this from a reader who saw in my email newsletter that I like Flor de Ca\u00f1a rum; he mentioned to me that working conditions for their sugar harvesters are abysmal, and they&#8217;ve had a rash of deaths due to this disorder.<\/li>\n<li>Also from the <em>Guardian<\/em>, those supposedly financially disciplined folks in Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2017\/nov\/05\/donald-trump-accused-blocking-satellite-climate-change-research\" target=\"_blank\">destroyed an expensive Arctic ice probe rather than pay to store it<\/a> \u2026 because the probe would facilitate research on climate change. You read that right: They threw away a major investment because they didn&#8217;t want further proof we are warming the planet.<\/li>\n<li>Louis C.K.&#8217;s film <em>I Love You, Daddy<\/em> has been pulled from distribution before its release due to revelations of his past sexual harassment of women. Meanwhile, Mel Gibson&#8217;s latest movie is out in theaters, <a href=\"http:\/\/flavorwire.com\/611280\/five-fun-facts-about-daddys-home-2-co-star-mel-gibson\" target=\"_blank\">even though he&#8217;s a pretty terrible human being too<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Paste<\/em> calls on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pastemagazine.com\/articles\/2017\/11\/every-comedian-repped-by-3-arts-has-the-power-to-g.html\" target=\"_blank\">all comedians repped by 3 Arts&#8217; Dave Becky to drop him as their manager<\/a>, as he is accused of facilitating Louis C.K.&#8217;s sexual harassment of other comedians.<\/li>\n<li>Tom Colicchio wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@tcolicchio\/an-open-letter-to-male-chefs-742ca722e8f2\" target=\"_blank\">a widely-praised open letter to male chefs<\/a> urging them to do more to change the culture of restaurant kitchens, which he argues accept harassment as standard operating procedure and thus stymie the efforts of young female (or, I&#8217;d imagine, LGBT or nonbinary) chefs to advance in the industry.<\/li>\n<li>Some baseball links: Fangraphs&#8217; Jeff Sullivan asks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fangraphs.com\/blogs\/pitch-framing-data-is-going-insane\/\" target=\"_blank\">if the pitch-framing market efficiency is closing<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Baseball America<\/em>&#8216;s Teddy Cahill looks at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/college\/early-commitments-raise-concerns\/\" target=\"_blank\">increasingly early college commitments from teenaged players<\/a>, a practice everyone dislikes but no one wants to address.<\/li>\n<li>Lindsey Adler (at Deadspin) had the best piece I saw on <a href=\"https:\/\/deadspin.com\/teen-girl-posed-for-8-years-as-married-man-to-write-abo-1820305588\" target=\"_blank\">the Baseball Prospectus writer who didn&#8217;t exist<\/a>. Ryan Schultz was the online persona of a girl, who started the act at age 13 and is now 21, who catfished numerous readers and writers via social media and later multiple sites.<\/li>\n<li>Mike Tanier writes on Bleacher Report that <a href=\"http:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/2742242?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion\" target=\"_blank\">the NFL has passed the point of no return with Colin Kaepernick<\/a> as teams give quarterback jobs to vagrants grabbed off the streets rather than call the principled former 49er.<\/li>\n<li>The World Health Organization is now advising farmers <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/5013230\/world-health-organization-antibiotics-animals\/\" target=\"_blank\">to avoid using antibiotics in healthy animals<\/a>, given the practice&#8217;s contribution to the evolution and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.<\/li>\n<li>Why hasn&#8217;t California <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-vaccine-doctors-20171106-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\">cracked down on anti-vaccination doctors<\/a>? These quacks are exploiting &#8220;medical exemptions&#8221; rules, but so far, none has been charged with any form of fraud. If you live there, call your state rep or senator to demand real action on this, before there&#8217;s another measles outbreak.<\/li>\n<li>There&#8217;s a new shingles vaccines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/the-latest-shingles-vaccine-could-make-immune-responses-better-with-age\" target=\"_blank\">that is vastly more effective in older patients than any previous vaccine<\/a>. It uses a new type of adjuvant that might change how vaccines, especially those for patients over 50, are developed.<\/li>\n<li>Michigan Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/us\/michigan-bills-would-allow-concealed-guns-in-schools-churches\/ar-BBEJBH1\" target=\"_blank\">are pushing forward bills to allow concealed carry in churches and schools<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Cincinnati politicians <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cincinnati.com\/story\/sports\/soccer\/fc-cincinnati\/2017\/11\/08\/oakley-community-council-votes-favor-fc-cincinnati-stadium\/846783001\/\" target=\"_blank\">are trying to gift FC Cincinnati team owners with a publicly-funded stadium<\/a> in the town&#8217;s Oakley neighborhood. Call your local reps and tell them you know what a colossal waste this is.<\/li>\n<li>I agree with President Trump! <A href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/trump-scientology-tax-exemption_us_5a04dd35e4b05673aa584cab\" target=\"_blank\">The federal government needs to revoke the Church of Scientology&#8217;s tax-exempt status<\/a>. It&#8217;s a real-estate holding company running a long con on members, and harassed its way into this status in the first place.<\/li>\n<li>Is <a href=\"http:\/\/marketwatchmag.com\/vermouths-revival\/\" target=\"_blank\">vermouth making a comeback<\/a>? Sales are on the rise, largely due to the wine&#8217;s use in certain cocktails, like the Negroni and the Manhattan, which are seeing revivals as well.<\/li>\n<li>A Macallan 1878 bottle reported to be worth $300,000 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespiritsbusiness.com\/2017\/11\/dram-worth-7700-outed-as-a-fake\/\" target=\"_blank\">has been exposed as a fake<\/a>, likely produced between 1970 and 1972.<\/li>\n<li>Astronomers have discovered <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-41916738\" target=\"_blank\">the first known star to survive a supernova<\/a>, eventually exploding five separate times over a two-year period.<\/li>\n<li>Mental floss looks at <a href=\"http:\/\/mentalfloss.com\/article\/501147\/retrobituaries-karen-wetterhahn-chemist-whose-poisoning-death-changed-safety\" target=\"_blank\">how the death of a chemist in 1996 changed how labs handle dangerous chemicals<\/a> forever.<\/li>\n<li>Five tips for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.quickanddirtytips.com\/health-fitness\/medical-conditions\/childrens-health\/5-easy-ways-to-help-your-anxious-child-and-your?utm_source=sciam&#038;utm_campaign=sciam\" target=\"_blank\">helping your anxious child (or yourself)<\/a>. They check out for me at least.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.damemagazine.com\/2017\/10\/16\/anti-abortion-movement-killing-it-twitter\" target=\"_blank\">Anti-abortion activists are very successful on Twitter<\/a>, says a pro-choice writer for <em>DAME<\/em> magazine. Much of what she describes here, like hashtag hijacking, reflects a flaw in the machine, exploited well by one side.<\/li>\n<li>Necessity breeds invention: Food shortages in North Korea <a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/1119762\/the-black-market-street-food-thats-keeping-many-north-koreans-alive\/\" target=\"_blank\">have boosted a black market in privation foodstuffs<\/a>, many of which are made from soybeans.<\/li>\n<li>The 7 Wonders app, in development for at least two full years, <a href=\"http:\/\/statelyplay.com\/2017\/11\/08\/watch-the-skies-for-locusts-7-wonders-is-actually-coming\/\" target=\"_blank\">will be released for iOS this Tuesday, November 14th<\/a>, with an Android release coming on December 20th.<\/li>\n<li>An English reporter who happens to be black interviewed white supremacist Richard Spencer on camera, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AmarAmarasingam\/status\/927908900174778369\" target=\"_blank\">and he let the racist show his true colors<\/a>. If anything, I wish Younge had let Spencer keep talking; he&#8217;s hardly the well-groomed intellectual he pretends to be.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have a new boardgame review at Paste, covering the card-drafting game Skyward. I also had two Insider posts go up earlier this week, one previewing some potential offseason trade targets, the other ranking the top 50 free agents this winter. And I held a Klawchat on Thursday. Feel free to sign up for my [&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":[423,741,49,76,828,84,131,190,961,438,870,940,807],"class_list":["post-6143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alcohol","tag-anxiety","tag-baseball","tag-chemistry","tag-climate-change","tag-coffee","tag-food-safety","tag-links","tag-longreads","tag-rum","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-the-swamp","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6143","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=6143"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6145,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6143\/revisions\/6145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}