{"id":6501,"date":"2018-03-31T10:18:08","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T14:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=6501"},"modified":"2018-03-31T10:18:08","modified_gmt":"2018-03-31T14:18:08","slug":"stick-to-baseball-3-31-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/31\/stick-to-baseball-3-31-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 3\/31\/18."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Three new Insider pieces since last week: My <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2IaIDa4\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">annual season predictions post<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2GxKCbn\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Grapefruit League scouting roundup<\/a> (including Phils, Tigers, O\u2019s, Rays, Pirates, and Atlanta prospects), and a <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2GbgvmR\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">draft blog post on three possible first rounders<\/a>. No chat this past week, as I\u2019m in North Carolina for the NHSI and am headed over to East Carolina today to see the two big bats for Wichita State.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2foenM8\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Smart Baseball<\/a><\/em> is now out in paperback, just in time to put one in every Easter basket you hand out this year.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the links&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Vox\u2019s Ezra Klein dissects <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2018\/3\/27\/15695060\/sam-harris-charles-murray-race-iq-forbidden-knowledge-podcast-bell-curve\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the insidious racism behind Sam Harris and Charles Murray\u2019s claims<\/a> that there are actual, inborn IQ differences between races. (There almost certainly aren\u2019t.) Harris, perhaps more widely known for his atheist writings and advocacy, responded by throwing a tantrum where he revealed private emails between him and Klein that revealed Harris himself to be by turns intransigent and an expert goalpost-mover.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Guardian<\/em>\u2019s long read of the week is by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2018\/mar\/27\/why-im-suing-over-my-dream-internship\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a woman suing over her \u201cdream\u201d internship<\/a> with the publication <em>Monocle<\/em> for unpaid wages.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Atlantic<\/em>, an intellectual literary magazine with a progressive tradition that dates back well over 100 years, <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2018\/03\/the-atlantics-bad-reasons-for-hiring-kevin-williamson.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hired alt-right troll Kevin Williamson<\/a>, who proposed hanging all women who\u2019d had abortions and referred to a black kid as 3\/5 of a person when he wasn\u2019t referring to the kid\u2019s \u201cprimate gestures.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>A Stoneman-Douglas student writes in the <em>NY Times<\/em> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/27\/opinion\/nikolas-cruz-shooting-florida.amp.html#click=https:\/\/t.co\/aZ3TJspCUw\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">her efforts to be kind to mass murderer Nicholas Cruz<\/a> did nothing to prevent him from shooting up the school.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Washington Post<\/em> reports that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/business\/wp\/2018\/03\/29\/feature\/trouble-in-candy-land-how-peeps-pensions-and-a-lawsuit-threaten-to-upend-the-american-retirement-system\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the maker of Peeps is trying to end its pension<\/a>, leading to a protracted fight with its union and an ongoing lawsuit.<\/li>\n<li>Senator James Lankford (R) of Oklahoma spoke to NPR of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2018\/02\/21\/587731730\/russian-trolls-are-flooding-social-media-with-messages-meant-to-increase-tension\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">continuing effort by Russian troll farms to sow dissent online<\/a> in the U.S., often by weighing in on both sides of hot-button issues.<\/li>\n<li>Indiana\u2019s Republican government appears to wish to emulate other states to its south, first with the anti-LGBT bill of a few years ago and now with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nwitimes.com\/news\/local\/govt-and-politics\/update-new-indiana-law-requires-all-doctors-to-quiz-women\/article_6250f5f9-b0a2-5e85-a5a8-f691ff6295bc.html#1\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a new bill that stigmatizes any woman who\u2019s had an abortion<\/a> and later reports any physical or psychological problems related to it. <\/li>\n<li>The plastic residues from take-out food containers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2017\/11\/takeaway-food-boxes-are-destroying-our-environment\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">are polluting the world\u2019s waterways<\/a>, as these single-use items don\u2019t biodegrade, but instead break down into smaller and smaller particles of plastic.<\/li>\n<li>More from the <em>Washington Post<\/em> &#8211; I subscribe, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in good journalism and current events &#8211; on how studies of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/speaking-of-science\/wp\/2018\/03\/27\/this-ancient-climate-catastrophe-is-our-best-clue-about-earths-future\/?utm_term=.b3132d9c9e71\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum<\/a> give researchers more evidence to fuel projections of the damage climate change will do to the earth.<\/li>\n<li>Two great baseball articles this week, both connected to Nats players and authored by the <em>Washington Post<\/em>\u2019s Chelsea Janes. The first is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/sports\/wp\/2018\/03\/28\/feature\/bryce-harper-is-about-to-step-into-the-storm-thats-been-brewing-his-entire-life\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a superb profile of Bryce Harper<\/a> as the young superstar begins his walk year before free agency. The second profiles <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/sports\/nationals\/sean-doolittle-and-eireann-dolan-may-be-baseballs-most-woke-couple\/2018\/03\/27\/646b32ca-2dda-11e8-8688-e053ba58f1e4_story.html?utm_term=.56f00a549684\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eireann Dolan and her husband Sean Doolittle<\/a>, calling them baseball\u2019s most \u2018woke\u2019 couple.<\/li>\n<li>Former New York Giants player Corey Widmer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bozemandailychronicle.com\/sports\/national\/collision-course\/article_97d61593-4be4-523a-9626-e2a7e09b2acd.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">withdrew his name from Montana Football Hall of Fame consideration<\/a> because of the sport\u2019s link to concussions and CTE.<\/li>\n<li>Two-time Top Chef alum Mike Isabella <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/economy\/celebrity-chef-mike-isabella-is-sued-for-extraordinary-sexual-harassment\/2018\/03\/19\/4cc47bf4-27a4-11e8-b79d-f3d931db7f68_story.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">is facing multiple sexual harassment accusations<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/failing-vision-screens-blindness\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Staring at tiny screens is ruining our eyes<\/a> \u2014 and perhaps also making us pay less attention than ever to the world around us.<\/li>\n<li>Facebook\u2019s ad-tracking scandal isn\u2019t just limited to that site; <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/doc\/2018\/03\/23\/nothing\/?utm_source=pocket&#038;utm_medium=email&#038;utm_campaign=pockethits\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Most online publishing relies on the technology<\/a>, even the outlets who are busy writing about Facebook\u2019s privacy \u2018problem.\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Cancer researchers discovered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/scientists-find-mini-gastrointestinal-tract-growing-inside-tumor\/?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_campaign=sa-editorial-social&#038;utm_content=&#038;utm_term=health_partner_&#038;sf185826502=1\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">lung tumors with rudimentary digestive tracts<\/a>, which probably isn\u2019t as terrifying as it sounds but would make a good starting point for a sci-fi\/horror film.<\/li>\n<li>Florida\u2019s legislature just can\u2019t stop making public education there worse, such as allowing creationism into classrooms and, now, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/florida-politics\/buzz\/2018\/03\/29\/more-than-a-talking-point-florida-lawmakers-spouses-on-new-charter-school-boards\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">through state lawmakers ignoring conflicts of interest<\/a> in pushing school choice laws. The swamp you want to drain may be in Tallahassee.<\/li>\n<li>My friend Kelly Swails, an author of fantasy and YA fiction, wrote about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shondaland.com\/live\/a19621102\/a-change-of-faith\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">changing her lifelong baseball rooting interest<\/a> as a result of love, life, and being in the right ballpark at the right time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three new Insider pieces since last week: My annual season predictions post, a Grapefruit League scouting roundup (including Phils, Tigers, O\u2019s, Rays, Pirates, and Atlanta prospects), and a draft blog post on three possible first rounders. No chat this past week, as I\u2019m in North Carolina for the NHSI and am headed over to East [&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":[49,828,113,190,992,870,442],"class_list":["post-6501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-baseball","tag-climate-change","tag-environment","tag-links","tag-privacy","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-top-chef","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501","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=6501"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6506,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501\/revisions\/6506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}