{"id":6774,"date":"2018-07-21T10:28:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-21T14:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=6774"},"modified":"2018-07-21T10:28:31","modified_gmt":"2018-07-21T14:28:31","slug":"stick-to-baseball-7-21-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/21\/stick-to-baseball-7-21-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 7\/21\/21."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For Insiders this week, I updated <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2Nt4SLf\" target=\"_blank\">my ranking of the top 50 prospects in the minors<\/a> and posted analyses of <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2LoSmig\" target=\"_blank\">the Manny Machado trade<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2Loh6Ht\" target=\"_blank\">the Brad Hand\/Francisco Mejia trade<\/a>. I also held a <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2JA5xZ2\" target=\"_blank\">Klawchat<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>My next game review for <em>Paste<\/em> will go up next week; this week I reviewed <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2uKj8re\" target=\"_blank\">the app version of Istanbul<\/a>, a great strategic game of pathfinding and set collection, here on the dish.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll be at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverunicornbooks.com\/\/?q=h.calevent&#038;eid=3092\" target=\"_blank\">the Silver Unicorn Bookstore in Acton, Massachusetts, on July 28th at 1 pm<\/a> to talk <em>Smart Baseball<\/em> and sign copies. <\/p>\n<p>And now, the links\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Before I hit the longreads, I want to highlight this editorial from <em>The Daily Barometer<\/em>, a student-run newspaper at Oregon State, which states what probably should have been obvious all along: &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.orangemedianetwork.com\/what-idolizing-luke-heimlich-says-about-the-osu-community\/article_b873f3c8-88b8-11e8-9207-a37951c8be73.html\" target=\"_blank\">OSU supporters who cheered Luke Heimlich have embarrassed the entire community<\/a>.&#8221; It placed winning baseball games over believing the words of a sexual assault victim and over the impact of the trauma that Heimlich caused. I wish this had run a few months ago, but I am proud to see OSU students put this message out there themselves, knowing the backlash they&#8217;ll likely receive for doing so.<\/li>\n<li>OK, longreads: Popula&#8217;s Maria Bustillos has <a href=\"https:\/\/popula.com\/2018\/07\/15\/bourdain-confidential\/\" target=\"_blank\">the last great interview with Anthony Bourdain<\/a>, a wide-ranging piece that runs over 10,000 words. Their argument over Obama&#8217;s tenure and legacy is outstanding. There are so many wonderful quotes in here, but I&#8217;ll pick just one: &#8220;We live in a world where we cannot, if you\u2019re running for political office, you cannot admit to speaking a second language, extensive travel, or a familiarity with arugula.&#8221; Maybe that&#8217;s why our dear leader nicknamed the North Korean dictator &#8220;Rocket Man?&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>There will be no Nobel Prize in Literature this year in the wake of a scandal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2018\/jul\/17\/the-ugly-scandal-that-cancelled-the-nobel-prize-in-literature\" target=\"_blank\">involving a serial sexual abuser married to an Academy member, where the two of them also misused Academy funds<\/a>. Eighteen women spoke about against him, two accusing him of rape. Resignations of other members in protest left the Academy without a quorum for its vote on the candidates for this year&#8217;s honor. The story is one of men protecting men, but also symptomatic of the rot of small institutions that operate without oversight.<\/li>\n<li>You&#8217;ve probably seen this already, but just in case: Mina Kimes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/espnw\/feature\/24078028\/olympian-aly-raisman-change-way-our-society-views-women?sf193896385=1\" target=\"_blank\">spoke at length to Aly Raisman<\/a> about the gymnast&#8217;s vault to prominence as a forceful advocate for sexual assault victims and for change in the corrupt hierarchy of U.S.A. gymnastics.<\/li>\n<li>Anti-wolf activists <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/05\/magazine\/whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-wolf-scientist.html\" target=\"_blank\">ruined the career of a tenured professor who researched the canines&#8217; habits and pushed for conservation efforts<\/a>, including extorting his employer, Washington State, by threatening to withhold state funding for a new medical school on campus.<\/li>\n<li>George Will&#8217;s op ed&#8217;s title sums up its message: &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/this-sad-embarrassing-wreck-of-a-man\/2018\/07\/17\/d06de8ea-89e8-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html?utm_term=.364d29686c43\" target=\"_blank\">This sad, embarrassing wreck of a man<\/a>&#8221; who is now our President.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Guardian<\/em> also ran an excerpt from Michiko Kakutani&#8217;s forthcoming book <em>The Death of Truth<\/em>, in which she argues that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2018\/jul\/14\/the-death-of-truth-how-we-gave-up-on-facts-and-ended-up-with-trump\" target=\"_blank\">&#8216;truth decay&#8217; and alternative facts gave us Trump and are eroding our democracy<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>I enjoyed the <em>Atlantic<\/em>&#8216;s piece calling this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2018\/07\/moment-of-decision\/565289\/\" target=\"_blank\">the &#8220;moment of truth&#8221; for Republicans<\/a> as if there was a damned chance in hell of any of them stepping out of line to criticize their dear leader.<\/li>\n<li>And why would they, when <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/the-supreme-court-and-the-coming-voting-rights-apocalypse-f0f0b2a069d1\/\" Target=\"_blank\">the Supreme Court nominee they&#8217;re about to confirm promises to roll back voting rights sixty years<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>Actually, one Republican found a backbone here: Will Hurd, a Republican House member from Texas, wrote a searing op ed for the <em>New York Times<\/em> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/19\/opinion\/trump-russia-putin-republican-congress.html\" target=\"_blank\">Russia is manipulating the President<\/a>, calling for Congress to act to protect our interests.<\/li>\n<li>Another Republican Congressman broke with Administration on the issue of net neutrality, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/a-house-republican-joins-the-fight-to-save-net-neutrality?mbid=social_twitter\" target=\"_blank\">Colorado&#8217;s Mike Coffman signed a petition to force a vote<\/a> on legislation to reverse the FCC&#8217;s giant gift to the telecom industry.<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, current Minnesota Congressman Jason Lewis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/07\/20\/politics\/kfile-jason-lewis-racial-comments\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">said African-Americans have a &#8220;cultural&#8221; problem and an &#8220;entitlement mentality&#8221;<\/a> on a previous radio show where he pushed the idea of a race war.<\/li>\n<li>The Treasury <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2018\/07\/17\/treasury-nonprofit-donor-disclosures-690200\" target=\"_blank\">will no longer collect information on large donations to 501(c) nonprofits<\/a>, meaning &#8216;dark&#8217; money can flow unimpeded to political groups. &#8220;The news was well-received among conservative groups and congressional Republicans,&#8221; whom I&#8217;m sure have nothing at all they&#8217;d like to hide now that they can do so without fear of disclosure.<\/li>\n<li>There&#8217;s scant good news on the rationalist front, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/science-backed-congressional-candidates-rack-up-wins-and-losses1\/\" target=\"_blank\">some scientists running for office have fared well in elections this year<\/a>. Hiral Tipirneni nearly won a special election in a crimson-red district in Arizona this spring, and she is running for the same seat again in November.<\/li>\n<li>A new investigative paper published in <em>JAMA<\/em> found that <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jamainternalmedicine\/article-abstract\/2687528\" target=\"_blank\">the poor quality of sleep received by hospital patients slows their healing<\/a>, so stop waking them up for routine tests that might not be necessary for all patients.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/technology\/2018\/07\/should-lab-grown-meat-be-called-meat.html\" target=\"_blank\">Should lab-grown meat be labelled as meat?<\/a> It&#8217;s biochemically identical to meat that came from an animal&#8217;s carcass, but is cultured and grown in a lab, obviating some ethical and environmental concerns. Of course, the meat manufacturing and processing industries are trying an end run around the technology, hoping to ban those products from calling themselves &#8216;meat,&#8217; rather than, you know, telling consumers what the product is and letting the market decide.<\/li>\n<li>Wild optimism over CRISPR-based therapy has been slapped with several large charges on its latest reality bill, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/potential-dna-damage-from-crispr-seriously-underestimated-study-finds\/?sf193784974=1\" target=\"_blank\">potential long-term DNA damage to patients<\/a>, some of which could lead to cancer.<\/li>\n<li>CNN got played by a pseudoscience-pushing conspiracy theorist <a href=\"https:\/\/sciencebasedmedicine.org\/bad-faith-when-conspiracy-theorists-play-academics-and-the-media-for-fools\/\" target=\"_blank\">who claimed on air that cell phones cause cancer \u2013 but didn&#8217;t disclose his conflict of interest<\/a>, working for a company that sells equipment to &#8220;protect&#8221; people from such radiation.<\/li>\n<li>An arcane type of numbers called octonions (beyond real and complex numbers) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quantamagazine.org\/the-octonion-math-that-could-underpin-physics-20180720\/\" target=\"_blank\">may provide the unifying math behind the Standard Model of Physics<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>No one can quite explain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/15\/technology\/amazon-used-paperback-book-pricing.html\" target=\"_blank\">those $2000-plus used book prices on amazon<\/a>, charged by third-party sellers with murky identities.<\/li>\n<li>Eritrea and Ethiopia have signed a peace deal promising to end their pointless, twenty-year border war, giving hope that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-africa-44848184\" target=\"_blank\">democracy may finally come to Eritrea<\/a>, Africa&#8217;s last true one-party state.<\/li>\n<li>Every time I bring up offensive team nicknames like those of the baseball teams in Cleveland or Atlanta or the football team in Washington, some chud shows up with a &#8220;What about Notre Dame?&#8221; Here&#8217;s a well-written editorial from Irish news site The Journal <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thejournal.ie\/readme\/notre-dame-fighting-irish-3827716-Feb2018\/\" target=\"_blank\">that explains why the analogy isn&#8217;t just wrong, but ignorant of history<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>r\/Dodgers has solved <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Dodgers\/comments\/8zgki7\/kik%C3%A9_hernandez_and_the_case_of_the_extra_tight\/\" target=\"_blank\">the mystery of Kik\u00e9 Hernandez&#8217;s (tight) pants<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Alan Sepinwall <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/tv\/tv-reviews\/who-is-america-tv-review-698440\/\" target=\"_blank\">reviewed Sacha Baron Cohen&#8217;s new show<\/a> and says it&#8217;s about 15 years out of date with its conceit of trying to shock the audience by what victims of his pranks will say or do.<\/li>\n<li>Your brain is always looking for problems to solve, so when problems become a bit scarce, <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/why-your-brain-never-runs-out-of-problems-to-find-98990\" target=\"_blank\">it can try to find problems where there are none<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Eagle-Gryphon published a Kickstarter for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/eaglegryphon\/escape-plan-by-vital-lacerda-with-artwork-by-ian-o?utm_source=Eagle-Gryphon+Customers&#038;utm_campaign=ea962f5962-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_09_18_COPY_01&#038;utm_medium=email&#038;utm_term=0_856162b785-ea962f5962-161341581\" target=\"_blank\">Escape Plan, a new game from Vital Lacerda<\/a>, known for overlong, complex games like Lisboa.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Insiders this week, I updated my ranking of the top 50 prospects in the minors and posted analyses of the Manny Machado trade and the Brad Hand\/Francisco Mejia trade. I also held a Klawchat on Thursday. My next game review for Paste will go up next week; this week I reviewed the app version [&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":[582,190,553,971,224,256,799,870],"class_list":["post-6774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-board-games","tag-links","tag-math","tag-metoo","tag-nobel-prize","tag-racism","tag-science","tag-stick-to-baseball","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6774","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=6774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6775,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6774\/revisions\/6775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}