{"id":7495,"date":"2019-03-09T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=7495"},"modified":"2019-03-09T15:00:30","modified_gmt":"2019-03-09T20:00:30","slug":"stick-to-baseball-3-9-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/09\/stick-to-baseball-3-9-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 3\/9\/19."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>No new ESPN+ content this week, but that will change now that I&#8217;m in Florida to see a little spring training and at least two potential first-rounders while I&#8217;m here. I did hold a <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/2C7GqvA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Klawchat<\/a> on Thursday and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/keithlaw\/status\/1104083300400848896\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a Periscope video chat<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>I sent out the latest edition of my free email newsletter on Friday, this time discussing a hypothesis I have on how some teams handle low-ceiling teenaged prospects; you can <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyletter.com\/keithlaw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sign up here<\/a> and maybe I&#8217;ll send you something too.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the links\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Longreads first: I have four pieces in this week&#8217;s roundup from the <em>New Yorker<\/em>, including two longreads. I subscribe to their site \u2013 I signed up right after I cancelled my <em>New York Times<\/em> subscription \u2013 and, if you have the disposable income, I recommend it. The first is Jane Mayer&#8217;s incredible, horrifying piece on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2019\/03\/11\/the-making-of-the-fox-news-white-house\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the transformation of Fox News into a Trump propaganda network<\/a>, the closest thing we&#8217;ve ever had to state TV in this country.<\/li>\n<li>The second longread <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2019\/03\/11\/the-female-chef-making-japans-most-elaborate-cuisine-her-own\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">profiles <em>kaiseki<\/em> chef Niki Nakayama<\/a>, a pioneer here in a niche cuisine dominated by men.<\/li>\n<li>Ben Lindbergh and Rob Arthur received a large file of thousands of scouting reports from the Cincinnati Reds from 1991 to 2003 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theringer.com\/mlb\/2019\/3\/4\/18249155\/cincinnati-reds-scouting-report-series-part-1-data-findings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote up some of what they found<\/a> from global analysis and looking at specific players in a three-part series. I&#8217;m quoted several times in the first piece, but I will mention again that I&#8217;m a little uncomfortable with this information, which is outdated but would still be classified as trade secrets, getting out to the public.<\/li>\n<li>The Verge looks at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2019\/3\/5\/18147216\/eugene-gu-twitter-social-justice-activism-abuse-sexual-assault\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">popular Twitter user &amp; activist Dr. Eugene Gu<\/a>, who has been accused of sexual assault and of misrepresenting portions of his resume.<\/li>\n<li>There&#8217;s been a lot of very bad writing in the last week over Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and her comments on Israel and AIPAC. I thought this Politico piece <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/magazine\/story\/2019\/03\/08\/ilhan-omar-dean-phillips-minnesota-democratic-party-225696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contrasting Omar&#8217;s place on the policy continuum with that of fellow Rep. Dean Phillips<\/a>, who represents a district that borders on Omar&#8217;s, was one of the few good pieces. Omar ended up in the news again for her candid comments on President Obama&#8217;s tenure, including his decision to continue the drone strike program started by his predecessor, and for her comments that questioned whether some people have &#8220;allegiance&#8221; to Israel, the latter being taken completely out of context and used as more evidence of anti-Semitism. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.codepink.org\/transcript_ilhan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">It&#8217;s not, as you can see from this transcript of her remarks<\/a>. AIPAC is a powerful lobbying group, and AIPAC is not Israel is not Judaism.<\/li>\n<li>A Florida massage parlor owner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/politics\/2019\/03\/a-florida-massage-parlor-owner-has-been-selling-chinese-execs-access-to-trump-at-mar-a-lago\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has been selling access to President Trump<\/a> at Mar-a-Lago. I&#8217;m not sure how this isn&#8217;t a bigger story.<\/li>\n<li>The framing here isn&#8217;t great but this <em>New Yorker<\/em> piece on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/science\/elements\/the-other-kind-of-climate-denialism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the risk that we become so overwhelmed by climate change&#8217;s dangers that we give up<\/a> is still worth a read. I haven&#8217;t run into this sentiment anywhere online or in the real world, at least not yet.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>New Yorker<\/em>&#8216;s Masha Green looks at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/our-columnists\/why-measles-is-a-quintessential-political-issue-of-our-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">why measles is &#8220;a quintessential political issue&#8221; of 2019<\/a>, drawing parallels to Michael Cohen&#8217;s testimony while excoriating our public-health system.<\/li>\n<li>Dorit Reiss writes in the <em>San Francisco Chronicle<\/em> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/opinion\/openforum\/article\/Open-Forum-Don-t-vaccinate-Then-pay-for-the-13671172.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">non-vaccinating parents should be liable for damages<\/a> when their kids start outbreaks. This would put a stop to some vaccine refusals \u2013 plenty of wealthy or high-income parents are vaccine deniers, too \u2013 but even marginal increases in vaccination rates will boost herd immunity.<\/li>\n<li>For example, many of you already saw the story of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/health\/2019\/03\/unvaccinated-oregon-boy-6-nearly-dies-of-tetanus-racks-up-1-million-in-bills.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an Oregon boy, aged 6, who nearly died of tetanus<\/a> and racked up about $1 million in hospital bills. One, the parents should lose custody; they subjected their son to an entirely preventable, prolonged period of physical suffering. (It&#8217;s described in detail in the article. Imagine putting your kid through that.) Two, those costs, which don&#8217;t include the opportunity costs of that helicopter or the associated doctors being unable to take care of other patients, are the result of the parents&#8217; active decision not to vaccinate. They should be liable for all of it.<\/li>\n<li>A Chicago man who wasn&#8217;t vaccinated as a kid, then caught measles at age 30 and nearly died from it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcra.com\/article\/the-science-on-this-has-been-settled-man-who-wasnt-vaccinated-against-measles-shares-message\/26745689\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">says parents have &#8220;no excuse&#8221; for deciding not to vaccinate<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>UK Health Minister Simon Harris <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/social-media-giants-under-pressure-over-vaccine-ads-w753cztws\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has warned social media companies over anti-vaccine ads<\/a> ($).<\/li>\n<li>The Sackler family&#8217;s role in fueling the opioid epidemic to further enrich themselves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/the-oxycontin-catastrophe-highlights-a-big-failure-in-policy\/2019\/02\/25\/b72dc184-391a-11e9-aaae-69364b2ed137_story.html\" target=\"_Blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">represents a significant policy failure<\/a>, according to the <em>Washington Post<\/em>&#8216;s Charles Lane.<\/li>\n<li>It looks like Big Tobacco and now its partners in the vaping world <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/03\/05\/health\/scott-gottlieb-resigns-fda.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">may have helped push FDA head Scott Gottlieb<\/a> out of his job. He was a rarity in this Administration, an official who took a tough stance on regulating harmful products in the name of the public interest.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2019\/03\/china-has-stopped-accepting-our-trash\/584131\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The era of easy recycling is over<\/a> as China is no longer interested in our recyclables. Add this to your Green New Deal proposals: we need more reduction and reuse, and easier access to composting. I have had a working compost pile for five years now, and it makes a noticeable difference in reducing my trash, but even that isn&#8217;t enough to take all of my compostable plant-based items, and I can&#8217;t compost meat or dairy scraps or even most paper materials in there because it&#8217;s not big enough. (I have composted a few cotton shirts, though.)<\/li>\n<li>Writer\/producer Amy Berg posted a Twitter thread <a href=\"https:\/\/threadreaderapp.com\/thread\/1103851196421308417.html\" target=\"_Blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">explaining the Writers Guild of America&#8217;s conflict-of-interest complaint that the major talent agencies representing them<\/a>, which could lead to some pretty drastic action as soon as the end of this month. (Full disclosure: I am represented by WME.)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/2019\/02\/steven-spielberg-vs-netflix-oscar-academy-wars-1202047846\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Spielberg wants to ruin the Oscars out of spite<\/a>. Well, the Oscars aren&#8217;t so hot anyway, but he wants to make them worse by ensuring that Netflix titles and, as a secondary consequence, other indie films have a harder time qualifying for the awards. Spielberg went on to yell at several clouds that he said looked too much like the amazon logo.<\/li>\n<li>Drew Magary \u2013 back from the brink \u2013 goes <a href=\"https:\/\/deadspin.com\/stop-enabling-barstools-shit-1833092349\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">goes General Sherman on Barstool Sports<\/a> in the wake of the latter&#8217;s aggressive legal tactics to try to get away with copyright infringement.<\/li>\n<li>Jane Coaston explains <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2019\/3\/2\/18245176\/jacob-wohl-trump-cpac-conservatism-ilhan-omar-grift\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">right-wing grifter Jacob Wohl<\/a>, recently banned from Twitter for admitting he&#8217;s made and continues to make fake accounts to try to influence elections and\/or get gullible conservatives to send him money.<\/li>\n<li>Parker Molloy shows how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/07\/bad-faith-cries-democratic-hypocrisy-are-favorite-tactic-conservative-media-playbook\/223065\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conservative outlets and commentators use &#8220;Mister Gotcha&#8221;-like claims of hypocrisy<\/a> against Democratic politicians or candidates to derail actual debate over policies.<\/li>\n<li>An Alabama court ruled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.waaytv.com\/content\/news\/Madison-Co-probate-court-recognizes-aborted-fetus-as-person-with-legal-rights-506690421.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">that an aborted fetus&#8217;s biological father had some say in whether the pregnancy was terminated<\/a> while ruling the fetus had legal standing to sue, a huge step backwards for women&#8217;s rights and for secularism.<\/li>\n<li>This video clip from INSIDER explains <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thisisinsider\/status\/1103263962123124736\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">why white savior movies are bad for Hollywood<\/a> and for viewers.<\/li>\n<li>A new, deluxe edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/eaglegryphon\/age-of-steam-deluxe-edition\" target=\"_Blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> the Martin Wallace classic Age of Steam<\/a> is now up on Kickstarter. The new version includes brand-new artwork and a better color scheme.<\/li>\n<li>A roll-and-write version of the great tile-laying game Lanterns called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.renegadegamestudios.com\/products\/lanterns-dice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lanterns: Dice in the Sky<\/a> is available for pre-order, with May delivery expected.<\/li>\n<li>Game designer Rich Gain, who worked as an operations manager at Japanime Games until just a few months ago, lost his fianc\u00e9e and infant son in a car accident last week; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/support-for-rich-gain?pc=tw_dn_cpgntopnavlarge_r&amp;rcid=r01-155215839829-2122a0c049614e0d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">there&#8217;s a GoFundMe running on his behalf<\/a> in the wake of the tragedy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No new ESPN+ content this week, but that will change now that I&#8217;m in Florida to see a little spring training and at least two potential first-rounders while I&#8217;m here. I did hold a Klawchat on Thursday and a Periscope video chat on Friday. I sent out the latest edition of my free email newsletter [&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":[49,582,176,190,1090,907,940,807],"class_list":["post-7495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-baseball","tag-board-games","tag-japanese-cuisine","tag-links","tag-oscars","tag-social-media","tag-the-swamp","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7495","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=7495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7496,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7495\/revisions\/7496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}