Sobering Thoughts |
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Comments on politics, the culture, economics, and sports by Paul Tuns.
I am editor-in-chief of "The Interim," Canada's life and family newspaper, and author of "Jean Chretien: A Legacy of Scandal" (2004) and "The Dauphin: The Truth about Justin Trudeau" (2015).
I am some combination of conservative/libertarian, standing athwart history yelling "bullshit!"
You can follow me on Twitter (@ptuns).
Archives
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Saturday, July 31, 2010
AmSpec symposium: 'Have the Republicans Learned Their Lesson?' The American Spectator symposium contributors actually answer another question: "Would do the Republicans need to do to win back Congress?" James Antlee III, Fred Barnes, Dick Armey, David Boaz, Jim DeMint, Jim Geraghty, and Grover Norquist, among others all basically say the same thing: be more conservative, notably on economic and size-of-government issues. (Boaz, the vice president of the Cato Institute, does encourage the GOP to drop the socially conservative stuff.) For example, Micharel Barone says, "My instinct is that voters are demanding more radical cuts in spending and in rollbacks of Obama Democratic programs than professional politicians are inclined to believe." In theory that is true, but things will change once Republicans suggest specific cuts and rollbacks. Here's what Ken Blackwell says: do something to "[bring] together defense, economic, and social conservatives into a powerful coalition." But what exactly? Easier said than done. I have another idea for a symposium: "Have Republican Pundits Learn the Wrong Lessons?" It is a difficult lesson for conservatives to learn, but times change. What worked in 1980, 1994, even 2000 and 2004, might not work in 2010. NP reply to Manning's Confederationland idea Last week Preston Manning wrote about the idea of a Confederation-themed park based in Ottawa to promote Canada (amongst ... whom? New immigrants, tourists, students, all Canadians?) by teaching visitors about the country's diverse regional (provincial) identities. At the National Post, Barbara Kay, Scott Stinson and Kevin Libin discuss the idea with Kay having concerns but seeing the benefits. Libin notes, "no country truly worth knowing can come to be known in some kind of theme park, nor should it" and "any attempt to sum all of that up into a theme park is bound only to criminally sell short the very nation we’d be trying to celebrate." Friday, July 30, 2010
An appreciation of the late Angus Maddison Harry X Wu remembers his friend and mentor Angus Maddison. Maddison is the most important economist not to win the Nobel Prize in Economics; his work on quantifying economic performance over time was ground-breaking. Inside K1A Ottawa Citizen columnist John Robson suggests that Canadians use K1A to describe Ottawa inside-the-beltway talk. Inside the beltway is American; K1A refers to the government buildings in Ottawa and Hull. (Also, a useful mnemonic is Keeping 1t Absurd.) A perfect example of a K1A issue is the census. As Robson notes about employing K1A for such insider ball-talk: It should convince us there's something wrong with the way we discuss things even when there isn't something wrong with what we're discussing. Instead, so insular are our chattering classes that we didn't even have a proper term for the disconnect. Iggy gets jiggy If I were the Liberal Party I wouldn't have video of Michael Ignatieff dancing at Caribana on my website. The Toronto Sun has a different angle which is makes him look even more stiff. Looks like Iggy got dance lessons from Elaine Benes. Cowen on gypsies Peter Leeson has a paper on gypsies, but Tyler Cowen's brief comments on effecient and inefficent gypsy norms to be more interesting and helpful, especially this: "I don't doubt that some of the norms are partially functional, relative to the poverty, but some of the norms also seem to support the poverty." Thursday, July 29, 2010
This is probably very significant YouTube to increase time limit on videos to 15 minutes. Unless they are speeches or professionally produced documentaries on animals, I generally lose interest at 2-3 minutes. Good signs Mary Perry at the Enterprise Blog notes that increased international air travel (people and freight) indicates there is an economic rebound. Tigers in America From Newsweek: There are only 3,000 tigers left in the wild. There are at least 7,000 in the United States. A few hundred of America's tigers are in established zoos, but the rest live in suburban homes and urban apartments. They decorate Las Vegas casinos, prowl the estates of celebrities—glimpsed on MTV's "Cribs"—and perform in circuses, magic shows and animal parks. Some are even employed as guards or punishers. Police in Atlanta recently found a tiger (along with a lion and a bear) when they arrested a local drug dealer. Another was found patrolling a crystal meth lab in San Antonio.The story is interesting throughout. Old Spice guy inks movie deal Isaiah Mustafa to appear in Horrible Bosses with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. Are the Tories following the Liberal Express or vice versa? My first thought was that no one is following the Liberal Express. Anyway, the Globe and Mail Ottawa Notebook reports that Liberals say the government is having ministers make announcements in the same cities that Michael Ignatieff is visiting to steal a bit of their thunder. The Conservatives (improbably) claim that the Iggy Train Wreck is following them. I believe that the Liberals are right, but it is their own fault: they made their entire summer schedule public in June, giving their political opponents lots of time to prepare a counter-strategy. Yawn Lawrence Martin, the Martin Lawrence of Canada`s punditocracy, says that the Conservative tent is getting smaller. Who is responsible for this? Prime Minister Stephen Harper`s Chief of Staff Guy Giorno. Apparently, all the people who would have stood up to the PM have been forced out and the PMO has been too ideological as a result. Of course, since day one back in 2006 Mr. Martin has considered the Harper government too ideological, the Harper PMO too controlling, and the Prime Minister surrounded by yes men, so you have to take what he writes with a grain of salt. For example, Lawrence Martin would never have said this two years ago about the pre-Giorno brain trust surrounding Harper: "During this period, the Harper team also lost the overarching wisdom of long-time adviser Tom Flanagan." The names and policies may have changed, but the ideas are recycled from past Lawrence Martin columns. Why would you show up to an Cleveland Indians game wearing a LeBron James Heat jersey? The man was escorted out of the stadium by security. Left, Right and truly right Pierre Lemieux: "There is an alternative to the right’s Surveillance State and the left’s Regulatory State (which are similar). It’s called libertarianism." Another alternative view. People are stupid J.C. Bradbury: "The way people get so worked up over normal blips in small samples, they should start televising coin flipping." I have lost count of the number of conversations about sports I have had with people whose eyes have glazed over when I bring up the phrase sample size as they continue to insist that a player`s performance over the past X number of games or a random set of games (against a team in one year, against a particular pitcher over a career, `with runners in scoring position`, performance in Monday Night Football games) is somehow meaningful. Midweek stuff 1. From BoingBoing: "Shark Knife will terrify your enemies with macho impracticality." 2. The Boston Globe has a neat slide show on the intelligence of the octopus. And video from National Geographic of mounting a camera on the "vicious" Humboldt squid. 3. From Slate: "On the greenness of deodorants and antiperspirants." 4. Cracked has "The 6 Most Gigantic Everything in the History of War." 5. From ScienceDaily: "Urine: Waste Product or Future Power Source?" 6. SI.com has the 25 most hated teams in sports history. 7. Amazing ultimate Frisbee catch: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tweet of the day Rob Granatstein: "Kiss of death? RT @bobraeMP: I am supporting George Smitherman for Mayor more than ever!" Three and out 3. Tim Marchman makes the case against Jeff Bagwell making the Hall of Fame. I think a case can be made for Bagwell's induction to Cooperstown but it is ultimately unpersuasive. Marchman wins me over completely. 2. The cost to the New York Yankees to acquire Scott Downs is too great. I don't see why the Boston Red Sox should be buyers. That said, any team in the playoff hunt would be improved by the left-handed reliever and the Toronto Blue Jays should use Downs (and half their roster) to reload their minor league system. But they should not be greedy and teams should be careful not to pay too much for a two-month relief rental. 1. The Los Angeles Dodgers made a nice little acquisition in getting outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Kansas City Royals for a pair of minor league prospects. Pod plays all three positions and the Dodgers have a pair of outfielders (starter Manny Ramirez and backup Reed Johnson) on the disabled list. Podsednik is hitting 309/352/400 with 30 SBs in 42 attempts. If you don`t have to rely on Pod, he has his uses on the bench or a short-term replacement. Must-see TV ReasonTV has the video of the discussion among Brinkey Lindsey, Jonah Goldberg and Matt Kibbe on libertarian politics. The three originally discussed "where libertarians belong" in the pages of Reason. A visual of Obamacare Or one-third of it -- the whole thing can't fit on a page. As Kathryn Jean Lopez asks, "Do You Trust Your Government to Be Competent to Run This?" Friend of mine has a photography exhibit beginning August 12 The very cool poster for the exhibit is here. Obama wants your kids From the Daily Caller: "Education secretary calls for 12-hour school days, longer school years." Indoctrination is a 24/7 job. Zing Conservative MP Kelly Block on the Liberal leader: "Michael Ignatieff can consistently be counted upon for one thing, and that is to misunderstand the needs of rural Canadians while attempting to shape the country into his idea of what Canada should be." For once the Left doesn't like the Scandanavian model Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh doesn't like Sweden, Norway and Denmark way of doing the census. Ezra on the Ground Zero mosque Ezra Levant in his Sun Media column begins "I’ve got this great idea: Let’s open a shooting range next to the L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal." And as Levant reminds readers, the mosque isn't really a mosque (read: house of worship). Incredible fact Dave Cameron at Fangraphs notes this fact about randomness: "For instance, did you know that the NFC has won 14 consecutive coin-tosses in the Super Bowl? Since 1997, the AFC has been on the losing side of the flip every single time. The odds of that happening are 1 in 16,384, and yet, it’s happened." Trying to figure out if this is stupid or brilliant Michael Ignatieff's speechwriter Adam Goldenberg is blogging The Liberal Express and in this post from last week manages at the same time to toot his boss' horn and play down the risk of meeting people. I'm not sure if riding a bike or high-fiving kids deserves a pat on the back for courage, but it says a lot about the leader that they think it does. As for the photo, Ignatieff might be the only person in the world who can look less geekier wearing a bicycle helmet. Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tweet of the day Pierre Lemieux (the Quebec libertarian, not the Conservative MP): "Welfare bums: businesses want subsidized data and jail threats for noncompliers. - Business concerned over census changes." Three and out 3. I didn't comment on the Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem deal for ace-quality starter Dan Haren yesterday because I was hoping to find some rational explanation of why the Arizona Diamondbacks would accept so little in exchange (Major League starter Joe Saunders and mid-level prospects). Rob Neyers has the best explanation: the D'backs over-value Saunders or one or more of the prospects. And yet I don't quite understand the Angels acquiring Haren when they have so many other needs (a starting 1B, better 3B, and a power-hitting corner outfielder) that they shouldn't really be buying unless they go on a spending spree. Haren is an upgrade over Saunders, but the Angels need to score runs. 2. Over at Fox Sports Tracy Ringolsby looks at which teams are buyers -- and which ones aren't. Notably, the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, expected to be adding talent at this stage of the season, have been made spectators due to numerous injuries that have effectively taken them out of the running. The Red Sox are eight games behind the AL East leading New York Yankees and five out of the Wild Card spot and have a terrible schedule down the stretch. The Tigers now have so many holes due to injuries that upgrades seem futile. 1. Remarkable stat (and proof that win-loss records are a very poor way to judge a pitcher): the Seattle Mariners have only scored seven runs in Felix Hernandez's seven losses this year. Hard to win those games when your team doesn't score. Excellent Maclean's story on federal stimulus spending Infrastructure is one thing -- the country needs better roads, sewage systems, transportation facilities -- but Conservative government funding of "recreation, culture and tourism projects" is quite another thing. Great reporting by Maclean's. The list of sports facilities Ottawa has upgraded or built is astonishingly wasteful: "one bowling alley, two slo-pitch parks, three cricket pitches, six lawn-bowling clubs, 10 skateboard parks, 17 baseball diamonds, 47 tennis courts, 50 soccer fields, 51 curling rinks and 280 arenas and ice rinks." I wish voters whose loyalty the Tories are trying to buy send me (and all other taxpayers) a thank you note. Mad Men fans are different, Part II Pop Watchers reports that half of Mad Men viewers make more than $100,000, much more than any other show on television. What does the NCC have to say? The census issue is being discussed and debated, with numerous libertarians praising the government for protecting individuals' privacy. What does the National Citizen's Coalition say about the topic du jour? Nothing. Shouldn't an organization like the NCC be able to post more than a handful of times per month? Social media exposes Liberals as desperate Following the Liberal caucus on twitter is a source of constant amusement. Two from today. From Michelle Simson: "PM WAS 'recalibrating' during prorogation.Maternal health, our anthem, census, ordering fake lakes, fake lighthouses...SIGH!" That was noted today. Why? Prorogation is a seven-month old story. Maternal health doesn't help the Liberals, but it was settled in Parliament in March. The anthem misstep occurred in March, too. Fake lake is more than a month old. I'll give 'em the census, but that has legs because what else are political reporters going to file stories about at the end of July? If I was a Liberal advisor and I believed in the leader, I'd drop the census issue to make sure the media focused on The Liberal Express, not committee hearings on the long form. The fact that the Grits are raising holy hell about the census is a sure sign that they have no faith that the leader's bus tour isn't going to help. From Byron Wilfort: "Canadian history from the Pacific Railway on has show government/private partnerships can accomplish a lot for Canadians. Harper anti-govt." This guy used to be a cabinet minister and he invokes a partial thought from something he was taught in Grade 8 to justify ... what exactly? Is Stephen Harper opposed to cross-country rail travel? I smell an accusation of hidden agenda. But Wilfort also gets deeply philosophical in 140 characters or less: "Harper Conservatives are government. Yet they are anti-government. Where as I believe govt can be an agent of good for society they do not."According to Wilfort, Harper and the Conservatives are essentially anarchists bent on destroying the state -- which seems at odds with the massive increase in spending over the past half decade (more than 40%, from $209 billion in 2005 to $280.5 billion in 2010). Grit candidate who insults police allowed to stay The Calgary Herald headline: "'Racist' police tweet won't cost candidacy." Let me finish that headline for you: "... because she's a Liberal." If Jennifer Pollock was the Conservative candidate of record, 1) the media would be all over her for calling the police racist and 2) the leadership of the party wouldn't tolerate such irresponsible and inflammatory comments. It says a lot about Michael Ignatieff that he hasn't expressed outrage and urged her to drop out of the race. Is politics getting odd(er)? Kady O'Malley: "Things I never actually thought I'd see on the Hill: a pro-census demonstration." Liberal leader gets new staff, but he's the same old Iggy You remember a year ago Michael Ignatieff threw his political friends and allies over the side of the sinking Liberal ship in favour of Peter Donolo who was reportedly this great big political brain that would right S.S. Grit. (By the way, it's practically impossible to "unsink" a ship.) But the problem wasn't the staff, it was the leader so the Liberals are still mired in second place with little hope of fixing their problems. The Hill Times reports ($) this week that there is another staff shuffle. The story begins like this: Jenna Mannone has gone from writing treatises on the likes of Plato and Socrates to press releases and stump speeches for federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.... because what the Liberals need is someone with a Masters in Philosophy doing communications for the egghead leader. It is actually quite stunning -- unless Iggy is embracing his inner intellectual, throwing the politician costume out and trying to be himself. I doubt it, but that might be the strategy. It certainly can't hurt. I found this amusing: Hailing from Toronto, Ms. Mannone graduated from the University of Ottawa with a master's degree in philosophy at the height of the recent recession.One way of reading this is that Mannone is working for Iggy because there isn't anything else in the job market. In her spare time, Mannone is writing children's books. The joke practically writes itself. Again, the problem isn't that Liberal press releases are poorly written; it is the content they are forced to cover. The opposition leader has nearly a dozen people working for him to get his message out. They might be incompetent, but the real problem is that nobody likes the product. Encounter collection of Bill Buckley writings Athwart History: Half a Century of Polemics, Animadversions, and Illuminations: A William F. Buckley Jr. Omnibus with an introduction by George F. Will. Roger Kimball writes about it here. Austrian church tried to sell a confessional Archdiocese stepped in to prevent the sale. Top bid on eBay was 666.66 euros. Monday, July 26, 2010
Tweet of the day Derek Fildebrandt: "With a 42% increase in spending over 4 years, is this what Paul Martin meant by a 'hidden agenda'?" He's gotta be joking Timothy P. Carney: "From Charlie Rangel's latest campaign finance filings: '$20,470: Credit card payment, various'. Now THAT'S disclosure!" Healy on the national security state Gene Healy writes in the DC Examiner about the rise of the surveillance state and the conservative role in the growth of the state: "Though conservatives generally appreciate libertarian insights about bureaucracy's self-perpetuating nature, and the risks of special-interest capture and abuse of power, they have a blind spot when it comes to national security." Mad Men: a lot of hype I'm as big a fan of Mad Men as the next journalist/blogger who can't stop mentioning the show, but it is a lot like The Sopranos: not many Americans actually watch the show. (In fact, I couldn't stand The Sopranos.) It is on cable and it tends to be enjoyed by journalists and others who like to think of themselves as more sophisticated than the average TV viewer and above reality TV. Most folks don't have AMC, but journos disproportionately do. The Los Angeles Times reports that fewer than three million people watched the show and despite the ridiculous season premiere hype, it had just 120,000 more viewers than last season's first episode. WSJ on executive compensation The Wall Street Journal has the top 25 CEOs by pay over the past decade. I was surprised by the gap not only between #1 and #19, but also #2 and #3. BTW, Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. is tops with $1.84 billion. Sitting on the dock of the bay Rippling lakes and sun rises are not an agenda. Or is Bob Rae setting the stage for his own river rescue? I see Michael Ignatieff floundering. Three and out 3. Trade deadline action is over-rated. Nick Bove reports that seldom do deadline deals make much difference to winning a division or success in the post-season. Cliff Lee certainly helped the Philadelphia Phillies in their October run in 2009, the first time since the 2004 Boston Red Sox that a deadline move was probably vital to post-season success. 2. I generally agree with Pat Andriola that teams should be allowed to trade draft picks. 1. It would be nice to see what New York Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira could do if he ever started half-decently. He was hitting just 220 at the beginning of June, but is now at 264, aided (in part) by six multi-hit games in the past eleven. Last year he was hitting around the Mendoza Line for the first two months and finished 292/383/565. Reynolds defends government census policy The biggest reason the Tories are taking a hit over their census policy is that ... well, whatever they do is going to get criticized mercilessly and unreasonably by the opposition and the opposition's echo chamber (the media). The second biggest reason is that the government has utterly refused to defend their proposed changes. Globe and Mail columnist Neil Reynolds offers a very good defense on their behalf, although I would never expect Stephen Harper or any of his ministers to utter this line: "Hayek held that prices were the most important statistic of all." Advice for Iggy: embrace your anti-politician Writing in the Globe and Mail, Michael Warren, who has held three senior government jobs including heading the TTC and Canada Post, advises Michael Ignatieff to start talking like the non-politician he is to address unpleasant truths about taxes, the environment, and health care. I would advise the same, but that's because I'd like to see the Liberals fall below 20% support in the polls. An agenda for the GOP Matthew Continetti writes in the Weekly Standard about the need for the Republicans to limit government and encourage growth. Question: is overhauling "the welfare state in a market-oriented, conservative direction" truly conservative? Shouldn't the right have a debate about this? Eventual GOP takeover of the Tea Party Los Angeles Times columnist Doyle McManus is probably correct to predict that eventually the Republican Party will absorb the Tea Party movement: "One of these groups isn't really an organization; it has two years of experience, no national structure and no real fundraising operation. The other has operated since 1854, has built a formidable national organization and has survived electoral disaster more than once." Totally unimportant note about my day Sunday morning I thought to myself that I hadn't heard Sly Fox's "Let's Go All the Way" in a long time. It's playing on 80sOn8 on XM right now. Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sobering Thoughts should be Mad Men free until next weekend Maybe. There are, after all, more consequential things going on in the world. Tweet of the day Borowitz Report: "MAD MEN SPOILER: If you cut the scenes of Don brooding, tonight's episode would run nine minutes." McGinnis live-tweeted Mad Men Rick McGinnis tweets here. Best one: "'come Turkey Day, maybe you can stuff her.' Roger must have knocked down trees with his swinging dick in college. Yale? Harvard." So far three Republicans are voting for Kagan National Journal's Ninth Justice blog report Richard Lugar, Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham are supporting Elena Kagan. Earlier in the week, NJ's Hotline had 22 GOP opposed to Kagan. Weekend stuff 1. "The Sterling Cooper Guide to Overcoming Copywriter's Block." 2. Ben Cosnocha has a theory on why America is inferior in soccer. Why doesn't anyone wonder ever why baseball isn't popular in Latin America or (American) football a hit in Europe? Why are only Americans singled out for not embracing a particular sport? 3. A photo of a 10-foot pizza being fork-lifted for delivery. 4. John Yoo has eight reasons hates Thomas Jefferson. 5. Listverse has the "Top 10 Fascinating and Unique Crocodilians." The false gharial, which reaches a length of 6-7 meters, is one of my favourite animals; the Toronto Zoo used to have one until about a year or so ago. 6. There is an ATM in Antarctica. 7. "At-At Day Afternoon." Some will think this immature at times, so only my boy-at-heart readers should partake. All cultures are not equal The Huffington Post reports on breast ironing in Cameroon in which pre-pubescent girls are flattened with hot stones and other objects to retard their physical development in order to make them less enticing to men. Three and out 3. Not sure that Whitey Herzog is Hall of Fame material, but as one of my favourite all-time managers (in the 1980s, the St. Louis Cardinals were my National League team) I will not complain too much about his entrance into Cooperstown. In the late 1970s and early 1980s my NL team was the Montreal Expos and I enjoyed watching Andre Dawson and Tim Raines, but I never thought of Dawson as a HoFer -- not even when he would later (undeservedly) win the 1987 NL MVP with the Chicago Cubs. Dawson is, at best, a marginal Hall of Fame candidate, which is one reason why it took HoF voters nearly a decade to enshrine him. As Jay Jaffe says at Baseball Prospectus, "He's a below-average Hall of Famer, one who doesn't advance the cause of recognizing the cream of the crop. If he's worth enshrining, so are dozens of others around the diamond." Raines does better in a whole mess of numbers (total bases, batting average and on-base percentage), but did not drive in as many runs, belt homers, or win the hardware his erstwhile team-mate did. Raines is also fifth all-time in stolen bases (808) and third in stolen base percentage (84.7%) among players with at least 300 attempts. 2. Another reason to love Herzog: his honesty. He questions how PED-using players can be kept out of Cooperstown when MLB ignored steroid use in the 1980s and 1990s. Organized baseball at the very least tolerated cheating that drove up scoring. Why hold that against the players? 1. Interesting baseball stories but scant science in this Scientific American article entitled, "Take Me Out of the Ball Game: When Physics and Physiology Collide." Most important science fact is that a ball thrown overhand cannot rise. Wonderland or Ontario Place? Gods of the Copybook Headings on Ontario Place: what could go wrong with government opening an amusement park? Clement rescues drowning woman The Ottawa Citizen reports that Tony Clement saved a drowning woman from the Muskoka River. Do you think that the Conservatives set this whole thing up to take attention away from the way they have handled the census debacle? Best Mad Men quotes Ottawa Citizen has the top 20 sexy, scandalous quotes from Mad Men. (HT: Rondi Adamson) They are good quotes but I`d sub half of them on any list of the "the best." Here is a better set of quotes from the series. Neither has the best quote which was uttered in the first episode when Roger Sterling asks Don Draper if the company has hired any Jews. "Not under my watch," Draper replies. Second best quote is from third episode -- Draper: "It wasn't a lie, it was ineptitude with insufficient cover." Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tweet of the day Andrew Lawton: "I just asked where the Ann Coulter books are at Indigo. I own them all, but I like their look of disgust when I ask." Four and down 4. Current and former Pittsburgh Steeler coach news: Mike Tomlin signs a two-year contract extension and Kaye Cowher, wife of former coach Bill Cowher, died at the age of 54. The Steelers have had just three coaches cince 1969-- Tomlin, Crowher and Chuck Noll -- and all three have a Super Bowl ring (as coach). 3. Reports have the St. Louis Rams and Cincinnati Bengals interested in free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens. Cincy signed Antonio Bryant this off-season but the Bengals are reportedly not happy with him; QB Carson Palmer is rumoured to be interested in having TO as a target. Can you imagine Owens and Chad Ochocinco on the same team? Signing TO makes sense for Cincy because he gives them depth, options and insurance (if Bryant doesn't work out). It might seem like over-compensating for a team that has had its share of WR problems, but it is a defensible over-compensation. As for the Rams, they should avoid the distraction of TO and all the problems he brings to a locker room when you are nurturing a rookie QB (Sam Bradford). 2. I entirely agree with Dan Graziano at FanHouse who says it makes no sense that TO is still unemployed when so many teams have a need for a wide receiver (San Diego Chargers and Seattle Seahawks are on that list and yet both teams deny any interest or need in Owens). At around $5 million, he isn't all that expensive. He can be disruptive and selfish, so teams are rightly concerned about that, but some teams can be less concerned than others. If general managers are put off by his 2009 numbers (55 catches for 829 yards) they should remember that he was receiving passes from the sorry corps of quarterbacks employed by the Buffalo Bills. Of course, Peter King is wrong about TO. 1. John Lopez has a good article at SI.com on the growing importance of the tight end as a receiving target in the offense. Important fact: eight players in the top 25 in receptions were TEs. Lopez says that, "tight ends continue to be among the best values in the game, considering they remain on the lower end of the pay scale compared to other groups." That will change as more articles like Lopez's appear. These trends are self-correcting. Wasting treasure in Afghanistan You have to read the Los Angeles Times story yourself but here is the gist of the article: the United States spent $45 million to build a police station in Kandahar but the locals can't operate it so contractors will run it at a cost of $800 million over the next decade. Two from Tyler Tyler Cowen doesn't like Inception. He does like Christopher Hitchens' Hitch-22: A Memoir, and begins his comments thusly: "I delayed reviewing this book, because I found it hard to write about someone who was just diagnosed with esopheagal cancer." Three and out 3. Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports: New York Yankees close to trading for Arizona Diamondbacks starter Dan Haren. Jayson Stark at ESPN: Yankees not close to acquiring Haren. John Heyman in Sports Illstrated: Yanks won't include Joba Chamberlain in deal. Future news report: Joba traded for Haren. 2. Joe Posnanski has a tremendous essay on what 600 homeruns mean with thoughts on the 500 and 600 HR clubs. He says that at one time 500 HRs was an exclusive club but it was cheapened once Rafael Palmeiro entered in 2003 and he was followed by Ken Griffey, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome and Gary Sheffield. Those are all great players, but they hit during the long ball era (along with Barry Bonds (2001), Mark McGwire (2001), and Sammy Sosa (2003)) and thus the fans' perception of them changed. As Pos says, "The 500 Club started to feel an awful lot like the Columbia Record Club." I highly recommend reading the entire essay, but I want to highlight this fact: "Barry Bonds joined in 2001… in fact that year he passed [Eddie] Murray, Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews, Ernie Banks, Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt and Reggie Jackson. ONE YEAR, he passed all those guys. Well, 73 homers will do that for a guy." 1. 27 years ago pine tar made history. One problem conservatives face (but can't admit) Conservative parties favour smaller government in general, but too many constituencies have their favourite government programs. I'm not talking about social conservatives who do not mind if government regulates private behaviour, but regular folk who says they don't like government spending but have specific programs from which they benefit. Ross Douthat gets to this in his fine reply to Angelo Codevilla’s critique of America's elite in which he (Douthat) describes what Codevilla gets wrong. Here Douthat is questioning Codevilla's characterization of a homogeneous conservative heartland: Are conservative Iowans against their state’s ample farm subsidies? Did conservative West Virginians and Pennsylvanians complain about the Bush administration’s steel tariffs? Weren’t many of the people crowding health care town halls last year there because they were concerned that their Medicare payments might be cut?That is why conservative parties everywhere sound fiscally conservative in opposition when the rhetoric of small government resonates with all their constituents, but disappoint once they are in power when they won't step on the toes of their voters who have themselves been suckling on the state. NP editorializes against affirmative action Read the whole National Post editorial which concludes: The bottom line is, social engineering of the workforce is not only wrong in principle, but makes no sense in practice. Individuals should succeed on merit, regardless of sex, race or other characteristics. Market forces and technological changes will dictate the jobs of tomorrow, and who will fill them. Kudos to the government for recognizing this, and for reviewing these discriminatory regulations. Let’s hope they take the necessary next step, and put an end to them. Friday, July 23, 2010
Index of freedom movers According to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom, Canada is marginally less free, America significantly so since last year, United Kingdom falls out of the top 10. Prison seems too good for this man The Brantford Expositor reported that "A former city man who groomed his daughters to be his sexual partners hung his head and wept in court Wednesday as he listened to their victim-impact statements." He received just eight years in prison, but as Justice Ken Lenz said when sentencing the 48-year-old, "You're going to find penitentiary very, very difficult and you deserve every bit of it." Mad Men begins Sunday My reaction to news that Rick McGinnis, my favourite entertainment writer, is going to live tweet my favourite show currently on television. ReasonTV "previews" Season 4: Reason enough to support the Tories From the Globe and Mail: "The Conservative government is taking aim at an employment-equity policy that favours applicants from historically disadvantaged groups, saying no Canadian should be barred from applying for a job based on race." Thank Treasury Board president Stockwell Day and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney for this important development. Also, kudos to those media outlets who are late to this story. I call bullshit Tony Clement: "Yesterday William Hague graciously presented me with a copy of his Wilberforce biography. I enjoyed his Pitt the Younger history immensely." To be clear, I don't disbelieve that Hague gave Clement a copy of the book. And did he really read Team of Rivals or was it just going for the cheap punchline? Agreed Great article by Louis Woodhill at Real Clear Markets entitled, "Republicans Should Acknowledge Bush Economic Errors." There are five big mistakes (design of the 2001 tax cuts, the temporary tax cuts of 2003, the disorderly collapse of Lehman Brothers, the "failure to make America's corporate income tax competitive internationally") and several smaller ones. Woodhill says, "In desperation, the Democrats will try to 'run against Bush.' Republican challengers should run against both Obama and Bush." Yes. Cute but pointless Rick Mercer on the census: "If it wasn't for the census Jesus wouldn't have been born in Bethlehem." Why is air conditioning even a political issue? Eric Felton in the Wall Street Journal: "Central air is getting the Humvee stigmatization treatment." True and sad. AC is a sign of humanity's progress, so of course environmentalists hate it. Reid: Bailout of GM, Chrysler saved Ford Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said that Washington's bailout of its competitors saved Ford. Excellent reactions from Russ Roberts and The Blog Prof. Three and out 3. According to Patrick Sullivan of Baseball Analysts, measured by the WAR (wins above replacement) metric, Joe Morgan has the five best Cincinnati Reds seasons. That is incredible considering the great players (Pete Rose and Johnny Bench just to name a pair of Morgan's Big Red Machine team-mates) in Cincy history. I am no fan of him as an announcer, but I sure wish I saw more of Joe Morgan on the field. 2. In that same Sullivan column there are other incredible facts about top players in team histories. Again according to WAR, the 2004 edition of Adrian Beltre was the second best ever in a Dodger uniform, among the top ten New York Mets' seasons are names such as Bernard Gilkey, Edgardo Alfonso, Lance Johnson and John Olerud (whose 1998 is the best in team history). Chase Utley has the best season of any Philadelphia Phillie while the best Ryan Howard season ranks 52nd in team history. 1. Alex Rodriguez needs one more dinger to join the 600 homerun club. Of course, the moralizing idiots will dismiss the achievement because of A-Rod's past use of PEDs. Thursday, July 22, 2010
Ekos/Liberal poll Conservatives maintain what Ekos goes to great lengths to stress is a "modest" lead of nearly 7 percentage points (32.4% to 25.5% for the Liberals). Based on nothing but ... well a reasonably educated guess, the polling firm's press release says that Canadians are not paying attention to politics. That's probably true, but the pollster didn't ask a question to that effect so we don't really know and they shouldn't be including such statements as part of their analysis. Because Canadians are supposedly not paying attention, the release suggests that the "polling cognoscenti" (me: WTF?) take the results with a grain of salt. Wonder if the same "caveat" would be provided if the Grits were ahead by seven? Sell Purolator Kevin Gaudet, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says Canada Post should privatize its Purolator Courier service. He says: When you think of core government services, military, police, fire, water, roads, and a few others come to mind.But this presumes that our government, its agencies and corporations, and Canadian society believes that the state should only be involved in "core services." Iggy the approachable From the Montreal Gazette: "Ignatieff was sporting the tight jeans, the cowboy boots, the open shirt, in a determined effort to look approachable." So apparently a costume will trick Canadians into thinking that Michael Ignatieff is not repellent. But the gist of the Gazette article is that Justin Trudeau was the real draw as the Liberal Express kicked off the Quebec leg of the tour. Do NYT reporters read the paper's science section? Charles Murray asks the question at The Enterprise. Nicholas Wade writes (relatively) honestly about race, class and gender and is often at odds with the politically correct tripe emanating from the news pages of the New York Times. Watch unemployment grow Great video of the growth of unemployment in America since January 2007. Remember Congress passed a pair of stimulus packages with little discernible effect on rise of unemployment over the past 18 months. 'Principles of Bizarro Economics' At the Mises Economics Blog, Art Carden lists nine erroneous ways of thinking about the world. Hope for health care sanity in Canada David Gratzer writes in Investor's Business Daily about the increasing role of the private sector in Canadian health care, due not to ideology but practicality. Why? New York Post reports that while Barack Obama's popularity is slipping, "Americans’ opinion of Michelle Obama climbed to 55 percent favorable, 19 percent unfavorable from 50 percent -17 percent in November 2008." I don't get it. Three and out 3. Perhaps the reason the Philadelphia Phillies are looking to trade RF Jayson Werth (283/373/505), who will almost surely end up with one of the New York teams next season after hitting the free agent market, because he's having an affair with team-mate Chase Utley's wife. Well, that and they have minor league outfielder Domonic Brown who is hitting 325/388/586 at two levels (Double A and Triple A) this year. I expect a three-way deal in which they will ship Werth out and receive a top-shelf starter. 2. Lou Piniella announced he will "retire" from managing after this season. The fact is, he hasn't done much with the Chicago Cubs lately. John Perrotto considers the career of Lou Piniella and concludes that "it's going to be difficult to keep Sweet Lou out of the Hall [of Fame]." I disagree. When I think of the three or four best managers over the past 25 years, his name doesn't even cross my mind (Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and probably Jim Leyland). The case for Piniella: "His body of work as a manager is quite impressive as he has gone 1,823-1,691 in 23 seasons. He will finish 14th all-time in victories and 12th in games managed, and has won three Manager of the Year awards." That's all impressive, but it also reflects longevity. Rob Neyer says it will be the breadth of his success (in New York, Cincinnati, Seattle and Chicago (we'll ignore Tampa)) that eventually gets Piniella into Cooperstown, although he won't be served well by comparisons to his more notable contemporaries. I wouldn't vote for Piniella, even when taking into consideration his good-but-not-great career as a player. 1. Piniella is 14th on the all-time wins list for managers. The man right behind him on that list, Ralph Houk, passed away yesterday at the age of 90. Houk was twice manager of the New York Yankees (1961-63 and 1966-73) and later managed the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. He was the first skipper George Steinbrenner fired. ESPN has a great, short look at a very good career as a manager. Wednesday, July 21, 2010
When the reprotech revolution meets celebrity worship From LifeSiteNews.com: "Sperm Bank Offers Celebrity Look-A-Like Donors." That can't go wrong, can it? Census, schmensus I can understand getting rid of the long-form census and I appreciate the case for keeping it. Kevin Libin writes at Full Comment about the hysterical (over-)reaction that Stephen Harper seems to always bring out of his critics and the media (to the extent that those are different groups of people): Harper has helped build an informal coalition of hyperallergenic voters whose throats swell up and faces turn red every time he delivers a surprise policy diktat from on high. The result, [Tom] Flanagan says, is that even good policy moves are setting off political firestorms. Small deals suddenly become big deals.Not that he is necessarily a (regular) critic, but Andrew Coyne's reaction has been atypically unmeasured. For example: Thus today's Tory party: they don't stand for anything large or meaningful, but by God, they'll fight to the last man for trivial symbolism!Or: What I want to know is: when are Tory backbenchers - cabinet, too - going to get off their knees? Is this what they went into politics for?He has been all over this issue on Twitter. The Left usually wants Canada to follow Scandinavia and other social democracies -- well they don't have a regular census in most of Europe. The Economist reported before the controversy erupted here in Canada, many countries are moving away from traditional census practices: Denmark has been keeping track of its citizens without a traditional census for decades; Sweden, Norway, Finland and Slovenia, among others, have similar systems. Germany will adopt the approach for its next count, also due in 2011.Whether libertarians will like where countries like the United Kingdom are headed with extensive data mining ("gathering information from the vast, centralised databases held by government, such as tax records, benefit databases, electoral lists and school rolls") replacing traditional census counts is a whole other question. Terrible fact of the day According to the UN News Center, 3.2 million people in Somalia, or about 40% of the population, "rely on international aid." The stopped clock that is Bruce Anderson As a piece of general political analysis, Bruce Anderson is correct in that many issues that pundits and politicians fret over really don't matter except in how they feed into a narrative about a government, political party or particular leader: That this decision will annoy the left in Canada is probably neither here nor there from the Harper Conservative point of view. The real political issue is the impression it leaves with voters on the centre. It's unlikely many voters will flee the Conservatives because of this policy. But the hard work of wooing the sceptical, hesitant centre has been a key thrust of the Conservatives for years now, and decisions like this, which become characterized as ideological rather than pragmatic, have potential to undermine progress towards this goal.Usually Bruce Anderson is not very good at analysis but this post captures a fundamental truth about how politics works. However, he is simply wrong about the census and how it reinforces a general view about the Tories, raising questions about the government's ability to win over centrist voters. Eliminating the mandatory long form is probably a winning issue because it is easy to explain and people value their privacy. Midweek stuff 1. Terry Teachout lists his "fifteen favorite songs that were written for use in Hollywood films," noting that "seven of these songs were written for Fred Astaire to sing on screen, a statistic that speaks for itself." 2. Alex Tabarrok on what kills the most birds: BP, wind farms, motorists or cats? The numbers are staggering. 3. Via SI.Com, Fortune has "The 50 highest-earning American athletes." 4. Robin Hanson says the research shows that we should be stingy with our praise. 5. Glenn Harlon Reynolds in Popular Mechanics: "Taking Photos In Public Places Is Not A Crime: Analysis" 6. Read "Top 10 Most Confusing Films" at Listverse and judge for yourself if the author is an idiot. Memento and The Shining are not confusing. 7. The M.I.T. Technology Review entitles this article "Robot vs. Lobster" which is a little misleading; there are, however, several neat videos of a hexapodal robot. Here's one of the longer ones: Tweet of the day Via the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation, D_Fildebrandt says: "In the time it has taken me to type this tweet, Canada's debt has risen by $54,271." Not convinced The Mark interviews Robert Silver, president of Dynamic Consulting Group, about Michael Ignatieff. Silver says Iggy is on the right track to re-branding himself. Pelosi gets it exactly wrong Eric Cantor: "Last week, the Speaker of the House said that somehow unemployment benefits is a jobs program. I couldn’t disagree more." Tuesday, July 20, 2010
What makes Michael Ignatieff look more unnatural? High-fiving (30 seconds in) or clapping (about a minute into the video): I like the way Bob Rae thinks Bob Rae chimes in on the census controversy: If a voluntary census is ok, how about a voluntary income tax? Get rid of those obtrusive forms, and just send in dough if you feel like it?Unfortunately, Rae is being ironic. How left-wing bias works I have long rejected the notion that a cabal of left-wing journalists deliberately plan how to cover politics, hypothesizing instead that their natural stupidity and lack of curiosity, combined with their own personal ideological biases, led them to collectively make the same conclusions and news judgements. The Daily Caller, however, shows that there is indeed some degree of planning, as least in some cases. See, "Documents show media plotting to kill stories about Rev. Jeremiah Wright," which describes how journalists from Salon, Time, The Guardian, the Baltimore Sun and elsewhere conspired to kill a story embarrassing to Barack Obama. C'mon Kathy Shaidle: "Guess the date of 'Muslim Family Day' at Six Flags Chicago." I guessed wrong, but only by a day. McGuinty interested in federal politics? Probably not as much as some journalists might be. It's summer and journos are looking for something to write about. The Iggy Express is less than awe-inspiring so those interested in politics just have to make shit up. In the past few weeks, there have been public noises about Jean Chretien making an encore performance as Liberal leader and privately I hear Frank McKenna's name a lot. But today I heard, or rather saw, a new one. Eric Dowd is a nice enough person, but as a freelance pundit who has covered Queen's Park since almost its creation he isn't worth the price of a paper. I see his latest scribblings appear in the Guelph Mercury where he says that Ontario leader Dalton McGuinty's name is being mentioned as a successor. In one sense the Ontario premier's name has been linked to the federal Liberal Party: in Eric Dowd's column. Dowd acknowledges the case against McGuinty making the jump to the big stage: But McGuinty is virtually tied to leading his party in an Ontario election fixed for October 2011. This is not merely because he has said he will stay. Premiers commonly have made promises to stay they did not keep, but McGuinty has to hang on, because he remains popular despite blunders, and his party is built totally around him and has no one who could readily replace him.That seems a formidable obstacle. And the case for McGuinty? Basically, anyone is better than Michael Ignatieff. There is a case to made that McGuinty is the most successful Liberal in the country, but that is like being valedictorian of summer school. Dowd says that McGuinty is talking about international issues, something a little beyond the scope of the job of Ontario premier, but his example -- "McGuinty said on a visit to Israel he appreciates the plight of the Palestinians and wants to help them, while having much respect for Israel" -- is the kind of thing politicians say when they visit foreign countries. Other reasons McGuinty might make the move from Toronto to Ottawa? Settle old scores with former Ontario politicians that have previously moved on to federal politics (Bob Rae, Gerard Kennedy, Jim Flaherty, John Baird, Tony Clement). This is the kind of thing that pundits write about, but can hardly be the reason McGuinty would leave the comforts of a provincial politics in which he has a winning track record for the high-risk, low-reward prize of leading the federal Liberals. Dowd's column is rather bland, providing simple facts as analysis or building those facts into something much larger than it really is. Sometimes a visit to Israel is just a visit to Israel. When a premier is doing the visiting, sometimes there is really provincial business to attend (solidifying business relations, playing to Toronto's Jewish voters, whatever). What Dowd's column is missing is an examination of how McGuinty's mini-scandals would hurt him politically (or not) if he jumped to the federal party. Would he be seen as running from controversy (eHealth, eco taxes, HST, etc...)? Would they matter? I understand there is only so much you can do with 750 words, but there are more penetrating questions to explore on this topic than McGuinty getting to cross swords with Tony Clement in Question Period. About this, however, Dowd is correct: "The Toronto Star, which can be relied to support McGuinty if he runs for federal leader..." Of course, it will. 2050? The Pew Research Center for People and the Press finds that 64% of the public think that paper editions of newspapers will be extinct by 2050. Four more decades for dead tree? I doubt it. Slightly fewer people think paper money and snail mail will still exist. Monday, July 19, 2010
Censored Family Guy abortion episode to appear on DVD New York Times has a longish story on the abortion-themed episode of the formerly funny Family Guy which did not make it to the network but which will appear in a forthcoming DVD. I think that there are very few topics that should be off limits in comedy, although I would prefer that shows that relentlessly trade in poor taste (like Family Guy) to be broadcast later at night. I don't agree with the NYT speculation that the show "may not have treated the abortion debate with proper gravity" -- again Family Guy is all about poor taste -- and think that the suggestion (immediately denied) that the so-called censorship "came from the corporation’s politically conservative chairman, Rupert Murdoch" was profoundly cheap (Murdoch has supported Hillary Clinton in the past). Ultimately the decision is a business decision and Fox simply didn't want to offend people and risk alienating viewers; that is less of a risk for committed fans of the show who buy DVDs than casual television viewers. People get offended too easily because they merely react to things; as the show's creator, Seth MacFarlane is quoted saying: “People in America, they’re getting dumber ... They’re getting less and less able to analyze something and think critically, and pick apart the underlying elements. And more and more ready to make a snap judgment regarding something at face value, which is too bad.” But of course From the Wall Street Journal: "To Protest Hiring of Nonunion Help, Union Hires Nonunion Pickets." Some might say the story demonstrates union hypocrisy. More importantly, however, is that the story reports that many protests are manned by a rental crowd: demonstrating against foam cups and plastic bags or the erecting of a Toyota sign at Wrigley Field. The WSJ tells the story of Billy Raye, an unemployed bike courier who has been hired to protest a non-union employer: [T]he union hires unemployed people at the minimum wage—$8.25 an hour—to walk picket lines. Mr. Raye says he's grateful for the work, even though he's not sure why he's doing it. "I could care less," he says. "I am being paid to march around and sound off." Best comment on The View Doug Benson:"I'd watch THE VIEW every day, if I could afford to replace a smashed in television every day." Cato on Top Secret America Over at Cato@Liberty, Julian Sanchez has lots of links on the WaPo special project, Top Secret America. Best line on the reporting done by Dana Priest and William Arkin, much of which is not new, merely collected in one, mainstream source for the first time: "They paint a portrait of a sprawling intelligence-industrial complex drowning in data they’re unable to effectively process, and choked by redundancy." Ontario PC's CSI'd eco-tax and found... Liberal fingerprints all over documents that link the environmental tax and the McGuinty government despite the denials of the premier and the minister of the environment. Dalton McGuinty and John Gerretsen can no longer blame Stewardship Ontario and pretend that it is an arm's length body. Asking the wrong questions Michael G. Franc at NRO notes that the most recent "debate" on the welfare state (school lunch programs) is going a lot like past debates which offer a lot of heat but no light: Such was the scene last week on Capitol Hill. Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, camera crews in tow, asked the sort of question one always hears whenever Congress considers a welfare expansion. “Why,” he asked, “in this great country, where we produce enough food, are children going hungry every day?”Here's a better question: "Why, in a country where federal, state and city governments spend so much money on social assistance and school lunch programs, are children going hungry every day?" The feds alone spend $950 billion. I don't understand -- actually, I do -- why politicians and the welfare industry never seem to ask why these programs aren't helping and if streamlining 71 federal welfare programs rather than more money might not help provide solutions. Another question might be to ask whether any problem actually exists and if it does, whether Washington should be addressing it. Shaidle turns 10 -- online, that is Kathy Shaidle has been blogging for 10 years, first as Relapsed Catholic and then as Five Feet of Fury. There are very few blogs that meet the criteria for required reading by 5FF is one of them. You can donate here or buy her books. Update from the Iggy Tour From the Toronto Sun: "Clear rebel Riel's record: Ignatieff." Yes, this is what Canadians are clamouring for -- a pardon of a rebel Metis that comes more than a century after the fact. A piece of advice for the Liberal leader: If you don't want to be dismissed as an egghead, don't bring up 125-year-old grievances that very few people have given a moment's thought about outside their Grade 8 history class. A long but important read The Washington Post has a special projected entitled Top Secret America on the development of the national security state erected after 9/11. Read the lead article and follow WaPo's dedicated website on the project. I presume Reason will be commenting on this shortly, although there isn't anything yet. UPDATE: (10:30 AM): Best comment on story: 9/11 was a success. Sunday, July 18, 2010
Weekend stuff 1. The Wall Street Journal has a photo gallery of John Daly's pants. 2. The New York Times Magazine on "Digital Diplomacy." It's not really diplomacy, it's PR. 3. From Mental Floss: "8 Obscure but Adorable Wildcat Species." The Sand Cat, which is adorable looking, was new to me. 4. New Scientist on artificial life, "For insects, press print." 5. AskMen.com has the "Top 10: Female Assassins." There are female assassins? 6. From Wired's Danger Room blog: "Human Trials Next for Darpa’s Mind-Controlled Artificial Arm." 7. Baskin-Robbins is killing off nearly one-sixth of their offerings with yet-to-be-announced new flavours. Among the flavours to go: French vanilla. 8. Free Trade: The Great Prosperity Machine from the Atlas Network in which Tom Palmer describes comparative advantage by comparing ports to scientists (actually, magicians) that can turn oranges and cars into potatoes and telephones. We'd give the scientist a Nobel Prize, but free trade achieves the same thing yet is derided. Fred Thompson tweets This captures the way many people think, because capitalism leads most people to take a lot of things for granted: "Poll: 73 % oppose Obama's offshore drilling ban. Other 27% think oil should only come from quart bottles marked Quaker State." For once the Liberal problem is not Iggy Sun Media reports on problematic local candidates Liberals have nominated in southwestern Ontario, including one (Steve Pickard in Chatham, son of former Liberal MP Jerry Pickard) that faces "six serious criminal charges of forcible confinement, assault, and uttering threats." Michael Ignatieff refuses to comment on Pickard, but he does distance himself from that another candidate's comments about Canadian soldiers torturing prisoners in Afghanistan. 'Safe, humane, legal, and transparent': Gitmo for letting inmates run the prison Kathy Shaidle and Sun Media's David Akin on appeasing the prisoners at Guantanamo, thereby giving credence to critics who call it Club Gitmo. From Sun Media: There is a foosball game in Guantanamo Bay’s Camp 4 detention centre that many of the terror suspects who are locked up here found offensive.There's that and Playstation 3 games and English-language Al Jazeera. Shaidle's post is entitled: “Filed Off Faces” vs Chopped off Heads. It ends with, "we are doomed." Friday, July 16, 2010
Blogging the Liberal Express Michael Ignatieff's speechwriter is blogging the get-to-know-Iggy bus tour and on day three begins the post thusly: Here’s something newsworthy: Yesterday’s Liberal Express itinerary did not include a single donut stop, at Tim Horton’s, or anywhere else . (Cue the attack ads!) We did, however, stop at the Main Street Markham Farmer’s Market, where the team had the option of buying what I’m told are called “fresh fruits,” as well as other forms of vegetation.So, as part of the Liberal plan to reach out to rural voters in Markham, Adam Goldenberg comes off ... as what exactly: 1) condescending;Apparently out-of-touch and arrogant are characteristics that go beyond the leader. I'd like to say this could only happen in Toronto... Kathy Shaidle points out the absurdity of the city of Toronto buying the homeless cigarettes: But I thought civil servants and do-gooders wanted to ban smoking everywhere?Such stupidity is probably universal. A good political cartoon is worth a hundred columns Investor's Business Daily's Michael Ramirez once again demonstrates why he is a great political cartoonist. John Robson on the Old Spice ad Proving again why he is Canada's best columnist. Robson begins: Hello readers. Look at your modern art. Now back to this Old Spice ad. Now back at modern art. Now back to Old Spice. Sadly, modern art is not an Old Spice ad. But it could be less repellent if it stopped dousing itself in self-important shock-the-bourgeoisie theory and tried to make things people would actually like.Read the whole column. Thursday, July 15, 2010
Midweek stuff 1. The Wall Street Journal on picky eaters. 2. New Scientist has a gallery on genetically modified animals: cats that glow and pigs that don't pollute. 3. From Listverse: "10 Best of the Worst Films." It's about time that The Rocky Horror Picture Show gets called out. 4. GraphJam has "Why Cookie Monster hates the internet." 5. From Neatorama: "FarmVille Now Offers Organic Crops." 6. The Telegraph has a photo gallery of an extreme balancer from Norway. 7. Science Daily: "Triceratops and Torsaurus Were Same Dinosaur at Different Stages." 8. The making of the Old Spice Commercial (HT: Brigitte Pellerin at PWPL) Best tweet of the week Fred Thompson: Obama: fin ref bill would end "era of irresponsibility". Huh... I didn't know it moved election day up to July.Second best tweet comes from 4Love: July 15 is Cow Appreciation Day. Eat a steak or hug a cow. Whichever works for you. Michael Ignatieff: not up to the job Worse for the Liberals than a bus tour with a bus that is literally stalled, is this from the National Post: Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, long criticized for spending decades abroad, said yesterday he would like to create a federally funded program to allow young Canadians to work overseas and gain international experience.Ignatieff is so tone deaf about politics he does not realize he is playing right into the hands of the Conservatives. I normally need a grain of salt to digest what James Travers says, but it seems more than plausible that this Toronto Star story is true: if Ignatieff loses the next election, he could land as head of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. I would add that he might not wait until suffering electoral defeat. Ignatieff is not comfortable in his own skin -- an unconventional liberal who must bow to the pieties and prejudices of the Liberal Party, an elitist who insists on both writing for highbrow American publications and dropping his g's on his ing words while campaigning in Canada. He has the mind of an academic, not the instincts of a politician. He is completely unsuited for the job of leading an opposition party and, I would guess, completely hates the experience. I wouldn't be surprised if he found a face-saving way to leave politics and land at the Munk Center where he can "make a contribution to the nation's debate about it's place in the world." The equation may come down to what is more embarrassing: leading a party and never facing the electorate or facing the electorate and being thoroughly repudiated? Whatever happens, it is painfully obvious Ignatieff is not up to the job of leader of the Liberal Party. He doesn't own all the blame for his party's poor showing, but as leader he bears much of the responsibility of not putting his party on the right track to a respectable showing. I'm aware that many of the things being said about Ignatieff now were being said about Stephen Harper five years ago, namely that he is unelectable. But Harper seemed to have an idea of what was necessary to win power. Ignatieff does not. Work. What's work? John Derbyshire on changing attitudes about physical labour -- "a war against the notion that any American citizen should do any kind of non-academic work before the age of 25": I have noticed that if, among 30-something colleagues, I mention one of my own school or college summer jobs — factory or construction work, dishwashing, retail sales, bartending — my colleagues will look amused, and a bit baffled. How come a guy as well-educated as Derb was shoveling concrete? Boy, he’s a real eccentric! No, I’m not. Those experiences were perfectly normal for a person of my generation. They’re just not normal any more, not for children of the American middle and upper classes. Three and out 3. The Toronto Blue Jays unload over-producing SS Alex Gonzalez and some prospects with upside but who were not generally considered among the top 10 minor leaguers in the organization, and receive in return from the Atlanta Braves productive but problematic SS in Yunel Escobar and pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes who has a beastly ERA (north of six runs per nine innings over his career) and could never could get a regular gig on the ridiculously deep Braves pitching staff. This is really a trade about the two shortstops. Tim Marchman notes that Escobar is younger and has a career line (301/375/426) akin to Derek Jeter's but is a problem personality, perhaps because of his poor work ethic, perhaps just because he's a jerk. Escobar doesn't have the power he's shown in the past and his batting average is about 70 points below his career mark, but he's six years younger than Gonzalez who is on pace to hit more than 30 homeruns, which is frankly not Alex Gonzalez. (He has hit more than 18 only once in his career and is more likely to miss double digit dingers than he is to be a long ball threat.) Clubhouse antics aside -- and they do matter -- I agree with Marchman's conclusion about this trade: "If I were a Toronto fan I'd be delighted today. But if I were a Braves fan I'd be shrugging indifferently at worst." Sounds about right. 2. Rob Neyer doesn't seem to like the Gonzalez et al for Escobar and Reyes deal from Atlanta's perspective, but the most interesting observation he makes is that this is a trade "nobody saw coming." Neither current major leaguer had been mentioned in the kind of columns that sports journalists concoct in which they suggest a number of "possible" or "rumoured' trades, none of which are likely to happen and mostly originate in their own imaginations. Toronto baseball writers should have been mentioning Gonzalez, a 33-year-old shortstop who is hitting with power previously unseen, in these fantasy-inspired columns. A-Gon's trade value would never be higher so speculative reporting in this case might have made some sense, at least from an analytical perspective. 1. Throwing cold water on the MLB's best record, which belongs to the New York Yankees: "they are 16-3 against the weakest teams on their schedule (Baltimore, Houston, Cleveland) and just 25-22 against everyone else. So far, the Yankees have won eight and lost eight against division rivals Boston, Tampa Bay and Toronto." That's from It's All About the Money's Yankees 2010 Trade Deadline Primer ebook. The Yankees have had very good starting pitching, a solid enough bullpen, a typical slow start from 1B Mark Teixeira, and injuries galore. They will probably get better if they are just left alone, but a big outfield bat or better DH option would be a huge plus going into the post-season and insurance for the rest of the season to provide some margin of error for the remaining 80 games. I'm less concerned about the pitching, although landing Cliff Lee would have been sweet because it is a clear upgrade on everyone but CC Sabathia and his presence in the rotation would mean either Phil Hughes going to the bullpen (helping strengthen that part of the game) or trading Javier Vazquez for another bat. The Yankees are a very good team and are the favourite to win it all, but their record is a bit misleading and a cause for some concern. |
