Sobering Thoughts |
|
|
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
|
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Kristofferson's pick for best Cash lyrics Rolling Stone deemed Cash the "31st greatest artist of all-time" -- only 31? -- and had Kris Kristofferson write the tribute. Kristofferson said Big River had the best lyrics of any Cash song. 25 favourite Cash songs List by Michael Tuns (12) 25. Devil's Right Hand 24. The One on the Right 23. Heart of Gold 22. Don't Take Your Guns to Town 21. A Boy Named Sue 20. I'm a Drifter (version 1) 19. Daddy Sang Bass 18. I'm Leaving Now 17. Why is a Fire Engine Red? 16. Field of Diamonds 15. I Hung My Head 14. (Ghost) Riders in the Sky 13. Man in Black 12. Folson Prison Blues 11. Bridge Over Troubled Waters 10. Pochantas 9. Personal Jesus 8. Mercy Seat 7. Rusty Cage 6. The Man Comes Around 5. One 4. I See a Darkness 3. God's Gonna Cut You Down 2. I Won't Back Down 1. Hurt Johnny Cash stuff 1. Johnny Cash sings Nasty Dan to Oscar the Grouch. 2. The 10 billionth iTunes song downloaded was Cash's "Guess Things Happen That Way," just days before Cash's birthday. The customer who downloaded the song was 71-years-old. 3. Cash impersonates Elvis -- there was also an Elvis impersonation of Cash which I can't find anymore: 4. I'm pretty sure I've linked to the December 2005 Touchstone magazine featuring a pair of very good essays on Cash's Christianity before. Here they are again: Russell D. Moore on the "Path of the Man in Black" and Mark D. Linville on "Why Johnny Cash Sang from His Mother’s Hymn Book." From Moore's article: Even as a Christian, Cash was different. He sang at Billy Graham crusades and wrote for Evangelical audiences, but he never quite fit the prevailing saccharine mood of pop Evangelicalism. Nor did he fit the trivialization of cultural Christianity so persistent in the country music industry, as Grand Old Opry stars effortlessly moved back and forth between songs about the glories of honky-tonk women and songs about the mercies of the Old Rugged Cross.5. I like this Cash arrangement of Little Drummer Boy that he performed on The Johnny Cash Show: 6. Johnny Cash's September 13, 2003 New York Times obituary and a nice remembrance of the late singer that appeared in the December 2003 edition of First Things. Rolling Stone interviews Rick Rubin (producer of the American albums) on Cash. 7. The American series are great albums and Solitary Man is one of my ten favourite albums. Country music writer Aaron Harris writes about the first four albums in the series for National Review in 2004. Jonathan Pinkerton, Nashville Entertainment Examiner, reviews Ain't No Grave, the latest (and last) in the American series that was released earlier this week. 8. The Highwaymen perform Highway Man. The applause for each country star gets progressive louder. Want to guess who gets the loudest applause during this performance at their incredible Nassau Coliseum concert? Saturday, February 27, 2010
Top 10 Cash songs from the America albums List by Patrick Tuns (19) 1.Hurt: I am going to preface this entire list with saying that Hurt, which since its release has remained in my top 3 favourite songs of all-time was a song I actually had to think about putting as number one. This song is raw emotion communicated in the form of sound. After seeing the video the images it projects become inseparable from the song in the mind of the viewer, driving them deeper into the pathos of the song. The sheer power of this song is simply overwhelming, and I am not alone in thinking this; Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails who originally wrote and performed the song said “that song isn't mine anymore … It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning — different, but every bit as pure.`` 2. The Mercy Seat: The ending of this song is absolutely astounding, a simple premise, a lot of repetition, but chalk full of power thanks largely to the deep reflection in Cash’s voice perfectly conveying the experience of a convict from his moments or preparation to die to the moment where the electric chair ends his life. 3. I Hung My Head: This song is astounding, simply astounding. You have Cash doing what he does best, telling a story through song. The part that always gets me in this song is Cash’s delivery of “I beg their forgiveness, I wish I was dead” sincerely sounds as though he was the character in the story who had accidentally murdered a man, so remorseful for his sin that he wants to die. Sting wrote a great song, Cash gave it perfect delivery. 4. One: When Cash sings “Well it’s too late, tonight, to drag the past out, into the light” this U2 song is made his. When Bono sings One I personally hear an idealist humanitarian singing a cry for unity. When I hear Cash sing this song, I hear a reflection of the bitter reality of pain in the world, driven home in Cash’s delivery of the lyric “You asked me to enter, but then you made me crawl, and I can’t be holding on to what you got, when all you got is hurt.” Cash isn’t asking “why can’t we be friends”; Cash is telling us “we cannot work as friends”. 5. Heart of Gold: I cannot stand the original Neil Young song, I find his voice whiny and annoying. Take what Cash did with One and apply it to this song. It helps that when Cash sings “and I’m getting old” you can actually hear it in his voice, it is real, as though he has been searching for a heart of gold, and his life is winding down and he is yet to find it. The story goes from a Neil Young wheeze fest to a solemn ballad of desire and disappointment. 6. Solitary Man: You pop America III into your CD player, and you are immediately sucked in with this song. This is a interesting piece in the America arsenal. Cash does not sound reflective here the way he does in songs like Hurt or Heart of Gold. Instead he sounds as if he were recalling a story to a friend over a casual drink. He could have made this song sound totally different by a slower delivery and singing a little lower, and I would venture to say this would have been a excellent delivery, but the way it is presented just works. It’s up tempo, it sounds lighter than his later work, but a review of the lyrics certainly does not reveal that, and somehow that contrast just works. 7. Like the 309: This was the last song Cash wrote before he died. After his wife died Cash went on a recording spree; he needed to work. This song was a product of that drive and it really shows. It is heartfelt, yet simple, you can hear the desire for Cash to work as he sings about working, yet also hear the resignation in his voice, as he realized his time on Earth was limited. 8. I Won’t Back Down: Tom Petty does a great job with this song, and I cannot say this version is better, but it certainly belongs to Cash. Minimal accompaniment (with Petty), his low voice, it doesn’t have the determination or drama Petty’s version had, and I think that’s what makes it so great. Cash is not being defiant when he sings “I will stand my ground, won’t be turned around,” he is stating fact. He is a man of principal and he will not be defeated. I hear him sing this and I am reminded of Hank Hill, not a rebellious man, not an overly impressive man, but a man of solid character with well grounded beliefs that will not be trampled on. 9. Bird on a Wire (with orchestral accompaniment): This is a good song on America One, but the version from Unearthed with Cash being accompanied by a full orchestra is better. You can tell in some of his America recordings that his age was starting to affect his voice, and you would think that a full orchestra would drown out his weakened voice, but it does not. Instead the soaring sound of the strings seem to provide a wind on which his voice ascends to new heights, his weakness now sounding more dignified than decaying. 10. God’s Gonna Cut You Down: This drum beat keeps the listener focused. It’s simple but powerful. It sounds like a war march, treading on as Cash sings about God’s retribution on the unjust. He does not sound fearful of God, he sounds as though he is singing the praises of the Almighty. When he says “I’ve been down on bended knee, talkin’ to the man from Galilee” he doesn’t say this in righteous judgement, but as a source of pride, he seems to take comfort in singing about God’s wrath without going all fire and brimstone. An interesting contrast to his performance in the music video for Devil Went Back to Georgia. Friday, February 26, 2010
Johnny Cash weekend at Sobering Thoughts The Man in Black would have turned 78 today. Here's my favourite Cash video and probably my favourite Cash song, Hurt. I'll be posting some Johnny Cash-themed lists and a Johnny Cash Stuff over the weekend. You can teach old dogs new tricks Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher have been married for 85 years and they are answering questions about the secrets of their success on Twitter. (HT: Newmark`s Door) Robson on government fiscal irresponsibility Ottawa Citizen columnist John Robson: (The U.S.) government is running larger deficits than at any time since the Second World War while spending less of GDP on defence than at any time since Pearl Harbor. Such recklessness threatens America's capacity to carry the strategic burden that Europe and Canada have shrugged off. But all Barack Obama and Congress can think of is to spend more, on health, job creation, housing subsidies (again) and anything else with votes in it.If there is a plus side, the United States and Canada are not alone on this; as Robson notes, finance ministers are like the proverbial child who follow his peers off the cliff. Thursday, February 25, 2010
Most public apologies are BS In his column yesterday, Thomas Sowell makes a lot of great points about the public apology: Public apologies to people who are not owed any apologies have become one of the many signs of the mushy thinking of our times. So are apologies for things that other people did.Apologies should be reserved for those who were harmed -- actually harmed -- and be provided by those who did the harm. It is not a stretch to say, as Sowell does, that the promiscuous apologizing is part of the agenda to delegitimize the idea of personal responsibility: This craze for aimless apologies is part of a general loss of a sense of personal responsibility in our time. We are supposed to feel guilty for what other people did, but there are a thousand cop-outs for what we ourselves did... How to make presentations better Freakonomics blogger Ian Ayres predicts "that we will soon start seeing auto-tuned mashups of all kinds of business and academic presentations." (Ayres, like myself, is partial to the I-am-T-Pane auto-tuner). It isn't all for fun: What is now fun and frivolous may some day help us improve our everyday speech. In fact, in the not-too-distant future, some of us may prefer to have the timbre and pitch of our spoken prose artificially enhanced in real time by an oration auto-tuner.However, this is a fun video: Here are more Auto-tuning the news. This one is pretty good, too: About the Toyota show trials Rep. John Campbell (R, Calf) makes these three key points about the persecution of Toyota in his laptop report today: * Two of Toyota's major competitors, GM and Chrysler, are owned and run by the very government currently "prosecuting" Toyota.The Democrats are incentivized to go after the Japanese car-maker and Congress is in a huge conflict-of-interest even questioning Toyota. Put down the pills and just chill a bit Over at ProWomanProLife, Brigitte Pellerin links to this story: Almost 6 percent of American women, that’s 7.5 million adult women, report using prescription medicines for a boost of energy, a dose of calm or other non-medical reasons, according to the latest numbers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse ...Pellerin responds: If you find yourself so overwhelmed that you need anti-anxiety meds, maybe what you need is a break instead.Or yourself a drink. Or care less about things. (I'm sure these moms are pill-takers.) I'm serious about both those suggestions. Health care summit Politico: "President Obama: Unsure 'gaps can be bridged'." Michael Ramirez IBD cartoon:  Summing up the Democrat approach to health care Unhinged from reality. Arnold Kling at Cato's live-blogging of the Health Care Public Relations Exercise today: Obama: We are not taking over health insurance. We are just going to design the policies and fix the prices, that's all...This was all PR. David Frum, who also live-blogged the Health Care Reform Summit made two good (related) points: If this White House meeting were being held in private, would the conferees have said ONE WORD of what they just spent the past 34 minutes saying? In private, they could proceed directly to the point, couldn’t they?And: HCR summit helps me understand why we invented the 8-second soundbite. `Government is broken` George Will notes that the familiar lament that `government is broken` and `Washington isn`t working` really means that liberals can`t shove their agenda deep down the throat of America. Quoting Jefferson, Will says "Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities." God bless gridlock and partisanship. Jefferson is resting peacefully in his grave. Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Looking forward to reviewing this book Wesley Smith's long-anticipated book A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy: The Cost of the Animal Rights Movement is finally out. Jay Richards has a brief review at TheEnterprise.com: Animal rights, like environmentalism, sounds like something that every well-meaning person should support. But it’s not. In reality, the movement is deeply anti-human. And in just three decades, Smith argues, it has seeped into every nook and cranny of Western culture.I'm looking forward to reviewing this in The Interim. Amazon reviews Dayn Perry notes that some Amazon.com ratings are brought down by readers who give books poor ratings based on their inability to read some recent offerings in ebook form. Of course, most political books are reviewed less on their merits than on what side of the partisan divide they fall. In both cases ratings are based on reviews on people who have never read the book. Interesting theory about Obama and race in a column about the ineptitude of the CBC Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page -- I didn't know he was still writing -- says that Barack Obama isn't black enough because he doesn't want to stir up racist conservatives. Page says: Yet, among black America's prominent public intellectuals, only Georgetown's Michael Eric Dyson has had enough audacity to declare "Obama runs from race like a black man runs from a cop." If anything, Obama actually runs from race like a black politician who is looking to avoid a potential white conservative backlash.That's a serious charge, but it goes undeveloped. The rest of the column is about how race issues are not being addressed properly by Obama or the unaccountable Congressional Black Caucus due (presumably) to the racism of conservatives and because of the latter's own questionable practices. Midweek stuff 1. The New York Times reviews Johnny Cash's latest album. Listened to the CD last night and its very good. 2. From NewScientist.com: "Even in the virtual world, men judge women on looks." Not surprised. 3. Mental Floss has the "curling or quidditch" quiz. 4. Gaffes costing best Olympic athletes their golds. 5. Listverse has "10 Famous Musicians with Disabilities." 6. WiredScience reports, "Math Shows Some Crime Hot Spots Can Be Cooled, Others Only Relocated." 7. Sesame Street: Mad Men isn't it as good as one would hope, but it is nearly impossible for a children's show to parody a show featuring drinking, smoking and infidelity, although the concluding seconds are wonderful: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Negotiating Obamacare to the last minute, for appearance sake The bipartisan health scare summit is not negotiation, it's public relations. David Gratzer on Barack Obama fighting for his health care reforms when it appears that the politics would suggest it has very little chance to pass: Why is it then that the White House is talking up reconciliation and a new (or not so new) proposal? The answer has nothing to do with the hope of a Rose Garden signing ceremony, but the hope of holding on to what they really have: Senate seats in blue states like Washington, Illinois, Nevada, and California. Attempting to shore up his liberal base, the President is making one last public effort to push through his liberal legislation.When Republicans are in the majority again, they might want to make January 19 a national holiday to commemorate Scott Brown's victory and the defeat of the liberty-killing Obamacare plan -- although as Gratzer's Manhattan Institute colleague Paul Howard points out, it was bad policies and pre-Brown politics that killed Obamacare, not the newest Massachusetts senator. Economics is about more than dollars and cents, and you are paid with more than a paycheck In the context of a discussion about the relative pay of bloggers and garbage men, Bryan Caplan says: In other words, if we count fun and misery properly, they don't undermine the market's meritocratic order. They're part and parcel of it. Monday, February 22, 2010
Gay guy accuses Ryan Sorba of having a sodomy obsession FrumForum's HomoCon Alex Knepper has a nasty piece in which he accuses YAF's Ryan Sorba of being a closeted homosexual. A political commentary which suggests that everyone -- not just Sorba -- that views homosexual acts as immoral as being homosexual has no place at all in civil discourse. This must be what Frum's moderation looks like. Three and out 3. Despite paring payroll earlier this Winter (saying good-bye to 28-year-old Curtis Granderson and his $8 mil a year, among others), the Detroit Tigers signed 36-year-old Johnny Damon for $8 million for 2009. Billfer at the Detroit Tigers Weblog uses Hit Tracker to determine how many of Johnny Damon's 17 HRs hit at his 2009 home park (Yankee Stadium) would have come up short if he played in his 2010 home park (Comerica Park) and concludes that he would have lost five of them and two or three were in jeopardy. All very interesting and it warns against over-valuing his homer total but a few things need to be said about the conclusion some people might erroneously come to, although Billfer's conclusion is sound ("Damon will still likely hit his share of homers, but a total in the mid teens is a more likely outcome. As is a line that is closer to his 2009 road numbers (284/349/446) than his homer inflated home line (279/382/533).") Not all the missed homeruns would necessarily have been caught, so some of these homeruns might have ended up as doubles or singles. Furthermore, while the data indicates he was pulling the ball more both on the home and the road, it is quite possible that he began adjusting his swing generally in response to the 81 home games he played in both the new and old Yankee Stadium. That said, the Tigers will benefit from having a leftfielder with a 280/350/450 line that comes along with 15+ homers and a dozen stolen bases. Lynn Henning of the Detroit News exaggerates when he says that Damon might be the most significant and impactful signing for the Tigers since 2005. It's a good move but let's hold off on such breathless statements unless there is an actual World Series parade in Detroit this November. As Tim Marchman notes, considering how tight the AL Central often is, the Chicago White Sox should have spent the dough for a predicted improvement of two wins over the course of the season. 2. The New York Yankees signed Chan Ho Park to a $1.2 million deal plus incentives totalling a 25% pay increase if they are all reached. A great little move that gives the team a deeper bullpen and the flexibility to trade either Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin (please, God, please trade either or both of those pitchers). I'm with Yanks GM Brian Cashman: "I think we have a terrific bullpen. The more, the merrier. You can never have enough." That's especially true if you are the New York Yankees and $1.2 million is next to nothing in the grand scheme of their payroll. Despite the likelihood of a lot of regression, Fangraphs notes that Park's 2009 stats were skewed by an atrocious stint as a starter and an incredible run as a reliever, but warn that Park's 2008 out of the bullpen wasn't nearly as strong. Still they like this signing for the Yankees because there is tremendous upside and even if he is just league average, at worst he deepens the bullpen. 1. USA Today reports that LA Dodgers skipper Joe Torre is open to returning in 2011. That's probably good for them. The Dodgers have made the playoffs both years he's been at the helm and he has personally made the post-season for 15 consecutive seasons. Whatever terrible tendencies he has (abusing the arms of certain relievers), he has been good for the Dodgers and there is no reason to expect that to change (at least not because of anything the manager does). ESPN reports that Manny Ramirez says 2010 is probably going to be his last year in Dodger blue and that is probably a good thing for them, too. His second half numbers were terrible, he was practically powerless after being beaned on the wrist, and some people think he might be in serious decline at this stage of his career. Of course, he has 162 games to disprove them and I wouldn't be against ManRam doing so. If he is willing to settle for much less than $20 million a season, there are very few teams that wouldn't benefit from his bat even if you took 30 points off every dimension of his slash stats (290/418/531) from last year, especially an AL team where he could DH. I think the Dodgers are poised for great things for a long time but there best chance might be now. Sometimes sour grapes are just sour grapes George Weigel wants to draw large conclusions about Russia based on the reaction to Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko's silver medal at the Winter Olympics: Here, I suggest, is that rarity: an Olympic window into a national political culture. Everything about the Russian whining over Plushenko’s silver neatly matches the dominant themes of much of Russian public life since the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991: the paranoia (some enemy did this to us); the bullying (you’re a wuss, Evan Lysacek, because you didn’t do a quad); the distortion of reality (silver is as good as gold); and the misrepresentation of history (the new scoring system for men’s figure skating was installed, according to the Washington Post’s Tracee Hamilton, precisely because of previous Russian cheating). Isn’t this all of a piece with Russian bullying (and worse) in Georgia and Ukraine, Russian threats to the energy supply of central and western Europe, Russian obstreperousness in the matter of Iran’s nuclear program, Russian crowds’ burning in effigy a Latvian filmmaker who dared to make a documentary that told the truth about Communism (The Soviet Story)? It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this boorish behavior — to put it gently — has a lot to do with the fact that, as a political culture, Russia has never begun to come to grips with the legacy of 74 years of Communism.This is all true, but it still seems Weigel is stretching a bit to make his point. People in countries that don't take home the gold often behave boorishly -- many losers have excuses, see conspiracies and deny the obvious -- and not just those with a communist history to blame. Publius on Riel Gods of the Copybook Headings has a thoughtful post on Louis Riel in light of Peter Goldring's criticism of the Metis leader. Sunday, February 21, 2010
Weekend stuff 1. You have to check this out: "The 19 most complex and dangerous roads in the world" or as Newmark's Door calls them: insane. It is one of the most interesting links I've ever featured in this stuff series. 2. For Valentine's Day, BostonGlobe.com has the Top 20 most romantic movies of all-time. Brokeback Mountain (#12) is ahead of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Titanic makes it, but isn't the highest ranked Leonardo DiCaprio flick. I don't get When Harry Met Sally being ranked #2 -- don't couples often fight when they watch that movie together. 3. Mini truck sushi. 4. The 250 most borrowed books from British libraries in 2008/2009. James Patterson dominates the list, followed by Danielle Steele. Tyler Cowen offers a theory why. 5. Graph explains when people go green. 6. Cracked.com has "7 Bullshit Police Myths Everyone Believes (Thanks to Movies)," from insanity pleas to DNA. Interesting fact: the insanity defense is attempted in fewer than 1% of all cases and is successful only 25% of the time. 7. The National Post has an interesting story on why and how new apples appear in grocery stores. 8. Why I don't watch news talkshows: Saturday, February 20, 2010
Walter Russell Mead on the environmental movement A must read from Walter Russell Mead American Interest blog on the environmental movement. The gist of his argument: The climate change movement now needs to regroup, and at some point it will have to confront a central, unpalatable fact: the wounds from which it is bleeding so profusely are mostly its own fault. This phase of the climate change movement was immature, unrealistic and naive. It was poorly organized and foolishly led. It adopted an unrealistic and unreachable political goal, and sought to stampede world opinion through misleading and exaggerated statements. It lacked the most elementary level of political realism–all the more egregious given the movement’s politically sophisticated and very rich opponents. Foundation staff, activists and sympathetic journalists cocooned themselves in an echo chamber of comfortable group-think, and as they toasted one another in green Kool-Aid they thought they were making progress when actually they were slowly and painfully digging themselves into an ever-deeper hole.He blames Al Gore. Read on. Harper's majority on the Supreme Court: Much ado about nothing The Ottawa Citizen headline and subhead: "Aging Supreme Court poised for change: With 7 out of 9 judges eligible to retire, Harper could have an historic opportunity to appoint a majority of the court." The story doesn't quite match the excitement of the subhead. If six justices who do not have to retire for at least four years all retire early and Stephen Harper is around for another four or five years, then and maybe only then will he have the power to appoint a majority. (That is based on the safe presumption that neither of his appointments retire early.) Taken to its illogically logical extreme, Harper could appoint all nine members of the country's top court if the seven Liberal-appointed justices decide to hang up their ermine robes early, but that is doubtful. The Citizen reports, "Seven of the Supreme Court of Canada's nine members are now eligible (but not required) to retire, with an eighth eligible to go in 2011." All justices are required to retire by the time they reach their 75th birthday and the oldest member of the SCOC is Morris Fish who is only 71, followed by a pair of 70-year-old justices. While none are likely to wait until the exact day of their birthday, it is premature to think that there will be a bevy of retirements in the next few years, despite the Citizen reporting that "speculation is building in Canadian legal circles" about openings. Never mind that the only speculating the paper actually reports is a political science professor. A cynic would look at this article and think one of two things: political stories are few and far between in Ottawa nowadays or certain journalists are priming the "scary Tories" meme. At best this is making a mountain out of molehill. Ron Paul wins CPAC straw poll Politico reports: Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning Texas Republican who ran a quixotic bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, was the top vote-getter in the Conservative Political Action Conference’s straw poll, capturing the support of 33 percent of those who participated in the contest.Not quite irrelevant -- it says something that the elected official with the most fidelity to the Constitution comes out ahead. It also says something that Palin finished with just 7% of the support of these red meat conservatives. Friday, February 19, 2010
Robson on Canada's personal debt I find this column a little too gloomy and nostalgic -- in a word, too conservative (properly understood) -- but John Robson has a point, and despite what modern conservatives think, it is not merely that government helped create the problem and we're dubious about it being a part of the solution. Uncontrolled appetites might be good for GDP but it they can also endanger people's long-term economic well-being, with dubious contributions to an individual's immediate happiness. Cure for those Winter blues is not simply getting away It's planning to get away. Tyler Cowen points to a study that shows that simply planning a vacation increases happiness. The New York Times Well blog expands on it, noting the effect of happily anticipating a vacation can last eight weeks. As one commenter to MR says: In sum:Another commenter says "I've noticed the same effect with other long-planned purchases." Interesting. When was the last time a Liberal was criticized on the front page of the Catholic Register? As Brigitte Pellerin says, "There’s no way to make this sound nice."  America the ungovernable? WaPo columnist Charles Krauthammer says that is a popular meme when American has poor leadership. The problem is not structural; the problem is the person at the top of the structure. Just like Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama isn't up to the job of president. Great news Business Insider reports that Exxon discovers more oil than it produces, raising doubts about peak oil scaremongering. Why isn't this getting wider play? Thursday, February 18, 2010
Early internet Excellent video about the First ARPANET Communication featuring two of the researchers involved (Bill Duvall and Charles Kline). This video was released last October to mark the 40th anniversary of the first ARPANET Communication. Rich is the new gay or new black -- and not in the good way Bryan Caplan: I'm not convinced. Whenever any other group in society feels disrespected - whether it's women, gays, blacks, immigrants, nerds, or whatever - we advise them to stand up for themselves. We tell them to demand that their fellow citizens give them the respect they deserve. Why shouldn't businesspeople and high-earners follow the same strategy? Yes, in the short-run, this might be, in Dalmia's words, "off-putting." In the long-run, though, pride movements are pretty effective.A few years ago Gerry Nicholls wrote a column for Report magazine which said that business people should stand up for themselves, in part because no one else will but also because they rightly have a contribution to society of which they should be proud. In fact, unlike the groups Caplan mentions which are too large about which to make meaningful generalizations, one can say with confidence that entrepreneurs contribute more to society than most other groups. Caplan alludes to another point: not only do the rich have a right to defend themselves, they need to because animus against the rich is not only a tolerated bigotry, but one that is officially encouraged through the politics of envy. One way which society might end this bigotry is by getting rid of progressive taxation. The signal sent by progressive tax rates is that it is okay to treat the rich differently, by punishing them for their success. It is time to end discrimination and other unseemly attitudes towards the wealthy. Three and out 3. I love Endy Chavez's glove and he hit a respectable enough 273/328/342 in Seattle before his injury last year. You don't want that as a starting outfielder but it won't kill you spotting a player who needs a rest or as a late-game defensive replacement. I'm not sure this is damning with faint praise or a genuine compliment when Jack Moore at Fangraphs says that Chavez is the perfect fifth outfielder. Either way, he is a nice addition to the Texas Rangers bench, especially considering that he can play all three outfield positions. If there is a downside, it is that all three starting outfielders are left-handed batters, as is Chavez -- not that he'll be used for his bat considering his below-average OBP and one HR in 298 at-bats in '09. 2. The Star-Ledger reports that New York Mets 3B David Wright is predicting his team will make the playoffs and go far. Although the Mets won just 70 games last year, it is not unimaginable that they could make the post-season this year. The Philadelphia Phillies look to be a pretty solid bet to win the division for the third year in a row and seek to become the first National League team to go to the World Series three years in a row in more than six decades. But the wild card is wide open and the Mets were hurt more than any other team by injuries last year. Simply being healthy probably adds close to eight or ten wins and bounce-back years from a starter or two, Jason Bay's production in leftfield, and the return of some power to David Wright's bat gets them back in the mid to high 80s in terms of wins. They need a lot to go right for them to be in contention for a playoff spot and I wouldn't bet on it all happening, but it is not outside the realm of possibility. 1. Fire Jim Bowden, a Washington Nationals blog, has a good post on arbitration that notes that the Nats have used arbitration more than any other MLB team since 2005; in fact, it has gone to arb more often than the next two teams combined (Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins). Interestingly, 13 of 30 teams have avoided the process altogether. FJB explains why this is a problem for the team and the post is worth reading even if one is not a Washington Nationals fan. Environmentalism is anti-poor terrorism That's my new line of argument: why do rich liberals in the developed world want to condemn the world's poor to miserable lives? Here's an excerpt from an excellent interview with University of Alabama atmospheric scientist John Christy: It sounds like you're on the side of the angels when you say you want to save the planet. But if you're talking about preventing energy from expanding in the Third World, you're condemning people to perpetual poverty.(HT: Newmark's Door) Will's wisdom WaPo columnist George F. Will says about all that needs to be said about Sarah Palin and 2012: Conservatives, who rightly respect markets as generally reliable gauges of consumer preferences, should notice that the political market is speaking clearly: The more attention Palin receives, the fewer Americans consider her presidential timber. The latest Post-ABC News poll shows that 71 percent of Americans -- including 52 percent of Republicans -- think she is not qualified to be president. Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Shockingly stupid commentary At The Daily Beast Peter Beinart writes about Evan Bayh's announcement that he isn't running again and claims it says something meaningful about the transformation of American politics because, after all, Barack Obama turned that red state blue in 2008: In 2008, Obama went into the Indiana primary following painful losses in Ohio and Pennsylvania, losses that led many in the chattering class to wonder if he could ever win over the white beer-and-bowling crowd. But Obama came out of Indiana with a virtual draw, and more shockingly, he beat John McCain there in the fall—becoming the first Democrat to win the state in more than 40 years.Or perhaps it was geography. As Tim Marchman notes (under point #3): On a bicycle, it takes about half an hour to get to Indiana from Obama's house. Did anyone seriously think that his having scratched out a win there in the best political environment for Democrats in generations was Meaningful? Three and out 3. Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci looks at 10 candidates for the Verducci Effect (named by Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll) which says "pitchers under the age of 25 who have 30-inning increases year over year tend to underperform." The comments to this BP post provide some very solid criticisms of the Verducci Effect in general and some of Verducci's inclusions for this year. 2. Chien-Ming Wang has signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Washington Nationals. At first, I thought this was an okayish move that didn't make a lot of sense for the Nats: they don't need a veteranish injury-risk in their rotation, but they didn't pay a lot for him. He won a lot of games, kept the ball in the park with an impressive sinker, didn't walk many batters but didn't strike many out, either. But this Fangraphs post points to a number of concerns -- concerns about more than injuries. It seems his highly effective sinker from 2006, 2007 and 2008 tailed off in late 2008 and 2009 because of mechanics. The Nats will need to fix those mechanics for Wang to be the pitcher he was for the New York Yankees. If he doesn't do much in a Nationals uniform, the injury will get blamed but there seems to be much more at play. I still don't get the Nats signing Wang; it would be one thing if he were to log 200 innings as a placeholder, but that seems unlikely. At best he's blocking young pitchers who might contribute to the Washington Nationals in the future. The worst thing is that if he pitches well enough, he'll earn another $3 million in performance bonuses, but do so on a losing team. The only way this makes sense is if they hope he pitches well enough to serve as trade fodder come July. 1. A wide-ranging interview between the blog NoMaas and New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman. It is very good, but this part is extremely important for fans of baseball -- and its critics -- to remember: SJK [NoMaas]: Speaking of the budget, whenever the Yankees win, the payroll police comes out and says that any GM could win with those financial resources. Does that ever get at you? Ignatieff didn't 'use the pause' A Globe and Mail editorial notes that Michael Ignatieff has provided "a welcome sign of maturation from a leader and a party that, for most of 2009, seemed focused on only short-term political calculations," in sending the prime minister a letter proposing numerous proposals from restitution for victims of white-collar crime to reconvening of the Special Committee on Afghanistan to new pay-equity legislation. It also notes that the Liberal leader used much of the prorogation to hold a series of seminars on various issues, even some that aren't very newsworthy (isotopes?). The party's positions on renewable energy, economic growth and parliamentary democracy are a little clearer. But the editorial also states: But Mr. Ignatieff still has much work to do. These disparate elements must be woven into an overarching narrative of what 21st-century Liberalism stands for, taking into account the country's fiscal problems.This is no small thing. Most Canadians -- those normal people who don't read The Hill Times -- have no idea what Ignatieff and the Liberals want to do on renewable energy or economic growth, even if the party has worked on these issues and articulated their vision because the papers and blogs largely ignored policy these past two months; the country probably saw that Iggy wants future prorogations to be subject to votes of Parliament, but that went nowhere fast. What the Liberals need is a comprehensive but simple vision that a broad swathe of Canadian voters can buy into. So far, that hasn't happened and until it does, ignored policy proposals and seminars aren't going to be game-changing. What does this say about politics? Politico reports that many politicians want to get out of politics while Newsweek notes that there are several CEOs who are running for political office and want to bring a business mentality to the public sphere. Exploiting Trig Kathleen Parker raised a good point a few days ago in the WaPo: Palin's defense of people with special needs is commendable. Her obvious love for -- and pride in -- her Down syndrome child, Trig, is touching. But each time she sallies forth as Mama Bear to America's special-needs citizenry, invoking Trig's name amid demands for her children's privacy, a bit of uneasiness slithers between text and subtext.I think it is a discussable point. My bigger problem with Palin is that she often uses her family as a prop, often to partake in the game of identity politics, but then demands that no one question her about her family. She can't have it both ways. Obstructing the majority is a feature, not flaw of the system Don Boudreaux at Cafe Hayek responds to USA Today's DeWayne Wickham, who wants to get rid of the Senate filibuster which Wickham says "flouts the basic idea of a majority-rule democracy": Wickham ought to brush up on history and civics. The “basic idea of a majority-rule democracy” in the U.S. has never meant the unobstructed and simple rule by majority vote. The Senate, part of a bicameral Congress, is itself an institution explicitly meant to reduce the likelihood that any temporary passions of the majority are enacted into legislation. Countless other features of government have the same aim. Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The instinct to fascism Five Feet of Fury notes this detail from a Boston Globe story about Amy Bishop, the University of Alabama Huntsville professor who killed three of her colleagues: Bishop once stopped a local ice cream truck from coming into their neighborhood. How come the 'paranoid style of American politics' card is never used against the Left I'm not sure what to think of the Tea Party Movement. I think it is too early to know what their political impact will be: move the Republicans right, become a voice for independents, flame out, whatever. But this New York Times hit piece seems unfair and over-the-top on so many levels. The Tea Party Movement is not going to lead a revolution and it is irresponsible to insinuate as much. What's the over/under on Republican gains for November Evan Bayh (D, Ind.) won't seek a third term as senator. That's big news because he has been a future star of the party for more than a decade now. He's always describes as moderate although he hasn't really distinguished himself from the Democratic pack nor separated himself from the dismally liberal leadership of the party. The Washington Post reported that "Bayh cited the lack of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill as his main reason for leaving." More like not wanting to face an embarrassing defeat. Republicans -- or at least their supporters -- are talking about taking back both houses of Congress, something that seems premature to discuss and unlikely to occur. Not a lot is going right for the Democrats and the loss of Bayh on the ballot probably moves Indiana from the D column to R -- unlike the loss of Chris Dodd which is probably enough to keep Connecticut in the hands of Democrats. But 10 pickups is a lot. Six seems almost assured but I see anything more than seven or eight has highly improbable. At least right now. I want to see what happens with health care -- what, if anything passes, the public's reaction to it, etc& -- before predicting what happens politically in November. Remember, just weeks before the Massachusetts Senate election, no one gave Scott Brown a chance to become that state's junior senator; a month before the Iowa caucus in 2008, Hillary Clinton was going to be the Democratic presidential nominee. A lot can happen over a month; predicting what will happen over the next eight-and-a-half months is folly. Sunday, February 14, 2010
Will on the Democrats' subordination/dependency agenda George Will's excellent WaPo column ends thusly: "The dependency agenda is progressive education for children of all ages, meaning all ages treated as children." Economists don't believe in soulmates Economist Betsey Stevenson, partner of Freakonomics blogger Justin Wolfers, on relationships (from last summer): While others see a romantic courtship leading to the altar, I see people who are satisfied enough to stop searching for someone else... Saturday, February 13, 2010
Why Africa is poor and hungry There are a lot of reasons, but one of them might be related to this: A fertilizer-use study by researchers on East African highland bananas showed that moderate application of mineral fertilizers could double the production of the crop. However, the study also found that majority of the banana growers in the region do not use fertilizers, missing out on the opportunity to maximize their crop's food security and economic potentials. Over 70 million people in the East African highlands depend on banana as their primary source of food and income. Climate change wars Climate change fanatics say their opponents are in the employ of Big Oil or other wealthy but fundamentally evil industries. Michael Coren writes in today's Toronto Sun about bringing Tim Ball, a climate change "denier", onto his CTS show: Usually I wouldn’t reveal this sort of information, but in this case it’s necessary. We flew professor Ball to Toronto from Victoria for our interview because he could not afford the flight. The money for the economy fare was donated by two friends of our program with no connections to the climate-change debate and there was no fee for professor Ball. In other words, this man alleged to be in the pay of millionaires could not find anyone to subsidize even an entirely legitimate domestic flight for a major interview seen by 300,000 people!Read that again: "In other words, this man alleged to be in the pay of millionaires could not find anyone to subsidize even an entirely legitimate domestic flight..." I checked Travelocity and round-trip flights range from $358 to $1144, with most in the $500-$700 range. If Ball was doing the bidding of large "polluting" companies, how is it that he wasn't able to afford a flight that costs a few hundred dollars? Not to defend child labour but..., Or, the law of unintended consequences Steven Landsburg (aka The Armchair Economist) relates the story of a 10-year-old Bangladeshi girl named Moyna who cannot be legally employed because of the Child Labor Deterrence Act passed by Congress in 1992. She says she lost her job because Westerners loathe people like her in the developing world. Lansdsburg responds: Probably Moyna’s only half right. Tom Harkin doesn’t loathe her; he just doesn’t give a damn about her. Ditto for the union goons and the American business owners who tout their made-in-America, untouched-by-Third-World-hands product lines. Those people (by and large) aren’t hateful; they’re just mercenary and callous. It’s their customers–the ones who would cheerfully pay extra for the privilege of supporting a $30-an-hour middle class American instead of a struggling $1-an-hour Bangladeshi—who are motivated by something like hate.The Moyna story comes from this article, which includes this terrible but predictable fact: When UNICEF and the ILO made a series of follow-up visits they found that the children displaced from the garment factories were working at stone-crushing and street hustling – more hazardous and exploitative activities than their factory jobs. Abolishing certain wedding traditions Slate's ladies address the question: "Which wedding tradition do you wish were abolished?" I'm surprised that weddings themselves were only mentioned twice. Ellen Tarlin, I was glad to see, was not typical: I suppose I am glad I got married, simply so that I can provide my husband with health insurance and have all those other rights that gay couples don't get but also should.And I really liked this response to the suggestion by one participant that the "tradition" of brides-to-be doing all the work for a year preparing for the wedding be ceased: "no bride who needs a year to plan a wedding WANTS her fiance's help. It doesn't take that long to plan a wedding, even a big one, unless you're a perfectionist control freak who wants everything just so. Trust me. It's actually not that fraught, time-consuming, or difficult if you're organized and share tasks."I have no opinion about throwing the bouquet and think it is practical to end the ridiculousness of matching bridesmaids dresses, but I entirely agree with Kerry Howley: "the father/husband hand-off kills me." I'm about as anti-feminist as they come and I hate this tradition. Almost as bad as asking a girlfriend's father to marry his daughter. Thursday, February 11, 2010
A good question at FrumForum A blogger who goes by the name Orestes Brownson* at FrumForum poses the question of whether there is room for social conservatism in centrist politics: Or perhaps, centrists should look at that other model of centrism, as modeled by Chris Smith and Joe Cao; “strong” on social issues from a conservative perspective, “weak” on fiscal issues from a libertarian perspective. Chris Smith, of course, was a supporter of the climate change bill, and Joe Cao was the single Republican vote for the healthcare bill, both of which put them under the gun with their conservative supporters. But Chris Smith wins consistently in a union-dominated district. Joe Cao pulled off a thrilling victory in a very Democratic district. It’s not like orthodox fiscal conservatism or foreign policy hawkishness are that much more popular than social conservatism. From a Republican perspective, does it not take all kinds? Or are some centrisms more equal than others?I always find it amusing that there is a brand of conservative who finds opposition to abortion extreme but ultra-hawkish positions or policies to privatize everything under the sun to be moderate, centrist and popular. Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for privatizing everything under the sun, and perhaps even the sun -- but I'm under no illusion where these policies fall on the political spectrum or how popular/unpopular some such policies might be with the general public. The centrism of the Reagan Democrats was broadly socially conservative with a sense of social justice that allowed for moderate state intervention in the economy, or precisely what Chris Smith does, with great electoral success. * How many modern conservatives know who Orestes Brownson was? Club for Growth ratings It is sad that only three members of the House of Representatives have a Club for Growth rating of 80 or better, and just seven have a rating between 70 and 79. No prize for guessing which party those ten Congressmen belong to. Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Midweek stuff 1. Phil Harris (captain of the crab-fishing vessel Cornelia Marie featured on Deadliest Catch) passed away last month after suffering a stroke. 2. Wired.com's GameLife blog has "10 Literary Classics That Should Be Videogames." Even before reading the post I thought of the The Grapes of Wrath/Oregon Trail possibilities. 3. Slate's Green Lantern is in no hurry to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 4. Listverse has "Top 10 Unbelievable Miniatures." 5. Slate offers "an intellectual history" of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue in which author Bryan Curtis explains that the magazine's "editors had to maintain a careful balance: They had to make the issue seem much racier than it actually was, while still maintaining its wholesome aesthetic." 6. Forbes.com has the "Most Dangerous Vehicles Of 2010." Important stat: "[A]verage economic cost per traffic fatality in 2007, the latest year on record, was $1.1 million." 7. Probably the best commercial ever (HT: Five Feet of Fury) The Frum Forum, er, forum on centrist politics Mostly it is what you would expect from the Frumkins, although I usually enjoy reading John Avlon. But I take issue with this statement: Centrist Republicans are derided as RINOS for their support of pro-choice policies, gay rights, immigration reform and even balanced budget mechanisms like Pay-Go.He follows that sentence up with some worthwhile observations, but he also misses the point. They are derided as RINOS not for supporting gay marriage or abortion or immigration or Pay-Go or any other number of positions, but for holding them all. Take a half dozen important issues out of the mix, and you don't really have a Republican anymore as much as someone who might generally agree with the party on some issues. What's the difference between a politician and a common thief? Don Boudreaux writes a letter to the Washington Post commenting on their coverage of the recently deceased Congressman, John Murtha: By your own account, Mr. Murtha was the “King of Pork.” He was known for skillfully using Congressional procedures to earmark funds for his district – that is, to prompt Uncle Sam to take money from Americans at large and give it to the relatively small number of Pennsylvanians who elect Mr. Murtha to office. Snowmageddon The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on how Washington DC is dealing with their snowstorm (is it any surprise that the city's snow melting machine doesn't work?). Also, below is a neat time-lapse video of the storm. Polygyny might aid in battle against AIDS in Africa Chris Blattman points to a study that finds: HIV prevalence is lower in countries where the practice of polygyny is common, and within countries, it is lower in areas with higher levels of polygyny.Blattman says: Africans don’t have more sex than Americans; both have roughly the same number of partners in a lifetime. But Americans are more likely to be serial monogamists, while Africans are more likely to have concurrent partners (outside marriage). These networks allow HIV to spread more easily. Polygyny, it seems, is the exception.(Don't read this post as an endorsement of polygyny.) NRO celebrates prematurely Climaquiddick notwithstanding, I think this National Review Online editorial that states "The global-warming thrill ride looks to be coming to an end" is way too optimistic. 'Paper of record' mistakes, Or, thank God they have editors Gosh, the New York Times is sloppy. Gregg Easterbrook, in his football-and-politics column for ESPN.com, notes these non-sports mistakes that the paper of record acknowledged in corrections over the past six months (I've highighted the best ones): In the past six months, the Times has, according to its own corrections page, said Arizona borders Wisconsin; confused 12.7-millimeter rifle ammunition with 12.7 caliber (the latter would be a sizeable naval cannon); said a pot of ratatouille should contain 25 cloves of garlic (two tablespoons will do nicely); on at least five occasions, confused a million with a billion (note to the reporters responsible -- there are jobs waiting for you at the House Ways and Means Committee); understated the national debt by $4.2 trillion (note to the reporter responsible -- there's a job waiting for you at the Office of Management and Budget); confused $1 billion with $1 trillion (note to the reporter responsible -- would you like to be CEO of AIG?); admitted numerical flaws in a story "about the ability of nonsense to sharpen the mind;" used "idiomatic deficiency" as an engineering term (correct was "adiabatic efficiency"); said Paul Revere's Midnight Ride occurred in 1776 (it was in 1775 -- by 1776, everybody knew the British were coming); "misstated the status of the United States in 1783 -- it was a country, not a collection of colonies" (dear Times, please Google "Declaration of Independence"). Four and down (post-Super Bowl edition) 4. The New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17, but the game was much closer than that, at least score-wise, until the final few minutes. Now New Orleans are no longer the Aints, the city has overcome Hurrican Katrina, and all that. I don't care for the over-hyped and mostly nonsensical narratives. The Super Bowl is about the game. It was Peyton (Manning) versus (Sean) Payton. Despite having a lot of elements of a game I like (more shortly) and fulfilling my wish that the game not turn on a fluke or a bad penalty, I found the game flat and a little boring to watch at times, even though the result was not a foregone conclusion until the final minutes of the game. I think the reason I found the game a little dull is because I enjoy great line play and the pressure defense puts on the quarterback. There wasn't a lot of that. Neither QB was consistently rushed (the Saints average blitzing the passer 16 times a game, but they blitzed Manning only five times on Sunday) and there was only one sack (by Indy). Another problem was that both teams played conservatively, not taking any risks. I found that more pronounced with the Indianapolis Colts who appeared less interested in winning the game than not losing it. That didn't quite work out for them. 3. Peyton Manning just wasn't himself after the first quarter. Even before sitting for nearly an hour (between his perfunctory three and out series after the two-minute warning in the first half, the long half-time break and the Saints regaining possession with an onside kick to open the second half), Manning didn't play all that well, being merely good, not great. Solid and safe. Only four passes downfield. I'm not sure his head was in the game and the best proof of that was when he seemed stunned that the third quarter was over when he tried to get a play off and appeared surprised that the clock ran out so quickly. That's not a Peyton Manning mistake. I will grant this: the Saints played a different game than they've played all year. Manning doesn't mind being blitzed -- his O-line holds up well -- and was certainly preparing for an onslaught that never came. The predictable Colts weren't ready for the unpredictable Saints. 2. Fortune favours the bold. When the New Orleans Saints were at fourth and goal (one yard line) at the two-minute timeout in the first half, down 10-3, I turned to my eldest son and said that if they went for the touchdown, whether they got it or not, they'd win. The football gods look favourably upon such a move. It showed coach Sean Payton's faith in the offensive team and a willingness to take high-reward risks. The Saints didn't get it, but they pinned the Colts deep against their own end zone. Manning ran three running plays -- he and the Colts appeared frightened of the Saints and played overly conservative to avoid a turnover -- and punted away the ball. The Saints drove back up the field and kicked a long field goal, going into half-time down by four (10-6). Payton opened the second half with an on-side kick -- the first time such a kick has been attempted before the fourth quarter in Super Bowl history. It was bold and unexpected. Unexpected field goals are recovered about 60% of the time, so it wasn't as risky as many think. It also negated the coin flip at the beginning of the game. Brilliant. I suspect that Payton knew he was going to do this in certain scenarios (most scenarios?) long before the game. Loved the call and it was perfectly executed. It kept Manning out of the game and put the ball in their own offenses hands. It was game-changing with New Orleans outscoring Indy 25-7 in the second half. 1. If the game was a little closer, Garrett Hartley, the Saints kicker, deserved consideration for MVP. He became the first player to kick three field goals of 40 yards or more in a Super Bowl game (46, 44 and 47). He kept the game close and his first-half ending, 44-yarder certainly gave the Saints some momentum going into the second half. That said, Drew Brees -- nicknamed Breesus (like Jesus) by some -- had a great game. He started slowly (three for seven) before ending the game with this incredible line: 32/39 for 288 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT and a 114.5 passer rating. He was much more efficient than the Colts, who had exactly 100 more total yards, but came up short in the score. The difference is that the Saints deviated from their tendencies and the Colts didn't. The prep work New Orleans put into their game was of much greater benefit than that put into it by Indy. Most importantly was cornerback Tracy Porter's pick of a Peyton slant pass that Porter said later was textbook for the Colts and easily detected. Predictable is bad when a team as intelligent as the Saints have two weeks to prepare. I said in my Super Bowl preview that I wanted the team that played the better game to win. It did. I can't really complain about the contest, but I doubt I will remember much of it two or three years from now. A good but not great Super Bowl. Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Three and out 3. FoxSports reports that Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves are both eyeing former Yankees leftfielder Johnny Damon. With the Tigers in an aggressive cost-cutting mode and hyper-sensitive to flexibility-killing contracts, I just don't see it. The Braves make a lot of sense because they desperately need a power-hitting lefty. Damon probably won't replicate the 24 HRs he hit last year with the Bronx Bombers, but he is an upgrade over the present roster of talent Atlanta has and better than anyone readily available. Damon and his agent (the 'evil' Scott Boras) will probably have to settle for less than two years and $20 million, perhaps even accepting a one-year deal in the $5-7 million range, with some of that coming off at-bat or games played incentives. Ideally, he'd have a vesting option worth $8 million for 2011 once he reaches something like 500 ABs or 140 games played. Damon might eye a bargain one-year deal with Detroit and feast off Cleveland and Kansas City pitching in an effort to get a better deal next year, although it is hard to see him replicating his 2009 numbers. Better for him to help a team make the playoffs and sell himself as a difference-maker -- and better for that team, too. Atlanta is the all-around better fit. 2. I am a huge fan of 2B Orlando Hudson. He has a plus glove with terrific range, hits for a good average, and is a decent baserunner, so for his price (one year at $5 million) he adds tremendous value to a team. Fangraphs says his bat is getting better, but he's declining in the field, so overall he is a net gain of two wins, while Baseball Prospectus says the move adds three wins to the Twins. In the tight AL Central -- Minny won the divsion in a one-and-out last year and is considered the favourite again in 2010 -- three wins is a big improvement. What to do, now, with Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla? Not a bad problem to have, as they as (at worst) trade bait to fill emerging needs. Casilla is blocked for only one season. 1. Lots of little, unexciting moves in the past week or so that matter a lot. Adding depth and strengthening the bench don't get the headlines that a Jason Bay signing gets, but they are still extremely important. The best of these types of moves lately is the Colorado Rockies signing utility player Mevlin Mora, 1B Jason Giambi and starting pitcher/middle reliever Tim Redding and reliever Justin Speier. None of them are likely to quicken the pulse of Rox fans, but Giambi, while a pylon in the field, is a powerful pinch hitter who can occasionally usefully cover for Todd Helton; Mora might back up Clint Barnes at second and regularly spot Ian Stewart at third, while providing a body that can play the outfield in late-game situations. And a team can never have too many pitchers at their disposal. Likewise, the New York Mets signed corner outfielder/corner infielder Fernando Tatis and (to minor league deals) starting pitcher Josh Fogg and outfielder Frank Catalanotto, a pair of players likely to be find their way onto the major league roster at some point this season. Tatis will probably find an inordinate number of bats playing first and rightfield for the Mets (which is unfortunate but probably unavoidable considering the team hasn't put together a great starting lineup), but otherwise these should be bench-solidifying moves for the Mets. Cheap veterans with some skills are great to have as options on the bench even if they don't warrant playing everyday. Teams that assemble such players on their rosters often have certain advantages during the season as long as they are not required to rely on them for any given period of time. |
