Lee to Philly! Lee to Philly!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 6:00 am
By Josh

One week you wake up with a new Red Sox player, the next you wake up to a new … Philly?!

Apparently ace pitcher Cliff Lee didn’t sign with the Rangers or the Yankees last night, and instead signed with Philadelphia!

From the Inquirer: “Lee returning to Phillies in five-year deal“:

Pinch yourself, Phillies fans.

What used to be fantasy has now become reality.

Cliff Lee, even after being offered more money by the American League champion Texas Rangers and the 27-time World Series champion New York Yankees, has decided to sign with the Phillies.

That’s the kind of Philadelphia story most of you probably thought you’d never read.

My anti-Yankee sentiment had me all excited, until I realized that Philly now has Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

I’m calling it right now: in eleven months it’s going to be a Philadelphia/Boston World Series.

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Easton Metal Bat Lawsuit

Friday, December 10, 2010 at 5:47 pm
By Josh

I hadn’t heard this story yet: “Boy left deaf in one ear after line drive; family sues bat maker“.

Apparently several states have banned metal baseball bats, like the one that hurt this 11 year old.

I found the complaint at 10-cv-7751.

Here are a couple of the facts (including the very specific details of the game in question):

7. At all times relevant herein, Defendant, EASTON, designed, manufactured and tested baseball bats to intentionally maximize the “exit velocity” or speed at which a baseball comes off the bat.
8. At all times relevant herein, Defendant, EASTON, marketed such baseball bats as having incredible exit velocity, including advertisements featuring professional athletes hitting baseballs through cement building walls while using Easton baseball bats.
16. At the aforesaid time and place, Plaintiff, JAKE, was pitching for the Mokena Blaze in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs when a batter on the opposing team stepped up to the plate using an Easton BT265 bat.

Apparently they say that Easton failed to observe known safety hazards of the Easton BT265 and failed to adequately warn foreseeable uses of the bat.

Now, I’m not a lawyer, but if I were, I’d argue that this was a freak accident. It’s not like the poor batter was using a space laser bat from the year 2050. He was using a bat that the league allowed.

I feel bad for the hurt child, I do, but lawsuits like this are the reason that so many products are labeled with lawyer-speak warnings.

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Moxie in Florida

Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 1:45 pm
By Josh

Oh snowbirds! Did you see that “Florida is getting some Moxie“?

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Crawford!

Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 6:11 am
By Josh

I hadn’t even had time to write about Adrian Gonzalez yet, and I open up the Globe this morning to this: “Sox sign up Crawford for $142m.”

Key quote:

With Gonzalez reportedly having agreed to a seven-year, $154 million extension to his contract, the Red Sox have invested $296 million in a span of four days. The additions of Gonzalez and Crawford, two stars in their prime, should set the team up as contenders for years to come.

Red Sox Nation just got an early Christmas present …

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Paul LePage was just kidding. Honestly. He’s not really THAT dumb.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 5:00 am
By Josh

Not to beat this to death, but the other day I quoted the Portland Press Herald who said that incoming Tea Party Governor Paul LePage thought that if 35 states opposed a law it would die law “automatically”.

Well his lackies have now clarified his remarks: “Paul LePage clarifies disputed comment on health care reform.”

Apparently the law to which he was referring was:

… the introduction of a possible constitutional amendment to allow any provision of federal law or rule to be repealed if at least 35 states object to its implementation.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Because he’s not a moron.

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Cash Problems

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 5:00 am
By Josh

Uh-oh. Looks like the government has designed the new $100 bills to be too fancy: “The Fed Has a $110 Billion Problem with New Benjamins.”

Key quotes:

1.1 billion of the new bills have been printed, but they are unusable because of a creasing problem in which paper folds over during production, revealing a blank unlinked portion of the bill face.

The total face value of the unusable bills, $110 billion, represents more than ten percent of the entire supply of US currency on the planet, which a government source said is $930 billion in banknotes.

I like to think that the Treasury has created the world’s most counterfeit-proof bill, since 30% of the legit bills are coming out wrong.

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New Red Lobster Design

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 4:55 am
By Josh

Apparently Red Lobster is retrofitting 700 stores in North America with what they call the “Bar Harbor Design” that is inspired by Bar Harbor, Maine.

They say the new design “creates a warm, inviting seaside atmosphere.”

Check out these photos:

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Paul LePage gets his “Facts” from Email Forwards From his Crazy Aunt

Monday, December 6, 2010 at 5:00 pm
By Josh

I have to mention a quote in this Portland Press Herald article: “Incoming AG weighs fight over health reform.”

See, apparently the new Maine government is joining legal fight against the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a “Obamacare”).

Here’s the quote regarding our new Tea Party Governor:

LePage also said he recently learned that if 35 states join the lawsuit, the law “dies, automatically.”

Not true, according to outgoing Attorney General Janet Mills.

“That’s not the law,” she said. “A congressional act does not get voided or overturned simply because a certain number of state officials join some lawsuit. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

Ha!

Doesn’t that sound like a “fact” that you’d see in some email forward sent from the same person who sends out weekly computer virus warnings or cell phone marketing scams?

And now he’s our governor.

Thanks everyone who voted for Mitchell, Moody or Scott!

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Lobster Trap Tree

Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 4:26 pm
By Josh

I’d heard about this on the radio, but I only now saw a photo (one of Yahoo! News’ most viewed) of the 50 foot lobster trap tree on Beal’s Island. Apparently they are competing with Rockland and Gloucester, Mass. for the tallest tree.

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

“In this photo taken on Dec. 2, 2010, Albert Carver, looks at a 50-foot-tall Christmas tree made of lobster traps on Beals Island, Maine. Some of the top lobster-fishing ports in New England are claiming bragging rights about who has the biggest and best Christmas tree created from lobster traps. The groups that put up the trees say they draw attention to the ports’ maritime heritage, bring people together and raise money for good causes. The tree in Beals helps raises money for the Beals-Jonesport Fourth of July festivities and the one in Gloucester benefits a nonprofit devoted to the arts.”

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And Now a Suicide

Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 4:32 pm
By Josh

Last week a murder, this week a suicide. Celebration, Florida is all grown up: “It’s a Small Town After All.”

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Qatar the Underqatar

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 12:14 pm
By Josh

(The title only makes sense if you pronounce “Qatar” as “KUH-tar”).

So it looks like they’ll be playing the 2022 World Cup in the warm Middle Eastern sun: “Russia and Qatar Win World Cup Bids“.

Yikes.

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Google Doodle in UAE

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 8:40 am
By Josh

You’ve probably seen the Google search engine logo replaced from time to time to celebrate some important holiday or anniversary. These illustrations are called “Google Doodles“.

Apparently for the UAE’s National Day today they did one:

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Richest Royals 2010

Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 8:37 am
By Josh

Back when we were in Dubai Forbes‘ annual list of richest royals was always a big deal (see Richest Royals).

Somehow it fell through the cracks this July, but luckily I just thought of it today (what with it being the UAE’s National Day today).

So here’s the article: “The World’s Richest Royals.”

Key quote:

No surprise then that Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum fared the worst. His fortune dropped $7.5 billion this year as his Dubai Holding crumbled under a $12 billion debt burden. This comes on the heels of last year’s loss of $6 billion, making him the biggest loser on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s 15 richest royals two years in a row.

To boot, Dubai had to ask for another handout from fellow emirate Abu Dhabi in December, to the tune of $10 billion. Abu Dhabi’s ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, though not as heavily indebted, also saw his fortune shrink for the second year in a row, down $3 billion as result of last year’s 40% decline in oil export earnings as well as double-digit declines in real estate and stock markets. He falls down a notch to No.4 on the list.

Here’s the list:

1 ) King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thailand
Fortune: $30 billion (unchanged)

2 ) Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei
Fortune: $20 billion (unchanged)

3 ) King Abdullah bin Abul Aziz, Saudi Arabia
Fortune: $18 billion (up)

4 ) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, United Arab Emirates
Fortune: $15 billion (down)

5 ) Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai
Fortune: $4.5 billion (down)

6 ) Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein
Fortune: $3.5 billion (unchanged)

7 ) King Mohammed IV, Morocco
Fortune: $2.5 billion (unchanged)

8 ) Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar
Fortune: $2.4 billion (up)

9 ) Prince Albert II, Monaco
Fortune: $1 billion (unchanged)

10 ) Prince Karim Al Husseini, Aga Khan
Fortune: $800 million (unchanged)

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Death in Celebration

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 5:00 am
By Josh

Uh oh! Celebration, the town developed by The Walt Disney Company back in the 1990s, has hit a snag. Check out this Orlando Sentinel story: “Death in Celebration is town’s first homicide.”

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John Paul Stevens and Babe Ruth

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 8:31 am
By Josh

I missed 60 Minutes this week, but apparently Associate Justice of the Supreme Court John Paul Stevens was on, and talked about being a 12 year old at Game 3 of the 1932 World Series.

That’s the game where Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig hit back-to-back home runs, Ruth’s being the one that he supposedly called by pointing at center field before the pitch. With the grainy film comes debate.

For some people.

Not for Stevens.

Here’s an article that transcribes part of the interview: “John Paul Stevens was there and says Babe Ruth called his shot.”

Key quote:

Stevens: “He took the bat in his right hand and pointed it right at the center field stands and then, of course, the next pitch he hit a home run to center field. There’s no doubt about the fact that he did point before he hit the ball.”

Pelley: “So the called shot actually happened?”

Stevens: “There’s no doubt about that.”

Pelley: “That’s your ruling?”

Stevens: “That’s my ruling.”

Neat Story.

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double-u, double-u, double-u

Monday, November 29, 2010 at 10:30 am
By Josh

This is from a few weeks ago, but I love word origins, here’s the etymology of the world wide web: “Web.”

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TSA Screenings Illegal

Monday, November 29, 2010 at 5:00 am
By Josh

I haven’t talked much about my thoughts on the new Transportation Security Agency (TSA) screenings, but this Washington Post article pretty much sums it up: “Why the TSA pat-downs and body scans are unconstitutional.”

Key quote:

In a 2006 opinion for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, then-Judge Samuel Alito stressed that screening procedures must be both “minimally intrusive” and “effective” – in other words, they must be “well-tailored to protect personal privacy,” and they must deliver on their promise of discovering serious threats. Alito upheld the practices at an airport checkpoint where passengers were first screened with walk-through magnetometers and then, if they set off an alarm, with hand-held wands. He wrote that airport searches are reasonable if they escalate “in invasiveness only after a lower level of screening disclose[s] a reason to conduct a more probing search.”

While technically not in the Constitution, the Supreme Court has found interstate travel to be “a right so elementary was conceived from the beginning to be a necessary concomitant of the stronger Union the Constitution created. In any event, freedom to travel throughout the United States has long been recognized as a basic right under the Constitution.” (United States v. Guest (1966)

I can’t wait until someone tries this in court.

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American Indians in Iceland

Friday, November 26, 2010 at 11:34 am
By Josh

Fascinating article in Time Magazine (or at the least on their website) today about how Leif Ericsson and pals probably took an Native American (or a Canadian First People) to Iceland: “More Proof That Vikings Were First to America.”

Key quotes:

Ten years ago, Agnar Helgason, a scientist at Iceland’s deCODE Genetics, began investigating the origin of the Icelandic population. Most of the people he tested carried genetic links to either Scandinavians or people from the British Isles. But a small group of Icelanders — roughly 350 in total — carried a lineage known as C1, usually seen only in Asians and Native Americans.

… all the people who carry the C1 lineage are descendants of one of four women alive around the year 1700. In all likelihood, those four descended from a single woman. And because archeological remains in what is Canada today suggest that the Vikings were in the Americas around the year 1000 before retreating into a period of global isolation, the best explanation for that errant lineage lies with an American Indian woman: one who was taken back to Iceland some 500 years before Columbus set sail for the New World in 1492.

I love this kind of stuff.

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Spelling and the Internets

Friday, November 26, 2010 at 8:06 am
By Josh

At Thanksgiving dinner we talking about text messaging and the damages to proper spelling, and now I just saw this: “Chatrooms and social websites encourage bad spelling, says study.”

Determined among a survey of 18- to 24-year-old children “there is now a ‘general attitude’ that there is no need to correct mistakes or conform to regular spelling rules, it says. But this means that children who have been brought up with the internet do not question wrongly spelt words.”

(Don’t worry, the article is British, so “spelt” is properly spelled.)

I know that English is an always adapting language, which has helped make is so popular, but I do agree with this article. Kids today!

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Fringe was in Maine

Monday, November 22, 2010 at 5:00 am
By Josh

I’ve spoken in the past of the television show Fringe. It started out a 21st-century X-Files, but then it went all parallel universe and really came into its own.

Anyway, two weeks ago episode 6, titled “6955 kHz”, started out in Maine!

Here’s the Stockton Harbor intertitle, in the show’s 3D graphic style:

Fringe Episode 3x06 "6955 kHz"

Now, to be picky, Stockton Harbor is actually only a body of water; the land near the harbor would probably be Stockton Springs or maybe Searsport.

Anyway, we meet our intrepid lighthouse keeper, who I have named “Mr. Bad Accent”:

“You cahn’t get theyah from heeah …”

Then the lighthouse keeper turns on his MacBook and all hell breaks loose:

Just as we think he’s dead, he pops up; but something’s wrong. He’s all slack-jawed and confused, and thus we begin tonight’s episode …

I don’t want to make fun of Fringe, it’s a clever show, but I have a few squabbles with the portrayal of my state in the show.

First off, bad accent. Baaaaad. But that’s almost to be expected when Maine’s on film. The majority of the audience won’t even know it’s bad.

Besides, the next location for the episode was Chinatown, and I have no idea how their accents were. Probably laughable. But I don’t know!

Secondly, lighthousekeepers? Didn’t that go the way of dial-up internet years ago?

Thirdly, his outfit. Why does everyone think that Mainers wear knit hats and wool sweaters all of the time? I blame L.L. Bean. Outdoorsman bastards!

Overall, it was a so-so episode, borrowing heavily from its cousin Lost (seriously, a radio loop of pre-recorded numbers? You barely explained that shit in Lost!) But I like the ideas of The First People. Very Zecharia Sitchin-meets-fifth sun. I like.

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