Vienna Teng: Inland Territory

By Michael J.W. Stickings

This makes me very, very, very happy. It's the new album from Vienna Teng, the female singer-songwriter I love perhaps more than any other, with one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. (I've posted two clips, here and here, of her performing two of her best songs. Check them out. She's amazing.)

So go to iTunes, or Amazon, or wherever you buy your music, and pick up Inland Territory. (And, if you don't know her music, check out "Gravity," "The Tower," "Between," "Decade and One," "My Medea," "Blue Caravan," "Pontchartrain," and "Recessional" -- clips are available at her website.)

The future is now

By Carl

One wonders if GM really did need a bailout:

US carmaker General Motors is joining with scooter maker Segway to make a new type of two-seat electric vehicle.

The prototype, which will be debuted in New York, is aimed at urban driving. GM aims to start making them by 2012.

The vehicle, named Puma, can go as far as 35 miles on a single charge. It will use lithium-ion batteries.

See guys? If you had started on this path thirty years ago, even using just one percent of your annual revenues, you could have been poised to corner the market on this kind of vehicle. Instead, you find yourself piggybacking on someone else's idea.

There had been rumours in the tech press for months that Segway was poised to announce a new product that would complement its futuristic Segway Personal Transporter, which failed to capture much more than the imagination of people nationwide, likely because of its cost ($5,000) and its niche marketing ("Is it for sidewalks or streets?").

The P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) would essentially be a scooter with a top speed of 35 miles per hour, but far cleaner and far safer, with a nav system and a sensor array that would identify obstacles and steer around them, essentially driving itself.

It would also be far cheaper, about the third of the cost of a car (let's say $10,000), and ideal for uses on college campuses and for traffic enforcement agents (you know, meter maids?). It would eventually find its way to suburban homes as station cars, and even into the city as a day-to-day vehicle that can be crammed into tiny parking spaces.

The first and most obvious market for this vehicle is the Asian market, where cars haven't penetrated yet to the extent they have in the west and where cities the size of Chicago seem to pop up overnight. We'll see them here eventually now that the national attention has been focused on green technology and improving the national infrastructure.

There are few things as damaging to the infrastructure and environment as the internal combustion engine, with its thousands of mini-explosions for each trip it takes. This vehicle weighs 300 lbs. A car weighs 6 times that. You do the math.

The PUMA can be put into production immediately, as the technology is off-the-shelf for Segway. The only question would be how quickly can a dinosaur like GM ramp up its production lines to make this machine.

Aye, there's the rub and has been for Detroit for a long time. Flexibility has never been a key component in the US auto industry and to be sure, the dinosaurs who sit on the boards of directors haven't been strident in their advocacy of becoming more nimble, with the effective result being a dinosaur who can rollerskate a little.

That's sad for a nation that has always prided itself on invention.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

Quote of the Day

By Creature

"Some people say that maybe I'm being too idealistic, but if we don't try, if we don't reach high, then we won't make any progress." -- President Obama answering his critics on the Right who say his foreign policy, and his desire for a nuclear free world, is fantasy. To the Right having lofty goals is a weakness. It's no wonder we've been going backwards the last eight years.

Like Dick, like Newt

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yet more reckless and malicious fearmongering from one of the leaders of the Republican insurgency against Obama (and America):

Dick Cheney is clearly right in saying that between the court decisions about terrorists and the administration actions, the United States is running greater risks of getting attacked than we were under President Bush,

said Newt yesterday, as reported by Politico.

In other words: A vote for Obama is a vote for the terrorists, a vote for another terrorist attack. I'm so fucking tired of this nonsense, but, these days, it's pretty much all the Republicans have in their arsenal, such rhetorical terrorists have they become -- is it not an act of terror to try to terrify Americans by tying their president to the possibility, if not the likelihood, of another terrorist attack?

(I can't be bothered to comment further on Newt's attack. For my response to Dick's fearmongering, see here.)

Focus on the hypocrisy

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yes, the sweet, sweet hypocrisy of the theocratic right: "Focus on the Family narrator arrested for luring teenage girl for sex on Net."

Of course, James Dobson is probably too busy ruling his wife and beating his kids and screaming bloody bigotry at the gays to notice.

Basic accounting

By Mustang Bobby

What sends people like Richard Poplawski out into the streets armed to the teeth and ending up killing three cops? Gary Kamiya at Salon looks into it:

It would be convenient to pretend that Richard Poplawski, who killed three Pittsburgh policemen on Saturday with an AK-47, was just a right-wing nutcase. A devotee of the white supremacist Web site Stormfront, Poplawski believed that the United States was controlled by a secret Jewish cabal that had a master plan to abrogate freedom of speech and use the U.S. military to police Americans.

It would be easy for us to cordon Poplawski off, pretend that his ugly and paranoid worldview had nothing to do with the Obama hatred spouted by the American right. But the truth is that Poplawski's hateful views cannot be separated from the increasingly extreme ideology and rhetoric that characterize the contemporary American conservative movement. As his friend, Edward Perkovic, told the Associated Press, Poplawski feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon."

Such obsessions don't come out of a vacuum. Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and the GOP have been whipping up hatred and fear of Obama and "liberal Democrats" for years. Joined by the National Rifle Association, which has run false and irresponsible ads claiming that Obama is planning to take away Americans' guns, they have encouraged and helped to create a pathological right-wing subculture in which free-floating hatred of "the government" mixes with a maniacal fetish for guns. Poplawski is the diseased fruit of that ugly tree.

The solution is not to take the guns away or try to muzzle the loud mouths and fear-mongers. There are reasons we have those fundamental rights in the Constitution, though at times like these you wonder why. I'm not in favor of repealing either the First or Second Amendments; that would be a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and since the beginning of this country we have had clowns and charlatans like Glenn Beck and the NRA's Wayne LaPierre who knowingly exploit the fear and loathing of the foolish and the weak. Neither of them -- nor can anyone -- actually prove what they say about President Obama's "secret plans" to take away their guns, but that's not really the issue anyway; the truth doesn't matter to these people. All they care about is getting the attention and making money off of their pigeons.

The most tragic element of this story is that the exploiters don't care about people like Richard Poplawski; they are nothing to them but tools of the trade. The NRA won't be there to defend him in court, and if his defense team tries to call them into court to make them accountable for sending Mr. Poplawski over the edge, they will throw up their hands and say that all they did was exercise their right of free speech and deny any responsibility for the actions of people who listen to them.

So what do we do about them? Simple: call them out for what they are; shameless exploiters with no more scruples than the most heartless con artist out there. Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Wayne LaPierre, and Michele Bachmann may actually believe the bullshit that they spout but that doesn't mean we have to nod our heads or scratch our chins and say, "Well, they say what they believe," and just let it go. The conventional wisdom is that if we pay attention to them or respond to them we are giving them the attention they crave and the credence that they need to keep talking. Well, that ship has sailed, and it's obvious that they're getting the attention of some people in this country who are off the deep end. So it's long past time to keep playing nice with these people. Make them accountable; after all, as Rush Limbaugh is fond of saying, "words matter," and he should know; he's built his considerable fortune on his words. So he and the rest of the crowd, along with the NRA and the GOP noise machine, shouldn't be allowed to just walk away from their demagoguery and lies.

Mr. Kamiya concludes, "If the right wing keeps whipping its troops into a frenzy by accusing Obama of being a fascist, gun-hating dictator, America may have a new group of outlaws to fear: freedom-loving, gun-worshipping 'patriots' like Poplawski." And where will the right wing be if that happens? Cowering under their beds and screaming for somebody else to do something.

(Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Craziest Republican of the Day: Michele Bachmann (again)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yes, it's Rep. Bachmann (MN), yet again -- for our previous posts on this craziest of the crazy, see here, here, here, and here -- this time for suggesting that the Serve America Act (which, if signed into law, would expand AmericaCorps) would...

Well, no summary would do the craziness justice. Here she is:

I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.

That's right: "re-education camps for young people." You know, like in Cambodia.

Honestly, I don't have much to say in response to such ridiculousness. But I think Andrew Sullivan is quite right to link such fearmongering rhetoric to the Pittsburgh shootings: "The only person responsible for these murders is Poplawski. But it's a reminder that whipping up paranoia can lead to unintended consequences, especially as gun sales go through the roof in the wake of Obama's election. When someone like Michele Bachmann talks about the Obama administration forcing people into re-education camps, or forcing a global currency on the US, and other insanities, she needs to know the tinder box she is busy throwing matches into."

The American right is whipping up its hate-filled mob. It's Bachmann, but it's also Coulter and Malkin and Dear Leader Rush and all the rest. They must be held accountable. For as crazy as they may be, they have blood on their hands.

66

By Creature

That's the percentage of Americans who approve of their new president. That's up from 64% and represents a new high for this CBS News/New York Times poll. Even 31% of Republicans are willing to join the Obama love fest. The poll was taken April 1-5, so I expect after the dust settles from the first family's very impressive European tour President Obama's numbers will improve even more. The big takeaway from all this is that even as Republicans take shrill to the next level, the American people aren't buying it. They like their new president, even after the new president smell has started to fade.

Madness!

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yes, yes, I know. I didn't blog much yesterday. But can you blame me?

It was Opening Day -- of the 2009 MLB season, that is -- and I had games to watch (including the Jays' 12-5 dismantling of the Tigers), not to mention a fantasy team to obsess over (my first three draft picks were Teixeira, Beltran, and Ichiro, and I've got Cano and Jeter up the middle, and V-Mart behind the plate, A. Ramirez at the hot corner, and Abreu as my third OF, with Cantu and Ankiel as utility guys, and Oswalt, Lowe, and Vazquez heading up my pitching staff... but the two guys I'm really pulling for, and who could have huge, huge years, are Shin-Soo Choo of the Indians and Ricky Nolasco of the Marlins).

Plus, there was the NCAA men's basketball National Championship last night. I had Carolina winning it all and, well, they did, easily. I did pretty well overall, but picking the winner made up for all the red on my bracket (like picking Purdue over UConn and Kansas over Michigan St., among other errors).

Oh, and there's the final week of the NHL regular season to pay attention to, what with my long-beloved Habs struggling to make the playoffs. They lost last night, to Ottawa. Alas.

But I'll be back soon... first with a post on our Craziest Republican of the Day, then with one on yet another case of theocratic hypocrisy, then with one on Newt being like Dick, all over the next several hours.

In the meantime, check out what my great co-bloggers have put up, including this wonderful (and deeply personal) post by Edward. It's a must-must-read. See also this great post on guns and gun control by Carl.

-- Michael

Quote of the Day II

By Creature

"When he uses the word 'respect,' in the context of a waist-bow to the king of Saudi Arabia, for example, and talks about respectful language, which is code for those who adhere to Sharia that we will submit to Sharia. We will submit to the kind of program..." –- right-wing commentator Frank Gaffney explaining how the President of the United States is using "code" to signal our ultimate surrender to our “Muslim enemies.” The man is batshit, yet he's still on my television.

Why doesn't anyone really talk health care?

By Edward Copeland

What I'm about to say may strike some as heretical, but I believe it must be said and the moment for it being said is way overdue. First, I'll admit that it is outrageous that so many lack health insurance or are underinsured. I'll also recognize that there are many insurance horror stories to be found concerning pre-existing conditions and rising premiums. Now, here comes my sacrilege: A great deal of the time, for those lucky enough to have health insurance, the insurers are the good guys. The bad guys? Hospitals. Doctors. All other aspects of the health care industry.

My first-hand experience could be dismissed as anecdotal but I've heard so many nitwits speak out their ass about the subject that I feel I have to speak up. One morning on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough said that people are going to have to accept that they can't have a second CAT scan just because they want one. Ask yourself: Have you ever known anyone who wanted a second medical test, especially one they just had? Other than hypochondriacs that is. What a ridiculous comment. Last year, during three-and-a-half-months I had to spend in the hospital, I had to have an ultrasound on my right leg two days in a row. Was it because I loved the test so much I had to have it again? No. It was because a clerical error had them do it on my veins the first day when they were supposed to it on my arteries. It took months of fighting with the hospital and the separate billing unit that performed the test to get the cost of the incorrect test taken off. The insurance would have paid anyway, at no cost to us, if we hadn't fought, but we'd built up a good relationship with our insurance case manager.

I have primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Following bladder surgery last year, I ended up with a pressure wound that hospitalized me for three and a half months and continues to keep me bedridden. Because of careful recordkeeping by myself and my father, we discovered duplicate billing, overcharges, charges for things that didn't have, etc. by various health care sources that came to a whopping total of more than $24,000. In a local newspaper story here, the CEO of a hospital here, a not-for-profit, religious-affiliated hospital mind you, openly admitted that if he had three patients in adjacent rooms using the same equipment, he would charge them based on their insurance i.e., the better they had, the more they charged. For the same equipment.

If you have medication you take every day, you can't bring them from home. No, the hospital has to supply them so they can make sure they get no generics, at a higher rate that they can stick you for.

I spent 27 days in the first hospital where they did essentially nothing for the wound. There was talk of moving me to a speciality hospital for specialized care, but the hospital lied and said you couldn't do it until after a 27-day mark. Of course, the hospital was lying and could have transferred me within two weeks, but they wanted to squeeze more money out while my wound grew worse in the interim. Profit comes before patient care at most hospitals, where they purposely understaff nurses and support staff, blame the nursing shortage, but save money and let patient care suffer.

I've vented enough. Just remember. Having insurance doesn't solve the health care crisis. Someone needs to crack down on the health care industry, you know, the way they should have done on the banks and Wall Street.

Gunnin' for the bottom

By Carl

After only the second mass murder by a non-white American, perhaps now a legitimate dialogue about gun control can take place in this country:

As the nation gets a clearer picture of two killers who have made headlines in recent days -- one near Pittsburgh, one in Binghamton, N.Y. -- some are wondering whether Americans have too much access to guns.

[...] As the gunman, identified as 41-year-old Jiverly Voong, blasted his way through the American Civic Association, DeLucia, 61, stayed on the phone for 38 minutes, guiding police and trying to provide them with information to prevent more people from being shot. Voong killed 13 people before turning the gun on himself.

[...] On Saturday, one day after the Binghamton shootings, three Pittsburgh-area police officers were gunned down after responding to what they thought was a domestic disturbance call. Richard Poplawski, 23, the alleged shooter, was shot several times in the leg.

I suspect there's a small number of gun nuts out there now, reading about this story and realizing that yet another exclusive domain of whites, and particularly, white males, is being outsourced to lower-wage criminals: spectacular mass murder.

Sort of takes the fun out of killing people to make a political point, like the militias of Montana and Michigan would be wont to do, or the Oklahoma City terrorists when they might just as easily fire back.

A point I've always stressed in any gun discussion here is that there is a definite need for some guns in America, and Binghamton is on the cusp of an area where guns might be needed.

But certainly not automatic weapons.

Binghamton is a fairly large town, a city even, at the intersection of three interstate highways: NYS Route 17 (soon to be Federal Interstate Highway 86) and Interstates 81 & 88. I've walked the banks of the Susquehana there, and had a draft or two in some of the bars there. Indeed, I've even visited during the gay pride weekend.

Yes, it's that evolved a town.

Drive 90 minutes in any direction, and you are in the middle of the wilderness: a forest, a nature preserve, a state park. Up there, it's bear country, even puma country. You can't always call the cops and expect them to show up in the same hour, although they try their hardest. So yea, a long barrel gun is a necessity and since it's not likely you'd get a second shot quickly, even these don't have to be semi-automatic. And handguns? Forget it. You ain't taking down a bear or even a deer with a .44, sorry.

Those are guns I can support. I cannot support a gun that a man can walk into a building with and take out a dozen people in an urban setting (or suburban school or a rural church). That's just patently ludicrous and anyone who defends them should not be taken seriously.

When police departments nationwide, departments made up of people like any other average American and without any "liberal" agenda at all, can warn against the ease of purchase of guns, it's time we took the issue to heart.

Maybe now, the extremist gun owners on the far right lunatic fringe will sit down and seriously reconsider their knee-jerk reaction to even the most reasonable of controls on guns and gun ownership: licensing, registration, and criminal background checks on all gun sales. We require insurance to own a car, even the most minimal insurance. We can surely require *something* that minimizes the likelihood that we'll have to watch mass funeral services for innocent people ever again.

(crossposted to Simply Left Behind)

Focus on Obama Policies

By Carol Gee

Image via Wikipedia

Now into his third month in office, U.S. President Barack Obama has his feet planted firmly on the ground. He has taken a tremendous number of policy steps, however. Today's post will play catch-up with some of the political news that has sped by in just this past week.

North Korea -- "Make a strong statement." The recent missile launch has reignited the debate over nuclear disarmament, according to Politico (4/5/09). President Obama has called for the United Nations to act against North Korea. American voters actually support a military approach to eliminate North Korea's nuclear capabilities; 57% for and 15% against in the Rasmussen poll. Quoting,

"The White House says the launch only underscores the importance of Obama’s call Sunday for “a world without nuclear weapons.” Hard-line critics say North Korea’s move makes the president’s no-nukes aspirations all the more unrealistic, even dangerous."

General Motors and the economic crisis --"Do what you need to do." The White House is questioning the viability of GM and Chrysler, to the point of instituting a big shake-up at the top at GM. Politico says GM is already planning for bankruptcy. Paul Krugman has become increasingly critical of the administration's economic strategy. But the administration's financial reform proposal does not go as far as Wall Street expected or as Progressives wanted. The administration has been hampered by a lack of anyone but the President to "sell" his approaches, though that is getting better as Timothy Geithner gains confidence.

The Obama administration budget -- "Priorities survived." The Senate and House have approved competing budget plans, both short of what the President actually wanted, though the administration is putting the best face on it. A few - 38 - House Republicans defected during the final vote. Politico speculated that "fierce fights may follow [a] budget victory" for the Democrats. And Democrats are not united regarding the President's agenda. Public opinion will certainly be a factor. The President's approval ratings remain high - 66% approve - and 42% of Americans still think we are on the right track, Ed Kilgore reports at The Democratic Strategist. One of the reasons has always been the President's capacity for effective public speaking, for his willingness to be unusually personal in his speeches, Policito explained.

Af-Pak and Defense -- "Think new thoughts, focus more on diplomacy and less on cold war weapons systems." President Obama's strategy for the Afghanistan-Pakistan region in the Middle East already has a certain amount of qualifiied support, according to J.P. Green at The Democratic Strategist. Today the Secretary of Defense, Robert is rolling out his defense spending plan that represents a fundamental shift in priorities. A significant number of large-scale weapons systems will be on the line. To quote from Congressional Quarterly - Politics:

The fiscal 2010 funding choices in the announcement will represent the first major defense policy decisions of President Obama’s administration. Specific budget details are not expected until the first week of May, but Gates will make the unusual move of announcing several major program decisions weeks ahead of the budget release, said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.

“These are not changes to the margins,” Morrell said April 3. “This is a fundamental shift in direction. And the secretary’s point of view argues for an unconventional approach in explaining that shift to the American people.”

. . . Morrell said Gates plans to brief congressional leaders Monday morning. A press conference will follow.
“The fact of life is that since Sept. 11, 2001, the military has been engaged in irregular warfare activities that require more of our focus, more of our energy, and more of our resources than we have been dedicating to them,” Morrell said. “So Gates is trying to shift between the large-scale conventional near peer conflicts that we have to prepare for down the line and the very real conflicts we are engaged in now.”

Reference: Exclusive Obama interview with The Financial Times (3/29/09)

Related articles by Zemanta

• John King: A dramatic day for Obama (cnn.com)
• Obama Urges Nuclear Arms Reduction (nytimes.com)
• Despite Warnings, North Korea Launches Rocket (time.com)
• Analysts: NKorea Launch Not a Total Failure (abcnews.go.com)

15.6%

By Creature

Is the real feel unemployment rate. This number includes "those who want a job but have stopped looking for work and those who want full-time positions but have to settle for part-time employment." Those part-time people represent an increase of 83% within the last year. It's hard to see where the light at the end of the tunnel is when more people keep being added to the rolls. Ugh.

Quote of the Day: Axelrod on Cheney

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Obama advisor David Axelrod doesn't think Cheney has been behaving like a statesman:

[President Bush] has behaved like a statesman,

he said on CNN yesterday.

And as I've said before, here and elsewhere, I just don't think the memo got passed down to the vice president."

Well, the ex-vice president -- let's not forget that. And the ex-veep has been fearmongering recklessly, arguing that Obama's decisions on Gitmo and torture, among others, have made America "less safe."

But when was the last time Cheney actually behaved like a statesman? No, consolidating power in the Executive Branch, enabling torture, and ripping the Constititions to shreds don't count.

I applaud Axelrod for speaking out on this, but it's not like we ever should have expected anything else from the former dark lord of the Bush presidency.

(For more, see Benen, Drum, and Yglesias.)

**********

Here's the clip (from Think Progress):

The Reaction in Review (April 5, 2009)

A weekend's Reactions that deserve a second look:

Sunday

By J. Thomas Duffy: "Play Ball! ... The best Baseball Primer is here!" -- Any baseball novice would be able to "get" baseball after reading Duffy's fun explanation; extras include great pics and "Bonus Fungo Riffs."

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "The looting of America" -- Michael reluctantly agrees with Glenn Greenwald's important post on "Summers, Geithner and Wall Street's ownership of government."


Saturday

By Greg Prince: "GOP criticizes Democrats for wanting to address the economic crisis, fails to see self parody" -- Greg argues for making sure Democrats control the debate over whether the people Eric Cantor calls "entrepeneurs" should still be able to exercise their disastrous control over the American economy.

By Capt. Fogg: "When trolls attack" -- Fogg's masterful use of the English language delights us again, this time regarding troll comments: "I'm sure the armchair assassin thinks he really scored and perhaps he's getting his 5$ per post bonus from the GOP to boot" (six comments follow).

By Mustang Bobby: "Being out in public" -- Bobby effectively takes on Beliefnet's Rod Dreher's lament about the Iowa same sex marriage decision "that makes it tough to be a 'public Christian,'" saying to Dreher, "First, being a 'public Christian' does not mean being... pompous, arrogant, and sanctimonious" (includes several comments).

-- compiled by Carol Gee

Play Ball! ... The best Baseball Primer is here!

By J. Thomas Duffy

Yes, it's that time of year when The Garlic swings into Public Service mode, to educate the young'ins, nourish the nattering needy, and give you the blueprint for being able to sit down and watch a Major League Baseball game, not feeling as if, suddenly, the world began speaking Esperanto, and no one gave you the memo.



It's our triannual posting of "Could You Please Tell Me, What Is This Thing Called Baseball?"

And, in fact, we can brag some, as, with only a little stretching, we can say that our Baseball Primer was endorsed by the now-sitting President of the United States:

Great piece! I’d like to ask if I can record ‘Could You Please Tell Me, What Is This Thing Called Baseball?’ for my next Spoken Word project?”

Barack Obama, U.S. Senate

And, it has crossed international boundaries:

Since I’ve been in a letter-writing mode lately, thought I’d drop you a note to say how much I enjoyed the baseball essay and how much I learned from it. Perhaps, someday, we’ll have the game over here (and with the stadium lights powered by our new nuclear energy!)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran

What makes The Garlic's "Could You Please Tell Me, What Is This Thing Called Baseball?" so good?

We drill down.

For instance, do you know the difference between a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher?

The man that throws the ball is called a pitcher. You have different kinds of pitchers – starting pitchers and relief pitchers. A starting pitcher will pitch for as long and and as well as he can. If he doesn’t have his stuff (all pitchers will tell you that they have stuff) and can’t finish the game, a relief pitcher is brought in.

There are various breeds of relief pitchers. You have long relievers and short relievers. The title refers not to their size but to the length of time that they pitch. After all, you have long relievers that are short and short relievers that are tall.

Or the difference between left field and the opposite field?

In the outfield, you have a right fielder, left fielder and centerfielder. There is no opposite fielder. The three outfielders are expected to cover the opposite field - wherever that may be based on who’s at bat. You also have utility fielders and, no, there isn’t a utility field. A utility fielder can play both the infield and outfield, but not at the same time.

Or how a hitter (or batter) can hang in there?

A hitter can hang in there by fouling one off or fouling it upstairs. He can also foul it out of play, foul it back, chop it foul or pop it foul. Sometimes the ball just drops foul. There are times when a hitter will foul out. If a pitcher (starter or reliever, long or short) throws a spitter, you’ll see the hitter cry foul. The umpires, the men in dark suits who stand behind the bases and enforce the rules, take a lot of foul abuse from players and fans, who holler foul when they don’t agree with the umpire’s decision. Foul weather will cancel a game, putting everybody in a foul mood.

There's a lot to grasp in our national pastime, so, if you're sitting there with your sweetie, or going out with the gang after work, to catch a game, you don't want to come off as Miss South Carolina.

Have a little pride, get glove, get in the game, as they say.

Go read The Garlic's "Could You Please Tell Me, What Is This Thing Called Baseball?"

It will save you from suffering a summer of ridicule.


Bonus Fungo Riffs

Politics and Sports Collide ...Paperwork Mix-Up Has Feingold Censuring Bonds and MLB Investigating Bush

Breaking News! ... Baseball Bombshell Expands Steroid Scandal ... Giants’ Bonds Tests Positive For Landis Testosterone ... Cyclist Said To Be Kingpin Of Lucrative Doping Ring, Selling His Own DNA

Top Ten Cloves: Reasons Mitchell Baseball Steroid Investigation Is Unlike CIA Torture Tapes Case

Top Ten Cloves: Things About Citigroup Keeping Stadium Sponsorship After Getting Government Bailout

You Don't Hit With Your Face




(Cross-posted at The Garlic.)

This is a test

By Capt. Fogg

Well, it happened, just like the campaign ads threatened it would -- that three AM phone call. OK, so it was 4:30, but close enough. The phone call from the Press Secretary woke Mr. Obama to say that North Korea had launched a multi-stage rocket which shortly afterward crossed over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean.

It's not quite the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it woke the president, who presumably was not reading about goats and didn't sit frozen in fear for 7 minutes. Instead, he talked to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright, National Security Advisor General Jim Jones, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and various other intelligence officials. You know, president stuff.

As the launch was advertised as a communications satellite experiment it must be seen as a failure, since it did not enter orbit at all, much less the 22,500 mile orbit it would need to be geosynchronous. As we recall, their nuclear test was a bit of a dud as well, although it did go bang, but the DPRK (I won't insult the Beloved Leader by calling it D-PRICK) like certain American presidents of recent memory does not admit to failure. They've declared it a success and I'm sure that in the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea nobody will act like the Dixie Chicks and show shame.

Does the DPRK now pose a credible nuclear threat? It doesn't look like it, but they're trying. It doesn't look like we're going to give the John Wayne response we might have expected by that same president of recent memory, but much will be made ofObama's reaction and his ability to communicate our disapproval in a way that the Little PRK in charge of North Korea won't be able to refuse. I'm sure jaws will be flapping and huge Palm Beach billionaire behinds will be bouncing up and down in radio studios over this, making conclusions and drawing inferences and expostulating on myriad ramifications, but this is a test -- a real one, and unlike Mr. Limbaugh, real Americans hope he succeeds.

(Cross-posted from Human Voices.)

The looting of America

By Michael J.W. Stickings

If you haven't yet, make sure to read this:

Glenn Greenwald: "Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Wall Street's ownership of government." Key passage:

Just think about how this works. People like [Robert] Rubin, [Larry] Summers and [Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) head Gary] Gensler shuffle back and forth from the public to the private sector and back again, repeatedly switching places with their GOP counterparts in this endless public/private sector looting. When in government, they ensure that the laws and regulations are written to redound directly to the benefit of a handful of Wall St. firms, literally abolishing all safeguards and allowing them to pillage and steal. Then, when out of government, they return to those very firms and collect millions upon millions of dollars, profits made possible by the laws and regulations they implemented when in government. Then, when their party returns to power, they return back to government, where they continue to use their influence to ensure that the oligarchical circle that rewards them so massively is protected and advanced. This corruption is so tawdry and transparent -- and it has fueled and continues to fuel a fraud so enormous and destructive as to be unprecedented in both size and audacity -- that it is mystifying that it is not provoking more mass public rage.

I remain a staunch supporter of the president, and I realize that getting things done often means making deals that put expediency ahead of principle (and that fixing Wall Street and the banks means doing just that), but there is a lot going on here that is, simply, disgusting.

It isn't change we can believe in if the same old crooks are committing the same old crimes -- and being allowed to get away with it.

Truth in Comics

By Creature


If it's Sunday, it's Truth in Comics.

GOP criticizes Democrats for wanting to address the economic crisis, fails to see self-parody

By Greg Prince

By now many people have reviewed Eric Cantor's idiocy on the Democrats' economic proposals:

As far as Rush, Rush has got ideas. He's got following. He believes in the conservative principles that many of us believe in -- of lower taxes, of making sure that we turn back towards a focus on entrepreneurialism in this country, to promoting innovation and not stamping that out by over-reacting, if you will, which this town often does, to crisis.

John at AMERICAblog raises a couple of good points. First, saying that the Democrats are wrong to prioritize the economy probably isn't "on message" for what the American public wants to hear these days. Second, after all the whining about Rush Limbaugh not being the leader of the national GOP, it looks more than a little foolish for the number two guy in the House to keep referring to "Rush, Rush."

But there's something else here that merits some attention. The Republicans' talk of turning back toward a focus on entrepreneurialism in the country.

Perhaps a primer is in order on what "entrepreneur" means, because it ties in to what has happened with the economy, the financial crash, etc.

To be an entrepreneur typically means to employ some creative force and initiative, but even more so it means to manage and organize and most of all TO ASSUME RISK.

You understand the difference between entrepreneurship and what has been taking place in our large corporations and especially in banking, insurance, and finance? Patrons of privilege play with other people's money as if it were a parlor game, assuming no risk to themselves of the consequences. Stock goes up? You get a salary and a bonus. Stock goes down? You get salary and a bonus. You make indefensible business decisions? You get a salary and a bonus. You drive a sector into bankruptcy and crisis? You get a salary and a bonus.

These are the people the GOP has been protecting, and these activities are about as far from the entrepreneurial backbone of the economy as you can be. Privatizing the profits and socializing the losses is not sustainable as government policy, and should never have been attempted to begin with.

Obama needs to stick to his guns. The reconciliation process is a wonderful tool wherever applicable, but it's just as important to control the debate. The Democrats cannot afford to let the GOP redefine such essential terms and the principles they represent to cloud history and distract people from what has really occurred.

(Cross-posted from Greg Prince's Blog.)

When trolls attack

By Capt. Fogg

"How's the hope and change thing working out for you, moron?" reads the comment. If you're a blogger outside the red tribe, you're used to this sort of thing. You're used to the cut and paste pop culture snark bombs: how's the _____ working out, I don't think so, Hello, etc. Of course, trying to rule while wearing only the hollow crown of cynicism only exposes the nakedness and weakness of someone who has to rely on mimicking sitcom characters to simulate insight or wit; and of course the smartest people around are called morons more often than the rest of us; far more often than actual morons are. It's a fact.

Of course, if you look back at every post I've made in the last few years, you'll not find a single "hope and change"slogan. In fact if you have the patience and stomach to read all or part of it, you'll note that I'm most consistently a doom and gloom nihilist with no hope for or expectation of change, unless it be decay. Still, I'm sure the armchair assassin thinks he really scored and perhaps he's getting his 5$ per post bonus from the GOP to boot. There's nothing to be done really and as I said, I'm a nihilist and a pessimist; I expect no better from my fellow apes.

If I did, I would have to feel insulted by the assumption that I was stupid enough to think a new president -- any new president -- could reverse the damage of decades in two months: two months of sabotage and opposition by people who ran the ship aground and pay sticky-fingered troglodytes to ask how the hope and change is going for us. Need we ask how the election went for them? or how the supply side, zero regulation market thing is going? Those tax breaks for Wall Street tycoons making you rich? Hello! I don't think so!

(Cross-posted from Human Voices.)

Americans still don't like Bush and Cheney

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Gallup: "Neither George W. Bush's deliberate silence about the Obama administration nor Dick Cheney's ready criticism of it appear to have altered U.S. public perceptions about either man. The former president and former vice president are each viewed unfavorably by 63% of Americans, very similar to where they stood with the public in their final White House years."

History won't be kind to these two. This is just the beginning.

Michelle and Carla, a battle for the ages

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Seriously, it's hard to have much respect for the mainstream new media when you see headlines like these:

-- Telegraph: "Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy in palace encounter"

-- The Guardian: "Michelle Obama's fashion face-off with Carla Bruni-Sarkozy"

-- Chicago Tribune: "Michelle Obama, Carla Bruni 'smackdown'"

Okay, the first two are British, and the sensationalism of the British press is hardly new, and, fine, the Guardian piece appeared in the "Fashion" section, but it's the American headline that is the worst of the three.

I realize that Barack and Michelle are American royalty, perhaps even more so than Brad and Angelina (are they still together?), and I realize that Bruni is a popular European celebrity (and now French royalty), and so some of this was to be expected... but still, really?

It's so stupid I feel stupid just thinking about it.

Being out in public

By Mustang Bobby

As expected, some people are not happy that the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that banning same-sex marriage in the state was unconstitutional. Rod Dreher at beliefnet laments,

This morning, I had breakfast with some guys, including a lawyer. We weren't aware of this decision, but we talked about this issue. The lawyer said that as soon as homosexuality receives constitutionally protected status equivalent to race, then "it will be very hard to be a public Christian." By which he meant to voice support, no matter how muted, for traditional Christian teaching on homosexuality and marriage. To do so would be to set yourself up for hostile work environment challenges, including dismissal from your job, and generally all the legal sanctions that now apply to people who openly express racist views.

First, being a "public Christian" does not mean being a pompous, arrogant, and sanctimonious prick. A lot of people who profess their faith in public are supportive of the basic concept of Christianity, which, according to the words attributed to Jesus Christ, is to "love thy neighbor as thyself." And a lot of Christians, including a lot of denominations, support the basic concept of constitutionally protecting all citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation, from discrimination and granting them the same rights as everyone else. And these Christians welcome gays and lesbians into their congregations and celebrate their marriages and families. So I guess the "public Christians" this lawyer is talking about are just the loud-mouthed asses who hijacked the faith and proclaimed themselves to be the true believers. But isn't there something in the bible that warns against false prophets?

Second, as the Anonymous Liberal notes, if Mr. Dreher's friend thinks it's tough to be a "public Christian," he should try being publicly gay. Even in enlightened cities or workplaces where discrimination against gays is illegal, there's still the stigma against being out in public, or "flaunting it" with such outrages as putting a picture of your partner on your desk or talking around the water cooler about your Friday night date with someone of the same sex. Smiles become fixed and awkward laughter ensues. Compared to the public displays of Christian faith that are accepted as the norm -- Christmas decorations, desktop nativity scenes, iconic jewelry -- being gay in public is still considered cutting-edge. Most of us still have memories of what it's like growing up gay and remember all too well the scorn, derision, and outright hatred we got from the so-called "public Christians."

So forgive me, Mr. Dreher, if I really don't give a popcorn fart about you and your offended sensibilities about not being able to publicly speak out against your fellow citizens and having to take responsibility for your bigotry and medieval superstitions. I know you're shocked at the radical idea that all citizens are entitled to the equal protection of the law, but that's how we do things in a country that aspires to democracy, not theocracy. If someone gets fired for calling someone a "faggot" the same way they would if they used the N-word around African-Americans, well, that's just the price they pay for being a "public asshole."

(Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

The Reaction in review (April 3, 2009)

A Week' Reactions that deserve a second look:

Friday

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Crowded House: 'Don't Dream It's Over' " -- Michael writes a wonderfully entertaining and personal post defending one of his favorite songs of the 80s.

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Blago, indicted, and on the radio" -- Discussion of this bizarre saga's latest chapter; see also, the latest chapter of the Ted Stevens story.

By Mustang Bobby: "Equality in Iowa" -- Bobby celebrates, " I always knew that for the concept of marriage equality to really take hold in this country, it would have to come from a place like Iowa."

By Carl: "Parallel lines" -- Carl's wonderful writing shines in this very thoughtful essay, comparing a decade in the Sixties with the one that we are experiencing now.


Thursday

By Boatboy: "About that ugly GOP budget projection" -- Positing that "Barack Obama isn't the problem," this very well-done guest post thoroughly examines Republican fears of the future.

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "The truth about Joe the Plumber -- he's as clueless as he is stupid" -- Michael explains Joe's labor position, "Here is a celebrity-hero-icon-myth of the right basically admitting, with a camera in his face, that he doesn't have a ... clue."


Wednesday

By Grace: "Next step for the green movement?" -- Grace's "techie side" spotlights the new solar-powered cell phone.

By Jim Arkedis: "And now for something completely different..." -- Jim introduces himself to his readers and posts, with considerable skill and foresight, on the potential for a new direction in U.S. - Russian relations.

By Capt. Fogg: "Der Flughaven" -- Fogg chooses a wonderfully quirky April Fool post; Czech it out!

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "Minnesota Senate Recount -- update 13" -- A very useful overview of the current situation with respect to Minnesota's protracted senatorial election; see also "Senator Franken, shortly."


Tuesday

By J. Thomas Duffy: "Top Ten Cloves: Great things about Obama taking over General Motors" -- Another masterfully funny post counting down the advantages of your government running the auto industry (included at no cost, Bonus Mister Goodwrench President riffs).

By Carol Gee: "Cheney's dark deeds come to light" -- This post focuses on the revelations of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh regarding former Vice President Dick Cheney's questionable extracurricular activities.

By Carl: "Political triage" -- Carl's incisive analysis, of what could have been behind President Obama's decisions regarding General Motors and the auto industry, seems right on point.


Sunday

By Mustang Bobby: "No, thanks" -- Bobby's great post, on being forced to listen to Rush Limbaugh, garnered 15 very interesting comments.

By Michael J.W. Stickings: "The case against torture, revisited" -- Michael explores the case of Abu Zubaida, concluding, ". . . the U.S. got it horribly wrong . . . because it didn't even understand who he really was, and needlessly subjecting him to torture (not that there should ever be a "need" to torture).

By Carol Gee: "Pluses and minuses for the administration" -- After President Obama's first two months in office, this post takes stock and checks off several administration successes.


Bonus Creature Feature: Media Criticism -- There was no breach of royal protocol; 72; Because you can never make too much fun of Glenn Beck; What I learned from cable news today; Americans still like Obama and don't blame him for everything.

Crowded House: "Don't Dream It's Over"

By Michael J.W. Stickings

One of my favourite film critics is Slate's Dana Stevens. Along with the NYT's A.O. Scott, TNR's Chris Orr, and one or two others, she's one of the few critics I look forward to reading week after week, and one of the few critics whose views I respect and whose reviews I value and learn from. I don't always agree with her, of course, but even in disagreement I find myself persuaded by her. Even if I read her before I see the movie, I'll often go back and re-read her review, re-engaging with her take and often deepening my understanding of the movie.

That said, I cannot let this go: In her review of Adventureland, the new movie by Greg Mottola (Superbad) -- a movie I'm really looking forward to -- Stevens notes that the movie's soundtrack "includes a few classic '80s touchstones (the Cure's "Just Like Heaven," the Replacements' "Unsatisfied") but also unearths worthy smaller hits like Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over." This aroused greater indignation in me than anything else I read today.

"Just Like Heaven" may be a classic '80s hit, and it may even be a touchstone of sorts, and "Unsatisfied" may be something similar, if far less so, but how is "Don't Dream It's Over" a "smaller" hit? It's one of the greatest songs of that entire decade -- and, yes, one of my favourite songs ever. Who doesn't know "hey now, hey now, don't dream it's over"? It's not just one of the greatest songs of the '80s, it's one of the few great songs of that decade that actually holds up over time. It's not dated. It's not one of those songs, like "Just Like Heaven," that one can truly appreciate only within the narrow cultural context of the '80s. Furthermore, it's not retro, a song that makes one think of one's earlier, and often more embarrassing, years, that is itself somewhat embarrassing as being from a specific time and place, a song that arouses as much laughter as nostalgia. Simply put, it's just as good now as it was then, and it's a genuine classic.

Ask around. Do people remember "Just Like Heaven"? Sure, maybe they do -- if they were Cure fans, or if they remain so even now, clinging to some long-lost youth. Do people remember "Unsatisfied"? Honestly, I doubt it -- some do, most don't. But do people remember "Don't Dream It's Over"? Yes. If they don't, just play it for them, or hum it for them, and it'll come right back. It was, and remains, far more popular than the other two songs, one of the best songs ever to come out of Australia (I'd put it ahead even of The Church's brilliant "Under the Milky Way"), a huge international hit that made Crowded House famous.

One of my friends in college, Carrie, was one of the biggest Crowded House fans ever. I was never a huge fan, more a fan of individual songs who enjoyed listening to their albums now and then, but "Don't Dream It's Over" remains for me one of my own musical touchstones. Not for any particular moment in my life, but just for being popular at a time when I was growing up, a song of that time, of my adolescence, that reminds of that time even as it transcends time and place. Pop music is all about the here and now, with so much of it stuck there, forever. Occasionally, a song, an album, maybe even an artist, breaks free and achieves greatness. I think that way of my true musical love, Pink Floyd. From the '80s, I think that way of some of The Police and some of U2 (however much I dislike them now), some of the exceptions to the musical horror of that decade. I'd put Crowded House in there, too, and especially this song.

But enough of my glowing tribute. Here it is, performed by Crowded House at their Farewell to the World concert in Sydney on November 24, 1996. Enjoy.

Blago, indicted, and on the radio

By Michael J.W. Stickings

You may have heard that ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was indicted yesterday -- along with five others, including his brother, a top fundraiser, and two former chiefs of staff -- on "political corruption charges":

The sweeping indictment comes four months after Blagojevich was arrested and charged with engaging in pay-to-play politics in a major federal complaint that accused him of trading state jobs, contracts and regulatory favors for campaign contributions.

The criminal complaint charged Blagojevich with attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama and seeking the firing of Tribune editorial writers in return for state help on the sale of Wrigley Field.

Well, good. He and his cronies are only getting what they deserve.

As I mentioned the other day, though, Blago seems to have found the makings of a new career in talk radio, filling in as a guest host on a Chicago morning show. On Tuesday, TNR's Christopher Orr posted a snippet of Blago in action:

Blago: Let's take a call or two.

Newsman: Are those headphones going to mess up your hair?

Blago: I brought my brush.

Meteorologist: You brought the football?

Blago: I'm not governor anymore, it is a smaller brush.

The football? Yes, I suppose you'd need a brush that big.

But -- oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Equality in Iowa

By Mustang Bobby

This is impressive:

The Iowa Supreme Court this morning struck down a 1998 state law that limits marriage to one man and one woman.

The ruling is viewed as a victory for the gay rights movement in Iowa and elsewhere, and a setback for social conservatives who wanted to protect traditional families.

The decision makes Iowa the first Midwestern state, and the fourth nationwide, to allow same-sex marriages. Lawyers for Lambda Legal, a gay rights group that financed the court battle and represented the couples, had hoped to use a court victory to demonstrate acceptance of same-sex marriage in heartland America.

And it was unanimous. In Iowa, too, not New York, not California, not Vermont* or some other stereotypical bastion of commie-pinko-queer liberalism, but the middle of America, both geographically and politically, and the home of common-sense live and let live.

That's the whole point. It's not that gays or lesbians or anyone else is entitled to "special rights"; we're entitled to the same rights, unless you consider spending your life and committing yourself to someone on a legal basis as "special." I always knew that for the concept of marriage equality to really take hold in this country, it would have to come from a place like Iowa.

It's not over. I'm sure that there will be a movement like there was in California to pass a constitutional amendment like Prop 8, and there will be set-backs. But no one can doubt that the momentum is building, and thanks to the Supreme Court of Iowa, it continues.

*Vermont has passed legislation to allow same-sex marriage, but the governor is threatening to veto it.

(Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

5.1

By Creature

That's the number of jobs lost in millions since this recession began. March saw another 663,000 jobs added to that number--bringing the unemployment rate up to 8.5% and climbing. Meanwhile, we have Republicans voting to undo any stimulus that could stem this bleeding. I have to assume Republicans do not represent actual people. Because, if they did, it's hard to imagine them giving any less of a shit about their well being.

Craziest Republican of the Day: Eric Cantor

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Firedoglake's Blue Texan notes that Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), one of the leaders of the extremist ideological mob that is the House GOP, thinks that his party can win back the House in next year's midterm elections.

Maybe Britney Spears has made him crazier than usual.

**********

There has been some confusion as to Cantor's remarks, as reported by Politico's Glenn Thrush. Did he really say that Democrats are "over-reacting" to the economic crisis? Well, he did, sort of, but maybe not so clearly.

Steve Benen has more.

Alaska Republicans hypocritically call for Begich resignation, special election

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Wait. Mark Begich beats Ted Stevens in Alaska's Senate race in November, and now Alaska Republicans, including Palin, are calling for Begich to step down and run in a special election?

Look, I agree that things have changed somewhat now that the DoJ has dropped corruption charges against Stevens, and it may well be that some Alaska voters voted the way they did because of those charges, but... what's done is done. It's over. It didn't turn out the way you wanted. Deal with it. Begich won.

Thankfully, Begich is standing firm against such partisan hypocrisy: "Today, with our country in a severe recession, it's more important than ever that we have a senator focused on fixing our economy so Alaskans have the jobs they need to support their families. That is my job in the Senate, and I'm honored to serve Alaskans for the next six years."

Carry on, Senator.