February, 2015 archive
Faster Ball 0
It’s about time.
The changes, announced jointly by MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association, will require hitters to keep one foot in the batter’s box, create a time limit for breaks between innings and streamline the process of challenging a call on the field. MLB, the MLBPA and the World Umpires Association have agreed on the changes, which will begin in spring training, and they will evaluate the results after the season.
My brother has long thought that the “one foot in the box” rule would be the easiest way to speed up the game in the Bigs; he tells me the rule is common in the Minors. He will be surprised, though, to see that a limit is being placed on commercial breaks time between innings.
Between the Lines 0
Jim Wright reads between the lines and exposes the racist underpinnings of Rudolph Guiliani’s recent remarks that Obama doesn’t love America “like us.”
Here’s a bit. Do read the rest; it’s a magnificent post.
That’s what plantation owners used to say when they sold black children away from their parents, when they broke up families: they’re not like us, they don’t love their kids like we do.
That’s what we used to say when we sought our Manifest Destiny across the Great Plains. We’re special. Indians? They don’t love America like we do. They can’t love their kids or their wives or their god like we love ours. They can’t, they’re savages.
That’s what we used to say when we burned down villages in Korea and Vietnam, hey don’t feel sorry for them, they don’t feel emotions the way we do. That’s what we say about Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. They don’t feel pain or loss, they’re not the same as us, they can’t love their kids or their spouses or their country like we do.
That’s what we used to say when women wanted to vote. Hey, god love ‘em but they just don’t think like we do. They’re not like us, like real Americans.
Not Dean’s List Material 0
Then, again, that may depend on which list.
When a student by that name at a Radnor Township university ordered fake IDs from China, his first mistake was having the cards delivered to campus, police say.
The second was not realizing that he shared a name with a ranking school administrator.
Hijinks ensue.
Hungarian Spiced Stir-Fry Bean Curd* and Vegetables 0
Ingredients:
1 14-oz. pkg. extra firm bean curd, cut into small pieces (approx. 1/2-3/4 inch)
4 oz. (approx.) snow peas, stringed
8 medium mushrooms, quartered
1 stalk celery, sliced (no, not lengthwise)
1 Bell pepper, coarsely chopped (approx. 1/4-1/2 inch)
4 scallions, chopped
Spices of choice to taste. I used approximately
- 1 tbs. ground ginger
- 2 tsp. garlic powder (I was out of fresh garlic, or I’d have minced some up)
- 1 tsp. basil
- 2 tbs. Red Gold Hungarian mild paprika sauce, available from Otto’s Hungarian Deli
- 2 tsp. pepper, freshly ground preferable
Procedure:
1. Prepare ingredients. Placing them separately in little bowls or saucers makes adding them easier, as they are not added all at once. They will be added in a sequence from slowest to fastest to cook.
2. Hear wok or skillet over medium heat until drops of water quickly bead up and evaporate. Add oil (use an oil that is tolerant of higher cooking temperatures, such as grapeseed or rapeseed–er–canola oil).
3. Add one-third or one-half the spices (see the note in item 4.) and allow to cook for a few seconds while stirring.
4. Add bean curd (note: do not add more than will form just one layer–you may to cook it in shifts). Cook until it starts to brown, then reserve it in a warm oven. Repeat as necessary to finish all the bean curd, refreshing the oil and spices before cooking the each batch.
5. Once the bean curd is done and reserved, refresh the oil and spices, then add the scallions, stirring them for three or four minutes.
6. Add the pepper and celery and cook for three or four minutes.
7. Repeat for the mushrooms, then for the snow peas.
8. Add the bean curd and cook, stirring, until it’s thoroughly reheated. Serve over rice.
Serves four.
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*Tofu is nothing more than social-climbing bean curd.
Q. Who Can’t Handle the Truth? 0
A. Republicans.
The War on History 0
Werner Herzog’s Bear analyzes Republican attempts to ban factual history in Oklahoma and other places. A snippet (emphasis added):
There is a very powerful segment of society that relies on the masses being ignorant of a broader, more historical perspective on the present.
Do read the rest.
“Academic Freedom” 0
On the chopping block in North Carolina.
One more time: Republicanism is counter-factual, so Republicans fear encountering facts.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
To quote the Jefferson Airplane, politeness “leaves you no, no place to hide.”
“Two other people in the house were handling a firearm that accidentally discharged, and (the bullet) went through a wall and struck her in the upper left chest,” Wells said.
And another gun that fires itself. . . .
The stupid. It burns.
Ignoring the Oscars 0
I have no interest in watching Hollywood play with itself.
Indeed, that goes for all the entertainment “awards” shows. They are wankery of the highest order.
“Tie Me Wallaby Down, Sport, Tie Me Wallaby Down” 0
My local rag reports that Norfolk’s “Virginia Zoo” has not been a good place for wallabies to be.
(If you wonder why I have a print subscription to my local rag, this story illustrates why. We need local newspapers, and local newspapers need our support. Plus, my local rag is a good local rag. It’s not perfect, but it’s still my local rag.)
Full Disclosure:
I have not visited Norfolk’s “Virginia Zoo.” The older I get, the less I am fascinated by animals in cages.
