Cardinals and Yankees news, sponsorship bucks, a dubious diversity mark, a class action against MLB, spiked Mountain Dew, lemonade out of lemons, slavery is bad, but! and . . . just one more thing
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Which could apply to most of the above.
Worth noting that one reason Columbo was so good is that we weren't getting 22 episodes a season, but a maximum of eight (and that only happened twice). As while I am finding that watching/rewatching old stuff with 22 and 26 and even 39 episode seasons is satisfying in that "I want more, and there is more!" way, we are probably better off with shorter seasons, though given the shape of some shows, we still get stuck with filler. My own qualm about "Poker Face" is that while Rian Johnson is clearly a capable writer and director, "Knives Out" left me a bit cold. I honestly could not tell if Johnson really loves old school mysteries or loves spoofing them (albeit without any malice). As I think I will still have Peacock at a discount in January, I will give this one a try, but I am not expecting greatness.
'It ain’t the National Pastime if a big segment of the nation doesn’t take part.'
--not seeing a whole lot of women out there, either. Back in the '90s I thought we'd have at least a few female pitchers, second base(wo)men, etc. in professional ball. Just as a business move, if nothing else. Is gender segregation in sports a permanent state, or will we, 50 years from now, look back on it as a silly anachronism?
Wow, that’s awesome news about Poker Face! We have Peacock, and I’m in. I hope someone finds a similar vehicle for Mark Ruffalo; I always enjoy his work.
If you want to really dig into what that clause in the 13th Amendment allows, explore Convict Leasing. Essentially it allows companies to pay the state for prisoners to work for the for free (or nearly free, like 65 cents/hr. There are prisons where companies have built factories on the grounds so they’d have access to that on-demand labor pool.
There was a story earlier this year from Arizona where the state was debating building a new prison even though they still have significant capacity in others. Some of the people arguing for it publicly said that they needed the prison to get the roughly free labor or it would hurt the economy.
When you put that together with the private for-profit prison industry that incentivizes the state to put more people in prison and the drug laws that were written starting in the 1970s with the express purpose (according to the Republicans who wrote them) of putting more Black and Brown people in jail, the picture just gets uglier and uglier.
So yes, we absolutely need to close that loophole in the 13th.
There is a huge difference between chain-gain style work requirements (which are "punishment for a crime") and optional opportunities for incarcerated people to work. I don't know the details of these ballot measures, but there's no reason eliminating the former should eliminate the latter. And eliminating the former is a great idea whose time came decades ago, so good for those states.
As far as the latter: no incarcerated person truly has a choice about anything. So calling them "optional" or "voluntary" or what have you is kind of per se wrong. But with that disclaimer out of the way, allowing people to do something productive or learn a skill is hugely important. Corrections officials shouldn't be allowed, in a fit of pique over losing just a bit of power, to eliminate that.
It’s easy to dunk on Mountain Dew, but when is the last time you actually drank some? And what of those other bright colored versions I see advertised at Taco Bell?
Since you brought it up, I feel you have an obligation to investigate, and provide answers.
My 18yr old son got into Columbo about 18 months ago when he said he saw memes and clips and though it looked good. He got his grandparents to get him the full box set last Christmas (which they were very happy to do since they are big Columbo fans). He had me bring the box set to him at college, he texted me this past weekend “can you bring my Columbo box set this week and do you have Peacock there is a new show coming I want to watch”. This was before I saw Keith Law retweet Rian Johnson’s tweet about the show. Great, now I got to get another streaming service that I’ll forget to cancel after watching this.
I would’ve thought that a thorough reporting on Wainwright’s return would have asked the all important question: does this mean that JD Drew will likewise return for a final season in ATL?
To add to the Cardinals staff openings, it was also announced yesterday that bullpen coach Bryan Eversgerd will be “reassigned within the organization” so we’re basically down to the base coaches at this point.
I have been watching Longmire this week. I've been getting my crime-of-the-week feels from that, and wondering how I missed it when it was "on" a decade ago.
While I think that the lack of Black American players in the World Series this year is something to talk about, this years' rosters are still a whole lot less White than they were in 1950, with at least 20 Latinos among the 52 guys on the rosters.
I suspect that youth participation rates for baseball are down across the board in this country, as the expense of year-round travel teams in many sports means that kids are specializing early in different sports or just not playing at all.
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Which could apply to most of the above.
Worth noting that one reason Columbo was so good is that we weren't getting 22 episodes a season, but a maximum of eight (and that only happened twice). As while I am finding that watching/rewatching old stuff with 22 and 26 and even 39 episode seasons is satisfying in that "I want more, and there is more!" way, we are probably better off with shorter seasons, though given the shape of some shows, we still get stuck with filler. My own qualm about "Poker Face" is that while Rian Johnson is clearly a capable writer and director, "Knives Out" left me a bit cold. I honestly could not tell if Johnson really loves old school mysteries or loves spoofing them (albeit without any malice). As I think I will still have Peacock at a discount in January, I will give this one a try, but I am not expecting greatness.
'It ain’t the National Pastime if a big segment of the nation doesn’t take part.'
--not seeing a whole lot of women out there, either. Back in the '90s I thought we'd have at least a few female pitchers, second base(wo)men, etc. in professional ball. Just as a business move, if nothing else. Is gender segregation in sports a permanent state, or will we, 50 years from now, look back on it as a silly anachronism?
No Lady Gaga video to close the newsletter? Poker Face was right there.....
Wow, that’s awesome news about Poker Face! We have Peacock, and I’m in. I hope someone finds a similar vehicle for Mark Ruffalo; I always enjoy his work.
Regarding "except as a punishment for a crime," are you familiar with peonage in South, from after the Civil War until the 1940s? https://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/peonage/
If you want to really dig into what that clause in the 13th Amendment allows, explore Convict Leasing. Essentially it allows companies to pay the state for prisoners to work for the for free (or nearly free, like 65 cents/hr. There are prisons where companies have built factories on the grounds so they’d have access to that on-demand labor pool.
There was a story earlier this year from Arizona where the state was debating building a new prison even though they still have significant capacity in others. Some of the people arguing for it publicly said that they needed the prison to get the roughly free labor or it would hurt the economy.
When you put that together with the private for-profit prison industry that incentivizes the state to put more people in prison and the drug laws that were written starting in the 1970s with the express purpose (according to the Republicans who wrote them) of putting more Black and Brown people in jail, the picture just gets uglier and uglier.
So yes, we absolutely need to close that loophole in the 13th.
If my sad sack Oakland A’s aren’t wearing “CHICO’S BAIL BONDS” on the backs of their jerseys next season, Rob Manfred should be fired.
There is a huge difference between chain-gain style work requirements (which are "punishment for a crime") and optional opportunities for incarcerated people to work. I don't know the details of these ballot measures, but there's no reason eliminating the former should eliminate the latter. And eliminating the former is a great idea whose time came decades ago, so good for those states.
As far as the latter: no incarcerated person truly has a choice about anything. So calling them "optional" or "voluntary" or what have you is kind of per se wrong. But with that disclaimer out of the way, allowing people to do something productive or learn a skill is hugely important. Corrections officials shouldn't be allowed, in a fit of pique over losing just a bit of power, to eliminate that.
It’s easy to dunk on Mountain Dew, but when is the last time you actually drank some? And what of those other bright colored versions I see advertised at Taco Bell?
Since you brought it up, I feel you have an obligation to investigate, and provide answers.
My 18yr old son got into Columbo about 18 months ago when he said he saw memes and clips and though it looked good. He got his grandparents to get him the full box set last Christmas (which they were very happy to do since they are big Columbo fans). He had me bring the box set to him at college, he texted me this past weekend “can you bring my Columbo box set this week and do you have Peacock there is a new show coming I want to watch”. This was before I saw Keith Law retweet Rian Johnson’s tweet about the show. Great, now I got to get another streaming service that I’ll forget to cancel after watching this.
I would’ve thought that a thorough reporting on Wainwright’s return would have asked the all important question: does this mean that JD Drew will likewise return for a final season in ATL?
To add to the Cardinals staff openings, it was also announced yesterday that bullpen coach Bryan Eversgerd will be “reassigned within the organization” so we’re basically down to the base coaches at this point.
Except for the hitting the road part, the premise for “Poker Face” sounds a lot like “Psych”, another entry in that genre that I quite enjoyed.
I have been watching Longmire this week. I've been getting my crime-of-the-week feels from that, and wondering how I missed it when it was "on" a decade ago.
Definitely here for Poker Face.
While I think that the lack of Black American players in the World Series this year is something to talk about, this years' rosters are still a whole lot less White than they were in 1950, with at least 20 Latinos among the 52 guys on the rosters.
I suspect that youth participation rates for baseball are down across the board in this country, as the expense of year-round travel teams in many sports means that kids are specializing early in different sports or just not playing at all.