Fish Fear Me

Thursday Stuff

Way to go Luke: Congratulations to Luke Hughes of the Minnesota Twins. Hughes got his first major league start last night at third base and smacked a solo home run in his first official trip to the plate in the third inning. He actually had come up to bat in the second, but Delmon Young was caught trying to steal third to end that inning. The video of the homer is here. The pitching collapsed and made it an otherwise dreary game, but being able to watch that home run made up for it.

Show of Farce: I guess about a dozen police dressed in riot gear made an appearance in front of protesters when Obama spoke in Quincy, Il. yesterday. I don't know, it seems more comical to me than a show of intimidation. That video of them marching in reminded me of when I had to take squads out and do police calls(pick up trash) somewhere around Ft. Belvoir back in 1984. In other words, somewhat amusing.

What's the correct term now? The open borders crowd has insisted on using the term "undocumented immigrants" to refer to illegal aliens for years now. Since Arizona passed their immigration law we suddenly hear all of this talk about "papers", as in the scary and totalitarian phrase "show me your papers." Even the president is doing it. So is the politically correct term now "paperless immigrants"? "Unpapered immigrants"? I'm confused.

Rain, rain, stay a day. Some much needed rain will hopefully drench northern Minnesota today and tomorrow. It's been pretty dry up there lately and yesterday saw the NWS issue red flag warnings for some parts north of here. It would be nice to get some rain while things are still greening up.

Great minds. I guess I wasn't the only one to wonder if Ted Kennedy was spinning in his grave over the approval of a wind farm off Cape Cod. Maybe we could plant a couple of magnets next to him and generate some real power.

More Arizona info. One of the law professors who helped draw up the statute defends it in an op-ed in the New York Times today. I'm still going back and forth on the wisdom of what Arizona has set out to do, but one thing for certain is the histrionics around this issue have been appalling. There are some profoundly unserious and juvenile people with real political and media power in this country. I'm generally not one to tell people to shut up, but really, some of them should just STFU.

Arizona and Illegal Immigrants

I've finally gotten around to digging into the Arizona illegal immigrant issue and even after spending a few hours on it last night and today, I'm still not sure what to think. Credible sources come down on both sides regarding the constitutionality of the law and just how often actual US citizens or legal residents will get caught up in it. About the only thing I'm sure of is that I wish the circumstances didn't exist where Arizona felt the need to do something like this in the first place. Well, that and just how ridiculous some of the overheated rhetoric is.

My preference would be that local law enforcement stays away from immigration issues unless they actually arrest and book someone and that person cannot produce identification. I don't see what harm checking with ICE does at that point. Introducing immigration checks in other aspects of normal police/public interactions doesn't seem wise to me and I think it will bring a host of unintended consequences. Stuff like witnesses not coming forward or people being afraid to call 911 for fear of having their immigration status checked.

That all said, I understand where the citizens of Arizona are coming from. The federal government is failing to do its job and Arizona is feeling the burden more than most states. What do opponents of the new law expect them to do? Just suffer?

Damn Those Climate Backers

Son of a gun, those bastards never quit: Climate backers try to regroup.

Because, you know, all of us skeptics about the science behind anthropogenic global warming, we hates the climate with a passion. Oh yes. If it was up to us, we'd get rid of the whole damn climate. Who needs it?

Sorry, but that mentality behind "climate backers" just gets on my nerves. It's an appeal to emotion and an attempt to seize the moral high ground that is not justified by the science or the shitty and half-baked models that claim to project the future.

I did go ahead and read the article though, and what do you suppose this means?

Before Graham pulled the plug, Senate negotiators and industry groups had been close to reaching a detailed outline of a deal, in the actual text of a bill, drafted after weeks of work by Graham, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

Answer: Pardon my Monday morning cynicism, but I think it means that you and I are screwed if this thing passes. The politicians will get their tax dollars, the energy industry will get their profits protected, and consumers will foot the bill in the form of artificially inflated energy prices. Then we can beg Congress to give us some of the money back in the form of tax credits and hear President Obama tell us that we ought to be grateful.

We need to vote these assholes out of office. November can't come fast enough.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry for the lack of posts, here and on Facebook. Most of what is consuming my time is work related, but I've also been tackling some personal stuff. Spring has arrived and I've shaken off the winter doldrums. I'm working out again for the first time in just about forever. It has been a great spring for getting the yard whipped into shape, though today it takes a break for some much needed rain. The annual debachelorization of the cave, aka my house, has commenced. And I'm facing up to the mental challenge of quitting cigarettes. I'm not talking about dealing with the physical addiction, I mean convincing myself that I want to quit. It's tougher than one might think, because I like my heaters. I'm going to miss them.

You Know What Causes Hypertension?

...this kind of crap:

The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands of deaths from hypertension and heart disease. The initiative, to be launched this year, would eventually lead to the first legal limits on the amount of salt allowed in food products.

I bet my blood pressure shot up 30 points just in the first paragraph.

There is a role for the government in educating people about what is good for their health and in promoting labels that help people make wise choices, though even that goes too far with the latest menu requirements. But I fail to see what gives them the right to prohibit me from being able to buy whatever damn salty product I may choose to if someone is willing to make it. God damned nannies.

You know what's going to happen here, right? These freakin' geniuses are going to drive sodium, something the body needs to consume on a reasonable basis, so far out of the food system that a few years from now people won't be getting enough. Then the CDC can come up with another campaign to make sure people don't forget to salt their food. Because we all know we are too stupid to figure it out for ourselves.

More: Since I'm on a bit of a rant here already. My doctor hasn't told me to limit my sodium intake yet because, well, I haven't seen one in nine years(I will in a couple of weeks). My dad's doctor has told him that though, and you know what he does? He reads the labels on the food he buys and looks for lower sodium products. Who'd a thunk it? There are choices out there for people already, and if the market demands more then food companies will provide them. Let consumers and producers work it out. And if some poor schlub is too lazy to read a damn label, well...

Hit, Pitch, Field

Another glorious spring day in the Twin Cities. The garden will consume most of my day, but I will take a break this afternoon to see if the Twins can sweep KC with a win today.They have won all four series so far this season, something that Twins fans haven't ever seen before. To say I'm pleased with that and their 9-3 record is an understatement.

Across the board, pitching, hitting, defense, this team has come out charging this year.

Hitting: The Twins are tied with the Yankees in AL runs produced with 64(though the Yankees have played one less game). They are scoring with power like I haven't seen in a long time. Their 15 home runs so far are third in the AL. They are also third in batting average, slugging, and OBP, and lead the AL in total bases. The result is they are providing an average of 5.33 runs per game for their pitchers.

Pitching: Overall, the pitching staff has an AL second best 3.08 ERA. You average 5.33 runs per game and only give up 3.08...well there you go. Looking a bit deeper though, the starting rotation has come through for the most part. Outside of Scott Baker's 4.2 innings in the season opener, the Twins have gotten at least five inning in each start. Seven of twelve have been quality starts, defined as going at least six innings and giving up no more than three runs. Since that first game, Baker has delivered two. Both Pavano and Liriano have delivered quality starts in each of their two appearances so far.

On the down side, Blackburn is 1-2 now in that department so far after his sloppy game yesterday and Slowey is 0-2. To be fair to Slowey though, he came close in his last start, going five innings and giving up three runs. His problem has been wasting pitches and getting up to the 90 pitch range to get through five innings. Blackburn's nemesis has been the long ball. He has given up a team high six home runs. I think the issue for both pitchers is mental, though the word this morning is that Blackburn also has a sore elbow and may mis his next start. They need to bear down and focus better. I know they have the talent.

The bullpen has been doing better than expected after the loss of Joe Nathan. They lead the league in holds with ten and are tied for saves with six. Jon Rauch has been a little shaky as the new closer, but he has yet to blow a save opportunity. The bullpen has given up only eight runs in 12 games. You take out Mijares'(now on the DL) poor appearance in the opener where he gave up two runs and the otherwise solid Jesse Crain's disaster against Boston(3 runs) and you have 3 runs over ten games. I'll take that.

Fielding: All I need to say is one. As in only one error in 12 games. That's the best in all of MLB and the next closest teams are the Yankees and Indians with four each.  The Twins have yet to give up an unearned run this year. The only other team that can say that is the Mets as far as I can tell. Outstanding fielding behind the pitching goes a long way to explaining why a staff with no real stars can be pretty solid.

This is Twins baseball. Power hitting on top of manufacturing runs. Pitchers throwing strikes and letting the defense do its thing. And that defense coming through. It's a long season and wear and tear will start to come into play soon, but I haven't had this much fun at the start of a season in...maybe ever.

Turkey Of The Day

I barely got down the street this morning when I came across the turkey of the day. No, really:

When I first saw it crossing the street in front of me I thought it was a goose. It took a second to register that it was a wild turkey because I live in a first-ring suburb that is built up enough that the deer don't come around, even though I know of at least two herds within a mile or so. It zipped across the street and down into the railroad right-of-way before I could get a second pic taken. Fast bugger, and big. That guy has to be 15 or 20 pounds.

I'm coming up on twenty years in this house and that's the first wild turkey I've ever seen. As in actual, not the whiskey. Kind of made my morning.

This Too Was Predictable

The price I paid to avoid all things Tiger over the last week was to miss a whole slew of parodies that have been done of that Nike commercial with his dad's voiceover. Before I link to a gallery of some, the obligatory some language not safe for work or children:

A Roundup of Zombie Earl Woods Commercial Parodies.

Tuesday Mish-Mash

Things are greening up nicely here. I might even have to cut the grass for the first time this year this coming weekend, which is at least two weeks ahead of normal. The first thunderstorms rolled through early this morning and left a good half-inch of rain, so that makes firing up the lawnmower even more likely.

Those thunderstorms also put on quite a lightning and thunder show I guess, but I slept right through it. Two houses and a garage were hit by lightning and caught fire this morning, which seems like an unusually high number for a thunderstorm. The only unusual thing for me this morning was that my power was out when I woke up. Well, that and digging through my camping gear for the low-tech coffee pot.

I missed it, but if you thought you briefly saw a dog behind home plate at yesterday's Twins game, you were right. The Twins allowed Target to let their canine mascot sit in a $275 front row seat for about half an inning. I can't imagine bringing a dog to Target Field or any stadium really. The food smells would have to drive them to the brink of insanity.

This weekend I started on the 2010 garden improvements. Step one was slightly enlarging it and starting on the trench for the fencing. I caught a couple of bunnies staring at me while I worked. I think they were salivating at the thought of all of the goodies I must be getting ready to grow for them. Boy do I have a surprise for them.

Has anyone used seed tape for planting vegetables? I had not heard of it before my mom brought it up last week. It seems like a good way to deal with the really tiny seeds and it supposedly reduces the need for thinning. I'm looking for some first-hand yeas/nays.

Someone offered me a free puppy yesterday, a yellow lab. Cute as hell, but not yet.

I should have my taxes done tomorrow instead of the usual April 15 panic. Pretty simple this year, but there is one new schedule I need to download and print out. Whoohoo, I get to take a capital loss! (/sarcasm)

First "W"

An excellent 5-2 win over Boston for the Twins today in their first regular season game at Target Field. There are many reasons to like the new ballpark, but not having to listen to opposing teams and their fans bitching about the Metrodome will be right up there on the list.

A little bit of trivia from that link on a day that has provided a wealth of it. If you're going to open a new major league ballpark, book the Red Sox:

This is the fifth time the Red Sox have been the visiting team for the first official game at a new ballpark, though the first since 1923. Boston also helped open Oriole Park (Baltimore, 1901), Shibe Park (Philadelphia, 1909), Griffith Stadium (Washington, 1911) and Yankee Stadium (New York, 1923). The Red Sox lost all five.