Category: News

I joined the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson’s (founder of Earth Day) staff just out of college, shortly after the celebration of the second Earth Day in 1971. He instilled in me a passion for the environment that lives within me to this day.

The project began when Nelson called two of his senior aides into his office in September, 1969. He had just returned from Santa Barbara right after the horrific oil spill off the California coast. He was outraged by the environmental devastation and political inertia in Washington. He had read in the local newspaper about teach-ins on the Berkeley campus against the war in Vietnam and had an idea. He told his staffers, “See what you can do about having environmental teach-ins on college campuses around the country on the same day next spring.”

On April 22, 1970, about 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day (a record for any event of any kind at that time). Sen. Nelson was justifiably pleased. He had made protecting the environment his career and it seemed that the United States, then the world’s chief polluter, was ready to lead an ‘environmental’ revolution. Not quite.

The first project the Senator assigned me was to call the “Top 100” Fortune CEOs and encourage them to recycle. It took some time (no internet then) but I completed my task. Two things stand out about that experience. First, I got through to 98 of them (directly or they called me back). Second, all of them either hung up on me or laughed and then hung up (Today, not one of those companies, still in existence, would tell me that they don’t recycle in some capacity).

One of those senior aides, John Heritage, wrote in the Madison (WI) Capital Times recently, “Unfortunately, the ecological health of our nation and much of the world has deteriorated in the last four decades. We now face…a warming world climate, degradation of the oceans, decimation of tropical forests, and the loss of habitats and species.”

To honor Gaylord Nelson and his profound understanding of ecological limitations, it is imperative that we work together to find ways to implement a more environmentally favorable system of human living.

About the author: John Larmett has worked in the Office of Public Affairs since 2008. He worked for Sen. Nelson from 1971-80.

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Motorcycle

Valentino Rossi, widely acknowledged as the greatest motorcycle racer of all time, may have a second career on something with more than two wheels. As diehard MotoGP and Formula One fans are already aware, the Italian superstar has proven to be just as fast around a race circuit when piloting a Ferrari F1 car as he is on his Yamaha motorcycle, and the Scuderia has made numerous overtures to The Doctor in an effort to get him to cross disciplines.

Apparently, outgoing Fiat Group Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo reiterated once again earlier this week that it would love to put Rossi in the driver’s seat of one of its scorching red F1 cars, saying:

We want a third car [in F1 next year] and I would do everything to have Valentino… When he wins this year’s MotoGP, enough is enough, he must also win in Formula 1.

So, is it going to happen? We have no idea, but there is some conjecture that if Rossi continues his winning ways by capturing his tenth World Championship on two wheels, it might make the decision to try his hand at F1 a bit easier to make.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2009 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Motorcycle Daily]

Ferrari reportedly still pursuing Valentino Rossi for F1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over at the very fine TaxVox blog, Howard Gleckman writes a good explanatory piece on the current VAT debate. But this one  part really struck me:

Our current revenue system has reached its breaking point. To fix our terrible budget problem, we are going to have to cut spending. But we are also going to have to raise more revenue. And for the life of me, I don’t understand why we wouldn’t want to do so in the most efficient way possible. And that may lead us to a consumption tax in one form or another, Senate resolutions notwithstanding.

Me:  That was directed at conservative critics of the VAT.  Now from what I can tell, plenty of conservatives would have no problem with a VAT if it a) replaced the income tax and b) was designed to boost tax revenue by boosting economic growth.  And as far as a way of increasing the tax burden, the budget cuts are going to have to come first. Optimize government, try to quick the pace of GDP growth and then raise taxes if necessary.

According to General Motors President Mark Reuss, the Detroit automaker is close to hiring lower-paid hourly workers and accelerate the production of popular vehicles that are in short supply due to strong demand. Reuss said that any hiring depends on further recovery in vehicle sales.

Reuss statement came just hours after GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. touted a $257 million investment in plants in Kansas and Michigan to produce the next-generation Chevrolet Malibu.

Click here to get prices on the 2010 Chevrolet Malibu.

Reuss did not specify a hiring timeline or identify which plants may be getting additional workers. However, before GM hires low-paid employees, it will have to call back a nationwide pool of 4,000 to 5,000 workers.

Under an agreement reached in 2007 with the United Auto Workers, GM is allowed to hire new lower-paid workers for $14 an hour and less-generous benefits than veteran workers.

Since coming out of bankruptcy in July 2009,GM has invested $1.5 billion in 20 U.S. and Canadian facilities and has created or restored 7,500 jobs, including 900 at its Fairfax plant in Kansas.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Detroit News

KNOXVILLE — Barbara K. Bodine, a retired U.S. ambassador to Yemen — the reputed land of the Queen of Sheba, home of the three wisemen and burial spot of Cain and Abel — will discuss the future possibilities of the United State’s relationship with Yemen on April 28.

Free and open to the public, the event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Toyota Auditorium at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, 1640 Cumberland Ave. Her appearance is sponsored by the Baker Center and the Center for International Education through its Great Decisions Program. Funded by the Ready for the World initiative, Great Decisions has brought a series of speakers from around the country to UT this semester to address our nation’s most pressing foreign policy issues.

Since the failed Christmas bombing attempt over Detroit, Yemen has reappeared on the American radar as a terrorism threat and much has been written on the country’s poverty, governance inadequacies and security challenges. Bodine will talk about whether Yemen is the next front in the war on terror, or an opportunity to commit the resources, people and will to help Yemen change course.

Bodine is a lecturer and diplomat-in-residence at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, where she teaches courses on the Iraq War, U.S. diplomacy in the Persian Gulf region and Yemen. She also serves as the director of the scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative, an intern and fellowship program for students pursuing careers in federal service.

In the U.S. Foreign Service, Bodine spent more than 30 years focusing on the Arabian Peninsula and greater Persian Gulf issues. From 1997 to 2001, Bodine served as an ambassador to Yemen, and in spring 2003, she was the senior State Department official and the first coalition coordinator for reconstruction in Baghdad and the central governorates. She also has had several assignments in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

Since leaving her governmental career, Bodine has been a senior fellow at the Kennedy School of Government and the Robert Wilhelm Fellow at MIT. Bodine is a regular commenter for PBS NewsHour, CNN, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among other media.

—

C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

It has been a little over two weeks since the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, which killed 29 people in the worst mining accident in 40 years. On Sunday, President Barack Obama heads to Beckley, West Virginia, for a memorial service for the miners. Last Friday, Massey Energy (MEE), which owns and operates the mine, filed its annual proxy, at 5:01 p.m.

That’s one day after the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail published its conversation with Massey CEO Donald L. Blankenship, who reported that the company would pay the families of those 29 miners five times their annual pay, plus lifetime income for the widows, health insurance for 20 years or more and $5,000 a year for child-care. (Article and transcripts at the link; Massey says families don’t have to settle potential legal claims to receive benefits.) Here’s an excerpt from one of the transcripts posted by the Daily Mail:

“Blankenship: I’m always careful to say that they will be OK financially. I think that they will be OK if we get past the trauma and the other issues. They will get sizeable life insurance payments because it will be about five times their pay. They’ll get a workers comp check, and we will make up any difference between their workers comp amount per month and their straight time pay at Massey for life for widows. We will pay for childcare, I think, up to $5,000 a year for so many years. I don’t know each detail, but the life insurance, the ongoing medical coverage are a minimum of 20 years, in some cases for life. Full pay on a straight-time basis, large life insurance, the funeral expenses that you mentioned. So the benefits by any measure are very good. We’re very proud of the benefits, although we realize that doesn’t help much.”

That may seem generous, even in the face of the lawsuits that have already begun, but it’s a fraction of what Blankenship himself would be entitled to in similar circumstances. His family or heirs would have gotten $8.4 million if he had died on Dec. 31, according to the proxy.

That figure — roughly nine times Blankenship’s $933,369 salary last year — includes a $4 million cash death benefit, as well as accelerated stock awards and options. Perhaps most curiously, it also includes a “Special Successor Development and Retention Program” perk: “the title to a company-owned residence valued at $305,000,” in Sprigg, West Virginia — and $212,168 to make up for income taxes due on receiving the house. (See the post Michelle wrote a little two years ago about the house.) Massey’s investor relations contact, Roger Hendriksen, didn’t respond to questions about the death benefits sent by email.

We couldn’t immediately track down just what the house looks like, but we imagine it’s pretty nice: Searches at multiple real-estate Web sites didn’t turn up many homes on the market in Mingo County for more than about $170,000. A profile of Blankenship by Bloomberg News — which also recounts an ugly unemployment-benefit dispute with a former maid — suggests it’s located on the grounds of the company’s Rawl Sales & Processing Co., in his home county of Mingo near the Kentucky border, in Hatfield & McCoy territory.

Life insurance, of course, is often seen as a safety-net for widows and orphans, and it can certainly be just that. For those in the corner office, however, it has a tendency to morph into a sort of all-purpose perk. Blankenship’s heirs would get $4 million if he dies on the job, but when he retires — he’s 60 years old and eligible for full pension benefits at 62 — he could also choose to continue that benefit at Massey’s expense. Or, if he prefers, he can take $1.1 million cash at age 65, or $2.2 million paid out over 10 years at $18,241 a month.

All that, of course, is on top of the $5.7 million in pension benefits he is entitled to, and the $27 million he has accumulated in his deferred-compensation account.

By contrast, Massey said in a recent 8-K filing that it expects its entire second-quarter charge for the Upper Big Branch Mine tragedy to approximate $80 million to $150 million, “for charges related to the benefits being provided to the families of the fallen miners, costs associated with the rescue and recovery efforts, insurance deductibles, possible legal and other contingencies.”

Elsewhere, others have analyzed Blankenship’s pay, and how he stood to benefit from certain safety measures even as the company faced a blizzard of violations from mine-safety regulators. (The company has been fighting many of those citations and the related fines, and Blankenship told the Daily Mail that the company doesn’t put profits over safety.)

We’re glad to read that Massey seems to be making an effort to help the miners’ families, though it wouldn’t surprise us if reasonable people concluded the company should pay more. But it’s also clear that, when it comes to the company’s top executives, Massey Energy will spare no expense making sure “that they will be OK financially,” whatever happens.

Image source: public.resource.org via Flickr

In the past few weeks, thirteen people have left Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward, and according to Actvision community rep Dan Amrich, we may not have seen the last of it.

In January, Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle launched a contest asking consumers whether toilet paper should roll over or under. Well, the debate was settled by Oscar time, with people in the national poll choosing "over." Now, the brand is back with the next step in the campaign to keep the conversation going. It’s promising a "recall" of any bath tissue that doesn’t roll over. The campaign, created by JWT London (but running in the U.S. and Canada), includes TV and outdoor ads that show the company "recalling any toilet paper which doesn’t roll over." Cottonelle brand manager John Stanwood says: "We wanted to counter the theory that all toilet paper is the same and come up with an idea that was eye-catching, compelling and light-hearted." This, of course, doesn’t mean that retailers are pulling any TP that mysteriously rolls "under" from their shelves. That would be silly.

—Posted by Elaine Wong

What is the difference between pellets & paste wormer. Is one better than the other. I have problems giving my horses the paste. And was looking into giving them the pellet form with their food. CJ, Florida

Dear CJ,

While I believe some companies still make pelleted “purge” dewormers, I think you’re asking about the difference between daily dewormers (which come in pellets) and paste dewormers. The good news is that, depending on your horse’s situation, you may actually be able to do a better job of protecting him from parasites with a daily dewormer. The bad news is that you’ll still have to paste him twice a year to control those species of parasites that the daily dewormer doesn’t.

To be clear, daily dewormer comes in a pellet form and is designed to be fed every day to prevent internal parasites from taking hold in your horse. Paste dewormer comes in a tube and is given once every 30 to 90 days, depending on the active ingredient. Paste dewormers are designed to “purge” a horse of parasites and using them is known as rotational deworming.

A dewormer that is fed every day kills parasites before they have a chance to damage vital organs. By preventing worms from migrating through the gut wall, blood vessels, liver and other tissues, problems like weight loss, diarrhea, colic and other serious health conditions may be avoided.

However, before starting a horse on a daily dewormer, he should be “purged” of any larval and adult stages of worms he may already have using a paste dewormer that contains ivermectin or moxidectin. In addition, horses should be given ivermectin or moxidectin once or twice each year to control bots, as well as praziquantal or other effective ingredient once or twice a year to control tapeworms.

So while switching to a daily dewormer doesn’t completely absolve you from using paste dewormers, it’ll sure cut down on the number of times per year you’ll have to fight with your horse to get a tube in!

Me uní al equipo de trabajo del fallecido Senador Gaylord Nelson (fundador del Día del Planeta Tierra) justo cuando me gradué de la universidad, poco después de la celebración del segundo Día del Planeta Tierra en 1971. Me inculcó una pasión por el medio ambiente que aún vive en mí al día de hoy.

El proyecto comenzó cuando Nelson llamó a dos de sus ayudantes principales a su oficina en septiembre de 1969. Acababa de regresar de Santa Bárbara después de un horrendo derrame de petróleo cerca de la costa de California. Estaba enfurecido por la devastación ambiental y la inercia política en Washington. Había leído un periódico local donde hablaban de las actividades de concienciación en el campus de Berkley en contra de la guerra de Vietnam y se le ocurrió una idea. Le dijo a sus ayudantes, “Vean lo que pueden hacer para tener actividades de concienciación ambiental en los recintos universitarios alrededor de país coincidiendo el mismo día para la próxima primavera”.

El 22 de abril de 1970, unos 20 millones de estadounidenses participaron en el primer Día del Planeta Tierra (un récord para cualquier evento de cualquier tipo para aquella época). El senador Nelson se sintió satisfecho y con mucha razón. Había hecho de la protección ambiental su carrera y parecía que entonces Estados Unidos, el entonces principal contaminante del mundo, estaba listo para dirigir una revolución medioambiental. Bueno, no exactamente.

El primer proyecto que me asignó el senador fue llamar a los jefes de las principales 100 compañías Fortune (Top Fortune100) y alentarle a que reciclaran. Me tomó algún tiempo realizar la asignación ya que no había Internet en aquella época, pero completé la labor. Dos cosas se destacan de mi experiencia. Primero, pude comunicarme con 98 de ellos (directamente o contestaron mi llamada). Segundo, todos me colgaron el teléfono o se rieron a carcajadas y luego colgaron el teléfono. (En la actualidad, ni una de esas compañías, todavía en existencia, me dirían que no reciclan de alguna manera u otra).

Uno de sus principales ayudantes, John Heritage, escribió para el periódico Capital Times de Madison, Wisconsin recientemente. “Desafortunadamente, la salud ecológica de nuestra nación y de gran parte del mundo se ha deteriorado en las últimas cuatro décadas. Ahora nos enfrentamos…al calentamiento del clima mundial, la degradación de los océanos, la devastación de los bosques tropicales y la pérdida de los hábitats y las especies”.

Para honrar a Gaylord Nelson y su profundo entendimiento de las limitaciones ecológicas, es imperativo que trabajemos juntos por encontrar maneras para implementar un sistema que sea más favorable ambientalmente para la vida en la Tierra.

Sobre la autor:  John Larmett ha trabajado en la Oficina de Asuntos Públicos desde el 2008. Trabajó para el Senador Nelson del 1971 al 1980.

Artist David Karave: “I saw these dummies as experiencing the vague alerts, and the anxiety and the paranoia that we normally feel as a society, in place of us, and thereby saving us.” [CrashingAlert via DarkRoastedBlend] More »

Never one to mince words, ’80s catwalk staple and ousted America’s Next Top Model judge Paulina Porizkova refers to Heidi Montag as “a cheap plastic pool float” (Actually, that’s a pretty good comparison) in a controversial new Modelina.com blog posting that laments her “outrage” over the string of young stars who have augmented their bodies as of late.

Paulina writes: “Wouldn’t Audrey Hepburn, Jane Birkin, Twiggy, Charlotte Rampling, and Jean Harlow have lost their special brand of elegant, feline sexiness if they were tipping over under the weight of great ol’ mammaries? Compare any one of these natural beauties to someone like Heidi Montag, and it’s like comparing a Hastens Swedish handmade mattress to a cheap plastic pool float…..”

Ouch! Twitter Rant From Spencer Pratt Coming In 5, 4, 3, 2…..

Standing firmly on the argument that true beauty in about being unique, Paulina — no stranger to cosmetic surgery herself — also fires off at the newly-busty Kate Hudson, who the former supermodel claims has cheapened her good looks after going under the knife to increase her cup size.

“My issue here isn’t with Kate. If big boobs make her happier, then more power to her. The issue here, this fixing something perfect to something else perfect, is so much a sign of our times, and one that truly saddens me….”

[JURIST] A group of more than 30 privacy and civil liberty groups on Wednesday asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to suspend the full body scanner program being implemented by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The petition states that use of the full body scanner program is an invasion of privacy and that:
deployment of Full Body Scanners in US airports, as currently proposed, violates the U.S. Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”), the Privacy Act of 1974 (“Privacy Act”), and the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”). As described below, the FBS program effectively subjects all air travelers to unconstitutionally intrusive searches that are disproportionate and for which the TSA lacks any suspicion of wrongdoing.According to the petitioners, the scanners are a step toward doing away with individualized suspicion and are particularly offensive to devout individuals. As such, the scans are opposed by religious groups. The petition also alleges that the scanners themselves have two major flaws: they cannot detect powdered explosives, and the operating systems are vulnerable to attack.In February, the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced that full body scanners in use at two UK airports may be illegal. The body scanners were introduced in part as a response to the failed US bombing attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. The attempted attack prompted Obama to announce tighter security measures, which civil rights groups opposed as a pretext to racial profiling.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian (son of famed former UNLV basketball coach) has begun a tough radio attack on abortion against rival Sue Lowden, the former Nevada state party chairwoman. Lowden, who is now pro-life, leads GOP polls and fundraising.

Tarkanian begins TV ads at the end of the month and plans to be on the air through the GOP primary June 8th.

Tarkanian’s radio ad starting today hits Lowden for changing her position from pro-choice to pro-life for political reasons.

There are a dozen republicans vying for the chance to take on democratic incumbent Harry Reid in the fall. The Senate Majority leader in Washington is one of the top GOP targets. Reid’s polls are abysmal.

A third candidate, former State Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, was endorsed by the national Tea Party Express group recently, substantially raising her profile in the GOP race which promises to be one of the nastiest Republican primaries of 2010.

Here’s the text of Tarkanian’s 30 second radio ad, “Political Convenience:”

Narrator: Sue Lowden told conservatives she was pro-life, but since then the truth has come out.  Sue Lowden supported Roe v Wade.   Sue Lowden voted for an initiative supporting abortion on demand. And she felt so strongly, she even tried to change the pro-life position of the Republican party.  No wonder one leading newspaper said she could quote: easily be convicted of political convenience.

While stuffed bears are usually nice and huggable, cross Naughty Bear off that list. He’s mean, he’s tough, and duh, he’s naughty. Not like sorority-girl-naughty, he’s more of a push-you-into-the-bonfire naughty.
 
 
 

Welcome to Mud, Mambas and Mushrooms. This is where the bloggy part of my new fractured web presence will live, while the sort-of static pages are over at http://new.kurtisscaletta.com.

I’ve given up on my web host, and moved this blog to wordpress dot com. While this means all of the content is here, it also means that some links are broken, and maybe some images won’t show up, but the text is here, and I’m all about the text.

And though an experienced and, I think, worthy, webmaster, I am now relying on a miscellany of free or practically free web services and abandoning the idea of a central repository of stuff over which I have much control, since that control proves to be illusory.

But you know, we’ve come to accept that the Internet is a volatile and rapidly changing place, rife with expiring links and disappearing websites, plagued by hordes of unsolicited ads for Viagra (which my spell check acknowledges) and nests of rapidly-breeding malware (which my spell check does not acknowledge). Thank you for sticking with me in these churning waters and mixed metaphors.

Your humbled author and blogger,

– Kurtis

Filed under: About this Site

Want to ridicule the Noise for his Billy Butler
obsession or misguided
projections? Humiliate him in 140 characters or less on Twitter. And click here to follow

Roto Arcade on Facebook.

Chaotic feelings in Fantasyland have reached a boiling
point. Planes, losing millions in revenue per day, remain grounded. Hundreds of
inconvenienced passengers are stranded. And digital downloads of bizarro songs by alt-rock yodeler Bjork
have strangely increased.

Jon Lester(notes) has erupted.

Blanketing teams in irremovable ash and soot, the treasured Boston pitcher has
devastated ERA and WHIP totals for all who invested heavy coin in him. In three
forgettable outings he’s failed to produce a quality start, yielding 15 earned
in 16 innings pitched. He’s also issued a disturbing nine walks. Only Mount Marquis
has inflicted more damage.

Owners should’ve noticed the signs. Throughout much of the
spring the popular early round pick grumbled under the surface spewing small
plumes of steam into the Florida
air. Geologists and invested followers with a keen eye for historical trends
predicted this day would come.

Becoming increasingly obvious with each passing year, Lester
apparently doesn’t relish spring. Maybe the southpaw really loathes tulips.
Over 153.1 career innings in April/May, he’s posted a paltry 4.88 ERA and 1.49
WHIP. Frustrated by his downtrodden early season consistency, the rotation
anchor has had difficulty pinpointing the struggles. From the Boston Globe:

"This year I’ve felt better coming into the
season than I have in the past. I don’t know why this has happened,"
Lester said. "I’ve thought about it a lot. If there were something I could
do in the offseason or in spring training, I would do it."

"Obviously you want to start good," he said. "You always want
to get on an early run. The key to pitching is getting into a good rhythm every
five days and keeping it going. If you can do that, the more success you’ll
have."

"When you’re struggling early and struggling and struggling, it’s hard
to get in that rhythm. Everything in sports is the final result. That’s the
whole thing."

Based on the historical record, Lester probably won’t immediately eradicate
his mental demons. Simply, it’s par for the course. Whether physical
limitations or psychological burdens are responsible for the star’s annual
out-of-the-gate stumble isn’t important to the fantasy community. However, how
his performance after June 1 is. It’s over that stretch where he’s cashed in tallying
a career 3.35 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Last season, he was the 15th-most valuable
starter during that span according to Baseball Monster. Due to his
groundball-inducing ways (1.38 GB/FB in ’09) and strong K/9 output (9.96), he
will right the ship soon.

Until Lester’s lava flows cool, the market for his services will continue to
favor the buyer. Impatient owners who’ve discounted him in the past will likely
do it again. Already this week he’s been dished off for Bobby Jenks(notes), Lance
Berkman(notes) and Jason
Bay(notes) in one-for-one Y!
league trades. If someone in your league is shopping the lefty, pounce.

Mount Lester’s rupture has caused irreversible
damage. But inevitably his turbulent side will once again slip into a state of
dormancy.

Fearless Forecast
(full season): 201.1 IP, 14 W, 3.67 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 186 K

—

CATEGORY KILLER
Vampiristic commodity sucking
the life out of your team owned in more than 75 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

Adam Dunn(notes), Was, 1B, OF
(92 percent-owned):  For the
impatient, Dunn’s woeful April has become unbearable. Sharing a toothbrush with
Mr. Mendoza, he has notched a mere nine hits over 47 at-bats (.192 BA) with
only one homer. Prolonged cycles of boom
and bust are the norm for the slugging first baseman. Any player with a career
32.3 strikeout percentage is going to experience an epic drought or three.
Under the surface, the passive-aggressive hitter has been surprisingly patient
totaling 14 walks to 11 strikeouts. He’s also posted an uncharacteristic 77.1
contact percentage. An overly watchful eye and bad timing appear to be the
culprits for his most recent swoon. Once he adjusts, a statistical bonanza will commence. A repeat of
last year’s totals, including BA, is very likely. Buy on the bear.

3…2…1…IMPLOSION!
Majority owned starter
who will soon maim an innocent Gatorade cooler

Max Scherzer(notes), Det
(4/23 at Tex,
66 percent-owned): Our gooey feelings for The Schiznit are well-documented.
Two seasons ago we penned nearly a thousand hyperbolic words on the power
righty several weeks before his major league debut. His blazing fastball, high
strikeout potential and cutie patootie dimples were just so lovable. But
sometimes love can stray. The Rangers’ have snapped out of their initial
offensive funk, totaling 13 runs over two games against the SAWKS. That
combined with the smallish feel of Rangers Ballpark means the whip could crack
on the Tigers starter. His fly-ball leaning peripheries (0.85 GB/FB) and
general good fortune (.270 BABIP) don’t inspire confidence.

SABER SLEUTH
Uncovering fantasy’s
lucky bastards one decimal place at a time

Clayton
Kershaw(notes), LAD, SP (97 percent-owned): Watching
Kershaw vex hitter’s with his nasty 12-to-6 curve is a thing of beauty. The
captivating pitch is the reason why gross expectations have been placed on the
22-year-old for years. However, the unpolished southpaw has resembled Rich
Hill(notes), not Sandy Koufax, so far this season. Yes, his ERA (3.18) and K/9 (10.59)
are heart-throbbing, but his auxiliary numbers paint a very dark picture.
Clasping hands with Lady Luck (.264 BABIP), the youngster has been extremely
fortunate. His wildness (7.94 BB/9) and unsustainable 14.6 line-drive
rate arrow to future ERA inflation. Until batters nibble more on his outside
offerings, free passes will continue to be an issue. As his 5.03 FIP indicates,
the tide could soon turn.     

—

Images courtesy of US Presswire

International rating agency Moody downgraded Toyota and its subsidiaries by one notch Thursday over the company’s recall woes and its trouble with the U.S. government. The prior rating of Toyota was Aa1, which has now been dropped to Aa2.

“We do not take this rating change lightly,” said Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco. “We plan to aim for an improved rating by making the best management decisions we can with customer trust as our top priority.”

The rating is still relatively strong but the change shows the agency’s concern over the 8 million vehicles Toyota recalled worldwide.

Toyota’s rating also fell on the annual Forbes Magazine list of the world’s leading companies. It was number 3 last year and this year it fell to 360.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: CNNMoney

I don’t have any deep ethical insight, but this sort of stuff is interesting because there are a lot of samples out there I assume being used from a time before consent was as formalized. Sounds like the scientists probably oversold the practical applications of their research…like they would to a grant committee. Tribe Wins Fight to Limit Research of Its DNA:

“Did you have permission,” she asked during the question period, “to use Havasupai blood for your research?”

The presentation was halted. Dr. Markow and the other members of the doctoral committee asked the student to redact that chapter from his dissertation.

But months later, tribe members learned more about the research when a university investigation discovered two dozen published articles based on the blood samples that Dr. Markow had collected. One reported a high degree of inbreeding, a measure that can correspond with a higher susceptibility to disease.

Ms. Tilousi found that offensive. “We say if you do that, a close relative of yours will die,” she said.

Another article, suggesting that the tribe’s ancestors had crossed the frozen Bering Sea to arrive in North America, flew in the face of the tribe’s traditional stories that it had originated in the canyon and was assigned to be its guardian.

Listening to the investigators, Ms. Tilousi felt a surge of anger, she recalled. But in Supai, the initial reaction was more of hurt. Though some Havasupai knew already that their ancestors most likely came from Asia, “when people tell us, ‘No, this is not where you are from,’ and your own blood says so — it is confusing to us,” Rex Tilousi said. “It hurts the elders who have been telling these stories to our grandchildren.”

I guess I have more sympathy with the idea that you might have some implied property right to how your genetic information is used than I do with being offended because your primitive beliefs might be overturned (there is no way that American Indian land claims are based on paleoanthropology in any practical terms). Creationism is primitive too, and many evangelical Christians are “offended” at the idea that they might share common descent from apes. So?

Genomics Law Report has more commentary.