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This week, the U.S., Russia, China, and other major world powers reached an agreement on a new package of sanctions against Iran. Rabbi Saperstein applauded the announcement in a statement, available below. For more information about the Reform Movement’s work on Iran, be sure to check out our special resource page, fill out an action alert, or email me.

For the record, the purpose of this post is NOT to declare that fantasy owners need to sell Ubaldo Jimenez(notes). No one’s saying that. Don’t attack. This is merely a value/strategy discussion. Please save your vitriol for the new font.

But if you were selling shares of Jimenez today, I’d understand. A case can be made. He’s off to an astonishing start, and it can be reasonably argued that his value will never be higher than it is right now. Ubaldo is basically having Bob Gibson’s 1968 season (1.12 ERA) with a higher strikeout rate (8.63 K/9), and his velocity is greater than ever (96.8 mph average fastball). He’s been dominant. He put a no-hitter on the resume last month and his next scheduled start is tonight against Houston, the lowest-scoring team in baseball. That game is a strong candidate to become win No. 8.

And then what?

Well, we can probably all agree that won’t maintain a sub-2.00 ERA all season, but it’s not like he’s completely lucked into his current ratios (2.69 FIP). He’s also not a pitcher who typically fades in the second-half — if anything, his splits suggest that he gets a bit tougher after the All-Star break. He’s been better in Colorado than he’s been on the road, too.

Scott valued him at $30 in the most recent Shuffle Up, which is three imaginary bucks less than Tim Lincecum’s(notes) price and three more than CC Sabathia’s.(notes) Back in mid-March, Jimenez was $21. That’s a considerable profit on a pitcher who wasn’t cheap at the auction table.

So what’s your plan, Ubaldo owner? Are you getting a price check? Have you already sold him? (If so, what was the haul?) Or do you consider Jimenez to be completely untradeable? Shouldn’t Jeff Erickson flip him to me in a deal for Aramis Ramirez(notes)? 

Let’s settle this thing in comments…

—

Photo via Getty Images

In his insightful post, Rob Stavins makes two key points regarding the allocation of emission allowances under climate legislation like that introduced last week by Senators Kerry and Lieberman.

First, Stavins addresses head-on the concerns that some progressives have toward the allocation provisions in the bill, asking in the title of his post: “Is the Kerry-Lieberman Allowance Allocation a Corporate Give-Away?” To answer this question, Stavins carries out a careful breakdown of the allowance allocation in the Kerry-Lieberman bill. He shows that the vast majority of emission allowances (more than 80% over the duration of the bill) — goes to energy consumers and public purposes (including deficit reduction). That hardly sounds like a windfall to big corporations! Indeed, if you add it up, the largest fraction of allowance value (43% in total, according to my calculations) goes to households, through an energy refund to low-income consumers, a tax credit to working families, a universal trust fund for all Americans, and allowances that are allocated to local electricity and gas utilities for the benefit of their customers.

As Stavins's calculations illustrate, what matters most in terms of allocation is not whether the allowances are auctioned or given away for free, but who receives the value. (For example, of the allowance value that is directed to households, about four-fifths comes as auction revenue, while the remainder is from the allowances allocated for free to local utilities.)

Even so, some progressives worry that free allocation is at odds with cutting emissions. After all, if you give emitters something for free, doesn't that eliminate the "price on carbon" that creates an economic incentive to cut carbon emissions? The answer, actually, is "no."

Here's where Stavins's second point comes in. As he explains, it is a basic result of economics that even when allowances are distributed for free, they will still have a value (since they can be sold on a market). In economic terms, each time a company uses an allowance, there is an “opportunity cost” involved — the foregone profit they could have gotten from selling the allowance instead. As a result, companies will still have a strong economic incentive to find cost-effective ways to reduce their carbon emissions — so that the economic performance of the bill is basically unaffected. (It's also worth pointing out that the environmental performance of the bill is also unaffected, since that is determined by the cap — not by how allowances are allocated.)

To put the same point a bit differently, the value of allowances doesn't depend on how they are allocated. Rather, allowances have value because they are in scarce supply — thanks to the cap on emissions. The tighter is the cap, the greater is the scarcity, and the higher is the value of allowances, all else equal.

Of course, there are a few nuances worth noting. First, from a strictly economic point of view, the best use of allowance value would be to use it to lower distortionary taxes on labor and capital, giving the overall economy an added boost. However, getting such a "double dividend" requires not just auctioning the allowances, but using the revenue in a specific way to cut other taxes — something that has yet to generate significant political momentum. In other words, acknowledging the possibility of a double dividend doesn't undermine the main point that what matters is how the value of allowances is allocated, not simply whether allowances are auctioned or freely allocated.

Second, some ways of allocating allowances can affect incentives. This can cut both ways. In theory, using allowance value to reduce electricity rates can undermine incentives to conserve energy; this suggests that it would be preferable to compensate households for higher energy costs by sending them a lump-sum rebate rather than cutting their marginal price. In other contexts, allowance allocation is deliberately designed to affect incentives. For example, energy-intensive, trade-exposed manufacturers are given allocations that are tied to their output and to the average emissions intensity of their sector. As research by Carolyn Fischer at Resources for the Future and others has shown, such "output-based rebates" manage to preserve the incentive to reduce emissions, while helping to keep manufacturing in this country and prevent "emissions leakage" to countries without a carbon price.

The bottom line is that the distinction between free allocation and auction makes little difference for the environmental or economic performance of the bill. That's a key point well worth keeping in mind in the coming debates over climate legislation.

The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues, unabated, as you can see live here on Sen. Bill Nelson’s website.

The only real solution to the Deepwater Horizon oil leak is to install 2 new relief platforms in the Gulf, offering a means to relieve the pressure and for the oil to escape.

This path, however, will take sometime, though it is aggressively being worked on by BP.

Here is a diagram of how it will work, from BP via DeepwaterHorizonResponse.com

Next stop? Florida. Check out where the oil is headed next >

Join the conversation about this story »

It’s easy to make money on trends and correlations — markets down, Europe down, yen up, dollar up — until suddenly it’s not.

You have to figure this sick spike in the euro is frying a lot of folks today.

Join the conversation about this story »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAZYSVr2Bhc

Google I/O 2010 officially announced Android 2.2 (Froyo) with has a lot of improvements; namely Speed, more Enterprise features, new SDK, Cloud to Device Messaging, and full Flash support!

• Speed. The software will make any Android app and any Android phone preform 2-5 times faster with no change the app or phone software or hardware.
• Enterprise. There is more support for enterprise customers as employees are bringing Android phones into the workplace in replace of Blackberries. It now supports more than 20 Microsoft Exchange rules like remote wipe, minimum password, lockscreen timeout etc.
• Android 2.2 SDK. New APIs for data backup and Cloud to Device Messaging capabilities.
• Cloud to Device Messaging. Vic G, the presenter at Google I/O, took a shot at Apple with saying “That’s how you do cloud to device API”. Referring to Apple’s workaround to multi-tasking. This awesome feature will allow you to download Android apps from the new Android Market (coming soon) on the web to multiple devices; phone, tablet, TV, etc.
• Tethering & Portable Hotspot. I don’t know how the carriers will feel about this as they would like to charge more for the service (as we see with the HTC Evo 4G for Sprint tacking on $29.99/mo. for HotSpot capability). But the feature will have native and easy support!
• Flash. Android 2.2 will fully support Flash 10.1 natively. Whoo Wooooo!
• Install Android Apps to SD Card. This has been long cry from consumers to have the ability to install Android apps to SD Card instead of internal memory storage. To date, devices do not offer more than 1 gigabyte, on average 256MB for app and game storage. Jumping this hurdle and allowing storage on the SD card instantly allows up to 32GB of storage for some users.

Developers please go download the SDK, make use of new technologies innovating new apps for us to review, try and buy in preparation for when the software is available for consumer phones. I can’t wait until someone flashes the ROM for root users… Cyanogen???

A five year Shell Eco Marathon fuel efficiency record has been smashed by a team of French students. Team Polyjoule broke the record on the first day of the event and then went on to break its own record by a further 482 kilometers. But the students still expect even more from their hydrogen fueled vehicle and are already looking toward next year’s Marathon…
Continue Reading French team smashes five year efficiency record in eco-marathon

Tags: Eco-friendly,
Fuel Cell,
Fuel efficiency,
Hydrogen-powered

Related Articles:

• Shell Eco-Marathon winner averages 9737mpg
• Student-built car achieves 2,487.5 mpg
• Look Mum, no petrol
• Student team sets fuel-cell powered flight record
• Caterham Seven Roadsport delivers 131 miles per gallon
• BUB 7 Streamliner motorcycle breaks 367mph for new world record

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So you just bought the Android 2.1-powered Droid Incredible, or locked in a pre-order for the HTC EVO 4G.. and now Google’s gone and announced Android 2.2. Great.

Don’t fret; if your phone started shipping in 2010 (read: the Droid Incredible, myTouch Slide, EVO 4G, Desire), it’ll almost certainly get the upgrade treatment, according to HTC.

The gents over at AndroidCentral reached out to HTC for comment, and got the following back:

[…] if your phone was launched this year, we will most likely offer an upgrade for it to the Froyo version. This includes popular models like the Desire and Droid Incredible as well as hotly anticipated phones like the Evo 4G, MyTouch slide and upcoming models. We will announce a full list of phones and dates once we are closer to launching the upgrades. We are working closely with Google and our other partners to ensure we have the earliest access to everything we need to provide a complete and solid Sense experience on Froyo. We expect to release all updates in the second half of this year but can’t be more specific yet.

Of course, that leaves plenty of handsets unspoken for. While it’s reasonable to think that HTC might eventually stop supporting some older handsets, what about those that are just outside of 2009? The Droid Eris was released in November of 2009 — will it get to ride the train to upgradeville with all of its friends? As usual, we’ll have to wait and see.

The best part of all of it: the bit about them expecting “to release all updates in the second half of this year”. Sure, it’s not as specific as the update-hounds might want — but considering that the second half of this year begins in just a little over a month, it could be a whole lot worse.

There’s something to be said about a company that has spanned four generations. Seil & Marschall is such a company. It’s family owned and is located in Southern Germany where traditional and handcrafted methods of the region has been practiced by the brand. Specializing in outdoor accessories, Seil & Marschall pride themselves in building things that will last you for a very long time. Included in their long line of products are these climbers, woodsman, and canvas backpacks. They come in three different distinct colors and are sure to aid you in your daily travels. Available now at Oi Polloi.

Broadcasting his commitment to austerity, Sarkozy called today for a constitutional amendment to limit austerity, according to France 24. Germany already has a similar clause on the books.

Sarkozy would force every French government to publish a five-year trajectory for balancing its budget.

Of course that means balancing his own 8% deficit. Sarkozy plans to hack away 10% France’s budget by 2013. The president will do this by initiating a spending freeze and other major austerity measures:

France 24:

Sarkozy said he would save five billion euros (6.16 billion dollars) per year by closing tax loopholes, and reduce government running costs and subsidies by ten percent by the end of 2013.

“We will continue to only replace one public employee for every two that retire,” he said, predicting that this will mean the saving of 34,000 public sector salaries per year on average.

“And from 2011 we will strictly reinforce our control on spending. We will reject general tax rises and we will proceed at the pace of the recovery to pursue reforms that will strengthen our growth.”

See also: Nightmare! What Spain’s Brutal Austerity Budget Would Look Like Here

Join the conversation about this story »

Want to slam the Noise for his Clayton Kershaw(notes)
analysis or misguided projections? Humiliate him in 140 characters or
less on Twitter. And click
here to follow
Roto Arcade on Facebook.

When
compared to other major sports, baseball is more individualistic. Even the most
casual fans are obsessed with specific player achievement. Cursory questions around
office water coolers typify this common perception:

Did A-Rod go yard today? How many Ks
did Tim Lincecum(notes) rack last night? Milton Bradley(notes) dropped how many F-bombs?

However,
when it comes to pitchers, the game, similar to the rest of the Big Four, is
unmistakably team oriented. Often times, a starter is only as good as the sum
of all parts.

Arizona’s Dan Haren(notes) knows the feeling.

The popular
early round choice, who historically has been one of virtual baseball’s most
dependable April/May performers, has struggled mightily out of the gates.
Though his K/9, which has steadily risen in seven consecutive seasons,
currently stands at a career-best 9.35, his walks and HR/FB percentage are up
significantly. The upswings in those critical areas have inflated his ERA to an
unsavory 4.83.

As with any
pitcher, Haren is responsible for specific statistical outcomes. But Arizona’s historically
bad bullpen is beginning to take a psychological toll on the three-time All-Star.

If the
righty logged long sessions on Freud’s couch, he would likely admit to haunting
nightmares involving late-inning implosions. Chad Qualls(notes) (7.07 ERA) and Juan Gutierrez(notes)
(8.62), among others, are real-life bogeymen. Only cackling circus clowns
riding Great White Sharks are more frightening.

Arizona’s fangless ‘pen is on pace to be one
of the worst in baseball history. Over 109.1 innings, the despicable unit has
posted a 7.90 ERA. That’s over 1.70 average runs allowed more than the
second-worst backend staff in the league, Milwaukee.
If the D-Backs continue at that level of generosity, they will be the first
team since 1930 to finish a season with a bullpen ERA above 7.00. Torched by
the long-ball, walks and wildness, the Snakes, suffice it to say, are Shawn
Kemp slutty.

Cerebrally,
Haren is a train-wreck right now. Outward looks of pain and anguish have become
commonplace. After his last start, definitely one of the worst of his desert
career (4.1 IP, 6 ER at Atl), dejection replaced confidence. From MLB.com:

"That’s as bad as I’ve been as a Diamondback probably,"
Haren said. "I didn’t have it. Nothing behind the ball. I was in trouble
early, couldn’t put anyone away. I was really pitching with the cutter. That
was the only thing I really had. Struggled to throw strikes. I guess it was
just one of those days. It definitely didn’t feel good."

"Warming up in the bullpen, I didn’t feel great, but a
lot of times you go out there and figure it out," Haren said. "I was
really fighting myself. I was looking for stuff that wasn’t there."

Plagued by
plain bad luck (.357 BABIP) and poor end-game support, his overall worth should
be substantially higher. According to Baseball Monster, he’s currently the
67th-best starter in fantasy. Still, the consummate teammate isn’t pointing
fingers at the deserving. Instead, he’s placing blame on himself. From Fox
Sports Arizona:

"I haven’t
pitched well enough. I’ve had my struggles. I’ve given up a lot of hits, more
than I am accustomed to. I’m frustrated. I need to get better," he said.

Team-wide
inconsistencies are obviously battering Haren mentally. Outside two ERA-bashing
starts, he’s pitched extraordinarily well. His increased reliance on cutters
and splitters outside the zone has routinely perplexed hitters. As his 3.56 FIP
implies, a positive ERA correction is imminent, especially toeing the rubber
often against other NL West members. A turnaround should be expected, but keep
in mind the righty has historically stumbled down the stretch. After the break,
he’s notched a career 4.21 ERA and 1.32 WHIP (3.23, 1.08 Pre). Regardless of the
track-record, opportunistic owners should pounce.

Yogi Berra
once said, "Ninety percent of the game is half mental." Unless Saul
Rivera(notes), Carlos Rosa(notes) and Cesar Valdez(notes) miraculously reverse the bullpen’s
misfortunes, Haren’s value, specifically in wins, could remain in a straight jacket.

Fearless Forecast (rest of season):
168.1 IP, 9 W, 3.34 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 161 K

—

CATEGORY KILLER
Vampiristic commodity sucking
the life out of your team owned in a majority of Yahoo! leagues.

Gordon Beckham(notes), ChW,
2B/3B (51-percent owned): Do you believe in sophomore slumps? Beckham has
destroyed more franchises than Megan Fox’s "acting" ability. The multi-positional
infielder has recorded just five two-plus hit games this year. He also has the
same number of extra-base knocks as marooned first baseman Chris Davis(notes). An
increase in strikeout percentage (23.1) and reversal in GB/FB (1.29) are to
blame statistically for Beckham’s swoon. Though he sat the past two games in
favor of mummified veteran Omar Vizquel(notes), Ozzie Guillen remains loyal to the youngster as
his everyday second baseman. Due to his sluggish start, he won’t be able to
meet the lofty year-two expectations pundits placed preseason, but he’s far too talented not to rebound.

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

Yovani Gallardo(notes), Mil
(5/22 at Min, 98 percent-owned): Gallardo will likely become the 16th
pitcher in big league history to toss a perfect game. As the peanut gallery
screamed last week, our negative commentary on Ricky Romero(notes) spurred the Jays
starter to the greatest start of his young career. Still, El Chupacabra’s
matchup is unfavorable. The Twins have played brilliantly at home indicative in
their 12-6 record. Ten times they’ve reached the five run mark at Target Field.
Gallardo has walked a tightrope for much of the season, indicative in his
unsettling 4.92 BB/9 and 25.6 line-drive rate. Eventually the free
passes/hard contact combination will come back to haunt him. Though he’s been almost
untouchable on the road (1.86 ERA, 41 K in 29 IP), the peripheries suggest a
rough outing or two are ahead.

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

Alfonso Soriano(notes), ChC,
OF (89-percent owned): Thus far, the Noise has been very wrong about Fonzy.
As an adoring Cubs fan, we’re pleased the reverse psychology has worked.
Swinging the bat with renewed vigor, he’s notched a .320 BA with seven homers
and 23 RBI. Still, Soriano has benefited from Lady Luck. His .370 BABIP and
25.3 line-drive percentage are unsustainable. Striking out at a similar clip as
last season and pulling the ball more (0.48 GB/FB), a BA regression to the
.275-.285 range is likely. You have to like his improvement with sliders over
the outer portion, but Soriano isn’t going to establish new career benchmarks
in hits and BA at 34. When it’s all said and done, the difference between him
and Jonny Gomes(notes) might be closer than you think.

—

Image courtesy of the AP

Who will be the next American Idol of 2010? From three, we narrowed our finalists to two as James Casey was eliminated from the May 19th episode.

The American Idol episode last night was about the Idols’ visits to their home as well as performances by two new singers: Justin Bieber, who rendered us the songs “U Smile” and “Baby”, and another singer Travis Garland who preformed “Believe”. As they say, this episode provided an opportunity for the three of them to be in the place they grew up and people they grew up with so as to reminisce who they had been in the recent past before they became performers for the American Idol. Focusing on Casey as he was the one who just bid goodbye, his story in relation to his music career had not been very smooth. At 21 years of age, he incurred a serious injury from a motorcycle accident wherein the affectations involved his extremities not being able to play guitar anymore. It can be seen through his actions and words how grateful he was to the hospital personnel and staff, the doctors and nurses who took care of him althroughout his therapy when he visited the hospital in his hometown in Texas.

Related posts:

1. Siobhan Magnus Is Eliminated In American Idol
2. American Idol 2010: Goodbye Casey James
3. Lee DeWyze succeeded with Hallelujah on American Idol 2010, Goodbye Casey James.

Will the iPhone come out for Verizon Wireless? It’s the question that so many of the service’s subscribers would like to see answered definitively. This news story, unfortunately, won’t do that. What it will do, however, is fan the flames of the rumor fire. The latest is that the phone would work with Voice Over Revision A. In English that means the phone would be able to handle both voice and data connections simultaneously.

As you know, CDMA phones cannot handle both at the same time—if you’re browsing the Web on your Droid or Incredible and a call comes in, your data connection drops off in order to accommodate the incoming voice. GSM has no such issues.

This could sorta be seen as a stopgap move, in between the current vanilla CDMA implementation and LTE, or Voice Over LTE more specifically.

Of course, the big rumor is still that CDMA iPhones will be massed produced beginning in August in September.

The very moment, if it ever happens, that Verizon Wireless announces availability of the iPhone, be sure to check AT&T stock. That should be fun (unless you’re a shareholder).

Flickr’d

[JURIST] Four suspected members of armed Basque separatist group ETA [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] were arrested [press release, in Spanish] Thursday in France, including suspected ETA leader Mikel Kabikoitz Carrera Sarobe. The officers raided a residential block of the French city of Bayonne and arrested Sarobe along with two Spanish accomplices. Sarobe, a Spanish national, is alleged to be the military commander of the ETA and is the most wanted criminal in Spain, according to the Department of Interior [official website, in Spanish]. One detained accomplice was identified as Arkaitz Aguirregabiria del Barrio, who is deemed to be ETA’s second in command and is wanted in France for the shooting of a police officer in March. ETA is listed as a banned terrorist group by the European Union and has been held responsible for more than 800 deaths over the past 40 years.

Spain and France have both made great strides recently in its attempts to limit ETA influence. In March, French prosecutors filed preliminary terrorism charges [JURIST report] against a suspected former leader of the ETA, along with two other people who are believed to be senior members of the group. A judicial source said that the charges against the alleged ETA members stem from preparations to commit a terrorist act, including theft, forgery, and illegal arms charges. That same month, the Spanish National Court sentenced [JURIST report] former Basque separatist party leader Arnaldo Otegi to two years in prison for promoting terrorism in a speech he gave. In January, Spanish judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska ruled [JURIST report] that ETA had tried three times to assassinate former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar in 2001 but had failed. Grande-Marlaska detailed the three assassination attempts [El Pais report, in Spanish] as part of a description of the alleged crimes of ETA leader Pedro Maria Olano Zabala, who was arrested in the Basque region earlier that month.

Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after he was caught using performance-enhancing drugs, has admitted to doping and claims revered cycling legend Lance Armstrong did it too.

Floyd finally confessed to doping, steroid use, EPO, and blood transfusions in a series of emails earlier this month. Now that his name is mud on the cycling circuit, Landis has made sure to try to take down every other cyclist in the sport as well, including Lance.

The Wall Street Journal writes: “In one of the emails, dated April 30 and addressed to Stephen Johnson, the president of USA Cycling, Mr. Landis said that Mr. Armstrong’s longtime coach, Johan Bruyneel, introduced Mr. Landis to the use of steroid patches, blood doping and human growth hormone in 2002 and 2003, his first two years on the U.S. Postal Service team. He alleged Mr. Armstrong helped him understand the way the drugs worked. ‘He and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test,’ Mr. Landis claimed in the email. He claimed he was instructed by Mr. Bruyneel how to use synthetic EPO and steroids and how to carry out blood transfusions that doping officials wouldn’t be able to detect. Mr. Bruyneel and Mr. Johnson could not be reached for comment.”

The International Cycling Union doesn’t buy Landis’ story. In fact, foundation president Pat McQuaid brands Floyd a bitter f-up manipulating the system to shame his former rivals.

“These guys coming out now with things like this from the past is only damaging the sport. If they’ve any love for the sport they wouldn’t do it. What’s his agenda? The guy is seeking revenge. It’s sad, it’s sad for cycling. It’s obvious he does hold a grudge. He already made those accusations in the past. Armstrong has been accused many times in the past but nothing has been proved against him. And in this case, I have to question the guy’s credibility. There is no proof of what he says. We are speaking about a guy who has been condemned for doping before a court.”

On E2, Reid says he’s serious about energy and is planning to convene a Democratic caucus next month to

“discuss how to proceed on energy and climate change legislation.”

On Grist, David Roberts applauds Thomas Friedman on his New York Times op-ed in which Friedman worries that Obama won’t make a strong push for climate legislation in the wake of the Gulf oil disaster and compares it to George W. Bush’s lack of vision when dealing with the public outcries and aftermath of 9/11. Friedman explains:

“No, the gulf oil spill is not Obama’s Katrina. It’s his 9/11 — and it is disappointing to see him making the same mistake George W. Bush made with his 9/11. Sept. 11, 2001, was one of those rare seismic events that create the possibility to energize the country to do something really important and lasting that is too hard to do in normal times. President Bush’s greatest failure was not Iraq, Afghanistan or Katrina. It was his failure of imagination after 9/11 to mobilize the country to get behind a really big initiative for nation-building in America.”

Green focuses on the three new studies released by the National Research Council, part of the National Academy of Sciences, calling for action on climate change.

“The report states that the most efficient way to reduce carbon dioxide pollution is to put a predictable and rising price on it.”

Dot earth also has the story which includes an interesting video which explains the significance of the three reports in the wider climate policy debate.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY94AB6o-D8

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