Base10Blog
Saturday, August 26, 2006
 
Liveblogging the Races

Base10 is on an outing at Monmouth. It is, unfortunately, a pretty dreary day so far. Base10 got some good photos and Mrs. Base10 hit a $128 exacta. (She's probably going to want open a telephone account now).

Actually, Mr. And Mrs. Base10 are not gamblers in any way shape or form, but it is an interesting day. Base10 might even put a few bucks on the Travers later.

In other sports news, the Mets finally lost a game, being beaten by Philly 3-4. Last night's game marked the return of Brian Bannister to the starting rotation. He looked good after he settleds in.

The Jets lost to the Giants 13-7 last night, too. Pennington actually looked pretty good moving the ball, but it's fair to say both teams had trouble putting points on the board. Jets "D" looks good indeed.

Finally, Venus Williams has withdrawn from the US Open due to a wrist injury that has affected her most of the year.

Things are going well for Base10. And let's just say he'll soon be "coming out of the closet" of anonymous blogging with a brand-spanking-new blog covering his professorial responsibilities. Soon, my dear readers. Soon. Please be patient.


Monday, August 21, 2006
 
To Blog or Not To Blog

Base10 appologizes to his dozen or so readers for not posting last week. Mea culpa! Actually, Base10 was ties up for a few days with some non-blogging activity. But all is right with world now!

Base10 has to go to John Jay this morning to take care of some personnel issues regarding his new job. It shouldn't take long, so I might go down to B&H Photo afterwards to fondle some cameras.


 
The Sports Weekend

The Mighty Mets, on a comeback from a crushing 3-1 series loss to Philly, showed that they can still play baseball. In spite of losing Pedro, the Mets swept the Rockies in a three-game series over the weekend. Of particular not was El Duque's day yesterday where he got two hits and the first stolen base of his career. Of serious concern are reports that Tom Glavine has a blood clot in his shoulder that may--repeat, may--require season ending surgury.

Base10 didn't see if the Bosox finally won a game against the Yankees last night. He was watching the colts sacrificially slaughter the seahawks in preseason action and saw that the Red Sox ggame was in a rain delay. I'll check later.

The Jets got their first win of the preseason on Saturday. Presumptive starting QB Chad Pennington missed the game for non-football reasons so Paterick Ramsey got the start. Let's just say he wasn't awful against a pretty good Redskin's defense. I was pleasantly surprised to see some pretty good ground yardage from Derrick Blaylock. Perhaaps the RB situation isn't so bad after all. The Jets "D" looked pretty good, but remember this is Washington's anemic offense. Mike Westoff's special teams looked good as well, with rookie RB Leon Washington scoring on a 67 yard kick return. In other Jets news, they acquired RB Kevan Barlow from San Fransisco for an undisclosed 2007 draft pick. The RB situation is looking up! Barlow had a great year in 2003, but struggled in 2004 and 2005 behind what was possibly the worst ofensive line in football. Considering that the Jets have made some srtrides in their line, Barlow might do pretty well here. His stock certainly went up in my fantasy league.

In golf news, Tiger handily won the PGA championship. Base10 didn't watch but know it puts him closer to Jack Nicholas's record.


Friday, August 11, 2006
 
An Interesting Proposal
Max Boot, in the LA Times, has some interesting ideas about changing course in Iraq:
If the present strategy doesn't work, what's the alternative? The most radical course would be a total U.S. withdrawal. The likely result would be an all-out civil war in which Iraqi casualties could easily soar to 1,000 a day and the price of oil could go above $100 a barrel. Proposals to carve up Iraq into three separate states — Sunni, Shiite and Kurd — would not ameliorate the violence because major cities such as Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk are full of different religious and ethnic groups that would fight for control.

Things might ultimately work out if the current, moderate Shiite leadership were to prevail. But the more likely result would be the empowerment of radicals on both sides, with someone like Muqtada Sadr taking over in Baghdad and a rump, Taliban-style Sunni state being carved out of western Iraq. U.S. prestige would be deeply wounded, and Islamist terrorists would be encouraged to keep attacking us outside Iraq.

No wonder almost all Iraqi political factions are opposed to a U.S. pullout. They know what horrors would ensue.

But there's another course short of withdrawal: reducing U.S. forces from today's level of 130,000 to under 50,000 and changing their focus from conducting combat operations to assisting Iraqi forces. The money saved from downsizing the U.S. presence could be used to better train and equip more Iraqi units. A smaller U.S. commitment also would be more sustainable over the long term. This is the option favored within the U.S. Special Forces community, in which the dominant view is that most American soldiers in Iraq, with their scant knowledge of the local language and customs, are more of a hindrance than a help to the counterinsurgency effort.

Make no mistake: This is a high-risk strategy. The drawdown of U.S. troops could catalyze the Iraqis into getting their own house in order, or it could lead to a more rapid and violent disintegration of the rickety structure that now exists.

Which path should we take? My preference remains deploying more soldiers, not fewer. A couple of divisions in Baghdad, if skillfully led, might be able to replicate the success that Col. H.R. McMaster's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment had in pacifying the western city of Tall Afar, where the troops-to-civilians ratio was 10 times higher than in Baghdad today. But at this point, I am also open to a substantial reduction in troop numbers because the current strategy just isn't working.

Max Boot is certainly right about a couple of things. A full withdrawal is out of the question and the idea of partitioning the country is not realistic. He may also be right about troop reductions, but whatever the strategy change happens, the key seems to be to disarm the radical militias. Frankly, way back when, US forces should have taken out fatboy al-Sadr.
 
When Terrapins Attack!
"Man Missing After Pulled Into Ocean By Turtle" - Local6.com.

Which proves the point made in the last post, but should empower you if you're a Maryland fan.
 
That Squirrel's Dynamite!
"Squirrel Attacks Anger Winter Park Residents" - Local6.com.

Sometimes all you need to do is go to the Drudge Report for a little material.
 
Terrorists Among Us
Even though he didn't post anything yesterday, Base10 was closely following the London bomber story, even though there was a curious lack of new information. Here's a link to the Pajamas Media roundup.

The big oops of the day apears to involve every dictator's favorite MP, George Galloway. Although his office of course wouldn't confirm it (and did so in a very weasily way), the sister of one of the suspects claimed that he met with Galloway many times. The source for this is the Sun too, so let's not take it too seriously, but wouldn't it be funny if a photograph of the two emerged?

UPDATE: Here's a later link at PM.
 
More Media Bias
With the continually unfolding Reutersgate fauxtography scandal, it should come as no surprise that the media really does have an agenda. Check out this piece by Donna Cassata in the AP--clearly an opinion piece disguised as news. A quote:
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted this week found the president's approval rating has dropped to 33 percent, matching his low in May. His handling of nearly every issue, from the Iraq war to foreign policy, contributed to the president's decline around the nation, even in the Republican-friendly South.

More sobering for the GOP are the number of voters who backed Bush in 2004 who are ready to vote Democratic in the fall's congressional elections — 19 percent. These one-time Bush voters are more likely to be female, self-described moderates, low- to middle-income and from the Northeast and Midwest.

Two years after giving the Republican president another term, more than half of these voters — 57 percent — disapprove of the job Bush is doing.

"The signs now point to the most likely outcome of Democrats gaining control of the House," said Robert Erikson, a Columbia University political science professor.

First of all, Bush's approval rating has been hovering around 40% for the last two weeks, but I won't quibble about that. What I do have a problem with is this: What is the news in this story? A certain demographic which may or may not feel this way in 2008 is disenchanted with the President. This leads a Columbia University professor to predict doom for the GOP. There's a shocker.

We should trust the AP right? After all, they'll publish photos like this.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
 
They're Using Toys as Shields!
Can Hezbollah stoop any lower! Seriously, Base10 came across this entry in slublog about curiously similar wire photos depicting rubble in the backround and toys in the foreground. The author notes that the toys all appear oddly dust free. Hmm...
 
Welcome Back, Mike
Base10 watched the Met game last night against the Padres. In a battle between two division leaders, the Mets prevailed 3-2. But the game wasn't really the story. The real story was the return of Mike Piazza as a non-Met. The crowd, I must admit, was fabulous. According to the sportscasters, Mike startd receiving cheers even as he took batting practice. He got cheered every time he went to the plate (although less so when there were men on base). Fans may be tough here, but they can be pretty good, too.

In sad news out of Jets camp, Curtis Martin's number may be finally up. The NY Post's Steve Serby sums up what Base10 thinks of Martin:
Curtis Martin, of course, is not most running backs. He is everything that is good and noble about sports, one of the most prideful and inspirational players we have ever witnessed. Every summer he shows up and every summer he answers questions about his demise, and every fall he straps on that helmet and buckles that chinstrap and, pushed by an iron will that Evander Holyfield would recognize, dodges all the doubters and naysayers. Hell, two seasons ago he became the oldest back to lead the league in rushing, with 1,697 yards.

Reports are that Martin's knee is "bone-on-bone" and might even miss the season. Base10 hopes Curtis gets better and can make one last go round, but if he can't, he should get out now while he can still walk.

In the ongoing tale of one of both NCAA and NFL football's biggest loser, Maurice Clarett was once again arrested on weapons charges by Ohio police. Clarett is set to play for the Mahoning Valley Hitmen, which isn't even like regular arena football. How the mighty have fallen!

Finally, Floyd Landis appeared on the Tonight Show and was grilled by Jay Leno:
"I see you on these shows," Leno said, "and I do want to believe you and evidence seems -- I don't know if it's overwhelming -- but it seems pretty conclusive, right?"

Landis said yes, if one goes by the tests, and Leno shot back, "Why should we not go by the tests? Tell me why."'

Landis responded that there were several possibilities, saying, "The tests and the people doing the tests would like you to believe that the only possibility is that I essentially took some drugs and that's why the test is that way."

 
Lieberman Loses, Fights On
Joe Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary last night, but not by the wild margin that many people thought. Ned Lamond won 51-48--with Lieberman getting well above the 40% needed to support a run as an independent. Lieberman will run as an indepenent, and judging by the latest three-way poll--will easily win.

Base10 loves the way the media is handling this. This was supposed to be the "netroots" taking back the Democratic Party. Check out this self-important article in the NY Times, curiously titled, "A Referendum on Iraq Policy":
The victory of Ned Lamont over Joseph I. Lieberman, a three-term senator and former vice presidential candidate, was a vivid demonstration of how the Iraq war is buffeting American politics and of the deep hostility toward President Bush among Democrats. It also suggested there are stiff anti-status-quo winds blowing across the political landscape as the fall elections approach.

A referendum? Doesn't that imply it was open to all voters and not just one party? If Lieberman wins in the general election will that be a referendum for the war?

How about this snarky comment from Andrea Peyser in the NY Post:
The voters have spoken. But Joe Lieberman isn't listening.

I hope he knows what he's doing.

It was the quickest concession speech in modern history, and the strangest. Last night, Sen. Joe took the stage in a hotel here and admitted, sort of, that he was a loser.

He'd lost the Democratic primary for the Senate seat he's held for 18 years, but you'd never know it.


John Podhoretz, also in the Post, has more sensible views, albeit not particularly pleasant:
The Lieberman loss ends the bipartisan consensus on the war in Iraq.

You read that right. I said "bipartisan consensus." There has been one, though you probably missed it.

Yes, I know polls have said for two years now that Democratic voters are overwhelmingly opposed to the war. Yes, I know Democratic politicians - with the exception of Joe Lieberman - never miss an opportunity to go after President Bush for his decision to go into Iraq and for his handling of the war.

But the weird little secret of the past couple of years is that when push comes to shove, Democrats in Washington have assented to the continuation of the war on Bush's terms. They have voted to fund it.

House Democrats voted against an immediate withdrawal. Senate Democrats even voted against a set timetable for withdrawal.

That's over now. The Democratic Party officially became the antiwar party last night.

Base10 wishes Lieberman well, and would vote for him if he could.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
 
Does the West No Longer Have the Stomach to Fight?
John Podhoretz in the NY Post thinks that the west may be too "moral" to win wars any more. He may be right:
What if liberal democracies have now evolved to a point where they can no longer wage war effectively because they have achieved a level of humanitarian concern for others that dwarfs any really cold-eyed pursuit of their own national interests?

What if the universalist idea of liberal democracy - the idea that all people are created equal - has sunk in so deeply that we no longer assign special value to the lives and interests of our own people as opposed to those in other countries?

What if this triumph of universalism is demonstrated by the Left's insistence that American and Israeli military actions marked by an extraordinary concern for preventing civilian casualties are in fact unacceptably brutal? And is also apparent in the Right's claim that a war against a country has nothing to do with the people but only with that country's leaders?

Can any war be won when this is the nature of the discussion in the countries fighting the war? Can any war be won when one of the combatants voluntarily limits itself in this manner?

Could World War II have been won by Britain and the United States if the two countries did not have it in them to firebomb Dresden and nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Didn't the willingness of their leaders to inflict mass casualties on civilians indicate a cold-eyed singleness of purpose that helped break the will and the back of their enemies? Didn't that singleness of purpose extend down to the populations in those countries in those days, who would have and did support almost any action at any time that would lead to the deaths of Germans and Japanese?

Cathy Young in the Boston Globe is not quite ready to jump on the bandwagon:
[S]uch a discussion is a slippery slope. Where one person sees a need to acknowledge our dilemma, others will argue for cutting the Gordian knot by abandoning some of our scruples. This has already happened, to some extent, in the discussion of torture. And some of Podhoretz's colleagues at National Review have been quite outspoken about thinking the unthinkable. In June, one of the magazine's columnists, John Derbyshire, wrote that he had been wrong to support the war in Iraq because the Bush administration was too wimpy to wage it properly....

Most of us, I hope, wouldn't want to be part of a nation seen as capable of such acts. In fact, it troubles me that we are now part of a nation where such commentary is not beyond the pale of civilized discourse.

In fact, even concerning World War II, there are legitimate questions about whether some Allied actions were truly justified.

Moreover, as blogger and international affairs specialist Gregory Djerejian notes in a critique of Podhoretz, the danger we face from terrorism today is hardly comparable to being at war with Hitler's empire.

If fear makes us squander our moral progress, it will be a tragic paradox indeed.

Perhaps both Podhoretz and Young should consider this exchange with the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, on Fox News yesterday (my paraphrase). When asked about asymetric warfare and civilian targets, Gillerman was asked, "If a Hezbollah sympathizer allowed Hezbollah militants to store weapons in his house, would that man and his family then be considered combatants by Israel?"

Gillerman offered this sober bromide: "Anyone who goes to sleep with a Hezbollah rocket or missile in their house should not expect to wake up in the morning."
 
Computer Woes

Base10's having a very hard time with his home computer since yesterday. Internet Explorer keeps locking up inexplicably. I thought that perhapss it is a bug, but know I think the OS is simply corrupted. I can get Opera to work, but it doesn't render Blogger quite as well. Will try again later after I've done some tweaks.



UPDATE: It must be the browser. Blogger seems to work okay with Mozilla, so I'll be using that for now. Base10 must admit that his computer--an older HP laptop--is on its last legs and must be replaced. All well and good, but look at the choices.
 
This is So Stupid
Arizona politicians think giving a random voter a million dollars in an effort to boost voter turnout is a good idea. This is completely wrongheaded. As the author of the above link writes:
Mr. Osterloh [proponent of the plan] thinks these odds could be the key to get people more involved in politics. But this presumes first that voters who are so devoid of civic-mindedness that they need to be bribed in order to vote are worth attracting. It also presumes that government -- not activists or politicians -- should do the attracting. But this can only cheapen the electoral process. "Basically our government is elected by a small minority of citizens," offers Mr. Osterloh.

That minority consists of people who care enough about the country's future to give up an hour or two to go vote. It's not much to ask. Why should government contort itself for people who think voting is not worth two hours of their time?

Actually, there have been studies that requiring people to vote--as in Switzerland--results in much noisier results than are good for public policy.
 
This is So Wrong
"Texas School District Bans Cleavage" - Keyetv.com.

I, for one, if elected to high office, would put boobies back into schools. It's where they belong!
Monday, August 07, 2006
 
Lieberman's Death Greatly Exaggerated
Base10 has been amused by Democratic pundits commenting on the Lieberman-Lamont race in Connecticut. Cragg Hines notes a recent poll which gave Lamont a 13-point lead in the Democratic primary--largely because of the anti-war left and Lamont's lack of message other than being anti-Lieberman. Andrea Peyser characterized the senator as a "dead man running."

But is he really? The latest poll puts Lieberman with just a 6-point deficit going into tomorrow's primary. RCP commentators note that if Lieberman wins at least 40%, he would probably win the three-way race should he decide to run in the general election as an independent. This article notes a poll where he would trounce Lamont and win an outright majority in a three-way race.

What does this all mean for the Dems? Base10 thinks it hurts them either way. A leftist anti-war insurgency against moderate Democrat candidates would cause many moderate Democrats to drift even further left than they are now. This may help with the base, but will certainly not help in the general election and may destroy them in 2008. I think a Lieberman three-way win would hurt the Democrats even more. Bill Kristol on Fox News Sunday urged Lieberman to run as an independent should he lose the primary and recommended that if he lost he would be a good replacement for Donald Rumsfeld. (Transcript at RCP).
 
Weekend Sports Wrap
It was a good sports weekend, alright. First, the Mets took the series against the Phillies staging a solid 8-1 victory. The Mets won the series--which Base10 thought was important given that we lost our last series in Florida (as well as Duaner Sanchez). In very good contract news, the Mets gave David Wright a six-year $55 million deal. Good for him. This follows on the heels of he Mets giving a four-year $23 million deal for Jose Reyes. It is good to see that the Mets have locked up these guys for the foreseeable future. And even better news that this win comes with a solid performance by pitcher John Maine.

Football fans got a taste of the real thing as the preseason debuted last night in the Hall of Fame game pitting the Raiders against the Eagles. Although the Raiders won 16-10, Base10 must say that he thought the Eagles' first team owned the Raider's first team. Base10, who owns Lamont Jordan in his fantasy league is worried about his lackluster 9 carries for 27 yards. Another thing of note about last night's game was that, apparently, Oakland has cornered the market on Tuiasosopos (click here and here). Huh?

In other sports news, Tiger Woods cruised to victory in the Buick classic with four 66-shot days. In tennis, heartthrob No. 4 ranked Maria Sharapova beat Kim Clijsters to win the Acura Classic. And in NASCAR, Jimmy Johnson won handily at the Brickyard yesterday and is the front-runner to win the Nextel Cup.

Finally, in cycling news, Floyd Landis's second "B" sample tested positive for heightened testosterone levels. Landis has been fighting back against the improper leaking of results by the lab or by the UCI.

Mets and Yankees are off tonight. The Mets start a series on Tuesday against San Diego at Shea which will mark Mike Piazza's first return to Shea after being traded. Get out the hankies! The preseason continues on Thursday with a nationally televised game between the Colts and Rams.
 
For This We Also Need Studies
"Study: NYC Street Fairs All Same" - WNBC.

Mrs. Base10, a street fair afficionado, will be shocked, shocked to realize that the $7 sausage-and-pepper sandwich vendors are all the same.
 
For This We Need Studies
"Over half of convicted felons repeat offenders, study finds" - The Plain Dealer.
 
Bias in the Media?
Oh no. Not after you read this love letter to Hezbollah by an AP reporter. They are so brave hiding in the middle of population centers!

This, of course, should come as no surprise. At least the AP didn't doctor photos. What mainstream news organization would do that?

UPDATE: One should not expect accurate reporting from journalists who unquestioningly report Israeli air strikes killing 40 without verifying the same only to find out later that, in fact, there was only one fatality. And, of course we can't expect media sources to try to verify Hezbollah claims that 60 women and children were killed Qana when there were less than half that number of casualties. Sixty is a nice round number, I guess. And where were the fighting-age men in Qana at the time? Maybe they were manning Katusha launchers? Good job getting all the facts, MSM!
Friday, August 04, 2006
 
Papi Fidel Death Watch
I feel happy!
 
Life Imitating Art Imitating Life
"Fisherman speared by blue marlin off Bermuda" - CNN.

"Hook, Line and Sinker" - IMDB.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
 
It's Like One Billion Degrees

Base10 is on his way into Manhattan to run some errands today. First, he must make an appearance at the economics department and then he has to do his 211 Waiver at John Jay. (This will enable him to work at John Jay while collecting his pension without runnning afoul of the law).

Anyway, it is a scorcher. I was hoping to perhaps do some photography, but I'm not so sure now. Anyway, I've got two rolls of HP-5 and I'm not afraid to use them!

The Mets won last night in spite of a nearly blown save by Billy Wagner. Decent enough game, but you lead by 6 runs in the third and you let them back in contention?

In other Mets news, they sent Pelfrey back down which I think is good. Give him a taste of the big leagues without the pressure of October. He's going to be something else next year.

A couple of news items out of Jets camp seem to indicate that Chad Pennington has the inside track on the starting QB's job. Coach Mangini is of course denying this, but hey, the beat reporters need something to write about, don't they?


Wednesday, August 02, 2006
 
Evolution at Work
Allah predicts all women will look like Angelina Jolie in a million years. For good reason, too.
 
Compare and Contrast
"Iran Still Considering UN Offer" - ABC News.

"Iran Rejects UN Nuclear Deadline" - Al Jazeera.
 
The War Goes On
Base10 has been closely following the war in Lebanon, but it's outcome is unclear. A couple of things:

 
Papi Fidel Deathwatch
I'm getting better.

No, you'll be stone dead in a moment.
 
Say it Ain't So, Floyd
Base10 hasn't weighed in on the Floyd Landis controversy yet--largely because the case is still out. For those who haven't been following, Floyd Landis, the recent winner of the Tour de France, tested positive for high levels of testosterone after his near-miraculous performance in stage 17. Landis has proclaimed his innocence saying that the high testosterone levels were naturally occurring. However, the NY Times is reporting that the testosterone in question was synthetic. Meanwhile, Landis has asked that his backup sample be tested and results are expected by Saturday, although he expects the same result. So what is it? Drugged-up fraud or awe-inspiring athlete? Before you jump on the media bandwagon, there are a couple of things you should know:

Of course, some people have used the Landis affair--questions and all--to rip Lance Armstrong. (Check especially the last comment in that link).

In baseball news, the Mets lost last night to Florida 6-5 after a walk-off homer by Marlins pinch-hitter Josh Willingham. Billy Wagner, what happened? Certainly, the euphoria following the Atlanta sweep wasn't going to last forever. Anyway, Tom Glavine takes the mound for tonight's game. Click here for a preview. Events have moved quickly for the Mets. Duaner Sanchez is out for the season prompting the last minute trade acquiring Roberto Hernandez for Xavier Nady just before the trade deadline. Lastings Milledge is back, too.

Finally, in football camp news, the Jets seem to be positive and Chad Pennington looks like he had a good practice. And Giant's tight end Jeremy Shockey appears to have lost his mind. In more ways than one.

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