“Phil Cuzzi saw the ball as foul, called what he saw,” said the umpire crew chief, Tim Tschida, who acknowledged that the call was wrong after seeing a replay. “There’s a guy sitting over in the umpire’s dressing room right now that feels horrible.”
Oh well. At least he feels horrible, right? Twins blew chances repeatedly, so hey, the guy had one specific job -- make outfield calls -- and didn't do it in the top of the 11th in the playoffs. Who cares, right? Well, those who want umpiring at the most important time of the year that is not subpar, perhaps. Repeated questionable calls in the Rockies' games underline it is not just Twins' games. Not that the play by play (contra Darling's analysis) was great either. And, subpar teams make enough of their own mistakes without additional "help."
In a reversal of Bush administration policy, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in March that the government would not prosecute medical marijuana distributors who comply with state laws. That announcement has emboldened Rhode Island to adopt legislation similar to New Mexico’s: it will license three nonprofit “compassion centers” to grow and dispense the drug by 2012. At least six other states are now considering the model.
But in recent weeks, law enforcement officers, some of them federal, have raided dispensaries in California and Washington State, and in the absence of any actual change in the federal law, many still fear prosecution.
This is absurd. Marijuana should not be illegal to begin with, for any number of reasons, including basic liberty and a pragmatic use of resources. But, can they at least lay off the medicinal marijuana growers? Give me a break.
Rachel Maddow did a segment on her always-superb show tonight about Ralph Lauren's recent bogus legal threats against various blogs -- including this one. Those DMCAs sent by lawyers for Lauren demanded the removal of a badly photoshopped ad which morphed a model into a lollipop-headed stick figure.
A noteworthy story really, even if the specific context seems trivial -- how many times do they overly photoshop or airbrush photos? As the person noted, this case is basically silly, but preemptive removal of such clearly protected material pursuant to the DMCA can very well affect much more serious material as well. And, the strategy here is a good one for others as well, who are just too bloody weeny-like when criticized:
So, instead of responding to their legal threat by suppressing our criticism of their marketing images, we're gonna mock them.
Rachel had at least one questionable moment last night all the same. During the segment on Afghanistan, where the MSNBC commentator went all Walter Cronkite and argued that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan in effect jumped the shark, our mission was compared to the one in Iraq. There -- unlike here -- we had a civil war and the people wanted the military to step in. Actually, I sort of consider there to be a civil war of sorts (at least) in Afghanistan. The Taliban (and others) are trying to gain control from the central government, right?
And, yes, to some extent, American forces (mostly American) were welcomed after we f-ed up the country. (Another fact not referenced here -- why forces had to be sent in.) But, only to an extent. Many still didn't want us there. Some in fact want us in Afghanistan (or Pakistan). Not to dwell on the point much, and there are differences, but I think they were simplified a tad here. RW should show more nuance when promoting ("mandatory" viewing!) special reports on her network.
Oh well. My desire for the Sox and Cards not to get to the next round was helped some more today. I knew the Twins were hopeless ... but do they have to rub salt in the wound? A-Rod doing much of the damage was not great news either. I didn't kill myself by watching much of the game, but the manager's expression when his second player ... versus the back-end of the Yanks bullpen ... swung at the first pitch with the bases loaded, resulting in another cheap out said it all. He took off his cap, looked away, and shook his head. The third out was the work the count / fly ball effort that they needed. Who needs the Mets?
For clutch play by gritty gamers, it is best to watch the Angels or Dodgers.