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October 16, 2021

Kyrie Irving, deconstructed, is no Colin Kaepernick, but neither is Kap

This is a very good piece by Brian Phillips at The Ringer. It's about the walking mass of contradictions and self-indulgence that is Kyrie Irving, while also noting that he's had a real social background at times, like the bubble last year. Phillips also notes the power of the players in the NBA, starting with LeBron James being the first player to act to assemble a "superteam," then Kyrie working to step out from his shadow from the Cavs return years and do the same himself.

But, Phillips IMO doesn't go far enough.

Did Kyrie want the NBA and Adam Silver to undo the bubble because he was worried about endorsement $$$ as well as social justice? Not asked by Phillips. If Kyrie Irving really cares about his American Indian heritage, why has he gone to events on reservations maskless? Not asked by Phillips but asked elsewhere.

(There's the added fact that, per Irving's Instagram Live clip [I don't do Instagram] he acts puzzled that the Nets wouldn't give him kid-gloves treatment,  per this Fansided blog. And, maybe that reflects part of the problem. I'd have to agree with ESPN's Bobby Marks and others that it's unlikely he plays a game for the Nets this year ... or ever. That leads to a sidebar: Can the Nets list him as physically unable to perform or in any other way get any NBA relief? Maybe they shouldn't get such relief. They chose to sign a player known to be disliked by previous teammates.)

Then there's the shitshow of some people comparing him to Colin Kaepernick, especially in light of more and more Chucky Gruden emails being unveiled, with one email saying that a team should "cut the fuck." There's the BS of him attacking Eric Reid as well, and also his bullshit over PEDing.

There's even more racism, when talking about Robert Griffin III still playing, while Tim Tebow isn't. Real answer is that Griff's second-best year was the same as Tebow's best and his third-best year was about as good, or TLDR, Tebow sucked.

That said, Colin Kaepernick may still be laughing all the way to the bank himself, as I said a couple of years ago.

We can all agree that Chucky Gruden is a racist, homophobic, misogynist dumb fuck. Are there others in NFL positions of power? The Shield claims not. Sure. We know Redscum, now WFT, GM Bruce Allen shared Gruden's email about Kaep. But to whom?

A few details slip out about Cardinals firing Mike Shildt; journos smell rat reading between the lines

As St. Louis Cardinals fans in particular and MLB fans in general know, it isn't usual to fire a manager on the same day as a baseball playoff game. In fact, team president John Mozeliak had to touch base with the commissioners office first, per the Post-Distpatch account and others.

Several things of note here.

First, "philosophical differences," even if (allegedly by Mo, Shildt hadn't commented yet) are on the field only still doesn't necessitate this much of a rush, unLESS

UnLESS, per below AND

Update, Oct. 18: As hinted at by Shildt in his just-finished presser, these "differences" included roster management and talking about roster management in public, or not. In short, whether the manager should kiss the head honcho's ass in public. Note that Shildt talked about differences of opinion, not "philosophical differences." More straightforward.

Mo was worried that Stubby Clapp or Oliver Marmol were already on the short list of another team that hasn't yet made a managerial move, but is expected to do so soon. 

I'll take Mo at face value that they're front-runners to replace Shildt and that, even should Aaron Boone be fired by non-renewal, Mo wouldn't go that direction. (There's other reasons he wouldn't do Boone; see below.)

(Update, Oct. 24: RedSatan says it IS Marmol; the Post-Dispatch confirms. The Athletic allegedly had first news, further showing the erosion of local daily papers, sadly. At 35, first job? His lips will surely pucker nicely to Mo's ass. At the PD, Ben Frederickson says Mo should be sure to define the new manager's role well.)

Second, Mo did this himself, rather than handing off to nominal GM Mike Girsch. (Probably reasons for that, too; see below.)

Third, the presser to announce this was Zoom, not in-person, per the STL Sports Page account. Was Mo hoping to avoid at least a bit of grilling that way? (Especially since the firing was over the phone, per the PD's Ben Frederickson, as linked below.)

Fourth, Mo had a shorter hook than he did with Mike Matheny. A FAR shorter hook. Matheny was a bigger ass-kisser, is likely why.

That off the field? That ass-kissing? As in the incidents above? Shildt probably pissed off Mo in some way. BenFred tackles that issue. He adds that it appears to focus on hitting coach Jeff Albert, loved much more by Mo than Shildt. Second, as far as lack of ass-kissing? Shildt's public complaints about the lineup. Quoting Ben:

Multiple times this season Shildt made comments about his team doing the best it could with what it had. The front office is not a fan of a manager lobbying for upgrades, publicly or privately. Problem is, that’s exactly why the Cardinals need a manager who does just that, because it provides some pressure on the front office to improve during a season, which is the one thing the Cardinals have struggled to do or refrained from even trying to do in recent seasons. Shildt did not campaign from the start. He used to say such things were above his pay grade. He began to speak more freely this season. Some fans failed to interpret his pleas. The front office didn’t.

There you go.

Also per Ben? Mo admitted it was in part about Albert when he said it wasn't entirely about that.

Speaking of? This guy notes the far less fulsome praise for Shildt after his firing:

Probably connected again to the lack of ass-kissing.

Cardinal70 also notes no comment from DeWitt, or DeWallet, as Miklasz used to call it. Ben Fred says DeWitt looked irritated to have to be summoned himself on short notice.

I do like the BS from Mo: "With just one year remaining ... it was in everyone's best interest we addressed this now."

Really, Mo? You couldn't address this ... two weeks later?

And, who's "everyone"? You and the mouse in your pocket called Girsch?

Color me skeptical that this is as Mo is trying to sell it.

Another note: Even if, as Schoenfield alleged at Red Satan, this all boils down to his decision to use Alex Reyes at the end of the wild-card game to face Chris Taylor, or that decision as a microcosm of pitcher handling, did that still necessitate this haste?

No, deny as you will, this smacks of something OFF the field.

The Cardinals outperformed their Pythagorean this year by five games. They were even last year and -1 in 2019. They were at Pythag in 2018, but much below for the first three-fifths of the season when Matheny was still in charge. As the PD notes elsewhere, Shildt had a better season than Mo.

My guess is that, after the wild-card game, Mo and Shildt got into a red-ass argument. Mo may have raised the Reyes issue and Shildt may have said once more, per Darrell Royal, "You pitch with them what brung you," and that led to the shit-canning.

Will Shildt land on his feet? Ben Frederickson and John Alba are among commentators suggesting the Padres should scoop him up and fast to replace Jayce Tingler. And, reports have it that the Padres have started kicking his tires.

Tingler, Shildt and Luis Rojas are the three managers so far fired after the end of the season.

This isn't the first time Mo has been secretive, or weird, on major baseball decisions. Remember how he handled Shelby Miller being on the postseason roster yet not playing several years ago? I blogged about that not once, not twice, but three times, it was so puzzling, and over multiple rounds of the 2013 postseason. Remember when Mo called out "junior GMs" for second guessing him over moves like this and the late Oscar Taveras? And then threw Taveras under the bus?

As for the replacement? Rick Hummel says that Nolan Arenado, he of long-term contract and opt-out options, should have some say on a replacement. He also notes it won't be Chris Carpenter, who has joined the Haloes. 

Besides, Cards fans who remember Carp know there's no way he'd be an ass-kisser. And, Aaron Boone, after managing the Yankees, wouldn't be, either.

So, it's likely Clapp or Marmol. Marmol may have an edge as a minority candidate.

Whoever it is, Derrick Goold says Mo has to nail this one.

And, after a few years, when one or the other of them are fired? Mo hires from within again, to get another ass-kisser.

Is Shildt perfect? No.

Has he arguably had bullpen management problems? Yes. Or too much Matt Carpenter too high in the order? Yes.

He's still a player's manager, and again, a good one.

As for what Mo did to address Shildt's lineup complaints? 

Don't be this guy, n Twitter 10 days ago when discussing Shildt's presser:

To which I responded:

What else can you say? That this guy kisses Mo's ass, too? That he thinks Mo's making it rain when he's peeing on my leg?

Jon Lester is dealt with. J.A. Happ also was a sub-100 ERA plus and high in other sabermetrics, though not as bad as Lester. Happ maybe treaded water; Lester was still a sinking rock. Period.

Wade LeBlanc? Broke 100 on ERA+, but other sabermetrics were worse than Lester.

That leaves two of the five mentioned pitchers, T.J. McFarland and Luis Garcia, as adding value as late acquisitions. And, both of them had already been used in the wild-card game before Shildt called on Alex Reyes, as had Giovanny Gallegos. If you're going fault Shildt for that? He's managing for one game to win the one-game wild-card playoff. Be more serious.

Again, Shildt outperformed Pythag in two of four seasons, and the Padres were quick to indicate their interest in him.

October 14, 2021

Cardinals fire Mike Shildt, and in a big-ass rush; why?

As St. Louis Cardinals fans in particular and MLB fans in general know, it isn't usual to fire a manager on the same day as a baseball playoff game. In fact, team president John Mozeliak had to touch base with the commissioners office first, per the Post-Distpatch account and others.

Several things of note here.

First, "philosophical differences," even if (allegedly by Mo, Shildt hadn't commented yet) are on the field only still doesn't necessitate this much of a rush, unLESS

Mo was worried that Stubby Clapp or Carlos Marmol were already on the short list of another team that hasn't yet made a managerial move, but is expected to do so soon. 

I'll take Mo at face value that they're front-runners to replace Shildt and that, even should Aaron Boone be fired by non-renewal, Mo wouldn't go that direction.

Second, Mo did this himself, rather than handing off to nominal GM Mike Girsch.

Third, the presser to announce this was Zoom, not in-person, per the STL Sports Page account. Was Mo hoping to avoid at least a bit of grilling that way?

Fourth, Mo had a shorter hook than he did with Mike Matheny. A FAR shorter hook.

Speaking of? This guy notes the far less fulsome praise for Shildt after his firing:

Guy also notes no comment from DeWitt, or DeWallet, as Miklasz used to call it.

I do like the BS from Mo: "With just one year remaining ... it was in everyone's best interest we addressed this now."

Really, Mo? You couldn't address this ... two weeks later?

And, who's "everyone"? You and the mouse in your pocket called Girsch?

Color me skeptical that this is as Mo is trying to sell it.

Another note: Even if, as Schoenfield alleged at Red Satan, this all boils down to his decision to use Alex Reyes at the end of the wild-card game to face Chris Taylor, or that decision as a microcosm of pitcher handling, did that still necessitate this haste?

No, deny as you will, this smacks of something OFF the field.

The Cardinals outperformed their Pythagorean this year by five games. They were even last year and -1 in 2019. They were at Pythag in 2018, but much below for the first three-fifths of the season when Matheny was still in charge.

Will Shildt land on his feet? Ben Frederickson and John Alba are among commentators suggesting the Padres should scoop him up and fast to replace Jayce Tingler

Tingler, Shildt and Luis Rojas are the three managers so far fired after the end of the season.

This isn't the first time Mo has been secretive, or weird, on major baseball decisions. Remember how he handled Shelby Miller being on the postseason roster yet not playing several years ago? I blogged about that not once, not twice, but three times, it was so puzzling, and over multiple rounds of the 2013 postseason. Remember when Mo called out "junior GMs" for second guessing him over moves like this and the late Oscar Taveras? And then threw Taveras under the bus?

Maybe Adam Wainwright didn't like Shildt's F-bombs? 

There ya go!

Bring back that Jesus fish on the mound! Unfortunately, that F-bomb speech was from 2019, so, doesn't explain anything.

Unless Shildt has an Urban Meyer problem.

Coronavirus, week 79: This is your brain on COVID

Even relatively mild cases of COVID can cause lasting brain changes, Psy Post reports.

Speaking of "brains on COVID," Allen West has "got it." He claims it's "not serious" but then says he'll likely need to be hospitalized. He's of course taking HCQ (cuz it has a Q in it?) and horse dewormer ivermectin for symptoms. Says his driving challenged wife is vaccinated while admitting he's not.

Brains on COVID include yet another Green on Hucksterman, a former friend, now blocked, passing on bullshit about the vaccines' deadliness and more. Many were gathered via his news settings on Opera's News App, but some came straight from RT.

The Atlantic says that COVID hospitalization rate is becoming a less accurate measure of the current problem with COVID, as many people in there are testing positive with mild symptoms and COVID may not be the primary problem. They've got light symptoms if any, because why? Vaccination. He quotes a doctor saying we need to look at  patients hospitalized from COVID, not with.

For the Texas Progressives weekly blogging roundup, I dropped a trio of new COVID-related posts. I started by noting that it's been a sad banner year already passing 2020. I then talked about vax mandates and how "firewalls" have failed outside the US. I wrapped up by looking at a leading COVID contrarian, or COVID obstructionist, the well-known medical public intellectual Dr. John Ioannidis, and wondering what the hell happened to him.

Katelyn Jetelina explains COVID waves.

Orac refutes another round of bullshit from the COVID obstructionists (NOT "contrarians"). Among the actual science? "Natural immunity"fades faster than a vax and is less effective; many mild cases of COVID does not create many antibodies.

October 13, 2021

Trans activists face internal challenges over puberty blockers, surgery for minors

First, a friendly reminder, as I blogged last month, that sex is NOT gender and that the National Institutes of Health says so.

Now, the actual story.

Two British doctors, both transsexuals themselves (sic on the word, as sex is not gender!), Dr. Marci Bowers and child psychologist Erica Anderson, both say that puberty blockers are overprescribed for minors and that surgical procedures, ditto, as first stated on Bari Weiss' Substack and then reported by the Daily Mail.

First, Bowers:

'We zig and then we zag, and I think maybe we zigged a little too far to the left in some cases. 
I think there was naivete on the part of pediatric endocrinologists who were proponents of early [puberty] blockage thinking that just this magic can happen, that surgeons can do anything.' 
She said that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) could be intolerant of dissenting opinions. 
'There are definitely people who are trying to keep out anyone who doesn't absolutely buy the party line that everything should be affirming, and that there's no room for dissent,' Bowers said.

Tribalism is a biatch, is it not?

Now, I've warned the Dialogue not Expulsion group of current and former Greens about "the company you keep." Ordinarily, I wouldn't reference the Daily Mail and Bari Weiss.

But, mainstream media left no choice, according to Anderson:

Anderson said that she had submitted an op ed to The New York Times warning about the risks of treatments, and the paper turned it down because the story was 'outside our coverage priorities right now.'

There you are. Oh, and I know that's a piece of crap, whether it comes from High Country News years ago with refusing to run the likes of Jim Styles, or the NYT now refusing to run this. You DEFINE what your coverage priorities are, and in the large sense of the word, this is a political decision, Kathleen Kingsbury.

It's even higher-grade bullshit because, per Weiss' piece, guest-authored by Abigail Shrier, Bowers is scheduled to take over leadership of WPATH next year. "Trans activism" and state laws on transsexual issues have been all over media coverage earlier this year, to boot.

The Substack gets into other issues beyond the Daily Mail summary, too. Peggy Cohen-Kettenis, a Dutch psychologist who first latched onto puberty blockers, has also gotten skeptical about their side effects.

I know Mayo Clinic guidelines for when and when not to use puberty blockers AND to not use them in the absence of counseling at the same time, as I told one trans advocate on Twitter last week. (That said, per the Substack, the Mayo Clinic apparently does not note all the physiological problems they may cause.

The pair also noted one other thing I already knew, at that same link above: About 70 percent of juveniles reporting gender dysphoria outgrow it. That said, many outgrow it by realizing they're gays and lesbians of their biological birth sex. And, in some cases, entertaining the idea of being transsexual, for teenage boys especially, may be safer at home than accepting being gay. We're still there, folks.

And, while I don't totally like being even briefer fellow travelers with wingnuts, when the mainstream media offers no option, to riff on an old Texas cliche, I'll dance with who's gonna brung me.

October 12, 2021

Texas Progressives look at elections; we're not cooking with gas

Ruy Teixeira has a breakout on the latest Pew information about Hispanic voting for president last year. Hispanics by all major areas of national origin broke harder for Trump than in 2016. By states, they did so in almost every state but California; Valley Hispanics in Texas were not an outlier. As with Anglos, education, followed by income level, were the biggest variables in predicting Trump or Biden support. 

Off the Kuff documents the latest lawsuit (#6 in a series) against Texas' voter suppression law.

Stace gives us a snapshot of the 2021 Alief ISD Bond propositions as we get ready for the November election.

Texas Election Source draws a maximally competitive Congressional map.

Following up on an item in last week's Roundup, Michele Carew has resigned as Hood County elections administrator after hounding by MAGAts. Pro Publica notes she appears to be part of a growing trend.

Lil Kalish speaks to a volunteer driver at the Bridge Collective, which provides transportation and accommodations to people in central Texas seeking abortions, about their work.

The Texas Politics Project takes a long view at our state's attitudes towards abortion and anti-abortion laws.

Amber Briggle makes the economic case for LGBTQ inclusion in the Texas workforce.

Are Democrats doomed in the Senate for a decade? Ezra Klein discusses what David Shor claims. Klein leaves open the door that Shor is either too simplistic or that some of his claims may be true but based on different data points. I also think Shor is wrong on his claims of why Hillary Clinton lost, and Klein doesn't take that one.

The Fifth Circuit temporarily paused the federal district judge's pause on SB 8, the Texas abortion-killing law. The Trib notes that any places that performed abortions during the pause might be liable to suit, though the doctor who admitted doing one a month ago has yet to face any real suits, from what I recall. And, Texas Right to Life is coy about its plans over this. Shock me, the grifting bastiches.

Former Brazoria County District Clerk Rhonda Barchuk is a Dum Fuq indeed, and most likely a racist one, for her likely illegal method of selecting people for juries, no matter what her attorney says. (The fact she has one illustrates it's a problem. So does the fact that about everybody involved in felony criminal justice in the county knew about this.)

An illegal immigrant appears to have been lynched.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is running his re-election campaign by directly attacking Trump. (Sort of; the body of the story doesn't live up to the header.)

The Hill says most Senate GOPers don't want Trump to run again. But, if he does, they'll collapse like a house of cards before the primaries are half done.

Here's who that "Blacks for Trump" guy really is.

A number of stories have come out in the last year about how a gas stove pollutes the inside of your house or apartment. NPR's is the best I've seen so far. Plus, from a serious car wreck five years ago? I have issues with gas leaks and gas companies' non-responsiveness about them. Every bit we can do to reduce natural gas usage, especially as long as gas utility safety issues are unregulated (as in why they're not required to have a text-message alert system about leaks) is good.

QAnon leads a California man to allegedly kill his own kids.

Speaking of, you really don't want to be a Black kid in particular, or a kid in general, in Rutherford County, Tennessee, where the juvenile court judge is elected, makes $176K, and was born in Mount Juliet, home of another wingnut, Charlie Daniels.

Why is Josh Marshall an apologist for Hucksterman? I don't know the why, but in claiming "there's no willfully bad person doing this," I know the IS is true. Of course, part of "why" is that he's a neoliberal capitalist.

October 11, 2021

Do Southwest's pilots have a leg to stand on, esp. after their apparent sickout?

Last week, Southwest, the last of the major airlines, said it too will meet the Dec. 8 deadline for President Biden's vaccination mandate.

UPdate on that! On Sunday, Oct. 8, per Twitter, Southworst was having to scrub shitloads of flights the whole weekend. Official PR aside, word on the tarmac from some is a sickout by its pilots protesting the mandate. Southwest has a pilots union separate from most other major airlines, and it's been hardnosed in a variety of often good ways. That said, some Twitterati, especially as rumors of a sympathy strike by air traffic controllers bubbled up, said remember St. Ronald of Reagan and PATCO. That also said, SWAPA says its pilots are NOT doing an official OR unofficial sickout.

OTOH, remember that unions can spout PR bullshit just like corporations. And, they not only can, they do.

Per this story, the pilots are claiming that the National Railway Act, which governs union-management issues on airlines as well as railroads, requires negotiations. That cuts BOTH WAYS. Southwest's pilots have shown about zero interest in negotiating. See the NLRB's explainer, first bullet point. And, yes, SWAPA, I can google!

I really don't think they have a leg to stand on. If things get nasty, Southwest might ask for legal discovery on individual pilots social media accounts, vis a vis any possible sickout.

Part of the pilots' original August lawsuit may have merit. But the mandate? I doubt it. 

And, United's pilots have no problems with the mandate, nor does United's full employee fleet:

It's that simple, SWAPA.

Update, Nov. 7: Texas Monthly discusses what all is behind all the recent Southwest (and American) flight cancellations, and says it's not all COVID, and certainly not likely a sickout at Southwestern. BUT? The Monthly ignores United.

Happy Indigenous People's Day

Some thoughts here, about the reality of American Indian lives, via The Conversation.

At the same time? More thoughts here, here, and here, largely focusing on High Country News' "wrongful wokeness" about American Indians, as a reminder that they're human beings who put their pants on one leg at a time, like anybody else.

Potlatch slavery and culture murders and Aztec sacrifices of still-beating hearts aside (yes, all true), racism, tribalism (pun intended), less than perfect environmentalism, are all parts of being an American Indian. 

As for the "native land" of the top link? WHOSE native land? The Sioux were just moving west of the Missouri River in numbers the same time as Lewis and Clark were going up it, having been booted out of Wisconsin by the Ojibwa / Chippewa. The Navajo? The western half of the Arizona part of their reservation and the Utah sliver weren't occupied by them until the 1800s, either. Those are just two of many examples. Do the Sioux want to "neutralize" the Black Hills or even give it to the Shoshone or Arapaho? Do the Navajos want to give land back to the Utes?

There's also a petard-hoisting here. Most American Indians stress that they didn't believe in the past in individual land ownership. True enough. For that matter, if we're using the word "ownership," they didn't believe in tribal land ownership, either. Control? Yes. Ownership, in the "rule of law" sense or even a rough equivalent? No.

Oh, and no, and contra what a non-skeptical leftist like James Loewen says, the Iroquois weren't behind the U.S. Constitution and Chief Seattle didn't say that.

The Conversation, via Pocket, posted wrongfully woke nuttery, from academics, a week ago. Here's my Twitter thread start.

And carry on. You don't need the whole thread, but I'll give you one more tweet:

There you go. That deals with the static locations and hints at the land ownership issue.