The broken arm/wrist of Albert Pujols is expected to shelve him for 4-6 weeks. Can he use this time to lift his self-imposed season-long suspension of contract negotiations with the St. Louis Cardinals?
Yahoo's Jeff Passan not only says "Why not," he spells out, per suggestion from an agent (not Pujols' Dan Lozano) what would be good parameters for such a deal:
One agent not involved in the negotiations helped lay out the framework for a potential deal that would behoove both sides: eight years, $224 million – or $28 million a year, a record for a long-term contract. For the next three seasons, as Pujols remains in his prime and the Cardinals continue to churn out good, young, cheap players, he would receive $32 million a year. For the two seasons after that, his salary would dip to $29 million. The final three would represent the drop-off as he ages and, in concert with projected inflation, not look nearly as bad toward the end: $27 million, $24 million, $19 million.
The $32M puts him above A-Rod on a single-season basis, checking off the Pujols (and Lozano) ego boxes. If this needs to be tweaked, the Cards could do some lifetime incentive add-ons for 3K hits, 500 HRs, etc., like the Yanks are with Derek Jeter.
True, it's more than the Cards' brain trust wants, and on a per-year basis, much more than it offered before the start of the season. But, the team knows just how much he means. And, as Passan notes, since his early slump, since May 1, he's led MLB in home runs while striking out just three times.
A no-brainer. If Pujols, Lozano and Bill DeWitt/John Mozeliak have brains.
If it's not ideal, tweak it. Cut back a bit more on the salary after the first two "ego" years, add in this career incentives, cut one guaranteed year but add two option years to get Albert to a full 40.
June 20, 2011
Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, right-wing PR, high-dollar lynching
It's not at all shocking, given what we already know about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to read that he is bought and paid and in the back pocket of Dallas right-wing real estate magnate Harlan Crow, who is also on the board of the American Enterprise Institute.
Adn Frederick Douglass would probably be turning over in his grave, were he to know that Thomas had a bible that had once been his.
It's not shocking, either, but just as disgusting, to read high-brow wingnuts, such as D Magazine publisher Wick Allison, attempt to defend Thomas by claiming, as Wick does, that "he's no Abe Fortas"!
To which I replied:
Adn Frederick Douglass would probably be turning over in his grave, were he to know that Thomas had a bible that had once been his.
It's not shocking, either, but just as disgusting, to read high-brow wingnuts, such as D Magazine publisher Wick Allison, attempt to defend Thomas by claiming, as Wick does, that "he's no Abe Fortas"!
To which I replied:
Oh, please, Wick. Clarence Thomas is far *beyond* Abe Fortas. With Fortas, it was only about personal greed. With Thomas, it's a mix of that and a political philosophy injurious to, even destructive to, a large chunk of America, all wrapped in a mantle of pious sneering that Fortas never projected.I mean, to shove Thomas' words back down his own big mouth, this is a Supreme Court Justice giving much of American, including his nonconservative black nonbrethren, a high-dollar lynching.
June 19, 2011
Science news: Unemotional #Botox? Internet addiction?
It's becoming recognized that Botox's facial wrinkle elimination also cuts down on users' facial expressions. Does that, in turn, cut down on users' abilities to empathize with others' emotions and expressions?
Initial research says yes.
The "gorilla unawareness" problem with focused human psychology is well known. But, can we also miss real-life situations, not just staged ones?
Again, initial research says yes.
It turns out people focused on some compelling issue can miss something as serious as an assault on a city street.
Meanwhile, speaking of psychology, traditional ideas of free will may be taking yet another hit.
Did "the bacteria made me do it" sound real? Maybe it should. After all, it's well known what the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis can do to cats.
Internet "addiction," or actual addiction? Now, while "process" addictions are different from chemical ones, and some people prefer the term "compulsion," they're still real. And, the fact that the Net, with heavy enough usage, can "rewire" at least younger brains, says there is cause for ... at least some concern, right?
Initial research says yes.
The "gorilla unawareness" problem with focused human psychology is well known. But, can we also miss real-life situations, not just staged ones?
Again, initial research says yes.
It turns out people focused on some compelling issue can miss something as serious as an assault on a city street.
Psychologist Ira Hyman of Western Washington University in Bellingham says the new findings illustrate people’s tendency to overestimate their awareness of immediate surroundings. “We don’t yet know how strong this illusion is,” Hyman says.Stay tuned on this one.
Meanwhile, speaking of psychology, traditional ideas of free will may be taking yet another hit.
Did "the bacteria made me do it" sound real? Maybe it should. After all, it's well known what the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis can do to cats.
Internet "addiction," or actual addiction? Now, while "process" addictions are different from chemical ones, and some people prefer the term "compulsion," they're still real. And, the fact that the Net, with heavy enough usage, can "rewire" at least younger brains, says there is cause for ... at least some concern, right?
Recession or depression?
I try to be a "glass half full" person on current economic issues, knowing that, to some degree, believing is seeing on economic trends and projections.
But, is "The Great Recession" more than that? Give this blog post a read. The blogger primarily talks about the steepness and rapidity of the drop in housing prices.
And, given apparent fraud, failure to secure titles, etc., the backlog of foreclosed homes could take years to clear.
But, is "The Great Recession" more than that? Give this blog post a read. The blogger primarily talks about the steepness and rapidity of the drop in housing prices.
And, given apparent fraud, failure to secure titles, etc., the backlog of foreclosed homes could take years to clear.
KUDOS to NBC on "godless" pregolf Pledge
Before the start of the U.S. Open golf tournament's final round, NBC ran a special video segment of patriotic images and previous tournament winners, with a Pledge of Allegiance voiceover.
One "problem," which Red State wingnuttia immediately noticed. The Pledge was the original, pre-1954, pre-Red Scare version without the added phrase of "under god."
Here it is:
Unfortunately, corporate media NBC/Comcast then felt the need to apologize for this.
One "problem," which Red State wingnuttia immediately noticed. The Pledge was the original, pre-1954, pre-Red Scare version without the added phrase of "under god."
Here it is:
Unfortunately, corporate media NBC/Comcast then felt the need to apologize for this.
The Dark Side of the Internet — big fish/small pond syndrome
There are plenty of people in life who act like big fish in a small pond. Some really are, while others just act that way.
Pre-Internet days, all the real big fish in small ponds could do, a fair amount of the time, was "suffer away." Those around them might have to suffer to, and this was the case in spades for people who thought they were big fish in small ponds, while not necessarily actually being so.
Well, the Internet has changed all that and not necessarily or always for the better.
I think the evolutionary biologist cum Gnu Atheist activist P.Z. Myers is a good example of this.
To me, he seems like a decent academic biologist. That said, "decent" could be seen as damning with faint praise. It's not that, but there is an element of the scare quote to it, I freely admit.
I follow physics and cosmology/astronomy the most as far as academic sciences, so I'm not an expert, but, I think "decent" is about his level.
He's at the University of Minnesota-Morris, which isn't Harvard or even the UM main campus. And, he's old enough that he may now be facing up to the fact that UM-Morris is where the rest of his academic career plays out.
So, whether rightfully or not (and, I am thinking as much "not" as "rightfully") he's got a good case of the big fish, small pond syndrome. So what does he do? Gets more involved, and more involved, in Gnu Atheism, to a point of becoming one of its "Four Horsemen."
Some people may have legitimate new ideas they bring into play with finding or creating new cyberponds to stretch their fins and gills. Others, per the old bromide of "wherever you go, there you are," bring THAT to cyberswimming.
Pre-Internet days, all the real big fish in small ponds could do, a fair amount of the time, was "suffer away." Those around them might have to suffer to, and this was the case in spades for people who thought they were big fish in small ponds, while not necessarily actually being so.
Well, the Internet has changed all that and not necessarily or always for the better.
I think the evolutionary biologist cum Gnu Atheist activist P.Z. Myers is a good example of this.
To me, he seems like a decent academic biologist. That said, "decent" could be seen as damning with faint praise. It's not that, but there is an element of the scare quote to it, I freely admit.
I follow physics and cosmology/astronomy the most as far as academic sciences, so I'm not an expert, but, I think "decent" is about his level.
He's at the University of Minnesota-Morris, which isn't Harvard or even the UM main campus. And, he's old enough that he may now be facing up to the fact that UM-Morris is where the rest of his academic career plays out.
So, whether rightfully or not (and, I am thinking as much "not" as "rightfully") he's got a good case of the big fish, small pond syndrome. So what does he do? Gets more involved, and more involved, in Gnu Atheism, to a point of becoming one of its "Four Horsemen."
Some people may have legitimate new ideas they bring into play with finding or creating new cyberponds to stretch their fins and gills. Others, per the old bromide of "wherever you go, there you are," bring THAT to cyberswimming.
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