The #Cardinals in big trouble with the #FBI on #Astros hack

Luther Hackman,
Cards' IT mascot

The FBI claims that some Cardinals employees were behind a hack of the Houston Astros' computer systems, which wound up having part of the information leaked to Deadspin last year, with usual Deadspin hilarity.

Couple of quick observations, while joking that Luther Hackman is the Cards' IT mascot.

It appears it might been individual employees acting on their own, and not coordinated. But, further investigation is surely warranted. (sigh) The subpoeans are for unnamed members of the front office.

The employees allegedly thought that Luhnow had taken proprietary info, gambled that he hadn’t changed his passwords (he hadn’t) and voila.

That said, the story also notes that nobody has been suspended. Which could mean that maybe Luhnow DID take proprietary info. There’s more to be written. This could have included advanced second- or third-level sabermetrics, paid for from a private company, or some meta-sabermetrics on how to weight individual sabermetrics.

Jokes about Astros dumb and/or cheap trade ideas involving Bud Norris, Ichiro Suzuki, Xander Bogaerts. George Springer, Carlos Correa, or Giancarlo Stanton aside, this is interesting. Given that nobody, nowhere, has been suspended so far, maybe Luhnow DID steal some info.

Derrick Goold has the main story at the Post-Dispatch. He notes: 

While with the Cardinals, Luhnow helped construct a database of player information -- including scouting information, medical details, and proprietary rankings -- that was used as a clearing house for evaluating and acquiring talent. In Houston, Luhnow and his staff built "Ground Control," which an online database for use by members of the Astros' front office. 

Stay tuned to that.

Also stay tuned to Hardball Talk for more from Craig Calcaterra. Given that he's a lawyer, his legal insights may be good, and he's already delivered. The potential crime is the same thing on which the feds nailed hacker Aaron Swartz. Plus, he notes that the feds in general, including Congress on occasion, likes to make baseball into a piñata. At the same time, Craig agrees that this likely WAS a rogue operation.

Ignore a lot of commenters there. Many have multiple WordPress accounts, and it's clear that this is a "haters gonna hate" gorgefest opportunity. As for some of them? Per Craig's legal analysis, he doesn't think this is above rogue employees level. Second, with IRS employees and other things, we have actual examples of rogue employees, whether in the government or the private sector, doing this. And, that's not new, either.

Related? Jeff Gordon from the P-D notes this is an image black eye, as if we needed someone from the Cards' newspaper of record to tell us that.

The Twitter jokesters, on the other hand, I not only don't hate, I can even laugh along with them.

Meanwhile, I wonder why MLB staff as well as that of the Cardinals was subpoenaed.

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Updates: The Houston Chronicle says 4-5 employees are believed to be involved. Lester Munson of ESPN has a definitely different take on the legal angles than does Calcaterra. He says two key issues would be that the feds have to prove knowledge of criminality in advance, and that the info was available noplace else. Obviously, if Luhnow five-fingered stuff from the Cards, we're in whole new territory. That, in turn, could be why MLB as well as Cards staffers have been subpoenaed. On the other hand, if the feds were already walking down that road themselves, I would think Astros staff would also be subpoenaed.

And, saying that the possibility of Luhnow having taken proprietary materials from the Cardinals could be seen as either psychological motivation for the hack, or, after the fact, a legal defense, is different than claiming it's an ethical justification. Some commenters on sports blogs apparently don't get that, they don't want to get that.

The Cards are now doing an internal investigation.

As for whether or not the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act applies? Another Chron piece says the information hacked must be worth more than $5,000. Well, we know Luhnow's idiotic trade ideas don't pass that muster.

Conspiracy theories continue to abound about #TwinPeaks shooting

Most these conspiracy theories started among hardcore libertarians, bikers, or gun nuts. Unfortunately, as I'm discovering, more and more progressives are buying the idea that the Waco Police Department "set up" the bikers who met at the Twin Peaks Restaurant on May 17.

First, bikers were firing at other bikers first. That's not just Waco PD claims; one biker firing at another was caught on video; read the story as well as seeing the video footage in this account. Second, per a Cossack who wants to stay anonymous, for obvious reasons, the whole event was a set-up by the Bandidos.

Second, if it really were a set-up, why didn't Waco PD have 40 cops there instead of 14? Why didn't it kill 30 people instead of the 9 it allegedly did kill?

Survey says: Because it wasn't a set-up.

Update, June 18: Survey does say that the Cossacks came loaded for bear.)

Survey says that conspiracy thinkers will say: Because this was all part of the conspiracy.

Yes, the Waco PD did do a pretty broad dragnet on its arrests. And yes, local judges, at the prompting of a hang-em-high DA who has Texas' fifth-worst record, by county, for pretrial detention time, set bonds high. But, a little more than half the arrested are now free on bond, most with reductions from the original $1 million to $100K, $50K or even $25K. Judges are trying to speed this up even more. And, that's as those who are in jail engage in deliberate monkey-wrenching as jailhouse lawyers.

Third, this is part of broader issues, though.

As I've told others, although I vote Green because it's the only left-liberal option here in Texas, this is part of why I'm not an official member of the Green Party. Too much anti-vaxxerism (though a lot of that runs around in libertarian circles, too, like Orange County, California), and too much anti-GMO-ism, among other things.

The GP 2012 platform says that farms and ranches should convert to organic, (as part of broader ag issues that, if all implemented, at once, would probably cut our food production 20 percent) which would mean it's officially anti-GMO, presumably in part for conspiracy thinking reasons.

On medicine, it officially supports "alternative" medicine as well as .. well, as well as medicine! Alternative medicine, when I'm in an extra-snarky mood, I call pseudo-medicine. It's either tested and confirmed of value, tested and disconfirmed, or not tested. Categories two and three are not medicine.

Specifically, these items of GP-endorsed pseudomedicine:

Chronic conditions are often best cured by alternative medicine. We support the teaching, funding and practice of holistic health approaches and as appropriate, the use of complementary and alternative therapies such as herbal medicines, homeopathy, naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine and other healing approaches.

(Previous Green platforms also mentioned Ayurvedic techniques by name.)

I cut third parties more slack, because the American system is stacked against them. But, that doesn't mean I have to join them while voting for their candidates.

And, this isn't something new. I blogged about Greens and agriculture three years ago. Besides, Grist, a national respected strong, in-depth environmental magazine, shot down most GMO myths a year ago. That said, I've had people say Grist is "on the take." Which just proves there's no arguing with conspiracy theorists.

Or, I blogged earlier this week about the dumb idea that banksters are mysteriously dying in massive numbers. (I guess the idea is that their higher-ups are killing them off before they spill all the beans on yet-uncovered financial shenanigans.)

That said, at least any progressive types who are conspiracy thinking are being open about this.

Even if "not even wrong," per Wolfgang Pauli.

Have I believed any conspiracy theories? Once, on a lesser one, yes.

At one time, I believed that Sarah Palin was not Trig Palin's mom.

That said, first note that "at one time" in italics. When I had a better plausible explanation, as suggested in part by someone else (the not Trig's mom was originally suggested entirely by other people), I ran with that. I actually found two better plausible explanations, and they're not mutually exclusive.

I also noted on this blog that I had abandoned that original idea; in fact, on my own, even before officially abandoning it, I was finding it less likely. And, I actually read something from a fairly big conservative blogger (blind hogs and acorns, if you will), that was part of my final abandonment of that issue.

Which I also publicly noted on this blog.

That said, Sarah Palin acted a lot more weird and suspicious than the Waco PD. And, if you don't believe that, then we're past the point of reasoning together. And, while my next statement may be in part self-rationalizing behavior, given what I said about Sarah Palin vs the Waco PD, and the amount of detail publicly reported about the shooting fallout vs. the Trig Palin birth fallout, this is a conspiracy theory that's more easily corrected.

Will it be?

Quasi-looping-reference intended, call me skeptical. Being skeptical about the McLennan County DA, with a known, provable hang-em-high reputation, is one thing. I am myself, to some degree, though less than others.

The murder by cop? No.

And, that's not the first time for me. I was very skeptical about the worst claims against Darren Brown in Ferguson, while giving more credence to those about the Ferguson PD in general, or even the whole city apparatus.

Know what? Then-Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately agreed.

And,  yes, sometime in the near future, I'll probably do a rewrite of this to focus further on left-liberal conspiracy thinking. It happens. And not just with the items I mentioned above. Certain elements of the far left, as well as the libertarian-type far right, worry about things like contrails, too.

And, it's not just the far-left or far-right. It's the far-nonrational in general.

Folks, in my day job as a newspaper editor, I've seen plenty of conspiracy theories about police in particular and local governments in general.

Do I give a kneejerk rejection? No. I investigate.

That said, only a couple have come even close to having actual fire behind the alleged smoke. Most were neither empirically nor psychologically plausible.

But, because Homo sapiens wasn't built to be a slow-thinking, cogitating animal, we don't do it well.

I don't claim to do it perfectly, myself.

I DO claim to be committed to continuing to improve at it.

I wish others would make that same claim. No matter their political stance, no matter their religious beliefs, no matter other things.

Related to that, sometimes I get in a mood, or a mindframe, where I blog more about sports. Or about science. Or about something else.

I feel the need to blog more about skeptical issues likely popping up in the future.

TX Progressives talk Alamo City races, renewable energy, national health systems

The Texas Progressive Alliance is binged out on the NBA Finals and waiting for the U.S. Open as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff tries to predict how County Clerks and AG Ken Paxton will react to a SCOTUS ruling in favor of marriage equality.

Libby Shaw at Texas Kaos and contributing to Daily Kos spanks the Texas Republican Party for its ideological and spiteful decisions that cheat Texas taxpayers, robbing them of paid for services. Wake up voters. TX GOP: Spite Cheats Texas Taxpayers.

A few people predicted Leticia Van de Putte's close loss in the San Antonio mayor's race, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs found them.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know a labor bashing provision was in the Latino bashing border security bill.  50 hours a week is the new norm.

Socratic Gadfly thinks we need to drop a bomb on our entire current health care system, going beyond "single payer" to a full-blown British-type National Health System.

Nonsequiteuse is frustrated by journalists who can't or won't shut down wingnuts when they go into the Gish Gallop.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson. Good news out of Williamson County regarding renewable energy, Georgetown Will Be Powered 100 Percent By Renewable Energy Within The Next Couple Years.

Neil at All People Have Value took a picture of the mailbox he used to send a $50 donation to the Bernie Sanders campaign. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

Texas Leftist wants you to know about the 150th Anniversary of Juneteenth, and where you can go across Texas to celebrate.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Scott Braddock looks back at how the Senate operated in a non-two-thirds-rule world.

Juanita is keeping an eye on Tom DeLay as the SCOTUS same sex marriage ruling draws near.

Greg Wythe reviews the list of departing (or possibly departing) legislators so far.

Scott Metzger offers his thoughts on a recent kerfuffle between some high-end restaurants and the Silver Eagle beer distributor that has many Texas microbreweries caught in the middle.

Carmen Cruz and Annetta Ramsey argue that marriage equality matters to both gay and straight people.

BEYONDBones celebrates World Ocean Day while spreading the word about the problem of plastic pollution.

The Texas Election Law Blog critiques Rick Hasen's criticism of the Hillary Clinton campaign's push for voting rights reform.

Jay Crossley calls for an end to road-only bonds.

Rachel Dolezal resigns NAACP post; a teaching moment for #race?

Rachel A. Dolezal at her home in Spokane, Wash.
.CreditColin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review, via Associated Press

Rachel Dolezal, the ethnically "white" adjunct professor at Eastern Washington University, who has recently come to public light through her pushing her public self-identity as "black," including being president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, has resigned that position. But, not entirely voluntarily, as local members started a campaign.

(UPDATE: We've gone straight to fraud and ego as the best explanation for her behavior if she once "pulled a Bakke" and sued Howard University for anti-white discrimination.)

I have several thoughts on the issue, beyond her ego trips.

First, I reject, in general biological ideas of "race," and even more, the idea that, were we to define race biologically, only one definition is allowed, namely, the "white" definition based on skin tone and a couple of facial features.

Second, I do accept that "race" has been a sociological and cultural construct, and because such constructs have "legs" today, we shouldn't ignore them.

Third, I think that Rachel Dolezal was sociologically "white" as raised. I don't think she's "mentally ill" as broadly and vaguely used. Is she perhaps highly egotistic? Yes; see the "update" link above. And, per her past, she's arguably engaged in cultural appropriation, and perhaps done that for academic or other advancement, in part. See the second link above, or go to what it links to, a new piece from the Smoking Gun.

I mean, maybe she wouldn't have become chapter president, but she certainly could have served on the board of the Spokane NAACP; the organization has long had multiracial involvement.

Is there more to her birth family than we know? As in, maybe abuse of her, or maybe favoritism, or perceived favoritism, to her adopted siblings, who are African-American? Yes. And she has had a fallout with her family, including (but not limited to) her parents, who "reverse outed" her as being Caucasian.

Do I think it's good she resigned her NAACP position? Good for whom? Could be good or bad for her, based on her larger psychology. That said, the details of her announcement offer me little hope on that for now.  And, as the likes of V.S. Ramachandran note, this may be some kind of identity self-dissociation. We might not call that quite "mentally ill," but, we wouldn't call that "normal," either.

At the same time, did she somehow, between adopted siblings and a marriage to an African-American, somehow become "black" in her own mind? Yes. Is it body dysmorphia to have possibly gone beyond tanning, on skin color? I'd also say yes.

As for the NAACP? It's for the board to figure out whether it's ultimately good or bad, but I think it's most likely good. It's especially good if this becomes a "teaching moment" — and one that works. That said, judging by the Spokane local's "push," I think they felt what she had done was harmful — and was some sort of cultural misappropriation.

As for my second wind thoughts on why she was trying to "pass"? (I see no reason not to call a spade a spade.) It does appear that she — even if she really "felt black" in some way — was looking to leverage this into academic and artistic advantage.

That said, this will be like pouring gasoline on the fires of affirmative action cases in court. The next time a Fisher vs University of Texas case reaches the courts, the plaintiff(s) will almost certainly mention this as part of arguments. (And, speaking of ironic timing, SCOTUS today declined to take a second look at that very case.)

As for her parents? Yes, Rachel once claimed she was born in a tepee, but her parents claimed to be both Caucasian and Native American. Apparently, it wasn't enough for official tribal status, so maybe that was untrue, and psychologically, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

One philosopher in this roundup of mini-essay philosophical thoughts notes this issue, and how the "one drop" theory applied only to blacks in American history, not Asians, Hispanics or even American Indians.

And, I'll give Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the last word. Be yourself, while continuing to work for the causes you back.

Actually, now, I'll take the last word. If the "real yourself" is being a fraud, no, don't be yourself, at least not until you become a better self.

As for that suit? She lost, and had to pay court costs, plus additional costs for trying to delay a medical examination. (Dolezal also claimed she was facing discrimination over being pregnant; I'm guessing she was trying to delay an obstetrical examination.)

The cult of Hillary grows — anti-populist human bites dog

Maybe this adds to the inevitability factor, but Democratic presidential campaigner Hillary Clinton is asking for people to do unpaid summer internships — and they are.

But, you're thinking, this is dog bites man. Sure, she claims to be a populist, but she's not the first to want college kiddos to work for free during the summer.

Nope. It's man bites dog. She wants people with previous paid professional experience to do this for free — and they are.

Your choice, folks, but P.T. Barnum, in talking about births every minute, or Sinclair Lewis, in a secularized version of Babbitt, already has your name and number.

To me, that's the big takeaway, even more than Hillary's seeming hypocrisy after positioning herself as a populist. It's the cultlike attitude of people, similar to those who would have gotten more than $30,000 a year in the past, doing this for free, at least during the summer.

Again, Barnum and Lewis have your number.

Beyond this, though, the idea of the Hillary cult, that makes people willing to do this, is fascinating.

First, she's not the most feminist of women. While she dissed the idea of baking White House cookies, she bought whole hog into "stand by your man," and long before the Slickster became the POTUS of us all. She's OK on the equal pay, but no trailblazer.

Second, despite a tack left so sudden that it looks like she took parasailing lessons from John Kerry, she's not that liberal, and, unless you're already in the cult, not that believable at looking that liberal. Maybe she's mashing up "1984" and "Brave New World," speaking of authors. Soma-induced serfdom, anybody?

#Libertarianism, #paleoconservativism, #racism and #skepticism

I've blogged more than once in the past about how I cannot support modern organized skepticism because of the likes of Penn and Teller's libertarianism on things like global warming and climate change and (at one time) secondhand smoke, though P/T later backed off that (at least partially).

I've also blogged about leading libertarian skeptic Michael Shermer and his keeping two known racialists, Frank Miele and Vince Sarich, on the masthead of Skeptic magazine for more than a decade.

Well, I think D.J. Grothe needs to be added to the list.

And, I need to write further about this whole issue.

Yes, it's true that certain genetic differences can be used to biologically divide humans into what some people insist on calling "race."

That said, depending on WHICH genetic markers I use, I can slice and dice "race" into many different ways. If I, say, focus on certain blood proteins, rather than skin color, I can find multiple races of sub-Saharan Africans. And certainly, in things like medicine, blood proteins are more important than skin color.

Or, on malaria drugs and allergenic reactions, I can make "Semites" and "blacks" all one race.

Why intelligent people insist on claiming "race" as a biological reality, AND, insist on only the classical, ultimately RACIST (sic) idea that the only definition of race that counts is skin tones plus a couple of facial features, I have no idea.

And, yes, I'm calling that not "just" racialism, but racism. If you insist that your particular type of biological divisions of people into races is the ONLY valid one when it's clearly not, you're at least giving the appearance of not being "just" a racialist, trying to put pseudoscientific lipstick on a pig, but, vehemently wiping off anybody else's lipstick when they use a different one.

Beyond that, such ideas, beyond ignoring environmental factors, totally ignore the role of luck within environmental factors for achievement.

I have less than no idea why people who claim to be "scientific skeptics" do this. The alleged libertarianism behind this is as harmful to your (not my) "movement" as is the libertarianism of Penn and Teller on global warming. Or more.

And, if you're a libertarian, you're theoretically harming your libertarian evangelism as well as your skeptical evangelism. (Actually, the likes of Shermer and Grothe strike me as a hybrid of libertarian and elitist conservativism [or it's "degenerate" cousin, natural-born conservativism] though they'd never admit that.)

In the particular case in hand, beyond everything else, the facile assumption that I've never read Charles Murray or Nicholas Wade?

That wasn't just wrong. It was an insult.