Sunday Morning Coming Down

Yesterday, I listened to the oral arguments in Obergefell vs. Hodges at the Supreme Court. At the end of one of the presentations, a protester yelled "If you support gay marriage, you will burn in Hell". One of the judges, later identified as Judge Scalia quiped: "It was actually refreshing", after the rant and got a laugh for his comment. While Justices serve as long as they want, without term limits, and can pretty much do and say whatever they please with impunity, I wish he had said nothing. More judicial, I think. Overall, listening to the arguments without knowing for sure who was speaking was interesting but a little confusing. My own leaning is that waiting for states to vote for civil rights for minorities, will leave folks that live in the old South waiting and probably for an extended period of time. The Justices need to step up and do the right thing.

Jeb Bush was Governor of Florida. Jeb Bush's father and brother were Presidents of the United States, and George Bush was vice president for eight years before he became President. Hillary Clinton's husband was President of the United States and she was first lady, Senator from New York, and Secretary of State. All of these offices make for powerful resumes, huge speaking fees and a pathway to higher office. Stuff just seems to fall in place if you are to believe the media. These two families have held the highest office in the land for twenty years and if you add other odd jobs in the executive branch about 32 consecutive years. These two families are close if you are to believe in the friendship between Bill and George W. Bush. I hope I'm not alone in thinking that maybe this country would be better off rejecting this dynastic impulse. It's hard enough to change things as it is, looking backwards won't get it done and just because somebody has an impressive re...

A school principal gets skewered for sending a form letter to a family that took their kids to Boston for a week.  The parent's response letter in Facebook is held up as an atta boy because the parents thought the trip was more important than going to school and that they could learn a lot from the trip as well by going on the trip. I for one was a little confused about the reason for the family trip to Boston. Was it to see Dad run in the Boston Marathon and visit Boston, and attend a funeral. On one hand it is clear that Mr. Rossi would have had a once in a lifetime experience qualifying for the Boston Marathon and running in the Marathon. A Grandmother's death was also mentioned but it is unclear where that death took place and if it had anything to do with the planned trip to Boston, the response letter written by Mr. Rossi is at best unclear on this matter. I get the idea that qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a big deal. For marathon runners it is sort of like goi...

This afternoon after some rugged pt on my shoulder I was caugh between Baltimore Police doing some serious crowd control and a trivial persuit game on another TV at BWW during happy hour which turned out to be less than happy. The police seemed to be under control and except for some out of control demonstrators it might not have been worth the extended coverage. Some rocks were thrown and some police were hit and I think they were reporting that two police officer were hurt. After Travon Martin, Michael Brown, and Freddie Gray the violent response of some folks should be expected. This is not an easy issue to be dismissed as a bunch of surly folks looking for an excuse go rioting.

Robert Bates, the reserve police office in Oklahoma, who shot and killed an unarmed man was given approval to go on a vacation to the Bahamas.  He will go to trial and what will happen then is in the unknown category. I'll bet he wishes he had been on vacation on April 2, 2015. After a certain age the rule: "do no harm" should be enforced more rigorously.  Exams for driver's licenses should be given more often, college football coaches should be reassigned, and in this case reserve police officers should be given a desk job. The TV news these days has an all too frequent story about cars that smash into convenience stores, dry cleaners, and coffee shops. Surveillance cameras record the event and too often it is a driver in their 80's that had a medical situation or they hit the wrong pedal. Joe Paterno's record was tarnished by bad judgement in the Sandusky matter and an unarmed man was killed by accident by Mr. Bates. Seniors need stuff to keep themselv...

I'm currently reading Malcolm Gladwell's book "David and Goliath" where he writes about some of the studies regarding the effects of class size on education. The conventional wisdom being that a smaller class size means a better education. The findings if I'm reading him correctly is that smaller classes make it easier for the teacher because there are fewer papers to grade, they can get to know their students better and they can spend more time at home with their own families. They are not piece workers and all things considered they get paid the same. Gladwell talks a lot about tipping points and this one where there seems to be some applications for students, teachers, and parents. There probably is an ideal class size for students and teachers and it may be a little bit different from teacher to teacher and from class to class. There seem to be few studies where class size makes a significant difference in math and science class performance. Too many stu...

Kris Bryant had a unremarkable debut yesterday. 0-4 with three strike outs. Maybe he should have spent a few minutes with teammate Starlin Castro who hit a dinger in his first AB. Sports more than just about everything else has a problem with managing expectations in my opinion. It might be an easier if folks under promised and over performed. Even if Kris Bryant develops into the second coming of Ernie Banks plus and leads the team to the playoffs and the World Series, power hitters should be excused  for striking out. Dave Kingman whose 1816 strike outs once was an MLB record now ranks 4th in that dubious statistic. Past performance may not guarantee future results but it's a long season and even Kris Bryant could use some luck.

Bill James, renown baseball math guy developed a theory about how many games a baseball team would win over the season. The simple formula was divide the number of runs scored by the number of runs given up and multiply it by 81 to get a projected number of victories. In 2014 the Miami Marlins scored 645 runs and gave up 672 runs = .952 .  .952 x 81= 77.  In 2014 they won 77 games. Back handicapping rarely gets it this right. Not to over simplify but a general manager would be well advised to gather a team that will score more runs and pitchers that will give up fewer runs. I'll bet the Cubs have some projection as to how many extra runs Kris Bryant will be worth, if he stays healthy.

It's an idea whose time may have come.  The Kentucky Derby is already weird enough and selfie sticks to help document it isn't necessary. It's also been reported that drones won't be allowed either. I'm sure that those who disagree are going to be younger than the average race goer and it may seem a step backwards for those that want to publicize horse racing. The sport needs new younger fans to replace those actuarially challenged. Churchill Downs will have about 160,000 fans on the grounds on race day. People watching, adult beverages, and gambling. Everybody can use their cameras for picture to document that they made it to Louisville but the devises to get a larger perspective won't be allowed in. The main reason being safety for the rest of us and the horses. In defense of Churchill Downs the sticks are banned at Disney World and a lot of other venues. It's a pain to have to ask a stranger to take a picture of yourself and your party. I personally t...

No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you really want to test a man's character, give him power. “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”  ―  Abraham Lincoln 2/12/1809 - 4/15/1865

I don't think the details of the U.S. and Cuba rapprochement have been finalized but President Obama needs to get some credit for moving off a policy of trying to isolate Cuba, that has not worked very well if at all lately. South America, Central America, and the Caribbean Countries economies are not doing well and other countries like China are trying to expand their influence in the Americas. How much the USA will do in the Americas usually disappoints everybody involved and especially the Latin Americans, but the larger global concerns can't be ignored by the U.S. and this change in policy is signally the U.S. is still a player.

"Don't console yourself that you are the 99 percent," he says. "If you live near a Whole Foods; if no one in your family serves in the military; if you are paid by the year, not the hour; if most people you know finished college; if no one you know uses meth; if you married once and remain married; if you're not one of 65 million Americans with a criminal record — if any or all of these things describe you, then accept the possibility that actually, you may not know what's going on, and you may be part of the problem." Author Anand Giridharadas used the story of a convenience store robber to explain this in a recent TED talk. In another recent post, Elizabeth Warren discusses some issues related to how extreme wealth and power can distort things as well. It's not primarily about quid pro quo cash for favors. It's about whose voices get heard and what issues end up on the agenda. "T he wind only blows from one direction," Warren sa...

You would think that Florida would be a great place for solar power and solar panels to generate electricity. It is, but if you read a recent issue of the Miami Herald, Florida Power and Light is against a major expansion of roof top generation of electricity. They can't do much about solar water heaters but they can throw a monkey wrench into the expansion of power from roof top solar panels. If a homeowner generates the electricity and is allowed to sell it to the power company, the power company can't make as much money as they might with a more complete monopoly. The state legislators like campaign contributions from FPL, TECO, and others and seems to have adopted a go slow methodology rather than take advantage of big reductions in the cost of solar panels. Another big problem is financing solar panels. There are ways that this could be done but the current law favors those that can cover the upfront costs and some issues about selling power back to the utilities. Li...

Opening Day for the Marlins and the NCAA Men's Basketball filled my day. 2:00 PM till about 11:30 PM was a long day, but thankfully I was picked up and dropped off at home in time to see some of the pregame programming, the tip off, and slide into bed easily. Just about everything else was difficult. The term past performance does not guarantee future results should be printed on anything related to the Marlins. 1) The Marlins need to establish a better system for lines for people entering the stadium. Especially important when a big crowd is expected. 2) Ironic but true, I guess a fly by and show of military force was supposed to be more entertaining than a rain delay in a domes stadium? I've got to remember this is Miami. 3) Seventh Inning was a disaster.  Bases loaded, no outs, double play.  Buzz kill. NCAA observation, thought Wisconsin was in a good place with about nine minutes to go, I'm glad I don't bet on basketball.

Sam Houston Race Track had trials for a big futurity to held the last weekend in April on Saturday. The owners will pay almost $2,000 to enter their unraced 2 year old babies for a chance to win about $600,000. The were 19 races and about 190 horses going to the gate on Saturday. A significant number of horses were nominated back in December ($200) but have dropped out of the process. The winner of the race will be a early star in the field of quarter horses. But first they have to be one of the ten fastest horses on Saturday.  Winning your trial race will get your entry fees back but might not get you to the finals. I've been watching Unfinished Biz training in Florida. This horse was special from the day she got to Florida. The process of getting her ready for the races was even more time consuming than training other more "experienced" horses.  Everything is new and some stuff needs to be learned before they can go to the next lessons and there are always little heal...

Reviewing crowd reaction I can only guess that a few of those arrested probably were betting on the Wildcats and will have to settle up with their bookies.  Usually it is the fans of the winning team that go berserk.  Police said arrests were for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.  No property damage was reported and "street sweepers were used to clear the streets at 2:15 am. SSDD. Wisconsin fans who have waited since 1941 for a chance at an NCAA Basketball Championship now need to get in their vehicles for a road trip and pick up tickets from the vanquished Wildcat Fans in Indianapolis.

The finals of the NIT Basketball Tournament last night was good. It might have been really great had the University of Miami been able to pull out another one.  The comeback was a little short, they were also short handed missing two key players. Coach L and the lads did a good job. Michael Irvin got way, way, way too much face time. On a related front Stanford will waive tuition for students whose families make less than $125k. How many this will help is any body's guess but with tuition approaching $60k it is probably close to what they already do for kids from families of modest means and probably easier to administer. The UM tries to compete with Florida and Florida State and other state schools to keep good students in Miami.