Do We Have a Deal?

It's looking like baseball is a go. I'm convinced the players and owners will work out their differences on the revenue sharing thing. I might be missing a few key items but I think I have the main ingredients.  The players agreed to prorate their salaries when it became clear the season might be cut short if it happened at all. Since the games are likely to go on without fans, the deal isn't so good for the owners. They want to base salaries on a 50/50 split of revenues. Which I guess means money from the TV networks and whatever merchandise they can sell. Because ticket sales, concessions and parking fees won't exist. Obviously the players won't go for this.

Teams are telling players that the organizations will lose $640,000 per game with the current prorated salary option. It's probably not true but I'm sure they would lose something. If the owners were going to get crushed like that, and they believed the season to be a loss, why would they even consider playing? They would shut it down right away. But this is silly season when it comes to negotiating. Everyone starts with their most ridiculous proposal. Rays pitcher Blake Snell made an equally dumb argument.

“Bro, I’m risking my life,” the lefty said. “What do you mean it should not be a thing? It should 100% be a thing. If I’m gonna play, I should be getting the money I signed to be getting paid. I should not be getting half of what I”m getting paid because the season’s cut in half, on top of a 33% cut of the half that’s already there - so I’m really getting, like, 25%."

It's a good thing he doesn't have to work in a hospital and "risk his life" or even stock shelves at Walmart. He is entitled to reject the plan on whatever basis he wants, but why does it become more risky with a pay cut? He seems to think he would make the same salary without a season at all. Athletes do this on occasion. They remind us all of how rich and out of touch they are. But this is the negotiation phase and both sides would like the public to understand their cause.

I usually side with ownership in these labor disputes. Maybe I'm a hopelessly cruel Republican who longs for the days of indentured servitude and 12 hour working days? Or maybe I just really hate when teams overpay for talent. Baseball isn't a classic business like manufacturing with public financials making critical products for the nation. It's private, we don't know exactly how much it makes and needless, the owners probably fudge the numbers anyway. I'm certain that no one is struggling to keep their house. But they do have employees and taxes and all the usual stuff related to running a business. 

Also, teams are eternal and players are temporary. It makes sense to pay them well, for a time. But when players over the age of 33 get big money and long deals it hurts the club. In other words, it hurts the competitiveness of the team long term. It's ultimately the clubs that agree to pay these crazy salaries though. I can't fault the players for getting the best deal. 

Assuming they get the money worked out, here are a couple of possibilities. Every team could have a DH (designated hitter) and an expanded roster. Playoffs could include more teams and they might try out some new rules like ending the game in a tie if no winner exists after 12 innings. Some want to see how a robot umpire might fare.

 This is all proposal stuff but it's fun to imagine. I've always been against the DH rule for the national league. But what the heck, give it a try. I can't believe they haven't gotten rid of these 13, 14, 15 inning games by now to determine a winner. It's bad for everyone to play late into the night and use up all the pitchers. This 12 inning tie thing needs to happen now.

There is always the obligatory social distancing stuff and the clean dugouts, clean bathrooms. That stuff bores me to no end so I won't dwell on it. Just work it out please and lets get baseball back. 

Feeling Conspiratorial

I find myself praying for the country quite a bit lately.

 I’m getting more conspiratorial with every passing day. After what happened with the totally fabricated Russian collusion hoax I think anything is possible.

 Information spills out about the fraud every day. The lies began with the FISA warrants to surveil the Trump campaign in 2016, the election year. Worst of all, the mainstream media pushed Russia collusion nonsense for all 3 years. Actively campaigning to splash Democrat lies across the TV screens. They were a part of the biggest scam in American political history and every day that passes shows just how deep the rot went.

 If the lies about the Vietnam War weakened the trust Americans had in their government the Russia collusion hoax might completely break it. 

 From Obama to the intelligence apparatus and the Mueller report, they were all a part of the corruption. If the Justice Department does it right than they should all go to jail. Americans who go up against the FBI don’t stand a chance. The same standard should apply when the FBI goes up against the American people. That’s what happened by the way. A cabal of elite DC insiders acted to undermine the election of a sitting president. Why? Because he is a bully? Because he doesn’t come from their class, education? Because he isn’t schooled in the right way to act? Because he fires up Twitter and swings back at every slight?

The FISA abuse will peel back the onion on the false Russia narrative into a plan that takes down a lot of intelligence people and former officials. I’m waiting to see who flips first and starts dishing dirt.

Is there more going on in Ukraine as it concerns American politicians? I assume it’s like Cuba was in the fifties before Castro came in and threw out the mafia. Corruption defined the island country like Cohibas and humidity. It’s a pure guess on my part but I think Ukraine is another place where the political class hides money. I read a story just today that showed the former Ambassador to Ukraine (Marie Yovanovitch) who testified she only had scant knowledge about Burisma (company Hunter Biden worked for). The article shows records of her meeting with top officials on the board, whoops. Ukraine isn’t even part of the Russia collusion stuff but might open up yet another window into deep fraud.

How does it happen that Congressman and Congresswomen become so wealthy when they leave office? We know what their salaries are, it’s public record. But they all seem to have charities and nonprofits that the wealthy can ‘donate’ to. This isn’t new. We know what’s going on but it’s technically legal. Where it is corrupt, it’s hardly worth the effort and time to go after. The best thing that could come of this effort to get Trump is exposure, in all of its ugliness. The Justice Department needs to drip, drip, drip the fraud out in weekly segments the way the Russia story unfolded on cable news every night.

Trump has said this should never happen again. I think in order to do it we need to see jail time. I understand the problem with persecuting the previous administration. It threatens making it a permit feature of our elections. The next guy in puts together a team and goes after Trump and his crew on some dumb process crimes just to even the score. But without the rule of law, what are we doing? Is it really better to let this attack on democracy go unpunished? Doing so would just encourage another level of corruption and further until the only ones left in DC, and any government, would be gangsters in suits and ties. These gangsters would run away with the wealth of the country and protect themselves through the courts. Some think we are already there.

The unknown factor in this sordid Russia thing is how much of an appetite the American people have for this. The drip, drip, drip of crimes could put people off so much that they just tune out. I wouldn’t blame them. The full scandal must be shown or we lose a further connection to our democratic republic and the “deep state” becomes a very real thing and not just a punchline.

Back at It

Vasa opened back up Thursday. That’s my gym, Vasa fitness. It might seem silly to be excited about a gym reopening but I enjoy working out, it just feels right. The older I get the more difficult it is to keep weight off. Not that I’m obese or anything but I've added a few pounds recently. 

 I’m an American after all; extra pounds are right next to freedom on the sliding scale of greatness.

I’ve been walking a lot in the afternoons because my heel is still no good for running. 

I won’t complain here anymore because I’ve done that enough, to friends, to co-workers, to anyone who will listen. No more whinging.

The gym’s preparations had me nervous. Were they going to overreact, limit people, limit time on equipment, limit days? The website suggested wearing masks while working out. It didn’t specifically say we “had” to wear one, just that it was “recommended”. Wearing masks in the gym while getting sweaty and breathing hard are a deal breaker for me. I was prepared to re-freeze the billing on the account if they made it mandatory. I’ll keep walking until sanity returns. Thankfully they didn’t and after a quick survey of the room, I noticed just a handful of gym goers sporting them. A few had brought the masks in with them. They must have read the same website info and showed up ready to be hassled about it.

I heard a few kids mentioning how good it was to be back at it. I couldn’t agree more. It feels like some kind of duty or requirement for proper living. When you can’t do it in the same way, suddenly, it’s frustrating. I don’t want to overstate it. We have multiple ways to get exercise at home or with friends, I’ve started carrying a heavy rucksack on my park walks. YouTube has great stretching and full body workouts. I recommend “Madfit” if anyone’s interested. I’ve used it a few times.

Someone I work with told me Vasa insisted its members arranged for time slots before they came in. The website did mention that but I couldn’t log into my account and select a time. That might have been a deal breaker depending on how strictly they adhered to the timelines set up. The website included a waiver of responsibility or liability for Corona if we manage to catch it. I’m sure that’s not exactly right but it sounded straightforward to me so I signed it. I showed up hoping to be let in, with minimum hassle, and that’s what happened.

I went back Friday morning for my usual quick lift and shower. Heading into the locker room I had a shock as the showers and lockers were taped off. I guess this was one of the limits I missed on the website. So I took my bag back to the car and changed at work instead, sweaty and gross with no shower. Sorry co-workers.

Aside from the extra cleaning bottles the workers wear masks and they’ve taped off certain areas of the place for compliance, like the showers. I don’t love that. I hope in a few weeks they can open up the showers again because I’m not going before work until they do. We are all learning to live with the extra hassles but I hope we don’t get too comfortable with them. I don’t want this to happen again for a long time.

Foundations of Humanities

Humanities used to be the study of art, religion, politics, law and a host of other disciplines through the lens of the human experience. There was a critical thinking component wrapped around each discipline like the snakes on a caduceus. Today the humanities are overrun with identity politics and post modernism is wrapped snake like around the institution.

When I was in college I was told to expose myself to all sorts of ideas I didn’t agree with. I didn’t begrudge that notion. I did the work and never had a professor say that I must interpret the reading in a particular way. They clearly had their own biases but I didn’t feel pressure to follow their prescription. As long as my work made sense and hit the necessary grammar rules I argued my point in papers and in class. 

 My professors weren’t vicious or unfair, I didn’t think. Some were Marxist to the core but I never felt I'd fail out of their class for having different opinions. On one occasion I wrote a review of a bell hooks article and criticized her pretty hard. The professor wrote “Whoaaaa!” in the margins but nothing else. I don’t know how much that is the same for everyone but my experience wasn’t too bad.

I wouldn’t recommend liberal arts at a public university now. After reading Jordan Peterson and watching Dave Rubin I’m convinced that universities need a high pressure washing to clean out the buildup of nonsensical studies or a complete system overhaul. Kids exit college with a degree in Inuit peoples studies or trans identity and culture. Humanities departments are stuffed full of silly courses with fill in the blank identity politics.

A few years ago three professors worried about approval of silly woke topics in the academy put together a hoax to prove it out. They created fake research papers to see if the journals would accept the topics. They managed to get 7 of 20 through before the scam (called Sokal Squared) was discovered, some were still in committee. My favorite paper was on rape culture in Portland dog parks. They must have had a good laugh.

This wasn’t some band of Baptist ministers concerned with the moral health of the colleges either. These are all liberal, free thinking, teachers who are concerned with the direction of higher education. Boghossian is a philosophy professor himself. He is also concerned with academic rigor or lack thereof at the university level. The colleges did not take this well. They got egg on their face and instead of tightening up standards of the journals that publish ‘research’ they attacked the messengers.

I’m not in higher education so my knowledge on the best way forward is limited. I think we have to tear it down in a metaphorical sense. The three hoaxers seem to believe it can be saved. My best guess is higher education sits atop a debris pile of bad philosophy. Jordan Peterson calls it post modernism, or the idea that the systems, institutions, and hierarchies are social constructs. Every system you observe from the family to the church and even corporations are arranged by power players. In this world power is the currency and identity is a wedge to separate. Even gender is a construct, reinforced by the patriarchy to keep people in place. 

When you view every human nature and language as artificial you see competing power structures in everything. Everything is political. NBA stars use basketball to promote their woke agendas. Disney remakes include empowered females (see Lion King, Aladdin). Comic books from Marvel include new “government assigned mentors”, Safespace and Snowflake, How fun? This isn’t parody. How does post modernism bubble up through pop culture? By redefining norms found in human nature.

Post modernism explains the trouble with gender confusion and pronoun requirements. 

These aren’t healthy aspects of a vibrant and free people. Human nature doesn’t change because you change the words. Yes there are always oddities to life but they are rare. People who feel they are in the wrong body need help. If post modernism is the culprit than it is a monstrous philosophy that cares nothing for human life and sound reasoning.

Even from a practical point of view, a philosophy built on shifting sand falls apart quickly.  How does a psychiatrist steeped in post modernism direct a patient with gender dysphoria? I’m using gender dysphoria because it’s a real mental condition people seek treatment for and we seem to have an explosion of it today. But we know on some level they are being told “gender is a construct”. This is just one example but you can image the long term damage to hurting people who get poor advice.

The foundations of our ideas should be concrete, same as a home or tall building. The foundations in higher education will eventually fall apart because they aren’t real. Can we stop it before it collapses on us, or can we restart in some way with a saner approach?   

If the humanities are to be saved at the universities they’ll have to get back to first principles starting with the statement “Human nature is unchanging throughout history” and go from there.

James 3: Taming the Tongue

James 3 is all about the tongue and the unseen power of words over our lives.

At first I thought it strange that James opened with a message about being a teacher.

 “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” (verse 1) 

Teaching is something others need for guidance and mentoring. Why does he then launch into a chapter on the tongue, or the importance of the things we say? I think the short answer is that words are more central to our behavior than we realize. Our words direct our actions even when we don’t mean to. When you see yourself as a teacher to others it forces a rethink in how you speak to others, or at least it should.

James goes on to say that ships are turned by a small rudder. In the same way the tongue directs our actions. 

“The tongue is so set among our members it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; it is set on fire by hell.” (verse 6)

 This doesn’t just apply to the way we speak to others. That’s what really jumps out at first here, a warning to be nice to others and talk them up. For sure, we need to build up and not tear down but James is also talking about the negative words we say about ourselves, which is far more useful to me. I’m more careful about ripping others than I used to be. But it’s taken a while to speak positive, biblical truths about MY future and MY self-worth.

When I don’t see any movement on areas I’ve prayed over for years I get very disheartened and want to quit. A sense of ‘what’s the point’ can set in quickly as negativity forms bitter words. James isn’t impartial on the tongue. It’s clear to him that “No one can tame” it. Wisdom is key to controlling the words we use. Look to the Heavenly Father for direction and it will come out in the speech we use. It will bless others when we might want to curse them. It will build up where our instinct says to put down. It will renew our minds so our speech follows the direction we point it in. 

If the tongue is a rudder than we can control, only wisdom from above will provide the direction. Only God knows our course. We should point toward Him.

I’ve never thought of the tongue as something contrary to the Word of God. But negativity breeds negativity in speech. The opposite is also true with positive speech. James is saying is our thoughts aren’t as important as what we say. We can have evil foreboding thoughts but if we close them off before they reach the tongue it won’t have any effect. In other words control the thoughts before they turn into words. Steer them in the right direction.

How many times have I been frustrated with an employee over poor work habits or lazy behavior? When I allow those frustrations to stew I take it out on them, blast them for their worthlessness. How many times have a run myself down over silly mistakes? Reacting suddenly comes with baggage. Better to seek wisdom and take a few breaths. I guess that’s what being a teacher is about.

Not Pushing It

I’ve enjoyed these few days off and although I’m getting bored I managed to get a few painting projects. I can’t do too much more though. One irritation is the plantar fasciitis in my right heel. Yeah I had to goggle it. It's always a little sketchy to search the web by symptoms but in this case I'm certain.

 Were this a normal week I’d have run 3 to 4 times and probably shattered my old records. Instead I'm hobbling around the house gingerly and wincing with every needle like poke into my heel. I can trace my recent bruising to the long 17 mile run I did. 

What made me proud then makes me feel foolish now. I believe the last running post I did was called "pushing it" where I said the following phrase, "Sometimes it's good to push it." 

Right. 

As it turns out, sometimes its not.

I didn’t expect to be out for this long even with the painful experience. This Saturday will be 3 weeks since the last run. That run was cut a little short by excruciating heel pain. After that I decided to quit for a while. I got a used stationary bike since the gyms were closed and I had no other way or working out. It’s funny I never thought I would be one of these guys that just has to get a workout in.

 But good habits lead to good habits I guess. The bike lasted for exactly 3 spin class Youtube specials and the chain started grinding. So no more bike for a while.

I try to walk a little bit on the days I don’t work just to keep moving. What other choice do I have? Sleeping in late and taking a nap? Actually that sounds pretty good.

I’ve talked to people who have had plantar fasciitis and most say it goes away after a while. I’m not just waiting I'm praying too. I just started developing a routine of running with others, something I was always reluctant to do. The virus is the main culprit in all of this. Some from the group are still making up the distances from the program. I’m sure they’re spacing out in small groups. There is a schedule for those training for races later in the year. Races which are likely not happening as a good chunk of summer events have been washed out like a rural highway in a thunderstorm.

I’m sick of this damn virus. I don’t mean the disease itself, although that’s awful, I mean the reset we’ve been forced to endure in a ways we haven’t even seen yet. Work will likely ramp up in a few weeks. Businesses all over the country will reopen with restrictions, with new guidelines, with a fearful public. The last one is certainly the X factor. Do people just go back to life as normal and go to gyms, restaurants and ball games? I hope they do. But the fear of catching it still looms and shouting “All Clear!” after the hysteria of quarantines and daily death counts feels uneven.

It's not all bad though. I see people walking through my neighborhood with dogs on leases, pushing strollers and seeming more relaxed. When I see people jog by with their water bottles and digital watches I feel a pang of sadness. For a while anyway.

What's in a name

 I like companies with obvious names. "Joe's Pizza Shack" and "Smithfield Accounting" tell me what I need, no obfuscation. They come complete with locations and signs, phone numbers and websites. Not everyone takes this approach.

I remember going to a job interview in a dank lower level of a downtown building. I'd answered an ad to interview for this sales job with no idea what they sold. No sign advertising the company name or product or service was available. Thinking this was a bad omen and a maybe a bit dodgy, under my breath I managed “Well, I’ve come this far”. I filled out a short form and handed it to the woman in a dim office behind a stack of boxes. The interviewer finally called me in. He asked me how I spent free time and what-kind-of-person-are-you questions. “Um…well…you know I like running, writing, watching baseball. I grew up in Illinois, moved here for school, bought a house.” He asked a few life-work balance type questions, can you work long hours.  

I’m normally a ‘get to the point’ kind of guy but people looking for work can’t be picky. I kept my answers short, awkward as they were, but he was clearly dawdling. 

  

He wanted to know how much I wanted salary wise, ideally. Keep in mind, I’m still not sure what we do or how many hours we work. I put down a high-ish number and he glanced at it and said “Why so low?” Right then I decided I didn’t want the job. If I had less tact I would have tossed my hands up and said “I’m outta here!” I have a low tolerance for bullshit and the room was beginning to smell.

I stayed for a few more questions hoping for a graceful exit. Turns out the job was selling subscriptions for AT&T, but not through AT&T. I wouldn’t have gone to the interview if I’d known that. Nothing against that kind of work but it isn’t for me. The company name (which I can’t remember) revealed nothing about the type of work.

Opaque names like “Global Services Inc.” or “Web Industry Professionals” should be a red light to job seekers. I’ve learned this the hard way of course. To my mind there are few reasons for doing this.

With companies like AT&T they either farm their door to door stuff out to third parties because it’s cheaper or less messy. It might be both. Home owners hate door to door salesman. They knock on the door when you’re eating dinner and refuse to leave after a “thanks but I’m not interested”. When the salesman with the clipboard and eager pitch has a lanyard with the company logo around their neck it leaves a bad impression.

Corporations, always careful about appearances avoid the door to door label afraid of the blowback from angry customers who associate that brand with mid-dinner sales pitches. But straight commission jobs make the numbers easier for companies, no insurance or healthcare or taxes to pay up front.

A third reason is the lack of any responsibility connected with the sellers. I signed up for a service a few years after I moved into this neighborhood. Yes I know, I know, even after complaining about the tactics I took a quick look at the deal and thought “Oh, really? For how long, 6 months? Not bad. Sign me up!” I was lucky. My bill matched what the girl sold me. I only used it for the 6 month offering. The price shot up 30 percent after that. No surprise of course but I hoped to get an extension on the low rate. No dice. I sent the equipment back and bought an antenna. I don’t watch that much TV.

I looked at an AT&T forum to find out how others fared. Nearly all of them complain about being lied to. They turn around and complain to AT&T, who in turn treats the package seller like a mobster in witness protection “Who? What? No I don’t know him”. Customers often get told to call the person who sold the package and straighten it out. But they never answer the phone. It’s not like they have a corporate phone line anyway. The only number the customer has is from the salesman who sold the package. 

This is the real benefit for both parent company and seller. A franchisee that sells internet and TV packages isn’t really accountable to a larger corporate parent. I’m not implying that the business itself is underhanded. But I’d seen enough of their tactics to know I didn’t want any part of it.

First principles insists, quality companies won’t hide.

Now if a non-descript company posts an ad I Goggle it. If Goggle can’t find the company than the search is over.