Quote of the Day
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
Robert Brault
Protecting Us From Nutritionally Superior Milk:
The Progressive Nanny State
Judge Andrew Napolitano, in addition to John Stossel, is one of the best things on Fox News/Fox Business. I have additional details and commentary in a new post to my nutrition blog; that post looks at a similar crackdown on raw milk in NYC and other Big Nanny constraints on our food choices, including restrictions on food trucks.
Remembering #3: Harmon Killebrew
Many kids are attracted to people with unusual names; for instance, I remember school buses in 1964 where one bus's students called out "Johnson!" and the other said "Goldwater!" as they passed in opposite directions. (The Johnson kids accused the Goldwater kids of liking him simply because he had a really cool surname.) Ben Shpigel liked 'Killebrew' because the Killer (talk about an oxymoronic nickname!) could crush a baseball. But his ardent Philly fan father also liked Hammerin' Harmon. Why? "[He] seemed like a gentleman, a very nice guy."
Ben, writing in the New York Times, mentions that when the retired Killebrew was hospitalized with a collapsed lung in 1990, his dad, in a first time letter to any celebrity, sent the slugger a get-well card on behalf of the family, with a personal touch wishing nothing more than the best for Harmon and his family. I'm going to quote Harmon's gracious, unexpected response in full here:
Dear Joel, Toby, Ben & Andrew:
Thank you for the warm and generous get-well greeting during my recent surgery, hospital stay and recuperation. The recuperation process has been very slow and I apologize for the delay in responding to your thoughtfulness.
The majority of my fan mail is requesting autographs. It is so nice to open mail from fans who really care about my health and welfare and offer such personal and genuine concern. After such an incident as this, the response is overwhelming from true Killebrew fans whose love reaches beyond the ballpark. This is my opportunity to say ‘Thank You’ to you for your prayers and thoughts. I’m certain that they each played a significant role in my recovery.
Sincerely with Love,
Harmon
Thank you, Ben, for sharing your memory. It makes me wish I had been a better fan--he would have known there were more of us whom saw him that way, and it's a shame we don't let them know in the living years when it counts.
I've recounted the story of how I became a Twins fan in this blog; I got kicked off my first and only Little League team called the Twins (it had to do with being falsely teased about having a girlfriend). We were playing my little brother's team, the Yankees, so after my manager kicked me out of the dugout and told me to go home, I went up into the stands and cheered for my brother (not his team). My manager saw me in the stands and immediately threw me off the team, which meant I didn't get a chance to meet Sumter, SC native retired NY Yankee star Bobby Richardson at the post-season banquet. I was too young to have ever seen Bobby Richardson play, but I was in the hero-worship stage: an honest-to-goodness, real-life champion major league baseball player! My little brother got to see Richardson, not me; my parents tried, but I had committed the ultimate sin. Anyhow, I latched onto the Twins, Harmon Killebrew was on the team, and the rest is history.
After Killebrew was retired and I moved to Houston, I naturally gravitated to--Nolan Ryan. As overpowering a pitcher as Killebrew was an overpowering slugger--and also, as I recall, a nice guy. I went to see him strike out #3000, but he let me down, getting knocked out of the game 3 KO's shy...
But the Twins remained my favorite team, and when we won two excellent World Series, I was a very happy camper...
Guest Editorial: IBD, "Drill, Maybe, Drill": Thumbs UP!
It seems that the IBD editorial board also got annoyed (independently of me) with Durbin's recitation of proven reserve heuristics (which I discussed in yesterday's post). I provided more aggregate discussions while here we get more of a breakdown: 10 billion barrels in Alaska not counted, 86 billion offshore, and up to 800 billion in shale properties in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. IBD also has a good editorial discussing how environmental regulators have stonewalled oil and gas exploration and production by spotlighting Texas lizards and Alaskan caribou and polar bears.
Political Potpourri
I had misread yesterday's Rasmussen generic GOP candidate vs Obama, which had the GOP candidate up by 2 points, not 2 points below. Rasmussen and Gallup job approval ratings were the same as same yesterday. I think with respect to the first point, a lot depends on the economy and unemployment, but I think a lot of Obama's support is weak, i.e., reflecting his personal popularity. I have mentioned the classic example in 2006 where Bob Ehrlich had over 50% approval but still fell to a highly popular Baltimore mayor, Martin O'Malley.
I was surprised and puzzled by Fox News having Obama at 55%. It probably has something to do with sampling methodology; for example, Rasmussen focuses on likely voters. Others may focus on expected proportions and/or historical trends of Democratic, Republican, and independent voters.
One report suggests that former record four-term GOP Governor and Bush HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson will announce his candidacy for retiring Herb Kohl's Senate seat, now Paul Ryan has taken a pass. As a former Wisconsin resident who supported Thompson, I'm enthusiastic about Thompson's chances to convert the seat.
Fukushima Nuclear Incident Update
The Hiroshima Syndrome blogger is reviewing the recent data released by TEPCO or regulators, noting a number of predictions he had made (e.g., third reactor with most damage), noted that automated water feeds were cut in reactor 1 early in the incident--a major conceptual error (you would normally expect pressure to go up with water boiling off), possibly because of misleading instrument readings, and possible explanations for why a hydrogen explosion did not occur for reactor 2 (i.e., debris damage releasing certain pent-up hydrogen). He critically notes a number of previously unreleased facts known to but not released by the government (including explosion-related damage to trucks providing power, water contamination, etc.) He basically no longer trusts the pressure readings and believes any corium likely had only modest penetration, mitigated fairly early in the process of cooling water resumption, and thinks leaks are occurring through other preexisting openings into the RPV.
Atomic Power Review notes:
- Wednesday: Entry by workers into reactor 2 facility delayed because some of steam release which had previously been encountered by a robot.
Political Humor. This is a periodic reminder you can find summaries of late night jokes (including non-political ones) at sites like newsmax.
Donald Trump announced that he is not running for president. He would rather spend his time making Gary Busey sell Snapple on the street. - David Letterman
[Donald Trump didn't have time for his other endeavors, like building on his entertainment partnership with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, whom lost their 'loser gets a buzzcut' match. The Celebrity Grappler 'I Quit' match between Star "Don't Call Me 'Sweetie'" Jones vs 'No More Tears' Meatloaf was originally booked as a three-way, but NeNe Leakes has already exercised her option...
Donald Trump couldn't get the deal he wanted from NBC for The Vice President Apprentice...
Gary Busey, for one, hates to see Donald Trump leave the Presidential race. Busey was hoping President Trump would nominate him as the first official American alien-spacecraft greeter.]
"Schwarzenegger secretly fathered a child outside of his marriage 10 years ago. He told his wife at the time but it took 10 years for her to figure out what he was saying." - Conan O'Brien
[Luke Skywalker, guess who is really behind the Darth Vader mask....
I guess now Maria Shriver is no longer California's First Lady, she's finally had time to catch up on all those Maury Povich shows over the past decade...]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Chicago, "Dialogue (Part 1 & 2)". This is a song most remember for its trailing (optimistic) chorus (in a manner similar to the Beatles' "Hey Jude").
