Thursday, April 29, 2010

Dream come true


I would guess that what an aspiring MLB player most often dreams about is hitting a home run the first time that he steps to the plate in The Show. So, this is a feel good story (with video at the link) that came out of an otherwise diappointing loss for the Twins last night.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Disgraceful














Until this disgraceful law is ruled unconstitutional, our kids are going to need to carry around their passports in Arizona to prove--when they meet a police officer who is "reasonably suspicious" that they are illegal immigrants--that they are, in fact, legal Hispanic immigrants and naturalized citizens of the United States of America. If they don't have their "papers" with them, they will be technically guilty of a crime.

The legislation has widespread support among Arizonans, according to one recent poll, but Latino leaders compared the bill to apartheid in South Africa and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. A handful of teenage girls, among the hundreds of high-school students attending a Statehouse rally, openly wept after it was announced that Brewer signed the bill.

"This is the most reprehensible thing since the Japanese internment," said Alfredo Gutierrez, a former state senator and community leader. "This is the saddest day for me. It's shameful."

Arizona's immigration law, now considered the toughest in the nation, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires local police to enforce federal immigration laws.

It will require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce "an alien registration document," such as a green card or other proof of citizenship, such as a passport or Arizona driver's license.

It also makes it illegal to impede the flow of traffic by picking up day laborers for work. A day laborer who gets picked up for work, and traffic is impeded in the process, would also be committing a criminal act.


Phoenix's mayor is rightly embarrassed.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Opening Day: A New Era

I was not lucky enough to have tickets for the first regular season game ever at Target Field, but I went down there anyway before the game to be part of the day. I walked around the plaza and checked out the numerous impressive details among thousands of others who didn't have tickets either. Then came the national anthem and the flyover of the F-15s at its conclusion, followed by an enthusiastic crowd roar that signaled the start of the new era. I then raced home to watch the Twins prevail 5-2 in a well played ballgame. Everything was perfect.

The accolades that have been showered upon this new field are unending. This is from a guy at Fox Sports:
In borrowing from the best of the new-age ballparks, the Minnesota Twins have created what might be the finest stadium of its generation. . .

[I]f there is a better place to watch a baseball game, I haven’t found it yet. The new standard has been set.
I'm going to 3 games over the next 3 weeks. I can't wait.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Tiger

I have zero sympathy for Tiger, but that doesn't mean that I'm rooting against him. So, with that understanding, I declare this the single dumbest sports opinion piece ever written. A taste.
If Woods has a tap-in to win the Masters, I hope his conscience helps him yip it and lip it. Win any other week. But not here. Not now.
In short, Tiger should lose on purpose in order to make us feel better about ourselves.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Religion and the Supreme Court

Interesting subject, at least to me. Here is Nina Totenberg's lead.
With U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens talking openly about retirement, attention has focused on the "who" — as in who is on President Obama's short list of potential nominees. But almost nobody has noticed that when Justice Stevens retires, it is entirely possible that there will be no Protestant justices on the Court, for the first time ever. . .

Monday, April 05, 2010

Sports Monday

1. Tiger returns to golf at Augusta.
2. NCAA basketball championship that has a David vs. Goliath feel.
3. Twins' opening day.

Tomorrow's sports section will take more time to read than on a typical Tuesday.

Thursday, April 01, 2010

God help us

This guy got the most votes in his most recent election.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) is raising some eyebrows with a comment he made about the U.S. territory of Guam during a House Armed Services Committee
hearing last Thursday.

In a discussion regarding a planned military buildup on the Pacific island, Johnson expressed some concerns about the plans to Adm. Robert Willard, head of the U.S. Pacific fleet."My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize," Johnson said. Willard paused and replied, "We don't anticipate that."