Today's "Not from The Onion" story

"Mom of toddler smoker in Indonesia seeks help for him"

[W]hat was disturbing was that the parents motivation to get Aldi to quit wasn't stemming primarily from an understanding of the risk to his health, but more from the cost of spending four dollars a day -- Aldi smokes an average of 40 cigarettes daily.

Carole King/James Taylor Concert

We went to this wonderful concert last night and were fortunate enough get to witness it from a suite where we were served wonderful food and beverages, which we indulged in all for the good of the team. (It was a firm marketing event to which we managed to get ourselves invited.) It was as special night that we will always remember.

Here is a video of their appearance on Letterman kicking off the tour.

Lying Bastard

Floyd Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive for doping, allegations he vehemently denied. He even wrote a book in which he accused others of all sorts of misdeeds that he claimed led to his unfortunate plight.

Positively False is at once a memoir and a powerful indictment of the unchecked governing bodies of cycling that have compromised theintegrity of the sport as a whole. . . Floyd Landis details the highs and lows of his career with unabashed honesty. It is this same honesty with which he will clear his name once and for all, as he lays bare the inner workings of the cycling world -- a place where athletes are subject to the antiquated science, flawed interpretive protocols, and draconian legal processes of the anti-doping agencies -- and finally lays to rest the scandal that threatened to destroy everything he's worked so hard to achieve....

Turns out he should have titled the book "Lying Bastard". Oh, and for good measure he now admits that he threatened to tell the world that Greg LeMond had been sexually abused as a child if LeMond testified to Congress. Just a charming fellow all the way around.

Final launch for Atlantis

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Subway

I will not go there again unless I have no choice. What pricks.

Maybe I should try to trademark the work "prick".

Kagan

In general, I like what I read about her. As a centrist, I think that she seems like a good choice. But it is undeniable that the SCOTUS does not even come close to representing America generally. Despite some gender and racial diversity on the Court, it cannot reasonably be considered to be a truly diverse institution. When Stevens leaves and Kagan is confirmed, every single justice will be an alum of either Harvard Law or Yale Law.

And then there is this regarding the lack of geographical diversity in the backgrounds of the justices:

If the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court is confirmed, she would join three others in a distinct bloc. For the first time in the court’s history, said William Treanor, the dean of Fordham Law School, it would have four justices who grew up in New York City.

About 3% of the US population lives in NYC, and it is fair to assume that a substantial percentage of that 3% actually grew up somewhere else. This is not healthy for either the SCOTUS or the country. I'm not suggesting that anyone should vote against Kagan because she grew up in NYC and went to Harvard Law. What I'm suggesting is that, next time, an arbitrary condition that the nominee grew up and went to law school at least 500 miles from Boston, New Haven, NYC and Washington would not be inappropriate.

Not too bright

Same car pulled over three times in 20 minutes. Each time, a different driver is arrested for DUI.

Hypocrisy

This should be embarrassing but, in politics, hypocrisy is a job qualification. Link.

"I mean, one reason I felt so strongly about Harriet Miers's qualifications is I thought she would fill some very important gaps in the Supreme Court. Because right now you have people who've been federal judges, circuit judges most of their lives, or academicians. And what you see is a lack of grounding in reality and common sense that I think would be very beneficial."
-- Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), quoted by Salon, on the lack of judicial experience of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, October 27, 2005.

"Ms. Kagan is likewise a surprising choice because she lacks judicial experience. Most Americans believe that prior judicial experience is a necessary credential for a Supreme Court Justice."
-- Cornyn, earlier today on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.

Twins

Yesterday, the Twins completed their first season sweep. That it was at Target Field, against the Tigers made it extra sweet.

I plan to post some more about baseball and Target Field in the next week, but for now I leave you with this: 2009 Game 163 (tiebreaker) Tigers v. Twins, the last regular season game ever at the Metrodome. It was an all-time classic.

Polanski

This changes everything. I now realize that I have it all wrong.

I am now resolved to start working on developing more empathy for fugitive child rapists.