Baseball's Gates Brown -- RIP

Gates Brown
(Image: mansfieldnewsjournal.com)

Nearly a half-century ago, the Detroit Tigers won the World Series in seven games. Michigan's team had a collection of personalities that no Major League Baseball franchise could possibly stomach today. Among them was arguably the king of pinch hitters, Gates Brown. He passed away in Ohio recently at age 74; his obituary appeared in the Detroit Free Press.

Contemporary baseball doesn't embrace pinch hitting. The current game's financial economics preclude teams from designating a precious roster spot to a single, late-inning at bat. Also, the designated hitter essentially eliminates pinch hitting in the American League. Gates Brown would probably have never made today's major league teams. During his career, Brown very rarely played in the field. His meal ticket was producing big hits in late innings.

What endeared Brown to his teammates, the Tiger organization, and fans was his clutch hitting, his warm personality, and his ability to overcome his criminal background. The pinch-hitter's first opportunity with the fences was through stealing and selling. Brown was convicted of burglary and did time in the Ohio State Reformatory. While behind bars, prisoner Brown played on the pen's baseball team. (Brown had been considered an outstanding high school football player, with big-time schools interested in recruiting him.) The Detroit Free Press' obit relates that a prison guard tipped baseball scouts about Brown. The Tigers took the plunge; Brown remained associated with the organization to his death.

Image: Detroit Free Press

Brown possessed a sense of humor about life that's a refreshing change from today's stars' self-importance. The New York Times' obit on the Detroit star offered this Brown quote (which originally appeared in the Baseball Almanac) about his high school experience that sums up what was wonderful -- and missed -- about Brown: "I took a little English, a little math, some science, a few hubcaps and some wheel covers."

Gates Brown -- a proud member of the '68 World Champions. He was a man you could root for, on a team you could root for. And, yes, I rooted for them, proudly.

Do You Trust "Sell By" Dates?

Image: Marybeth Feutz/agricultured.org

My supermarket adventures include some uneducated guesswork about how fresh the food is. My wife, who uses dairy products in her coffee, asks me to find the cream, half-and-half, or milk with the latest available "sell by" date. We take the plunge and assume the stated date is reasonably close to a sort of "truth in packaging" claim.

After reading today's Washington Post story on "sell by" dates, I may reconsider that belief. The piece, largely based on findings in a Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic report, asserts that the United States' "sell by" information is so wildly inconsistent that one cannot rely upon it. At the heart of the issue is the lack of a uniform, national "sell by" code. Instead, each state has created its own rendition of "sell by." The messy result leads to confusion and waste.

Rather than trust sell dates, I trust my senses. My nose, my eyes, and my tongue remain superb guides to the merits of items prone to spoilage. They don't yet have end dates.

Hertz Puts You in An Electric Car's Driver's Seat

Tesla Roadster.
I don't know if this is the model Hertz offers.

Bloomberg News, in a story the Mercury News picked up, reported that Hertz customers at LAX and San Francisco International Airport can rent a Tesla electric car. The price of curiosity? $500 per day. Presumably, the deal comes with unlimited free mileage.

The opportunity sounds like great fun. I admit I do have a bit of Tesla deprivation jealousy. Someone in my general area owns a Tesla. On occasion, I see the car quietly cruise down a Main Street normally filled with SUVs, and I want to drive it. I have actually looked into the innards, such as they are, of a Tesla. A floor model was showcased at a local shopping mall recently. I was quite curious and looked inside; my wife acted on her interest and sat in the driver's seat.

There are relatively few electric charging stations in northern New Jersey. In fact, I wonder if the Northeast will ever embrace electric automobiles. The region has a strong conservative streak in matters of consumption and taste (contrary to popular perception about NY and NJ). Automobiles are not an exception to that sentiment. How quickly Hertz offers Teslas in its New York area centers remains to be seen.

Wells Fargo Announces More Layoffs In Its Mortgage Department

The residential housing market drumbeat has begun again. Rising housing prices are depicted as "proof" that residential real estate market, with its odious bidding wars, has recovered its animal spirits. Foreclosures, still very much a fact of life in many parts of the United States, are conveniently ignored. Instead, the focus is on rising prices, as if this event were in and of itself the greatest possible good our Federal Reserve-subsidized economy can generate.

A look behind the "good news" curtain offers a different perspective. Late last week, Wells Fargo announced it was laying off 1,800 employees in its mortgage division, according to an Associated Press story appearing in the Mercury News. The reason? Fewer people are refinancing their homes. This is a curious situation, given the attractive, low interest rates currently available.

Something doesn't quite connect here.

NYPD Flyer Urges Consumers Upload Apple's iOS 7

Apple's new operating system for its iPhones and iPads has some privacy advocates anxious. The iOS 7 system includes a fingerprint identification tool which would allow you-know-who to rather easily establish identity, a phone number, and Internet information. Once you check the box that says "I have read and agree...," you're one step closer to total identity nudity.

The iOS 7 also contains an "Activation Lock" feature which offers much stronger security in the event of theft or loss. Law enforcement has even gotten into the promotion game, with the New York Police Department handing out flyers touting the Activation Lock's and operating system's benefits, according to a post in zerohedge.com.

Specifically, the NYPD, along with the Empire State's attorney general, have touted the advanced security the "Activation Lock" offers consumers. Unfortunately, they have not invented a way to halt shameless data mining (thank you, location devices) of phone users' preferences as they walk along city streets. That's theft of a different sort, and a privacy loophole far more lucrative than a purloined cell phone could hope to provide.

Athens' "Cookistos" Form Culinary Vanguard of Greek "Collaborative Consumption"

Home cooks, especially those without children, frequently face the challenge of preparing more food than they can consume. This issue is not unique to American kitchens. One solution to this domestic dilemma is something called "collaborative consumption," in which people can purchase portions of, say, a homemade chicken pot pie.

This phenomena is emerging in unlikely European venues. The BBC reported today on collaborative consumption's emergence in profoundly individualistic Athens. The emergence of cookistos -- those who prepare portioned meals -- is a fascinating story with parallels to the development of America's "sharing economy" firms, such as ride-sharing Uber.

The food described in the BBC story, including a recipe for moussaka, sounds delightful. If you can't visit Athens, you can always make the dish yourself -- and share it for a fee with total strangers.

Report: NSA Surveillance Panel's First Meeting Dodges Change

Ten days ago, the UK newspaper The Guardian reported on an Obama Administration panel's initial meeting to determine changes to NSA surveillance practices and data collection. The group included representatives from tech heavyweights (with the notable exception of Amazon), insiders from the fed's spy world, and think tank policy mavens. Some participants claimed the meeting was a borderline sham, in which no change was discussed and tech firms worked hard to advance their interests. Those "interests" did not necessarily coincide with those of the larger body of American citizens, who have discovered the military-technology complex has compromised their constitutional right to privacy.

Some details from the Guardian's story offer a disturbing look into what passes for transparency inside the Beltway. The meeting, one participant noted, was something less than a full, open dialogue. For one participant, the tech firms, who dominated the 90-minute meeting, seemed to be walking through a prepared script.

Representatives from the technology firms were identified around the table not by their names, but by placards listing their employers. There was minimal technical discussion of surveillance mechanisms despite the presence of technology companies; (the participant) took the representatives to be lawyers, not technologists.

When it appeared like the meeting would discuss a surveillance issue in a sophisticated way, participants and commissioners suggested it be done in a classified meeting. (The participant) interpreted that as a maneuver to exclude his more-critical viewpoint.

The privacy vs. surveillance issue is one of the few issues where American conservatives and liberals share a common concern. It is the conservatives' great shame that they allowed the Bush Administration to emasculate personal privacy guarantees; it is the liberals' great shame that they have played matador to the Obama Administration's bullish advocacy of the NSA's breathtaking data and communication sweeps.

It's a sad state of affairs when a British newspaper takes the lead and sheds light -- continued light -- on this American issue. No Fox News, no NPR, no major American media player really wants this story. That's a national shame.

Florida Governor Faces Common Core Dilemma

Florida governor Rick Scott

When we last visited Florida governor Rick Scott, the Sunshine State's fearless leader was ducking an education conference the gov himself had requested. In recent days, as a Miami Herald story noted, Scott has picked up the education mantle he so unceremoniously dropped. The governor is now considering making a statement about Florida's commitment to Common Core standards in K-12 education.

His position on the subject will be interesting. Scott's GOP base is very restive regarding anything involving the federal government, and downright nasty if Barack Obama has any association with a program. Common Core hits the bull's eye on both counts. Scott's larger issue is that his principal political benefactor is Jeb Bush, who happens to favor Common Core initiatives.

Scott's dilemma mirrors the Republican Party's schizophrenia on many social issues. I suspect the Florida governor will back Common Core standards and related assessment testing, simply because the state is already in immersed in the K-12 world's deep water: Common Core, charter schools, and the tech mafia that offers "solutions" to problems that conveniently suit its commercial needs. Also, in Florida, what Jeb Bush wants, Jeb Bush usually gets.

A Psychologist's Perspective On Siri

Siri

So far, this week's best tongue-in-cheek story belongs to Mercury News journalist Patrick May. He interviewed Bay Area psychologist Francine Toder, who recently explored Siri's often Sphinx-like approach to questions routine or unusual.

The shrink admirably dodged and weaved with the enigmatic, sometimes quite humorous voice of Apple's iPhone. What "human" truth emerged from this journey into a machine's mind? The psychologist observed that Siri was not quite ready to "open up." Would there be another session to encourage Siri to understand its own consciousness? "When someone comes in for therapy," Toder noted, "they have to want to change. I'm not sensing that Siri has any real desire at all to do that right now."

FISA Court Upholds NSA Phone Snooping Tactics

Ellen Nakashima
(Image: cfp.org)

The NSA's sweeping (no pun intended) ability and evident willingness to aggressively data mine domestic phone conversations was upheld by a FISA judge this week. The Washington Post's Ellen Nakashima reported this story in today's online editions of the newspaper.

The FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court is an American judicial anomaly. Its secret proceedings feature a plaintiff and no defendant. A government attorney makes a case, and a FISA jurist determines its suitability under the judge's interpretation of current federal statutes. The court straddles the line between a rubber stamp for NSA activities and a light touch of "judicial oversight."

Former US Attorney General
Alberto Gonzalez

One consequence of Edward Snowden's revelations was sharply increased doubt regarding the efficacy of the FISA court. The NSA seemed like an organization that could simply make up the rules of the game, and not inform anyone about them. The right to privacy? That notion seemed as "quaint" as George W. Bush's former attorney general Alberto Gonzalez once considered the Geneva Convention's protocols.

The recent FISA ruling the Post cites expands this alarming erosion of privacy rights. As Nakashima notes:

The gathering of "all call detail records" from phone companies is justified as long as the government can show that it is relevant to an authorized investigation into known -- and, significantly -- unknown terrorists who may be in the United States, the Aug. 29 opinion states.

Moreover, the government need only show that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" the records will be relevant to the investigation, a lower burden than required in ordinary criminal investigations. That is justified because the goal is to prevent a terrorist attack, not solve a crime that has already taken place, the court said, affirming the government's position.

Uzbekistan Government Denounces Country's Miss World Contestant As Impostor

Rakhima Ganieva
(Image: Radio Free Europe)

Who watches or even cares about beauty pageants? Well, don't be so quick to dismiss these events. It's not as if supposedly "sophisticated" fashion runway displays of young flesh offer Rhodes Scholars in new outfits. As for intellectual distinction, do you really think an ambitious, egotistical, shallow fashionista has more insight into world affairs than the anonymous figures who manage beauty pageants?

Yet, beauty pageants have rightly been perceived as meritless, low-brow spectacles. Some parts of the world, however, do care rather passionately about these public displays of female beauty. (Venezuela comes to mind.) With heightened psychological stakes come the inevitable impulse to cheat.

This year's Miss World contest is witnessing a unique attempt to fool the audience and judges. According to a story in the UK newspaper The Telegraph, the current contestant from Uzbekistan is allegedly an impostor. One Rakhima Ganieva has claimed the title "Miss Uzbekistan" and has attempted to enter the Miss World competition. Alas, the Uzbek government and its associated cultural institutions have denied any knowledge of the young woman's crown. In fact, according to the Telegraph article, "Uzbek officials say that no competition to select a Miss Uzbekistan has ever been held."

Is Florida The Wackiest State in the Union?

Florida governor Rick Scott

Two generations ago, the prevailing wisdom maintained that California was filled with strange people, odd beliefs, and weird activities. One really doesn't hear that about the Golden State these days. Perhaps that's due to Florida supplanting California for sheer goofiness.

Ah, yes, the Sunshine State. It's a cozy home for drug lords, Medicare cheats, communities filled with the nearly dead, and wacky politicians. I took a glance at the Miami Herald (a relatively sane, South Florida oasis of journalism), and here's a sampler of today's stories:

• Republican governor Rick Scott cancelled a $25,000/head fund raiser, which featured a live alligator hunt. Keep in mind that 'gators are a federally protected species.
• Polk County sheriff's deputies arrested Pastor Terry Jones today. He intended to burn thousands of Qurans as a protest to the events of September 11, 2001.
• The former CEO of a South Florida psychiatric hospital was sentenced to 25 years for milking the Medicare system out of $67 million. The now-convicted felon is 60 years old.

These are not particularly unusual stories to emerge from the Sunshine State. Trust me: California has nothing on Florida when it comes to wackiness.

Court Ruling Permits Major Privacy Case Against Google To Continue

Judge Jay Bybee
(Image: UNLV Law School)

In a day when Apple presented new iPhones the NSA can effortlessly monitor, a three-judge federal court panel allowed the continuation of a lawsuit alleging privacy violations by Google.

According to a story in today's technology section of The New York Times, the litigation involves Google's collection of personal data during its controversial Street View project. The court, the Times noted, "found little merit in Google's legal maneuverings, stating at one critical point that the company was basically inventing meanings in an effort to declare its actions legal."

One curiosity in the story is Judge Jay Bybee, who wrote the ruling. During the George W. Bush administration, Bybee was an assistant attorney general. His claim to fame? He signed the Torture Memos is 2002, which authorized "enhanced interrogation" techniques.

"Peace On Earth" White House Ornament On Sale Now

Just in time for a proposed military strike on Syria, the White House has released its 2013 holiday ornament. The pitch? According to a story in the financial blog zerohedge.com, the ornament "Peace on Earth" is available for sale now. The price of peace? $18.95.

Alberto Moravia, Italian Fascism, and the NSA Security State

Alberto Moravia
(Image: raistoria.rai.it)

Lately, I've been reading about the life and work of the 20th century Italian novelist Alberto Moravia. His novels and short stories, often exploring middle-class puzzlement or conformism in the face of Fascism, seem eerily connected to today's political and social situation in the United States. Two years ago, The New York Times' Rachel Donadio wrote a telling piece about Moravia's work and Silvio Berlusconi. As with the United States under the NSA shadow, the Berlusconi regime had taken, as Donadio noted, "all the oxygen out of the room."

Donadio cites a passage from Moravia's Two Friends, in which a character "attributes his lack of conviction -- about his career, his lover, his politics -- to his formation under Fascism." To quote Moravia's work, it had

wormed its way into his blood, not in the form of political allegiance, but rather as a kind of torpor and moral passivity, like a poison that slowly intoxicates and weakens the body. He was confronted once again with his feeling of impotence, but this time it not only affected his personal life but encompassed the destiny of the nation and humanity as a whole.

Torpor and moral passivity? Sounds like the American public's response to the devaluation of personal privacy, brought to you by the Feds and the military-technological complex.

Moravia's books remain in print. Many are translated into American English. The works of the author who wrote The Conformist remain strong and vital today. Can we say the same about our own society?

Baratunde Thurston's Internet "Detox"

Baratunde Thurston

Creating an online recollection of one's detox "vacation" from the digital world takes a combination of imagination, chutzpah, and time. The writer Baratunde Thurston produced such a work, which appeared in fastcompany.com and is featured in recent editions of The Washington Post.

It would be easy to pick apart the inconsistencies in Thurston's approach, such as having a "chief of staff" handle his timely professional contingencies during his sabbatical. How many mere mortals have the equivalent of an industry valet? In fairness, he's aware of them and does consider them in his entertaining piece. What's far more interesting is his discovery of the difficulty fully disconnecting from the digital networks. Thurston discovered that the principal social media firms make adieu from their data empires nearly impossible to execute. This awareness seems much more ironic now, in the wake of our sense of the depths of data mining undertaken by the military-technology complex (to restate Dwight Eisenhower's famous characterization).

Thurston's story embraces plenty of wit, a warm sense of humanity, and self-awareness that's mostly refreshing and occasionally promotional. You should read it before you decide to unplug, either temporarily or permanently.

World's Biggest Volcano Found Beneath Pacific Ocean

Computer Schematic of World's Biggest Volcano
(Image: National Geographic)

Have you ever seen a volcano? I've seen some dormant ones, such as those in the Pacific Northwest and the guardians of Mexico City. I've been in the neighborhood of one live volcano: Vesuvius. (It's easy to forget that Italy is a very active seismic zone.) However, many of the world's biggest volcanoes are not exactly readily available for the layperson to view. That's because they're under water.

In fact, the world's biggest volcano is somewhere off the coast of Japan, according to a Pierre Barthelemy blog posted in the French newspaper Le Monde. (For those who can't read French, the blog's story is based on a recent piece in the publication Nature Geoscience.) The volcano's striking dimensions seem like a flight of fantasy more akin to King Kong than a sedate Saturday night PBS science program. The article is a humbling reminder that humans still know very little about the marine world and the ocean's depths.

A Lamborghini Batman Would Have Enjoyed

Lamborghini Veneno Roadster
(Image: topspeed.com)

In case you've won the lottery recently and were contemplating how to spend your newly minted millions, consider purchasing a new automobile. Well, not just any...ahem...car. How about a nifty Lamborghini? Ah, but not just any Lamborghini. The "Lambo" that's a propos for someone who has everything resembles a Batmobile -- a very fast Batmobile.

According to a story that zerohedge.com picked up from American Luxury magazine, the car's trade name is Veneno Roadster. Given that only four of these vehicles were manufactured, it's likely you'll be the only person on your block with one.

In case you're thinking of paying on the installment plan, consider the price tag. It's $4.4 million dollars. Even by New York standards, that's a lot of money for something on four wheels.

Raindance Film Festival Selects Julian Assange as a Juror

Julian Assange

Julian Assange, who has time on his hands while he lives at Ecuador's embassy to the Court of Saint James, has a new activity to look forward to. London's Raindance Film Festival, which specializes in showcasing edgy, independent international films, has chosen the Wikileaks founder as an event juror. According to a BBC article on Assange's selection, DVDs of nominated movies will be sent to the rogue Swede. There's no word on whether Assange intends to leak news of his vote to the entertainment press.

US Economic "Recovery": A Tale of Two Workforces

It's fascinating to explore perceptions of the US economic situation. Many people assert the country has "recovered" from the financial disaster called the Great Recession. Things "are better now," is the common phrase. Major league insiders repeat this message via the media. Rather than believe their own eyes, some folks uncritically repeat what these hired corporate hands and their political allies disseminate.

Graph: motherjones.com

Living in the New York area, with its high concentration of one-percenters and those culling favor with that group, one could be convinced of the "recovery" by the drumbeat of supposedly good economic news, and signs (such as filled restaurants) suggesting a surfeit of disposable income. However, the shadow of the "others" who "did not participate in the recovery" lingers like muggers lurking in society's dimly lit streets. The dimensions and human qualities of the non-participants are inconvenient and largely ignored by those enjoying the continued, relentless, and ruthless wealth transfer from the have-somethings to the have-plentys.

A story in today's San Jose, California-based Mercury News discusses the phenomenon of the have-less, and focuses on issues "older workers" face. The bleak news, quietly tucked away on a low readership national holiday weekend, is sobering. The article summarizes its points as follows:

• A recovery that for many older workers doesn't feel like one.
• Two-thirds of baby boomers between ages 55 and 64 who found work after losing it in the recession are making less than they did in their previous jobs.
• Their median salary loss is 18 percent, compared with a 6.7 drop for 20- to 24-year-olds.
• The re-employment rate for this older age group is 47 percent, and 24 percent for those over 65, versus 62 percent for 20- to 24-year-olds.
• Finding another job takes far longer, too: 46 weeks for boomers, compared to 20 weeks for young workers.

The Mercury News piece cites a recent report from the California Budget Project to deliver these unpleasant facts and conclusions. Economic "progress," the story notes

is complicated by a triple whammy of wage stagnation, a dramatic growth of low-wage jobs in hospitality and food services, and the staggering number of jobs lost in California during the recession -- 1.4 million, nearly half of which have yet to come back.

The California report could easily be repeated in nearly every other state in the Union. Does this sound like "progress" to you?

Uber Drivers Sue Over Company's Tipping Policy

This year, car-service firm Uber has become a darling of the tech/services crowd. The San Francisco-based enterprise, which recently received a $200-plus-million cash infusion from Google, features a unique selling proposition is its use of an application to arrange rides. Well, that sounds fine until one looks under the hood at who receives what cut of the passenger payment pie.

A lawsuit was recently filed alleging Uber is not paying tips that drivers believe they have earned. The story, initially reported by Bloomberg reporter Joshua Brustein, appeared in yesterday's sfgate.com. The plaintiffs assert that passengers in Uber's taxi service are charged a twenty percent tip. Somehow, according to the litigation, Uber drivers don't ever get the money; Uber pockets it. (The firm faces similar litigation in two other cities.)

Uber has dismissed the lawsuit as "frivolous." What's more interesting is Uber's use of the Amazon defense, i.e., their business is consumer friendly and bad guys are trying to "stifle innovation." Meanwhile, unregulated Uber is muscling into turf that is highly regulated and occupied by connected, entrenched interests. At the same time, Uber keeps the unregulated tips, thus improving margins as Amazon did by not charging state sales tax on transactions.

What's "frivolous" is Uber's claim that consumer friendliness is its business raison d'etre. Uber's assumption that "disruption" is an unqualified benefit is a spurious one. It's fine to compete: it's bullshit to drape ruthless competition in the falsely virtuous cloak of technological progress.