Ups and Downs of the Week
Red Sox – Still on top in the ALE, but they must address the holes in their pitching rotation. Only Josh Beckett is healthy and performing well. Hopefully Buchholz and Lester will return to health and be back very soon. Lackey is still undependable and they have no dependable #5 pitcher. Wakefield can occasionally pitch a gem, but he’ll lose just as often. And tonight’s drubbing at the hands of the Rays showed that Miller is not the answer going forward. Luckily, the Yankmees also lost tonight, so no ground was lost in the ALE standings.
Prosecutorial Incompetence – A couple of high profile cases this week have shown that prosecutorial incompetence is sadly all too common. The Roger Clemens perjury prosecution ended in a mistrial almost as soon as it started because the bozos representing the government showed a videotape that had been expressly forbidden as evidence by the judge. All that taxpayer money wasted because highly paid lawyers had a brain cramp. The whole affair has been ludicrous anyway. Congress had no business “investigating” steroid use in baseball. Clemens had no business voluntarily testifying and like a dumbass he lied to Congress through his teeth. Now lying to a bunch of liars may seem like no big deal, but if Joe Schmo down the street would face charges for doing so, then Roger should as well. But chances are good there will be no retrial and Clemens will face no punishment beyond the fortune he must have spent for his lawyers.
Then there’s the prosecutors in the Casey Anthony trial, who botched the case from step one by going for a capital murder charge when they had no case to support such a charge. Had they gone for second degree murder or negligent homicide, Anthony would be starting a long prison term instead of getting ready to walk out a free person.
Nutcases – While I’m on the subject, there have been threats and incidents in FL over the verdict in the aforementioned Anthony trial. Some nutcases have been threatening to kill Anthony and some poor girl who happens to look like her has already been assaulted. You have to be pretty sick to want to kill someone because you think they killed someone else. Where does that cycle end?
Technology – Sarah conducted a webinar yesterday for a bunch of librarians in Massachusetts without ever leaving the comfort of home. We set up Skype on both ends and she was able to converse with them and show them her presentation. It all worked perfectly.
Rupert Murdoch – In Tomorrow Never Dies the actor Jonathan Pryce played a maniacal news mogul who controlled so much of the news media that he was able to shape worldwide events. His character may have been intended as an exaggerated personification of Rupert Murdoch, but recent events in Great Britain have shown it may have painfully close to the truth. Murdoch’s News Corp has been accused of illegally hacking in to cell phones of too many people to list, ranging from the families of 9-11 victims to a murdered British schoolgirl to victims of London’s 2005 bombings. This is a pure example of why the monopolization of the media is such a bad thing. When one person or firm gains control of too much of the available media outlets, the news and information that flows out to the viewer becomes whatever the person in charge decides it should be. I would like nothing better than to see this scandal break up the News Corp empire.
Heat Wave – We’re in for a real blistering heat wave starting tomorrow afternoon. Temps in the middle to upper 90’s and humidity well into the tropical range will be with us for the following week. Oh boy.
