Saturday Forum
08/22/2009
A+
|
a-
Print Friendly and PDF

08/21/09 - An Ohio Auditor Adds His Profession To The List Of "Jobs Americans Won't Do"

A Pennsylvania Reader Predicts That Baseball's Dominican Signing Bubble May Parallel The Mortgage Meltdown; etc.

From: Craig Henry: (e-mail him)

Re: Patrick Cleburne's Blog: Not Wanted: Young American Baseball Players

Is baseball in the middle of a Dominican Bubble?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are late to the party, but they are now recruiting players in the Dominican Republic, which represents about 25 percent of all amateur signings.

In fact, the Pirates' new Dominican facility is a lynch pin of the turnaround strategy for that woeful franchise. [Pirates See Dominican Facility as Part of 'First Class' Outfit, by Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 22, 2008]

All the major league clubs are scouring the Dominican Republic for their next superstar. That's behavior we have seen before in sub-prime mortgages as well as Internet and Asian stocks.

When any industry is gripped by "monkey see, monkey do" mania, history says that a bubble is underway. When poorly-run organizations jump in a big way, the bubble is near the breaking point.

If I'm right, then two questions are particularly interesting. First, what is the Moneyball response? That is, what areas are overlooked as major league baseball clubs try to outbid each other for the next Albert Pujols?

Second, to what extent is the Dominican Republic's reputation as a talent mother-lode tied to its drug laws and the easy availability of steroids and other pperformance-enhancing drugs?

I don't intend to besmirch all Dominican players. The island is a baseball-mad hot spot filled with talented athletes.

On the other hand, it does seem that many of its superstars have been caught by drug-testing and the Mitchell Report.

Henry maintains a politics, business and baseball blog here.

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]

A North Carolina Reader Says Terminally Ill Ted Kennedy Is Still Hard At Work Subverting Americans

From:  John Pershing (e-mail him)

Re: Joe Guzzardi's Column: In Memoriam Senator Edward M. Kennedy—Joe's Early Obituary

Earlier this week, I reminded VDARE.COM readers about how Senator Edward M. Kennedy cut in line at Duke University Medical Center immediately after his brain tumor diagnosis.

Well, based on his recent request to amend Massachusetts law to allow his successor to be appointed immediately and without a special election, I've concluded that Kennedy has accepted his mortality, notwithstanding his futile and expensive trip to North Carolina.

At issue, of course, is that Kennedy wants to be sure whoever replaces him will vote for Obamacare.

In a joint statement issues by Massachusetts State Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, the Democrats said: "We have great respect for the senator and what he continues to do for our commonwealth and our nation. It is our hope that he will continue to be a voice for the people of Massachusetts as long as he is able."

Now if only Kennedy and his cohorts could abandon the notion of ruling the nation from his grave via capricious and conniving partisan changes in what should be a stable body of law, maybe Obamacare could go quietly.

That's something Kennedy is unwilling to do.

Pershing's previous letters about mainstream media deception, his substitute teacher experiences and the value of the VDARE.COM hyperlink format are here, here and here.

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]

A Massachusetts Reader Reports Happy News—State Lawmakers Cool To Kennedy

From: George Schmess (e-mail him)

Even Massachusetts Democrats are put off by Senator Edward Kennedy's blatant power grab regarding appointing a successor who will, like him, support Obamacare.

Kennedy's proposal to grant the Governor Deval Patrick the power to immediately appoint an interim successor in the U.S. Senate and not wait as long as five months for a special election drew almost no support from key Massachusetts legislators.

Senate President Therese Murray, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, and Patrick refused answer reporters' questions.

Those who did speak, like South Boston Democratic State Representative Brian P. Wallace, a Democrat from South Boston, were guarded at best.

Said Wallace: "I'm in favor of having an election; there's nothing fairer than that. It just opens up a whole can of worms all again''—alluding to the idea of naming an interim senator which had been rejected four years ago during John Kerry's presidential campaign, when the governor was Republican Mitt Romney. [Leaders Cool to Kennedy Request, by Frank Milligan and Matt Viser, Boston Globe, August 21, 2009]

Not surprisingly the Boston Globe in a typically supportive editorial, called Kennedy's solution "elegant" and urges that it be adopted in the best interests of full Massachusetts representation. [Don't Let Senate Seat Be Vacated, Editorial, Boston Globe, August 21, 2009]

But Kennedy's Senate seat has already been unfilled for months. Since his diagnosis of terminal brain cancer, Kennedy has missed 97 percent of all votes in the current Congress.

If Kennedy were truly concerned about Massachusetts, he'd resign today, effective in five months, to allow the special election process to begin.

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]

A Texas Archeologist Wonders If Joe Guzzardi Went Squishy When He Moved To Pennsylvania

From: Chris Lollar (e-mail him)

Re: Saturday Forum: A Hispanic Reader Wants Guzzardi and Brimelow Dead—Or At Least Back in Italy and England

I have the greatest respect for Guzzardi and his VDARE.COM efforts. And I wish him well in his new Pittsburgh home.

However, I was a bit dismayed to read his response to letter writer Kukulcan in the Saturday Forum.

Kukulcan doesn't deserve a response. Furthermore, Guzzardi's reply sounded like Kukulcan got to him. I expect more from Guzzardi.

If reconquistadors like Kukulcan didn't represent such a serious matter, they would be amusing to see.

As an anthropologist, and more specifically an archaeologist, studying people, cultures, and their migration is my job.

In my profession, pointing out the inconsistencies in claims by groups such as La Raza, MeCHA and all the rest of the ethnocentric organizations is akin to the repercussions of climate scientists who point out the lack of evidence that global warming is primarily caused by humans.

People believe what they want to dating from the Aztecs—who borrowed from the previous Toltecs—to the present-day black communities outside Washington D.C. who claim sole responsibility for establishing a successful town.

When it comes to immigration fringe groups and their supporters, they should be watched carefully yet receive as little response and validation from us as possible.

Patriots have better things to do with our time—such as working in our back yard gardens to ensure we know our vegetables don't come from Mexico.

Lollar's previous letter about how immigration ruined his native Maryland is here.

[PermaLink] [Top] [Letters Home]

Print Friendly and PDF