Two days later

I expect this will be the last time I write about the Mets for a few months.

I woke up this morning and I'm still replaying the 9th inning in my head. Errrrr. The "agony of defeat".

If you're not a die-hard sports fan this may sound strange, but there's a hole in my life now. Ever since April 3 I've been listening to the Met games on a nearly daily basis. I probably listened to 135 of the team's 162 games and watched another 15 or so. When you add in the blogs and newspaper articles I've read, well that's a lot of time I suddenly have free. And, at the moment the only thing filling the gap is all those "What if's?".

Some Met fans feel the team underachieved by not making the World Series. Maybe, if you put a lot of stock in the regular season. The regular season is important, but it's been seriously undermined by baseball authorities, who believe that 8 teams should compete for the World Series title despite such a long season. Anyway, the Cardinals may have underperformed during the regular season, but they were clear favorites to win the National League back when the season started. The Mets were expected to be no better than the 4th best team in the league.

This was a great year. It should have ended in victory because that's how fairy tales end. Sure I'm looking forward to next year, but next year hope will be replaced by expectation. 5 months to Opening Day.

Pointless apology demand

The head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal O'Brien, wants Muslims to apologize for September 11 and the July 7, 2005 bombings in London. He was claiming that such an apology would somehow be a reciprocal action after the Pope's recent 'apology'.

Pardon me, Your Eminence, but you're way, way off on this one. First of all, if someone insults me and apologizes, fine. However, if they kill thousands of my fellow citizens and desire to kill thousands more then an apology is slightly insufficient.

Second, is Cardinal O'Brien saying that Muslims generally are responsible for September 11, etc.? If not, then why should Muslims apologize? And, if he is then how is an apology sufficient? Shouldn't all Muslims then be treated as enemies of the state seeing as the acts he wants Muslims to apologize for were acts of mass murder, crimes against the state?

The key question is not whether Muslims should or should not apologize for what's happened so far. The key question is whether there is something about Islam that renders its adherents incapable of being law-abiding, loyal citizens in a democratic state. I believe the answer to that question is yes, but it's pretty clear there are many who don't believe that. And, I don't think I can make a strong enough argument to try and change anyone's mind on that score.

Disappointment

Mets lose and are out. Nothing left now, but a long, dark winter.

Cape Cod wind farm

The Irish Wind Energy Truth Alliance has allies in the anti-wind farm movement in a couple of Massachusetts politicians: Senator Kennedy and Governor (& Presidential contender) Romney. They're both opposed to an off-shore 130 turbine wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod. Each turbine will be 440ft high and will be visible from the shore as they're only 6 miles out.

According to the article from the New York Sun MIT is conducting research into floating, tethered wind farms that can be located further out to sea. That would enable them to be placed beyond the visible range, which would probably ease the concerns of large shoreline property owners, such as Senator Kennedy.

Hiccup

My bank's online banking system is down and could be down for "a few days". I couldn't help laughing when the guy on the other end of the phone explained to me that there is "a hiccup in the system".

Once a system is down more than ten minutes it's more than a "hiccup". There are a lot of expressions one could use to describe the situation, but "hiccup" is not one of them.

Lies, damn lies & statistics

Statistics is more science than art, but projections generated by statisticians are not as certain as those produced by a physicist studying the effect of gravity on a falling object. The physicist can say with 100% certainty that a brick dropped from a height of 20m will hit the ground in just over 2 seconds (I hope I'm remembering my physics correctly). He makes this statement without any fear of someone proving him wrong.

The same is not quite true with statistics and statisticians. Projections are not as sure and depend on the methodology of the data collection, which can be influenced by factors that can require adjustments based on judgment. In other words, a key question for any statistical study is, "Is this methodology sound"? To some degree that is along the same lines as, "Is this painting beautiful"?

Steven Moore questions the methodology used by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in their study of the Iraqi death toll since the March 2003 invasion. Moore's focused on the number of clusters and the failure to ask demographic questions in the surveys.

Moore is a political consultant who has done work for the International Republican Institute and the Coalition Forces in Iraq, so he clearly has an agenda. However, there's no good reason to assume that the Bloomberg School of Public Health doesn't also have an agenda, always releasing their findings in the last month of an election cycle. {The last study's findings were released in October 2004.)

Unlike the numbers provided by the physicist, these statistics are built around a very soft scientific core, which means anyone can accept or reject the findings without fear of being proven wrong. I think I'll take the 650,000 death toll figure with a large pinch of salt.

The Dow & the Mets

By the way, look for the Dow to come down significantly if (when? I hope not) the Mets do make their exit from the Playoffs. Okay, so I don't put too much stock in it (hey - that's a good one), but there is something of a historical correlation between the market's performance and the extent to which New York's teams exceeded or failed to meet fans' expectations.

There has to be some explanation as to why October is the primary month for 'crashes'. Right?

Not my fault

You can't pin this loss on me. Despite the fact that I wore the lucky shirt through the whole game the Mets lost 4-2 and now trail 3 games to 2. Two straight wins is a MUST.

Duped

Italians in Boston (& elsewhere across America, presumably) thought they were getting a chance to see, touch, have their pictures taken with THE World Cup. They paid $5 for the privilege. Boston's Mayor Menino kissed the trophy and other politicians posed for photographs with it. However, the trophy that made it to Boston is a fake.

Anheuser-Busch, sponsor of the fake trophy's tour, released a statement "insisting that the gold-plated dome is just as important in Italy as the real deal". If this is true, then why didn't they leave the fake in Italy and tour the real trophy? And, why claim to be "proudly hosting the FIFA World Cup Trophy in six cities around the United States, including St. Louis; New York; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Miami; and Chicago".

I can't understand what FIFA or Anheuser-Busch are doing sending a copy of the trophy around the US all the while pretending it's the real deal. I hope Tony Soprano is looking into this matter.

EU-Tube

According to today's Times, the EU wants to control web videos now. The proposed Television Without Frontiers directive would require web sites to obey the same regulations as currently control television.

I'll be honest I don't know too much about this proposed directive, but I can guarantee you that it has nothing to do with extending anyone's personal freedom. When the EU proposes a new directive it's all about making sure you don't get out of line.

Based on what I see on the Irish government's web site, this directive will suit the television industry just fine. This line from the government's web site tells me everything I need to know: "Following a consultation process with those operating in the Irish television sector, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources made a submission to the Commission." So, the government asked the t.v. industry how it wanted to be regulated and, if the Times is to believed, how to control any potential threats to itself.

It's no surprise that web videos are now targeted for control. Stifling initiatives like 18 Doughty Street is, I'm sure, part of the thinking here.

Ryder Cup wrap

The final tallies are in and the Ryder Cup television audience seems like it may have come in just a shade under the promised billion.

In America, where NBC Sports had exclusive live broadcast rights, ratings figures for the competition peaked on the final day – Sunday, September 24 – at less than 4m viewers. This was 20% fewer than in 2004 when the competition was held in America, and almost a third less than 2002 when it was played in England.

The figures were slightly higher on the Saturday, when NBC scored a 3.2 Nielsen rating, the equivalent of 4.6m viewers, for deferred coverage. But this was also down 18% on live coverage in 2004, and down 22% from 2002.

… Live broadcasts from the K Club were watched on Sky Sports by a total of 600,000 Irish viewers, though that does not include audiences in pubs and clubs. Some 206,000 watched highlights of the European team's victory on Sunday night on RTE 2, the highest audience the national broadcaster achieved for its nightly highlights package.

In the UK, live coverage on Sky Sports averaged 811,000 viewers over the three days of the event, peaking at 1.1m on the Sunday afternoon. In 2004, when the event was held in America and coverage started several hours later, the British TV audience peaked at 1.4m as Colin Montgomerie holed the winning putt for Europe.

The last Ryder Cup failed to make the 15 most-watched world sporting events in a global survey of 57 major TV markets, accounting for 90% of television households worldwide.

But, hey you know what? The organizers raked in the cash.

More than €50m was grossed from corporate hospitality alone at The K Club and that extremely conservative estimate based on an average cost of €1,500 per day for each of the 8,000 executive guests who crammed the dining suites on the golf course.

... Ordinary spectators pitched more than €12.5m into the Ryder Cup kitty for their tickets and a torrent of cash flowed through the 30 tills in the merchandising area each day as Irish and American fans went on a massive spending spree.

... All of this pushes gross income over the €87m mark and when broadcasting rights and other sources of finance are factored in, that figure will rise well above €100m.

Thank God the government was on hand to over hype the Ryder Cup. They might have grossed only €90m if not for the government's help.

Not Hispanic

I just stumbled on this letter to the editor of the Miami Herald. The letter writer is from Portugal and explains how Portugal, Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking nations are Lusitanic and not Hispanic. The point of his letter is that Lusitanic nations should not be included during Hispanic Heritage Month activities in schools.

Interesting. I know I wouldn't have even given it a thought, but it's always nice to learn something.

What's going wrong?

The Mets have lost two straight games to St. Louis and suddenly their prospects look far from rosy. The cause of the Mets' problems is one (or more) of the following:

1. I forgot to wear my lucky shirt either of the past two days
2. I wimped out and went to bed the past two nights rather than stay up to watch the games live
3. The Mets are just simply playing badly

Well, I've got the lucky shirt on now, so we'll see how much effect that has tonight. I haven't decided yet whether I'll stay up to watch the game live.

UPDATE 7am Oct 16: The Mets won 12-5 last night. It's now 2 games a piece with three to play. The lucky shirt came through.

Bray wind farm

The Irish government has approved a proposal to build a "wind farm" off-shore. 220 wind turbines will be built 12km off the Bray coast. Fortunately, the Irish Wind Energy Truth Alliance is on the ball. Spokesman Peter Crossan let us know that wind energy is inefficient, "causes huge harm to the landscape and wildlife" and "will cause a visual eyesore in a tourist area".

I have no idea if these wind farms are "inefficient", but so long as it's not my money that's being spent what do I care? Now, to be honest it wouldn't take much for Mr. Crossan to convince me that burning oil or gas is more efficient than getting electricity from the wind, so I'll give him a pass on that one. However, how can wind turbines 12km off shore cause "huge harm" to the "landscape"? Surely, off shore, by definition, means that landscape doesn't apply.

The Independent's article says these turbines will be 100 meters (over 30 stories) in height, which sounds awfully high. If they're that high, then those turbines will definitely be visible from the shoreline, but so what? I don't think it necessarily will ruin the view? I suppose it's possible that wildlife might be affected, but I find it hard to believe that this development will be a serious blow to the ecosystem in the Irish Sea.

Death of Cory Lidle

Odd, sad story. We'll probably never definitively know what happened. I can't believe that small planes are still allowed to fly over and along Manhattan. Maybe the threat from small planes is not considered to be too great? I don't know, but that fire roaring in the upper levels of that apartment building sure looked serious.

I watched CNN and Sky News last night, but by far the best coverage of this story that I found was on WFAN, New York's all sports talk radio station. I have to admit that Mike & the Mad Dog, two guys who drive me nuts, did an excellent job of piecing together the background to what happened. Great interviews with people who knew Lidle and a former NTSB investigator.

On Monday, Lidle was on with Mike & the Mad Dog defending himself after this article appeared in the NY Daily News. The discussion was pretty contentious and I thought Lidle was uncomfortable, angry and confused when he finished. When I heard about the crash yesterday, I had this vague thought that he might have committed suicide figuring that you never know what might push people over the edge. I just thought his failure in the Yankees' season-ender on Saturday and the interview may have caused something to snap. Nobody has mentioned it as a possibility yet so I figure there's nothing to it.

The interviews are still available on the WFAN web site.

I'm part of the problem

Cursive is dying. (I think it's known as joined writing here, but I'm not 100% sure of that). Apparently computers are to blame.

I'm sure the conservative position on this would be to bemoan the death of a traditional skill, but you know what? I don't care. I hardly write at all these days. When I do, it's essentially illegible to anyone but me.

I remember an incident a few months ago where I was trying to write a note to someone and I couldn't remember how to make a capital G. I sat there staring at the paper dumbfounded until I eventually used the 'print' version instead. Sister Saint James would not have been impressed.

And, of course, I dismiss all concerns about my children's handwriting when I hear their teachers tell me that their writing is not what it should be. I'm probably dooming my kids to a lifetime of printing.

Fearing Muslims

The NY Times reports today that anti-Muslim sentiment is rising in Europe. On the one hand, this is a big "Duh" moment for anyone who's even half paying attention. However, there's a tone in this article which I find really annoying.

But many Europeans – even those who generally support immigration – have begun talking more bluntly about cultural differences, specifically about Muslims' deep religious beliefs and social values, which are far more conservative than those of most Europeans on issues like women's rights and homosexuality.

"A lot of people, progressive ones – we are not talking about nationalists or the extreme right – are saying, 'Now we have this religion, it plays a role and it challenges our assumptions about what we learned in the 60's and 70's,' " said Joost Lagendik, a Dutch member of the European Parliament for the Green Left Party, who is active on Muslim issues.

"So there is this fear," he said, "that we are being transported back in a time machine where we have to explain to our immigrants that there is equality between men and women, and gays should be treated properly. Now there is the idea we have to do it again."

The arrogance of European "progressives" is on full display here. If citizens want to vote to change (okay, roll back) some aspects of social policy why shouldn't they be able to? But, according to "progressives" they need to be re-educated. Surely, Muslims have as much right to vote freely on social policy as anyone else.

As a non-"progressive" Catholic I say to Muslims, "welcome to the club". Europe's "progressives" have been parading their anti-Catholic bigotry with pride for a LONG time (see Rocco Buttiglione for a recent example). Why shouldn't Muslims feel some of that?

This whole business of "progressives" only being concerned with Muslims' views on various aspects of social policy is a big fat porky. They simply won't admit that they don't trust and don't like Muslims. I've heard it a few times here and read it elsewhere, but it's all so mealy-mouthed. They don't want to agree with those "lunatics" on the "far right", but something deep down is pushing them that way. They can't control it and they live in fear of being outed as "not-quite-so-progressives". It's funny in a way.

The stuff dreams are made of

Game 1 New York vs St. Louis tonight.

PC license

The fact that you need a license (cost €158) to own a television set is bad enough, but any proposal to widen the scope of this tax is grotesque. According to this (sketchy) report in today's Irish Independent, the government is planning to extend the television license to PC's and laptops. Why stop there? Surely mobile phones should be similarly taxed. And, I've seen plenty of cars with television sets built into the back of seat etc. Do those cars require a television license?

It's time to just bite the bullet and face up to the fact that the television license is a holdover from a different era. It should be phased out and RTE should be made to stand on its own two feet. In the meantime, RTE should be barred from entering any new media markets where they can use their government-backed dominant position to crush any possible competition.

Unveiled

Yes, I'm a bit late chiming in, but I just thought I'd add my two cents worth on the veils, Muslim women and Jack Straw. I see nothing wrong with Jack Straw - or anyone for that matter - asking a woman to uncover her face if she wants to meet him. Why shouldn't he ask to see someone's face when they have asked to meet him?

Straw said he feels uncomfortable talking with someone whose face is covered, saying the veil could be seen "as a visible statement of separation and difference."

I'm not sure about that explanation, but I'd be uncomfortable talking to someone whose face was covered. If they want to talk to me then they have to live with the fact that I have some prerequisites, including seeing the other person's face. I agree with Straw that there's a world of difference between the headscarf and a veil.

However, if a woman doesn't want to uncover her face then that's her choice. She just has to accept that many people will not want to deal with her. Shopkeeprs or whomever may not want veiled women in their shops, which is their choice.