Sunday, April 27, 2008

Orioles tied for first place!

So far this weekend there was good news and bad news in sandracookie's World of Baseball. The bad news is that in what is probably the only baseball game that Andrew and I will get to attend this season, the Orioles suffered a heart-breaking loss last night to the White Sox when the 5-5 tie was broken in the bottom of the ninth inning by a Brian Anderson RBI. What was really frustrating was that the Orioles had given themselves the same opportunity in their half of the 9th when they had the bases loaded and only one out. However, it was an exciting game to watch, and the good news is that the Orioles had won the first game of the double-header on Saturday afternoon in exciting fashion - a 3 run 9th inning which included 2 errors and a wild pitch by the Sox (thanks reliever Octavio Dotel!). This game was needed as ammunition for the taunting Sox fans sitting behind us during the night game. Further good news is that Boston has lost their last 4 games, the Yanks have lost their last 3, and thus the O's are now tied for first place!!



This is how the AL east standings should stay, with the team with the highest talent-to-$$$ ratio on top!!! Also, the Phillies won last night when Ryan Howard broke out of his slump with a 2-run homer. The Phillies are now 14-11, only 0.5 game out of 1st place.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Here is a perfect example...

...of the Bush administration's dismissive, careless anti-environmental policies and cocky, unconstitutional above-the-law attitude. This goddamn border fence is just as illegal as, if not more illegal than, the immigration it is supposed to prevent. I do not know how many specific laws there are prohibiting illegal entry into the United States. But according to this article, the Bush administration has "waived more than 30 environmental and land-management laws" in its hurried determination to build this disaster to wildlife. The DHS spokeswoman is quoted as saying, "For a number of miles, we've determined that it would have only insignificant impact." Bullshit. We all know that the administration, Congress, Senate, and other government asses have no clue about the importance of plant and wildlife dispersal and migration, habitat fragmentation, inbreeding depression, keystone species concept, and other relevant aspects of community ecology, and they won't listen to those scientists who do know about such things. The DHS spokeswoman further proves this point by saying that the fence could actually help the environment by reducing trash by border-crossing immigrants! Does she think the American people, especially us environmentalists, are idiots? This is even more ridiculous than the whole cutting-down-trees-to-prevent-forest-fires gimmick. Can you picture a bunch of Mexicans LITTERING as they attempt to sneak stealthily over the border? I commend those brave scientists who are so outraged that they actually plan to lay in front of the bulldozers, and I commend the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife for taking this issue to court. Thankfully, there are only 274 days left in the Bush dictatorship. However, I'm honestly not sure how much better Obama, Clinton, or McCain would be on this issue. They all voted for the initial bill, but I don't know if they favor the waiver of environmental laws. Those of us who care enough will have to write letters and lobby our representatives and new President for a plan that is not environmentally destructive, more cost-efficient, and more effective at addressing the root of the immigration issue.

Article about Catholic priest abuse

This is a really good blog posting by the president of Chicago Theological Seminary about the Catholic Church sex abuse problem. I totally agree - it is not homosexuality that causes pedophilia, it is "immature sexual identity and a negative attitude toward sexuality".

Friday, April 18, 2008

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

This is so sad...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080415/ap_on_re_us/beach_debris

The group that did this looks like something I'd like to be involved in:

Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup

Here's a picture of volunteers beautifying the waters of Maryland (borrowed from here).




I will be moving closer to an ocean! But it looks like they do inland waters, too. We limnologists appreciate that!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

THEY WON AGAIN!

What a great game! They've already equaled their longest winning streak from 2007.

This site is for bird lovers not baseball fans, but I may have to make a purchase.

Bonus today: The Phillies won and the Yankees are currently losing, but it's only 5-2 in the 7th. Double bonus: Jeter is injured and A-rod is 0-for-3 w/ 3 strikeouts.

Monday, April 07, 2008

O YEAH!!!

My Orioles are HOT!! Yes, it's less than 10 games into the season but I can still savor the fact that they're tied with the Brewers for the best record in MLB!



Aubrey Huff breaks the tie today by hitting a homer: