Brad

Are you referring to this: https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

I’d like them to at least come up with some plans to see if it’s feasible. If it’s not, then so be it. MLB might have the best shot because players are generally spaced apart, except at HP. Maybe now would be the time to have computers call balls and strikes, with no HP umpire.

Not if they can do it safely.

No, it’s not forever but when it’s reasonably safe not to be closed is not precise, although I side with what the scientists want because it’s fact based unlike many of our politicians. Look, I’m fortunate that I’m retired and generally don’t have to put myself as risk but I know there are a lot of people out there who have to make choices that put them in harm’s way.

One thing there never seems to be a shortage of are books about the Beatles. Based on what I read at Hoffman, Lewisohn is supposed to have a good Beatles podcast. Revolution in the Head is pretty darn essential. In the same vein, All 213 Beatles Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best, is quite useful.

The scientists would have us stay closed as long as possible while the openers go to the other extreme so to say the issue is raised for rhetorical reasons is...rhetoric. There are sensible middle grounds for proceeding cautiously in order to keep the pain and suffering as low as possible.

Reopening was always going to lead to more cases That’s not unexpected. However, can we stay closed forever. No, I don’t think so.

I think it’s just since the virus troubles started. In some cases, I haven’t had an issue with media mail, in others I have. You might want to offer people the option of priority, advising them that media mail is unpredictable and you can’t guarantee that they will receive their package on a timely basis.

Funniest — but truest (is that a word?) — thing I’ve read today. This is an issue on which you’d think there is unity but sadly there appears to be less and less of it.

I don’t agree with you but you and I come from different perspectives on this. It is true that they made an agreement on this in March but circumstances have changed since then as it has for many other deals made since then; for example, the sale of L Brands (Victoria’s Secret) was unwound because of force majeure and a material adverse effect in the business. Players, to the extent they share in revenues, shouldn’t get more than they bargained for under the present agreement since owners assume all the risks of operating a team. The alternative to both sides not agreeing is that players won’t receive any salaries, which will put the average player, not the stars, in a precarious financial position and some teams may have to file for bankruptcy. In France, where the government ruled that there is to be no more soccer for the remainder of the 2019-2020 season, certain teams may cease operations unless the government steps in and provides financial assistance, which is being considered. If teams go under in MLB, I can’t see states or the federal government doing that.

I probably shouldn’t say anymore so as not to sabotage this thread and get sent to Marshall Jim’s Pokey

Thanks, sounds like a good read.

How is this?

Yes, they want to reduce salaries because the revenues that MLB earns will be reduced because there are no fans in the stands, with resulting drops in concession sales. See this Jeff Passan article, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29161983/passan-20-questions-why-financial-battle-2020-mlb-season-get-really-really-ugly The players can’t expect to receive the salaries they would receive in “normal” times. Pain has to be shared.

As Larry might have said said, “hoe” I understand the need to move on and will do so but it’s an important question: liberties vs obligations. Have you seen this article regarding Texas, Businesses Chafing Under Covid-19 Lockdowns Turn to Armed Defiance

The phrase “conceived in liberty” is from the Gettysburg Address. However, it was Lincoln himself who tamped down on certain rights and liberties during the Civil War such as the writ of habeas corpus because he recognized that certain rights had to give way to the greater good. See below for an article on the suspension of the writ and his fight with Chief Justice Taney (known infamously for the Dred Scott decision): Lincoln and Taney’s great writ showdown After the Merryman incident (the one that led to his confrontation with CJ Taney), “Lincoln suspended the writ in other situations, and he received approval from Congress in March 1863 to suspend the writ for the duration of the conflict when ‘the public safety may require it.’” There is a good book on this topic which I purchased many years ago but only briefly started, Lincoln and the Triumph of the Nation: Constitutional Conflict during the Civil War by Mark Neely. Might be a good time to look at it again.

Typo but hey it’s a mixed metaphor

Quite true, it’s a difficult road to hoe. My comment was not meant to have a discussion on the Second Amendment but as an illustration of what I was referring to: appropriate balance between rights and societal obligations.

What is the issue? People are discussing the proper balance between the responsibilities and obligations of government to protect its people and the right of people to object as to how those responsibilities and obligations are discharged.

Rights don’t exist in a vacuum Dan. Although the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech you can’t go into a crowded movie theatre and yell “fire!” In such a case societal concerns outweigh freedom of speech. We are in such a predicament now where rights cannot be absolute and must be tempered to serve society. We have seen this before with the so called right to bear arms where societal interests are disregarded in favor of some so called rights. Oddly, other countries don’t seem to have these problems when public safety is paramount.

This package officially entered the Twilight Zone. After leaving Queens, NY it has now landed in Ybor City, Florida. Yup, the USPS really sucks.

A notion not embraced in this country but embraced in other countries. That's pretty rough on your colleague. Hope the other two pull through.

This is probably not the best place for this but I ordered five paperbacks from Amazon; four came damaged as their packaging is terrible: they just threw them into a mailer with no bubble wrap or anything. They replaced three; packaging just as bad although only one was damaged. Ordered the other one from B & N. Packaging was top notch. They get my book business from now on.

I don’t understand the fascination with R2R, unless it’s a nostalgia craze. I still have a Sony tape recorder from the 1960s but I haven’t used it in at least 20 years. When I was a teenager my friend and I used to tape songs from the radio or records we’d borrow from other people, maybe even Radio Caroline (although I’m not sure, as we lived in Barcelona) or the VOA/Armed Forces Radio. Anyway, that was then.

Ignore him, he’s probably one of those complaining about “mah rights.”