Walk On

A quick shout-out to my brothers and sisters in the University of California Higher Education system that are participating in a walkout today.

I'm thinking the reasons for this walkout - that the UC system largely left faculty out of the decision making process during this budget crisis - might show labor the way forward in these difficult monetary times. Control of the means of production Voice, dignity, and respect need to be our themes when bread and butter are not options.

Go Sox!

I love a baseball team that threatens to boycott (wildcat strike) in the interest of fairness and justice. The Red Sox players are receiving a $40K bonus to play an exhibition series against Oakland in Tokyo. When the players found out the coaches and other personnel would not be getting an extra stipend, they threatened to refuse to play.

I am a very minor and inconsequential member of the baseball fan fraternity that is devoted to believing that through rigorous statistical analysis, the true worth of a baseball player can be measured. Part of this belief is the notion that things like "heart" and "team chemistry" don't really matter. A guy is not going to hit a ball because he really, really wants to. A pitcher is not going to be able his bend his curve ball any more or less depending on whether he really likes the guys in the bullpen or not. Unfortunately, baseball is dominated by men who don't agree with scientific analysis, choosing, instead, to treat baseball more like a religion, where intangibles such as grit, clutchitude, and hustle matter more than a guy's WARP, VORP, or any stat described here.

Which brings me to the thought that, while I join in the mocking of baseball managers that talk about how there's great chemistry on the team, so the team is bound to win more, I bet that the players on the Red Sox, while not destined to win any more games than their talents will allow for, will have a happier season and lives and be much better for it than they would be should they win a few more ball games. In other words, team chemistry does matter, but in life, not baseball.

For the Athiests Out There

You want proof there is a God? How 'bout this? Let's say you're a graduate employee union that is having some difficulty in bargaining. Looks like your headed for a strike. You'd immediately start thinking of ways you could put pressure on your university to force them settle without you having to strike right? You'd need to find a way to make a big deal out of your strike, disrupt some major event, embarrass the university. Could you be luckier than having your university hosting the 2008 US Olympic Trials? Maybe only if that university happened to pick "the whole world is watching" as the slogan for the trials. The demonstration script practically writes itself.

You see, there is a God and apparently She is pro-GTFF.

Hayward Field, site of the games, has one main, easily blockable, entrance. Moreover, the wind tends to come out of the west or north in Eugene. Hayward runs north to south, with the main entrance on the north side, meaning any tear gas used would blow into the track. The first event is on Friday, June 27th at 10 am. Do we throw up a 100 person "informational picket" at 9:30 am that Friday or do we wait until NBC goes live with prime time coverage at 5 pm on Saturday? Oh, the debates we'll have about that one!