The SoapBoxers

Memorial Day has many meanings to many people. To most, it is signals the beginning of summer. Locally, we have a plethora of graduation parties as seniors graduate from high school and college. To our older generations, it was known as Decoration Day; a day to decorate the graves of loved ones and veterans. Today, the holiday is designated as a memorial to all veterans, living and dead.

Today, while enjoying a day off work, with your family and friends, take time to remember those who have fought and died for our freedoms. We have many more veterans now than in years past, as more of our service men and women return from duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other lesser know locations. Although the exact locations of deployments of U.S. forces is not readily available, we do have troops serving in the Balkans, fighting pirates off of the east African coast and among the island of Indonesia, and assisting the U.N and NATO all over the world.

Enjoy your extended weekend. Remember those who have served to give you this holiday. The point of the holiday is to rejoice. Celebrate our freedoms. Celebrate that we have a country that has, from the first moments of its existence, been populated by brave men and women willing to stand up and fight for family, country and justice. Even if you are anti-war, remember that these are people willing to protect everyone in our country. We have never had a conflict where we as a nation choose to participate or stand aside that has not had supporters and dissenters. This day is not a day to debate the merits or drawbacks of any military action. This day is for those who have not argued what is right and what is wrong. This day is for those who stepped up and did the job, with or without cheers or support.

If you visit a cemetery to decorate a relative’s grave, look around. That the chance to see who it was that made this day of peace and security possible. There is not a cemetery in America that does not have a headstone for a veteran, either fallen in battle or fortunate enough to have made it home to live life and die at an old age. These are not the ostentatious people who need attention. These are the people who do their duty, quietly and with dignity. Let your actions and appreciation be a memorial to your children for all who serve.

It is the VETERAN,

not the preacher,

who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN,

not the reporter,

who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN,

not the poet,

who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN,

not the campus organizer,

who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN,

not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN,

not the politician,

who has given us the right to vote.

Harold Camping may have been wrong, but that’s no reason to give up on numerology as a way to predict the end of the world.  The spirit of Joe Jackson appeared before me in a dream and gave me the all the details.

• There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball
• The teams are split into 2 leagues
• A team is allowed 3 outs per inning
• There are 3 strikes in a strikeout
• There are 4 balls in a walk

30 X 2 X 3 X 3 X 4 = 2160

Then, we have our deductions, which we subtract from this number

• There are 19 letters in “Major League Baseball”
• There are 14 letters in “National League”
• There are 14 letters in “American League”
• There are 54 outs in a game
• There are 6 divisions
• 8 teams make the playoffs
• The World Series has a maximum length of 7 games
• Playoff roster size is 25

2160 – 19 – 14 – 14 – 54 – 6- 8 – 7 – 25 = 2013

The world win end at the conclusion of the World Series in the year 2013.  Enjoy the time you have left.  Good day.

When I was a kid, I was a very frequent visitor at my school and public libraries.  I have always loved to read, and what a great deal – free books!  Truly a wonderful thing.

As I have gotten older and become an author myself, I have been plagued with doubts.  Are libraries actually stealing from authors by minimizing the value of the author’s intellectual property?  The logic is pretty basic – if you check out a book from the library instead of buying it, the author isn’t making any money from you.  From a financial perspective, authors would much prefer that every buy new copies of their books and keep them in their personal libraries – never setting foot in a public library or used book store, and never lending out any of your books.

Although I actually have a large personal library (around 600 books), I don’t even maximize revenue for my favorite authors.  I buy a majority of my books used – meaning that the money goes into the secondary market rather than back to the author and publishers.  However, at least I do not “churn” book – buying them used and then trading them in a short while later.  Books that enter my home, for the most part, stay there (although I do share some of them with co-workers) – so I’m basically taking them out of circulation.

For printed books, the revenue impact of libraries is minimized somewhat by the fact that books wear out over time – after a certain number of readings, the book needs to be replaced.  However, this is not the case with eBooks.  The bytes do not degrade over time – the text will look every bit as good the 100th time a book is read as it did the first time.  HarperCollins received a lot of negative publicity for imposing a limit of 26 checkouts for their eBooks.  After 26 checkouts, a library would need to purchase another copy of the book.  Essentially, what HarperCollins is going is having a license that deteriorates in the same manner as a physical copy of a book.

Is HarperCollins being fair?  Let’s think this through and use an extreme example.  Let’s say that a library purchases a hardcover copy of the 50th anniversary one volume edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  The cost of that 1178 page book is currently $25.08 on Amazon.  At the same time, the library purchases the Kindle version for $18.99.  Twenty years from now, the library will have replaced the hardcover copy many times – earning revenue for the publisher and author each time.  However, without the artificial limit imposed by HarperCollins, the library would have only needed to purchase one copy of the eBook.  The cost per reading of the eBook would be far less than for the hardcover – much more enjoyment per dollar.

I’m OK with HarperCollins imposing limits.  It seems fair to compensate the author and publisher on a per-reading basis. Granted, it’s not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, since the marginal cost of an eBook is far less than a printed book, due to the fact that the printed book is a physical item that must be manufactured and shipped.  Without some sort of expiration on an eBook license, a publisher could see their sales completely cannibalized by people who check out the eBook from their library without leaving their couch.  That’s a dangerous business model for publishers.

I’m siding with the publisher on that issue – but where do I stand on the question of whether or not libraries (and by extension, used book stores) rip off authors and publishers.

No.

In the end, I do think that libraries serve as a marketing vehicle for authors and publishers.  How many of us discovered our favorite authors on the shelves of a library, and then ended up buying future works by the author?  I’ve discovered some authors that way, and other via borrowed books from friends.  Eventually, I amassed a rather large collection of my own books, as a way to ensure that I always had an interesting assortment of books to read, and prefer not to be constrained by the time limits of the library (life can get busy at times, and it’s not always possible to finish a book quickly).

An astonishing thing happened last week. No it was not the Rapture, it was the fact I agreed with the theme of an article by The Crunchy Conservative. Yes I, The Angry Squirrel can not support a residential candidacy by one Newt Gingrich. I just can’t do it. Now I wouldn’t be able to support the candidacy of any person vying for the Republican nomination, but that is beside the point. Newt had a bad week and his candidacy was for all extensive purposes ended faster than he can spend 500,000 big ones at Tiffany’s, so Crunchy I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Nominating a candidate that has a shot at winning in the General Election, that’s a different story.

Now that Newt is out of the way, how does the Republican field play out? There is the constant talk of who’s in and who is out. The out side took another blow on Sunday Morning, when we found out that Gov. Mitch Daniels was the latest in the line of those seen as major players to decide now was not the right time to go after the Presidency. Also this past month, The Donald ended his desire for excessive personal attention from the media, officially announcing what we knew all along. That he was not running for President and would focus on hosting a crappy “reality” show.

Heck ever Paul Ryan has had to say he is not intending to run for the Presidency. Although he did not rule things out in the future, Maybe Vice President? He’ll need a job after 2012 after all, as I personally do not see him winning his district this time around, especially with the response to his Path to Poverty budget proposal.

It is a long ways before we even get to Iowa, so there is no need to rush to pick a candidate. No one seems to come to a consensus on who will get the nomination. After the entire field is pretty weak and all are flawed. Though I am pleased for them to have all the infighting they want on the way to a nomination. So let us line them up, look at them all and judge their worth for the nomination. Here are those in the race, officially or not.

So we have Mitt Romney. He has not officially announced yet that he running, but it is obvious he is going to be in the race. What else is he going to be doing with the over 10 million that he is raking in on a single day. Maybe he is repaying his personal coffers from his last failed Presidential bid? Despite having a monetary advantage and following the Republican principle that money can buy anything, Mitt is going to have a tough rough road to hoe in securing the nomination. He is downright boring and changes his stance on everything with however the electorate feels about something at the moment. There is also that thing about being the architect of Massachusetts’ Romneycare, which was the model for what resemblance of national health care “reform” that was actually passed by the Congress passed last time around.

Then you have Tim Pawlenty, or more amusingly known as T-Paw. The likely person to take the boring, “serious” Republican vote not named Willard. We will see how things go. While I do see T-Paw pushing Romney out of the race in the end, I am not sure he gets the nomination either as I honestly, as I don’t think there is much exciting to get behind there and I don’t foresee him being the firebrand to spew out what the majority of his party electorate will want to hear.

The more likely Minnesotan to make noise in the race if they were to get it in is Michelle Bachmann. However she is obviously waiting for Sarah to decide to throw her hat in and be the frontrunner to take the early states of Iowa and South Carolina with her downright nuttiness it will take to win over that electorate. Like I said though, she will wait for Palin to officially be in or out to decide anything as they are both the same type of candidate, an absolute moron. That is the type of stuff conservatives like to eat up though.

Speaking of Sister Sarah, she has that fire in her belly, whatever that means. That does not mean the temporary Governor of Alaska has entered into the race yet officially though. Nor has she said she is not going to run. Buying a big mansion in Arizona has not helped to squelch the will she or won’t she watch. Is that move for her Presidential ambitions, or for scoping out Jon Kyl’s Senate seat. I’d love to see that nomination race; neither would intend to say a factual statement the entire race. While in her warped little mind she thinks she can beat Obama in the general election, she is the only candidate in the race that will lose no matter what the conditions of the economy or the nation may be at time. In fact, she is the only Republican to poll losing to Dennis Kucinich. That being said I think that if she runs she has the likeliest chance at the nomination or having the most influence that with all the delegates she would have locked up regardless and have the nominee tied to her and her views for the general election.

Ron Paul? Sure he still has a following, but I do not see him as any factor I the race this time at all.

Don’t forget about the winner of the first and only debate so far, Herman Cain. Though he is “serious” candidate he stands as much chance of getting the nomination that his former employer does of being called gourmet food or not causing me to be in the bathroom for endless hours afterwards. Also he’ll never be a darling of the crowd he’ll need to woo to get the nod. He is charismatic I guess, but the Teabaggers are likely to question his birth certificate as well and would never see him as one of them. So I hope you enjoyed your one win in this process. He is correct I one thing he is not going to be running for second place, he is running for last.

That brings us to the final candidate talked about right now in the race, former Utah Governor and Obama Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman. He has decided to set up headquarters in Florida, though not officially in the race yet. He is the mot serious threat to the President I the election in my eyes, but he is also outside of Herman Cain the least likely to get the Republican nomination. Despite being a fiscal conservative, on other things he will not fit the conservative bill. Huntsman believes in things like the environment and civil unions. So unless you believe the environment is ours to use without consequence and that gay people are an evil that should be exterminated, quarantined or tortured until they say they won’t be gay no more; you are not going to get very far towards winning this nomination.

So there we have it the Republican race so far. There will be drop outs and add ins as we move forward, but one thing will remain crystal clear. I cannot support the candidacy of any of them. I just can’t do it.

Doesn’t it seem like no matter when you turn on the television, the majority of what’s on is reality based? As a society is that all we want to see anymore? I don’t consider shows like Survivor, The Amazing Race, or any other contest type show to be reality. I’m talking more about the shows about the housewives of wherever, The Real World on MTV, The Kardashians, etc. The shows that peer into the lives of people … but yet we must not be able to get enough because these types of shows seem to be more and more popular.

What if you had the opportunity to bring back your favorite sitcom? What show would you pick? If I had that chance, without hesitation, I’d beg to have The King of Queens back. It was on for 9 seasons, so it did run its course. And I have to admit, season 9 wasn’t all that great. I remember reading somewhere that the average “life” of a sitcom was somewhere around 6 or 7 years. After that, they typically begin to lose viewers.

The King of Queens is my all-time favorite sitcom. I laughed just about non-stop through every episode. The show was based out of Queens (duh!) and followed the lives of the Heffernan’s, Doug (IPS delivery driver) and Carrie (secretary at a law firm). And we can’t forget, Carrie’s dad Arthur Spooner who lived in the basement. I think I liked the show so much because it seemed like no matter what the episode was about, anybody could relate to the situation. And the show wouldn’t be nearly as funny if it weren’t for Arthur’s bizarre character, and his daily rants/feuds with Doug. If I could have the show back from when it was in its prime, I’d take it without thinking!

My favorite sitcom that is currently on is The Big Bang Theory. It’s definitely a quirky show that follows the lives of physicists/scientists and their unique social differences and how they try to overcome their differences. You can read my original review of the show. It took me awhile to get used to the “geekiness” of the show, but it’s definitely worked its way to a can’t miss for me.

Another current can’t miss is Mike and Molly, which just finished its first season. Mike (a Chicago cop) and Molly (a teacher) met through their overeaters anonymous group, went out on a date, and have been together ever since. The couple each has their own challenges … Molly dealing with her sister and mother who are both skinny and aren’t afraid to flaunt it in front of her, and Mike, who struggles to lose weight but is encouraged by his cop partner and best friend Carl. Definitely a comedy, and keeps you laughing.

If I had to pick a reality type show as a favorite, I think I’d pick Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives … yet I’m not even sure that could be considered a reality show. I love to cook, so I enjoy watching Guy Fieri travel the country and tasting all the great food at the local hotspots. I’ve been to a couple of places that have been on the show, and I have to say it’s pretty cool. I also like watching the show to see what unique foods all the different places are cooking to get ideas for my own creativeness.

What do you guys think? Which of your favorite shows would you like to have back … or are you stuck on reality TV and wouldn’t change a thing?

We’re nearly to Memorial Day, and the baseball races have begun to take shape.  What’s up?

AL East:

The Red Sox were annointed the favorites by many.  Then they stumbled out of the gate, losing their first six games and ten of their first twelve.  They were toast, right?  Nope, they have rallied and stand at 25-22, just a half game out of first place.

The Yankees are in first place, but I suspect that they are going to fall out of the race before the All-Star break.  There’s a lot of age on this team, and you can see it in the stats of some of the players (Jeter and Posada).  Father time can be cruel.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays lost Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena to free agency.  Surely they would feel the losses, right?  Well, the Devils are getting a lot from their pitchers, including a 5-2 record and 2.00 ERA from James Shields.  And before we applaud the Tampa management for the way they built a winner with a reasonable payroll, bear in mind that the foundation of the franchise would built upon a losing history (bad records = good draft picks).  They’ve done a nice job with the picks, but would not have had the chance to draft many of their players if they hadn’t sucked so bad in the past.

Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays is having an incredible year on the heels of his 54 homer performance last year.  He has 19 homers despite being walked frequently.  His 41 walks and .356 batting average give him a lofty .503 on base percentage and absurd 1.330 OPS.

Advantage: Boston’s experience will push them to the title.  They are 23-12 in their last 35 games.

AL Central:

The surprising Indians have opened up a 7 game lead in the Central.  Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera bounced back from injuries in 2010 and is hitting .312 with 10 homers and 34 RBI.  Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin are a combined 11-3 with a sub 2.50 ERA.

The Tigers are seven games back, and Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Rick Porcello all have ERAs of 3.08 or lower.  The Tigers are a solid team, and it’s possible they could cut into the Cleveland lead a bit – but if the Indians push this lead to 11 or 12 games by mid-June, this division race could be over.

Kansas City is going to be promoting some really talented guys very soon – they built a great farm system the Tampa Bay way, through many losing seasons.  Eric Hosmer is already up, and we should see Mike Moustakas at some point.  Alex Gordon seems to be figuring things out, as well (remember, he’s just 27 – not a lost cause).  The Royals will contend in future years, but this isn’t the year.

Advantage: Cleveland.  If they can manage one more hot streak and get the lead to double digits, I think they can turn out the lights on the rest of the division.  Looking up and seeing that the team you’re chasing has a lead of 10+ games is demoralizing.  One thing to watch is Cleveland’s home record.  So far this year, they are 11-11 on the road and 19-4 at home.  Obviously, they won’t win 83% of their home games this year – so watch to see how far this number falls.

AL West

The AL West is the only 4 team division in baseball (The NL Central has 6 teams, all other divisions have 5)  and all 4 teams are within 3 games of first place.

Texas has been without Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz and have still managed to stay in first place.  With the two sluggers back, they may be able to create some distance between themselves and the rest of the division.  Alexi Ogando has burst onto the scene with a 5-0 record and 1.81 ERA.  His success shouldn’t be a complete shock, as he was very effective out of the bullpen last year (1.30 ERA in 41 2/3 innings).

The Angels have lost 1B Kendrys Morales for the year, but are still within a half game of Texas.  Jered Weaver stole the spotlight early on, but Dan Haren is having a very good year, 4-2 with a 1.84 ERA.  Howie Kendrick is hitting .322 and tied with Mike Trumbo (the replacement for Morales) for the team lead with 7 homers.

In Seattle, not surprisingly, it’s all about the pitching.  While Felix Hernandez is off to a good start (3.01 ERA while leading the staff with 77 2/3 innings pitched), 22 year old Michael Pineda has been dominant – 6-2 with a 2.16 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .194 batting average.  The kid hasn’t had a bad game yet, and does a good job of limiting his walks.  The the Mariners were to somehow make the playoffs (they are just 1 1/2 games back) King Felix and Pineda would create a fearsome 1-2 matchup for other teams.

Finally, three games back, we find Oakland.  Their hitting is so mediocre (and their park is so pitcher friendly) that only Josh Willingham and Coco Crisp having a .400+ slugging percentage.  Their pitching, on the other hand, has been quite good.  Trevor Cahill (6-1, 1.79 ERA) leads the group, and the worst ERA in the rotation is 3.39 (Brandon McCarthy).

Advantage: Texas.  They’ve been able to hold serve with their big guys on the bench.  I think they are the most complete team.  I’d love to see Seattle and Oakland make a run, but they need more hitting.

That’s it for the American League.  We’ll cover the NL next week.

The following is a work of fiction.

Jerome crawled over the edge of the hill to peer into the valley below. He did not want to be spotted. He was sure that he was down wind, he could smell the beast. As long as he was very quiet, and stayed hidden, the beast would not know he was there.

There! There it was. It was awake, stalking before the white tent. Jerome could not even describe the foul creature. At times it walked on all fours, and at others on his two hind limbs. It grunted, it stank, it ate refuge. It was an animal, a dangerous animal that had to be destroyed. Jerome knew not how many people it had killed, and eaten. What he did know as that the Princess was in that tent. He alone of all the knights had stood forward to save her. He hoped he was not too late.

Jerome hated to just lay there and wait, but he knew that he had to know what the obstacles were. The tent, once bright and made for royalty, was now filthy, poorly set up, and yes, even bloody. The Princess had been with a guard of twenty four men and two ladies in waiting. The men had all died courageously, their bodies torn and scattered across the field of battle. The beast appeared injured. It seemed that at least one of the King’s men had scored a hit.

There were the remains of a fire in front of the tent, and what appeared to be the remains of a meal. Was the beast civilized? Was it aware of the importance of its captive? It had taken her alive, which was odd. How could it distinguish royal from common blood? Maybe it just captured women, killing all of the men because they were dangerous. Even animals could tell the difference between men and women.

There was a noise behind him. “Damn”, he thought. “I should have left the horse further away.” The beast had not heard, or appeared to not have heard. Jerome crept slowly around, away from the direction the noise had come from, but still down wind. It was early morning. He would eat cold biscuits and watch before trying to attack. He had to be careful. This was not just a fight, he had to ensure the safety of the Princess.

It was late in the morning before Jerome saw anyone else. The beast had gone down to the stream to bath, splashing a wallowing, making a great deal of noise. One of the Ladies in Waiting came out with a bucket. She went to the stream to get some water, careful to stay as far away from the beast as possible, going up stream to get clear water. The beast watched her until she was back in the tent. She was frightened, but appeared unhurt.

At mid-day, the beast kindled the fire and grunted to the tent. Both Ladies in Waiting came out. They cooked a meal. It smelled so good. Jerome had not eaten a hot meal in days. He crept nearer. He watched the food preparation and watched the beast. The animal had habits. It patrolled the area in a set pattern. It used the same tree to relieve itself. It spent the rest of its time watching the women and caring for its weapons.

When all was ready, the tent flap opened. The Princess came forth, still clean and radiant in her summer dress of white. Jerome stared. He had seen her at court, yet now she seemed even more beautiful. He crept even nearer. He told himself that it was to prepare for battle, but really he was drawn to the Princess.

The Princess ate with her ladies, then with a dignity that was overwhelming for Jerome, she arose and offered food to the beast. Jerome cursed under his breath. The princess was serving that animal. It was terrible. It had to be stopped. But Jerome waited.

The women cleaned up after the meal and retired to the tent. The beast patrolled again. Jerome feared that he had crept too close, but he was not detected. The beast curled up by the remains of the fire, blocking the exit of the tent, and went to sleep.

Now was the time. There would be no better opportunity. He crept silently through the brush. As he neared the sleeping beast, he rose up, and with more stealth than he thought he had, he approached. He stood over the beast, considering if he should slit its throat or drive his sward through it chest. Up close the beast almost appeared human. Its mane seemed a thick beard and unruly shock of hair. It did wear cloths, with a heraldic sign of a dragon sinking its talons into a lion. It slept secure in its own strength, not knowing that death was hovering over it.

One of the ladies stepped out of the tent, and seeing Jerome made a yelp of surprise. The beast awoke and seeing Jerome attacked. It swept with its great paw and threw Jerome to the ground. It took a second swipe as it rose, but Jerome rolled out of the way. It drew its sward as Jerome got back on his feet. The beast roared, charging Jerome, but its great weight was a hindrance against the agile young man. Jerome side stepped and brought his sward against the back of the beast. The beast whirled with remarkable speed and cut Jerome on the shoulder.

The women had all gathered at the entrance to the tent and watched. The battle continued, Jerome dancing out of the way of the beast, but the beast always getting some small strike back. Slowly, the combination of the injures from the fight with the guards and the strikes that Jerome was landing, the beast wore down. Finally, the beast lunged at Jerome to get him in a bear hug. Instead of jumping away, Jerome gripped his sward with both hands allowing the beast to impale itself. It stopped its forward rush an inch from Jerome’s face. Jerome could feel and smell its breath. As it sagged on Jerome’s sward, Jerome was dragged down to the ground. They both laid there for a moment, the women were sure that both of them were dead.

Jerome got up on his knees, and with all his strength, drew his sward free of the body of the beast. The ladies rushed forward, the Princess foremost. “You are hurt, valiant knight” she said and she brushed his hair from his forehead. She ordered the Ladies in Waiting to fetch water as she used the sleeve of her dress to wipe the sweat and blood from his face. Jerome could not believe it. The Princess was touching him, Jerome, the lowest of knight. He dropped to one knee, “Your Highness, it is my privilege to serve.”

Suddenly, Jerome had a new pain. Something had struck his left thigh. “Get up you lazy git! My horse was supposed to be saddled at sunrise. If I am late, I will add ten more stripes to what you deserve for sleeping in.” Prince Hugo stomped off. Jerome limped off to saddle the horse. He carefully spread the silk ceremonial blanket before hoisting the saddle and gear into place. He had to rearrange it several times to get it right, but he had to or there would be even more stripes. He bushed down the sides to make sure that Prince Hugo’s pageant was showing. After all, he was riding to his wedding. All the kingdom would be watching as he rode in. The pageant had to be perfect, a dragon slaying a lion.

I’m going to ramble on a lot of topics today, so bear with me.  Or stop reading.  The choice is yours.

If I Had Two Million Dollars, I’d Be Poor …

Leroy Fick on Michigan won $2 million on a television show affiliated with the Michigan lottery in 2010.  A year later, he’s on food stamps.  Has he fallen on hard times?  Well, lottery winnings are considered assets, but not income, are aren’t used to determine eligibility for assistance.  Federal guidelines DO use assets to determine eligibility, but Michigan (and at least 40 other states) have a waiver that allows them to ignore assets.  I’m sure that the thought process behind the waiver was well-intentioned (perhaps so that you wouldn’t have to sell your house to buy bread if you were laid off?), but I suspect that nobody ever dreamed that a lottery winner would apply for assistance.  The state is not aware of any other lottery winners receiving food stamps, and is quickly moving to close the loophole.

I think (hope) many of us would feel very blessed if we won the lottery, and use some of that money to help others – instead of taking money out of public coffers (although I guess that’s one way to reover what you’ve paid in taxes).

How does a lottery winner have no investment income, you ask? Easy. Put to money into investment funds that don’t pay dividends. You don’t have any income until you sell.

Baseball

The general manager of the Washington Nationals has indicated that 18 year old prospect Bryce Harper will not play in the Major Leagues this year, not even as a “September call-up” when rosters are expanded to 40 players on September 1.  This seems like a smart move.  Unless the Nationals are in contention late in the year, there’s no reason to rush Harper’s development.  He’s demolishing low-A pitching right now, and would expect him to be promoted to high-A soon, and probably to AA before the end of the year.  However, he still needs to polish some of his skills, and a 2012 debut makes a lot of sense.

On the topic of talented youngsters, I’m pegging Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro as a lock for 3000 hits.  Castro has a lot of things going for him – not only is he young (21), but he hits in the early part of the order and doesn’t walk much (both of which boost his at bats).  As long as he doesn’t develop much power, he could be in the 1 or 2 hole in the order for many years to come, and if he doesn’t walk much he might make a push for 700 at bats some years.  You only need a .286 batting average to get 200 hits in 700 at bats.  If he stays healthy at consistently hits above 300, you might even see Castro make a run at 4000 hits.

Giants fan Bryan Stow remains in the hospital after he was beaten severely by two men at Dodger Stadium on March 31.  Despite a $200,000 reward and composite drawings of the two attackers, they have not been apprehended.  I find it unlikely that nobody knows who the attackers are, and I hope someone comes forward.  How can you sleep at night if you know who is responsible for this terrible crime?  I have as much hatred for the Giants as anyone, but it’s absolutely crazy to carry things this far.  We can have healthy rivalries without violence.  Best wishes, Bryan.

Jim Tressel

Ohio State will not be paying the legal expenses football coach Jim Tressel incurs as part of an ongoing NCAA investigation.  This seems perfectly fair, since Tressel kept the university in the dark, rather that taking the correct steps of informing his athletic director and compliance director when he learned of potential violations.  I’m hoping to see the NCAA drop the hammer hardon Tressel … but I’m not overly confident in the NCAA, given their spotty decision-making history.

Fiction status

I’m going to cut back on my short stories for a while. I’ll still try to write 2 stories per month for the site. I’ll likely shift those stories to Saturday and have a different type of article on Fridays.

The first class of my fiction school wrapped up. There were several delays, most of them caused by me. However, it was a very rewarding experience. My job ended up being a lot more difficult than I imagined, simple because of the relatively high level of polish the writers exhibited. I was expected to have to point out more flaws in technique, but the three writers in the class put forward some very fine work. Maybe you’ll see some of their work on this site in the future.

I’m working to get some traction on my novel (which is why I’m cutting back on stories a bit). I recently wrote a new beginning for the book – a prologue that shows the villain planning for the evil that will come. The prologue had gotten rave reviews … now I just need to write 90,000+ more words to finish the book.

New Logo

The parent organization for The Soap Boxers, Hyrax Publications LLC, has a new logo.  Scroll to the bottom to see it.  It’s a bit minimalist, but I like it.

Each year around this time, if you follow the gaming industry at all, you’ve no doubt heard lots about the E3 Expo that takes place in June. Attendees of the Expo are offered a chance to see the future of the gaming/entertainment industry. Things such as the new Wii will most likely be on display. In years past, the soon to be released version of the PS3 was available to test, and the same goes for the Xbox 360.

My question to you is … would you go? It’s reported that tens of THOUSANDS or people attend the 3 day event. This year, it’s possible that over 80 countries will be represented at the Expo. Is it worth the hassle of dealing with the crowd to test a product that is most likely still in development? Meaning, you’re not even testing the finished version of the product. Or, would you rather just wait to read the review on the items that were tested?

My answer to my own question is … I can wait to read the reviews! I would not want to deal with the crowds to try certain futuristic products, let alone pay the $500 fee to attend! Yes, I said $500. That’s crazy! Don’t get me wrong, if I could attend for free, and I was the only person there … well maybe not the only, but not with thousands of others, I’d definitely be interested in attending. Video games at this point is high on my hobby list, and to be one of the first to try new products would be pretty cool. But paying the astronomical fee along with the travel just isn’t worth it to me.

Would it be worth it to you?

I Just Can’t Do It

Sorry Nike, but I just can’t do it. Support Gingrich that is. Can I support Pawlenty? Sure. Can I support Palin? Yes. Can I even support Herman Cain? Why not? But Gingrich? No.

Being smarter than my age, in 7th grade we had a science project where we fed pop and junk food to newts. My newt was the control newt and he survived the experiment. So at the end of the project (against my mother’s wishes) I got to take him home. And being more in the news loop than your typical 7th grade girl, I had named him Mr. Gingrich. Yes, without even knowing it, I was a political nerd. At the ripe young age of 12.

I loved Mr. Gingrich (the newt). I had to put a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the fishbowl with a rubber band holding it on (with holes poked in the top) after Mr. Gingrich figured out how to crawl out of the bowl. One day I heard my mom screaming bloody murder and she was on a chair in the kitchen with a tiny little newt crawling on the floor.

I was a newt hunter at the age of 12. Now I’m a RINO hunter. For those of you who don’t know, RINO stands for Republican In Name Only.

Gingrich has been in the race for one week and he’s already had to apologize to someone. Not the best start. His website says, “Together we will Win The Future.” I think Obama tried to use that phrase. And I chuckle. Together we will WTF. I’m tuned in enough to social media to know what that means. Any time someone uses that it makes me SMH. Look it up.

Being a 30 something female in the Republican party, I’m trying to fight the stereotype. What do people think of when they say Republican? Old white males with white hair. And that describes Newt to a T. Let’s get away from the stereotype.

Not to mention the revolving charge account that he and the Mrs. had at Tiffany’s. I like bling and sparkly things as much as the next girl. But the liability was reported in the range of $250,001 to $500,000. Fiscal Conservative? People are usually more conservative with their OWN money. If he spends his own cash like this, how will he spend our tax dollars? Once a Grassley staffer, always a Grassley staffer I guess. I prefer my fiscal Conservatives to be Grassley-esque.

Now, if he does end up becoming the 2012 GOP candidate, I will vote for him, reluctantly. Obama’s got to go. But with the field being as saturated with “better” Conservatives, I don’t see Newt getting the nomination.

I just need a good fiscal Conservative who is pro-life, pro-family, pro-military, pro-business, small Government and says what he/she means. Is that too much to ask?