BASEBALL DIARY:
White Sox 6, Tigers 2: the problems here were 1] Rick Porcello has been inconsistent; as a starting pitcher, he's just 3-4 this season, and yesterday gave up 4 runs in 7 innings; and 2] Detroit several times in this game failed to get a runner home from 3rd base with less than 2 outs. From the linked article:
"Detroit entered the game with a .475 success rate of scoring runners from third with less than two outs, leading just three teams in the category, according to STATS LLC."
That's got to improve.
But it was Rangers 8, Angels 7: the Rangers sweep a 2-game series against their division rivals. Now they play the Orioles and Cubs at home the rest of this week, and have a chance to do well. The key to the game last night was the Rangers' bullpen: after falling behind 7-3, the bullpen shut down the Angels for 4 and 2/3 innings...
POLITICS UPDATE DEPT:
So you hear a lot today about debt and debt crises--in Greece, in Britain, in the EU, in Europe as a whole. Why are they in so much debt? George Will today proposes an answer:
"It is said that, two decades after the end of Europe's East-West political division, there is a North-South cultural division. But Ireland's and, even more, Britain's debt problems refute that distinction. Britain's debt, Europe's worst, is the result of increasing government spending from 37 percent of GDP to 53 percent in a decade. The London Spectator says no other European nation "has expanded its government as quickly -- over this or any other decade in postwar history."
Meanwhile, sure enough, as we predicted here, Arlen Specter is done. In the end, it was his party switch--which looked to too many folks like opportunism--that did him in. Guess what--conservatives won't miss him...
And, sure enough again, in Connecticut, the Senate race there has greatly tightened--Democrat Richard Blumenthal is no longer a sure thing...
But in the Arizona Republican senatorial primary, I'm not seeing much movement there in the polls, as John McCain tries to hold off challenger J.D. Hayworth. Right now, I'm expecting McCain to survive...
And it was definitely disappointing to see Republicans lose that special election for John Murtha's old House seat in PA. If it's going to be a true huge Republican "wave" this fall, you'd expect the GOP to win races like that.
Yet another reason to avoid overconfidence, and to work like the dickens...
There was good news for the GOP last night in Arkansas, however:
"Will Bill Halter in Arkansas be the next outsider to win? It’s quite possible since Halter forced incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) into a June 8 run-off, with Lincoln getting just 45% to Halter’s 43% (and another candidate, D.C. Morrison, got a surprising 13%). In the physics of politics, you have to assume that much of the Morrison vote would end up going to the challenger Halter and not the incumbent Lincoln. In fact, according to our back-of-the-envelope math, Halter wins in a two-way if he gets only 60% of the Morrison vote. Organized labor and progressive groups are touting their active campaigning -- and millions of dollars -- for Halter. But the biggest winner in Arkansas last night was clearly John Boozman (R), who was able to avoid a run-off in the GOP’s crowded eight-candidate Senate primary by getting 53% of the vote. Folks, Boozman goes into the general election as the clear favorite to win this seat in November."
Meanwhile, Americans strike back against liberal health nazis:
"The Double Down [a chicken "sandwich" consisting of two chicken filets sandwiching bacon and cheese] came onto the market on April 12 and was supposed to have lasted about six weeks. But it tapped into Americans' fascination with quirky food and became a viral-marketing sensation. People posted videos of themselves eating the sandwich on sites like YouTube, and celebrities like Stephen Colbert gobbled it up.
KFC said it has been one of its most successful sandwich launches ever. Later this month, KFC expects to sell its 10 millionth Double Down. They cost about $5."
