Mike Richter promotes global warming without mentioning his climate business interests

NHL Hall of Fame goalie Mike Richter preaches catastrophic man made global warming which he says deprives his son the sight of iced ponds and is a threat to national security. Richter does not mention his financial ties to the climate industry in the article nor readily available records about Vancouver's typically mild climate.

• At the end of the article a line says, "Mike Richter...is a partner at a New York private equity firm" but does not say that the firm deals exclusively in climate-related investments.

• Many scan an article or don't have time to read to the very end. In this case, even if they did, no one would know of Richter's financial ties to the subject
• about which he emoted and cited national security concerns.

People also may not assume key information would be withheld, not to say intentionally, in articles from McClatchy. Especially when a publisher takes the extra step of identifying Richter's ties to an "equity group" and leaves out the word "climate" which makes all the difference.

• The connection doesn't automatically make him or his business interest wrong though one would have to be ignorant of the news not to consider the point. Readers should not be deprived of the business connection in any case.

Suggesting Vancouver's normal climate is a victim of global warming, Richter mentions snow needing to be trucked to Vancouver, which residents of Vancouver could tell you was not surprising. While he allows that weather is not necessarily climate, he says this sight could draw world attention to the problem of global warming. Vancouver's average climate in February does not yield snow.

• And, even its lowest average temperatures are not below freezing. So even if it snowed, it would melt quickly. This is normal for that area over many years.

He goes on to claim that recent weather conditions in Boston showed a "poignant connection with climate change."

• Reference: "Unfrozen Ponds and Climate Change," by Mike Richter, JuneauEmpire.com, a McClatchy Newspaper. via Tom Nelson

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With MLB change in tax status, Selig salary can remain secret

Bud Selig's last known salary was in 2007 for $18.3 million a 22% increase from the previous year (a taboo subject among Selig's rank and file as he is their job bank). MLB Inc.'s tax status was changed from non-profit to for profit in 2007.

• As a result, he no longer has to disclose his salary (or Bob Du Puy's), per Sports Business Journal which says

• the change was made in part to avoid pesky public disclosures of this kind. So his salary could be much higher now but it's secret.

What is MLB hiding? They want public testing of all its players, why shouldn't their records be out in the sunshine? At minimum, MLB should not assume the morally superior position of lecturing ordinary Americans to donate to charity unless it makes its own income and donations public.

• NY Post: "The Dodgers last week announced that tickets to their three-game series against the Yankees will be put on sale March 6 -- with one catch.
• For every Yankees-Dodgers ticket one buys, one must buy a 14, 21 or 28-game ticket package. Minimally, it's a
• buy-14/ get-one deal.

A few days before Selig gave this latest-in-a-series extortion his tacit approval, the Cubs announced a tickets "pre-sale." Jump to the head of the Cubs ticket line -- if you're willing to pay 15-20 percent over face value.

• This latest Selig-allowed scalp job is in concert with MasterCard, which has become the official ticket-scalping partner of the Cubs, much the way American Express auctions off tickets above face value and shares the take with Madison Square Garden.

A few years ago, the Cubs fed thousands of tickets to a team executive, who set up a ticket-brokerage business. Incredible. But who was going to stop them, Bud Selig?

• Selig's annual salary -- in the $18 million neighborhood -- can buy a lot of
• silence and neglect.
• Looking the other way surely must be the first unspoken term of his engagement.

Our commissioners rarely have to suffer the shame, the kind they deserve when they pretend to serve the best interests of their game -- when they're actually the concierges of team owners' counting parlors. Shame on our

• path-of-least-resistance media."...

Reference: Sports Business Journal, 2/2/09, "Selig's pay climbs past $18 million," by Eric Fisher

• NY Post by Phil Mushnick, 2/29/10, "He's not your Bud"

A commenter to the NY Post article:

• "I'm Guiseppe Franco, 02/28/2010 11:07 AM

As an alternative to the $850 single game Yankee ticket, you can get a 71-game season ticket the the New Britain Rock Cats (Twins AA affiliate). Its one of the best minor league parks around and has great energy on those sold out weekend nights. Plus you would have $200 left over for beer money."

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Jay Greenberg Best & Worst in NY Sports-NY Post

Greenberg has 3 candidates in each category.

• "OVERRATED

• 1. Joba Chamberlain, Yankees: Three-plus pitches that recommended him for a starting role didn’t help him get the same guy out three times rather than just once. As a rule, most relievers are failed starters.

• 2. Devin Harris, Nets: Can’t defend the lane. Or 6-52. Fails to make teammates better, only remnants of fan base bitter. Eventually filling his predecessor’s sneaks? You gotta be Kidding.

• 3. Jason Bay, Mets: Beware of free agents coming off career years. Particularly, a Fenway year. Team says it must get more athletic, then ties itself for five years to a friendly guy in a park unfriendly to his strengths."...

"Jay Greenberg's 14th annual NY sports rankings," NY Post, 2/23, updated 2/28/10

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Olympics restricted practice on deadly luge track by non-Canadians to hoard medals for the host- NY Times

NY Times: "What should have been taken much more seriously, of course, were complaints about excessive speeds at the luge track. For a year, athletes expressed their concerns. No one listened, and Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia died after losing control at nearly 90 miles an hour.

In building the world’s fastest track, luge officials also made it too dangerous.

• And they restricted its use for training by athletes from countries other than Canada,

• in a misguided attempt to hoard medals.

It is the same reckless appropriation of the Olympic motto – Faster, Higher, Stronger – that drives athletes to enhance their chances through better if illicit chemistry."

• "The Wintery Games with the Summery Smile," NY Times by Jere Longman, 2/27/10

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Signs from NY City Tea Party first anniversary downtown Manhattan, 2/27/10

all photos from UrbanInfidel.blogspot.com, via Gateway Pundit Response to Tea Party haters like Keith Olbermann-Kampf and Jerrold Nadler from UrbanInfidel

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Rain in Tampa--obvious proof of global warming

Fans wait in the rain hoping to get a glimpse or an autograph at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, 2/27/10. photo Noah K. Murray, Star-Ledger, USpresswire

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Baseball Prospectus Q&A at Yogi Museum Sunday, Feb. 28

"The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center is hosting a Q&A discussion on Sunday with some of the minds behind Baseball Prospectus. Panelists include Kevin Goldstein, Jay Jaffe, Christina Kahrl and Steven Goldman. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for students. Call (973) 655-6891 or check out www.yogiberramuseum.org for more information."

• from Star-Ledger, 2/27/10, by Marc Carig

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Sports talk on FM in Chicago looking more likely

"The January Arbitron radio ratings book released Wednesday has perfectly set the stage for what most in the Chicago radio business are convinced will be the next big move here: an FM sports station for a sports-obsessed city.

• The smart money is betting that CBS Radio Chicago will move -- sooner rather than later -- to simulcast it's hugely popular sports talk WSCR-AM (670) on one of the FM stations in the CBS Radio Chicago cluster. The most likely candidate would appear to be adult contemporary WCFS-FM (105.9),
• which was still languishing in 26th place overall among adults 25 to 54 in the January ratings book. In recent weeks an aggressive ad campaign to draw listeners to WCFS hasn't succeeded in boosting the station's ratings in that key audience demo....

It's going to take a couple more books to determine whether the changes at Citadel Broadcasting's news/talk WLS-AM (890) will boost that station from its disappointing 24th ranking in the January book in the 25 to 54 demo -- a ranking it shares with arch-competitor Tribune Co.-owned WGN-AM (720).

• WGN-AM is likely to get a boost from its Chicago Cubs broadcasts starting in April.

But WLS-AM is still waiting for its star afternoon drive host Roe Conn to get back on track. His show was ranked 23rd in January among adults 25 to 54."

• from Chicago Sun-Times by Lewis Lazare, "Ratings reveal sports talk on FM dial looking more likely," 2/25/10, via RadioDailyNews

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Boston sports radio wars in high gear

""The simmering feud between the city’s two sports radio powerhouses boiled over yesterday when a WEEI producer got slapped with a one-week suspension for texting “vulgar” messages to upstart rival the Sports Hub.

• Andy Massaua, who works for Glenn Ordway’s “The Big Show,” was suspended yesterday and has been banned from texting anyone at WBZ-FM (98.5).

“Andy (has to) think about, and reflect, on his irresponsible and sophomoric actions that will not be tolerated by this station,” said WEEI-AM (850) program honcho Jason Wolfe....

• The texts...were aimed at several Sports Hub employees, including (Damon) Amendolara and Chuck Perks, who does sports updates and used to work at WEEI....

Amendolara, who never identified Massaua by name, said the texter’s number was the first the station ever “red-flagged” as a problem. The station called the phone number and got the ’EEI producer’s voice mail, he said.

• “We’ve got a pretty good sense of humor about ourselves, but you just can’t be vulgar,” Amendolara told listeners."...

from Boston Herald, "WEEI guy's texting ignites radio war," by Jessica Heslam, 2/27/10, via RadioDailyNews

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Unemployment group wants Jim Bunning ousted from Baseball Hall of Fame

"Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) should be ousted from the Baseball Hall of Fame because of his block on extending unemployment benefits, according to a group that advocates for the unemployed. The benefits expire Sunday."...

• Update: Headlines and stories can be misleading, it turns out. There is more to it than unfunded unemployment benefits. At the very end of one article:

The "short term extension bill includes:

• •Unemployment insurance: extends unemployment benefits increased payouts and longer duration of benefits through April 5
• •Health Insurance COBRA benefits: extends COBRA health insurance subsidy through March 28
• •Medicare doctor Payment: delays a scheduled cut in Medicare physician payments through March 28
• •Highway funding: highway project funding through March 28
• •Flood Insurance: extends National Flood Insurance Program through March 28
• •Satellite Television: extends copyright license used by satellite television providers through March 28." from CBS News

• (continuing from The Hill): “The most obscene thing he can do is prevent jobless Americans from getting their $350 a week unemployment check,” Rick Sloan, acting executive director of Ur Union of Unemployed, a grass roots organization for unemployed Americans, told The Hill.

Sloan’s group is creating an online petition to remove Bunning from Baseball’s Hall of Fame. The list is expected to be operational by the weekend.

• “His legacy as a great ball player is about to be surpassed by his reputation as an obstinate and uncaring ideologue,” Sloan said in a statement....

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has tried for three days to extend the expiring employment provisions, only to be rebuffed by Bunning who demands the bill’s $10 billion cost be offset. Reid has argued the legislation is for emergency reasons and therefore offsets are not required....

• “His heartless actions mean millions will not receive their unemployment checks. For his stance, he should be ejected from the Hall of Fame and
• installed in the Hall of Shame,” Sloan said.

To overcome Bunning’s roadblock, Reid could add a list of expiring tax breaks to the measure in hopes he will curry favor from the Kentucky lawmaker. It is unclear if this strategy will work.

• Lobbying sources say legislation extending tax and unemployment benefits could be debated Monday."

"Unemployment group wants Bunning ousted from Baseball Hall of Fame," The Hill, by Jay Heflin, 2/26/10, via Gateway Pundit

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Best Buy joins Soros cap and trade pressure group, so I'll shop elsewhere

I've bought several computers from Best Buy and was getting ready to buy another until I read they joined a George Soros group called Biceps to pressure the US into cap and trade legislation. Cap and trade makes the rich richer via carbon "auctions" and carbon trading. Catastrophic man-made global climate change does not exist but would not be cured by a fake stock market selling crime infested carbon offsets anyway. Best Buy's statement about its advocacy:

• "Laura Bishop, Best Buy's senior director of government relations, said in a statement. "We are honored to join BICEP in their efforts to

• advance legislation addressing climate change and promoting a clean energy economy."

Among the group's nine founding principles: setting short-term and long-term greenhouse gas reduction targets, adopt a national renewable energy standard,

• establish a cap-and-trade system and

• restrict construction of coal-fired plants only to those that capture and store CO2."...****

One handy re-education tool in the article is use of the term

• "energy footprint" as synonymous with "carbon footprint."

This provides for eventual death of the entire carbon endangerment scheme allowing the idea of "energy" awareness alone to keep global carbon trading scams alive.

• Best Buy is among those who think this approach makes them caring and compassionate stewards of the "global commons." Perhaps not, perhaps they're just an average scared company who agreed to be shaken down.

Care of the environment is important but completely different from the CO2 endangerment industry which cares nothing for the environment. The two separate issues have recently been presented as one for the benefit of billionaire hedge funds, "green" funds, and the like. Environmental awareness should be the normal course of events. We obviously need to care for our air, water, and land and be aware of their natural changes.

• Normal environmental care has been blended with the vast industry created around a 'carbon footprint' for the purpose of enriching
• hedge fund billionaires and others.

The idea of CO2 endangerment is being used as an excuse for a global stock or commodity scheme trading 'carbon offsets' which can't cure the environment, and doesn't claim to.

• The 'climate industry' can make more money if people believe a preoccupation with CO2 is part of everyday care of the environment.
• Carbon markets are already the biggest profit centers at investment banks in Europe.
• Trillions are already at stake in 'climate' related hedge funds who planned on making even more from US taxpayers. One fund alone has $8 trillion on the line including public employee stakes.
• Organized crime has found carbon markets to take over.
• The need to care for the environment should not be confused or hijacked by carbon trading profiteers. ed.

Among companies in Bicep, the Soros cap and trade legislative pressure group listed on their website:

• Best Buy
• Levi Strauss & Co.
• Nike
• Starbucks
• Sun Microsystems
• Timberland
• Symantec
• Gap
• Ben & Jerry's
• Aspen Skiing Co.
• The North Face

Bicep is described on its website as "a project of Ceres."

• From a 3/12/09 Bicep press release:

"About Ceres Ceres, which helped organize BICEP, is a leading coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change. For more information, visit http://www.ceres.org"

• Ceres Equity Shareholders website
• Includes Soros Private Equity Partners

There are at least 5 times as many catastrophic man-made climate lobbyists in Washington DC

• as there are members of congress.****

Guardian UK: ""The great achievement of the (Kyoto) protocol was not to reduce carbon emissions –

• they actually rose at an increasing rate under its watch, three times faster in the early 2000s than during the 1990s –

but to create a market in emissions rights and notional emissions reductions

• worth tens of billions of dollars a year."...

from "Don't Let the Carbon Market Die," by Oliver Tickell, UK Guardian, 1/25/10 (paragraph 3 in article)

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Spring training MLB games on XM radio in 2010

Starting March 3, 2010.

• "3/3/2010
• Mets @ Braves 1:05PMET XM 183
• Rays @ Orioles 1:05PMET XM 177
• Pirates @ Yankees 1:05PMET XM 176
• Giants @ Mariners 3:05PMET XM 184

• 3/4/2010
• Pirates @ Braves 1:05PMET XM 183
• Yankees @ Phillies 1:05PMET XM 184
• Blue Jays @ Tigers 1:05PMET XM 176
• Athletics @ Cubs 3:05PMET XM 186
• Brewers @ Giants 3:05PMET XM 185
• Rockies @ Diamondbacks 3:05PMET XM 187
• Rangers @ Royals 3:05PMET XM 178
• Twins @ Red Sox 7:05PMET XM 177

• 3/5/2010
• Nationals @ Braves 1:05PMET XM 183
• Astros @ Tigers 1:05PMET XM 184
• Phillies @ Blue Jays 1:05PMET XM 185
• Red Sox @ Twins 1:05PMET XM 176
• Indians @ Reds 3:05PMET XM 186
• Brewers @ Athletics 3:05PMET XM 178
• Rangers @ Royals 3:05PMET XM 177
• Dodgers @ White Sox 3:05PMET XM 187
• Padres @ Mariners 3:05PMET XM 188

Game times and broadcast schedule are subject to change."

• Kindly transcribed by poster jeff2411 at XMFan.com

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MLB spring training games 2010

MLB spring training games, 2010, beginning March 2.

• Which of these games will be on XM satellite radio.

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MLB Network to televise 78 spring training games

"MLB Network released its spring training telecast schedule, which consists of 78 games — 45 of them live. Games will be blacked out in home markets of both participating teams (the Yankees and Mets for (Albany) Capital Region fans, although in most cases those telecasts will be available on YES or SNY).

The schedule (live games in boldface):

• Tuesday, March 2

1:00: Atlanta Braves at New York Mets

• Wednesday, March 3

1:00: Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Yankees

• Thursday, March 4

1:00: St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets 7:00: New York Yankees at Philadelphia Phillies 11:00: Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels

• Friday, March 5

1:00: Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees 7:00: Cleveland Indians at Cincinnati Reds

• Saturday, March 6

1:00: Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees 7:00: Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Dodgers

• Sunday, March 7

1:00: Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles 7:00: Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels

• Monday, March 8

1:00: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees 7:00: Seattle Mariners at Milwaukee Brewers

• Tuesday, March 9

1:00: Houston Astros at New York Mets 7:00: Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves 11:00: Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers

• Wednesday, March 10

3:00: Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers 7:00: Baltimore Orioles at Pittsburgh Pirates

• Thursday,March 11

1:00: Boston Red Sox at New York Mets 7:00: Atlanta Braves at New York Yankees

• Friday, March 12

1:00: New York Yankees at Washington Nationals 7:00: Los Angeles Angels at Cleveland Indians

• Saturday, March 13

1:00: Minnesota Twins at Philadelphia Phillies 7:00: Pittsburgh Pirates at Boston Red Sox

• Sunday, March 14

1:00: Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins 5:00: Cleveland Indians at San Diego Padres 9:00: New York Yankees at Pittsburgh Pirates

• Monday, March 15

1:00: Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers 5:00: Cleveland Indians at Milwaukee Brewers 10:00: Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox

• Tuesday, March 16

1:00: Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves 5:00: San Francisco Giants at Cleveland Indians 10:00: Detroit Tigers at Philadelphia Phillies

• Wednesday, March 17

1:00: Atlanta Braves at Florida Marlins 5:00: Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Dodgers 10:00: Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners

• Thursday, March 18

1:00: Houston Astros at Detroit Tigers 7:00: Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees 11:00: Milwaukee Brewers at Texas Rangers

• Friday, March 19

1:00: St. Louis Cardinals at Florida Marlins 7:00: New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays 11:00: Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox

• Saturday, March 20

1:00: Philadelphia Phillies at Detroit Tigers 5:00: Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants 10:00: Arizona Diamondbacks at Seattle Mariners

• Sunday, March 21

1:00: Baltimore Orioles at Philadelphia Phillies 5:00: Texas Rangers at San Diego Padres 10:00: Colorado Rockies at Kansas City Royals

• Monday, March 22

4:00: Colorado Rockies at Cincinnati Reds 9:00: Cleveland Indians at Chicago Cubs

• Tuesday, March 23

4:00: Chicago Cubs at Kansas City Royals 9:00: Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins

• Wednesday, March 24

4:00: Arizona Diamondbacks at Chicago White Sox 10:00: Seattle Mariners at San Diego Padres

• Thursday, March 25

4:00: Texas Rangers at Los Angeles Angels 10:00: Oakland Athletics at San Francisco Giants

• Friday, March 26

4:00: Oakland Athletics at Chicago Cubs 9:00: Kansas City Royals at Los Angeles Dodgers

• Saturday, March 27

1:00: Washington Nationals at New York Mets 5:00: San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Angels 10:00: Texas Rangers at Milwaukee Brewers

• Sunday, March 28

1:00: Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox 5:00: Cleveland Indians at Los Angeles Angels 9:00: Chicago Cubs at Seattle Mariners

• Monday, March 29

7:00: Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 11:00: Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres

• Tuesday, March 30

4:00: Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies 9:00: St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets

• Wednesday, March 31

4:00: Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies 9:00: Houston Astros at Atlanta Braves

• Thursday, April 1

4:00: Colorado Rockies at Chicago Cubs 10:00: Oakland Athletics at San Francisco Giants

• Friday, April 2

6:00: St. Louis Cardinals at Minnesota Twins 10:00: Oakland Athletics at San Francisco Giants

• Saturday, April 3

2:00: Toronto Blue Jays at Houston Astros 6:00: Boston Red Sox at Washington Nationals 10:00: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Los Angeles Dodgers

• Sunday, April 4

3:00: Seattle Mariners at San Francisco Giantsu"

• from Albany Times-Union, 2/25/10

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Mel Stottlemyre and Brandon Webb at Diamondbacks spring training

Top Mel Stottleymyre with Brandon Webb, bottom Ian Kennedy, former Yankee pitcher, bunts, both Diamondbacks spring training, ap

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KCSP broadcasts live from spring training for Royals fans; more games on tv for Bay Area fans

"Kudos to KCSP 610 Kansas City for getting Royals fans in the spirit as early as this week. "Afternoon Saloon" host Chris Hamblin is broadcasting live back to K.C. from the Royals' camp in Surprise AZ.

• Next week, 9 to 11 AM host Nick Wright will be live from Surprise, with morning host Bob Fescoe on the air from AZ during the March 8 to 12 week.
• The station also has begun expanded coverage for these 5 weeks from 10 AM to Noon each Saturday. ****

Texas Rangers fans will have even more to keep track of during spring training than the new faces on the roster. Although 14 of the Rangers exhibition games will be broadcast on radio, it seems that

• 5 weekday games will air on The Fan 105.3, but the 9 weekend broadcasts will air on KRLD 1080. Eric Nadel and Dave Barnett return for another season of the play-by-play, for those with the patience to find them....

Once the regular season begins in April, the Bay Area will finally have its fair share of TV games. After years of being the one part of the country with the least TV coverage in the big leagues, the progress has been amazing over the past 5 years. Even if you need to have cable or satellite TV which carries the right network.

• Comcast SportsNet Bay Area will show 136 Giants games this season, along with ex-players Rich Aurilia and and F.P. Santangelo handling the surrounding programming.

Comcast SportsNet California will air 145 A's games, and has added former standout player Carney Lansford to its surrounding crew. The pre-game crew is planning to be live at the Coliseum for "Tailgate Tuesdays" leading in to the home games. It wasn't that long ago when you couldn't see even 100 games total between the 2 teams over the course of a season, including cable coverage."

• from Dave Kohl's column Radio Recordings via RadioDailyNews

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Shafer on ESPN v Kornheiser-the suits could look in a mirror

Jack Shafer, Slate: "I dunno, but if the network (ESPN) is worried that sex talk will damage its reputation, it's sending in its cavalry a little late.

• See this allegation of sexual harassment at ESPN, or this blowup, or this one, or this firing of a baseball analyst for having an affair with a young production assistant....

The ESPN brass is punishing Kornheiser for being Kornheiser when they should be punishing themselves for running their network like a high-school locker room.

• When ESPN frees Kornheiser from the penalty box—as it surely will soon—I'd like to see it prove its sincerity

by stuffing one of the network's executives in the box for a time-out of his own."

• from Slate, 2/23,10, "Sympathy for Kornheiser," by Jack Shafer, via Poynter.org/Romenesko

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Chan Ho Park signed with Yankees for half what Phillies offered

"The veteran righthander, who posted a 2.52 ERA in 50 innings of relief last season, yesterday signed a 1-year contract worth a reported $1.2 million with the New York Yankees, roughly half of what the Phillies were willing to pay to retain him.

• (Chan Ho) Park, 36, who pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in the World Series, told reporters at a news conference in his native South Korea that the Cubs had offered him a chance to start.

"I was deliberating on the Chicago Cubs and the Yankees, but their history and championship contention resulted in me picking the Yankees," he said, according to the Korea Times.

• The Phillies had hoped to re-sign Park and, according to multiple reports, offered him a contract in the neighborhood of $3 million. But when Park declined, they quickly changed course and signed righthander Danys Baez to a 2-year, $5.25 million deal. They later signed righthander Jose Contreras to a 1-year deal worth $1.5 million."

by David Murphy, Philadelphia Daily News, 2/23/10, "Yankees sign Park for half of what Phillies offered"

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China law now requires in person meetings, photographs for all website owners

"Web site operators will need to offer photographs of themselves and meet Internet service providers in person under new guidelines announced by the Chinese government this week, according to published reports.

• The "trial regulations" were issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology under the auspices of an ongoing anti-porn campaign, but they

• will also help the government create records of all sites in the country and could be used to block other types of online content, the IDG News Service reported on Tuesday.

The regulations, which were dated February 8 and posted on sites of the Chinese telcom regulator on Monday, require ISPs to meet people applying to register new Web sites and to collect photographs of them. They also require applicants to provide a description of the site's content, along with other information, the report said.

• Web sites without government records will lose their domain name resolution by the end of September,
• effectively pulling them off the Internet,

• the news service reported. More than 130,000 sites have been pulled offline recently for not having records with the government, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

China is the largest Internet market, with more than 384 million users of the global network, Xinhua reports."...

• from CNET News 2/23

Will "Bud" Selig's photo, home address, and history of websites he visits be on file with the Communist Chinese office of industry as MLB is online there? ed.

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Cliff Floyd makes broadcasting debut Friday night on Fox Sports Florida

• Floyd's interviews of Marlins players will be shown on Friday night at 8PM. He says he's still available if anyone needs a lefty bat off the bench.

"Former Marlins All Star slugger Cliff Floyd showed up in Jupiter this afternoon — but not to win a roster job. Wearing street clothes, Floyd was interviewing players for a television segment that will be shown at 8 p.m. Friday on Fox Sports Florida....

• Along with anchor Craig Mish, Floyd interviewed Manager Fredi Gonzalez, pitches Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco and catcher John Baker for an episode of Miccosukee Sports Rap, which will run Friday night....

Floyd played outfield for the Marlins from 1997-2001."...And was with the Tampa Bay Rays on their trip to the World Series in 2008.

• from Palm Beach Post by Joe Capozzi, 2/22/10, "Florida Marlins all star Cliff Floyd to make his TV debut"

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YES Network releases Yankee spring training TV schedule

"The YES Network announced a 16-game schedule of New York Yankees spring training telecasts, including two Saturday games that will carried by My-9 in New York...

The schedule (all games on YES unless indicated):

• Wednesday, March 3: Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
• Friday, March 5: Tampa Bay 1 p.m.
• Saturday, March 6: Toronto, 1 p.m. (My-9)
• Monday, March 8: Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 9: Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
• Thursday, March 11: Atlanta, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 13: Baltimore, 1 p.m.
• Thursday, March 18: Tampa Bay, 7 p.m. (My-9)
• Friday, March 19: Detroit, 1 p.m.
• Sunday, March 21: Detroit, 1 p.m.
• Monday, March 22: at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
• Sunday, March 28: Detroit, 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 30: Toronto, 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 31: Minnesota, 1 p.m.
• Friday, April 2: Baltimore, 1 p.m.
• Saturday, April 3: Yankees Future Stars, 1 p.m.
• from Albany Times-Union, 2/23

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Fuentes on intensity of closer's job-OC Register

"Brian Fuentes knows how you feel – and he sympathizes. "I know everybody's nervous. I make myself nervous," the Angels closer said of the nail-biting and hair-pulling that his role causes among fans. "It's a one-run game, you get one guy on – it's an intense moment.

• "I'm aware of that – that people get nervous when the closer comes out there. I don't imagine there's any closer who doesn't get that. Maybe there's (Yankees closer Mariano) Rivera. Nobody bad-mouths him. But it's an intense situation and I don't think everyone understands that. It's an intense job."...

Fuentes said he doesn't know what caused the loss of velocity last season but he has a possible theory. During his free agent winter a year ago, he hired a personal trainer to supervise his workouts. It was the first time he had done that and it's possible the workout regimen robbed him of some flexibility and affected what is one of the funkier deliveries in the game. This winter, Fuentes said he went back to his own self-guided workouts....

• Though Scioscia would never admit it would be a factor in his decisions, the Angels do have some monetary incentive to limit Fuentes' ninth-inning workload this season. He is in the second year of his two-year, $17.5 million contract but the deal includes a $9 million option for a third season if he finishes 55 games this season (a number Fuentes has matched or exceeded three times in the past five seasons including last year).

Notes

For the third consecutive day, rain forced the Angels to abbreviate their workout Monday. ... Most position players have reported and the team is scheduled to hold its first full-squad workout on Tuesday (when the weather is expected to improve). Scioscia said Kendry Morales (visa issues) and Bobby Abreu (a personal matter) have been given permission to miss the workout if necessary."

• from Orange County Register by Bill Plunkett, "Fuentes says anxiety comes with job," 2/22/10

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UN IPCC Climate Report forced to recant rising sea level global warming claim

Netherlands Environmental Assessment is source of sea level error in UN Nobel Prize climate report:

• 2/15/10, EurActiv: "The 2007 report included the sentence: "The Netherlands is an example of a country highly susceptible to both sea level rise and river flooding because 55% of its territory is below sea level."

"A preliminary analysis suggests that the sentence discussed should end with: 'because 55% of the Netherlands is at risk of flooding'," the IPCC note said.

• The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the original source of the incorrect data,

• said on 5 February that just 26% of the country is below sea level and 29% susceptible to river flooding.

The IPCC said the error was widespread. It quoted a report from the Dutch Ministry of Transport saying "about 60%" of the country is below sea level, and a European Commission study saying "about half"."...

• Sports Illustrated, March 2007 cover, using a star baseball player to sell
• the biggest scandal of our lifetime.

The Nobel Prize winning UN Climate Report on man made global warming is now shown erroneous in another CO2 disaster claim. The report seized world attention by saying sea levels were rapidly rising, a finding now declared unfounded. Who will inform the US EPA, Goldman Sachs, and MLB?

• Millions of dollars and finite man hours have been wasted on yet another fraud. Prince Charles has campaigned around the world preaching it.

It is being framed that a 2009 published report has been declared false and that it used the UN 2007 report as a basis. UK media reports the story the United States refuses to cover-again.

• Guardian: "Scientists have been forced to withdraw a study on projected sea level rise
• due to global warming
• after finding mistakes that undermined the findings.

The study, published in 2009 in Nature Geoscience, one of the top journals in its field,

• confirmed the conclusions of the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

It used data over the last 22,000 years to predict that sea level would rise by between 7cm and 82cm by the end of the century.

• At the time, Mark Siddall, from the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Bristol, said the study
• "strengthens the confidence with which one may interpret the IPCC results".
• The IPCC said that sea level would probably rise by 18cm-59cm by 2100, though stressed this was based on incomplete information about ice sheet melting

• and that the true rise could be higher.

• Many scientists criticised the IPCC approach as too conservative, and several papers since have suggested that sea level could rise more.

Martin Vermeer of the Helsinki University of Technology, Finland and Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany published a study in December that projected a rise of 0.75m to 1.9m by 2100. ...there were two separate technical mistakes in the paper, which were pointed out by other scientists after it was published.

• A formal retraction was required, rather than a correction, because the errors undermined the study's conclusion....

The paper – entitled "Constraints on future sea-level rise from past sea-level change" – used fossil coral data and temperature records derived from ice-core measurements to reconstruct how sea level has fluctuated with temperature since the peak of the last ice age,

• and to project how it would rise with

• warming over the next few decades."...

"Climate Scientists withdraw journal claims of rising sea levels," UK Guardian, by David Adam, 2/21/10, via Tom Nelson and WUWT

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Covering the Yankees becoming more like a job

• On lack of drama in Yankee camp:

Ken Davidoff: "Hal Steinbrenner, after all, took off through a side exit,

• avoiding the media pack that awaited him.

The Yankees are more of a threat to their opponents than ever. Speaking as a media member, though, it isn’t only the players here who miss The Boss from days of yonder."

• from Newsday column by Ken Davidoff, via commenter on Yankee Lohud blog, 2/20/10, on blog post titled, ""Lohud Yankee blog outing III at PNC Field," 13th comment, "Where did all the tension around Yankees go? http://www.newsday.com/columni.....-1.1772675

"Prince Hal to be King," by Bill Madden, 6/3/07, NY Daily News

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Yankees glad to see Roy Halladay out of American League

"(Roy) Halladay need not do his own testimonials anyway. Just visit George Steinbrenner Field, where the defending champs have more respect for Halladay than perhaps any rival.

• Let's put it this way: Derek Jeter is not much for glorifying opponents, but

• he acknowledges Halladay is the toughest pitcher the Yankees face."...

"Yanks are Ecstatic Roy Halladay Jumped to NL," by Joel Sherman, NY Post, 2/20/10, Hardball blog

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Yogi, guest instructor, confers with Posada

Yogi chats with Posada, 2/20/10, by reuters

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Harvard educated US president says lack of Vancouver snow proves catastrophic man made global warming (contradicts evidence)

• The truth about Vancouver climate has been kept under wraps for some reason. Vancouver's average low temperature in February
• is 35 degrees, a point at which snow cannot exist for more than a few moments.

AFP, HENDERSON, Nevada — "US President Barack Obama on Friday rebuked climate change skeptics who argue that piles of snow dumped on the United States during a frigid winter cast doubt on global warming science."...

• Obama addresses "the science:"

"I want to just be clear that the science of climate change doesn't mean that every place is getting warmer;

• it means the planet as a whole is getting warmer.

• But what it

• may

• mean is, for example,

Vancouver, which is supposed to be getting snow during the Olympics,

• suddenly is at 55 degrees,

and Dallas suddenly is getting seven inches of snow.

The idea is, is that as the planet as a whole gets warmer, you start seeing changing weather patterns, and that creates more violent storm systems, more unpredictable weather. So any single place might end up being warmer; another place might end up being a little bit cooler;

• there might end up being more precipitation in the air, more monsoons, more hurricanes, more tornadoes, more drought in some places, floods in other places.

So I just -- that's one aspect of

• the science

that I think everybody should understand. That's point number one."...

• Not so. Records show Vancouver's average low temperature in February is 35 degrees. Snow cannot exist above 32 degrees for more than a few moments.

• Monthly averages & records				°F | °C
  Month	Average low	Average high	Average precip	Record low	Record high
  January	34°	44°	6.2 in	0° (1950)	60° (1981)
  February	35°	47°	4.3 in	3° (1950)	65° (1986)
  March	38°	51°	4.37 in	11° (1896)	67° (1960)
  April	42°	56°	3.35 in	26° (1951)	77° (1987)
  May	48°	62°	2.55 in	31° (1899)	87° (1983)
  June	53°	67°	2.14 in	35° (1911)	87° (1970)
  July	56°	71°	1.64 in	39° (1908)	93° (2009)
  August	56°	71°	1.59 in	35° (1900)	92° (1960)
  September	51°	66°	2.13 in	25° (1908)	85° (1988)
  October	44°	56°	4.79 in	19° (1935)	75° (1991)
  November	38°	48°	7 in	5° (1896)	65° (1980)
  December	34°	44°	6.8 in	2° (1964)	59° (1980)

A Vancouver Sun article in 2003 expressed

• surprise that such a warm city was awarded the Winter Olympics.

The author writes again on 2/9/10 that

• if people (such as the president of the United States) had been correctly informed about Vancouver's climate

they would not have expected it to be colder and snowier than it was.

• Reference: AFP, "Obama Rebukes Climate Skeptics," 2/19/10

• Reference: "Remarks by the president at town hall meeting in Henderson, Nevada," 2/19/10 (climate remarks toward the end of the speech in response to a question from a climate entrepreneur with business interests in France).

• Vancouver average temperatures on msn.com provided by WDT

• Reference: Vancouver Sun, 2/9/10 and 7/2/2003, "No Snow? No surprise. Vancouver is warmest city to ever host Winter Olympics" by Chad Skelton via Tom Nelson

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St. Louis Cardinals may add FM station to radio roster to serve fans left out on AM

"Cardinals might simulcast their radio broadcasts this season on a local FM outlet in order to serve listeners in areas that

• have trouble receiving the signal on KTRS (550 AM), their flagship station. The most logical candidate would be WXOS (101.1 FM), which switched to the all-sports format a little over a year ago

and already has the Rams and Billikens basketball play-by-play. It's signal has a wide reach, and station management has expressed a strong interest in eventually becoming the Cards' radio home. The Cards are heading into their fifth season at KTRS, which they bought the controlling interest in as part of their highly controversial move from longtime home KMOX (1120 AM). There is an out after the coming season, which could lead to an intriguing year on that front."

• "Are radio simulcasts in the Cards?" from St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Dan Caesar, 2/19/10, via RadioDailyNews

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Andy and Mo await pickoff drills

top Andy and Mo, bottom Mo greets Stump Merrill, both 2/19/10 ap

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Andy Pettitte and Stump Merrill at spring training

Andy Pettitte with Stump Merrill in Tampa top ap, bottom reuters

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Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay in Clearwater

ap photo

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'The Bronx Zoo is Closed'- Klapisch

"For the first time in a decade ...the Yankees are living in a surreal, almost eerie state of calm. There are no controversies waiting for Joe Girardi this spring: his team is defending a world championship, the A-Rod steroids bombshell is almost a year old, and no one’s got a beef with the front office.

• It took 28 minutes for someone to ask Girardi about A-Rod on Wednesday. That alone tells you how quiet this camp will be at the outset....

That angst is so obviously missing in 2010, and the stability at the top makes life easier for Girardi. He doesn’t have to worry about one of the owners going off in the newspapers or getting a threatening phone call from Cashman....

• The long and winding road has deposited the Yankees into that alternate reality. Here, sanity rules. Peace is at hand.
• The Bronx Zoo is closed.

• At least for now."

From NorthJersey.com, by Bob Klapisch, "For once, craziness no longer surrounds bombers" 2/17/10

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Tampa Bay Rays owner to lower payroll, Selig says must have "hope and faith"

St. Petersburg: "(Bud) Selig, at Tropicana Field Wednesday for the annual Governor's Dinner, didn't have concrete suggestions, but he said the league will look into ways

• to provide for "hope and faith" in as many places possible."

That includes Tampa Bay, where principal owner Stuart Sternberg said Monday the Rays will have to significantly

• reduce their $70 million payroll next season.

"We're going to do over $450 million in revenue sharing," Selig said. "Remember when I took over? We did none, zero. … It's not perfect, I know work has to be done...but at least there's been an enormous amount of progress.""

• 2/18 by Joe Smith, St. Pete Times

Stu Sternberg kicks off the new Rays season in his usual offensive, belligerent fashion. Maybe he should go back to Goldman Sachs. ed.

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