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February 3, 2017: Hard To Explain

48 Comments

A friend overseas has been emailing me simple, but very hard to answer questions about recent events. It's really difficult to know how to answer her. Thank goodness the boy isn't asking this stuff yet.

48 thoughts on “February 3, 2017: Hard To Explain”

  3. Pepper: Surprised to see you wearing claret this a.m.
    You must have been reading this afternoon's forecast.
    Hope you made it to the office without hypothermia.

    1. Heh, I made it! Only my hair froze.

      I'm going to a celebratory lunch with the head of the company today and I decided looking stylish was more important than being warm. (Although I did wear my warm boots; I carried my heels in my bag and changed into them when I got to work.)

  4. In Senegal, people talk pretty openly about things like race and religion (the country is about 95% Muslim). The most difficult question someone asked me there was why there had been such a conflict in Northern Ireland since all involved were Christian. I didn't know a lot of detail about the conflict to begin with, but looking at it from that point of view, I had no idea how to answer.

    1. Counter: Why were the Iraqis and Iranians fighting so hard in the 80s even though all were Muslim?

      2. Or "what does religion have to do with the civil war in Iraq because almost all Iraqis are Muslim?"

    2. ... I have a lot to say on the subject of Northern Ireland, but would be best to have that talk over pints.

  5. My 9-year old son has been asking questions (started during primary season) and I have a hard time finding ways to answer in a way that won't come across as scary to him.

    Related - I really need to schedule time for hobbies, entertainment, and distractions. Currently debating buying a cheap, old Fiat roadster. I know it is a horrible idea, but it might be really fun the 20% of the time it runs.

    1. The boy's in Kindergarten, so pretty much all I was asked was which candidate I supported. I know I'm going to struggle with answering the tougher questions because I really want to answer them in a way that's informative, but not leading. Also I want to answer them in a way that encourages him to think critically and form his own opinions. That should be a piece of cake, right?

    2. I was in a seminar about race a few months ago and we had to do an exercise where we talked about our first experience with race issues. The first moment where race impacted us in some way. And, predictably, nearly every white person didn't have a moment until they were 9 or 12 or 16, and it was usually something they witnessed or heard about. While the non-white people had been having scary race conversations since they were old enough to talk.

      1. I've gotten into several FB tussles (and ignored a whole lot of others) trying to explain the idea of privilege. Funny, a lot of others don't seem to see it...

        1. Michelle Pratt's dad tried to argue to her that racism in America was "basically gone until Obama was elected." Saw the same argument from someone who plays the Facebook games I occasionally waste time playing, so I assume it was a talking point on Breitbart, or some such.

          It's insane. "Racism is the black guy's fault." You can't write a more tragic joke than that.

          1. How about the statement that "race relations were worse under Obama than in any point since Lincoln."?

            Because I heard that one...

        1. I think he'll clear waivers. If a team claims him, they're on the hook for the salary, albeit better guarantee of getting him. If he clears then they can get him for the minimum salary. The new FO will have already priced him from their previous teams and they just showed they don't think he's worth it at that salary. I'm assuming most other teams will agree and instead wait to get him cheaper.

          Edit: This assumes he can opt for free agency. I assumed he could but maybe he can't. I know it involves service time but unsure how that works with posted players. In that case, this could be a calculated move to keep him but free up space too.

          1. If the Twins lose Park just to add Belisle, I'm going to be upset. Nothing against Belisle--he may turn out to be a good reliever--but it's not like he's going to lead the Twins to the pennant or anything. It would be giving up a possibly good future to get a more average present.

            2. GMs all around baseball are really falling out of love with designated hitter/first base types. Everyone is hitting homers now, so unless you're an absolute monster at the plate (e.g. Ortiz) they're just not even biting on these guys and preferring the roster flexibility.

              Hopefully Vargas makes it a mootish point

    2. This tiny scene made me really impatient for baseball. I've been feeling that anyway for the last week, but the season can't come quickly enough for me this year.

      I also get super into the WBC - and any tournament, really (I'd probably watch a toast-buttering tournament if I could follow the brackets - so at least that's only five weeks away.

      1. I've been watching baseball clips on YouTube the last couple of weeks. It's helped tide me over until actual games, or at least in the sense of Spring Training stuff, 3 innings of Big League players playing ball.

      2. I prefer reading this as if the parenthetical ends with the sentence. I think I would watch this buttering competition if it's only five weeks away too if only out of curiosity.

      1. If it works out that way, no problem. Even if it doesn't, my initial reaction was probably too harsh. I think of Park as a young player because he's new to MLB, but he's thirty years old. It's not like they'd be dumping a hot young player for a mediocre veteran.

        2. Yeah, I'm not sure which would be worse: losing a player 1 year into his deal and watching him succeed elsewhere or having the rest of MLB say he's not worth it and pass on him. I guess the former would reflect more poorly on the new regime than the latter.

  7. Hey Citizens, Tulum is beautiful. We're a bit out of touch here (ya!) , so someone please let us know if anything changes re:The Wall as it could hamper our return next week.

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