Author: hankkalet

Juan Cole’s Informed Comment is too often criticized, but it is the one place readers can go to get the unvarnished truth about Iraq. This is from today’s postings:

Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that on Monday running street battles erupted in several districts of Baghdad between guerrillas and Iraqi police. In Salikh, the Bank district, Sumer, and Tujjar, residents were forced to flee their homes lest they be exposed to kidnapping or caught in the cross-fire. The fighting, mainly with small arms fire, began when guerrillas attacked a police checkpoint. Police attempted to close off the affected neighborhoods. They also closed Salikh Bridge, which is among the main point of access to Baghdad from northern provinces such as Diyala, Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah. The closing created traffic jams and forced drivers to use an alternative route into the city.

The toll of killed and injured from this fighting was not known when reporters put al-Zaman to bed.

Reuters reports political and sectarian violence in Iraq for Monday.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Some poetic thoughts on Thanksgiving courtesy of the Academy of American Poets.

And James Carroll of The Boston Globe, one of America’s best newspaper columnists, offers some thoughts on the holiday, as well.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

I have to agree with this. I watched part of Comic Relief last night and was glad to see someone step up to speak on behalf of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Republican neglect. And I was pleasantly surprised that the comics were not shy about going after the administration. (And many even gave their own cash to the cause.)

So, thumbs up for the funny men and women.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

The Asbury Park Press offers another reason why we need paper trails for electronic voting machines.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

The Cubs are certainly spending a lot of money. The question is whether it will do anything to make them better.

Their latest signing was the top name on the market, but the contract raises eyebrows — $136 million over eight years for a 30-year-old power bat (31 when the season starts) who is still learning to play the outfield.

Alfonso Soriano had a great year in 2006, hitting 46 homeruns and stealing 41 bases. But his strikeouts were up and he is, at best, a mediocre fielder and he hit just .231 with men in scoring position. The issue, however, is not the average $17 million annual salary, but that he will be getting that money through his 38th birthday — a lot of cash for someone who will spend the better part of this contract in decline.

That’s not a knock on Soriano, just a statement based on history. Batters peak at 27 or 28 and maintain that level for a few seasons before age starts to catch up. Some continue to hit homeruns, some don’t, but nearly all are forced to watch as their skills fade. Of the 21 batters in the National League who were 35 or older in 2006 and had at least 300 at bats (just five had more than 500), none hit more than 27 homeruns or drove in more than 83 runs. And only two had more than 20 steals. These kinds of numbers should give every team pause before they commit guaranteed dollars to players in the latter half of the 30s.

Soriano might just beat these Given that a good portion of Soriano’s worth is his speed, that means that the second half of this contract could be a problem for the Cubs.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick