Giants Win 4-0

The San Francisco Giants just beat the Texas Rangers to go up 3 games to 1 in the World Series. The Giants need only one more win to win their first World Series since moving to San Francisco. They last won the World Series in 1954 as the New York Giants. To give an idea of how different things were back then:

• Dwight David Eisenhower was in his first of two terms as President
• Republicans would lose control of Congress a month later. Democrats would control Congress uninterrupted for the next 26 years, and the House of Representatives uninterrupted for the next 40
• The Giants played their home games at the Polo Grounds
• Robert F. Wagner, Jr. was the Mayor of New York, the city the Giants called home
• Referring to the New York Giants meant the baseball club. If one wanted to refer to the football team they would say, "the New York Football Giants"
• The Brooklyn Dodgers still played across town at Ebbets Field
• The New York Mets, the team I root for, would not play their first game for another 7 1/2 years
• It was less than 5 months after the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, passage of the Civil Rights Act was still nearly another 10 years away, and passage of the Voting Rights Act still nearly another 11 years away
• It was still nearly another 7 years under President Obama was born

The Giants now stand one win away from changing all that and bringing the World Series trophy to San Francisco for the first time.

The Constitution's Forgotten Amendment

This was my first diary over at Daily Kos. Originally published April 13, 2009.

In 1965, in Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479) , the Supreme Court ruled that the right of married couples to use contraception was protected by the right of privacy. Justice Arthur Goldberg, in a concurring opinion used the long-forgotten 9th Amendment to defend his decision:

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

During these past 44 years, there has been little use of the 9th Amendment to establish new rights under the Constitution. Instead, the Courts have looked to the 14th Amendment and its Due Process Clause, such as in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113) and Lawrence v. Texas (539 U.S. 558). The 9th Amendment, meanwhile, has seemingly been consigned to the ash heaps of history largely being unused by citizens attempting to establish their rights, and courts establishing those rights.

Watching the World Series Tonight

Fox and Cablevision finally came to an agreement. Right now I have channel 5 on and am watching the World Series for the first time this year. It's the bottom of the 2nd, and Nelson Cruz just hit a lead-off double with no score. And while yes, I know that I could have chosen to get the MLB.tv package and receive a $9.95 credit from Cablevision before Fox came back on the air, it's not the same watching it on the computer as it is watching it on television.

Tonight is effectively a must-win for the Rangers, who are down 2-0 after losing both games in San Francisco. The only team in baseball history to come back from a 3-0 deficit is the 2004 Boston Red Sox, when they fell behind the Yankees 3-0 in the ALCS, won the next 4 to win the ALCS and then swept the Cardinals in the World Series to break the Curse of the Bambino. However, no team has ever come back from down 3-0 in the World Series.

All I have to say right now: Finally! I'm looking forward to watching some good baseball after missing the entire NLCS and the first two games of the World Series.

Go Giants!

I Still Can't Watch The World Series

Yes, I know that Cablevision has offered a $9.95 credit to anyone that orders the mlb.tv package to watch the World Series, but that means watching it online, and not watching it on the television. If the Mets were in it, not only would I order that package, but I would also be calling Cablevision everyday to complain about the lack of World Series coverage.

Still, I'm happy to see the Giants up 2 games to 0. I'm a National League fan, and I want to see the National League team win. The National League is where they play real baseball, and not that imitation baseball where not every player has to hit.

So to those of you out there that are Giants fans, congrats on the lead and hopefully the Giants can put the Series away with 2 more wins in Texas. If you're a Rangers fan, then next time hope you go up against the Phillies, Braves, or Dodgers in the World Series. And if you're a fan one of those three teams, hope you go up against the Yankees in the World Series.

Extremists Continue Lashing Out In Middle East

With each passing day extremists continue lashing out in the Middle East, doing their best to threaten the peace that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians continue hoping for. Today is no exception. Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef made yet another inflammatory statement. Meanwhile, Hamas strategist Mahmoud Al-Zahar made inflammatory remarks of his own in an interview with Reuters and Hamas sent yet another threatening message to Israel. It once again underscores the importance of not letting the extremists win, and simultaneously the importance of the vast majority on both sides seeking peace pushing their leaders to do so.

Will I Get To Watch The World Series?

I'm a Cablevision customer. That means I don't get Fox while News Corporation and Cablevision haggle over fees for retransmitting the Fox broadcast signal. After last year's Satanic Series I actually want to watch the World Series this year. The Rangers vanquished the team I hate most: the Yankees; the Giants vanquished the team I hate the second-most: the Phillies.

What I see here are two greedy corporations fighting over who gets more money. News Corporation simply wants more for allowing Cablevision to retransmit the Fox schedule. Cablevision doesn't want to pay that price. In the end, customers like me get screwed. If News Corporation gets its way, Cablevision simply passes the higher cost onto us. If News Corporation doesn't get its way, the blackout continues and I can't watch the World Series.

News Corporation now suggested that those of us that want to watch the World Series do one of two things:

1. Switch providers to one that currently carries Fox
2. Buy an antenna (and a converter box if need be)

I see big problems with both these options:

1. Nothing prevents News Corporation from having similar disputes with other such providers in the future
2. News Corporation is reminding us that if we don't have cable or satellite then Fox content is available to us for free and they're wanting to charge us for something that we can easily get to free

Like I said, in the end, it's the consumer that gets screwed; not the corporations. The article in The New York Times indicates that Cablevision is hoping for government intervention through any one of several possible options including binding arbitration, the FCC forcing News Corporation to put Fox back on the air on Cablevision while the dispute is resolved, or through federal legislation regulating the carriage of broadcast signals.

While I'm not a Giants fan or Rangers fan, I still want to watch this World Series, and as long as this dispute continues I'll have to listen to the games on the radio if I want to follow the World Series live. If Fox isn't back by the day the World Series starts I might well call and complain and see what happens.

And if it were the Mets in this year's World Series, well then, I'd be angry beyond belief.

Giants Go To The World Series

After the Rangers won last night it was already guaranteed that there would be no repeat of the Satanic Series because the Yankees went home. Now, the other end of the Satanic Series won't happen because the Giants just beat the Phillies to win the NLCS and go to the World Series.

While I'd rather see the Mets going to the World Series, I'm at least happy that the Yankees and Phillies aren't going there. They're the two baseball teams I hate most, and I'm glad to see them watching the World Series from the comfort of their homes.

Now, with the World Series set, I'm rooting for the Giants to win their first World Series since they left the Polo Grounds and New York (they last won the World Series in 1954 when Willie Mays made his famous catch). The reason I'm rooting for the Giants is because I'm a National League fan. I'll root for the NL team unless they're the Phillies, Braves, or Dodgers (I'm a Brooklynite, so I will generally not root for the LOS ANGELES Dodgers). Of course, if any of those three play the Yankees, then I'll root for them because the Yankees are the Yankees. Last year I held my nose and rooted for the Phillies over the Yankees in the Satanic Series.

It also helps that they play real baseball in the National League. In the NL it's understood that all players, including the pitcher, are supposed to hit. So yes, I'm vehemently opposed to the designated hitter.

Go Giants!