Saturday, February 20, 2010

plus 3, Gotta love game of baseball - Florida Today

plus 3, Gotta love game of baseball - Florida Today


Gotta love game of baseball - Florida Today

Posted: 20 Feb 2010 10:13 PM PST

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Yet the claim to fame for the former Yankee is he won 19 games twice while losing six and seven games respectively in 2006 and 2007. OK, but his big league totals are 55 victories and 26 losses and a 4.16 earned run average, numbers that say big league hitters figured him out more than a few times.

That's the truth of baseball. The game day in and day out can engender enough self doubt to derail some careers.

After all, perfection over an entire season in the bigs is unachievable. And the margin is so thin as to be maddening. The Toronto Blue Jays had the best fielding percentage last season, .988 which translates to 76 errors in 6,169 chances. Still, they finished fourth in the American League East with a 75-87 record.

As Corrales said, "the ball isn't always going to bounce your way."

To that end, we aren't here to disparage. It's more of a case of respecting the game for its potential to humble, but also to celebrate those who can master it to the extent that it allows.

And no current player has done that better than Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, who over his stellar, Hall of Fame career has posted eye-popping numbers including a .333 batting average over nine seasons with 2,030 hits in 6,099 at bats.

On the other hand he failed at the plate 4,069 times.

How can you not love a game that difficult?

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Cutting into the bare bones - Nashua Telegraph

Posted: 20 Feb 2010 09:52 PM PST

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Seventy-five.

This would be a very pleasing number were it the temperature on today's thermometer.

For Health and Human Services Commissioner Nick Toumpas, it could be the loneliest number of all.

That's how many millions more in state dollars Toumpas has to cut from his two-year budget to comply with the cost-cutting orders of Gov. John Lynch.

The $75 million is slightly more than half the $140 million target Lynch gave department heads earlier this month.

It also comes on top of $43 million in cuts Toumpas already had to find, and he's still at least $8 million short of that target.

All signs point to agency heads bringing Lynch their suggested cuts by early next month.

Lynch would then have some time to distill those ideas and decide which ones, if any, should be put before the Legislative Fiscal Committee and those that should go to the full Legislature for a vote later this spring.

It isn't a pretty picture at all.

Health care disparity

Critics may come to call it New Hampshire's own big debate over health care.

Senate Majority Leader Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter, and supporters aren't wading shyly into the national debate over the cause of health insurance costs with a mega bill (SB 505).

After quite a bit of time in the drafting room, this one came out in print only in the last few days, and will go to the public for the first time at a public hearing March 2.

To be sure, the proposed New Hampshire Health Services Cost Review Commission focuses not on the broad health care affordability question. Instead, it narrows the examination principally to what insurance companies pay and what hospitals provide to those who are insured and those who aren't.

This still amounts to quite a stew of regulations, market behaviors and raw politics. Talking about this in any form during an election year would hardly be considered to be a cautious act.

The 4,500-word bill would create three full-time commissioners with six-year terms in office who would enjoy broad authority. They could study and make recommendations about setting up a "common payment system'' that treats hospitals evenly.

The goal clearly is to increase health insurance company competition and change the disparity with some hospitals giving large amounts of free care and others that give away little.

The bill will face its first public hearing soon, and on the same day Senate Republican Leader Peter Bragdon, of Milford, said the committee must make a recommendation.

This is to meet the deadline of Senate policy committees to finish work on bills that need to go to either the Senate Finance or Ways and Means Committee for further review.

"Here we go again," Bragdon said. "Another big bill with no notice that it even exists and even less knowledge about what this really means, and we've got to get it out of committee the same day the public can speak on it.

"That's the whole theme of this session: too much, too shoddy, too fast.''

The Democratic answer:

"The whole theme of the Republican response this year has been too much misinformation, too much sour grapes, too much hot air,'' one operative dissed.

Face time counts

Forget the spin on both sides.

Manchester Democratic state Rep. David Boutin's winning a state Senate seat was overwhelming, and a continuing sign that it's shaping up like a good year to be a New Hampshire Republican.

All of this could change, though, and such shifts in momentum have taken place more than once in an election year.

Boutin's romp of 16 percentage points was a whole lot more than the party registration advantage the GOP has over Democrats in District 16, which routinely elects Republicans.

It also reinforces that especially in a special election when fewer than one in five voters bother to show up, personal contact matters.

Boutin went door-to-door for going on six months, while Democrats could only recruit Manchester state Rep. Jeff Goley to run for the seat after Ted Gatsas won election last November.

Elections are won and lost by the quality of candidates and their campaigns.

If Republican State Chairman John E. Sununu can't convince enough credible new candidates to seek the offices Democrats now hold, the GOP won't be able to take full advantage of the opening it has this fall.

Conversely, if Democratic Chairman Raymond Buckley can't convince all the incumbents in up-for-grab seats to run again, majority losses in 2010 could prove even worse than today's conventional wisdom.

'Study' means fuhgedaboudit

Do you remember that after the November election, there was plenty of talk about changing the state law regarding the annulment of a criminal conviction?

This all came to the fore after Rockingham County Sheriff Daniel Lenihan resigned his seat while under investigation by the attorney general's office because of his role in circulating to Seacoast reporters annulled records regarding the Democratic nominee running against him in 2008.

Never mind.

The House of Representatives voted without debate last week to kill one measure to change the treatment of annulled records. The House had already sent a second measure off to a polite death earlier this month.

This brings up a technical, but important, point. When the House or the Senate sends a bill off to interim study, it is synonymous with killing it when the action comes in an election year.

Why? It means no matter what study a committee decides should be given to an issue, the whole thing has to start over again in the next legislative session.

This also means the issue must then come before a new Legislature that the voters will elect this November.

So, let's come up with interim study; that sure sounds better than polite death, doesn't it?

Watchful eye

You can't accuse Weare Republican Rep. Neal Kurk of sleeping on the job.

Kurk is the pre-eminent watchdog on individual privacy rights, so where others saw feel-good bipartisan legislation dealing with medical screenings tests for newborns (HB 1164), Kurk spotted a potential threat.

Nashua Democratic Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, who chairs the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee, agreed to sign on with Kurk to an amendment that spelled out that any such screening test samples had to be destroyed after six months and that none of the specimens could be used either for "research or DNA testing.''

Gambling on taxes

It isn't bringing in as much money as the LLC tax, but it's no less controversial for those who'll pay it.

This is the new 10 percent tax on gambling winnings in excess of $600 at any one time.

Right along with the LLC, this was placed in the so-called trailer bill (HB 2) to the state budget to contribute a few million dollars a year and fill a perceived revenue hole.

Unlike the LLC, this started as its own bill and received a lot of public debate in the House and Senate Ways and Means Committee before the idea got plugged onto the trailer.

At long last, the Department of Revenue held a public hearing on the proposed rules for this tax.

Opponents insist the tax has already chased away some legal telephone wagering that took place at racetracks in Belmont, Salem and Seabrook.

Speaking of expanded gambling, the long-awaited public unveiling for the gambling bill, Version 2010, will arrive March 4 before the Senate Finance Committee chaired by the bill's sponsor, Manchester Democratic Sen. Lou D'Allesandro.

There are plenty of tweaks to this one, most notably a cut in the state tax rate that private operators of casino or racino gambling sites would have to pay on such wagering.

Politically, the sea change is that D'Allesandro has decided if you can't beat them, join them.

This one (SB 489) incorporates not only slot machine betting at the racetracks and resort hotels, but also a destination casino and resort in southern New Hampshire.

You may recall, last year, D'Allesandro and company stuck with the racetracks and North Country only.

Former Hudson Republican Sen. Bob Clegg, a lobbyist for the Hudson developers of a proposed destination casino in that town, always maintained that joining forces was the only way any expanded gambling bill could ultimately succeed.

The odds on such a change remain long, but at least this year will test Clegg's theory.

McCain's support

Republican Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte, of Nashua, can thank her finance chairman, former GOP State Chairman Steve Duprey, of Concord, for delivering the endorsement of 2008 presidential nominee John McCain.

Next month, McCain will star at a fundraiser for the GOP Senate frontrunner, and the next day will host a town hall-style forum in Nashua.

During the 2008 campaign, Duprey served as the ubiquitous "van man'' for McCain. For months, Duprey traveled almost constantly with McCain, riding the same Straight Talk Express buses and staying in the same chain hotel rooms.

It was Duprey who buttonholed McCain and got him to act out of character, taking sides in a contested primary and in New Hampshire, of all places.

This also comes in a year when McCain faces his own primary opponent, former Congressman J.D. Hayworth, who made a 2010 Senate campaign official in the last week.

The first-primary state isn't only McCain's self-described "second home,'' but it's also the place where this Arizona senator waxed on constantly about not trusting what any in the power elite in Washington were telling you.

However this came about, Ayotte will take it, and her three primary opponents would love to have it.

New Hampshire Democratic Party spokeswoman Emily Browne took a line of attack that some of Ayotte's rivals may use in trying to diminish the McCain announcement.

"This isn't surprising,'' Browne said. "It's the GOP establishment helping the GOP establishment.

"But Kelly Ayotte and John McCain should have lots to talk about, from their mutual friends in Washington to their growing primary problems.''

Sure enough, here's what GOP Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne had to say about McCain and the Ayotte endorsement on the conservative blog Brickley and Knepper.

"Well, keeping in mind that McCain is coming to New Hampshire to campaign for Kelly Ayotte, the establishment candidate, I would point out that the New Hampshire nomination should be left to New Hampshire residents,'' Lamontagne said.

Later, Lamontagne couldn't help give a shout out to former Hayworth.

"Senator McCain, you know, has been there a long time. I believe in term-limits, self-imposed and otherwise. … I commend J.D. Hayworth for trying to breathe some new life into that race,'' Lamontagne said.

Ouch!

Crunching numbers

One of the nice things about the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report is it settles once and for all a lot of the disputes over increases in spending, taxes and the like.

Here are some fun facts that came from the most recent report.

n State spending: The two-year budget that ended last June 30 spent $215 million more – or 7.9 percent more – than the budget that began July 1, 2005, and ended June 30, 2007.

Some will recall that back then, critics charged Lynch with proposing a 17 percent increase in state spending in that budget.

Any increase approved in a budget actually goes down when the books close, because for generations, they assume state agency managers return at least 2 percent – and often more – of their budget back to the treasury unspent.

This much smaller budget also reflects the pretty significant cuts in state spending that stretch back into 2008, when Lynch signed executive orders freezing most new hires, out-of-state travel and some equipment purchases.

n Total spending: This much bigger number went up compared to the previous budget, by 8.5 percent, or $757 million.

The two-year cycle just finished ($9.7 billion) was the last for a while – if not ever – below the $10 billion mark.

Thou shalt not bully

Everyone is rarely happy in Concord, but the House Education Committee appears to have struck a significant compromise relating to banning cyber-bullying.

The Senate is considering its own legislation, which is much less complex.

The Senate proposal merely closes what some consider a loophole: that it's illegal to bully in person, but it isn't against the law to do so via the Internet.

The House bill tried to give a more extensive definition to what cyber-bullying is and the responsibility of families to keep a close eye on it.

Socially conservative Cornerstone Policy Research objected to the original House bill (HB 1523), as its leaders claimed this would place too heavy a burden on parents in the name of protecting children.

Exeter Democratic Rep. Donna Schlachman and Hampton Republican Rep. Nancy Stiles teamed on an amendment that CPR Executive Director Kevin Smith said satisfies his group's concerns.

"It's a lot better from our perspective,'' Smith said.

Health care on the line

Whether courageous or crazy, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., revealed Thursday that members in her majority party who aren't up for re-election this fall have to step up if Congress is going to get much done this spring.

It's no surprise that Shaheen was one of 18 senators going on record in support of the public government-run option for health insurance. She has been saying for months that it's her preferred approach, and she had hoped the Senate would adopt it as its own – which the Senate did not.

What was telling was that the usually cautious Shaheen would be one of the first 18 to sign a letter embracing the fast-track method of reconciliation to overcome a filibuster and ram the House-passed health care bill through the U.S. Senate.

Republican leaders cried foul, while Democratic leaders bucked Shaheen up. One thing is for sure: That's a document both sides have already filed away for safekeeping when Shaheen seeks re-election in 2014.

FREEPL8T

Do you have a low-digit license plate?

Whatever you do, hold onto it, because it could really be worth something.

For generations, getting a low-digit plate has been all about who you know and who's in charge.

Critics used to chastise then-Safety Commissioner Dick Flynn for using the perk as a way to curry favor with whoever was governor. Flynn used to say it was what made him unpopular with everyone, because no one was ever happy with the plate they got compared to the ones they couldn't get.

The beauty of the low-digit plate is that the status comes for free, while the 15 percent of motorists in this state who want a vanity plate have to pay extra.

Bedford Republican Sen. Sheila Roberge decided to propose making the low-digit owners make a vanity plate payment (SB 385).

During any other election year or economy, the bill would be DOA from the get-go. But a Senate committee has already endorsed it and asked the Senate to approve an amended form when it meets March 3.

A key change would exempt from the low-digit charges all those low numbers given for military, and other specialty plates, including those who own motorcycles or have purchased the conservation plate – the so-called moose plate.

The second amendment is what gives it any chance of ever happening. It would grandfather in as free any low-digit plate as long as that owner keeps it in his or her possession.

Translation: No more handing down the low digits to your heirs or love interests unless they're willing to pay annually for the privilege. Lynch has listened to, but not yet endorsed, the proposal to have a new plate that benefits state parks.

During private meetings, however, supporters credit Lynch with coming up with the best marketing gimmick for the state park plate should it ever come to pass.

Lynch suggested it should begin issuance in low-digit denominations up to 10,000.

Under his logic, this would generate even more interest in the new plate and willingness to pay what could cost as much as $85-a-year to keep.

Kevin Landrigan can be reached at 321-7040 or klandrigan@nashuatelegraph.com.

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Two dead; Malahat reopens after crash involving motorcycle - Times Colonist

Posted: 20 Feb 2010 08:47 PM PST

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VICTORIA - A province-wide manhunt is underway for the driver who allegedly caused a head-on crash with a motorcycle on the Malahat that left both riders dead Saturday

According to Shawnigan Lake RCMP, at around 12:20 p.m., a black newer-model Honda sedan heading south made an illegal left turn into the Arbutus rest stop at the section of highway between the Spectacle Lake turnoff and Split Rock. The northbound motorcycle was unable to avoid the car, and slammed into the hood, sending both him and his passenger flying.

The male driver was pronounced dead at the scene and the critically injured woman was rushed to Victoria General Hospital, where she later died.

The driver of the Honda, which police say was stolen, fled the scene on foot.

That set off an extensive search that included a police dog team from Nanaimo, coast guard, RCMP helicopters from Vancouver, and officers from Shawnigan Lake, West Shore and South Island Traffic Services. They were unable to find the suspect.

RCMP allege the man stole the car from a home in North Vancouver early Saturday morning. The homeowners reported the theft to North Vancouver RCMP and the car was seen going through the toll booth at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal.

The suspect's picture was captured by B.C. Ferries video surveillance, and the man arrived at the Departure Bay terminal at 10 a.m.

The photo has been distributed to surrounding police departments and the Island's Integrated Road Safety Unit was conducting road checks to try and locate the man.

The southbound lane of the Malahat was closed for nearly six hours as collision reconstruction experts and the forensic identification unit investigated the scene.

Police are not releasing the names of the two who were killed until they can notify their next of kin.

The investigation is being led by the South Island Traffic Services criminal crash team.

Anyone with information who has yet to speak with police is asked to call Const. Brian Sampson at 250-416-0352.

kderosa@tc.canwest.com

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REM Motocross, Double Wins, and the KX350F - Motorcycle USA

Posted: 20 Feb 2010 08:33 PM PST

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Today was one of the most entertaining days of dirt bike racing I've ever experienced. If you're not in the know perhaps the most fun, safe, and fast (literally, you're out of there by 2:00 p.m.) places to race motocross in Southern California is Racing Enterprises Motorsports (REM) series.

REM runs at Glen Helen Raceway on its own natural terrain track directly across from the national track. And with all the recent rain we've had this winter the dirt couldn't be better. Today was chalked full of racers from all walks of life. There were even a small army of about 40 young European riders all living the dream, racing dirt bikes in California with the folks at MX Heaven USA. This equated to full starting gates and super fun bar banging battle-o-ramas.

Next to the awesomely-prepped track, and ultra-efficient race program, one of the coolest things about REM is some of the personalities the folks you meet there. Today, I met a really interesting father/son duo pitted right next to me. Cory, the son, was racing his first pro racer and his pops, Bruce was wrenching on his bike. So we get to chatting about airplanes and he tells me that he occasionally pens stories about World War II fighter planes! And when I say pen, I mean like actually fly the things! He's flown Mitsubishi Zeros, Supermarine Spitfires, F4U Corsairs, Messerschmitt BF-109s, and even raced P-51 Mustangs alongside Bob Hannah and Red Bull Air Racer, Mike Mangold! So awesome!

Anyways, the guy was a virtual encyclopedia for aircraft of that era and it was awesome learning some of the intricacies and quirks of those amazing machines. He even had some crazy near-death aerial mayhem stories which had my head spinning in wonder.

But back to the racing: Today, I raced a 2010 Kawasaki KX450F (find out what it feels like to ride it in our 2010 Kawasaki KX450F First Ride) and man despite it coming in third place in our 2010 450 Motocross Shootout, I can't believe what an excellent over package this bike is. I'm in awe of just how well calibrated the bike's OE suspension is to my skill level. The front and rear spring rate is spot-on perfect and the damping characteristics—well I couldn't imagine an aftermarket company getting it to perform any better than stock—it performs that well.

Even more impressive is how you can tune the engine's performance with your computer (Peruse the entire report in our Kawasaki Fuel Injection Calibration Kit review). As I mentioned before given how rough the track was and the lack of overall traction, I downloaded a different combined fuel/ignition map that made the bike feel like a KX350F. Maximum engine power was still there if you let the revs climb out but bottom-end and mid-range power delivery was toned down significantly making the bike way easier to pilot during each 15 minute moto. It made a huge difference in my race. With a standard 450 I'd normally feel worn out and barely able to hang on with the modified power mapping I was in total control throughout the moto and wasn't even that tired afterwards. In the end the Kawasaki helped me take double race wins in the Vet Novice class.

Long live motocross, REM, Kawasaki's KX450F, and fighter planes!

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