alli snow

You know, this whole prediliction for 'czars' is starting to creep me out just a little bit. Especially when they're authors of crap like this:

Forced abortions. Mass sterilization. A "Planetary Regime" with the power of life and death over American citizens.

The tyrannical fantasies of a madman? Or merely the opinions of the person now in control of science policy in the United States? Or both?

These ideas (among many other equally horrifying recommendations) were put forth by John Holdren, whom Barack Obama has recently appointed Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology -- informally known as the United States' Science Czar. In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:

• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food;
• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
• People who "contribute to social deterioration" (i.e. undesirables) "can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility" -- in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.
• A transnational "Planetary Regime" should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans' lives -- using an armed international police force.

Um. Yeah. Totally mainstream. Totally middle-of-the-road.

Seriously, though, this czar crap is getting out of control. You've got people being given tons of control over policy decisions that don't have to be confirmed by the Senate, as in the case of cabinet picks, that aren't being vetted by the government or the media. Go ahead, try a google news search of this creep -- see what comes up. And what doesn't.

Seen with medfeather... and I agree with her that this is kind of a stupid list because some of the entries are series. You know, made up of multiple books.

Whatevers.

The BBC allegedly believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here:

How do your reading habits stack up? [bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish]

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*
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31... Pretty good haul, although to be fair I only read the books with * because they were required reading for school. Middle school, most of them.

Is it just me, or is there a little Euro-centristy here? Obviously some books are must-lists, like War and Peace. But... The Wasp Factory? Swallows and Amazons? The Shadow of the Wind? WTF? What was the criteria for this list? How about something by Mark Twain, Vonnegut, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, or Jack London?

From the Chron:

As long as bats and balls connect on warm summer evenings, baseball never will cease to amaze.

The Giants' 33-year no-hitter drought ended at China Basin on Friday night, and the pitcher who threw the nine innings of brilliance was not a Cy Young Award winner, nor a 300-game winner, nor a pitcher with a nine-figure contract. It was a pitcher so bad this year he was banished to the bullpen last month, a man who had not thrown a complete game in 50 big-league starts.

It was Jonathan Sanchez, a 26-year-old left-hander who until this night was the personification of pitching promise unfulfilled. Now, his name is etched forever on the list of this franchise's great achievements.

In an 8-0 victory, with his father watching him start a major-league game for the first time, Sanchez no-hit the San Diego Padres and nearly had a perfect game. The only baserunner was Chase Headley, who reached on an error by third baseman Juan Uribe with one out in the eighth inning.

It was the first no-hitter by a Giant since John Montefusco's in Atlanta on Sept. 29, 1976, the first ever at China Basin, the 17th in franchise history and the first in the majors since the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano no-hit Houston last season.

And across America today, people will look at a staff that features Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Randy Johnson and say, Jonathan Sanchez?

"If you look at this staff he wouldn't be the one you'd pick," said manager Bruce Bochy, who has been like a ping-pong master bouncing Sanchez between the rotation and bullpen over the last three seasons, hoping his pitcher could find it.

Sanchez had not started a game since June 22 nor won since May 25. He was 2-8 with a 5.30 ERA this season and started Friday only because Johnson, whose turn he took, injured his shoulder Sunday.

"We had a toast in the clubhouse after the game, and Sanchy said, 'I don't want to go to the 'pen after this start,' " Bochy said.

Afterward, Sanchez expressed his greatest satisfaction that he got to share this moment with his father Sigfredo, who flew in from Puerto Rico to watch this game after Jonathan's brother suggested he go.

"I'm so proud that he was here with me," Sanchez said.

The "toast", of course, was the guys carousing in the locker room and drenching him with Bud.