Lessons Learned in San Diego

As a courtesy to others, guests are asked to refrain from walking in aisles during player at-bats from the top of the second inning until the conclusion of the game. Guest Services Representatives are provided with handheld signs to remind guests to observe this policy.

--“Aisle Policy,” posted on the San Diego Padres website

Thus Petco Park ushers gave Angels fans some badly-needed schooling in common courtesy last weekend. Meanwhile, on the field, the Angels got schooled in the intricacies of National League-style baseball, and left town with only one win in the three-game series--and two outfielders on the disabled list.

Notwithstanding this dismal outcome, for me the series illustrated the superiority of the National League style of baseball.  Lacking the designated hitter rule, National League managers must make difficult strategic decisions their American League counterparts are spared:  Does the situation call for pinch hitting for the starting pitcher, even though he may be good for another inning or two?  If the pitcher needs to be relieved, is a double switch in order?  Mike Scioscia found it necessary to make both these moves, but his counterpart, Bud Black, clearly had the advantage in that he is accustomed to making such decisions every day.

After splitting the first two games, the teams met for the rubber match Sunday afternoon.  It turned out to be a 13-inning donnybrook, which the Padres won 3-2.  It was one of the most bizarre baseball games I have ever witnessed.  Rather than trying to describe it here, I refer you to this account:  http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120520&content_id=31811210&notebook_id=31851010&vkey=notebook_ana&c_id=ana

Petco Park is second only to San Francisco’s AT&T Park as California’s best venue for watching baseball.  Opened in 2004, Petco occupies the ground immediately southeast of the historic Gaslamp Quarter, which probably offers the best combination of live music and good food of any neighborhood west of New Orleans.  Petco is architecturally distinct from other ballparks of its generation, favoring sandstone and stucco in lieu of brick. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petco_Park.  Yet along the left field line, it incorporates the century-old brick structure that housed the Western Metal Supply Company, a feature reminiscent of the warehouse at Baltimore’s Camden Yards. 

Petco is also a great place to watch baseball because of its fan-friendly policies.  In addition to the aforementioned policy of staying out of the aisles during at-bats, the Padres have distinguished themselves from their northern neighbors with the following welcome policies, just under the “B”s:

BEACH BALLS

Inflatable items (such as beach balls, bats, dolls, etc.), Frisbees, and other similar objects are prohibited inside PETCO Park.

BICYCLE PAVILION

The Bicycle Pavilion will be open and available for all Padres Sunday games during the 2011 season. The Bicycle Pavilion, located at Park Boulevard and Tony Gwynn Drive allows fans to park their bicycles in a secured area staffed by a Padres representative.

BIKE PARKING

Bicycle stands are available for use during all ballpark events by guests and Team Members outside the Home Plate, Park Boulevard, Gaslamp, Downtown and Balboa Gates.

http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/sd/ballpark/information/index.jsp?content=guide

The Padres are to be commended for being bicycle friendly, and for banning egregious distractions like beach balls and moving in the aisles while the game is in play.  The Angels management would be wise to learn from their example and act affirmatively to curb the boorish behavior of far too many Angels “fans.”

What’s a ballpark without food?  Petco’s concessions offer all the unhealthy junk food you can get at any ballpark, but also offers some unexpected treats like the fish and chips offered by Anthony’s Seafood Grotto in the Mercado on the field level.  Also, beer is a relative bargain here.  For $10.00, one can get 24 ounces of a premium brew such as Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s excellent Red Trolley Ale.  (The only comparable deal I’ve discovered in Anaheim is for a Firestone IPA at the pizza window.  For a similar quantity of Guinness, be prepared to pay a couple of bucks more.)

One of the best things about Petco is its accessibility by rail.  There are two trolley stops nearby, and the trolley connects with the Coaster commuter line, as well as Amtrak California’s Pacific Surfliner.  The Surfliner is Amtrak’s third busiest line, and one of its most scenic.  It hugs the coast from Dana Point to Solana Beach, offering passengers unsurpassed ocean views.  Sandwiches and snacks are available, and is the excellent Stone IPA, brewed by Stone Brewing Company in Escondido.  (In the past, I’ve been enjoyed the IPA’s delightfully dark sister brew, Arrogant Bastard, on this journey, but it hasn’t been available of late, perhaps due to complaints about the name.)

The Surfliner delivered me from Irvine to downtown San Diego in less than two hours.  There were plenty of Angels fans on board, identifiable by their red attire.  The plethora of Angels fans presented a problem on the return trip.  For logistical reasons, I had planned to catch the train in Oceanside.  Due to the length of the Sunday game, we rushed to get there in time for the 7:05 departure, only to discover that the train was sold out.  The next one was at 10:00, so there was plenty of time for dinner.  We ended up at Ruby’s (a chain pseudo-50s diner) on the Oceanside Pier.  It was OK, but in retrospect, a better choice would have been Rim Talay Thai Cuisine on Mission Avenue.  The last train was less than full, but with plenty of red-clad passengers.  I was home before midnight after a long, but enjoyable weekend.

Shocking Video of Fatal Police Beating of Kelly Thomas

Last summer, Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill homeless man, was beaten to death by Fullerton, California police officers. This shocking video of the beating was played at the preliminary hearing of two officers being prosecuted for his killing. Members of the Fullerton City Council are facing recall for their failure to respond appropriately to the killing.  http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/05/kelly_thomas_video.php

[VIDEO] Footage of Fullerton Police Beating Kelly Thomas to Death Finally Released

blogs.ocweekly.com

The Circus Comes to Guantanamo

The defense script for the arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants might as well have been (literally) ghost written by Abbie Hoffman.  As related by Terry McDermott in The Daily Beast:

A slow-motion circus rolled into courtroom 2 of the Expeditionary Legal Complex Saturday morning.

What had been planned as the straightforward arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four codefendants on charges of conspiring to commit the Sept. 11 attacks disintegrated into dark comedy.

Judge James Pohl scolded attorneys for refusing to follow his carefully articulated script for the proceeding; lawyers argued they were not qualified to defend their clients; translators interrupted lawyers to insist they be quiet; defendants refused to answer any questions from the judge or even acknowledge they’d been asked; one interrupted the proceedings first to pray and again to shout out his fears of being attacked by members of the prosecution team; another who started the day shackled to his chair ended it by stripping to the waist to display scars he claims were inflicted by his Guantánamo guards.

Meanwhile, Mohammed, the man at the center of this storm, sat quietly in the front row, leafing through the Quran and sporting a bushy beard, newly dyed henna red. 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/05/inside-the-khalid-sheik-mohammed-hearing-circus.html 

Every circus needs its clowns, and Cheryl Bormann, attorney for Walid Bin Attash, apparently decided to be one of them.  As reported by Jan Crawford of CBS:

In the courtroom today, Bormann wore traditional Muslim attire -- a black hijab and abaya. She urged the female military prosecutors, dressed in uniform with knee-length skirts, to consider more "appropriate" attire so the suspects won't have "fear of committing a sin under their faith."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57428618/inside-the-guantanamo-courtroom/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CBSNewsCourtWatch+(CBS+News%3A+Court+Watch)

Bormann’s transparent attempt to bootleg the dictates of Sharia law into a secular American military tribunal brings to mind a Facebook post I saw last week:  “Claiming that someone else’s marriage is against your religion is like being angry at someone for eating a doughnut because you’re on a diet.”  Bormann could have easily dealt with her client’s professed fear of sinning with a bit of attorney-client advice that would have been wise in any case:  Don’t look at the prosecutors’ legs.

Andrew Cohen offered this glum assessment of the proceedings in The Atlantic: 

[T]he arraignment devolved at times into farce. The defendants acted like petulant children. The military judge acted like Lance Ito. The defense attorneys, finally given their opportunity to vent publicly about the restrictions placed upon their clients, made windy speeches instead of answering questions. It's the most important tribunal in American history since Nuremberg, and if this is how it begins I dread to think of how it will end.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/at-guantanamo-a-dubious-start-to-a-doubtful-trial/256773/

On “Now With Alex Wagner,” defense attorney Ron Kuby, a veteran of political trials, opined that the circus-like atmosphere was largely the result of the lack of established procedure for this tribunal, and the consequent need to “make things up as you go along.”

It didn’t have to be this way.  In 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder announced plans to try the defendants in a federal district court in New York City.  In response, opportunistic politicians of both parties howled their outrage and professed to be shocked, shocked that men accused of nearly 3,000 counts of murder would be tried in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution. 

Had Holder been allowed to proceed as planned, the trial would likely have been completed by now, in accordance with well-established rules of procedure.  Instead we face the likelihood of a farcical trial sometime next year, resulting in a verdict perceived as tainted by questions regarding the legitimacy of the proceedings.  The case may prove to be one of our most painful examples yet of the perils of allowing politics to dictate the workings of justice system.

Romney Super PAC name has long ties to Marxism, socialism

In an article titled "New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism," The Washington Times breathlessly revealed to the world that "forward" is a Communist Word.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/apr/30/new-obama-slogan-has-long-ties-marxism-socialism/.  Distressing as it may be to learn that our President is using Marxist terminology in his re-election campaign, we must also consider the lexicon of his presumptive Republican opponent.  Willard Mitt Romney's super PAC calls itself "Restore Our Future."  A Google search reveals that the word "future" also "has long ties to Marxism, socialism."  On August 8, 1853, the New York Daily Tribute published a letter by Karl Marx himself, titled "The Future Results of British Rule in India." http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1853/07/22.htm

While the Romney campaign can effectively counter Obama's Communist slogan by adopting "backward" as its own, it will doubtless want to reconsider its troubling invocation of Karl Marx's word "future."  Aside from its unsavory connotations, the phrase "Restore Our Future" is also an oxymoron-- we cannot restore that which has never occurred.  Quite clearly the Romney Super PAC needs to be renamed "Restore Our Past."