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Cup of Coffee: June 24, 2008

As you were.

This entry was posted by SBG on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 5:40 am and is filed under Cup of Coffee. It is one of 3089 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.

34 comments to Cup of Coffee: June 24, 2008

  • Rhubarb_Runner
    June 24th, 2008 at 6:49 am

    We're starting to hear a lot of helicopters overhead the past few days; lots of time being spent by news crews out filming the flooding here near St. Louis. The Mississippi (north in this map) is definitely making its presence known in the floodplain just north of us, but thankfully this time around the Missouri (east in the map) is behaving, unlike in '93.

    • brianS
      June 24th, 2008 at 8:12 am

      It could be Armeggedon, Rhu_Ru. Sactown seems to be encircled by fire (Napa, Sierra foothills, coastal range).

      People had their headlights on pretty much all day long yesterday on the roads. Not darkness at noon, but kind of a greyish-tan pall over everything.

    • Andrew
      June 24th, 2008 at 8:51 am

      One of the problems I've noticed during these floods is that there's absolutely no where for the water to go except downstream. All the levee's act as funnels to channel the water away. So not only do you have your rain, but all the rain from up here. It would make sense to have places without levees that we intentionally flood to relieve the pressure, but all the farmland is too valuable to have underwater instead of growing crops. Maybe rice paddies are the answer.

      • Rhubarb_Runner
        June 24th, 2008 at 9:04 am

        Well, now I know what's up with the helicopters - we lost a levee north of us. We're up on bluffs above all the water, so animals would have to start pairing up before we personally were flooded, but we can see water from the upstairs window.

        You're right about the levees. Not only do they funnel the water in a smaller channel, but because it's more confining, the flood stages are much higher, too. In '93, I think something like 46% of St. Charles Co. here was under water. Sure, the county lies between the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, but they don't call them "floodplains" for nothing. I feel for the farmers in the floodplain area, but not as much for the other people who knowingly build their homes/businesses there.

        • twayn
          June 24th, 2008 at 9:36 am

          Rhu_Ru, I saw the levee break on the news this morning. I'll have to call the brother to see how close it is to them. They're in St. Pete, so I think they'll be okay, but I'm not real familiar with the geography.

          • Rhubarb_Runner
            June 24th, 2008 at 10:16 am

            Yeah, they'll be fine. Anything S of Hwy 70 (pretty much all of St. Peters) is well above any flooding.

            • brianS
              June 24th, 2008 at 10:42 am

              send some water out NorCal way. Grazing land is drying up and ranchers are starting to cull their beef herds. Expect beef prices to drop in the short term.

              After one of the driest springs in history, conditions on California rangelands are by far the worst in the nation, according to a report issued Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

              Fully 97 percent of the state's pastures, which support the cattle and sheep industries, are in poor or very poor condition, meaning ranchers must provide significant amounts of supplemental feed for their herds.

              Along the west side of the Sacramento Valley, there's only one-third as much grass as usual, said Glenn Nader, a livestock expert with the University of California Extension.

              The situation in some places is nearly as grim as during the severe drought of the late 1970s, he said.

      • brianS
        June 24th, 2008 at 10:52 am

        Maybe rice paddies are the answer.

        Check. Got that. All we need now is some rain.

  • Beau
    June 24th, 2008 at 10:10 am

    Well, Chicago was a blast. Went to Wrigley Field Friday morning, but all we found was hustlers trying to give us bleacher tickets at 200% markup. They were buying and selling tickets, basically running an operation around the park. "My guy can probably go as low as $80, but you're going to have to meet him here." Yeah, I'm sorry, that feels like a drug deal.

    Turns out we missed a great game, too. Still, it was fun walking around the park with my #57 jersey. I got three compliments and four razzes, so it was entertaining. I was politely reminded that Santana was now on the Mets, and that the Twins sucked. I wanted to ask how many more division championships the Cubs had in the past six years, but I just smiled and kept walking.

  • davidwatts
    June 24th, 2008 at 10:49 am

    oh boy, West Coast Baseball tonight
    and we face Jake Peavy

  • greenmachine
    June 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    Dare I say that sleeper unit Rincon is having some success?

    Indians signed RHP Juan Rincon to a minor league contract.
    Cut loose by the Twins last week, Rincon stays in the AL Central and will try to make it back to the majors with Cleveland. His performance has declined each season since 2004 and he's now a shell of his former dominant self, but at 29 years old Rincon may still have some value left as a middle reliever. Minnesota is on the hook for his entire $2.5 million salary, so there's little risk involved for the Indians and Rincon could get a look in the second half.

    With luck he'll be up with the team poisoning their attempts to succeed by late July.

    • twayn
      June 24th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

      And in the meantime, he and Jason Tyner can plot their revenge against the Twins together.

      • greenmachine
        June 24th, 2008 at 12:52 pm

        Don't worry, Delmon's been "getting in Tyner's head' - I'm pretty sure he's got the Tyny game all figured out now and can protect us against any counterattack.

        And it's pretty ironic that we DFA-swapped Rincon for Breslow. If Breslow keeps up anything remotely like his SSST with the Twins so far, that will be a pretty awesome swap.

    • davidwatts
      June 24th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

      Im sure Tribe fans are thrilled to have Juanie

  • davidwatts
    June 24th, 2008 at 2:06 pm

    So ESPN hockey guy Barry Melrose was hired as coach of the Tamps Bay Lightning. ESPNNews has devoted about 2 minutes to it, which is a whole minute more than ESPN gives hockey during the season

  • brianS
    June 24th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    And finally, the backlash begins. Obama struggles with the Muslim vote.

    While the senator has visited churches and synagogues, he has yet to appear at a single mosque. Muslim and Arab-American organizations have tried repeatedly to arrange meetings with Mr. Obama, but officials with those groups say their invitations — unlike those of their Jewish and Christian counterparts — have been ignored. Last week, two Muslim women wearing head scarves were barred by campaign volunteers from appearing behind Mr. Obama at a rally in Detroit.

    Not that Muslim voters are likely to turn out in droves for McCain, mind you.

    • davidwatts
      June 24th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

      I read that Obama found out about the Michigan incident, and called the two women personally to apologize.

      This story just seems ... not like the Obama campaign I have somewhat followed

      • Rhubarb_Runner
        June 24th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

        I'm sure the Obama camp is really wary of Republicans getting any kind of photos/propaganda to spread and rekindle the Obama=Muslim viral treatment. Meanwhile, if only a photo of McCain in a turbin were out there somewhere...

  • davidwatts
    June 24th, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    Found this link at Deadspin
    Its about Bert Blyleven. Warning, its kinda gross, but really funny

  • meat
    June 24th, 2008 at 6:10 pm

    Oh boy, I'm a Mr Freeze / Venom split, I always loved Venom, thought Eddie Brock got a raw deal, I mean he writes one little sham story and has to pay for it the rest of his life. James Frey didn't suffer half as much, in fact it looks like he's doin' just fine.

  • New Britain Bo
    June 24th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

    Boltzman's beard is longer. By a bit.

  • davidwatts
    June 25th, 2008 at 3:08 am

    Justin Morneau did not get an RBI Tuesday night, and that has been a rare occurance of late. Since the Twins left Chi Town, Justin has played in 13 games, and has had an RBI in 8 of them (15 total)