Finally, some common sense

I never thought I'd say it but: "the federal government is right"

Rhode Island's plans to house evacuees on hold

PROVIDENCE -- The state has indefinitely put on hold plans to host 500 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said storm victims did not want to go so far from home, Governor Carcieri said this afternoon.

The state had prepared to begin housing evacuees today in former Navy housing in Middletown, but FEMA notified the state by e-mail this morning that the plans were on hold, and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the information during a morning conference call, Carcieri said.

"As a result, we are waiting for the federal government to contact us again to let us know if and when Rhode Island will be receiving guests from the Gulf states," Carcieri said in a statement.

Connecticut and Massachusetts have also put reception plans on hold and I think that's a swell idea.

Has anyone given any serious thought to the problems that would be created if evacuees were re-located thousands of miles from home -- away from family and familiar surroundings -- to spend their days with nothing to do but lie on Army surplus cots and count ceiling tiles?

It's a bad idea...even by government standards!

I think it would make much more sense to support them in Louisiana and Mississippi and allow them to get back to as normal a routine as possible.

Creating a massive, internal diaspora is a very bad idea indeed.

Ok, enough already...

I own Red Sox mugs, Red Sox shirts, Red Sox pins, Red Sox cards, Red Sox posters, Red Sox banners, A Red Sox clock, Red Sox stickers, Red Sox magnets, a Red Sox license plate surround - and in my lifetime, they could have bought a middle reliever with all the hats I've purchased.

But now they've gone too far for this Red Sox fan:

After the 2004 Red Sox championship season, the entire field was replaced and the infield was preserved. Under the watchful eye of MLB authenticators, portions of the field were removed, transported and transplanted on a turf farm in Rhode Island.

A limited amount of Fenway Championship Sod is now available to become a part of Red Sox fans' lawns and gardens.

Your piece of Red Sox history
The sod will be cut into 18" x 9" rectangles and can be purchased for $150 (plus 5% sales tax).

Fans will be invited to pick up their sod at 9 a.m. on September 24, 2005 at Fenway Park Gate B. Parking will be available in the Brookline Avenue parking lot across from the Red Sox ticket office. Sorry, orders cannot be shipped.

They want 150 bucks for an 18" x 9" piece of freakin' dirt... and they won't even guarantee that Nomar walked on it?!!!

They've now officially crossed the line between capitalization and exploitation.

Talk about balls...
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Worth a read:

- The way Great Grandpa Knew Baseball: Old-Fashioned Version of America's Pastime Catches On Across the Country.

- America's Not Worth Saving: A new Harris poll confirms that the New York Yankees (a pox on them) are America's favorite team.

Here's the top 10:

FAVORITE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM: 1999 – 2005

"What is your favorite Major League Baseball team?"

Base: Follow Major League Baseball

	Rank 1999	Rank 2003	Rank 2004	Rank 2005
New York Yankees	2	1	1	1
Atlanta Braves	1	2	3	2
Chicago Cubs	3	7	2	3
Boston Red Sox	8	6	4	4
New York Mets	12	3	14	5
St. Louis Cardinals	4	14	13	6
Los Angeles Dodgers	7	8	=9	7
Cincinnati Reds	13	10	=19	=8
Pittsburgh Pirates	18	=18	=9	=8
Chicago White Sox	20	27	27	=10
San Francisco Giants	26	9	7	=10

Well, look on the bright side, public opinion can't count for much in a nation that handed George W. Bush a second term...