Mitts fingered over baseball catchers[base '] pain [New Scientist]

HAving been a catcher though college, I can comment a little about this. First, the article appears to have been written by someone (a Brit?) who has little real knowledge of baseball. Spit abllas are illegal. You use a special huge glove for knuckleballs. Who calls them a back stop?

But the point is well taken. A normal glove has real problems protecting the index finger. I would always have problems with a swollen index finger usually between below the knuckle closest to the hand. Fast balls would clip this pretty regularly. So, I would do one of two things: wear a leather glove, like a handball glove, that provided extra padding; or, a quarter-inch piece of foan rubber placed between m hand and the glove. Sometimes I would use both.

As for the other hand problems they discuss (reduced bood flow), I think it comes from the catcher having to hold his glove up EVERY pitch, to serve as a target, with the wrist bent at a sharp angle. It is amazing to me that more catchers do not suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. No other playet has to cock their hands at such an angle 150 or more times a game. I hated that almost as much as getting in a crouch. Catchers knees take an even bigger pounding.  5:47:02 PM    

HOPE: Are Our Guys Alive?.

There are indications a small special operations team of U.S. soldiers - which has been missing in the rugged mountains near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border for four days - may be alive, a senior military official tells ABC News.

"We have gotten various signals," said the official.

[News America Now]

I hope this turns out well.  5:36:01 PM    

Housing Bubble Could Cause Financial Meltdown.

Bigger than dotcom bust... Based on benchmarks from a recent International Monetary Fund study comparing the stock and housing market bubbles, there are about 15 states that are vulnerable to a housing market correction. These represent about 35 percent of gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economy.

[News America Now]

And housing bubbles, when they burst, are more damaging than equity bubbles. Almost 40% of all the new jobs created are directly or indirectly related to the housing boom. At least my state, is not one of the fabulous 15. It is 17. Looks like Colorado, Ohio, Oklahoma, Indiana and Texas might be okay, since they had the 5 lowest home price appreciation. But Texas, with the worst at 3.77. Since 1980, the average home in America has increased in price by almost 250 percent. In Texas, they have gone up barely 95% percent. The only state worse is Oklahoma at 81 percent.

The number one market in the US over the last year is Bakersfield, with an increase in prices of 33 percent! Heck, even Fresno (number 10) prices went up 27 percent. Dallas (250 out of 264) had a increase of 3 percent while Austin, that liberal town, was 258th with an increase of 2 percent. Houston (219) did pretty good, with an increase of 4.4 percent, slightly better than the state average. Seattle (92) was just below the national average.  4:29:36 PM    

Bill Clinton: My Plan To Fix Social Security.

Legalizing more immigrants would help bolster the Social Security system, former President Bill Clinton told the nation's largest Hispanic-rights organization Friday..."Those of you who want immigration reform should use Social Security more," Clinton said to about 1,300 members of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "If we legalize just 250,000 more immigrants a year, it would solve half of the shortfall in the Social Security Trust Fund."

[News America Now]

Take two ideas the right wing hates, put them together and get a solution. I like it and it shows that there are plenty of things we could try. But since it does not inolve giving mony to the very wealthy, it wll have little chance of happening.  4:14:20 PM