Katha Pollitt’s Letter to an Ex-Contrarian (from the Nation) is very much worth reading. Context: Christopher Hitchens is a leftist — former socialist, in fact — who’s been pondering the nature and necessity of our war on terrorism of late. He left The Nation because he wasn’t comfortable there any more. A complex guy. The first paragraph of Pollitt’s letter is mean-spirited; a man ought to be able to call himself a contrarian without being required to spend his life absorbing brickbats and stones. If he wants to quit writing for The Nation, he should go ahead and do it. ...

You know something’s gone terribly wrong in pundit-land when the legendary Instapundit suggests — perfectly seriously — that Turkey ought to be in the NAFTA orbit. There’s really a failure of perspective there, and it’s a very telling one. When you’re a nation that sits between Europe and the Middle East, EU trade is going to be more important to you than the “orbit” of a trade agreement on the other side of the world. Turkey would be insane to snub the EU in exchange for NAFTA involvement. ...

I’ve upgraded to Movable Type 2.51 (original). This will result in no visible changes. Huzzah!

I have been [appropriately punished](http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/315/sports/Beane_says_no_to_Red_Sox_offer .shtml “Boston Globe Online / Sports / Beane says no to Red Sox offer”) for my hubris.

I’m thinking perhaps it was just a matter of getting the Boston Sports Guy out of town. He has nobly sacrificed himself to break all the jinxes. The aforementioned Billy Beane move is close to done. And how about that Patriots game? Football is the cruellest sport. Each game has such mythic weight. It’s easy to watch the successes, like the Patriots of last year, and forget how brutal losing games can be. This afternoon’s game was a must-win; the Patriots could not expect to make the playoffs if they’d lost. Chicago’s playing for nothing but pride. It would hurt to see the Patriots kicked out of the playoffs by Oakland next week, but it would be so much worse if it’d come at the hands of the feeble Bears. ...

Saturday morning, I went to the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown with my brother. Not bad, cool atmosphere. The bacon was a touch cold, always a minus. I wasn’t blown away by my omelette. Ben’s pancakes were great — I think it’s more of a sweet breakfast spot, and I’m kind of a savory guy. Good coffee. This morning I hit the S&S Diner on the advice of many. Didn’t have to wait for a seat, yay! I had an excellent salmon hash and a solid cinnamon roll. Which came with butter. That’s decadence. I dunno if I’d make it a regular thing but the food was damned fine.

As I mentioned earlier, Billy Beane (Oakland’s GM) really made the case for using sabermetrics to better manage a baseball team. Oakland’s been very reluctant to let anyone else talk to him; as a low budget team, Beane’s their single best asset. Obviously, he’s exactly the kind of manager you’d want running a team that had Bill James as a consultant. Oakland’s letting Boston talk to Beane. The news just gets better and better. (Thanks to off-wing opinion (original) for the link.)

The UN Security Council unanimously approved the US-scribed resolution on Iraq. Yay; the UN works. “Only because we made ‘em!” Yes. Sometimes diplomacy requires convincing other countries to agree with you; expecting abject obedience is the attitude of a bully. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.

The d20 Modern System Reference Document is live and online as of — now. That’s concurrent with the official release date. Nice speedy work on WotC’s part.

Summerland rules. It absolutely, completely sings. I could sling around quotes all day, but suffice it to say that Chabon’s prose is elegantly clear, without unnecessary flourish or artifice. He’s got the knack of writing about the mythic without seeming pretentious or overwrought. People sound like people, even when they’re saying important things. “A baseball game is nothing but a great contraption to get you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer afternoon.” Yeah. I love the way he takes the sting out of the eloquence by deliberately dropping back into the vernacular with “get you to pay attention.” A lesser writer would have said “to force you to pay attention,” or used some other more grammatical construction. ...