rone | stuff happens, and sometimes i write about it

I wanted to remark on two things that happened in the past ten days:

Shysterball analyzes George Mitchell's report on the use of performance enhancing substances in baseball. It is impressive that the sport thrives despite the persistently incompetent leadership displayed by the Players Association and Major League Baseball.
The Lakota have officially withdrawn from the treaties they signed with the United States and have technically seceded. I have no idea what's going to come of this; there doesn't seem to be any traction on this story in the mainstream media, but i suppose that it is the holiday season. I am personally curious about this because it seems that this is the only way a legal secession could happen in the US; also, i'm wondering just how far Russell Means and the other activists and leaders have thought this through in regards to logistics, how much due diligence was done, and so on. I wonder how well South Dakota will take this, given that Lakota territory is effectively the western half of the state.

In other events that occurred this month, i've attended, for the first time, a Hanukkah party (hosted by