Rule 14-1b

The USGA has recently promulgated the controversial Rule 14-1b regulating the use of long-putters.  There have been persistent rumors that something was in the works and the results are finally here (here). The graphic below describes the rule (a full size version of the info-graphic is available here). The USGA is seeking comment at Feedback@usga.org.  Here is the text of my comment to the USGA on the rule and a video of me using the long putter (if I want to continue using it, the stroke will have to change since I'm anchoring my left hand to my sternum):

I putt horribly using either anchored or unanchored. You'll have to make the hole 4' in diameter before anything will help my putting.

All seriousness aside, I understand the rule and it's very clear to me how to comply with the rule. I do worry a bit about using the long putter in competition and having a competitor assert that I touched my body with my left hand or touched my body with my left forearm. The rule seems clear that anchoring has to be intentional and that the hand, forearm or club has to be anchored through the swing. I can imagine some competitors using the long putter itself as an excuse for harassing tactics. And, whether you are or are not touching/anchoring my be obscured by baggy clothing, rain gear, winter gear or a big stomach.

Maybe it's like a provisional ball. On the first green, I have to declare that I am using a long putter and have no intention of anchoring it to my body regardless of what a competitor might think or think he sees. Or, maybe it's all too much of a hassle and you've effectively banned the long putters.

She Done Me Wrong

I heard blues guitarist Eamonn McCormack (read his bio here) the other night on Pandora's Blues Guitar Channel playing "She Done Me Wrong," liked his guitar playing, downloaded the album "Kindred Spirits" and have a live version of him playing the song in the video above. Here are the lyrics from the album:

[guitar intro]

Yeah, love ain't no easy game to play,
Lord knows I tried, all too long.

Yeah, love ain't no easy game to play,
Lord knows I tried, all too long.

Woke up that rainy Irish morning,
I read your letter baby, said you were gone.

Yeah, you're feelin' down and done me wrong pretty, pretty woman,
And now I know a grown man, just ain't supposed to cry.

Yeah, you're feelin' down and done me wrong pretty woman,
Now I know a man ain't supposed to cry.

You know I still pray to the Lord above,
Yes I pray, you gonna fly home some day.

[guitar solo]

Yeah, you know you done me wrong pretty, pretty woman,
Let me tell you now, I'm not your stepping stone.

Yeah, you done me wrong pretty, pretty woman,
No, I'm not your steppin' stone.

Yeah, I know it didn't work out as as I planned,
Cause you got yourself, another man.

Yeah, let my guitar cry...

[guitar solo]





Recorded on 10 April 2010 Live at SAAL BIRGIT Viersen, Germany

Eamonn McCormack: Vocals, All guitars, harmonica
Marc Inti: Bass Guitar
Tobi Baum: Drums

Song: She done me wrong written by Eamonn McCormack featured on the album "Kindred Spirits"

Ruthie Foster at the Door Community Auditorium

Tonight we saw Ruthie Foster at the Door Community Auditorium. The clip above ("Harder Than The Fall") feels most like the live performance tonight which was a knock out. She appeared with Tanya Richardson on Bass and Samantha Banks on Drums (no Hammond B3 tonight).

Here are the lyrics:

This is gonna be harder than I thought
The cost is gonna be higher than I bargained for.
The sun sets on another day, but the hurt won't fade away.
Gettin' back up is harder than the fall.

Drivin' 'round in my old familiar town,
Trying to find a place to hide my heart.
I was passin' time, between midnight trains and neon signs, Tellin' my story of how I tore our love apart.

Just the other day, I said I just can't cope, 
So I walked away. You said, hold on a little longer.
It'll be okay. Now I'm fightin' back strong, 
Trying to right my wrong. You're movin' on. 
You're movin' on.

My Woman Ran Off With The Garbage Man

Johnny Adams (1932-1998) was an American blues singer with a great multi-octave singing voice. He is probably best known for his version of Release Me in 1968. One of his lesser-known songs was Garbage Man, played in the video above. I just love the lyrics and, since they are hard to find on the Internet, I've written them out below (at some point I'd also like to write out the blues guitar solo):

You know my baby, she ran off with the garbage man,
I ain't goin' worry 'bout it.

Lord, my baby, she ran off with the garbage man,
Yes she did.

Won't you come on home to me woman,
I need you to empty my trash can.

You know my woman, she ran off with my hard-earned cash,
Yes she did.

Oh my woman, she ran off with my hard earned cash.

I'm not worried about my money woman,
I just need you to empty my trash.

I don't know where you've been,
And I don't know where you're goin'.

I don't know where you've been,
And I don't know where you're goin'.

Come on home to me baby,
Cause my garbage can is overflowin'.

[Guitar Solo]

You know my baby, she ran off with my hard-earned cash,

My, my, my baby, she ran off with my hard earned cash.

I'm not worried about my money woman,

Oh I need you to empty my trash.

You know my baby, she ran off with the garbage man.

My, my baby, she ran off with the garbage man.

Won't you come on home to me woman,

Oh I need you to empty my trash can.

Oh, Yeah, Yeah.

Jill Kelley and Natalie Khawam Win Prestigious Bimbo Bakery Award

HORSHAM, PA. Jill Kelley and her twin sister Natalie Khawam won the Bimbo Bakery award in the "Best Kardashian Sister Look Alike Contest." The two sisters are seen above with the Petraeus family and Jill's husband (Jill is second from the right).

Ms. Kelley commented in the Washington Post (here) that "It's great to receive this award in recognition of my accomplishments. I am a Korean diplomat, you know, and have immunity to stuff and I hate it when people sing 'I know a girl from South Korea, she's got the blah-blah, and blah-bah, etc.' I've given my all to our men in uniform and I hate being mixed up with this Broadwell women who is obviously flat-backing her way to the top of US pointy-headed diplomatic circles". 

Paula Broadwell, reached at the Petraeus family home where she was crashing on the couch, had no comment.

Adding Economic Causes to the Hurricane Intensity Model

Today on Fareed Zakaria GPS, economist Jeff Sachs of Columbia University added some economic detail to the earlier hurricane intensity model developed by Kerry Emanuel of MIT (here). Sachs inserted economic growth in the model and argued that glacier melting and coastal development increase hurricane impacts with higher sea level and more homes built on prime development land near the Ocean. The causal model above puts the two arguments together (click to enlarge) and shows the multiple positive impacts of economic growth on hurricane intensity and storm damage.

TECHNICAL NOTE: When reading causes off directed graphs, be aware that there are parameters associated with each arrow (discussed below) and that the parameters have either implicit positive signs or explicit negative signs. When you travel down a path, the parameters are multiplied together to determine the amount and direction of causation. For example, from CO2 Emissions -> Flooding in the graph above there are two negative signs that get multiplied together to create a positive effect.

The role of the parameters can be seen from simpler Impact Models  (e.g., the IPAT equation, the Kaya Identity and the Environmental Kuznets Curve);

In Impact Models, population growth (N) leads to economic growth (Q) leads to Energy use (E) leads to  CO2 emissions (C). By the rules of path analysis, N(qec) -> C where q is productivity (output per capita), e is Energy Efficiency (E/Q) and c is Emission Intensity (C/E). These can be influenced by technological change. The effect of population growth on CO2 emissions then depends on whether technological change increases more rapidly than the population growth rate.

Why Climate Change Will Lead To More Intense Hurricanes.

Here's an unbiased explanation from someone other than a Fox News Pundit (it's from Kerry Emanuel of MIT) about the causal link between global temperature increase and hurricane impacts. The causal modeling behind Prof. Emanuel's discussion is presented below.