• If the Dems ran the Senate…

    The European Union is threatening sanctions against the United States if they continue to give tax breaks to Boeing and other exporters.

    The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is Iowa’s Chuck Grassley, a Republican:

    “I’m extremely disappointed that the European Commission has insisted on perpetuating this dispute. The fact is, the U.S. Congress worked for years to come into compliance with our obligations under the WTO (World Trade Organization).”

    The WTO agreed with the EU Friday

    It is a bad treaty if it in effect decides tax policy, or policy involving taxation, of the United States.

    It’s time to find a workaround short of leaving the EU and destroying alliances. Perhaps the Europeans can give tax breaks to their own companies. Income will be taxed less, the system will be more fair, and the Europeans can stop bringing this up at every chance.

    If the Dems ran the Senate, they would apologize to the EU and to the WTO, then they would increase taxes on everything.

  • The state of the Yankees.

    Chien-Ming Wang pitched a gem, but the bottom fell out of the game in the bottom of the Sixth. Boston scored three runs on something like two hits, and they spent half the inning with the bases loaded. It was a nightmare. 5-1 Boston.

    Derek Jeter barely hit a two-run homer in the top of the 7th. I say barely, because it didn’t look like it was gone until it was. 5-3 Boston.

    And that’s how it ended.

    It was a nothing game. The Red Sox scored when they had runners on 3rd,and the Yankees did not. Both teams now have identical records and share the lead in the AL East, though the rest of the division doesn’t matter at this point.

    If Boston wins tomorrow and Sunday, they win the division. If the Yankees win tomorrow and Sunday, they win the division. If they split, the play a tiebreaker on Monday, with my man Shawn Chacon pitching for New York. Probably Bronson Arroyo for Boston.

    But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. (It is more likely than either team winning both, though.)

  • Today’s music.

    Nicolas Flagello’s Symphony no 1 , which was a good piece but nearly impossible as background for writing. Michael Torke’s An American Abroad and Rapture: Concerto for Percussion were kind of fun.

    Later, I listened to some Medieval compositions. On which really struck my fancy was called Mizan D-dary, a song from ancient Islamic Spain performed by Ensemble Ibn Baya.