Actually, I don’t really know. It was earlier today when I went out, and my phone told me that it was not going to get above 39 today (that is about 15 degrees below average for March 12), but my guess is that it did. I will find out later when I roll the trash into the street for Monday pickup.

In the meantime, let’s talk baseball a bit. The Nats/Mets game was televised last night and the Nats came from behind to win 10-7. (Today, the Nats are playing the Cardinals and are behind in the 8th.) The poor Nats are still in a rebuilding mode, as you must know. But they don’t look hapless, and much will depend on how the pitching staff works out. But their young guys (some of whom will made the opening day roster and most of whom won’t) do look pretty good, and performed well last night. In addition to the, however, in the late innings, the Nats played two even younger guys (one had just turned 19). Their names are Trey Lipscomb and Armando Cruz. Write their names down – you will see them in a couple of years, and it seems they may be the future of the team after the current future of the team matures.

The Nats game is not being televised today, but I did get to watch most of the Israel/Nicaragua game in the World Baseball Classic series. Played in Miami, Israel came from behind in the 8th to win 3-1. We will see how they do. I can’t say I have devoted a lot of energy to the WBC, but the concept is sure interesting – 20 teams playing in four venues across the world. Many games are being televised on Fox Sports 1 and 2, and a number of major leaguers have joined their national teams. I read the qualifications today – you have to hold the country’s passport, or be eligible for a passport, or have a parent from the country, etc. It’s an interesting way to have some control over the rosters, yet give so many teams the ability to come up with strong lineups. By the way, the U.S. plays Mexico tonight, but the game doesn’t start until 10 p.m. EDT (it’s played in Phoenix). But not to worry – since we didn’t fall back last night, but fell forward (luckily escaping serious injury), it’s really on 9.

Other than that, what am I doing today? I am working on a presentation I have to give to my Thursday breakfast group on the 23rd. I am going to talk about the current battle over the Supreme Court in Israel – the selection of justices, the authority of the Court to review and strike down legislation passed by the Knesset, and whether the Knesset should have the right to overrule the decision of the Court. I will contrast that with our experience here, where the Court system has been functioning for the past 200 years, but probably does not, in many respects, evidence best practices. Our justices are selected politically, and are given life time tenure. They gave themselves the right to review the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress in the case of Marbury v Madison in 1803, and thus have taken on the role of ultimate decider. This is the heart of what is being debated so loudly in Israel today. Who should be the ultimate decider – the courts or the legislature? If the courts, then is that a compromise of democracy since only the legislators are elected? If the legislature, what is to keep a legislature from passing whatever laws it wants, whether or not it violates constitutional or similar provisions, or compromises the rights of minorities who voted for the opposition? The issues are not as simple as they may appear at first.

Finally, has anyone here stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong? I was reading about this luxury hotel this morning. It isn’t housed in a free standing building, but instead occupies 16 floors of an office building. But the office building is 108 stories tall, and the Ritz occupies the top floors, starting with the 92nd. I went to bookings.com, to see how much I would have to pay if I stayed their tonight. I could get a room for about $650 (I assume that is plus taxes, etc.), but that price would not get me a sea view. In case you are wondering, the Ritz is not the world’s highest hotel. There are hotels in Shanghai and Guangzhou which are even higher. The J Hotel in Shanghai is the highest in the world, it seems, and its restaurant is on the 120th floor, making it the highest restaurant in the world. I will say, though, that the reviews of the J are not nearly as good as the reviews of the Ritz. Prices are comparable.