I ranked the top five farm systems as of right now – well, right then, as I wrote it – for Insiders this week, and broke down the Scott Kazmir trade. I also held a Klawchat on Wednesday. I don’t plan to write up the smaller deals of the week, such as the Aramis Ramirez or Steve Cishek trades, because they’re just salary dumps without significant prospects going the other way.
I reviewed the new Splendor app for Paste this week. You can get the app for $6.99 for iOS or Android
And now, the links…
- My colleague Jay Bilas (who is, IMO, the best and most important voice in the movement to bring the NCAA to heel) and I have gone back and forth a little over his endorsement of a “brain training” app. There are a number of research papers out there showing these tools and games don’t work as promised, but a reader sent along this open letter from various neuroscientists that argues the point more forcefully.
- Noted (and loud) vaccine denier Dr. Bob Sears is selling medical exemptions to parents in California … or, to be more accurate, he’s all but saying that’s what he’s doing.
- The likely-illegal arrest and subsequent death of Sandra Bland sparked this post on your rights when you’re stopped by a police officer. The post says it’s for Texans but I think these rights apply anywhere; it’s not like citizens of other states have fewer rights.
- The title says it perfectly: For the Love of God, Would People Stop Writing Think Pieces About Things They Haven’t Seen?.
- Survivors of the Horace Mann sex scandal aren’t getting any satisfaction from the school.
- The myth about gluten being bad for you isn’t based in science, and avoids bigger questions of what’s going on with our immune systems and auto-immune disorders.
- Arizona eaters rejoice: nocawich is opening in Tempe on July 27th, and it looks like they’re going to do a bang-up breakfast, with house-made English muffins and bagels shipped in from New York’s H&H.
- A review of two books turns into a long, insightful essay on the rise of ISIS, albeit one that will likely leave you even more depressed about the future of the region.
- The Planned Parenthood videos were made by a group that may have lied about its nonprofit status. With colleges and hospitals that rake in dough, paying officers huge sums and constructing fancy new buildings, also claiming to be nonprofits, maybe it’s time to put some resources behind enforcing or tightening those rules?