{"id":10313,"date":"2024-06-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=10313"},"modified":"2024-06-28T13:07:59","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T17:07:59","slug":"stick-to-baseball-6-28-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/29\/stick-to-baseball-6-28-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 6\/28\/24."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I posted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5572706\/2024\/06\/19\/mlb-mock-draft-2024-charlie-condon-bryce-rainer\/\">my second mock draft for 2024<\/a> on June 19<sup>th<\/sup>, and on Friday posted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5600174\/2024\/06\/28\/rintaro-sasaki-scouting-report-mlb-draft-league\/\">a scouting report on Japanese first baseman Rintaro Sasaki<\/a>, who\u2019s playing in the Draft League this summer and will play for Stanford in the spring. Both are for subscribers to The Athletic. I also held a <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/4c4LWOD\">Klawchat<\/a> the day of the mock draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over at Paste, <a href=\"https:\/\/klaw.me\/3RKL2i6\">I reviewed Pixies<\/a>, a great small-box game for family play, good for kids as young as 7 but solid enough for the adults to enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll be back on Stadium on Monday at 2 pm ET for <em>Diamond Dreams<\/em>, assuming American Airlines doesn\u2019t wait six hours and then cancel my flight like they did this past week. So much for my idea that flying the night before would help make travel easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now, the links\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Longreads first: Sellout Crowd tried to create an Athletic-like site for Oklahoma sports news, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.readfrontier.org\/stories\/sold-out-the-rise-and-fall-of-americas-most-ambitious-sports-media-company\/\">but it appears the founders\u2019 claims of funding weren\u2019t true<\/a> and the writers, many of whom left established jobs to join Sellout, weren\u2019t paid for months.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending his country\u2019s long war with its former province Eritrea \u2026 and then started a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Tigrayan people. The <em>Guardian<\/em> looks at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/jun\/20\/abiy-ahmed-ethiopia-eritrea-tigray-nobel-peace-prize-to-civil-war\">how he beguiled \u2013 or fooled \u2013 the western world<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Extremely important: <em>Scientific American<\/em> has a piece on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/doctor-whos-time-lords-have-two-hearts-heres-how-their-dual-cardiac-system\/\">how the dual-heart cardiovascular system of a Time Lord might work<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has the story of three former conspiracy theory believers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2024-06-12\/conspiracy-theory-believers-on-how-they-got-out-of-rabbit-hole\/103907258?VOTE_ORG-2024_06_19=&amp;category=fascinating_stories&amp;position=1&amp;scheduled_corpus_item_id=362a46c3-ef01-4243-9dcb-db870d9275bb&amp;sponsored=0&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2024-06-12%2Fconspiracy-theory-believers-on-how-they-got-out-of-rabbit-hole%2F103907258\">who found their way out of hoax-world<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An economist whose work on gun rights and laws is often cited by opponents of gun regulations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/18\/us\/gun-laws-georgetown-professor.html\">has failed to disclose his financial ties to the gun industry and the NRA<\/a>, according to an investigative report by the <em>New York Times<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SCOTUS declined to hear a challenge to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stamfordadvocate.com\/politics\/article\/ct-school-vaccinations-law-upheld-supreme-court-19531975.php\">Connecticut\u2019s termination of religious exemptions to the mandatory vaccination laws for schoolchildren<\/a> (which only applies to new schoolkids \u2013 older ones can be grandfathered in, regardless of how fraudulent their exemptions were). This is good news for public health: You can choose not to vaccinate yourself, but you shouldn\u2019t have the right to harm your kids or those around them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Did you see the headlines claiming that lab-grown or plant-based meat alternatives caused heart disease? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/what-a-study-on-ultraprocessed-fake-meat-and-heart-disease-really-found\/?utm_source=pocket_shared\">Not exactly<\/a>. It turns out that the study behind that didn\u2019t distinguish between types of \u201cultra-processed\u201d foods, so it included items like ketchup, potato chips, soda, and vodka alongside these so-called vegan \u201cmeats.\u201d The lesson, as always, is to think critically about any sensational reporting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vaccine developer and scientist Paul Offit <a href=\"https:\/\/pauloffit.substack.com\/p\/lab-leak-mania\">debunked the <em>New York Times<\/em> lab-leak op ed point by point<\/a>, showing just how badly that piece\u2019s author lied and misrepresented the facts to support her point of view. Over at <em>The Nation<\/em>, epidemiology professor Gregg Gonsalves and immunology &amp; microbiology professor John P. Moore also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/society\/nyt-covid-opinion-coverage\/\">called out the <em>Times<\/em> for its coverage of COVID-19<\/a>, including the same debunked lab-leak story, authored by someone who \u201chas never worked on infectious diseases or the science of how viruses enter the human population.\u201d Even the <em>Toronto Star<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/opinion\/contributors\/what-were-still-getting-wrong-about-the-origins-of-covid-19\/article_2300bb66-24e1-11ef-aa69-b3b079f7ab71.html\">weighed in<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The British Medical Association\u2019s <em>BMJ Public Health<\/em> journal published a study that seemed to claim that excess mortality in Western countries from January 2020 to December 2022 was linked to COVID-19 vaccines. The paper had very serious problems, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cidrap.umn.edu\/covid-19\/commentary-misleading-bmj-public-health-paper-covid-19-excess-mortality-needs-be-retracted\">sparking calls for a retraction from other scientists<\/a>. The <em>BMJ<\/em> finally placed a semi-correction called an \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/retractionwatch.com\/2024\/06\/14\/expression-of-concern-coming-for-paper-some-used-to-link-covid-19-vaccines-to-deaths\/\">expression of concern<\/a>\u201d on the paper two weeks ago, but that\u2019s far too late after right-wing media pounced on it and claimed it showed these very safe, effective vaccines were the cause.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A Texas woman tried to drown two Palestinian children, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/drowning-palestinian-child-texas-hate-crime-5bc70460f3c2344bb6154951e4e1cc77\">including holding a 3-year-old\u2019s head under water<\/a>, after she made racist remarks to their mother. I\u2019ve seen all kinds of reports online about the accused\u2019s ethnicity or religious background, but none of it appeared real or properly sourced.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Texas\u2019s draconian abortion ban has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/health\/health-news\/texas-abortion-ban-linked-rise-infant-newborn-deaths-rcna158375\">led to a 13% increase in infant and newborn deaths<\/a>, many of them nonviable pregnancies or pregnancies where the fetus had some congenital abnormality that would lead to death shortly after birth. I see this as nothing but an increase in suffering.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A Kentucky woman <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Health\/wireStory\/now-abortion-rights-advocate-woman-raped-stepfather-child-111335741\">who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather when she was just 12 years old<\/a> is now campaigning with Dr. Jill Biden. In many red states today, she\u2019d be unable to get an abortion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What\u2019s been killing off monarch butterflies? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/20\/climate\/butterfly-declines-insecticides-monarch.html?\">Looks like it\u2019s neonicotinoids, an insecticide that is also a prime suspect in colony collapse disorder<\/a>, which has led to large die-offs of bees across the world. Both bees and monarchs are important pollinators on which we rely to keep our food supply going.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trump\u2019s \u201cspiritual advisor,\u201d megachurch leader Robert Morris, resigned after it came out that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/trumps-spiritual-adviser-robert-morris-resigns-amid-allegations-he-molested-12-year-old\">he groomed and molested a 12-year-old girl<\/a>. The victim told church officials of the abuse, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/06\/24\/nx-s1-5017881\/robert-morris-gateway-church-sex-abuse-scandal-explained\">they allowed him to remain in his position for over 30 years<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mysuncoast.com\/2024\/06\/21\/senior-pastor-palm-view-baptist-church-arrested-possession-child-pornography\/\">A senior pastor at a Baptist church in Florida was arrested for possession of child pornography<\/a>. Michigan state Rep. Neil Friske (R-) was arrested after <a href=\"https:\/\/heartlandsignal.com\/2024\/06\/20\/michigan-gop-state-rep-neil-friske-arrested-after-alleged-altercation-with-a-stripper-involving-a-firearm\/\">chasing a stripper down the street while waving a gun<\/a>. No trans people or drag queens were involved in any of these cases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meanwhile, Trump\u2019s former national security adviser conceded that <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/trump-china-tariff-adviser-admits-trade-deal-failed.html\">Trump lost the trade war with China<\/a>. One of the few topics where you get wide agreement from economists is that tariffs are bad, but Trump is promising to enact huge tariffs if he\u2019s returned to office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A right-wing group is <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-biden-president-project-2025-33d3fc2999a74f4aa424f1128dca2d16?utm_source=pocket_shared\">compiling a hit list of federal employees to fire if Trump takes office<\/a>, as they might interfere with his Project 2025 plans. Totally normal stuff for a liberal democracy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A Houston doctor has been indicted for leaking documents, including patient names and treatment information, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonpublicmedia.org\/articles\/news\/health-science\/2024\/06\/17\/490880\/indictment-accuses-former-texas-childrens-hospital-doctor-of-obtaining-patient-names-treatment-codes-illegally\/\">related to gender-affirming care at Texas Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>. Eithan Haim has been accused of accessing this information through the hospital\u2019s electronic system without authorization. He\u2019s claiming he\u2019s a \u201cwhistleblower\u201d and that gender-affirming care is some form of \u201cabuse.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The mother of a trans girl who was playing girls\u2019 volleyball at her Florida high school has said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/mom-transgender-girl-athlete-says-184618999.html\">the state\u2019s investigation has destroyed her daughter\u2019s life<\/a>. What a fantastic use of state resources!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is how you cover a candidate who peddles falsehood after falsehood: <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Acyn\/status\/1803257380437893307\">CNN\u2019s Daniel Dale goes through 30 lies from a Trump rally in under 3 minutes<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Indie no more: <a href=\"https:\/\/denverite.com\/2024\/06\/17\/tattered-cover-sold-to-barnes-noble\/\">Barnes &amp; Noble is buying Denver bookstore mini-chain Tattered Cover<\/a>, which has struggled for several years, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October and closing three locations. B&amp;N has pledged to keep the five remaining stores open under the Tattered Cover brand and keep \u201csubstantially all\u201d of its current employees. Tattered Cover became <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/12\/10\/945172214\/denvers-tattered-cover-becomes-nations-largest-black-owned-indie-bookstore\">the nation\u2019s largest Black-owned independent bookstore in 2020<\/a> after a sale to Bended Page LLC.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c3ggyz13m2po\">facing prosecution in India for remarks she made in 2010 on the disputed territory of Kashmir<\/a>. The United Nations Human Rights Office <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/UNHumanRights\/status\/1806306571128820173\">has called for India to drop the charges<\/a>. The <em>Washington Post<\/em> ran an editorial on Thursday saying the prosecution is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2024\/06\/27\/arundhati-roy-prosecution-modi-india\/\">a sign of Prime Minister Modi\u2019s weakness<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/local\/arizona-environment\/2024\/06\/18\/california-gov-newsom-returns-land-to-shasta-tribe-as-river-returns\/74110190007\/\">California is returning about 2800 acres to the Shasta Nation<\/a>, over a century after the United States stole the land as part of the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project, damming the Klamath River and creating an artificial lake. The project also nearly wiped out the native salmon population from the region, but the lake and the two dams that created it are now gone.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A so-called \u201cwilderness therapy\u201d program in North Carolina was shuttered in February after a 12-year-old boy died there, leading the state to revoke its license. Now <a href=\"https:\/\/wlos.com\/news\/local\/autopsy-boy12-died-from-asphyxiation-at-trails-carolina-homicide-was-manner-of-death\">the coroner has declared his death a homicide<\/a> after the autopsy revealed he died of asphyxiation while sealed in a bivy to sleep and had no way to extricate himself from the contraption.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Scottish brewpub chain BrewDog had advance warning that a group of neo-Nazis planned to visit its flagship Waterloo bar, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/article\/2024\/jun\/27\/brewdog-sacks-asian-woman-over-reaction-to-edl-members-meeting-in-bar?utm_source=pocket_shared\">when they arrived and a staff member of Asian descent complained, BrewDog fired her<\/a>, according to a story in the <em>Guardian<\/em>. The brewer has been embroiled in numerous controversies, including their apparent failure to pay fair wages to employees.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Board game news: Bitewing Games has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/bitewinggamesnick\/iliad-and-ichor\">a Kickstarter up for Iliad and Ichor<\/a>, two new two-player games from Reiner Knizia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>John D. Clair, designer of what I think is the original \u201ccard-crafting\u201d game Mystic Vale, has a new card-crafting game in the works called Unstoppable, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/renegadegamestudios\/unstoppable-a-card-crafting-game-by-john-d-clair\">a Kickstarter live now and way past its funding goal<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I posted my second mock draft for 2024 on June 19th, and on Friday posted a scouting report on Japanese first baseman Rintaro Sasaki, who\u2019s playing in the Draft League this summer and will play for Stanford in the spring. Both are for subscribers to The Athletic. I also held a Klawchat the day of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1300,1083,1050,1080,1185,1162,113,137,984,956,190,961,224,870,477,1239,807],"class_list":["post-10313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abortion","tag-board-game-news","tag-bookstores","tag-california","tag-conspiracy-theories","tag-coronavirus","tag-environment","tag-frauds","tag-guns","tag-india","tag-links","tag-longreads","tag-nobel-prize","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-texas","tag-trans-rights","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10314,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10313\/revisions\/10314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}