biggentleben

If anyone is a "This American Life" podcast listener, this week's episode is a damning one for the Democratic party for sure.

Nearly any mental health professional who has worked with a victim of sexual abuse or rape would say you're incorrect.

At an absolute bare minimum.... I worked with juvenile sex offenders. You know what happens with over 90% of juvenile sex offenders, even the ones who complete a treatment program and are "rehabilitated"? They re-offend. The rate is always right around 90% and was a hair above in the last study I saw in 2015-2016ish. It hasn't changed in the decade I've been seeing the studies. Am I saying he will offend? No, I don't know him personally. I'm not saying he shouldn't have an opportunity to pursue baseball, but if I had such a knock on my record, and I was looking for a job in marketing, I wouldn't be able to get a position likely requisite with my education and experience entering the job field. I'd likely have to start a step or two below and work my way up. For Heimlich, I'm completely fine with him having to show how much he wants baseball by playing his way through independent league ball without any incident until he's then signed. I posted an article today on his final start as a collegian: https://calltothepen.com/2018/06/27/college-world-series-fitting-end-career-luke-heimlich/ It's not the most in-depth work I've ever done, but it was honestly one of the hardest pieces I've had to write to put together a piece that did not completely rip the player and the fans after having been in Omaha last week and experiencing multiple OSU fans and their blind vitriol over anyone who dares say this is a gray issue...especially as I had my 3 little girls with me.

Multiple studies have shown that illegal immigration is LOWER with open borders. The persons that benefit are migrant workers who go back to their country out of season and come to the US in season to do jobs that no one else seems to want to do. People simply come to where they are supposed to once in the US when the border is more forgiving. Those seeking asylum nearly immediately seek out their first point to go through all the proper processes when they're not detained the second they attempt to enter the country. Of course, the ugly fact that the president and my of his ardent followers don't want to face is that the significant majority of illegal immigration in this country happens through the air...and if you add in via boat, you have nearly 80% of all illegal immigration into the country, and almost all (over 95%) of the trafficking (drug and human) cases that are prosecuted on immigrants each year. Those numbers are from 2015, but I highly doubt in 3 years that suddenly traffickers have changed methodology such that our Mexican border is a huge issue for trafficking...at least in comparison to the air and sea. ...but our Saudi friends enter the country through the air and sea, so y'know.

Nearly none of the persons attempting to cross the border in Mexico are Mexican. Most fear for their lives anywhere in Central America. Take the time to listen to someone who has been blessed with asylum, and you'll understand. I have. I hosted one in my home for nearly six months who was barely old enough to remember, but she will never forget due to the trials of crossing multiple countries just to make it to that border. Creating a big Mexican monster is misplaced. The other issue you run into - US embassies and consulates around the globe are unstaffed and understaffed as the President has nominated less than 1/8th of the persons he needs to. These nominations usually are part of a furious first 100 days of presidency. Instead, we're over a year into the presidency with many countries with empty embassies, even as local as Central America, and most of them dramatically understaffed due to a lack of directed staffing on the president's part. Currently, we have a crisis in the EPA that is affecting our automakers and will come to a head in the 2020-2021 model years if not averted within the next 90 days. Every single model change by an automaker has to be approved by the EPA in order to be manufactured and/or sold in this country. Currently, a staff of nearly 400 persons during the last four administrations has less than 50, and at full capacity, they're often overwhelmed if multiple automakers do major changes to their offering lineup in a model year. If not approved within the next 90 days, 2020-2021 manufacturing will need to start being outsourced. By this time next year, those cars will need to be able to be sold in the country, but that means approval on a whole host of things. And that's just one industry.

Farmers realize this. It's the people in the rural communities that support agriculture that for some reason still haven't picked up on just how damaging this all is. Every major farm organization I track (National Corngrowers, National Soybean growers, National Cattleman's, and a few more) have all informed members how damaging this would be for members and to urge their Congressperson to deliver a message on how hurtful these will be to the base of the White House's support.

And not during the anthem as no Eagles player once kneeled during the season. Malcom Jenkins for much of the year had one fist in the air, and Chris Long had his hand on his shoulder. That was the extent of their "protest".

All kinds of things floating about the early picks now - with the understanding that many are smoke screens, but some relate back to things whispered, if not outright stated early in the process. The Phillies and Mets both could be looking to cut big deals if Mize/Bart are not available for them, pushing someone who wouldn't figure into the top 5 and another into the top 10, and bumping other guys back. One of the surprise teams that sent people of importance to yesterday's Florida game were the Braves, who haven't really been tied to Jonathan India, and it was well-known that Singer and Kowar weren't pitching. Could be some possibility that the Braves make a splash with India at 8 as well, which would toss a few other things into turmoil. Most likely, the players the Mets and Phillies would target would be HS arms, meaning less on the market, but that would also mean that hitters start to fall, and if the Braves grab India, that could mean guys like Swaggerty and college arms get bumped down as well, meaning all sorts of names could be on the board for the Twins that mocks haven't had available there. My personal take on talk over the last week - Cole Winn isn't getting out of the top 10, and he very well could be the first high school player taken.

While this is true recently of Vandy, and Rocker would be well-served to head there (better such than Ethan Hankins, for instance), don't sleep on the Orioles. They made some personnel changes in their minor league system on the pitching side, and the results this year have been incredible at every level. Their Delmarva pitching staff at times has featured five starters with sub-2 ERAs and better than a 9 K/9 (promotions and such has changed who has been in the rotation at times, but still...). Now, if the Orioles would ever, EVER sign an international talent....but I digress. It is something to review those with commitments to a big-time school that often lands a good chunk of their commits, like Vandy guys. For reference, of the pitchers in BA's top 100, here are the breakdowns: Arizona - Liberatore Baylor - Ashcraft Florida - Denaburg, Lyon Richardson Georgia - Wilcox LSU - Jaden Hill Miami - Cecconi Mississippi - Hoglund Mississippi State - Stewart, Winn, Ginn South Carolina - Owen White Southern Cal - Chandler Champlain St. Johns - Torres Texas - Woods-Richardson Texas A&M - Grayson Rodriguez TCU - Kloffenstein Vanderbilt - Rocker, Weathers, Hankins, Becker, Northcut, Brett Hansen Washington - Schroeder

If there were a button stronger than "like" an update like this would be worthy of it.

He definitely had the other pitches in summer and fall, but the shoulder stuff really cost him snap on his breaking stuff... As far as signable, I've heard $4.5M on him. That'd be roughly $1.4M overslot for the Twins. I imagine he's a Ray/Royal/Indian or goes to Vandy.

Preach.

Our littles still do. In fact, I love that about our neighborhood. You can go out after about 4-5, and there are parents along the road allowing kids to bike, roller blade, drive little vehicles, and just play in the street, warning the kids to move whenever traffic is coming. There are a dozen kiddos at any time in the street playing together. I'll go out my front door at times and there is sidewalk chalk down my entire sidewalk from writing I don't recognize, and that's awesome, frankly.

The Pirates and Orioles both like him a lot, and there are some who think he'd be in play if the Marlins go for another HS arm (which would be ridiculous). The Marlins have been after hitters primarily, but they've seen plenty of Rodriguez, Cole Wilcox, and Mason Denaburg lately. The Rays and Royals could also both grab Grayson as well as they both like him a ton. He's moved up big on boards this spring with his showing in spring ball.

I'd be very surprised if he made it there, but if he did, the Twins should jump all over that selection.

How has no one mentioned Eddie Murphy?! Actually, even though the music career was rough, he's not a bad candidate. He was one of the first guys to have a huge standup career, be very good in sketch/improv, and have chops as a film actor. Also...Prince. Even just in music, Prince...and David Bowie before him.

I send handwritten notes and cards as often as I can remember to do so, but I also have very good print writing and just average cursive writing, so taking that pride in my print writing has led me to utilize print in most of my notes.

100% agree. My issue is when something that could be used is used and it's not a gun, then we have the NRA drip-lips pointing and saying, "see it's not just guns!" Quite frankly, I know in our case, anything would be a viable issue, but I can't lock up anything and everything in the house that could be used in a multi-person attack. Plenty of comments I've seen would have me liable if my child were to utilize one of those dozens of items. And that is exactly where we then get off the rails. Instead of addressing a culture that worships at the altar of the almighty trigger, we get sidelined on nearly every single other thing. Should mental health in this country be addressed? Hell yes! Should getting help for those young people that need it be less bureaucratic for all involved? Absolutely! Does moving our focus to things like this EVERY SINGLE TIME something happens pull us from addressing the real issue at hand? Of course, and that's exactly what Ollie North and his buddies want.

That's where I'm at as well. Discussion of even having the guns in the house, no matter how well locked up, making a parent liable for their child's actions is something that's quite frequently thrown out there. That line of thinking only indicates stronger to me that there is little to no understanding of the system that has been put into place to get help for young people. It's much easier to put the burden on the parents than to truly provide the help needed, but then again, that's the same case we're in with mental health.

Being willing to get the help needed and actually getting that help are two very, very different things.

Well, frankly, my guns are not in the house. They're at the farm for hunting purposes, so the only thing in my home that could be used in a "mass injury" sort of manner is a battery-powered nail gun...sadly, that's something I've had to consider.

I had an officer last weekend come in on Saturday after yet another issue with our teenage foster child, this time out of town. The responding officer there praised my patience and was reportedly effusive in his praise of how calm and collected I was in what was otherwise a possibly volatile situation. The local officer took the report, knew me, and swung by my work to take a walk with me, finishing off the walk with a hug and a reminder of how much we're doing to try to get the help that the child needs. The system, however, has made us hold a child who needs to be in a care facility with 4 other young children in the home because there is an order their end of things has to follow in order for things to be done right, along with a wait time for a spot at any group facility. If things were to escalate, and my nail gun was taken from the garage in the meantime, am I the one at blame? Once the shoe is on a different foot working with a troubled child (especially with multiple children in the household), there's nary a comment about neglect as an initial diagnosis as is so often thrown around by talking heads...and sadly, now on TD.

Everything required of him...except properly report his status as an offender to the state of Oregon, which is why he was not part of Oregon State's postseason last year. So there are some hairy details still....

Yep. I remember talking with a Pizza Hut VIP when they were in town after our store in town burned down. I mentioned that one thing I'd really miss about Pizza Hut if they left town was the Book It program. He shared that he came to Pizza Hut through that program in the early 90s, and that without lobbying by Barbara after her husband left office for Republicans to work with Democrats on a plan, it's quite feasible that great reading program would have disappeared in the mid-1990s due to the grant the program originally began with expiring. She got a new grant in place, the same grant that Dolly Parton uses with her reading program (which is an amazing program for kids, by the way).

I'll not do this every week, but my first of my mock drafts (will be a new one every Monday now until the draft): https://calltothepen.com/2018/04/30/mlb-draft-mock-draft-version-1-0/