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Exactly this. Christianity was never a live-and-let-live religion—most religions aren't—but the evangelical flavor is double that. Their idea is to control your life and, by extension, control your body in terms of labor, reproduction, and just plain fun.

The NVA didn't win the battles of the Tet offensive but their ability to prove mettlesome and disprove US narratives actually contributed to the growing anti-war movement in the US. The Ukrainians ability to continue to stick their fingers in the eyes of the Russians and strong online presence is also key morale element to their war. what goober is going to change their mind about supporting Trump to the bitter end? Maybe nobody in that category. But, if the will of American allies is taunted by these sorts of propaganda and they see more of their people laughing at Americans its all to the Iranian's good.

I did suss out the sarcasm in your reply, but I was also feeding back in a serious way on the idea of the "second leadoff hitter" batting ninth. There are circumstances for which that might work, or at least be defensible.

As of this morning, the NL has a 80-55 against the AL in interleague play. That's the equivalent of a team playing to a 96-66 record, which is three games better than the "juggernaut" 2025 World Champs.

no denying they know US culture well enough to be good at this and the opposite in not true. But that said, they aren't doing anyone, including themselves, any good with ti.

What got me thinking about looking him up was, I was looking at the Reference card for the 2019 Tigers, they of the 47-114 record, and Nick was literally the only position player on the team with an OPS+ over 100, and his was only 111. Man, what a slog it was to follow that team. The only thing worth talking about that year was the locked-in #1 overall pick. You can discard this if you want to count pitchers, since Gregory Soto had a 492 OPS+ and Matthew Boyd had a 167 OPS+, in two plate appearances apiece.

The gutting of the VRA on net is bad in my view. But the part that doesn't get talked about is that removing requirements for states like AL, SC or MS also means removing the same requirements for states like CA, NY or IL. All of whom could draw even more aggressive maps favoring Ds without VRA requirements to adhere to. On pure partisanship it nets out worse for the Ds, but it's hard to tell the effects without discussing how blue states might react as well

Playing six years of college ball is unusual. Is that due to a Covid waiver?

this most recent poll that has him down ~33% - if it is to be believed, is a solid increment down from the 38-42 where he he seemed to hold in the past. I don't want to give the idea I'm resistent to evidence - I just want to see it!

April 22 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-22?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2026-0422-04222026&om_rid=

If the Virginia Supreme Court has standing in Texas perhaps. Since they do not have the ability to change Texas' behavior, screw them.

It will be interesting to see what the Virginia Supreme Court may do. The punted when the referendum first came up and may be reluctant to weigh in now that the cows are completely out of the barn. Since the management of elections is constitutionally assigned to state legislatures they may just back off. Then it will be interesting to see if the SC has the stomach to take the case. Given the timeline of the upcoming midterms, it could be problamatic

yeah, the best line-up for a given team depends upon the make-up of that team, The Tango line-up won't necessarily work for every team. It is what works for the average team. What I am pushing back against is the idea that the best hitter should bat third. That might work a given team, but it is not the best idea on average.

I'm not opposed to that but it is a side effect and if the intent is to make them a democratic seat, under the guise of racial equality, rather than siply minority represented (which is a key difference to me) then the overall effect may be negated.

I was being sarcastic by the way Some coaches and managers like doing this. Leyland would sub a guy into the order slot of the guy they're replacing. Trammell did his Sunday lineup.

The “second leadoff hitter” at #9 does make sense for some situations, maybe against good starters or anticipated pitching duels, although a team probably wouldn’t want to put a remarkably better hitter #9 behind the worst hitter at #8 every game, since that would result in about 18-20 more ABs for the worst hitter (or more likely collection of worst hitters) over the course of a whole season.

Yeah, there would not be as many African Americans in congress if Southern states didn't carve out the districts to max them up.

Although some sabermetricians advocate very best hitter at the top, then second best second, third best third, etc., aka the cricket batting order, aka the Ohtani method. It does help that Ohtani is also fast and a good base runner, in addition to being far and away the best hitter, which makes putting him top of the order defensible even to old school guys.

That’s pretty remarkable in today’s terms, and very good even for his time.

Yes, and that's also an unintended consequence to making districts comply with US Civil Rights/Voting Rights laws. To "guarantee" a blue seat by making it bluer you make neighboring districts redder. So instead of a generally reliable blue seat and a swing district you get a locked blue seat and a pink seat nearby.

and the war on brown people.

Rough night for Rainer, he's being too passive at the plate from what I have watched. I think he'll find his footing soon, though. Liranzo though, even if it is on a rehab stint looks good; the weight loss is noticeable. Also, don't look now but Peyton Graham is actually healthy and is putting together a nice start to the season.

Toledo Mud Hens Triple-A · IL Omaha Storm Chasers 10, Toledo Mud Hens 5 #2 Max Clark 0-for-4 | 0 H, 0 R, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K #26 Eduardo Valencia 0-for-5 | 0 H, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K Erie SeaWolves Double-A · EL Erie SeaWolves 3, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 2 #15 John Peck 0-for-4 | 0 H, 0 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K #30 Justice Bigbie 2-for-4 | 2 H, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (1 SB) #30 Peyton Graham 3-for-5 | 3 H, 0 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (1 2B, 1 SB) #30 Izaac Pacheco 1-for-3 | 1 H, 0 R, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K West Michigan Whitecaps High-A · MWL Lake County Captains 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 #3 Bryce Rainer 0-for-4 | 0 H, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K #23 Jackson Strong 0-for-5 | 0 H, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K Lakeland Flying Tigers Single-A · FSL Tampa Tarpons 2, Lakeland Flying Tigers 6 #7 Thayron Liranzo 2-for-4 | 2 H, 1 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K #9 Jordan Yost 1-for-3 | 1 H, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K #21 Jude Warwick 0-for-2 | 0 H, 0 R, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 0 K #24 Grayson Grinsell 4.0 IP | 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR #30 Jack Goodman 0-for-1 | 0 H, 1 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K