If you're looking boost longevity and improve your gut health, polyphenols are the way to go. Over the past twenty years or so, polyphenols have been peaking the interest of many because of their antioxidant properties and potential health benefits.
So, what exactly are polyphenols? Simply put, polyphenols are phytochemicals found primarily in plant-based foods. Believe it or not, there are over 8,000 different polyphenols found in nature and all of them mainly function as an antioxidant.
In addition to their antioxidant properties, polyphenol‐rich foods can protect against developing cardiovascular disease. They can also prevent the development of type 2 diabetes by improving your body's glucose regulation.
Polyphenols can also have a significant impact on your gut health by increasing the amount of good bacteria and decreasing the amount of bad bacteria in your gut. The relationship between your microbiome and polyphenols is a two-way street. This relationship determines how your body absorbs and uses different polyphenols and other nutrients. The bacteria in your gut plays a major role in harvesting different nutrients from the food that you eat. In addition to that, polyphenols that don't get absorbed in your gut actually fuel the growth of good bacteria which in turn enhances the bioavailability of polyphenols and other nutrients. Fascinating, right?
Polyphenols are found in a whole myriad of plant-based foods and drinks. Below, I highlight a few popular drinks that are full of polyphenols and note their specific benefits.
Red wine is full of the polyphenol resveratrol. Different foods contain different levels of resveratrol. For example, there is more resveratrol is red wine than there is in white wine. This study found that red wine has a beneficial effect on insulin resistance, leading to greater protective effects on cardiovascular disease. This study found that red wine also protects against oxidative stress. Consuming polyphenols from grape and red wine can also improve the balance of bacteria in your gut which is associated with a whole host of health benefits.
Coffee is rich in polyphenols like chlorogenic acids. Research shows that coffee consumption may reduce the risk of colon cancer and type 2 diabetes. With every cup of coffee consumed, this study found that type 2 diabetes risk is reduced about 8%! That's pretty significant considering how many adults in the US struggle with type 2 diabetes. In addition to that, coffee consumption may even be protective against cardiovascular disease and lower blood pressure. Coffee consumption has also been found to benefit the microbiome by increasing the amount of numbers of good bacteria in your gut.
Tea is an especially rich source of polyphenols like catechins and gallocatechins. Cocoa, green tea and black tea contain epicatechin, one of the most active polyphenols found in these foods, in different amounts. Due to its polyphenol content, tea consumption can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This study found that who drank 1-3 cups of green tea per day had decreased risk for having a heart attack or stroke and those who had at least 10 cups per day were also shown to have lower LDL cholesterol. Green tea has also been shown to enhance gut health by increasing the diversity of bacteria in your microbiome.
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Ok, Makon will need to fix that still then.
He already fixed it, and he's been trying to get you to upload the fixed version to the server for a while.
I had two flat screen tv's acting as monitors mounted on the wall in my man cave with two PC's ready to go!
Hi Danman and team, I've been dieing to play this game for a while. I just wanted to let you know the download still isn't available. The premium download area isn't there, just the gamefront links in the free download section. Also the the signup is broken. It says "Captcha plugin not set or not found. Please contact a site administrator". Can't wait to play this again.
Well, he just needs to give it to me then. The one in Dropbox is the one currently on the server.
I'll check it out. Now that the site is working again, I can nail down bugs. All that was working when I tested it right after the site became available again.
I will update the version that is in the dropbox, and get that uploaded tonight. Dan, ill let you know when its done so we can upload the most up-to-date version to the server.
Thanks everyone for your continued interest and support!
Hey the links the the gamefront files don't work? "File not found"?
The gamefront links are broken, go to the premium area of the website (it should still be open) and download the beta directly from the server.
Please let me know if you continue to have issues getting the mod and we will get sorted out.
The premium area isn't available.
Just checked it, it is fully working. Make sure you actually login, or you won't get access.
If you do get an error, please post them here.
I know we have been quiet here. But just wanted to A) let everyone know we are still working... and B.) does anyone still have issues getting the latest files off of our server?
Guess I have to create another account on the Danman website, because I don't know my password and the email account I originally used to sign up with doesn't exist anymore.
I've always loved playing this mod.
We are getting close to an alpha release with the majority of races present. So if you can live without superweapons for a little while longer you will be able to use them again!
Yeah, you will need to make a new free account. Thank you for enjoying the mod! Right now, the rebellion version only introduces the TCA race (in a pre-alpha state) and doesn't really have much 7DS content...However, our Core mod is almost finished which will have all the planets, planet abilities, stars, etc. When we have finished the core mod, we will have a formal alpha release that will have MUCH more content to enjoy.
I can't seem to get 7DS downloaded. Gamefront says that the file cannot be found.
The Gamefront files don't work. You need to go to the premium area of the website (it is open to free users) and download the files directly from the website.
Now the premium section doesn't appear, only the free downloads area.
It is most definitely still there. I just checked.
Click on the downloads button in the banner, then FREE and PREMIUM download areas should appear as links below the download button in the banner.
Just thought of something, lemme check with Dan and make sure that the Premium area is still open to all.
Yeah only seeing the free section myself so might be that the premium area isn't open to all anymore.
Is it compatible with Forbidden world vs 1.52?
Okay, ill see if Dan knows whats going on with that.
The current rebellion tca beta release is NOT compatible with the later versions of rebellion. However, the current in house version we are modifying now is kept up to date. So right we are developing v1.52 of rebellion, an actual public release of a full "alpha" of the mod will be in whatever the latest version is.... Likely 1.52, assuming stardock doesn't release any more updates!
Hey. I cant seem to find the Premium section. This mod looks really cool and i'd like to check it out. Can someone help me?
If you have not done so already, you need to create a free account on the website www.danmangames.com, then once you are on the webpage (after the splash screen where it says to go to the new website), find the grey colored ribbon with the drop down menus. If you hover over the "downloads" part of the ribbon, a dropdown will appear that says "FREE downloads" and "PREMIUM downloads". Hit premium downloads and the website will take you to a login screen. After logging in you should be in the premium download section and click on the "PC Game Mods" link. That will take you to where both the full version of 2.5 for entrenchment are located, AND the TCA beta for rebellion.
If you still have issues finding it, let me know.
There is no dropdown option under the downloads tab on the grey bar. I am logged in with a free account.


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text:
AT Stake
NEW RELEASE....
A desperate attempt to survive, or the plot of a twisted killer?
Bombs rip through the Boston Marathon crowd. Just like the last time, hysteria engulfs New England. Alex's injured partner clings to life, and she won't sleep until the culprit is found. Can she push her way on to the task force?
Rumors swirl, but hard evidence is as elusive as an icy glacier. With her FBI team wrapped up in the formal investigation, Alex pulls in her newest confidante. Ozzie and Alex team up to quickly separate fact from fiction. But what seems right could be so very wrong.
A brutal murder and robbery. Where is this hunt taking them? Could it be nothing more than a cover?
Secrets from the past come to light, and that's when all bets are off. You think it's over, but it's not. Not by a long shot. The brains behind this crime aren't from this world, and Alex's family may not be able to escape the carnage.
Can Alex handle losing another family member to a sick, twisted person?
The ties that bind people are impossible to detect…especially those with long-standing vendettas. It's a harrowing race to get to the killer…even as soldiers of death continue to make their mark on the city of Boston.
Will Alex survive the onslaught?
Rating: 5 out of 5 fairies
Review: Absolutely brilliant, calling it thrilling does not do AT Stake justice. Powerful imagery, high stakes, our favorite fearless leads all combine to create this perfect storm of heart pounding, mind teasing, race-against-the-clock thrilling mystery. Just when you think you know how close they are to finally capturing the villain - you find there's just one more door to open, one more clue to find. You'll find yourself running alongside Alex and Ozzie as they try to save not just the ones they love, but bring justice to all the ones hurt by the explosive opening.
Get AT Stake now!
Available to buy from....
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Redemption Thriller Series
*Suggested to read the books in the following order:
Books in the Alex Troutt Thrillers:
AT Bay
Books in the Ivy Nash Thrillers:
IN Defiance
IN Pursuit
IN Doubt
Books in the Ozzie Novak Thrillers
ON Edge
AT Any Costs
By now you're probably aware that the Alex Troutt thrillers, Ivy Nash thrillers, and the Ozzie Novak thrillers are all under the same Redemption Thriller Series umbrella. Why? Because, ultimately, they all connect -- Alex, Ivy, Ozzie. How? That's part of the mystery that I'm slowly unveiling throughout the Redemption Thriller Series.
Through each sub-series, characters from different books appear in the other novels. If it adds suspense, intrigue, or even a good laugh, I've included a cross-over character -- it's a lot more fun that way. Plus -- and here's the real kicker -- the final six novels will bring all of the major characters together -- Alex, Ivy, Ozzie. It will be explosive and gut-wrenching…in a way that will leave you breathless.
Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, #2 bestselling author on Barnes and Noble, and a Readers' Favorite Gold Medal winner.
John W. Mefford has been writing his debut novel since he first entered the work force almost thirty years ago, although he never put words on paper until 2009. Once he started writing, however, he couldn't stop. Many readers ask John from where he gets his ideas. Well, he's a veteran of the corporate rat-race, a former journalist, and he's always been an astute observer of human and social behavior. On top of that, he's really good at embellishing.
A member of International Thriller Writers, John writes novels full of electrifying suspense -- the same types of books he has loved to read since before he could shave.
When he's not writing, he chases his youth on bike or a basketball court, all while making mental notes of people and societies across the land.
Find the author on the following sites...
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I have volunteered to share my review and all the opinions are 100% my own.
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text:
Tag: abortion
Another "great" Republican victory. 10-year-old girl denied abortion in Ohio
July 4, 2022 July 3, 2022 4 Comments
A 10-year-old girl was denied an abortion in Ohio after the Supreme Court ruled last week that it was overturning Roe v. Wade, demonstrating the tangible impacts that the high court's decision is having on patients seeking access to the medical procedure.
A child abuse doctor in Ohio contacted Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indiana, after receiving a 10-year-old patient who was six weeks and three days pregnant, the Indianapolis Star reported.
That patient is now heading west to Indiana given that an abortion ban in Ohio, which prohibits the medical procedure when fetal cardiac activity begins, around six weeks, had become effective quickly after the high court issued its decision…
Ohio is among a number of states that have rolled back abortion access since the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion…
All the scumbags of the earth now have an American role model to lead them. There is no political party better qualified than our Republican Party and the fascist mob in charge of that GOP.
Trump signed a global death warrant for thousands of women
July 25, 2017 July 25, 2017 1 Comment
❝ Six months ago, one powerful white man in the White House, watched by seven more, signed a piece of paper that will prevent millions of women around the world from deciding what they can and can't do with their own bodies.
In that moment, on his very first Monday morning in office, Donald Trump effectively signed the death warrants of thousands of women. He reversed global progress on contraception, family planning, unsustainable population growth and reproductive rights. His executive order even has implications for the battle against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.
❝ Rarely can the presidential pen have been flourished to such devastating effect. The policy it reintroduced will shut health clinics in Uganda and HIV programmes in Mozambique; it will compel women from Nepal to Namibia to seek out deadly back-street abortions…
"Girls are kicked out of school if they get pregnant. They are very often forced to marry the fathers. Very often they have to live in their in-laws' house, where they have to do unpaid labour. It is a violation of women's rights. We need to see this as a gender issue and very much as a power issue."
Tewodros Melesse, director general of the the International Planned Parenthood Federation…said the US move "seeks to restrict the rights of millions of women. It asks us as a health provider, to stop providing services which are entirely legal in countries through our members – where some of the most poorest women, depend on them.
RTFA. Congressional Republicans, Blue Dog Democrats, don't care. As usual.
Federal judge crushes "moderate Republican" John Kasich's latest attempt to defund Planned Parenthood
❝ A federal judge on Friday blocked an Ohio law that would have defunded Planned Parenthood — by kicking it out of state grant programs for public health and education services, like maternal health and HIV prevention programs.
"Today's ruling supports the rights of all Ohioans to access needed health care," said Iris E. Harvey, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, in a statement. "This law would have been especially burdensome to communities of color and people with low income who already often have the least access to care."
❝ …Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says he will appeal, blah, blah, blah…Not only was Planned Parenthood a major provider of these health services that couldn't easily be replaced but the bill was also written so poorly that it could have accidentally defunded Ohio's public health departments in the process of trying to go after Planned Parenthood…
❝ The law would have blocked Planned Parenthood, and other entities connected to abortion services in almost any way, from receiving funding for:
The "Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies" program that supports mostly black mothers before, during, and after pregnancy. The program is aimed at reducing abysmally high infant mortality rates in Ohio, which are the highest in the nation for black Americans
Several federal programs that help low-income people access breast exams, Pap smears, and screenings and treatment for STIs and HIV
Funds from the Violence Against Women Act to provide education for high school–age youth, including youth who are in jail or foster care, on domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and healthy relationships
"The defunding law in Ohio would have stopped Planned Parenthood from providing HIV tests, cancer screenings, and assistance for poor mothers with newborn infants," said Kellie Copeland, president of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio…
❝ Attorney General DeWine did claim — falsely, as it turned out — that Planned Parenthood improperly disposed of fetal remains…The state of Ohio was forced to pay Planned Parenthood's legal fees as a result.
Couldn't happen to a more representative leader of liars and bigots. America's conservative politicians – mostly led by Republican godly pretenders like John Kasich – specialize in a War on Women that ranges from rationalizing inequality in wages to blocking access to education, health and well-being.
Illegal abortions are killing women in developing countries and restrictions demanded by the USA make it worse
❝ In developing countries, the maternal mortality rate is a staggering 239 per 100,000 women, with an estimated 303,000 women dying in 2015. One in 10 of all maternal deaths are caused by unsafe abortions; an estimated 20 million unsafe abortions are performed every year.
❝ We know that providing access to legal terminations would stop women dying, but this remains an issue that provokes huge debate. Women who can't access them legally still have abortions, but they have to pay bankrupting sums, often risking their lives.
Backstreet abortions are usually done in an unclean and unsafe environment. If they don't kill women, they often put them in hospital with horrific complications, leaving them infertile, facing major abdominal surgery and enormous medical bills.
❝ What is stopping women from accessing safe abortions? The first is restrictive laws in their own countries, which can extend to a ban…Ludicrously, this problem is compounded by the fact that countries with the most restrictive abortion laws often have the poorest family planning provision.
❝ The second barrier is the tight regulation governing donor aid. The US has a ban on any of its funding being spent on terminations for women. The Helms amendment, a 43-year-old law, stipulates that abortions cannot be funded as a method of family planning. This means that no US foreign aid is spent on the provision of abortions or even advising or promoting abortion services for women. Recent headlines suggest that the US will not even allow its funds to be used to provide terminations for women who have been raped by Isis fighters…
❝ We know that abortions, when performed legally, are cheap and safe. Yet the grim reality is that tens of thousands of women who die in the developing world each year from unsafe abortions do so because policymakers have decided their lives are not worth saving.
With changes in this policy, maternal mortality could be reduced for a low cost. The technology exists and is affordable. A misoprostol pill that induces an early stage abortion costs less than a dollar. This is not an issue of resources and funding, but a value judgment on what women may or may not do with their lives.
Another look back to the world of the Republican Party and the ideology of patriarchal religion held dear to the heart of 19th Century conservatives.
The United States still relies on a model generated by a religious bigot who hated equal rights for non-white Americans as much as he opposed reproductive rights for women. Jesse Helms was a racist thug kept in office beyond any reasonable function except to stand in opposition to the concept of equal opportunity for class after class of Americans. The Republican Party still honors his memory.
FDA agrees with doctors, not Republicans, on abortion pill.
❝ On Wednesday, the medical abortion pill got a new label from the Food and Drug Administration—one that finally reflects the way doctors have been prescribing it for years. In the process, Republicans lost at least one strategy that they've used to block women's access to abortion.
❝ In the political tug-of-war over this pill — as in most every fight over abortion — legislators have inserted themselves into consummately routine aspects of medical practice. In this case, they interfered with the common and totally legal practice of off-label prescription, in which doctors use the most up-to-date medical information and their own best instincts to dictate how patients should use a drug, deviating from often outdated FDA guidelines. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 1 in 5 prescriptions written are for off-label use. That didn't stop Republicans from banning it in the case of the abortion pill, mifepristone, when best practice evolved beyond the guidelines that the FDA wrote upon first approving the drug in 2000.
❝ Mifepristone (brand name Mifeprex) terminates pregnancy by blocking the necessary hormones; doctors prescribe it with a second pill, misoprostol, which induces contractions to start what resembles a heavy period. When the FDA originally wrote the protocol for the drug, it specified a dose of 600 milligrams. Over the years, however, doctors have found that a 200-milligram dose is just as effective and causes fewer unpleasant side effects… Republicans…passed laws in six states — still in effect in North Dakota and Ohio—that forced practitioners to stick to the FDA guidelines or stop offering the procedure altogether.
❝ The new FDA guidelines vindicate doctors, embracing the 200-milligram regimen and reflecting several other changes in the way practitioners have been prescribing the drug that broaden women's access to abortion…
❝ The new label for mifepristone also says that the drug should be "ordered, prescribed and dispensed by or under the supervision of a healthcare provider who prescribes and who meets certain qualifications." Crucially, the guidelines do not contain the word physician. Here, the FDA has given at least subtle backing to the argument that women's health groups—and the World Health Organization—have been making for years: that midlevel providers, such as midwives and nurse practitioners, should be able to administer medical abortions….As abortion clinics across the country continue to close because of targeted GOP legislation, expanding the circle of who can prescribe this pill could be invaluable for many women.
Good news for everyone who wants their healthcare to be guided by modern medicine, sound science – instead of Republican politicians, pundits and populists mired in the backwaters of history and hysteria.
Catholic hospitals put women having miscarriages in danger
❝ The woman inside the ambulance was miscarrying. That was clear from the foul-smelling fluid leaving her body. As the vehicle wailed toward the hospital, a doctor waiting for her arrival phoned a specialist, who was unequivocal: the baby would die. The woman might follow. Induce labor immediately.
But staff at the Mercy Health Partners hospital in Muskegon, Michigan would not induce labor for another 10 hours. Instead, they followed a set of directives written by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that forbid terminating a pregnancy unless the mother is in grave condition. Doctors decided they would delay until the woman showed signs of sepsis – a life-threatening response to an advanced infection – or the fetal heart stopped on its own.
In the end, it was sepsis. When the woman delivered, at 1.41am, doctors had been watching her temperature climb for more than eight hours. Her infant lived for 65 minutes.
This story is just one example of how a single Catholic hospital risked the health of five different women in a span of 17 months, according to a new report leaked to the Guardian.
❝ The report, by a former Muskegon County health official, Faith Groesbeck, accuses Mercy Health Partners of forcing five women between August 2009 and December 2010 to undergo dangerous miscarriages by giving them no other option.
All five women, the report says, had symptoms indicating that it would be safest for them to deliver immediately. But instead of informing the women of their options, the report says, or offering to transfer them to a different hospital, doctors – apparently out of deference to the Mercy Health Partners' strict ban on abortion – unilaterally decided to subject the women to prolonged miscarriages.
As a result, the report claims, several of the women suffered infection or emotional trauma, or had to undergo unnecessary surgery. None of the women were pregnant beyond 24 weeks, when an infant can survive outside the womb.
❝ The report has not previously been made public. And it offers a disturbing look at how religious restrictions may interfere with emergency care. Catholic control of US hospitals has ballooned in the last 15 years, and with it, patient advocates warn, the risk that the US Bishops' bans on abortion, contraception and sterilization will prevent thousands of women from receiving critical healthcare…
Healthcare watchdogs have documented isolated instances in which Catholic hospitals denied women birth control or sterilization procedures. But this report details some of the the most systematic collisions of religion and medicine ever to surface in public.
RTFA. It's long and scary.
It behooves you to check out the policies of Catholic hospitals in your neck of the prairie. If you live somewhere like the city of Santa Fe – here in New Mexico – the only Emergency Room within 50 miles is Christus Saint Vincent.
Suffice it to say, the hospital's name on the streets of Santa Fe is Saint Victims.
Colorado Planned Parenthood reopens after terrorist rampage
❝A Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic reopened on Monday, seeing patients nearly three months after a deadly shooting rampage at the facility left three people dead and nine wounded.
"Today, we opened our doors in Colorado Springs. We didn't back down. We didn't disappear. We returned, stronger and with more conviction than ever," the clinic said in a statement.
❝The clinic was closed on Nov. 27 following a bloody five-hour siege that police said began when a gunman opened fire with a rifle outside the building and then stormed inside. He was taken into custody by law enforcement at the scene…
The facility was resuming its work providing a range of healthcare services, including abortion, to the community of Colorado Springs, Cowart said…
The gunman accused of carrying out the attack, Robert Lewis Dear, 57, faces 179 felony counts, including charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault.
❝In a court appearance in December, he declared himself guilty and a "warrior for the babies." He has also told a judge he distrusts his lawyers and wants to represent himself.
Like a tiny segment of Christians, Dear apparently feels he is doing the work of the God he believes in – by murdering people. Following the semantic logic of some Republican presidential candidates, that would make him a Christian terrorist.
Indiana says miscarriage is abortion – woman sentenced to 20 years in prison
April 3, 2015 April 3, 2015 4 Comments
Depending on trimester, abortion is illegal in the United States. So is having a stillbirth – not officially, perhaps, but thanks to a case in Indiana, we're halfway there. On Monday, Purvi Patel, a 33 year old woman who says that she had a miscarriage, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for neglect of a dependent and feticide. She is the first woman in the United States to ever be sentenced for such a crime.
In July 2013, Patel went to the emergency room with heavy bleeding. She eventually admitted to miscarrying a stillborn fetus and placing it in a bag in a dumpster. (Patel lived with her religiously conservative parents who did not believe in premarital sex.) After police searched Patel's cellphone, they found text messages that suggested she bought abortion-inducing drugs online.
Despite the fact that no traces of any abortifacent were found in Patel's blood work taken at the hospital, the prosecution argued that she had taken the drugs mentioned in her text messages and caused her miscarriage at 23-24 weeks of pregnancy. And, in legal maneuvering that defies imagination, Patel was charged not just with fetal homicide, but with neglecting a child. As the Guardian reported last year, these charges are completely contradictory: neglecting a child means that you neglected a live child, and feticide means that the baby was born dead.
But logic has never been at the center of the draconian laws and arrest policies that target pregnant women: control is. As Lynn Paltrow, the executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, told me last year about laws aimed at drug-using pregnant women, this kind of prosecution "is about making pregnant women – from the time an egg is fertilized – subject to state surveillance, control and extreme punishment."
And, as with other laws that hurt pregnant women, Indiana's feticide law was not intended (explicitly, anyway) to be a policy that affected women: it was supposedly designed to target illegal abortion providers. But despite the anti-choice insistence that women are "victims" of abortion providers, the history of how similar laws are used show just how much it's women – and women of color in particular – who are directly impacted by "fetal protection" policies.
We may never know what really happened in Patel's case. She has repeatedly said that she had a miscarriage which, if true, means that the state is sending a woman to jail for not having a healthy pregnancy outcome. But even if Patel did procure and take drugs to end her pregnancy, are we really prepared to send women to jail for decades if they have abortions? Even illegal ones?
We live in a nation governed almost exclusively by white males led around by the nose by an ideology inspired by the writing of hallucinating white men back in a century not yet up to the level of science and technology required to invent the flush toilet.
Since the first day of a slightly more enlightened Supreme Court ruling on behalf of women's rights versus theocrats – in Roe v Wade – individuals and groups dedicated to rule by a 14th Century tome produced by royal committee have dedicated millions of dollars, millions of hours, to restoring the subjugation of women.
As a political crime, that commitment stinks on ice. As ideology, cant, rote obedience to patriarchal politics, every progressive tendency in American politics must address this conflict as thoroughly as we confront racism. This is a lifetime commitment. There is no other choice in a nation where political issues still revolve around questions of "stupid or ignorant".
Purvi Patel is a political prisoner of the state of Indiana.
Limbaugh still confused as ever by contraception
Back in August 2012, Rachel Maddow explained, "Apparently nobody ever explained to [Rush Limbaugh] how birth control works." Over a year later, the radio host's contraception confusion seems to be getting worse.
The most obvious example of this came when Limbaugh went after Sandra Fluke, arguing, "The women in her law school program are having so much sex, they are going broke buying birth control pills." In the radio host's mind, women apparently are supposed to take birth control pills with every sexual experience. (Note: that's not how birth control works.)
Yesterday, Limbaugh made matters worse. You may have seen reports that some researchers believe a version of Plan B emergency contraception may be less effective for women over 165 pounds. As Samantha Wyatt noted, this led the radio host to an odd conclusion:
"Now we have learned that American women, 166 pounds and up, the Plan B pill doesn't work. What will their option be? 166, 170 pound woman, pregnant, she wants to go ahead and get her morning-after pill, and then she's told, 'Sorry, you're too big. You're too heavy. It won't work.' What are her options? Well, she can either go on a diet, or she can get an abortion."
This just doesn't make any sense. To hear Limbaugh tell it, pregnant women seek emergency contraception, but that's plainly wrong – the point of emergency contraception is to prevent pregnancy. It's why it's called "emergency contraception."
Contraception really isn't that complicated, and yet, Limbaugh continues to say things that suggest he doesn't understand birth control at all. I'm sure if he asked nicely, Planned Parenthood could send him some brochures that would help him with the basics?
Americans who consciously dedicate their adult lives to superstition and ideology that refuses to confront advances in learning – much less embrace scientific change – are doomed to find themselves painted into corners like this.
If you don't open your eyes, open your mind, it's pretty much guaranteed you will harm yourself by running into reality-based immovable objects. The sad bit is that True Believers running along behind the stupidity-bus will likely experience even more injury – unprotected by a money cushion like the one surrounding Limbaugh.
Threats aside, Catholic Church admits to already paying for contraception coverage for employees
As the nation's leading Roman Catholic bishop, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York has been spearheading the fight against a provision of the new health care law that requires employers, including some that are religiously affiliated, to cover birth control in employee health plans.
But even as Cardinal Dolan insists that requiring some religiously affiliated employers to pay for contraception services would be an unprecedented, and intolerable, government intrusion on religious liberty, the archdiocese he heads has quietly been paying for such coverage, albeit reluctantly and indirectly, for thousands of its unionized employees for over a decade.
The Archdiocese of New York has previously acknowledged that some local Catholic institutions offer health insurance plans that include contraceptive drugs to comply with state law; now, it is also acknowledging that the archdiocese's own money is used to pay for a union health plan that covers contraception and even abortion for workers at its affiliated nursing homes and clinics…
The archdiocese agreed to cover its own health workers long before Cardinal Dolan became archbishop of New York, and even today insists that it has no choice. As a result, about 3,000 full-time workers at ArchCare, also known as the Catholic Health Care System, receive coverage for contraception and voluntary pregnancy termination through their membership in 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, a powerful health care workers union, according to Dave Bates, a spokesman for the union.
ArchCare, which operates seven nursing homes and a variety of other health facilities, gives its 1199 union employees the same coverage they would get at over 100 other nonprofit hospitals or nursing homes in the New York area, because ArchCare voluntarily belongs to the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, a multi-employer organization that negotiates with the union every few years for a joint labor contract.
Bruce McIver, the president of the league since 1991, said…"Eventually, the Catholics just said, you know, we are going to ignore the issue and pay into the fund and people are going to make their own choices about contraception and so forth," Mr. McIver said.
During union negotiations, "I don't remember it coming up in the last dozen years or so, ever," he said. "In a place like New York, their employees, not all of whom are Catholic, would react pretty badly…"
The root of all modern hypocrisy owes so much to the history of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.


text:
Q: Logging in main process when using concurrent futures ProcessPoolExecutor Any ideas on how can I get forked processes to log to main process ?
My setup is like this:

from itertools import repeat
from concurrent.futures import ProcessPoolExecutor

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

def worker_process(i, logger):
    logger.info(f"{i}")

with ProcessPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
    logger.info("Starting")
    executor.map(worker_process, range(5), repeat(logger))

A: Your worker processes do log to the main thread.
You're not seeing any log output because the default log level for your logger is higher than INFO.
Set the logging to INFO and you'll see output:
from itertools import repeat
from concurrent.futures import ProcessPoolExecutor
import logging

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

def worker_process(i, logger):
    logger.info(f"{i}")

with ProcessPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
    executor.map(worker_process, range(5), repeat(logger))

Result:
INFO:__main__:0
INFO:__main__:4
INFO:__main__:3
INFO:__main__:1
INFO:__main__:2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home Mississippi Collins
Collins, MS Florists
Find Florists in Collins
Collins Florist & Gifts
110 MAIN ST, Collins, MS 39428
Southern Florist Inc
P O Box 2166, Collins, MS 39428
824 Station Street
Waynesboro , MS 39367
Bloomers Petals And Presents
137 N. Madison St.
Kosciusko , MS 39090
Marie's Flowers
1244 West Jackson Street
Tupelo , MS 38801
Franklin Florist & Gift Shed
301 Tate St.
Senatobia , MS 38668
Collins Flower Shop News
Meet the Denver Florist Who Owns the Bright Pink House on South Pearl Street - 303 Magazine
Park for nearly a decade, but we wondered who was the brains behind all the flowers and frill. Rodriguez is a Colorado native whose love for delicately crafting her floral designs originated in Fort Collins. Today, she juggles raising a family and making sure her customers smile when they receive one of her many exquisite arrangements. Her lawn has to be watered and manicured too.303 Magazine: How did you get started as a florist and open The Ruffly Rose?Emily Rodriguez: I always knew I wanted to have a store of some kind in high school, but I didn't know what. I was living in Fort Collins and going to CSU (Colorado State University) and I started working at a flower shop there and it was such an awesome experience. The ladies took me under their wing and I knew this was what I wanted to do. After I got married, I moved back to Denver and worked at another store for about a year and it was still a dream of mine and I just told myself, "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be." I knew that if a store were to open, it had to be on South Pearl. I've always loved this street ever since I was a little. There's something just about it — its charm. Then something opened up on Pearl and it just all worked out.303: Was the address for The Ruffly Rose a store originally or just a house you acquired?ER: So the house was built in 1880. It was a farmhouse. There was a family that lived here for a really, really long time and then it was a chiropractor I think before I moved in. It was set up like a doctor's office.303: Did you paint the exterior pink and green?ER: Yep. We wanted to let people know we were here!Photo by Karson Hallaway.303: What was the first professional bouquet you ever made and who was it for?ER: I've done a lot of weddings for people. They're all just so fun. I love doing those. https://303magazine.com/2019/07/denver-florist-emily-rodriguez-ruffly-rose/
Naples garden workshop series starts Jan. 10 with talks on orchids, sustainable gardening - Naples Daily News
Ashley Collins Naples Daily News Published 12:44 PM EST Jan 4, 2019 ... https://www.naplesnews.com/story/life/home-garden/2019/01/04/upcoming-naples-garden-series-features-talks-bonsai-trees-orchids/2463797002/
More top designers to return to 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show as children theme emerges
Duchess of Cambridge. A designer has yet to be allocated.The HTA will have a National Children's Gardening week themed garden in the Discovery Zone, designed by former Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins, that will feature new plant launches and child-friendly gardening ideas.Frederic Whyte will design an interactive garden inspired by the journeys of 10 Inspirational Children and Young People's Award winners. Film maker Nicholas Connor is among them and will be one of those helping Whyte design the garden.Kate Gould is set to design for the Greenfingers children's hospice garden charity.In the pavilion, Thompson & Morgan hope to exhibit new plants on Sparsholt College's exhibit.Dutch growers such as Florist Holland hope to exhibit on a Birmingham Council exhibit, which has not been confirmed.Millais, APHA, Hillier and Medwyn Williams are also set to exhibit in the pavilion alongside dozens of the regular nurseries. ... https://www.hortweek.com/top-designers-return-2019-rhs-chelsea-flower-show-children-theme-emerges/landscape/article/1497566
Mitch McConnell owes Michael Avenatti a gift basket
Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Avenatti's insatiable lust for attention and his predilection for tabloid-style sensationalism helped push Sen. Susan Collins into backing Kavanaugh's confirmation, as the Maine Republican herself said Friday in a speech on the floor of the Senate. Prior to announcing her support, Collins walked through the many reasons for why she plans to vote to confirm the judge. The senator, of course, addressed the allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Kavanaugh, including the charge that he tried to rape Christine Blasey Ford when they were both in high school. On that matter, Collins walked a fine line, saying she believes Ford is a genuine victim, but that there is also no evidence to show Kavanaugh is the one who committed the assault. But then Collins turned her attention to Avenatti and his client, Julie Swetnick, who claims she witnessed Kavanaugh participating in gang rapes when he was roughly 15 years old. For Avenatti, the senator's tone took a decided turn. "Some of the allegations levied against Judge Kavanaugh illustrate why the presumption of innocence is so important. I am thinking in particular not of the allegations raised by Prof. Ford, but of the al... https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/mitch-mcconnell-owes-michael-avenatti-a-gift-basket
Need a Bouquet? Pick Flowers From These Local Farms
Before you start talking about imposing tariffs, though, we suggest buying buds from the Front Range's many eco-friendly flower farms, such as Blush Flowers On Vine in Fort Collins and Boulder's Farm N' Wild Wellspring. After all, July and August mark the height of Colorado's blooming season, when you can build an absolutely stunning bouquet using locally cultivated summertime sprigs (like these).	This article appeared in the August 2018 issue of 5280.	... https://www.5280.com/2018/07/need-a-bouquet-pick-flowers-from-these-local-farms/
Jackson Attorney to Represent Flowers in Possible Seventh Trial - Jackson Free Press
A lead attorney with the Mississippi Center for Justice plans to represent Curtis Flowers (pictured) if he is tried for a seventh time for the 1994 murders of four people in Winona, Miss. AP Photo/Winona Times, Dale Gerstenslager, Pool, File A Jackson-area civil rights attorney is vowing to represent an African American man after a prosecutor accused of racial bias said he plans to try him a seventh time for the same murder case.Rob McDuff, the director of the Mississippi Center for Justice's impact litigation project, announced on July 2 that he will represent Curtis Flowers if prosecutor Doug Evans tries him again for the 1996 slayings of four people at a furniture store in Winona, Miss. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Flowers' 2010 murder conviction, finding that Evans was racially discriminatory in jury selection."Curtis Flowers' formidable struggle to secure a trial free from racial discrimination fits within MCJ's core mission of racial and economic justice," Mississipp... http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2019/jul/08/jackson-attorney-represent-flowers-possible-sevent/
Clarence Thomas Breaks a Three-Year Silence at Supreme Court - The New York Times
WASHINGTON — For the first 55 minutes of a Supreme Court argument on Wednesday about racial discrimination in jury selection, the justices seemed united in their view that a white Mississippi prosecutor had violated the Constitution in his determined efforts to exclude black jurors from the six trials of Curtis Flowers, who was convicted of murdering four people in a furniture store.As Mr. Flowers's lawyer concluded her argument, Justice Clarence Thomas asked his first questions from the bench since 2016. He wanted to know whether the defense lawyer in the sixth trial had excluded any jurors. The lawyer said yes."And what was the race of the jurors struck there?" Justice Thomas asked.White, said the lawyer, Sheri Lynn Johnson.Justice Thomas holds the modern record for silence on the bench. Before his questions in 2016, he had gone a decade without asking one. His explanations have varied, but he has said lately that the other justices asked so many questions that they were rude to the lawyers before them.The balance of the argument went well for Mr. Flowers, whose case has attracted widespread attention. Justices across the ideological spectrum said the track re... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/us/politics/clarence-thomas-speaks-supreme-court.html
Rising shipping costs spell the end of Norridgewock Christmas wreath company - Press Herald
Newburgh, which also makes wreathes. Corliss said the struggles for wreath-makers in Maine and beyond just keep mounting.Piper Mountain charges $26 per wreath, with $13 for shipping east of the Mississippi and another $1 westward."Absolutely, shipping has become a bear," Corliss said, saying the mailing companies have jacked costs severely the last six years and added additional home delivery fees. "It's got me a little unawares this year. We did not raise our price, and, of course, when you say shipping, you don't just blame UPS and FedEx; it's also the cost of the box, the cost of the labor to decorate that wreath and put it in the box."There's also a growing challenge getting so-called "fir tippers" who bring in the balsam harvest from the woods, Corliss said."The tips that we used to make the wreaths for years was 25 cents a pound for people to go out into the woods. Last year we were paying 40 cents a pound. This year I was offering 40 cents and no one came until I discovered some people offering 50 cents in this area," he said.In Norridgewock, Christmas Tree Acres was once one of the largest Christmas tree farms in the state, and its former owner and founder, Dwight Newman, was a past president of the Maine Christmas Tree Association.Bolduc did not respond to a message left on his home phone or an email sent to the business. A phone call to the number on a "For Sale" sign on the building at 69 Depot St. also was not returned.Newman, who died in 2012, was a florist and greenhouse owner in Winchester, Massachusetts, when he started the tree farm on Sandy River Road in 1965. He eventually moved to Maine and with his wife, Nancy, started a mail-order Christmas tree and wreath business out of the Depot Street building, according to Newman's obituary and Morning Sentinel archives.Newman retired in 1995, at which point he sold the wreath company to its current owner, David Bolduc.In the message on the website, Bolduc talks about shipping expenses increasing more than 27 percent in a single year. It said the average cost for shipping a wreath is $18 to $20 each, but the company charged only $11.25 for shipping.Leman, the Ellsworth wreath maker, said that sounds about right. His company ships about 6,000 wreaths each year to places all around the country. Six years ago, he said the average shipping cost per wreath was about $8 to $12, with $12 for wreaths going to the West Coast.Now it costs $25 to $30 to send a wreath to the west coast via UPS and "close to $16 bucks to send it next door."The U.S. Postal Service is also an option, but the rates are generally more expensive than UPS or FedEx to ship wreaths across the country, Leman said.Representatives for both companies said in emails that dimensional weight pricing is a common industry practice, and they have efforts in place to help customers improve their packaging practices."It allows us to make the best use of space in our vehicles and encourages customers to make packaging adjustments," said FedEx spokeswoman Rae Lyn. "Ultimately, more efficient packaging is good for our customers and ... https://www.pressherald.com/2018/12/08/closure-of-longtime-norridgewock-christmas-wreath-company-a-sign-of-higher-costs-industry-challenges/
Closure of longtime Norridgewock Christmas wreath company a sign of higher costs, industry challenges - Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel
Newburgh, which also makes wreathes. Corliss said the struggles for wreath-makers in Maine and beyond just keep mounting.Piper Mountain charges $26 per wreath, with $13 for shipping east of the Mississippi and another $1 westward."Absolutely, shipping has become a bear," Corliss said, saying the mailing companies have jacked costs severely the last six years and added additional home delivery fees. "It's got me a little unawares this year. We did not raise our price, and, of course, when you say shipping, you don't just blame UPS and FedEx; it's also the cost of the box, the cost of the labor to decorate that wreath and put it in the box."There's also a growing challenge getting so-called "fir tippers" who bring in the balsam harvest from the woods, Corliss said."The tips that we used to make the wreaths for years was 25 cents a pound for people to go out into the woods. Last year we were paying 40 cents a pound. This year I was offering 40 cents and no one came until I discovered some people offering 50 cents in this area," he said.In Norridgewock, Christmas Tree Acres was once one of the largest Christmas tree farms in the state, and its former owner and founder, Dwight Newman, was a past president of the Maine Christmas Tree Association.Bolduc did not respond to a message left on his home phone or an email sent to the business. A phone call to the number on a "For Sale" sign on the building at 69 Depot St. also was not returned.Newman, who died in 2012, was a florist and greenhouse owner in Winchester, Massachusetts, when he started the tree farm on Sandy River Road in 1965. He eventually moved to Maine and with his wife, Nancy, started a mail-order Christmas tree and wreath business out of the Depot Street building, according to Newman's obituary and Morning Sentinel archives.Newman retired in 1995, at which point he sold the wreath company to its current owner, David Bolduc.In the message on the website, Bolduc talks about shipping expenses increasing more than 27 percent in a single year. It said the average cost for shipping a wreath is $18 to $20 each, but the company charged only $11.25 for shipping.Leman, the Ellsworth wreath maker, said that sounds about right. His company ships about 6,000 wreaths each year to places all around the country. Six years ago, he said the average shipping cost per wreath was about $8 to $12, with $12 for wreaths going to the West Coast.Now it costs $25 to $30 to send a wreath to the west coast via UPS and "close to $16 bucks to send it next door."The U.S. Postal Service is also an option, but the rates are generally more expensive than UPS or FedEx to ship wreaths across the country, Leman said.Representatives for both companies said in emails that dimensional weight pricing is a common industry practice, and they have efforts in place to help customers improve their packaging practices."It allows us to make the best use of space in our vehicles and encourages customers to make packaging adjustments," said FedEx spokeswoman Rae Lyn. "Ultimately, more efficient packaging is good for our customers and ... https://www.centralmaine.com/2018/12/08/closure-of-longtime-norridgewock-christmas-wreath-company-a-sign-of-higher-costs-industry-challenges/


text:
Нижче наведений список усіх суперників футбольного клубу «Динамо» (Київ) у турнірах під егідою УЄФА, поданих по державах у алфавітному порядку, рахунки та роки матчів. Відсоток набраних очок подано із розрахунку 2 за перемогу, 1 за нічию і 0 за поразку.

Найчастіше — 7 разів — жереб зводив «Динамо» із каталонською «Барселоною». Жодного разу у турнірах УЄФА кияни не зустрічалися із представниками Азербайджану, Андорри, Гібралтару, Грузії, Естонії, Косово, Ліхтенштейну, Люксембургу, Північної Македонії, Мальти, Сан-Марино, Словаччини, Фарерських островів та Чорногорії.

Турніри під егідою УЄФА почали проходити з сезону 1955/1956, а з 1965 року в них почали брати участь радянські футбольні команди. В різний час європейська футбольна федерація проводила розіграші Кубка Чемпіонів, Кубка УЄФА (став наступником Кубка Ярмарків), Кубка володарів Кубків, Суперкубка УЄФА та Кубка Інтертото. З сезону 2009/2010 проводяться лише Ліга чемпіонів УЄФА, Ліга Європи УЄФА та Суперкубок.

Джерела
 Наші в єврокубках
 Всі єврокубкові матчі клубу Динамо Київ

Динамо (Київ)
Списки:Футбол

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Bernat Antoni I de Rocabertí-Boixadors i Sureda de Sant Martí, 8. hrabia Perelada (lub Peralada) (zm. 1755) – hiszpański dyplomata.
W latach 1753-1755 był ambasadorem Hiszpanii w Lizbonie. Starał się o to by pierwszy minister portugalski markiz de Pombal uznał Hiszpanię za sprzymierzeńca. W Barcelonie stoi jego grobowiec pogrzebowy zbudowany przez Manuela Tramullesa z płaskorzeźbami Ignasi Vailsa.

Bibliografia
 Cezary Taracha, Szpiedzy i dyplomaci. Wywiad hiszpański w XVIII wieku, Lublin 2005

Linki zewnętrzne
  (j. hiszp.)
 hr. Perelada - honorowy obywatel Barcelony

Zmarli w 1755
Ambasadorowie Hiszpanii w Portugalii


text:
namespace df {

template <typename T>
class LinearCameraModel;

namespace internal {

template <>
struct CameraModelTraits<LinearCameraModel> {

    static constexpr int NumParams = 4;

};

} // namespace internal

template <typename T>
class LinearCameraModel : public CameraModel<LinearCameraModel, T> {
public:

    LinearCameraModel(const pangolin::json::value & cameraSpec)
        : CameraModel<LinearCameraModel,T>(cameraSpec) { }

    template <typename T2>
    LinearCameraModel(const CameraModel<LinearCameraModel,T2> & other)
        : CameraModel<LinearCameraModel,T>(other) { }

    inline __host__ __device__ T focalLengthX() const {
        return this->params()[0];
    }

    inline __host__ __device__ T focalLengthY() const {
        return this->params()[1];
    }

    inline __host__ __device__ T principalPointX() const {
        return this->params()[2];
    }

    inline __host__ __device__ T principalPointY() const {
        return this->params()[3];
    }

    inline __host__ __device__ Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1> focalLength() const {
        return Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1>(focalLengthX(),focalLengthY());
    }

    inline __host__ __device__ Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1> principalPoint() const {
        return Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1>(principalPointX(),principalPointY());
    }

    inline __host__ __device__ Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1> project(const Eigen::Matrix<T,3,1> point3d) const {

        const Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1> dehomog = this->dehomogenize(point3d);
        return this->applyFocalLengthAndPrincipalPoint(dehomog,focalLength(),principalPoint());

    }

    inline __host__ __device__ Eigen::Matrix<T,3,1> unproject(const Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1> point2d, const T depth) const {

        const Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1> dehomog = this->unapplyFocalLengthAndPrincipalPoint(point2d,focalLength(),principalPoint());
        const Eigen::Matrix<T,2,1> scaled = dehomog * depth;

        return Eigen::Matrix<T,3,1>(scaled(0),scaled(1),depth);

    }

protected:

};

} // namespace df

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
package io.apiman.gateway.platforms.vertx3.common.config;

import io.apiman.common.logging.IApimanLogger;
import io.apiman.common.logging.IDelegateFactory;
import io.vertx.core.logging.Logger;
import io.vertx.core.logging.LoggerFactory;

public class VertxLoggerDelegate implements IDelegateFactory {

    @Override
    public IApimanLogger createLogger(String name) {
        return new VertxApimanLogger(LoggerFactory.getLogger(name));
    }

    @Override
    public IApimanLogger createLogger(Class<?> klazz) {
        return new VertxApimanLogger(LoggerFactory.getLogger(klazz));
    }

    class VertxApimanLogger implements IApimanLogger {
        private Logger logger;

        public VertxApimanLogger(Logger logger) {
            this.logger = logger;
        }

        @Override
        public void info(String message) {
            logger.info(message);
        }

        @Override
        public void warn(String message) {
            logger.warn(message);
        }

        @Override
        public void debug(String message) {
            logger.debug(message);
        }

        @Override
        public void trace(String message) {
            logger.trace(message);
        }

        @Override
        public void error(Throwable error) {
            logger.error(error);
        }

        @Override
        public void error(String message, Throwable error) {
            logger.error(message, error);
        }
    }

}


Am I spending regular quiet time in solitude with God?
31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.
INSIGHT: We can see that Jesus places a priority on rest and quiet time with Him, even over being able to help more people. Jesus regularly got away from the ministry work, to pray and spend time in solitude with His Father. Are you? This is what people desperately need today, not more church activities or sermons, connection groups, or service projects, but a returning to our first love through simple alone time spent with Him! My time alone with God is the most important time in my life. I protect it diligently from distraction. I would not have made it through my valley of the shadow of death without it. I really found God through hours of morning daily Bible study, and walking for four years in the woods in prayer. I enter the trailhead saying, "I'm here Daddy…please meet me here." I have grown way more in the Lord, outside the institution of the church than I ever did inside of it. I have had unforgettable mountain top experiences with Him. One time, His presence was so strong that I had to hold myself up with my hands on my knees. There have been a few other times when I thought the heavens would break open and an angel, or the Lord himself, might show up on the trail. However, most of the time, it's nothing spectacular, but just sweet fellowship with the Spirit. Sometimes, I've even left feeling disappointed, and like He was distant, but I continued in faith, not by feeling. I was delighted when I read this quote from the great Reformer Jonathan Edwards, knowing I wasn't the only one who went to the woods to spend time with God.
I spent most of my time in thinking of divine things, year after year; often walking alone in the woods, and solitary places, for meditation, soliloquy, and prayer, and converse with God.
Or, how does he feel when He never gets to spend just one on one time with you? Please start doing this; find a special place or room. No matter how weird it may feel at first, this will change your life and walk with Christ. Step into it in faith and put a regular time and place on your schedule to do nothing but go spend time alone with Him. This is not Bible study time, but you can take your favorite verses or promises if it helps you. Just go show up, and He will be found by you if you are diligent (Deu 4:29, Ps 119:58 Jer 29:13). Go in faith my friend…yes, I tell you, go and keep going until you find Him. Go find Him and when you find Him, never let go!


text:
Home Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Sports Contributors
There's A Revolution Going On In How Baseball Teams Play Defense
Tampa Bay Rays' Manager Joe Maddon employs the overshift against Dan Uggla, on May 19th, 2012.
arctic_whirlwind | Flickr
EVER since the Cleveland Indians put three infielders to the right of second base in 1948 against Ted Williams, a left-handed batter who rarely hit ground balls the opposite way, baseball teams have deployed defensive shifts against powerful lefties.
Williams could easily have bunted the ball towards third base and sauntered down to first for a single. But he continued swinging as hard as he could, arguing that the defence would be irrelevant if he managed to hit a home run.
Since then, the vast majority of hitters who have faced shifts have similarly refused to change their approach. Their opponents have been delighted to watch them pound ground ball after ground ball straight towards the repositioned infielders.
Yet despite their effectiveness, defensive shifts have been a relative rarity for most of modern baseball history. They have almost never been used against right-handed batters: because the first baseman must stay reasonably close to the base to receive a throw, there would be a gaping hole in the defence if all the other infielders were on the other side of the diamond. And even among lefties, only the most extreme pull hitters have faced shifts regularly. When there is even a modest chance that a batter will hit a ball towards third base, managers have tended to play a standard defence.
In recent years the Tampa Bay Rays, baseballs most innovative franchise, have abandoned this orthodoxy and begun shifting much more aggressively. The Rays play in one of baseballs smallest markets and have one of its lowest payrolls. Nonetheless, they have managed to make the playoffs in three of the last four seasons thanks to their savvy management. Rather than simply alternating between one of two infield alignments – normal positioning and a Williams Shift – Tampa Bay has studied where each opposing batter tends to hit the ball and concentrated their infielders in those areas, even against right-handed hitters.
The results have been remarkable. From 2009-11 just 22.4% of the Rays opponents ground balls became hits, compared with 23.6% for an average American League team. That difference may sound small. But it amounts to an advantage of 21 hits per season – which translates into a 1.7-game improvement in the teams won-lost record.
That difference may sound small. But it amounts to an advantage of 21 hits per season – which translates into a 1.7-game improvement in the teams won-lost record.
Signing a player on the free-agent market who would help the club by a similar amount would cost over $8m. There is no way to prove that shifts are the cause of this success – the pitchers might have induced ground balls that are unusually easy to snare, or the infielders might simply be excellent defenders (and at least one of them, Evan Longoria, certainly is). But defensive positioning is by far the most likely explanation for such a big, consistent edge over three separate seasons.
This year, the rest of the league seems to be catching up at last to Tampa Bay. According to John Dewan of Baseball Info Solutions, a data-gathering and analysis company, major-league teams are on pace to deploy twice as many shifts this season as they did in 2011. Unsurprisingly, the share of ground balls that become hits for the league as a whole has dropped from 23.7% last year to 22.6% in 2012. In contrast, the proportion of balls hit in the air that go for hits has fallen by only 0.3 percentage points, an insignificant decline. Although the Rays are still easily the leaders in the tactic – they are projected to put on 695 shifts this season, over three times as many as their average in 2010-11 – they are no longer alone. The runners-up are Baltimore, on pace for 386 shifts, and Cleveland, on track for 342. Neither team was expected to contend this season, but both are currently in first place in their divisions.
There are two potential interpretations of this trend. The pessimistic view is that it shows that small-market franchises are doomed. Before the Rays became successful, the Oakland Athletics used cutting-edge statistics in the early 2000s to compile a winning team on a shoestring budget. Their achievements were recently featured in the hit film Moneyball. However, once richer clubs began using their methods against them, they could no longer compete, and they have not had a winning record since 2006. The same fate might well await Tampa Bay. Eventually, all the market inefficiencies will be ironed out, and the only way for teams to win more games will be to spend more money.
Fortunately, there is a compelling counter-argument to this dystopian vision. Baseball strategy is not a puzzle with a single solution. Instead, it is a dynamic system, in which a tactic that works against one approach can be neutralized by another. And when it comes to shifts, the response is as clear as the sea of empty infield dirt abandoned by the defenders congregating on one side of the diamond. All it takes is a handful of well-placed bunt singles to make the shift a losing strategy for the defence. Carlos Pea of – who else? – the Rays has proven himself a master of this riposte. As a result, he has enjoyed a double boost to his production: he both secures free hits using bunts when he faces a shift, and gets more hits on ground balls to the right side than do other lefty sluggers, since the threat of his bunting means he faces fewer shifts than they do.
Back in the 1940s, Williams managed to be the games best offensive player despite losing dozens of hits to the shift named after him. Today, the game has evolved to a point where stars can no longer afford to be so stubborn. Sluggers who can bunt are the new market inefficiency, and the first team that has its power hitters practicing this wimpy technique will enjoy a crucial edge. For all we know, Tampa Bay may be doing so already.
The Economist Baseball Toronto Blue Jays


Note from BW of Brazil: If you've been paying attention to the news concerning Brazil's prison system as of late, you know that saying that authorities have a major problem on its hands would be an extreme understatement. Just since the turn of the new year we've seen three major riots and outbreaks of violence that have led to the death of around 110 inmates in the three different penitentiaries, in the states of Amazonas, Rio Grande Do Norte and Romaima. While Brazil's prison industrial complex continues to ineffectively deal with the problem of overcrowding and gang rivalries within the prisons, the shocking murders continue.
On January 7th, this blog covered the uprising in the Amazonas that led to the murder of 56 inmates and the escape of several others. Since then, on January 6th, we saw 31 inmates murdered in the Penitenciária Agrícola de Monte Cristo prison in the state of Roraima, followed by another 10 prisoners murdered on the 14th in the Penitenciária Estadual de Alcaçuz, in Nísia Floresta, in metropolitan Natal, the capital city of the state of Rio Grande do Norte.
In each of the cases we find similar details. The first being rival gang factions within the prison. The second being murders, many by decapitation. And third, prisons being filled beyond capacity. In the case of Rio Grande do Norte, the prison capacity is 620 but it houses more than 1,200 prisoners. In Roraima, there 1,475 prisoners being house in a facility made for 750 detainees. A fourth issue that continuously emerges is provisórios prisoners, or those prisoners who are still awaiting judgement. In Rio Grande do Norte's prison system, 35% of detainees are awaiting judgement. In Roraima's Agrícola de Monte Cristo prison, 898 of 1,475, or 61% of prisoners, await judgement.
The skin is the largest organ of the human body. It is also the heaviest. The burden goes beyond anatomy, especially for blacks. Their color predominates within the orange uniforms of the prisons in (the capital city of) Brasília, both in the female and in the male wings. But among them are the most alarming figures. In the Brasília Federal District region, in 2007, there were 377 women in prison. Today, they total 12,600; a growth of 3,242%. Among the detainees, 81% are black. The data are part of an unprecedented survey by the Ministry of Justice to reveal the profile of incarcerated women, released in November.
The absolute population of women imprisoned in the Brazilian penitentiary system grew 567% between 2000 and 2014, reaching 37,380 detainees. The number of incarcerated men grew 220% over the same period. "The prevalence of certain profiles of women (low education and black women) in the prison system reveals the discrepancy of the trends of female incarceration in the country, and reinforces the already well-known profile of the general prison population," the Justice Ministry said in the study.
Public security stalks those that education ignored. More than half of the detainees have only completed an elementary education, which doesn't mean that they can read or write without difficulty, and only 1% have completed higher education. Among them, 25% are between 18 and 24 years old. Twenty-four percent of these women are between 25 and 29 years of age.
The anthropologist Debora Diniz learned the routine of the women prisoners to write the book Cadeia (jail). "Making only a relationship between poverty and crime would be wrong and superficial. It's necessary to know that there is a permanent selectivity of the penal system with respect to the população negra (black population). This selectivity causes many mulheres negras (black women) to begin and end their adult life in a prison, which is the portrait of racial inequality in Brazil. The majority of blacks in prisons is no coincidence: inequality has color." Authorities at the women's prison, such as the director, doctors and social workers, are white.
Jail is a lonelier place for women. At Presídio Feminino do DF (Women's Prison of the Federal District, also known as Colméia), 65% of prisoners are single, at least on paper. A good part of them lived in informal relationships. It is rare to find men in the visitation line. Most detainees (52%) are there because of drug trafficking. Many practiced crime on behalf of incarcerated boyfriends or husbands. The following accounts give voices, faces and stories to cold statistics. They are testimonies collected by Metrópoles among women who have been behind bars or who are in a regime aberto (open regime) (1).
Deusilene Mendes da Silva, 43, is better known as Deusa. She shares the house where she lives, in Samambaia (2), with several relatives. In 2006, she opened her home to her nephew and his wife. The girl used drugs, and Deusa expelled them both from her home. Days later, the couple tried to stab the wife of one of Deusilene's nephews. Deusa ended up taking the blame for the attempted murder. In 2009, she was tried in absentia, as the lawyer she hired didn't tell her about the two hearings in the case.
Deusa says she respects prison officers and fellow prisoners. She studied most of her time and worked in the cleaning of the jail and the kitchen to keep out of trouble and try to reduce her sentence. Today, Deusa is in an open regime. She works as a maid in the Fundação de Amparo ao Trabalhador Preso (Funap or Foundation for the Support of the Inmate Worker). She must be home by 10:00 p.m. Deusa wants to realize her dream of adolescence: to study to be a lawyer.
* In video connected to this report, the two women in the above photo expressed their opinions on certain topics, including their experiences with police. Iara says that she was arrested for the first time at age 12, living on the streets. Police approached her and ask: "What are doing here, neguinha (little black girl)?" She continued speaking on racism: "If Nailma and I are sitting talking and there are two white women there talking, for sure the police will approach us." Nailma spoke on police using their authority to mistreat, curse, beat, pepper spray people.
s imprisoned the entire day and only comes out to work in special cases. Regime aberto or 'open regime' refers to a situation in which a prisoner works outside during the day and spends the day in a shelter or their own home.