The Sports Illustrated interview with Lia Thomas slobbers all over him.

Fresh off her final practice of the week, the most controversial athlete in America sat in the corner of a nearly empty Philadelphia coffeehouse with her back to the wall. Lia Thomas had done some of her best work this season while feeling cornered.

Aw diddums. Imagine how the women feel – then laugh a callous laugh and go back to fawning over Lia.

The shy senior economics major from Austin became one of the most dominant college athletes in the country and, as a result, the center of a national debate—a living, breathing, real-time Rorschach test for how society views those who challenge conventions.

He’s not … Read the rest

Lia Thomas has spoken up.

Thomas was recently interviewed by Sports Illustrated and is on their daily cover.

“I just want to show trans kids and younger trans athletes that they’re not alone,” Lia Thomas told SI. “They don’t have to choose between who they are and the sport they love. I’m a woman, just like anybody else on the team. I’ve always viewed myself as just a swimmer. It’s what I’ve done for so long; it’s what I love. I get into the water every day and do my best.”

I don’t believe him. I don’t believe that is what he just wants. I think what he wants is to win a lot of races and … Read the rest

Always finding a new low.

Tucker: It might be time for Joe Biden to let us know Ketanji Brown Jackson’s LSAT score was. Why wouldn’t he tell us that… pic.twitter.com/boPHU5PnMd

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 3, 2022

… Read the rest

Priorities.

The Russian Football Union said it will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) to appeal against its ban from international competitions after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from all competition “until further notice” by Fifa and Uefa.

The union said it would file one lawsuit against football’s world and European governing bodies, demanding Russia’s men’s and women’s national teams be allowed to compete.

Or, you know, they could just look at the bigger picture and take the hit. Putin is not their fault, but he’s not Ukraine’s fault either, and look what’s happening to them.… Read the rest

ACLU pushing girls in front of the train again.

Attempts to push trans youth out of public life aren't just happening in Texas. Politicians around the country are supporting these harmful policies.

But we know that trans youth belong EVERYWHERE. https://t.co/sIIrFcg1jx

— ACLU (@ACLU) March 3, 2022

Nobody’s trying to “push trans youth out of public life.” We’re trying to prevent males from invading and destroying everything women have. The ACLU couldn’t care less about women and our rights.… Read the rest

Be careful.

A personal trainer died after taking caffeine powder the equivalent of up to 200 cups of coffee, an inquest heard.

At one time, that is – not drinking 200 cups, which would take a lot of time, but taking 200 cups’ worth of caffeine all at once.

Caffeine is used by some gym-goers, with some fitness websites recommending it for improving sports performance in certain doses. However, experts have warned that when taking powders there is a risk of consuming over the recommended amount.

On Tuesday an inquest heard Mr Mansfield began clutching his chest and complaining his heart was beating fast after consuming the product. Minutes later, after going to lie down, he began foaming

More on Prymachenko and the Russian war crime:

The Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum, located northwest of the capital city Kyiv was burnt to the ground, along with 25 works by Prymachenko, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Vlada Litovchenko, director of the Vyshhorod Historical and Cultural Reserve, confirmed the “irreparable loss.”

“Numerous historical and architectural monuments and archaeological sites are under threat of artillery shelling and uncontrolled movement of heavy military trucks,” Litovchenko wrote in a statement on Facebook that was translated into English.

From that statement:

Maria Prymachenko’s Museum in Ivankiv (Kyiv oblast) is on fire after the Russian attack. Prymachenko was a Ukrainian folk art painter and one of the most famous Ukrainian painters ever

How sweet.

@ValMcDermid & @SusanStryker– see you there! #LesbianLives2022 #UCC

— Equality Network (@LGBTIScotland) March 2, 2022

LB+ women? What’s that supposed to mean? Men, I guess. Lesbian, bi, and male women.

That’s not what it’s called though. It’s called Lesbian Lives.

Reminds me of the time a man renamed the last Women in Secularism conference “Women and Femmes in Secularism.” It wasn’t his conference to rename.

The shoutout to the man Susan Stryker of course underlines the point. “Hahaha women you don’t get to have anything of your own. Hahaha lesbians we get to make you pretend this hulking man is a lesbian, and give him top billing. Sucks to be you.”… Read the rest

Smash their culture, smash their art, smash their history, smash their beauty.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has reportedly led to the destruction of roughly 25 works by the beloved Ukrainian folk painter, Maria Prymachenko. https://t.co/VubLptnbw4

— VICE (@VICE) March 1, 2022

On February 25, the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum was burned. It is not yet confirmed how many of the museum's holdings survived, but the loss is a blow to Ukraine’s cultural history, its collective spirit, and its artistic soul. https://t.co/AHi48IEkI1 pic.twitter.com/kOu26zS9hI

— VICE (@VICE) March 1, 2022

Prymachenko, who died in 1997, was known to transform cultural motifs into vivid and wildly imagined narratives, in which elephants longed to be sailors, horses traveled to outer space,

Wrong sort of lesbians, wrong sort of women, wrong sort altogether – must not be allowed to say no to men.

An academic and gay rights campaigner has claimed critics of Nicola Sturgeon’s transgender reforms are being “excluded from the political process” in Scotland after she was blocked from joining a Holyrood LGBT group.

Dr Shereen Benjamin said that she was viewed as “the wrong sort of lesbian” after MSPs and pro-trans rights lobbyists unanimously decided to refuse her membership of a Scottish Parliament forum, which she said she had wanted to join to find common ground with opponents.

The right sort of lesbian is a male one, and the only slightly less right sort is the fan of … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Dave Ricks on The single most stunning response.

In the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA64), in Title VII protecting employment for example, it is unlawful to discriminate against an individual “because of” this list of protected characteristics:

race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Promoters of the Equality Act (EA) say it “completes” the CRA64 by “adding” protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. The public might assume this means the EA would “add” those characteristics to the list like this:

race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity

If so, then the word “sex” would still mean the sex binary (as the Supreme Court interpreted “sex” in the CRA64 as … Read the rest

Yesterday we saw that University College Cork is putting on the 25th annual Lesbian Lives Conference, and that the first Keynote Presenter is Susan Stryker, a man. It’s interesting to see how he presented himself as a visiting professor at Yale.

He looks a little bit…burly.

Normally, of course, it’s obnoxious or worse to judge people on their appearances, but there is a genuine issue of male v female bodies here, along with issues of presentation and what one can get away with and so on. Stryker looks a bit like Steve Bannon. Very few women can get away with looking like Steve Bannon, and even fewer would feel 100% safe challenging him.

In other words why doesn’t it bother … Read the rest

Even Switzerland.

Switzerland will adopt all the sanctions that the European Union has imposed on Russian people and companies and freeze their assets to punish the invasion of Ukraine, the government said in a sharp deviation from the country’s traditional neutrality.

“We are in an extraordinary situation where extraordinary measures could be decided,” President and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a news conference in Bern on Monday, flanked by the finance, defence and justice ministers.

What a beautifully Swiss name. Italian and French, plus it means black currant aperitif.

Switzerland also adopted financial sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, effective immediately, and closed its airspace to most Russian aircraft.

Switzerland

Glinner has a transcript as well as a backup of the video.

A couple more excerpts:

The Ivy League released their statement literally dripping with sexism. I quote “the Ivy League releases the following statement of support regarding Penn’s Lia Thomas’s participation on the women’s swimming and diving team. Over the past several years, Lia and the University of Pennsylvania have worked with the NCAA to follow all the appropriate protocols in order to comply with the NCAA policy on transgender athlete participation and compete on the Penn women’s swimming and diving team. The Ivy League has adopted and applies the same NCAA policy. The Ivy League reaffirms its unwavering commitment to providing an inclusive environment for all student athletes

The Mother of Swimmer video is back up.

At 3:45 she talks about calling the ACLU to ask about the obvious conflict here between women’s rights and…whatever this other thing is. She tried to be respectful, she tried to use the Approved Words.

I made clear that I didn’t want to offend, but pleaded that it seemed there was an obvious conflict here, for women who already have so much less opportunity in sports, to now have to give spaces away to individuals who identify as women. I was met with the single most stunning response I’ve ever received on any issue. [deep breath] I was told that the words “biological” and “genetic” have no business being in a discussion

Fox & Putin & Carlson:

Hours before Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine, Fox News’ biggest star was still praising the Russian president.

Putin’s bellicose threats towards Ukraine and assembling of up to 190,000 troops on the country’s border, was, Carlson said, a mere “border dispute”. Carlson, who played into Kremlin talking points by declaring that Ukraine was “not a democracy”, launched an apparent attempt to humanize Putin.

“Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?” Carlson said as he then recited a rightwing tip sheet of pet causes.

Putin has never called me a racist either, … Read the rest

It seems Tucker Carlson that’s TUCKER CARLSON of Fox News is indignant that people are saying he sides with Russia. Oh?

Tucker Carlson just said "it’s an awful thing" that people are saying he supported Russia and wondered, "Why are they saying it? It doesn’t make sense."

Felt like a good time to combine these clips from @Acyn from the past few weeks. Never forget it. pic.twitter.com/4PNKIu0vQ1

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) March 1, 2022

… Read the rest

Salon:

Why pregnant people were left behind while vaccines moved at “warp speed” to help the masses

One way to leave pregnant women behind is to refuse to mention them, the way Salon did in the headline.

Clinical trials of COVID vaccines excluded pregnant people, which left many wondering whether to get vaccinated

And in the subhead.

A year ago, there was little to no vaccine safety data for pregnant people like Slade, because they had been excluded from clinical trials run by Pfizer, Moderna, and other vaccine makers.

The Slade in question is of course a woman. Salon knows she’s a woman.

Lacking data, health experts were unsure and divided about how to advise expectant parents. Although U.S.

Better hide those mega-yachts…

Russian oligarchs move yachts as U.S. moves to 'hunt down' and freeze assets https://t.co/2BHyg9F8bt

— CNBC (@CNBC) February 28, 2022

Data reviewed by CNBC from @MarineTraffic shows at least four massive yachts owned by Russian business leaders moving toward Montenegro and the Maldives since sanctions were announced by leaders from around the world @schwartzbCNBC https://t.co/QOxtgFudPM

— Ted Kemp (@TedWKemp) February 28, 2022

… Read the rest

Oops!