Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

[lineygoblue]

Seems like most of the rest of the world is fine with Hamas staying in Gaza and rebuilding its terror state. And, they have promised that once they do, they will attack Israel again, with an even larger attack.

So many countries want a 'peaceful two-state solution' and are somehow convinced that Hamas will be a partner in that. That's not the history of Hamas. Israel has a history of living peacefully with peaceful neighbors like Egypt and Jordan. Hamas has no such history.

But yet ... "two state" folks are convinced that Hamas will go along .....

[Dr. Strangelove]

Wild story about a shakeup in the Libertarian Party. It looks like the former Chair got caught embezzling money, abruptly resigned, and took a job where she'll be working for RFK (of course) instead. And she wants the govt to find out if the FBI is trying to frame her (lol).

************************

Kennedy certainly owes her; under her leadership the L.P. formed a joint fundraising agreement with his campaign, thus helping a candidate opposed to the L.P. raise money (while also keeping a portion of it for the L.P., and indeed the money flowing from McArdle's decision to ally with Kennedy seems to be keeping the L.P. from running out of money entirely.) Organizations she controls outside the L.P. in turn have received over $750,000 in 2024.

Steven Nekhaila voted Libertarian Party chair after Angela McArdle’s resignation

[iam416]

It's funny how Kennedys can get away with being Kennedys until DJT touches one of them. As far as I'm concerned, they're all a detestable lot that ought never serve in public office.

[THE_WIZARD_]

It's also amusing that the Progs are screaming about the Constitution regarding DOGE, Musk, etc. Do they realize about 95% of the current federal bureaucracy is also not in the Constitution...

[THE_WIZARD_]

TYRANT!! FASCIST!! NAZI!! HITLER!!!

Funny none of these things were uttered when Sleepy Joe was signing EO's faster than shell companies were getting money for the BFCS...

[iam416]

The "unelected" talking point re Musk is what I find absolutely hilarious. I mean, what the fuck do you think the Technocratic Administrative State is?

[THE_WIZARD_]

EFZ

[Dr. Strangelove]

It's also amusing that the Progs are screaming about the Constitution regarding DOGE, Musk, etc. Do they realize about 95% of the current federal bureaucracy is also not in the Constitution...

The fight that Trump seems to be gearing up to fight is whether a President can refuse to spend money that Congress has already allocated. If the Supreme Court ends up agreeing with him (they probably won't) it would be a massive power grab by the executive branch.

USAID was originally created by an executive order but it was later codified into law by Congress so there's some question if Trump can unilaterally disband it too.

Also, his firing of a member of the National Labor Relations Board was illegal under current Supreme Court precedent. But this current court may be interested in overturning that...

Is Humphrey's Executor in the Crosshairs?

[THE_WIZARD_]

Well he is Hitler...what part of that did you not understand?

[THE_WIZARD_]

You see Progs solve problems...both real and imaginary...not through effective means...but by virtue signaling...show they "care"...results don't matter...the "care" is all that matters...they start a new program...create a new department...start an "initiative"...create a law...write "END RACISM" in the end zone...

Mind you...none of it works. Doesn't matter to Progs though.

[Mike]

This is amazing.

[THE_WIZARD_]

It's a damn shame when you can't call a Nazi a Nazi...

[THE_WIZARD_]

Further proof that Progs/Leftists still don't get it...

STATEMENT FROM ESPN:

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday designed to prevent people who were biologically assigned male at birth from participating in women’s or girls' sporting events.

The order, which Trump is expected to sign at an afternoon ceremony, marks another aggressive shift by the Republican president's second administration in the way the federal government deals with transgender people and their rights.

The president put out a sweeping order on his first day in office last month that called for the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports and in policies such as federal prison assignments.

Trump found during the campaign that his pledge to "keep men out of women's sports" resonated beyond the usual party lines. More than half the voters surveyed by AP VoteCast said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far.

He leaned into the rhetoric before the election, pledging to get rid of the “transgender insanity,” though his campaign offered little in the way of details.

Wednesday's order — which coincides with National Girls and Women in Sports Day — will involve how his administration will interpret Title IX, the law best known for its role in pursuing gender equity in athletics and preventing sexual harassment on campuses.

“This executive order restores fairness, upholds Title IX’s original intent, and defends the rights of female athletes who have worked their whole lives to compete at the highest levels,” said U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina.

Every administration has the authority to issue its own interpretations of the landmark legislation. The last two presidential administrations — including Trump’s first — offer a glimpse at the push-pull involved.

Betsy DeVos, the education secretary during Trump's first term, issued a Title IX policy in 2020 that narrowed the definition of sexual harassment and required colleges to investigate claims only if they're reported to certain officials.

The Biden administration rolled back that policy last April with one of its own that stipulated the rights of LGBTQ+ students would be protected by federal law and provided new safeguards for victims of campus sexual assault. The policy stopped short of explicitly addressing transgender athletes. Still, more than a half-dozen Republican-led states immediately challenged the new rule in court.

“All Trump has to say is, ‘We are going to read the regulation traditionally,’” said Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School.

How this order could affect the transgender athlete population — a number that is incredibly difficult to pin down — is uncertain.

The Associated Press reported in 2021 that in many cases, the states introducing a ban on transgender athletes could not cite instances where their participation was an issue. When Utah state legislators overrode a veto by Gov. Spencer Cox in 2022, the state had only one transgender girl playing in K-12 sports who would be affected by the ban. It did not regulate participation for transgender boys.

“This is a solution looking for a problem,” Cheryl Cooky, a professor at Purdue University who studies the intersection of gender, sports, media and culture, told the AP after Trump was elected.

Yet the actual number of transgender athletes seems to be almost immaterial. Any case of a transgender female athlete competing — or even believed to be competing — draws outsized attention, from Lia Thomas swimming for the University of Pennsylvania to the recently completed season of the San Jose State volleyball team.

[THE_WIZARD_]

"prevent people who were biologically assigned male at birth"

JFC