So much stuff. So little time.
Every time I see an electric Hummer ($100,000+) or a Tesla Cybertruck ($85,000+) somehow I am reminded of P.T. Barnum.
Speaking of P.T. Barnum, the Alaskan democrat party has decided in their official platform to advocate a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to “renewable energy.” Mind you, gas and oil provide the bulk of the revenue to the state. The party now opposes all new exploration and drilling and endorses carbon pricing. One would think that the platform would doom the reelection chances of representative Mary Peltola who is severely criticized as being out of touch with everyday Alaskans and is in a tough race with the state’s lieutenant governor. But there is no explaining stupidity.
The Department of Defense is sponsoring a company called BioMade whose website says its mission is to “enable domestic bioindustrial manufacturing at all scales, develop technologies to enhance U.S. bioindustrial competitiveness, de-risk investment in relevant infrastructure, and expand the biomanufacturing workforce to realize the economic promise of industrial biotechnology.” I haven’t a clue what all that gobbledygook means but the bottom line is the company manufactures lab grown meat. Why would the Department of Defense sponsor such a company, you ask? Apparently, the goal is to feed soldiers lab grown meat (yuk!) in order to reduce the military’s carbon footprint. I kid you not. I’m sure this will be a great recruiting tool. If this isn’t a call for new leadership at the Pentagon I don’t know what is.
The Trump verdict seems to have awaken the Congressional republicans out of their slumber. Six senators (including our Bill Hagerty) have pledged to block the fast tracking confirmation of at least 44 of Biden’s nominees. This does not mean that they will block confirmation only slow it down. I guess we should be grateful that these senators are doing something but it snacks of posturing. I wish they would stop the usual business of the senate until they attack the real issues that face us today. And by the way, why only 6 republican senators? Where are the other 41?
The IAAF (World Athletics Foundation) has lowered the level of nanomoles per liter of blood for males to compete as women from 10 to 5. This is still too high for the vast majority of women have a level of 2.5 nanomoles per liter while 10 is the lowest for men. While some women have levels at 5, this is rare (unless they were from East Germany) and the rule should be that the athlete must be female at birth and through puberty to compete as a woman. Otherwise a person who is male at birth and through puberty will have physical advantages over women.
Wil(lia)m Thomas lost his appeal to compete in the Olympics. The ruling was that he “lacked standing.” Actually, Thomas lacks a bit more than “standing.” Thomas was allowed to compete in NCAA events while at Penn leading a member of the NCAA Committee on Infractions to resign stating that the NCAA policies were regressive and discriminated against female student athletes. I am surprised that Penn who just wanted to win and named Thomas “Woman” athlete of the year didn’t put men on all of their women’s sports teams. Penn told its women swimmers to shut up or get off the team. I am surprised that they acquiesced.
Thomas was a mediocre male swimmer and apparently craved attention and craved trophies that he could not get competing as a man. The NCAA then adopted a policy that punted. It declared that the eligibility of the trans athletics would correspond to the policy determined by the particular sport’s international federation. Contrast this wimpy approach to that of the NAIA, the body governing mostly small colleges. Their council of presidents unanimously approved a policy banning trans athletes from competing in women’s sports. The policy is all athletes may participate in NAIA- sponsored male sports but only athletes whose biological birth sex is female and who have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in women’s sports. If the athlete has begun hormone therapy then he/she may participate in all team activities except interscholastic competition. Methinks the NCAA should grow a set and follow the lead of the NAIA. That Wil(lia)m Thomas was allowed to compete is a travesty. That the Biden administration is trying to force the transgender participation in women’s and girls’ sports through Title IX is also a travesty. I just wish everyone would start just saying “no.”
haroldblackphd.com 