The Frankish Reich

That may make sense. I'm not saying it doesn't. There will obviously be cases where an XY has some kind of condition that doesn't allow for typical androgen-related development, looking like a female genitally and in general body structure. I guess that's a possibility, such that it would be "unfair" on an individual sense to say you can't compete against typical females. It may be that there is no way around using the simple chromosomal test even if it does occasionally exclude someone who really ought not be excluded, because there is no way to design any other objective test. What I've been arguing against here is a different point: she seems not to be in any way what we think of as "transgender," and lumping her case in with those simply doesn't advance the ball. Or balls, depending on the sport.

I know I am violating the rule about explaining a joke to someone who doesn't get it. WHY THE COUCH STORY WAS FUNNY - it was related in a tweet in a deadpan manner - it was ridiculously specific: a rubber glove, sandwiched between cushions of the couch - it contained a specific page reference to Hillbilly Elegy, delivered in good old fashioned standard academic cite format - the subject of the joke is stiff and uncomfortable and trying just a little too hard to give off "normal guy" vibes WHY THE COUCH STORY CONTINUES TO BE FUNNY it obviously touches a nerve. Vance supporters alternatively: - Decry it as false, not understanding that everyone who finds it funny understands that it was false/a parody - Make up a ham-handed attempt at "two can play at this game" by digging deep into their Middle School Yuckiest Thing I Could Think Of fantasies. WHY THE HORSE S[]MEN THING WILL NEVER CATCH ON OR BE FUNNY Because it is a ham-handed attempt at juvenile humor, not in the slightest way clever, therefore lacking all the attributes of the original Couch Story. See above. Live with it. Deal with it. It is Dukakis peering out of a tank. It is Quayle spelling "TOMATOE." It would have died out by now other than the overreaction of Vance supporters keeping it alive. And of people like me on tens of thousands of forums like this.

90+ percent of the electorate doesn't care. Face facts.

you may need to familiarize yourself with the meaning of "immigrant"

Vote Republican, Glenn Greenwald! People on this board who call the Sec of Transportation Pete Butt-gig no doubt accept you. Privately. But when Kamala is elected it will be good for your Fox News gig.

On this we agree. Internet-based self-diagnosis. Everyone has something. Kids have ADHD or dyslexia to get more time on the SAT. Vets have PTSD to get additional disability ratings.

Of course we know that. People like you give the story legs because you get all bent out of shape about a stupid (funny stupid) joke tweet. And an example of how you don't understand today's internet humor. That horse thing is pathetic. It's not how this works. Ask @Biden is Mentally Fit. He knows I get edgy humor. At least he understands it even if he pretends not to laugh at it.

Just another example of how one party is unable to face reality. Why would Simple Jack Posobiec refer to people being "black pilled" by poll results? It's a poll, Jack, not an indication of your own fragile self-worth. If your team's polling is weakening, doesn't that help your turnout efforts?

Pretty sure it's on her Kenyan birth certificate. What happens when you go back to the old bag of tricks one too many times. You look like the idiot you are.

Come on. Still undecided? This isn't about Trump setting policy. This is about HIS personal vote. He says he is personally opposed to abortion, but the states should decide. He is the state here - one of its authorized voters (unless he's sentenced/convicted before November). And yet he has to have a separate news conference to tell us how he plans to vote on the issue. He either likes the DeSantis 6-week ban or he doesn't. Does he need time to consult with his pastor? For private prayer? Or to read more polls? And guess what: the DNC will be issuing a platform. A good, old-fashioned statement of where the party stands on pretty much any issue. Not the Executive Summary of A Nonexistent Document that Trump's RNC issued. That will be coming next week. Read it and you'll know more than you ever wanted to about official policy positions.

I always like to think about what we find acceptable in other contexts. It helps clarify our thoughts. PED suspensions: - NFL first-time positive test: enters the NFL counseling program. 2nd positive: 2 games. 3rd: 4 games. - MLB first time positive: 180 days (half a season) I'm a fan of the Colorado Rockies (ouch). The Rockies had a promising minor league relief pitcher. 99 mph fastball from an almost sidearm angle. Just needed better control. Devastating stuff. Tested positive for PEDs. 180 days off. Came back, had a really promising MLB debut season. Then started to suck. Fastball clocked at 94 now. Everyone says he sacrificed velocity for command. But how do we know that 5 mph bump - the difference between devastating stuff and ordinary stuff - wasn't due to the PEDs, with the performance benefits lasting way beyond the 180 day suspension? Answer: we don't. But I have my theories. If I'm a big league GM, I'm trading these post-PED suspension guys as soon as I can, before they start to suck again. So we assume, without any hard evidence, that the benefits of PEDs (evident in elevated testosterone levels) on performance can be ignored for the first time you're caught? Can result in a 4 game suspension after juicing for long enough to be caught 3 times?

This is rich coming from supporters of a presidential candidate who can't even answer this simple question: Abortion rights are on the ballot in your state. How are you voting?

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/23/va-benefits-for-profit-companies-pact-act/ But I do know that the majority of vets now seem to believe that a service-related disability claim is their right, regardless of whether they have any such disability. And that there's a wave of vets many years after discharge bringing bogus PTSD claims. One example: vet whose hobby was 4-wheeling on bone-jarring Colorado mountain trails, all with a disability rating based on serious back pain. And then he went back in to try to add a PTSD claim.

Funny, seems to me that Trump believed the polls were accurate when they showed him with a big lead over Biden. I actually have a false memory of Trump gloating about this. I guess they became inaccurate as soon as Kamala replaced Biden.

I have had the unfortunate experience of working on VA disability claims. Any idea of what percentage of such claims include exaggerated service-related disabilities? Outright fraud? I dealt with one where the vet never deployed. Never left the continental USA, but claimed PTSD. And won. We just dealt with that here in an ordinary sense. JD Vance was characterized (to be fair, not his own words) as having "fought" in a war. I called bs on that. He was deployed to a communications unit. No indication he was every shot at. The argument against me was that "yeah, but he was in an area where he could've been shot at." As I said: whatever.

These Olympics cases are obviously weird (that word again!) ones. Officials haven't been forthcoming about the Algerian boxer. So we don't know anything for sure. But let's assume for the sake of argument that she's XY. Let's also assume that she appeared female at birth, and therefore was raised as a girl. What we care about - what we should care about - is not whether she's XY or XX. We should care about whether her physical expression of that chromosomal status makes it appropriate for her to compete against men or to compete against women. Are we ready to say that she should not be able to compete at all? Or only compete against other so-called intersexed athletes? As they say, hard cases make bad law. This is not a 20 year old XY who undergoes male-to-female transition/takes female hormones, etc. I agree that those cases are easy (to me) and that if it is a sport that requires muscle strength typically gained as post-pubescent male teenager, that person should not be competing against females. That's not this case.

I wasn't in the military. I'm not a golfer. Only very occasionally fish. But even I know that these 3 things inspire more exaggeration and bs among men than any other endeavor. Let's just knock 30% of all such claims as a starting point. Consider me unbothered.

Wait. I'm late to this party. Who was abducted by aliens? Big if true.

How about these? - she's not 77 years old and constantly harping on her crowd sizes and sharks - she seems sane

Like anyone was going to watch women's boxing.

The question is "why is she reluctant to do an interview?" The answer is "because she caught up with and passed Trump in the polls without doing an interview." The explanation is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Sometimes politics is easy. Getting suckered by your opponent into giving him more attention in the press isn't in her interest right now.

Arizona no longer "leaning Red." https://www.newsweek.com/kari-lake-suffers-polling-blow-arizona-1936759 Harris 44.4, Trump 41.6 and even worse for Kari Lake (R-QAnon), trailing Ruben Gallego by 11 points. Candidate quality (or lack thereof) still matters. Even in Arizona.

Or we could just look to see what the Singapore Ministry of Health had to say, including this detailed response calling into question these poorly supported conjectures. https://www.moh.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider5/pressroom/press-releases/annexebd12490-014e-4853-96b9-e1baa228575d.pdf?sfvrsn=dd548ea2_5

Trumpies just don't get humor. It's not gonna work. The Vance/couch thing was a one-off thing. And it'll stick forever.

So much better to riff on Hannibal Lecter and electric boats and sharks in every speech. No teleprompter needed!