Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

[Shakey]

Could it actually happen?

U.S. Senate approves bill to make daylight saving time permanent

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent starting in 2023, ending the twice-annual changing of clocks in a move promoted by supporters advocating brighter afternoons and more economic activity.

www.reuters.com

 

[sixpackshaker]

I really don't want to be a work an hour before sunup.

 

[PatrThom]

Auugh just move it 30min and mail it down! Not a whole hour!

—Patrick

 

[jwhouk]

This is so the senate can seem to be working on something, isn't it?

I would contact my congress-critter to tell him I'm opposed to this, but I have biggs.house.gov blocked at the hosts level so I don't have to see any of his ####.

 

[figmentPez]

I really don't want to be a work an hour before sunup.

That sounds like a problem that can be solved without having most of the nation change their clocks twice a year.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Just called out a guy who said a mother & daughter were kicked out of a theatre for not wearing masks (they were eating popcorn).

His source? Rebel Media. Might as well be Fox or OAN for as reliable as that is. So I'll bet anything there's more to the story than what they claim.

 

[GasBandit]

 

[GasBandit]

When even National Review thinks you're too shitty of a Republican

Senator Hawley’s Disingenuous Attack against Judge Jackson’s Record on Child Pornography | National Review

He distorts her record on ‘sex offenders.’

www.nationalreview.com

And when Fox News is even saying "ok enough of this nonsense already"

 

[PatrThom]

What's that noise I hear on the wind(fall)?

--Patrick

 

[Krisken]

Well, all pretense is dropped I guess.

 

[GasBandit]

How long until they REALLY drop the pretense and just come out saying "it is wrong?"

 

[PatrThom]

"Left up to the states" is the new*

.

--Patrick
*not really

 

[Ravenpoe]

"Left up to the states" is the new* View attachment 41019.

--Patrick
*not really

It's not new. "States rights" has always been code for "we want to openly be bigoted"

 

[Frank]

In hell freezing over news the fucking governor of Utah's message after vetoing the anti-trans sports bill.

 

[Bubble181]

A Republican governor doing the humane thing?
Well, guess we know who's getting a primary challenge next time!

Or he's assuming the veto gets overridden anyway, I don't know Utah politics. Is this guy actually a possibly-decent human being with just different political views?

 

[ScytheRexx]

One thing that always gets on my nerves about this argument is that it always comes down to the idea that "Men are more athletic then women so it's not fair", and all I can think about is what they are going to do when a female born woman genetically is built like a tank and can bench press a car, are they going to ban her too because it's not fair to all the other women? Isn't this why many sports have things like weight classes?

Also, I always find it telling that it always comes down to trans women in girl sports and no one ever brings up trans men wanting to play men's sports. The whole thing is rooted in the misogynist idea that female born women are not prime athletes compared to their male born compatriots, so the only time people will bring up trans men wanting to play in men sports is how they will bring the team down.

 

[Krisken]

Already a problem.

 

[blotsfan]

Coincidentally I’m pretty sure every cis woman athlete found to have “too much testosterone” is black.

 

[figmentPez]

One thing that always gets on my nerves about this argument is that it always comes down to the idea that "Men are more athletic then women so it's not fair", and all I can think about is what they are going to do when a female born woman genetically is built like a tank and can bench press a car, are they going to ban her too because it's not fair to all the other women? Isn't this why many sports have things like weight classes?

It's already come up. There have been a number of female athletes who have been hounded by allegations, many of whom were assigned female at birth. Some were later proven, by genetic testing, to be intersex, but usually the results get "leaked" to the press, and there's a lot of nastiness that goes on. Others have been proven to be genetically XX, cisgendered women, but the allegations don't stop.

Sports are a crock of shit when it comes to "fairness" anyway. When I was short for my age growing up, no one suggested it was unfair that I was competing against other boys much taller than I was. If we really cared about genetics providing some sort of unfair advantage in sports, gender (and age) would not be the only thing we'd group children's sports by.

 

[GasBandit]

So, are we about ready to just stop segregating athletic competition by gender? Seems it would simplify everything.

 

[Ravenpoe]

So, are we about ready to just stop segregating athletic competition by gender? Seems it would simplify everything.

Get rid of gender stratification and instead just base things on weight class

 

[Bubble181]

Coincidentally I’m pretty sure every cis woman athlete found to have “too much testosterone” is black.

While (probably) true, this is also somewhat supported by science. Most black ethnicities have naturally higher testosterone levels than most white do. As always, statistics, so not true across all people everywhere (e.g. the genetic makeup of Kenyan runners is closer to Western European than it is to Zulu or Xhosa, and individual differences etc et)

Of course, this leads back to the question how the limits of what is "too much" was defined and if such a thing should even be defined at all.

So, are we about ready to just stop segregating athletic competition by gender? Seems it would simplify everything.

It would also mean most professional sports would simply cease to exist for most women. Like age and weight classes, gender separation was introduced to prevent people from being completely outclassed. While there are certain sports where differences are small or even in favor of women, in the very large majority of sports, this isn't true. Even in sports where you might not expect it, like snooker, there's a huge chasm. The female snooker champion (who absolutely and totally dominates the women's field) has participated in a couple of men's competition tournaments and was completely trounced pretty much each time. Money and time to train and get the right coaching etc plays a role, too, of course, but still.

 

[Ravenpoe]

The female snooker champion (who absolutely and totally dominates the women's field) has participated in a couple of men's competition tournaments and was completely trounced pretty much each time.

Do you have a citation for this? This is one of the few sports I actually know something about (my dad was a professional billiards player for awhile) and I'm pretty sure Allison Fisher was considered the best snooker player in the world, regardless of gender. This was at least a decade or more ago so maybe things have changed, but she regularly beat men and women

 

[Celt Z]

It would also mean most professional sports would simply cease to exist for most women. Like age and weight classes, gender separation was introduced to prevent people from being completely outclassed. While there are certain sports where differences are small or even in favor of women, in the very large majority of sports, this isn't true.

I think it would effect fewer sports that you realize. Women could (and sometimes do) still compete evenly in soccer, tennis, snowboarding, skiing, gymnastics, equestrian, running, car racing*, and golf, off the top of my head. There are a lot of sports where being bigger or taller isn't necessarily an advantage.


(*Is it really a sport? Debatable.)

 

[GasBandit]

I thought car racing was already mixed gender?

 

[Celt Z]

I thought car racing was already mixed gender?

It is. That why I said "could (and sometimes do)".

 

[GasBandit]

It would also mean most professional sports would simply cease to exist for most women.

Then how do we accommodate transgender athletes while ensuring Russia and China don't create a new legal doping method at the Olympics by announcing their (former) men's teams have all transitioned to female?

 

[Tinwhistler]

tennis,

Battle of the Sexes (tennis) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In women's tennis, generally even when given advantages, top-ranked female tennis players lose against lower-ranked male tennis players in exhibition matches.

1998: Karsten Braasch vs. the Williams sisters
Another event dubbed a "Battle of the Sexes" took place during the 1998 Australian Open[58] between Karsten Braasch and the Williams sisters. Venus and Serena Williams had claimed that they could beat any male player ranked outside the world's top 200, so Braasch, then ranked 203rd, challenged them both. Braasch was described by one journalist as "a man whose training regime centered around a pack of cigarettes and more than a couple of bottles of ice cold lager".[59][58] The matches took place on court number 12 in Melbourne Park,[60] after Braasch had finished a round of golf and two shandies. He first took on Serena and after leading 5–0, beat her 6–1. Venus then walked on court and again Braasch was victorious, this time winning 6–2.[58] Braasch said afterwards, "500 and above, no chance". He added that he had played like someone ranked 600th in order to keep the game "fun"[61] and that the big difference was that men can chase down shots much more easily and put spin on the ball that female players could not handle. The Williams sisters adjusted their claim to beating men outside the top 350.[58]

Without trying to make the case that women are 'less' (which I don't believe) there are simply differences in biology that make men excel at some sports more than women. There are many sports where these biological differences are less pronounced, irrelevant, or swing in the women's favor (such as the aforementioned car racing). Other examples include equestrian show jumping, shooting, free diving, long distance swimming, marathon, etc. In a lot of these sports, we already see a lot of gender inclusion--probably because those differences are less pronounced and it's a more even playing field.

 

[blotsfan]

I think it would effect fewer sports that you realize. Women could (and sometimes do) still compete evenly in soccer, tennis, snowboarding, skiing, gymnastics, equestrian, running, car racing*, and golf, off the top of my head.

I bolded the ones that I know for sure you’re wrong about, and I assume gymnastics too since men and women don’t even do the same events. If you’re comparing the top women athletes to a regular Joe then they’ll obviously be better, but compared to the absolute best men, they won’t come close.

As far as the question of trans athletes, if they maintain any advantage after the required hormone treatments, it isn’t enough to really matter IMO. As far as high school and younger sports, the importance of the outcomes of those competitions are so minuscule compared to the other reasons we encourage kids to do sports that I don’t even care if there are trans girls with an unfair advantage. The next person to transition to have an easier time in sports will be the first.

 

[GasBandit]

As far as the question of trans athletes, if they maintain any advantage after the required hormone treatments, it isn’t enough to really matter IMO. As far as high school and younger sports, the importance of the outcomes of those competitions are so minuscule compared to the other reasons we encourage kids to do sports that I don’t even care if there are trans girls with an unfair advantage.

Who determines what, if any, hormone treatments are "required?" Who enforces those requirements and how?

And you might not give a shit about the outcomes of high school events (and I don't either), but I know there are many who do. And then it dominoes up to College, and from there to professional...

Also per the above battle of the sexes, see the story of Lia Thomas - it's already an issue.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/01/10/lia-thomas-penn-transgender-swimmer/

 

[Bubble181]

Do you have a citation for this? This is one of the few sports I actually know something about (my dad was a professional billiards player for awhile) and I'm pretty sure Allison Fisher was considered the best snooker player in the world, regardless of gender. This was at least a decade or more ago so maybe things have changed, but she regularly beat men and women

Just look up Reanne Evans in men championships.
Ok, completely trounced is an exaggeration... But she's an 11 times world champion and couldn't manage to qualify after being given a wildcard - twice.

 

[Frank]

Counterpoint to Lia Thomas is Janae Kroc who when she was still going by Matthew Kroczaleski held a world record in his weight class for powerlifting and after transitioning cannot keep up with women in her weight class.

 

[AshburnerX]

And you might not give a shit about the outcomes of high school events (and I don't either), but I know there are many who do. And then it dominoes up to College, and from there to professional...

Gas isn't wrong about athletics... even when the percentage of student athletes that go pro is 0.023% of all student athletes, many high schools and colleges are desperate to get a famous alumni in order to bring in funding for the school. There's also the simple fact that for most of fly-over America, there really... isn't much to cheer about in your small town except the local sports team. It's even still seen as -the- way to leave poverty in some situations. As such, high school sports programs often become institutions in and of themselves, even if the school's sports department doesn't have much of a legacy at all.

It's a systemic issue that needs to be addressed before we'll every have real parity in sports.

 

[Ravenpoe]

Who determines what, if any, hormone treatments are "required?" Who enforces those requirements and how?

And you might not give a shit about the outcomes of high school events (and I don't either), but I know there are many who do. And then it dominoes up to College, and from there to professional...

Also per the above battle of the sexes, see the story of Lia Thomas - it's already an issue.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/01/10/lia-thomas-penn-transgender-swimmer/

I'm all for the abolishment of highschool and college sports as they often commodify and exploit young bodies, almost universally of minorities

 

[blotsfan]

Who determines what, if any, hormone treatments are "required?" Who enforces those requirements and how?

The IOC has requirements that the NCAA follows as well. That article said Lia Thomas is “shattering records” but that’s just talking about UPenn. If you look at the last 10 national champs in her event, her national championship winning time was about in the middle (unsurprisingly, Katie Ledecky was the best by far).

Lia was finishing top 10 in male events as a freshman. Her finishes plummeted when she started transitioning while still competing at the mens level. If she never transitioned, there was a good chance she would’ve been a mens national champ. This isn’t a mediocre man who transitioned and suddenly became the best woman’s swimmer.