#2020 Junior US Nationals

[figureskatingcostumes]

Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard's free program costumes at the 2020 US Championships (Junior) and 2019 Junior Grand Prix Lake Placid.

(Sources: Skates U.S., David W. Carmichael and gabietab)

[technofeudalism]

every reddit community is being flooded right now with posts about how amazing Joe Biden is and how he is the greatest President in American history and how "he's still got it."

normally, i'd find this kind of odd. because the tone has been drastically different everywhere else since the election loss. but then i found out why there's a sudden explosion of pro-Biden content.

During the 2020 presidential primary, Jill Biden campaigned so extensively across Iowa that she held events in more counties than her husband—a fact her press secretary at the time, Michael LaRosa, touted to a local reporter. His superior in the Biden campaign quickly chided him. As the three rode in a minivan through the state’s cornfields, Anthony Bernal, then a deputy campaign manager and chief of staff to Jill Biden, pressed LaRosa to contact the reporter again and play down any comparison in campaign appearances between Joe Biden, then 77, and his wife, who is eight years his junior. Her energetic schedule only highlighted her husband’s more plodding pace, LaRosa recalls being told. The message from Biden’s team was clear. “The more you talk her up, the more you make him look bad,” LaRosa said. The small correction foreshadowed how Biden’s closest aides and advisers would manage the limitations of the oldest president in U.S. history during his four years in office. To adapt the White House around the needs of a diminished leader, they told visitors to keep meetings focused. Interactions with senior Democratic lawmakers and some cabinet members—including powerful secretaries such as Defense’s Lloyd Austin and Treasury’s Janet Yellen—were infrequent or grew less frequent. Some legislative leaders had a hard time getting the president’s ear at key moments, including ahead of the U.S.’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan. Senior advisers were often put into roles that some administration officials and lawmakers thought Biden should occupy, with people such as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, senior counselor Steve Ricchetti and National Economic Council head Lael Brainard and her predecessor frequently in the position of being go-betweens for the president.  Press aides who compiled packages of news clips for Biden were told by senior staff to exclude negative stories about the president. The president wasn’t talking to his own pollsters as surveys showed him trailing in the 2024 race. 

so it turns out that, after the last year and a half of leftists saying "hey, isn't this guy really fucking old and kind of dying?" and being completely shit on, told to shut the fuck up, sit down and know our place... the guy was indeed dying behind the scenes.

and now, because this story is gaining attention in the mainstream media (CNN ran a segment earlier), reddit has full tilt re-engaged the Biden propaganda machine in order to "preserve his legacy."

throughout the entirety of the Biden presidency, and even before the 2020 election, Biden's cabinet, advisors, spokespersons, campaign staff, etc., abdicated their duty. their lust to remain in power, retain influence and secure gainful future employment in Washington along with their contempt for the average human being (including Palestinians) has effectively doomed us to 4+ years of Republican rule. now, they will go onto lobbying in the private sector and cash in on years of clout accumulated through being a dutiful stooge.

target your anger appropriately. stop blaming the voters. the Democratic party has never and will never care about you or anyone in this country other than their corporate owners.

[toasttt11]

julianna hughes

Julianna Rae Hughes

Year: Senior

Height: 5”6

Hometown: Orlando, Florida

Team: US National Team

School: University of Michigan

Olympics

Gold, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Team

Gold, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- All Around

Gold, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2020 Tokyo- All Around

Gold, 2020 Tokyo- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2020 Tokyo- Floor

Gold, 2020 Tokyo- Vault

Silver, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Vault

Silver, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Floor

Silver, 2016 Rio de Janeiro- Balance Beam

Silver, 2020 Tokyo- Team

Silver, 2020 Tokyo- Balance Beam

World Championships

Gold, 2015 Glasgow- Team

Gold, 2015 Glasgow- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Team

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Vault

Gold, 2017 Montreal- All Around

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Floor

Gold, 2017 Montreal- Balance Beam

Gold, 2018 Doha- Team

Gold, 2018 Doha- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2018 Doha- All Around

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- Team

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- Team

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- Floor

Gold, 2019 Stuttgart- All Around

Gold, 2021 Japan- Team

Gold, 2021 Japan- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2021 Japan- Team

Gold, 2021 Japan- Floor

Gold, 2021 Japan- All Around

Gold, 2021 Japan- Vault

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Team

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Team

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Floor

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- All Around

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Vault

Gold, 2022 Liverpool- Balance Beam

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- Team

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- Uneven Bars

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- Team

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- Floor

Gold, 2023 Antwerp- All Around

Silver, 2015 Glasgow- Floor

Silver, 2015 Glasgow- Team

Silver, 2015 Glasgow- Vault

Silver, 2015 Glasgow- Balance Beam

Silver, 2018 Doha- Vault

Silver, 2018 Doha- Floor

Silver, 2018 Doha- Balance Beam

Silver, 2019 Stuttgart- Balance Beam

Silver, 2019 Stuttgart- Vault

Gold, 2021 Japan- Balance Beam

Silver, 2023 Antwerp- Vault

Silver, 2023 Antwerp- Balance Beam

Pacific Rim Championships

Gold, 2016 Everett- Team

Gold, 2016 Everett- All Around

Gold, 2016 Everett- Uneven Bars

Silver, 2016 Everett- Floor

Silver, 2016 Everett- Vault

Silver, 2016 Everett- Balance Beam

NCAA

Senior (2023-2024)

University Of Michigan

Team Captain.

Received a 40.00 Score, the first time since 1996 and the first time for a Wolverine.

Competed in all Events.

Big Ten Individual Champion (uneven bars)

Big Ten Individual Champion (All around)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Floor)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Balance)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Vault)

Scored Eight 10 on the uneven bars in her Senior year.

Scored Five 10 on the floor in her Senior year.

Scored Two 10 on the balance beam in her Senior year.

Scored Two 10 on the Vault in her Senior year.

Junior (2022-2023)

University of Michigan

Team Captain.

Competed in all Events.

Big Ten Champions.

Big Ten Regular Season Champions.

Big Ten Individual Champion (uneven bars)

Big Ten Individual Champion (All around)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Floor)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Balance)

First Team All-Big Ten.

Academic All-Big Ten.

WCGA Academic All-America.

Scored Seven 10 on the uneven bars in her Junior year.

Scored four 10 on the floor in her Junior year.

Scored one 10 on the balance beam in her Junior year.

Scored one 10 on the Vault in her Junior year.

Sophomore (2021-2022)

University of Michigan

Competed in all Events.

Big Ten Champions.

Big Ten regular season Champions.

Big Ten Individual Champion (uneven bars)

Big Ten Individual Champion (All around)

Big Ten Individual Champion (Floor)

Academic All-Big Ten.

First Team All-Big Ten.

Scored Six 10 on the uneven bars in her Sophomore year.

Scored three 10 on the floor in her Sophomore year.

Scored one 10 on the balance beam in her sophomore year.

Freshman (2020-2021)

University of Michigan

Competed in all Events.

National Championships.

Big Ten Individual Champion (uneven bars)

Big Ten Individual Champion (All around)

Scored four 10 on the uneven bars in her freshman year.

Scored two 10 on the floor in her freshman year.

First Team All-Big Ten.

Notched a 9.925 on the beam in the leadoff spot in back-to-back meets in which the Wolverines surpassed the 198.000 mark for the first time in school history.

Personal

• Born May 14, 2001

• Daughter of Jim and Ellen.

• Has three brothers Quinn, Jack and Luke.

• Getting a degree in Sport Medicine.

[boxboxblog]

Driver Profiles: Alex Albon

Updated December 2024

Name: Alexander Albon Ansusinha

Age: 28

Nationality: Thai-British

Years in F1: 5 (Toro Rosso Early 2019, Red Bull July 2019-2020, Williams 2022-Present)

Number: 23

WDCs: N/A

Driving Style: Albon has a more smooth and gentle style compared to many F1 drivers, and is known for preferring cars with a strong front end as they allow him to make more precise movements. He is a very patient driver, and excels in tire management which allows him to use different strategies than other drivers. Albon also does well in high pressure situations, and keeps his cool where other may falter. The negative style of this driving is that he struggle in wheel-to-wheel fighting as he sometimes lacks aggression, and often is lacking in qualifying after not pushing the car hard enough.

History:

Albon was born into a racing family, with both his father and uncle being competitive racers. He was given his first kart when he was 7 years old and competed for the first time in 2005 at the age of 8, competing locally and winning his local Hoddesdon Championship. He would prove to be a naturally talented racer during his karting career, and have one of the most title winning stints in karting out of the current F1 drivers.

(Albon with other future F1 drivers, Lance Stroll, Nyck de Vries, and George Russell, during their karting days)

In 2006 Albon started racing in the cadet class, finishing 1st at the Kartmasters British Grand Prix. He also participated in the Super 1 National Honda Cadet Championship finishing 1st in 2006 and 2nd in 2007. In 2008 he moved up to the KF3 class where he stayed until 2010. During this time Albon won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix, Formula Kart Stars Championship, KF Winter Series, Super 1 National KF3 Championship, CIK-FIA World Cup, and CIK-FIA European Championship. In 2011 Albon graduated to KF1 placing 2nd in the WSK Euro Series and 2nd at the CIK-FIA World Championship.

(Albon holding one of his karting title trophies next to future teammate Max Verstappen)

He graduated to car racing in 2012, joining the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Series, but unfortunately would have a very poor year, finishing in 38th place. His season was slightly better the next year, and he was able to achieve 22 points. His 2013 season was his best year in that series, as be finished 3rd in the championship. During his time in this series he also formed a relationship with the Red Bull Junior Team, joining in 2012 however that relationship would soon end.

(Albon during Formula Renault days)

in 2015 he switched to Euro F3 and finished 3rd overall, getting 3 wins in the process. His 2016 year in GP3 would be his best year yet, finishing 2nd after a tight battle with his teammate Charles Leclerc. 2017 was Albon's first foray into F2, and was a middling year for the driver. While he achieved multiple high points finishes, and two podiums, he also had some poor finishes and his season was interrupted by broken collar bone. He finished the F2 season at 10th in the championship.

(Albon on GP3 podium, with Charles Leclerc)

His second season in F2 was a lot more positive. He had joined a new team, and seemed to suit their car a lot better. This was the year he achieved his first F2 wins, winning in Silverstone, Sochi, and the Hungaroring. Unfortunately he has a series of retirements due to mechanical failure, which would drop him down to 3rd in the championship, behind George Russell and Lando Norris. His performance that year garnered attention from an F1 team, and while Albon had signed with a team in Formula E to race in the 2018-19, he broke contract and instead signed with F1's Toro Ross for the 2019 season, reigniting the Red Bull relationship.

(Albon on F2 podium in Sochi)

When Albon joined Toro Rosso he became the first Thai driver since the 1950s to compete in F1. His first year with Toro Rosso would be extremely positive, and although he did not achieve a lot of points, he pushed the car to its limits and was able to reach a 6th place race finish. It was his solid performance in the first half of the year that made Red Bull decide to remove Pierre Gasly from their seat half way through the season, and replace him with Albon.

(Albon in his Toro Rosso)

The second half of his rookie season was spent in a top 3 car, a big move for any rookie. He would have a positive rest of the season, scoring high points finishes regularly and achieving his career highest 4th place. He finished 8th in the championship, and while he was out scored by his teammate Max Verstappen, it was not by an aggressive margin. This is especially impressive when you consider that he was with a midfield team for the first half of the year.

2020 was a bad year for Albon. While he had a few high points finishes, and achieved his first podium at the Tuscan GP, he also often found himself scoring outside of the points. Multiple crashes dropped him to the back of the grid, and scrutiny from the press only seemed to make the driver perform even poorer. While he finished 7th in the championship, this was outweighed by his teammate getting 2nd. A lot of his struggles were attributed to the car being developed around Verstappen, who has a very unique driving style Albon said is "eye-wateringly sharp". After this season he was demoted to a test and reserve driver for 2021, and also worked as a coach for AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda.

(Albon after his first F1 podium)

Late 2021 it was announced that Albon had signed a contract with Williams for the 2022 season. This would mean the end to the official relationship between Red Bull and Albon, who had worked with them since 2012. However, Red Bull principal Christian Horner did say that their casual relationship was still intact and there was the possibility for a Red Bull return in the future.

His 2022 season with Williams was very bad, mostly because the team did not have the car to compete. He partnered his old F2 teammate Nicholas Latifi and out paced him for most of the season. His highest finished that year was 9th, and he scored 4 out of Williams 8 that year. He finished the year 19th in the standing, only ahead of Latifi. 2023 was a slightly more positive year, and he was partnered by Logan Sargent. He would finish at his highest with Williams that year, with a 6th place position. He once again out paced his teammate, and ended 13th in the championships, helping Williams achieve 6th in the constructers.

(Albon in his 2022 Williams)

In 2024 he continued with Williams, and it was later announced he had signed a multi-year deal with the team. It was another not so great year for Williams, and they finished 9th in the WCC, with Albon finishing 16th.

He is set to continue with Williams for the 2025 season, partnering Carlos Sainz.

Major Races:

2019 German GP - Still with Toro Rosso, this was the race that solidified him move to Red Bull, as he pulled an underperforming car up to a 6th place finish. This drive showed his ability to pull the best out of the car.

2019 Brazilain GP - Albon's first chance at a podium with Red Bull, an unfortunate incident with Lewis Hamilton denied him 3rd place. However, for a majority of the race he was performing extremely well and he most definitely would have achieved it if not for the crash. Contact with Hamilton would become a running theme for Albon during this year.

2020 Tuscan GP - Albon's first podium, the race showed his resilience and strength under pressure. This was a long awaited result, and a key moment in his career.

2022 Belgian GP - After a year out of F1, Albon came back and delivered a standout performance with Williams. He had a fantastically defensive drive, and showed his steady approach to racing, grabbing a much needed point for his team

2023 Canadian GP- His best result since returning to F1, Albon was able to pull an underperforming car up to a 7th place finish. His tire management skills allowed him to hold off much faster cars behind him, turning what could have been a difficult race into extremely positive results.

Cheers,

-B

[bvdomination]

Im also a new fan and would like to know more about Bella’s partner before Dima who she won the 2020 nationals with?! I had no idea. They didn’t seem to have had a falling out or anything, what happened there? I think his name is Adam.

Also do you know the circumstances with Vanyas last partner of 8 years? If he hadn’t left Russia would they still be dancing I wonder.

Prior to Dima, she partnered with Adam Bouaziz - A Brit. These 2 participated in the 19/20 season and placed 13th in the US Junior Nationals. I believe Adam went back to the UK. It was a crazy time with COVID and this made their long distance partnership untenable.

Vanya's previous partner, Ekaterina Andreeva, is still skating for Belarus with Dmitry Blinov. Both Bella and Vanya follow her on IG, there's no love lost there. Will they still be skating together? Possibly, who knows. This is Ice Dance - partnerships and breakups are aplenty 😉

There's a lot more lore to where this came from - (x)

[mariacallous]

The FBI, working closely with an international team including the Czech and Baltic intelligence services, has helped link a series of international cyberattacks to a shadowy unit associated with the Russian secret service, the GRU.

According to a joint cybersecurity advisory report issued on Friday, the cyberattacks were undertaken by a group tied to Unit 29155 of the GRU.

Previously, the same unit has been blamed for an explosion at an ammunition site in 2014 in Vrbětice, deep in the Czech Republic’s southeast, as well as “attempted coups, sabotage and influence operations, and assassination attempts throughout Europe.”

However, in 2020, Unit 29155 expanded its portfolio “to include offensive cyber operations.”

Among other objectives, this offshoot group was used to collect information for espionage, cause reputational harm by stealing and leaking sensitive information, and destroying data.

“Unit 29155 cyber actors [are assessed] to be junior active-duty GRU officers under the direction of experienced Unit 29155 leadership,” said the report.

“These individuals appear to be gaining cyber experience and enhancing their technical skills through conducting cyber operations and intrusions,” it continued. Additionally, the report assessed that non-GRU officers had also been recruited, including known cybercriminals.

The unit is believed to be responsible for unleashing WhisperGate, a multi-stage wiper that has been deployed against the Ukrainian government, non-profit and tech organizations since January 2022. In addition to launching WhisperGate against Ukraine, the group has also targeted NATO states as well as countries in Latin America and Central Asia with its activity, including website defacements, infrastructure scanning, data exfiltration, and data leak operations. “Since early 2022, the primary focus of the cyber actors appears to be targeting and disrupting efforts to provide aid to Ukraine,” the report revealed. Furthermore, over 14,000 cases of domain scanning had also been recorded, with these impacting 26 NATO members and several other EU nations. “Whether through offensive operations or scanning activity, Unit 29155 cyber actors are known to target critical infrastructure and key resource sectors, including government services, financial services, transportation systems, energy, and healthcare sectors of NATO members, the EU, Central American, and Asian countries,” said the report. Led by the FBI, the investigative operation also involved teams from Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, and the Czech Republic. Together, their joint findings have enabled the Cybersecurity Advisory to develop tactics, techniques, and procedures to thwart further actions by Unit 29155.

[toscanoirriverente]

Hannah Barnes’s book about the rise and calamitous fall of the Gender Identity Development Service for children (Gids), a nationally commissioned unit at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in north London, is the result of intensive work, carried out across several years. A journalist at the BBC’s Newsnight, Barnes has based her account on more than 100 hours of interviews with Gids’ clinicians, former patients, and other experts, many of whom are quoted by name. It comes with 59 pages of notes, plentiful well-scrutinised statistics, and it is scrupulous and fair-minded. Several of her interviewees say they are happy either with the treatment they received at Gids, or with its practices – and she, in turn, is content to let them speak.

Such a book cannot easily be dismissed. To do so, a person would not only have to be wilfully ignorant, they would also – to use the popular language of the day – need to be appallingly unkind. This is the story of the hurt caused to potentially hundreds of children since 2011, and perhaps before that. To shrug in the face of that story – to refuse to listen to the young transgender people whose treatment caused, among other things, severe depression, sexual dysfunction, osteoporosis and stunted growth, and whose many other problems were simply ignored – requires a callousness that would be far beyond my imagination were it not for the fact that, thanks to social media, I already know such stony-heartedness to be out there.

Gids, which opened in 1989, was established to provide talking therapies to young people who were questioning their gender identity (the Tavistock, under the aegis of which it operated from 1994, is a mental health trust). But the trigger for Barnes’s interest in the unit has its beginnings in 2005, when concerns were first raised by staff over the growing number of patient referrals to endocrinologists who would prescribe hormone blockers designed to delay puberty. Such medication was recommended only in the case of children aged 16 or over. By 2011, however, Barnes contends, it appeared to be the clinic’s raison d’etre. In that year, a child of 12 was on blockers. By 2016, a 10-year-old was taking them.

Clinicians at Gids insisted the effects of these drugs were reversible; that taking them would reduce the distress experienced by gender dysphoric children; and that there was no causality between starting hormone blockers and going on to take cross-sex hormones (the latter are taken by adults who want fully to transition). Unfortunately, none of these things were true. Such drugs do have severe side effects, and while the causality between blockers and cross-sex hormones cannot be proven – all the studies into them have been designed without a control group – 98% of children who take the first go on to take the latter. Most seriously of all, as Gids’ own research suggested, they do not appear to lead to any improvement in children’s psychological wellbeing.

So why did they continue to be prescribed? As referrals to Gids grew rapidly – in 2009, it had 97; by 2020, this figure was 2,500 – so did pressure on the service. Barnes found that the clinic – which employed an unusually high number of junior staff, to whom it offered no real training – no longer had much time for the psychological work (the talking therapies) of old. But something else was happening, too. Trans charities such as Mermaids were closely – too closely – involved with Gids. Such organisations vociferously encouraged the swift prescription of drugs. This now began to happen, on occasion, after only two consultations. Once a child was on blockers, they were rarely offered follow-up appointments. Gids did not keep in touch with its patients in the long term, or keep reliable data on outcomes.

A lot of this is already known, thanks largely to a number of whistleblowers. Last February, the paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, commissioned by the NHS, issued a highly critical interim report into the service; in July, it was announced that Gids would close in 2023. But a lot of what Barnes tells us in Time to Think is far more disturbing than anything I’ve read before. Again and again, we watch as a child’s background, however disordered, and her mental health, however fragile, are ignored by teams now interested only in gender.

The statistics are horrifying. Less than 2% of children in the UK have an autism spectrum disorder; at Gids, more than a third of referrals presented with autistic traits. Clinicians also saw high numbers of children who had been sexually abused. But for the reader, it is the stories that Barnes recounts of individuals that speak loudest. The mother of one boy whose OCD was so severe he would leave his bedroom only to shower (he did this five times a day) suspected that his notions about gender had little to do with his distress. However, from the moment he was referred to the Tavistock, he was treated as if he were female and promised an endocrinology appointment. Her son, having finally rejected the treatment he was offered by Gids, now lives as a gay man.

As Barnes makes perfectly clear, this isn’t a culture war story. This is a medical scandal, the full consequences of which may only be understood in many years’ time. Among her interviewees is Dr Paul Moran, a consultant psychiatrist who now works in Ireland. A long career in gender medicine has taught Moran that, for some adults, transition can be a “fantastic thing”. Yet in 2019, he called for Gids’ assessments of Irish children (the country does not have its own clinic for young people) to be immediately terminated, so convinced was he that its processes were “unsafe”. The be-kind brigade might also like to consider the role money played in the rise of Gids. By 2020-21, the clinic accounted for a quarter of the trust’s income.

But this isn’t to say that ideology wasn’t also in the air. Another of Barnes’s interviewees is Dr Kirsty Entwistle, an experienced clinical psychologist. When she got a job at Gids’ Leeds outpost, she told her new colleagues she didn’t have a gender identity. “I’m just female,” she said. This, she was informed, was transphobic. Barnes is rightly reluctant to ascribe the Gids culture primarily to ideology, but nevertheless, many of the clinicians she interviewed used the same word to describe it: mad.

And who can blame them? After more than 370 pages, I began to feel half mad myself. At times, the world Barnes describes, with its genitalia fashioned from colons and its fierce culture of omertà, feels like some dystopian novel. But it isn’t, of course. It really happened, and she has worked bravely and unstintingly to expose it. This is what journalism is for.

[a-solitary-sea-rover-backup]

The group of 8 Youth Emirates Team New Zealand hopefuls undertook a busy four day schedule embarking on a steep learning curve encompassing the technical systems and software required to sail the AC40 as well as race training and simulation on the Emirates Team New Zealand simulator.

The 8 trialling sailors at the base are an impressive line-up of world and national champions across a number of different classes.

Annabelle Rennie-Younger        Current 470 & ILCA 6 National Champion

Serena Woodall                        RNZYZ Match race youth program / 2023 69F campaign

Jacob Pye                                 2023 Moth National Champion              

Joshua Armit                             Gold medal at the 2018 Youth Worlds in Laser class

Leo Takahashi                           49er Olympics 2020 Tokyo Olympics- 11th

Oscar Gunn                               2022 49er National Champion 

Sam Robert Thomas Street        2022 International WASZP Games Champion

Seb Menzies                             420 World Champion / 2022 Moth National Champion

Leading the trials and selection process is  Emirates Team New Zealand’s Josh Junior now in his 3rd America’s Cup campaign, having joined in 2016 as a young Olympic class sailor.

“I was lucky enough to join the team as a young sailor, similar to these guys, so I know what an amazing opportunity it is for these guys and girls, but also how daunting it can be. So we are throwing them in the deep end a bit, but that is all part of the challenge.” Said Junior.

Elise Beavis, also helping with the selection process explains what the week has been about.

“We've got our group of shortlisted sailors and they're running through a whole lot of different activities, such as sailing on the game, learning to use some of our in-house tools and their progression through the week has been incredible.”

The week wasn’t just about the individual, but assessing personalities and how they work collectively and the vitally important team environment

“They’ve got to be in sync with each other. They need to communicate well, I think those are big areas where they’re learning heaps.” said Elise Beavis.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Rachel Cooke

Published: Feb 19. 2023

Hannah Barnes’s book about the rise and calamitous fall of the Gender Identity Development Service for children (Gids), a nationally commissioned unit at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in north London, is the result of intensive work, carried out across several years. A journalist at the BBC’s Newsnight, Barnes has based her account on more than 100 hours of interviews with Gids’ clinicians, former patients, and other experts, many of whom are quoted by name. It comes with 59 pages of notes, plentiful well-scrutinised statistics, and it is scrupulous and fair-minded. Several of her interviewees say they are happy either with the treatment they received at Gids, or with its practices – and she, in turn, is content to let them speak.

Such a book cannot easily be dismissed. To do so, a person would not only have to be wilfully ignorant, they would also – to use the popular language of the day – need to be appallingly unkind. This is the story of the hurt caused to potentially hundreds of children since 2011, and perhaps before that. To shrug in the face of that story – to refuse to listen to the young transgender people whose treatment caused, among other things, severe depression, sexual dysfunction, osteoporosis and stunted growth, and whose many other problems were simply ignored – requires a callousness that would be far beyond my imagination were it not for the fact that, thanks to social media, I already know such stony-heartedness to be out there.

Gids, which opened in 1989, was established to provide talking therapies to young people who were questioning their gender identity (the Tavistock, under the aegis of which it operated from 1994, is a mental health trust). But the trigger for Barnes’s interest in the unit has its beginnings in 2005, when concerns were first raised by staff over the growing number of patient referrals to endocrinologists who would prescribe hormone blockers designed to delay puberty. Such medication was recommended only in the case of children aged 16 or over. By 2011, however, Barnes contends, it appeared to be the clinic’s raison d’etre. In that year, a child of 12 was on blockers. By 2016, a 10-year-old was taking them.

Clinicians at Gids insisted the effects of these drugs were reversible; that taking them would reduce the distress experienced by gender dysphoric children; and that there was no causality between starting hormone blockers and going on to take cross-sex hormones (the latter are taken by adults who want fully to transition). Unfortunately, none of these things were true. Such drugs do have severe side effects, and while the causality between blockers and cross-sex hormones cannot be proven – all the studies into them have been designed without a control group – 98% of children who take the first go on to take the latter. Most seriously of all, as Gids’ own research suggested, they do not appear to lead to any improvement in children’s psychological wellbeing.

So why did they continue to be prescribed? As referrals to Gids grew rapidly – in 2009, it had 97; by 2020, this figure was 2,500 – so did pressure on the service. Barnes found that the clinic – which employed an unusually high number of junior staff, to whom it offered no real training – no longer had much time for the psychological work (the talking therapies) of old. But something else was happening, too. Trans charities such as Mermaids were closely – too closely – involved with Gids. Such organisations vociferously encouraged the swift prescription of drugs. This now began to happen, on occasion, after only two consultations. Once a child was on blockers, they were rarely offered follow-up appointments. Gids did not keep in touch with its patients in the long term, or keep reliable data on outcomes.

A lot of this is already known, thanks largely to a number of whistleblowers. Last February, the paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, commissioned by the NHS, issued a highly critical interim report into the service; in July, it was announced that Gids would close in 2023. But a lot of what Barnes tells us in Time to Think is far more disturbing than anything I’ve read before. Again and again, we watch as a child’s background, however disordered, and her mental health, however fragile, are ignored by teams now interested only in gender.

The statistics are horrifying. Less than 2% of children in the UK have an autism spectrum disorder; at Gids, more than a third of referrals presented with autistic traits. Clinicians also saw high numbers of children who had been sexually abused. But for the reader, it is the stories that Barnes recounts of individuals that speak loudest. The mother of one boy whose OCD was so severe he would leave his bedroom only to shower (he did this five times a day) suspected that his notions about gender had little to do with his distress. However, from the moment he was referred to the Tavistock, he was treated as if he were female and promised an endocrinology appointment. Her son, having finally rejected the treatment he was offered by Gids, now lives as a gay man.

As Barnes makes perfectly clear, this isn’t a culture war story. This is a medical scandal, the full consequences of which may only be understood in many years’ time. Among her interviewees is Dr Paul Moran, a consultant psychiatrist who now works in Ireland. A long career in gender medicine has taught Moran that, for some adults, transition can be a “fantastic thing”. Yet in 2019, he called for Gids’ assessments of Irish children (the country does not have its own clinic for young people) to be immediately terminated, so convinced was he that its processes were “unsafe”. The be-kind brigade might also like to consider the role money played in the rise of Gids. By 2020-21, the clinic accounted for a quarter of the trust’s income.

But this isn’t to say that ideology wasn’t also in the air. Another of Barnes’s interviewees is Dr Kirsty Entwistle, an experienced clinical psychologist. When she got a job at Gids’ Leeds outpost, she told her new colleagues she didn’t have a gender identity. “I’m just female,” she said. This, she was informed, was transphobic. Barnes is rightly reluctant to ascribe the Gids culture primarily to ideology, but nevertheless, many of the clinicians she interviewed used the same word to describe it: mad.

And who can blame them? After more than 370 pages, I began to feel half mad myself. At times, the world Barnes describes, with its genitalia fashioned from colons and its fierce culture of omertà, feels like some dystopian novel. But it isn’t, of course. It really happened, and she has worked bravely and unstintingly to expose it. This is what journalism is for.

==

When even the Guardian stops pretending it isn't real.

[i-hoon]

I love sunghoon sm

Stage Name: Sunghoon (성훈)

Birth Name: Park Sung-hoon (박성훈)

Position: Vocalist*, Dancer*, Visual*

Birthday: December 8, 2002

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Chinese Zodiac Sign: Horse

Height: 181 cm (5’11”)

Weight: N/A

Blood Type: O

MBTI Type: ISTJ

Nationality: Korean

Solo Fandom Name: Penguins

Sunghoon Facts:

— He was born in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea.

— He also lived in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do; in Eunpyeong district of Seoul; in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do; and in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do.

— He has a younger sister, Park Yeji (5 years younger).

— He has a dog named Gaeul (Autumn in English) and was born on July 8th, 2017.

— Education: Pangok High School

— Nicknames: Ice Prince (chosen by himself), Figure Skate Prince, ENHYPEN’s Handsome Member

— He, Heeseung, Jay and Jungwon were trainees under Big Hit Entertainment.

— He trained for two years and one month before taking part in I-LAND.

— He ranked in sixth place in the final of I-LAND (1,088,413 votes).

— He and Jay performed together NCT U‘s The 7th Sense in the first episode of I-LAND.

— Jungwon thought he’s someone who doesn’t smile when they first met.

— He was chosen as the top visual and the first participant someone would introduce to their younger sister.

— He used to be a competitive ice skater.

– Sunghoon started figure skating at 9 and was a figure skater for 10 years.

— He won two silver medals in national ice skating competitions and represented South Korea in several international competitions.

— He also won the 2015 Asian Open Trophy and Lombardia Trophy as a novice skater.

— He debuted as a junior skater in the 2016-17 season. That time, he won a silver medal in the Men’s Junior Division at the 2016 Asian Open Trophy.

— His most notable charming point is his dimple.

— Other charming points of his are his face, his eye smile and his nose.

— He’s good at contemporary dance.

— Apart from skating, he has great facial expression skills.

— His favorite color is white.

— His favorite season is autumn.

— His favorite ice-cream flavor is coffee.

— He usually listens to hip hop when he’s in a good mood.

— He loves figure skating and clothes the most, but also likes shoes, coffee and the other members.

— He doesn’t like mint chocolate, hats, ghosts and bugs.

— He thinks he’s the most handsome member.

– He said he looks like a rabbit and has a similar character to a penguin.

— He’d like to perform in a concert after his debut.

— He hopes he’ll be able to have a successful debut and win a prize by the end of 2020.

— If he had to eat only one thing for the rest of his life, he’d pick samgyeopsal.

— If he had to choose three words to describe himself, he’d pick “The Little Prince”, “ice” and “luxury”.

— He suffered from a severe form of amblyopia (lazy eye) when he was young.

– He was an MC on Music Bank alongside IVE‘s Wonyoung, and had his last broadcast on September 2, 2022.

— His motto: “Just do it.”

— His ideal type: Red Velvet‘s Irene

— He shares a birthday with Gray, TOO‘s Chan, Ladies’ Code‘s Zuny and Eyedi among others.

[figureskatingcostumes]

Kate Finster and Balazs Nagy's free program costumes at the 2020 US Championships (Junior) and 2019 Junior Grand Prix Lake Placid. They skated to To Build A Home by The Cinematic Orchestra and Rain, In Your Black Eyes by Ezio Bosso.

(Sources: Skates U.S. and David W. Carmichael)

[whalien52hzero]

BASICS

FULL NAME: NIRAN SRISUWAN [ นิรันดร์  ศรีสุวรรณ ]

» MEANING: Niran [ นิรันดร์ (Thai)  Means "forever, eternal." ]; Srisuwan [ศรี (sĕe) meaning “glory, majesty, splendour” combined with สุวรรณ (sù-wan) meaning “gold, golden.”]

OTHER NAME(S):  The Inuits called him ‘Kitsanik’, it means ‘sadness’ in their language. He was also sometimes called ‘Aput’ because of his brighter color than other Baleen whales they’ve observed. 

VERSE: The Meaning of Forever; Serendipity.

NICKNAME(S): Zero.

AGE: 203 years old before reincarnation; human form is 26-years old.

DATE OF BIRTH: 8th November 1997, Saturday, early morning.

PLACE OF RE-BIRTH: Bangkok, Thailand.

OCCUPATION: Works part-time at a 7/11 at night for fun; employed at Amarin Media Group as part of the Production Department.

RELIGION: Buddhist.

ORIENTATION: Bisexual, Biromantic.

GENDER: Cisgender male.

STRENGTHS: Extra-ordinary ability in the water.

WEAKNESSES: He has human’s weaknesses; he can get sick and injured. 

PERSONALITY

STRENGTHS: Resourceful, Powerful, Brave, Passionate, Loyal.

WEAKNESSES: Obsessive, Jealous, Violent, Manipulative, Distrusting.

APPEARANCE

FACE CLAIM: Net Siraphop Manithikhun.

HEIGHT: 5'10 ft. [179 cm.]

WEIGHT: 154 lbs. [79 kg.]

BUILD: Lean, muscular.

GAIT: TBA.

HAIR COLOR: Black.

EYE COLOR: Brown.

BIRTHMARK: TBA.

OVERVIEW:

» SCARS: Small scars from minor accidents when he’s growing up. 

» TATTOOS: Yes. Tribal tattoos on his arms of a whale.

BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Bangkok, Thailand.

RESIDENCE: Nonthaburi, Bangkok, Thailand.

NATIONALITY: Thai.

ETHNICITY: Asian.

FINANCIAL STATUS: Upper-class.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Zero graduated from the Department of Motion Pictures and Still Photography under the Faculty of Communication Arts in Chulalongkorn University.

DEGREES: He graduated in 2020. 

HOBBIES: Traveling, watching movies, taking pictures, aquariums, swimming. 

SPOKEN LANGUAGES: Zero is mute but he learned to speak through therapy when he was little. His first language is Thai. He knows English since he was little because of his parents who are educators and professionals who practice and use the language. Zero picked some Mandarin, Filipino, Korean, and Japanese while attending Chulalongkorn University. 

RELATIONSHIPS

PARENTS: Nisa [mother]; Pongsakorn [father]

SIBLINGS: Natthawut, Napha, older brothers, 29 and 26 years old. 

CHILDREN: He has no children.

PETS: A male calico cat named Goblin. 

SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS: » TBA.

FAMILY HISTORY: Zero is the youngest of three children. He was born in a supportive family and each member is talented in their own way. Zero had a happy childhood for the most part; being the youngest he was protected and spoiled but also taught to be compassionate and humble but sometimes, he does get a bit stubborn. Zero has two older brothers, Saam [three in Thai] and Sky [nickname is literal translation of the name] and they got along growing up. They were very popular in high school and also in their university. Everyone in Zero’s father’s family side went to the same high school and university and had always held a place and popularity in these establishments. Zero, along with cousins, were one of the youngest in their family that attended the uni and reaped the benefits of carrying their last name. Zero exceled academically and also in sports. Many of his juniors looked up to him and although he realized that it was an honor to be in such position as he did, he felt that the attention and popularity was also due to his inability to speak. Did they pity him? He had many friends but often time, he preferred being along and spent his weekends doing his own thing instead of hanging out like other people his age. Zero had been gripped by a deep loneliness that he believed is beyond the many concerns that he currently possess... Since he graduated, Zero has been working at Amarin Media Group in the company's production department, working on ads/commercials for big brands in Thailand and other neighboring countries. Despite not being able to speak, Zero is a good communicator and was able to prove that he can handl whatever job was given to him. He worked his way up as one of the youngest directors/producers in their department. Although many employees in the company, most of them jealous of what Zero was able to accomplished at a very young age, would say that he got the position and popularity because of his name.

BEFORE HIS REBIRTH: Zero was also known as Kitsanik and sometimes Aput by the Inuits who observed him as he roamed the ocean searching for potential friends and partner. But his inability to communicate with other whales of his kind prevented him to create his own pack, causing him to live alone own his own as no whale ever heard his call out to them. 

ROMANTIC HISTORY: Zero had been linked to various people but he never had a serious relationship. He felt many people who wanted to date him only liked him because of his popularity or they show interest in him because they pity him.

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS: Zero became good friends with the company's founders. 

THOUGHTS ON LOVE: "There’s someone out there for me.”

HEALTH

PHOBIA(S): Being alone and yet, he also prefers being alone.

HANDICAP(S): None.

MENTAL DISEASE(S): Depression.

PHYSICAL DISEASE(S): None.

PREDISPOSITION(S): Alcoholism.

[gogogogolev]

Men’s FS results and Stephen’s protocol from 2023 World Team Trophy. He finished in 11th place with a score of 125.17, picking up 2 points for Team Canada who finished 6th overall with a total of 68 points. They pick up prize money totalling $130000 (with a cut taken by the federation).

Stephen’s total score, if that were a thing for this event, would have him under 200 points, a total of 174.95. He has only been under 200 internationally twice before (2018 JPG Canada and 2020 Junior Worlds where he broke his boot). There were his lowest scores of the season, his lowest since he left novice. These were some unbelievably low scores.

Something is seriously going wrong and Stephen needs to resolve this slump he’s in. I want him to take an analytical approach if that helps him deal with things better. Break the situation down into parts and see what is not working, how it can be resolved, the timeline of resolution, and checks to see if goals are being met. He needs to give himself some time to troubleshoot as well. This season’s approach of just doing the same thing over and over and hoping something changes for the better is obviously not working. I.e. It was disappointing to see him going back to a two quad short program layout when he knows he is not hitting those quads. He needs to be honest with himself so he can have reasonable skates.

There were good things about this free skate as well. He managed to land each of a 4T, 4S, and a beautiful 3A. His levelled elements were all level 3 and up. He made a gutsy move to attempt a sequence off of the 3F. I cannot recall seeing that kind of a sequence from him previously. He also tacked on the 2T to the 3Lo, but he was still short a combo. His PCS were in the gutter. :/

Thanks to the Canadian team for their support. They were all so kind to him. Someone even patted his shoulder after the FS. He was able to smile in spite of his performances thanks to them.

What’s next?

-GP assignments: supposed to be in late June but will potentially be delayed by the possible return of banned athletes -A summer event: Stephen needs to do a full event in the summer. Ideally he would come to Canada early and skate here as Kaetlyn Osmond or Keegan would do, but he favours Glacier Falls Summer Classic which is July 27-30. -A Challenger Series event - ACI, Nebelhorn Trophy, Nepela Memorial, and Finlandia are events before the GP where Canadian skaters get assigned. He should really be doing two since he is clearly in need of mileage but he has to start with one. ACI is likely to be yet another skate off. -Canada is hosting Worlds next season, and we have two spots for men. If he can get it together maybe he can claim a spot.

I want Stephen to know that while his fans are clamouring for a coaching change we still very much believe in him. If we didn’t we wouldn’t care how well or poorly he does. I will choose to remember him as I last saw him - brilliantly skating his FS in Oshawa at Nationals. That is the real Stephen Gogolev, and the one I hope to see again next season and for many years afterwards. I believe he can overcome whatever it is that is holding him back and he will reemerge as a top skater once more. So don’t give up. Show us the fight you’ve got.

Thank you for hanging in there this season Stephen. I wish you the best for the off season.

[lilad03-blog]

Manhattan College is Now Manhattan University

They’re In The Bronx.

They’re Catholic.

And Fordham Alumni Might Be Wondering Why?

Okay, okay, we have enough of our own problems. But when your kid-brother makes a major change, you take notice. (By the way, that “kid-brother” has a School of Engineering and generally beats the crap out of us in basketball,) If you haven’t heard it yet, Manhattan College is now Manhattan University; They’ve joined the ranks of Iona University and Mercy University both having their main campus right up the Hudson Valley in Westchester County, NY.

BACKGROUND

Every indicator from The Dept. of Education to the Academic Journal The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that attendance at traditional institutes of higher education will drop considerably in 2026. 

Some of the major for-profit universities have been sold/merged to major private schools to provide turn-key operations for encouraging on-line learners. 

Schools have lobbied the government for the use of federal Pell Grants, which will expand the eligibility of people in prison (750,000+) to receive college educations.

In 2021, New York State relaxed the definition of the term “university”. It is hoped this will make it easier to market to foreign students who often viewed the term “college” as simply 2-year junior colleges.

Going Through Some Tough Times

In late 2023 and early 2024, Manhattan College eliminated more than twenty major and minor programs and terminated over 25% of faculty due to persistent declining enrollment and increasing structural deficits. In late January of 2024, faculty voted "no confidence" in the college's president. 

From 2020 to 2024, enrollment at Manhattan College decreased by over 30%. They merged three of the college's six schools, creating 3 new schools. The bond-rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded the college’s outlook to negative in March 2024.

They Even Fired The Nuns

The Term University-Used For Attracting More Foreign Students

In the USA, many people often considers themselves as middle class. Class structure is not as formalized in the US as in the UK for example.

Compare an American film with a British one: 

This seems to carry on to higher education too. In many other parts of the world, the term college is intended to mean a 2 year school or what we refer to as a community college or junior college. 

French “college” students average between 11 and 15 years old, but they’re not all geniuses; In France, the "college" school level is roughly equivalent to the United States' "middle school" level.

According to Azara Lantern, a Content Strategist at Surge Global: “Students in the U.S. refer to higher education institutions as ‘college,’ even if they are attending a university. For example, in everyday use, they could say, ‘I’m heading off to college’ instead of ‘I’m heading off to university.’”

Alternatively, typically universities in the UK provide undergraduate and postgraduate programs, and some have PhD programs available. 

Charlie Elwood (Gabelli 1980), the interim Athletic Director at Fordham pointed out the value in attracting foreign students also includes the fact that “they tend to pay a higher percentage of tuition and fees than their American classmates.”

New York was the Last State to Relax Rules for University Status

New York was the only state requiring the creation and operation of doctoral level programs to be named a university. (prior to Jan. of 2022)

Confusion caused by the word “college” when recruiting international students, and the fact that all other states and jurisdictions have broader definitions of “university” increased the need for these alterations.

Increasing competition from institutions chartered in other states recruiting students in New York, nationally and internationally, where the term “college” presented a marketing challenge.

The market for higher educational services and programs has expanded over the past decade, with the proliferation of online higher education degree programs and the growth of several institutions chartered out of state and doing business in New York as universities.

The use of the word “university” in the names and marketing of some community colleges; i.e., SUNY Schenectady.

Many Catholics Institutions are taking the plunge

Thomas Hayes, dean of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University and co-founder of an education marketing company, said, “the image presented to students, faculty members, alumni, the academic community and the outside world is what historically has driven name changes, not just in New York and not just name changes from “college” to “university.”

“The idea of being a university gives the impression that a school is larger, with more breadth,” Hayes said. “That’s an indication of where you should be moving from college to university. It gives it a little more gravitas.”

The changes are not always universally welcomed. Hayes worked with administrators at Loyola College in Baltimore in the late 2000s to rename the institution Loyola University of Maryland to match its expansion of program offerings. (By the time the name change became official in 2009, nearly every other institution named Loyola in the U.S. had long ago been designated as a university.)

There was significant pushback from alumni who opposed the name change, said Elizabeth Johnson, co-founder and chairperson of SimpsonScarborough. “They thought the institution was losing its personal appeal, its small community feel,” she said.

Johnson said the distinction between “college” and “university” carries great weight in the U.S. as well as internationally. She referred to surveys her company has conducted with administrators, prospective students and their parents indicate “They prefer universities to colleges. They think they’re bigger, they think they’re better, they think they’re more prestigious.” 

What Does Fordham Think About These Changes?

“The University (Fordham) doesn't comment on these kinds of issues, I'm afraid.” Said one of our university Vice Presidents.

To the specific question of whether Fordham lobbied to halt this change 4-5 years ago? That university official replied wryly, “That’s too Insider Baseball.”

Marist Joins “The Club” January 29th, 2025

I am very attached to Marist up here in the Hudson Valley. I taught there, as an adjunct instructor, for a number of years; Because of that I obtained a 2nd Master’s degree via the tuition waiver opportunity and I get to swim in the school’s pool. Let me tell you, the whole place is a buzz. 

Alumni have unsubstantiated visions of the creation of a new law school, even though the school rejected a proposal to join forces to create a medical school in the last 5 years. My ad-hoc visit to local CVS and Rite-Aid stores have found racks of Marist College “Swag” on sale-no doubt to make room for Marist University stuff that will soon pack the bookstore and on-line avenues. 

Fordham Is Still A Research University ….

As you might guess, a research university prioritizes research. 

“At these institutions, graduate students, postdocs, and professors conduct original research in diverse fields. According to the Carnegie Classifications. “Research universities can be public or private institutions. By definition, research universities offer master’s and doctoral degrees along with bachelor’s degrees.” 

Those U.S. based classifications began in 1970 continued: “The concept of a research university dates back to the 19th century.” There are currently 137 R1 Research Universities in the United States. 

The Carnegie Classifications recognize R1 universities as the most research-intensive institutions. These institutions offer at least 20 research or scholarship-based doctoral degrees and spend at least $5 million on research each year. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This article is dedicated to Joseph Guagliano, Manhattan College Class of 1983. Attorney and advocate for the disabled. “Get better pal, the old gang is praying for you.” 

-Kevin Bergin

Admin for the Fordham University Class of 1980 Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/groups/537184563628982

[ivankahasbeentreatedsounfairly]

After a yearslong investigation, the House Ethics Committee released a 37-page report on Monday into former Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, and allegations that he engaged in an array of illegal and untoward conduct, including having sex with a 17-year-old girl.

Mr. Gaetz, who had been President-elect Donald J. Trump’s first choice to be attorney general before Mr. Gaetz withdrew from consideration, has repeatedly denied he did anything wrong.

Here are takeaways from the report.

The report says the evidence shows Mr. Gaetz engaged in a range of questionable conduct, some of it illegal.

The committee concluded that Mr. Gaetz regularly paid women to have sex with him for money from 2017 to 2020 and had sex with an underage girl in 2017, during his first term in the House, and that the girl was paid.

The report says that Mr. Gaetz used illegal drugs — including cocaine and Ecstasy — on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019. It also says that he accepted gifts of transportation and lodging, in excess of dollar limits on what members of Congress are allowed to accept, as part of a trip he took to the Bahamas where he had sex with women whom he paid.

The report adds that he used his position to falsely claim to the State Department that a woman he had sex with was really a constituent who needed help obtaining a passport.

Mr. Gaetz also obstructed the committee’s investigation, the report said.

The report concluded that “there was substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”

It is not clear that Gaetz will face further prosecution.

The Justice Department has already investigated Mr. Gaetz for the same matters examined by the House panel. Prosecutors informed Mr. Gaetz’s legal team in February 2023 that they would not bring charges. The prosecutors had concluded that they could not make a strong enough case in court, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

There is no indication that the committee’s report has any evidence that would not have been available to federal prosecutors. And in less than a month, the Justice Department will be under the control of Mr. Trump, who just weeks ago wanted Mr. Gaetz to be the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.

The House Ethics Committee report does not include a criminal referral, but concludes that Mr. Gaetz broke state prostitution laws in Florida.

But the bar to say someone broke the law is lower than having to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

The panel did not find sufficient evidence to accuse Gaetz of sex trafficking.

The committee said it “did not obtain substantial evidence” that Mr. Gaetz had violated federal sex-trafficking laws, one focus of the Justice Department inquiry, though it concluded that he had sex with a girl when she was 17 and that the girl was paid.

The committee said it had no evidence that Mr. Gaetz was aware the girl was a minor at the time. At the time she had sex with Mr. Gaetz, the report said, the girl had just completed her junior year in high school.

Evidence uncovered by the committee showed that Mr. Gaetz paid for women to travel to New York and Washington to have sex with him. But, the committee said, the women were over 18 at the time.

“While Representative Gaetz’s relationship with these women involved an exploitative power imbalance, the committee does not have reason to believe that he used force, fraud or coercion as those terms apply under the applicable laws,” the report said.

But, the report said, the committee found that by having sex with the 17-year-old, he violated Florida’s statutory rape law.

“The committee received evidence that Representative Gaetz did not learn that Victim A was 17 years old until more than a month after their first sexual encounters,” the report said. “However, statutory rape is a strict liability crime. After he learned that Victim A was a minor, he maintained contact and less than six months after she turned 18, he met up with her again for commercial sex.”

Some of the women Mr. Gaetz had sex with for money felt impaired by drug or alcohol use.

The women whom committee investigators questioned said that their sexual interactions with Mr. Gaetz were “consensual.” But one woman said that she “felt that the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended” may have impaired her “ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.”

The committee said that “nearly every woman that the committee spoke with could not remember the details of at least one or more of the events they attended with Representative Gaetz and attributed that to drug or alcohol consumption.”

Some of the women expressed regret at what they had engaged in. One woman said that when she looks “back on certain moments, I feel violated.” Another woman said, “I think about it all the time,” adding, “I still see him when I turn on the TV and there’s nothing anyone can do. It’s frustrating to know I lived a reality that he denies.”

The committee believed the Justice Department was unhelpful in its investigation.

Initially, after it was revealed in 2021 that Mr. Gaetz was under federal investigation, the Justice Department told the panel to stand down as it completed its inquiry — a request the committee complied with.

In 2023, Mr. Gaetz announced that the department had decided not to charge him, leading the committee to restart its inquiry.

But, at that point, the Justice Department refused to respond to the committee, according to the committee.

The committee said that “after three months without a response despite repeated follow up,” it filed Freedom of Information Act requests with Justice Department offices, “which to date have not been adequately processed.”

“The committee continued to reach out to D.O.J. throughout 2023, having still not received a substantive response to its request for information,” the committee said.

The committee said it received its first correspondence from the Justice Department in January 2024.

“At that time, D.O.J. provided no substantive response or explanation for its delay,” the report said.

But the department told the committee it does not give nonpublic information about investigations that do not result in anyone being charged.

The committee said this stance by the Justice Department is “inconsistent with D.O.J.’s historical conduct with respect to the Committee and its unique role in upholding the integrity of the House.”

“D.O.J.’s initial deferral request and subsequent lack of cooperation with the committee’s review caused significant delays in the investigation,” the report said.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/12/23/us/matt-gaetz-report-trump-news#gaetz-house-ethics-report

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: John Sailer

Published: Sep 9, 2023

What happens in California usually doesn’t stay in California — and that’s bad news for higher education. 

In his latest piece for the New York Times, Michael Powell catalogs just how extensively the Golden State’s universities have embraced mandatory diversity statements when hiring faculty. From junior college to prestigious research university, scientists and scholars throughout the state must demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to remain in good standing.

By now, this should come as no surprise, but it is striking to see some of the most egregious ways the policy plays out. In 2016, the piece notes, at least five University of California (UC) campuses decided to initially screen faculty job applicants based only on diversity statements. For one large hiring initiative at UC Berkeley — the Life Sciences Initiative — the faculty search committee eliminated three-fourths of the applicant pool on the basis of diversity statements alone. Berkeley’s rubric for assessing diversity statements, moreover, dictates a low score for candidates who speak positively about diversity but in vague terms. Even more remarkably, it gives a low score to candidates who say they prefer to “treat everyone the same.” 

All of this is especially notable because of what California represents to American public higher education. Out of any state, California best embodies the American vision of universal higher education — its promises and perils.

In 1960, UC System President Clark Kerr spearheaded the “California Master Plan for Higher Education,” an attempt to modernise the state’s system of higher education. The Master Plan institutionalised a rigidly tiered system for California’s colleges and universities, reserving the UC system for the top 12.5% of the state’s graduating high school students, the California State system for the top 33.3%, and the California Community Colleges system for everyone else.

The plan captured the country’s strong faith in higher education, its aspiration to send virtually every young person to college. Kerr once jokingly quipped that the mission of the university is “to provide sex for the students, sports for the alumni, and parking for the faculty” — an amusing, and functionally accurate, description. 

No doubt, California set the example. Today, it remains a powerhouse; according to the U.S. News and World Report rankings, the UC system includes six out of the top 10 American public universities.

California still sets the tone for American higher education. And for that reason, we might add one more item to Kerr’s tongue-in-cheek summary of the university’s mission: “DEI initiatives for the administrators.” The trend Powell describes — whereby enthusiasm for DEI, whatever that might mean in practice, has become a virtual job requirement for scientists and scholars —has trickled down. 

Berkeley’s Life Sciences Initiative, for example, was designed to test whether universities could use a method known as “cluster hiring” to advance the goal of diversity. Basically, the approach involves hiring multiple faculty at once with a heavy emphasis on DEI. In a forthcoming National Association of Scholars report, I describe how DEI-focused cluster hiring has boomed since Berkeley undertook its Life Sciences Initiative.

In 2020, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center carried out a cluster hire — hiring researchers in cancer, infectious disease, and basic biology — which heavily weighed DEI contributions. In 2021, Vanderbilt University’s Department of Psychology undertook a cluster hire; it eliminated approximately 85% of its candidates based solely on diversity statements. And the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has allocated $241 million in grant money for cluster hires at universities around the country — with the condition that every search committee must require and heavily weigh diversity statements.

Berkeley’s rubric — the one that gives a low score to anyone who espouses race-neutrality — is likewise ubiquitous. Two of the universities receiving NIH money for cluster hires are the University of New Mexico and the University of South Carolina. Through a public records request, I acquired both universities’ rubric for assessing diversity statements, which was published earlier this year. Both universities use the Berkeley rubric verbatim.

As a consequence of these measures, trust in higher education will likely continue to fall, owing in part to a sense that some views are simply not tolerated. But DEI litmus tests do not merely diminish the public’s trust in higher education. They degrade higher education itself. Clark Kerr knew that the mission of the university isn’t sex, sports, or parking. It isn’t social justice, either. It’s the pursuit of truth, which, following California’s example, all too many universities seem to forget.

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There are still some people who say stupid things like, "how can you be against equality and diversity?" Except, we all know at this point that these are ideologically-charged words. The rubrics themselves tell you that liberal principles of equality are unacceptable; rather, contested and ideological notions about the world. This makes "DIE statements" ideological loyalty oaths.

It would be like saying something stupid like, "what, are you not against people being bad and doing bad things?" when people object to making commitments and oaths against "sin."