Mata’afa Keni Lesa in The Samoa Observer:

The truth is this. We just cannot stop thinking about Feagaiga Stowers.

Having been chosen as Samoa’s flag bearer, this Pacific Games was supposed to have been her moment.

This is a young woman who has had to endure tremendous difficulties in her childhood, where she eventually entered the Samoa Victims Support Group, to end up where she is today. It’s an incredible story.

Indeed, Stowers meteoric rise has proven there is hope for everyone. And she’s done everything possible to be on top of her game, where she deserves to be.

This was until she stepped up on the weightlifting platform on Saturday where her hopes of clinching a Pacific Games gold – and that of a proud nation – were crushed by a fellow competitor, Laurel Hubbard.

Who, as we all know, is a man. This is cheating.

Hubbard does not belong in the women’s competition. As a transgender, there are only two ways Hubbard should continue to compete. Hubbard could either step up against the men or the organisers of the Pacific Games, or any competition Hubbard enters, should introduce a new division for transgenders.

We are talking about sports here. One of the values of sport is fairness. We cannot say that allowing a transgender to compete against women is fair. It is grossly unfair for women like Stowers, or all women, for that matter.

This is why we cannot stop thinking about Stowers and how gutted she must have been, at being denied the gold medal in the women’s 87kgs division by Hubbard, who lifted a total of 268kgs. Stowers lagged behind by seven kilos. Imagine that? Given Hubbard’s genes, think of how hard Stowers had to work to try and keep up. And she did. It’s an amazing achievement, still she lost the gold medal by seven kilos to a competitor who [is] technically a man.

Technically, factually, physically, literally a man. He’s a man who “identifies as a woman” but that’s not the same thing as literally being a woman, and pretending otherwise has a number of drawbacks, as we’ve been noticing for some time now.

Ironically when the kiwi athlete was asked about competing against women, Hubbard responded: “I think you have to be true to yourself.”

Really? Well why cannot Hubbard do us all a favour then, be “true to yourself” and compete in the division where Hubbard rightfully belongs? What do you think?

I’ll tell you what I think. I think that’s absolutely typical of the self-centered greedy smug indifference to the needs and desires of not-self that is so typical of this loathsome “movement.” You know what would be nice? It would be nice if people like Hubbard started “identifying as” decent people with an awareness of other people’s needs, and acting accordingly.

It’s always so heartwarming to see a corporation win an award for marketing fake meds to credulous customers.

The American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists (AAHP) has awarded Wegmans Food Markets with the Integrative Medicine Award. This honor recognizes a retailer that promotes and sells products that encompass a broad range of therapeutic approaches to achieve optimal health and wellness for consumers seeking to participate actively in their healthcare.

Whuff whuff fluff uff fuff fuff. “A broad range of therapeutic approaches” including ones that don’t work. “For consumers seeking to participate actively in their healthcare” by throwing their money away on water labeled as homeopathic “medicine.” I have a wonderful piece of land in Florida I’d like to sell you.

“On behalf of Wegmans, I am happy to accept AAHP’s Integrative Medicine Award,” said Karen Shadders, Vice President of Health, Wellness, Home & Entertaining at Wegmans, who attended the reception. “We strive to offer our consumers as much choice as possible when it comes to caring for the health of their families and themselves.”

Including the “choice” of potions and powders with no active ingredients at all but lots of advertising. Some “choice.”

Founded in 1923, the American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists (AAHP) is the leading industry association for the manufacturers, distributors and marketers of homeopathic drugs. AAHP promotes excellence in the practice of homeopathic pharmacy, manufacturing, marketing and distribution by supporting the requirements, criteria and published guidelines in the HPUS, relevant Federal statutes, as well as other industry regulations/compendia — all to help members provide safe, effective homeopathic medicines to consumers, retailers and healthcare practitioners.

It’s just open fraud. The medicines can’t be “effective” except as placebos, and all this “homeopathic pharmacy, manufacturing, marketing and distribution” is nothing but a scam. Shame on them.

I was thinking Jeffrey Epstein would be denied bail because he’s a flight risk, but today I learned there’s another reason: he could use his millions to tamper with the case.

Further, prosecutors said Epstein could use his wealth to tamper with the investigation — and has a history of doing just that.

For example, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday that Epstein made $350,000 in payments to two possible co-conspirators after the Miami Herald’s stories were published in November 2018. The payments were made to two individuals who could potentially testify against Epstein at trial, the prosecutors said in the court filing.

“This course of action, and in particular its timing, suggests the defendant was attempting to further influence co-conspirators who might provide information against him in light of the recently re-emerging allegations,” prosecutors wrote.

In addition, police reports, court documents and interviews with victim attorneys revealed a number of intimidation and bare-knuckle tactics that accusers and witnesses told police they faced after Florida authorities opened their first investigation into Epstein.

During that probe, at least three private investigators who police believed were working on Epstein’s behalf tracked down accusers and possible witnesses to the alleged attacks, according to police reports. They sat in black SUVs outside the homes of accusers, questioned their current and former boyfriends, and chased one parent’s car off the road, according to police reports and a lawyer for three accusers.

Good grief.

The judge said he plans to make a ruling Thursday.

C-Span has the whole video, most of which is a prepared speech that he reads haltingly and clumsily. Around 41:25 he opens it up for questions, so we get his full thought-vomit as opposed to snips.

He notes with fake surprise that his “go home” tweets were controversial, and adds that “A lotta people love it, by the way. Lotta people love it.” Yes, no doubt they do, and that’s a problem. Throwing raw meat to people who are already racist is a problem. Inciting racist hatred is a problem. A president who does that is beyond a problem – it’s hard to know what to call that, because all the existing words seem too mild.

Starting at 42:27 he pretends to think Pelosi said “Make America white again” when in fact she was commenting on Trump’s racism.

At 42:56 he names Omar.

“These are people that in my opinion hate our country.”

More from the PhD candidate in Catholic ethics who is searching for a “carrier” to gestate a baby for him and his husband:

This is a very stupid argument and I’m tired of hearing it. The medical and legal term for a woman who carries a child is “carrier.” The only thing this argument shows me is that those who make it lack any understanding of this issue. https://t.co/sSIC1rOibV

— Brandon Ambrosino (@BrandonAmbro) July 14, 2019

Stupid. A stupid argument, he says. Stupid and made by people who lack any understanding of the issue. (Would that apply to boodle, who already has the PhD and has produced two babies recently?)

What jumps out at me in that revolting tweet is his complete, self-satisfied, oblivious lack of empathy for women. I find it stunning that a guy who wants to find a woman who will gestate and give birth to a baby for him feels comfortable publicly dismissing women who point out that they are more than “carriers” – dismissing them and calling them stupid and uninformed for good measure.

I can easily believe it’s true that in certain contexts professionals do refer to “carriers” when it’s necessary to distinguish them from gestational parents aka birth mothers. In certain limited contexts that may be acceptable for convenience. But for the men in the equation? Who will never do this particular form of hard labor for anyone? For them to call the women “carriers” in public, on Twitter?

Not even close to acceptable.

Contempt and hatred for women is making a strong comeback these days, and callous shits like this guy are one of the reasons.

Hey hey hey it’s International Nonbinary Day.

So that’s means it’s…most people day. So that’s exciting. Ok, as you were.

https://twitter.com/clewisreviews/status/1150455158016532481

I’m Christian. Nonbinary femme. He/him/his and she/her/hers. Please don’t call me or refer to me as guy, man, bro, dude, sir, gentleman, Mr., etc. If there is a feminine version of a word (like “alumna”) use that for me. Happy #InternationalNonBinaryDay

WHAT IS NONBINARY FEMME??? What can that possibly mean??? If you call yourself “femme” how can you also call yourself “nonbinary”? What are even words?

Never mind, the important thing is, it’s all about him her alumna waitress princess nonbinaryette.

to all you cis gays with thousands of followers, share my stuff and get me followers, you owe me (and your other nb friends), its #InternationalNonBinaryDay

— Christian Lewis (@clewisreviews) July 14, 2019

It’s only cis gays who owe herhimwaitress? Not cis straights? So I don’t owe him this sharing then, but never mind, I’m doing it out of sheer generosity.

He’s been working out the best way to correct everyone. That is some demanding labor, let me tell you; it can keep a princess up all night.

These pics may be of me exploring makeup and colorful eyebrows, but this years I’ve also been working through pronouns, coming out in professional settings, finding the best way to correct friends/colleagues when they constantly misgender me—but that’s hard to capture in a selfie

— Christian Lewis (@clewisreviews) July 14, 2019

So true. All that profundity and correctingness is very hard to capture in a selfie.

H/t Josh

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL NONBINARY DAY EVERYONE!!

Formulas. Speaking in formulas. Speaking in dopy unreasonable unexamined formulas. It doesn’t make for good thinking.

It’s a scientific and medical fact that men can get pregnant and also have abortions. Trans men and non-binary individuals are human beings who deserve to be acknowledged by society. They choose their own identity—not me, not you, not any doctor, and certainly not any politician.

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) July 12, 2019

Of course “trans men and non-binary individuals” are human beings. That’s not in question and never has been. Shouting that they’re human beings is answering a question that was never asked.

But as for “they choose their own identity” – that’s where the mindless formulas fall apart. We don’t get to “choose our own identity” in every sense. We can choose the aspects that are subject to choice, and not the others. We don’t get to choose to be raccoons or toothbrushes or planets. We can pretend to be those things, if we like, but we can’t literally choose to be those things or billions of other things like them.

“Identity” is a very baggy word, and it has become more baggy than ever with the new move to claim that sex is a matter of identity as opposed to material fact. It’s being used as a kind of magic wand to entitle people to claim to be something they’re not and physically can’t be, and the results are turning out to be less than salubrious.

Setting aside the fact that these four congresswomen are American citizens and three were born in Ohio, Michigan and New York – there are few statements in this country that invoke its long, deep and hateful history of racism more than “Go back to…” pic.twitter.com/DiMTOI9a10

— Kimberly Atkins (@KimberlyEAtkins) July 14, 2019

These Congresswomen are my fellow Americans. They’re from America. I don’t have to agree with every single thing they say to deeply appreciate their service to this country in a deeply troubled time. https://t.co/RXmbmoqyKY

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) July 14, 2019

When Trump tells 4 Congresswomen to "go back to their countries" (of the 4 — AOC, Tlaib, Omar and Pressley — only Omar is an immigrant) he reaffirms that his plan to 'Make America Great Again' is about making America white again. Below contemptible. https://t.co/ylaq4dOK7w

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) July 14, 2019

The President of the United States telling minority AMERICAN Congresswomen to go back to the countries they came from? This is a new, terrible, racist, sad low, even for Trump. https://t.co/feIZKNerrJ

— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) July 14, 2019

Of course three of the four Democratic Congresswomen whom Trump is attacking were born in the United States. The other came here at age 10. https://t.co/MoBsYaT4aR

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 14, 2019

Trump tweets racist attacks at progressive congresswomen – CNNPolitics https://t.co/CswlgT5ANJ

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 14, 2019

NOW can we start the impeachment hearings? Finally?

Money and power and status and malehood combined: one of the male royals may be unable to keep denying his part in Jeffrey Epstein’s hobby.

Prince Andrew faces further embarrassment from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal after a judge ordered thousands of secret documents relating to an alleged “sex slave” of the tycoon to be released.

About 2,000 files from a defamation case involving Virginia Roberts, an alleged trafficking victim, are due to be unsealed following a ruling by the US court of appeal this month. Roberts claims she was forced by Epstein to have sex with the Duke of York in London, New York and the Caribbean. Prince Andrew has strongly denied the claims.

Well he would, wouldn’t he.

In 2015 Roberts, now 35 and a mother of three, claimed she had been recruited as a “sex slave” by Epstein, a billionaire financier who was charged last week with trafficking girls as young as 14. Roberts alleged that she had been “procured for sexual activities” by Ghislaine Maxwell, who worked as a personal aide to Epstein and had been a friend of the duke.

Maxwell then called Roberts a liar in an interview, and Roberts sued her for defamation. The case was settled, but we’re not told what that means. Most of the court documents were sealed.

In a ruling this month, Jose Cabranes, a US appeals judge, said the public’s right to know outweighed the privacy rights of people who wanted to keep secrets. Days later Epstein, 66, was charged in New York with trafficking a “vast network of underage victims” between his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. Epstein denies the charges.

So, who knows, maybe the documents show that Andrew never did shtup underage Roberts. Or maybe they don’t.

Andrew is not the only illustrious acquaintance to be embarrassed. Trump described Epstein as a friend in 2002, adding: “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” Bill and Hillary Clinton are also known to have been associates.

However, none of the investment banker’s friendships has raised more eyebrows than his relationship with Andrew. Epstein attended the Queen’s birthday party in 2000 and visited Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor Castle.

The Times gives details on how their movements track during the relevant time slots. Maybe Andrew just kept being in the same place as Roberts for no particular reason, or maybe not.

More on Pence’s brief visit to Theresienstadt a border detention center yesterday:

Agents wore face masks, and video showed detainees packed into their holding areas surrounded by chain-link fence, the concrete floors littered with silver thermal blankets. Reporters accompanying Pence described the facility as smelling “horrendous.”

A group of men detained behind chain link fencing shouted to news cameras, “No shower, no shower!”

I wonder if this “no showers” thing is even more sinister than it looks at first blush. It’s bad enough if it’s just a matter of imprisoning non-criminals without sufficient planning and organization to provide humane conditions, but it’s worse if Trump and the gang are doing it on purpose. If the detainees smell horrendous then doesn’t that just do more to make onlookers think they’re bad smelly dirty people who should be punished for trying to get asylum here? Doesn’t it choke off fellow-feeling and empathy and replace it with revulsion?

I leave it to your wisdom to determine.

Pence said afterward that what he saw was evidence of a “system that was overwhelmed.”

The experience did not appear to temper a statement he made earlier in the day that reports of mistreatment, filthy conditions and lack of basic necessities were “slanderous.”

Yes, that’s the problem here, “slanderous” reporting as opposed to the horrific conditions being reported.

The remarks were made during a roundtable discussion held after Pence toured a temporary holding facility near Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge in Texas.

At the 1,000-capacity facility in Donna, Texas, most of the detainees were lying on mats on the floor. The location held about 800 migrants.

“I couldn’t be more impressed with the compassionate work that our Customs and Border Protection are doing here at this border facility,” Pence said.

What a warm, compassionate, generous man he must be.

He said President Donald Trump sent him so “the American people could see what’s happening here.” A reporter on the tour was not allowed to speak to children or adults being held.

“It’s time we moved past the harsh rhetoric of the American left,” Pence said at the roundtable held in McAllen.

It’s the left’s fault for objecting to the bad conditions, it’s not the right’s fault for imposing the bad conditions. Shoot the messenger; that will fix everything.

“Every family that I spoke to told me that they are being well cared for,” he said.

Which is not at all because they’re afraid of the guards. Definitely not. It’s slanderous to say it is.

Hope Frye, a San Francisco immigration attorney who said she has toured all the federal migrant facilities in the Rio Grande Valley, was adamant that conditions have been deplorable.

“The idea that this is false or exaggerated is really offensive to me,” she said. “It’s like saying migrants’ voices are untrue. It all paints the same picture — depraved indifference to the safety and welfare of children who come to us and are put in our care.”

Depraved but Republican, so that’s ok then.

Lindsey Graham wants them to be tortured more.

“The problem we have here can be fixed, literally overnight,” Graham said.

He sought support for his own legislation that seeks to force asylum seekers to apply for American safe harbor at home, immediately deport unaccompanied minors and increase detention time for migrant children.

We’re a light unto the nations.

Here’s the young woman who lost the gold medal to a man who changed his name to Laurel and competed against women:

Samoa’s new golden girl, Feagaiga Stowers, is not just a Commonwealth Games Champion. She is an overcomer and a conqueror of unimaginable odds.

But that wasn’t always the case.

Several years ago, Stowers’ young life hit a snag. The victim of abuse, she was among the survivors of sexual violence who sought refuge and [was] given a second chance at life at the Samoa Victim Support Group (S.V.S.G.).

She entered the Campus of Hope “shy and hopeless.”

Well that girl was not the one the world saw at Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre at the Gold Coast on Monday night.

When she stepped up to the competition platform in front of thousands at the stadium and millions watching from around the world, 17-year-old was smiling and confident, nailing the performance of a lifetime.

Stowers was up against the heavy favourite, New Zealand transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard.

But Hubbard dropped out because of an injury that time, so Stowers won the gold medal.

Yesterday, the President of the Samoa Victim Support Group, Siliniu Lina Chang, congratulated Stowers.

“Congratulations and best wishes Feagaiga.  We are so proud of you,” Siliniu said in a statement.

…

“At the Campus of Hope, Feagaiga was not into singing, dancing, sewing or cooking, but through weightlifting, she found a way to release her anger and her sense of hopelessness.”

“Under a partnership with the Samoa Weightlifting Federation in 2015, some of our girl survivors of violence took up weightlifting as part of their rehabilitation programme, included in them was Feagaiga.”

In 2018 she won a gold medal, but this year she lost the gold to a man. In a women’s competition.

More “this is all perfectly fine” reporting on “Laurel” Hubbard’s cheating.

New Zealand transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard clinched two gold medals as weightlifting competition concluded here today…

Hubbard was favourite to win the gold medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast but had to withdraw mid-competition due to an elbow injury, which later required surgery.

Her appearance in the Australian city divided opinion as Hubbard – born as Gavin before transitioning in her 30s – entered a female event.

Opinion should be unanimous: this should not be allowed.

Hubbard was eligible to compete at Gold Coast 2018 because she passed the International Olympic Committee criteria for transgender athletes after proving her testosterone levels stayed below certain levels in the 12 months leading up to the event.

The criteria are woefully inadequate.

I just cannot get over the fact that we are watching the destruction of female athletics and the people in charge are cheering it on.

Hubbard put the controversy behind her, however, going head-to-head with Samoa’s Feagaiga Stowers and Iuniana Sipaia in today’s final, with the former having won Commonwealth Games gold last year in Gold Coast.

Hubbard won the overall title with a lift of 268kg, with Stowers and Sipaia completing the podium on 261kg and 255kg.

There was a cheer from the local crowd when Hubbard failed at a final clean and jerk lift, enabling Sipaia to take the gold medal in the discipline.

Hubbard responded by blowing a kiss and waved to the crowd before departing the competition platform.

Tee hee.

Brace yourselves; this is horrendous.

New video shows severe overcrowding of men in cages at Texas detainment facility during VP Pence's visit Friday.

A group of men detained behind chain link fencing shouted to news cameras, "No shower, no shower!" https://t.co/iysmT8IUE1 pic.twitter.com/35KKyxb6w8

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 13, 2019

At the end Pence just turns and walks away.

Man has deep thoughts on ethics – deep Catholic thoughts on ethics.

My husband and I are in the process of surrogacy. Friends know we're trying to find a carrier. Thread.

— Brandon Ambrosino (@BrandonAmbro) July 12, 2019

A carrier. A carrier. As if that’s all it is, like carrying a bag of groceries.

I am getting my PhD from a Catholic theology program in ethics. I understand that there are many, many factors to consider from an ethical perspective. Andy and I talk and think about them all the time.

— Brandon Ambrosino (@BrandonAmbro) July 12, 2019

And yet all this constant thinking somehow doesn’t deliver up the thought that he shouldn’t refer to the prospective baby’s mother as a “carrier.”

"Why would you USE women to carry your child?" Every woman who carries a child for any couple is a blessing and should be celebrated. But the word "use" isn't correct when we consider how highly compensated most carriers are, and the fact that many claim to ENJOY being pregnant.

— Brandon Ambrosino (@BrandonAmbro) July 12, 2019

But it’s not just carrying that gestating women do. It’s far from just that. First of all she contributes the egg. The baby is hers as well as the father’s. I know it must be painful for same-sex couples that they can’t conceive together, but that’s just how it is, and calling the mother “the carrier” doesn’t change that.

And it doesn’t end with the egg, obviously. That “carrying” includes nourishing the baby for nine months, sharing her entire body with the baby, living with the baby at all times. That’s a big deal.

Then there’s the giving birth part. I understand it’s not entirely painless.

Calling a woman who does that for someone else a “carrier” is dumbfoundingly insulting.

“Ethcis” my ass.