MBW - 2/21/2022
Hi folks! Happy Presidents’ Day if you’re based in the US.
Here we go:
There has been some debate in the sports community whether transgender women should compete in women’s sports. Up until now there a universal agreement on the topic has not been achieve, though most disciplines have embraced involvement based on testosterone levels. This past weekend the debate was reignited after Lia Thomas set a new swimming record at the Ivy League Championship. Below the final moments of the race:
🥇🥈 Lia Thomas is the @IvyLeague champion in the 500 free. Her time of 4:37.32 is a new pool record. Catherine Buroker finishes in second. #FightOnPennHere’s the coverage by the New York Post if you want to dig more.
And of course this stirred people in Twitter quite a bit. Some of the most popular posts below:
Moving on, the Canadian saga of the trucker’s protest took a turn for the worst when the Government invoked emergency power and decided to freeze the financial assets of the protesters, their family members and anyone who might have contributed financially to the protest. All of this without a court order. What makes it look even worse for Trudeau is the fact that these emergency powers had been invoked only three times in the country’s history, namely, during WWI, WWII and the Quebec riots for independence.
These draconian measures were followed by some ironic comments from Chinese, Indian, Iranian media and individuals:
Adding to the irony:
Anyways, here is a great piece by David Sacks on why this is a big deal:
“The self-conception of these pundits and politicians could not be more at odds with reality. They pose as defenders of democracy while invoking emergency powers without legislative or public debate, or without an emergency for that matter. They claim that diversity and tolerance are their highest values while insisting that only one political point of view is acceptable and censoring the alternatives. Above all, progressive elites see themselves as the champions of the disadvantaged while demonizing working-class men and women whose economic livelihoods have been devastated by their draconian Covid policies.” Preach.
Here’s a gem from Tim Ferriss’ podcast that had me laughing out loud:
Apparently, brains remain sharp well into middle age, contrary to popular assumptions that mental speed declines from our 20s and 30s, research suggests.
A study of 1.2 million people, aged 10 to 80, found mental speed remained relatively stable between 30 and 60 - but caution tended to grow with age. More about this study can be found here.
And lastly, some random pics from around the web:
The Winter Olympics are finally over. This is the final table.
There are only four circles in this picture.
Elon Musk posted this one.
China’s high speed train network then and now.
The normal distribution at the gym.
That was it for today. Wishing you a great week. Peace.