Lia Thomas so ‘well-endowed’ I had to ‘refrain from looking’: Riley Gaines

 Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is so well-endowed that female swimmer Riley Gaines had “refrain from looking” at Thomas in the locker room they shared during a meet.

In a new podcast with Bill Maher dropping Sunday, Gaines, an advocate for women’s sports, repeatedly declined to estimate Thomas’ size but explained it is in proportion to the frame of a “6-foot-4 male.”

Gaines tied against Thomas in the 2022 NCAA Championships and since has become an outspoken activist against biological men in women’s sports – saying it was unfair and that changing alongside Thomas in the locker room was weird and awkward.

Some swimmers undressed in the janitor’s closet to avoid Thomas.

“That was a situation I tried to refrain from looking at entirely,” Gaines said, according to a transcript of the Club Random podcast obtained first by the Daily Mail.

“We can’t unsee it. Being in that space with a male, it’s like a bad car wreck.”

Maher repeatedly grilled Gaines to detail the genitalia of Thomas, who joined the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team after competing for three years on the men’s squad.

“I was trying to run away from this question,” Gaines answered.

When asked by Bill Maher how big Lia Thomas’ endowment was, Riley Gaines said it was in proportion to a 6’4″ male.

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

“6-foot-4 male. Use your imagination,” she said.

Gaines believes biological males’ greater strength and endurance make competition with women unfair – and her view has stirred controversy.

In April, Gaines was “ambushed and physically hit” by a mob of trans-rights protesters who stormed her speech about protecting women’s sports at San Francisco State.

By the conclusion of Thomas’s swimming career at UPenn in 2022, Thomas’ rank skyrocketed from 65th for men to 1st in the female 500-yard freestyle, and from 554th for men to 5th for women in the 200-yard freestyle.

Swimmer Riley Gaines has led the fight against biological men who identify as women in women’s sports, saying it is unfair.

Elliott Hess

“I think even using the term trans woman is giving Thomas some of our languages as women,” Gaines said in the podcast. “I think trans women is a subset of male. I do not believe trans women are women.”

Last week, former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan told The Post she “had nightmares for weeks” after sharing a locker room with Thomas.

At the March 2022 championship in Atlanta, Thomas won the women’s 500-yard freestyle, becoming the first trans woman to claim a national title in swimming and becoming a symbol of trans athletes.

Lia Thomas has never addressed the concerns of the female swimmers who say that biological men in women’s sports are unfair.

NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Trans rights activists say trans women are real women and must be included in sports.

Gaines, who comes from Tennessee and swam for the University of Kentucky team, said America needs “more masculine men” and praised World War II veterans.

“That’s the last time we had strong men,” she said.

By the conclusion of Thomas’s swimming career at UPenn in 2022, Thomas’ rank had moved from 65th on the men’s team to 1st on the women’s team in the 500-yard freestyle.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

“Think about this: 1940s, World War II. Men lied about their age to get in to enlist. Now, in 2023, we have men lying about their sex to get into women’s sports or women’s prisons or domestic shelters or sororities or bathrooms, locker rooms.”

She blames society for rebranding “masculinity as toxic and bad and undesirable.”

In June, the world swimming’s governing body effectively banned transgender women from competing in women’s events.

The International Swimming Federation members widely adopted a new “gender inclusion policy” that only permits swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events.

The organization also proposed an “open competition category.”

https://nypost.com/2023/08/05/lia-thomas-so-well-endowed-i-had-to-refrain-from-looking-riley-gaines/

Video shows open-air prostitution in yet another NYC neighborhood

 The raunchy old days are back in East New York, where some blocks are overrun by hookers hawking early-morning sex — with one strutting her stuff nearly naked in the middle of a street, shocking new footage posted online shows.

The YouTube video, “East New York Ep. 2,” was shot at 7 a.m. on July 28 along Stanley Avenue near Sheffield Avenue — and has already garnered 5,000 views.

A woman wearing a see-through orange negligee and silver platform heels can be seen walking back and forth in front of a parked car next to a trash truck in an industrial block.

Then, a woman who appears to be topless with an open jacket on walks in front of oncoming traffic.

Next, a woman wearing a see-through purple negligee and strappy high heels trips as she tries to talk to a potential client in a car as a woman wearing a tiny black teddy with a cut-out stomach watches from across the street.

A prostitute in Brooklyn wears a blue negligee and walks near traffic.

Youtube/@willyg5033

A woman wearing an orange teddy and platform heels paces near a car at an East New York intersection.

Youtube/@willyg5033

Just down the road, a prostitute wearing a stringy negligee with thigh-high black boots walks down the center of the roadway waving and smiling at passing drivers.

Another streetwalker in a barely-there orange outfit is seen walking past a Department of Sanitation building on Georgia Avenue.

The YouTube user posted the first episode online on July 3.

A woman dressed in a stringy one-piece and thigh-high boots walks down the center of a Brooklyn street.

Youtube/@willyg5033

It showed the sex trade on Pennsylvania Avenue and received 448,317 views, according to the site.

The scene in the disturbing videos reminded retired Detective and John Jay College professor Michael Alcazar, who worked in East New York’s 75th Precinct, of rampant open-air prostitution in the lawless 1990s.

“In the 75, we would drive down areas where there were waves of them,” said Alcazar, who was on the job for three decades. “It’s sad because we cleaned it up. And now it’s back and with that, they’re also trafficking. You know, kids.”

Another scantily clad female walking in traffic.

Youtube/@willyg5033

Alcazar said when he was an undercover officer the NYPD would arrest 13-year-olds and “get them help.”

“You know, they look at their pimps like they’re gonna take care of them,” he said. “They don’t know they’re being used.”

https://nypost.com/2023/08/05/video-shows-street-walkers-in-the-open-in-brooklyn/

'Pro-life pregnancy center saved me from a life of human trafficking'

 Not long ago, I stood before the Vermont Senate and testified about my experience as a human trafficking survivor who became the first black female pregnancy center director in the state.  

I had been asked to testify against a bill targeting pro-life pregnancy help centers, falsely claiming that we “mislead” the public about our services. 

But my story puts the lie to this narrative and proves the beautiful truth of our work — that pregnancy centers love, serve and commit ourselves to the men, women and children of our communities who need our help. We know firsthand how our assistance can transform someone’s life. 

From age 2 to 29, I was trafficked in 33 states. I suffered serial abuse, rape and even murder attempts by various pimps. I was heavily addicted to hard drugs such as crystal meth and cocaine. I eventually reached a point where I intentionally sought to end my life by overdosing.

Even though I was losing weight from the drugs, my belly kept growing, and I soon discovered the pregnancy that would ultimately save my life.   

Shrugging off the news with disgust, my pimp demanded money and then attempted to shoot me when I told him I was done being his slave. Pregnant, terrified and with nowhere to go, I literally ran away from the only life I had ever known.

Fighting despair, and with only $1.38 to my name, I had very few places to turn. After endless phone calls, I finally reached a woman at a domestic violence shelter in New Hampshire who agreed to help. She flew me there and connected me with a local pregnancy center, where a woman named Phyllis changed everything. She calmed me with a single kind touch and the words, “I know a man named Jesus who can help you.” The warmth of her hands filled me with an encouragement and hope that I’d never known before. In that moment, despite my hardened heart, I abandoned my former life forever.   

The pregnancy center provided me with free resources and support to take care of my son. I was also able to realize and pursue dreams I had never imagined, such as earning a college degree. I worked with families at the pregnancy center and secured a job at a local hospital.

Years later, I applied for the executive director position of a pregnancy center in Vermont — Branches Pregnancy Resource Center — the position in which I have served since last December. 

I have worked in this role to raise awareness of the services we provide to the local community. I developed a strong relationship with our town manager to help address a severe homeless problem in the area. Now, Branches helps to care for and connect those who are homeless with the resources they need. 

The CEO of one of the largest hospitals in Vermont recently requested to collaborate with us. We are also training the local police department, as well as local schools, to learn how to identify human trafficking and save victims of the industry. My job is incredibly fulfilling.  

If it hadn’t been for Phyllis and the pregnancy center, I would be dead. They saved my life. My son saved my life. Now, it’s my turn to defend the very cause that saved me.  

The bill I testified against was signed into law in May. Now, if we advertise our services in a way that Vermont’s pro-abortion rights attorney general claims to be “misleading,” we face fines of up to $10,000 for each violation. But the law is vague. For example, one witness during a legislative hearing absurdly said that even naming a pregnancy center “The Women’s Center” should violate the law, because a name like that is too neutral and therefore implies that abortions are available there.  

The law also bars our staff members who are not state-licensed medical professionals from handing out health-related information. But the law applies only to pro-life pregnancy centers in the state. Abortion businesses’ non-licensed staff members can still pass out brochures about abortion, but our staff members cannot.  

Vermont wants to shut down pregnancy help centers because we don’t support the state’s extreme abortion agenda. 

So, last month, we filed a lawsuit challenging the law. My pregnancy center, Branches, along with Aspire Now (another Vermont pregnancy center) and the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom. Our case makes clear that the government has no business shutting down our lifesaving work. Pregnancy centers should be free to serve their communities without fear of arbitrary and unjust government punishment. 

Our work powerfully shows that there is real help for men, women and children in need who are caught in impossible snares and feel there is no hope — whether it’s human trafficking, homelessness, abuse or abortion. Pregnancy centers like Branches exist to provide for them.

The hateful narratives that smear pro-life pregnancy centers would have some believe that I fell “victim” to their work. On the contrary, because of their work, I was set free. 

Jean Marie Davis the executive director of Branches Pregnancy Resource Center in Brattleboro, Vermont.

https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/4137894-a-pro-life-pregnancy-help-center-saved-me-from-a-life-of-human-trafficking/

'Self-created or intentional abuse of our elderly politicians?'

 At what point should human decency and compassion trump the political and ideological needs of those in power?

Last week, 90-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) appeared confused and had to be coached to vote “aye” during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the $831 billion Defense Appropriations bill. Feinstein had started reading a statement instead of voting.

“Say aye,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray instructed the suddenly silent Feinstein. Murray then repeated herself three times before an aide came to Feinstein’s side and whispered into her ear. 

“Yeah,” Murray stressed again. “Just say ‘aye.”’

That troubling incident followed 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ((R-Ky.) suddenly appearing to freeze in mid-sentence during a weekly GOP leadership news conference and going silent for approximately 20 seconds before being walked away.

Beyond those two examples, we have the escalating worries swirling about 80-year-old President Joe Biden based upon his continued verbal and mental gaffes and miscues. They have sadly happened with such frequency that one need only google “Biden senior moments” to view dozens of them.

Leaving the political class, but staying within the highest ranks of our government, we pivot to the Supreme Court. Back in 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — a hero to so many on the left — passed away at the age of 87. While hero of the left she may have been, because of her passing, then-President Donald Trump was able to name her successor: conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

To be sure, some on the left felt that Ginsburg should have retired while Barack Obama was still president in order to give him the chance to appoint a much younger, equally liberal justice to the court. Ginsburg heard those voices but declined to heed them.

But by refusing to let go, did Ginsburg ultimately help to unravel parts of her own life work while shifting the balance of the Supreme Court significantly to the right? Did her advanced age impair her judgment?

At some point every one of us will age out. It is the natural progression of life. That said, shifting back to the greater world of politics and government, while some try to hang on to the bitter end, others could be seen as staying in power only to satisfy the personal, partisan or selfish needs of others around them. 

With the four examples of Feinstein, McConnell, Biden and Ginsburg — out of many more who could be listed, such as 83-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and 89-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley — we have enough background to at least ask some necessary if uncomfortable questions.

First: At what point does cruelty enter the equation? It is clear that Joe Biden, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg before him, decided that he wants to stay in office. Fine.

But should he stay in office? Is that the best option for him and his health? Is that the best thing for our nation?

I have heard multiple Democrats say that Biden has to stay in office for as long as humanly possible so that, first, Vice President Kamala Harris does not succeed him, and second, the Democratic National Committee has time to open the primary to candidates such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

While some might be offended by the very idea of such a calculation, those conversations are taking place. Again, is any of that in the best interests of the physical and mental wellbeing of President Biden? Of course not.

Next, we go back to the examples of Feinstein and McConnell. No one I have spoken with from either party believes Feinstein is fit for office. That said, before she can be replaced, more political and personal calculations have to be made. Is such a delay in the best interest of Feinstein’s physical and mental wellbeing? Of course not.

Then we have Republican McConnell, the man who not only froze in mid-sentence but had two serious falls prior to that health scare. One of the falls resulted in a concussion and a cracked rib. 

McConnell is from Kentucky. Whoops.

The governor of Kentucky is Democrat Andy Beshear. The Seventeenth Amendment tells us that if a senator leaves office due to death, resignation or expulsion, the governor of said state is empowered to appoint a replacement to complete the term or to hold office until a special election can take place.

Gee, what are the odds that Democrat Beshear appoints a Democrat to replace McConnell should he leave office early?

McConnell is not up for reelection until 2026.

“Wait a minute,” some GOP powerbrokers might be screaming. “Surely old Mitch can hang on a bit longer. We can’t allow a Democrat to replace him with a Democrat.”

Now, would such a scenario be good for the physical and mental wellbeing of McConnell? Of course not.

But … here we are. Our elderly political class is either making decisions that may not be in their best interests or — much worse — others are making decisions for them for partisan or professional reasons. 

What to do?

More and more Americans are warming up to the idea that we need to have cognitive tests for any politician over the age of 75 as well as creating term-limits for our permanent politician class.

Will such testing become a part of our political process? Hopefully. But in the meantime, there are enough examples walking (and wheeling) around Washington, D.C., to tell us that something has to be done as soon as possible for the good of that elderly political class — as well as our country.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4137659-are-we-witnessing-self-created-or-intentional-abuse-of-our-elderly-politicians/

'Groups file lawsuit arguing ICE is illegally detaining men who won immigration cases'

 Two human rights advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Justice claiming the agency has illegally detained three men after court hearings determined they could not be deported.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia and Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition said in the suit that the men could not be deported because they faced legitimate threats of torture or death if they were to return to their home countries. However, ICE has continued to keep them detained for months after their court hearings, the groups claim.

“Continuing to hold our clients in detention for no good reason violates the Constitution, immigration law, and ICE’s own policy,” CAIR lawyer Austin Rose said in a statement.

ICE’s policy would be to release the men if no other suitable country for deportation could be found. The agency is looking for an alternate country to deport the men, but they do not have any connections elsewhere, the suit claims.

“Petitioners’ continued detention is arbitrary and unlawful, and they request that this Court order their immediate release from ICE custody,” the suit states. “ICE’s half-hearted attempts to remove Petitioners to a random collection of alternative countries — to which they have no ties, and which have no policy or history of accepting non- citizen deportees — are speculative and futile.”

Two of the men are from El Salvador and the third is from Honduras. They were each granted “deferral from removal” status, preventing them from being deported, earlier this year.

Over a dozen people have been unlawfully detained by the ICE Washington Field Office for at least three months after they were granted deferral status, the suit says.

“ICE’s longstanding release policy – followed by many ICE offices throughout the country – conforms with the constitutional protections against indefinite and arbitrary detentions,” the advocacy groups said in a statement. “But the failure of ICE’s Virginia office to follow that policy ignores these important protections.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4139042-groups-file-lawsuit-arguing-ice-is-illegally-detaining-men-who-won-immigration-cases/

'Are U.S. seniors among the developed world’s poorest?'

 The U.S. retirement system is a sprawling complex, a so-called “three-legged stool” of Social Security payments, workplace savings plans and individual wealth.

But is the system falling short in its primary goal of achieving a secure retirement for all Americans?

Judging why and to what extent seniors may be falling behind is harder than it might sound, experts said.

But the answer has huge policy implications, ranging from the generosity of public benefits to the prevalence of employer-sponsored plans such as 401(k)s and pensions.

“This is a fraught area,” said Olivia Mitchell, a professor of business economics and public policy at the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the Pension Research Council. “There’s not a simple answer.”

Is old-age income poverty too high?

Consider this thought exercise: What is a tolerable poverty rate among American seniors?

By one metric, the U.S. fares worse than most other developed nations in this category.

About 23% of Americans over age 65 live in poverty, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. This ranks the U.S. behind 30 other countries in the 38-member bloc, which collectively has an average poverty rate of 13.1%.

According to OECD data, only Mexico ranks worse than the U.S. in terms of old-age “poverty depth,” which means that among those who are poor, their average income is low relative to the poverty line. And just three countries have worse income inequality among seniors.

There are many contributing factors to these poverty dynamics, said Andrew Reilly, pension analyst in the OECD’s Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs.

For one, the overall U.S. poverty rate is high relative to other developed nations — a dynamic that carries over into old age, Reilly said. The U.S. retirement system therefore “exacerbates” a poverty problem that already exists, he said.

Further, the base U.S. Social Security benefit is lower than the minimum government benefit in most OECD member nations, Reilly said.

The U.S. is also the only developed country to not offer a mandatory work credit — an important factor in determining retirement benefit amount — to mothers during maternity leave, for example. Most other nations also give mandatory credits to parents who leave the workforce for a few years to take care of their young kids.

“There’s very little security relative to other countries,” Reilly said of U.S public benefits.

That said, the U.S. benefit formula is, in some ways, more generous than other nations. For example, nonworking spouses can collect partial Social Security benefits based on their spouse’s work history, which isn’t typical in other countries, Mitchell said.

Old-age poverty seems to be improving

Here’s where it gets a little trickier: Some researchers think the OECD statistics overstate the severity of old-age poverty, due to the way in which the OECD measures poverty compared with U.S. statisticians’ methods.

For example, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, 10.3% of Americans age 65 and older live in poverty — a much lower rate than OECD data suggests. That old-age income poverty rate has declined by over two-thirds in the past five decades, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Historically, poverty among elderly Americans was higher than it was for the young. However, that’s no longer true — seniors have had lower poverty rates than those ages 18-64 since the early 1990s, CRS found.

“The story of poverty in the U.S. is not one of older folks getting worse off,” Mitchell said. “They’re improving.”

Regardless of the baseline — OECD, Census Bureau or other data — there’s a question as to what poverty rate is, or should be, acceptable in a country like the U.S., experts said.

“We are arguably the most developed country in the world,” said David Blanchett, managing director and head of retirement research at PGIM, the investment management arm of Prudential Financial.

“The fact anyone lives in poverty, one can argue, isn’t necessarily how we should be doing it,” he added.

Despite improvements, certain groups of the elderly population — such as widows, divorced women and never-married men and women — are “still vulnerable” to poverty, wrote Zhe Li and Joseph Dalaker, CRS social policy analysts.

Two major problem areas persist

At the very least, there are facets of the system that should be tweaked, experts said.

Researchers seem to agree that a looming Social Security funding shortfall is perhaps the most pressing issue facing U.S. seniors.

Longer lifespans and baby boomers hurtling into their retirement years are pressuring the solvency of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund; it’s slated to run out of money in 2033. At that point, payroll taxes would fund an estimated 77% of promised retirement benefits, absent congressional action.

“You could argue pending insolvency of Social Security is threatening older people’s financial wellbeing,” Mitchell said. “It is the whole foundation upon which the American retirement system is based.”

Raising Social Security payouts at the low end of the income spectrum would help combat old-age poverty but would also cost more money at a time when the program’s finances are shaky, experts said.

“The easiest way to combat poverty in retirement is to have a safety-net benefit at a higher level,” Reilly said. It would be “extremely expensive,” especially in a country as large as the U.S., he added.

Blanchett favors that approach. Such a tweak could be accompanied by a reduction in benefits for higher earners, making the system even more progressive than it is now, he said.

Currently, for example, Social Security replaces about 75% of income for someone with “very low” earnings (about $15,000), and 27% for someone with “maximum” earnings (about $148,000), according to the Social Security Administration.

Reducing benefits for some would put a greater onus on such households to fund retirement with personal savings.

However, the relative lack of access to a savings plan at work — known as the “coverage gap” — is another obstacle to amassing more retirement wealth, experts said.

Research shows that Americans are much more likely to save when their employer sponsors a retirement plan. But coverage hasn’t budged much in recent decades, even as employers have shifted from pensions to 401(k)-type plans.

“About 40 years ago, half of workers were covered by an employer-sponsored plan,” Mitchell said. “The same is true now.”

Of course, workplace plans aren’t a panacea. Contributing money is ultimately voluntary, unlike in other nations, such as the U.K. And it requires financial sacrifice, which may be difficult amid other household needs such as housing, food, child care and health care.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/05/whether-us-seniors-among-developed-worlds-poorest-depends-on-data-used.html