Five Quick Things: Yes, Enes Kanter and Royce White, That Is the Way

 Welcome to the WNBA, gentlemen   

"But if it’s a league which buys into the woke “inclusion” language and purports to inflict the effects of that language on its players, then there is no reason why a G-League men’s player can’t declare himself a woman and claim a WNBA salary."

"I’m not a fan of the WNBA. I think it’s a joke of a league. I’m not a huge fan of women’s basketball, period, though I’ve got nothing against women playing basketball. I just notice that women’s basketball has emerged as a particular kind of entity which is hard to like.

"And the people it attracts as participants and huge fans are really, really hard to like.

"That said, the Caitlin Clark-Sophie Cunningham show in Indiana is pretty cool. Those two are relatively likable — Clark because she’s an outstanding player and Cunningham because she brings a lot of personality to the court. If you had a league full of players like those two, you probably could sell women’s basketball. (RELATED: The Spectacle Ep. 451: Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham vs. The WNBA: We’re Fatigued)

"The WNBA doesn’t cultivate Sophie Cunninghams, though. The opposite is true. It’s actively discouraging people like her from getting involved, in favor of… other people.

"And I know it wants nothing to do with me, so, as the meme says…

"I’m not alone. The WNBA gets pretty lousy viewership for a major sports league, and it’s dependent on subsidies from the NBA. It’s also dependent on as many controversies as it can stir up in order to spice up its games.

"Which is why the league’s referees are basically pro wrestling refs who call games in utterly absurd ways. And it’s why the league’s players say off-the-wall stupid things all the time, nonstop. All the worst instincts of the social media world are present in how the WNBA conducts its business.

"And the most absurd thing about the WNBA is the refusal to simply allow reality in the door. This is a basketball league for biological women, and there is no legitimate moral or intellectual case for allowing anyone but biological women to play." . . .

The women who helped give girls sports now have to be quiet about it   "Leigh Ross-Dakich explains that the women who helped build up girls sports are now having to be quiet about the trans athlete issue."  (Video)

Forbes Editor Randall Lane Fired After Secret $6M Payment Scandal Revealed

 Newsbusters 

"But wait, there was more! It turns out a pursuing of Lane’s time at Forbes showed he played a key role in helping MS NOW’s Morning Joe co-host Mike Brzezinski launch a partnership between her Know Your Value initiative and Forbes with a Over 50 list for businesswomen making a difference across four categories " . . .

The Week

"It’s no secret that Forbes magazine has largely betrayed its capitalist foundation by becoming a megaphone for some of the most vile left-wing, cultural Marxist tripe in the media ecosphere. But a new scandal did show that its top leadership didn’t completely abandon free markets when it suited their own interests.

"The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Forbes chief content officer Randall Lane was fired after “the company discovered that he had received a payment of about $6 million from the founder of a firm that does business with the magazine.”

"The payment was made after RJ Shook, the founder of the firm that worked with Forbes to publish wealth adviser rankings, “sold a majority stake in Shook Research to PPC Enterprises, a private equity firm, last August.” Lane made himself a spectacle of anti-Trump furor in 2021 when he threatened companies that dared to hire people who formerly worked with President Donald Trump, such as former White House press secretaries Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, and Kayleigh McEnany.

"Reading his virtue-signaling now about “truth reckoning” in light of his own duplicitous violation of journalistic ethics is poetic justice. At the time, Lane promised his outlet will “scrutinize, double-check, investigate with the same skepticism we’d approach a Trump tweet” any company that hires one of the forbidden Trumpsters in his arbitrary blacklist: “Let it be known to the business world: Hire any of Trump’s fellow fabulists above, and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie.“

"Lane doubled down on his threats: “Want to ensure the world’s biggest business media brand approaches you as a potential funnel of disinformation? Then hire away,” Lane quipped." . . .

Rubio Lets AOC Attack Him for 15 Minutes — Then DESTROYS Her With ONE Photo of His Parents

Gavel to Gavel

"This political commentary examines the dramatic confrontation presented between Marco Rubio and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, focusing on her "girl from the Bronx" identity, her Westchester upbringing, the Green New Deal, Amazon's Queens headquarters, Met Gala attendance, and campaign finance questions. Rubio answers with his parents' immigrant story and a worn photograph from their citizenship day, arguing the difference between a real record and a manufactured brand. This video contains commentary and dramatized or fictionalized elements. Claims, figures, and events discussed should not be treated as verified facts without consulting reliable primary sources. What do you think — was the photograph the decisive moment?"

Hollywood Won’t Show Radical Islam. Run Hide Fight: Infidels Will

 Hollywood Won’t Show Radical Islam. Run Hide Fight: Infidels Will  . . . "The streamer Sneako, who also chanted in New York about Muhammad’s army coming back to kill Jews, tweeted, “The kuffar are getting so desperate they’re trying to do Bush-era propaganda in 2026. No one cares anymore. We all know the Israelis are the real terrorists.” The word “kuffar” goes back to the root “kafir” meaning “ infidels.” 

"Why should the accurate depiction of ISIS on TV be thought of as bigoted when the radical Islamists this film portrays see America as the Great Satan and Israel as the Little Satan, believe that the West needs to fall, and also terrorize their own people? Currently, ISIS is responsible for 20 percent of all terrorist attacks on the planet. This radical mentality is fueled by Jihad, which asserts that non-believers should either be converted or killed. " . . .

The American Spectator

"The Daily Wire is preparing to release its latest film, Run Hide Fight: Infidels, in September, with the plot centering around an ISIS takeover of a pro-Hamas college campus. The trailer has already sparked intense reactions, with political figures like Mehdi Hasan arguing the film is Islamophobic. However, the trailer's contents depict terrorism in its most recognizable forms.  After October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 of its citizens, taking many Jews hostage for the next two years, students around the world on college campuses erupted in support for Hamas and demonized Israel. This film has the viewers imagine a world in which these students actually get what they cheered for; the trailer shows a liberal campus hijacked by ISIS terrorists and depicts bombings, knife attacks, and assaults against women. The pro-Hamas students on campus experience the true ideology of the terrorists they promoted at their university.  It is our duty as citizens of this land — Muslims, Christians, Jews, and all others — to guard against the dangers of this threat to our way of life. By releasing this film, the Daily Wire intends to raise awareness of the threat of radical Islam in the United States, which has gained favor in the eyes of younger populations through terrorist groups like Hamas. The premature criticism of this film undermines the critical message and warning it gives to American society of the dangers of radical Islam.  However, the true quality of a given product can often be tested by the quality of its critics; Hasan wrote on X, “Difficult to come up with a more bigoted, Islamophobic, & clichéd trailer than this one. Also, Hollywood has ‘refused’ to tell the story of ‘radical Islam’? Is [Ben] Shapiro insane or just gaslighting? Muslims have been the main villains in Hollywood for decades, even predating 9/11!”" . . .  More...  Behind a pay wall.

The Freakout Over Our Movie Proves Exactly Why We Made It

For balance, TD searched for famous examples of Islamists and found what looked like a fair site. But it could be sized up well by examples nine and ten, to name just two. TD:  Top 10 Most Famous Muslims

Then that singer of gentle songs, Cat Stevens converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam. Afterward, as a new Muslim, Stevens made statements endorsing the killing of Rushdie.

He later retracted the statements, but even so, that was his first impulse as a new Muslim. Islam did not bring out the best in Cat Stevens. The Tunnel Dweller.

Cat Stevens/ Yusuf Islam

Rudy Giuliani to Newsmax: No Mamdani at Ground Zero

  "They want to impose a barbaric foreign code on us, given the advances that we've made as an Anglo-American country," Giuliani said. "It's a disgrace. They're trying to accomplish by infiltration what they couldn't accomplish by murderous attack."

WWII Memorial vandalism suspect turns herself in after livestreaming act

 RedState  

This is not the first time the World War II Memorial has been defaced. During the 2020 George Floyd protests, anarchists spray-painted "Do Black Vets Count?" on the fountain. Nothing happened in that case. An example needs to be made in this one. Let's hope this woman is not allowed to skirt the law.

"On Thursday, someone decided to desecrate the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The actor defaced the monument with graffiti that read, "Clean hands dirty $," and filled the fountain with soap, creating bubbles.

"The person was caught on camera, and by Friday, the alleged perpetrator of this disgusting act was arrested.

Authorities have taken into custody the suspect accused of vandalizing the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, where bubbles filled a fountain and "Clean hands dirty $" was written in red paint.

"Melissa L. Farris is now in federal custody. According to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, Farris will be charged with depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans' memorials. This not-very-bright woman faces up to 10 years in prison. 

"Farris wasn't expressing free speech; she was just being a terrible person. This disgrace to humanity deserves all the books thrown at her." . . .More...

Crazed WWII Memorial Vandal Filmed Her Own Crime — Told Facebook Users to “Make Me Look Fancy” and Spread It Everywhere ...

Hung Cao Torpedoes Media Narrative About 'Miserable' USS Abraham Lincoln Crew

 RedState  

The Lincoln is coming home. Her crew did the job they were sent to do. And after 266 days at sea, perhaps the story isn't that they were "victims" of Donald Trump. Perhaps the story is exactly what Cao said – they crushed the mission. 

"Having failed to gain enough traction on the Air Force One rope-a-dope story from earlier in the week, the legacy media –  in its never ending quest for a "gotcha story" on President Trump – has made a hard pivot and is now focused on the conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. (A topic they didn't care one iota about until it occurred to them that possibly unhappy sailors could reflect poorly on the Commander in Chief.)

"Here is RedState's Bob Hoge reporting on the media's reaction to the supposed widespread misery on the Lincoln, which has been on a long-term deployment in the Middle East:

The reports are everywhere — miserable conditions supposedly aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, including food shortages, broken plumbing, widespread exhaustion, and plummeting morale. It’s so bad, these reports say, that some sailors have attempted to jump overboard and presumably drown. Breathless headlines like “Conditions on US aircraft carrier at sea for more than 250 days raise alarms” are rampant.

"As Bob noted, the increasing histrionics from the media led CENTCOM to release an "everybody just calm down" statement to set the record straight, particularly about a false report that seven sailors had died in a brawl aboard the Lincoln. Here's CENTCOM:

Over the past 48 hours, multiple media outlets have reported several false claims related to USS Abraham Lincoln's (CVN 72) deployment to the Middle East. One report alleged seven Sailors died in a brawl aboard the aircraft carrier and others have recently suggested a spike in suicidal ideations. These reports are FALSE.

"This did little to placate the press, which is hungry to head into the weekend with something to pin on Trump for the Sunday morning news shows.

"Not willing to play that game, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao released a statement Friday afternoon shooting down the idea that the Lincoln and its crew were experiencing anything other than a long and challenging deployment. Something sailors and their families have dealt with for decades." .  . .

 More...

DiJonai Carrington says White privilege post wasn’t about Sophie Cunningham

Isn't it conceivable that much of the racial unbalance is not socially, but from which direction violence is feared to come? 

The Athletic 

On Friday, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association released a statement denouncing “hate, abuse, and demonization” of the transgender community, but did not mention Cunningham specifically.

"Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington said that her social media post about White privilege was not about her flagrant 2 foul on Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham on Saturday, but about a desire for “consistency across the board” in officiating, an issue that has sparked controversy throughout the WNBA season.

"Carrington had posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on her Threads account and tagged the Indiana Fever shortly after her ejection from the game. She was whistled for a flagrant 2 foul after her left arm connected with Cunningham’s head and jaw as Cunningham was midair attempting a layup. The blow knocked Cunningham to the floor, but she quickly got up to confront Carrington before Fever teammate Makayla Timpson pulled her away.

“'I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was White privilege (that was your assumption),” Carrington posted Monday on X, in response to commentary from sports analyst Emmanuel Acho, who said that the flagrant 2 decision was accurate. He also called her post “ignorant” and “asinine.”

“'Furthermore, I’m the LAST thing from ignorant or asinine when it comes to speaking on ‘white privilege’, do ya research on that one,” Carrington continued. “I actually went to school, one of the top universities might I add, to educate myself on this exact subject. I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds without having the proper evidence to substantiate it.” . . . More...

"Do ya"?

‘Her dad was in the NFL’ – DiJonai Carrington’s ‘privileged’ past unearthed in WNBA race feud   . . . "The Megyn Kelly show posted a clip of a snippet from Kelly’s show on X, sharing an insight into exactly where the DiJonai Carrington we see on our screens has come from.

“'Her privilege claim, okay. This woman, her dad was in the NFL, and apparently was like really good. A standout safety in the NFL, who played in not one but two Super Bowls during his eight-year professional career. Her mother, Victoria, was a star track athlete. She attended Horizon Christian Academy, a private K through 12 school in San Diego. It closed in 2018, but her tuition there averaged between 8 and 11 thousand dollars a year. Modern day estimates would put that around $17k for kindergarten, up to $20k a year for high school. She attended Stanford University and finished up her college career at Baylor.'” . . .

AOC retains the option to become a 'birthing person'

American Thinker

"AOC has debilitating daddy issues. She also has malevolent mental issues. In fact, the former often exacerbates the latter. She is perhaps not the kind of “gestating person” an orderly society (that is unencumbered by gynecocracy) would want to procreate. Yet, the ‘birthing person” has frozen her eggs.

"Part of AOC’s rationale for referring to women as “menstruating people” is that it undermines patriarchal notions that a woman’s worth derives from her uterus

"She said in a tweet in 2021 that, “GOP mad at this are protecting the patriarchal idea that women are most valuable as uterus holders.”

"That is so illogical even for a woman who may be susceptible to various brain chemical imbalances. After all, freezing her eggs only serves to highlight the ultimate worth of women as “uterus holders,” a.k.a., mothers. If her biological imperative gets the better of her feminist-empowerment ambitions, and she does decide to foist offspring on society, that’s where the embryo will be implanted -- her uterus.

"Perhaps reflecting a battle with cognitive dissonance, she also said that, “some women also don’t menstruate.” Talk about a twisted mind: she is so desperately disapproving of the patriarchy that she insists that women are menstruating people, even while admitting that some women don’t. Clearly, she needs to expand her definition -- or just go with the scientifically obvious.

"That is the kind of feminist gibberish that one suffers when not abiding by nature. " . . .

Do we want this child to govern us?  Senator Kennedy of Louisiana sizes AOC up concisely."

UPDATED: If Piker's not sorry for what he says about Israel, then he's not sorry for what he said about the USA either

The Pikester will be fine; those chicks who love Mangione, who blame Israel for the families slaughtered by Hamas, who were taught by visiting Iranians to shake their fists and shout "death to America", and who voted for Mamdani will still love him. TD

Trojan-Horsing Society’s Institutions

Who Would Have Believed The Singularity Would Be So Stupid?

One more clue why this is a most truly disgusting man who has no business being in politics any more than el-Sayed.

"Hasan Piker's one of the most repulsive influencers in the Democrat party now, and what's told here should make clear nothing he says should be taken at face value:

Hasan Piker, a 35-year-old American streamer who broadcasts on Twitch to millions of followers, is one of the rising voices in Democratic politics. He describes himself as a Marxist, has said America "deserved 9/11," called for Zionists to be treated like neo-Nazis and declared that he would choose Hamas over Israel "every single time."

In recent months, he has moved from the screen to the campaign trail, becoming a prominent figure in Abdul El-Sayed's campaign. El-Sayed won Michigan's Democratic US Senate primary last week and could become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. [...]

Despite his Marxist politics, the business he runs is thoroughly capitalist. According to Rolling Stone, nearly 50,000 subscribers pay $6 a month for his channel. After Twitch takes its 30% cut, that translates into more than $2 million in annual revenue.

"Then he's obviously as much a grifter as he is an enemy of the USA and Israel. And no doubt, he harbors the same sentiments towards Europe (which has its own share of self-haters too).

The remark most closely associated with Piker came in August 2019, during a livestream in which he watched Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw being interviewed by Joe Rogan. Piker mocked Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost his right eye to an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, and referred to the fighter who wounded him as a "brave soldier."

"America deserved 9/11, dude," Piker said during the same broadcast. "F**k it, I'm saying it. We totally brought it upon ourselves." Only after two days of criticism did he walk the comment back in an interview with his uncle, Cenk Uygur, calling the remark "inappropriate" and describing it as a failed attempt at satire." . . . More.    Emphases in original. TD

UPDATE:  Hasan Piker Wants to Destroy White, Middle-Class America. You Should Care - American Thinker   . . . "The white middle class stands in the crosshairs of a movement that has them marked for destruction. Hasan Piker cheers the call to impoverish them. Cea Weaver made it. Mayor Mamdani administrates public policy that promises gold, but delivers poison. The Democratic Socialists of America push race-communism that brands American success, especially if white and middle class, as oppression.

"Democrats have embraced this perverse creed, whose language of hope sparks change no decent person can endorse. It would be ludicrous for Republicans, whose base is white middle-class America, not to grasp this harsh reality now. November’s midterms are far from another routine election.

"Ignore the warning and watch America become a grotesque shadow of herself. After all, elections really do have consequences."

Woke 2.0: Hollywood’s Next Act?

Industry dialed down on Identity Politics. Will the sequel be even worse?

 TOTO  

"The film and TV industry will be reticent to go the full woke with their programming. They saw how poorly activist content performed and the impact on the box office bottom line."

"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to memory hole the “woke mind virus” for political purposes.

"Can Hollywood do the same?

"The New York socialist shared this telling soundbite in a recent media interview.

“I have a local city councilman that has this saying, ‘Woke 1 was crazy,’ and I think that what’s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.”

"Oh.

"Never mind the devastation wrought by “Woke 1” over the past decade.

• Canceled performers
• Burned-down neighborhoods (Mostly peaceful!)
• Crushed careers
• Speech censorship
• Big Tech censorship

"Ocasio-Cortez wants to wish it all away, and a compliant media will help her do just that.

"What about woke Hollywood?

"The film and TV industry fell hard for woke on nearly every level. Comedy roasts got unofficially banned. Identity Politics ran wild on movie sets. Stories were flooded with what The Critical Drinker dubbed “The Message.”

The Academy Awards rigged the Best Picture category to appease the woke mob.

The result? Less engaging stories. More viewer disinterest. And lost revenue. Lots of lost revenue." . . . More...

Sam Ponder calls out the WNBA for cowardice: 'Be courageous. Stand for women'

 

AfterMath - Home

Sam Ponder calls out the WNBA for cowardice: 'Be courageous. Stand for women'   . . . "Expect the usual suspects to target Ponder for her perspective, like Nancy Armour, Sarah Spain, Jemele Hill, Cari Champion, Cindy Brunson, Monica McNutt and Katie Nolan.

"Not only does this group want to discredit anyone who doesn't want to force little girls to change in a locker room next to males, but they are also vividly jealous of attractive White women. Ask Sophie Cunningham.

"By the way, Ponder is right. She has been right from the start. Most of the country agrees. Recent Gallup polling found that nearly 80% of adults disapprove of biological males competing in female athletics." . . .

‘MAGA Barbie’ And The Subaru Magoos - American Thinker . . . "MAGA Barbie was never really about Sophie Cunningham. The Subaru Magoos were never really about a car.

"They are characters in a much larger American production where everyone is fighting over the microphone while pretending they are not standing on a stage.

"The culture war’s newest sport is not basketball. It is hunting for heretics in sneakers. And judging by the crowds, America has already renewed the season.

"P.S. Apparently the show is not over. The WNBA is holding meetings to figure out what the “W” in WNBA stands for, having apparently forgotten why they put the damn thing there in the first place." . . .   

Stephen A Smith issues public 'warning' to the WNBA

"Smith believes that the WNBA needs to own up and realize that "a lot" of people don't like the league at the moment."

Colorado Woman Finds Out the Hard Way Why You Never Want a 'Smart' Thermostat in Your House

RedState  

"Ironically, Baker opted into the program with the best of progressive intentions, but she found out the hard way that is rarely a good idea."

"Some “smart,” internet-connected devices are pretty cool. You can control your lights remotely, make sure the alarm is on, be warned if someone is in your driveway, or check to see if a package has been delivered.

"But there’s one device I have refused to be tempted by: a smart thermostat. Why? Because Big Brother might dictate to you what temperature you’re allowed to set it to.

"That’s exactly what happened to a Colorado woman who made the serious mistake of allowing her power company access. The Rocky Mountain state has been going through a heat wave as of late, and that’s not the time you want somebody to be telling you to cut back on the AC. 

"When she needed a little comfort, her Internet Overlords said, “nope.” . . . More...