redfiona99

Animals:

Scientists Unveil Ancient Sea Monsters Found In Angola - https://www.npr.org/2018/11/08/659551721/scientists-unveil-ancient-sea-monsters-found-in-angola

Economics:

Viewpoint: Why Modi's currency gamble was 'epic failure' - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-41100610 From 2017

Geography:

An Interesting Fact About Every London Tube Station - https://thenudge.com/features/tube-facts/

Languages:

Trying to save South Africa's first language - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39935150

Miscellaneous:

Namibia's Himba people caught between traditions and modernity - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40247310

Slide Show: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Through the Years - https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/slide-show-ruth-bader-ginsburg-through-the-years

Should buying the morning-after pill be easier? - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2k67StYBY0tMzNP1gs1xVSJ/should-buying-the-morning-after-pill-be-easier

Music:

Sia Is The 21st Century's Most Resilient Songwriter -https://www.npr.org/2018/11/06/664395501/sia-is-the-21st-centurys-most-resilient-songwriter

Politics:

Labour's Kezia Dugdale ‘was outed as gay against her will’ - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41082971 Also about other politicians's experiences of coming out.

Sport:

Athletics:

Doping: More than 30% of athletes at 2011 Worlds admit to doping - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/41084175

Football:

FA Cup: Billericay Town owner aiming for the Premier League - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40997071 From 2017, I think many things have changed with Billericay. They were the mid-2010s "that club with mad owners and wild plans".

Rugby union:

Premiership and Championship players to aid study into new head injury test - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41094045

Films:

Clive Barker: Why I Once Gave Up Horror Movies Entirely - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/clive-barker-why-i-once-645017

Health:

Discreetly Tracking Down Sex Partners To Stop A Surge In STDs - https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/08/645624754/discreetly-tracking-down-sex-partners-to-stop-a-surge-in-stds

Law and order:

Warning over power of attorney risks - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40887323

Music:

Paul Simon Says 'I'm Finished' Writing Music - https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/09/05/644544793/paul-simon-says-im-finished-writing-music

Photography:

In pictures: 2017 Galapagos photography competition - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-40923459

Sport:

American Football:

This is Phoebe Schecter, Britain's first female NFL coach - http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40928845/this-is-phoebe-schecter-britains-first-female-nfl-coach

Athletics:

Sanya Richards-Ross 'healed' by support after abortion revelation - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/40924207

World Athletics Championships 2017: How Nigeria trips up its own athletes - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40900480

Football:

Premier League: Transfer window changes 'a long way off' - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40931420 Article from 2017. Things have still not changed.

The Rock: Dwayne Johnson praises Adebayo Akinfenwa's celebration - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40933785 Also from 2017

Everton’s under-23 squad are buying a house for young homeless people - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/81a22fd8-f3a0-44b5-a849-ba3f5d601e57 From 2017, but Everton are very big into community work.

Archaeology:

Archaeologists explore a rural field in Kansas, and a lost city emerges - https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-kansas-lost-city-20180819-htmlstory.html

Comics:

Legendary Comics Artist Bill Sienkiewicz Pens Scorching Rebuke of “Comicsgate”- https://www.themarysue.com/bill-sienkiewicz-comicsgate/ Article from 2018

Miscellaneous:

The Italian highlanders who may have Scottish roots - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-40865981

Politics:

How America Lost Its Mind - The nation’s current post-truth moment is the ultimate expression of mind-sets that have made America exceptional throughout its history. - https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/how-america-lost-its-mind/534231 Article from 2017

Social Media:

Russian trolls 'spreading discord' over vaccine safety online - https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/23/russian-trolls-spread-vaccine-misinformation-on-twitter?CMP=twt_gu Article from 2018

Sport:

Athletics:

WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017: SHOTPUTTER TOM WALSH WON WORLD TITLE WITH GROIN TEAR - https://www.eurosport.co.uk/athletics/world-championships/2017/world-athletics-championships-2017shotputter-tom-walsh-won-world-title-with-groin-tear_sto6284135/story.shtml Admirable stupidity, but stupidity nontheless.

Cycling:

BLAZIN' SADDLES: ADIEU ALBERTO – CONTADOR'S BEST MOMENTS - https://www.eurosport.co.uk/cycling/blazin-saddles-adieu-alberto-contador-s-best-moments_sto6284915/story.shtml From 2017

Football:

PREMIER LEAGUE IS WORLD'S RICHEST LEAGUE, BUT POVERTY OF THE FOOTBALL CANNOT BE DISGUISED - https://www.eurosport.co.uk/football/premier-league/2017-2018/premier-league-is-world-s-richest-league-but-poverty-of-the-football-cannot-be-disguised_sto6284062/story.shtml From 2017, and yes, Desmond Kane enjoys being a grumpy old man, but there's a certain truth to this, not just in light of this season's commitment to terrible defending.

Premier League at 25: 1992-1997 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/premier_league_25_1992_1997

Gymnastics:

A Full Revolution - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/30/simone-biles-is-the-best-gymnast-in-the-world Article from 2016, and is unnecessarily mean about North Korean vaulters.

Tennis:

WIMBLEDON 2017: ROGER FEDERER'S AMAZING CAREER, AND YEAR, IN NUMBERS - https://www.eurosport.co.uk/tennis/wimbledon/2017/wimbledon-2017-roger-federer-s-amazing-career-and-year-in-numbers_sto6255558/story.shtml

Animals:

New grass snake identified in the UK - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40853286

Architecture:

Listed buildings: New additions mark 70 years of preservation - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40812611 From 2017

Art:

Walls of water: Hokusai and the Great Wave of Camberwell - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-40830628

History:

Partition of India: The partition of India and the birth of Pakistan shaped the lives of generations of families.

In the era of the Raj, India was the jewel in Britain's imperial crown, but in 1947 everything changed. -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-d88680d1-26f2-4863-be95-83298fd01e02

Miscellaneous:

Now Hiring: A Company Offers Drug Treatment And A Job To Addicted Applicants - https://www.npr.org/2018/07/27/631557443/now-hiring-a-company-offers-drug-treatment-and-a-job-to-addicted-applicants

Politics:
Both from 2017

Why Is Donald Trump Still So Horribly Witless About the World? - https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-is-donald-trump-still-so-horribly-witless-about-the-world

There Is No Way to Survive the Trump White House: The tenures of Reince Priebus and Anthony Scaramucci represent two opposite, but equally ineffective, strategies for surviving the Trump White House - https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/there-is-no-way-to-survive-the-trump-white-house-253401/

Science:

The Swedish physicist revolutionising birth control- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40629994 I have the gravest of grave doubts.

Sport:
Athletics:

Usain Bolt: Eight-time Olympic champion's career in 9.58 charts - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/40779741

Baseball:

Team named for legendary Mamie 'Peanut' Johnson wins DC Little League championship- https://wjla.com/news/local/mamie-peanut-johnson-dc-little-league-championship From 2018

Football:

Premier League is 25 years old: Facts and figures behind the first quarter-century - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40704646 From 2017

Architecture:

England's youngest Grade I listed structures - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40628918

Comics:

Rob Liefeld Designs the Most Rob Liefeld Superhero Ever - https://www.cbr.com/rob-liefeld-pouch-superhero-sketch/ I will give Liefeld this, he has a sense of humour.

Miscellaneous:

Tales from the new Silk Road - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/new_silk_road

Robin Hood overwhelmed by Maid Marian charity fund - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-40607573

India's gay prince opens his palace to LGBT people - 'I want to give people social and financial empowerment, so eventually people who want to come out won't be affected. They will have their own social security system,' says prince - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/prince-manvendra-singh-gohil-palace-lgbt-people-a8146491.html

From angel to monster: 'My son was groomed to sell drugs' - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40605413

How an agoraphobic travels the world - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39970205

Acid attacks: What has led to the rise and how can they be stopped? - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40559973

Sport:
Athletics:

World Para-athletics Championships: How Jonnie Peacock became main attraction - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/40627401 From 2017. It pleases me that one of the contributors pointed out 'also, he looks like that'.

Football:

'Rooney to China'?: The real impact of fake football news - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-40574049

Rugby League:

Rugby League Wheelchair World Cup: James Simpson eyes glory with England - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/40613449 From 2017

Tennis:

Wimbledon 2017: Roger Federer turns back clock against Marin Cilic - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/40621182

I begin with a warning that there is bad language in this post, because the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Caster Semenya’s appeal against the IAAF’s new testosterone rule is egregious bullshit.

Let’s begin with the obvious. If they felt that there needed to be a rule change, the IAAF, the governing body for athletics, could have changed the rules without naming the athlete involved. Choosing to name her has led to the intimate medical details of a young woman being published across the world’s media. That’s a pretty shitty thing to do and Caster Semenya is dealing with it with a level of grace under fire that most of us would fail to achieve.

And the rule is obviously targeted at her. The IAAF have made a new testosterone limit that only applies to athletics events of distances from 400 m to 1609 m (1 mile). These are the events in which Semenya races. It does not include shorter distances, where athletes regularly fail drugs test for anabolic steroids, because they’re useful for sprints. But apparently the IAAF doesn’t care about that. It also doesn’t care about introducing these limits to the throwing events in the field, where so many champions have tested positive for anabolic steroids. No, the only events they choose to put this limit on are ones that Semenya might run in. Including the 400 m makes that obvious. Because she doesn’t normally run it, but she has run it. They’ve literally only chosen events she might run in. Because it’s not about fucking fairness, it’s about punishing Semenya for a quirk of her birth.

The IAAF claim they’ve chosen these events because there aren’t enough athletes with DSD in the other events (1). Which pretty much proves they’re lying about why they’re doing it. If it was about protecting female sports, they’d introduce this stupid rule across the board to safeguard those events in the future. But they’ve only introduced it in the one set of events where an athlete with a DSD has been successful. It does suggest that DSDs are not the advantage the IAAF are saying they are. They are not protecting sport, they are punishing Semenya for her successes.

It’s interesting to see what the IAAF choose to regard as an unfair physiological advantage. We’re all mutants. How do you decide what is an unfair advantage, and what is not?

People with advantageous mutations and physical properties are found throughout sport. Murali’s elbow in the cricket, Andy Roddick’s shoulder in tennis, Mia Hamm’s ability to sweat less than anyone else and Michael Phelps’s reduced lactic acid production (2,3).

(section removed by the legal department)

If Caster Semenya was American, there wouldn’t be a rule change, she’d be on Ellen being praised for her bravery.

I want to focus on the different way in which Semenya and Phelps have been treated. Semenya is being hounded for her ability to train harder and to run faster than her competitors. Phelps was lauded for the results he got, because he could train harder and swim faster than his competitors. He was never expected to take lactic acid injections to make him perform like “a normal man”.

Why are some performance advantages alright, and others not?

I don’t have an answer for that, but I would love to know what the IAAF’s answer to the question would be, because as it stands, they have created a very poor rule for reasons that make no sense.

References:

1 - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/apr/30/caster-semenya-runners-discrimination-case
2 - Game On: How the Pressure to Win at All Costs Endangers Youth Sports, and What Parents Can Do About It by Tom Farrey
3 - https://www.smh.com.au/sport/is-it-a-genetic-flaw-that-makes-phelps-the-greatest-20080816-gdsqwk.html