Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

Excellent / Scary Read: Women’s Sports Happened By Accident…

by Anne Laurie| March 15, 20256:14 pm| 67 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Sports

Women's sports happened by accident, and could be taken apart on purpose: https://t.co/BrEbKuP9P5

— Defector (@DefectorMedia) March 6, 2025

Something to pick at, besides the fresh scab. The always interesting Diana Moskovitz, at Defector — “Women’s Sports Happened By Accident, And Could Be Taken Apart On Purpose”:

… Women’s sports has always hung on by the thinnest of threads. They are not mentioned even once in the law that created them, and once the powers that be realized what that law had done, they went all the way up to the presidency to try and undo it. The NCAA objected to supporting women’s sports, and searched for years to find a way out of that obligation. Even President Gerald R. Ford’s office seemed concerned about those “women’s organizations.” Our country’s perch atop global women’s sports happened not because our leadership desired it, or even cared all that much about it, or held strong feelings about the place of women in society in general. It happened due to a collection of random factors all happening in a specific time and space.

That matters now because one of the many aspects of our federal government currently being torn apart includes the department that oversaw the law that made women’s sports possible. Title IX, which once forced schools and universities to do everything from provide a girls soccer team to investigate reports of sexual harassment to provide fair pay, is being revised before our eyes, most prominently in the form of legislation endorsing state surveillance of women’s bodies under the guise of “protecting” women from men in sports.

The reactionary movement behind this might be coming for vulnerable pieces of women’s sports at the moment. But because of the tenuous foundation upon which officially sanctioned scholastic sports for women and girls was created, and because there is nothing in Title IX’s original language that says women’s sports specifically must exist, nothing is protecting women’s sports as a whole from dismantling or destruction. What was created by accident can absolutely be undone by fiat…

There is an entire history of women’s sports that stretches back well over 100 years, and it intertwines with the creation and rise of modern sports itself. There’s Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. There’s Babe Didrikson Zaharias. There’s Alice Milliat. There’s Louise Stokes and Tidye Pickett. How so many women were so systemically erased from popular history is a discussion for another day. What matters in our present moment is that for most people, recent women’s sports history begins in the 1970s when Congress passed Title IX. The law is just 37 words: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

You will notice that this says nothing about sports.

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Those who worked on it knew that Title IX had the power to open up women’s sports; leaving it out of the text was very much a strategic move. It wasn’t quite subterfuge, but the possibility sure was undersold. The first version, introduced by Rep. Edith Green of Oregon, made no mention of sports. Rep. Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink of Hawaii, the first woman of color and woman of Asian ancestry elected to Congress, did not bring up sports when she testified in 1970 in the House of Representatives in support of the legislation. Over in the Senate, the office of Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh Jr. purposely downplayed how influential Title IX would be. Jay Berman, then the director of legislative affairs for Bayh, admitted as much to the Indianapolis Star in 2022, saying that doing so “would only work against us.” A memorandum drafted years later for Ford would acknowledge this, saying the law passed “with little legislative history, debate or, I’m afraid, thought.”

Title IX wasn’t major news when it passed. The headlines came later, when people began asking what equal rights for women in education actually meant. In a country where sports is deeply embedded within academics—from physical education classes to team sports, from elementary school all the way through college, and with valuable scholarships in the mix—equal access to education necessarily meant equal access to sports. This immediately became controversial. When the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare proposed its regulations, which included physical education and more sports opportunities for women and girls, a Feb. 28, 1975 memo to President Ford said the proposal received more than 9,700 comments. The same memo said that athletics for women and girls was the topic that “raised the most public controversy and involves some of the most difficult policy and legal points.”…

That we have women’s sports, and so much women’s sports, is in a sense because of federal bureaucracy—all its rules, all its management, and all those legal precedents. As Victoria Jackson and Andrés Martinez wrote in 2023 for New America about the U.S. Women’s National Team’s dominance in soccer, one of the most masculine-coded sports on the planet, “Title IX forced a level of investment in women’s sports without precedent in this or any other country.”

That investment, and the dominance that it helped produce, is not because of the NCAA, which still doesn’t support women’s sports to the level that it supports men. A 2021 review of the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments, done by a law firm commissioned by the NCAA, found that “with respect to women’s basketball, the NCAA has not lived up to its stated commitment to ‘diversity, inclusion and gender equity among its student-athletes, coaches and administrators.'” That investigation also found that this was entirely the NCAA’s own fault, because it had created a system “designed to maximize the value of and support to the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.” The impact of that was “cumulative, not only fostering skepticism and distrust about the sincerity of the NCAA’s commitment to gender equity, but also limiting the growth of women’s basketball and perpetuating a mistaken narrative that women’s basketball is destined to be a ‘money loser’ year after year…

Republicans have campaigned against the U.S. Department of Education since its creation under President Jimmy Carter. Though any threat to completely dismantle it currently remains unlikely, if only because conservative power players benefit too much from some of its key programs, President Donald Trump’s latest appointment to head up and ultimately wind down the agency is WWE co-founder Linda McMahon. As Josephine Riesman, author of the book Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America, put it on the NPR podcast It’s Been A Minute, “Linda has long been a master of this mask—this mask of, I’m a kindly grandmother who wants to be nice to you; I’ll be a mother figure; I’m a good administrator; I run businesses well, when in reality, the fact is she’s the hatchet woman and will do what Trump, who she’s known since 1981, tells her to do.” In case there were any doubts about McMahon’s assignment, Trump told her, “Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.”…

Excellent / Scary Read: Women’s Sports Happened By Accident…Post + Comments (67)

Second Guessing

by John Cole| March 15, 20254:12 pm| 279 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Democratic Cowardice, Democratic Stupidity

For the last 24 hours I keep asking myself if I am being too hard on Schumer and the Dems who voted for the CR. Maybe they are right and Trump would do worse if the government were shut down. And then I realize it doesn’t matter.

Any way you slice or dice this it was a disaster by Schumer. The way he set the House up, went to the cameras and said NO NO NO on Wednesday night, and then woke up the next morning and uno reversed himself in the mirror, infuriated the overwelming majority of the Democratic Senate caucus, fucked the House Dems, and enraged the masses, it doesn’t fucking matter if he was right. He needs to fucking go.

Second GuessingPost + Comments (279)

Saturday Stinkeye Special Open Thread

by Rose Judson| March 15, 20259:01 am| 101 Comments

This post is in: Cat Blogging, Open Threads, Talk About Whatever You Want

Midday over here on the Island. I finally officially close on my house this coming Tuesday, so I am off to the local version of Home Depot to get some new paint for the front door, as a little symbol of my transition from tenant to owner. The door is currently red; I’m thinking a golden yellow would be nice (my house is brick).

I was in the vicinity of the not-Home Depot yesterday, and had a classic Other People’s Cats moment when I cut through a back street to avoid some construction:

“Keep moving and mind your business, lady ape,” is what tabby there is obviously saying. Sound advice in any situation, really.

Open thread, with a preference for hearing about weekend plans. (I’m writing up my podcast episode on Herodotus and meeting a friend for Thai).

Saturday Stinkeye Special Open ThreadPost + Comments (101)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Catching Up

by Anne Laurie| March 15, 20256:05 am| 132 Comments

This post is in: Democratic Response to Trump 2.0, Open Threads, Religion, Republican Politics, Science & Technology

All over but the shouting… which [*sigh*] will not be over for weeks, or months…

The Senate has passed a six-month spending bill hours before a government shutdown, overcoming sharp Democratic opposition to the measure. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump to be signed into law. pic.twitter.com/Tz82of6W8C

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 15, 2025

Please don’t spend time right now on primaries. Durbin is 80 & has <$2m COH; he/Peters/Shaheen are retiring. Gillibrand/King aren’t up until 2030. 2028 Schumer will be 78; he’ll prob retire. So that’s only Hassan/Schatz/Fetterman/Cortez Masto, in 2028
There will be a lot of work for us before then…

— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that few of the Y votes could lose a primary over this, & none next year. Looks to me like a lot of Sen Dems were afraid the CR would fail, but were also afraid of the Dem base if they voted no. So Dems who mostly can’t be punished by Dem voters did the dirty work /2

— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 5:56 PM

Millions of people celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors https://t.co/66s1IQO9vV

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 14, 2025

Millions of people in South Asia celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, on Friday by smearing each other with brightly colored powder, dancing to festive music and feasting on traditional sweets prepared for the occasion.

The raucous spring festival sees Hindus take part in a kaleidoscopic celebration of the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil. The festival is a national holiday in India, while in Nepal it’s a two-day event that began Thursday. It’s also observed in other South Asian countries as well as among the Indian diaspora.

Holi has its origins in Hindu mythology and lore and celebrates the divine love between the Hindu god Krishna and his consort Radha, and signifies a time of rebirth and rejuvenation.

Across the country, people, mostly dressed in all white clothes, celebrated the festival by hurling colored powder at each other. Children, perched on rooftops and balconies, flung water balloons filled with colored pigments at passers by.

Groups of young men also used water guns to chase people down in public parks and on the roads, while others danced on the streets to music blaring from speakers…

Photos to put Mardi Gras to shame.

With a kaleidoscope of colors and music, the Hindu festival of Holi signals the arrival of spring https://t.co/Y9XZfS3Vff

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 14, 2025

Everybody gets a colorful badge!

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Catching UpPost + Comments (132)

Friday Night Diversions Open Thread: Double Dutch, Triple Dogs

by Anne Laurie| March 14, 202511:35 pm| 40 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging, Open Threads

Who doesn't love dogs jumping rope

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— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 11:59 PM

Didn't realize until my second watch that the lady was using two dogs to swing the ropes lol

— Toilet Atlas (@joxyandsuch.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 12:01 AM

I’m 90% sure the darling in the pink traction boots is a ‘border pap’ — crossbred border collie / papillon, intended to produce a more compact dog who’s almost as smart and speedy as a purebred border collie, but one less driven, more amenable to foolish human whimsies.

Friday Night Diversions Open Thread: Double Dutch, Triple DogsPost + Comments (40)

War for Ukraine Day 1,114: His Truce Goes Marching On

by Adam L Silverman| March 14, 20259:41 pm| 26 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

Almost all of eastern, central, and northern Ukraine is under air raid alert for drone swarms as of 8:40 PM EDT/2:40 AM local time in Ukraine. The alert maps are showing a drone strike explosion in Chernihiv Oblast at 8:34 AM EDT/2:34 AM local time.

Today in the truce that isn’t:

While Trump has been claiming that Putin is eager for a deal, US spy agencie have been telling Trump that is not the case.

@ellenwapo.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec…

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— Greg Miller (@gregpmiller.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 5:40 AM

From The Washington Post: (emphasis mine)

Classified U.S. intelligence reports, including one earlier this month, cast doubt on Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war against Ukraine, assessing that the Russian president has not veered from his maximalist goal of dominating his western neighbor, according to people familiar with the analysis.

One of the secret assessments distributed to Trump administration policymakers, dated March 6, says Putin remains determined to hold sway over Kyiv, a person familiar with the document said. Like others in this article, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified intelligence.

The reports are not intended to assess President Donald Trump’s high-stakes diplomacy to end the three-year Ukraine war or the prospects of a 30-day ceasefire proposal that U.S. and Ukrainian officials agreed on this week. But they underscore the tough task Trump and his national security team face, and raise the question of whether the White House is misreading Putin’s willingness to seek peace.

Putin on Thursday reacted cautiously to the ceasefire proposal. While not rejecting it outright, he hinted that Moscow might place conditions on any agreement. The Russian leader spoke in advance of a planned meeting in Moscow with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the ceasefire plan. Russian troops, meanwhile, appear to be making significant progress in ousting Ukraine from a sliver of territory in Russia’s Kursk province that Kyiv had hoped to use as a territorial bargaining chip.

Some current and former U.S. officials said that the Russian leader, even if he agreed to a temporary truce, would use it to rest and refit his troops — and was likely to break the terms of the deal by creating a provocation that he would blame on Ukraine.

Other officials said the reports were more cautious on what peace terms Putin might accept. But they acknowledged that there is no sign Putin has relented in his demand that Ukraine be brought into Russia’s security and economic orbit. “He has a long-standing desire to restore ‘Mother Russia,’” one official said.

The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

“I don’t believe a ceasefire or even a truce or a treaty will be an end to the story,” said Eugene Rumer, a former U.S. intelligence official and Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “This is the new permanent standoff between Russia and the rest of Europe.”

Other analysts said they thought the talks could yield a positive outcome if Washington and Europe play their cards right.

“For Putin to stop fighting, he has to think he can win in a negotiation,” said Eric Ciaramella, who is also a former U.S. intelligence official and Russia expert at Carnegie. “But that doesn’t mean he will win. The key to making a favorable and lasting ceasefire deal will be setting up security arrangements for Ukraine that would allow it to rebuild its military strength and deter a renewed attack.”

While it is unclear whether Trump was personally briefed on the March 6 intelligence report, the person familiar said it is the type of analysis that has traditionally been shared with the president.

Some of the U.S. assessments on Putin’s intransigence have appeared to irk Trump, another person familiar with the matter said. Indeed, Trump and his aides in recent days have raised the prospect of stiff new sanctions on Russia if it refuses to agree to end the war. They have not specified what those sanctions would be, though Trump on Wednesday said they “could be devastating.”

“The president desperately wants a deal,” the person said. “And the Russians are showing no signs of relenting. They’re ramping up their demands.”

Meanwhile, a European intelligence official, citing intelligence gathered within the past month, said officials in Moscow believe that Trump is weak, lacks a core set of principles and may be open to manipulation.

The European intelligence official said that if a permanent ceasefire is achieved, Moscow probably will revert to “hybrid” or nonmilitary means of undermining Ukraine, as it did in 2014 after it invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine and on through the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Those means include economic and diplomatic coercion; penetrating Ukrainian elites, business circles, security services and the military; and exerting influence through the Russian church in Ukraine, the official said. Russia’s leaders have long painted Zelensky as a puppet of the West and tried to undermine his legitimacy.

“The 2022 invasion happened because the hybrid tools did not bring results,” the European official said.

More at the link.

I want to highlight this bit:

“The president desperately wants a deal,” the person said. “And the Russians are showing no signs of relenting. They’re ramping up their demands.”

The desperation is coming off of Trump in waves. He wants to be seen as strong, hence the dominance theater in the oval office when President Zelenskyy came to visit. Unfortunately, Trump has demonstrated over and over and over again, for the better part of a decade, that he’s weak in relation to Putin and desperate for Putin’s attention, approval, and to do some sort of deal. Any deal would do. Let’s be honest, Trump is so weak he got “shushed” by Musk’s four year old human shield.

Truth.

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 1:28 PM

Here’s President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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We Continue Our Work to Unite Absolutely Everyone Who Can Truly Help, Who Can Strengthen Diplomacy and Bring Peace Closer – Address by the President

14 March 2025 – 19:55

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

Today has been a day full of diplomacy and negotiations that could bring us closer to peace. Now on the table is the U.S. proposal for unconditional ceasefire in the sky, at sea, and on the frontlines. Ukraine accepts this proposal, and from here, we can begin a swift move towards guaranteed security, towards the end of this war and towards a reliable peace. Our teams worked very well at the meeting in Saudi Arabia, and contacts with the American side are ongoing. We, Ukrainians, are very committed to a constructive approach. And it is still crucial to pressure Russia into being constructive. To put an end to all these Russian manipulations that could only prolong the war. I am grateful to everyone who is supporting Ukraine now, who is supporting our efforts and steps toward peace.

Today, I heard many right words about the need to end the war. I heard a lot of approval for Ukraine’s position. We continue our work to unite absolutely everyone who can truly help, who can strengthen diplomacy and bring peace closer. Today, I spoke with Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State. I thanked him for his support, and for his prayers for Ukraine and for peace. The Vatican is very supportive of the realistic possibility of saving lives through a ceasefire. We also discussed the liberation of our people from Russian captivity, the return of deported adults and our abducted children. Today, I also spoke with Patriarch Bartholomew. He also expressed his support for our state and our people. Support for our diplomacy. I thank His All-Holiness. I have just spoken with American Pastor Franklin Graham, President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. I am grateful for his support and prayers for peace, for Ukraine. He is a very wise man. And we really appreciate such voices in the United States of America – voices for peace. Today, I also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron – Emmanuel, as always, has a clear knowledge of all the details and offers good ideas. We analyzed the state of diplomacy today, the options available. We discussed the technical aspects of monitoring the ceasefire, possible next steps in diplomacy and in protecting our people and our Europe. Security guarantees, the situation on the ground, possible developments in the situation – in all of this, we have France’s clear support. We are grateful. Today, I also have a scheduled conversation with President Erdogan of Türkiye – I want to inform the President about our position on the ceasefire and our readiness for quick and honest diplomacy aimed at ending the war. Tomorrow, a Summit of European partners will take place: we will present our position and real information about current developments – developments on the frontline, in the Kursk region, and in all our contacts with partners. Security is a priority. Peace is a priority. Ukraine’s independence is a priority. I thank everyone who is helping! And today I honored our warriors with state awards. I am proud of all our heroes!

Glory to Ukraine!

Georgia:

Day 107. Last several days, there were actually fewer protesters on Rustaveli than during the coldest winter nights, and while we all know that public sentiments have not changed, we were still a bit concerned.
But tonight, since everyone knew that most people would be at the Public Broadcaster 1/2

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 2:14 PM

to support suspended Theater Uni students that demanded air time, many came to Rustaveli so that the continuity would be there.
This underscored once again that we have people ready, we just need a better internal political strategy, which I hope will be improving within weeks. 2/2
#GeorgiaProtests

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 2:14 PM

1/ A protest rally was held in front of Georgian Public Broadcaster today, continuing almost non-stop since November 28. Protesters demand that GPB, which receives over 100 million GEL from the budget, report the truth instead of GD propaganda.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM

2/ Today, those gathered near GPB expressed support for Theater University students whose status was suspended for participating in the protests but reinstated yesterday. Today GPB gave them an airtime.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM

When instead of hanging out in a bar your friend group at college is bonded by liberating the nation. #GeorgiaProtests

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM

🧵1. Russian Civil Activists in Georgian Prison

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 12:09 PM

2.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 12:09 PM

3.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 12:09 PM

4.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 12:09 PM

5.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 12:09 PM

6.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 12:09 PM

3 actors from the Rustaveli Theatre who expressed support on stage for those arrested during protests were removed from the spectacle.

#TerrorinGeorgia

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 9:31 AM

Finland:

In Finland, commander of the Neo-Nazi Rusich unit Yan Petrovsky (aka “Vojislav Torden” lol) has been sentenced to life in prison for war crimes committed against Ukrainian soldiers in 2014, including mutilating one’s face with a kolovrat before he died, among others

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— Michael Colborne (@colborne.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 4:47 AM

Portugal:

Portugal is reconsidering its purchase of F-35 fighter jets, a program estimated to cost around $6 billion, and is looking at European alternatives.https://www.outono.net/elentir/2025/03/14/portugal-reconsiders-the-purchase-of-the-f-35-due-to-the-turn-in-us-foreign-policy/

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 3:53 AM

Moscow on the Potomac:

EXCLUSIVE: Investigators tracking Ukranian children abducted and taken to Russia have had to stop work as the Conflict Observatory’s funding is cut by Elon Musk’s DOGE.

The funding freeze impacts intelligence sharing w Ukraine and the efforts to bring these kids home
inews.co.uk/news/world/m…

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— Sanya Burgess (@sanyaburgess.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 8:19 AM

From iNews:

The world-leading unit helping to rescue Ukrainian children stolen by Russia has been axed amid Elon Musk’s slashing of US government spending, The i Paper can reveal.

Thousands of children have been removed from Ukraine and taken to Russia during the conflict, in a campaign of “unlawful deportation”.

The US government has been funding a specialist team based at Yale University, who have used open source technology to trace the lost children and help repatriate them.

But this team, which has already helped to locate hundreds of children, has now had its funding paused, amid tech tycoon Musk’s chainsaw slashing of the federal budget via the so-called department of government efficiency (Doge).

Donald Trump ally Peter Marocco has been leading on cuts to US foreign aid and development programmes, reportedly visiting offices alongside members of Doge. While Musk has not personally been overseeing individual funding freezes he has been setting the strategy and tone for deep government spending cuts in Washington.

There have been more than 19,500 reports of “unlawful deportation and forced transfer of children”, with campaigners claiming Russia is taking the children to erase Ukrainian culture and indoctrinate the younger generation into a pro-Russia mindset. Mykola Kuleba, founder of the charity Save Ukraine, previously said: “Russia is stealing our future.”

Around 1,240 children have so far been repatriated, according to Bring Kids Back UA, an initiative launched by Volodymyr Zelensky to rescue all children from deportation and occupation.

When the search team gathers evidence, it passes the lead to Ukrainian authorities to attempt to bring back the children. The i Paper has confirmed that Yale Humanitarian Research Lab’s data has been used to reunite some families.

The decision to cut funding could now harm Ukraine’s capabilities to reunite more children with their families.

A report from the Yale team, published in December, said: “Russia’s program [sic] of coerced adoption and fostering of children from Ukraine has been intentionally and directly authorized [sic] by Putin and senior officials of the Russian Federation.”

More at the link.

‘Putin first made the claim earlier in the week when he said Ukrainian troops had been surrounded during a retreat from Russia’s Kursk region, and had the choice to “surrender or die”. Trump repeated Putin’s claim’ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m…

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— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 2:33 PM

From The Guardian:

Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump for “doing everything” to improve relations between Moscow and Washington, after Trump said the US has had “very good and productive discussions” with Putin in recent days.

Putin told a meeting of his security officials that improved relations with the US were now on the agenda. “We know that the new administration headed by President Trump is doing everything to restore at least something of what was basically destroyed by the previous US administration,” he said.

Putin also responded to an appeal by Trump to save the lives of “thousands” of surrounded Ukrainian soldiers, and said he would heed it as long as the soldiers surrendered. But no evidence has emerged to back up Putin and Trump’s claims that there is a large-scale encirclement of Ukrainian troops, a claim explicitly denied by military heads in Kyiv.

The exchange of warm words between Trump and Putin is likely to cause further alarm in Kyiv and European capitals, already spooked by signs of the new US administration cosying up to Moscow while exerting pressure on Ukraine.

The remarks came after Steve Witkoff, Trump’s close ally and special envoy to the Middle East, held late-night talks with Putin on Thursday to discuss the US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the war on Ukraine.

Kyiv has already accepted the proposal, while Putin on Thursday set out a series of sweeping conditions that would need to be met before Russia would agree to the truce, which includes the condition that Ukraine should neither rearm nor mobilise during the 30-day truce.

In a post on Truth Social on Friday, however, Trump said there was a “very good chance” the war between Russia and Ukraine could “finally come to an end”.

Trump also said he had appealed to Putin to save the lives of “thousands of Ukrainian troops” supposedly surrounded by the Russian army. Putin first made the claim earlier in the week when he said Ukrainian troops had been surrounded during a retreat from Russia’s Kursk region, and had the choice to “surrender or die”.

Trump repeated Putin’s claim, writing that thousands of troops had been “completely surrounded” during the retreat. He wrote: “I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II. God bless them all.”

Later, in a speech at the justice department in Washington on Friday, Trump appeared to chide Ukraine for seizing Kursk. “First of all you don’t want to pick on somebody that’s a lot larger than you, even with the money,” he said. “There’s a lot of money that we gave them and a lot of equipment. We make the best military equipment in the world.

“But even with all of that, it’s unbelievable. Right now you have a lot of Ukrainian soldiers that are encircled and in grave danger, and I’ve asked them not to kill those soldiers please, not to kill those soldiers. We don’t want them killed.”

Putin told his security council he had heard Trump’s appeal, and said the lives of Ukrainian troops would be spared if they surrendered. Ukrainian military and independent analysts, however, denied there was an encirclement of troops.

Ukrainian general staff wrote in a statement published on their media channels: “Reports of the alleged ‘encirclement’ of Ukrainian units by the enemy in the Kursk region are false and fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners. There is no threat of encirclement of our units.”

Ukrainian security sources, independent military analysts and even pro-Russian Telegram channels disputed the encirclement claims by Putin and Trump.

Soldiers fighting in the region say a staged withdrawal has been under way for two weeks, and while many soldiers have faced a dangerous and challenging route to withdraw, they do not believe there is a mass encirclement of troops. “After seven months, we simply withdrew. There was no encirclement,” one senior security official said on Thursday.

Michael Kofman, a military analyst at Carnegie Endowment, described the claims of a mass encirclement as “fiction”.

Some influential Russian pro-war military bloggers have cast doubt in recent days of the encirclement claims by Russian officials, saying none of the signs of such an action have been visible.

Our team has a good understanding of the situation in Kursk. There are no encircled troops. The retreat was generally organized but occasionally chaotic. There is no threat of encirclement, and no evidence suggests otherwise. It’s wise to rely on intelligence, not Putin’s word

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— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 11:31 AM

Claims that thousands are encircled in Kursk dangerously align with Putin’s staged narrative and Russian propaganda—there is no such encirclement

— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 3:07 PM

Back to Ukraine:

After arming FPV drones with shotguns, Ukraine now testing a drone armed with an unguided aviation rocket.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 5:03 AM

Four Russian Pantsir-S1 air defence systems targeted by FPV drones.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 12:15 PM

Kryvyi Rih:

Russian forces launched another attack on Kryvyi Rih, striking civilian facilities with missiles. So far, at least 11 civilians are reported wounded.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM

Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih tonight

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 3:32 PM

Zolochiv, Kharkiv Oblast:

Last night, russian troops targeted a hospital in Zolochiv, Kharkiv Oblast, with a drone strike, setting it ablaze. As rescue workers fought to save lives, they struck again—a deliberate attack on both the wounded and those trying to save them.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 3:57 AM

A hospital in Zolochiv, Kharkiv region, was hit by russian drones overnight, causing significant damage and injuring a medical worker. The initial strike ignited the hospital’s roof, and a subsequent attack occurred 40 minutes later. Yet another double tap aimed at rescuers.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 8:57 AM

Krasnodar Krai, Russia:

Today, passengers aboard the train to Tuapse in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, marveled at a breathtaking, awe-inspiring landscape unfolding beyond their windows, thanks to Ukrainian UAVs.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 11:48 AM

Russian oil refinery in Tuapse was targeted by drones once again tonight.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 4:16 AM

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia:

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones continue to strike Russian military targets deep in enemy territory. Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod region: the moment of a UAV attack on a military training ground was recorded just moments ago.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 8:14 AM

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron skeets or videos today. Here is some adjacent material.

I will never stop sharing how much I respect the Ukrainian people and their cats.

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— The Spirit of Lorenzo the Cat (@lorenzothecat.bsky.social) March 10, 2025 at 8:06 AM

Look at that magnificent hunk of a badass Ukrainian cat.

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— The Spirit of Lorenzo the Cat (@lorenzothecat.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 7:46 PM

Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 1,114: His Truce Goes Marching OnPost + Comments (26)

“Only Mostly Dead” Open Thread

by Betty Cracker| March 14, 202511:51 am| 100 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics

Those of us who oppose the fascist right-wing kleptocrat takeover are in a tough spot, not unlike the situation faced by Westley, Inigo and Fezzik as they planned to storm a heavily fortified castle in The Princess Bride.

What are our assets? Well, all of the House Dems except the Golden Tool from Maine. It sounds like most of the Senate Dems will not vote to cede their sole bit of leverage to Trusk & Mump; we can deal with the feckless and weak-kneed later.

In the meantime, less than two months into this nightmarish shit-show, ordinary citizens are saying HELL NO to this bullshit. Republicans are too scared to hold town halls, even in deep red areas. The few who do get booed and heckled and chased out of town or else dispatch goons to throw their own constituents out.

Dems like Governor Walz are holding town halls in districts where Republicans fear to tread. Dems like Frost, AOC, Crockett, Green, Warren, etc., are speaking with moral clarity. Bernie Sanders is attracting thousands of people to his anti-oligarchy roadshow.

For me, the most encouraging development is the grassroots anger directed at the unelected, apartheid South Africa-born emerald mine heir who purchased the co-presidency for more than a quarter of a billion dollars. Here’s the kleptocracy’s attorney barking and frothing like a coked-up attack shih tzu:

Pam Bondi: “If you’re gonna touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything, you better watch out, because we’re coming after you.”

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 14, 2025 at 10:04 AM

What she’s really doing is telling us who they fear. Same with the disgraceful Trusk & Mump South Lawn auto mall shtick earlier this week. Here’s an image George Takei posted recently that sums up the thinking:

A crowd pushing over a domino labeled "Tesla," with is falling into dominoes labeled "Musk," "Trump," "Republicans" and "Russians."

I respect y’all too much to tell you that “no one is coming to save us” or to lecture you on the rules of Senate procedure. You’re adults who for some reason voluntarily expose yourselves to and actively participate in the maddening and bewildering bizarro world of U.S. politics, so you know that.

But I will suggest this: look at who and what the kleptocrats actually fear, not whom they attack for show. I think that is the way.

Open thread.

“Only Mostly Dead” Open ThreadPost + Comments (100)

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

This blog will pay for itself.

The words do not have to be perfect.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Good lord, these people are nuts.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Come on, man.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Excellent / Scary Read: Women’s Sports Happened By Accident…

Second Guessing

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Catching Up

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War for Ukraine Day 1,114: His Truce Goes Marching On

We Continue Our Work to Unite Absolutely Everyone Who Can Truly Help, Who Can Strengthen Diplomacy and Bring Peace Closer – Address by the President

“Only Mostly Dead” Open Thread