Not really, but there are some communities I refuse to post in, and certain kinds of posts that I always disable notifications for, because I know I am going to get the nastiest, ugliest notifications because lemmings refuse to acknowledge that I get the notifications and not Trump or Hegsheth or whomever. If I misjudge something and it starts to draw awful responses, I just delete it -- there's nothing to be done to stem the tide otherwise and deletion fixes the problem pretty immediately without any downside to me.

NWSL playoffs. The first quarterfinal kicks off in ~3 hours and my team's match is at 9:30 am on Sunday. I foresee some real NWSL After Dark stuff this time around.

It's actually pretty controversial, and even as a huge stan for the new women's club world cup, I find this all pretty distasteful from fifa. They've clearly scheduled it specifically to conflict with the olympics to try to unseat its place in the women's soccer calendar, and unlike in men's soccer, the olympics is one of the biggest and most exciting international tournaments. Players treat a gold medal as being as significant, if not more, than a World Cup win. I would be very disappointed to see one of my favorite competitions turned in to a youth friendly tournament.

You read these random-sounding stories and then you find the most poignant encapsulations of modern life you’ve ever encountered

There is a widespread feeling in the US that everything is a hoax or a Ponzi scheme, and this feeling is only reinforced by the news. The news that self-driving taxis, when they become confused, are actually operated remotely from the Philippines. The news that the mysterious invention that could scan your blood for any number of disorders was an era-defining scam. The news that the crypto entrepreneur who pledged to secure the longtime survival of the human race was actually stealing $8bn of his customers’ money to fund his polycule in the Bahamas. I became paranoid, standing in front of the abandoned car park, that cultivated meat was just another lie, or a semi-lie, or a bluff. That the reason the meat was so difficult to get my hands on was that it did not exist. The possible implosion of Believer was disappointing not just because it represented a setback in the quest to reduce our carbon emissions and fortify our food systems against climate collapse, but because it seemed to confirm that we live in a cheap, mendacious world, where what passes for progress almost always turns out to be a confidence game.

I’m most familiar with soccer, and girls will not need to start a new league to avoid I-638. Leagues like ECNL already exist and operate at a much higher level than school-sponsored soccer, and are not subject to the eligibility requirements the law prescribes.

“I got 12 femtoseconds of sleep last night”

Okay, but like turn off your phone and go to bed, that’s super bad for you and you are intolerable because you’re grumpy from not sleeping

That’s not a paywall, you can just press the x in the corner to close it, but yes, under 23 years old, like men’s Olympic soccer.

The brand is very good, but the tagline is incredible

The club said its tagline, "let them howl," is drawn from a quote from suffragist Nellie McClung, who led the movement to get women in Manitoba the right to vote. The full quote attributed to her was "Never retract, never explain, never apologize; get the thing done and let them howl."

Women's hockey, which is what I follow, doesn't have a rape problem to the best of my knowledge

Ну-ка, я все таки хочу знать: чё?

That just has the look of an effective surface cleaner about it. I use the Public Goods surface cleaner because the concentrate requires less to ship and is easier to store, but it just doesn't have the weight of authority you want from a good cleaner.

I hope the Dems pass everything we've ever wanted -- increasing marginal tax rates for the highest tax brackets, medicare for all, UBI, high speed rail, carbon tax, impeach the president, abolish the electoral college, the whole enchilada -- and force Trump to veto them all. Then, let AOC run on "we're gonna pass all those again but if you elect me, this time I'll sign them all." More than anything, I want the Dems to provide a clear vision for what they intend to actually do, rather than what they intend to prevent.

I plead terrible memory and accept this may be more accurate

This is a particularly influential World Cup to sit out

The loss is not only historical but consequential. Nigeria will miss out on developmental funding with next year’s prize fund expected to rise from the previous tournament four years ago. In 2023 the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, pledged to equal the men’s and women’s tournaments prize funds by 2027. The figure for the men’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico was $727m (roughly £539m). Recent news suggest Fifa will miss out on its target but it is nevertheless a blow for Nigeria not to be involved.

I gather the investigation for involuntary manslaughter is standard, but the questions about how treatment was administered are not

Spain's National Police opened an investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter, a standard procedure for a non-natural death. Investigators are expected to assess whether Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Owono's challenge went beyond the normal course of play.

The Reign have been much more successful as the Reign then they ever were as the Sounder Women, and the Sounders joining the ownership group hasn’t been the resounding success we hoped

The central issue is not whether a women’s team carries a larger club’s name. It is whether the organisation has enough money to keep paying its players and staff.

A parent club can supply facilities, expertise and funding. But problems elsewhere in the club can still affect the women’s team. A separate company can protect the women’s team from problems elsewhere. But still needs reliable income and owners willing to support it. Licensing can test financial information, it cannot supply the money needed to finish a season.

Until that question has a clear answer for each team, the name on the shirt says little about how secure it is.

We used to sing “We’re gonna scalp you, Stanfurd/We’re gonna scalp you blue/we’ll do it with the tomahawk we took from you” at Cal when they were still the Indians, to give you a sense of what that mascot was like (and it gets worse from there)

This outcome is a rather disappointing half-measure all the way around, especially for those who remembered the uproar over Stanford abandoning the nickname Indians in 1972. The students preferred the nickname "Robber Barons," in tribute to 19th-century rich guy Leland Stanford, after whom the school was named and who was indeed that thing. The adults in the room, devoid as adults typically are of a sense of humor, instead declared that they would listen to the people who donated the money and declared their sports teams to be first the Cardinals and then simply Cardinal. In the process, the mascot went from, well, you know, to a disturbing anthropomorphic tree with no discernible sense of rhythm that looks as if it had been stung by the inhabitants of a hundred beehives and ate children at team rallies.

For Sounders’ fans, RBW’s inclusion is particularly bittersweet

This group is a blend of experience and fresh options as Pochettino and his staff build a new defensive core. Reed Baker-Whiting is in line for his US debut after a steady season starting at left-back for MLS’s best team. A feature on the Guardian’s Next Generation list in 2022, the 21-year-old made a smooth transition to Nashville after a winter transfer from boyhood Seattle and is a steady defender who integrates swiftly into a system. He’ll deputize for Antonee Robinson, who has appeared in all but one of Fulham’s first nine games.

Let’s get that bronze, cats and kittens

For the Czechs, returning to their bronze-medal ways of 2022 and 2023 would be a huge success. For the past two years, Czechia has finished fourth at the World Championships. Bringing a medal back would be a great success for this team.

We’ve had other articles discussing this, but I always enjoy the Defector’s editorial voice

This is a rare example of nations and companies scrapping plans to make money because some suits have decided to act against humanity's best interests. Even the IIHF was stunned by the backlash, releasing a statement with the telling phrase, "the global impact of the decision made by the CAS Panel and the challenges it creates for all involved were significantly underestimated." The word "significantly" is risking a hernia for the work it is being asked to do here.