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EXCLUSIVE: The lawsuit led by former San Jose State University women’s volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser after her experience with a transgender teammate appears set to be directly influenced by the decisions in an ongoing Supreme Court case on trans athletes. Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male. A federal judge made a ruling in the Slusser v. Mountain West case’s motion to dismiss on Tuesday. Colorado District Judge Kato Crews dismissed all the plaintiffs’ charges against the Mountain West Conference, but did not dismiss charges of Title IX violations against representatives of SJSU and the California State University (CSU) system. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Crews deferred his ruling on whether to dismiss those charges to after the decision in the ongoing B.P.J. v West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June.”The Motion to Strike Class Allegations is denied,” Crews wrote in his decision. “What remains of the Amended Complaint is Plaintiffs’ Title IX claims for damages against the CSU Board… So the Court defers ruling on the Title IX damages claims until after the Supreme Court has issued its ruling in B.P.J.”The CSU provided a statement to Fox News Digital in response to Crews’ ruling. “CSU is pleased with the court’s ruling. SJSU has complied with Title IX and all applicable law, and it will continue to do so,” the statement read.INSIDE THE SCOTUS HEARING BOUND TO BE A TURNING POINT IN THE CULTURE WAR OVER TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTSSlusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case. “We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital. “I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assailant or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13. Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters. Bock also said it is “likely” that his team will appeal the dismissal of charges against the Mountain West. “There’s a real flaw in the dismissal of the Mountain West conference,” Bock said. “I think an appeal is very likely.”The Mountain West has responded in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “We appreciate the Court’s thorough review of the allegations. We are pleased the Court granted the Mountain West’s and Commissioner Nevarez’s motions to dismiss in their entirety. We remain focused on supporting our member institutions and student‑athletes,” the statement read. The judge, Crews, was appointed by former President Joe Biden in January 2024.EX-SJSU VOLLEYBALL COACH REACTS AFTER TRUMP ADMIN RULES SCHOOL VIOLATED TITLE IX WITH TRANS ATHLETE HANDLINGCrews previously ruled to allow SJSU’s trans athlete, Blaire Fleming, to continue playing college volleyball into the Mountain West tournament after Slusser and her co-plaintiffs made a request for a preliminary injunction to have Fleming ruled ineligible, in November 2024. “I simply have a disagreement with him regarding what the law is, and particularly with respect to Title IX,” Bock said of Crews.With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal, and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college. President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice. Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.”I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

US Chemical Companies “Net Beneficiaries” Of Middle East Energy Disruption Crisis

Bloomberg News headlines indicate that Iraq has begun shutting down oil output at Rumaila, the world’s largest “supergiant” oil field, while other Gulf states have idled some of the world’s largest refineries and major energy hubs following Iranian drone strikes. This signals that a massive energy disruption is set to hit global energy markets as the Strait of Hormuz remains paralyzed.

Goldman analysts led by Duffy Fischer have released a note assessing whether U.S. chemical manufacturers have exposure to Middle East energy disruptions. They find that “U.S. companies are likely to be net beneficiaries” of the Middle East conflict and the resulting energy disruptions.

Fischer pointed out that as oil prices rise, naphtha-based competitors in Europe and Asia are squeezed, while U.S. chemical makers that rely more on natural gas are relatively insulated due to domestic production. That, in turn, widens the U.S. margin advantage.

These U.S. chemical manufacturers use raw materials such as natural gas, crude oil liquids, salt, sulfur, and other minerals to produce products like:

basic chemicals: ethylene, propylene, methanol, chlorine, ammonia

plastics/resins: polyethylene, PVC, polyurethane inputs

fertilizers: nitrogen, phosphate products

industrial chemicals: solvents, coatings, acids, adhesives

specialty chemicals: ingredients used in electronics, autos, construction, packaging, and consumer goods

Fischer explained:

The oil to gas ratio is a large driver of U.S. chemical production profitability. With oil prices increasing (see our Commodity team’s note and podcast), this will push up the price of naphtha, which is likely to increase the cost of European and Asian feedstocks. Since many naphtha crackers are currently near breakeven levels, that should force them to raise prices. This should lead the spot and export prices higher for U.S. product. The result would be an increase in U.S. margins as their natural gas feedstocks are not likely to be impacted. Lastly, while the industry believed that the March PE contract prices would roll flat, the events would significantly increase the possibility of U.S. producers achieving pricing in March.

Next, the analysts assess whether U.S. chemical manufacturers have exposure to the Middle East. They point out that Middle East disruptions would benefit U.S. chemical manufacturers.

Here’s how:

Significant amounts of competing chemical products are produced in the affected Middle East region. If this product is offline or is not able to ship then that would start to tighten global supply-demand and open up more volume opportunities for US producers. We look at three buckets of production (Iranian, UAE/Kuwait/Qatar, and Eastern Saudi Arabian). The impact on Iranian production is unclear and ships carrying production from Eastern Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar through the Straight of Hormuz appear to be disrupted. Exhibit 1 shows the greatest impact to the least for impacted chemical chains: Nitrogen, Sulfur, Methanol, MTBE, Phosphate, Polyethylene, MDI, TiO2, Chlorovinyls. While U.S. companies are likely to be net beneficiaries, there are some U.S. companies with assets in the region that may see negative impacts. Barring any U.S. assets being kinetically impacted, the net should be positive for all U.S. chemical companies.

Exposure:

Regional Exports by Chemical Chain as a % of Global Exports

Company Asset Exposure to the Middle East

More in the full Goldman note (here) available to pro subs.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 03/04/2026 – 05:45

Winner winner, chicken dinner! Chick-fil-A has quietly changed its waffle fries recipe – removing an ingredient that some frustrated diners said made the potato snack not “appetizing.” The restaurant chain, which introduced waffle fries to its menu in 1985, faced staunch backlash after adding pea starch to its recipe in late 2024. Bosses said the…

House Oversight Committee Republicans are readying to confront Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison at a high-stakes hearing on welfare fraud Wednesday morning.”While Governor Walz hesitated, taxpayers lost billions. Attorney General Ellison has likewise claimed his office was aggressively holding fraudsters accountable, but when his statements were tested against the record, they fell apart,” Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will say, according to prepared opening remarks obtained by Fox News Digital.”We have spoken with over thirty whistleblowers, many of them current employees and Democrats, who say they were ignored, retaliated against, and even surveilled for raising concerns. Instead of protecting the whistleblowers, the Walz administration protected the system that enabled fraud.”Hours before the hearing kicked off, the committee released a 53-page report that accused both Walz and Ellison of knowing about the fraud allegations far earlier than previously thought.MINNESOTA FRAUD WHISTLEBLOWER SAYS ‘LACK OF GUARDRAILS WAS PRETTY SHOCKING'”While the Committee continues to review documents and meet with whistleblowers, it is evident that Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison knew about the fraud in federal programs administered by the State of Minnesota much earlier than they told the American people,” the report said.”Transcribed interviews with current and former public officials from the State of Minnesota have confirmed that Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison would have been aware of fraud in the [Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)] and high-risk Medicaid programs administered by DHS as early as spring 2019 and fraud in [state food aid] programs administered by [the Minnesota Department of Education] as early as April 2020.”Both Walz and Ellison previously pushed back on any accusations that they knowingly allowed fraud in Minnesota’s social programs, and have accused Republicans of politicizing the situation.TREASURY SECRETARY ANNOUNCES CASH REWARDS FOR MINNESOTA FRAUD WHISTLEBLOWERSThe high-profile hearing is the culmination of a months-long probe by the House Oversight Committee targeting allegations of fraud in Minnesota.The panel previously interviewed current and former officials within the state’s government, including those focused on food aid. Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged multiple people with stealing more than $240 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future. However, the probe has since widened to multiple state-run programs being investigated for potential fraud. Childcare providers receiving state funding, mainly within the Somali community, are also under scrutiny.WALZ SLAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR TEMPORARILY HALTING MEDICAID FUNDING TO MINNESOTA: ‘CAMPAIGN OF RETRIBUTION’And the committee’s report accused the state’s progressive leadership of ignoring evidence of fraud in a bid to appease the Somali community in Minneapolis.”The Committee has found that Minnesota lacked adequate oversight efforts to verify that taxpayer dollars were being used appropriately and could have stopped the flow of money to fraudsters at any time but chose not to for fear of political retribution from the politically active Somali community,” the report said.”Further legislative efforts at the federal level are necessary to prevent this massive waste, fraud, and abuse of federal dollars from ever happening again.”In his opening statement, Comer will call the scandal “one of the most extensive breakdowns of oversight this Committee has ever examined.””Billions of taxpayer dollars were stolen from social services programs while warnings piled up, whistleblowers spoke out, and state officials chose delay and denial over action,” he will say. “Federal prosecutors estimate that as much as $9 billion may have been stolen from just fourteen Medicaid programs administered by the State of Minnesota. As our investigation has shown, it happened because state leadership failed, repeatedly, to intervene. What we’ve uncovered in Minnesota is not a paperwork error or a few bad actors slipping through the cracks. It is a sustained failure of leadership.”Meanwhile, Democrats on the committee have accused Comer of trying to distract from the fallout of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis — including the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.”I encourage folks to watch those videos and see what’s happened for themselves. And I’m hopeful that this committee investigates this incident and that we have full accountability,” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said during a previous hearing on Minnesota fraud.

When New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani debuted his first budget last week, the $127 billion price tag sparked a range of inartful, and often inaccurate, comparisons on social media with spending by the state of Florida ($117 billion, with three times the population) and other governmental units as far away as Tokyo.Florida Governor DeSantis doesn’t oversee trash pickup or legions of firefighters, just as Mayor Mamdani isn’t responsible for his state’s prison system or its sprawling wilderness preserves. Nor are Japanese prefectures comparable to New York City’s five boroughs.None of this excuses Gotham’s excess. To the contrary, the quest for rage-clicks with apples-to-oranges comparisons risks numbing Americans to even more extreme parts of NYC’s spending — and the lessons the rest of the country should draw.FREE BUSES, REAL COSTS. INSIDE MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST DREAM TO SHAKEUP TRANSIT FOR NEW YORKERSThe biggest piece of the NYC budget, the public school system, is best viewed as a union jobs program for adults, shielded from scrutiny by what is often a greater focus on equity than on outcomes. It’s on track to make up roughly one-third of city spending next year.The most recent federal data, for school year 2022-23, pegged NYC’s spending at $33,387 per pupil. None of nation’s other 90 largest districts topped $24,000. The next largest, Los Angeles, spent $22,606, followed by Miami-Dade at $13,138, Chicago at $22,699, and Nevada’s Clark County schools at $11,569.Fourth graders in Miami-Dade outperformed their New York City counterparts in the most recent federal standardized math and reading tests; eighth graders in the two districts posted comparable average scores, even as NYC spent two-and-a-half times as much per student.NYC’s high spending stems in part from its recent decline in public school enrollment. The number of students was sliding in the leadup to COVID and dove as families exited the system (and often the state altogether). The number of first-graders sank from 87,000 in 2015 to fewer than 70,000 last year—and a rising share of them are attending charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately managed.MAMDANI’S CLASS WARFARE AGAINST NEW YORK BUSINESSES IS ‘ECONOMIC VANDALISM’My colleague Danyela Egorov notes NYC has at least 100 city-run schools with fewer than 150 students. Most government agencies facing such dissatisfaction would by now have undertaken a radical transformation. The teachers union risked losing political clout if the workforce shrank, so it got Albany to force the city to hire thousands more teachers to backfill empty classrooms, under the guise of shrinking class sizes.Labor’s stranglehold isn’t limited to the Department of Education. Outside the highest echelons of managers, virtually every city employee has his or her terms and conditions of employment set by a union contract — part of the enduring and costly legacy of Mayor Robert Wagner, who ordered city agencies to ink contracts with employee unions in the late 1950s.The result is almost cartoonish inefficiency, since even the smallest changes to how agencies run and how services are delivered must be negotiated. Union deals until recently prevented residents of the city’s public housing from getting repairs after 4:30pm (or on weekends); another union’s control of city lifeguard jobs has forced the city to leave some beaches closed.MAMDANI’S RENT FREEZE, TAX HIKES A ‘ONE-TWO WEALTH DESTRUCTION PUNCH,’ ECONOMISTS WARNNYC is also one of the few remaining public employers that provides premium-free health insurance to not only its employees but also its retirees. (Even New York state government requires its employees to pick up at least 12 percent of the cost).When police officers and firefighters are eligible to retire at half-pay and keep their benefits after 20 years on the job, it means city taxpayers can be on the hook for the current equivalent of almost $1 million in healthcare benefits alone before that retiree hits Medicare age — and then for additional coverage after.The city’s unions are meanwhile pressing state lawmakers to make even non-uniformed workers eligible for full pensions at age 55 and to slash how much they must contribute toward them.MAMDANI’S ‘PAINFUL’ TAX HIKE THREAT MOCKED BY WASHINGTON POST FOR PROVING ‘SOCIALIST UTOPIA IS EXPENSIVE’The problem isn’t that NYC splurges on one benefit or another. Its “union town” mindset reflects an institutional resistance to efficiency; taxpayers, and the quality of the services being provided, are an afterthought. A city whose unions are powerful enough to force it to absorb 100 percent of the increase in health insurance costs is also unlikely to allow, let alone embrace, new opportunities for automation or other cost-savings.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONNew York’s unique collective bargaining law requires unionized employees to keep getting raises even after their contract has expired, leaving elected officials with little leverage to push for changes that would improve services or otherwise bring down costs.It’s on top of this bloat that NYC also goes above and beyond offering services many other communities wouldn’t imagine. The price of the city’s newly expanded housing-voucher program is poised to keep ballooning, rising over the next two years by $2 billion more than originally budgeted. Meanwhile, NYC keeps blurring the line between public education and government childcare as it expands “pre-kindergarten” offerings down to two-year-olds as it pursues “universal childcare.”Mamdani’s ambitious spending agenda has been temporarily derailed as he grapples with the fact that city officials for years spent more than they collected, a risky proposition outside of a recession or emergency. For the new mayor, it’s a painful lesson in fiscal reality.For the rest of America, it’s a chance to learn from, and avoid, NYC’s bad choices.

Edinburgh Leader Hails City Diversity After Migrant Stabbing Spree Hospitalizes Two

Authored by Thomas Brooke va Remix News,

In the wake of Monday’s stabbing spree by a suspect reported by one national newspaper to have been a Somali immigrant, the leader of City of Edinburgh Council has praised the capital’s diversity and said she wants the city to “stay that way.”

Cllr. Jane Meagher spoke out after a man was arrested in connection with Monday morning’s violence, which saw armed officers swarm a block of flats and nearby streets following reports of a suspect carrying two large knives.

Footage of the suspect circulated widely on social media, showing a Black man wielding large blades in both hands.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿‼️ A knifeman has reportedly stabbed multiple people in Edinburgh, Scotland.
He is believed to have smashed up a convenience store before entering an apartment block.
Schools have been placed in lockdown and armed police descended on the Calders area of the city.
“The two… pic.twitter.com/iYf3HITutH
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 2, 2026
The suspect’s nationality has not yet been confirmed by Police Scotland.

At least two people were injured during the attack, with one man suffering injuries “consistent with being stabbed” and a woman sustaining a head wound. Both were taken to hospital in the Scottish capital.

In a statement issued after the suspect was taken into custody, Meagher said she was “deeply shocked” by what had happened and paid tribute to emergency responders and council staff.

“Moments like this remind us of the need to stand together – and of the importance of community spirit and tolerance,” she said.

The response from Edinburgh City Council to Monday’s stabbing spree that left two people in the hospital has been to praise diversity, calling it the city’s “biggest strength.”
Council leader Jane Meagher said everyone has a part to play in making sure it remains welcoming and… pic.twitter.com/ZkYm9GvruQ
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 2, 2026
“Edinburgh is a proud, welcoming, and diverse city. Our biggest strength lies in those who live here – people from all walks of life, cultures, and backgrounds – and we all have a part to play in making sure it stays that way,” she added.

The attack prompted a major police response, with firearms officers deployed and a large cordon placed around flats near Calder Gardens. Local schools were also locked down.

Two men told BBC Scotland they saw a man holding what appeared to be two blood-stained knives outside a shop. One said, “I got out of my car, and the guy came up to me with his hands behind his back. He said, ‘Can I speak to you?’ He had the two knives behind his back, covered in blood.”

“He started going towards the school, so I was just trying to chase him back. He was coming towards me the whole time. He walked away up to the flats,” the witness added.

The man filmed walking around Edinburgh with two large knives amid reports of multiple stabbings has holed up in an apartment block, surrounded by police.
Locals tell him to jump.
Two people have been hospitalized for their injuries. pic.twitter.com/d4KvrzP4gU
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 2, 2026
At a nearby supermarket, staff and customers hid in a back room after a worker raised the alarm. Shopkeeper Asif Hussain told the Scottish Sun newspaper that an employee phoned him to report that “a guy with a knife” had entered the premises.

“I told them, ‘Keep yourself barricaded in the back,’” he said. “That’s our procedure if anything like that happens. You barricade yourself in the back of the store.

“The guy tried to force open the door but couldn’t get in. He went behind the counter and started to smash up anything he could get his hands on.”

The suspect then headed towards a nearby primary school before holing up in a high-rise apartment block.

Video footage showed him grinning at locals as they hurled abuse at him, telling him to jump.

After several hours, the man was eventually apprehended and remains in custody.

Read more here…

Tyler Durden
Wed, 03/04/2026 – 05:00

An Israeli stealth fighter jet has shot down a manned Iranian aircraft in a major show of force as the Islamic Republic continues to be blitzed five days into “Operation Epic Fury.” The F-35I fighter jet known as “Adir,” which translates to “Mighty One” in Hebrew,” clashed with the Iranian Air Force YAK-130 over Tehran,…

Iranian regime leaders who are elevated to replace the eliminated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be picked off after their succession if they continue his ideology, Israeli officials threatened.

Visualizing The Generation Gap In TV Consumption

Perhaps the main threat to “traditional” television isn’t that Americans stopped watching video content, it’s that video is everywhere.

Young Americans in particular tend to get their video fix in the “snack aisle”, i.e. on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, where shorts, reels, highlight clips or whatever the algorithm serves up next are taking up a growing share of screentime.

That helps explain why heavy TV use skews older.

As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the chart below, based on data from Statista Consumer Insights, 47 percent of respondents aged 55 to 64 years old, the oldest group included in the survey, watch TV for more than 11 hours per week.

You will find more infographics at Statista

In the youngest group, those aged 18 to 24, only 22 percent of respondents said the same.

So while TV is still very much alive, it’s competing in an increasingly crowded video universe where the default for young people is no longer “what’s on tonight?” but rather “what’s next?”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 03/04/2026 – 04:15

Research challenges conventional wisdom about plant-based diets being healthy for all age groups.