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So, finally getting around to this story with respect to sexism and religious freedom/accommodation. It seems that several plane flights have been delayed thanks to Orthodox Jews who insist on not sitting next to woman. See this story and the links within it: https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/jews-on-a-plane-a-readers-take/ I particularly like the video in that story although I am sure we have all seen it by now. Anyway, just curious as to people's thoughts on this. ---- Ok, got the poll to work now. I say to hell with the Orthodox religious nut jobs.... women before wacko ideas about sitting next to women.

I want to take a bit of break from politics and other bad news stories, and focus on a good news story that came in this weekend: Alissa St Laurent winning this crazy, grueling ultramarathon race in Alberta by a long shot, and what it says about the issue of advantages and disadvantages for women in sports. We are well aware that women are at a significant disadvantage with men in most league sports because men have much greater upper body strength on average. And the power advantage gives an edge in individual sports as well. When we get to the endurance sports, men have an advantage because of lower body/fat ratios, but when we push the distance further, in swimming and running, we find a much smaller contingent of women closing the gap and overtaking men in long distance swimming and ultramarathons. In running, this is mostly because 22 to 24 miles is as far as any non-drug aided body can go using blood sugar (glycogen) as fuel. After that, you have to be running at a pace slow enough that you can metabolize body fat for fuel....which I think would probably be walking pace for me....anyway, a different kind of runner takes the lead in races over 26 miles and many of them are women, despite the relatively low number of serious competitors. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alissa-st-laurent-becomes-first-woman-to-win-canadian-death-race-ultramarathon-1.3177415 St. Laurent says she would like to inspire more girls and young women to take up ultra-long distance racing, and I hope the notoriety she gets motivates other young women to compete: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alissa-st-laurent-becomes-first-woman-to-win-canadian-death-race-ultramarathon-1.3177415