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Oh yes that Trans Day of Vengeance thing…maybe it got an early start yesterday?

Trans Day of Vengeance, a weekend of protests for trans/non-binary rights, has been initiated by TRAN (Trans Radical Activist Network) and OURRIGHTSDC, because “visibility” is no longer enough. We resist and denounce the criminalization of transgender identity and violence against our siblings currently happening across the nation. We are fighting for our rights to exist. We are taking back the narratives. We are fighting back. With vengeance, because this is a fight for our survival.

Details are still being worked out, but we will meet at 11am on April 1st in front of the SCOTUS, where we will have a few speakers to kick off

… Read the rest

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By Ophelia Benson, March 28, 2023

Oh yes that Trans Day of Vengeance thing…maybe it got an early start yesterday?

Trans Day of Vengeance, a weekend of protests for trans/non-binary rights, has been initiated by TRAN (Trans Radical Activist Network) and OURRIGHTSDC, because “visibility” is no longer enough. We resist and denounce the criminalization of transgender identity and violence against our siblings currently happening across the nation. We are fighting for our rights to exist. We are taking back the narratives. We are fighting back. With vengeance, because this is a fight for our survival.

Details are still being worked out, but we will meet at 11am on April 1st in front of the SCOTUS, where we will have a few speakers to kick off

… Read the rest

Archives
Bad Moves
Articles
Flashback
In Focus
Latest News
Letters
Notes and Comment Blog

More than viz More than viz 

Oh yes that Trans Day of Vengeance thing…maybe it got an early start yesterday?

Trans Day of Vengeance, a weekend of protests for trans/non-binary rights, has been initiated by TRAN (Trans Radical Activist Network) and OURRIGHTSDC, because “visibility” is no longer enough. We resist and denounce the criminalization of transgender identity and violence against our siblings currently happening across the nation. We are fighting for our rights to exist. We are taking back the narratives. We are fighting back. With vengeance, because this is a fight for our survival.

Details are still being worked out, but we will meet at 11am on April 1st in front of the SCOTUS, where we will have a few speakers to kick off

… Read the rest
The Shaviro clause 

Remember Wayne State professor of English Steven Shapiro? Who said –

Although I do not advocate violating federal and state criminal codes, I think it is far more admirable to kill a racist, homophobic, or transphobic speaker than it is to shout them down.

The president of Wayne State is not charmed.

Dear campus community,

This morning, I was made aware of a social media post by a Wayne State University professor in our Department of English.

The post stated that rather than “shouting down” those with whom we disagree, one would be justified to commit murder to silence them. We have on many occasions defended the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the

… Read the rest
Plastics 

Plastics can’t be “recycled.” So-called recycling creates more pollution than it “recycles.” It’s all a big scam.

The disturbing reports on plastic pollution just keep coming: toxic plastic waste is filling up our oceans, our landfills, and even our bodies. But if you’ve seen a recent surge of ads from the companies that produce this garbage, you might be forgiven for thinking they’re working on solutions to the problem.

“America’s Plastic Makers” is the brand promoting a slew of ads about a new “solution” to plastic pollution that experts and evidence say creates new climate and environmental harms, and doesn’t actually work. It’s called “advanced” or chemical recycling, and refers to various processes for repurposing plastic waste. Some of those

… Read the rest
Himself and his many grievances 

Tom Nichols on Trump in Waco:

Almost 30 years after a cult leader caused a disaster in Waco, Trump rallied his own political cult—and the location cannot be a coincidence—in that same Texas city. The Waco tent revival featured the usual Trumpian cast of grifters, carnies, and misfits, including the fan favorites Mike Lindell and Ted Nugent. Most of the former president’s speech was, of course, about himself and his many grievances, and the crowd reportedly began to thin out somewhat early.

I never will understand why a flabby rich guy who never stops talking about himself and his ludicrous grievances is so appealing to The Folk. He’s rich. He’s self-obsessed. He’s greedy. He’s lazy. He’s cruel. He’s … Read the rest

Guest post: Psychological pressures in action 

Originally a comment by Nullius in Verba on Glam.

It occurs to me that the way these people talk about, celebrate, and encourage this shit online is similar to what I’ve seen of two other horrid online groups. Specifically those formed around murder and suicide. Looking into either one gets really dark, really quickly. You can see the same sorts of psychological pressures in action, all of which are also present in other high demand groups (i.e., cults). It’s also the same sort of assault on identity, one’s conception of oneself as a continuous entity of worth, that Lifton documented in Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. (Side note: I highly recommend the book. It’s one of … Read the rest

Tourist 

So he’s off on his travels is he?

… Read the rest

David has a pee-pee 

The human body is PORNOGRAPHIC. Who knew?

The Florence museum that houses Michelangelo’s statue of David has invited teachers and students from a Florida school to visit, after an uproar over an art lesson.

The school’s principal quit after a complaint about a sixth-grade art class that included an image of the statue.

A parent had complained the image was pornographic.

So have her children had their genitalia removed? Was it porn every time she changed their diapers when they were babies? Is it porn when she takes a shower?

The controversy began when the board of Tallahassee Classical School – a charter school in Florida’s state capital – pressured principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign after three parents complained

… Read the rest
The very atmosphere 

Heather Cox Richardson writes:

March 27, 2023 (Monday)

Seven people died today in a school shooting in Nashville. Three of them were nine-year-olds. Three were staffers. One was the shooter. In the aftermath of the shooting, President Joe Biden once again urged Congress to pass a ban on assault weapons, to which today’s Republican lawmakers will never agree because gun ownership has become a key element of social identity for their supporters, who resent the idea that the legal system could regulate their ownership of firearms.

In the wake of the shooting, Representative Andrew Ogles (R-TN), who represents Nashville thanks to redistricting by the Republican legislature that cut up a Democratic district, said he was “utterly heartbroken” by the

… Read the rest
Channel the donations 

Virginia Thomas the conflict of interest:

A little-known conservative activist group led by Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, collected nearly $600,000 in anonymous donations to wage a cultural battle against the left over three years, a Washington Post investigation found.

The previously unreported donations to the fledgling group Crowdsourcers for Culture and Liberty were channeled through a right-wing think tank in Washington that agreed to serve as a funding conduit from 2019 until the start of last year, according to documents and interviews. The arrangement, known as a “fiscal sponsorship,” effectively shielded from public view details about Crowdsourcers’ activities and spending, information it would have had to disclose publicly if it operated as

… Read the rest
Glam 

It seems the guy who dumped tomato soup/juice/sauce/whatever on KJK is being sought by The Law. Unless he’s just identifying as being sought by The Law.

… Read the rest

Younger and more delusional 

NPR is slashing staff to save $$.

NPR moved this week to cut 10% of its staff and stop production of a trio of acclaimed seasonal podcasts — Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot and Rough Translation — as it seeks to close a yawning budget gap that stands in excess of $30 million.

…

[Chief executive John] Lansing said the network sought to protect its core public service mission of journalism while preserving what he calls its “North Star.” Since joining NPR four years ago, Lansing has pushed to ensure the network has a bigger and broader audience base, rooted in younger and more diverse listeners, readers and consumers who will serve as the next generation of NPR

… Read the rest
Onus probandi 

About that burden of proof thing…

The burden of proof (Latin: onus probandi, shortened from Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat) is the obligation on a party in a dispute to provide sufficient warrant for its position.

When two parties are in a discussion and one makes a claim that the other disputes, the one who makes the claim typically has a burden of proof to justify or substantiate that claim especially when it challenges a perceived status quo.

This is also stated in Hitchens’s razor, which declares that “what may be asserted without evidence, may be dismissed without evidence.” Carl Sagan proposed a related criterion – “extraordinary claims require

… Read the rest
Met with a protest 

So then Pink News gloated again about its hostility to lesbians:

Members of The Dyke Project partied to protest the inaugural event of the The Lesbian Project – a trans-exclusionary initiative created by Julie Bindel and Kathleen Stock.

Yeah how dare Julie Bindel and Kathleen Stock be exclusionary of men in their Lesbian Project? The best people include men in all their lesbian projects.

The group held its first event on Saturday (25 March), which was met with a protest by The Dyke Project.

Formed in direct response to the Lesbian Project, the trans-inclusive group announced itself with a tweet reading: “Some want to sow hate and divide us by saying lesbians are being erased and need protection –

… Read the rest
How dare lesbians exclude men? 

I remember when Pink News was for lesbians and gay men. Seems like only yesterday. Now it gloats at bullying of lesbians.

Hundreds of LGBTQ+ women tell trans-exclusionary Lesbian Project: ‘You do not represent us’

What are LGBTQ+ women? They’re not anything, because no one can be all of those things. Why is Pink News rejoicing that confused lesbians are shunning and scolding lesbians for being lesbians?

More than 800 lesbians have signed an open letter to The Lesbian Project, denouncing the trans-exclusionary group as not reflective of the “lives, needs and community” of lesbians. 

That is, more than 800 lesbians have denounced other lesbians for not being inclooosive of men. Why are lesbians denouncing other lesbians for being…lesbians?… Read the rest

As they please 

Glinner asks a police officer why the police are not protecting the women from trans activists, who have completely encircled them. The officer says “People can come and go as they please.”

… Read the rest

The language is not sensitive 

No, you can’t do research on male athletes’ physical advantages compared to women, because you called them male.

Dr John Armstrong, a scholar at King’s College London (KCL), applied to carry out a survey of elite athletes and volunteers on whether trans women, who are born male, should compete in women’s track and field categories and whether they felt they could express their views.

However, the university’s ethics panel rejected his application last week citing equality and diversity concerns, in what has been labelled an attack on academic freedom.

In a rejection letter, the university said: “The language is not sensitive and the misgendering of athletes is not appropriate… there is obvious bias in the language and there is

… Read the rest
Correction BUT 

Oh dear, NPR has had to admit it lies about men in women’s sports.

Ok ok ok we lied but still THERE’S LIMITED RESEARCH.… Read the rest

Not letting women speak 

Mr Menno reports:

… Read the rest

Bin the Stonewall membership 

Tomorrow’s Times:

(It is just barely tomorrow in London but only just.)

The health secretary has ordered NHS bodies to review their membership of Stonewall and stop hiring diversity officers.

Steve Barclay wrote to ten leading national health organisations, including NHS England, the UK Health Security Agency and the Care Quality Commission, asking them to question whether their “diversity and inclusion memberships” provided good value.

Good value for money, he goes on to say.

I don’t think that’s the best way to put it, because Stonewall’s ideas of “diversity and inclusion” are bad ideas, even if Stonewall gives them away for free. But governments do have to think about the money.

Several organisations and institutions such as the

… Read the rest
The insurrection anthem 

March 27 update: the LA Times reports more accurately:

WACO, Texas —  

Facing a potential indictment, former President Trump took a defiant stance at a rally Saturday in Waco, disparaging the prosecutors investigating him and predicting his vindication as he rallied supporters in a city made famous by deadly resistance against law enforcement.

With a hand over his heart, Trump stood at attention when his rally opened with a song called “Justice for All,” performed by a choir of people imprisoned for their roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Some video from the attack was shown on big screens displayed at the rally site as the choir sang the national anthem and a recording played of

… Read the rest