The Guardian solemnly parses Trump’s Fractured Astronomy:

Trump’s declaration shocked many space enthusiasts, because the moon has not traditionally been regarded as part of Mars.

The leading theory is that a collision between Earth and a planet-sized entity, many years ago, resulted in debris that eventually became the moon. On average Mars is 140m miles from the moon. Nasa did not immediately respond to a question from the Guardian asking if the moon is part of Mars.

Well it’s Friday afternoon. I’m sure they’ll get to it on Monday.

Irrespective of whether the moon is part of Mars (it isn’t), Trump’s announcement was doubly surprising given his previous enthusiasm for a moon trip. His criticism of Nasa for “talking

Well ok then. I did not know that.

For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon – We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2019

… Read the rest

Please, tell us more about how terrified men are of women:

Two women say they were subjected to a homophobic attack and left covered in blood after refusing to kiss on a bus.

Melania Geymonat, 28, said the attack on her and her partner Chris happened on the top deck of a London night bus as they were travelling to Camden Town.

A group of young men began harassing them when they discovered the women were together, asking them to kiss while making sexual gestures.

Four male teenagers aged between 15 and 18 have been arrested.

They are being questioned on suspicion of robbery and aggravated grievous bodily harm.

How grievous? This grievous:

I wrote for The Telegraph about

Guys who identify as women reeeeeeeeeeally need to stop saying this.

From the Telegraph:

Author David Thomas still lives as a man, but has begun the male-to-female gender transition that will eventually result in becoming a woman. This week he tackles the controversial issue of transwomen using female-only toilets

You know how parents tell children who are scared by spiders, ‘It’s much more frightened of you than you are of it’? Well, the same thing applies to transwomen in female-only toilets. However frightened women may be by our presence, we are way, way more petrified by having to be there.

No.

No.

Men don’t get to say that.

First of all he doesn’t and can’t even … Read the rest

Now Pink News feels misunderstood.

Mind you, three hours ago it was still all about the “nothing happened and she asked for it.”

The other speaker with her said Julie Bindel was “not physically hurt.” https://t.co/TlEAfBp6Ka

— PinkNews (@PinkNews) June 7, 2019

But I guess the responses finally got through to them.

Today we published a story about Julie Bindel. We wanted to clear up some misconceptions:

PinkNews looked into an alleged attack on Bindel by a trans person. Bindel tweeted she was “physically attacked,” but later said she was not physically harmed.

— PinkNews (@PinkNews) June 7, 2019

Alleged, we tell you, ALLEGED. By a trans person. Not by an enraged shouting man, but by a trans person. She … Read the rest

Damn, Pink News is horrible. It should just change its name to Trans News (which would be accurate in both senses).

Julie Bindel misgendered a trans woman who she claimed “physically attacked” her. https://t.co/TlEAfBp6Ka

— PinkNews (@PinkNews) June 7, 2019

That’s right, lead with the “misgendered” part, and also pretend not to believe the attack happened.

You can see it’s being ratioed, but Pink News won’t listen.

Let’s see how Lily Wakefield reports this story:

Radical feminist Julie Bindel claimed that she was “physically attacked” by a transgender woman after speaking at an event at Edinburgh University on Wednesday (June 5).

This is Pink News, yet Wakefield forgets to say that Julie is a lesbian. Too busy monstering her, … Read the rest

Ok here’s a thing.

There are rainbow coloured signs all over the gay village in Manchester, put up by city authorities, which say ‘look fabulous, you’re on CCTV’.

This could be the title of a book on the 21st century state.

— Helen Dale (@_HelenDale) June 6, 2019

Oh the puckish sense of humor of the security state.

Yes she does have the photo.

Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/sKV81Sqm92

— Helen Dale (@_HelenDale) June 6, 2019

… Read the rest

The Evening Standard says Julie Bindel had it coming.

CONTROVERSIAL feminist writer Julie Bindel says she was “lunged” at last night by an activist who had to be restrained by security guards. Bindel, co-founder of Justice For Women, was leaving a panel event at Edinburgh University when she was approached by activist Cathy Brennan, a trans woman whom Bindel mis-identifies as a man. “He ran right at me, was inches away from me. His fists were raised and his face was twisted with hatred and anger,” Bindel told The Londoner this morning.

Note the care to monster her with the very first word, which luckily is in all caps.

Then note that they see fit to say she “mis-identifed” … Read the rest

A further thought occurs to me, pondering this business of Justin Weinberg and his heightened (and in my view exaggerated) empathy for t philosopher (who claims to be a trans woman) along with his barely detectable empathy for women and other subordinated categories of people. Imagine being made to feel bad about yourself the way t philosopher is, he tells us. So I ponder what it is that makes t philosopher feel bad. According to tp it’s terfy women talking about sex and gender, but I was attempting to look behind that.

So I thought about the fact that academics have to stand up in front of groups of people, small groups or large or both, and lecture at them … Read the rest

I saw this.

https://twitter.com/janeclarejones/status/1136680203269365760

So I followed the link and skim-read Justin Weinberg’s “won’t somebody please think of the trans women” piece. I was not overwhelmed by the reasoning therein. I was annoyed by bêtises like the one Jane points out. There are lots of them. The whole thing is written from the assumption that on the one hand there are cis people, lolling about on fluffy pillows of privilege, and on the other there are trans people, battling oppression and exclusion of a kind that we cis people can’t even begin to imagine.

For instance, right at the beginning:

Understanding t philosopher

Remember t philosopher? That’s the one who wrote that Medium piece full of hyperbolic self-pity and … Read the rest

Some Twitter reactions.

Attn MPs + journalists. Even if you don't care about sex & gender (and you should), consider this: Julie Bindel, a journalist, has been physically attacked for expressing her opinions. This cannot stand. https://t.co/qgJI5CKI9X

— James Kirkup (@jameskirkup) June 6, 2019

This is Cathy. Cathy attacked a woman- Julie Bindel who has been instrumental in the fight for justice for female victims of the most horrific violence. Cathy then bragged about it on social media. Welcome to the Upside Down. pic.twitter.com/p9PcuWeNox

— Cat Shamer (@albinodisco) June 6, 2019

"He was shouting and ranting and raving, 'you're a f***** c***, you're a f****** bitch, a f****** Terf' and the rest of it… he just lunged at me and

A hulking man physically attacked Julie Bindel last night.

Gina Davidson at The Scotsman (cool name for a paper – are women allowed to read it?) reports:

Julie Bindel, the keynote speaker at an Edinburgh University event which discussed the future of women’s sex-based rights, said she was verbally abused, “lunged at” and almost “punched in the face”, by a transwoman as she left the building.

She thanked university security staff for protecting her and said she was still considering whether to press charges.

Today Ms Bindel said: “I have been beaten up by men in the past but not for a long time, and I knew precisely what was coming when I saw the rage on his face,

In Japan high heels are mandatory for women.

Japan’s health and labour minister has defended workplaces that require women to wear high heels to work, arguing it is “necessary and appropriate” after a petition was filed against the practice.

Necessary and appropriate for what, exactly? Knowing who is which sex without having to raise one’s gaze from the floor?

The remark came when Takumi Nemoto was asked to comment on a petition by a group of women who want the government to ban workplaces from requiring female jobseekers and employees to wear high heels.

“It is socially accepted as something that falls within the realm of being occupationally necessary and appropriate,” Nemoto told a legislative committee on

Trump’s off to Ireland now, to visit his impecunious (aka stone cold loser) golf course.

Trump’s visit to Ireland is not an official one, although he will meet with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar briefly at Shannon Airport. The visit is primarily for the president to stop off at his own golf resort at Doonbeg, in County Clare, where his ideological war on the environment takes something of a physical form.

A sprawling, luxury property, Doonbeg sits on the west coast of Ireland, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Trump opposed the construction of a wind farm near the site in 2014, and sent a celebratory tweet when the local council denied planning permission. There was a mild controversy in 2018 when it

Din-dins at the pally was the first time Donald “The Pig” Trump and Kate Middleton met, but he had a history. What kind of history? The usual kind, of course: his history of insulting her on Twitter.

Back in 2012, French magazine Closer published photos of Middleton sunbathing topless.

That is, she and William were staying at a private house owned by relatives, and a photographer took stealth photos of her, which is an absolute shit thing to do. She wasn’t walking down Oxford Street with her tits out.

But Trump saw fit to scold her on Twitter – Trump, the guy who brags about grabbing women by the pussy, and does in fact grab women by the pussy. … Read the rest