The charges are piling up.

All 56 FBI field offices are engaged in a huge investigation that ranks alongside the biggest the bureau has conducted. As Michael Sherwin, acting US attorney for Washington DC which is leading the hunt, has put it: “The scope and scale of this investigation are really unprecedented, not only in FBI history but probably DoJ history.”

…

Already the number of people who have been arrested, either by the FBI, Capitol police or local Washington DC officers has reached 235, spanning more than 40 states. As the investigation widens and deepens, the focus is tightening on anyone considered to have acted as a coordinator of the action in an attempt to take out

Oh you mean if we tell thousands of damaging lies about you on our very popular “news” channel you’re going to sue us? For real???

Lou Dobbs is out at Fox Business, just a day after the voting machine company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against him, the cable news network and several purveyors of the debunked theory that its technology was used to commit massive voter fraud.

It wasn’t really a “theory,” bunked or debunked. It was a story. Trump wanted a story so they made a story for him.

After the initial threats were made, Fox News and Fox Business ran deposition-esque segments on the shows of the three anchors now sued by Smartmatic — Dobbs, Maria

It just always has to be misrepresented. From a Guardian piece on the sacking of Joanna Cherry:

Some SNP MPs described a “palpable sense of relief” within the Westminster group this week, along with a degree of frustration that action had not been taken sooner. As one MP said: “The party has a hard-won reputation for being socially liberal, pro-equality, and any perception that our politicians are not has a terrible effect on younger supporters in particular, and with that comes the fear that they will go to the Greens at the next election.”

So the implication is that Cherry, and the rest of us pesky feminists who don’t agree that men can become women, is socially conservative and … Read the rest

Can that nice man who defiled Pelosi’s office go home if he promises to be good? No.

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the detention of an Arkansas man photographed with his feet on the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the Jan. 6 rioting at the U.S. Capitol, describing his behavior as “brazen” and “entitled” after excoriating his defense lawyer over “frivolous” claims of prosecutorial misconduct.

In ordering the detention of Richard Barnett, Chief Judge Beryl Howell said the charges he faces, including unlawfully entering the Capitol grounds with a weapon, are “in some ways, too benign sounding to fairly describe what happened.” The judge went on to describe the deadly events that took place at the Capitol

Oh hooray, the scales have fallen from my eyes and I have been educated, curly blonde red eyeshadow boy has EXPLAINED FEMINISM and everything is different. Thank god for curly blonde red eyeshadow boy and his hatred and contempt for women!

Still at it.

Erasing women.

The Bill on Maternity Leave for Minsters is all about "pregnant people"

https://t.co/fyx2lszrAh pic.twitter.com/iUC3BOHQKF

— Maya Forstater (@MForstater) February 5, 2021

“the person is pregnant”…… Read the rest

Should Trump get intelligence briefings?

Uh, no. He shouldn’t have been getting them for the past four years and he sure as hell shouldn’t be getting them now.

President Joe Biden said that former President Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings even though they typically have been given to other former presidents.

Biden told CBS News in an interview that Trump was “unfit to be president” and his “erratic behavior” is why he should [not] have access to the nation’s classified information.

…

Biden added, “I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the

Intent doesn’t matter?

Includes McNeil apology: pic.twitter.com/Ikit7xs08i

— marc tracy (@marcatracy) February 5, 2021

Use/mention distinction.

Also…

Many articles in a Sunday newspaper are first posted online earlier in the week. February 7 is the print date from the archive. It appeared this week online.

— Bill Dedman, investigative reporter and author (@BillDedman) February 5, 2021

Maybe there’s more to it.

The Daily Beast is patting itself on the back for being the source:

The New York Times on Friday announced the ouster of science and health reporter Donald McNeil Jr., who The Daily Beast reported had allegedly used racist language while on a 2019 trip with students to Peru.

McNeil, formerly the paper of record’s top reporter on COVID-19,

More “Jessica”:

The @LangleyRCMP report desk staff from @LangleyTownship are the rudest snappiest people ever. I think @Tampax @midol should sponsor department. PMS time? So Bitchy!
Pretty stupid honestly. I ask for an officers name, they won’t give it to me but it’s on his voicemail. Idiots. pic.twitter.com/8OvD95Mjrb

— Jessica❤️ (@trustednerd) January 25, 2021

They’re so bitchy, do they need Tampax, do they need Midol, are they all PMS hur hur hur?

Hello @LangleyTownship @TOLFireFighters @LangleyRCMP so you're gonna say I am committing "inappropriate and lewd conduct" being in my own bathtub in MY house? Guess you guys don't like trans vaginas.

Can you give me the best address to send over my bathtub swimsuit calendar? pic.twitter.com/hDjFWdwu40

— Jessica❤️ (@trustednerd)

Chase Strangio is just straight-up libeling people now.

The reality is that people like JK and Shrier and all the rest of them are closely aligned with white supremacists in power and their rhetoric in turn creates dangerous policy proposals and eventually laws. We have a lot of mobilizing to do. https://t.co/YltsTKIc1s

— Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) February 5, 2021

I hope JKR has a word with Chase. She’s not bashful about introducing her lawyers to libelers.… Read the rest

An old acquaintance continues to contribute to the gaiety of nations.

The Canadian trans person who sued female beauticians for refusing to wax their balls has made more than 30 emergency calls to the fire brigade in the last three weeks. Each time responders arrived, there was no emergency, just Jessica engaging in 'inappropriate and lewd conduct' pic.twitter.com/31P4b0mjMw

— ripx4nutmeg (@ripx4nutmeg) February 5, 2021

That’s the erstwhile Jessica Yaniv, of course, after another whimsical name change. It seems there’s a celebrity Jessica Simpson, so no doubt Yaniv will be suing her for impersonation soon.

He did sue his local health service just a couple of weeks ago, so while he was also harassing the Langley fire department. Busy guy.… Read the rest

This seems like a bad idea.

Hunter is writing a book about himself.

When Joe Biden first launched his presidential bid, inquiries about his son, Hunter, were so taboo they were met with the full fury of the campaign.

“Ask the right question!” Biden snapped at a reporter early in the campaign who asked about Hunter Biden’s business interests in Ukraine.

That’s bullshit. As I said about 5 thousand times during the campaign, Biden should have stopped him. Biden should have told his son he couldn’t leverage his daddy’s job into a highly lucrative job for himself for which he had no particular qualifications. It was sordid at best and corrupt at worst. Joe Biden had no right to … Read the rest

Well shown and said.

"They're not 'The Squad' They're Ilhan. They are Alexandria. And they're Rashida. They are people. They are our colleagues … this is an AR-15" — Steny Hoyer printed out one of Marjorie Taylor Greene's incendiary tweets pic.twitter.com/pXOmMtyrFs

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 4, 2021

Marjorie Taylor Greene was a 40-something year old grown ass woman when she was posting and saying all sorts of crazy and violent stuff. “I was allowed to believe” is something a child would say. https://t.co/PWHR5ku3uc

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 5, 2021

This was incredibly powerful and moving.

Thank you, @RepDeanPhillips. https://t.co/8gdyTXgpoN

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 5, 2021

… Read the rest

Marjorie Greene has been stripped of her committee duties, and she’s exploiting her rebuke as a way to get people to give her money. Very trumpy.

Greene defended herself ahead of the vote in a speech on the House floor and attempted to distance herself from the dangerous and debunked QAnon conspiracy theory, which she has previously embraced.

But Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, who has introduced a resolution to expel Greene, told reporters he still believes she should be removed from Congress even after watching her floor remarks. The congressman said of his resolution, “I’m committed to bringing it up, and I said that to leadership that there needs to be a vote sooner rather or later

The Pioneer Plaque…

Aliens not returning Earth’s calls because the Pioneer Plaque is transphobic, claim Social Justice scientists. pic.twitter.com/N8nVSEpMxt

— Satiria (@SatiriaNews) May 12, 2017

Not really transphobic, because hey, it doesn’t say who is which or how anyone identifies.

Anyway. Ignoring Satiria’s satir, I’m mildly intrigued by the image. It was launched in March 1972. It’s a little odd that they chose that nice young couple from Connecticut to represent all of humanity. No infants, no children, no old crocks, and no people from Shanghai or Kolkata or Mombasa.

Also, down to finer detail…it’s only the man who is doing something, the woman is just standing there passively. The man stands solidly while the woman is pointing her toe … Read the rest

Quote of the day:

I’m looking forward to the ACLU’s fight for the inclusion of sawhorses, seahorses, and pommel horses in the next running of the Kentucky Derby.

–Your Name’s not Bruce?… Read the rest

The current right-wing gotcha is claiming that Ocasio-Cortez lied about being in the Capitol during the attack. “She wasn’t even there!! She was in her office next door!!! Doesn’t count!!!!”

But some have questioned her story, with conservative critics mentioning that her office is in the nearby Cannon House, not the main Capitol building. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, whose office is close to Ocasio-Cortez’s, tweeted: “Insurrectionists never stormed our hallway.”

That’s fascinating, but how would AOC or anyone else have known that at the time?

Ocasio-Cortez has vigorously defended her account of the day. She shared a tweet by the alt-right activist Jack Posobiec, who claimed that the congresswoman was “not in the Capitol building at the

Speaking of carefully choosing photos for your “Hooray for transwomen in sport!” tweets…

Anyone else notice how when an athlete comes out as a transwoman, the press only show photos of them alone, so they look lonely, isolated, harmless? This is cyclist Emily Bridges 1/ pic.twitter.com/iWVfs5SIYb

— Miranda #IStandWithJKRowling (@MirandaNewsom) January 22, 2021

But soon, Emily will be competing against female riders, because that will make Emily happy. What about the girls, you ask? Yes, what about them? If Emily is winning and happy, isn’t that enough? Won’t that be fairness, equality, justice? 4/ pic.twitter.com/Z2q18zTZ7Z

— Miranda #IStandWithJKRowling (@MirandaNewsom) January 22, 2021

Cross-country is a lonely business. 6/ pic.twitter.com/FOHwDFHU21

— Miranda #IStandWithJKRowling (@MirandaNewsom) January 22, 2021

Of course when you

The Guardian reported a few days ago that Maajid Nawaz (who, from what I’ve seen, has been moving ever farther to the right lately) has been talking up trumpish conspiracy theories.

The prominent radio presenter and activist Maajid Nawaz, co-founder of a respected British anti-extremist thinktank and a one-time government adviser, has alarmed former admirers and academics with his interest in conspiracy theories about the lockdown and voter fraud in the US election on his Twitter account.

As an LBC radio host, he regularly takes provocative stances, but now a string of controversial and potentially harmful tweets is prompting further questions.

Followers were initially alarmed when Nawaz, who set up the Quilliam Foundation in 2008, inspired by his

Well knock me down with a feather – a Washington Post cartoonist gets it.

Oh hey, I found another. pic.twitter.com/lIJjNwXpEo

— Ophelia Benson (@OpheliaBenson) February 4, 2021

… Read the rest