This is gorgeous to watch.

An incredible bird's eye view pic.twitter.com/KNbrYYvwUx

— Giles Paley-Phillips (@eliistender10) September 9, 2021

Identifying details:

It’s all so grudging.

Trans women can be excluded from some “women-only spaces” in some circumstances, Keir Starmer says, as the controversy threatens to open a bitter row in the party.

That is, women won’t be forced to have men in all women-only spaces, Starmer says, only some of them. The Independent of course simply has to put it in terms of “exclusion,” and has to put scare-quotes on the very bizarre unfamiliar shocking idea that women get to pee in a room without men in it.

The law “rightly assumes the inclusion of trans women, except in specific circumstances”, the spokesman said, normally thought to include prisons and refuges.

But everywhere else we’re required to pretend that men … Read the rest

A prosperous barrister sounding like an agitated teenager.

A coalition of an LGBT+ group, children sexual health charity, and endocrinologists, and @GoodLawProject, has already written threatening imminent legal action.

— Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) September 22, 2021

He blathers as if puberty blockers are an entirely established, uncontroversial, unquestioned health-improver with zero harms and even zero risk of harms.

But that’s not the case, and he’s in a position to know perfectly well that’s not the case, unless he systematically shoves his thumbs into his ears whenever anyone tries to tell him so. But he’s an adult, and a powerful adult at that, so he has no right to shove his thumbs in his ears and go right on … Read the rest

Sullen racist guy sues New York Times, niece, for telling the truth about sullen racist guy.

Former President Donald J. Trump filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Mary L. Trump, The New York Times and three of its reporters of conspiring in an “insidious plot” to improperly obtain his confidential tax records and exploit their use in news articles and a book.

He’s a crook. He was president of the US. The public has a right to know. I don’t care if Mary Trump signed a billion NDAs, we had a right to know.

Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Dutchess County, N.Y., accuses the newspaper, its reporters and Ms. Trump of being motivated “by a

Who was Sabina Nessa?

A south-east London primary school has been left “devastated” by the suspected murder of one of its teachers after her body was found near a community centre on Saturday.

The Metropolitan police named the victim as Sabina Nessa, 28, from Kidbrooke, and said her death was being treated as murder. A man in his 40s who was arrested on suspicion of killing her has been released under further investigation.

Lisa Williams, the head of Rushey Green primary school in Lewisham, where Nessa worked, said she was a brilliant teacher.

“We are devastated by Sabina’s tragic death. She was kind, caring and absolutely dedicated to her pupils,” Williams added.

But apparently not kind and caring enough … Read the rest

I saw this yesterday, and had been thinking similar things for two or three days.

The sad thing is @JoyAnnReid is not wrong. There have been over 700 missing person cases in Wyoming in the last 10 years. Mostly Native American girls and you have not heard of one of them. https://t.co/ED6cRa3aPy

— Quixotic Fool (@Quixotic_Moron) September 21, 2021

I kept wondering during those two or three days why Gabby Petito was trending so insistently on Twitter. She can’t be the only missing person in the country, I thought, so why is she trending in particular? I suppose the answer is depressingly obvious and stupid. She’s young, she’s pretty, she’s white, she’s blonde. Give her another 20 years and she … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Screechy Monkey on The manly men.

The Republicans are the party of male fragility.

You can see it in their strutting attempts to equate gun ownership with machismo and their constant braggadocio about their willingness to engage in violence (the coup/civil war fantasies, the declarations of “here are my guns, just try to come take them!”).

You can see it in their attempts to fetishize Donald Trump, of all people, as a pillar of masculinity: those bizarre Ben Garrison cartoons depicting Trump as some muscular Adonis exist for a reason. There’s really nothing wrong with having a president who is elderly and overweight and not a prime physical specimen, but they can’t accept the possibility … Read the rest

Back to school in Afghanistan – no not you.

The Taliban have excluded girls from Afghan secondary schools, with only boys and male teachers allowed back into classrooms.

Naturally. Girls are for pumping out babies, not for learning.

Schoolgirls and their parents on Saturday said prospects were bleak.

“I am so worried about my future,” said one Afghan schoolgirl, who had hoped to be a lawyer.

“Everything looks very dark. Every day I wake up and ask myself why I am alive? Should I stay at home and wait for someone to knock on the door and ask me to marry him? Is this the purpose of being a woman?”

Her father said: “My mother was illiterate, and my

The IOC can’t decide what to think.

The International Olympic Committee’s new transgender guidelines for sports have been delayed again because of “very conflicting opinions” and are now unlikely to be published until after next February’s Beijing Winter Olympics, three years later than originally planned.

The news was revealed by the IOC’s science and medical director, Dr Richard Budgett, who said the forthcoming advice for international sports federations would “prioritise inclusion” and “avoidance of harm”.

They can’t do both. If they prioritize “inclusion” (by which they mean “inclusion” of men in women’s events) then they can’t also prioritize avoidance of harm. “Including” men in women’s sports is harm, and more harm will flow from it.

The Olympics aren’t “inclusive” … Read the rest

Hmm.

Tucker Carlson says vaccine requirements for the military are a ploy to "identify the sincere Christians in the ranks, the free thinkers, the men with high testosterone levels, and anybody else who doesn't love Joe Biden and make them leave immediately." pic.twitter.com/cEoZhpGo3U

— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) September 21, 2021

There’s a lot to wonder about in that passage, but I’m wondering what he means by “men with high testosterone levels.”

I guess he means particularly aggressive, violent, unthinking men?

I can see where men like that might tend to be hostile to vaccinations once they were alerted to The Resistance, but I don’t see where free thinkers come in.

No I guess I do, really – they come … Read the rest

One of those “everybody’s talking about” items –

This is a man constantly telling women what it is to be a woman – and constantly denouncing them as 'bigots', 'transphobes' and influenced 'by the far right' when they, quite rightly, tell him to get lost.

— Shaun Lawson (@shaunjlawson) September 20, 2021

I’ll quote the rest so that no one gets Twittersick.

Owen is also a gay man quite stunningly oblivious to just how alarmed many gay men and lesbians are to the direction this is all heading in. And they’re damn right to be alarmed – because people on here who are attracted to the same sex are also told they’re ‘hateful bigots’.

Most political commentators, even the best

Sequoias burning…

California wildfires have burned into at least four groves of gigantic ancient sequoias in national parks and forests, though cooler weather on Friday helped crews trying to keep the flames away from a famous cluster containing the world’s largest tree.

The fires lapped into the groves with trees that can be up to 200 feet (61 meters) tall and 2,000 years old, including Oriole Lake Grove in Sequoia National Park and Peyrone North and South groves in the neighboring Sequoia National Forest.

…

Flames were still about a mile (1.5 kilometers) from the famed Giant Forest, where some 2,000 massive sequoias grow on a plateau high in the mountains of the national park.

Firefighters have placed special

They tried.

A conservative lawyer working with then-President Donald Trump’s legal team tried to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could overturn the election results on January 6 when Congress counted the Electoral College votes by throwing out electors from seven states, according to the new book “Peril” from Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.

Just throw them out, yeah? Simple.

The scheme put forward by controversial lawyer John Eastman was outlined in a two-page memo obtained by the authors for “Peril,” and which was subsequently obtained by CNN. The memo, which has not previously been made public, provides new detail showing how Trump and his team tried to persuade Pence to subvert the Constitution

Let’s get them even younger says “charity.”

A leading charity for young people has called on the SNP to allow children as young as 12 to legally change their gender without their parents’ consent.

Let’s also allow them to drive, fly planes, perform surgery, cut down trees, fight fires, join the military. What could go wrong?

Children in Scotland, which receives more than £1 million a year in public money, said allowing pre-teens to obtain gender recognition certificates could prove “extremely beneficial” and would help “normalise trans identities”.

Ah there it is – it’s not about benefiting the children at all, it’s about normalizing the ludicrous claim that men become women by saying “I’m a woman.”

Under current Scottish

Here’s that clip of Rosie Duffield talking to Justin Webb on Today. It’s good.… Read the rest

The Express reports:

Nicola Sturgeon has come under fire after saying some women’s concerns were “not valid” in a debate about reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA).

The First Minister made the comments in regards to plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act which is currently in place in Scotland. In an interview with the BBC, Ms Sturgeon had suggested people should focus instead on the “real threats” to the safety of women.

…

A number of critics have pointed out that there could be an increased risk of harm to girls or women from predatory men [if the GRA is changed to make “gender recognition” easier] as they may be able to take advantage of the lack of

The BBC finds another bus to drive over Rosie Duffield:

A Labour MP wants a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer to clarify where the party stands on transgender issues.

Rosie Duffield, who has clashed with campaigners over her views on self identification for trans people, said the party’s position was unclear.

But a senior Labour MP said it was “being used as a wedge issue” when the party should be focused elsewhere.

She’s just a stupid junior MP who should be ignored, yeah?

Canterbury MP Ms Duffield has regularly used social media to outline her own position on transgender issues.

She believes that biological females should have protected spaces where biological males are not allowed to go, such as

Oh gosh, Andrew Windsor is stressed.

Royal courtiers fear the Duke of York is being failed by the strategy pursued by his London-based legal team, amid growing concern that his “wall of silence” is increasingly damaging the monarchy.

Note that that describes two completely different issues, which are likely in tension with each other. Windsor’s concern for himself is not at all the same thing as the monarchy’s concern for itself, and the latter will always trump the former if there’s a conflict. There’s a whole slew of people between A. Windsor and the throne so he’ll be overboard in a heartbeat if the bosses think it’s necessary.

Prince Andrew, 61, is “stressed” and “worried” and there is

The Guardian is very cautious about how it talks about Rosie Duffield – cautious in one way and incautious in another, that is. Mindful of one audience and bluntly indifferent to another.

Rosie Duffield has called for Keir Starmer to meet her and other female Labour MPs to discuss the party’s policy on transgender issues, confirming she will not attend Labour’s annual conference over worries she could face abuse because of her views on the subject.

She says he says he wants to do the meeting, but…somehow it hasn’t happened yet. I suspect it will go on somehow not happening.

Then the Guardian gets cold feet.

The Canterbury MP has become a focal point for criticism from some LGBT groups

Like trying to nail melted butter to the wall.

Yes, I’m not saying they don’t. It’s all based on context. Why is it not indecent exposure for you to be naked in front of your partner?

— Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) September 19, 2021

No, that’s a rhetorical one. Obviously the issue is informed consent.

— Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) September 20, 2021

Aha! Alrighty then! So she admits it, so…

Here’s one that’s not rhetorical: is possible discomfort alone sufficient justification to exclude someone from a shared public space? I’m not talking about likelihood of assault, I’m talking about discomfort. ‘I don’t want to share space with that person because they are trans’.

— Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) September 20, 2021

That … Read the rest