In Alex Jones news: $45.2 million in punitive damages.

Jones spent years telling his audience that one of the worst school shootings in American history was a hoax. Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, who brought the charges against Jones, told the court how he made their lives a “living hell” after Jesse, their 6-year-old son, was gunned down in the attack.

“I can’t even describe the last nine-and-a-half years,” Heslin said. “The living hell that I and others have had to endure because of the recklessness and negligence of Alex Jones.”

Not to mention the brutality and cruelty and total lack of empathy.… Read the rest

Hoo-boy…“unethical” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Researchers are openly recruiting trans athletes who *want* to show a loss of performance. This breaks every rule in the study book.

"If you feel unjust about the recent policies, why not provide your data to influence the next policy making decisions"https://t.co/TqjHZGnMLW

— FairPlayForWomen (@fairplaywomen) August 5, 2022

FPFW:

There are a couple of studies being done in British universities in an attempt to prove that “transition” from male to female reduces the male performance advantage enough to make it fair for those post-pubertal adult males to play and compete in women’s sport. It’s known that testosterone suppression reduces oxygen-carrying capacity, which reduces athletic performance a bit, though it’s

… Read the rest

Fun at the swimming pool:

A senior woman who expressed discomfort regarding a trans-identified male in the women’s changing room at her local pool has been banned from using the facilities she frequented for over three decades. Julie Jaman, 80, had been a guest at the YMCA-run Mountain View community pool in her small town of Port Townsend, Washington for over 35 years.

Interrupting for a moment to say I know that small town. It’s on the Olympic Peninsula, the remainder of the state west of Seattle and Puget Sound; it’s on a bluff overlooking the water and features a lot of gorgeous Queen Anne-style Victorian houses. It’s a lovely place.

Speaking to Reduxx, Jaman revealed that on

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U wot?

Young people who bleed across Wales? What do they do, open a vein in Fishguard and march bleeding all the way to Abergavenny?

Haha, silly me, no, they mean “people” all over Wales who shed their uterine linings once a month.

Our aim is to break the taboo around periods by encouraging conversation on one of the most normal, natural topics that half the world’s population experience.

Which half? Which half which half which half which half which half which half?

Of course they don’t say. Funny that they want to break one taboo by instituting another.

We’re immensely proud that Bloody Brilliant was created for the young people of Wales by the young people of Wales. 

Following

… Read the rest

Let’s see…off the top of my head rather than looking in a dictionary…

-fer

-late

-ition

-parent (that pun is the title of a Netflix show of course)

-cendent

-itory

Quite a few words to render meaningless.

At first I thought it was a typo, but @GuardianAus is literally clipping the letters 'trans' from its tweets. pic.twitter.com/sWiJMKeTTC

— Stuart Palmer (@s_palm) August 4, 2022

And then there's the American Family Association which changed every occurrence of “gay”, even when used as someone’s surname… a report on athlete Tyson Gay ended up with the headline “Homosexual eases into 100m final at Olympic trials”

— Scott Matthewman (@scottm) August 4, 2022

H/t soogeeoh… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Bjarte Foshaug on Never going back.

The situation is much the same in south-eastern Norway. For the first time ever this year the trusted spring flood due to snowmelt in the second half of May has been completely absent due to record-low levels of snow in the mountains. Combine that with the driest summer on record, and it’s becoming a major challenge for hydropower companies such as the one I’m working in to keep our power plants running. To the end consumers this has the effect of driving the already economy-breaking energy prices even further up. Factor in the European over-reliance on Russian gas that is no longer available, and we’re facing the real prospect … Read the rest

Amnesty International is even dumber than I thought – or its social media intern is, but that’s the same thing, because what is Amnesty doing letting a stupid clueless woman-hating child handle its social media?

It's not just women who can become pregnant. It's women, it's girls, and it's the millions of others who can become pregnant.

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) June 26, 2022

It’s millions of men who can become pregnant.

Who knew?… Read the rest

The snowpack is shrinking.

The Western US is an empire built on snow. And that snow is vanishing.

Since most of the region gets little rain in the summer, even in good years, its bustling cities and bountiful farms all hinge on fall and winter snow settling in the mountains before slowly melting into rivers and reservoirs. That snowmelt, often traveling hundreds of miles from mountain top to tap, sustains the booming desert communities of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Salt Lake City — even coastal Los Angeles and San Francisco. A civilization of more than 76 million people, home to Silicon Valley and Hollywood alike, relies on snow.

Without the snow, it’s mostly desert.

Dangerously high temperatures in the

… Read the rest

It seems I missed new jokes from Jason Stanley during my exile from internet privilege.

https://twitter.com/jasonintrator/status/1555176677835251712

Please, sir, tell us more about yourself.

Oh look, he does!

https://twitter.com/jasonintrator/status/1555405383841218560

But for the chef’s kiss –

https://twitter.com/jasonintrator/status/1555350866286333952… Read the rest

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.

Right-wing talk show host Alex Jones will have to pay the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim a little more than $4 million in compensatory damages, a jury decided Thursday, capping a stunning and dramatic case that showcased for the public the real-world harm inflicted by viral conspiracy theories.

…

A separate, shorter trial during which punitive damages will be discussed is now expected. Punitive damages are awarded when the court finds the defendant’s behavior to be especially offensive.

…

“Neil and Scarlett are thrilled with the result and look forward to putting Mr. Jones’ money to good use,” Bankston added. “Mr Jones on the other hand will not sleep easy

… Read the rest

Sorry! Internet torture hell. I think it’s been fixed now…… Read the rest

Interesting ploy in this one – mention racism but scrupulously refrain from mentioning sexism…when talking about an issue that is precisely about women and not men.

We can talk about racism and “discrimination”…but not sexism or discrimination against specifically women. We can’t ever ever ever talk about women and injustice against women. That would be transphobic.… Read the rest

But what it won’t do is say the word “women.”

Who? Who is “we”? Who is “us”? Whose bodies are we talking about? Everyone’s? What kind of sexual and reproductive health care are we talking about?

It’s a mystery.

See also:

… Read the rest

No.

Not forcing “someone”: forcing a woman.

Not “their” will: her will.

Not “Americans”: American women.

NOT PREGNANT PERSON. JUST STOP.… Read the rest

https://twitter.com/huhef22/status/1554556641877573636

Well obviously. Nobody is “just their genitals.” That would be weird. Imagine it, just millions and millions of genitals and nothing else. They couldn’t even walk around, because no legs (this goes for the male variety too). No walking, no talking, no ballet, no eating a cheeseburger – nothing. Just genitals. You may be thinking well at least it would be sexy, but would it? Would it? When there’s absolutely nothing else? No brain, no eyes, no ears, no feet? I say no.… Read the rest

Mkay this is scary. Everything is scary these days. This is very scary.

As former Republican senator Rick Santorum addressed Republican lawmakers gathered in San Diego at the American Legislative Exchange Council policy summit, he detailed a plan to fundamentally remake the United States. 

By making a new constitution! A new far-right constitution! Oh boy, kids, won’t that be fun?!

The December 2021 ALEC meeting represents a flashpoint in a movement spearheaded by powerful conservative interests, some of whom are tied to Trumpworld and share many of Trump’s goals, to alter the nation’s bedrock legal text since 1788. It’s an effort that has largely taken place out of public view. 

…

During an extraordinary few weeks in June, the

… Read the rest

Communalism strikes again.

A private school in Vadodara, which had planned a field trip for kindergarten children to a mosque in the city, called off the visit after protests from Bajrang Dal on Tuesday. Volunteers of the Bajrang Dal, who claimed to have “received complaints” from parents, arrived at the school and threatened the school management with dire consequences if children were taken to the mosque.

I don’t really think schools should be taking students to mosques or temples or churches, but I much more definitely think other people shouldn’t make threats over it.

The Delhi Public School in Kalali in Vadodara, which had earlier also taken children to visit a temple in the city, had planned to take

… Read the rest

Ahhh what a lovely man – he buried the ex on his golf course because tax break. The sentimental old fool.

When Ivana Trump, Donald Trump’s first wife, was buried last month near the first hole of Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, few immediately guessed that her grave’s location might also serve her ex-husband’s long-held tax planning purposes.

Well at least near the first hole is special. Could have been the fifth, or behind the pro shop.

Tax code in New Jersey exempts cemetery land from all taxes, rates, and assessments – and her grave, as such, potentially has advantageous tax implications for a Trump family trust that owns the golf business, in a state

… Read the rest

Obviously I had to follow that link.

There is 'nonsense', and there is 'outrageous nonsense':

"If working to bar TW athletes from competing in elite sport actively benefits a current competitor’s rankings or opportunities, that woman can be seen as acting from jealousy, fear, or ignorance." https://t.co/3wrX4Wzq7C

— Miroslav Imbrisevic (@Miroandrej) August 2, 2022

So let’s read the abstract:

Throughout 2019, retired athletes Martina Navratilova (tennis), Sharron Davies (swimming), Kelly Holmes (athletics) and Paula Radcliffe (marathon) all spoke publically about what they perceive to be the unfairness of trans women competing in women’s elite sport.

What they “perceive to be” the unfairness of men competing in women’s sport (elite or otherwise) – ah yes it’s wholly subjective, and downright … Read the rest

Ok connectivity issues persist, so I’ll be scarce today and much of tomorrow, SO I thought I would post a kind of miscellany room away from miscellany room, where you can talk about whatever you feel like talking about. Report interesting news or gossip or brawling if you see any.… Read the rest