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

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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.

https://twitter.com/ElianaRubashkyn/status/1640639580344037377 https://twitter.com/ElianaRubashkyn/status/1640672937962516480… Read the rest

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

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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

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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 –

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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

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.”

pic.twitter.com/FydOq2bTvJ

— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) March 26, 2023

… Read the rest

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

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

https://twitter.com/void_if_removed/status/1640287442325450753

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

Mr Menno reports:

https://twitter.com/MrMennoTweets/status/1640097694738702340 https://twitter.com/MrMennoTweets/status/1640100349783449602 https://twitter.com/MrMennoTweets/status/1640104373660401664 https://twitter.com/MrMennoTweets/status/1640116213069012998

Well worth reading and watching the whole thing.… Read the rest

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

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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

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Is there any truth in what Billy Bragg said here?

https://twitter.com/GSpellchecker/status/1639706761320882176

Is it true that women’s rights were won at the expense of men? Is it true that a loss of rights for one set of people is what must happen for an excluded group to win their human rights?

I don’t think so.

There may be some truth in it in the case of women, because of the role of childbearing, which brings with it some physical needs (or lacks, if you want to put it that way) and some responsibilities that can’t be shared. There may be some truth in the claim that men have to give up or dial back some of their advantages and freedoms if … Read the rest

Former SNP Glasgow City Councillor has a wee laugh.

https://twitter.com/AustinRSheridan/status/1639971527486578690

Hur hur har har hahahaha it’s so funny when women get soup thrown over them and punched in the face and terrorized by a screaming mob.

We've all met 'progressive' men who think male violence against women they don't agree with is a right old laugh. What's new is seeing them being this open about it.

Maybe Humza will let you write his gags if you manage to get him elected, @AustinRSheridan. pic.twitter.com/tHDDbpzXQ3

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 26, 2023

But he has never condoned violence against women, he says. Giggled about it, yes, but condoned it, no. The two are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.

I have never ever condoned violence

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NPR is pathetic.

World Athletics Council, the governing body for international track and field, will bar transgender women athletes from elite competitions for women.

The council’s policy, which will be in effect starting March 31, largely targets athletes who transitioned from male to female after going through puberty as a male. It will also tighten rules for athletes with disorders of sexual development, cutting in half the level of testosterone athletes can have in order to compete in women’s events.

The policy “targets” male athletes ffs – as if it were pure meaningless cruelty to keep men out of women’s sports. Also calling male athletes “athletes who transitioned from male to female” is ridiculous, because there is no such … Read the rest

There was violence.

Controversial pro-woman and anti-transgender campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull said she thought she was going to die after she was attacked with tomato sauce and mobbed, forcing to cut her planned rally short.

…

Footage shows the controversial activist struggling to get through the crowd to escape the crushing mob with her security.

The crowd quickly became violent with supporters and protesters pushing against each other, while a metal barrier was pushed down by screaming counter-protesters.

One of them punched a woman in the face.

This wasn’t just noise, this was physical violence.

Co-leader of the Green Party, James Shaw, issued a statement following the violent rally, saying the party stands with trans and non-binary whānau.

“Aotearoa should

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There it is. I saw mentions of it yesterday but not the action shot.

Here is a NZ TRA punching an older woman in the face. He had time to think, time to assess, and he still punched her in the face. https://t.co/sDlVzRJZRT

— Emma Hilton (@FondOfBeetles) March 26, 2023

pic.twitter.com/6u6u9gmFOb

— Richard (@Kearns_Richard_) March 26, 2023

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The visual of Trump’s insurrectiony fascist rally. Not the play-fascist kind the gender crazies rant about but the real thing – the actual murderous violent racist woman-hating wannabe Leader who had power once and could get it again. Trump’s insurrectiony fascist rally celebrating his attempted overthrow of the government.

As footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is displayed in the background, former President Donald Trump stands while a song, “Justice for All,” is played during a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport, Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. pic.twitter.com/j8y1XSfJD1

— Evan Vucci (@evanvucci) March 26, 2023

He plays footage of his attempted coup at his rally.

He is beyond dangerous.… Read the rest

Marginalized communities!!

“The only good Nazi is a dead one, so just go kill yourselves.”

https://twitter.com/NoShirleyNo/status/1639959826707931136… Read the rest

Trump hails the apocalypse in Waco.

Donald Trump, the former US president, continued to invoke retribution and violence on Saturday when he used the first rally of his 2024 election campaign to rail against prosecutors weighing a criminal charge against him.

Efforts by Trump’s team to steer a more conventional, disciplined candidacy have wilted in recent days as the 76-year-old unleashed words and images that – even by his provocative standards – are unusually dehumanising, menacing and dangerous.

He opened the rally by playing a song, “Justice for All”, that features a choir of men imprisoned for their role in the January 6 insurrection singing the national anthem intercut with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Insurrectionists … Read the rest