Trump has big plans to make himself (and future presidents, but what are the chances he’s taking that into account?) dictator.

Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands.

Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control.

Mr. Trump and his associates have

The Willoughby Diaries:

You ok with this Philip Bernie??? You condoning this Philip Bernie???

Philip Bernie is the Head of BBC Sport Content, so I guess Willoughby wants him to banish Martina from BBC sport content, or Twitter, or the planet, or something.… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Athel Cornish-Bowden on Robin might be described as….

Last week I was invited to referee a paper by an editor of a journal that I was associated with (as author, editor of three special issues, member of the Editorial Board) for more than 40 years. The paper was relevant to my expertise, so I said yes. However, when I tried to download the PDF file I was faced with a demand (not optional) to answer a “diversity questionnaire”.

I should have said right away that it was none of Elsevier’s business what I “identify as”, or what sort of person I spend my nights with. Foolishly, however, I answered their silly questionnaire, in which the … Read the rest

Cartoon biology for cartoon people.

We’re cooking ourselves.

Americans have been treated for second-degree contact burns in Arizona as extreme heat caused pavement temperatures to surpass 71C (160F).

Over 110 million people were under extreme heat advisories in the south west as brutal conditions caused by a heat dome threatened to break records.

…

Hospitals and firefighters in the city have been treating residents who have been burned by scorching pavements.

Sidewalks are indeed nasty things in extreme heat.

Patients have been admitted with temperatures far exceeding the normal range. They have been treated with cold intravenous fluids and been placed in what look like small inflatable kayaks filled with ice.

One burn centre in Phoenix told the Washington Post it had treated

Originally a comment by Francis Boyle on Men are not women=the earth is flat.

I learnt a useful term on Twitter(!) today – epistemological caste system. Roughly, the idea is that people like McKinnon see their job as purely the promotion of ideas. Testing or analysis of those ideas is strictly someone else’s job. Whatever passes for truth in their world view is taken on authority and that authority is taken as being fundamentally ethical. How that squares with identifying as a philosopher is anyone’s guess. (I suppose I could read the thesis in question but thankfully that’s not my job and I don’t identify as a masochist.)

@ktron

I certainly don’t know anyone who believes the Earth is … Read the rest

I don’t know if this is real or not, but if it is, it’s…interesting.

The first thing I notice isn’t even about the stupid destructive ideology being shoved at children who are too young to judge it critically. The first thing I notice is the fact that there are multiple clunky mistakes in the very first question. 1. “Robin feels like he etc is” – yuck. Robin feels that he is or Robin feels as if he is. This is school, not the pub. 2. …”like he/she/they is” – yo! If you’re gonna be teaching kids the New Progressive Whatsit, how about not taking it for granted that the “he” comes first? How about mixing it up a little? … Read the rest

Rowan Moore in The Observer takes the both-sides view of men who urge violence against women:

“If you see a Terf,” said Sarah Jane Baker, a speaker at last weekend’s Trans Pride in London, “punch them in the fucking face.”…As a number of pro-trans organisations and individuals have since said, this is an incitement to violence against women, both unacceptable and no help to trans people. It enables the rightwing press, as they duly did, to portray what was a celebratory and positive event as an act of hate.

Ah yes, that’s the important thing: calling for violence against women is bad for trans people, especially the male ones. Do lets be sure to rush at high speed … Read the rest

Seditionists identify as not-seditionists. Who are you to deny their identity?

A growing number of Capitol rioters have gone back on their guilty pleas and apologies – including one of the most recognisable faces from 6 January.

The pretend-shaman guy.

A judge called his apology “the most remarkable I’ve heard in 34 years” and sentenced him to 41 months in prison – considerably less than the maximum allowed. Now more than a year-and-a-half later, Angeli is out of jail early, and his remorse is gone. “Regrets only weigh down the mind,” he told the BBC. “They’re like sandbags on a hot air balloon.”

Some minds need weighing down. People who do bad destructive dangerous things need to be weighed … Read the rest

Rhys McKinnon aka “Veronica Ivy” is back. He…hasn’t changed. For some reason MSNBC sees fit to publish his opinion that he has every right to compete against women in cycling races.

The International Olympic Committee and international sport federations have been grappling with inclusion policies for at least 20 years. 

What does he mean by “inclusion policies”? Allowing men like him to steal prizes and medals from women.

Are trans women really women? If you think they are, then there’s no real debate here.

If you think they aren’t, then there’s likely nothing I can say that will change your mind. It’s a little like arguing with a flat-Earther: If someone is convinced that the Earth is flat, then

Thank god The Independent is on the important news.

Lorraine Kelly repeatedly misgendered Sam Smith while discussing the singer’s look for the Barbie premiere.

*gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasp*

Hosting her ITV daytime show Lorraine on Thursday (13 July), Kelly talked to guest Vogue Williams about the pink carpet hits and misses from Wednesday night’s (12 July) European premiere for Greta Gerwig’s movie.

While the majority of the guests opted for Barbie-inspired all-pink outfits, Smith – who has written a song titled “Man I Am” from the perspective of Ken for the Barbie soundtrack – went for a far more casual look.

What does “more casual than Barbie-inspired all-pink outfits” mean?

Discussing the outfit on Lorraine, Williams joked that Smith looked like

Another taunt from another man pretending to be a woman:

Valentina Petrillo, a 49-year-old biological male, has won a women’s 400 metres bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris. The Italian, who was 18 years older than any other competitor in the race, denied Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El-Idrissi a place on the podium in the T12 final for visually impaired athletes.

The medal for Petrillo, the first achieved by a transgender athlete on the global stage in track and field, drew swift condemnation, with Peter Eriksen, Canada’s former Olympic head coach, calling the result “shocking” and Mara Yamauchi, the third fastest female British marathon runner in history, asking: “How many 49-year-olds would win medals at world level?”

The National Review tells us:

A video published by the New York Post on Saturday morning shows Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explaining to a group of supporters that Covid-19 may have been “ethnically targeted” at Caucasian and black people, sparing Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese from severe outcomes.

“COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” the Kennedy scion said during a dinner on the Upper East Side. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”

“We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic

The most predictable crisis ever:

Households in Florida, the third most populous state in the US, have been grappling for some time with a property insurance crisis that is making home ownership unaffordable for many.

Now why might that be? Because Florida is doomed. It’s like trying to get fire insurance on your house when it bursts into flames. It’s like trying to buy car insurance after you rear-end another car. It’s like trying to buy life insurance when you’re dead.

After at least six insurers went insolvent in Florida last year, Farmers on Tuesday became the latest to pull out of the Florida market, saying in a statement that the decision was based on risk exposure in

Won’t somebody please think of the cheaters?

“Nobody wins in this” — the cycling community reacts to new UCI transgender policy

Subhead: Athletes and advocates on both sides of the trans-athlete inclusion debate share their opinions

It’s not “the trans-athlete inclusion” debate, it’s the fairness to women debate. It’s not fair to women to let men compete in women’s sports. It’s that simple.

Starting July 17, 2023, transgender women who have transitioned after puberty are banned from competing in the women’s category at all UCI-sanctioned events, cycling’s governing body announced today. 

Good, but incomplete. Trans women should compete in the men’s category, because they’re men. It’s that simple.

In a press release, the UCI said it was “necessary to

So now you want to know all about Katje Van Loon, right? Obviously. You’re in luck, because the BBC explained about her exactly one year ago, on that previous International Non-Binary Day.

Ten years ago, Katje van Loon wrote a blog post calling for the creation of International Non-Binary Day on 14 July – exactly half way between International Women’s Day and International Men’s Day. Katje tells BBC gender and identity correspondent, Megha Mohan, why it is important that the day has become a reality.

Well thank fuck the BBC has a gender and identity correspondent, or we might never know about these things.

Katje explains all:

My grandmother had just died and I was at her apartment organising

I’m trying to figure out who decided there’s such a thing as International Non-binary Day, and on what authority, and why anyone else is expected to nod agreement. It seems to be the work of one woman (or am I wrong to call her [xir?] a woman?) named Katje van Loon (a good deal too on the nose there) in 2012. Ok so why is anyone else expected to agree with her? Why am I expected to? What gave her the authority to invent a new International Day that we now have to hear about even though we don’t want to?

The Human Rights Campaign is very on board but it doesn’t explain any of these mysteries.

July 14 is

This is cool. With the right lens you can clearly see Puget Sound and Lake Washington from 438 miles up.

You can even see Lake Samamish, east of Lake Washington and much smaller.

A cloudless midday view of northwest Washington today from the NASA Terra satellite orbiting at 438 miles above Earth. #wawx pic.twitter.com/A3OXLwabkM

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) July 14, 2023

… Read the rest

What does any of it mean?

It’s as if people are repeating sentences in a foreign language they are wholly unfamiliar with – reading them off a cheat-sheet without having any idea what they’re saying.

Sending love to all enbies on #NonBinaryPeoplesDay! 💛🤍💜🖤

Non-binary people must be respected, recognised in law and protected from conversion "therapy".

They must have access to any gender-affirming healthcare they need, and be able to live without fear or discrimination.

— Nadia Whittome MP (@NadiaWhittomeMP) July 14, 2023

How do we go about “respecting” non-binary people? I simply don’t know where to begin. And why is it that they must be respected more than anyone else? Why are they singled out for this extra … Read the rest

University College London press release:

14 July marks International Non-Binary People’s Day, aimed at raising awareness of the issues that non-binary people face around the world. 

Hmm. Ackshually, 14 July is Bastille Day. Famous for it. You’ve heard of Bastille Day haven’t you? In connection with a little item called the French Revolution? Quite conspicuous in its day.

But that’s genderism for you, innit. Just take what isn’t yours and then bully the people you took it from.

Find out more about what you can do to learn about diverse gender identities and create a more inclusive environment on campus.

No. I’ve already learned a great deal about “diverse gender identities,” all of it horrifying, and if the … Read the rest