Feminist Current reported yesterday:

Women’s conference in Oslo, Norway, organized by the Norwegian Socialist Party, no-platforms Julie Bindel over pressure from individuals accusing her of “transphobia.” Rachel Moran withdrew from the conference in solidarity with Bindel, yet conference organizers have refused to publicly state the reason for her action.

Moran states:

“The Norwegian Socialist Party needs to know that I will not speak for any group that displays the extraordinary cowardice they have shown in allowing an abolitionist feminist to be bullied from the stage. Julie Bindel has been an activist on men’s violence against women almost as long as I have been living, and it is nauseating to see a woman who’s dedicated her life to women’s rights

New Year’s Eve in Karnataka:

This New Year’s Eve, India’s Silicon Valley reared its ugly head. As thousands of revelers gathered in Bengaluru’s city center—MG Road and Brigade Road— to ring in 2017, hooligans infiltrated the celebratory crowd, and for many women, the joyful parade turned into a nightmare.

An unruly mob of men began “pawing, molesting and passing lewd remarks on women on the streets,” according to the Bangalore Mirror, whose photojournalists were on the ground when havoc broke out minutes before midnight. Women cried for help and ran with heels in hand as men, many inebriated, mauled them. Eyewitnesses described the horrific incident as a “mass molestation.”

But don’t worry, it turns out it was the … Read the rest

The Working Class Movement Library in Salford (across the river from Manchester – I’ve been there, just barely, having crossed the bridge near the People’s History Museum in Manchester so I could say I’d set foot in Salford) is putting on an event with Julie Bindel.

We are pleased to welcome journalist, writer, broadcaster and researcher Julie Bindel to speak as we mark LGBT History Month. Julie has been active in the global campaign to end violence towards women and children since 1979, and has written extensively on topics such as rape, domestic violence, prostitution and trafficking. She is currently a Visiting Fellow at Lincoln University.

Julie’s 2014 book on the state of the lesbian and gay movement in

The Washington Post has more on the Congressional land giveaway move.

House Republicans on Tuesday changed the way Congress calculates the cost of transferring federal lands to the states and other entities, a move that will make it easier for members of the new Congress to cede federal control of public lands.

…

Many Republicans, including House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), have been pushing to hand over large areas of federal land to state and local authorities, on the grounds that they will be more responsive to the concerns of local residents.

Great – so if local residents want casinos in Yosemite or high rises in Yellowstone, they should be able to have them? Or is … Read the rest

Also good: the kelp forest.

Also, the anchovies:

They open their heads like that as they swim.… Read the rest

I’m on the Monterey Peninsula for my job, and I was given a guest pass to the Aquarium, so I went there. I see why people say good things about it.

This for instance held me rapt:

… Read the rest

Speaking of corruption, conflicts of interest, ethics, plutocrats – the Times reported a couple of weeks ago on how that whole tangle is slowing down the vetting of Trump’s cabinet o’ billionaires.

Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent letters to the top ethics officials at 17 government agencies, asking if they had been in touch with officials of the Trump transition, whether they had received financial disclosure statements, and whether any Trump pick “refused to provide any information that you believe is necessary to conduct a conflicts analysis as required by law.”

“Given the large and complex financial holdings and boundless, serious potential for conflicts of interest,”