Meanwhile, Twitter itself considers it violence or threats or harassment to say that trans women are men and that men don’t experience rape exactly the way women do because men are more physically powerful than women.

Oh surely not. Surely I exaggerate. Don’t I?

This morning I’m in receipt of an email from the Twitter censors telling me:

Your post was detected by our systems and has had its visibility limited for violating the X rules. Specifically:We have determined your post violated our rules against Hateful Conduct.You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. Ophelia Benson@OpheliaBenson@fran_amery

Any man can declare himself to be a woman without restrictions or security checks.

And that doesn’t mean just call himself a woman in his own living room. It means forcing everyone else to call him a woman on pain of a 10,000 Euro fine.… Read the rest

By “vulnerable people” she does not mean women, or migrants, or refugees, or workers, or lesbians and gay men, or survivors of genocide, or people with physical handicaps, or people of color, or indigenous people, or homeless people, or addicts, or political prisoners…

I am so fucking mad. Sorry Mom. But I am. Where are these people coming from that they think politics is picking on vulnerable people rather than picking people up. Find another job. And everyone else who is appalled, speak up. Because otherwise this is what you get.

— Catherine McKenna (@cathmckenna) November 1, 2024

She means men who say they are women. … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Mosnae on More than just a parade.

I think it’s important to emphasize a distinction in meaning here – in this case, as in most, “LGBTQ+” does not mean (the set of all people referred to by some letter within the initialism), but rather (a fairly specific political movement which purports to represent that set). Of course, the whole movement feeds deeply on conflation and on this idea of a huge, united, sociopolitically monolithic “community,” even though this is not only absurd and self-contradictory given the alleged nature of the community, but also quite patronizing to the individuals it claims to defend, and blatantly in disagreement with reality: there are many “members of the LGBTQ+ … Read the rest

Worse by the hour.

Donald Trump said former Rep. Liz Cheney is a “war hawk” who should be fired upon, as he raged against one of his most prominent intra-party critics while campaigning Thursday night in Arizona.

“She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK?” the former president said at a campaign event in Glendale with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face.”

Hey, same to you, Captain Bonespurs.

Cheney responded to Trump’s comments overnight, saying: “This is how dictators destroy free nations.”

In a post on X, the former

Whether we like it or not.

Donald Trump took his frequent habit of describing himself as a “protector” of women further on Wednesday night in Wisconsin, when he declared he would protect them “whether the women like it or not” if he wins a second term in the White House.

“I said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it, whether the women like it or not,’” Trump said. “I’m going to protect them.”

Of course he did. That’s how he thinks of women. The best ones are hotties he wants to grab by the pussy and the worst ones tell us what a loathsome lump of flesh he is. Either way we’re not independent humans, we’re just things men get … Read the rest

Nothing is too good for the gender-special.

LGBTQ group ACON given $7 million to produce non-gendered language cancer campaign meant for Indigenous and migrant women

Who needs a “non-gendered language cancer campaign”? What’s the point of such a thing? To spare the tender feelings of the tiny minority of people who think they’re the sex they’re not? To spare those purported feelings by putting real women in danger? Real women who are indigenous or migrant and thus face language barriers? A super-special luxury cancer campaign crafted to obscure the language around cancers that happen to women, in order to make the gender-special feel cuddled and looked after and pampered. The hell with indigenous and migrant women, yeah? They’re just there … Read the rest

London planning bid to host World Pride 2030

Head of Pride in London, Christopher Joell-Deshields, said the gala would be more than “just a parade”, but would accommodate discussions on topics including LGBTQ+ inclusive education and banning so-called conversion therapy. London Mayor Sadiq Khan described the city as “a beacon of inclusiveness, acceptance and diversity”. He added that he was “hugely proud” that London would be in the mix to host the event.

Ok but why so much focus on LGBTQ+ and so little focus on, say, women?

Why not women? Why never women?

There’s never any answer.

… Read the rest

So I walked down the hill to drop my vote into the Voting drop box. I didn’t have to, I could have just dropped it into a mailbox, but I wanted to. It was raining a lot harder than I thought, though, so I got very soaked. After dropping, therefore, I walked a block down to KEXP to warm up and dry off.

KEXP is a few-years-old radio station on the edge of Seattle Center (and next to a bus stop). It has a huge barn-like open space with old couches and chairs and tables and (of course) a little coffee shop in one corner, and we’re all welcome to use it. It’s a very nice and useful public amenity, … Read the rest

Alona Ferber at Prospect bashes women who know that men are not women.

She starts with Imane Khelif’s punch to the head of Angela Carini and Carini’s forfeit of the match because she didn’t want to be killed.

The Russian-run International Boxing Association, stripped last year of its recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), claimed that the 25-year-old, who had competed in women’s boxing for years, had been disqualified from the 2023 boxing world championships over a failed gender eligibility test. The IOC rejected this, saying of the bout with Carini, “Scientifically, this is not a man fighting a woman.”

On X, users speculated whether Khelif—who was born female and has never identified as either trans or intersex—was male

What do you mean, that is a completely normal healthy sun-tanned outdoorsy virile athletical face.

Look. At. Trump's Face. This is from his rally last night. My god. pic.twitter.com/hutYEyQbBI

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 30, 2024

… Read the rest

Whiny male union boss tells women to shut up and take it. The union he’s boss of, I’m told, is 75% women.

.@UNISONSteve has decided he wants a private space where he gets to choose who's allowed to see him. pic.twitter.com/vDbNsqtPet

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 30, 2024

.@UNISONSteve has decided he wants a private space where he gets to choose who's allowed to see him. pic.twitter.com/vDbNsqtPet

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 30, 2024

He gets to choose who can see him, but those stupid bad phobic women who don’t want men watching them in the locker room do not get to choose who can see them. Bitches.… Read the rest

Snowless in October.

Japan’s Mount Fuji remained snowless on Tuesday, marking the latest date that its slopes have been bare since records began 130 years ago, the country’s weather agency said. The volcano’s snowcap begins forming on 2 October on average, and last year snow was first detected there on 5 October.

But because of warm weather, this year no snowfall had yet been observed on Japan’s highest mountain, said Yutaka Katsuta, a forecaster at Kofu Local Meteorological Office.

…

Japan’s summer this year was the joint hottest on record – equalling the level seen in 2023 – as extreme heatwaves fuelled by climate change engulfed many parts of the globe.

If it’s any comfort, Mount Rainier is never … Read the rest

Get the labels right.

Fascism is a form of authoritarianism, but not all authoritarians are fascists. Fascists have a transformative political project: to create a homogeneous people devoted to a messianic leader and to mobilize society for the sake of violent racial conflict. By contrast, monarchs or technocratic authoritarians – think of military dictatorships in Latin America – can be perfectly self-effacing: Europe’s longest-lasting dictatorship during the 20th century was headed by a decidedly uncharismatic Portuguese economist, António Salazar. Fascists, on the other hand, base their legitimacy on popular acclamation: they celebrate mass rallies and create a spectacle of power.

So far Trump is filling the fascist bill without breaking a sweat.

So far so Trumpist, it would seem:

The Jackie Green tweet is from 2018 but it’s still worth noting.

Gender ideology is a boy not wanting to play with boy toys so he has to have surgery to correct a “birth defect”.

If you actually just listen to “trans people”, the whole game is exposed. pic.twitter.com/hvN996lsYf

— Sall Grover (@salltweets) October 28, 2024

So the punishment for playing with girly toys is castration?

Seems harsh.… Read the rest

What we can expect if he.

Priority numero uno is immigration, where Trump has promised to launch “the largest deportation program in history” and begin a promised legal war against birthright citizenship—the constitutional rule contained in the 14th Amendment that children of immigrants are automatic citizens if born in America.

Both of these are long-term projects. There will be a lengthy legal fight if Trump suddenly declares a constitutional guarantee no longer operable. There will be logistical and legal challenges with attempting to uproot millions of people out of their communities. The first shots in each of these fights, however, will likely come in the form of day-one orders.

But Trump has more urgent business, because he’s a convicted … Read the rest

No you didn’t.

Former President Donald J. Trump said that Michelle Obama had made a “big mistake” by criticizing him, as he responded on Monday for the first time to her recent searing comments about his mental state.

“I always tried to be so nice and respectful,” said Mr. Trump, who in 2011 spent weeks spreading the lie that Barack Obama, the country’s first Black president, was actually born in Kenya, with the insinuation being that he was therefore illegitimately in office. He added, “She opened up a little bit of a box.”

No, he didn’t always try to be so nice and respectful. He never tried to be that. He doesn’t do nice and respectful. He expects nice … Read the rest

Mediaite reports:

The PAC founded by billionaire Elon Musk in support of Donald Trump dropped a new ad on Sunday labeling Vice President Kamala Harris “a C word” that America “can’t afford.”

Musk founded America PAC, a super PAC in support of Trump, in July of this year. He’s been speaking at rallies for Trump, including Sunday’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York City, and until recently was running a million-dollar-a-day contest for registered voters in swing states who signed a petition put out by the PAC. Those giveaways were suspended after a warning from the DOJ.

But the PAC has continued other activities, including campaign ads like the one shared Friday, which as of Sunday evening

They want to have it both ways.

The rally began with Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian and podcast host, assailing Puerto Rico – in the city that’s home to the largest Puerto Rican population on the US mainland. About 500,000 Puerto Ricans also live in battleground Pennsylvania, where Harris campaigned on Sunday.

“There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” he said. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

The line was well-received by Trump supporters who filled the historic arena in Midtown Manhattan. Trump has recently taken to calling the US “a garbage can for the world” when he rails

Yes this is what we need – people setting fire to ballot boxes.

Authorities are investigating after at least two ballot boxes were set on fire Monday morning in the Portland, Oregon, area.

Police responded to a call about a fire in Portland about 3:30 a.m. Monday, the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement. An “incendiary device” was placed inside the box and security personnel extinguished the fire, officials said.

A second ballot box was set on fire early Monday morning at a bus station in nearby Vancouver, Washington, according to the Vancouver Police Department. When officers arrived, they found a “suspicious device” next to the box, which was smoking and on fire, police said.

The Clark County