The Charlotte Observer:

Liam Johns, the transgender man known for his LGBTQ activism in Charlotte and for sharing his pregnancy journey in a 2019 Charlotte Observer series, died on Sept. 14. He was 35. Johns was undergoing dialysis for kidney failure and was on the national kidney and pancreas transplant list when he passed away, said Chase Hayes, a friend and former partner, in an interview with the Observer.

Maybe the kidney failure was nothing to do with any “trans health care” he had, I don’t know, but it’s difficult not to suspect a connection.

In 2018, Johns gave birth to his first child with his partner at the time, who now goes by Freya. In 2022, he gave

… Read the rest

Janice Turner on why men who like to look at child abuse don’t go to prison:

Anyone shocked that Huw Edwards didn’t go to prison hasn’t been paying attention. The sentencing magistrate wasn’t dazzled by his BBC stardom or cutting him slack because of his liberal politics or long-repressed homosexuality. To put it bluntly, the newsreader’s offences were at the very bottom of the paedophile league table.

Edwards had 41 child abuse images on his phone, seven of which were category A, the very worst kind. Compare him with other recent cases: a TV comedian found with 35,000 images on multiple devices, a rabbi from Pinner with 1,694 (189 category A), or the Chesterfield scout leader with 6,440 images

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The tomato soup boys are at it again.

https://twitter.com/ReadingLate/status/1837494186355880405

Big man arrested.

Soup man arrested @ThePosieParker #LetWomenSpeakSheffield rally pic.twitter.com/rkL9PmZdVQ

— News Now Yorkshire (@NewsNowYorks) September 21, 2024

Sheffield, city of steel.

Women of steel. #LetWomenSpeakSheffield pic.twitter.com/ZyuMZ89myu

— Duncan (@DuncanHenry78) September 21, 2024

Tomato soup is a badge of honor.

Our tech support Mary, wearing @HeinzUK too. #LetWomenSpeakSheffield #LWSLocals pic.twitter.com/eXIBi20CRj

— Let Women Speak Official (@StandingforXX) September 21, 2024

Tall fella.

https://twitter.com/AjaTheEmpress/status/1837470036518166573… Read the rest

Classy, Don – he blamed Jewish voters for his hypothetical loss of the election (you know, the one that hasn’t happened yet).

Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that “the Jewish people” would be partially to blame if he loses in November, escalating his persistent campaign trail criticism of Jewish voters and insisting that Democrats hold a “curse” over them.

“I’m not going to call this as a prediction, but in my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss if I’m at 40%” support in the polls, Trump told Republicans in Washington at an event billed as opposing antisemitism. “If I’m at 40, think of it, that means 60% are voting for Kamala (Harris),

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Originally a comment by Nullius in Verba on You can’t turn the world upside down by forcing people to stand on their heads.

Very cathartic comment. There’s just one eensy expansion I’d add to this bit:

It’s not the “ridiculousness” of “identifying as something that you’re not” that’s the issue. It’s the fact that that it is unhealthy and dangerous to do so that is the problem.

The thing is, the ridiculousness of it is per se inherently unhealthy and dangerous. Why? Because the ridiculous identification isn’t its own, separate, isolated thing. It isn’t devoid of connection to the rest of the world, as it might be if it occurred in a literal dream. No, this identification is by … Read the rest

The outlook is grim.

Scientists using ice-breaking ships and underwater robots have found the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is melting at an accelerating rate and could be on an irreversible path to collapse, spelling catastrophe for global sea level rise.

Since 2018, a team of scientists forming the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, has been studying Thwaites — often dubbed the “Doomsday Glacier” — up close to better understand how and when it might collapse.

Their findings, set out across a collection of studies, provide the clearest picture yet of this complex, ever-changing glacier. The outlook is “grim,” the scientists said in a report published Thursday, revealing the key conclusions of their six years of research.

Because sea level rise. … Read the rest

When everything is turned inside out:

It started with a dachshund in a dress, and ended with a legal case that has cost taxpayers thousands. Elizabeth Pitt, 63, a social worker, has won her 10-month legal battle against Cambridgeshire County Council for harassment and direct discrimination, after she was investigated for being transphobic.

Money and time well spent, yeah? No.

The case started back in 2022 when Pitt attended an LGBTQ meeting. “We were talking about doing a presentation to the whole county – everyone from bin men to admin staff – about how to support LGBT rights,” she says. “I made the point that I’m a lesbian and I’m not attracted to men who identify

… Read the rest

The Times also (along with the BBC) reports on the Rape Crisis Scotland outrage in a cautious timid obfuscating way.

Rape Crisis Scotland boss apologises for Edinburgh centre failings

What failings were those then?

Subhead:

A review had heavily criticised the support service run by a trans activist, which failed to provide women-only spaces for 16 months

The issue was and is not the “trans activist” part; the issue was and is that he’s a man.

Why do they refuse to say this up front? If even the Times and the Telegraph won’t say it how can we expect the Guardian and the Beeb to say it?

The lede:

Sandy Brindley, the chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland,

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Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Cat exits bag, takes a bow, retires from stage.

You push an idea that makes it look ridiculous, makes the idea of identifying as something that you’re not look so ridiculous and preposterous and obscene….

It’s not the “ridiculousness” of “identifying as something that you’re not” that’s the issue. It’s the fact that that it is unhealthy and dangerous to do so that is the problem. Pointing out the ridiculousness is an act of desperation to get those authorities and institutions which support and enforce trans ideology to recognize the impossibility of the ideas they are forcing on society. In my own comments here at B&W, I’ve used examples like … Read the rest

This again. The BBC needs to learn to call it out as well as stop doing it itself.

Charity boss apologises to rape survivors over crisis centre failings

But declines to step down, so her apology is fake as a 3 dollar bill.

A charity chief executive has apologised “unreservedly” to rape survivors affected by failings at support centre in Edinburgh.

Bollocks. She has nothing but reservations.

Sandy Brindley, of Rape Crisis Scotland, said she found out the centre was not following national standards last October and paused referrals 11 months later when the review said safeguarding was a problem.

So she did nothing for 11 months. What a peach.

She told BBC Scotland’s Drivetime programme there was no

… Read the rest

There’s a very interesting thing here at the beginning.

This is why I fight so hard against this ideology. Those who are determined that people should call male adults 'she' end up defending the idea that a child should be free to identify as a wolf. Not because they believe it; but because they've cornered themselves. @jonlis1 https://t.co/lebrh0PP9b

— Helen Staniland (@helenstaniland) September 19, 2024

I haven’t watched the whole thing, but the bit that grabbed me is all I need. The guy on the left of the screen, apparently Jonathan Lis, says this:

This is an attempt, by people who hate trans people –

Sharp interjection from the woman in the navy blue blazer, who is (I think) one … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Steven on But every dot was connected.

Stories are what they have instead of thinking.

There are, perhaps, two fundamental ways that humans understand things

– tell me a story

– show me a picture

Republicans have always communicated in stories. Stories are accessible, and relatable, and compelling; far more so than, say, policy proposals or white papers. This is one reason that Republicans keep getting the votes of people whose interests they oppose: they tell them stories that they want to hear.

Even more powerful than stories are keywords or tropes: short phrases or words that have come to stand for a whole story. Willie Horton. There’s a bear in the woods. They’re eating … Read the rest

Skirts are not an invitation to stealth photography. Who knew?

Many people do not realise that upskirting is a crime and fail to take the offence seriously, a senior police officer has warned.

Detective Superintendent Kate MacLeod from City of London Police said upskirting is abuse, and can escalate into “far worse” behaviour.

She nabbed a guy doing it at the British Museum last month.

There were so many images on his phone that she believes members of the public must have seen him filming victims on previous occasions before he was finally caught. “Upskirting is still a relatively new offence, and a lot of people won’t be aware it exists,” she said.

Men, maybe. I doubt many women … Read the rest

The invisible accordion playing goes into overdrive.

OMG. Trump
Just said that the audience at the debate went “absolutely crazy” when the moderators fact-checked him.

There’s one problem: There was no audience at the debate. pic.twitter.com/UEJXfuCMWP

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 19, 2024

Also hilarious – he tells us he gets everything wrong.

And they didn’t correct her once, and they corrected me everything I said, practically –

Now why might that be, Bozo?

Sure, in theory, it could be because they are Unfair to donalds. But it could also be because YOU GOT EVERYTHING WRONG.

Think about it, accordion-boy. Put the hands down for a second and think. You’re ignorant and lazy, plus you’re dishonest, so how surprising … Read the rest

Ew. I missed this one.

The reactions from Republicans over Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris have ranged from sour to feigned disregard, but one particularly disturbing response from the right came from none other than Elon Musk.

On Tuesday night, the pop star announced in an Instagram post that she would vote for Harris in November. Swift, 34, signed off her statement as “childless cat lady,” a clear swipe at GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance, who has mocked and dismissed women without biological children.

Shortly after that, 53-year-old Musk — who has endorsed Donald Trump — inserted himself into the discourse in the sleaziest way possible, writing on X: “Fine Taylor … you

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Originally a comment by Sackbut at Miscellany Room.

I came across this review in Inverse magazine about a Netflix movie called Uglies. The focus of the review is how this is a 2014-style movie that came out ten years too late, for reasons I don’t understand. Apparently there was a YA (“young adult fiction”) dystopian craze ten years ago?

The movie features a dystopian society in which all citizens are required at 16 to undergo cosmetic surgery to become “Pretty”, after which they move to City, an idyllic community where nothing goes wrong and everyone is happy. The central teen character starts questioning the merits of being Pretty, and the motivations of Dr Cable, the person in charge … Read the rest

Hoooooooooo-boy.

Trump: I don't think I've ever said this before. So we do these rallies. They're massive rallies. Everybody loves, everybody stays till the end. By the way, you know, when she said that, well, your rallies people leave. Honestly, nobody does. And if I saw them leaving, I'd say,… pic.twitter.com/ymSbz5mcXk

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 17, 2024

Trump: I don’t think I’ve ever said this before. So we do these rallies. They’re massive rallies. Everybody loves, everybody stays till the end. By the way, you know, when she said that, well, your rallies people leave. Honestly, nobody does. And if I saw them leaving, I’d say, and ladies and gentlemen make America great again and I’d get the hell

… Read the rest

The ACLU explains:

Today, United States District Court Judge Richard Young granted the ACLU of Indiana a preliminary injunction in its case representing Autumn Cordellioné, a transgender woman currently in the custody of the Indiana Department of Correction (DOC). Ms. Cordellioné sued the state after the DOC’s denial of gender affirming surgery. 

The ACLU of Indiana argued in court earlier this year that Indiana’s law banning gender-affirming surgery in prisons, passed in 2023, violates the Eighth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  

The court agreed that Ms. Cordellioné and the ACLU of Indiana established that gender-confirming surgery is a medically necessary treatment option for some individuals with gender dysphoria.  The Judge issued an order

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More excellent PR for the giant toddler:

“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.

Definitely want that guy handling national security.

After the debate between Harris and Trump had wrapped on Tuesday night, Swift threw her support behind the Democratic vice president.

…

Swift said she was driven to publicize her “actual plans for this election as a voter” after she became aware that Trump had pushed misinformation suggesting that he was getting her vote.

Last month, Trump shared an AI-generated image of Swift in an Uncle Sam outfit giving a fake endorsement to his campaign, along with other images promoting the idea that he’d won over some of her fanbase. “I

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The good news is it’s temporary. The bad news is…

Trans and non-binary faces unveiled on Fourth Plinth

Hundreds of plaster casts of transgender and non-binary people have been unveiled as the latest installation on the Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth in central London. Called Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) the sculpture was created by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles and features the faces of 726 trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.

The plinth was built in 1841 to display a permanent statue of William IV, but money ran out.

Which is just as well, because who the hell even remembers who William IV was? Or cares?

It was empty until 1999 when it became the location

… Read the rest