In weather/climate news:

A powerful storm has brought destruction to Norway, causing landslides and leaving an entire town stranded, as meteorologists warned of the strongest rainfall in a quarter of a century.

The storm – named Storm Hans – has killed two people, ripped off roofs and caused widespread disruption across northern Europe in a summer that started with wildfires across much of the region.

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Strong winds and rain continued across the region, also causing disruption, cancelling ferries, delaying flights, uprooting trees, flooding streets and also causing outages across Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden.

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The Swedish meteorological and hydrological institute issued a red warning for Halland and parts of Småland for Tuesday and Wednesday. The

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Joan Smith has thoughts on the unabashed misogyny of Mhairi Black.

Does the SNP approve of abusing women? Opponents of the party’s extreme views on transgender rights have long highlighted the poor quality of debate in Scotland, but remarks by a leading SNP politician provide dramatic evidence of a hostile climate towards outspoken women. Mhairi Black, Deputy Leader of the party at Westminster, has dismissed women who disagree with her views on transgender rights as “50-year-old Karens”. 

Maybe she thinks women should be terminated at age 40, or perhaps 35. She’s 28…I wonder if it’s ever crossed her mind that she will eventually be 50.

Some observers might think it is a bit rich for a party represented by

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Always worse than predicted.

It is “virtually certain” that future extreme events in Antarctica will be worse than the extraordinary changes already observed, according to a new scientific warning that stresses the case for immediate and drastic action to limit global heating.

A new review draws together evidence on the vulnerability of Antarctic systems, highlighting recent extremes such as record low sea ice levels, the collapse of ice shelves, and surface temperatures up to 38.5C above average over East Antarctica in 2022 – the world’s largest ever recorded heatwave.

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The rate of ice sheet loss from Antarctica “matches the IPCC worst case” for predicted ice loss under high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, Hogg said. “The observations show

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If you don’t think men can be women you’re like WHITE SUPREMACISTS. Don’t try to deny it.

Gender-critical campaigners are comparable to white supremacists, the SNP’s deputy Westminster leader has claimed.

Mhairi Black said that “bad actors” and “50-year-old Karens” were responsible for the debate over transgender rights and suggested those who vocally disagreed with her views on such issues could not be “decent” people.

Ah yes those pesky women who are rude and evil and white supremacist enough to stop being 30, they should all be locked up. How dare a woman be 50?! You’ll never see Mhairi Black being 50, because she’s far too enlightened and perfect for that sort of thing.

Progressives today, honestly – going … Read the rest

Well now that’s just silly. Why would God build a cathedral upside-down and buried in the ground?

No national treasure is grander than the Grand Canyon.

The first time I saw it, the phrase came to mind: "God’s Cathedral."

And today, I’m proud to use my authority to protect nearly a million acres of public lands around Grand Canyon National Park as a new National Monument. pic.twitter.com/B7uN5QUDs2

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 8, 2023

(Not knocking the protecting public and indigenous lands part. Just saying a big hole in the ground doesn’t have to be “God”‘s doing. Shout out to the Colorado River here; peace be upon it, or what’s left of it.)… Read the rest

Originally a comment by What a Maroon on Intern runs amok.

This does sound like fun! Let’s dog the Mary Rose collection.

Dogging the Mary Rose collection:

Octagonal mirror: an octagon has eight sides, twice the number of paws of a dog. As social beings, dogs like to be around at least another dog, so the number 8 has special significance. (And did you know that if you turn the 8 sideways, you get the symbol for infinity?! How cool is that! We love our dogs to infinity!) As for the mirror itself, dogs don’t recognize their own reflection, so they may see the dog in the mirror as a rival, perhaps causing anxiety. On the other hand, they … Read the rest

Oh look, hours of fun for the whole family: Queering the Mary Rose’s Collection.

How can we understand The Mary Rose’s collection of personal objects through a Queer lens?

This blog does not attempt to identify the sexuality or gender identity of crew members, which would be an impossible task. Instead, we will use ‘Queerness as an interpretative tool’ to represent LGBTQ+ stories.

Who’s “we”?

Turns out it’s Hannah.

Queering The Mary Rose’s Collection by Hannah (Collections & Curatorial Intern)

I wonder if the non-intern staff are regretting having an intern, especially one with no last name.

How can we understand The Mary Rose’s collection of personal objects through a Queer lens?

This interpretation of historical objects

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The Times offers detail on the protective order:

The first miniskirmish in the prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election involves a step that is taken in the early phases of many prominent criminal cases: a proposal to impose rules on how the voluminous discovery evidence in the matter should be handled.

The disagreement started on Friday, when prosecutors in the office of the special counsel asked the judge who is overseeing the case for what is known as a protective order governing the disclosure of discovery material to Mr. Trump’s lawyers. The entreaty was routine, although in making their request, the prosecutors took what could be considered an extra

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Oh wait, Swansea University West Ham Society is on board. This changes everything!!!

(What do you mean “who?”? SWANSEA UNIVERSITY WEST HAM SOCIETY. It’s a society. At Swansea University. Devoted to West Ham. The football club. 36 people follow it on Twitter. It’s kind of a big deal.)

Recently, @SwanseaUni has approved an event called “On the front line of the war against women” for the 31st August at Taliesin. This is the second transphobic event held there in the past year, and comes 6 months after celebrating being a Stonewall Gold Inclusive Employer (1)

— Swansea University West Ham Society (@SUWHUFC) August 8, 2023

We will be wholeheartedly supporting a protest on the same day outside Taliesin, and supporting

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Hanan Razek at the BBC reports:

A hidden world of sex abuse and exploitation by men working as “spiritual healers” has been uncovered by BBC Arabic.

Spiritual healing, also known as “Quranic healing”, is a popular practice in the Arab and Muslim world. It is mostly women who visit healers – believing that they can solve problems and cure illness by expelling evil spirits known as “jinn”.

Naturally. Women are ferociously subordinated in the Arab and Muslim world, which makes them unlikely to have much education, which renders them credulous about scams like “Quranic healing.”

Testimonies gathered by the BBC from 85 women, over a period of more than a year, named 65 so-called healers in Morocco and Sudan

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The ACLU rejoices that girls will be forced to take their clothes off in front of boys.

This decision follows last week’s federal court ruling in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed that trans students must have access to bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender.

No student should have to fear discrimination in school.

— ACLU (@ACLU) August 7, 2023

Trans students must have access to bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender, but there is zero need for girls to have access to bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their sex. Why is that exactly?… Read the rest

Peter Tatchell tries to LGBT+ a Jewish lesbian who escaped the Nazis.

Never forget Sharley McLean, a Jewish lesbian survivor of Nazi fascism

Sharley fled from the Nazis to Britain, aged 16, on one of the last #kindertransports of children leaving Germany

She became a LGBT+ activist & humanisthttps://t.co/Zx5zGlvgrT@Humanists_UK @andrewcopson

— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) August 7, 2023

She did not become an “LGBT+” activist. She was a lesbian activist.

David Semple in The Guardian November 5, 2013:

My friend Sharley McLean, the lesbian activist, has died aged 90. She was born Lotte Reyersbach in Oldenburg, north Germany, and escaped to Britain on the Kindertransport in 1939. Her father, Franz, a socialist, and her Jewish mother, Grete, were

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What fresh hell is this?

This is what our children are being taught in schools.

That liking “girly” or “boyish” things determines whether you are male, female or ‘non-binary’.

Regressive and abusive. pic.twitter.com/bZET8bqkoF

— James Esses (@JamesEsses) August 7, 2023

“PLANET GIRL” is pink – “PLANET BOY” is blue – now there’s progressive for ya!

“Which planet were you sent to as a baby?”

I beg your fucking pardon?

Why is “NON-BINARY PLANET” much bigger than PLANET GIRL and PLANET BOY and also the original or parent planet that the inferior two are sprouting out of?

The people from PLANET IDIOT need to go away and stop messing with children.… Read the rest

It should have happened years ago! He’s not wrong there.

Shouty McCaps is having a rough day. pic.twitter.com/tf8sRiT5hJ

— Bill Prady ⚛️ (@billprady) August 7, 2023

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Trump continues to do whatever he wants all the time.

t Donald Trump’s arraignment last Thursday for trying to overturn the result of the 2020 election, magistrate judge Moxila A Upadhyaya warned him that he could be taken into custody if he violated the conditions of his release, including attempting to influence jurors or intimidate future witnesses.

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The judge then warned Trump: “You have heard your conditions of release. It is important you comply. You may be held pending trial in this case if you violate the conditions of release.”

She asked Trump: “Do you understand these warnings and consequence, sir? Are you prepared to comply?”

Trump responded: “Yes.”

But not 24 hours later, Trump posted on social

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Trump loses another round.

A federal judge has dismissed Donald Trump’s counter defamation lawsuit against E. Jean Carroll, dealing another legal blow to the former president.

In an order Monday, Judge Lewis Kaplan said that Trump had not proven that Carroll’s statements on CNN the day after the jury awarded her $5 million after finding that Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her were false or “not at least substantially true,” which is the legal standard.

Yikes, that’s a clumsy sentence. I’d start over if I were CNN. Break it into shorter sentences for the sake of clarity.

Carroll’s attorneys have argued the only issue for the jury in January is how much in damages Trump should pay

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Women may not meet together. It is not allowed.

https://twitter.com/WRNWales/status/1688497401718325248 https://twitter.com/WRNWales/status/1688497407032512512 https://twitter.com/WRNWales/status/1688561144833925120

So all women are terrorists, is that where we are now?… Read the rest

Extraordinary.

Swansea [University] Union issues a statement:

The University recently informed the Union that an external community group, Swansea Bay ReSisters, is hiring Swansea University’s Taliesin Arts Centre for an event on 31^st August 2023 focussing on legal and social issues affecting women and girls in Wales.

This event has not been promoted, encouraged, or planned by the University, the Taliesin or the Students’ Union.

Wait, what? Why the need to frantically distance the university and the union from a discussion of legal and social issues affecting women and girls in Wales? Is that a taboo subject in Wales?

The Union acknowledges the impact this event could have on students, staff and the wider community, but also understands

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Back in May, staff at the Edinburgh comedy club The Stand tried to shut down a planned Fringe event with Joanna Cherry, but were foiled by public outrage. Now there are new threats.

Joanna Cherry has claimed that the need for unprecedented security measures such as metal detectors at her Fringe show are “a disgrace in modern Scotland”.

The MP, who is well known for her gender critical views, is the headline act at a show at The Stand comedy club on Thursday, an event it is feared trans activists will attempt to prevent going ahead.

Her appearance had initially been cancelled after staff refused to work at it due to Ms Cherry’s views, but the venue

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She’s the perfect judge for Trump – from our point of view, not from his.

LAWYERS WHO’VE DEFENDED clients before Tanya S. Chutkan, the judge assigned to Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 election conspiracy case, have some advice for the former president and his attorneys: buckle up.

Far from the more indulgent* Aileen Cannon, the judge overseeing Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, attorneys tell Rolling Stone that Chutkan is perhaps the toughest judge he could have gotten in the Washington, D.C. district court.

*the more hand-picked and underqualified Aileen Cannon.

“It’s probably the worst draw for Trump. She’s the worst judge he could’ve gotten handed,” one attorney with experience representing a January 6 defendant tells Rolling Stone. “She’s

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