Joan Smith on police indifference to a violent attack on a woman:

Following the assault on Julie Marshall in Aberdeen last weekend, the policy analysis collective Murray Blackburn Mackenzie has written to Sir Iain Livingstone, Police Scotland’s Chief Constable. Their letter asks how the caution [issued to the assaulter] squares with public bodies’ obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights to protect freedom of speech and assembly. Just two months ago, Livingstone admitted the existence of institutional sexism and misogyny at Police Scotland. 

Marshall’s experience points to a very specific problem, however. She has photographs of her injuries and gave a statement to police after the assault, but she was not even informed of the decision to let her

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Also rewarding to read the replies to Jon Pike:

I hope as many people as possible read this piece of work by Professor Jacqueline Rose.

It's quite something.https://t.co/UN6KuqrWYg

— Jon Pike (@runthinkwrite) July 27, 2023

I wonder if the staffers who wouldn’t let the New Statesman publish Dawkins’s article without a contrary view are regretting it now.… Read the rest

It’s both entertaining and cheering to read the many replies to Andy.

New Statesman staff put pressure on the magazine not to publish Richard Dawkins article on what being female means and that there are only two sexes. They insisted on an "opposing view" if it was to be published. The opposing view was utterly incoherent. https://t.co/M581qUk97o

— Andy (@lecanardnoir) July 27, 2023

It’s a funny thing that the Staggers decided to publish the Jacqueline Rose piece, because it’s so obviously bad and weak and empty. That’s the best they could do? Tells us something, doesn’t it.… Read the rest

Our experience is not hypothetical.

Paula Scanlan, Lia Thomas' teammate at UPenn, drops a BOMB on Congress. As a victim of previous sexual assault, having an intact & exposed man undressing inches away from her is traumatic in ways some could never understand.

Our experience is not hypothetical & it's not unique. pic.twitter.com/dZnFqWgSQD

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) July 27, 2023

More of Paula's opening statement at the Congressional hearing today. How can someone listen to her and still advocate for women to be forced to compete and undress with males?

And to think many of these members of congress opposing our protection are parents of daughters… pic.twitter.com/AORoNOr4Un

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) July 27, 2023

BREAKING: Former UPenn female swimmer testifies

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It’s not real persecution; it’s persecution envy. They want to be among The Persecuted not The Persecutors…although not…you know…really persecuted. Just…you know…the pretend kind. The kind no one actually cares about. The kind that’s a pretext for bullying other people. From a position of privilege.

This just proves that most people, are not buying what they’re selling. This is a privileged, upper middle class, luxury belief.

Queer theory is trying to colonize and destroy the middle/working class with an incompatible ideology.

Queerquistadors
pic.twitter.com/qsOeY2JnMa

— Hegel Borg™️ (@xxclusionary) July 27, 2023

“I am not ‘sir.'” Yeah right up there with do not get rich off my labor, do not rape me or kill me, do not enslave me or … Read the rest

He’s right you know.

“The era of global warming has ended, the era of global boiling has arrived.”

July is set to be the world's hottest month on record, according to a new report, as the UN’s secretary-general António Guterres calls for leaders to act on climate change. pic.twitter.com/zif8kAtjds

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) July 27, 2023

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Headline news: man says women are adult females.

Keir Starmer repeats anti-trans dogwhistle, claiming a woman is an ‘adult female’

Claiming? What else would a woman be? An infant male?

Sir Keir Starmer has said a woman is an “adult female” in response to being probed over the “penis question”, echoing language used by the Tories and gender critical’ campaigners to attack the trans community.

Hey now. Sophie Perry (the author of this absurd piece) is also echoing language used by Tories and gender criticals. She used the word “said” for instance – Tories and GCs use that word all the time. Isn’t it shocking?

Furthermore, we don’t define women accurately “to attack the trans community.” If “the trans … Read the rest

The New Statesman introduces:

We asked two thinkers to address one of the most vexed questions of our time: “What is a woman?”
Here, Jacqueline Rose argues against the claim that sexual differentiation is “reality”.

Why not ask “what is a man”? Why is it only “what is a woman?” that is one of the most vexed questions?

Jacqueline Rose “argues”:

“What is a woman?” The formulation has the merit of suggesting that to be a woman, far from being obvious, is a question, and one susceptible to more than a single reply. This is encouraging at a time when the fight over the definition of what a woman is has taken on such virulence. Being a woman is

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The grid is there for a reason. You can’t just walk out the door and go live off the grid. You have to know how to live off the grid, and make intelligent choices about exactly where off the grid you decide to live. You also have to know when it’s time to go back to living on the grid, if you don’t want to be a pile of rotting remains found months after you stop living on or off anything.

Three members of a Colorado family died while attempting to live “off the grid” in the Rocky Mountains, family members and investigators say. The emaciated remains of sisters Christine and Rebecca Vance and the latter’s 14-year old son,

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As if cooking ourselves isn’t enough, we also let a Kennedy run around causing multiple deaths.

(Ignore the Biden photo, the clip is Paul Offit.)

If there was ever a time I wanted people to retweet something – A vaccine specialist, Dr. Paul Offit, spells out how RFK Jr. played a role in discouraging vaccination rates in a small population. A measles outbreak followed which resulted in 83 deaths mostly of young children. pic.twitter.com/itED5aV1MU

— Decoding Fox News (@DecodingFoxNews) July 22, 2023

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Much of the US is under an extreme heat warning. Really much of it.

Some of it has been for weeks.

July has been ROUGH!

How's everyone holding up?

Every single day this month has hit 110 or higher. Last week was the hottest of the stretch, with highs at 116-119 every day.

More 110+ days this week.

An Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect thru Wed. #abc15wx #azwx pic.twitter.com/dnCuLTEaFI

— Iris Hermosillo (@IrisABC15) July 24, 2023

Missouri and Iowa:

Alright, here we go again. The Excessive Heat Warning has now been expanded to include the KC metro through 9pm Friday. The heat index will surge close to 110° this afternoon especially for areas highlighted in pink. Please be careful

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When mature adults talk like addled teenagers.

https://twitter.com/RayyaGhul/status/1683900022822141965

Rosie Duffield and Putin both know where to look for the sun at dawn, but that doesn’t make them friends or allies. Claiming Putin is a friend of Rosie’s is fatuous.

https://twitter.com/RayyaGhul/status/1684013484030173184

Again – it’s not fascist to know that men are not women. How is Ghul not embarrassed to talk such childish drivel?

https://twitter.com/RayyaGhul/status/1684187489131692035

Again – fatuous. We’re not advocating for the marginalisation and erasure from public life of anyone. Men who claim to be women can go right on being in public life even though we point out that they are men. We’re not denying their right to existence as an equal human being – and saying we are … Read the rest

But what does any of this have to do with equality?

https://twitter.com/MaggieChapman/status/1684175360181542913

Would Scottish Labour MPs support the self-identification principle like the vast majority of your Party’s MSPs did, or would they be expected to support the far more conservative and medicalised route advocated for by Annaliese Dodds?

— Maggie Chapman MSP (@MaggieChapman) July 26, 2023

What is “the self-identification principle”? In what way is it a “principle”? What besides sex is covered by the “principle”? Is self-identification as a squirrel a principle? How about self-identification as an MSP? How about self-identification as Maggie Chapman? In other words, how can it be a “principle” that people can self-identify as something they’re not and that we all have to accept and … Read the rest

Giuliani admits.

Rudolph W. Giuliani has conceded that while acting as a lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump, he made false statements by asserting that two Georgia election workers had mishandled ballots while counting votes in Atlanta during the 2020 election.

The concession by Mr. Giuliani came in court papers filed on Tuesday night as part of a defamation lawsuit that the two workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, had brought against him in Federal District Court in Washington in December 2021.

The suit accused Mr. Giuliani and others of promoting a video that purported to show Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss — who are mother and daughter — of manipulating ballots while working at the State Farm

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How interesting.

When I was Co-chair of the Mayor's VAWG Board, back in about 2014, we introduced a dashboard that showed monthly and annual totals of rapes, SSOs and DV reports to the Met police. It showed rising numbers, as you would expect.

— Joan Smith (@polblonde) July 26, 2023

Since October last year, the VAWG dashboard is no longer being updated. It's now much harder to find out what's happening to MVAWG figures in London.

How about fixing that, #maaate?@MayorofLondon

— Joan Smith (@polblonde) July 26, 2023

Why is Joan Smith no longer co-chair of the Mayor’s Violence Against Women and Girls Board?

Because the Mayor in question abruptly removed her from it, without a word of … Read the rest

The water is hot.

Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico have been abnormally warm this summer and scientists are concerned about potential environmental impacts.

On Wednesday, a 98-degree water temperature was recorded off the coast of Everglades National Park. The reading was taken in very shallow, dark water, known to heat up very quickly. Still, water temperatures around the southwest coast of Florida and around the Florida Keys have been running about five degrees above normal for this time of the year.

Ocean temperatures take longer to heat than air temperatures. This means that peak ocean heating in the Gulf and Atlantic is normally found in August and September. Heating this early in the season has scientists worried

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Beware of dopey meaningless slogans.

Labour is the party of equality.

We believe that everyone deserves to be accepted without exception, and treated with respect and dignity in society.

That's why our commitment to trans people and women is not up for debate.

I can't wait to get to work.https://t.co/McXrSzuJtK

— Anneliese Dodds (@AnnelieseDodds) July 24, 2023

What does that mean, “We believe that everyone deserves to be accepted without exception”? Accepted in what sense? As a lover, roommate, spouse, colleague, friend? Because if that’s what she means, of course Labour doesn’t believe that.

Maybe she thinks she means something like “not shunned or persecuted” – but then she needs to say that, and not what she … Read the rest

Listen up Police Scotland.

We are appalled at the treatment of @DarcyWAHF by @PoliceScotland we have complained to the @CC_Livingstone @ and @COPFS
We want them to send out a clear message that violence against women in Scotland will not be tolerated
We will not be silenced by violence#WomenWontWheesht pic.twitter.com/L6ayvdhdgJ

— WRN Scotland (@WRNScotland) July 25, 2023

This is ludicrous. What do we have to do @PoliceScotland ? Judicially review you? Privately prosecute? Prosecute you for misconduct in a public office?

This is a very very clear ABH on any charging standards. A warning in these circumstances is an irrational decision. https://t.co/nCZxeVJQ8d

— Dennis Noel Kavanagh (@Jebadoo2) July 24, 2023

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A little note to the cops:

We have written to Police Scotland over the incident in Duthie Park. @PoliceScotland @CC_Livingstone #WomenWontWheesht pic.twitter.com/A8IcgB5eoA

— For Women Scotland (@ForWomenScot) July 25, 2023

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On the one hand we’re racing over the climate cliff, on the other hand there is this one person who is very special.

In their opening match against Nigeria, Canada midfielder Quinn became the first out transgender player at a Fifa World Cup. Like their style of play, it was done with minimal fuss.

Quinn is a key part of Canada’s midfield, their place as the midfield anchor crucial as the Olympic champions aim to add the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup trophy to their cabinet.

They played the full 90 minutes against Nigeria. The result was a goalless draw – but the Canadian number five’s role created history.

Quinn came out as non-binary in September 2020, dropping their

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