Ben Appel in spiked on The New Homophobia:

In 2017, at the age of 33, I enrolled at Columbia University, New York to complete my undergraduate degree. There, I was shocked to discover how gay activism had evolved since marriage equality became the law of the land. The focus was now entirely on personal pronouns and on being ‘queer’. My classmates labelled me ‘cis’, short for cisgender. I didn’t even know what it meant. All I knew was that they called me ‘cis’ in the same cadence that the seventh graders had called me ‘fag’.

Oh but that can’t be right. Cis is to trans as straight is to gay, isn’t it? No, it isn’t, but we’re supposed to … Read the rest

It seems that despite all this bravado and sneering and abuse, Trump is still in deep trouble.

But in the coming months it’s going to get a lot harder for the former, and possibly future, American president to spin his legal problems as political persecution by Democratic elitists. Investigations against him are mounting, and even more troubled legal waters lie ahead for Trump – and some of his acolytes.

Indictments in conservative Georgia are coming down the line and many of the key witnesses against Trump will be his fellow Republicans, including some who helped him try to rig the 2020 election.

And we can be confident about this because they’ll testify to protect themselves.

Similarly, investigations by

Musk’s Twitter wants the world to burn.

Some of the UK’s top scientists are struggling to deal with what they describe as a huge rise in abuse from climate crisis deniers on Twitter since the social media platform was taken over by Elon Musk last year.

Since then, key figures who ensured “trusted” content was prioritised have been sacked, according to one scientist, and Twitter’s sustainability arm has vanished. At the same time several users with millions of followers who propagate false statements about the climate emergency, including Donald Trump and rightwing culture warrior Jordan Peterson, have had their accounts reinstated.

Climate scientists say the change has been stark, and they are fighting to make themselves heard over a

Confusing.

Very touching. He always finds the right tone on these special occasions. pic.twitter.com/R3VaiM4lra

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 14, 2023

The Radical Left Fascists?

Also, why the commas before and after “quickly”? They don’t, make, any sense.… Read the rest

Retorts on the bird.

You are an absolute joke. You have abandoned women, if you ever cared about us in the first place. I suppose now true colors are being shown. Men, no matter how they ID, have physical advantage over women. That will nvr change. You argue for the end of women's sport.

— Free Speech is Paramount. LGB ✂️ TQ (@Lo_a_Rare_Nag) May 14, 2023

https://twitter.com/BDimyon/status/1657667126176493574 … Read the rest

On the bright side – that appalling article in The Nation is getting absolutely hosed, both on Twitter and in comments on the article. The more scathing the comment the more upvotes it gets. The rare comment that agrees with the article gets a mass of downvotes. This is good news.

KEITH DANISH says:

May 12, 2023 at 1:24 pm

Sad to see women-hating made respectable.

204 approve, 7 disapprove.

nina rodrigues says:

May 12, 2023 at 7:22 pm

“There is no evidence that trans women have an unfair advantage over the others.” Oh please, there are very good reasons why men cannot compete with women in sports. Darts? Perhaps? I’m not transphobic. I know trans women and trans men.

Hey, The Nation, ask a stupid question why doncha.

When Lia Thomas first entered the women’s NCAA swimming scene in 2021, she got the kind of attention rarely given to swimming athletes outside of the Olympics. Thomas was good, but she wasn’t the next Simone Biles of her field. So what explained a frenzy? https://t.co/m9PXus07Tr

— The Nation (@thenation) May 12, 2023

“a frenzy” – yes those hysterical women, how dare they get in “a frenzy” just because a large ruthless self-serving man forces himself on them and cheats them at their own sport.

The author of this garbage is one Frankie de la Cretaz. Google turns up the information that “they” is a freelance writer and a “they” After … Read the rest

Holly is pushing back against the bullying.

A feminist philosopher targeted by trans activists has lodged a formal complaint against the University of Melbourne, alleging it failed to provide a safe workplace.

Associate professor of philosophy Holly Lawford-Smith, in a complaint lodged last week with WorkSafe Victoria, accuses her employer of occupational health and safety breaches, of bullying her for her political views, and of undermining the university’s stated commitment to academic freedom.

Sound familiar? Kathleen Stock? Rebecca Tuvel?

The gender-critical feminist, who is opposed to trans women having access to women-only spaces and services, said she lodged the complaint following a two-year campaign against her that reached a crescendo following her attendance at the now notorious Let Women

I had to stop and say om for a long time.

Just kidding. I never say om.

Anyway, the Times goes on:

Lawford-Smith, an associate professor in political philosophy at Melbourne University, hit back, saying: “Obviously, almost none of what Eugenia says is true”. She described her comments as the “familiar sort of ludicrous hyperbole coming from trans activists”.

Speaking of ludicrous hyperbole, she didn’t “hit back,” obviously; she responded. She disagreed. She retorted.

She said: “Oxford University Press must not let a small group of zealots control its processes. Freedom of inquiry is of paramount importance and should be protected at all costs, whether the threat to it comes dressed up in social justice costume or otherwise.

The Times reports on this triumph of self-cancellation:

An academic has withdrawn her upcoming book from Oxford University Press and accused the publisher of helping to launder “genocidal fascism” against trans people as apolitical philosophies.

The publisher defended its right to publish works on “a wide variety of perspectives and viewpoints” after Eugenia Zuroski, professor of English and cultural studies at McMaster University in Canada, attacked it and withdrew her book on 18th-century humour.

I have to say, someone who could claim that feminist women who don’t believe men can be women represent “genocidal fascism” seems to me the wrong kind of person to write about 18th century humor. Alexander Pope she ain’t.

I mean that literally. It’s a … Read the rest

Cutting off her nose to spite women who know what a woman is.

Grey Slavery is impressed.

I’m so proud to know you, Gena. This is a remarkable statement. The genocide dimension is so important—I discuss it a little bit in relation to the “Women’s Declaration of Sex-Based Rightsl here: https://t.co/uXfA3Ge0Zm

— Prof. Grace Lavery (@graceelavery) May 4, 2023

“The genocide dimension” ffs! WHAT GENOCIDE DIMENSION? There is none, and using the word for this cheap tawdry stupid bullying just drains it of meaning, in a world where literal genocide is all too real.

But, good – she’s punishing herself instead of women, which makes a nice change.… Read the rest

Daughters excluded from peerage due to gender outraged by trans Tory standing for Lords seat

Matilda Simon, the 3rd Baron of Wythenshawe, is tipped to stand in a by-election to replace the Liberal Democrat Viscount Falkland, voted on by all sitting peers, with entries closing on May 15.

If successful, [he] would become the only woman, self-identified, among the chamber’s 92 hereditary peers, despite holding a title because [he was] born a man.

Daughters who have been shunned from their families’ hereditary lines because they are not men have called on Matilda Simon to “stop having her cake and eating it”.

His. His cake. That’s the whole point, isn’t it. He gets to be a Baron because he is … Read the rest

Tom Holland a couple of weeks ago pondered the religiosity of the coronation hoopla.

The United Kingdom is alone in Europe in marking the accession of a new monarch with a coronation. Key elements of the ceremony – that it should be presided over by the archbishop of Canterbury, that two bishops should escort the king, that the congregation at the end of the service should join in acclaiming the newly crowned monarch – date back to the coronation in 973 of Edgar, the great-grandson of Alfred the Great. Dunstan, the formidable archbishop who composed the order of service, had in turn drawn on even older exemplars: some native to Britain, others reaching back to Roman times.

Oldest of

Scottish PEN trips and falls down in the last sentence.

Regret blah blah atmosphere blah blah pursuant to which blah, disinvited, canceled, not to offend, Oscar Wilde, not to offend, opposition to the suppression –

AND BY THE WAY DON’T GO THINKING WE SUPPORT HATE SPEECH.

Why do this?

Really: why? Why send a man who is a walking talking smirking parody of women to talk to a woman about her novel about an adolescent girl? Why do that? What is the point? The only point that springs to mind is to mock and belittle and taunt women. So…why do that?

H/t Mostly Cloudy… Read the rest

All we can do is hope his head explodes.

One day he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The next he was on prime-time television pushing election lies, defending his own coup attempt and refusing to back Ukraine.

…

…Even though McConnell and others privately loathe Trump and wish him gone, they dare not alienate his fervent support base. Rick Wilson, a former Republican consultant and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, sums it up in one word: fear.

“They are afraid of the mob, they’re afraid of the horde, they’re afraid of the anger and the craziness and the rage and the threats that come any time a Republican elected official really stands

Mark Cunliffe writes about the repressive policing of coronation protests last weekend:

It became very clear early on Coronation Saturday that things were not right. Reports emerged that police had targeted vans belonging to #NotMyKing protesters, and that others were also targeted by police before they had even begun to protest. 

Many MPs were quick to condemn the actions of the police with Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome tweeting: “Protest is fundamental to democracy. People must have the right to oppose having an unelected head of state, or more than £100m of public funds being spent on a coronation when millions rely on food banks. These arrests should concern us all.”

Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana tweeted “It

One good thing about Trump’s campaigning: he keeps incriminating himself.

During a town hall event on CNN Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump made multiple incriminating remarks about his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s responses will further hurt his case should Special Counsel Jack Smith charge the former president in connection with his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol and other attempts to hold onto power unlawfully. Trump’s statements were also valuable to Fulton County DA Fani Willis in her investigation and possible prosecution.

Consider what Trump had to say about former Vice President Pence. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pointed out that Pence has blamed Trump for endangering his life. Trump interjected with a lie. “I

The BBC reports:

The comedy club which cancelled a Fringe show by SNP MP Joanna Cherry has reinstated the event.

The Stand had cancelled the show after staff said they were not comfortable with her views on transgender issues.

But the venue has now said the decision was “unfair and constituted unlawful discrimination against Ms Cherry”.

Ms Cherry said it was a “very welcome move by The Stand” and confirmed she will take part in August’s event as originally planned.

She did.

I am pleased that @StandComedyClub have apologised to me today. This is a very welcome move by the Stand and I look forward to taking part in the show. pic.twitter.com/YoGsSfxeVO

— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) May 12,

Yes!

A statement issued on behalf of The Stand. Our solicitor's correspondence with Joanna Cherry's legal team can be found here: https://t.co/CMjCkOoUaa pic.twitter.com/F4TOc0CIuW

— The Stand (@StandComedyClub) May 12, 2023

Now nobody do this EVER AGAIN.… Read the rest