Florida is about to get hammered.

Hurricane Ian is bearing down on the Gulf Coast of Florida as one of the strongest storms on record for the area. Its storm surge could be unlike anything seen there as the eye comes ashore, and forecasters are warning that Ian’s intense rainfall – which is expected to continue across the peninsula through Thursday, could lead to life-threatening floods.

Global warming=get out of Florida. It’s doomed.

Florida sees a lot of hurricanes, but not the biggest ones. This is a biggest one.

If Hurricane Ian makes landfall with maximum winds of 155 mph or stronger, it will be the most intense storm to ever make landfall on the west coast of the

This is not something news organizations should be doing. It’s not news and it’s not truth, and it’s extremely harmful.

Top surgery drastically improves quality of life for young transgender people, study finds

The quality of life of young transmasculine people dramatically improves after receiving top surgery — a mastectomy procedure that removes breast tissue — according to a study by Northwestern Medicine.

What are “transmasculine people”? What is CBS doing talking silly political drivel like that?

The study, published in peer-reviewed journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday, is the first to show that top surgery is “associated with significant improvement in chest dysphoria, gender congruence, and body image in transmasculine and nonbinary teens and young adults,” Northwestern Medicine said

Women? Actually women? Not “people”?

Violent men credibly accused of sexual assault have no place ruling on the rights of women.

— Women's March (@womensmarch) September 27, 2022

The rights of women? Women??? Surely they mean people.

Until people who can get pregnant have control over our own bodies, we *cannot* be equal.

Abortion is a human right.

— Women's March (@womensmarch) September 14, 2022

Remember that? It was only two weeks ago.

Have they changed their minds?… Read the rest

There are developments.

Please see our statement below in relation to the recent sentencing of a historic sex offender. pic.twitter.com/7ZcwkT7yEt

— Sussex Police (@sussex_police) September 27, 2022

I don’t think the court did “sentence Sally Anne Dixon as a woman.” I don’t think that’s a thing. They sentenced Dixon under that name, but I doubt they attached “azza woman” or “ut femina” to the sentence. They sentenced this Dixon who currently calls himself a woman.

Anyway. It may be that Sussex Police were inspired to withdraw some of the Twitter insults by a Tory MP [and Home Secretary].

.@Sussex_police have done well to put a dangerous criminal behind bars. But they’ve got it wrong by playing identity politics and

From a thread on W-PATH and research failings –

11-12 are CRUCIAL:

But what about the right to go through puberty with peers, to avoid surgery on healthy bodies, to preserve fertility and the ability in future to enjoy sex? Or the right to give informed consent to medical procedures recommended on basis of objective, balanced research? 12/16

— Matilda Gosling (@matildagosling) September 27, 2022

That. Trans ideologues never stop yammering about “rights” but they also never bother to define what “rights” they’re talking about. In reality they’re generally talking about rights that aren’t rights, like a “right” to be “affirmed in one’s chosen identity” or to be “validated as who you really are.” This is more of the … Read the rest

The Telegraph reports on the Twitter quarrel between Sussex Police and uppity women:

Sussex Police has been criticised for saying it did not tolerate “hateful comments” to a member of the public who expressed gender critical views over a trans paedophile.

The force tweeted that Sally Ann Dixon, 58, had been jailed for 20 years for sexually abusing children in a seaside caravan.

Her trial heard that she was living as a man when she carried out a campaign of offending against two boys and five girls.

His. He. His trial, he was “living as” a man, when he carried out a campaign. This is a man’s crime. News outlets should not be obscuring this fact by referring to … Read the rest

Another aspect of the Sussex Police dispute is that Sussex Police are blissfully unaware that sexism and misogyny exist.

Go look up hate crime on our website, they told us.

So I looked, and found what I expected to find. There’s a long list, but women aren’t on it. We never are. It’s said to be because of the wording of the most recent Equality 2020 Sentencing Act, which apparently forgot women exist.

Hate crimes and hate incidents

In most crimes it is something the victim has in their possession or control that motivates the offender to commit the crime. With hate crime it is ‘who’ the victim is, or ‘what’ the victim appears to be that motivates the

“Cognitive issues.”

The Republican congressmen Louis Gohmert and Paul Gosar adopted such extreme, conspiracy-tinged positions, even before the US Capitol attack, that a fellow member of the rightwing Freedom Caucus thought they “may have had serious cognitive issues”.

To be fair, lots of us think everyone in the “Freedom Caucus” has serious cognitive issues.

Denver Riggleman, once a US representative from Virginia, reports his impression of his former colleagues from Texas and Arizona in a new book.

…

Describing his own spell in Congress, between 2019 and 2021, Riggleman says he joined the hardline Freedom Caucus as a way to allay concerns among conservatives that he was insufficiently loyal to Trump.

It’s strange that loyalty to Trump would be … Read the rest

Sally Hines being Sally Hines.

When I agreed to take part in this event I was unaware that it was a ‘debate’ with, as @binarythis says, extreme anti-trans activists, or that it had such a specific focus on trans inclusion in LGBT EDI policy in HE. I am no longer taking part. https://t.co/ZbGImNUi1c

— Sally Hines (@sally_hines) September 27, 2022

By “extreme anti-trans activists” she means feminist women. Extreme feminist extreme women; must avoid at all costs. Abort mission.

She’s proud of her abort message.

This is my correspondence with organisers, which I would like to stand as my contribution… https://t.co/wGZszSFVXC pic.twitter.com/TqLBYIe9Rg

— Sally Hines (@sally_hines) September 27, 2022

It’s all in the wording. “Anti-trans activists” she says – but … Read the rest

Sussex Police are really knocking themselves out today.

Of course the “hateful” comments were not about the gender identity of Sussex Police – but leaving that clumsy mistake aside, the important thing to note is that the sex of a sexual criminal is of course highly relevant, and it’s just utterly stupid as well as evil for Sussex Police to claim it isn’t. Just imagine the scenario: man rapes a woman while she struggles and yells, he tells her he’s not a man, she says oh well that’s fine then, carry on.… Read the rest

A press release from Sussex Police:

Woman convicted of historic offences against children in Sussex

Seven children who were sexually abused in Sussex between 26 and 33 years ago have seen justice done after their abuser was jailed for 20 years on Thursday, September 8.

Sally Ann Dixon, 58, of Swanmore Avenue, Havant, Hants, was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court after being convicted of 30 indecent assaults against her victims.

Except, of course, that the perp is actually a man. Naturally Sussex Police doesn’t admit that until the 8th paragraph.

At the time of the offences, Dixon was John Stephen Dixon, who transitioned to female in 2004 – after the period during which the offences took place.

Not our … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Fringe.

Many political parties seem to have over-reacted to online trans activism, imbuing social media genderist opinion with more importance and perceived support than it would actually have in the population at large. It’s as if there’s a social media equivalent to the funny-looking, strangely proportioned figures of the “motor humunculus” and “sensory humunculus” when the cerebral territories for these systems are mapped onto the surface of the brain. If the “digital humunculus” of the body politic were to be mapped out in the brains of political party officials, the acreage devoted to Twitter sensitivity would be grotesquely swollen and distorted, overshadowing the vestigial acceptance of “woke” thought amongst the … Read the rest

It’s Matt Walsh the Christian reactionary again, but what can I say, he’s right about the trans takeover even if it’s for the wrong reasons and he’s wrong about nearly everything else.

Vanderbilt opened its trans clinic in 2018. During a lecture the same year, Dr. Shayne Taylor explained how she convinced Nashville to get into the gender transition game. She emphasized that it's a "big money maker," especially because the surgeries require a lot of "follow ups" pic.twitter.com/zedM7HBCBe

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 20, 2022

You can make a lot of money mutilating teenagers. Wot larks eh Pip?

Vanderbilt was apparently concerned that not all of its staff would be on board. Dr. Ellen Clayton warned that "conscientious objections"

Originally a comment by Holms on Mermonsters.

I remember visiting an acquaintance’s place years ago, a guy I thought of as decent and level-headed. Part way through the afternoon his young son arrived home from school or barged in during dinner or something, and approached his parents with the air of someone with Important News. He informed the room that he had been penalised points on a science test at school, maybe even failing it, because he answered everything in the biology section with ‘evolution isn’t real’ and ‘God created Adam and Eve’ and similar, instead of the answer he knew was expected of him.

Both parents immediately beamed at him, congratulated him for his good christian values and … Read the rest

Labour not a fan of women, it seems.

Not allowed in the Labour Conference so @LesbianLabour and @LabWomenDec meet outside with their pop-up stalls.
More women arriving tomorrow @UKLabour #WomensRights #Women #Lesbians pic.twitter.com/Nxx7uO65d4

— LesbianLabour (@LesbianLabour) September 25, 2022

At @LabWomenDec fringe in Liverpool for a discussion on what women need in the Labour manifesto. @ToniaAntoniazzi opening- here to focus on women’s issues not being discussed elsewhere at conference. pic.twitter.com/kVqFJB3A3G

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) September 26, 2022

Two of Team @LesbianLabour outside Conference with the pop up Stall. #Lesbians pic.twitter.com/H4sA10hA82

— LesbianLabour (@LesbianLabour) September 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/LabWomenDec/status/1574463598516211732

This from the Labour Women’s Declaration feels pretty apt pic.twitter.com/gXPwVlyLvj

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) September 26, 2022

… Read the rest

“Well I am King.”

“Oh, King, eh, very nice. And how’d you get that then, eh? By exploiting the workers! By ‘anging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there’s ever going to be any progress – “

“Dennis, there’s some lovely filth down ‘ere.”… Read the rest

The Telegraph reports that Mermaids is giving binders to 14-year-olds against their parent’s wishes.

Mermaids, which receives funding from the taxpayer and runs training for schools and the NHS, offered to send a breast binder discreetly to a girl they believed was only 14, even after they were told that she was not allowed to use one by her mother.

Evidence obtained by The Telegraph shows that the charity’s staff have offered binders to children as young as 13 who say that their parents oppose the practice.

Chest-binding has been described by parent groups as a form of “self-harm” and it can cause breathing difficulties, chronic back pain, changes to the spine and broken ribs.

And, despite all that discomfort … Read the rest

Maggie Haberman tells us what it’s like talking to Trump:

“Can you believe these are my customers?” Donald Trump once asked while surveying the crowd in the Taj Mahal casino’s poker room. “Look at those losers,” he said to his consultant Tom O’Neil, of people spending money on the floor of the Trump Plaza casino.

Which is interesting/funny/ironic because that’s what we think about him. “Can you believe this guy was president?” “Look at that corrupt ignorant greedy sack of flesh.”

I have found myself on the receiving end of the two types of behavior Donald Trump exhibits toward reporters: his relentless desire to hold the media’s gaze, and his poison-pen notes and angry statements in response to coverage. His

It appears the water is heating up in Trump’s frying pan.

Ginni Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, texted links tied to QAnon to ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, according to former Jan. 6th staffer Denver Riggleman. Riggleman says her actions “should be an eye opener for everybody” https://t.co/tgVPFfR661 pic.twitter.com/zGFNwATIG5

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 25, 2022

[Tip: Riggleman calls Thomas’s texts “insightful” and 60 Minutes host asks “Insightful how?” and Riggleman uses the word again, but he doesn’t mean “insightful” – he’s using the made-up word “inciteful” i.e. “intended to incite.” Also it’s amusing that 60 Minutes takes care to show us a clip of him “typing” with two fingers.]

If Mark Meadows hasn’t flipped, he’s

Another incident from the orgy of monarchist mourning:

I knew that Charles Windsor would be declared “King Charles III” in official ceremonies around the UK. I had assumed they would be fairly small-scale….

It was only when I went to church that I learnt that there was not only a proclamation in Oxford but a procession that would start just outside our church. I was feeling sad and angry as I left church and walked past the cordoned-off streets, and saw the dignitaries and military leaders standing on the steps of Carfax Tower in clothing more suited to the 16^th century. This, apparently, is how we proclaim a new head of state in 21^st-century Britain.

After