That depends on what you mean by that innocent little word “be.”

There's no wrong way to be a woman.
There's no wrong way to be a woman.
There's no wrong way to be a woman.
There's no wrong way to be a woman.
There's no wrong way to be a woman.
There's no wrong way to be a woman.
There's no wrong way to be a woman.

— UN Women (@UN_Women) February 7, 2021

Looked at one way it’s just an empty platitude. Looked at another way it’s an insulting lie. Suzanne Moore looks at it that second way.

The right way to react to this ridiculous mantra is surely to feel murderous. What is this slogan for?

… Read the rest

My god this is infuriating.

https://twitter.com/SaveWomensSport/status/1359537041378316288

I don’t know what hearing this is. There was a hearing on a bill on transgender athletes in Montana in January and I couldn’t find one on a federal bill so this is probably Montana, but I don’t know for sure.

But anyway – it’s astounding. He asks the obviously relevant question, if in 20 years there is a women’s team that is all “biological males” would you support that? And she doesn’t answer. She’s so flummoxed she asks him to repeat it, so he does, and she just outright refuses to answer, and even says “I apologize for not answering the question,” and then robotically repeats the moronic formula. Answer the fucking … Read the rest

Pretty harrowing to listen to.

"What you are about to hear has not been made public before."

House impeachment managers play radio communications from Metropolitan PD to highlight how "Trump supporters descended on the Capitol and become increasingly violent." https://t.co/OKAzzhvIne #impeachmenttrial pic.twitter.com/IUcjZpoXHn

— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2021

This video shows how members of Congress could hear the Ashli Babbitt shooting pic.twitter.com/SCtBhQ1Bpl

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2021

… Read the rest

Very progressive.

https://twitter.com/uktransalliance/status/1359600818664730625

Presenting ‘the right side of history’. Please @trussliz stop this assault on women’s rights & freedom of expression. pic.twitter.com/Mjg904rPAa

— Jo Bartosch (@jo_bartosch) February 10, 2021

… Read the rest

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has opened a criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s attempt to interfere with Georgia’s election, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. While the former president faces potential criminal liability in several states, including New York, now that he has left office, the Georgia probe may pose the most immediate threat. All available evidence suggests that prosecutors are considering charges that amount to election fraud—a felony offense under Georgia law, and the very crime that Trump claimed he sought to stop.

The focus is on that call to Raffensperger.

As election law expert Rick Hasen noted at the time, there is no question that Trump was

… Read the rest

Also new.

Looks like Trump’s impeachment lawyers have some new ads up in the subway. pic.twitter.com/StkZlnqUUQ

— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) February 10, 2021

… Read the rest

New item.

Remember: Brian Sicknick deserves justice. pic.twitter.com/doBHaL05hO

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) February 10, 2021

… Read the rest

The most dangerous jobs during the pandemic:

A new study from the University of California, San Francisco suggests that line cooks have the highest risk of mortality during the Covid pandemic — even more than healthcare workers.

For the study, which hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet, researchers analyzed California death certificates for working-age people 18 to 65, during the first seven months of the pandemic. Then they looked at how the number of deaths increased in that time frame compared to pre-pandemic times.

…

Line cooks had a 60% increase in mortality associated with the pandemic.

The top five occupations that had higher than a 50% mortality rate increase during the pandemic include cooks, line workers in warehouses, agricultural workers, bakers

… Read the rest

Free at last!

The prominent Saudi dissident and women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul has been released from prison after 1,001 days in custody.

Following a concerted campaign by her relatives and global rights groups, Hathloul was granted probation by a judge in Riyadh and released to her family on Wednesday afternoon. Her sister Lina published a photo of a smiling Loujain on Twitter early evening Riyadh time – the first image of the most celebrated political prisoner in the Kingdom since she was detained almost three years ago. “Loujain is at home !!!!!!”, the accompanying message said.

Loujain is at home !!!!!!
تم الافراج عن لجين pic.twitter.com/fqug9VK6Mj

— Lina Alhathloul لينا الهذلول (@LinaAlhathloul) February 10, 2021

It is understood that

… Read the rest

The long arm of the law is getting longer and longer…

Prosecutors in Fulton county, Georgia, are investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the southern state’s 2020 presidential election results, according to a letter, in the second criminal investigation faced by the former president.

In Georgia! How dare they! Georgia was supposed to be solidly in the white supremacist yay-trump column. That’s the whole point of suppressing the black vote.

The Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, has sent a letter asking state government officials to preserve documents, including those related to the then president’s call to the Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, pressuring him to “find” more votes.

“This matter is of high priority, and I

… Read the rest

Trans man knows what it’s like.

I am a 48-year-old transgender man. I was thrilled when the medical community told me six years ago that I could change from a woman to a man. I was informed about all the wonderful things that would happen due to medical transition, but all the negatives were glossed over. Since then, I have suffered tremendously, including seven surgeries, a pulmonary embolism, an induced stress heart attack, sepsis, a 17-month recurring infection, 16 rounds of antibiotics, three weeks of daily IV antibiotics, arm reconstructive surgery, lung, heart and bladder damage, insomnia, hallucinations, PTSD, $1 million in medical expenses, and loss of home, car, career and marriage. All this, and yet I cannot sue

… Read the rest

Trump is mad that his lawyers are so sucky. Well, Mister Sir, that’s what happens when you’re such a horror that nobody wants to defend you – you can’t get the pick of the crop.

A Trump advisor told the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman that Trump attorney Bruce Castor’s confusing, meandering performance was a “deliberative strategy.” designed to lower the emotion in the room, though, I’d counter, a master strategist wouldn’t need to put out a background statement explaining their strategy.

No that too is to get everyone to calm down.

Other reviews also not great.

“The president’s lawyer just rambled on and on,” said senator John Cornyn, a Republican of Texas. “I’ve seen a lot of

… Read the rest

Meanwhile today the impeachment trial has started.

Democrats are aware that the trial outcome is a foregone conclusion – another Trump acquittal, barring sensational new evidence – and that the stakes are lower because he has already left office. But sometimes symbolism is the point. The impeachment trial is a test of accountability, stability and rule of law before a global audience.

…

Like a criminal lawyer, Democrats are seeking to appeal to not only the head but also the heart. They are not only prosecutors but also survivors of the rampage, a point brought home with visceral force by Jamie Raskin in a closing argument that had the chamber silent and spellbound on Wednesday.

“And then there was

… Read the rest

It gets worse. (This is interesting because he’s not Owen Jones or Adrian Harrop, but…it seems he might as well be.)

Just got a lovely little message from the "LGB Alliance", I hope they understand where I'm coming from and I hope I wasn't too vague regarding where I stand on their anti-trans hate agenda. pic.twitter.com/MNS03wGkG2

— Oz Katerji (@OzKaterji) February 9, 2021

Might as well be.… Read the rest

Yes of course these issues should be discussed – but obviously not by you, because you’re much too informed and concerned about them.

I think they absolutely should be discussed, but I think they should be discussed by people who aren’t so evidently and extremely prejudiced against trans women such as yourself.

— Oz Katerji (@OzKaterji) February 9, 2021

Thank god he’s not at all prejudiced against anyone himself.

You do you Janice, you’re the one with the daily megaphone, not me. Nobody is out here silencing you, you are free to broadcast your anti-trans campaign & earn a handsome wage for it. That’s your prerogative, my prerogative is to label your bilious hateful agitprop for what it is

—

… Read the rest

Never enough.

https://twitter.com/glosswitch/status/1359159758159249416 https://twitter.com/glosswitch/status/1359161073979506697 https://twitter.com/glosswitch/status/1359170482289975299

Always jam tomorrow.… Read the rest

Julie comments on the sudden stab in the back:

Thread: During a book tour in Australia I was invited to do one of those 'an evening with' events during which I read from my book (on the horrors of the global sex trade) and conversed with the women and men in the audience. Almost three years later……https://t.co/QLpk9S52NJ

— Julie Bindel (@bindelj) February 9, 2021

read all my articles and prided himself on remembering one on rape from 2010. They sold a load of my books. It was one of my favourite events of the tour. Now I see the witch burner generals are out, denouncing me in their efforts to be invited to join the

— Julie Bindel (@bindelj)

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16 hours ago:

We are honoured to be hosting an event with @junodawson in conversation with @_budgie
about Dawson's brilliant new book, What's the T?

Join us for this online event Thursday 25 February by booking here: https://t.co/zPdXkt4dW1 pic.twitter.com/oRRTq66gAF

— Readings (@ReadingsBooks) February 9, 2021

Two hours later:

https://twitter.com/ReadingsBooks/status/1358973500577308676

Bam, that’s Julie Bindel thrown under the bus to make way for a man who identifies as a woman.

Imagine a bookstore doing this to, say, Isabel Wilkerson or Ta-Nehisi Coates to make way for a white person who identifies as black.

It wouldn’t happen. It wouldn’t happen, and the white person would be excoriated and chastised.

Why is it ok to do it to feminist women?… Read the rest

Her book is like that, too. A review from LSE:

In Me, Not You, Alison Phipps builds on Black feminist scholarship to investigate how mainstream feminist movements against sexual violence express a ‘political whiteness’ that can reinforce marginalisation and oppression and limits the capacity to collectively achieve structural change and dismantle violent systems. This short and accessible book challenges us to think deeply about how the politics of woundedness, outrage and carcerality are embedded within the feminist movement and our own organising, writes Lili Schwoerer, and serves as another encouragement to explore and engage with alternative imaginaries.

So what should we have then, feminist movements for sexual violence?

Also, if we’re talking about marginalization and oppression, and … Read the rest

Shahdin Farsai wrote an opinion piece for Canadian Lawyer Magazine in October, titled British Columbia’s practice directions on preferred gender pronouns in court are problematic. Yesterday the magazine removed the article.

Statement regarding a recent opinion posted on our website https://t.co/iCHBe3SfFa

— Canadian Lawyer Magazine (@CanLawMag) February 7, 2021

The article is archived.

On December 16, 2020, both the BC Supreme and Provincial courts issued practice directions to lawyers that require parties and/or lawyers to state their preferred gender pronouns at the beginning of all court proceedings, which are “to be used” by all participants appearing before the courts including judges.

My antennas naturally went up as a lawyer. I see these practice directions as problematic for three central

… Read the rest