Author: Ophelia Benson

  • Pope not as bad as Trump shocker

    The pope may be teasing Trump or he may be just saying popish things. Either way, he’ll make no difference. The possibility of making a difference is long gone.

    Leo XIV delivered a lengthy tribute on Monday to efforts to unify and democratize Europe since World War II, in what experts saw as a sweeping riposte to the Trump administration’s characterization of a continent facing “civilizational erasure.”

    In a speech in Metz, in northeastern France, Leo offered an alternative vision of a Europe that would “continue to flourish and to inspire the whole world.”

    Describing an “increasingly uncivilized” world, Leo said that “Europe can help to break this cycle through the respect for others that it has learned to cultivate.” He also praised and quoted from the founding principles of the European Union, an institution frequently assailed by Mr. Trump.

    …

    For nearly two years, the Trump administration has berated Europe while two of the administration’s most prominent Catholics, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have urged European countries to accept far-right parties and erect stricter border controls.

    And kiss Trump’s bum.

    The pope’s speeches were the latest chapter in his efforts to balance criticism of Mr. Trump’s policies with avoiding an all-out dispute with the president. 

    Well there you go. Trying to “balance” anything when dealing with Trump is a mistake. It’s very churchy, and it’s a mistake.

    Most of Leo’s trip to France has focused on mobilizing a faithful Catholic minority in a secular country, and on welcoming new converts, particularly among the youth.

    Well, that’s his job, but it’s a shitty job and it’s why we should ignore popes instead of treating them as inspirational. France is a secular country and it’s allowed to be that. Popes dropping in to “mobilize” the goddy people is not automatically a good thing.

    President Emmanuel Macron of France rearranged his schedule on Monday to attend a Mass that Leo planned to celebrate in Metz and to be on hand for the pope’s evening departure. Mr. Macron had not attended the Mass in Paris, sending his wife Brigitte and France’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, to represent him. That was seen by some as a symbol of the strict separation of church and state in France.

    But the Mass in Paris drew an unexpectedly large gathering, with crowds filling the Champs-Élysées, the capital’s grandest boulevard — from the Place de la Concorde all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. It also drew many political leaders, with the exception of those from the left and far left.

    Experts said that Mr. Macron, by suddenly changing his schedule, appeared eager to tap into the excitement generated by Leo’s visit.

    Yeah don’t do that. Religious excitement is not an unalloyed good.

  • Set off a few rockets while you’re at it

    Oh good, more vandalism.

    Major League Baseball has found varying levels of success with its recent initiative of playing standalone games in special locations, from the Field of Dreams games to NASCAR’s Bristol Motor Speedway. Its latest idea might prove more controversial than those.

    The league has approached the White House about hosting a game at a national park, according to the Washington Post, with Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park mentioned as a possibility. An MLB official reportedly told the Post that a national park game is one of several ideas the league is exploring.

    Yeah now do Nascar races in the Grand Canyon and bullfights in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

    National Park Service deputy director Frank Lands reportedly looked at three potential locations in Grand Teton in recent days. One of them is a site described by the Post as “already disturbed land that is not pristine park property.” National Parks frequently have areas that are used for storage and other less beautiful purposes.

    After the Post’s article was published, the White House issued another statement denying that Lands’ visit was for MLB purposes:

    After publication of this piece, the White House said in a statement that Lands “has not been actively scouting sites” and was on an official trip to several national parks including Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon.

    Yellowstone, that’s the ticket, let’s put the races there, and run over some bison if the opportunity arises.

    It goes without saying that holding a professional sporting event in a national park, land formally protected for conservation by the federal government, would be unprecedented. However, this administration also hosted a UFC card on the White House’s South Lawn in June.

    That’s why this story is so believable. This administration loves trampling over delicate irreplaceable monuments and wilderness. Their idea of a good laugh.

  • Considering

    Oh and about that rape the other year…

    Prosecutors in central New York say they are reopening the investigation of alleged “gang rape” at a Cornell University fraternity in 2024 after a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month sparked outrage about the incident. 

    Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a statement that his office is considering whether to bring criminal charges related to the incident, though he said the allegations in the civil complaint are “dramatically different” [from] the woman’s statement to police two years ago. 

    “It’s our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe’s cooperation,” Van Houten told ABC News. “We want to reexamine whether there’s additional evidence that we were not aware of in November of 2024, that exists now that would change our assessment of the case and would result in the grand jury finding that there was criminal conduct.” 

    That’s what’s so fun about rape. It’s difficult to prosecute and difficult to convict. That’s not fun for the rapee of course, but she must be a slut or they would have left her alone.

    Cornell’s Chi Phi chapter was barred from campus after the alleged incident, though none of the individuals allegedly involved faced criminal charges, according to the DA. Van Houten said his office did not bring charges in 2024 because the woman’s statement to authorities did not allege she was drugged or that she did not consent to engage in sexual activities. 

    “She never says that she was drugged without her knowledge. She admits to taking drugs and alcohol voluntarily and with knowledge. She does not allege that she was forced to engage in any acts. She does not say that she was physically helpless or unconscious or incapacitated at any point during the time at the fraternity house,” Van Houten said. 

    Thomas P. Giuffra, attorney for Jane Doe, disputed Van Houten’s description of the woman’s initial statement to the Cornell University Police Department and faulted authorities for never following up with his client. 

    “In my experience, speaking with an abuse survivor requires delicacy, understanding and specialized training. An average University Police officer would not have these skills. It would be the role of a specially trained detective or district attorney. However, Ms. Doe was never contacted by anybody with those skills,” he said. 

    Oh. Oh well. Better luck next time!

  • Doing the nails

    Wait, painting fingernails is clothes now? Unpainted nails are considered naked?

    According to the BBC, yes.

    In recent months, Paloma Buddemeier has watched a stream of people walk into her nail salon with the goal of looking as if they’d never been there at all.

    “It’s crazy,” the owner of Wumman Spa in London says.

    These customers still get their nails filed, buffed, and trimmed. “You still do the cuticle, you do the soaking and hydrate everything,” says Buddemeier, “but you just put no polish on.”

    To tell the truth I have no idea what that blather is. Why does anyone need someone else to file her or his fingernails? Do these people go to a spa to get their teeth brushed every night and morning? Are they able to put their own socks on? What the hell is “buffing” and why do people pay for it?

    As for the polish – seriously? We’re supposed to find it odd that people don’t wear nail polish? It seems to me much odder that anyone does wear nail polish.

    Driving this, she says, is a viral craze for bare-looking nails.

    What do you mean a craze? That’s like saying there’s a viral craze for not pasting balloons to our heads. Here’s the thing: nail polish is not necessary.

    Also, as so often, notice that not everyone wears it. Consider for instance men. Men don’t wear nail polish, with a few exceptions for men being eccentric or joking or camping it up. It’s news to me that many women wear it.

    I know it used to be almost required, at least for the bourgeoisie. Women were all but required to wear nail polish and lipstick and stockings and high heels, and of course dresses or skirts. Katherine Hepburn was considered very eccentric for sometimes being seen in jeans. It was almost required, and then it wasn’t.

    We should have stuck with it wasn’t. Decorating oneself now and then for fun or to celebrate or whatever, no big deal, but making it required again, so required that people express confusion and dismay when people fail to meet the requirement – that’s a terrible idea. Don’t.

  • The mendacity of the monster

    Daniel Dale on Trump’s many many lies:

    His relentless dishonesty has become a central feature of US and world politics. Voters and members of Congress, allies and adversaries, CEOs and investors alike have had to try to figure out how to read a man whose words are so frequently not true.

    How frequently? Two months before Election Day in 2020, I had to abandon my four-year-old project of fact-checking each and every Trump statement. He was telling so many campaign lies that I’d become physically unable to look into all of them while living something loosely resembling a healthy life. By then, I’d recorded more than 8,500 false claims since September 2016.

    I doubt that Trump has any kind of filter that sorts lies from the other thing. He may not even really know he’s lying. Why do I think that? I suppose it’s because of the way he talks. He just goes, like a windup toy. He doesn’t think, he just makes noise come out of his face. He babbles. There isn’t time to remember what is true and what he’s just making up. Plus there’s the fact that he clearly thinks his saying a thing makes it true.

    Joe Biden sometimes lied, JD Vance sometimes lies, Republicans and Democrats in Congress sometimes lie, Cabinet secretaries notably including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sometimes lie; Washington is not the nation’s capital of straight shooting. But it’s abundantly clear that there is no public official in Washington who lies like Trump – not as constantly, not as obviously, not about as many topics. I’ve heard people dismiss Trump’s mendacity with a shrugging “they all lie,” but we are witnessing a rare, very possibly once-in-a-lifetime political liar.

    And that could be because he just doesn’t even know the difference. He may think there is no difference…except when it comes to other people, of course.

    He is intent on making loud continuous noise, so that nobody else can make noise and all attention is focused on him. Naturally some of that torrent of sound will be inaccurate.

    A lot of people expect politicians to try to lie their way out of a career-threatening jam or lie to make their signature policies look better. The subjects Trump has lied about include a nonexistent phone call he claimed to have received from the Boy Scouts, a nonexistent Michigan “Man of the Year” award he claimed to have received years ago, and whether there were any empty seats in venues in which seats were visibly empty. None of these things are important in the slightest, but Trump’s brain has seen fit to make up a story about them. It’s a special trait.

    But on the upside, he’s drowning out what anyone else has to say. Works for him!

    People sometimes ask how I can debunk Trump lies immediately after he utters them. I don’t have any magic tricks. My (non-)secret is that he says the same untrue things again and again. The first time, it might take a while to research; by the 10th or 100th time, I can recite the debunking half-asleep – and there actually is a 100th time for some of the lies.

    Ya. This is one of his things. He repeats himself. A million times a day he repeats himself.

    Trump has repeatedly noted that people have pointed out his claim that Biden presided over the very highest inflation in US history as incorrect. But then Trump has immediately gone on to repeat the very-highest-ever claim once more, insisting he still believes it. “Some people will correct me because they always love to correct me, even though I’m right about everything,” he said, piling another lie on top of the initial one, during a December rendition of the routine.

    Meta meta meta lying.

    One of my most eye-opening journalistic experiences was a 2017 reporting trip to two Trump-friendly communities in Ohio. Over and over, I heard the president’s supporters say not merely that they didn’t mind his lying but that they actively liked it – because it agitated the establishment they had come to despise. (“We’ve had so much crap in Washington for years, and now we have someone shaking ’em up really good,” one man told me with delight.) I know that many Trump supporters often don’t know he’s lying or believe his policy stances outweigh the dishonesty. But I’ve also come to understand that there is a pro-dishonesty constituency within his base, at least when that dishonesty is perceived to target the “right” people.

    You see, on the one hand you have the ayleets, who tend to have some degree of respect for the truth, and then you have the People, who love a good lie when it comes from their very own corrupt billionaire.

    Speaking without a filter helps political liars be viewed as honest

    I observed this phenomenon with the first frequent political liar I covered, the bellicose former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. A politician who gives the impression that they authentically speak their mind is likely to be seen by many as honest even if a high proportion of their actual words are not true. Trump has always done badly in honesty polling, but his insult-heavy, damn-the-teleprompters style has also helped convince a segment of the populace that he is not only reasonably truthful but especially truthful.

    He’s rude, therefore he’s honest.

  • Unwilling to date

    Hmm. Public opinion survey finds women have sexual preferences. Is that really allowed? Shouldn’t women just Be Kind and always say yes?

    Listen here, women should be willing to risk pregnancy with anyone and everyone who asks, ok? Is that clear? Anything else is discriminatory.

  • Solidarity, no not you, bitch

    I see. Solidarity with the men who claim to be women, but no solidarity with the women who know that men are not women.

    Solidarity with the men. Shunning of the women. New boss just like the old boss.

  • Yet another Not your call bro

    Basingstoke councilor admits quite frankly that he wishes feminism didn’t exist.

    I do wish we were free from the brand of feminism that isolates women as the only and most put upon marginalised group. That allows so called feminism to be weaponised against other marginalised groups, and lets that feminism be a tool of other group’s oppression despite being present in most of those other marginalised groups.

    When balaclava clad men on the street say they are “protecting women & children” against migrants, many of them women and children, they are invoking this false flag feminism.

    When TERFs call their transphobia “protection of women” against transgender people it is that same brand of false flag feminism that they are invoking.

    Straight white women, migrant women, LGBT women are all deserving of the same dignity, equality and protection. That shouldn’t be a difficult concept for those who fight for women’s rights.

    It’s funny how dudes like this kid don’t lecture groups that campaign against racism how to do it correctly. It’s funny how he thinks he knows better than women and gets to tell us what to do.

  • Dog in the manger

    Man congratulates himself on getting women to stay away from a women’s conference. What a prince.

    Women must not be allowed to have conferences that don’t include this Richards fella. Must not, I tells ya.

  • Standing just three feet away

    Ayaan Hirsi Ali in The Telegraph on the archbishop’s ecumenical pratfall:

    When faced with deep civilisational or theological contradictions, the modern reflex of our elite is rarely to engage in critical thinking. Instead, it is to retreat into a defensive, self-righteous insulation.

    Leaders entrench themselves behind boilerplate statements and tactical retractions, hoping to survive the immediate news cycle by staying on the rehearsed message and then fleeing back to the safety of the elite bubble.

    Rarely is this institutional pattern more vividly illustrated than in a single, striking photograph from Lambeth Palace that was recently released. The image caught Archbishop Sarah Mullally presenting a Lambeth Award to Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, the chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council. Standing just three feet away was Ashrafi’s wife, wrapped tightly from head to wrist, with only her eyes visible to the assembled crowd.

    It’s striking in so many ways. One way is the disjunction between the institutional prestige and power of the archbish and how it contrasts with the nullification of Ashrafi’s nameless faceless wife, who appears to onlookers as nothing but a pillar of black cloth with a peculiar slit near the top.

    Another is what we know Ashrafi must have been thinking. “This filthy harlot woman is daring to look me in the face and talk to me and even touch me but I must pretend to tolerate the monstrous slut, because taqiyya.”

    Another, which many are ashamed or embarrassed to admit, is sheer disgust. The contrast between the two grinning people who are allowed to show their entire faces to the world (although one of those people thinks the other one is in fact not allowed to do that, and would learn better quick-smart if he were allowed to teach her) and the blank pillar-box of black cloth is striking and utterly repulsive.

    Just imagine the archbishop presenting an award to a slaveowner who brought one of his slaves with him for the occasion, a slave naked except for a loincloth, and chained at the feet, hands and neck. Seriously: imagine it. Grotesque, isn’t it. Even the archbishop might think so. But this on the other hand…

  • Waffle waffle uh waffle

    Godalmighty this is horrifying. The “Minister” can’t put a coherent sentence together and all too obviously has no answer to the reasonable question asked of her. Who are these people and why are they running governments?!

  • There’s no one in that church

    Well this is at least good for an extended laugh.

    The priest xirself is trans, according to xir. Xir says this right at the beginning of the clip, along with saying that hey listen to this now, god is not just non-binary, god is also trans. Yes she said it, God is trans, so exciting!!

    But wait. What can that mean? How can you be both? Of course god can do anything, which is the whole point of god, because then you don’t have to explain things. But setting that aside for the sake of argument, how can you be both? They are in tension with each other. Being trans is all about being one or the other, while being non-binary is all about not being one or the other. See the problem?

    So if god is trans along with being non-binary, which flavor of trans is xir? Trans what? Trans woman? (Which of course means literal woman, woman in every sense, therefore not actually trans.) But if trans woman how non-binary. It works much the same if you swap in “man” for “woman”.

    Well we know how. This xir is a priest, and priests get to just make shit up. Church is exactly the right place for them, and nowhere else is.

    (The readers added context bit is also hilarious.)

  • Out come the threats

    Oh never mind all this talking back and forth, just go for the threats.

    There’s no such thing as “legally female” just as there’s no such thing as “legally a tiger”. The law can’t make a man a woman just as it can’t make a human a tiger. Nothing else can make a man a woman either; it can’t be done. There is no magic.

  • “Activists” will descend

    “Steph” Richards is busy trying to drown out women talking at their own conference. What a sweet guy.

    But of course trans women can’t take part in a conference for women. Women these days are allowed to meet without male chaperones.

    Richards is pretending to be all in a lather about “discrimination”. Richards wants to compel everyone to pretend he’s a woman.

    Meanwhile…

    And yet the shouting continues.

  • Permission to speak SIR

    Aaron Blake on Trump’s letting it all hang out:

    The administration’s lawyers have been arguing in court that President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban media members isn’t about politics, but rather is about national security.

    But a comment Trump made during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit would seem to get at his real goal: acquiescence.

    According to the White House pool report, Trump “made a joke about how the Chinese had the friendliest press corps.” The Associated Press reported that Trump also remarked on how Chinese reporters ask Xi for permission to speak.

    He’d love that, wouldn’t he.

    Back in 2019 at the G20 summit in Japan, Trump said to Russian leader Vladimir Putin of the assembled press: “Get rid of them. Fake news is a great term, isn’t it? You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do.”

    And in 2015, Trump responded dismissively to a question about the murders of journalists who criticized Putin.

    “He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, you know, unlike what we have in this country,” Trump said, referring to then-President Barack Obama.

    Ah yes a leader, or as one might say a Führer. If only we had a Führer.

  • Patience on a monument

    One word I neglected to shout at Ed Davey for saying yesterday was “patience”. Starting at 1:13:

    I’ve spoken to constituents who have that view [the view of women who feel threatened by men in their private spaces] – I’ve listened to them – I’ve listened to them with respect. And patience. I don’t agree with them.

    He’s listened to those whiny boring bags with patience. How incredibly kind and generous of him, when we’re so tedious and demanding and worthless.

    Yet again we are reminded how thoroughly some men disdain women.

  • Whose coverage he dislikes

    They’re back.

    Reporters from three news outlets banned from White House by President Donald Trump were back on the grounds Thursday afternoon, hours after a federal judge ordered the administration to reinstate their access.

    CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists were allowed back in the latest development in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes. It comes during a heavy news cycle with Chinese leader Xi Jinping visiting with Trump and world leaders gathered for the United Nations General Assembly.

    Finally he has lost a fight.

    Let’s see a lot more of this.

  • The human right to get drunk at football matches

    How silly.

    Andy Burnham has branded a ban on fans being allowed to drink alcohol in the stands during men’s football matches as “discrimination”.

    The prime minister told reporters that “I don’t think it’s fair for football fans to be singled out”, as he suggested a change could be trialled.

    Laws are in place which prevent drinking in view of the pitch at stadiums for clubs in the top five tiers of men’s football in England. Other sports do not face such a restriction.

    Could that possibly be because other sports don’t feature drunken riots?

    I know, I know – football is more working class, and that’s why they’re not telling the toffs at cricket matches to put away the Macallan.

    The legislation was introduced in 1985 by Margaret Thatcher’s government for English and Welsh football grounds. At the time, then-Home Secretary Leon Brittan said that alcohol was a “major contributory factor in violent and disorderly behaviour” in football grounds.

    I was once on an evening train going from somewhere northish back to London, and was rather dismayed to find it packed with football fans. They didn’t get violent, but they weren’t quiet and unobtrusive, either. In other words, what if it’s just true that football fans are particularly prone to rowdy behavior?

    A UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) spokesman warned that changes to the law would pose “challenges” to policing and the “safety of staff and fans at football games”.

    He said: “Other sports simply don’t see the violence and criminal behaviour from their supporters that football does, albeit a minority, with alcohol often playing a significant part in violent and disorderly behaviour.

    “It would be irresponsible to fuel this by allowing greater alcohol consumption during games.”

    I wonder how much of it is self-fulfilling prophecy? Fans know they have a reputation for getting violent, so they feel they’d better live up to it? Not doing so would be a betrayal of their class?

  • Powers

    Trump is ignoring a court order.

    A federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban of three news outlets from the White House, ordering early Thursday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico must have their access restored. Reporters from all three outlets, however, said they remained blocked a few hours after the ruling.

    He’s not allowed to do that.

    Trump first announced he was banning the outlets Friday, assailing what he called “fake news,” and only later arguing that their reporting was a risk to national security. The outlets argued in a joint lawsuit that the ban was a blatant violation of the First Amendment because it singled them out for the content of their coverage.

    In his late-night ruling, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the three outlets’ access. He said they had met the legal thresholds to obtain a temporary restraining order, in effect for 14 days, and were likely to succeed in showing that their press passes were revoked without due process.

    “This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it,” he wrote.

    Kelly — whom Trump nominated in 2017 and who ordered a CNN journalist’s access restored in a similar case in 2018 — said the government must have clear standards for conduct that would lead to revoking a press pass. He called the standard of objectionable reporting outlined in letters that the White House sent the outlets “so vague it hardly does the trick.”

    This is a dictatorship, neither are we out of it.

  • No not you

    Here’s Ed Davey saying it in person out of his own face.

    I think some of the arguments that are put against this just don’t understand the facts and the experience. You know, trans people are some of the most discriminated against in our society. They suffer violence, they suffer harassment, and if you’re in favor of equality, as I am – I’m in favor of equality for everyone in the LGBTplus community, and everyone in the black and ethnic minority community, no holds barred – you know, one reason I’m a liberal is because I want to treat every individual with respect.

    Excuse me for interrupting. I can’t help noticing that you left one CommUniTEE out. I can’t help noticing that you boasted of how you want equality for the more approved Commyoooniteeez but not for those boring old lumps of garbage commonly known as women. I can’t help noticing that, and feeling a strong wish I could yell at you for it up close and personal. Women matter too, you fucking clueless fashion-sniffing obtuse women-overlooking boastful goon. WOMEN MATTER TOO. WOMEN DO MATTER. WOMEN ARE NOT THE RULING SEX. WOMEN ARE NOT THE OPPRESSOR.

    I’m so tired of these people.