Laurence Tribe and Michael Dorf write about the Supreme Court ruling that puts “religious freedom” ahead of public health:

The Roman Catholic Diocese ruling is also far-reaching in its substance. The unsigned majority opinion decries what it deems discrimination against religion because worship services were subject to capacity limits while some essential business were not. Likewise, Justice Neil Gorsuch complains in a concurrence that under some circumstances, New Yorkers in a hot zone were permitted to crowd into a liquor store or a bike shop but not a church, synagogue or mosque. Justice Brett Kavanaugh registers the same complaint about grocery stores and pet shops.

Those comparisons are inapt. Government discriminates illicitly when it fails to treat like cases alike.

… Read the rest

A historic first for Argentina! A man is allowed to join a women’s football team. Celebrate!

Mara Gomez is set to become the first trans woman to play in Argentina, after the AFA confirmed her registration to play for Villa San Carlos.

Gomez will make history by taking her place in the Women’s first division in Argentina, and is likely to make her debut against Lanus on December 5th.

…

On her social media post Gomez said, “Today I am officially a player of the highest category of Argentine soccer.

“The road was long, there were many obstacles, many fears and sorrows. That which one day made me think that I would not be anyone, that I would never

… Read the rest

More on (and from) Colm O’Gorman.

Francis, did you pause for one moment to consider how this very particular accusation might impact to me as a person? Given my history? To be accused of being "a new priest, same as the old priests"?

— Colm O'Gorman (@Colmogorman) November 27, 2020

Did Colm O’Gorman pause for one minute to consider how that open letter might have an impact on women as people? Given our history? To be told we shouldn’t have legitimate representation?

https://twitter.com/wwwritingclub/status/1332812764889436161 https://twitter.com/huskydp/status/1332746815578497035 https://twitter.com/HeidiK2018/status/1332752776225558530… Read the rest

Glinner has helpful background on Amnesty Ireland and its move to shun Irish women who don’t obey the Gender Priests.

A few years ago, my wife and I did our bit in trying to repeal the eighth amendment in Ireland. The Eight Amendment was a hangover from Ireland’s priest-ridden past which prevented women from receiving an abortion, even in cases such as ours where the child had no chance of surviving. We worked with Amnesty International, who shot a moving and powerful video that I like to think had some influence on the final result of the referendum, which was a resounding success for Irish women.

As soon as the result came in, Colm O’Gorman, who had accompanied us while

… Read the rest

How insulting is this?

The Democratic Party should stop wasting so much time on the lost cause of suburban wine moms and start listening to the voices that form the core of the party’s base, writes @lyzl https://t.co/Kotrq8g7lm

— Washington Post Opinions (@PostOpinions) November 28, 2020

Is the article as insulting as the tweet? Pretty much. What’s the argument? That the fact that a slim majority of white women usually vote Republican=white women vote Republican.

Exit polling indicates that Trump’s support had increased among White women, with some major polls putting it at 55 percent.

…White women are not a swing voting bloc. In the past 18 presidential elections, they have repeatedly voted for the Republican candidate, breaking only for

… Read the rest

Part of a response from Amnesty International to a complaint:

First…

For example, the letter asks for media and politicians to not give legitimacy to those spreading vitriol or misinformation. This is being framed as a call to take away their political representation, which anyone reading the letter will clearly see is not what it means.

Ahem. Cough cough cough. FROM THE LETTER:

We call on media, and politicians to no longer provide legitimate representation for those that share bigoted beliefs, that are aligned with far right ideologies and seek nothing but harm and division.

See? I’ll repeat, with emphasis added.

We call on media, and politicians to no longer provide legitimate representation

The letter SAID “legitimate representation.” It … Read the rest

Bad.

A teenager has been taken into care in Australia’s first known case of parents being judged abusive and potentially harmful for failing to consent to their child’s self-declared transgender identity and wish for irreversible cross-sex hormone treatment.

In other words the state is telling parents “You have to let your child take cross-sex hormones or we will take the child away from you.”

A state children’s court magistrate cited the risk of self-harm when making the protection order in October — almost a year after the teenager, who was born female and cannot be named for legal reasons — was removed from the family by police at 15 after discussing suicide online.

How do we know the teenager … Read the rest

Another big No for Donny Tinydesk.

President Donald Trump’s legal team suffered yet another defeat in court Friday as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia roundly rejected the campaign’s latest effort to challenge the state’s election results.

Trump’s lawyers vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court despite the judges’ assessment that the “campaign’s claims have no merit.”

I think that assessment means the Supremes are likely to decline to take the case.

“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,” 3rd Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote for the three-judge panel.

Giuliani’s sweat … Read the rest

Joan Smith reminds us that footballers and movie stars can also be men who punch women in the face.

Imagine a man hitting his partner. The picture that comes to mind probably involves a scruffy individual, his hand raised and his face contorted with fury. We can all condemn that, can’t we? But what if the angry face is familiar, seen thousands of times in a very different context? If it belongs, say, to the world’s most famous and admired footballer, Diego Maradona?

He was very good at getting the ball into the net, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a violent bully. That’s a very complicated thought, I know, but it’s true.

Domestic abuse is routinely overlooked or

… Read the rest

Another sarcastic photo and caption:

Photograph: Erin Scott/Reuters

Caption:

Donald Trump speaks with members of the military via videoconference on Thursday.

Heeheeheeheeheehee… Read the rest

Pathetically, it’s news that Trump was pushed into admitting that at some point he will have to get out.

Donald Trump has said that he will leave the White House in January if the electoral college votes for Democratic president-elect Joe Biden, in the closest the outgoing president has come to conceding defeat.

Which is not very close, because he said it in reply to a very narrow question, and he instantly qualified it and undercut it with more shouting about fake votes blah blah blah.

Speaking to reporters on the Thanksgiving holiday, Trump said if Biden – who is due to be sworn in on 20 January – was certified the election winner by the electoral college, he would

… Read the rest

Trump won’t like it that news outlets are reporting on his tiny desk and tiny hands and big diapers.

For a US president obsessed by size – his hands, his wealth, his crowds – Donald Trump made something of a bold U-turn on Thursday night by addressing the country from a desk seemingly designed for a leprechaun.

Or a very naughty boy.

The hashtag #DiaperDon swiftly trended on Twitter, with people mocking the president as an infant banished to the children’s table for Thanksgiving.

I still can’t quite believe this happened today.
Whoever suggested that desk … thank you.#tinydesk #TinyDeskDonald https://t.co/9sQ6Ko1bMA pic.twitter.com/xKuU0DVjUD

— Noah Maher (@noahsparc) November 27, 2020

… Read the rest

The headline for today is Trump Tantrum.

So, the next few months are gonna be SUPER fun. #TrumpTantrum pic.twitter.com/BN6KlhI9a2

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) November 27, 2020

Nah, Spanky, we’re gonna talk to you as the angry greedy self-centered goon you are. You reap what you sow, blowfish-lips.

Also he looked funny.

When your child is eventually allowed off the naughty step for Christmas lunch, but isn’t well behaved enough to join the rest of the family at the dinner table.#DiaperDon #TrumpTantrum pic.twitter.com/B4MWTTyUnL

— Glaswegian Versus Dog (@DavidofPartick) November 27, 2020

I wonder if this will be the number one Christmas gift this year? #playskool #trumptantrum #DiaperDon pic.twitter.com/gV5kwzX6jS

— Caergalin (@caergalin) November 27, 2020

Watch this you won’t regret it

… Read the rest

Narcissist meets masochist, hilarity ensues. … Read the rest

I posted the other day about an open letter that purports to be “from the Irish LGBTQ+ community” and against “transphobia.” There’s more to say about it.

Let us say unequivocally that the statements of newly launched organisations that seek to defend biology or fight gender identity and expression do not represent the wider LGBTI+ community nor feminists in Ireland. More importantly, they are not organisations at all, they have no governance, no accountability, and are simply Twitter accounts. Further, they are not supported by the wider Irish community.

On the one hand there are newly launched organizations that say things, on the other hand the newly launched organizations are not organizations at all, but just Twitter accounts. But you … Read the rest

Downright embarrassing.

https://twitter.com/Docstockk/status/1332049760832925699

Whoops, what happened?

https://twitter.com/BoyzMagazine/status/1332052779871965186 https://twitter.com/BoyzMagazine/status/1332052786679255040

Remember when feminists had that kind of power? No, neither do I; we never have. We’ve never had the clout to extract sobbing apologies and bunches of tulips from men who…promoted a webinar.… Read the rest

We blew it.

Perhaps no hospital in the United States was better prepared for a pandemic than the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

After the SARS outbreak of 2003, its staff began specifically preparing for emerging infections. The center has the nation’s only federal quarantine facility and its largest biocontainment unit, which cared for airlifted Ebola patients in 2014. The people on staff had detailed pandemic plans. They ran drills. Ron Klain, who was President Barack Obama’s “Ebola czar” and will be Joe Biden’s chief of staff in the White House, once told me that UNMC is “arguably the best in the country” at handling dangerous and unusual diseases. There’s a reason many of the Americans who

… Read the rest

Jane Clare Jones is also infuriated by the interruption.

'On this, the day for the elimination of patriarchal violence against women, we, the good maidens, affirm our commitment to the first rule of patriarchy: female people must never be allowed to centre their own needs, experience, or interests because other people matter more.' pic.twitter.com/rHg1O9O0ca

— Dr. Jane Clare Jones (@janeclarejones) November 26, 2020

Maybe centring trans women and deliberately trolling women and trying to put them in their place on IDEVAW wasn't the best way of demonstrating how there is no conflict of interests here eh?

You patriarchy-pandering fools.

— Dr. Jane Clare Jones (@janeclarejones) November 26, 2020

… Read the rest

Shut up about women, we have to talk about trans women whenever anyone tries to talk about women. It’s imperative.

Olivia Colman, Jameela Jamil and Paloma Faith have signed an open letter condemning “hostility and violence” against trans women, joining a chorus of voices to do so on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls.

Right, because we can’t talk about women and girls any more, it’s not allowed, if we try we will be interrupted and told to talk about trans women instead. Shut up about women and instead talk about men who say they feel like women in their heads.

The letter, which pledges solidarity with trans women, who experience significantly higher

… Read the rest

Theocracy tightens its grip and gives a giant boost to COVID-19.

In a 5-4 ruling, the US Supreme Court sided with religious organizations in a dispute over Covid-19 restrictions put in place by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo limiting the number of people attending religious services.

The case is the latest pitting religious groups against city and state officials seeking to stop the spread of Covid-19, and it highlights the impact of Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the court. The decision comes as coronavirus cases surge across the country.

This could be a very wise move if we lived in a world where viruses do what a god tells them to do. We don’t live in that world, … Read the rest