Trump says he never heard a word about it.

President Trump is denying a New York Times report that he was briefed on an alleged Russian effort to pay bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill Western forces — including U.S. troops — in Afghanistan.

Please. He was briefed. Maybe he didn’t read it, maybe he didn’t listen, maybe he was too busy tweeting, maybe he instantly forgot it because he doesn’t give a shit – but he was briefed.

Citing unnamed officials, the Times report, published Friday, details how U.S. intelligence officials reached the conclusion about the secret payments and then briefed the president in March. The White House National Security Council conferred an interagency meeting that same

That’s better.

CHECK THIS OUT: Brian, Tricia and Brady Hurt were fishing in Northern Wisconsin when they spotted this bear with a plastic container over his head. After a few attempts they were able to remove the container and the bear made it back to shore!

Video courtesy of Hurt Family. pic.twitter.com/fLKVWdo2AC

— WMTV 15 News (@wmtv15news) June 28, 2020

… Read the rest

What’s one of the very best ways to spread COVID-19? Singing in a choir. Great! Let’s have a great big choir sing today when Pence is giving a speech. That will put us on the map!

A choir of more than 100 people performed without masks at a robustly attended event in Texas at the First Baptist Church on Sunday that featured a speech by Vice President Mike Pence.

Nearly 2,200 people attended the “Celebrate Freedom Rally,” in the Lone Star State, according to rally organizers, which has seen a severe surge in coronavirus cases since easing restrictions. The venue capacity for the indoor event was close to 3,000 attendees, organizers say.

Throughout the service, the members of the

About that Stephen King retweet…never mind.

Yes. Trans women are women.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 28, 2020

… Read the rest

About this whole issue of men just not seeing women as a class of people who face systematic unequal treatment, a class of people who are dismissed and ignored and ridiculed because they are that class of people. There really are a lot of men who just don’t see that, who don’t believe it’s true, who don’t think it matters. Who see us as “Karens” or potential “Karens” and who feel no embarrassment about dismissing women as “Karens.” Harvey Jeni points out that Lloyd Russell-Moyle is one such man.

Russell-Moyle has since apologised, but it is worth noting he is not alone in his point of view. The idea that women are cynically using their experiences of domestic and

Noteworthy.

When JK Rowling quotes Andrea Dworkin and Stephen King retweets her doing so…we may be seeing some fissures widening.… Read the rest

Rowling has thoughts on Lloyd Russell-Moyle.

Today I discovered that I was accused of hate by shadow environment minister Lloyd Russell-Moyle in the pages of @tribunemagazine. He claimed I was ‘using’ my experiences of sexual assault and domestic violence to ‘discriminate’ against trans people. 1/9

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 28, 2020

For those who’d like to know what triggered the shadow minister’s original accusation, these are the relevant paragraphs of the essay I wrote a couple of weeks ago. The full piece can be read here https://t.co/Vs4V1yfGkA pic.twitter.com/6H90WZfqPG

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 28, 2020

Some emails came from professionals working in women’s refuges, the prison service, the social work system, the criminal justice system and the police.

Of course he did.

A video shared by President Trump on Twitter Sunday includes a man who appears to be a Trump supporter saying “white power” in response to protesters.

In the video, apparently taken at The Villages, a retirement community in Florida, people wearing Trump shirts and with Trump signs on their golf carts drive by protesters yelling insults at them and about the president.

In one exchange — eight seconds into the two-minute video — a white man holding a sign that says “Make America Sane Again,” a reference to Trump’s campaign slogan, yells: “Where’s your white hood?” In response, a white man driving a golf cart with signs reading “Trump 2020” and “America First” yells back

Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle in Tribune:

Recently, of course, we saw people like JK Rowling using her own sexual assault as justification for discriminating against a group of people who were not responsible for it. Trans people are no more likely to be rapists; in fact, they are more likely to be victims of sexual assault themselves. That’s why, despite JK Rowling’s hate towards them, hundreds of trans people wrote to complain to The Sun when it trivialised her domestic abuse on a recent front page.

Of course Rowling isn’t advocating “discriminating against” trans people. It isn’t “discriminating against” people to say they are not a thing that they are not. It isn’t “discriminating against” people to say they … Read the rest

We’re doing it wrong.

The number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000 according to figures released by Johns Hopkins on Friday, eclipsing the mark first set during one of the deadliest stretches in late April. It’s a resurgence that has led some governors to backtrack or at least pause the reopening of their states.

Wrong direction. Goal is down, not up.

… the Florida department of health reported that the state confirmed 8,942 new cases of coronavirus yesterday, breaking a record set earlier this week.

The Florida health department also reported a frightening rise in the rate of positive test results. On Thursday, 13.1% of test results come back

Behold: an advertisement:

I find it interesting because it’s so in your face, so perverse (not perverted, mind, perverse), so nyah nyah. Saying “we mean every” about a conspicuously male male, with beard and hirsute chest and legs, decked out in dainty catch me-fuck me laydeez underwear. They’re not saying it about a man seriously trying to “dress as” a woman or to look like a woman or to convince anyone he’s a woman, they’re saying it about an unmistakable man with a “Fuck you, bitch” look on his face, dressed and posed like a prostitute.

It’s hard to unpick all the levels here. There’s the “you WILL agree that this is a woman” level, but there’s also the “haha … Read the rest

Dipshit lets us know what his priorities are.

I just had the privilege of signing a very strong Executive Order protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues – and combatting recent Criminal Violence. Long prison terms for these lawless acts against our Great Country!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2020

As if.

He can’t just write new laws – he can’t write new laws at all. Congress is the legislative branch; he is not.

He’s so eager to see other people executed or given “long prison terms” for crimes they didn’t commit or for actions that are political acts as opposed to crimes. If it’s a crime to push down a statue of a Confederate (aka treasonous) general, what … Read the rest

Interesting…

In a new bombshell report, the New York Times says the US intelligence community has concluded Russia offered Afghan militants bounties to kill US troops.

What? Trump’s darling sweetheart Putin did that?

From the Times:

American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter.

The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly

The bosses still being irresponsible and reckless with the health of the population. “Do what seems best to you, it’s your choice, we wouldn’t dream of telling you what to do, freedom freedom freedom, we couldn’t possibly comment.”

Vice President Mike Pence was asked what message he wanted to offer on wearing masks, as evidence suggests face coverings can limit the spread of coronavirus.

“Well, we think that the first principle is that people ought to listen to their state and local authorities,” the vice president said, declining to offer a federal endorsement on wearing masks.

What kind of stupid “first principle” is that? It’s geographic, it’s not a principle. The virus is the virus, it doesn’t care about state … Read the rest

I’ve just seen a 5-word tweet that makes my blood run cold.

“Work is introducing pronoun pins.”

I think “is introducing” here means “wearing them is not optional.”

Why stop at pronouns? Why not pins to point out all the obvious? How about species? Nationality? Height and weight? Age? Address? Politics? Voting record? Grades? Tax history? Religion? Favorite foods?

Grown up people don’t want to walk around wearing labels telling the world what brand we are. I wouldn’t want to wear a pin saying “woman,” either, because duh. Plus…it’s work. It’s not home, it’s not the coffee shop, it’s not a clubhouse. It’s work. It’s already a place where people get to tell you what to do (unless … Read the rest

What’s Trump doing while Pence tells us everything is awesome on the pandemic front? Trump is raging about white supremacist statues again.

Moments ago, Trump sent a tweet sharing an FBI notice seeking information about those suspected of defacing the Andrew Jackson statue in Lafayette Square near the White House.

MANY people in custody, with many others being sought for Vandalization of Federal Property in Lafayette Park. 10 year prison sentences! @FBIWFO pic.twitter.com/mrLyxbWNvq

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2020

It’s interesting that the FBI thinks vandalization of a statue is a matter for the Violent Crimes Task Force. Don’t we consider violent crimes to be crimes against sentient beings? As opposed to statues?

But of course it’s … Read the rest

Pence is holding the first coronavirus briefing in two months.

The vice president opened the briefing by heralding the progress made in hard-hit states like New York and New Jersey.

“We have made truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward,” Pence said.

However, Pence then shifted to noting the high level of new cases in many parts of the country, which the president has sought to downplay in recent days.

…

Echoing the president, Mike Pence blamed the rising number of new coronavirus cases on increased testing.

…

However, public health experts have said the rising number of cases is more attributable to states reopening and Americans relaxing social distancing practices.

It’s also important to note that coronavirus hospitalizations

So, Trump says to himself, there’s a novel virus cutting a swathe through the country, what should I do? Take away people’s health insurance, that’s what.

In a filing with the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trump administration has reaffirmed its position that the Affordable Care Act in its entirety is illegal because Congress eliminated the individual tax penalty for failing to purchase medical insurance.

Solicitor General Noel Francisco, the government’s chief advocate before the Supreme Court, said in a brief that the other provisions of Obamacare are impossible to separate from the individual mandate and that “it necessarily follows that the rest of the ACA must also fall.”

Shortly after the brief appeared on the court’s docket late Thursday,

Yes but how do they know? How do they ever know? It’s never ever explained. If we don’t know how we know, and we can’t figure out how we can know because the rules don’t add up, then…how do we know what we’re supposed to do, and not do? If the rules contradict each other, how do we avoid thoughtcrime? Where is the island we can stand on, safe from sharks and strong currents?

The WI is a place which welcomes and celebrates all women. As we near toward the end of #PrideMonth, we would like to wish a Happy Pride to all our transgender members.

This brilliant trans pride flag was made by @SocialLitesWI #Pride pic.twitter.com/vfJWHiSwJQ

— Women's

Excuse me?

They deserve more recognition, do they? Ok here’s step one: don’t call them not-men, as if they were a weird mutant failure.

Updating to add:

As the person who manages this account I am always trying to encourage conversation & I personally apologize for not getting it right on this occasion.

Bethany

— Routledge Philosophy and Religion (@Routledge_Phil) June 26, 2020

Not a very philosophical response.… Read the rest