News via Sahara Reporters:

President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, Mubarak Bala, has started receiving death threats for ‘insulting Prophet Muhammad’ on Facebook, SaharaReporters has gathered.

Bala was arrested by men of the Nigerian Police in Kaduna for blasphemy.

His arrest followed a petition by a group of lawyers to the Kano State Police Commissioner to prosecute him for the act. 

Why don’t the lawyers and the police and everyone else trust their god to deal with the matter? Why do they think they have to do it instead?

One of Bala’s friends, who spoke with SaharaReporters on Wednesday, said a popular Muslim cleric and a policeman both in Kano have both vowed to kill him if found. 

… Read the rest

This has been happening:

A British academic whose new book is about why women are blamed for crimes committed against them has been subjected to thousands of coordinated attacks from alt-right trolls over the last week, culminating in her personal computer being hacked.

Dr Jessica Taylor, a senior lecturer in forensic and criminal psychology, is due to publish her exploration of victim blaming, Why Women are Blamed for Everything, on 27 April. Looking into what causes society to blame women who have been abused, raped, trafficked, assaulted or harassed by men, the book has drawn increasing publicity, including an appearance on Woman’s Hour.

I listened to that conversation on Woman’s Hour; it was very good. She talked … Read the rest

#PenceIsAnIdiot is trending.

https://twitter.com/johnlundin/status/1255517815060168711

Exactly. It’s wildly insulting to put them at risk so that they can gaze upon his holy countenance.

https://twitter.com/StaciUC/status/1255371227297976321… Read the rest

More on Pence’s insulting and potentially murderous refusal to wear the mandatory face mask on his publicity stop at the Mayo Clinic:

Vice President Pence responded to criticisms that he defied Mayo Clinic policy by not wearing a mask during his visit Tuesday to the campus, saying he complied with federal guidelines and felt it was his duty to speak to workers at the facility unencumbered by a facial covering.

He said he complied with federal guidelines – but if you’re entering a medical institution which mandates a face mask, you put on the fucking face mask, you don’t say “Wull I’m following the federal rules so you and your staff and your patients just have to suck it up. … Read the rest

The princess apologizes for wearing that weird pink plush bunny suit to a press briefing today…

Just kidding: actually she brags about it.

We were honored to host incredible small business owners & workers at the @WhiteHouse today.

Their stories inspire us & we’re proud that they’re among the roughly 60M Americans receiving PPP.

This virus was no fault of their own. We’ll always support our great small businesses! pic.twitter.com/izoesqBzml

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 28, 2020

Also…you know…people are dying, and other people are out of work, struggling, desperate, terrified…why are they standing up there beaming as if they were opening a House of Love and Babies and Puppies? Why is Ivanka there at all and why is she … Read the rest

It’s ok though, it’s going to go away. That’s all – just go away. Don’t worry.

Alotta progress has been made on a vaccine – but I think what happens is it’s gunna go away – this is gunna go away – and uh whether it comes back in a modified form in the fall, wull be able to handle it, wull be able to put out spurts [two “put out spurts” gestures to illustrate what he means] and uh wurr very prepared to hannle it – we’ve learned a lot, we’ve learned a lot about it, The Invisible Enemy [getting excited] it’s a bad enemy very tough enemy but we’ve learned a lot…[closes eyes for a brief nap]…it’s

… Read the rest

Asked how he explains that the number of coronavirus cases didn't go down to zero on its own like he said it would in late February, Trump points out that eventually it will in fact go down to zero pic.twitter.com/44OmzH0kTI

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 28, 2020

“…and it will be, at the appropriate time, it will be down to zero, like we said.”

At the appropriate time.

So now is not the appropriate time?

There is something inappropriate about zeroing out the virus now?

What would that be, exactly?

What are the criteria by which Trump is deciding now is not the appropriate time for the virus numbers to be down to zero? Do we have any input … Read the rest

Also this happened today.

Mayo Clinic requires all visitors to wear a mask. Will Mike Pence do so today? Famed hospital punted Qs about the visit from the VP, who has avoided wearing a mask in photo opps. pic.twitter.com/u4iAtjTJGn

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) April 28, 2020

PENCE flouts Mayo Clinic policy that everyone on campus wear a mask, even as he meets with staff and a patient. pic.twitter.com/kfo64KQDhU

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) April 28, 2020

Statement from a Mayo Clinic spokesperson:

We made the Vice President and his staff aware of our policy regarding masking. For all additional inquiries please contact his press team.

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) April 28, 2020

… Read the rest

People are taking the hint from Barr and suing their states for the precious right to infect other people.

A judge in Illinois ruled on Monday that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker cannot enforce his stay-at-home order against Republican state Rep. Darren Bailey. Bailey, who represents a rural area that’s been spared from the contagion, argued that the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act restricts a governor’s emergency powers to 30 days from the day he declares a disaster, which was March 9. “The governor was just clearly overreaching his authority and his powers,” Bailey told Meagan Flynn. 

Pritzker promised to appeal. “Rep. Darren Bailey’s decision to take to the courts to try and dismantle public health directives designed to keep

… Read the rest

Barr is threatening states that take strong measures to slow the pandemic.

Attorney General Bill Barr directed all 93 U.S. attorneys on Monday to “be on the lookout for state and local directives” that curtail individual rights in the name of containing the novel coronavirus. 

Of course quarantines curtail individual rights, but you know what else does that? Death, and debilitating after-effects of damaged lungs and other organs. Sometimes individual rights have to give way to the rights of everyone else.

This new declaration by the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, who has heavily politicized the Justice Department during his tenure, should be read as a warning to governors and mayors that they may face challenges in federal court if

… Read the rest

Well, you see, it was a very warm weekend.

Tens of thousands of people packed southern California beaches over the weekend, reigniting fears that large crowds in public spaces could reverse progress on containing Covid-19 in the US.

Photos of the gatherings in Newport Beach, Orange county, during a weekend heatwave sparked intense backlash and comparisons with Florida, where images of beachgoers raised alarms about the state’s coronavirus strategy. In recent days, beach and park reopenings have also prompted debates and public health concerns in Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and other regions looking to re-emerge from lockdowns.

But isn’t there some kind of magic thingy where crowded beaches don’t count? Because the sand scares the … Read the rest

I hope I never have to take any of that.

Trump begins his April 27 #TrumpPressConference with some reading difficulties pic.twitter.com/V1AnjAh9NK

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 27, 2020

… Read the rest

Politico has a ridiculous piece about Hope Hicks (which many shockingly cynical people are suggesting is based on what Hope Hicks wanted them to say).

For Hope Hicks, it marked a challenge unlike any other — trying to develop a communications strategy for the president to carry with a wartime footing in an election year. As one of the few aides Trump implicitly trusts, the former White House communications director urged the president to act as a frontman for the coronavirus crisis — a leader who could offer calming messages, critical health information and important updates on the progress of the White House’s response efforts, instead of delegating those responsibilities to health officials or the vice president.

You see what … Read the rest

I wrote a column for The Freethinker yesterday, a play on freethinking and free thinking i.e. a joke about the fact that some thinking is a good deal too free, like for instance Trump’s.

What’s funny about that is that several of the people commenting are…how shall I put this…missing the fact that it’s a joke and that there are many sub-jokes within the larger joke…Which is particularly amusing because the column is partly about Trump’s very free thoughts about how he was being sarcastic and all you dopes missed it.

Also one person thinks it’s a good sign that “stalwart Trump supporters like Benson are getting critical of him.”… Read the rest

Oh he was just thinking aloud.

After several days in which state public health officials have rushed to issue urgent warnings to Americans about the dangers of ingesting disinfectants, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, sidestepped the opportunity to amplify that message Sunday.

Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper what the American people should know about disinfectants and the human body, she instead defended the President’s tendency to muse aloud about his ideas as he processes new information, and suggested that the media had missed the point of the White House presentation.

Birx noted that when Trump made the remark Thursday, he was engaged in a “dialogue” with William Bryan, the acting head of science at

… Read the rest

Whoa.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254479607627231232 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1254479609472659456

First of all journalists don’t get “Nobles” or even Nobels. There is no Nobel Prize for journalism. Second, spelling. Third…everything. Saying that out loud, and not just out loud but on Twitter. Acting like a spoiled toddler with a toothache out in public where we can all see you. Fourth – you do realize you’re telling us all it upsets you that nobody gives you a Noble prize for journalism? And that that looks kind of stupid coming from a head of state? In short that we’re all going to laugh at you? That all you’re doing is humiliating yourself? That we’re laughing at you (at the same time as we very seriously want you out of … Read the rest

.@realDonaldTrump never said Americans SHOULD inject themselves with disinfectants or drink bleach! Liberals and the media (same) are LYING & EMBELLISHING.. He was wondering aloud about it in the form of a question. No wonder nobody trusts the liberal media. @POTUS @WhiteHouse

— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) April 25, 2020

Who’s this guy? What is CBN? His profile says ” Chief Political Analyst, CBN News” – so what’s CBN News?

Ah. Doctor Google informs us that CBN is Christian Broadcasting Network.

So Christians are all about the rapist serial adulterer serial marry-er who brags about grabbing women by the pussy? All about greed and pugnacity and cruelty and lying? All about sending refugees back to be killed, letting children die … Read the rest

The Post shares a numerical breakdown of Trump’s firehose of egotism at his virus rallies:

What began as daily briefings meant to convey public health information have become de facto political rallies conducted from the West Wing of the White House. Trump offers little in the way of accurate medical information or empathy for coronavirus victims, instead focusing on attacking his enemies and lauding himself and his allies.

He’s done 60 percent of the talking at the rallies disguised as briefings on the pandemic. He has by far the least to say of anyone there yet he uses up the majority of the time to say his tiny least over and over and over again.

The president has spoken for

… Read the rest

West Point sent students home and were unsure about having a graduation ceremony.

The Naval Academy, for its part, decided it was too risky to recall its nearly 1,000 graduating midshipmen to Annapolis, Md., for a commencement. Those graduates will have a virtual event. But the Air Force Academy, in contrast to the other schools, sent home its underclassmen, locked down its seniors on campus, moved up graduation, mandated social distancing — and went ahead with plans for Vice President Mike Pence to be its speaker.

And so last Friday, the day before Mr. Pence was to speak at the Air Force ceremony in Colorado, Mr. Trump, never one to be upstaged, abruptly announced that he would, in fact, be

… Read the rest

To get revenge for his failures Trump is pushing to destroy the WHO altogether.

Trump and his top aides are working behind the scenes to sideline the World Health Organization on several new fronts as they seek to shift blame for the coronavirus pandemic to the world body, according to U.S. and foreign officials involved in the discussions.

Last week, the president announced a 60-day hold on U.S. money to the WHO, but other steps by his top officials go beyond a temporary funding freeze, raising concerns about the permanent weakening of the organization amid a rapidly spreading crisis.

At the State Department, officials are stripping references to the WHO from coronavirus fact sheets, and Secretary of State Mike

… Read the rest