The Times Higher on what it’s like to be a gender critical academic:

“It is quite a strange situation to work somewhere where people make it clear that they loathe you,” reflected Kathleen Stock, professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, on the backlash she faced for her views on gender identification.

Some of it is just hot air.

In late November, a failed campaign to bar her from speaking at the Royal Institute of Philosophy’s annual debate generated 6,300 likes on Twitter, but just five emails from outraged complainants.

And the campaign failed. Did I mention it failed? It failed, you know.

But it is at traditionally left-wing Sussex where Professor Stock has encountered some of

This makes the blood run cold.

Iranian official tweets flag just after strikes, mirroring move Trump made after Suleimani strike Thursday. https://t.co/8L5v8vGVfu

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) January 8, 2020

You know the one:

pic.twitter.com/VXeKiVzpTf

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020

… Read the rest

Paltrow and Goop are funny, but they’re not just funny – they’re also dangerous.

'What's the harm in giving Gwyneth Paltrow a health show on @Netflix?'

This morning I put two of my children on the school bus. The third is a box of ashes. Health information should come from experts, not celebrities. Stop giving them platforms. 1/5https://t.co/wHF1iXHLuC pic.twitter.com/u4qJlvBG9a

— Jill Promoli (@jillpromoli) January 7, 2020

Why is the third a box of ashes? Because he died of flu at age 2. He’d been vaccinated but not all the herd had been.

Vaccination rates are dropping, people are seeking alternative care instead of seeing their doctor, and serious illnesses are being missed or left untreated (or improperly

The NY Times reports:

Dozens of Iranians and Iranian-Americans were held for hours at Washington State’s border with Canada over the weekend as the Department of Homeland Security ramped up security at border ports after Iran threatened to retaliate against the United States for the strike that killed its top military leader.

More than 60 of the travelers, many returning from work trips or vacations, were trying to come home to the United States on Saturday when agents at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Wash., held them for additional questioning about their political views and allegiances, according to advocacy groups and accounts from travelers.

CBP says it’s not true, it was just a busy time at the … Read the rest

Morgane Oger doing what he does, again.

Hi @VPL and @CityofVancouver, have you approved the recent application to host yet another transphobic #gidyvr event in a government facility our city owns, operates, and governs?#vanpoli https://t.co/3xZau3ZYkD

— Morgane Oger (@MorganeOgerBC) January 3, 2020

Dude trying to get a big city library to suppress some women for him.

Meghan Murphy's core thesis is that transgender women are not women but men. This is unsupported by Canadian values and laws.

The #gidyvr series's a platform to promote this and our governments have a responsibility to not participate in incitement of prohibited discrimination.

— Morgane Oger (@MorganeOgerBC) January 6, 2020

It’s not a “thesis” or a “core thesis.” It’s just reality. Men … Read the rest

Hey, it’s a new year, let’s peddle more bullshit “wellness” to the adoring masses.

Dear @Netflix, the spread of health misinformation does real harm (https://t.co/4Yc3ZTKynz). In addition to promoting unproven ideas & products, it contributes to erosion of #criticalthinking. cc @DrJenGunter

In this era of #fakenews, pls do better!

Less @goop. More science.

— Timothy Caulfield (@CaulfieldTim) January 6, 2020

Let’s hear from Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta:

This has been the decade of misinformation. And, in the context of health, celebrities have led the charge.

It’s an easy buck, you know? You’re famous so people will buy what you market, so why … Read the rest

Simon Jenkins in the Guardian:

Donald Trump’s threat to destroy the sites of ancient Persia should send a shiver down the spine of any civilised person. How can anything justify American bombing of Persepolis or the mosques of Isfahan? Only the demented can see them as “threatening America”. It is on the same ethical plane as the Islamic State vandalism of Palmyra and Mosul.

And the Taliban’s destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, and other Islamists’ destruction of shrines in Timbuktu.

The destruction of cultural artefacts in war is specifically outlawed under the Hague convention of 1954 and subsequent protocols. It ranks with genocide, chemical weapons and the “strategic” bombing of civilians as beyond the pale of human behaviour. The

Global fascism news, India division:

Students across India have been protesting against an attack on a prestigious Delhi university by masked men wielding sticks on Sunday.

At least 40 students and staff of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were admitted to hospital with injuries.

Why JNU? Because “left-wing.”

The JNU has long been associated with left-wing activism, and some students have blamed Sunday’s violence on a right-wing student body linked to India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). That group denies involvement and says left-wing activists were responsible.

Sounds familiar.

It did not take long for students and activists across the country to mobilise. On Monday, about 1,000 people gathered in Mumbai, with demonstrations in Hyderabad, Chennai (formerly Madras),

You are threatening to commit war crimes. We are not at war with Iran. The American people do not want a war with Iran. This is a democracy. You do not get to start a war with Iran, and your threats put our troops and diplomats at greater risk. Stop. pic.twitter.com/RoXRgb9GsK

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 5, 2020

https://twitter.com/sarahelizalewis/status/1213869848624816128

Women get permanently banned from Twitter for saying men are not women, but Trump can tweet us into a war with Iran and that’s copacetic.

It is who we are though. If “we” and “who” and “are” are meaningful in the context of a whole large heterogeneous country, it is who we are. We (or “we”) have a long history … Read the rest

Pompeo is mad because people don’t think Trump is being awesome.

“I spent the last day and a half, two days, talking to partners in the region, sharing with them what we were doing, why we were doing it, seeking their assistance,” Pompeo told Fox News. “They’ve all been fantastic. And then talking to our partners in other places that haven’t been quite as good.

“Frankly, the Europeans haven’t been as helpful as I wish that they could be. The Brits, the French, the Germans all need to understand that what we did, what the Americans did, saved lives in Europe as well.”

Uh huh.

“Qassem Suleimani led and his IRGC [Revolutionary Guard] led assassination campaigns in Europe. This was

Well, yes.

These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020

… Read the rest

Adam Schiff makes an important point here. It may seem obvious to thinking adults, but sadly it’s not thinking adults who are running this shit show. Pompeo claims the hit will save lives, Jake Tapper says, and Schiff points out that that’s Pompeo’s personal opinion but the intelligence information doesn’t support it. He continues to cite intel as opposed to opinion. Opinions are easy, but they can be based on anything or nothing at all. Opinions can be the product of desire as opposed to intelligence (in all senses).

After seeing the intel, I don’t believe it supports conclusion that killing Soleimani will stop Iranian plotting or reduce risk to American lives.

Trump’s decision does, however, increase likelihood of war

Trump yesterday:

….targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020

He’s promising to commit war crimes. He’s doing it on Twitter. The US president is saying on Twitter that he plans to commit war crimes.

The AP reports:

President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday evening that if Iran attacks any American assets to avenge the killing of a top Iranian general, the U.S. has 52 targets across the Islamic Republic that

It’s 2pm in Auckland yet it feels like the sun is about to set. An eerie, dark orange tinted sky filled with smoke from the #Australia bushfires over 2000km away.
Climate Change Knows No Borders pic.twitter.com/HtoTLLXQOX

— Dr Michelle Dickinson (@medickinson) January 5, 2020

#Smoke update for #Auckland. The main plume is now moving over the city & into tonight, also parts of Northland, Coromandel Peninsula & Waikato.

Smoke in NZ's upper North Island peaks across the rest of Sunday & overnight tonight.

– https://t.co/gb7E1qcpZ3

4:40pm NZDT Jan 5 pic.twitter.com/QlPbOewOf2

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) January 5, 2020

Skies over Auckland this afternoon… pic.twitter.com/sN5Pjqs4NM

— Damian Light (@damianlight) January 5, 2020

The smoke haze from Australia has been dragged across the