Trump did a quick cameo in the White House backyard. He took notes with him, in giant letters, so that he wouldn’t forget what he was supposed to say.
Now “I WANT NOTHING” is trending on Twitter.
He wrote that weird note himself. He always writes in all caps, like a true illiterate. All caps but he still dots the i.
THiS iS THE FiNAL WORD FROM THE PRES OF THE US, he wrote. Oh yes? So he’s resigning?… Read the rest
The Guardian pauses to take a breath and sum up:
… Read the restWith each line of his testimony, Sondland has blown another hole in Donald Trump’s defenses. To describe the testimony as a bombshell is perhaps to underestimate its potential for damage to Trump. To attempt to describe the shock that it is Sondland delivering this message is to come up short for words.
Since the impeachment inquiry began, Trump has ranted that there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine, no conditions placed on a White House meeting, no strings on US military aid, only a desire to fight corruption in Ukraine and to pursue the truth about 2016. It is all a witch hunt, a hoax, Trump has said.
But
Apparently Sondland’s testimony is being very damning.
He read an opening statement saying he would be confirming the quid pro quo.
He said he and Volker didn’t want to work with Giuliani but they followed the president’s orders.
They tried to talk him out of it, but no.
… Read the restIn response to our persistent efforts to change his views, President Trump directed us to “talk with Rudy.” We understood that “talk with Rudy” meant talk with Mr. Rudy Giuliani, the President’s personal lawyer.
Let me say again: We weren’t happy with the President’s directive to talk with Rudy. We did not want to involve Mr. Giuliani. I believed then, as I do now, that the men and
The Oxford Mail has the story on the abrupt last minute cancellation of Rachel Ara’s talk:
… Read the restA FEMINIST artist who was due to speak at Oxford Brookes University tonight has had her talk cancelled at the last minute after accusations from students that she is transphobic.
Rachel Ara announced on Twitter this morning that her event had been cancelled after complaints from students and speculated that her art is ‘too challenging for today’s youth’.
It comes after Oxford Brookes LGBTQ+ society sent a letter to the university’s pro-vice chancellor, professor Anne-Marie Kilday, condemning the invitation to the artist to speak at the university because of her alleged transphobic views.
Ms Ara, who won the Aesthetica Art Prize 2016 for
Oh good, another smug stupid slogan from another group that should know better. Lambda Legal tweets:
Qualities that make someone “a real man”:
1. Identifying as a man.
2. See above.
3. See above.
4. See above.#InternationalMensDay
Can anyone play?
Qualities that make someone a real pilot:
1. Identifying as a pilot.
2. See above.
3. See above.
4. See above.
Good? Compelling? Obviously true?
Qualities that make someone a real Beluga whale:
1. Identifying as a Beluga whale.
2. See above.
3. See above.
4. See above.
Qualities that make someone a real planet:
1. Identifying as a planet.
2. See above.
3. See above.
4. See above.
Qualities that make someone a real daffodil:
1. Identifying … Read the rest
Trans men are men.
No they’re not, and we all have the civil liberty to say so.
It made an image to illustrate its four word pronouncement.
Of course there’s no one way to be a man; it doesn’t follow and it isn’t true that men who get “their” periods are women, nor does it follow nor is it true that “men” who get pregnant and give birth are men. There’s no one way to be a man, but there are ways not to be a man, such as being born with a female body.
And we all have the civil liberty to defend that truth, and to say that it is truth and that what … Read the rest
A feminist barrister has been attending Maya Forstater’s tribunal and livetweeting it; Thread Reader has stitched it together.
I’m at the Employment Tribunal this morning to watch closing submissions for the #MayaForstaterCase2019. It’s a particularly interesting case on whether a) gender critical beliefs and / or b) a belief in innate gender identity are protected philosophical beliefs.
Does there have to be a belief in innate gender identity in order for absence of belief to be protected? Possibly not, say the judge and counsel for the Respondent (employer)
Respondent kicks off with the assertion that MF’s beliefs fail on Grainger 5: that they are incompatible with human dignity.
She explains Grainger later on. Meanwhile, note the claim that it’s incompatible … Read the rest
It doesn’t appear that the Royal Institute of Philosophy is looking to fold in the face of Social Tutting. Jesse Singal:
Update on this: The head of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, Julian Baggini, says the panel isn’t going to be changed. “I would rather wait until after the event before saying more. You ask about when a final decision will be made. We have no plans to change the panel.”
And, if I’m reading the subtext correctly, no plans to have plans to change the panel.
The subsubsubtext could be, though I’m only guessing, “Those who want us to change the panel are invited to take a long walk on a short pier.”… Read the rest
A pair of tweets:
Vindman explains why a Soviet-born dad would worry about his testifying in way that could challenge/expose the president: “He deeply worried about it” bc in “his context” it was the “ultimate risk.”
Alayna Treene commenting on the above:
Each time Vindman reminds his dad — who is seated behind him — that he need not worry, his dad beams behind him
Meanwhile the White House and Trump are hard at work trying to be more like Putin.… Read the rest
Now the White House Twitter account is joining Trump in witness intimidation.
The White House Twitter account has just sent a message raising doubts about the judgement of Lt Col Alexander Vindman as the NSC official testifies in the impeachment inquiry.
Tim Morrison, Alexander Vindman’s former boss, testified in his deposition that he had concerns about Vindman’s judgment.
To repeat: that’s the White House Twitter account.
The Guardian adds:
… Read the restThe White House tweet raising doubts about the judgement of Lt Col Alexander Vindman is particularly shocking considering the Iraq war veteran still serves on the national security council.
Meanwhile, over on Trump’s Twitter account, the president is resharing messages from Republican accounts downplaying the testimony from Vindman and
Last thing yesterday I did a post about some amateur Savonarola on Twitter telling a college to cancel a talk by a woman artist because he, pretend Savonarola, considered her trAnspHobic, on the very serious basis that she had retweeted a couple of tweets he disapproved of. It seemed like childish bullshit, AND YET – it worked.
Rachel A R A tweeted 7 hours ago (so about 7:30 a.m. UK time)
Sorry folks .. but my talk at Oxford has been cancelled tonight. Some twitter user @terfsoutofart (I assume some disenfranchised man) has galvanised students to complain about me. I guess making art about feminist issues is a bit too challenging for today’s youth! #waronwomen
Just.like.that.
One asshole, one stupid … Read the rest
Another sniffy censor: TERFS OUT OF ART. They want to get feminists with unapproved opinions out of art, you see.
✊ Trans rights are human rights 👟 Working to kick transphobia out of art 📨 Tipoffs welcome 📣 RT / amplify us so we can get the job done 🏳️🌈 TERFs blocked
I’m blocked, so I guess I must be a TERF.
Here’s their “work” for today:
TERF artist Rachel Ara will speak at #OxfordBrookes university tomorrow.
Giving transphobes a uni platform is unacceptable. We encourage students & staff to picket & raise complaints with @obuarts at http://brookes.ac.uk/school-of-arts/about/ … – campus must be safe for everyone.
This account shows us two tweets that Rachel Ara retweeted, and for … Read the rest
Originally a comment by Bjarte Foshaug on Women’s sports are prospering so it’s time to give them to men.
So, once again, we have one definition whereby people with physical traits more representative of mothers than fathers are “women” while people with physical traits more representative of fathers than mothers are not, regardless of anything that goes on inside their heads. And we have one definition (or would have if it not for the fact that the Genderspeak definitions of “women” are all circular) whereby people with physical traits more representative of fathers than mothers who think or feel a certain way are “women”, regardless of physical traits, while some…? most…? all…? of the people with physical traits more … Read the rest
Mimi Rocah and Karen Schwartz on Marie Yovanovitch and Christine Blasey Ford:
… Read the restLike many Americans, we expected the testimony of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, to be powerful. We did not expect it to prove so emotional, or to feel so familiar.
…
But by midmorning, things took a turn. Democratic counsel Daniel Goldman asked her about how she felt after learning President Donald Trump had discussed her with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the now infamous July 25 phone call. It was a chilling moment. Referring to Yovanovitch as “the woman,” Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart she was “going to go through some things.”
“It was a terrible moment,” Yovanovitch recalled Friday. She
Charles Pierce at Esquire says things are speeding up on Trump’s train to the cliff edge.
… Read the restThe latest burst of hail comes from a federal appeals court in Washington. From the Washington Post:
The request followed closely on the heels of Friday’s conviction of longtime Trump friend Roger Stone. Testimony and evidence at his trial appeared to cast doubt on written replies from Trump to Mueller about the president’s knowledge about attempts by his 2016 campaign to learn more about the release of hacked Democratic emails by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. “Did the president lie? Was the president not truthful in his responses to the Mueller investigation,” General Counsel Douglas N. Letter said. “The House is trying to determine
Another brave man brags on Twitter about sending another Letter to another Institution telling it not to “platform” a woman. In this case the man is one Olly Thorne who has a popular YouTube channel on philosophy.
I’ve just sent this letter to the Academic Director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, concerning their decision to platform Kathleen St*ck at their Annual Debate. Those of us working in philosophy must stand up for our trans colleagues and students.
That is, those of us men working in philosophy must silence our female colleagues and students.
… Read the restI’m writing in sadness rather than in anger to caution you that the Royal Institute of Philosophy’s decision to host Kathleen Stock at the Annual Debate
You know how Zelenskiy has been saying he felt no pressure from Trump, no no, no pressure at all? Well, don’t you believe it.
… Read the restU.S. State Department officials were informed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was feeling pressure from the Trump administration to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden even before the July phone call that has led to impeachment hearings in Washington, two people with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press.
In early May, officials at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, including then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, were told Zelenskiy was seeking advice on how to navigate the difficult position he was in, the two people told the AP. He was concerned President Donald Trump and associates were
Trump has fumed for weeks that Pompeo is responsible for hiring State Department officials whose congressional testimony threatens to bring down his presidency, the officials said. The president confronted Pompeo about the officials — and what he believed was a lackluster effort by the secretary of state to block their testimony — during lunch at the White House on Oct. 29, those familiar with the matter said.
Inside the White House, the view was that Trump “just felt like, ‘rein your people in,’” a senior administration official said.
Right, because that’s how everything works. It’s all personal, and it’s all about the guy at the top reining in the peons, and various guys … Read the rest
Trump is a big fan of torture, provided it’s the US doing it.
… Read the restTrump has held the same views about war crimes and torture for years — and being commander in chief has not changed him. He believes that previous presidents have been far too eager to send Americans to war, but that once they’ve been deployed, these soldiers should be free to treat enemies brutally.
- Trump’s views on this subject flared up again last week. He clashed with Pentagon brass when he cleared three soldiers who have been accused or convicted of war crimes.
- Pentagon leaders had privately argued that the president’s intervention in these cases would undercut the code of military justice.
Trump has told advisers that
Books by Selina Todd (she’s a historian):
… Read the restYoung Women, Work, and Family in England, 1918-1950, Oxford University
Winner, Women’s History Network Book Prize ‘Young women emerge in this history as a critically important force…When we imagine a typical interwar worker, it isn’t as a bob-haired 14-year-old shop assistant wearing her first pair of heels’. LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS
The People. The Rise and Fall of the Working Class, 1910-2010 2014Book of the Year in Observer and Guardian; one of David Kynaston’s Books of the Year; one of only three history books by women to be a bestseller in 2014. Now translated into Japanese, Korean, Catalan and Spanish.
Tastes of Honey: the making of Shelagh Delaney and a cultural
