The Trump gang at the UN:

The Trump administration is calling on U.N. member nations to oppose efforts to promote access to abortion internationally, a move immediately criticized by reproductive rights groups seeking greater access to the services globally.

At a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar spoke on behalf of the U.S. and more than a dozen other countries stating that abortion is not an international human right.

Well he’ll never need an abortion, will he.

Azar was joined by representatives from countries including Brazil, Poland and Iraq in making the statement, which was signed by a total of 19 countries including the United

Apparently Trump deleted a tweet from today. Good thing people kept records. Malcolm Nance:

How do you get @realDonaldTrump to violate the Presidential records act and delete a tweet? Mock him with his own words! You’re welcome America! #Impeachment

Also:

Wow Trump deleted this tweet

Too incriminating even for him?

Our country is at stake, and that’s why he has to go.… Read the rest

Slate:

One thing Maguire was firm on was reiterating that the still-anonymous whistleblower was judged to be “credible” by the intelligence community’s inspector general and that he deserved the full protection and security afforded to him by the law. “That individual works for me, therefore it is my job to make sure I support and defend that person. … I think the whistleblower did the right thing,” said Maguire.

Turns out his boss has a different view on the whistleblowing process! From the Los Angeles Times’ account of Trump’s remarks Thursday to a group of U.S. diplomatic staffers in New York (audio here):

“I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the

Dragging myself away from the car crash for just a minute…these wonderful people who rule over us are gleefully taking free school lunches away from children who need them.

The Washington Post reported this week that President Donald Trump’s proposal to strip food stamps from three million Americans could cause a half-million children to lose free school meals “since food stamp eligibility is one way students can qualify for the lunches.”

“Trump is depriving 500,000 kids of their school lunches for no damn reason — even after 139 members of Congress warned him not to,” Sanders tweeted, referring to a letter he sent along with House and Senate lawmakers last month condemning the food stamps rule as “unconscionable.”

…

The New York Times, weirdly, chose to report information on the whistleblower…no doubt right around the time Trump was screaming threats at said whistleblower. Then it tweeted its explanation for doing so.

Dean Baquet, our executive editor, explains why we chose to publish the information about the whistle-blower http://nyti.ms/2loU4p0

That may be, but given that the subject of the whistleblower’s complaint is a raving maniac, it’s not the most urgent consideration.

(Mind you, I mentioned the chit-chat about Coats, but then I’m not the New York Times.)… Read the rest

The House Intelligence Committee has released the whistleblower complaint.

Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released the declassified whistleblower complaint. The complaint can be viewed here, and the Intelligence Community Inspector General letter regarding the complaint can be viewed here.

Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) made the following statement:

“The Committee this morning will be releasing the declassified whistleblower complaint that it received late last night from the ODNI. It is a travesty that it was held up this long.

“This complaint should never have been withheld from Congress. It exposed serious wrongdoing, and was found both urgent and credible by the Inspector General.

“This complaint is a roadmap for our investigation, and provides significant information

Uh oh, McKinnon is cheating again.

IOC Charter, 4th Fundamental Principle of Olympian: “Participation in sport is a human right.”

You’re wrong. #sorrynotsorry

#factsdontcareaboutyourfeelings

He said it in reply to a tweet that said “I don’t think competing in sport is a human right. Sorry.”

Claim: “I don’t think competing in sport is a human right.”

Counter-claim: “The IOC Charter says ‘Participation in sport is a human right.'”

Where’s the cheating? In the fact that participation is not the same as competing.

That’s especially true of sports/activities like cycling that can be enjoyed perfectly well without other people. Team sports are little fun by oneself; sports like running, cycling, archery, swimming can be plenty of fun by oneself.… Read the rest

Also: the oceans:

As the world’s climate changes, ocean warming is accelerating and sea levels are rising more quickly, warns a new report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The report is a synthesis of the most up-to-date climate science on oceans and ice, and it lays out a stark reality: Ocean surface temperatures have been warming steadily since 1970, and for the past 25 years or so, they’ve been warming twice as fast.

Sea levels are also rising increasingly quickly “due to increasing rates of ice loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets,” the report states.

“For me, it’s the complete picture that’s kind of surprising and, frankly, concerning,” says Ko Barrett, vice-chair of

Hilariously, the White House sent talking points about the memorandum to Congress, but they sent it to Democrats by mistake. Ooops!

The White House appeared to accidentally send its talking points on the Ukraine call to House Democrats. The talking points encouraged the president’s allies to argue that there was no direct quid pro quo conveyed in the memo and that the whistleblower complaint was handled “by the book.”

After realizing the error, the White House tried to recall the email to House Democrats. At the risk of stating the obvious: it seems a bit late for that.

Yeah there’s no such thing as “recalling” email, White House. That’s not how any of this works.

Sure Tori!

makes busy … Read the rest

Derrick Jensen posted this on Facebook and told us to share widely. I’m making it a guest post for ease of reading.

i just got deplatformed here in Crescent City. the left is insane, cult-like, and authoritarian.

i was asked to do a talk as part of the climate strike. i said yes.

i was volunteering my time.

today i got a note from the “Del Norte Climate Justice Alliance” disinviting me.

here is their note.

Dear Derrick and Heather,

We are cancelling your talk this week for the Week For Future Generations. We would like to be transparent about the reason, the room that you would be using is a room used by students of color, trans, and queer … Read the rest

McKinnon again, shouting about his human right to compete against women.

Dysphoria Joe introduces him:

“Rachel” McKinnon says he has “human right” to race women because, well, he can’t win against men:

He’s quoting himself, probably because no one else would say something so stupid.

“Who the fuck am I going to race? There’s no other trans woman on my level. By creating a trans only category you’re denying me competition. If sport is a human right then you’re actively excluding me from that right.”

I don’t know why he keeps recycling that claim when it’s so OBVIOUSLY shifty. A right to sport is not a right to formal competition with prizes. The whole point of competitions is that … Read the rest