Barak Ravid:

I want to tell you a secret: A month ago when Netanyahu decided to allow Omar and Tlaib into the country they alreadty supported BDS and he knew it back then. There is only one reason for Netanyahu’s backtracking today – the pressure from Donald Trump

Jennifer Rubin:

The ban is a stunning, unprecedented step, one that signals Israel, long a bastion of democracy in the Middle East, cannot tolerate criticism. For Netanyahu it sends message that he is Trump’s puppet, willing to damage the long-term relationship with US

Michael McFaul:

Prime Minister Netanyahu respected the independence of our legislative branch when he accepted the invitation of the U.S. Congress to speak even though the

My friend @marstrina sums it up nicely:

At the end of the day I think the fundamental philosophical difference at stake in this contestation is about social embeddedness: does our image of ourselves require external referents & feedback, or is it self-generated and unique?

The attraction of the latter view is the illusion of liberty and autonomy it offers. But a world populated entirely by self-contained individuals whose innermost selves are neither accessible to nor influenced by anyone else is a zombie dystopia, if you stop and think about it.

That whole idea that we can transcend social embeddedness to be self-generated and unique and oh so special makes my skin crawl. It’s Trumpism, basically. It’s egotism, it’s … Read the rest

Meanwhile Israel – or Netanyahu – has joined Trump in demonizing Tlaib and Omar.

Israel announced Thursday it was barring the entry of two US congresswomen after Donald Trump encouraged the move, a remarkable step both by the US President and his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to punish political opponents.

Deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely told CNN on Thursday of Israel’s decision to ban Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering the country. The announcement came shortly after Trump said Israel would be showing “great weakness” by allowing them to enter the country.

Ah, so this must be more of that tough-guy masculinity we’re told Trump represents.

Trump has criticized the two lawmakers —

Yesterday it was neo-Nazis in Seattle:

Neo-Nazis affiliated with the anti-Semitic Daily Stormer Book Club plastered racist fliers on three Seattle synagogues.

The fliers were posted over the weekend by a masked man and featured an illustration of Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts biting an arm marked America, according to Patch.com.

The flier read “Send them back” and “deport the commie brown infestation.” The first phrase echoes recent language from President Donald Trump, who called on the freshman lawmakers, known as “The Squad,” to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.”

I think the … Read the rest

How’s that again?

Cosmology grad student issues statement of support for trans women.

Trans women are women. Period. As a cis woman, I promise I will not leave you out, ever. Keep being fabulous

With three tiny dancing laydee emojis which become enormous when copied here.

Let’s think about this. I was going to talk about the words and the thread that ensued but first let’s talk about this “keep being fabulous” and that emoji – coming from a woman talking to men who Identify As women. What is that?

Why, I mean, is an actual woman equating being-a-woman with keeping being fabulous and being a blonde laydee with big hair dancing in a red dress?

Why isn’t she … Read the rest

Oh dear, some of Trump’s people want him to do the right thing and he’s not interested – who could have seen that coming?

Donald Trump’s top aides are urging him to back Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters, but the president isn’t interested, multiple people familiar with the administration’s internal debates say.

In recent days, national security adviser John Bolton, China hands at both the National Security Council and the State Department, and several economic advisers have pushed for a more assertive posture on the Hong Kong demonstrations, which have paralyzed the former British colony and roiled markets.

They are finding little traction with a president focused more narrowly on trade negotiations with Xi Jinping — and worried that criticizing the

On it goes.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is reviewing its transgender policy before its £20m semi-professional women’s competition starts next year.

Under ECB rules the eligibility of players in women’s domestic cricket is determined by a player’s own self-identified gender, with no medical requirement for those who have transitioned from male to female to lower their testosterone levels.

In other words it’s entirely verbal and unilateral. Player says he’s a woman, he’s a woman, end of story. Shut up you there in the back. Player says he’s a woman, player gets to play on women’s team. That’s inkloooosive. It’s also totally fair because women can do exactly the same thing.

However, Claire Connor, the managing director of

Ok this tweet is breaking my heart so I guess it might as well break yours too.

This is Antonio Basco. His wife of 22 years, Margie, was murdered in El Paso. Mr. Basco says he has no other family so he’s inviting anyone, who wants to come, to attend his wife’s services in El Paso: Friday, August 16th Perches Funeral Home Northeast 4946 Hondo Pass 5-9pm

Let’s learn more about that University of Otago study.

New Zealand researchers say trans athletes have an “unfair” advantage over other women and sport needs to fix binary gender categories.

The advantages trans athletes have over female competitors are considerably large and sport needs to look hard at fairness, along with their inclusion policies, Otago University Associate professor of physiology Lynley Anderson says.

The issue became hot because of Laurel Hubbard.

Male to female trans athletes have been allowed to compete in women’s divisions since 2015 provided their testosterone level does not exceed 10 nanomoles per litre.

However, the average amount of testosterone for a cis female (born female) ranges from .870nmol/L. to 1.7nmol/L – nearly ten times less

New Zealand’s own Rachel McKinnon:

History might well record that we reached peak craziness on July 20, 2019. That was when I read a story in the sports pages about a champion New Zealand mountain biker named Kate Weatherly, who was born male but “transitioned to female” from the age of 17.

Weatherly was reported as objecting to a University of Otago study which found, surely to no-one’s surprise, that transgender female athletes have an advantage over rivals who are born female.

Her own record seems to prove the point. According to the story, Weatherly went from being an “average” men’s downhill mountain biker to winning the women’s elite national championship.

Just like McKinnon, and Hubbard, and Miller and … Read the rest

@UN_Women goes to bat for…men displacing women in sport, I guess.

Trans and intersex athletes often face discrimination in competitive sports, including being banned from events and stripped of their achievements. Let’s show our support and tell the world to #LetThemPlay!

Do they though? When, where?

Maybe trans men are banned from playing US football – the kind that specializes in concussions – for safety reasons? I don’t know, but if that is the case…is it discrimination or is it safety?

But what we’ve been seeing lately is the opposite: men who claim to be women being allowed, and indeed encouraged, to compete against women, using their physical advantages to win all the prizes.

Why is @UN_Women cheering that … Read the rest

ADL Pacific Northwest writes:

This weekend, synagogues in the Seward Park community in Seattle were targeted by a white supremacist group with anti-Semitic, racist fliers. This is part of a coordinated effort we are closely tracking in which a white supremacist group is placing anti-Semitic fliers at synagogues and some churches in the Puget Sound and in other communities across the country. Previous fliers have contained anti-Semitic, Holocaust denial language. ADL’s Center on Extremism is monitoring this trend and we are offering support to community leaders. Thank you to the Seattle Police Department for acting swiftly. #NoPlaceforHate

The post included an image:

Note the caption – Daily Stormer.

It’s Donald Trump’s world we have to live in now.… Read the rest

Don’t let anybody tell you Donald Trump has no heart.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he was delaying some tariffs on Chinese imports ahead of the Christmas season to stem their potential impact on holiday shopping.

Awwww. Thanks, Don – now we can shop til we drop to make Baby Jesus happy.

The Trump administration announced hours earlier that it would delay some of the tariffs, originally scheduled to come into effect on Sept. 1, until Dec. 15.

I guess Don suddenly saw a calendar.

 … Read the rest

That Emma Lazarus, she was all mixed up. We don’t want no stinkin’ huddled masses, we want onntrapranoors! If you can’t afford a two-bedroom condo in Manhattan then gtfo.

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), has proposed a new interpretation of the famous welcome that appears on a placard at the Statue of Liberty.

The famous lines, taken from The New Colossus by the 19th-century New York poet Emma Lazarus, read: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

In a radio interview on Tuesday, Cuccinelli offered a change: “Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will

How to needle Trump: buy ad time on Fox News.

On Wednesday, a new ad from Julián Castro will air in which the Democratic 2020 contender will speak directly to Donald Trump. To ensure the president actually sees it, Castro’s campaign has purchased ad time on Fox News, including on Trump’s favorite program, Fox & Friends.

The ad buy in question is reportedly a small one of $2,775 for three spots during the day, to air specifically in Bedminster, New Jersey. The president is expected to be there at his golf club.

Alternating between watching tv and cheating at golf.

“President Trump: you referred to countries as shitholes,” he says in the ad. “You urged American congresswomen to

There is no such thing as an “authentic self.” Arguably there’s not even any such thing as a “self” – there is instead an illusion of a self that keeps us somewhat organized. Louise Perry explains how the trans movement is chasing unicorns when it talks of transitioning to an Authentic Self.

The core idea of the trans narrative—that we are all possessed of a gender identity, which is more true and authentic than our physical bodies—depends on claims that do not withstand scrutiny. Not only is it unwise to write legislation based on incoherent principles, but it also does real harm to vulnerable people desperate to find themselves. We could spend the whole of our lives waiting for