All entries by this author

When he thinks about feminism, he thinks “TERF”

Apr 17th, 2019 10:58 am | By

Well that’s us told:

Nonbinary Femmes Must Be Included in the Feminist Movement.

“Must” on whose orders? There is no such “must.”

But besides that, what the hell is a nonbinary femme supposed to be? I think I’ve asked that before, possibly to the point of tedium, but nobody seems to be able to explain. It’s having it both ways, if you ask me.

At any rate it’s clearly nothing to do with women, dreary old humdrum commonplace neither trans nor nonbinary women. They’re too boring to bear, so feminism needs to be livened up by being ordered to include men who identify or present or perform or pirouette or show off “as” women.

Our author Tre’vell [sic] … Read the rest



Muh authoriteh

Apr 16th, 2019 5:56 pm | By

Trump says he can do whatever he wants:

President Donald Trump issued the second veto of his presidency Tuesday, stopping a congressional resolution that would have sought to end US involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

“This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future,” Trump wrote to the Senate Thursday.

His constitutional authority – as if it were personal to him as opposed to attaching (or not) to the office. I’m pretty sure normal presidents use the third person in statements of that kind – they talk of the executive branch or the president but not their personal … Read the rest



Why care

Apr 16th, 2019 5:00 pm | By

Katie Herzog notes a commonality in mourning cultural destruction:

As I watched Notre Dame burn yesterday, I was reminded of the fire at the National Museum of Brazil last year and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001. You didn’t have to be a Brazilian or a Buddhist to care about those losses, and you don’t have to be a Catholic or a Parisian to care about Notre Dame now.

I’ve blogged about both of those, and a lot more – the shrines in Timbuktu, the statues in Palmyra, the mosques in Gujarat.

Art works aren’t people, but art works matter to people, so it’s not devaluing people to give a damn when examples … Read the rest



Walking beside his mother

Apr 16th, 2019 4:00 pm | By

https://twitter.com/DoctorChristian/status/1118168023406395394

The replies are even funnier.

https://twitter.com/nigelrudd/status/1118256741748285440… Read the rest



Alors oui, nous rebâtirons la cathédrale Notre-Dame

Apr 16th, 2019 3:35 pm | By

It was close.

Notre Dame Cathedral was within “15 to 30 minutes” of complete destruction as firefighters battled to stop flames reaching its gothic bell towers, French authorities have revealed.

A greater disaster was averted by members of the Paris fire brigade, who risked their lives to remain inside the burning monument to create a wall of water between the raging fire and two towers on the west facade.

Merci, pompiers.

The cathedral is owned by the state and has been at the centre of a years-long dispute between the nation and the Paris archdiocese over who should finance restoration work to collapsed balustrades, crumbling gargoyles and cracked facades.

How about both? Or maybe a 75/25 split, with the … Read the rest



But we are waiting

Apr 16th, 2019 11:49 am | By

Dahlia Lithwick points out many things Trump has done in full public view that amount to the various kinds of wrongdoing Mueller’s team investigated.

There’s the alleged telling an official to close the southern border and promising a pardon in advance, there’s the lying about Wikileaks, there’s the spreading filth.

Last week, as professor David Rothkopf ably summarized here, Attorney General William Barr testified that he was able to be the arbiter of whether the president obstructed justice, which is actually not the case. He also reversed a long-standing Department of Justice policy to defend statutes because the president told him to. The treasury secretary has refused to abide by a law that on its face demands that

Read the rest


Dry timber

Apr 16th, 2019 11:19 am | By

What may have happened:

A heritage fire safety expert has said his heart sinks and he fears for the worst every time he sees scaffolding on a historic building.

Stewart Kidd said all construction sites were inherently dangerous places, but the danger was so much higher in a heritage building.

“We’re talking about timber, we’re talking about very dry buildings because they are old, we’re talking about nooks and crannies, we’re talking about voids and ducts where fire can spread unseen and pop out a long way from where it started.”

He said data from Scotland suggested that about 8-12% of fires in heritage buildings occured when contractors were present.

“What we know is that any kind of hot

Read the rest


Change of location

Apr 16th, 2019 11:02 am | By

That shindig with Jair Bolsonaro at the Museum of Natural History? It’s off.

Plans to honor Brazil’s far-right president with a black-tie gala at the American Museum of Natural History have been scrapped after a public outcry that saw New York’s mayor brand Jair Bolsonaro “a very dangerous human being”.

Bill de Blasio was among those to speak out after plans for the 14 May event emerged last week, claiming Bolsonaro’s “overt racism and homophobia” and his hostility to the environment mean it would be wrong for such a museum to host him.

Museum staff and scientists in both the United States and Brazil also blasted the decision to pay tribute to a rightwing populist who critics

Read the rest


Red line

Apr 16th, 2019 6:02 am | By

Cue Trump screaming.

House Democrats issued subpoenas Monday for records from Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions, seeking information regarding President Trump’s business ventures as several congressional panels took steps to intensify their scrutiny of the president’s personal accounts and corporate dealings.

The subpoenas, first reported by the New York Times, were issued by the House Intelligence and Financial Services committees, which have been leading the Democrats’ probe of Trump’s finances. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, said in a statement Monday that Trump’s “potential use of the U.S. financial system for illicit purposes is a very serious concern.”

Read the rest


Profiles in cheating

Apr 16th, 2019 5:55 am | By

And the courage awards go to

Highly decorated track athletes Andraya Yearwood of Cromwell High School and Terry Miller of Bloomfield High School have been selected co-recipients of the 2019 Bob Casey Courage Award by the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance.

And why are they “highly decorated”? Because they have male bodies but race against girls and so they win all the races. I’m not at all sure I consider that “courage”…

Both juniors, Yearwood and Miller are transgender athletes in girls track who have won individual Connecticut state track championships in multiple sprint events. Miller, who previously attended Hartford’s Bulkeley High School, recently won New England indoor track championships in the 55 and 300 meters.

Yes, of course they … Read the rest



Nail-biting in Trumplandia

Apr 16th, 2019 5:26 am | By

One for the “least worrying worry ever” file: some Trump people who talked to Mueller are in a sweat that Trump might get mad at them. Waa waa; we’re in a sweat that Trump might kill us all.

Of particular concern is how Trump — and his allies — will react if it appears to be clear precisely what specific officials shared with Mueller, these people said.

“They got asked questions and told the truth and now they’re worried the wrath will follow,” one former White House official said.

Some of those who spoke with Mueller’s team, such as former White House counsel Don McGahn, witnessed Trump’s actions up close and were privy to key moments in the obstruction

Read the rest


The White House abruptly nixed the move

Apr 15th, 2019 5:36 pm | By

In other news – Trump does another disgusting thing.

For the first time in years, the United Nations’ committee on racism will not contain anyone from the U.S.

According to a report from POLITICO on Saturday, the White House blocked the renomination of human rights lawyer Gay McDougall, who had served on the committee since 2015. The White House has not announced why it failed to renominate McDougall, or why it opted not to nominate anyone else to the 18-member commission. POLITICO reported that State Department officials had already informed McDougall that she would be renominated before the White House abruptly nixed the move.

NOPE. No American on any stinkin’ international commission on racism on his watch. America was … Read the rest