The Guardian on the Ligue du LOL’s campaign of bullying women and Other races:

The group, believed to have had about 30 members, is said to have spread pornographic memes online and doctored photos to humiliate its victims.

What group members claim started as dubious humour in private exchanges, however, appears to have soon degenerated and spread on to the wider web mostly through Twitter.

Even “humour” in private exchanges doesn’t have to involve, say, pornographic memes and doctored photos. There are other ways to be funny and even other ways to gossip about people’s flaws.

They’re posting lengthy apologies / explanations on Twitter, saying they didn’t realize how nasty it all was for the people they did it to.… Read the rest

BuzzFeed reports:

A secret group of mainly male French journalists have been accused of coordinating a sprawling, yearslong campaign of harassment abusing women writers, feminist activists, people of color, and LGBT people.

The group, Ligue du LOL, or LOL League, has been operating for about a decade. So far, three journalists have been suspended, one has resigned, and one has been fired since the accusations were made public online. People working at four of France’s biggest news outlets have been implicated.

Journalists – you know, people who help shape our opinions and worldviews.

The LOL League started as a Facebook group in 2009 by journalist Vincent Glad, who now works at one of France’s largest newspapers, Libération. The group

Oh come ON.

I dunno. I guess you could study this systematically and someone probably should. It does seem like when women are running, the threshold is lower for controversies that are deemed to overshadow a campaign, e.g. Warren/DNA, Gillibrand/Franken, Klobuchar/staff (or Hillary/email).

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 10, 2019

Oooooooh yes I guess you could systematically study whether or not women are subject to more disparaging commentary than men are, why has no one ever thought to do that???

Much acid rejoindering.

Decades of studies about this issue, as well as a profusion of regular, on-going work examining implicit bias and sexism/racism in media. I’ve got to believe you know this, but this makes critical commentary sound like a

Priorities. On the one hand, permanent brain damage; on the other hand, profits. We all know which one wins; it’s The American Way.

Former NBC sports commentator Bob Costas says the network pulled him from its football coverage after he criticized the NFL and its handling of the concussion crisis. In an interview with ESPN’s E:60, Costas revealed that NBC executives removed him from its Super Bowl LII broadcast after he spoke at a 2017 journalism symposium. “The reality is that this game destroys people’s brains,” he said during that discussion. After an ensuing series of media appearances, Costas says NBC Sports’ executive producer texted him, “You’ve crossed the line.”

What line? I guess it’s the line … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Hurtling down the path to extinction.

In War of the Worlds, the Martians meet their demise through lack of foresight, because they have no resistance to Earth germs; they are killed “after all man’s devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth.” Now, with our devices and technology working all too well, and plenty of warning (but still, no foresight, beyond the quarterly statement), we may bring about our own end by killing off the insects. Who knows, this might have a bigger, faster impact on human thought (and numbers) than the comparatively slow motion disaster that is climate change.… Read the rest

Bad Astronomy:

That lovely photograph was taken on February 3, 2019, by the Chinese Longjiang-2 satellite, which is orbiting the Moon. It’s a small photo, just 640×480 pixels, but what it shows belies its size; that is the Earth and Moon in one shot, a single image framing all of humanity.

Doesn’t the Moon look strange? That’s because you’re seeing the far side — in fact, the geometry dictates the only way to see the Earth and Moon together in one shot from lunar orbit is if you are over the far side at the time.

But that’s the side forever pointing away from Earth, so we cannot see it from the ground, or even low Earth orbit. To

Oops.

The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review.

More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.

That’s not good. Lots of mammals, birds and reptiles eat insects, so you do the math.

The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported in larger

This again. University of Bristol Free Speech Society:

We are saddened to inform you that due to Student Union bureaucracy we have been forced to cancel the invitation we extended to Angelos Sofocleous to be on our panel discussion on free speech. We have given the SU plenty of notice for this event. But they felt it proper to cancel his attendance in the last minute, citing “security concerns”. For context, Angelos is a full time student at Durham University who lives amongst students on campus. We leave it to the public to reach their own conclusions with regards to the SU’s intentions.

In the government’s guidance for students on free speech released last year it states, “Students should

Spotted at the Trump Hotel earlier tonight – Matt Whitaker, post-testimony.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 9, 2019

Let’s see, can we improve on that at all? Matt Whitaker after that grotesque performance at the hearing going to the Trump Hotel and…ordering the dolphin steak, painting “Mueller is a witch-hunter!!” on the wall, wearing a “Bring Back Rape!” T shirt?… Read the rest

They just don’t get it.

The bishop, who has maintained his innocence, will be charged and face trial by a special prosecutor on accusations of rape and intimidation, the police investigating the case said. But the church acknowledged the nun’s accusations only after five of her fellow nuns mutinied and publicly rallied to her side to draw attention to her yearlong quest for justice, despite what they described as heavy pressure to remain silent.

“We used to see the fathers of the church as equivalent to God, but not anymore,” said Darly, her voice shaking with emotion. “How can I tell my son about this, that the person teaching us the difference between right and wrong gave him his

Via clamboy – a long thread on Seattle and SOME INCHES OF SNOW OMIGOD.

I’ve never witnessed anything quite like Seattle grocery stores when locals are preparing to brave 4-5 inches of snow.

— Daniel Silvermint (@DSilvermint) February 8, 2019

Oh no. They’ve started looting. People running out of stores with armfuls of Yerba Mate tea.

— Daniel Silvermint (@DSilvermint) February 8, 2019

People are bartering monogrammed yoga mats for just a single slice of cauliflower pizza.

— Daniel Silvermint (@DSilvermint) February 8, 2019

I awoke to the sight of Dickensian orphans picking through my compost. I don’t even know where they found those flat caps. The snow is still 10 hours away. #SeattleSnowpocalypse #Snowmageddon

— Daniel Silvermint (@DSilvermint) February

This is hilarious.

Seattle hears snow forecast, descends on grocery stores like the apocalypse is coming

The weatherman said that, worst-case scenario, 14 inches of snow might blanket Seattle over the weekend.

Hearing this, Seattle made like Supermarket Sweep and bought, literally, all the things.

Cue photo of empty shelves.

I can confirm. I went (on foot) up to the shopping street of my neighborhood a couple of hours ago (when the snow was well under way) because I needed milk and orange juice. Safeway: no milk, no orange juice, bare shelves all over the place! Trader Joe’s: one last carton of orange juice, which I grappled to my soul with hoops of steel; no milk, empty shelves! Bartell Drugs: … Read the rest

Paul Waldman at the Post argues that Whitaker and Barr are under such fierce scrutiny now that they can’t obstruct the investigation, however much they want to.

Democrats are trying to do two things simultaneously with this hearing in particular and their broader efforts with regard to the Mueller investigation. The first is to discover whether there has been any improper interference from the White House to limit the probe. The second is to apply enough pressure that even if Whitaker — or the White House, or William Barr — wanted to hinder Mueller, they’d decide that doing so would be too much of a risk.

The truth is that Democrats have probably succeeded in the latter goal, which must

The Whitaker hearing is happening today. The tweets emanating from there are startling.

https://twitter.com/woodruffbets/status/1093889880260780032

Jerry Nadler asks Matthew Whitaker if he has ever been asked to approve any request or action to be taken by the Special Counsel.

Whitaker: "Mr. Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up."

The response in the room is remarkable. Via CSPAN2 pic.twitter.com/UAcOyulX46

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 8, 2019

https://twitter.com/woodruffbets/status/1093917121564811264

Whitaker makes another remark about members' time, this time in regards to Rep. Shiela Jackson-Lee.

Jackson-Lee: "Mr Attorney General, we're not joking here. And your humor is not acceptable. Now, you're here because we have a constitutional duty to ask questions." Via CSPAN2 pic.twitter.com/IY5UZh8uvU

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 8, 2019

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1093921143789142023

https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1093922006381330433… Read the rest

Well now what do you think is going to happen in a secretive all-male organization that employs women to do the scut work?

In his typically free-associating riff, Francis acknowledged “there have been priests and bishops” who have committed sexual abuse against nuns, and that “it’s continuing because it’s not like once you realize it that it stops.” He said the church needed to do more.

Priests and bishops in the Catholic church are all, by definition, men. Women are officially barred from being priests and bishops. That’s step one right there, or steps one and one. It’s a double whammy: women are an inferior caste who may not hold the important jobs, and women are all subordinate to the … Read the rest

Jeff Bezos. Today. Reporting attempted blackmail and extortion by the National Enquirer, owned by American Media, Inc (AMI).

Something unusual happened to me yesterday. Actually, for me it wasn’t just unusual — it was a first. I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse. Or at least that’s what the top people at the National Enquirer thought. I’m glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing. Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I’ve decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten.

AMI, the owner of the National Enquirer, led by David Pecker, recently entered into an immunity deal with the Department of Justice related