From the “oh come on now” files:
Speaks for itself and no one is at all surprised. pic.twitter.com/kLoJzMmY10
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 6, 2019
Yes, running the country like a mob boss is just fine as long as you wear a Flag Pin™ while you do it.… Read the rest
This big measles outbreak down on the border with Oregon is a dangerous thing.
… Read the restAlmost a quarter of kids in Clark County, Wash., a suburb of Portland, Ore., go to school without measles, mumps and rubella immunizations, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) recently declared a state of emergency amid concern that things could rapidly spin out of control.
Measles outbreaks have sprung up in nine other states this winter, but officials are particularly alarmed about the one in Clark County because of its potential to go very big, very quickly.
The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the nation’s most vocal and organized anti-vaccination activists. That movement has helped drive down child immunizations in Washington,
This op-ed about women who resist some items of trans ideology doesn’t begin well:
Last week, two British women stormed onto Capitol Hill in Washington for the purposes of ambushing Sarah McBride, the national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign.
“Stormed”? Load the dice much? A decent editor would have edited that out. Nobody stormed; they simply went there. They’re allowed to do that. Poisoning the well six words in is just childish, and clumsy.
… Read the restMs. McBride, a trans woman, had just been part of a meeting between the Parents for Transgender Equality National Council and members of Congress when the Britons — Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who goes by the name Posie Parker, and Julia Long — barged in. Heckling
A reporter for NewsAnglia talked to Margaret Nelson about her encounter with the police.
Police have apologised to a blogger for their handling of a complaint about her online comments which had offended some members of the transgender community.
Margaret Nelson, who’s in her seventies and from near Needham Market in Suffolk, was asked to tone down her web posts and tweets about the sensitive issue
That’s such shit writing, and shit reporting. “Their handling” “was asked” – be specific. Be specific and tell the truth. A police person called her on the phone early in the morning, which would be at least startling and intrusive even if the call were about buying tickets to a fundraiser.
… Read the restWhat
Speaking of shame and disgust and fear around menstruation – it has killed another woman in Nepal.
A 21-year-old woman has been become the fourth person known to have died this year as a result of the illegal practice of chhaupadi, whereby menstruating women in Nepal are banished from their homes and forced to sleep in huts.
Parbati Bogati, from the western Doti district, is thought to have died from smoke inhalation while sleeping in a small, windowless hut. She was discovered by her mother-in-law on Thursday morning.
Thus women are banished at the risk of their lives because they are the people who grow new human beings inside their own bodies.
… Read the restJust weeks earlier Amba Bohara,
At long last, a period emoji!
I kid, but actually I think “Good.”
More:
It’s happening. We’re definitely getting a period emoji.
Unicode has confirmed the period emoji has been given the go-ahead and will hit keyboards in spring 2019.
The blood drop emoji is the result of a campaign led by girls’ rights group Plan International UK backed by 55,000 people, which set out to smash the silence and stigma surrounding menstruation by bringing a period emoji to global smartphone keyboards.
Sure; why not?
… Read the restThe period emoji is officially happening. It might not seem like it's a big deal, but it is. The stigma & shame surrounding menstruation can have a damaging effect on girls' lives. An emoji
There’s a new art installation in town, a performance art piece by Jennifer Rubell in which Princess Ivanka runs a vacuum cleaner over a carpet.
It seems likely a few smiles wavered inside the White House when the Trump family learned about Rubell’s work. On Tuesday morning, Ivanka tweeted a link to an article about the performance piece and said: “Women can choose to knock each other down or build each other up. I choose the latter.”
Oh please. She works for the pig who brags about grabbing women by the pussy, and energetically and publicly insults any woman who crosses him. She works for him, defends him against critics, pockets the corrupt and illegal profits. She’s not “building … Read the rest
I’ve mentioned a couple of times en passant that a couple of trans activists had managed to get The Police to go visit Graham Linehan to “caution” him about saying unapproved things on Twitter, but now in following the story of a woman who was actually arrested and held for seven hours, apparently also for saying unapproved things on Twitter, I’ve done a little more digging.
The Guardian, October 7 last year:
… Read the restGraham Linehan, the co-writer of the sitcom Father Ted, has been given a verbal harassment warning by police after a complaint by a transgender activist.
Linehan was told by West Yorkshire police not to contact the activist Stephanie Hayden, after a row on Twitter.
Hayden reported him
.@RepCummings is on fire. Stop whatever you're doing and watch this.
“One year ago today, on my mother’s dying bed at 92 years old — a former sharecropper — her last words were: Do. Not. Let. Them. Take. Our. Votes. Away. From. Us.” pic.twitter.com/yN6phWkC7D
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) February 6, 2019
Apparently the thing on the teleprompter for Donnie’s talk this evening will have words about being nice and bipartisan and yadda yadda, but Donnie had some people over for lunch today and was his usual malevolent mouthy self.
Mr. Trump dismissed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as “dumb,” called Senator Chuck Schumer of New York a “nasty son of a bitch” and mocked Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia for “choking like a dog” at a news conference where he tried to explain a racist yearbook photo, according to multiple people in the room.
He doesn’t half project, does he. He’s a hell of a lot more dumb than Biden, and vastly more of a nasty sonofabitch … Read the rest
The pope says oh yes it’s true that priests have been abusing nuns since always, we know all about it, we make sure to keep the nuns powerless so that they won’t kill us, would you like a biscuit?
… Read the restNuns have suffered and are still suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and bishops, and have even been held as sexual slaves, Pope Francis confirmed on Tuesday. The abuse was so severe in one case that an entire congregation of nuns was dissolved by former Pope Benedict.
The scope of the abuse of nuns by clergy members first came to light with the publication at the beginning of February of the monthly Vatican magazine “Women Church World.”
Speaking of people wanting to be “recognized” not as what they are but as some other, more interesting thing – poor billionaire Howard Schultz doesn’t like being called a billionaire.
Billionaire Howard Schultz isn’t a fan of being called a billionaire.
On Monday, the former Starbucks CEO and chairman sat down with the New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin to talk about his book “From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America.”
Sorkin asked Schultz to respond to a question from the “Winner Takes All” author Anand Giridharadas — who’s been critical of Schultz’s political ambitions — about whether or not billionaires wield too much political power in the US.
The horror! You mean … Read the rest
What’s wrong with this picture.
https://twitter.com/thomjaminer/status/1092881106364391425
I don’t think I’m being virtuous. I just think that people should be recognized as how they are. Pretty low bar for virtue. For example: trans women are women. Calling trans women “Male” because you are transphobic is a you problem. Don’t make it their problem.
Spot the flaw. BZZZZZZZT! Correct! The flaw is the non sequitur between sentence two and sentence four:
People should be recognized as how they are. For example: trans women are women.
But that’s not an example of recognizing people as how they are; it’s the opposite. Trans women are in fact men who identify as / think they are / call themselves / claim to be women. How … Read the rest
The New York feds are looking into Trump’s inauguration scams.
… Read the restFederal prosecutors in New York on Monday delivered a sweeping request for documents related to donations and spending by President Trump’s inaugural committee, a sign of a deepening criminal investigation into activities related to the nonprofit organization.
A wide-ranging subpoena served on the inaugural committee Monday seeks an array of documents, including all information related to inaugural donors, vendors, contractors, bank accounts of the inaugural committee and any information related to foreign contributors to the committee, according to a copy reviewed by The Washington Post.
…
Trump’s inaugural committee raised a record $107 million to fund events and parties surrounding his assumption of office in January 2017, more than
Trump is reading his speech later today, and he’s invited a kid to come along to the show.
… Read the restAn 11-year-old boy who says he’s been bullied because of his last name — Trump — will be one of President Trump and first lady Melania Trump’s guests at the State of the Union on Tuesday, the White House announced.
Joshua Trump, a sixth-grade student from Wilmington, Del., who is not related to the president, drew headlines last year after his parents went public to share stories of the abuse they said he had suffered because of his last name.
…
Melania Trump has made combating bullying one of her main priorities in the White House — the thrust of her
Good; it’s in the Spectator. James Kirkup as usual.
… Read the restMargaret Nelson is a 74-year-old woman who lives in a village in Suffolk. On Monday morning she was woken by a telephone call. It was an officer from Suffolk police. The officer wanted to speak to Mrs Nelson about her Twitter account and her blog.
Mrs Nelson, a former humanist celebrant and one-time local newspaper journalist, enjoys tweeting and writing about a number of issues, including the legal and social distinctions between sex and gender.
Among the statements she made on Twitter last month and which apparently concerned that police officer: ‘Gender is BS. Pass it on’.
Another:
‘Gender’s fashionable nonsense. Sex is real. I’ve no reason to feel
Talia Lavin explains the profound meaning of “Learn to Code.”
… Read the restLast Thursday, I received the news that the HuffPost Opinion section—where I’d been opining on a weekly basis for a few months—had been axed in its entirety. The same opinion column had had a home at The Village Voice for some 21 weeks before that entire publication shuttered as well. “This business sucks,” I tweeted, chagrined at the simple fact that I kept losing my column because of the cruel, ongoing shrinkage of independent journalism in the United States. Dozens of jobs were slashed at HuffPost that day, following a round of layoffs at Gannett Media; further jobs were about to be disappeared at BuzzFeed. It was a grim day
And another thing about this business of the police calling people on the phone to “raise awareness” of complaints about a blog post that says cadavers reveal sex…
“A number of people”. Trans rights activists are using the police to harass people with gender critical views. HOW IS THIS NOT BIGGER NEWS? https://t.co/1Z8P8Ihb2n
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) February 4, 2019
Another thing about that…What the hell makes them think anyone needs awareness raised when social media already exist? Not to mention phones, and Margaret Nelson said she’s easy to find. The people who have complaints can express them to Nelson; what makes the police think they need to help out? Since when is it part of the police’s job to … Read the rest
You have got to be kidding.
What a way to start the day! 2 early cold callers, one saying they're from the "call-blocking department", and a policewoman to tell me my online activity has caused offense to "transgenders", though she agreed a blog post wasn't untrue. Whoever's been offended tracked me down!
— Margaret Nelson (@Flashmaggie) February 4, 2019
The police. PHONING. Phoning to tell you your “online activity” has “caused offense.”
What blog post?
This blog post was mentioned. Apparently it's offensive.https://t.co/tnXG8VDLkW
— Margaret Nelson (@Flashmaggie) February 4, 2019
Let’s read it, to see if we can find what “caused offense” and of what type the caused “offense” was.
It starts with a tweet.
https://twitter.com/SamanthaMesse10/status/954267968183193600
It goes … Read the rest
