Auden Schendler is the senior vice president of sustainability at Aspen One and the author of the forthcoming book Terrible Beauty: Reckoning With Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul. He wrote about the futile “magical solutions floating out of Dubai” in the Times:

I have spent my career working on climate change — not theoretically but in the trenches, crawling under trailers to insulate them under a federal government program to help low-income families conserve energy, building solar farms, capturing methane from coal mines, bolstering the climate movement through various nonprofit boards and crafting policy at the state and municipal levels. I served as a state regulator and an elected town councilman.

I have also spent 25 years in

Oh we can’t do that.

A statement delivered by the Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, on behalf of what’s known as the umbrella group of countries, came as tensions flared at the United Arab Emirates over the text of a draft deal proposed by the summit presidency.

Released early on Monday evening local time, the draft avoided highly contentious calls for a “phase-out” or “phase-down” of fossil fuels in an attempt to find consensus from nearly 200 countries that have been meeting in Dubai for nearly a fortnight.

Sssshhhh don’t mention fossil fuels. Touchy subject.

Some observers welcomed elements of the draft, including the first mention in a Cop text of reducing fossil fuel production, but others

I keep ranting about cruise ships, no doubt partly because I can see them from here for about six months of every year. I should start ranting about gigantic yachts, too.

There is much more at stake in this burgeoning market than these yachts’ purchase prices. Megayachts are an increasing blight on our societies, and the world would be better off without them.

First and foremost, owning a megayacht is the most polluting activity a single person can possibly engage in. Abramovich’s yachts emit more than 22,000 tonnes of carbon every year, which is more than some small countries. Even flying long-haul every day of the year, or air-conditioning a sprawling palace, would not get close to those emissions

I thought I was going to be able to share this Guardian piece about ferocious abortion restrictions in Arizona as just that, but alas it was not to be. About halfway through:

Amid the confusion, some Arizona abortion providers resumed work in July 2022. But in September, a court reinstated the 1864 ban. For about two weeks, until a state appeals court order halted the ban, abortion providers were once again unable to offer the procedure.

What is clear is that abortions are currently outlawed past 15 weeks in Arizona. A near-total ban, Taylor said, would push pregnant people in the state to a breaking point.

Thud. Sigh.

I wonder if that really is what she said. I wonder if … Read the rest

I hope Giuliani is sweating even more than he was that time the hair dye ran down his face.

How much should it cost to defame two innocent citizens in the service of a dangerous fallacy that sought to undermine a U.S. presidential election?

That’s the question jurors are set to answer in the defamation and conspiracy trial of former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. Jury selection took place on Monday in the federal district court in Washington, D.C.

This phase of the civil case centers on the penalty. District Judge Beryl Howell has already found Giuliani liable for defamation and civil conspiracy for repeatedly making false statements about two Georgia election workers: Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who are

Lauren Smith at Spiked:

Even if someone looks like a man, talks like a man and actually is a man, you can now get yourself in trouble if you refer to him as a man. 

That’s been true for at least ten years.

That’s the take-home message of last week’s social-media bust-up over Melissa Poulton, previously known as Matthew Viner.

Previously known as Matthew Viner because that was his name, presumably on all kinds of official documents and records. It’s his new handle that’s the alias, not his old one.

Poulton is a transwoman who has been selected as the Green Party’s candidate for Bromsgrove in the next UK General Election. He describes himself as a ‘proud lesbian’. Last

A new study has been commissioned.

University of Gloucestershire has been commissioned by UK Athletics (UKA) to lead an important new study around transgender athletes.

Experts from the University will consult with transgender athletes and advocacy groups to examine how the sport of athletics can be as inclusive and welcoming as possible.

The sport of athletics? What does that mean? Is there a single sport called “athletics”?

Pause to consult Google

Yes, there is.

Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.

Ok, got it. So, all stuff that relies on strength and size to … Read the rest

BBC News Midlands puts down its brioche for a moment to fret about transphobic comment shock-horror.

“Without a shadow of a doubt it is a transphobic comment.”

Bromsgrove’s @TheGreenParty candidate @melissampgp condemns Tory Deputy Chairman @redditchrachel for social media remarks about her transgender identity. #PoliticsMidlands begins at 10am on BBC1… pic.twitter.com/MpAT5H1eZw

— BBC News Midlands (@bbcmtd) December 10, 2023

“Melissa Poulton” used to be Matthew Viner.

In what universe does your journalist think it unworthy of mention that, until very recently, Green Party candidate Melissa Poulton was a Conservative Party candidate called Matthew Viner. When Grant Shapps changed his name, the media were all over it. What’s the difference? pic.twitter.com/UaNuQ3zqjI

— Simon Edge (@simonjedge) December 10, 2023

The difference is … Read the rest

The peasants are revolting!

Wait.

Qu’ils mange de la brioche!

Wait.

Boycott this bakery!

There you go.

Pains chocolats to the wall! Pains aux raisins along with them! Nothing but scones from here on out!… Read the rest

Now here is some good news.

This settlement paves the way for me to head to trial against @Metanoia_Inst who expelled me.

To get over the line and make sure this never happens to another student, I need your support.

To donate to my case, please click here. Thank you. (3/3)https://t.co/uNvE7ODipZ

— James Esses (@JamesEsses) December 11, 2023

A breath of sanity at last.… Read the rest

Biology according to Pink News:

Trans fems have periods too!

It’s true! Many trans-feminine people on estrogen experience menstrual cycles similar to that of people with uteruses due to gender-affirming treatment.

Because of the shift in hormones, several trans people on feminising doses have reported that they experience hormonal cycles consistent with premenstrual syndrome.

Symptoms have been noted to include feelings of anxiety, changes in appetite, mood swings, cramps, fatigue, and more. Bleeding is not part of the cycle for those assigned male at birth (AMAB).

You don’t say. If bleeding were part of the cycle, where would it come from and where would it go? Would it be chunks? Because, news flash, menstrual bleeding isn’t like bleeding from … Read the rest

Now isn’t that charming.

.@Superdry. Just been in your St James store Edinburgh where I was served by a man wearing a badge with a bleach bottle with the words “terf repellent” on it. Terf is a slur used against feminists & lesbians with boundaries. Are we not welcome in your store?

— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) December 10, 2023

And guess what, it’s not just a badge.

Hur hur. What could possibly go wrong? It’s never a problem when groups of people are called vermin, rats, infectious, diseased, filth. This is fine, this is normal, this is very enlightened and progressive and benevolent.… Read the rest

The relentless obfuscation is getting ridiculous.

Trans inmates can visit women’s prisons to prepare them for outside

The Times doesn’t mean “trans inmates”; it means male inmates who are or claim to be trans. The Times specifies female prisons but doesn’t specify male trans inmates – thus creating pointless confusion in its own headline. The Times presumably is not even captive to the ideology, so why on earth does it do this?

Prison executives in Scotland have ruled that transgender criminals can serve time in female jails to allow them to prepare for life as women on release, according to a report.

Male transgender criminals.

Even trans inmates deemed too dangerous to serve their sentences in women’s prisons may be

Smug creep condescends to women who don’t think he should be the keynote speaker at an event to commemorate the murder of fourteen women for the crime of being women.

This year, I was invited to be the keynote at U of T's memorial of the horrific massacre of 14 women at Polytechnique. The choice to invite me has proven controversial because I am trans. May the spirit of compassion that lives in us all lead us to solidarity & a better world. pic.twitter.com/QSFPzbvrhp

— Kai Cheng, MSW, MSc, QMed, Extremist for Love (@razorfemme) December 8, 2023

The choice to invite him wasn’t controversial because he’s trans, it was because he’s not a woman. He should, obviously, have declined … Read the rest

Bahahahahahahaha

PS For even more laughs, the “transbians” pictured are actually women.… Read the rest

There’s freedom of speech, and there’s also truth. There’s a tension there.

The press and the news media generally have a duty to tell the truth, but it’s not a duty codified in a slogan the way “freedom of speech” is. Some news media of course don’t tell the truth, and know they don’t, and make big bucks by not telling the truth.

So. Is it a glorious moment for freedom of speech that Musk has allowed Alex Jones back on Twitter? Or is it a triumph of The Big Lie? Or is it both?

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has had his account on X – formerly Twitter – reinstated by Elon Musk.

Musk asked users to vote in

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest…

Here's Bromsgrove's Green Party candidate a couple of years ago

New name, new wig, new party

Still a bloke
Not a lesbian pic.twitter.com/Uc3mg3lVG0

— Marjorie Hutchins (@leakylike) December 10, 2023

… Read the rest

BBC Midlands shares his message.

“Without a shadow of a doubt it is a transphobic comment.”

Bromsgrove’s @TheGreenParty candidate @melissampgp condemns Tory Deputy Chairman @redditchrachel for social media remarks about her transgender identity. #PoliticsMidlands begins at 10am on BBC1… pic.twitter.com/MpAT5H1eZw

— BBC News Midlands (@bbcmtd) December 10, 2023

Do push the play button. You will see at once how very womany he is.… Read the rest

The BBC, formerly an adult broadcasting organization, is now solemnly telling us lies and calling people names for not telling lies.

The Conservative Party’s deputy chair for women has been accused of making transphobic remarks about one of her general election rivals.

MP Rachel Maclean shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, that described transgender woman Melissa Poulton as “a man who wears a wig and calls himself a ‘proud lesbian’.”

Transgender women are, of course, men by definition. They’re men who call themselves or claim to be or pretend to be – however you want to phrase it – women. That’s what the “trans” bit means. The BBC, also of course, knows this perfectly well.

In sharing the

Originally a comment by Bruce Gorton on Fanatic rants.

According to their Facebook page, the employees in question have been sacked.

Because this act was not aligned with our values, the employees involved in the incident are no longer employed by Farley’s.

This is part of the company’s second apology. I can sort of empathize with the owners on this one. According to the Jewish News of Northern California:

The coffee shop has also shown public support for the Civic Joy Fund, a local nonprofit founded by Jewish community activists Manny Yekutiel and Daniel Lurie. Yekutiel, who was referred to as “our good friend Manny” by Farley’s on Instagram, was with his family in Israel during the