Trump the KGB agent:

Some leaders make history. Others have it thrust upon them when they fail to understand the moment. Donald Trump’s announcement that he has opened bilateral negotiations with Vladimir Putin over the future of Ukraine, which Putin invaded and where his armies have been accused of committing war crimes, is one such “moment”.

Keir Starmer must now decide whether he has what it takes to lead the country – or go down in history as an appeasement prime minister like Neville Chamberlain.

…

Chamberlain’s Munich Agreement traded a large chunk of Czechoslovakia for a commitment from Hitler that Germany’s imperial ambitions would end with the absorption of 3 million Czech citizens from the Sudetenland into the Reich. In 1938, the British

JKR nails it. Again.

It makes no difference how politely the person who wishes to compel my speech makes the request. The very making of the request tells me the man in question thinks he has the right to control my language, and thereby, to control me. He is asking me to acquiesce in a lie, to…

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 13, 2025

It makes no difference how politely the person who wishes to compel my speech makes the request. The very making of the request tells me the man in question thinks he has the right to control my language, and thereby, to control me. He is asking me to acquiesce in a lie, to pretend, implicitly, that

Originally a comment by Steven on As they wish to be addressed.

There is a massive equivocation fallacy here.

We generally allow people to choose their own proper names. In our society, most people go by whatever name their parents gave them, but they can pick a different one if they like. As a practical matter, if someone introduces himself as “Fred”, I’m going to address him as “Fred”, and I’m not going to demand that he produce some document to prove that “Fred” is his “real” name.

Even when we happen to know that someone is going by a name other than their given or official or legal name, it is considered courteous–we generally extend the courtesy–of addressing … Read the rest

Very bad news.

Senate confirms RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary

The Senate voted on Thursday to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Health and Human Services secretary, a victory for President Donald Trump after Kennedy faced intense scrutiny over his controversial views on vaccines and public health policy.

“Controversial” is a weasel word. They’re way more than controversial; they’re wack, they’re wrong, they’re harmful. First do no harm, unless it’s a Kennedy doing it.

He’s anti-vax and he lies about it.

During confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill, Kennedy denied being anti-vaccine, telling senators instead that he is “pro-safety.” He went on to say, “I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care.”

At one point, Sen.

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on As they wish to be addressed.

A matter of politeness, then, even if that requires one to indulge a certain fiction. Yet I also accept that it is easier for me — a man —to take this view, or grant this indulgence, since doing so comes at no cost to me whatsoever.

I would argue that there is a cost to anyone and everyone indulging in this fiction. It is a surrender to someone else’s rude, unreasonable, reality-denying demand. The power relationship isn’t what you think it is. You’re not deigning to play along, you’re following orders. That’s certainly how those making the demand see it. You might think it’s … Read the rest

That’s the whole thing right there.

NC – it's uncomfortable, it's hard to say, but because a man wears clothes, grows hair etc it doesn't make him a woman. It's a fact
JR – object, false premise it's a fact. it's her belief.
J – qu of case is facts and law. Might be a necessary fact, what is sex of R2

— Tribunal Tweets (@tribunaltweets) February 13, 2025

No no no no no no no. It is a fact that men are men. It’s so much a fact that it’s a tautology. It’s not a belief, it’s a fact. We’re not confused, you’re confused.… Read the rest

Alex Massie in the Times:

Let us consider pronouns for a moment. In general, I think it reasonable to address people as they wish to be addressed. Much of the time this will be of little consequence. A matter of politeness, then, even if that requires one to indulge a certain fiction. Yet I also accept that it is easier for me — a man —to take this view, or grant this indulgence, since doing so comes at no cost to me whatsoever. No one is seeking access to spaces previously reserved for men and reserved such for good reason.

Yes, that, but also, it’s not really something that comes up all that much, is it. Everybody says it … Read the rest

Call the cops! This terrible woman here said this dainty trans woman is a man!

NHS staff considered calling in police to investigate a nurse who complained about having to share a changing room with a transgender doctor.

An employment tribunal heard that Dr Beth Upton and consultant Dr Kate Searle discussed reporting Sandie Peggie for potential criminality for “misgendering” on Christmas Eve 2023.

Ms Peggie, who has three decades of experience in the NHS, had challenged Dr Upton for being in female changing rooms, due to her belief that the medic is male and should not have been there.

No not her “belief” you damn fools: her awareness. It’s trans that’s the belief; being is just being.

The

The Washington Post tells a slightly different story about the words scientists are forbidden to use.

“Women.” “Diverse.” “Institutional.” “Historically.”

At the National Science Foundation, staff have been combing through thousands of active science research projects, alongside a list of keywords, to determine if they include activities that violate executive orders President Donald Trump issued in his first week in office. Those include orders to recognize only two genders and roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The search is driven by dozens of flagged words, according to an internal document reviewed by The Washington Post and two NSF employees…

…

Previously published health documents have been expunged from public-facing websites in the wake of a Jan. 29 memo from Charles

Trump has ordered scientists to stop using the word “women.”

The word “men” is still allowed.

UC San Diego scientists say they’re still in “stop and start chaos” despite a recent pullback on a federal funding freeze. Researchers say their work is now at risk if it contains language deemed problematic by the White House, including the word “women.“

In his first week in office, President Donald Trump issued executive orders rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Now staff at the National Science Foundation are scouring thousands of research projects for dozens of words that could violate those orders. The agency already notified scientists to halt work that doesn’t adhere to Trump’s directives.

The list of banned words circulating

Journalism: STOP DOING THIS.

Hampshire woman appears in court charged with raping girl

Wilson, wearing a pink headband and all-black clothing, spoke only to confirm her preferred pronouns of ‘she/her’ when asked by the court’s legal advisor.

READ MORE: Former teacher accused of rape appears in court

Wilson faces a charge of sexual assault against a boy under 13 and causing or inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

A WOMAN charged with rape and sexual assault against children has appeared in court.

Despite ALL CAPS we can see he’s not A WOMAN.

Maddison Wilson, 37, who identifies as a woman, made her first appearance at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday in a five-minute hearing.

He can … Read the rest

Dumb and dumber.

A Republican Congressman from Georgia has introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would give a new name to Greenland as President Donald Trump continues his efforts to purchase the island.

Named the “Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025,” the bill, introduced by Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, seeks to rename the island from Greenland to a more colorful Red, White and Blueland. 

The act would direct the new Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to oversee the change and implement it on official documentation and maps to refer to Greenland by the updated name.

Let’s simplify this. Just rename every country with a nice simple easy to pronounce white person type name. France

Are words magic? Or no?

On Tuesday the White House broke with decades of precedent and blocked Associated Press reporters from attending two of President Trump’s media availabilities. The AP said it was blocked because it hasn’t changed its stylebook entry for Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America.”

The newswire’s executive editor, Julie Pace, immediately condemned the action. And in a followup letter on Wednesday to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, she signaled a likely legal challenge.

The actions “were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” Pace wrote, adding that “the AP is prepared to vigorously defend its constitutional rights and protest the infringement on the public’s right to independent news

Originally a comment by Bruce Gorton on All your words are wrong.

I think one of the big problems we have as a global society, is this idea of “basic respect” minus the idea of “basic respectability”.

You see it with the Republicans in America. They’re not respectable people.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing inherently disrespectable about being poor, about going through rough times or anything like that. What is disrespectable is – relying on federal aid and then voting to take it away from other people.

This is why the leopards have been feasting, the Republicans who are now crying about how their funding has been cut – knew it was going to happen, they … Read the rest

This guy…

[NC is Naomi Cunningham, the barrister representing Sandie Peggie; DU is Upton]

DU: No, for guidance how to achieve real safety at work – at that point had only had assurances re the next shift or so.

— Tribunal Tweets (@tribunaltweets) February 12, 2025

“Real safety” ffs – he’s a man, intruding on the women’s changing room, claiming to seek “safety” from a woman who doesn’t want a man in the women’s changing room.

NC: Which you do by going straight to ED, seeking her out; making up incident on 28/12 re socks/plaster room; embellishing incident w/Rohanna. All for punishment.

— Tribunal Tweets (@tribunaltweets) February 12, 2025

NC: You made up that SP asked about chromosomoes
DU:

Former Fox News personality says Ukraine just has to submit.

Donald Trump’s newly appointed defence secretary told allies on his first international trip that the US was no longer “primarily focused” on European security and that Europe would have to take the lead in defending Ukraine.

Pete Hegseth, speaking to defence ministers at a lunchtime meeting in Brussels, said Europe had to provide “the overwhelming share” of future military aid to Kyiv – and recognise that restoring Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders was unrealistic.

The Pentagon chief said he was “here today to directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe”, though the language was notably

The winnowing continues.

The next stage of the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce is underway.

Agency leaders have been told to begin preparations for large-scale layoffs, known as reductions in force, or RIFs, under an executive order President Donald Trump signed Tuesday. They will work with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to carry out the mandate, expanding the role of the billionaire’s team in reshaping federal government operations.

Titled “Implementing The President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative,” the executive order also severely limits federal departments’ ability to bring on more staffers and mandates that agency heads closely coordinate with their DOGE representatives on future hiring plans. Once the hiring freeze that Trump put

The BBC repeats the lie yet again.

A transgender doctor is “only asking for basic respect” when it comes to having their gender identity accepted, an NHS employment tribunal has heard.

But it isn’t “basic respect” he’s demanding. It isn’t “basic respect” to pretend a man is a woman. It’s way beyond basic, and it’s not actually respect.

How about we start demanding some basic respect? Step one would be to tell these bullies to stop ordering us to pretend they are the opposite sex. We all have our own lives and concerns and goals, and we’re fed up to the back teeth with being told to waste a ton of intellectual energy on entitled brats who want us … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Artymorty at Miscellany Room.

On the “berdache” thing,

A couple points to note about “gender roles” in indigenous cultures:

The most important distinction between indigenous cultures and modern Western culture is the deep social and psychological distinction between collectivism and individualism. Virtually all indigenous cultures were (and are, in the case of those that still exist) collectivist, which is to say that everyone within them was/is raised to conceive of themself as a part of a whole — that the tribe or community itself consists of the “individual” and that each of us serves a small role within it. In a tribal collective, we are only a small part of the “person” that is … Read the rest

Hahahaha Trump whined back in 2012 about Obama’s habit of…

wait for it

…issuing executive orders.

Snopes:

Claim:

In 2012, future U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted, “Why is Barack Obama constantly issuing executive orders that are major power grabs of authority?”

Rating:

Correct Attribution

It’s fine when a white guy does it.

… Read the rest