News from Tennessee:

The Tennessee statehouse has expelled two Democratic politicians who led a gun control protest that halted legislative proceedings last week. In a rare move, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 72-25 to expel Justin Jones and 69-26 to remove Justin Pearson.

But an expulsion vote failed against a third Democratic lawmaker, Gloria Johnson, who also joined the protest. Republicans said the trio had brought “disorder and dishonour to the House”.

Republicans kicked out two elected Representatives of the other party because they felt like it.

Republicans said the trio had brought “disorder and dishonour to the House”. Crowds of protesters have attended the State Capitol since a school shooting. The 27 March attack at Nashville’s Covenant

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Thanks for participating peacefully.

She added: “Diversity promotes critical discussions, new understandings and enriches the academic experience. But we may also find ourselves exposed to divergent views and even views we find personally abhorrent.”

Please describe in detail how the fact (or even the idea) that men can’t be women is “personally abhorrent.” Please explain how this is no more than a “divergent view” that must be shouted down. Does not the truth of this simple statement have any bearing at all on the discussion?

The reality of sex is no more a “divergent view” than the existence of rain and sunshine. See how far you get protesting them. … Read the rest

Where they make a desert and call it peace (ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appelant – Tacitus).

Riley Gaines hit out at [sharply criticized] San Francisco State University (SFSU) after an email was sent to all students thanking those who “participated peacefully in Thursday evening’s event” when demonstrators stormed a talk being held by Gaines and allegedly physically assaulted her.

Hey students thanks for not murdering Riley Gaines. Nice one.

A video posted on social media showed Gaines being escorted to safety by police after dozens of protestors got inside the venue, with the ex-college athlete claiming she was “physically hit twice by a man,” and trapped in an empty classroom for three hours.

Ya see that’s participating peacefully. She’s not … Read the rest

American Oversight calls itself non-partisan and yet it uses the euphemism “gender-affirming care” as if it were affirmation to excise children’s genitals and/or breasts.

Mississippi recently banned gender-affirming care for minors. We submitted public records requests to the governor’s office and state legislators who supported the bill. We’re seeking communications with anti-LGBTQ groups.https://t.co/noH4OLftyF pic.twitter.com/YsKSCdjR3Z

— American Oversight (@weareoversight) April 9, 2023

… Read the rest

“It’s actually empowered men who really hate women.”

“This is the worst period of misogyny that I can remember since back in the 1970s, and this time it’s much more overt” – journalist & policy advisor Joan Smith @polblonde introducing #SilencingWomen: #AcademicFreedom & Unthinkable Thoughts, #IWD 2023 https://t.co/hJ5Q5a03Id pic.twitter.com/K4v16iCpEM

— Outspoken Women (@women_outspoken) March 26, 2023

… Read the rest

Self-obsession is the new “progressive.”

If questioned, say it’s complicated and you haven’t figured it out yet.

The captains or vice-captains of eight inter-county teams playing in the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) league finals have been advised by the association’s media team to avoid expressing opinions on its new transgender policy.

The LGFA will host a round of media interviews on Tuesday with the players ahead of the four finals. The Sunday Independent has obtained a copy of an LGFA briefing issued to the players that contains suggested responses to questions on controversial topics journalists might ask.

A question about the LGFA’s new transgender policy, which was introduced in February, is listed at the top of the likely topics to be raised.

And what … Read the rest

Rubbing Our Noses In It chapter eleventy billion:

Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has secured another major partnership deal, days after Bud Light was criticized for partnering with her.

Mulvaney, an actor and comedian who has been documenting her transition across social media, is now a sports bra model for Nike. 

Wait wait wait wait wait.

What is a sports bra? What is the whole point of a sports bra? Why is a sports bra necessary?

Because breasts, that’s why. Because breasts stick out from the body, and bounce if the body is in rapid motion, and that’s uncomfortable at best. Because breasts need support in the activities that make up sports.

Dylan Mulvaney doesn’t have breasts.

It’s … Read the rest

Ah yes, trans ballet at last; just what we all needed.

He's a charity case with no talent.https://t.co/7JKOaFFPU9

— The Goth (@TheGoth8) April 8, 2023

Do check out the Missoula Gala Performance. The dancers do the moves and then he just hangs out, tiptoeing around a bit like a burglar looking for the exit. The dancers are on pointe and he’s not, yet he’s somehow the star. Sums up the whole ludicrous mess.… Read the rest

A new front is opened in Musk’s war on all of us. Nick Cohen explains:

If you follow the tech news, you will know that Elon Musk has gone to war against Substack. He wants to punish it for launching a feature called Notes, which he fears may compete with his increasingly rickety Twitter platform.

Yesterday morning I found that no one could retweet Substack links to my pieces. By the evening, Musk had lifted the ban. But if Twitter users clicked on a link, they received a warning that made it sound as if they were about to enter the dark web.

It’s true. I tried it and sure enough I got the warning. Furthermore, I was … Read the rest

Texas senator is fine with a Supreme Court justice’s acceptance of bribes.

The left is furious it lost control of the Supreme Court, and it wants it back by whatever means possible. The latest effort is a smear on Justice Thomas. https://t.co/0cYWS9Mq7z via @WSJopinion

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) April 8, 2023

How does the Wall Street Journal defend Thomas’s cheery acceptance of bribes?

The left’s assault on the Supreme Court is continuing, and the latest front is the news that Justice Clarence Thomas has a rich friend who has hosted the Justice on his private plane, his yacht, and his vacation resort. That’s it. That’s the story. Yet this non-bombshell has triggered breathless claims that the Court must

"Most women have natural testosterone levels of 0.12 to 1.79 nmol/L, but Semenya has male gonads producing a normal level of testosterone for a male. In 2011, Semenya was measured as having 15.6 and 29.3 nmol/L."

Lynsey Sharp would have taken the bronze in a fair race. pic.twitter.com/dP9ucKUrCv

— Genevieve Gluck (@WomenReadWomen) April 7, 2023

… Read the rest

Ben Bradshaw’s grotesque waving away of femicide is from a New Statesman interview with Rosie Duffield.

For at least half a decade now, Labour, like many political parties in the West, has struggled with the contentious issue of “self-ID” – the proposed right of people to self-identity as another sex or gender.

Notice a funny thing about this. The word or label “self-ID” doesn’t literally mean to self-identity as another sex or gender. It just means [the right to] self-identify. We’re given a translation that claims it means [only] to self-identify as another sex or gender. Not, you see, to self-identify as an animal or a tree or a building or a planet – just as another sex or … Read the rest

My god. Sometimes it just knocks the breath right out of you.

Ben Bradshaw is a Labour MP. Yes that’s right: a Labour MP.

This is despicable from ⁦@BenPBradshaw⁩.
Men kill loads of women anyway, so why bother keeping the few safeguards women have. pic.twitter.com/0xdDyVAfms

— Janice Turner (@VictoriaPeckham) April 8, 2023

Says the Labour MP from the demographic that is not the target of violent misogynist men.… Read the rest

Reduxx reports:

Athletics Canada’s former head coach has come forward to reveal that he was threatened by the Canadian Olympic Committee lawyers after expressing discontent with the results of the women’s 800m at the 2016 Olympic Games. The competition saw three biological males take the top spots, displacing the female Canadian bid to fourth place.

Peter Eriksson, the record-making former head coach for the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic program, spoke to Reduxx about what happened at the 2016 session in Rio, and the consequences he faced if he spoke out on behalf of Canadian athlete Melissa Bishop. Bishop placed fourth after three males competed in the female division.

In the 800m women’s race, Caster Semenya of South Africa

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Web of confusion.

You’ve just announced that you think of girl-being as a matter of self-identifying rather than fact or body, so you don’t center the experiences of young women and girls, you center the experiences of people who tell you they think of themselves as women or girls.

You can’t do both. You can’t insist that being female is a matter of “identifying as” and still pretend you center the experience of female people.

I’ll bet the TiMs attending would be some pissed off it it ended up being all TiMs and only TiMs in attendence. I think that’s why they insist on having it both ways. They need … Read the rest

Pro Publica reports Clarence Thomas’s “explanation.”

In response to a ProPublica report, Thomas explained why he did not disclose lavish travel provided by billionaire Harlan Crow. But legal experts maintain the justice was required to make these disclosures.

You might think that because he’s on the Supreme Court he’s more of a legal expert than these legal experts who say what he doesn’t like. But that’s not the case. The appointments of justices are political, and presidents don’t necessarily choose the most expert experts. To put it mildly. Clarence Thomas was most definitely not Bush’s pick because of his expertise.

But seven legal ethics experts consulted by ProPublica, including former ethics lawyers for Congress and the White House, said the

Right side of history yeah?

The Guardian on changing the Equality Act:

A significant change to the 2010 Equality Act is being pursued by the government, which would redefine “sex” to refer specifically to a person’s sex at birth. That would be designed to make it legal for those who are transgender to be banned from single-sex spaces and events, such as book groups and hospital wards.

Book groups? Is it currently illegal to have all-women book groups? Really?

Currently, trans people can have their identity formally recognised by applying for a gender recognition certificate.

What does that mean? What does “their identity” mean? Identity isn’t a synonym for sex. This issue is such a mess of lies and obfuscation that it becomes necessary … Read the rest

Clarence Thomas says he followed the rules to the letter.

In a statement released by the Supreme Court, the justice said that he had followed guidance from others at the court and that he believed he was not required to report the trips.

“Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable,” Justice Thomas said. “I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines.”

No. That’s not credible. If you’re a Supreme Court justice and … Read the rest