The debate as a test of cognitive fitness:

A 90-minute debate that involves unknown questions and unanticipated rebuttals requires candidates to think on their feet. It is a much more demanding and representative test of cognitive health than a simple mental-status exam you take in a doctor’s office. Specifically, the debate serves as an evaluation of the candidates’ mental flexibility under pressure—their capacity to deal with uncertainty and the unforeseen…Donald Trump’s expressions of those tendencies were alarming. He displayed some striking, if familiar, patterns that are commonly seen among people in cognitive decline.

I don’t suppose that will come as a surprise to anyone. He’s always been stupid, but not this stupid.

He replied to a question about the

Trump in Tucson:

Trump stood before a backdrop etched with his campaign promises of “make housing affordable again” and “no tax on tips” – a signal that the speech would focus heavily on amplifying his economic platform. But instead, the former president used much of his time to reframe his debate performance – which even Trump’s own aides have admitted will not win him new voters – by casting it in a far more favorable light.

(Far more favorable than what? We’re not told.)

Despite the advertised theme of the event, Trump did not spend much of the roughly hour-and-a-half speech sharing details of his economic plans. Instead, the Republican candidate dedicated the bulk of his time pandering to

Ahhhhh fuck it all – you try to read a scathing piece on Trump v abortion rights but then you bump up against the determined omission of women from the subject of abortion rights and yet again you give up.

No matter what Trump serves up on abortion, the fact is the conservative legal movement remains hell-bent on enacting some kind of national abortion ban, whether via legislation or simple, draconian enforcement of the Comstock Act. Their “leave abortion to the states” talking point never mentions how in 2024, for example, four states introduced legislation that criminalizes non-parent adults who support minors’ out-of-state travel for abortion care—and Tennessee enacted its law. Conservatives certainly don’t highlight the fact that they

Lawyers, eh?

It is truly activist language. Yet, the US government says it in briefing in the case of US v. Skrmetti.

Direct quote: “Gender identity refers to a person’s core sense of belonging to a particular gender, such as male or female. Every person has a gender identity.”

No factual… https://t.co/BMMfeGzDHI

— Kara Dansky (@KDansky) September 12, 2024

“No factual or legal support, just a bare assertion.”

And a very fatuous assertion at that. No, everyone does not have a core sense of belonging to a particular gender. What we have is a history of being told we’re one or the other, and a history of encountering other people who are one or the other, and a history of … Read the rest

A visit to the Gender Quislings.

Sandy Brindley is the Chief Executive of Rape Crisis Scotland.

Brindley & RCS are trying to distance themselves from ERCC & Wadhwa. They can't. https://t.co/u1lxEM7XeF

— For Women Scotland (@ForWomenScot) September 12, 2024

Even going so far as to report women telling the truth. pic.twitter.com/6pkbFU4qgs

— Trina (@hightreebud) September 12, 2024

Both of those things are indeed true. … Read the rest

At least there’s no palaver about who’s a woman and who’s a man when we’re talking about the Tate brothers.

Two women who say they were raped and strangled by the controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate have spoken to the BBC about their experiences. Another woman has alleged, for the first time, she was raped by Mr Tate’s younger brother, Tristan – also an influencer with millions of followers.

The Tate brothers, aged 37 and 36, currently face charges in Romania of human trafficking and forming an organised group to sexually exploit women. Andrew Tate is also charged with rape. If found guilty, the two men could be jailed for more than 10 years. They strongly deny the

The BBC manages to say it at last:

Rape crisis centre failed to protect women-only spaces

But don’t get too excited, there’s still plenty of confusion and obfuscation and avoidance.

Rape survivors are no longer being referred to a support service in Edinburgh after a review found it failed to protect women-only spaces. The reviewer’s report said that Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre had not put survivors first or adhered to national service standards.

The report also stated that the CEO of the centre – a transwomen [sic] – failed to behave professionally and did not understand the limits of her authority.

We’re still stuck in the same mud of confusion. The CEO of the centre is a man, and he … Read the rest

Will Ferrell has regrets.

Will also said he’s “sure” he probably regrets “a fair amount” of his comedy choices. Namely, his impersonation of former United States Attorney General Janet Reno, which the interviewer said “hits a false note now.”

If you’re unfamiliar, Will would dress up as a woman and impersonate Reno as part of a regular SNL skit called “Janet Reno’s Dance Party.” 

Looking back, Will said: “That’s something I wouldn’t choose to do now.”

Why? Oh not because it’s insulting to women. Hahahahahahahahaha god no of course not. Insulting women doesn’t matter. No, because it’s insulting to trans women, of course.

“I had met trans people, but I didn’t have anyone personally in my

Ah well he didn’t kill them so that’s nice, right? Look on the bright side.

It has been revealed that, while the police have already identified and detained 50 of the men whose images appeared on Dominique Pelicot’s hard drive, another 30 suspects – as yet unnamed and untraced – remain at large.

“So, we know 30 out of 80 still haven’t been caught. There are tensions here because people don’t know if they can trust their neighbours. You ask yourself – is he one of the 30? What is your neighbour getting up to behind closed doors?” said Isabelle Liversain in a voice sharp with frustration.

But Mazan’s 74-year-old mayor, Louis Bonnet, sought to play down those tensions, arguing

In all its dummitude

Notice at about 20 seconds when he says “They’re eating the cats” Harris simply bursts out laughing, which enrages Trump such that he amps up the scowl and the snarl and the ragey shouting, which makes Harris laugh even harder for a second or two.

Then the news guy breaks in to say we talked to the city manager and he said there have been no specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant communniny and Trump squawks “Wull I’ve seen people on television!” He actually does actually say that.

It’s as if someone discovered a way to inflate a toddler to the size of a very large man and … Read the rest

Dahlia Lithwick has a nice summing-up:

The contrast was underscored by perhaps the most arresting moment of the debate. In the closing statements, Harris offered up a philosophy of leadership for Americans trying to get a handle on who she is for the first time: “I started my career as a prosecutor. I was a DA. I was an attorney general. A United States senator. And now vice president. I’ve only had one client. The people. And I’ll tell you, as a prosecutor I never asked a victim or a witness, ‘Are you a Republican or a Democrat?’ The only thing I ever asked them: ‘Are you OK?’ ”

Donald Trump doesn’t care if you are OK, because he

Now for the most literal form of misogyny:

I have been following Siro’s story for 30 years, ever since I went to interview her and four other rural midwives in India’s Bihar state in 1996.

They had been identified by a non-governmental organisation as being behind the murder of baby girls in the district of Katihar where, under pressure from the newborns’ parents, they were killing them by feeding them chemicals or simply wringing their necks.

Hakiya Devi, the eldest of the midwives I interviewed, told me at the time she had killed 12 or 13 babies. Another midwife, Dharmi Devi, admitted to killing more – at least 15-20.

It is impossible to ascertain the exact number of babies

But our trans siblings don’t get special treatment, no no no no no, quite the contrary, they’re tormented and tortured and deprived at every turn.

Negotiations are underway on a new Enterprise Agreement for Hobart City Council staff.

I have shared my strong concern with the CEO that ratepayers should not be funding an additional 20 DAYS of PAID leave per year for 'Gender Affirmation'. I think this is ridiculous and… pic.twitter.com/OE8mJauC4q

— Louise Elliot (@LouiseElliotM) September 11, 2024

TWENTY paid days off PER YEAR for jendoo affoomashun. That is quite the fringe benefit. A whole fucking month to go shopping for frillies.

Oh I get it. It’s a break for everyone else. “Thank you baby Jesus, we get … Read the rest

Trump translates the fact that he had a lot of his “facts” checked into a claim that he was persecuted.

Former President Donald Trump laid into ABC News on Wednesday morning after his rocky debate performance, stating the network should have its broadcast license revoked.

“They ought to take away their license for the way they did that,” Trump said of the news organization.

ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-checked Trump throughout Tuesday night’s presidential debate, quickly correcting the record for millions watching at home after the Republican pushed falsehoods on abortion, migrants and the 2020 election.

That’s…it’s…they…it’s not fair to correct the record, he should be free to claim anything he wants, this is a contest, not a news report.… Read the rest

You will say you believe in the mandatory mythology or you will be out.

The Green Party of England and Wales has suspended its health spokesperson on the eve its largest-ever conference for calling reports of rising LGBT+ hate crimes “mischievous”.

At a general election hustings in June, Pallavi Devulapalli said she had “yet to meet anyone” who denied a person’s right to “dress” and “be addressed as they please”. Ms Devulapalli told the BBC “there is no trans-hate in society in general”.

The BBC then snidely cites a statistic about an “increase in reported hate crimes” – without explaining how it knows the increase isn’t due to a fashion for seeing putative hate crimes against Our Trans Siblings … Read the rest

I’ve been re-reading The Turn of the Screw, and I’m reminded of why I so dislike Henry James’s Late Style. I’ll give you a sample of why.

It was a pity that, somehow, to settle this once for all, I had equally to re-enumerate the signs of subtlety that, in the afternoon, by the lake had made a miracle of my show of self-possession. It was a pity to be obliged to reinvestigate the certitude of the moment itself and repeat how it had come to me as a revelation that the inconceivable communion I then surprised was a matter, for either party, of habit. It was a pity that I should have had to quaver out again the

Jawad Iqbal in the Times last week:

Is the prominent Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran a suitable choice to chair the highly influential Commons health and social care committee? She belongs to a party that has responded with deafening silence to the landmark Cass review, which recommended sweeping changes to the way the NHS treats under-18s who are unsure about their gender identity.

Moran is also on record as believing that “trans women are women” and said she was “disgusted” when Kemi Badenoch, who has pushed for single-sex spaces, was made women and equalities minister under the previous Conservative government. Would campaigners for same-sex healthcare to help safeguard women and girls feel confident that she can be open-minded and

The Taliban says listen listen listen what we’re doing is fine because it’s Islamic law.

In the three years since the Taliban takeover, it’s become clear that even if edicts aren’t strictly imposed, people start self-regulating out of fear. Women continue to be visible in small numbers on the streets of cities like Kabul, but nearly all of them now are covered from head to toe in loose black clothes or dark blue burqas, and most of them cover their faces with only their eyes visible, the impact of a decree announced last year.

“Every moment you feel like you’re in a prison. Even breathing has become difficult here,” said Nausheen, an activist. Until last year, whenever new restrictions were

The Respectable Meeja continue to pretend Trump is normal.

Journalist Parker Molloy recently detailed the media’s extensive efforts to “rationalize Trump’s incoherent statements,” tracing back to his catastrophic covid response. The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote back in June about the media’s “bias toward coherence” when covering Trump. But the question still remains why the press insists on covering Trump like a normal politician.

Legacy media bristles at the accusation that they treat Trump more generously than past presidential candidates, both Democrat and Republican. New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger claimed in a recent self-serving Post op-ed that Democrats want his paper to “cast aside neutrality and directly oppose [Trump’s] reelection.“ But that’s a strawman argument. The

Officer Diddums on the job:

The police are recording too many hate crime incidents and getting involved in disputes that include “hurt feelings”, the police watchdog has warned in a new report.

Selectively though. Always selectively. The hurt feelings of men who call themselves women matter; the hurt feelings of women do not.

The report was commissioned in September last year by Suella Braverman, when she was home secretary, after she said officers were pandering to politically correct causes, such as taking the knee.

And such as pretending that men who claim to be women are in fact women.

She ordered a new code of conduct, which came into effect in June, that introduced a higher threshold for the