Originally a comment by John Wasson on Plastics.

The ubiquity of plastics is incredible.

Mary Jo DiLonardo “Microplastics Found Near the Top of Mount Everest” November 20, 2020

Rowan Jacobsen, “An Ocean Plastics Field Trip for Corporate Executives”, Outside August 8, 2019

There may be some progress replacing ‘plastic’ made from fossil.

Clare Watson “Scientists Created a New Recyclable Plastic Not Made From Crude Oil” 29 March 2023

Allison Christy and Scott Phillips describe making a new type of plastic based on poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) or PECA, which is prepared from the monomer used to make Super Glue.

Small-scale lab experiments replicating industrial processes suggest roughly 93 percent of the new plastic could be recycled into clean starter materials – … Read the rest

Amanda Marcotte points out how mass shootings are commercials for Trump:

[Republicans] are, after all, a party still completely in the thrall of Trump, whose main campaign message is that America is a hellscape beyond redemption, and that the only viable response is about “retribution.” Last Saturday, his “burn it all down” message assumed a new metaphorical meaning, as he held a rally in Waco, Texas, on the 30th anniversary of the FBI’s standoff with a group of doomsday cultists who ultimately chose to die by fire rather than surrender their illegal weapons. Trump’s speech was a cut-rate version of the apocalyptic ravings of Waco cult leader David Koresh, full of talk of how the country is “failing,” our

… Read the rest

The police are very politely begging Eli Rubashkyn to turn himself in for a friendly chat, because they just really really don’t want to arrest him.

Police are investigating “alleged offending” at an anti-transgender event in Auckland over the weekend, after supporters and counter protesters clashed.

Of course, as always, “an anti-transgender event” is inaccurate and highly inflammatory.

Thousands gathered at the Albert Park rotunda on Saturday to protest British activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s Let Women Speak event.

That’s much more accurate. Thousands gathered to scream DO NOT LET WOMEN SPEAK.

About 150-200 people turned out in support of Keen-Minshull, who goes by Posie Parker, but they were drowned out by close to 2000 people rallying in support of trans rights.

… Read the rest

Republican-run Southern states reject federal funding for hospitals. That’s nice for the non-rich people who live there.

Since its opening in a converted wood-frame mansion 117 years ago, Greenwood Leflore Hospital had become a medical hub for this part of Mississippi’s fertile but impoverished Delta, with 208 beds, an intensive-care unit, a string of walk-in clinics and a modern brick-and-glass building.

The Delta was where slavery was at its worst. It’s where Parchman is. It’s where Emmett Till was tortured to death. It’s where Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner were murdered. Fertile for cotton but horrible for the people forced to work in the fields.

But on a recent weekday, it counted just 13 inpatients clustered in a single ward.

… Read the rest

Oh yes that Trans Day of Vengeance thing…maybe it got an early start yesterday?

Trans Day of Vengeance, a weekend of protests for trans/non-binary rights, has been initiated by TRAN (Trans Radical Activist Network) and OURRIGHTSDC, because “visibility” is no longer enough. We resist and denounce the criminalization of transgender identity and violence against our siblings currently happening across the nation. We are fighting for our rights to exist. We are taking back the narratives. We are fighting back. With vengeance, because this is a fight for our survival.

Details are still being worked out, but we will meet at 11am on April 1st in front of the SCOTUS, where we will have a few speakers to kick off

… Read the rest

Remember Wayne State professor of English Steven Shapiro? Who said –

Although I do not advocate violating federal and state criminal codes, I think it is far more admirable to kill a racist, homophobic, or transphobic speaker than it is to shout them down.

The president of Wayne State is not charmed.

Dear campus community,

This morning, I was made aware of a social media post by a Wayne State University professor in our Department of English.

The post stated that rather than “shouting down” those with whom we disagree, one would be justified to commit murder to silence them. We have on many occasions defended the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the

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Plastics can’t be “recycled.” So-called recycling creates more pollution than it “recycles.” It’s all a big scam.

The disturbing reports on plastic pollution just keep coming: toxic plastic waste is filling up our oceans, our landfills, and even our bodies. But if you’ve seen a recent surge of ads from the companies that produce this garbage, you might be forgiven for thinking they’re working on solutions to the problem.

“America’s Plastic Makers” is the brand promoting a slew of ads about a new “solution” to plastic pollution that experts and evidence say creates new climate and environmental harms, and doesn’t actually work. It’s called “advanced” or chemical recycling, and refers to various processes for repurposing plastic waste. Some of those

… Read the rest

Tom Nichols on Trump in Waco:

Almost 30 years after a cult leader caused a disaster in Waco, Trump rallied his own political cult—and the location cannot be a coincidence—in that same Texas city. The Waco tent revival featured the usual Trumpian cast of grifters, carnies, and misfits, including the fan favorites Mike Lindell and Ted Nugent. Most of the former president’s speech was, of course, about himself and his many grievances, and the crowd reportedly began to thin out somewhat early.

I never will understand why a flabby rich guy who never stops talking about himself and his ludicrous grievances is so appealing to The Folk. He’s rich. He’s self-obsessed. He’s greedy. He’s lazy. He’s cruel. He’s … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Nullius in Verba on Glam.

It occurs to me that the way these people talk about, celebrate, and encourage this shit online is similar to what I’ve seen of two other horrid online groups. Specifically those formed around murder and suicide. Looking into either one gets really dark, really quickly. You can see the same sorts of psychological pressures in action, all of which are also present in other high demand groups (i.e., cults). It’s also the same sort of assault on identity, one’s conception of oneself as a continuous entity of worth, that Lifton documented in Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. (Side note: I highly recommend the book. It’s one of … Read the rest

So he’s off on his travels is he?

https://twitter.com/deves_katherine/status/1640648348402323456… Read the rest

The human body is PORNOGRAPHIC. Who knew?

The Florence museum that houses Michelangelo’s statue of David has invited teachers and students from a Florida school to visit, after an uproar over an art lesson.

The school’s principal quit after a complaint about a sixth-grade art class that included an image of the statue.

A parent had complained the image was pornographic.

So have her children had their genitalia removed? Was it porn every time she changed their diapers when they were babies? Is it porn when she takes a shower?

The controversy began when the board of Tallahassee Classical School – a charter school in Florida’s state capital – pressured principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign after three parents complained

… Read the rest

Heather Cox Richardson writes:

March 27, 2023 (Monday)

Seven people died today in a school shooting in Nashville. Three of them were nine-year-olds. Three were staffers. One was the shooter. In the aftermath of the shooting, President Joe Biden once again urged Congress to pass a ban on assault weapons, to which today’s Republican lawmakers will never agree because gun ownership has become a key element of social identity for their supporters, who resent the idea that the legal system could regulate their ownership of firearms.

In the wake of the shooting, Representative Andrew Ogles (R-TN), who represents Nashville thanks to redistricting by the Republican legislature that cut up a Democratic district, said he was “utterly heartbroken” by the

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Virginia Thomas the conflict of interest:

A little-known conservative activist group led by Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, collected nearly $600,000 in anonymous donations to wage a cultural battle against the left over three years, a Washington Post investigation found.

The previously unreported donations to the fledgling group Crowdsourcers for Culture and Liberty were channeled through a right-wing think tank in Washington that agreed to serve as a funding conduit from 2019 until the start of last year, according to documents and interviews. The arrangement, known as a “fiscal sponsorship,” effectively shielded from public view details about Crowdsourcers’ activities and spending, information it would have had to disclose publicly if it operated as

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It seems the guy who dumped tomato soup/juice/sauce/whatever on KJK is being sought by The Law. Unless he’s just identifying as being sought by The Law.

https://twitter.com/ElianaRubashkyn/status/1640639580344037377 https://twitter.com/ElianaRubashkyn/status/1640672937962516480… Read the rest

NPR is slashing staff to save $$.

NPR moved this week to cut 10% of its staff and stop production of a trio of acclaimed seasonal podcasts — Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot and Rough Translation — as it seeks to close a yawning budget gap that stands in excess of $30 million.

…

[Chief executive John] Lansing said the network sought to protect its core public service mission of journalism while preserving what he calls its “North Star.” Since joining NPR four years ago, Lansing has pushed to ensure the network has a bigger and broader audience base, rooted in younger and more diverse listeners, readers and consumers who will serve as the next generation of NPR

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About that burden of proof thing…

The burden of proof (Latin: onus probandi, shortened from Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat) is the obligation on a party in a dispute to provide sufficient warrant for its position.

When two parties are in a discussion and one makes a claim that the other disputes, the one who makes the claim typically has a burden of proof to justify or substantiate that claim especially when it challenges a perceived status quo.

This is also stated in Hitchens’s razor, which declares that “what may be asserted without evidence, may be dismissed without evidence.” Carl Sagan proposed a related criterion – “extraordinary claims require

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So then Pink News gloated again about its hostility to lesbians:

Members of The Dyke Project partied to protest the inaugural event of the The Lesbian Project – a trans-exclusionary initiative created by Julie Bindel and Kathleen Stock.

Yeah how dare Julie Bindel and Kathleen Stock be exclusionary of men in their Lesbian Project? The best people include men in all their lesbian projects.

The group held its first event on Saturday (25 March), which was met with a protest by The Dyke Project.

Formed in direct response to the Lesbian Project, the trans-inclusive group announced itself with a tweet reading: “Some want to sow hate and divide us by saying lesbians are being erased and need protection –

… Read the rest

I remember when Pink News was for lesbians and gay men. Seems like only yesterday. Now it gloats at bullying of lesbians.

Hundreds of LGBTQ+ women tell trans-exclusionary Lesbian Project: ‘You do not represent us’

What are LGBTQ+ women? They’re not anything, because no one can be all of those things. Why is Pink News rejoicing that confused lesbians are shunning and scolding lesbians for being lesbians?

More than 800 lesbians have signed an open letter to The Lesbian Project, denouncing the trans-exclusionary group as not reflective of the “lives, needs and community” of lesbians. 

That is, more than 800 lesbians have denounced other lesbians for not being inclooosive of men. Why are lesbians denouncing other lesbians for being…lesbians?… Read the rest

Glinner asks a police officer why the police are not protecting the women from trans activists, who have completely encircled them. The officer says “People can come and go as they please.”

pic.twitter.com/FydOq2bTvJ

— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) March 26, 2023

… Read the rest

No, you can’t do research on male athletes’ physical advantages compared to women, because you called them male.

Dr John Armstrong, a scholar at King’s College London (KCL), applied to carry out a survey of elite athletes and volunteers on whether trans women, who are born male, should compete in women’s track and field categories and whether they felt they could express their views.

However, the university’s ethics panel rejected his application last week citing equality and diversity concerns, in what has been labelled an attack on academic freedom.

In a rejection letter, the university said: “The language is not sensitive and the misgendering of athletes is not appropriate… there is obvious bias in the language and there is

… Read the rest