Pro Publica has a very interesting piece on the way railroads have been making trains longer and longer, without doing the corresponding safety properly. Lots and lots of one or two mile trains with empty cars in front and heavy cars in back and other safety mistakes; result: lots and lots of derailments.

I’m all the more interested because as I think I’ve mentioned a few hundred times I live near the tracks, and enjoy hearing the locomotives thundering past, especially at night. Sometimes they’re especially thundery, so then you know there are four or five locomotives pulling that one train, and maybe one at the back too. When I walk on an overpass above the tracks I often … Read the rest

Good old mainstream meeja, giving extra publicity to Marjorie Taylor Greene.

CBS came under fire after devoting an interview on its flagship current affairs show, 60 Minutes, to Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right pro-Trump congresswoman from Georgia who has espoused conspiracy theories and faced censure for threatening behaviour towards Democrats.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York progressive congresswoman among those threatened by Greene, told Semafor: “These kinds of extreme and really just unprecedented and dangerous notions are getting platforms, without much pushback or real kind of critical analysis.”

Matthew Gertz, of the progressive watchdog Media Matters, told the same outlet: “Anyone who believes that the congresswoman from QAnon is serious about renouncing far-right radicalism and conspiracy theories

… Read the rest

When the men decide.

https://twitter.com/WPGATour/status/1642653345952468993

He’s a guy though. Hidden replies are firm on this point.

https://twitter.com/kirstywakeling/status/1642786105228394496… Read the rest

Consultation, we must have consultation, we just don’t know what to think without consultation.

The FA is to consider letting footballers in England decide for themselves if they play in men’s or women’s teams.

Brilliant. The FA is to consider letting male footballers decide for themselves if they cheat.

The football governing body said it was in the process of “consulting with and listening to” its counterpart associations around the world about how to tackle the participation of transgender women in female sport.

Why is only that something to “tackle”?

Because it’s grossly unfair and physically dangerous to women, that’s why. Women playing on men’s teams harm only themselves so nobody cares, but men playing on women’s teams harm … Read the rest

First we need to bear in mind that the vast majority of rapes in the UK don’t get reported to the police, and that only 1% of those – yes ONE percent – get prosecuted. Now we can learn about what happens when one rapist is prosecuted and convicted.

A man who raped a 13-year-old schoolgirl in a park when he was 17 has avoided a prison sentence.

Sean Hogg, 21, attacked the girl in Dalkeith Country Park, Midlothian, on various occasions between March and June 2018. Judge Lord Lake said that if the offence had been committed by an adult over 25, Hogg would have received a jail sentence of four or five years. Instead he was ordered

… Read the rest

Elon Musk had a tantrum and grabbed the NY Times’s blue tick away. So nyah!

Twitter has started removing verification badges from accounts which already had a blue tick, after announcing they would be part of a paid subscription from 1 April.

The New York Times, along with several other organisations and celebrities, said they would not pay for the tick.

It prompted Elon Musk to launch a volley of insults at the newspaper.

“The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting”, Mr Musk, who owns Twitter, wrote on the platform.

“Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable,” he added.

Well, yes, but does he expect any kind of digestive byproduct … Read the rest

Trump has his Tuesday afternoon blocked out – fly up to New York, get arraigned, fly back to darling Florida to soak up more rays.

Law enforcement officials have told BBC’s US partner, CBS News, that the former president will be escorted by members of the US Secret Service on his way to New York.

I bet they’re thrilled. It’s kind of a novelty, having to escort a ForMer PresiDent to court to be arraigned. Guiness World Record type of thing. Very glamorous and dignified.

A rally for Mr Trump with Republican House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has been scheduled for noon on Tuesday in New York, calling for supporters to join in “peaceful protest” against the indictment.

Yeah that’s … Read the rest

Adam Schiff disses DeSantis:

Rep. Adam Schiff slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Sunday for comments the likely GOP primary candidate made about former President Donald Trump’s indictment.

…

DeSantis, who is expected to enter the 2024 presidential race, criticized the indictment delivered by a New York grand jury on Thursday, calling it “un-American.”

“Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda,” DeSantis said…

On Sunday, Schiff, who led Trump’s first impeachment in the House and sat on the high-profile committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, called DeSantis’ comments “cowardly.”

“He certainly knows better about the law. He knows what his obligation is

… Read the rest

Trans woman approved to play women’s Gaelic football

Man approved to play women’s Gaelic football.

Na Gaeil Aeracha, the first explicitly LGBTQ+ inclusive GAA club, said it welcomed the decision to approve the application from Giulia Valentino, an Italian trans woman who has played on the team since 2021.

Na Gaeil Aeracha welcomes the decision to allow a man to endanger and have an unfair advantage over the women on opposing teams.

The LGFA published a policy in February which stated that trans women would be eligible to play at all levels subject to certain conditions. These included that they have not been deemed to be an “unacceptable risk”, which it said would “likely only arise in the most exceptional

… Read the rest

Seriously? Saudi Arabia is growing alfalfa in Arizona because it’s used up its own tiny supply of water? “Hey it’s kind of dry here so let’s use Arizona instead. Sure it’s on the other side of the planet and it too is a desert but what could go wrong?”

Arizona is leasing farmland to a Saudi water company, straining aquifers, and threatening future water supply in Phoenix. Fondomonte, a Saudi company, exports the alfalfa to feed its cows in the Middle East. The country has practically exhausted its own underground aquifers there. In Arizona, Fondomonte can pump as much water as it wants at no cost.

And when it’s all gone Arizona will…uh…erm…move to Nevada. Yeah, that’s it.… Read the rest

The Times points out that political bluster is irrelevant in court.

But in a court of law, the magnetism that Mr. Trump and Fox News have over their audiences may lose some of its power. No matter how many times the former president insists outside the courtroom that he’s the victim of a political prosecution, inside the courtroom his lawyers will have to address the specific charges. They will win or lose based on legal arguments, not bluster.

…

James Bopp Jr., a conservative defense lawyer, said he agreed with virtually all Republicans that the Manhattan district attorney had coaxed his grand jury to bring forward a specious indictment for the political purpose of damaging Mr. Trump.

But, he

… Read the rest

Stay out of Florida.

Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill Thursday to allow people to carry concealed loaded weapons anywhere without permits.

What could possibly go wrong?

The measure would scrap existing requirements for concealed weapons permits, including an extra layer of background checks, licensing and firearms training.

Because what Florida (and everywhere else) needs is more and more and more and more people with guns.

Senate passage comes just three days after a shooter opened fire inside a Nashville, Tennessee, school, killing six people — including three 9-year-old children — an attack DeSantis has not yet spoken about publicly.

Did you miss the Tennessee part? It’s another state. What’s Tennessee got to do with Florida? States’ rights … Read the rest

What does “transphobia” have to do with Planned Parenthood?

What does “gender-affirming care” have to do with Planned Parenthood?

They’re Planned Parenthood. Why do they keep yapping about trans issues?… Read the rest

The Daily Mail shouts (no doubt pissing itself laughing)

‘Why will nobody kiss me?’ Dylan Mulvaney’s man-to-girl transition has won her TikTok fame, riches, and allies in the White House, but left her lonely and undateable

Gosh, Dilz, why do you think? Because you’re not attractive to men and you’re not attractive to women. What did you think would happen after the surgeries? That all sexes and genders would be all over you like flies on molasses? You’re a walking parody, and nobody cares what’s under your skirt.

It’s been a tough year for Dylan Mulvaney.

Twelve months since launching her hit TikTok series, Days of Girlhood, she’s earned hundreds of thousands of dollars, won allies in the White

… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Beneath contempt.

After four years of criticism, online fury, abuse, threats of violence, and even book burnings, her faith in her own position is undimmed.

Rowling’s position is that sex is real and that the rights of women and girls are worthy of, and in need of respect and defence. Is there now some reason that she should abandon this position? Is she wrong to believe these things? If so, why and how is that the case? If anything, her experience of these last few years (her “lived experience” I daresay), would only reinforce, rather than weaken her beliefs, and rightly so. O’Connell is dismayed that Rowling has not caved … Read the rest

Man assaults women, women are arrested for being assaulted by man. Welcome to Iran.

Two women have been arrested in Iran after being attacked with yoghurt, seemingly for not covering their hair in public.

In the video, which went viral, two female customers are approached by the man, who begins talking to them.

He then takes what appears to be a tub of yoghurt from a shelf and angrily throws it over their heads.

Iran’s judiciary said the two women have been detained for showing their hair, which is illegal in Iran.

Not their public hair, mind you, but the stuff on their heads. It’s so filthy and so arousing that all women must be tightly bandaged to conceal … Read the rest

Not at all!

https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1642235035993403393… Read the rest

Look, all he wants to do is play football on the women’s team so that he can injure some women. What’s the big deal?

An Australian amateur football league is receiving backlash from parents and players who are voicing frustrations after learning that a man who identifies as a woman has been dominating the female soccer league and injuring female players.

Football New South Wales’ League One reportedly has five trans-identified male players, but one player in particular has led the 1st Grade goal kickers table, with seven goals. 

Initial reports from The Daily Mail Australia had chosen not to identify the player, censoring images of him and declining to provide his name. However, Reduxx can confirm the player is trans

… Read the rest

Jennifer O’Connell at the Irish Times joins the crowd throwing mud at JK Rowling.

When we are most certain is the point at which we should most question ourselves, remarks JK Rowling sensibly in a new podcast series, The Witch Trials of JK Rowling. For a moment, she seems to be experiencing a revelation about her own role in the events of the past few years. But no: she is referring only to those who challenge her. After four years of criticism, online fury, abuse, threats of violence, and even book burnings, her faith in her own position is undimmed. “I believe absolutely that there is something dangerous about this movement, and it must be challenged.”

Yes, and? Jennifer … Read the rest

News boss was furious that staff were fact-checking Trump. Facts??! What have facts got to do with reporting the news?!!??

The top executive at Fox News was furious one of the network’s reporters was fact-checking Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, writing in a December 2020 email that it was “bad for business”.

We get it from all directions now. The Financial Times tells Joan Smith to put a lie in her review, Fox News tells staff not to fact-check Trump’s lies.

Suzanne Scott, the chief executive of Fox News, was responding in early December 2020 to an on-air fact-check by Eric Shawn, one of the network’s anchors. “This has to stop now,” she wrote to

… Read the rest