I found myself thinking about topsoil and the west so I went to the search engine. Nebraska Public Media has a piece from last April:

A few years ago, Isaac Larsen attended a wedding at a pioneer church in Minnesota. After the ceremony, he wandered around a cemetery by the church.

He noticed the cemetery, which had never been tilled, was at least a foot higher than a corn field just on the other side of a fence.

Tilling erodes soil.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst geosciences professor and his co-researchers have released a new study that found topsoil in the Midwest is eroding at an average rate of 1.9 millimeters per year. They measured elevation differences between native

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights continues to talk complete nonsense about women and our rights.

We must stand together against anti-rights and anti-gender narratives. Gender equality must be addressed holistically. Women’s rights are human rights. #16Days

— Volker Türk (@volker_turk) December 8, 2022

Feminism isn’t a fucking narrative. Human rights are not a narrative. You’d think the UN High Commissioner for them would know that. Gender is a trap that is getting narrower and tighter by the day. Of course women’s rights are human rights but what on earth does “Gender equality must be addressed holistically” mean? That women should “holistically” forget about our rights and focus on men’s right to pretend to be us instead? If so, fuck … Read the rest

Trump has been staying home lately.

He spoke at a friendly think tank conference held at Mar-a-Lago and a for-profit gala, also at Mar-a-Lago. He had dinner at Mar-a-Lago with two prominent antisemites, drawing widespread criticism, including from top Republicans.

Conference at Mar-a-Lago, gala at Mar-a-Lago, dinner with anti-semites at Mar-a-Lago. Festive but samey.

He’s done some video appearances and some fundraising and some dropping in, but it was all still at Mar-a-Lago. No heads of state to push out of the way, no royalty to bore, no rallies in half-empty arenas.

The early announcement [that he’s running again] — which advisers said was planned in part to clear the field of potential rivals and help Trump

A hilariously scathing thread on That Report:

I’ll just quote the rest.

1. The paper is, presentationally, very poor with numerous typographical errors and infelicities of expression. May we kindly suggest that next time you proof read your paper prior to submission. Our readers are not there to provide copy editing services.

2. The paper has a tendency to assert rather than argue the case, indeed so much so that the paper veers towards unsubstantiated monologue. There are several places where instead of using authoritative sources on the law – or indeed even academic concepts – your paper relies on dictionary definitions. See particularly the definition of gender critical. Quite frankly, there is no excuse in academic work to

Now the gender fundamentalists are doing the “don’t you just hate women’s screechy voices???” thing. So progressive it makes me dizzy.

What is the noise of ‘silenced’ women to you? They would have us believe it’s a roar but this week it’s been a shrill whine like an overheating electrical device.

— Clara Vulliamy (@ClaraVulliamy) December 8, 2022

Oh no, she’s onto us! We’re shrill. We whine. We sound like a dentist’s drill – as in the My Fair Lady lyric: “I’d be equally as willing For a dentist to be drilling Than to ever let a woman in my life.” [“Than” should be “As” but never mind.]

Her mates all agree.

Very well put.

— Clara Vulliamy (@ClaraVulliamy)

JL at the Glinner Update goes into the BBC’s history of inclooooding men on its lists of women to celebrate:

In 2013 the BBC pledged that it would better represent women in its international news output and launched its 100 Women List.

A good idea! But so briefly.

But only a year later this initiative was totally undermined when the list included a drag character, Conchita Wurst, the onstage persona of an Austrian man called Thomas Neuwirth.

With a full beard and Fabulous eyelashes.

In 2016 The 100 Women List included trans-identified male, Seyan Arman, a DJ and entertainer from Turkey. In 2018 it featured trans-identified male, Ophelia Pastrana, “An outspoken transgender media personality” from Columbia. In

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Yes, really, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said this. Not a random “activist,” not a confused journalist, not a once reasonable science blogger, but the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said this.

Feminism is not only about women. It’s about universal values of equality, dignity and justice. Gender equality means a better world for everyone. #16Days

— Volker Türk (@volker_turk) December 7, 2022

… Read the rest

Reading the Essex Report Universities’ Legal Obligations in the Context of Trans Inclusion, Trans Equality,
and ‘Gender Critical’ Activities on Campus [pdf]. It’s as annoying as I expected (and probably more so).

The right to freedom of expression, established under the European Convention on Human Rights, ensures that individuals can access information in order to form their opinions and identity…

Already we’re talking about idenniny.

Freedom of expression does not exclusively protect a monologue: it protects the exchange of ideas and opinions, including both speech and counter-speech…

That’s a stupid and tendentious way to put it. Of course it doesn’t exclusively protect a monologue; who said it did? That’s like saying “There will be no throwing of alligators at this … Read the rest

Ah yes, women=pollution. Beware beware, bring plenty of bleach to throw in their faces.

David Renton claims in a report published by @Uni_of_Essex that hosting an event where women who believe that sex matters are allowed to speak leads to contamination of the space where these women have been. https://t.co/tzuP4ZjOZr pic.twitter.com/q84p4NQ45v

— Professor Alice Sullivan (@ProfAliceS) December 7, 2022

Essex reports on the report:

In light of recent debates surrounding freedom of expression, trans inclusion, and ‘gender critical’ debates on university campuses, lawyers and academics at Garden Court Chambers and the University of Essex have prepared a new report: ‘Universities’ Legal Obligations in the Context of Trans Inclusion, Trans Equality, and ‘Gender Critical’ Activities on Campus’.

Maggie Haberman underlines what a bad day Trump had.

First came the events in the city where he was born and raised.

Translation: his own NYC bit him in the ass.

In New York, the jury that heard the case brought by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, deliberated over two days before returning guilty verdicts on all 17 counts related to a tax-fraud scheme, a sweeping condemnation of the company that bears Mr. Trump’s name.

…

The company will face a seven-figure fine, and the verdict could hinder its future endeavors. While convicting a company is not convicting a person — Mr. Trump himself was not charged in connection with the case — the taint of criminality

We can add US Rowing to the list.

For the past eight months, we’ve worked with countless stakeholders, the board of directors, athletes, and the medical commission to update the 2016 Gender Identity Policy. Today, we’re sharing it with you!

Updated policy: https://t.co/dvQLdAXxCT
FAQs: https://t.co/bl6egMZLiY pic.twitter.com/WFkJe6D6A6

— USRowing (@usrowing) December 2, 2022

Replies are incensed. Not a single “Yay great inclusive awesome yay” to be seen.

Trump had a very bad day yesterday. First his company was found guilty on all charges – all nine or eleventy hundred or whatever it was. Then his candidate for Senator from Georgia lost lost lost lost lost lost lost.

One of 12 children born to a father who was also a pastor and a mother who once picked cotton, Warnock reflected on the unlikelihood of his path to the Senate. His mother was with him at his victory party, after she had the opportunity to again cast a ballot for her son.

“I am Georgia,” Warnock said. “I am an example and an iteration of its history, of its pain and its promise, of the brutality and the

Maya annotates Emma Barnett’s hostile interview of Hadley Freeman on Woman’s Hour:

"I was specifically told by upper mgmt that I wasn’t allowed to write about gender stuff in about 2018, 2019 & others weren’t either.. multiple reporters asked if they could interview Maya Forstater @BluskyeAllison @JessDeWahls @jk_rowling @Martina … and we were all told no"

— Maya Forstater (@MForstater) December 7, 2022

Maya Forstater and Kathleen Stock were interviewed in the Observer (Hadley says the Guardian on the interview) @Emmabarnett "And we should say, just again, if you’re not familiar with the media world, the Observer is edited by a different editor." pic.twitter.com/5NMk8roOsC

— Maya Forstater (@MForstater) December 7, 2022

There was a policy change at the Guardian in

I am so tired of the dishonest way journalism frames the issue of men ruining women’s sports. For instance Reuters/The Guardian:

Transgender athletes will be able to participate in community sport in New Zealand in the gender they identify with and not need to prove or justify their identity, according to new guiding principles released by Sport New Zealand.

The guidelines do not apply to elite sport and it will be up to individual sports to define where and how transgender athletes participate, the governing body said.

“An inclusive transgender policy allows individuals to take part as their self-determined gender and not as the sex they were assigned at birth,” Sport New Zealand (SNZ) said. “It does not ask

That BBC list of women does of course have heroic brilliant women on it, a fact which I shouldn’t lose sight of in objecting to the Beeb’s inclooosion of men who claim to be women.

Aye Nyein Thu is a front-line volunteer in crisis areas of Myanmar, focusing on the remote and poor Chin State. She built a makeshift hospital with a small operating theatre in November 2021 and has since been treating sick and injured people.

Working in a remote area of Indonesia, Velmariri Bambari has been fighting for victims of sexual violence in Central Sulawesi. She has persuaded members of the local council to break with customary law and not impose fines on survivors of sexual abuse.

In

This guy thinks people are obliged to want to “date” him.

Nobody is obliged to want to date anyone. Beyond that, no one should even consider for a second “dating” this guy. He’d be drinking your blood within seconds.

Trump organization found guilty on all counts.

The counts are still being reviewed in the courtroom, but it is substantively over. The jurors are confirming one by one that their verdict has been read accurately. Donald J. Trump’s company has been found by a Manhattan jury to be a felon.

The Trump Organization has been in legal trouble for years, but this is the biggest rebuke yet. The company faces more than $1 million in penalties and it could receive blowback from its lenders and business partners.

Maggie Haberman observes:

Even without Trump personally being charged, this is a devastating day for him. He has long sought to avoid having criminality attached to his name in any way shape

The BBC list of 100 women

Erika Hilton, Brazil

Politician

The first black trans woman ever elected to a seat in the National Congress of Brazil. Erika Hilton is an activist who campaigns against racism, and for LGBTQ+ and human rights.

and

Efrat Tilma, Israel

Volunteer

As the first transgender volunteer in the Israeli Police, activist Efrat Tilma answers emergency calls and works to improve the relationship between police forces and the LGBTQ+ community.

It’s only 2% (I assume there are no more because the BBC says up front that these two are trans women and they don’t say that about anyone else) but it shouldn’t be any. It just shouldn’t. The whole point is to big up women because … Read the rest

Open Democracy seems to have a branch (or perhaps it’s a rib) called open Democracy 50.50. Its Twitter explains it as

Feminist investigative journalism & frontline reporting. We are #TrackingtheBacklash against women’s & LGBTIQ rights – and challenging exclusion in the media.

So it’s not feminist journalism at all then. Feminism is for women, end of story. There is no law that says feminism has to dilute itself by adding LGB rights, let alone LGBTIQ rights, at least one of which negates women’s rights.

I did a post on trans-identifying Natacha Kennedy’s “journalism” yesterday. This one –

Anti-trans activists are using ‘mirror propaganda'. Here's how to spot it https://t.co/cOI5MV2Pz3

— openDemocracy 50.50 (@5050oD) December 5, 2022

But look, three days … Read the rest