It’s all so maddeningly circular.

Devastating to see the hate that activists working to end male #VAWG are receiving from other feminists because we are trans allies. I know for a fact that many women's organisations want to publicly support the trans community but fear they could be sued & vilified by feminists.

— Dr Charlotte Proudman (@DrProudman) December 3, 2022

How can you be an activist to end violence against women and girls and at the same time insist that men who call themselves women are not men? How can you be an activist to end violence against women and girls if you don’t know which people are women and girls? How can you be an activist to end … Read the rest

Sigh. The rot is everywhere.

Citizens Advice is facing a backlash from staff for an “ideological instruction” to wear gender pronoun badges.

…

Dame Clare Moriarty, its £170,000-a-year chief executive, told all staff last month that pronouns are “an important way of affirming their gender identity” and “we shouldn’t assume someone’s gender based on their appearance”.

No they’re not and of course we should.

Her internal memo on Citizens Advice’s intranet, seen by The Telegraph, added: “You can help to normalise sharing pronouns by sharing yours. We’ve created some button badges with different pronouns that can be fastened to a lanyard or your clothing.”

But we don’t want to “normalise sharing pronouns.” Sharing pronouns is utterly moronic and … Read the rest

Teamster honcho Sean O’Brien:

The fact that there are not 60 senators willing to stand up to Big Business and fight for basic rights for U.S. rail workers is horrific.

— Sean M. O'Brien (@TeamsterSOB) December 1, 2022

Let me be clear. This struggle is not over. I will do everything I can to make sure that rail workers in America are treated with dignity and respect. pic.twitter.com/WVGLodsr7B

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 1, 2022

We’re on the same page @RepRashida ✊🏼 https://t.co/mpLbJLHFNf

— Sean M. O'Brien (@TeamsterSOB) December 2, 2022

#43Cowardshttps://t.co/Pfkp8IhSGL

— Sean M. O'Brien (@TeamsterSOB) December 2, 2022

Ya know, Joe, a commonsense idea would have been to give rail workers paid sick days. But you blew

… Read the rest

When in doubt, do it to the workers.

President Joe Biden signed legislation Friday to block a national U.S. railroad strike that could have devastated the American economy.

That is, Biden broke a strike for paid sick leave. Railroad workers have to go on working despite not having paid sick leave, while Musk and Bezos count their billions.

The U.S. Senate voted 80 to 15 on Thursday to impose a tentative contract deal reached in September on a dozen unions representing 115,000 workers, who could have gone on strike on Dec. 9. But the Senate failed to approve a measure that would have provided paid sick days to railroad workers.

Listen, if you want paid sick leave, you … Read the rest

I saw this tweet and tracked down the particulars.

Am a #coach (photos a few years ago).
I am also #president of an #Alberta #sports association.
When my government asks for input and I offer a clear description of the threats to women & girls in #Canadian 🇨🇦sports posed by male persons, I am baffled by this reply.#Exclusion pic.twitter.com/d074jc7XKr

— Linda Blade (@coachblade) December 2, 2022

First, the news release:

Please send us your recommendations on how to deal with the mistreatment of women and girls in sport in Canada.

Second, the reply to Coach Blade:

Now, I haven’t read Coach Blade’s brief but I’ve been following her with great interest for a long time so I think I … Read the rest

So even Elon Musk has a limit.

Elon Musk, Twitter’s chief executive, said late Thursday that Kanye West would be suspended from Twitter after the rapper and fashion designer tweeted an image of a swastika inside the Star of David. Mr. Musk said the post violated the social media outlet’s rule against the incitement of violence.

…

The indefinite Twitter suspension happened on the same day that [West] had appeared on a podcast hosted by the Infowars conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones, during which he told Mr. Jones, “I like Hitler.”

Speaking of Alex Jones, he’s just declared bankruptcy. I’m wondering if he’ll be able to go right on “hosting” Infowars while not paying the victims of his sadism … Read the rest

Pink News on the investigation into Mermaids:

The Charity Commission has confirmed it has opened a statutory inquiry into trans children’s charity Mermaids after safeguarding allegations were raised.

A regulatory compliance case was opened in September of this year, which has now been formalised.

This began after several articles were published in right-wing publications, which portrayed Mermaids as posing danger to children.

Geddit????? There are no safeguarding concerns really, it’s all just right-wing publicationing.

The inquiry will focus on three areas of Mermaids, its work and how the charity is run. This includes investigating potential misconduct or mismanagement, whether the trustees have fulfilled their duties under charity law and into the administration, governance and management of the charity.

… Read the rest

Trump is running out of road.

In another big victory for the Justice Department Thursday, days after it won convictions of far-right Oath Keepers insurrectionists, an appeals court halted a third-party review of material taken by the FBI from Trump’s Florida resort…

In another blow to the ex-president on Thursday, a federal judge ordered former Trump White House lawyers to give additional grand jury testimony after dismissing Trump’s claims rooted in attorney client or executive privilege…

On another legal front threatening Trump, his former short-lived national security adviser Michael Flynn became the latest acolyte of his to be ordered to testify before an Atlanta grand jury. This investigation is specifically looking into Trump’s 2020 effort to reverse his

… Read the rest

Mermaids inquiry ratchets up.

The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into the transgender charity Mermaids after identifying concerns about its management. The regulator said the inquiry — its most serious form of investigation — was triggered by “newly identified issues” around the youth charity’s “governance and management”.

It had already announced a compliance case into Mermaids following safeguarding concerns, but a statutory inquiry marks a significant ramping up of its examination of the charity. It will try to establish if there was any mismanagement or misconduct by trustees.

The commission said today that Mermaids’ response to the initial compliance case “has not provided the necessary reassurance or satisfied the commission at this stage”.

Tick tick tick.… Read the rest

A bit of frivolity – a barrister explains why The Good Law Project is so bad and stupid, with that huge smug headshot of the kimono guy for extra laughs.

What happened? Well, there was a two day hearing involving a King’s Counsel and three other barristers for the GLP, and another King’s Counsel and two more barristers for the government. That is an expensive two days. 

What did the GLP want? Well, they weren’t actually clear initially, so we’ll come back to that later. But it was all to do with the issue of ministers using private emails and private WhatsApp or other messaging services for government business. The GLP were determined to stop that. They failed.

…

… Read the rest

Some commentary on the Special Master ruling:

https://twitter.com/JessBravin/status/1598472440426156032

Huge rebuke of Trump. “The court rejected each argument by Trump and his attorneys for why a special master was necessary.” “The decision was a unanimous opinion from the three-judge panel of Republican appointees.” https://t.co/0yRMZ1Vui0

— Maria Sohn 🟧 (@MariaSohn1) December 2, 2022

BREAKING: Trump LOSES bigly: 11th Circuit rules Judge Cannon was incorrect, eliminates her ruling, orders case be dismissed.

Special master: gone. All restrictions on DOJ use of recovered Mar-a-Lago documents: gone.

Massive DOJ win. Great day for democracy and the rule of law.

— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) December 1, 2022

The 11th Circuit has unanimously ruled Judge Cannon is out: “To create a special exception here would defy our

… Read the rest

Appeals court strikes down special master in Trump Mar-a-Lago documents case

A federal appeals court panel on Thursday halted an outside review of thousands of documents seized from former president Donald Trump’s Florida residence, ruling that a lower-court judge was wrong to appoint an expert to decide whether any of the material should be shielded from criminal investigators.

…

Trump sought the outside arbiter, known as a special master, after the FBI executed a court-approved search of Mar-a-Lago, his home and private club, on Aug. 8, retrieving more than 13,000 documents related to Trump’s time in the White House. About 100 of the documents were classified, and some contained extremely sensitive government secrets, according to court records.

U.S. District

… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Papito on Call the expert.

Every once in a while one of these misogynist twerps spurts out a rant that lays out all the hatred they normally try to keep hidden.

Not only does young master Baron insist that all women must agree with him on the definition of feminism, but he insists that if they don’t, then they are imposing the patriarchy. Not him, the man who is telling women what they are allowed to think, but them, women who refuse to listen to a man. That, per Aidan, is the true patriarchy.

This argument reminds me of the schoolyard taunt “I’m rubber, you’re glue! Words bounce off me and stick to you!” No, … Read the rest

Man puts himself in charge of feminism.

https://twitter.com/Aidan_Baron/status/1597991342885347329 https://twitter.com/Aidan_Baron/status/1597987871058599938… Read the rest

Sure, what’s not to like?

KANYE WEST PRAISED Adolf Hitler during a Thursday interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. 

“Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler,” Ye said. “Also Hitler was born Christian.”

Especially Hitler. Plus he was born Christian, so obviously good & bringing something of value to the table.

“I see good things about Hitler also” Ye said. “I love everyone. Jewish people are not going to tell me you can love us, and you can love what we’re doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we’re pushing with the pornography. But this guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a

… Read the rest

Of course she does.

Sturgeon rejects UN concerns about reform of Scotland’s gender law

She rejects women’s concerns, too. Men who claim to be women are the only people who matter.

Nicola Sturgeon has described the concerns of a UN special rapporteur about plans to reform how people change their legal sex in Scotland as “not well founded”.

During a robust session of first minister’s questions, Sturgeon also said Shona Robison, the minister in charge of the controversial gender recognition reform bill, would meet the special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, next week.

The Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, repeatedly challenged Sturgeon to delay the bill – which was the subject of the Scottish National party’s 

… Read the rest

Sackbut pointed out this cloying image:

Naaaaaaaaah.

That’s just the old self-esteem movement updated for even more solipsistic times.

No, parents shouldn’t treat their children like gods. No, parents shouldn’t be constantly wooing their children like lovers. No, parents shouldn’t be training their children to think they’re miraculous and supernatural. Unconditional love, yes; an infinite stream of flattery, no.

And this “become yourself” shit needs to die. As I keep saying to the point of monotony, the cult of the self needs to die. Encourage children to have a spine, think critically, resist peer pressure when necessary, all that, but obsess over a special unique magical Self, no.… Read the rest

With only four or five weeks to do anything with them, the House Dems finally have Trump’s tax returns.

Sort of.

The supreme court ordered the release of six years of returns last Tuesday, rejecting Trump’s plea to stop the treasury from acting.

On Wednesday, the release of the tax returns was first reported by CNN. According to the network, which cited an unnamed aide to the Democratic committee chair, Richard Neal, Democrats on the panel were due to be briefed on Thursday on the “legal ramifications on section of the tax law that … Neal used to request Trump’s tax returns” but would not immediately see the returns.

Well let’s do all this as slowly as possible so … Read the rest

Joan Smith on another heartbroken dude:

In an interview veering between self-pity and entitlement, Bridges claimed to be ‘heartbroken’ after being refused permission to ride for Wales as a woman in the Commonwealth Games. (British Cycling has suspended its policy on transgender athletes while it carries out a review.) Bridges also claimed to understand the anxieties of female athletes who don’t want to compete with biological males, but dismissed them because ‘I am not a man’. 

Which is funny, because he is a man, and this whole business of dismissing women’s anxieties about being displaced by him and men like him is the very thing women are anxious about.

Not many people, one would guess, really believe that

… Read the rest

They have got to be kidding.

An Oxford student union official has apologised for her supposedly trans- exclusionary stance after objecting to the abolition of the women’s officer role.

Ellie Greaves, the vice-president for women at Oxford’s student union, put out a statement after a backlash against her comments in The Times.

The union is replacing its women’s officer with a liberation and equalities representative from next year. The reorganisation of union leadership will keep the same number of roles — one president and five vice-presidents — but female students will lose a dedicated women’s officer. The union said this was because the role was created at a time when women could not get full degrees and colleges were segregated,

… Read the rest