Originally a comment by Artymorty on The naughty apparatchiks.

The sheer number of “GC twitter” people on board with Trump’s (and the Manhattan Institute bros’) racist bullshit makes me sick.

A lesson I learned from the New Atheist movement comes to mind, a little line I started mentally sneering at people as I began to sour on the skeptic bros who flooded the meetups-in-the-pub and the comment threads on the blogs: Dude, it’s not a great feat of intellectual prowess that you figured out god doesn’t exist. The debate about religion is far more complex and interesting and important and relevant for what it reveals about the flaws in humans’ ability to think — the fact that highly intelligent … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Biden exercised his parole authority.

What’s not to like about a greedy, self-serving, self-centered, misogynistic, racist, thin-skinned, shallow-minded, easily-played, abusive, boorish, ignorant, hubristically over-confident, braggadocios, felonious, dishonest, twice-impeached, dayglow-orange, Dunning-Krueger poster-boy, and aspiring dictator? Why should anyone have second thoughts about handing over the Presidency of the United States to such a man for a second time? The United States is just lucky that his desire to remain in office unconstitutionally at the end of his term, and the amplification of that desire by his deluded supporters, was exceeded by their collective stupidity. There may not be such luck if it comes to a second round if those around him … Read the rest

Laughing at JD Vance:

Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator JD Vance continues to stoke outrage against foreign-born members of his own constituency, sharing video footage with his 1.9 million social media followers that he claimed showed African migrants in Dayton, Ohio “eating cats” — but instead appears to show nothing more than poultry cooking on an outdoor grill.

“Kamala Harris and her media apparatchiks should be ashamed of themselves,” Vance posted Saturday on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. “Another ‘debunked’ story that turned out to have merit.”

What kind of dang hillbilly doesn’t know a plucked chicken when he sees one?

The video was originally posted by the right-wing Manhattan Institute’s Christopher Rufo, who offered a $5,000

Today in Leeds:

Today's the day for our #LesbianMarch and Rally!
Let's stand together in solidarity, and strength to celebrate our community, our history, and our future. Bring your flags, your voices, and your energy. See you there.#LesbianStrength #LesbianVisibility" pic.twitter.com/LNoXfzGmYg

— LesbianStrength (@StrengthLesbian) September 14, 2024

Apparently it went well.

#LesbianStrength march and rally in #Leeds today. A really good event with good turnout and lovely weather. Full article on its way. ⁦@StrengthLesbian⁩ #LesbianNotQueer pic.twitter.com/HHa7AkCyWf

— Belstaffie (@Belstaffie) September 14, 2024

#LesbianStrength #LesbianVisibility pic.twitter.com/AFUJObIqTo

— LesbianStrength (@StrengthLesbian) September 14, 2024

But.

Of course there’s a but.

"We're the fucking trannies" Counter-protest against @StrengthLesbian pic.twitter.com/mTd4lJDyd3

— News Now Yorkshire (@NewsNowYorks) September 14, 2024

Must say no … Read the rest

Of course he did.

Court finds Trump Tower violated environmental laws and endangered fish in the Chicago River

After several years of litigation, a Cook County judge has found operations at Trump Tower violated state and federal environmental laws that protect the fish in the Chicago River, the Illinois attorney general’s office announced Wednesday.

…

Cook County Circuit Judge Thaddeus L. Wilson on Monday granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs, finding Trump International Hotel & Tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave. liable on all counts. This means there will be no trial. Raoul’s office is seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief, to be determined by the court at a future hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

“Effectively, what was

How Trump got sidetracked:

Donald Trump wanted to spend this week attacking one of Democratic rival Kamala Harris’ biggest political vulnerabilities. Instead, he spent most of the week falsely claiming that migrants are eating pets in a small town in Ohio and defending his embrace of a far-right agitator whose presence is causing concern among his allies.

Trump’s repeated parroting of unfounded social media rumors about Haitian migrants in Ohio eating pets stole headlines during a trip West, including stops in Arizona and Nevada, late this week. The promotion of the claims overshadowed a series of speeches aimed at the economy and blaming Harris for border security failures.

Well, you can see why though. Which is more fun, the economy or personalities? Exactly.… Read the rest

About those naughty immigrants in Springfield, Ohio…

In addition to Tuesday’s debate, Trump held a news conference Friday in which he rambled without evidence about how Haitians had descended on Springfield “and destroyed the place”.

When Haitian immigrants began trickling into Springfield to work in local produce packaging and machining factories in 2017, some thought the new residents could help the city regain its former vigor as a once-thriving manufacturing hub. Once home to major agricultural machinery companies in the mid-20th century, Springfield has lost a quarter of its population since the 1960s.

That helps explain how they were able to find places to live: there must have been a fair amount of vacant housing.

“They came to us

The Associated Press last March on the “eeek eeek eeek migrants” question:

In his Super Tuesday victory speech, former President Donald Trump elevated false information that had gone viral on social media, claiming the Biden administration secretly flew hundreds of thousands of migrants into the United States.

…

Trump said during his speech, “Today it was announced that 325,000 people were flown in from parts unknown – migrants were flown in airplane, not going through borders … It was unbelievable. I said that must be a mistake. They flew 325,000 migrants. Flew them in over the borders and into our country.”

But migrants are not being flown into the U.S. randomly. Under a Biden policy in effect since January

He’s a wannabe Hitler now, screeching about rounding people up and mass deporting them.

Donald Trump has said he will mass deport migrants in a small Ohio town that has been rocked by baseless claims that its Haitian influx are eating pets and park animals.

“We’re going to start with Springfield,” Trump said on Friday, adding the town had been “destroyed” by immigration. He mentioned a second city in Colorado, which right-wing commentators have falsely claimed is in the hands of a Venezuelan gang.

Springfield officials say that the debunked claim of pet-eating has sent shockwaves through its community, and has led to violent threats that have shut schools.

Wake up, BBC: don’t call people an “influx.” That’s trumpy … Read the rest

A damning summing up:

JK Rowling is leading calls for resignations across Scotland’s rape crisis service after a report found a centre in Edinburgh had “damaged” survivors.

It’s not so much that she’s leading them, I think, as it is that she’s got the clout to get people to listen. Maybe that’s what “leading” means in this context, but I doubt she wants to be portrayed as the boss, or to get all the credit.

The author intervened after Mridul Wadhwa, a trans woman, quit as chief executive of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) having been found to have “failed to set professional standards of behaviour” and for not understanding “the limits on her role’s authority”.

Pff. He systematically … Read the rest

Good. news.

Oh no oh no there’s a wacko hanging around with Trump, that will ruin everything.

The presence of hard-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer alongside Donald Trump on the campaign trail in recent days has raised questions, including from some Republicans, about the influence the controversial former congressional candidate may have on him.

Seriously! Because otherwise he would be entirely rational and thoughtful and able to utter a coherent sentence.

[O]n Tuesday, [Loomer] travelled to Philadelphia on board Trump’s plane for the presidential debate in the city. Perhaps the most memorable moment of that debate came when Trump repeated a baseless claim that illegal immigrants from Haiti have been eating domestic pets in a small Ohio city. “They are

Aha, another turn of the screw, so to speak – Wadhwa already had a fancy new job. His talents must be off the charts.

So, Wadhwa has a new job, and was appointed before he was (undoubtedly) paid off by those monsters at Edinburgh Rape Crisishttps://t.co/GghjUfKqNs

— Julie Bindel (@bindelj) September 13, 2024

… Read the rest

Victoria Smith nails everything, as she always does.

ERCC’s former chief executive officer, Mridul Wadhwa, has now resigned after being accused of “not understand[ing] the limits of her role” and “fail[ing] to set professional standards of behaviour”.

That is putting it mildly. The problem here is not one of disorganisation or managerial overreach. As anyone who followed the tribunal of former ERCC caseworker Roz Adams will know, it is one of deliberate sabotage. It is not that the need for women-only spaces somehow fell off Wadhwa’s radar. It’s more that Wadhwa — a trans-identified male who does not have a Gender Recognition Certificate — did not approve of the kind of survivor who requests them.

…

There is nothing

So much dirty laundry getting thrown into the tub today.

"Decided the time is right"
Because it's not as though a rape crisis chief exec calling rape survivors bigoted, telling them to reframe their trauma and denying them the support they needed was an urgent matter or anything https://t.co/cQetyGbYQg

— Victoria Smith (@glosswitch) September 13, 2024

The fact he was allowed to 'step down' after such a damning report speaks volumes about the board of ERCC. Weak, in thrall to this manipulative man and not caring – or even thinking – about the victims who needed the security of a women-only space. Appalling. They should all go. https://t.co/mQzjxCNeJO

— Jill Foster (@JournalistJill) September 13, 2024

are accountable for their part

FINALLY.

Notice that the BBC carefully conceals the “gender” of the subject in the headline.

Rape crisis centre CEO stands down after report into failings

Also uses a very deceptive photo of said CEO. He looks very womany.

And then there’s the crappy confusing lede:

The chief executive of a sexual assault support service has stood down after a review found it failed to protect women-only spaces.

What is “it”? The chief executive? The review? The service? Which? This is what happens when you try to obfuscate the core fact in the story: your reporting becomes opaque.

The male CEO of a rape crisis center has resigned after a review found that the center under his leadership failed to protect … Read the rest

Good old Twitter.

What's your source for terfs are 50/50 women and men?
What's a planing victim?
Saying that "CIS" justifies abusing women is not saying "CIS" refers only to women.

You really need to up your basic skills.

— Ophelia Benson (@OpheliaBenson) September 12, 2024

“Visibility limited: this Post may violate X’s rules against Hateful Conduct.”

Ok where’s the hateful conduct?

The tweet is in response to this one:

Here’s another TERF planing victim, portraying that ClS is only about women, whilst trying to deflect from my factual statement that TERFs (who are 50/50 women and men) have done nothing for women’s rights.

Thanks for proving my point.

— ManchesterSalfordLGBTQ (@LGBTQPrideUK) September 12, 2024

I’m not seeing the hateful … Read the rest

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