“Cognitive issues.”

The Republican congressmen Louis Gohmert and Paul Gosar adopted such extreme, conspiracy-tinged positions, even before the US Capitol attack, that a fellow member of the rightwing Freedom Caucus thought they “may have had serious cognitive issues”.

To be fair, lots of us think everyone in the “Freedom Caucus” has serious cognitive issues.

Denver Riggleman, once a US representative from Virginia, reports his impression of his former colleagues from Texas and Arizona in a new book.

…

Describing his own spell in Congress, between 2019 and 2021, Riggleman says he joined the hardline Freedom Caucus as a way to allay concerns among conservatives that he was insufficiently loyal to Trump.

It’s strange that loyalty to Trump would be … Read the rest

Sally Hines being Sally Hines.

When I agreed to take part in this event I was unaware that it was a ‘debate’ with, as @binarythis says, extreme anti-trans activists, or that it had such a specific focus on trans inclusion in LGBT EDI policy in HE. I am no longer taking part. https://t.co/ZbGImNUi1c

— Sally Hines (@sally_hines) September 27, 2022

By “extreme anti-trans activists” she means feminist women. Extreme feminist extreme women; must avoid at all costs. Abort mission.

She’s proud of her abort message.

This is my correspondence with organisers, which I would like to stand as my contribution… https://t.co/wGZszSFVXC pic.twitter.com/TqLBYIe9Rg

— Sally Hines (@sally_hines) September 27, 2022

It’s all in the wording. “Anti-trans activists” she says – but … Read the rest

Sussex Police are really knocking themselves out today.

Of course the “hateful” comments were not about the gender identity of Sussex Police – but leaving that clumsy mistake aside, the important thing to note is that the sex of a sexual criminal is of course highly relevant, and it’s just utterly stupid as well as evil for Sussex Police to claim it isn’t. Just imagine the scenario: man rapes a woman while she struggles and yells, he tells her he’s not a man, she says oh well that’s fine then, carry on.… Read the rest

A press release from Sussex Police:

Woman convicted of historic offences against children in Sussex

Seven children who were sexually abused in Sussex between 26 and 33 years ago have seen justice done after their abuser was jailed for 20 years on Thursday, September 8.

Sally Ann Dixon, 58, of Swanmore Avenue, Havant, Hants, was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court after being convicted of 30 indecent assaults against her victims.

Except, of course, that the perp is actually a man. Naturally Sussex Police doesn’t admit that until the 8th paragraph.

At the time of the offences, Dixon was John Stephen Dixon, who transitioned to female in 2004 – after the period during which the offences took place.

Not our … Read the rest

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

Many political parties seem to have over-reacted to online trans activism, imbuing social media genderist opinion with more importance and perceived support than it would actually have in the population at large. It’s as if there’s a social media equivalent to the funny-looking, strangely proportioned figures of the “motor humunculus” and “sensory humunculus” when the cerebral territories for these systems are mapped onto the surface of the brain. If the “digital humunculus” of the body politic were to be mapped out in the brains of political party officials, the acreage devoted to Twitter sensitivity would be grotesquely swollen and distorted, overshadowing the vestigial acceptance of “woke” thought amongst the … Read the rest

It’s Matt Walsh the Christian reactionary again, but what can I say, he’s right about the trans takeover even if it’s for the wrong reasons and he’s wrong about nearly everything else.

Vanderbilt opened its trans clinic in 2018. During a lecture the same year, Dr. Shayne Taylor explained how she convinced Nashville to get into the gender transition game. She emphasized that it's a "big money maker," especially because the surgeries require a lot of "follow ups" pic.twitter.com/zedM7HBCBe

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 20, 2022

You can make a lot of money mutilating teenagers. Wot larks eh Pip?

Vanderbilt was apparently concerned that not all of its staff would be on board. Dr. Ellen Clayton warned that "conscientious objections"

Originally a comment by Holms on Mermonsters.

I remember visiting an acquaintance’s place years ago, a guy I thought of as decent and level-headed. Part way through the afternoon his young son arrived home from school or barged in during dinner or something, and approached his parents with the air of someone with Important News. He informed the room that he had been penalised points on a science test at school, maybe even failing it, because he answered everything in the biology section with ‘evolution isn’t real’ and ‘God created Adam and Eve’ and similar, instead of the answer he knew was expected of him.

Both parents immediately beamed at him, congratulated him for his good christian values and … Read the rest

Labour not a fan of women, it seems.

Not allowed in the Labour Conference so @LesbianLabour and @LabWomenDec meet outside with their pop-up stalls.
More women arriving tomorrow @UKLabour #WomensRights #Women #Lesbians pic.twitter.com/Nxx7uO65d4

— LesbianLabour (@LesbianLabour) September 25, 2022

At @LabWomenDec fringe in Liverpool for a discussion on what women need in the Labour manifesto. @ToniaAntoniazzi opening- here to focus on women’s issues not being discussed elsewhere at conference. pic.twitter.com/kVqFJB3A3G

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) September 26, 2022

Two of Team @LesbianLabour outside Conference with the pop up Stall. #Lesbians pic.twitter.com/H4sA10hA82

— LesbianLabour (@LesbianLabour) September 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/LabWomenDec/status/1574463598516211732

This from the Labour Women’s Declaration feels pretty apt pic.twitter.com/gXPwVlyLvj

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) September 26, 2022

… Read the rest

“Well I am King.”

“Oh, King, eh, very nice. And how’d you get that then, eh? By exploiting the workers! By ‘anging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there’s ever going to be any progress – “

“Dennis, there’s some lovely filth down ‘ere.”… Read the rest

The Telegraph reports that Mermaids is giving binders to 14-year-olds against their parent’s wishes.

Mermaids, which receives funding from the taxpayer and runs training for schools and the NHS, offered to send a breast binder discreetly to a girl they believed was only 14, even after they were told that she was not allowed to use one by her mother.

Evidence obtained by The Telegraph shows that the charity’s staff have offered binders to children as young as 13 who say that their parents oppose the practice.

Chest-binding has been described by parent groups as a form of “self-harm” and it can cause breathing difficulties, chronic back pain, changes to the spine and broken ribs.

And, despite all that discomfort … Read the rest

Maggie Haberman tells us what it’s like talking to Trump:

“Can you believe these are my customers?” Donald Trump once asked while surveying the crowd in the Taj Mahal casino’s poker room. “Look at those losers,” he said to his consultant Tom O’Neil, of people spending money on the floor of the Trump Plaza casino.

Which is interesting/funny/ironic because that’s what we think about him. “Can you believe this guy was president?” “Look at that corrupt ignorant greedy sack of flesh.”

I have found myself on the receiving end of the two types of behavior Donald Trump exhibits toward reporters: his relentless desire to hold the media’s gaze, and his poison-pen notes and angry statements in response to coverage. His

It appears the water is heating up in Trump’s frying pan.

Ginni Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, texted links tied to QAnon to ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, according to former Jan. 6th staffer Denver Riggleman. Riggleman says her actions “should be an eye opener for everybody” https://t.co/tgVPFfR661 pic.twitter.com/zGFNwATIG5

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 25, 2022

[Tip: Riggleman calls Thomas’s texts “insightful” and 60 Minutes host asks “Insightful how?” and Riggleman uses the word again, but he doesn’t mean “insightful” – he’s using the made-up word “inciteful” i.e. “intended to incite.” Also it’s amusing that 60 Minutes takes care to show us a clip of him “typing” with two fingers.]

If Mark Meadows hasn’t flipped, he’s

Another incident from the orgy of monarchist mourning:

I knew that Charles Windsor would be declared “King Charles III” in official ceremonies around the UK. I had assumed they would be fairly small-scale….

It was only when I went to church that I learnt that there was not only a proclamation in Oxford but a procession that would start just outside our church. I was feeling sad and angry as I left church and walked past the cordoned-off streets, and saw the dignitaries and military leaders standing on the steps of Carfax Tower in clothing more suited to the 16^th century. This, apparently, is how we proclaim a new head of state in 21^st-century Britain.

After

This is the warning.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has warned that climate change will not spare other countries the sort of disaster that left up to one third of his country underwater and millions of its children at risk of water-borne diseases.

…

“In this ground zero of climate change, 33 million people, including women and children, are now at high risk from health hazards,” he said.

It’s not going to be just pockets here and there, that the rest of us can ignore. It’s going to be millions – and in fact it already is.

Authorities have warned it could take up to six months for the flood waters to recede in the country’s hardest-hit areas, as

Also, the floods haven’t gone anywhere.

Millions of people in Pakistan are still deeply affected by catastrophic flooding which “is not going anywhere”, UN relief agencies said on Tuesday.

Close to eight million people have been displaced by the disaster and the UN along with the authorities and partners have continued to race to reach affected populations with desperately needed relief items.

Southern Sindh province is still in crisis, with many areas still under water.

To date, more than 1,500 people have been killed, including 552 children.

“We don’t have enough food, we don’t have shelter, and still even the kind of healthcare that is required is not available,” said Gerida Birukila, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

To the surprise of no one

It is likely that climate change helped drive deadly floods in Pakistan, according to a new scientific analysis. The floods killed nearly 1500 people and displaced more than 30 million, after record-breaking rain in August.

The climate is changing. Climate events that break records are likely due to climate change.

The analysis confirms what Pakistan’s government has been saying for weeks: that the disaster was clearly driven by global warming. Pakistan experienced its wettest August since the country began keeping detailed national weather records in 1961. The provinces that were hardest hit by floods received up to eight times more rain than usual, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.

Climate change made

More storms? Worse storms?

Canadian troops are being sent to assist the recovery from the devastation of storm Fiona, which swept away houses, stripped off roofs and knocked out power across the country’s Atlantic provinces.

After surging north from the Caribbean as a hurricane, Fiona came ashore before dawn on Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone, battering Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec with hurricane-strength winds, heavy rains and huge waves.

…

The Canadian Hurricane Centre tweeted that Fiona had the lowest pressure ever recorded for a storm making landfall in Canada. Forecasters had warned it could be the one of the most powerful storms to hit the country.

“We’re getting more severe storms more frequently,” Trudeau said.

More

Thanks but we’ve decided to go in another direction.

Investors are walking away from commitments to invest in a company that planned to merge with Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform.

Was it something he said? Something he did? Everything?

“Blank-check” company Digital World Acquisition said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday that some backers were pulling a total of $139 million they had planned to put into the deal. Digital World had previously announced funding commitments of $1 billion.

The investors who signed up for the deal about a year ago were able to back out if it was not completed by September 20.

But it’s Trump. Everything he touches turns to gold.… Read the rest

For some reason Russian soldiers aren’t all that keen on Putin’s war.

Russia’s Kremlin-controlled lower house of parliament on Tuesday approved legislation that toughens punishment for soldiers breaching their duties, in an apparent effort to boost discipline in the ranks amid the fighting in Ukraine.

…

Under the new legislation, deserting a military unit during a period of mobilization or martial law would be punishable by up to 10 years in prison, compared with five years under the current law.

Those who voluntarily surrender to the enemy will also face a prison term of up to 10 years, and those convicted of looting could be handed a 15-year term.

Another amendment introduces a prison sentence of up to

The suckers are paying Trump’s legal bills.

As Donald Trump’s legal woes mount, donors and the Republican party have paid millions in dollars of his legal fees.

His newest legal headache saw him and three of his children hit with a fraud lawsuit, which alleges they lied about the value of property “by billions”.

Financial data shows that he has already spent more than $1m (£890,000) of donations fighting the case in 2022.

…

Millions of dollars spent combatting these charges have come from Mr Trump’s Save America political action committee (PAC) – which takes donations from Trump supporters across the country – Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show.

Save America has paid more than $1.12m this year alone