All entries by this author

Ask the expert

Mar 31st, 2022 11:56 am | By

Evan Davis on the Radio 4 program PM had a 5 minute discussion of “trans participation” (always the generic “trans” instead of “trans women” of course – must obscure the issue whenever possible) just now. He talked to one person. A woman who is good at a sport? Nah, don’t be silly. He talked to Joanna Harper, a runner who transitioned at age 47.

In case you want to listen it starts at 48:40.… Read the rest



They are not being shy

Mar 31st, 2022 10:42 am | By

The Supreme Court v voting rights:

This time around, the state’s Republican legislature was challenging the state legislative districts that the Wisconsin supreme court picked for the state. Even though Republicans would still hold their majority under the new map, lawmakers took issue with the creation of an additional Black-majority district near Milwaukee. They said there wasn’t adequate justification for creating it, and made an emergency request to the supreme court to block the maps.

In a seven-page unsigned opinion, the supreme court accepted that request last week. But it went further, using the case as an opportunity to interpret the Voting Rights Act in a narrow way without full briefing or oral argument in the case.

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Commentary and analysis

Mar 31st, 2022 10:28 am | By

But we’re told trans people are so very marginalized.

Fox News hires ‘trailblazer’ Caitlyn Jenner as contributor

How many other Olympians have commentator gigs at Fox News?

Fox News says it has hired Caitlyn Jenner as a contributor, with her first appearance set for Thursday on Sean Hannity’s program.

Jenner, the former Olympic decathlete, ran an unsuccessful campaign for California governor last year. The network said she will offer commentary and analysis across various Fox News platforms.

“Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all,” said Suzanne Scott, Fox News Media chief executive. “She is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community and her illustrious career spans a variety of fields that will be a tremendous asset for our audience.”

Does … Read the rest



<-- -->

Mar 31st, 2022 9:53 am | By

Hilarity ensued.

Bravo! No wait, not bravo, that other thing.

Unbravo? Negbravo? Debravo? Transbravo?

H/t

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Y U so unfriendly

Mar 31st, 2022 9:31 am | By

Hmm. Define “friendly.”

Russia has told “unfriendly” foreign countries they must start paying for gas in roubles or it will cut supplies.

See this is odd because I would say Russia is pretty much out in front on the “unfriendly” scoreboard. Bombing the bejeezus out of the country next door (the one where millions of people were deliberately starved to death by Russia in the 1930s) is on the face of it not very friendly at all.

It’s a funny thing how bullies manage to frame themselves as the bullied. We see it in disputes over gender and we see it in disputes over entire huge countries with 44 million people.… Read the rest



This time he’ll tag her

Mar 31st, 2022 8:44 am | By

Life is so unfair. Sometimes, when you bully someone, onlookers call you a bully! Can you believe that?

https://twitter.com/NoisyBits/status/1509455693388075016

It’s hilarious that he includes his own bullying in his screenshot. “Look, I tried to get Kathleen Stock dogpiled and people responded by dogpiling me!!! Did you ever?!?!”… Read the rest



The athletes who have spoken up for fairness

Mar 30th, 2022 4:39 pm | By

We applaud.

Fairness to women is not less important than “inclusion” of men who identify as women. It’s a great deal more important.

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Emily is not eligible

Mar 30th, 2022 4:29 pm | By

I was out doing things for a few hours and this happened –

Be inclusive, let them find a home, yadda yadda, but not at the expense of women.

https://twitter.com/mara_yamauchi/status/1509287607141904394

Now they don’t have to boycott the race.

https://twitter.com/coachblade/status/1509246666959818756… Read the rest


This is totally unfair

Mar 30th, 2022 10:07 am | By

Another crack in the edifice.

Read the rest



Do

Mar 30th, 2022 9:56 am | By

I happen to have seen the origin of the punchline before seeing the above.… Read the rest



Brave brave brave brave brave Sir Robin

Mar 30th, 2022 9:32 am | By

The Times also appears to take the Tory MP’s claim at face value.

A Conservative MP has announced that he is transgender and has been the victim of rape and blackmail.

Jamie Wallis, the MP for Bridgend, said he was transgender, “or to be more accurate, I want to be”, and had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

Maybe he just has shlub dysphoria. Has anyone looked into that? He appears to be a shlub, and dysphoria seems likely in such cases, so maybe it’s nothing to do with gender at all.

Wallis rapidly received public support from fellow MPs. Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said: “This is a very brave statement.” Andrew

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He/him for now

Mar 30th, 2022 8:17 am | By

Ah good it’s helpful to have this cleared up by an expert.

https://twitter.com/KatyMontgomerie/status/1509127933750882305

So he gets to use all the toilets, right?

More from the expert:

https://twitter.com/KatyMontgomerie/status/1509185039178899458

Men who claim to be women must be allowed into all spaces set aside for women on pain of being called unambiguously transphobic by this Montgomerie dude.… Read the rest



Union v feminists

Mar 30th, 2022 7:28 am | By

Behold EQ7-9:

EQ7  Defend trans and non-binary people’s rights   North West regional committee

Congress notes:
1.  Government hostility towards Stonewall for its support for trans rights, including disaffiliations by the BBC and government bodies;
2.  Government’s refusal to implement Self-ID in the Gender Recognition Act;
3.  Government’s failure to recognise non-binary as a legitimate identity;
4.  The EHRC’s attempts to delay anti-conversion therapy legislation for trans people and undermine the 
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Union opposes women

Mar 30th, 2022 7:15 am | By

Solidarity forever! Except with you, of course.

And wait, there’s even more.

https://twitter.com/Docstockk/status/1509158382892105741… Read the rest


Actually about male dominance

Mar 30th, 2022 6:53 am | By

Julie Bindel on male violence dressed up as “protection” of women:

Sexism is a funny thing, because it presents as its own opposite. Describing women as vulnerable and in need of male protection is actually about male dominance and attempts at ownership.

Has [Will] Smith ever spoken out publicly and passionately against sexism? Would he have kicked off if [Chris] Rock had made similar remarks about another woman? Of course not: only his property gets protected. I make no distinction here between Smith and any other posturing, macho male.

Unlike, she adds, commentators who call that racist.

TeenVogue magazine, for example, continued its valiant tradition of promoting anything harmful to young women by publishing a piece that describes

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He identifies as driving sober

Mar 30th, 2022 6:20 am | By

It seems this is not a parody.

It sure as hell looks like a parody, wouldn’t you say? But it seems it’s not. The BBC is treating it as not-parody.

Mr Wallis was arrested last year on suspicion of driving while unfit, following an incident where a car hit a lamppost at Church Road in Llanblethian, Vale of Glamorgan.

What car? Driven by whom? What does the incident have to do with Mr Wallis?

“When I crashed my car on the 28th November I fled the scene. I did so because I was terrified,” he wrote.

Oh, so it was his car, and he was driving? Then why … Read the rest



Meh, girls

Mar 29th, 2022 5:03 pm | By

The NY Times also obscures the issue in the same old way.

Utah Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto of Transgender Athlete Bill

No, not transgender athlete, male transgender athlete. Generic “transgender” makes it sound like random cruelty, but preventing the sabotage of girls’ athletics is not random cruelty…unless of course you think girls just don’t matter, or don’t matter as much as the feelings of boys.

The Utah State Legislature voted on Friday to override the governor’s veto and enacted a bill that would bar young transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports, making the state the 12th in the country to enact such legislation.

That would bar young male transgender athletes.

Most Republicans in the Legislature who voted for the

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To weave a false narrative

Mar 29th, 2022 4:19 pm | By

Look! Over there! Or there! Or how about over there?!

Trump’s 47 millionth frivolous lawsuit:

Former president Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Thursday against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and others, alleging that they “maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative” that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential race.

He’s a funny guy. He can’t open his yap or move his thick fingers without uttering a false narrative.

Nick Merrill, a Clinton spokesman, responded to the lawsuit with a one-word statement: “Nonsense.”

Let me add a second one-word statement. “Horseshit.”… Read the rest



But there’s something

Mar 29th, 2022 11:06 am | By

Hmm. Sometimes sniffing out concealed hatred or “bigotry” can accidentally reveal one’s own.

“We do not condone violence.” “Assault is never the answer.” These words have echoed through all of my social media accounts since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock for making a poor-taste joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Most people agree the slap shouldn’t have happened. But there’s something that feels precious at best, and downright racist at worst, about white people’s reaction to the now-infamous smack.

I don’t think I understand the continuum here – from precious to racist? Maybe “petty” was the idea? At any rate, “something that feels” itself “feels” like a reach. That whole sentence “feels” like someone struggling to beef up … Read the rest



457 minutes

Mar 29th, 2022 6:13 am | By

Oh interesting. Another gap. There was that 18 minute gap on the Nixon phone tapes, and now there’s a seven hour gap on the Trump ones. You’ll never guess which seven hours.

Internal White House records from the day of the attack on the U.S. Capitol that were turned over to the House select committee show a gap in President Donald Trump’s phone logs of seven hours and 37 minutes, including the period when the building was being violently assaulted, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and CBS News.

The lack of an official White House notation of any calls placed to or by Trump for 457 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021 – from 11:17 a.m. to

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