The weather must be stormy in Florida right now.

Manhattan’s district attorney has convened the grand jury that is expected to decide whether to indict former president Donald Trump, other executives at his company or the business itself should prosecutors present the panel with criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the development.

…

The move indicates that District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.’s investigation of the former president and his business has reached an advanced stage after more than two years. It suggests, too, that Vance believes he has found evidence of a crime — if not by Trump then by someone potentially close to him or by his company.

Vance’s investigation is expansive, according to people familiar

Originally a comment by Nullius in Verba on The pressure continues.

By “gender-affirming healthcare” he means puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and amputation of breasts or genitals. It’s at least debatable whether those items are healthcare at all.

TRA language games hide horrible nonsense behind a respectable veneer. There’s a difference between affirmative care and gender-affirmative “care”. The former is when the therapist affirms that the client/patient is, in fact, experiencing something. The latter is when the therapist affirms that the experience is veridical or that beliefs based on that experience are correct. Denying the patient’s phenomenological experience is unhelpful, while accepting it can build the trust required for progress.

Affirming the patient’s disordered belief structure, however, is not … Read the rest

Hey it was just rough sex, rough open-air sex, don’t kink-shame.

A teenager who killed an underage schoolgirl after buying her drink and abandoning her at a city beauty spot on a winter’s night was jailed today.

Ewan Fulton bit Mhari O’Neill on her breast and throttled her before leaving her in an intoxicated state on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill where her body was found by a dog walker.

Kink-shaming. So he choked her, so he bit her on the breast – so what? She probably loved it! Or was too drunk to notice. It’s nobody else’s business what kinksters get up to in the privacy of their own – er, in the privacy of Calton Hill.

I’ve been to … Read the rest

More on belligerent trans-promoter Doctor Jack Turban:

Jack Turban, insistent critic of Abigail Shrier’s book on transitioning of young girls, constantly claims puberty blockers are safe. He is paid by a firm that manufactures them.

Jack Turban, MD, fellow in child and adolescent psychiatry at Stanford University School of medicine, bills himself as an Allopathic & Osteopathic Physician. But he’s famous for his advocacy for certain positions regarding transgender medicine – for advocating for the ‘Gender Affirming Care for Trans and ‘gender-diverse’ youth’ as part of his work on ‘Pediatric Gender Identity’ and vigorously advocating for, and downplaying the risks of medical transition, while selling books on the same.

…

Suitably inflammatory and triggering, Turban’s shown himself

Scary Doctor Jack Turban again.

I had a series of phone calls with Alexandra Poolos and Collette Richards @60Minutes to explain this.

They did not care. https://t.co/4Dg7oJ9IeU

— Jack Turban MD (@jack_turban) May 25, 2021

Chase Strangio and Jack Turban are the ones causing harm.

When I spoke with @60Minutes about their “detransition” story and asked where they found the people to profile – they refused to tell me and became defensive.

We still don’t know if they searched for people on TERF forums, and transparency would be appreciated.

— Jack Turban MD (@jack_turban) May 25, 2021

Yes how dare they talk to radical feminists who don’t believe the new ideology of Magic Gender? How dare they not talk to … Read the rest

MTG is doing outrage theater again.

House Republican leaders have condemned incendiary remarks from GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene five days after she first publicly compared Capitol Hill mask rules to the Holocaust, amid a wave of criticism from Republican and conservative critics as well as Jewish groups aimed at the Georgia congresswoman and the party leaders’ silence.

I missed it; what did she say?

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, during an interview on a conservative podcast this week, compared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to continue to require members of the House to wear masks on the chamber floor to steps the Nazis took to control the Jewish population during the Holocaust.

Let’s think about that. Is … Read the rest

Interesting – the Biden admin met with some secular groups.

Representatives of atheist and secular groups held their first meeting with White House officials last week, marking a willingness by the Biden administration to work with the growing networks of religiously unaffiliated Americans.

…

Leaders of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Secular Coalition for America, American Atheists, Center for Inquiry and Ex-Muslims of North America also attended the virtual gathering that included Josh Dickson, deputy director of the office, and program specialist Ben O’Dell.

…

Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the FFRF, welcomed the first meeting with the new administration.

“With more than a quarter of the population identifying as a ‘None’ (no religion), it’s vital that our

The Scottish Sun also reports on The Great Controversial Stickers Controversy.

POLICE Scotland faced anger and ridicule after a clampdown on stickers from a feminist group opposed to the relaxation of gender self-ID laws.

The national force was accused of a “chilling” attack on free speech after announcing it was probing the matter as a “hate” crime.

Officers in Kirkcaldy also urged members of the public to contact them or Fife Council if locals saw any more “controversial stickers”.

Without specifying the nature of the controversy.

The move came after cops were alerted to “Women won’t wheesht” stickers that had been placed on lampposts in Kirkcaldy, promoting activists For Women Scotland.

…

Following the backlash, Police Scotland deleted the

The Times reports on the zealous policing in Scotland:

Marion Calder, spokeswoman for [For Women Scotland], said Millar had been overwhelmed by the support she had received.

“Marion still has no idea of what she is being accused of and won’t know until she attends the police station on Thursday,” she said. “This is exactly why we raised concerns about the new hate crime legislation.

“It was obvious that if complaints were made they would be followed through — no matter how vexatious or politically motivated. Serious questions have to be raised about how Police Scotland has handled this.

“The public are finally waking up and getting worried about what is happening to freedom of speech. Police Scotland

We should just elect cows and chickens and wombats to Congress, it would make more sense and be cheaper.

All you do is promote hate. Hate is destroying our country. (Oh, and Berkeley is spelled with an "e" after the k.)

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) May 23, 2021

… Read the rest

About those “femmes”…

If you have been on the internet recently, then you’ve likely seen the phrase “women and femmes” floating around. Maybe you read it in this article from Everyday Feminism concerning emotional labor or maybe in this takedown of white feminism from Wear Your Voice. You’ve almost certainly seen it pop up on your Twitter or Facebook feeds, at least if you’re someone who has links to queer and/or feminist communities. While it might seem innocuous, the phrase has been irritating me for the last two years or so. Why? Because it is, to put it lightly, incoherent nonsense.

…Femme is a term that comes from working-class lesbian culture. It was originally used to describe lesbians who

Someone should ask Stonewall “U ok hun?”

Left: the logo of the @EHRC, the commission responsible for the promotion and enforcement of equality and non-discrimination laws in England, Scotland and Wales. Right: Stonewall's gif to unveil its new branding today. It's almost as if they're trying to cause confusion. pic.twitter.com/UhcRc8KotF

— Simon Edge (@simonjedge) May 24, 2021

… Read the rest

Chelsea Mitchell on what fun it was having to compete against two boys in her sport:

It’s February 2020. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.

Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage: a male body.

Women are being ordered to wheesht about that man taking a woman’s place at the Olympics.

Former Olympic weightlifter Tracey Lambrechs says females are being told to “be quiet” when they complain about the [un]fairness of transgender New Zealand athlete Laurel Hubbard competing in women’s competitions.

…

“I’m quite disappointed, quite disappointed for the female athlete who will lose out on that spot,” Lambrechs, who won a bronze medal for New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, told TVNZ.

And not just disappointed, but also angry at the injustice of it. But wheesht.

“We’re all about equality for women in sport but right now that equality is being taken away from us.

“I’ve had female weightlifters come up to me

Some new light, perhaps, on the dreaded Controversial Stickers in Kirkcaldy:

Kirkcaldy Police said – in a now deleted tweet – there was a report of a hate crime involving “controversial” stickers on lampposts in Viewforth Avenue on Monday May 17, and asked people to contact Fife Council so they could be removed.

Which, by the way, makes no sense. The police had already been told about the stickers, so why “ask people to contact Fife Council so that they could be removed”? Why not just go right on ahead and remove them themselves, without any further tattling from “people”?

However, officers have since said that no criminality was established following inquiries.

Why wasn’t that blindingly obvious to them … Read the rest

Trans woman Dawn Ennis bullies a young female athlete on Twitter, because that’s what trans activism is all about, right?

I sent this letter to the editor of @USATODAY in response:
Ms. Mitchell:
Your op-ed is, like your federal lawsuit, full of lies and omissions. 
You didn't just win one race against a trans girl: You beat her at least twice within 8 days of filing that suit. 
(1/13)

— Dawn Ennis (She/Her/Hers) (@lifeafterdawn) May 22, 2021

But no matter what phrase or words you use, your bias cannot erase who they are. Trans girls are girls. Trans women are women.
You won a sports scholarship to @williamandmary. Terry and Andraya won nothing. They opted to not pursue sports

Fortunately, some higher ups are now watching what Police Scotland are doing to Marion Millar.

Thanks to everyone drawing my attention to this case. I’m aware of it already & keeping a close eye on it for obvious reasons https://t.co/zrFpCqFIiy

— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) May 22, 2021

Dear Marion,
Are you all right?
Yours,
Emma (half Scot) https://t.co/IZSEUs2Cm1

— Emma Harriet Nicholson (@Baroness_Nichol) May 23, 2021

… Read the rest

Hand the keys over to Bev and Kate.

The future of @stonewalluk is @ALLIANCELGB. https://t.co/fSk3gXEsFQ

— Arty Morty (@artymortyarty) May 23, 2021

Stonewall, meanwhile, is taking the bratty route.

Anyone else think Stonewall’s infantile “U ok, hun?” response to the deadly serious concerns raised in the press over the last few days/weeks/years, was on a par with “Ok, boomer” or “F U, Terrrfs!”…

Kind of sums it ALL up really… pic.twitter.com/cn3qktQGSl

— James Dreyfus (@DreyfusJames) May 23, 2021

https://twitter.com/oliverburkeman/status/1396452286377955331 … Read the rest

Siva Vaidhyanathan on UNC and Nikole Hannah-Jones and special insults:

When the prestigious Hussman School of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – the oldest public university in North America – went searching for a Knight chair – funded by the Knight Foundation to promote journalism education by putting some of America’s finest practicing journalists in the classroom – a distinguished alumna of that school was the obvious choice.

Nikole Hannah-Jones is just such an alumna and just such a journalist.

It did not turn out as planned. On Tuesday we learned that conservative activists on the University of North Carolina board of trustees took the unprecedented step of withholding tenure from Hannah-Jones’ appointment as

Looks like piracy.

A Belarusian journalist and opposition activist is being held at an airport in Minsk after his Lithuania-bound flight was forced to land, opposition politicians and outlets said on Sunday.

Opposition figures swiftly criticized the move, which they said was a bid by the government of longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko to clamp down on critical voices.

A Ryanair flight #FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius, diverted to Minsk in Belarus earlier today.https://t.co/rnUpiqOjch

According to reports in media a Belarus journalist, that was onboard the flight, was arrested after the diversion to Minsk. pic.twitter.com/MQyvXsDExM

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) May 23, 2021

The regime forced the landing @Ryanair plane in Minsk to arrest journalist and activist Raman Pratasevich. He faces