Easy for him to say.

In a 2021 interview with Spectrum News, [J.D.] Vance was asked if he believes a woman should be forced to carry a baby to term after she has been a victim of rape or incest.

The Ohio Republican suggested the framing of the question was flawed.

“It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society,” Vance said. “The question really, to me, is about the baby.”

But of course it is whether a woman should be forced to bring a pregnancy to term, … Read the rest

Cathy Young on which twin indulges in the most violent rhetoric:

FOLLOWING THE JULY 13 ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION of Donald Trump, his supporters—and many anti-anti-Trump commentators—have been wringing their hands about the supposed rhetorical extremism of Democrats and other Trump foes. It’s all a bit rich, though, given that violent, fearmongering, and dehumanizing rhetoric has been Trump’s stock in trade over the past decade.

And before. Remember that full page ad demanding the death penalty for the Central Park 5, who…had not done the crime.

So, bearing in mind that nothing Trump has said or done excuses or mitigates the horrific acts of his would-be assassin, here’s a list of instances of Trump normalizing, endorsing, promoting, or winking at political

The NIH censors gender-atheists.

I demand an explanation from the @NIH and @genome_gov as to why I was just kicked out of their public event "Exploring the many dimensions of sex and gender in the genomics era," which I had registered for in advance and was quietly attending.

About 20 minutes into Dr. Tucker… pic.twitter.com/Q0YKfYFnzd

— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) July 17, 2024

About 20 minutes into Dr. Tucker Pyle’s session titled “Sex and Gender in the Clinic,” a window popped up stating, “The host has removed you from the webinar.”

When I tried to rejoin the webinar, I was told I could not rejoin.

According to the event description, this is a “public two-day National Institutes of Health (NIH) symposium” … Read the rest

Jolyon Maugham is recklessly (at best) “warning” of a flood of suicides (more threatening than warning), and the trouble with doing that is…

I’ll just quote the rest of what Jen says, to spare you the twittering.

There is a very clear link between coverage of suicides in the media and people ending their own life. Research showed an estimated 400-500 additional deaths by suicide in the aftermath of Marilyn Monroe’s death. That may not sound like much but it’s half the people at Jonestown.

Most of those copycatted her method. Any mention of suicide method leads to an upswing in attempts and successes using that method. From my own experience for a year after a very well publicised

I’m stealing that punchline.

Amazed this still needs saying, but some don't seem to have got the memo. If calling me 'transphobe' and 'fascist' was going to scare me out of speaking up for women's rights, it would have happened years ago. Whatever the square root of not giving a fuck is, that's where I am.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 17, 2024

… Read the rest

Some people have stealing luggage privilege.

Former Biden-administration nuclear official Sam Brinton, charged with felony suitcase theft, pleaded guilty to petit larceny in a sweetheart plea deal in Virginia that results in no jail time for him.

…

Brinton, who identifies as non-binary, uses they/them pronouns, and dresses in women’s clothes, worked as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy before being sacked following his luggage-theft scandal. His appointment as a nuclear-waste official in the Biden administration was widely touted as a historic accomplishment for the LGBT community.

But there is no such community. The T is the cuckoo in the nest.

In February 2023, he was charged with grand larceny for allegedly taking Tanzanian designer’s

Department of weird priorities:

Police Scotland is paying its officers to take part in Pride parades at the same time as it is cutting back on fighting crime and scores of staff are leaving. The revelation was described as “setting a dangerous precedent” for the under-fire force which is grappling with financial issues.

Cops are being encouraged to represent the service at LGBTI events in exchange of either pay or a day off in lieu. It comes as cuts see some communities without a local bobbie to deal with issues.

Dealing with crime is a lower priority for the police than marching in Pride parades.

Just Pride, mind you. Not any other kind of march. Nobody else matters … Read the rest

Shun the witch and her witchy Report:

The New Statesman can reveal that tomorrow (Wednesday July 17) the governing body of the British Medical Association (BMA) – the doctors’ trade union – will vote on whether or not to “disavow” the Cass Review.

To “disavow.” They might as well say it has cooties.

The motion, first drafted as an emergency measure in June, was not discussed at the BMA’s Annual Representative Meeting (ARM) last month. BMA rules would suggest that for it now to be going to the union’s governing body, the proposal has gained the support of at least 10 members – about one in six – of the BMA’s Council in the intervening weeks. That makes it

Well that’s a kind of activism I guess.

A former SNP activist who once tweeted how he wanted “beat the fuck” out of feminists has been jailed for six years for a series of sexual assaults. Cameron Downing, 24, preyed on six victims at locations across Scotland during a course of conduct which began when he was just 16-years-old.

Whaddya know. Rape and fantasizing about beating the fuck out of feminists in one guy. Who could possibly imagine?

Downing, a former Drama student and an equalities convenor for the SNP’s London branch, spent his trial denying any wrongdoing. The accused told the jury in his evidence that they identified as being non binary, said he hadn’t been threatening the male

Anti-Trump Republicans are aghast.

JD Vance has pledged he would do what Mike Pence wouldn’t – overturn an election and illegally seize power. He says the president can ignore the rulings of our courts. He would capitulate to Russia and sacrifice the freedom of our allies in Ukraine. The Trump GOP is no longer the… https://t.co/l0O64J3pSj

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) July 16, 2024

"Other days, [Republicans] plead, 'No, no. Trump is just like Buckley, Goldwater, Reagan — their natural heir. A little rough around the edges, maybe — but their descendant and perpetuator nonetheless.'

No sale."https://t.co/wWcNaZYa8O

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 16, 2024

"The selection of J.D. Vance confirms that the Trump movement now is a full-on authoritarian movement.

Funny kind of “teaching.”

Your weekly reminder that the author who thought it a 'dangerous ideology' to encourage 3-6 yr olds to celebrate their body & what it can do for them teaches 9-11 yr olds on the cusp of puberty that some people are neither boys nor girls. And the book world agrees. pic.twitter.com/wfNAF9SPuW

— Rachel Rooney (@RooneyRachel) July 16, 2024

That’s a very weird passage. Very silly, obviously, but also very weird. If it’s true that people can be “non-binary” and “not a girl, and not a boy,” then why is the author (Clara Vulliamy) having to explain it? Why isn’t it just common knowledge? She assumes it’s common knowledge what girls and boys are, so why doesn’t … Read the rest

New York state is suing a county to force it to let males ruin female sports.

New York’s attorney general sued Nassau County on Monday to block enforcement of a new law banning transgender athletes from playing in girls’ and women’s sports at county-owned parks and facilities.

The issue is not that they’re “transgender” but that they’re male. Males should not be playing in girls’ and women’s sports. (Nor should girls and women who are on testosterone, but for some strange reason that doesn’t come up as much.)

In the complaint, Attorney General Letitia James said the new law, “Fairness for Women and Girls in Sports,” is “in fact not an act of fairness,” but entrenches “regressive and

Behold: an idiot.

What an utter ass https://t.co/Q9bu9CyezO

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) July 15, 2024

…this idea that like well, ok, these marriages were fundamentally, you know, they were they were maybe even violent, but certainly they were unhappy, and so getting rid of them, and making it easier for people to shift spouses, like they change their underwear, that’s gunna make people happier in the long term. And maybe it worked out for the moms and dads, I’m skeptical, but it really didn’t work out for the kids in those marriages, and that’s what I think all of us should [clip ends]

So it works out for kids to grow up in a family where there is violence, … Read the rest

From the Times live updates:

The sweep of Cannon’s decision was a surprise at the Justice Department. The outcome was not. Jack Smith’s team saw the Trump documents case as essentially stalled out for months because of Cannon’s slow pace and had more or less written off the possibility of a trial this year.

That’s probably because the Justice Department and Jack Smith are aware that Cannon is a freakishly underqualified judge appointed by the freakishly underqualified Trump to serve Trump’s interests as he tries to get away with anything and everything.

Even before her bombshell decision on Monday to dismiss former President Donald J. Trump’s classified documents case, Judge Aileen M. Cannon has made any number of unorthodox

Look if you have to borrow a megaphone are you really ready to change the world?

Three lawyers a year ago on why Cannon shouldn’t be involved in this case at all:

Soon after the news broke that Donald Trump will become the first former president to face federal criminal charges—37 counts that include willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, concealing documents, and false statements—it was also revealed that Judge Aileen Cannon is scheduled to oversee the case. In our view as experts with more than a century of collective experience in judicial and other ethics questions, that cannot stand. She must recuse herself from the case or, if she refuses, be reassigned by the appropriate judicial oversight authorities.

But she wasn’t, and here we are.

 Cannon 

I’m looking around for some law people takes.

Judge Cannon just did the unthinkable: She dismissed the Trump classified documents case on the repeatedly rejected basis that DOJ violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause by appointing Special Counsel Smith at all! DOJ must appeal right away. On SCOTUS, only Justice Thomas took that view in Trump v. United States. This finally gives Jack Smith an opportunity to seek her removal from the case. I think the case for doing so is very strong.

Judge Cannon just threw out Trump's classified documents case citing Jack Smith's unconstitutional appt.

This is a blatant distortion of the law — the 11th circuit won't let her off the hook

I will discuss on @CNNi

Guido Fawkes on the pompous absurdity and absurd pomposity of Mr Maugham:

Jolyon Maugham has been having quite the weekend – mainly consisting of a meltdown over Wes Streeting’s decision to continue the ban on puberty blockers being given to children. He issued advice to every trans family: Evacuate the UK now…

The fox-beater has been barraging Wes Streeting with tens of “questions” including such killer takedowns as: Why are puberty blockers still allowed to be used in clinical trials but not outside of them? To be fair to Jolyon, he isn’t a medical expert…

Last night Jolyon threw off the blinders of privilege and declared himself in possession of the “skeleton key” to “

Jolyon is outdoing himself in the pomposity stakes.

A wonderful thing about Jolyon is that he combines all the flaws of the great British comedy characters – Pooter, Fawlty, Partridge, Brent – while having absolutely none of their redeeming qualities. pic.twitter.com/qLcNUMvMmD

— Gareth Roberts (@OldRoberts953) July 15, 2024

Just look at that. Hello Government Person, if you ignore what I, alone among mortals, am telling you, bad things will happen. Yes I really am that important.

How do people not get that marching around shouting about how important you are is not a good look?

If you’re wondering who Pooter is, he’s the diarist of Diary of a Nobody. Hilarious book, a must-read.… Read the rest

Sigh. Of course. Trump’s judge has thrown out the documents case.

The federal judge overseeing the classified documents charges against former president Donald Trump has dismissed the indictment on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed, according to a court filing Monday.

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s ruling is a remarkable win for Trump, whose lawyers have thrown longshot argument after longshot argument to dismiss the case. Other courts have rejected similar arguments to the one that he made in Florida about the legality of Smith’s appointment.

But none of that matters, because he had the good luck to be able to put his own chosen patsy in that job and she is doing the … Read the rest