Another one of those “Just a reminder that bullshit bullshit bullshit” tweets.

Just a reminder that "biological sex" is not a neat, tidy binary and the emergence of "biological sex" as a legal category is recent and exclusively for the purposes of excluding trans people from legal protections.

— Chase Strangio (@chasestrangio) November 13, 2020

Yeah. Nobody ever heard of it until the invention of trans.

Abigail Shrier’s book is a dangerous polemic with a goal of making people not trans. I think of all the times & ways I was told my transness wasn’t real & the daily toll that still takes. We have to fight these ideas which are leading to the criminalization of trans life again.

Oops. He almost accidentally conceded.

Trump seems to be on the cusp of saying "the Biden administration," but catches himself and says "time will tell" pic.twitter.com/6QaZV9TFOq

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 13, 2020

Time has already told.… Read the rest

I think there’s a misunderstanding.

Our first session of New Member Orientation covered COVID in Congress.

Masks, masks, masks….

I proudly told my freshman class that masks are oppressive.

In GA, we work out, shop, go to restaurants, go to work, and school without masks.

My body, my choice.#FreeYourFace

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) November 13, 2020

“My body, my choice” doesn’t mean you can for instance use your body to punch or kick or stab people. It doesn’t mean you can use your body to grab other people’s groceries or puppies or umbrellas. It doesn’t mean you can risk infecting other people during a lethal pandemic.

This nitwit shouldn’t have been “proud” to tell her colleagues that … Read the rest

The law and order party, let’s not forget.

WH Press Sec. Kayleigh McEnany, appearing on Fox Business as Trump Campaign Adviser, on whether Trump will attend President-elect Biden’s inauguration ceremony:

“I think the president will attend his own inauguration.” pic.twitter.com/uHTDneIiXx

— The Recount (@therecount) November 13, 2020

… Read the rest

Ah yes, disdain for the idea that slavery was something of a mistake on the part of the people who colonized what became the US. (The forcible colonization also a mistake btw.)

Biden endorses our new national religion on his immigration website.https://t.co/4ZuxSw6VhO pic.twitter.com/aFUmrvHUU7

— James Lindsay, full varsity (@ConceptualJames) November 13, 2020

“New” – it’s not new. As many wiser heads pointed out.

Also, this one:https://t.co/OxXdDfRuMf

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) November 13, 2020

He looks young in his photo but he can't possibly be young enough to think calling slavery "America's original sin" is some new woke thing can he? I've been hearing that for decades.

— Chris (@ChrisXSC) November 13, 2020

… Read the rest

Journalist Garrett Graff on Fresh Air yesterday:

GROSS: Let’s start with a couple of the – what you consider most norm-breaking things President Trump has done so far to interfere with the transfer of power.

GRAFF: The biggest one has to just be the simple fact that he has not yet accepted the projected winner of the election being Joe Biden. This is a very different situation than we faced in 2000 with the Florida recount. The state victories across the country are definitive. They are decisive. And Joe Biden looks like he’s actually on his way to a comfortable victory in the Electoral College. And the fact that now, more than a week after the election, Donald Trump

This is nuts.

[O]ne thing Biden cannot do at this point is move into any government office space or receive government funding for the transition.

A key, if little-known Trump administration official has yet to determine formally that Biden won the election, holding up some crucial resources traditionally available to the president-elect.

Under the 1963 Presidential Transition Act, it’s up to the General Services Administration, or GSA, to determine or “ascertain” the winner of the presidential election, at least as far as starting the process of turning over the keys to the new administration goes.

…

In a statement, the GSA said its administrator “ascertains the apparent successful candidate once a winner is clear based on the process laid

How about that.

Statement from CISA (part of Trump DHS) and state officials says the election "was the most secure in American history," dismisses "unfounded claims," says in bold, "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised." pic.twitter.com/fS7twFPuyd

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 12, 2020

Here’s the full statement:

“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result. 

“When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each … Read the rest

Axios on Trump’s big plans:

President Trump has told friends he wants to start a digital media company to clobber Fox News and undermine the conservative-friendly network, sources tell Axios.

Which is interesting, since he wouldn’t be where he is if it weren’t for Fox.

Some Trump advisers think Fox News made a mistake with an early call (seconded by AP) of President-elect Biden’s win in Arizona. That enraged Trump, and gave him something tangible to use in his attacks on the network.

“Tangible”? I’m not seeing the tangibility. Or the merit, or the reasonability, or anything of that type.

“He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it,” said a source with detailed knowledge of Trump’s intentions.

What … Read the rest

But…who on earth would want to go on a cruise now? And what cruise line would want to risk it?

These people and this cruise line:

One of the first cruise ships to ply through Caribbean waters since the pandemic began ended its trip early after one passenger fell ill and is believed to have Covid-19, officials said on Thursday.

The SeaDream is carrying 53 passengers and 66 crew, with the majority of passengers hailing from the US, according to Sue Bryant, a cruise ship reporter who is aboard the ship.

She told the Associated Press that one passenger became sick on Wednesday and forced the ship to turn back to Barbados, where it had departed from on Saturday.

That’s not good.

And just as a reminder that goop is a vector of misinformation. They have promoted “experts” who recommend untested therapies for covid, anti fluoride beliefs, anti vaccine beliefs, AIDS denialism, raw goat’s milk for parasites, fake diseases like adrenal fatigue…

— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) November 12, 2020

Goop is especially harmful as they wrap up medical lies and conspiracy theories with a feminist ribbon. Take charge of your health is really believe these lies about your health so you buy our products.

— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) November 12, 2020

It drives me kind of nuts that Paltrow does this. It’s the same kind of abuse of “celebrity” and money and the power they bring that Trump indulges … Read the rest

It’s too late.

]A]ccording to a new modeling study published in Scientific Reports today, even if we made such drastic reductions permanent, it would still not be enough. The study shows that if we stopped all human-made greenhouse gas emissions immediately, the Earth’s temperatures would continue to rise because of self-sustaining melting ice and permafrost. These “feedback loops” — in which melting ice causes less sunlight to be reflected back into space, which in turn raises temperatures and causes more ice melt — have already been set into motion, the researchers argue.

I read something about it a couple of days ago – the melting tundra. It’s melting so fast and there’s so much of it that it’s going … Read the rest

Trump is “dejected.” Also sulky, whiny, petulant, lazy, irresponsible, stupid, and self-absorbed.

Trump himself was waffling by the hour and day between a pugilistic desire to keep fighting and a more resigned attitude that his efforts will ultimately fail, people who spoke to him said.

Pugilistic? No. Bullying, self-indulgent, narcissistic, piggy, unreasonable, obstinate, dumb, bratty.

But surveyed by CNN, nearly everyone close to Trump said they believed it was only a matter of time before he finds some way to acknowledge he will not be president come January 20 — and said he was likely to pin blame on his baseless claims of a rigged election.

He’s never going to concede, he’s just (at best) going to say he was … Read the rest

I guess I’d better never go to Norway.

Bi, trans, and nonbinary folks in Norway are celebrating a huge win after the country recently expanded its penal code that previously only protected lesbian and gay people from hate speech to include gender identity and all forms of “sexual orientation.”

…

The penal code states that those who are guilty of hate speech face a fine or up to a year in jail for private comments, and a maximum of three years in jail for public remarks. Furthermore, those charged with violent crimes that are motivated by a victim’s orientation or gender identity will receive harsher sentences.

Since all disputing the dogma around what “trans” means is treated as “transphobic” … Read the rest

THE great delusion of our time –

Nope.

(Also the reminder isn’t “friendly” but that’s another subject.)

Sure, in lots of ways we know more about ourselves than anyone else does, not least because we care more than anyone else does. But by the same token we also distort what we think we know about ourselves, also because we care more than anyone else does.

And there are some things – important things – we can’t know about ourselves as well as other people do. We can’t know how we come across to other people as well as other people do.

A second point: even if we are unusually good at self-knowledge, even if we do make every effort … Read the rest

Remember kids – most of the money goes right into Trump’s pocket.

As President Donald Trump seeks to discredit last week’s election with baseless claims of voter fraud, his team has bombarded his supporters with requests for money to help pay for legal challenges to the results: “The Left will try to STEAL this election!” reads one text.

But any small-dollar donations from Trump’s grassroots donors won’t be going to legal expenses at all, according to a Reuters review of the legal language in the solicitations.

A donor would have to give more than $8,000 before any money goes to the “recount account” established to finance election challenges, including recounts and lawsuits over alleged improprieties, the fundraising disclosures show.

Bill Kristol’s view:

2) Chris Miller's career has been entirely in counter-terrorism, and Trump knows him in that context from his job at NSC. "Totally out of his depth" for broad responsibilities as Sec Def–but if Trump wants to launch more Suleimani-like raids, it would sense to have Miller there.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 11, 2020

4) A sign of the loyalty-oath atmosphere now at DOD: When Jim Anderson was fired yesterday as Acting Under Secretary for Policy, he was given a "clap-out" as he left the building. The WH called to request names of any political appointees who joined in so they could be fired.
END

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 11, 2020

Dying days of a personality … Read the rest

Now about this coup at the Defense Department and how scared we should be…

Politico finds it pretty alarming:

The firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper kicked off a rapid-fire series of high-level departures at the Pentagon on Tuesday, setting off alarms on Capitol Hill that the White House was installing loyalists to carry out President Donald Trump’s wishes during an already tense transition.

In quick succession, top officials overseeing policy, intelligence and the defense secretary’s staff all had resigned by the end of the day Tuesday, replaced by political operatives who are fiercely loyal to Trump and have trafficked in “deep state” conspiracy theories.

Anybody who’s “fiercely loyal” to Trump is a danger in government.

Fears continue to

Trump is sulking.

President Trump made his first official public appearance since Election Day on Wednesday, observing Veterans Day in a traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump, who is defying declarations that he lost his reelection bid, did not speak at the event.

The president and his entourage – including first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Pence and second lady Karen Pence – did not arrive at the tomb until well after the scheduled start time of 11 a.m. ET.

The motorcade was still driving when the gun salute to veterans went off. It seems just a tad disrespectful, especially when we know he’s not doing anything other than trying … Read the rest