All entries by this author

An assault on the principle of freedom of expression

Oct 17th, 2020 12:28 pm | By

More on the Paris nightmare:

Samuel Paty, 47, who taught history and geography at the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine , north-west of the French capital, was attacked on Friday evening by an 18-year-old man who was shot dead by police shortly afterwards.

Because of a cartoon.

Earlier this month, Paty had shown a class of teenage pupils a caricature from the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo during a moral and civic education class discussion about freedom of speech, sparking a furious response from a number of parents who had demanded his resignation. Before presenting the caricature, the teacher reportedly invited Muslim students to leave the classroom if they wished.

Afterwards, the father of a 13-year-old girl who did not leave the

Read the rest


A resurgence

Oct 17th, 2020 11:40 am | By

Brilliant. Well done us.

More than 68,000 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the US on Friday, the highest number in a single day since July, further confirmation the country is in the midst of a coronavirus resurgence.

That’s the worst it’s been since the end of July. Wrong direction, folks.

Cases dipped from August to mid-September. But public health experts have long feared a rise in cases as the weather starts to cool, leading people indoors, where the virus is more likely to spread. Cases are increasing in a majority of states, particularly in the northern midwest, including the Dakotas, Montana and Wisconsin – where Donald Trump was due to stage a rally on Saturday night.

Read the rest


Guest post: The things that struck a chord

Oct 17th, 2020 11:05 am | By

Originally a comment by iknklast on Zero more years.

In 2016, his bitter account of the nation’s ailments struck a chord with many voters

This is one of the things that annoys me. Always saying this, without noting that the ailments he described were not in many cases ailments, but signs of a country that has people that are diverse and many of them have sentiments more in line with the modern world than with the one Trump voters long for. It’s time to quit playing this game of saying things in a way that sounds like he was describing legitimate bad things, things most of us could agree are bad, but which Trump didn’t solve.

The things that … Read the rest



Zero more years

Oct 17th, 2020 10:26 am | By

The NY Times editorial board says get Trump out of there.

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign poses the greatest threat to American democracy since World War II.

Mr. Trump’s ruinous tenure already has gravely damaged the United States at home and around the world. He has abused the power of his office and denied the legitimacy of his political opponents, shattering the norms that have bound the nation together for generations. He has subsumed the public interest to the profitability of his business and political interests. He has shown a breathtaking disregard for the lives and liberties of Americans. He is a man unworthy of the office he holds.

The editorial board does not lightly indict a duly elected president.

Read the rest


Quip us no quips

Oct 17th, 2020 9:52 am | By

Dictators should not make jokes about doing dictatorial things.

President Trump on Friday said he would blame Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he lost the potentially pivotal battleground state in the presidential election and quipped about firing him – a statement that raised eyebrows due to Trump’s history of accusing Democratic governors of working to tilt the election against him.

Yeah quip shmip – it’s not a “quip” when it’s exactly the kind of thing you do in fact do whenever you feel like it and have the ability. He doesn’t have the ability to fire Santis, of course, but if he did? He would if he decided he wanted to.

“Hey Ron, are we gonna win the state

Read the rest


Not exactly

Oct 17th, 2020 9:36 am | By

Gee, you’d expect the weather professionals to know better than this.

Snerk… Read the rest



Ils ne passeront pas

Oct 16th, 2020 6:06 pm | By

That’s the Spanish Civil War slogan No pasarán in French. It originated with Dolores Ibárruri.

Read the rest



Écrasez l’infâme

Oct 16th, 2020 5:55 pm | By

I’ve said it before but

A god who wants people to MURDER other people for disputing or laughing at or drawing cartoons of or sharing cartoons of that god or any of that god’s children or holy spirits or prophets or hairdressers or chauffeurs or button-polishers

is an EVIL god and not anything to be worshiped.

Today in Paris:

… a man who decapitated a teacher with a large kitchen knife near a school in a Paris suburb after he showed his class caricatures of the prophet Muhammad from the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

For some reason the Guardian decided to lead with the fact that the police shot the man, but fuck that, the core fact is that … Read the rest



Time to speak up

Oct 16th, 2020 3:23 pm | By

Julie Bindel on Rosie Duffield:

Despite having seen the punishment inflicted on women like me who speak out about our sex-based rights, Duffield nevertheless braved the shark-infested waters this summer by daring to agree with Piers Morgan on Twitter that only women have cervixes. Had anyone told me a decade ago it would be seen as either risky or brave to point out the realities of female biology I would have laughed. Since then Duffield has continued to receive endless attacks and threats against her life.

It’s so bizarre, isn’t it. Eagles have wings; bears don’t. Flowers have petals; horses don’t. Trees have roots; butterflies don’t. Women have cervixes; men don’t. Men have testicles; women don’t. None of that … Read the rest



The most flawed person

Oct 16th, 2020 2:34 pm | By

Half of Twitter is replying that that’s all very well but Kelly is pretty terrible himself; Representative Frederica Wilson gets mentioned a lot.

True, but the point isn’t so much “these are great people with integrity” as it is “even the shittiest people are saying he’s the worst.”

Kelly doesn’t get any medals or praise or parties for saying it, but if he’s saying … Read the rest



Shameless abdication

Oct 16th, 2020 11:37 am | By

You’d think they have more important things to worry about.

What does that have to do with women? What does it have to do with women’s needs, women’s rights, women’s equality?

Nothing. Not one thing. It’s a pseudo-concern from a pseudo-rights movement that is hell bent on taking rights away from women as opposed to supporting or strengthening or expanding them.… Read the rest



It’s unclear why

Oct 16th, 2020 10:30 am | By

So far I can’t get a read on how abnormal it is to deny federal disaster aid in the wake of an enormous disaster. The Post is playing it close to the vest:

Fueled by extreme heat and tinder-dry conditions, wildfires exploded across California in September, blazing through almost 1.9 million acres, destroying nearly 1,000 homes and killing at least three people. One wildfire, the Creek Fire, became the largest single blaze in California history and grew so fierce it spun up fire tornadoes with 125-mph winds.

But the Trump administration this week refused to grant an emergency declaration that would open up hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for areas devastated in those fires, California

Read the rest


Verbal deficit

Oct 16th, 2020 10:09 am | By

It’s not even ten a.m. yet and I’m already out of words.

Trump says NO to federal disaster relief for California.

Because of course he does. Too many Democrats in that state. Never mind that it’s the biggest state in the country by population, that it has more people than most countries, that it’s an agricultural giant and a tech giant and a movie industry giant and a forest products giant and a shipping giant and a tourism giant – it’s not going to vote for him and its people don’t bow down before him.

It’s true about the world population by the way. It would go between Iraq and Afghanistan, with 40 million and 38 million respectively. … Read the rest



For all the wrong reasons

Oct 16th, 2020 9:32 am | By

Owen joins the kicking. As usual.

Read the rest



The White House suggestions were not optional

Oct 16th, 2020 9:14 am | By

Pro Publica has a big piece on what Trump & co have done to the CDC.

Back in May a team at the CDC was working furiously on guidance for how to not get the virus.

Butler’s team rushed to finalize the guidance for churches, synagogues and mosques that Trump’s aides had shelved in April after battling the CDC over the language. In reviewing a raft of last-minute edits from the White House, Butler’s team rejected those that conflicted with CDC research, including a worrisome suggestion to delete a line that urged congregations to “consider suspending or at least decreasing” the use of choirs.

Why do Trump’s aides get to “shelve” informed medical advice during a pandemic? Why do … Read the rest



Fake news

Oct 16th, 2020 8:37 am | By

The Guardian shares the front page of the Trump website:

I want to say just this one thing.

Why would anyone want to do that? Why would anyone want an image of self with a different and better body? A fake image like that just underlines what a soft flabby weak puffy unhealthy body Donnie Two Scoops has.

That’s the one thing. Never mind that like hell he has – that one’s too obvious.… Read the rest



That would be you, Sparky

Oct 15th, 2020 4:01 pm | By

This filthy man

President Donald Trump continued his attacks on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday, calling the Democratic lawmaker a “dictator” as authorities announced charges against a 14th suspect in the thwarted plot to kidnap her and violently overthrow the government.

“Michigan, she has to open up. [Whitmer] wants to be a dictator in Michigan and the people can’t stand her,” Trump said Thursday in a FOX Business interview. Blasting Whitmer’s COVID-19 policies, he insisted people “want to get back to work.”

Do they also want to catch the virus?

The president has repeatedly attacked Whitmer even after authorities announced last week charges against more than a dozen individuals who allegedly conspired to kidnap the state leader and

Read the rest


Narcissistic supply

Oct 15th, 2020 12:19 pm | By

He’s campaigning again.

That is, Trump tells the cheering crowd that “we sent in US Marshals” and they murdered a suspect.

Read the rest



D & I

Oct 15th, 2020 12:00 pm | By
https://twitter.com/USARugby/status/1316784748862287874

But nobody is claiming trans women don’t have a right to play – the issue is whether trans women (people with male bodies) have a right to play against women, in defiance of the danger to the women and the unfairness to the women.… Read the rest



No YOU resign

Oct 15th, 2020 11:02 am | By

And there’s this.

https://twitter.com/GMB_MPs_Staff/status/1316730098326949889

Their “motion” is protracted filthy bullying.

I had to Google to find out what the GMB is – it’s a huge general union, the product of amalgamations over time. GMB=General, Municipal, Boilermakers but it’s lots of other things too. This branch is for people who work for MPs, if I’ve understood correctly. Anyway they’re joining the bullying of Rosie Duffield. Here’s the whole thing:

It’s interesting that they say they “condemn all harassment towards anyone within a protected characteristic” while in the act of harassing Rosie Duffield. It’s annoying that they chummily call her “Rosie” while in the act of harassing her.… Read the rest