I grabbed a bus way the hell north and east from here to a huge mostly wildish park on Lake Washington. Saw people playing cricket. Walked through big meadows full of long grass to the lake, and promptly turned back to the meadows because the area along the lake was full of people with picnics and so on. No problem, I can visit the lake in the cooler months and/or on rainy days. Crossed the road that traverses the park and went a few yards into a meadow and encountered

…a coyote.

Just the one, fortunately. It gazed at me calmly and then turned and trotted away.

I’ve encountered coyotes quite a few times lately – generally just running or … Read the rest

We are so screwed.

Biden’s poor performance sent leading Democrats into a panic on Thursday night, after the US president appeared shaky and at points struggled to finish sentences. It amplified fears about his age and fitness for office that it had been hoped the debate would allay.

It seems kind of stupid and reality-denying to hope that given the realities. What’s he going to do, rip off his shirt to reveal the Superman leotard underneath?

The former US president Barack Obama defended Biden in a social media post on Friday. “Bad debate nights happen,” he said. “But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only

Does Angela Rayner answer the question?

She does not.

One reason I won’t vote Labour is that its deputy leader called the @AllianceLGB, whose founding meeting I attended, a hate group. She did it years ago and the media didn’t give a toss. I’m overjoyed that a national broadcaster is now holding @AngelaRayner to account over it 1/2 https://t.co/ENUPHN6kaA

— Simon Edge (@simonjedge) June 29, 2024

She says many words but she does not answer the question.… Read the rest

There was a Pride march in Toronto yesterday. Apparently one theme was “transphobe extermination.”

not sure what kind of bizarre meet up was taking place downtown Toronto last night, but subway started filling with 20-somethings in “transphobe extermination” shirts (note the noose), many with gigantic masks & (apparently unnecessary) canes, like they were 90 yrs old. So weird pic.twitter.com/xSpr6DNoVr

— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) June 29, 2024

… Read the rest

Capitalism must be set free:

Friday’s ruling that overturned an important 1984 ruling called Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council was a belated victory for Trump’s deregulatory agenda, with all three of his appointees to the high court joining the 6-3 conservative majority.

“The decision was the culmination of a decadelong, billionaire-funded campaign to capture and weaponize the unelected power of the Supreme Court to deliver huge windfalls for corporate interests at the expense of everyday Americans,” said Alex Aronson, a former Democratic staffer in Congress who is executive director of Court Accountability, a judicial oversight group.

…

Overturning Chevron, a ruling that business interests long disliked, has long been a goal of conservative lawyers, who saw

Hahahahahahahaha

Can’t parody this pic.twitter.com/Io94Lacsfb

— Julie Bindel (@bindelj) June 28, 2024

Ok I can’t parody it either but I can ask –

If she’s asexual why is she dressed that way and standing that way and glaring that way?

Are we supposed to think none of that is sexual at all in any way?

Come onnnnnnnnnnnn.… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Artymorty at Miscellany Room.

A strange side effect of SPLC calling legitimate organizations hate groups is that it has the potential to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People or groups who have been wrongly smeared as agents of “hate” are liable to turn sour on any suggestion that anyone is hateful, and they might start drifting towards hardline, far-right positions, as a social effect of being ostracized by liberals and embraced by fellow-exiles, many of whom are, in fact, far-right, hateful extremists who were exiled from liberal society’s good standing for entirely legitimate reasons.

No one who’s been cast into the “hate” pile believes they deserve to be there. Everyone who’s been labelled hateful vehemently denies … Read the rest

A win for girls for a change:

Last week, Sierra Leone’s parliament enacted landmark legislation to ban child marriage. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill 2024, which makes marriage for anyone under 18 a criminal offense, seeks to protect girls from a harmful practice that has long violated their rights and hindered their development.

Child marriage is a serious problem in Sierra Leone, where 30 percent of girls and 4 percent of boys are married before age 18, with even higher rates in rural areas. Around 800,000 girls are currently married in Sierra Leone, half before turning 15.

Jeezus. 400 thousand girls married before turning 15.

Child marriages fuel the high adolescent pregnancy rate in Sierra Leone

We’re doomed. Toast. Dead in the water.

While Republican candidate Donald Trump faces criticism for the number of falsehoods he uttered, much of the attention has been focused on President Joe Biden’s poor performance.

Biden appeared to struggle in several of his answers. As a result, concerns about his age and mental fitness have only risen further. Some Democrats have even asked after the debate whether the president could be replaced as the party’s presidential candidate.

Toast.… Read the rest

Oklahoma embraces theocracy:

Oklahoma’s top education official has ordered schools in the state to begin incorporating the Bible into lessons, in the latest US cultural flashpoint over religion in the classroom. A directive sent by Republican state Superintendent Ryan Walters said the rule was compulsory, requiring “immediate and strict compliance”.

All lessons? How can you “incorporate the Bible” into math lessons, science lessons, geography lessons? History, yes, but algebra, no.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Walters described the Bible as “an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone”.

“Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation, which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction,” he added.

It’s true that … Read the rest

Look closely at the direction of this short clip.

Notice the size of the man compared to the woman. That was a choice.

Notice how he comes in and positions himself right next to her.

Notice that his right hand is almost a fist.

Notice his scowl.

Those were all choices.

“Look, bitch. If a large man joins you in an elevator and practically stands on top of you, scowling and clenching his fist, you’d better just shut up and take it or we’ll shame you in public.”

This, from the Victorian Government, is "trans".

Women who listen to their survival instincts are dangerous bigots making the men who pretend to be us unsafe.

Taxpayer money was used to create

Wait wait wait what happened to inclusion? What about inclusivity? Is that all of a suddenly over?

Pflag Edmonton is also on Facebook. It has strict instructions at the top of the page that this group is open only to gender-diverse, trans, two-spirit, gender non-conforming, and non-binary individuals. Hey, I could go! I’m gender non-conforming. I could go, but I’d rather be fired out of a cannon. Apparently so would everyone in Edmonton apart from two count them two people.

That’s how many have signed up. Two.… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Sastra on Falling for the bollox.

When I was banned from a popular atheist site I’d been frequenting for years, every single one of my comments I’d made in the past 3 months disappeared and was replaced by a notice that it was (possible? probable? ) spam. That’s how I realized I was blocked. Not only did my arguments and concerns on transgender and related issues get deleted, but absolutely everything I’d written on atheism, humanism, church/state separation, and the dangers of Trump got axed. Jokes, agreement, encouragement, and consolation were now deemed “spam.” They were unworthy of being observed, and violated the topic of the space even when they were not only obviously and … Read the rest

A paper I’m not much motivated to read.

A (m)Other’s Work Is Becoming Undone: Liminal Belonging and Trans Potentialities

Aw yeah, the oh so cute English Department parentheses; that’s always a good reason to read no further.

The Abstract:

In this relational ethnography, we write as two white afab genderqueer/trans parents who often find ourselves at best pulled between spaces and parts of ourselves, and at worst pressured to choose between the false dichotomy of our “illegible” place within transness/queerness and “aparent” place within motherhood. Weaving together autoethnographic vignettes of our lived experiences with the writings of QTBIPOC thinkers and pedagogues and their anti-racist white comrades, we reflect on themes of liminality, loneliness, hope, grieving, and love in mothering, kin,

Nevertheless NPR still of course has plenty of time to drivel on and on about the alphabet soup.

During Pride month, it can be easy to find books on LGBTQIA+ topics displayed prominently in libraries. But searching in Spanish for those books is difficult. That’s because Spanish search terms for relevant topics aren’t in the catalog.

Because Spanish-speakers haven’t yet caught up to the English-speakers in the business of creating new vocabulary and rules and punishments around the alphabet soup?

Cifor is working with a professor at Northeastern University in Boston to create a Spanish Homosaurus. It’s like a glossary for Spanish terms that libraries can integrate into their subject catalog. The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and the

Nina Totenberg can still say “woman” and NPR doesn’t even Correct her. One tiny bit of the raft to cling to. She can also say “mother”!

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, in a 6-3 opinion, temporarily allowed abortions in medical emergencies in Idaho. The opinion was erroneously posted on the court’s website on Wednesday.

The decision reinstates a lower court ruling that temporarily allowed hospitals in the state to perform emergency abortions to protect the life of the mother, and the health of the mother.

…

Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA, in 1986 to prevent hospitals from refusing care for uninsured patients or dumping them on other hospitals. The law says that

Twitter’s new trick is labeling gender-skeptical replies “probable spam” – despite the glaringly obvious lack of spamness. Like:

The recognition of sex is accepted by billions who understand how it works keeping the species going. And how many male dominated societies have limited the rights of women. Genderism is an ideology that claims sex is irrelevant. Some institutions have fallen for this bollox.

— Robyn W Leigh (@WRobynLeigh) June 27, 2024

How is that “probable spam”? In no way. It’s not. It’s argumentative; it dissents from trans dogma; it’s not spam.… Read the rest

Actual CNN headline:

Mistakenly posted Supreme Court document indicates pregnant people in Idaho should have access to emergency care – for now

Actual lede:

A document that was mistakenly posted on the US Supreme Court website Wednesday indicates that the court may allow abortions in medical emergencies in Idaho, at least temporarily. The state would not be allowed to deny an emergency abortion to a pregnant person whose health is in danger, at least while the case makes its way through the courts.

Not Twitter, not Pink News, not the ACLU, but CNN. Mainstream news outlet.… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Artymorty on Bro can’t understand.

I despise the “just leave those little people over there alone” argument. It says that people with gender dysphoria are a tiny insignificant minority who aren’t worth examining further, which is not a model of tolerance, it’s a model of profound ignorance. It says, “I don’t care if the surgeries work or not, I just want to put those people out of my mind as much as possible. So I’ll just assume the surgeries are hunky-dory, because it’s the easiest way for me to get out of having to think about or care about those unusual genderbender people.”

“I don’t care if many of the people in the trans movement … Read the rest

The Telegraph last September:

An investigation by the Telegraph has found examples of literary agencies making clear their preference for authors deemed under-represented or marginalised – normally meaning people of colour, disabled writers and those from the LGBTQ+ community – prompting concern that authors who do not meet the criteria are becoming “ostracised”.

Ash Literary, an agency looking “for extraordinary stories for children that reflect and celebrate the diversity of our world”, states on its submissions page: “We are not interested in stories about white able-bodied WW2 evacuees but would welcome that story from a disabled, LGBTQ+ or BIPOC [black, indigenous, and other people of colour] perspective.”

Which is absurd as well as disgusting. How many indigenous lesbian gay … Read the rest