White privilege something something JK Rowling something tethered to something.

Yet, as the inequity of capitalism and its inextricable link to white privilege are brought into focus, JK Rowling instead devoted her enormous Twitter platform to discussing the use of gender-neutral terms last Saturday night.

She what? She chose her own subject to talk about at a particular moment? How shocking! Of course so did most people on Twitter, but, you know – any stick to beat a woman with.

The timing of her social media tirade is telling. In the context of a collective reckoning with how our economic, political and social systems have dehumanised black lives for centuries, it seemed the fantasy-writer turned billionaire had decided an equally

Sigh.… Read the rest

Rowling writes about her reasons, starting by explaining why she is interested in trans issues.

I mention all this only to explain that I knew perfectly well what was going to happen when I supported Maya. I must have been on my fourth or fifth cancellation by then. I expected the threats of violence, to be told I was literally killing trans people with my hate, to be called cunt and bitch and, of course, for my books to be burned, although one particularly abusive man told me he’d composted them.

What I didn’t expect in the aftermath of my cancellation was the avalanche of emails and letters that came showering down upon me, the overwhelming majority of

Good, Rebecca’s post collecting a sample of the abuse leveled against Rowling is getting attention.

Is it really that much to ask blue ticks to stand up against this kind of abuse directed at a prominent woman? What is wrong with everyone? Why are you all being such disgraceful cowards? pic.twitter.com/Id4oX2ypl6

— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) June 10, 2020

See all you privileged left/liberal leaning people with a voice that have so far kept your head down on this issue. Want to raise it now? If not, NEVER tell yourself you give a damn about women EVER again: https://t.co/Dpanv3JvPf

— Julie Bindel (@bindelj) June 10, 2020

The children's book industry is witnessing the most horrific onslaught of abuse towards a much-loved,

The Washington Post:

Chinese authorities have been trying for three years to reverse the devastating imbalances of their one-child policy and coax couples to have more children.

Trying and failing. The birthrate remains low and – plot twist! – there are far more men than women.

Eh, what? Why’s that? A low birthrate doesn’t equal more men being…oh wait yes it does. If you can only have one it HAS to be a male, amirite? Nobody nobody NOBODY wants an only child who is a [retch gag puke] female. (Why not? Well, come on, I ask you – they’re so disgusting – they do all that gross pregnancy stuff and then milk-producing stuff. Ew. Men are clean and tidy.)… Read the rest

RR-C did some collecting – just a small sample, she says. It’s all screenshots, no text. It’s thematic – the themes are

1. shut the fuck up
2. cunt
3. hag
4. suck my dick
5. slag / whore / tart
6. disgust – stink, dried up, stench
7. smack, punch, piss in her cold dead eyes

Do they do this to, say, Graham Linehan? Not that I’ve seen.… Read the rest

There was also this:

Thank you for saying this. I have been told not to speak out about female genital mutilation because it's "transphobic ". How am I able to campaign for myself and millions of my sisters who have also suffered if I can't recognize sex?

— Jana Cornel (@RadfemJana) June 6, 2020

Dude tells Cornel she’s wrong, in fact he says she’s lying.

There are literally dozens and dozens of responses that are doing just that and proving my point. They're trying to censor the language that FGM survivors use because they claim it's transphobic and not inclusive. pic.twitter.com/lY9sYol4L2

— Jana Cornel (@RadfemJana) June 8, 2020

Like this one:

“Other genders” that have labia. Hi, please be quiet … Read the rest

Trump’s evil tweet about Martin Gugino is being widely disputed.

#MartinGugino is a peace activist and volunteer with the Catholic Worker movement. Why spread rumors about someone who embodies the Beatitudes? In case you've forgotten what's in the Bible you were carrying, Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers," not the rumormongers. https://t.co/LMEAO16LvQ

— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) June 9, 2020

Martin Gugino is a a longtime peace activist who has worked with the Plowshares and Catholic Workers, the movement started by Dorothy Day https://t.co/UJsmyBwGid

— Daniel Burke (@burkedaniel13) June 9, 2020

Mr. President @realDonaldTrump, the City of Buffalo is laser focused on healing, taking action against racial injustice and building a good future for our residents. We pray

Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2020

Chris Cillizza at CNN comments:

In a country on high alert for incidents of unnecessary use of force by police against those protesting in the wake of the death of George Floyd, the video sparked outrage. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the episode “wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful.” The two officers involved in the incident were suspended.

But on Tuesday morning, the

Daniel Radcliffe’s Do it to Julia don’t do it to me:

I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now. While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment.

Translation: Yes, I know, nobody would give a rat’s ass what I think about anything if it weren’t for Jo Rowling but I’m going to … Read the rest

More tendentious naming and framing.

Radcliffe “voices his support for the transgender community” – and voices his hostility to the feminist community, but of course the headline doesn’t say that, because We Have Chosen Our Side, and it ain’t women.

“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe said. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people.”

No it doesn’t. It’s kind of the opposite, really. Humoring people this way doesn’t really promote their dignity. It’s not promoting the dignity of people to pretend they are furries or Star Wars characters or Cleopatra, so why is it promoting their dignity to pretend they are women when in fact they are men? If adults want dignity, they have to … Read the rest

A comedian named Sarah Keyworth writes a letter to JK Rowling and asks everyone to share it.

From that letter:

There is no attack on what it means to be a woman, or a lesbian. There is simply a movement to expand what those words mean.

But that is an “attack” on what those words mean, isn’t it. It is a campaign to change the meaning of a word that picks out…well, what does it pick out. Let’s see.

1. Half or rather more than half of all humans
2. The sex that gives birth to all humans
3. The sex that has historically been dominated by the other half
4. The “weaker” sex – the sex that in a dimorphic species is overall

Trump’s Fox News spokesperson says they can’t do a thing about all that fencing, it’s not their decision, they have nothing to do with it, they’re helpless.

When asked about the barriers around Lafayette Square during her White House briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the matter was not in White House control.

“That’s not something that is in White House control,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany says when asked how long the new fencing at Lafayette Square in Washington, DC will stay up. https://t.co/TSxOg627pP pic.twitter.com/t9LFNoBAH8

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 8, 2020

Trump has absolute powers of all kinds, he keeps telling us, but when it comes to all this hardware, no, it’s a higher power that decides … Read the rest

I didn’t know this.

Just a reminder that Winston Churchill was a racist who presided over a man made famine which killed millions, https://t.co/IUsaaCxIx4

— Gita Sahgal (@GitaSahgal) June 8, 2020

So I found a Guardian article by Michael Safi from March 2019.

The Bengal famine of 1943 was the only one in modern Indian history not to occur as a result of serious drought, according to a study that provides scientific backing for arguments that Churchill-era British policies were a significant factor contributing to the catastrophe.

The study looked at moisture in soil for several famines and found an outlier.

However, the 1943 famine in Bengal, which killed up to 3 million people, was different, according to

George Conway points out that Trump is now busy failing to deal with not one but two crises.

Lacking in humanity, Trump has had no idea how to handle either one. He has responded to the police-brutality protests only by making matters worse. Faced with circumstances warranting calls for calm and restraint, he answered with almost sadistic invitations for more violence, fulminating about “THUGS” and extrajudicially “shooting” looters, issuing threats about “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons,” and celebrating “Domination” and “Overwhelming force.”

I’m not sure what that “almost” is doing in front of “sadistic,” unless it’s just the usual “must be careful in major mainstream newspaper” type of qualm. Maybe an editor inserted it. Trump’s sadism is … Read the rest

Gender Heretic wrote up the JK Rowling shock-horror.

…the calls of “TERF!” and “transphobe!” did not begin with anything Rowling said about trans people.

No, Rowling’s great sin was to push back against the erasure of the word “women” and its replacement with “people who menstruate.”

Let’s think about that. Let’s think about why feminist women would object to the fact that we are being deleted from public conversation. Why would we object to that? Is it because we’re Karens?

I don’t think so. I think it’s because, if we can’t say “women” when we talk about women’s issues now, how can feminism even exist? Shouldn’t feminism be deleted from public conversation too? (Many are working on that very … Read the rest

The Independent wants to make it very clear how strongly it disapproves of JK Rowling’s…badditude. It can’t explain more clearly than that, but why would you need it to? Badditude is bad.

Harry Potter fans are tearing into JK Rowling after she posted a series of “transphobic” tweets.

Are the tweets “transphobic”? Or are they transphobic? Does the Indy take the claim seriously or not?

Theauthor was met with a backlash after calling out an article’s use of the phrase “people who menstruate”. While many Twitter users supported Rowling for her tweet, there were plenty – including numerous celebrities – who criticised her comment as “anti-trans” and “transphobic” arguing that transgender, non-binary and non-gender conforming people can also menstruate.

Guest post by Leo Igwe PhD, CEO of AFAW (Advocacy for Alleged Witches)

Malawi is one of the countries in Africa where witch persecution is pervasive. Alleged witches suffer egregious human rights abuses including stoning, lynching and murder. In the late 2000s, courts jailed alleged witches. And some court officials claimed that the imprisonment was for their safety. Local humanist and human rights activists campaigned and helped release many alleged witches from state prisons. But recent news suggests that little has changed regarding the plight of alleged witches in the country. Accused persons are still taken into custody but this time by the Sing’anga, as traditional priests/priestesses and witch hunters are called in the country.

Witch hunts in Mzimba

On … Read the rest

Colin Powell is not impressed with Trump.

“I certainly cannot, in any way, support President Trump this year,” Powell said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “I’m very close to Joe Biden on a social matter and on a political matter. I’ve worked with him for 35, 40 years, and he is now the candidate, and I will be voting for him.”

Powell’s support for Biden, who clinched the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, marks a continuation of his drift from the Republican Party. The retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff endorsed Hillary Clinton over Mr. Trump in 2016, and voted for President Barack Obama in 2012. He endorsed Mr. Obama

Fences. Fences fences fences. Trump wants ALL the fences, to keep the scary hordes away from him and his plastic fantastic daughter-wife.

Protesters arriving in the nation’s capital for the ninth consecutive day of demonstrations found the White House encircled by more than a mile of tall metal fencing.

The previous day, work crews had erected enough fencing — reinforced by white concrete barriers — to bar entry to Lafayette Square and to outline half of the Ellipse, the sloping green lawn that abuts the executive residence. But between Friday night and Saturday afternoon — on a day expected to draw tens of thousands to protest in the District — they added enough fencing to block the rest of