Boys’ Club gets boy in trouble yet again. Boys just wonder how come all the rules got changed alla sudden and nobody ever told them.

Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, a Republican, said on Tuesday he plans to step down from his position after lewd and racist text messages between him and his former chief of staff were leaked to the media.

…

Opposition to his leadership snowballed after texts were leaked to the media in which Casada and his now-former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, traded lewd remarks. Sent in the summer of 2016, the messages show Casada egging on the aide as he bragged about a sexual encounter in a restaurant bathroom, as one example.

The leaks

Did McGahn surprise us all and heed the subpoena? Nah.

“Our subpoenas are not optional,” Mr Nadler said during his opening remarks on Tuesday. “This committee will hear Mr McGahn’s testimony even if we have to go to court.”

Mr McGahn could be held in contempt for defying the subpoena from Congress.

“We will not allow the president to block congressional subpoenas, putting himself and his allies above the law,” Mr Nadler added.

…

Both the Department of Justice and White House released statements on Monday arguing that Mr McGahn was under no obligation to give evidence.

You might as well say “the Five Families released statements on Monday arguing that Mr McGahn was under no obligation to give evidence.” … Read the rest

Not good.

Today, Governor Jay Inslee declared a drought emergency that now expands across nearly half of Washington, with snow pack under 50 percent of normal across highlighted areas.

Hotter, drier conditions lead to more wildfires. This drought is a reminder that we expect 2019 will be a tough fire season. We are preparing as best we can to meet this challenge, but ask you to take caution and be vigilant when doing activities that may spark fires.

Fires in all directions, it will be.… Read the rest

The constitutional crisis rolls on, with Congressional Democrats being irritatingly feeble.

Donald Trump has blocked the former White House counsel Don McGahn from testifying before Congress about special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian election interference.

Donald Trump can’t “block him” from testifying. It’s just a power play and McGahn should ignore it, but he’s not, he’s said he’ll obey this arbitrary demand from someone he no longer works for.

In a legal opinion released on Monday, the justice department said lawmakers on Capitol Hill cannot compel McGahn, who was subpoenaed by the House judiciary committee, to answer their questions under oath.

Because “the justice department” is wholly in the bag for Trump. It’s not a justice department, … Read the rest

Saw this by Mike Twohy in the New Yorker:

… Read the rest

No, let’s not remember not to do that.

Abortion is trending right now and we love it! But, let's remember not to use gendered language when talking about it. Abortion bans affect everyone who can get pregnant–not just cis women! pic.twitter.com/DJLzEmP18e

— URGE (@URGE_org) May 17, 2019

Abortion is “gendered” i.e. sex-based. If men needed abortions they would be easy to get.

Also, seriously, fuck all the way off with that idiotic slogan.

We won’t stop fighting. #StopTheBans pic.twitter.com/nMv91SWI3t

— URGE (@URGE_org) May 17, 2019

Why illustrate a “keep fighting for abortion rights” tweet with a poster screaming that abortion is not “just” a “cissue”? Why post a a “keep fighting for abortion rights” tweet with an image that insults … Read the rest

The sheer cluelessness can be jaw-dropping.

The Guardian has a piece by a trans woman about another trans woman’s voice training:

But a different voice is not just a luxury, it’s also a means of protection. For trans women, voice is often times the most significant indicator of their transness to the outside world. In 2018, LGBTQ advocates documented at least 26 homicides of trans people in the United States. Two murders of trans women have already been reported in 2019. For trans women, achieving a feminine voice can serve as a cloak of protection from bias and bigotry.

And how many murders of women were there in 2018?

I didn’t find stats for 2018 but 2016 will do… Read the rest

A couple of comments from fans of that Facebook post about families giving birth:

• I will never understand people who are offended by inclusivity. Saying “birthing individuals” takes nothing away from cis women and adds a lot for trans men. Thank you for being inclusive with your language!
• Why can’t people understand that including everyone isn’t erasing anyone?

So “All Lives Matter” takes nothing away from black people and adds a lot for white people? No. The “All” replacing “Black” is there for the explicit purpose of erasing the “Black” part and the injustice BLM is campaigning against.  Woke people understand that without the slightest struggle, don’t they, yet they deny it angrily when the word that’s erased is “women.” … Read the rest

A retired general talks about why Trump’s possible plan to pardon a list of people convicted or accused of war crimes is such a horrendous idea.

[E]ach soldier, sailor, airman or Marine undergoes extensive training regarding rules of engagement, the ethics of the military profession, and the law of land warfare. That training is usually repeated within units every year of the service-members’ enlistment, and that training is refreshed prior to deploying to combat and is reinforced by unit leaders during combat operations.

That’s because commanders — the ones ultimately responsible for good order, discipline and adherence to professional military standards — know, as difficult as it may sound, they must ensure and apply a moral boundary and a

A Facebook post by Childbirth International:

Birth trauma is becoming more widely discussed and parents are opening up about their experiences in pregnancy, labour, birth, and beyond. Doulas can be incredibly valuable as an addition to a family’s birth team to guide the family in making informed decisions and sharing valuable skills to help each individual advocate for their goals and needs.

With Childbirth International you can train as a birth doula and trauma-informed professional concurrently with our completely flexible, online courses.

Notice anything…peculiar?

Of course you do. The words “woman” and “mother” are carefully, awkwardly, painfully absent. We get parents opening up about their experiences in pregnancy and labour, as if both parents had such experiences. We get … Read the rest

The war on women escalates.

A European organization that provides doctor-prescribed abortion pills by mail is under order by the US Food and Drug Administration to stop deliveries.

The federal agency sent a warning letter to Aid Access this month requesting that it “immediately cease causing the introduction of these violative drugs into U.S. Commerce.”

“Violative” is not a word.

“The sale of misbranded and unapproved new drugs poses an inherent risk to consumers who purchase those products,” the letter says. “Drugs that have circumvented regulatory safeguards may be contaminated; counterfeit, contain varying amounts of active ingredients, or contain different ingredients altogether.”

Translation: the drugs may do what they’re supposed to do and we have orders to put a … Read the rest

We need this.

https://twitter.com/cctv_idiots/status/1130165583616577536… Read the rest

This time we have to start with the title, whether a sub chose it or not.

Trans women are victims of misogyny, too – and all feminists must recognize this

No. There is no such “must.” Trans women are male people, and there is no “must” that commands feminists to extend their feminism to men. No. All trans activists must stop trying to bully feminist women into changing the subject to men. No.

The subtitle is also bad.

Some feminists claim misogyny targets only those who have female sex features (ovaries, vaginas and uteruses). We should be alarmed by this view.

No. We should be alarmed by the spectacle of people telling us men can be women, and the Guardian … Read the rest

Ray Blanchard talks to the National Review:

Kearns: What do we mean by “gender identity”?

Blanchard: What do I mean by it?

Kearns: Yes. Let’s start with that.

Blanchard: Well, back in the days when I was writing a lot on that topic, which is quite a while ago now, I tended to avoid the phrase “gender identity” because I think that it’s a trivial concept when it’s applied to normal people. I mean normal men and normal woman know what sex they are, and they respond to that automatically, like when looking for a washroom. But I think it’s only at very unusual moments that a normal man or woman has a conscious awareness of “I’m a woman” or