Originally a comment by YNnB on Soz.

How would “trans people” not feel safe sitting near her? For that matter how would they know they were sitting near her? How would they have the faintest idea they were sitting near her? Or who she was or what she had said?

It’s not as if she was infected with a disease, or radioactive. The fact that trans people claim that being in an online meeting with alleged TERFS and transphobes makes them feel “unsafe”, means it can’t be simple physical proximity that concerns them. Online meetings and fora are not, as far as I know, covered by the inverse square law. What is being policed is not “safety” but disbelief… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Upside down.

Donald Trump has been under constant political persecution since the beginning of his first term.

Donald Trump has been under criminal prosecution since before his first term. He’s a fraud, a charlatan, a sexual predator, and violated the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution he swore to protect. Going after him for these offences is not “persecution”; it is the normal course of justice. Being a celebrity, or rich, or President of the United States, doesn’t (or shouldn’t) put you beyond the reach of the law when you have broken it. Also, people pointing out that you are a raging narcissist, bully, autocrat, and all-’round asshole is not “persecution.”… Read the rest

They’re floundering. They’re backtracking. They’re seeking any port in a storm. They’re resorting to deepities. They’re contradicting themselves.

When we say “trans women are women”, we’re not saying that they’re the same as cís women.
No two women or men are the same. Concepts of womanhood & manhood evolve across times, place & culture. What we mean is that trans women are valid & deserving of recognition as women. https://t.co/f6x4FO6r2h

— Thomas Willett (@ThomasWillett9) March 1, 2025

First of all, when they say “trans women are women” yes they damn well are saying they’re the same as women (what they call “cis” women). That’s the whole entire point and always has been. Rejecting it has been and is the basis … Read the rest

They have better manners across the pond.

Rattled European leaders gathered in London on Sunday, scrambling to salvage any U.S. backing for Ukraine — and to map a way through disintegrating transatlantic security relations — after the televised Oval Office blowup between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

European heads of state continued to rally around Zelensky, who was greeted with cheers outside 10 Downing Street and a warm hug from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer when he arrived Saturday. European Union and NATO leaders met later Sunday in London, where Ukraine was at the forefront of discussions, and Zelensky attended. Starmer, in brief remarks before the leaders walked in for talks, said recent events had brought

Police admit they probably maybe should not have terrorized a woman for saying men are not women.

Police have apologised over an investigation they mounted into a Newcastle United fan banned by the football club after expressing gender-critical views on social media.

Northumbria Police have told Linzi Smith that crucial elements of their investigation into claims she had committed a hate crime were not acceptable.

Yeah, “crucial elements” like the fact that what she said is simple obvious truth that everyone over the age of 3 is well aware of.

Ms Smith, 34, was accused of being transphobic by a complainant who told Newcastle United that trans people would not feel safe sitting near her.

Because what, she would pull … Read the rest

Originally a comment by maddog1129 on Differences.

What’s this “cis women” business? There’s no reason for “cis” to describe what we used to call “women” until very recently. Your forced labeling of women as “cis” women doesn’t even apply to many women you are trying to shove into that category. To the extent gender ideologists have provided a definition, “cis” as a descriptor of women is a “gender identity,” not a sex. Some women (sex) “identify with” or, more incoherently, “identify as,” or are comfortable with the bundle of gender stereotypes arbitrarily ascribed to women in some culture. News flash: since at least the 1970s, many feminist women have been pointing out that the social constructs of gender roles … Read the rest

Interesting. A Guardian writer, Edward Helmore, thinks Trump’s disgusting bullying yesterday is Zelenskyy’s fault.

One television star turned president visits another far more powerful one on a stage set and attempts to introduce a plot twist of sorts. What could go wrong?

The high-stakes White House showdown that unfolded on Friday after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, demanded US security guarantees was deemed a damaging setback to Donald Trump’s goal of forging a peace deal – and a win for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin – by some US political commentators.

Zelenskyy didn’t “demand” security guarantees out of the blue; he sought them in exchange for the highly valuable mineral rights Trump was demanding.

The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent,

One of the NOAA people Trump abruptly fired yesterday:

Until Thursday afternoon, Hanna Miller focused on protecting whales from oil spills, ship strikes, and fishing gear.

Miller was a natural resource specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the science-heavy federal agency that forecasts weather, tsunamis, and hurricanes, regulates fisheries, studies the climate, and protects salmon, orcas, and other endangered species that swim.

In 2022, she helped a multiagency team make sure endangered orcas didn’t swim into the diesel fuel belching out of the sunken Aleutian Isle fishing boat off Washington’s San Juan Island. “I was on call for 42 days, tracking them every second that I was awake to make sure that they didn’t go through [the oil

Deep thoughts.

When we say “trans women are women”, we’re not saying that they’re the same as cís women.
No two women or men are the same. Concepts of womanhood & manhood evolve across times, place & culture. What we mean is that trans women are valid & deserving of recognition as women. https://t.co/f6x4FO6r2h

— Thomas Willett (@ThomasWillett9) March 1, 2025

Actually some two women or men are the same: identical twins.

Other than that, of course they’re not “the same”; what they are however is the same sex. The word “sex” doesn’t mean your temperament or personality or likes and dislikes; it just means your sex. No two humans are the same, either, but they’re still both … Read the rest

You can’t fix stupid, and the result is that stupid can kill you.

In her hometown of Lubbock, Texas, Leah, a pregnant mother, has been avoiding stores and other public spaces for the last two weeks.

On Wednesday, the city saw a six-year-old child who was not vaccinated against the virus die – the first US death from the measles in nearly a decade.

With a baby on the way, Leah could be putting her foetus at risk of health complications if she contracted the virus, despite her own vaccination. Her paediatrician also advised her to move up her older son’s second shot of the vaccine – the full course for the immunisation – as the risk to his

Dude we can see where your makeup ends. We can always see where your makeup ends. You have a shoepolish-brown face and pink ears: we can see that: we do see that every day. You look ridiculous.

Here was where the first insult came.

“Oh look, he’s all dressed up today!”

Premeditated and a pre planned attack. pic.twitter.com/WjOzW2bkQN

— Shaun Pinner (@olddog100ua) March 1, 2025

… Read the rest

Tom Nichols on the horror of today:

The president of the United States ambushed a loyal ally, presumably so that he can soon make a deal with the dictator of Russia to sell out a European nation fighting for its very existence.

Trump’s advisers have already declared the meeting a win for “putting America first,” and his apologists will likely spin and rationalize this shameful moment as just a heated conversation—the kind of thing that in Washington-speak used to be called a “frank and candid exchange.” But this meeting reeked of a planned attack, with Trump unloading Russian talking points on Zelensky (such as blaming Ukraine for risking global war), all of it designed to humiliate the Ukrainian leader

The reviews roll in.

Reagan: Tear down this wall

JFK: Ask not what your country can do for you…

Trump/Vance: HE DIDN’T SAY THANK YOU !! https://t.co/uyGbNfl6f6

— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) February 28, 2025

https://twitter.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1895579654662316158

Updating to add

Generations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend. But today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who… https://t.co/oMoWZ7FmBL

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) February 28, 2025

… Read the rest

And even more bullying and insulting of Zelenskyy for having the nerve to resist invasion by a dictator.

Brian Glenn: Why don’t you wear a suit?!? Do you own a suit? pic.twitter.com/p1gdffSPkJ

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 28, 2025

Here is a picture of Sir Winston Churchill visiting the White House during the Second World War. I wonder if @brianglenntv would have dared to criticise him? pic.twitter.com/brb24KmdKq

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) February 28, 2025

47 more months of this. … Read the rest

Also very bad:

The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier centers for climate science.

The firings are expected to cost more than 800 people their jobs, out of a total of about 13,000 staff members, according to two people familiar with the situation who declined to be identified for fear of retribution. The notifications went out on Thursday afternoon.

Because weather isn’t important. Nobody needs to know about the weather.

“This loss of talent at NOAA is going to set the agency back years and compromise the integrity of missions that directly support human health and safety, economic prosperity and national security,” the analyst said, speaking on

Shame of a nation.

Appalling behaviour and yet these are the bullies the British PM kowtowed to yesterday. Shameful https://t.co/mvuKO5rxAS

— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) February 28, 2025

Trump wants 'respect' like a mafia boss. He means sycophancy and submission. Now he's president again, he isn't even hiding the fact that he's a loud-mouthed bully.

Now European leaders need to stand up and support @ZelenskyyUa.

— Joan Smith (@polblonde) February 28, 2025

A shameful day for America https://t.co/7eKsRoZBIA

— Hadley Freeman (@HadleyFreeman) February 28, 2025

… Read the rest

Now Trump, like any furious teenager, has gone to his social media to whine and yell and threaten.

In a Truth Social post following a heated exchange between Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, Trump called the meeting “meaningful,” but added, “I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved.”

“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure,” the president wrote in the post. “It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him

Oh my god oh my god oh my god… Read the rest

As you may recall, Trump issued an executive order on February 7 that said

Washington “shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.”

He ordered the Departments of State and Homeland Security “to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”

…

On X this month, South African native Elon Musk, Trump’s top adviser, accused his home country of pushing “openly racist ownership laws.” South Africa rejected a license for his Starlink internet company because it did not meet BEE requirements.

Ebrahim Rasool, the South African ambassador to Washington, said Trump’s order

I thought being a mayor, especially of one of the world’s biggest cities, was a secular kind of job.

Silly me.

London’s stunning Ramadan Lights have returned to the West End!

For the next month, this dazzling display will illuminate the vibrant heart of our city, celebrating the holy month of Ramadan and showcasing London's rich diversity. ☪️✨ pic.twitter.com/wwdV7iJcz3

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) February 26, 2025

Also, he makes it sound like a party, like the secularized commercialized Xmas we’re so used to, but Ramadan is a month of fasting. The fasting is dawn to dusk, and it’s not just eating it’s also drinking, so it’s unhealthy at best and risky at worst.

It’s not something to pretty up … Read the rest