Supreme Court block transgender from using boys' restroom

Los Angeles Times:  The Supreme Court intervened for the first time Wednesday in the controversy over transgender rights and blocked a lower court ruling that would have allowed a transgender boy to use the high school restroom that fits his “gender identity.”

In an unusual 5-3 order, the justices granted an emergency appeal from a Virginia school board, which said it is fighting to “protect the basic expectations of bodily privacy of Gloucester County students.”

The school board was seeking to be exempted from the Obama administration’s position that schools nationwide are required to allow transgender students to use the bathroom they prefer.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer signaled he did not support the school board’s emergency appeal, but said he joined the court’s four conservatives as a “courtesy” to put the issue on hold until the justices can review the matter when they return in the fall.

“In light of the facts that four justices have voted to grant the application referred to the court by the chief justice, that we are currently on recess and that granting the stay will preserve the status quo,” he wrote, “I vote to grant the application as a courtesy.”

two important GOP wins in Kentucky and Virginia

In Democrat strongholds Republicans prevail. Democrats do not understand what is hitting them. They are surprisingly slow on the uptake and get everything wrong. Everything. Democrat Governors Association Executive Director, Elisabeth Pearson, who looks like you'd expect, released a statement, here and it's quite stupid, attributing Matt Bevin win in Kentucky governor's race to Donald Trump creating conditions of outsider popularity.

Yeah, and...

You want to talk about political things? This is how I talk about political things. Elisabeth, who spells her own name wrongly, looks stupid and says stupid things.

What created Trump? How is Trump even possible? Elisabeth doesn't bother tracking back. She looks back only so far.

What political conditions existed within Republican party could create the possibility of outsider Trump, not a Republican, not a conservative, to take over?  Since Elisabeth, Executive Director of Democrat Governors Association can see political conditions being created, what conditions were created that led to Trump? Her analysis begins with Trump, but something came before Trump, and something came before the dissatisfaction that caused Trump.

Dissatisfaction with Republican representation created Trump. And that dissatisfaction is with elected Republicans not getting the message, as Elisabeth cannot get this same message, of Republican representation not being brake to Obama's ambitions. That is, restating, when you trace back over election cycles, Obama created the political conditions that Republican representation failed to brake over cycles eventually allowing Republican Matt Bevin to take Kentucky governorship, actually creating Matt Bevin as opposition, considered an important Democrat loss. Obama forced Republican response that failed. The original Democrat careening failed, the expected Republican brakes failed, this double fail frustration building over cycles ultimately led to Democrat loss. Not simply "Trump." And the same thing with Virginia keeping Republican senate.

The best thing about the whole episode is observing their heads exploding all over, struggling to understand and getting it all wrong. Shall we count the wrongness of the ways? It would be a wearisome Fisking of every single sentence.

1. Believe in middle class values HA!
2. Believe working people have a right to the American dream. HA!
3. Believe healthcare ought not to be just for the privileged... *click*

He had ten or so good seconds wailing from the pit of non comprehension.

You watch. It's for you, not for me. I've turned sufficiently misanthropic already and there's only so much horses shit a guy's willing to take. Pleasure enough to have the video on mute and enjoy the three onstage wound up cringing through agonized faces. Pleasure enough just knowing it exists, evidence of their grave unhappiness and their absolute non comprehension. Their lives are destroyed and my heart fills up with glee that, yes, there really is God and he really does love us. We see them agitated, their mouths moving, but nothing gets heard, just as they do, say whatever you like, they're not listening either, and so far as reading Republican actions, Republican actions of taking over, they get all of that wrong too.

"Cops Say Nothing Happened at UVA Frat Accused of Gang Rape"

"The University of Virginia reinstated its chapter of Phi Kappa Psi—the fraternity where Jackie claimed to have been gang raped, according to Rolling Stone—after the cops failed to find evidence that the horrible crime actually occurred. The fraternity's national organization has reinstated it as well, effective immediately.

According to the press release:

The reinstatement resulted after consultation with Charlottesville Police Department officials, who told the University that their investigation has not revealed any substantive basis to confirm that the allegations raised in the Rolling Stone article occurred at Phi Kappa Psi... (read the whole thing)

 That's it? No apology? No sorry about our huge mistake and rush to judgment? Keep in mind that the false accusation had consequences for the Phi Psi house, which was vandalized by angry students after Rolling Stone's story broke.

Coffa-house

From Book I, page 66, of George Sandy's A Relation of a Iourney Begun An Dom. 1610. Foure Bookes Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Ægypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and Islands Adioyning, first published in 1615. Sandys was an English traveler, writer and translator who, from 1621-31, lived in Virginia and during that time served as a council member of the crown colony of Virginia.

I've transliterated the paragraph pictured above, for those not familiar with 17th century typographical conventions:

Although they be destitute of Taverns, yet have they their Coffa-houses, which something resemble them. There sit they chatting most of the day; and sippe of a drinke called Coffa (of the berry that it is made of) in little China dishes as hot as they can suffer it: blacke as soote, and tasting not much unlike it (why not that blacke broth which was in use amongst the Lacedemonians?) which helpeth, as they say, digestion, and procureth alacrity: many of the Coffa-men keeping beautifull boyes, who serve as stales to procure them customers.

Some notes:

1. It's amusing that Sandys thought the Turks' coffee tasted "not much unlike" soot. Another early English writer, Edward Terry, thought that coffee beans didn't really change the taste of the water they were brewed in. We may, then, surmise that coffee of the period had a taste somewhere between 17th century English water, and soot.

2. Sandys asks in an aside: "Why not that blacke broth which was in use amongst the Lacedemonians?" Good question, Mr Sandys! Why isn't coffee the same as the Lacedemonians' (Lacedemonia is an old term for ancient Sparta) black broth? Well, because Spartan black broth was blood soup, made from pig's trotters, pig's blood, salt and vinegar; a concoction whose flavor couldn't possibly have been mistaken for coffee, or 17th century English water, or soot. Well hopefully not, for everyone's sake.

3. "Stales" is an old word for a lure or decoy. Interestingly (and perhaps relatedly), Shakespeare also used the word "stale" in Much Ado About Nothing to mean "a cheap prostitute".

Anyway, let us now helpeth our digestions and procureth ourselves some alacrity, beautifull boyes optional.