Tim Harris’s mention of Sathnam Sanghera’s Empireland has prompted me to summon the book from the library and to read the Guardian review by Fara Dabhoiwala.

In the endless catalogue of British imperial atrocities, the unprovoked invasion of Tibet in 1903 was a minor but fairly typical episode. Tibetans, explained the expedition’s cultural expert, were savages, “more like hideous gnomes than human beings”. Thousands of them were massacred defending their homeland, “knocked over like skittles” by the invaders’ state-of-the-art machine guns. “I got so sick of the slaughter that I ceased fire,” wrote a British lieutenant, “though the General’s order was to make as big a bag as possible.” As big a bag as possible – killing inferior people

Originally a comment by Tim Harris on Signals.

To return to the question of ‘indigenous’ religious artefacts in museums, it should surely be pointed out that a great bone of contention is that a great many, if not most, of such artefacts were looted in the course of colonial wars, etc., and it is hardly surprising that the descendants of those peoples should not be happy about it, and the lack of respect shown to them then and now, a lack of respect that – forgive me for saying this – appears in at least one of the comments here.

There was the Younghusband invasion of Tibet in 1903, in which monasteries were sacked and plundered, and the man, … Read the rest

“Labour losing women” is trending.

As long as these @UKLabour MPs keep calling women fighting for our sex based rights “Tories & far right”@UKLabour will lose#WeToldYouSo#LabourLosingWomen https://t.co/g3KptdWvpC

— Sonya Douglas (@SonyaDouglas) December 31, 2023

A single tweet from a female politician suggesting women’s single sex spaces aren’t men’s to give away is bringing all the misogynistic Labour boys to the yard…#LabourLosingWomen https://t.co/4pG6L2LDpW pic.twitter.com/om43IoW60i

— Le_Sorelle_Arduino KPSS (@Sorelle_Arduino) December 30, 2023

Never forget what they had the nerve to say. #LabourLosingWomen https://t.co/TqEXdq3AZR

— Paola Diana (@paoladiana_) December 31, 2023

… Read the rest

Notice anything missing?

We must resist the divisive war on woke that Tories & far right want to drag us into, keeping us fighting each other to distract from their chaos & corruption

From workers, migrants, unemployed, LGBTQ particularly trans ppl – we must stand up for their rights not join the attack

— Kate Osborne MP (@KateOsborneMP) December 31, 2023

Women. She doesn’t include women. Apparently there’s no need to stand up for our rights.… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Artymorty on Signals.

I think the term “virtue signalling” can be susceptible to overuse in something like the way “critical race theory” is. Signalling virtue in itself isn’t a bad thing, because virtue isn’t a bad thing; “virtue signalling” as a pejorative is meant to refer to a cynical or vacuous performance of a kind of artificial morality. Likewise, critical academic analysis of race in itself isn’t a bad thing, but “critical race theory” is a specific strand of academic theory which is a hot mess. The terms’ lack of clarity make them susceptible to being co-opted or misunderstood.

Nevertheless, I like the term “virtue signalling.” I like the juxtaposition of the two words. Virtue … Read the rest

Apparently there is no number of daughters sufficient to convince men of the need to take women seriously.

Donald Trump has daughters. Ditto Vladimir Putin. David Cameron, with two, maintained a primitive preference for male colleagues/banter. George Osborne’s daughter couldn’t inoculate him against airing psychopathic fantasies about Theresa May. That Boris Johnson was the parent as prime minister of two, then three girls, similarly confirms that hiring only men who have daughters cannot, sadly, be the solution to misogyny in Westminster, the City or the Metropolitan police.

Admittedly, since spawning another girl, Johnson has apologised to the female colleague known to his old WhatsApp pals as “that cunt”.

Baby steps. Plus lots of daughters. This is going to take … Read the rest

I’m reading a piece by Elizabeth Weiss about science museums and how they should respond to controversies. I’ve paused to follow up a sidetrack.

In the past two decades, science institutions have faced challenges from another source: indigenous religions. Unlike Christian fundamentalist beliefs, these indigenous beliefs often receive enthusiastic support from academics, scholars, and mainstream media journalists. This support might stem from a desire to oppose Western civilization and align with the “victims” of modernity as part of an effort to “decolonize” museums. Alternatively, it may also be linked to a trend of virtue signaling, which has allowed the misconception that “indigenous knowledge is science” to take root in academic circles.

It’s the virtue signaling bit that caused me to … Read the rest

Daily Mail:

USA Boxing to allow transgender women to compete against female boxers under certain conditions from 2024 after introducing new policy

That is, USA Boxing to allow men to punch women.

USA Boxing has adopted a ‘Transgender Policy’, which will allow male boxers who transition to fight in the female category from 2024.

One, it’s unfair, and two, it’s dangerous.

But it’s only unfair to women and dangerous to women, so it doesn’t matter.

USA Boxing announced the policy on Friday, saying in a statement: ‘The purpose of this policy is to provide fairness and safety for all boxers.’

Bullshit. That policy can’t possibly provide either fairness or safety for women boxers.… Read the rest

Stop cheating or lose your funding.

Parkrun must protect women runners from transgender rivals – or risk losing their funding, says a report backed by Olympians.

The research paper by Policy Exchange, a think tank, found that at least three Parkrun female records were held by biological men as a result of its policy of allowing entrants to self-identify their gender.

The report – backed by Olympic medallists Sharron Davies and Daley Thompson and tennis player Martina Navratilova – warned that female athletes risk being alienated unless grassroots sports from cricket and rowing to football and tennis could provide fair and safe play.

That is, the report warned that there’s a risk that female athletes will be alienated. The … Read the rest

Blah blah blah Peter.

Trans women aren't same as other women but equally valid

Some people are women based on their chromosomal sex

Trans are women based on other biological markers & gender identity

Both types of women are victims of sexism, rape & violence

Fight the misogyny that harms them all pic.twitter.com/vMnkHv19V8

— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) December 28, 2023

Rabbits aren’t same as other women but equally valid.

Shovels aren’t same as other women but equally valid.

Sailboats aren’t same as other women but equally valid.

In short, that doesn’t mean anything. It’s hurbleburble meant to cover up the absurdity of claiming that men are women. Men aren’t the same as women how? In the sense of being the … Read the rest

Still racing toward the cliff.

The hottest year in recorded history casts doubts on humanity’s ability to deal with a climate crisis of its own making, senior scientists have said.

As historically high temperatures continued to be registered in many parts of the world in late December, the former Nasa scientist James Hansen told the Guardian that 2023 would be remembered as the moment when failures became apparent.

“When our children and grandchildren look back at the history of human-made climate change, this year and next will be seen as the turning point at which the futility of governments in dealing with climate change was finally exposed,” he said. “Not only did governments fail to stem global warming, the

Who ya gonna believe, Trump or pretty much anyone else?

Donald Trump has angrily denied claims by the director of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York that he bullied his way into a now famous cameo. The former president made a brief appearance in the 1992 film in a scene filmed at the Plaza Hotel, which he owned at the time.

Director Chris Columbus said Mr Trump insisted on appearing in the film if they used the hotel as a location. But Mr Trump said the filmmakers were “begging” him to appear.

“I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform on

Let the mutilations continue.

Ohio’s Republican governor has vetoed legislation that would have barred transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care, he said Friday. Signing the bill would “be saying that the state, the government” knows what’s better for youth than their parents, Gov. Mike DeWine said.

So there should be no laws against beating children, or torturing them, or locking them up in a dark cold basement room, or putting them to work in factories at age 5. Parents always know better, so there should be no child protection laws or institutions at all.

Also, it makes a difference what you call it. “Gender-affirming” makes it sound wholesome and nice. Non-medical genital mutilation and mastectomy don’t sound quite so … Read the rest

How not to do an exhibition on women in revolt:

Tate Britain is currently holding a 'Women In Revolt!' exhibition, which explores women's rights in the 1970s and 1980s through art. The first paragraph of the opening exhibit label makes clear that cross-dressing men are centred in the displays https://t.co/WjVXqGLy3i pic.twitter.com/4hQtXOOvvg

— ripx4nutmeg (@ripx4nutmeg) December 29, 2023

I wouldn’t say the circled bit makes clear that trans women are centered, but that it makes clear they’re included, which of course they shouldn’t be. Men shouldn’t be included in exhibitions about women, because men are not women. You can’t include men in an exhibition that purports to be about women even slightly without diluting it. It’s just really stupid, frankly, to … Read the rest

Today I learned that it’s “insidious” to be not attracted to someone.

Hmmm…

Women realize that homosexual men actually don’t want sex with women.

Who knew!? pic.twitter.com/sIwi7HKVGt

— Miss Gendering (@NoTruthInTrans) December 28, 2023

… Read the rest

When the Mail gets it and “progressives” don’t:

The BBC has been heavily criticised for describing playwright Noel Coward as ‘queer’ amid concerns that the term, ‘reclaimed’ by some in the gay community, is still offensive to many.

A social media post by the BBC Arts account promoting the BBC2 Boxing Day documentary about the actor, singer and composer’s life described him as being ‘queer’ in a ‘very straight world’. The same wording is used on the show’s description on the BBC’s iPlayer.

Critics accused the corporation of using ‘homophobic slurs’ saying Coward was a ‘gay man’, while another said the term ‘queer’ was an ‘insult for most gay men and women’. 

And it’s not for the BBC to err … Read the rest

What is The Birth of a Nation?

D.W. Griffith’s controversial epic 1915 film about the Civil War and Reconstruction depicted the Ku Klux Klan as valiant saviors of a post-war South ravaged by Northern carpetbaggers and freed Black people.

Similar to Gone With the Wind but without spoken dialogue.

History is usually written by the winners. But that wasn’t the case when The Birth of a Nation was released on February 8, 1915. In just over three hours, D.W. Griffith’s controversial epic film about the Civil War and Reconstruction depicted the Ku Klux Klan as valiant saviors of a post-war South ravaged by Northern carpetbaggers and immoral freed Black people. The film was an instant blockbuster. And with innovative

Two more down.

A Confederate monument was taken down in Jacksonville, Fla., on Wednesday, after an order by the city’s mayor ended years of debate, as officials around the United States reckon with memorials on public property that commemorate the Confederacy.

Donna Deegan, the Democratic mayor of Jacksonville, ordered the removal of two statues that were part of the “Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy” monument in Springfield Park.

Does Jacksonville need large heavy three-dimensional tributes to the women of the slave-owning Confedracy?

Ms. Deegan said in a statement on Wednesday that the monument had been erected as part of a campaign to promote discriminatory Jim Crow laws and intimidate Black people.

A campaign that lasted a … Read the rest

Don’t mention the slavery.

Nikki Haley, the Republican presidential candidate and former governor of South Carolina who for years has wrestled with how to approach issues of race, slavery and the Confederacy, found herself again confronted with those subjects at a town hall event on Wednesday in New Hampshire, hundreds of miles north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Her answer to a simple yet loaded question by an audience member in the city of Berlin — “What was the cause of the United States Civil War?” — showed just how much she continues to struggle with such topics.

“I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” she

I watched this scene again yesterday evening (not the whole movie; I came in late) and it struck me how like Trump Colonel Jessup is. Not as flabby and laughable, of course, but every bit as enraged and murderous.… Read the rest