It’s always hate women day at Number 10.

A drag queen who criticised JK Rowling over her views on trans people was invited to celebrate Burns Night at No 10.

Sir Keir Starmer was pictured alongside Lawrence Chaney, a former winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, in an event Downing Street said was intended to “honour the life and legacy” of Scotland’s national bard.

Starmer wanted to celebrate Burns so he invited a mockery of women to help the celebrating. It’s funny how men like Starmer don’t invite blackface comedians to help them celebrate things, but they do think it’s just fine to invite womanface comedians to do that. Women don’t matter, is that it? Women are obviously inferior so … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Down is up.

This important statement details why a sex based approach to violence against women is problematic.

Anything other than a sex based approach to violence against women endangers women and girls you idiot. It’s only “problematic” if you insist on “including” people who don’t belong, i.e. men. A clear boundary is only a problem for those who wish to blur it in order to violate it. Why do you hate women so much, Sally? Why do you find it more important to placate men than protect women?

A girl or woman is anyone who has lived experience as a girl or woman, or identifies as a girl

Jane Clare Jones on Musk’s Nazi salute and the quarrels over whether it was or was not a Nazi salute.

There seems to be a common conviction among several commentators in and around the anti-woke sphere that Elon Musk’s ‘awkward gesture’ at Trump’s inauguration on Monday could not possibly have been a Nazi salute and that anyone who thinks it was is probably a) stupid b) nuts or c) a sanctimonious virtue-signalling wanker posturing for woke-points. I find this easy dismissal troubling. 

There’s a lot of that kind of thing around. I think the Left has lost its tiny mind when it comes to women and trans ideology, but thinking that doesn’t make me think Elon Musk couldn’t possibly be … Read the rest

Rape Crisis Scotland still crapping on women.

Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS), the organisation which provides support to rape victims, has published new guidance on how it defines a woman – saying that this is anyone who self-identifies as one.

The new document, called Draft Guidance On Protected Spaces For RCS Member Centres, says a woman can also be “someone whose sex at birth was assigned as female and lives as a woman”.

Oh gee, thanks for the permish. A woman can be a woman, but it’s second-best; the ideal kind of woman is the male kind.

The document, which has taken almost a year to prepare, aims to set out detailed guidance on the provision of women-only spaces within

Norwegians don’t mess around.

Late on Monday night, in the bright sunlit tundra of the South Pole, another record is broken as 21-year-old Norwegian Karen Kyllesø stepped past the line of national flags and stood next to the red and white striped pole representing the southernmost point on Planet Earth.

After just under 54 days of trekking 702 miles through no man’s land, Kyllesø became the youngest person ever to reach the South Pole on Skis, solo and without assistance.

Not too shabby.

That’s the one that Scott and four of his men died trying to reach first. Amundsen and his team got there ahead of him and without casualties – on skis. Scott and his team didn’t use … Read the rest

Sally Hines is a menace to women.

This important statement details why a sex based approach to violence against women is problematic.

Deadline to sign Monday 27 Jan

SIGN ON: Joint Statement Concerning the Call for Input by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls https://t.co/QRiKNHtyNt

— Sally Hines (@sally_hines) January 26, 2025

… Read the rest

The Guardian has a detailed backgrounder on Trump’s confusion plus lying about California v water.

On his first day in office, Trump directed the secretary of commerce and the secretary of the interior to develop a new plan that will “route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply”.

Cool plan, but then what to do about the people who will desperately need a reliable water supply after Trump “fixes” things?

In a memorandum titled “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California”, Trump directed the agencies to reprise the efforts of his first administration, which challenged

Dear god.

I’ve figured it out. It’s the map. On the map the Pacific Northwest is “above” California – so Trump thinks that means it’s literally above it – like, at the top of a slope that runs from Vancouver down to Malibu. He thinks he could get on a skateboard in Vancouver and just roll on down to Santa Monica without once having to kick.

Trump: "I'm signing an executive order to open up the pumps and valves in the north. We want to get that water pouring down here as quickly as possible … you're talking about unlimited water coming up from the Pacific Northwest, even coming from parts of Canada." pic.twitter.com/4tn5K8RaXt

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 25,

No more fire, the water next time.

Weekend rains threaten to trigger dangerous mudslides in hillside communities leveled by Southern California wildfires in the last two weeks.

The National Weather Service forecasts up to 1.5 inches of rain starting as early as Saturday morning. The precipitation could help firefighters combat new blazes across Southern California—but even a small amount of rain could cause mud and debris to course down steep slopes laid bare by the Eaton and Palisades fires. 

And 1.5 inches is not a small amount of rain.

California’s normal rainy season continues through March, with February the wettest month of the year. Now, dry and burned soil stripped of its native chaparral and grasses forms a

The Washington Post on the purge:

The White House late Friday fired the independent inspectors general of at least 14 major federal agencies in a purge that could clear the way for President Donald Trump to install loyalists in the crucial role of identifying fraud, waste and abuse in the government.

Which is kind of a bad idea from the point of view of wanting fraud, waste and abuse prevented. What you want in people identifying fraud, waste and abuse is not personal loyalty but disinterested dedication and skill.

The dismissals appeared to violate federal law, which requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire a Senate-confirmed inspector general.

Which tells us that Trump is … Read the rest

It gets more terrifying with every headline. There are no guardrails.

Trump fires inspectors general from more than a dozen federal agencies

In theory he’s not allowed to do that – the whole point is that they’re independent. In reality, he does whatever he wants. There are no guardrails.

During Trump’s first term, he gutted his administration of independent government watchdogs he saw as disloyal. An IG conducts investigations and audits into any potential malfeasance, fraud, waste or abuse by a government agency or its personnel, and issues reports and recommendations on its findings. An IG office is intended to operate independently.

Which it can’t do if the presider can just bounce up and fire them all.

Partly in reaction

So the BBC just outright lies now. I thought there were rules against outright lies in journalism – professional code of conduct, that kind of thing. But there’s this story from last month headlined Former police worker charged with firearm offences that simply lies from beginning to end, from

Zoe Watts, who had worked as a police community support officer for more than eight years, was arrested after armed police were called to her home in Lincoln on Wednesday

to

The 38-year-old, of St Helen’s Avenue, did not enter any pleas when she appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Friday and has been remanded into custody until 13 January when she is due to appear at Lincoln Crown Court.

without … Read the rest

This is such terrible reporting.

NHS Fife nurse allowed to call trans doctor a man during employment tribunal

Trans doctor? So this is someone with no medical training who idennifies as a doctor?

Subhead: Kirkcaldy nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended by the health board when she complained about sharing a changing room with Dr Beth Upton.

Let me guess – this “trans doctor” is a man pretending to be a woman and his name hasn’t always been “Beth” – am I right?

Note to journalists: it’s malpractice to tell all these lies. Stop doing it.

A nurse suing NHS Fife will be allowed to refer to the transgender doctor at the centre of the row as a man during an

New head of state shuts down the branch of government that works to protect public health. Good plan.

Health officials and experts said this week they are reeling after the new Trump administration on Tuesday abruptly halted external communication at the Department of Health and Human Services and its agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. The pause extends through Feb. 1, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post. The Trump administration also issued a second order indefinitely halting the travel of HHS personnel, according to a second memo obtained by The Post.

Sure because who needs health? Or disease control? Or disease prevention? Those are just liberal frivolities. What … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? at Miscellany Room.

Ontario’s Conservatives have called an early election, more than a year sooner than would be expected of a party with a majority in the legislature. The reason? Trump’s tariffs, which will have a serious impact on the Canadian economy as a whole, along with Ontario. Here’s Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli talking about the reasoning behind the call, and the importance of Canadian trade for the US economy:

At one point in this clip, Fideli recounts a meeting he had with Newt Gingrich, who explained that what one has to do when dealing with Trump is to find out what he really wants, and give him something that … Read the rest

Dana Milbank at the Post assures us that it’s much worse than we think.

The crush of vindictive, cruel, unconstitutional and just plain bonkers orders and actions coming from the restored Trump administration in its first week makes even the worst-case predictions look conservative.

…

NBC News’s Peter Alexander asked Trump about why he had just pardoned D.J. Rodriguez, who shocked a police officer with a stun gun at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and later boasted that he “tazzzzed the f— out of the blue.” The judge who sentenced Rodriguez to more than 12 years called him a “one-man army of hate, attacking police.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Trump replied. “Was it a pardon?”

Alexander reiterated

Trump has a great new plan: let’s just get rid of disaster relief altogether! Real Ummairikkns don’t need any help with anything, so just let them get on with it while we eat peanuts and watch.

President Donald Trump, on a tour of two states reeling in recent months from hurricanes and wildfires, pledged on Friday to upend how the country has responded for decades to natural disasters, saying that he wants to eliminate FEMA and threatening to withhold federal assistance to California unless it passes a new voter ID law.

Also: new rule: if you get sick, you can’t have medical attention. Incentive to make you stay healthy, see? Also saves $$, which will go into Trump’s … Read the rest

Cathy Young on Trump and DEI:

Trump’s DEI and affirmative action ban has received at least partially positive reviews not only from the MAGA right and the anti-woke commentariat but from liberal centrists like Matt Yglesias and Noah Smith (“an idea whose time has probably come”) and even some leftists who regard DEI as feelgood corporate flimflam.

These reactions reflect the fact that diversity programs in the workplace and on campus have come under intensive criticism in recent years, both for enforcing progressive groupthink and for substituting pseudo-progressive verbiage for meaningful change.

That’s an interesting point. Verbiage is such a convenient alternative to actually doing something. It’s also a necessary first step, but still – there is a lot … Read the rest

Oh really?

"We don't have a mechanism to really capture and value the damage of male violence and of misogyny."

Trade union leader Jo Grady believes an 'epidemic of misogyny' is partly to blame for the Southport attack and should be addressed in the public inquiry. #Newsnight pic.twitter.com/JJpgDoFwuk

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) January 23, 2025

Trade union leader Jo Grady is also a ferocious defender of trans ideology, so how does that work exactly? How can anyone burble about the damage of male violence and misogyny while also demonizing and punishing women who refuse to agree that men are women if they say they are?

Anyone can’t. It isn’t possible.

Trump is going to California to turn the water on.

It will be Trump’s first presidential trip since his return to office, and it will be to a state with Democratic leaders he has repeatedly blamed for persistent blazes, arguing that wildlife protections have impeded access to water.

Speaking to reporters before departing the White House on Friday, Trump said the fires “could have been put out,” but “they still haven’t for whatever reason.”

“It would be fine if they turned the water on,” Trump said. 

Those California hippies are so silly, not turning the water on. Maybe they’re too stoned to find the tap.

Trump spent much of an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday railing