Lady Mondegreen offered me a comment she made elsewhere as a guest post and I snapped it up.

If you insist that the meaning of woman can no longer be tied to biological sex (“a woman is an adult female human being,” where “female” means “body which produces egg rather than sperm cells,” or “body which most closely resembles those had by egg-producers,”) then how do you define it?

I’ve been told that a woman is “a person who identifies as a woman,” a circular definition that reduces “woman” to a self-chosen “identity.” It says nothing about why anyone would choose to be a woman. It also erases millions of women who never chose their identity as women, and certainly … Read the rest

A friend of mine wondered about a targeted ad on Facebook, an ad so absurd I couldn’t believe it’s not a parody.

The guy from the Dos Equis ad, saying

  I don’t always buy candles

  but when I do I buy man candles.

Then a picture of a black jar holding a candle with exploding flames behind it.

SCENTED CANDLES MADE BY MEN, FOR MEN.

Scent is the first thing people notice and leaves a lasting impression. Make sure it’s a good one. Smoulder Wolf candles will ensure your place smells incredible, without the overpowering feminine scents from your typical scented candle.

So I had to know – is it parody or is it really that level of jackassery? I … Read the rest

More from Hebden Bridge, via the HB website.

The main road through the town during the flood:

Guys from a mosque in Halifax coming to help with the Hebden Bridge clean-up.

Photo: Ron Taylor

Aamir Mahmood wrote that “The lovely people of Mylthmroyd and Hebden Bridge were very welcoming. They have been working tirelessly days and nights to restore their homes following the flood damage. We can not take the pain and suffering away, but we can certainly stand by you and do our bits to get you through it. This beautiful community will be back to its normal very soon.”

My guess is that actually they do help take some of the pain away.… Read the rest

Reuters reports:

Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi’ite Muslim cleric and dozens of al Qaeda members on Saturday, signaling it would not tolerate attacks, whether by Sunni jihadists or minority Shi’ites, and stirring sectarian anger across the region.

When in doubt, kill lots of people.

Most of the 47 killed in the kingdom’s biggest mass execution for decades were Sunnis convicted of al Qaeda attacks in Saudi Arabia a decade ago. Four, including Nimr, were Shi’ites accused of involvement in shooting policemen.

The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading. In December, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula threatened to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for any execution of

Now that’s a fireworks photo.

… Read the rest

The Independent a few days ago:

Isis has released a fatwa detailing how and when its fighters can rape female sex slaves – “one of the inevitable consequences of jihad”.

The document, drawn up by the terrorist group’s “Committee of Research and Fatwas”, was revealed by Reuters news agency after being discovered among a huge trove of documents seized by US special forces in Syria.

…

The fatwa on female slaves, which could not be independently verified, was apparently released in response to a question on unspecified “violations” by Isis fighters owning female slaves.

It lists 15 rulings, which go into explicit detail prohibiting intercourse if a slave is menstruating or is pregnant, and banning forced

I’m wondering something.

You know “All Lives Matter”? That infuriating retort to Black Lives Matter? That maddeningly clueless, point-missing, pugnacious attempt to say shut up about racism?

Here’s a fresh new one just today, from the Elko Daily, by someone named Chuck Muth:

I know I shouldn’t write this – and I know I’m going to bring down the wrath of the Thought Police and the race-hustlers upon my head – but I’m sick and tired of this white-hating “black lives matter” crud and ain’t gonna take it anymore.

You know right where you are with that kind of thing, don’t you. You know to turn around and walk briskly away.

You know that “Black Lives Matter” is absolutely … Read the rest

Paul Krugman on the impact of money on character.

Wealth can be bad for your soul. That’s not just a hoary piece of folk wisdom; it’s a conclusion from serious social science, confirmed by statistical analysis and experiment. The affluent are, on average, less likely to exhibit empathy, less likely to respect norms and even laws, more likely to cheat, than those occupying lower rungs on the economic ladder.

Especially in a place like the US, where getting rich is seen as evidence if not downright proof of merit.

Modern America is a society in which a growing share of income and wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people, and these people have

Ensaf Haidar says Raif’s health is deteriorating.

Ensaf Haidar, who was granted asylum in Canada with the couple’s three children, said on Thursday that she hoped her husband would end a hunger strike he had initiated more than 20 days ago to protest against his transfer to a different prison in Saudi Arabia.

A member of Amnesty International in Canada and a spokeswoman for the Canadian government both said they were unable to confirm the hunger strike.

…

“I am very worried about him,” Ms Haidar said on Thursday. “His health, both physical and mental, is very poor.”

She said she last spoke with her husband two weeks ago, and had been kept informed of Mr Badawi’s condition by

Gosh, really?

The Rationaliser ‏@TheRationaliser 8 hours ago
@RichardDawkins Out of curiosity, do you think your gender/colour/class has given you privilege in your life?

Richard Dawkins ‏@RichardDawkins 8 hours ago
@TheRationaliser I don’t know, but my first class education probably has.

Really? He doesn’t know? At all?

I get that the word “privilege” gets thrown around too much, and has become both stale and belligerent, but none of that means that there is nothing to it at all. How can Dawkins simply not know if his being male and white and upper middle class has given him any privilege?

How, for instance, does he think he came by his first class education? The very label – first class – acknowledges … Read the rest

TIME magazine lists some people and institutions that have cut ties with Bill Cosby.

Spelman College. In July, the historically black women’s college discontinued its endowed professorship with Cosby, who donated $20 million in 1988. The school had suspended the program in 2014 before terminating it completely.

CAA. The comedian’s talent agency, which had represented him since 2012, dropped him in late 2014.

New York University. In September, university officials removed“William H. Cosby” from the title of its Future Filmmakers Workshop.

NBC ditched a sitcom. A cable network dropped Cosby Show reruns.

Drexel University. The Philadelphia school revoked Cosby’s honorary degree in November.

The University of Pittsburgh. “Based on a unanimous recommendation from the University Committee for honorary degree

His special barbecue sauce.

… Read the rest

A popular tweet:

Shari VanderWerf ‏@shariv67 11 hours ago
Excuse me, sir. Do you have a minute to talk about global warming?

Cosby has been to court for his arraignment.

Judge Elizabeth McHugh ordered him to surrender his passport and to avoid contact with Ms. Constand.

Judge McHugh concluded the proceeding after about 15 minutes by saying, “Good luck to you, sir.” He replied, “Thank you.” He will remain free on bail of $1 million.

Mr. Cosby then headed to the Cheltenham Township Police Department to be fingerprinted and to have a photographs taken. A small gathering of people outside shouted, “You’re a monster” and “Shame on you” as he walked into the station. He said nothing.

I’m wondering if this will play out the way the OJ Simpson case did. The other day at the local branch library I happened … Read the rest

Maajid Nawaz expands on his thoughts about “wear hijab day.”

Simply wearing a headscarf on World Hijab Day falls terribly short of our moral responsibility. It is, after all, being called World Hijab Day. So, it is not only Western Muslim women who must be considered here, but the millions of Muslim women who live under theocracies around the world, for whom World Hijab Day is enforced every single day, and for the rest of their lives.

That’s why I would never in a million years wear any form of hijab.

Did these non-Muslim women—indulging their Orientalist fetish by covering their heads—not stop to consider for one moment that their counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and under Taliban or

Monday I mentioned a BBC photo of a heartbreakingly huge pile of full bin-bags outside a bookshop in Hebden Bridge. Today I read in the Guardian:

Authors including Jon Ronson and Ian Rankin have joined efforts to help a bookshop badly hit by the floods that have swept the north of England. The Book Case in the West Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge was one of the businesses in the town wrecked when the town was hit by the severe rain battering the region.

Sam Missingham, head of events at publisher HarperCollins, and Yorkshire-based husband-and-wife author team Bob and Carol Bridgestock, who write crime fiction as RC Bridgestock, have been lobbying authors to provide signed copies of