The Telegraph reports:

The Society of Authors has been “lost” to cancel culture, members fear, after free speech rebels failed to oust the current chairman in a row over gender ideology.

It can be confusing trying to pick out who is for free speech and who is for cancel culture in this dispute. Joanne Harris was exercising her free speech when she used the violent attack on Salman Rushdie to sneer at JK Rowling, but critics see her sneering as an abuse of her role as chairman.

The UK’s largest writers’ union has faced an internal revolt over claims it has not properly defended gender-critical authors from being “cancelled” if they do not agree with prevailing opinions.

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I can’t help finding the Elon Musk car crash funny. Dude bounces in shouting threats and insults at his employees and guess what, most of them quit.

Twitter has told employees that the company’s office buildings will be temporarily closed, with immediate effect. In a message seen by the BBC, workers were told that the offices would reopen on Monday 21 November. It did not give a reason for the move.

The announcement comes amid reports that large numbers of staff were quitting after new owner Elon Musk called on them to sign up for “long hours at high intensity” or leave.

And they said “We’re already working long hours at high intensity so fuck you, we’re out.” Musk’s only … Read the rest

Well that’s one way to get away with murder: become a Head of State.

The US has determined that Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – has immunity from a lawsuit filed by murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancé.

…

[I]n court filings, the US State department said he has immunity due to his new role as Saudi prime minister.

So if you’re a murderer the thing to do is get a new role as prime minister.

It was always highly unlikely that the US, as Saudi Arabia’s strategic partner and arms supplier, was ever going to facilitate the arrest of MBS. But granting him immunity in this way will cause some relief in the

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Joanne Harris remains.

The novelist Joanne Harris has seen off an attempt to remove her from a leading position at the UK’s largest trade union for writers, illustrators and translators, after members comprehensively backed her in a vote.

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In a vote of its members at its AGM, held online, a resolution to unseat Harris as chair of the Society of Authors management committee fell by 608 votes to 143. It represented 81% of voters backing her.

Too bad. She seems very unpleasant to me – bratty, sneery, flippant, and a bully.

The move to oust Harris followed a row earlier this year over her response to the stabbing of Salman Rushdie in New York state. The Booker prize-winning

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Billy Bragg says those evil women caused harassment of trans people to increase, doubters asked for evidence, he produced “people said.”

Individuals have the right to say and believe whatever they want. But they don't have the right to do so with impunity. Words have consequences, as the students at Cambridge well understand. When Helen Joyce spoke there, harassment of trans people went up.

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) November 17, 2022

https://t.co/eCXqXyulvp pic.twitter.com/81HHicfIz4

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) November 17, 2022

Several students said. Hearsay Your Honour. Also what was the baseline? Also, we know from long irritating experience that many trans activists call any kind of disagreement or skepticism “harassment,” so no, “several trans students have reported” doesn’t add up … Read the rest

The vacuous smug bullies are out in force today.

BREAKING: person arguing in favour of right to offend is offended that others take offence at things she has said. pic.twitter.com/olyPvGHvne

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) November 17, 2022

Only Kathleen didn’t say anything about being “offended.”

Hi Kathleen, could you clear up something that has been a matter of debate in this thread? What exactly is it that you're tired of?

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) November 17, 2022

Condescending shits like Billy Bragg probably.

https://twitter.com/Amandycat/status/1593308046184390658

Amanda Brunton calls Stock names and urges people to go protest her talk, then whines about people talking back. Solidarity forever wot wot?… Read the rest

The people they hire at Cambridge these days. Good grief.

https://twitter.com/Amandycat/status/1593171664589983744

Childish as well as censorious.

https://twitter.com/Amandycat/status/1593287439434539010… Read the rest

It’s right there on the sign – votes for WOMEN.

https://twitter.com/FrancesW05/status/1593252510428299264… Read the rest

Today in women’s prison news:

A prisoner who identifies as a woman – despite having the physicality of a tall man – battered a fellow inmate in the male wing of a Scottish jail after being made the subject of “comments” by other lags, a court heard on Wednesday.

Having the physicality of a tall man=being a man. He has the physicality of a tall man because he is one.

Katie Dolatowski, 22, a convicted paedophile who sexually assaulted a 10 year old girl in a Fife supermarket, was serving a sentence in Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution for physical assault.

Let’s pause to notice this. He’s a tall man who assaulted a ten year old girl. He’s not … Read the rest

And a pony.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced the launch of a new guaranteed income program for the city’s transgender community on Wednesday.

Why? Why them in particular? Why not people who need it rather than a particular “community”?

The Guaranteed Income for Trans People (GIFT) Program will provide low-income transgender residents with $1,200 each month, up to 18 months to help address financial insecurity within the community.

Why?

The city also said that the new pilot program is the first guaranteed income initiative to focus solely on transgender people and will provide 55 eligible participants with temporary income. Additionally, the city said it will provide the same individuals with “wrap-around” direct services, such as gender-affirming medical and

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Man explains how indifferent he is to women and their petty selfish desire to compete in sports against other women:

Australia’s most successful male Olympian Ian Thorpe has hit back at [criticized] a decision by international swimming’s governing body Fina to ban transgender women athletes from elite female competitions.

The swimming great, who won five gold medals at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games, said the sport’s leaders had made the wrong decision.

“This is a very complicated issue, I can’t deny that, and I am personally opposed to the position Fina has taken on this,” he said. “I am for fairness in sport, but I’m also for equality in sport. And in this instance, they’ve actually got

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I went for an explore this afternoon, and on the way home I experienced the following:

• On the return leg of the trip I transferred to a different bus downtown, and as it arrived and I made for it there was a woman lying on the sidewalk seizing. People were approaching her so I didn’t stop, and anyway there’s always a heavy police presence in the area because it’s an open air drug den. A block away is the McDonalds where there was a mass shooting a few years ago.
• I sat on the first front-facing seat and a woman sat in front of me in the side-facing seat. She had a paper bag from which she took some fired

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They’re not taking it lying down.

We are astonished that @Eventbrite has cancelled our book launch for @K_IngalaSmith's Defending Women's Spaces due to take place on 24 Nov with @bindelj, unbelievably citing violation of their policy on Hateful, Dangerous, or Violent Content! #DefendingWomensSpaces pic.twitter.com/vASyDNXJ7j

— Woman’s Place UK (@Womans_Place_UK) November 16, 2022

All donations (including fees) have been refunded to donors by Eventbrite. Anyone who wishes to donate to @Womans_Place_UK can do so directly here -> https://t.co/v3X9UO70zE #DefendingWomensSpaces

— Woman’s Place UK (@Womans_Place_UK) November 16, 2022

You can also pre-order a copy for yourself here #DefendingWomensSpaces https://t.co/3ITh1pkkkK

— Woman’s Place UK (@Womans_Place_UK) November 16, 2022

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Anthony Zurcher at the Beeb tells us some ways Trump won’t find it such a doddle this time. There’s all the legal jeopardy for instance.

The former president is currently defending himself against a criminal election-tampering inquiry in Georgia, a civil fraud case targeting his business empire in New York, a defamation lawsuit involving a sexual assault allegation, and federal probes into his role in the Capitol attack and his post-presidential handling of classified material.

That’s five separate items. Bit of a drawback in a chief exec, maybe.

Also Ron DeSantis, unfortunately, is not Jeb Bush.

Above all…they don’t love him any more.

According to exit polls from the recently concluded midterm elections, Mr Trump is simply not very

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

It makes one wonder how many other officials and officers with the Scottish government feel it is incumbent upon them to police women in this way. How much of the machinery of government has been reprogrammed to automatically, unquestioningly defend the gender virus that has invaded it? Some Americans are concerned with courts “legislating from the bench.” Well in Scotland, they’ve skipped all that; trans-activism’s extra-legal infiltration has reached down to the committee level, so we have “legislation from the security guard.” How much of this shit has gone on that we don’t know about, that has not been commented upon publicly? If they get away with it, it … Read the rest

There are no women – women don’t exist – it’s all been a misunderstanding. There are people, and there are men, and there are trans women – but there are no women.

The word “woman” could be erased from specialist NHS clinics dealing with female health issues under proposed new transgender inclusivity rules.

That should improve health care for women (for what?) out of all recognition.

A report proposing new NHS treatment guidelines in Scotland suggests “a general move away from gendered healthcare” and warns that trans people are put off attending services if they are targeted at a certain sex.

Are women put off if services are not targeted at a specific sex? Could such a policy mislead … Read the rest

Here we go again.

An event later this month:

https://t.co/lsE1OFfxkx https://t.co/lsE1OFfxkx

— Woman’s Place UK (@Womans_Place_UK) November 14, 2022

But wait. Before you pencil it in on your calendar –

@bindelj

— Anya Palmer (@anyabike) November 16, 2022

This book launch has just been cancelled by Eventbright because it goes against their 'community standards' or some such bollox. I hope they don't think they are going to get away with it?https://t.co/pqX6bpqJyB

— Julie Bindel (@bindelj) November 16, 2022

What do I find when I click on the event?

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The wonders of social media:

Andrew Tate says women belong in the home, can’t drive, and are a man’s property.

He also thinks rape victims must “bear responsibility” for their attacks and dates women aged 18–19 because he can “make an imprint” on them, according to videos posted online.

In other clips, the British-American kickboxer – who poses with fast cars, guns and portrays himself as a cigar-smoking playboy – talks about hitting and choking women, trashing their belongings and stopping them from going out.

“It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up bitch,” he says in one video, acting out how he’d attack a woman if she accused him

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Has Trump started to bore even The Base?

In the least surprising news of the year, a low-energy Donald Trump announced that he is running for president again last night. The speech itself was also predictable, hitting the traditional authoritarian and nativist favorites. We heard about the “invasion” at the border and “radical Democrats” in the White House, all spiced up with the usual combination of self-complimenting anecdotes and self-serving lies that we have come to expect from the former president.

In other words we’ve seen this movie before. Seeing as how it’s not exactly Casablanca or Doctor Strangelove, we’re not particularly excited about seeing it again.

What was much more interesting was the almost complete absence of prominent Republicans

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Martina has a finely honed sense of humor.

All true… ROFLMAO pic.twitter.com/2tLSs3Ipp9

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) November 16, 2022

The photo is courtesy of Princess Ivanka’s Instagram, and there’s widespread hilarity at the fact that she cropped out Junior’s Fox News Lady who was on Princess’s left wearing black.

But the family values joke is interesting as well as funny. It’s sort of a family photo from King Don’s harem. Having them pose together is…odd, isn’t it? I don’t get out much so I don’t really know, but is it usual for wedding photos to have that harem vibe? Is it usual to put the current sex toy in the photo along with the previous one? If Ivana hadn’t fallen … Read the rest