No, feminism is not “about equality” you bonehead. It’s about the fact that we don’t have it, and guess what, you’re a shining example of not getting it.
It’s about the fact that humans have always extrapolated from sexual dimorphism to women are inferior. It’s about the fact that male animals tend to police female animals so as not to be tricked into wasting resources on some other male animal’s offspring. It’s about thousands of years of contempt and suspicion. It’s complicated, and there’s a lot of it. It can’t be summed up with vapid “it’s about equality” from men like you.
JD Vance has weighed in on Donald Trumpâs feud with Pope Leo, effectively telling the pontiff to stay in his lane after the head of the Catholic church criticized the White House over the Iran war.
âIt would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of whatâs going on in the Catholic church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,â the vice-president â a Catholic convert himself â said in an interview on Fox News on Monday night.
But that wouldn’t be the Vatican, hon. The Catholic church sees itself as the boss of all of us, much the way Trump sees himself as the boss of all of us. You’ve got megalomaniacal people and institutions? They’re gonna megalomania.
Vanceâs entrance into the dispute, and loyal defense of his boss, came after Leo responded on Monday by declaring he did not fear the Trump administration, and would continue to âspeak stronglyâ against war, and for peace.
Asked what he made of the episode, which has angered many in Trumpâs evangelical base, Vance tried to brush aside the controversy.
âSometimes weâre going to have disagreements on matters of public policy,â he said.
But how can that be? Trump is divine and never wrong, and the pope is divine and never wrong. Where is there room for disagreements? If you disagree…one of you is wrong. But neither of you can ever be wrong! You know this!
A nurse from south London who was suspended over an alleged breach of a transgender patient’s confidentiality has won a settlement against the NHS trust she works for.
Jennifer Melle from Croydon, was removed from duty after speaking publicly to the media about receiving a warning for using the wrong pronouns.
But of course she used the right pronouns. She was removed from duty after talking to the press about getting a warning for not using the wrong pronouns. Medical professionals are now being bullied and punished into pretending patients are the sex they are not. The malpractice suits must be piling up.
In May 2024, Melle was racially abused by a transgender woman – who was born a biological male – after she addressed them as “Mr”.
Pitiful compromise. BBC refers to one person as “them” by way of splitting the difference between calling him “her” and calling him…er…him.
The 41-year-old was given a written warning at the time and continued in her role, and Epsom and St Helier Hospitals NHS Trust also wrote to the patient to warn them that threatening and racist language was not tolerated.
To warn ___? Who was warned? Oh the patient – so you mean “to warn him” not to warn “them” – aren’t journalists supposed to know the language they are reporting in?
đ¨A whistleblower from @Girlguiding has been in touch.
Volunteers have been instructed that, irrespective of the Supreme Court judgement, boys who identify as girls can use female camp rooms and toilets. Worse still, parents must not be told.
Trump says oh hey now, he wasn’t saying he was Jesus, he was saying he was a doctor.
The image showed President Trump in a white and red robe, commonly used in renderings of Jesus Christ and in scripture prophesying his return. Bright golden light, which is used to depict divine intervention in religious imagery, radiated from Mr. Trumpâs hand as he touched the forehead of a sick man. A woman observed the scene with her hands steepled in prayer.
As he received two bags of a McDonaldâs food delivery to the Oval Office on Monday morning, Mr. Trump told reporters that he did not catch all that religious imagery. He said he had thought the image he had posted to his Truth Social account had depicted him not as Jesus â but as a physician.
Hahahahaha the bags of McDonald’s hahahahachoke. This guy has top class chefs on the government payroll and he orders in McDonald’s. Tells you everything about him.
As a rule, Mr. Trump does not apologize for doing and saying things that hurt or offend people, and officials in his White House characterize his behavior as radically refreshing and transparent.
That could be true. Harsh realities can hurt or offend people who need harsh realities. We know it offends Trump to be told he’s wrong about something. His insults and lies are indeed transparent, but refreshing, not so much.
Oh hooray, the first good news in what feels like years – Orban is out.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, a lodestar for MAGA culture warriors and right-wing populists in Europe, conceded defeat on Sunday in a general election, breaking the momentum of a global nationalist revival promoted by President Trump.
…
Sundayâs vote was widely seen as showdown between friends and foes of liberal democracy, a cause that Mr. Orban has battled against for years to applause from his fans in the United States, Europe and Latin America. The race was closely watched by the Trump administration and the Kremlin, both of which wanted Mr. Orban to win and both of which offered support in his campaign.
The implications of the outcome extend far beyond Hungaryâs borders. The next prime minister may help alter the course of the war in Ukraine, a neighbor that Mr. Orban has cast as an enemy of Hungary, and affect European security. And the results will be looked at by populists around the world who view the Hungarian leader as a model of success and of pugnacious defiance of the mainstream.
…
Long a thorn in the side of E.U. officials in Brussels, Mr. Orban has consistently blocked European assistance to Ukraine, worked to water down sanctions on Russia and presented Ukraine, not Russia, as the principal threat to Europeâs security.
Those positions made him an invaluable ally for the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin.
I went to the other side of the city for a walk along the Lake, and very nice it was. Then I got on the third and last bus of the homeward trip. I sat in the only nearby vacant seat, next to a very beefy man who made no effort to make room for me. This meant I had to kind of wedge myself in, with much more contact with beefy man than I wanted. The result was that he then punched me hard with his elbow. I don’t mean he nudged me, or pushed or leaned sideways, I mean he lifted his arm and slammed me hard.
I yelled “OW!” and he explained that I deserved it for wedging myself in. I said it’s called sitting down in a vacant seat. People nearby stared but said and did nothing. This is life in Trump’s America I guess. I hate Trump’s America.
A new tsar is to be created to tackle growing hatred towards Muslims. The ‘special representative on anti-Muslim hostility’ will be appointed to ‘strengthen understanding, reporting and response’, the Government said.
…
But ministers insisted the new definition would also guarantee ‘the fundamental right to freedom of speech’ amid fears it would create a blasphemy law by the back door.
In other words they tried to hide the fact that they are working to make it illegal to criticize Islam. It won’t fly. You can’t specify a particular religion as under government protection from debate without making it taboo to criticize that religion.
Islam is not like race or sex or place of birth or social status aka class. Islam is a religion, a bunch of rules and taboos in a book written 1400 years ago. The book is intensely hostile to women. How is The Government going to square protecting that hatred of women with its duty to protect the rights and freedoms of women?
Bridget Phillipson has been accused of blocking guidance on upholding womenâs right to single-sex spaces over fears it could damage her career.
Baroness Falkner â who drew up the equality law changes â said Ms Phillipson was putting her âpersonal ambitionâ before her role as women and equalities minister over fears pro-trans backbenchers would scupper any chance of promotion if she publishes the guidance.
Well, you know: it’s a tough call. On the one hand the rights of women and girls, on the other hand one woman’s career.
Lady Falkner, who led the Equality and Human Rights Commission until the end of last year, suggested the Government risked making the same mistake over trans rights as it did with grooming gangs, by failing to take action for fear of upsetting a minority group.
Well, you know, not all “minority groups” should be protected from being “upset”. Murderers are a minority group; so what? Their feelings don’t become the standard of what we can say and do about murder just because they’re a minority group. It’s the same with men who pretend to be women. If they’re taking our stuff and barging into our spaces we get to tell them to stop, no matter how “minority” they are.
Before Lady Falkner left her previous role in November, the EHRC submitted an updated code of practice to Ms Phillipson, instructing businesses and public bodies to ensure that trans women were barred from toilets and changing rooms.
But almost 12 months after the Supreme Courtâs ruling and the updated code being submitted to the Government for sign-off, Ms Phillipson has still not proceeded with its publication, claiming time is needed to get it right.
Men’s desire to invade women’s spaces continues to outweigh women’s desire not to have men invading our spaces – what does that sound like? It sounds rapey. Men blithely ignoring what women want is the main ingredient of rape.
Yeah sure, and they told each other so on their phones.
Subhead:
The Bowes links 19th-century breeching practice to LGBTQIA+ ideology but gender-critical campaigners say it is ârewriting historyâ
Because of course it is. “Gender fluid” was neither a concept nor a condition that 19th century people discussed. They were too busy wishing they had fast cars and Buddy Holly and the internet.
The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham, tells visitors that âgender fluidityâ was a feature of 19th-century childhoods because some boys wore dresses up to the age of eight.
A leaflet produced by the museum claims the fashion trend â known as breeching â was equivalent to the modern phenomenon of gender nonconformity.
Well gender nonconformity is not the same thing as gender fluid. But in any case having small boys wear tunics instead of trousers when a lot of other small boys were doing the same thing is not gender nonconformity, it’s just a minor trend in children’s clothing.
The LGBTQIA+ leaflet is offered to visitors at the museum and art gallery, which opened in 1892, and contains pictures of two boysâ dresses dating to the 19th century.
âItâs often assumed that gender binaries (the classification of gender into two opposing categories: male and female) have always been strictly enforced and that gender fluidity is a recent development,â it reads.
âHowever, this is not true. Throughout history, gender distinctions in childrenâs clothing were less rigid, especially in early childhood.
âBoth boys and girls commonly wore dresses during infancy and toddlerhood for practical reasons.
Yes, for practical reasons – for ease in changing diapers/nappies, to be exact. Being able to put the kid on a flat surface, hoist its bum into the air, remove the used diaper and replace it with a clean one, is obviously simpler if you don’t have to undo buttons or zippers and then peel the garment down the legs, trying not to smear poop everywhere. It’s all about the poop. (For more see: dogs, passim.) It’s not about “gender”. It‘s about poop.
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, told The Telegraph: âThe idea that Victorian children were âgender fluidâ because of practicalities relating to clothing is absolute nonsense.
âThe so-called âopposing categoriesâ of male and female, as the museum puts it, are to do with biology and have nothing to do with little boys wearing dresses instead of trousers because elastic was a brand new invention and not widely used.”
Elastic. Good old Victorians. Imagine not having elastic! We wouldn’t have sweatpants. I couldn’t stand not having sweatpants. I hasten to assure you I don’t wear them in public, but at home I live in them. Jeans are too cold on the legs. That too is not a genner idenniny choice, it’s a practical one.
Like fragile strongmen everywhere, Donald Trump wants to plaster his name and likeness in as many official places as possible.
Toxic narcissism has led Trump on a crusade to rebrand navy ships, federal buildings, and international airports in his own honor, as well as to splash his face on everything from immigration documents to national park passes to banners draped outside of federal department headquarters. If Trump gets his way, heâll soon get his face on a gold coin, his signature on U.S. currency, and â who knows â maybe even an NFL stadium named for him.
The currency is a good deal more outrageous than the stadium.
If you want to vacation a Americaâs crown jewel national parks youâll now have to contend with Trump scowling at you every time you flash your America the Beautiful annual pass. (Trump also announced free admission to parks on his birthday, while revoking free admission on Martin Luther King Jr. day and Juneteenth, because racism.)
On my way. I will be speaking at Cardiff. I will be appropriately contemptuous of a Government which ignores for so long the judgment of the Supreme Court and thus empowers the worst kind of men to threaten us with hammers for not doing as we are told.
These men are the establishment. Led by men such as Jolyon Maugham who promise us men with balaclavas and hammers if we wonât get in line. These men exist because of the cowardice of our Government. I am so glad to see you here today. This is a direct threat to womenâs safety, dignity and the rule of law. We need to keep saying NO.
But renderings of the arch, submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts in advance of its discussion of the project Thursday, refer to it as the Triumphal Arch. And it will be as big as feared â 250 feet high â larger than arches of antiquity, taller even than ghastly monuments to authoritarian triumphalism, including the victory arch in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Of course. What’s the point of it if it’s not bigger than everyone else’s? Big dick, big brain, big arch – whatever. It all has to be the biggest.
It is an insult to the men and women who risk their lives toprotect democracy, who have fought in wars against fascism, who have actually achieved victory rather than merely declared and celebrated it. Its symbolism is borrowed and confused, and it will block a sacred vista that connects the Lincoln Memorial to the final resting place of the Civil War dead, and veterans from every major war and conflict this country has fought.
It will be grandiose and ugly, in line with everything Trump does and with Trump himself.
The main body of the arch will rise 166 feet from an elevated base. Atop that will be a 60-foot-tall gilded statue that looks like an AI-mash-up of the Statue of Liberty holding a torch and the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, resembling in its glittering ostentation the statue atop a victory column in Mexico City erected by the brutal dictator Porfirio DĂaz in 1910. The design of the arch is a little simpler than some of the more garish proposals Trump floated earlier. Gigantic Corinthian columns have been removed, and there are no longer gilded statues in the niches on the two main supporting legs.
But there is no lack of gilding in other places, including the ornamental relief on the face of the attic, with lettering spelling out âOne Nation Under Godâ and âLiberty and Justice For All,â and on the four sculpted lions that flank the arch.
But “one nation under god” contradicts “liberty and justice for all”. It’s neither liberty nor justice to impose a dictator god on 350 million people. I don’t consider myself “under god”; it’s not liberty or justice to enroll people in such a theology from the top down.
The Interior Department has submitted renderings of President Trump’s proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, showing that the structure would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial across the Potomac River.
The proposal calls for the arch to be roughly 250 feet tall, more than twice as high as the 99-foot tall Lincoln Memorial. It would be the tallest triumphal arch in the world, like the president said he wanted, roughly 30 feet taller than the Plaza de la RepĂşblica in Mexico City.
As he said he wanted, you mean.
Anyway, let’s not. Let’s not do that. Let’s not add yet more oversized vulgar tat to DC just because Trump wants to.
American taxpayers will help fund the construction of the arch, according to the spending plan for the National Endowment for the Humanities released by the administration earlier this week.Â
Don’t want to.
The president said he wants the arch to be the “biggest one of all” in the world. The proposed site is situated along a flight path for nearby Reagan National Airport, raising questions about it might affect planes’ approach.
Or, as the peasants say, about how it might affect planes’ approach.
Anyway, how about no. Enough already. He’s trashed the Kennedy Center and the Rose Garden and the East Wing of the White House; basta.
We were made aware of concerns regarding an upcoming private booking within the last 24 hours. After fast-tracking our usual internal processes and careful consideration, we have concluded that the event will not proceed.
Stroud Brewery is committed to being a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for everyone. Our values guide every booking, and we take community concerns seriously. This decision reflects our commitment to ensuring that all members of our community feel respected and safe.
It’s almost funny. Almost. Our commitment to ensuring that all members of our community feel respected and safe EXCEPT THE ONES WHO WANTED TO HEAR THESE SPEAKERS.
In other words they’re trying to square the circle. We love our communinny, we love everyone in our communinny, we are nice lovable kind enlightened compassionate people, EXCEPT of course when it comes to those evil people who fail to believe that men can be women. Those people we hate and want to harm. Aren’t we lovely?
One comment from Team Cancel Them:
Thanks for flagging this – it does look like the author of the book holds views that would make members of our community feel extremely unwelcome which isnât what the brewery is about at all (and why I love it so much as a space!)
Appreciate itâs a private booking, but the brewery is such a community space I think it would send the wrong message to allow the event to go ahead. It could taint the otherwise inclusive and welcoming feeling we all love.
Really glad youâre taking this seriously x
Oh that inclusive and welcoming feeling we all love – we all having the identical thoughts and knowledge that we all have, which empowers us to shun and banish people who have different thoughts and knowledge. That is the true incloosivity we practice.
Allowing and enabling a forum where people can gather and discuss their exclusatory views about how their opinions are more important than others wellbeing is not good community spirit. Well done stroud brewery for holding your inclusive policies and actively demonstrating your support for historically marginalised groups
Well done Stroud Brewery for cancelling a talk, there is nothing more incloosive than cancelling a talk by people who know that men are not women.
Many of the comments echo this rather blatant contradiction.
Just in case it mysteriously vanishes later, hereâs the post in which Stroud Brewery explicitly state that their reason for cancelling the booking is the speakersâ views on gender. https://t.co/njrEbCDBq3pic.twitter.com/ANql8fn6kL
I'm extremely thrilled to be hosting @robjessel16 and @jo_bartosch in Parliament in a couple of weeks to talk about their book. They won't be cancelled, and will be able to discuss their work directly with Parliamentarians. Shame on others too weak to host them. https://t.co/B0VFABTtSK
You’ll NEVER guess what kind of “community concerns” the brewery means. You’ll never guess what kind of people are being made to feel respected and safe at the expense of which other kind of people, who are being made to feel disrespected and silenced.
Working backward in time, here are the answers to those questions.
Male players. The problem is not that they’re transgender but that they’re men. If they’re women who don’t dope then they’re not banned, whatever they claim to be or idennify as.
Noa-Lynn van Leuven, a transgender competitor, has described the decision as âhuge hit for the trans communityâ, with the ruling coming into force immediately
A male transgender competitor.
Transgender players have been banned from womenâs darts tournaments after the sportâs regulatory authority ruled that only biological females will be allowed to compete.
The new policy, which comes into force immediately, means Noa-Lynn van Leuven, a Dutch transgender player who has won several womenâs tournaments, will no longer be able to compete in them. She said the decision by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) was âa huge hit for the trans communityâ.
He said. And it’s not a hit, it’s a reversal of what should never have happened in the first place. If he weren’t a greedy ruthless cheat he would know that.
In a Facebook video reacting to the decision, a tearful Van Leuven, 29, said: âApparently I am going to have to retire as Iâm no longer allowed to compete.”
Wah. Now think about how the women feel.
âI have worked so damn hard for years just to get here. I respected the sport, and now Iâm being told I just donât belong. Every day it is getting harder and harder for trans people to exist.â
Nonsense. Competing in a women’s sport despite being a man is not necessary to anyone’s existence.
