Helen Joyce replies to Pipps and Andy:

Dear Pippa and Andrew (if I may),

Well they did say their poison letter was from Pippa and Andrew, so I think we all may, and especially Helen may, being as how she is the target of their venom.

I’m writing to respond to your ignorant and insulting characterisation of me to Caius students and academics, which you must have known would be shared more widely and then become public. [The text of that email is appended to this post.]

I am of course sadly used to people who should know better—people with high-profile posts in great academic institutions—making a show of defending free speech, open debate and academic standards out of

… Read the rest

Ewan Somerville at the Telegraph takes a cold hard look at that letter from “Pippa and Andrew”:

A Cambridge college master is engulfed in a transgender row with professors after boycotting a “hateful” gender-critical speaker.

It’s about the letter rather than the boycott. No one would have cared if Pipps and Andy had just stayed away.

Gonville and Caius College, the university’s fourth oldest, is hosting a talk on Tuesday by Helen Joyce, an author and former journalist at The Economist, about cancel culture.

And as we all know, her views are Unacceptable, Unapproved, Unendorsed. Her views are, in short, evil, the most evil views anyone has ever had, views that make Hitler and Putin look like … Read the rest

Celebrating Salman:

Writers including Monica Ali, Hanif Kureishi, Julian Barnes and Nigella Lawson will gather this week at an event to celebrate Salman Rushdie.

An Evening for Salman Rushdie will be held at the British Library in London on 13 October, with members of the public invited to take part by attending in person or watching a live stream.

So we missed it, sorry, but it’s good to know it happened.

Others taking part by sharing readings or reflections include Mona Arshi, Melvyn Bragg, Mariella Frostrup, Meena Kandasamy, Kathy Lette, Pauline Melville, Margie Orford, Philippe Sands, Burhan Sönmez and Alan Yentob.

…

The British Library event on Thursday is being described as a gathering to celebrate

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Jesus & idenniny.

It’s a nice elbow in the ribs to The Atheist Communinny and the Skeptic Communinny, because it is indeed true that way too many members of said communninnies laugh other absurd claims out of court but when it’s a man who idennifies as a woman suddenly they can’t recognize an absurd claim any more.

The Patreon is here.… Read the rest

Steve Bannon sentenced to not nearly enough time in prison:

Donald Trump’s top former strategist Steve Bannon was sentenced Friday to four months in federal prison and $6,500 in fines after he was convicted with criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply last year with a subpoena issued by the House January 6 select committee.

The punishment – suspended pending appeal – makes Bannon the first person to be incarcerated for contempt of Congress in more than half a century and sets a stringent standard for future contempt cases referred to the justice department by the select committee investigating the Capitol attack.

Bannon wanted favors.

Bannon, 68, had asked the court for leniency and requested in court filings

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Judge nails DeSantis’s bullshit:

A Florida judge has rebuked Ron DeSantis’s much publicized “office of elections integrity” and dismissed charges against one of the defendants the Republican governor insisted would “pay the price” for criminal election fraud.

DeSantis staged a media event in August announcing what he said was an “opening salvo” in his administration’s efforts to crack down on election fraud, namely the arrest of 20 felons he said had illegally voted.

But it soon emerged that most had been sent voter registration cards by authorities and accordingly believed they were eligible to vote. And earlier this week, footage emerged of the bewilderment and confusion of law enforcement officers and those being arrested.

Bewilderment and shock horror despair … Read the rest

It turns out that buying children can get expensive.

A heartbroken Dublin dad “cried the whole plane journey home”, after he had to leave his surrogate triplets in Kenya.

His what? What the hell are surrogate triplets?

Edward O’Reilly, who lives in Santry Cross, left the African country with just the birth certificates rather than his three newborn daughters.

His? Isn’t there someone missing from this scenario?

Briella, Camilla, and Renesmee were born almost two months prematurely on September 1. Edward and his partner flew over to collect their children four days later. 

His partner? Their children? The children were born in Kenya while their parents were in Ireland? How does that work?

Also why were they thinking they … Read the rest

That was a different person.

A man in Spain who beat his female partner for opposing his transition has avoided charges of gender-based violence by legally changing his identification to “female” and adopting a woman’s name.

Well that seems only fair. Since he now has a woman’s name, he obviously can’t have beaten up his female partner in the past.

Earlier this year, Spain’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a new draft law on gender identity, one which allow anyone over the age of 16 to legally change their name and sex without any medical consultation or intervention. Minors between the ages of 14 and 16 will be allowed to change their name and sex with parental consent, and those

… Read the rest

“Katy” Montgomerie peddling the usual lie:

https://twitter.com/ijyodesu/status/1582962639725944832

Nobody insisted on “cis” anything. A woman stipulated female only care. “Cis” has nothing to do with it.

https://twitter.com/ijyodesu/status/1583079621935136768… Read the rest

Another nasty contemptuous hostile dismisser of women.

https://twitter.com/drjharrison/status/1583111421109207041

Karen AND twat – we can tell how that “genderfluid”? “nonbinary”? – person thinks of women. Somehow I suspect that underneath it all J is a man. You can claim to be trans all you like but then when the misogyny comes bubbling out everyone can see the reality.… Read the rest

Why women can’t have nice things.

Keir Starmer, who last year told Pink News that the next Labour government will introduce self ID, has now told the 'Pink News Awards' that he will introduce tougher 'LGBT hate crime' laws, in which 'offences' such as 'misgendering' will be treated as aggravated offences https://t.co/eo9jsMbLNh

— ripx4nutmeg (@ripx4nutmeg) October 19, 2022

Yeah let’s really buckle down and get to work punishing women for “misgendering” men. That’ll make the world a better place.

Joan Smith writes:

Sir Keir Starmer strikes again. At the very moment when the government is falling apart, and thousands of women desperately want to vote Labour, he has reminded us that we can’t trust him or his party. It’s

… Read the rest

Trump testified under oath yesterday. It seems highly unlikely he told the truth throughout. I wonder if the opposing lawyers can demonstrate that he lied.

Former President Trump answered questions under oath Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who says he raped her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room.

The deposition gave Carroll’s lawyers a chance to interrogate Trump about the assault allegations, as well as statements he made in 2019 when she told her story publicly for the first time.

You remember those statements. They weren’t along the lines of “I would never rape anyone!!” but rather “She’s not my type.” Such a nice man.

His legal team worked

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On the case:

I am https://t.co/DRl12AVXOB

— Emma Harriet Nicholson (@Baroness_Nichol) October 19, 2022

She is. She’s been sending out letters.

It’s all pretty awful. I’m implementing requests from the lady in question. Fingers crossed she sleeps well tonight.A truly lovely person in any case. https://t.co/nYb9Nun2Oe

— Emma Harriet Nicholson (@Baroness_Nichol) October 19, 2022

And this letter (no email address allowed). BNoW pic.twitter.com/W4VRYoOJ20

— Emma Harriet Nicholson (@Baroness_Nichol) October 20, 2022

MY NEXT STEP – PRIVATE HOSPITALS COME UNDER UK REGULATIONS – HAS THIS LONDON HOSPITAL COMPLETELY COMPLIED pic.twitter.com/l3z930cmVc

— Emma Harriet Nicholson (@Baroness_Nichol) October 20, 2022

IMPORTANT REGULATION pic.twitter.com/Rm5SlUKSMH

— Emma Harriet Nicholson (@Baroness_Nichol) October 20, 2022

I am steadily working my way through all https://t.co/MW4g3ofOOo

— Emma Harriet

… Read the rest

The CBC reports on trans issues as if the trans ideology were just obviously and unmistakably the latest in a long line of progressive movements, entirely comparable to unionization and civil rights and feminism and lesbian/gay rights. It’s not. It’s a cuckoo in the nest.

In school board elections across Ontario this Monday, dozens of candidates are running on promises to roll back protections for transgender students, part of a concerted effort by conservative lobby groups to undo policies aimed at addressing systemic discrimination.

But those “protections” often destroy protections for female students. It’s not only conservative lobby groups who object to the destruction of women’s rights or protections.

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a non-profit that monitors extremism, recently posted

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It’s that day again.

Today is International Pronouns Day. Using people’s chosen pronouns affirms human dignity that fosters inclusivity, respect and a sense of belonging. Visit our website for four simple ways you can help raise awareness. #PronounsDay https://t.co/Ceufm1EMvX

— Waterloo Region DSB (@wrdsb) October 19, 2022

On International Pronouns Day, we can all raise awareness around personal pronouns by encouraging education and mutual respect. Sharing and using people’s chosen pronouns affirms human dignity. https://t.co/BtfXpuEkMy

— Laurie Tremble (@laurie_tremble) October 19, 2022

DSB is District School Board. Tremble is a trustee of Waterloo Region DSB.… Read the rest

Interesting. Trump appears to have lied in some court documents.

Former President Donald Trump signed legal documents describing evidence of election fraud that he knew were false, a federal judge indicated on Wednesday.

Tssssss naughty.

U.S. District Court Judge David Carter wrote in an 18-page opinion that emails from attorney John Eastman, an architect of Trump’s last-ditch effort to subvert the 2020 election, needed to be turned over to the Jan. 6 select committee. Those emails, Carter wrote, “show that President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public.”

I think we can guess what their defense will be. Trump can’t really be … Read the rest

Originally a comment by latsot on At a women’s shelter.

I raise money for nia (donate!) largely because of this sort of thing. nia is run and staffed entirely by women and provides female-only crisis and other care.

I’m told constantly that I’m transphobic for doing this. There are lies circulating all the time that I’m stealing from the charity or that I’m not really doing the half marathons. I’ve had people impersonating me to dissuade others from donating. I’ve had death threats because of it.

And then, of course, the inevitable happens again and rather than pausing for thought, trans activists double down. We know why: it’s an area in which it’s so patently obvious… Read the rest

Unbelievable.

Let's just leave this here… pic.twitter.com/5B794hjTu6

— Cambridge Radical Feminist Network (@camradfems) October 19, 2022

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental principle which we wholeheartedly support

…

…

HOWEVER”

It’s as if stupidity is an erupting volcano, and the lava is slowly but steadily swallowing everything. Every single last thing.

[Caius by the way is pronounced Keys]… Read the rest

This is the really breathtaking bit – the brand new CEO of the hospital telling the patient “we don’t share your beliefs so we’ve decided not to do your surgery.”

I think she might very well get fired for that, and perhaps more than fired.

It’s a quite incredible thing to say – to put in writing. I think it screams lawsuit.… Read the rest

Of course Raw Story can’t report it honestly.

A North Carolina school district has decided to halt all future competition with one of its school’s female volleyball teams after a trans player allegedly injured a player on an opposing team, The National Desk reports.

A male player injured a female player.

A trans player on the Highlands School volleyball team reportedly spike the ball hard at a girl on the opposing team, hitting her in the face and giving her “severe head and neck injuries, resulting in long-term concussion symptoms,” according to the Education First Alliance.

A male player did that. The issue isn’t that he’s trans, it’s that he’s male. Trans is the reason he was … Read the rest