Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, life is not quite so light-hearted.

But at least they’re provided with water bottles.

Yes but what is “his work”?

I’m not gonna try and write a children’s book tomorrow. I rather wish she’d stick out of what I do, and not comment on stuff that she doesn’t know much about either.

Like mutilating people’s genitals?

This guy started out as a urologist and switched to “gender surgery” when it became the next big thing. He’s not a scholar of gender, he’s a surgeon. He knows how to perform surgery but that doesn’t mean he knows anything about whether it’s a brilliant idea to alter people’s genitalia to make them look more like the other sex. Since he has a financial incentive not to look deeply into that question, it’s rather the opposite.

He has a website snappily titled GenderXchange. Good pun, yeah?

James Bellringer qualified in 1982 from Cambridge and St. Thomas’ Hospital, London. After training in Urology, he started as a General Urologist in West London in 1996, but when Mr. Michael Royle retired, he was invited to come and take over the Gender Surgery service, at Charing Cross Hospital, London. After initial training with Mr. Royle in 2000, he has been working in gender surgery ever since, and with the increase in the gender workload, this has become his primary interest. An irretrievable breakdown with Trust management in 2014 led him to resign from Charing Cross, and he now works privately at Parkside Hospital.

Gee I wonder what caused the irretrievable breakdown with Trust management.

On other pages he provides details about his work. I don’t feel like quoting those.

Ah yes, the “Oops I just realized I’m a woman” defense.

A member of the police force in Basque Country, Spain, has been arrested for attempting to murder his wife in front of the couple’s two daughters. Following the horrific crime, the family learned that Jose* had changed his legal sex in an apparent effort to avoid harsher penalties for domestic violence.

The Basque Government Security Department has confirmed that the attack took place in San Sebastián in the early hours of Saturday morning. Jose threatened to harm his daughters, one of whom is an infant, before grabbing a kitchen knife “of considerable dimensions” and attempting to harm his wife with it. Fortunately, the woman was able to locate some pepper spray that was in the house and used it to defend herself and the baby by pepper spraying Jose in the face. She grabbed the baby and ran, but not before Jose took the other child hostage.

The police rescued the other child and arrested José for attempted homicide. José promptly revealed that haha he’s a woman now.

According to El Correo, Jose requested to be treated according to the protocols established for the arrest of women, revealing that he had changed his sex marker to “female” last November without his family or friends being aware. Though he had not changed his name or appearance, Jose is recorded as a “female” in the Civil Registry.

While unconfirmed, there is some speculation that Jose changed his legal sex to avoid certain penalties for the domestic violence he had been long subjecting his wife and daughters to.

In Spain, males who assault or murder women can be charged with “gender based violence,” a specific crime which emerged in Spain to tackle the nation’s overwhelming struggle with femicide and domestic violence.

So what happens? Men identify themselves as the very people they’re trying to wipe out, so that femicide and domestic violence can continue.

Now is it clear how regressive and woman-hating this ideology is???

This is the second case in the past month where a man in Spain changed his gender marker in an apparent attempt to avoid harsher penalties for crimes against women.

The ironies are so many and so horrible they’re hard to keep track of.

If only people could grasp that they’re not the same thing.

Student psychotherapist wins apology over expulsion for gender-critical views

James Esses has reached a settlement with the Metanoia Institute in London, which specialises in training counsellors and psychotherapists. He lost his place on the course after campaigning against the government’s proposed ban on conversion practices.

Esses launched an online petition in April 2021 highlighting concerns that the proposed ban on conversion practices – the practice of attempting to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity – might end up criminalising explorative therapy for children with gender dysphoria. He was expelled from the course by email shortly after.

That’s where the Guardian goes wrong, right there – sexual orientation is not the same as “gender identity.” There are some very salient differences.

In the statement, the college noted: “Metanoia recognises that gender-critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act 2010. These are the beliefs that sex is binary, immutable and biological and is fundamentally important.”

Of course they’re not actually “beliefs” – but they have to be framed as beliefs now because so many people have decided that sex is not binary, that it is mutable, and that it’s in the mind or personality or soul rather than the body. Those are the real “beliefs” but it doesn’t do to say so.

If her voice can be heard, next thing you know she’s pregnant with some stranger’s kid.

Trump explains to his advisors that he can’t take their advice because he’s too stupid.

DONALD TRUMP HAS NO PLANS TO HEED the advice of his aides and limit himself to policy contrasts when he debates Kamala Harris. He wants to make it personal.

“This is just the way I am. I hate my opponent. I hate my opponents,” Trump told a confidant who advised the former president to consider backing away from calling the vice president “stupid” or “dumb” at their high-profile standoff in a few weeks, which he has done repeatedly.

Trump explained to the confidant that he’s treating Harris the same way he did Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. “Hillary, Joe, Kamala. It doesn’t matter. I just hate them.”

That’s toddler-talk. Normal people, adult people, know better than to admit that kind of thing, because they know how repellent it is.

I suppose people like it in Trump because it’s “real” – it’s a break from adult inhibitions or hypocrisies. He’s not fake.

But the thing is, those inhibitions aren’t just hypocrisy. They’re morality, too. It’s not good to heap abuse on people, it’s not good to jab and poke and bully.

On the other hand a lot of Murricans love it, so there’s that.

How dare a woman expect a hostel for women to exclude men?

An Australian traveller in France who complained there was a trans woman in a female-only bathroom at their hostel was shocked to be told that she had broken the law by raising her concerns.

Melbourne woman Cassandra was visiting the French city of Lyon to watch the Olympics women’s soccer on July 26 and 27. 

She booked a women’s dorm and got there late at night when everyone was asleep.

On the first morning she was shocked to see a trans woman, who she initially thought was a man, in the bathroom. She asked to speak to the hostel manager.

Derp. A trans woman is a man. That’s what the “trans” bit means – it indicates a man who is either pretending to be a woman or deluded that he is a woman. It does not indicate a woman.

‘The manager said the hostel classified them (the guest) as a woman. He told me my stance was political and not factual.’

ExCUSE me??? We’re the ones with the “political” take here? Please. It’s “classifying” men as women that’s political and not factual.

However the hostel’s response – forwarded by Hostelworld – accused Cassandra of being in the wrong. 

‘This guest was transphobic,’ the hostel wrote. ‘What she did not mention is that the “man” that was in the bathroom was a woman (man who transitioned to woman so identifying as a woman which mean she IS a woman). Her personal opinion on the subject does not matter. In France, being transphobic is prohibited by law. She clearly refused to admit this person was a woman.’

Again, all backwards. No, “identifying as a woman” does NOT mean he IS a woman, it means he’s pretending or deluded. If he identified as a sewer rat that wouldn’t make him a sewer rat. If he identified as Marcel Proust that wouldn’t make him Marcel Proust.

And she’s not the one with the irrelevant “personal opinion.” She’s the one grounded in reality, while Monsieur Hostel Manager is trying to enforce a fiction as fact.

And she’s not the one who refused to admit anything. Monsieur Hostel Manager is the one refusing to admit this person is a man.

Joyous Apostasy Day all. Celebrate! Blaspheme. Argue. Reason. Enjoy the wind in your hair.

Fury at the BBC again:

They did, finally, amend it.

That is funny.

Donald Trump has apparently been stewing on a speech given at the Democratic National Convention by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The former president on Wednesday singled her out in a Truth Social post as “the nastiest speaker on Monday evening… as it pertains to your favorite President, me.” He added: “Her total hatred, and statements made about me, had no bounds.”

Trump calling other people “nasty.” Trump complaining about hatred and statements. But the funniest –

…on the very distinct possibility I will win the Presidency, wouldn’t it be better for the people of New York State to have a Governor who got along with the President? Adversarial relationships are not good in politics!”

Really?! Trump disapproves of adversarial relationships in politics???

Funny.

Newsweek sees fit to publish a bizarrely sloppy piece on That Bad Woman by one Ryan Smith, its Senior Pop Culture & Entertainment Reporter.

Author J.K. Rowling has fallen silent on her usually busy X (formerly Twitter) feed, after Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif filed a legal complaint in France for alleged cyber harassment over statements regarding her gender.

“After” a lot of things. After the sun came up, after we all became a day older, after time passed…and after Rowling went on vacation. That little word “after” can be a sly way of implying causality without actually ascribing causality. That of course is what Newsweek is letting its pop culture boffin do here.

On August 9, lawyers for Khelif filed a lawsuit with a special unit of the public prosecutor’s office in Paris, stemming from false statements that spread online about her gender after the Algerian boxer defeated Italy’s Angela Carini in her first fight of the 2024 Olympic Games. 

But Ryan Smith and Newsweek don’t know that the statements are false. Thin ice, here.

Harry Potter author Rowling—who has faced backlash over her comments about transgender people for a number of years—was among those who slammed Khelif’s inclusion in the Olympics, incorrectly referring to the boxer as a “man.”

Again: Newsweek and Smith don’t know the “incorrectly” part.

Rowling has been silent on X since August 7, when she shared a post from researcher Maya Forstater, who was fired from her job after making anti-trans statements.

And, this sleazy magazine and reporter fail to mention, won an employment tribunal case against her former employer.

Khelif spoke about how the erroneous statements regarding her gender during the Olympics had affected her, saying that “there was a lot of noise from politicians, athletes, stars, artists—Elon Musk and Donald Trump and that hurt me a lot, I cannot describe how scared I was.”

…

She added: “This is a big shame for my family, for the honor of my family, for the honor of Algeria, for the women of Algeria and especially the Arab world. The whole world knows I am a Muslim girl.”

Oh really. Then how is it, many people have asked, that we can see all those photos of this Muslim girl hugging “her” male trainer and sitting on his shoulders while he grips “her” thighs?

Eh? Look at that – “her crotch” is pressed against his head, and his hands are on “her” naked thighs. Algeria is cool with that?

“Newsweek” might as well be Bullshitweek.

Yikes.

I used to admire Mona Eltahawy.

What an absolutely shit thing to say.

The who have done what?

Over recent years the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has updated their curriculum guidance in all subject areas to include themes of social justice. They have done this by requiring that all courses include elements of Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

I didn’t know there was such a thing as the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, but now that I know, I’m baffled to learn that it “requires” political content in all subject areas. What, even physics, geology, astronomy, engineering, mathematics? What the flaming hell for?

One might well question how to incorporate the values of EDI into a course on abstract algebra or functional analysis. We are told it should be done by teaching that “some early ideas in statistics were motivated by their proposers’ support for eugenics, some astronomical data were collected on plantations by enslaved people, and, historically, some mathematicians have recorded racist or fascist views or connections to groups such as the Nazis.” 

That’s insane. Stark raving mad. It’s also weirdly childish.

It is all but a tautology that promoting social justice is desirable. However, there is no consensus on what social justice actually is. The QAA talks glibly of “the values of EDI”, but EDI is one of the most contested topics in contemporary politics. There are fierce debates over such foundational topics as the definitions of racism, antisemitism and women.

About as foundational as it gets. If you don’t even know what women are you really need to go back to the basics until you have them down cold.

Fortunately, there is now a case-study one can consider to evaluate the effectiveness of the QAA’s recommendations. The module “Gateway to King’s” was piloted at King’s College London and was designed to introduce all first-year students at King’s to topics which map closely to the QAA’s required themes. The plan was to roll the module out as a compulsory module for all first-year students. However, the module was canned after the pilot. 1657 students were eligible to take the course, 366 enrolled and 42 completed it. 

Let me guess – because it was more irritating than informative? Like, a LOT more?

Trump wants more people to die in order to boost his chances in the election.

Donald Trump has been speaking with the powers that be about Israel’s war on Gaza—but it’s not in an effort to end the genocide.

Instead, Trump has allegedly been talking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avert a cease-fire deal, fearing that doing so could help Vice President Kamala Harris win in November, according to PBS.

That’s right, he’s trying to block a cease-fire for the sake of his job prospects.

Christina Dalcher on what people don’t know about Islamist countries:

I was there when a group of academics who dared to criticize the government for not being democratic were removed from their homes in the wee hours and not heard from afterwards.

I was pressured into putting a religion on my visa because ‘atheist’ would be problematic.

I heard women speak of the safe houses that were set up to help Filipina maids who had their passports taken by their employers and who were regularly beaten by same.

I knew that if I dared to call someone an idiot (or, worse, an ‘animal’), I would go to prison.

I was told (by engineer friends) of oil field workers dying during Ramadan while white-collar professionals traveled to Austria for a month.

I know that women in court were not permitted to cross their legs.

I had students tell me Hitler was their hero and not blink an eye.

I was forbidden from using any academic materials that came from Israel or that were written by a Jew.

I met people with PhDs whose fathers hired Indian expats to research and write their dissertations.

I (and the rest of the faculty) were told that no local student would fail a course.

My requests for books on Semitic linguistics were ignored by the university library.

Oh, and forget about traveling to another state for a medically necessary abortion — try another country. I don’t like any of that, and I don’t find it racist to say so.

It sounds like Saudi Arabia – the Filipina maids who had their passports taken by their employers and who were regularly beaten by same is an item I’ve read about that hellhole of a country. The rich people leaving the country during Ramadan sounds very Saudi, too.

And it sounds utterly hellish.

Frustrating. I can’t find the source of the quoted passage, Google says it’s never heard of it, SEEN hasn’t so far answered my question. There’s an answer but I haven’t been able to find it yet.

Meanwhile – somebody said this:

“It can make them feel unsafe and unwelcome in an industry where I don’t think that’s the case. There’s a very small minority that speaks loudly about these topics, but largely it isn’t reflective of a wider view of people in publishing.”

I want to know more about this because I want to know who thinks recognizing the material reality of sex translates to calling into question the basic humanity of certain groups. I want to know who thinks that and I want to argue with that person about it. I want to grab this endless emotional blackmail by the throat and shake it until it promises to stop. Knowing a man is a man is not repeat not repeat NOT the same thing as denying the basic humanity of the man in question.

She’s just not that into you.

Taylor Swift has yet to endorse any presidential candidate this election cycle. But former President Donald Trump says he accepts the superstar’s non-existent endorsement.

Trump posted “I accept!” on his Truth Social account, along with a carousel of (Swift) images – at least some of which appear to be AI-generated.

One of the AI-manipulated photos depicts Swift as Uncle Sam with the text, “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.”

Also on Team Trump: Al Capone, Amelia Earhart, Rachel Maddow, David Beckham.

Swift’s fans – known as Swifties – have gotten political this election cycle. Immediately after President Joe Biden stepped aside and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, a large group of Swift’s fans formed a community called “Swifties for Kamala,” which is not affiliated with the singer. The group, which has mobilized Swift fans to help elect Harris and other Democratic candidates down the ballot, has more than 60,000 followers on X.

Yeah ok but they’re confused, that’s all. They meant “Swifties for Trump” but they spelled it wrong.

A long string of clips from last night at the DNC. I haven’t watched most of them yet; just the tweets make me tear up. You may notice a theme.

I did watch the kids singing the anthem one. And the Maxine Waters one. She said “Fannie Lou” and I was a goner. Fannie Lou always makes me tear up. Always.

I did manage to stay dry-eyed for the one about snacks.

More on Smyth Harper:

Seems a very odd choice for head of communications for the police a non-departmental public body which oversees the system handling complaints against the police.

H/t Smurfette

Conservative judge just says no to Trump.

Retired federal appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative legal scholar put on the bench by President George H.W. Bush, is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump, whose candidacy he describes as an existential threat to American democracy.

Harris is a former prosecutor. Trump is a convicted felon. You do the math.

“In the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law,” Luttig wrote in a statement obtained exclusively by CNN. “As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.”

…

In endorsing Harris, Luttig argues that partisan distinctions must, in this election, be set aside in order to prevent the “singularly unfit” Trump from returning to the White House.

“In voting for Vice President Harris, I assume that her public policy views are vastly different from my own,” Luttig writes, “but I am indifferent in this election as to her policy views on any issues other than America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law, as I believe all Americans should be.”

There’s that, and parallel to that there’s the fact that he’s a very bad person in just about every possible way, and she’s not. I cannot stand the prospect of another four years of a selfish mean greedy dishonest pig of a man lording it over all of us.

Luttig now joins a number of high-profile Republicans endorsing Harris, including former members of Congress Joe Walsh, Barbara Comstock and Adam Kinzinger. Kinzinger, now a CNN contributor, will have a high-profile speaking slot this week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, also a CNN contributor, endorsed Harris at the end of July in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op-ed. Her campaign, he wrote, was “the best vehicle toward preventing another stained Trump presidency.”

Speaking to CNN, Luttig said his decision to publicly back Harris was a matter of knowing “right from wrong” – and acting in accordance.

More people should do that.