Mick Hartley

Politics and Culture

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  • The Scottish Endarkenment

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    Article here:

    In official guidance, the devolved administration clarified a list of two dozen terms it said the gender identity of members of the public could be recorded by public bodies.

    They include “gender fluid”, meaning how a person identifies regularly changes and “genderqueer”, a term for those who believe they are something “other than male or female” or a “combination” of both.

    People may also be “pangender”, documents issued by the Scottish Government’s chief statistician states, meaning a person feels that “their identity encompasses all possible genders at once.”

    Those genders in full:

    Cisgender
    Trans man
    Trans woman
    Non-Binary
    Trans – not otherwise specified
    Agender
    Trans masculine
    Trans feminine
    Genderfluid
    Genderqueer
    Questioning
    Intersex
    Assigned female at birth – not specified
    Assigned male at birth – not specified
    Pangender
    Bigender
    Autigender
    Androgynous
    Gender non-conforming
    Detransitioned
    Neutral
    Demigender – female
    Demigender – male
    Demigender – not otherwise specified

    The list of 24 genders was added last week to formal guidance first issued to public bodies in 2021 about how information on sex and gender should be recorded and published. The guidance says that those in surveys who say that they are transgender or have a “trans history” should then be asked to describe their status in their own words. Public bodies are then advised to categorise their response as one of the possible gender identity options. These include agender, described by the government as “a person who does not identify as having a gender”, or “bigender” meaning they have two genders at once. The list includes “autigender”, a term reserved for autistic people who “think about and relate to their gender label – or lack of a gender label – in the context of autism”. A University of Cambridge study has found that transgender people are three to six times more likely to be autistic, compared to those whose gender identity matches their biological sex.

    Antigender? Is there an antigender?

    And bigender? Is that bi-gender or big-ender?

  • “Stop the ignorance. Stop the hatred”

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    "Last night I spoke with around 50 students from Stanford, most non-Jewish, who are in LA to see the Nova exhibition. I spoke to them about everything I have bared witness to since 10/7, including in Israel on three reporting trips.

    The biggest takeaway was that in a two hour conversation, every single thing I said was something they had not heard before. Young people do not know what happened in Israel on 10/7, and have immediately been pressured into joining Free Palestine rallies with zero understanding or awareness. If they don't attend the rallies, their omitted presence is used as a stick to beat them with and label them as bigoted.

    Do you think young Israelis would be taking their own lives if they hadn't survived the worst atrocities beyond description on October 7? Stop the ignorance. Stop the hatred. Stop the refusal to gather information. Stop. JUST STOP."

  • Cadillac Charlie

    New York ca. 1922. "Purcell." The stage actor Charles Purcell and his Cadillac.

    image from www.shorpy.com
    [Photo: Shorpy/Bain News Service / George Grantham Bain Collection]

  • Finsbury Park colour

    Not the most beautiful or romantic London park, for sure – but it has its moments:

    IMG_2599s

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    IMG_2601s

  • An achingly unintelligent U-turn

    Alyson Rudd in the Sunday Times today on the baffling decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] to ban trans women from top-level women's cricket, but allow them in at lower levels:

    The oddest part of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new policy on transgender participation is that it actually acknowledges the inherent dangers yet halfway through its statement the governing body makes an achingly unintelligent U-turn.

    Those who have been through male puberty cannot compete in the top two tiers of the new women’s professional domestic structure or in any of the eight teams in the women’s Hundred, says the ECB. If, however, someone who has been through male puberty really wants to play women’s cricket they can compete in tier three of the new domestic layout or at any other non–professional club.

    This has to be the least logical piece of sports governance ever issued. Are women who play professionally more likely to come to harm than those who do not should they be facing a biological male at the crease? I very much doubt there is any scientific research that supports this notion. Common sense suggests if there is a disparity then it is more likely that the women still learning the ropes of the sport are the ones who might suffer more jeopardy. Indeed, last year, six first-class counties, worried after a man who had transitioned was allowed to compete against girls in their early teens, demanded clarity from the ECB on inclusion and female safety….

    What is the point of a sports governing body? What is its fundamental priority? In every case, from cycling to rugby, from swimming to football, it is the participant’s safety. The rules of games are regularly tweaked to improve the viewer’s experience and add excitement but the underlying principle remains player protection.

    When parents drop their daughters off at the local cricket club they assume the people coaching know the basics of the sport and what equipment needs to be worn. They assume their child will not face a fast bowler until ready to do so, that teams are organised into ability levels so that one group of kids don’t lose every session by a margin so huge no enjoyment is to be gained from turning up.

    This all comes under the heading of fairness that the ECB is keen to promote at the elite level yet it is a value that matters enormously further down the pyramid. Young women will be put off cricket altogether if they do not feel they can be nurtured through the sport. Parents regularly complain about their daughters having to get undressed in front of biological males in changing rooms and so what is to stop families ditching cricket and guiding their offspring to the rugby club down the road who have the straightforward policy of only allowing those registered female at birth to take part in women’s teams, no matter the level.

  • A man in disguise

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    More here:

    Sunday’s competition was sanctioned by FIE, the international governing body of Olympic fencing.

    “As such, Liz [sic] was able to compete because she met the FIE’s policy,” a source told The Telegraph.

    Those taking testosterone suppression medication may only compete in women’s events after 12 months of treatment. Proof of hormone therapy “must be provided prior to competition,” according to USA Fencing.

    “It is critical that we protect the rights of nonbinary and transgender athletes in fencing,” USA Fencing CEO Phil Andrews said in November 2022, when the announcement was made.

    But of no importance whatsover that we respect the rights of women athletes in fencing.

    A spokesman for USA Fencing told the Telegraph: “USA Fencing proudly stands with Liz Kocab and celebrates her continued success at the highest levels of fencing.

    “We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment that respects all athletes, regardless of gender identity.

    “It’s essential to remember that every athlete has the right to compete in a supportive and fair environment.”

    Apart from women. Obviously.

  • A painful reflection of the Muslim world’s decline

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    Full text:

    Why do so many in the Arab and Muslim world celebrate Sinwar’s death as heroic, rather than acknowledging the cowardice of a man hiding in the shadows? The answer lies in a fear not of Israel itself, but of what Israel represents: a painful reflection of the Muslim world’s decline since the fall of the Caliphate. Israel, in all its existence—not just its actions—serves as a glaring reminder of stagnation and weakness compared to the West’s progress.

    For many, Israel is a humiliating affront, described as nothing more than a “spider-web,” flimsy yet infuriatingly persistent. Its mere presence is an insult, a challenge to the very idea of Islamic greatness. And so, the path to restoring that greatness is seen not in progress or reform, but in tearing down the Israeli “spider-web” through renewed Islamic fervor, heroism, and relentless determination.

    Admitting that Sinwar’s actions were flawed would mean more than just critiquing one leader; it would require questioning the entire narrative of the conflict. That’s why no alternative paradigm exists—because acknowledging one would mean embracing a reality that challenges deeply ingrained beliefs.

    It’s no surprise, then, that we see no widespread self-criticism from Palestinians over the use of terrorism or the war of October 7th. The alternative—rethinking the entire approach to the conflict—is unthinkable to many. And that’s where the real fear lies: in the absence of a different way forward.

    [Fair to say, I think, that Islam has generally not responded well to its decline since the days of greatness and the rise of the West, choosing to emphasise, instead of an embrace of science and modernity, a renewed clinging to religious dogma. 

    Although Muslims constitute more than 23 percent of the world’s population, as of 2015, only 12 Nobel laureates have been Muslims, whereas 193 (22 percent) of the total 855 laureates have been Jewish, although Jews comprise less than 0.2 percent of the world’s population. Since 1966, thirteen Israelis have been awarded the Nobel Prize…]

  • Support for Palestinian terrorism

    More from the Jerusalem Post. Aliza Pilichowski – Supporting Palestinians has turned into normalizing terrorism. If the West opposes violence to achieve political goals, how can it stand with the normalisation of violence and terror in the movement for Palestinian statehood?

    Palestinians never rejected terrorism, and therefore, they never achieved a state. The Palestinian Authority, a governing body created with world support when it pledged to oppose and actively stop terrorism from its people, has failed miserably and has instead actively supported and incentivized Palestinian terrorism. Its dreadful “pay to slay” program cynically masquerades stipends for Palestinian terrorists as welfare payments. It has yet to condemn the October 7 terror attacks, and many of its leading officials publicly praised them. The PA has become another piece of the Middle East terror infrastructure.

    The line that separated support for Palestinian statehood from supporting Palestinian terrorism has become so blurred that it is almost impossible to perceive. In statements of world leaders, in demonstrations worldwide and by Palestinian activists, support for a Palestinian state has become synonymous with support for Palestinian terrorism.

    While most Palestinian supporters in the Western world won’t directly say they support Palestinian terrorism or the October 7 attacks, they use words that effectively mean the same thing to Palestinian ears. In demonstrations around the world, Hezbollah and Hamas flags are proudly raised, and chants for the death of Jews and supporting resistance by any means are regularly heard on the streets of Western cities.

    These messages telegraph the intent of the demonstrators to end the State of Israel through the violent murder of millions of Jews. It wasn’t surprising to see Palestinians and their supporters begin displaying Nazi swastikas at rallies in New York City all the way south to Palestinian-owned businesses in Florida.

    When did supporting Palestinian statehood become a front for advocating for terrorism and genocidal acts against Jews? When did Western cities allow their streets to become centers of antisemitism and rallies for Palestinian terrorism? How has kidnapping and rape not become something so abhorrent that anyone who stands for it is shunned – as opposed to being allowed to march down city streets screaming for more of it!?

  • “It’s real. It’s real”

    From the Jerusalem Post:

    US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris appeared to claim that Israel is committing genocide, calling it "real" during a talk in Milwaukee on Thursday.

    In the videos circulated on social media on Saturday evening, Kamala Harris can be seen addressing a group of students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before being interrupted by a student who asks her to speak about "the genocide" in Gaza.

    Harris tells the students she is "so invested" in them before being interrupted by the student who says, "And in genocide, right? Billions of dollars in genocide you invested in?"

    In response, Harris said she respected the student's right to speak.

    "I respect your right to speak. I'm speaking right now, I know what you're speaking of. I want the ceasefire. I want the war to end."

    The male student, who is wearing a keffiyeh, continues to ask her about the genocide while pushing through the crowd towards Harris.

    Harris then gestures to the student as he is escorted out of the room by security and says to the crowd, "Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real. It’s real. That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real, and I respect his voice."

    God forbid she try to argue with the guy, or say she disagrees about the "genocide" claim – or just show some courage and eloquence in the face of an antisemitic heckler. It's just not there, is it? She doesn't have the bottle, or the integrity. There's nothing going on behind the smile and the soundbite vacuities.

    Or, worse, she actually agrees with him.

    Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told the New York Post that Harris had just "publicly validated the false and vicious accusation that Israel is engaging in genocide.”

    “Many, including myself, always suspected that she held this warped, antisemitic view of Israel’s self-defense against Hamas barbarism. But the cat is now out of the bag,” he said to the US outlet on Saturday.

    “Her view is as ignorant as it is malign. … To give credence publicly to this disgusting blood libel disqualifies Harris from holding any public office, let alone the presidency,” he added.

  • The testimony of Fawzia Sido

    Jonathan Spyer in the Jerusalem Post on the almost unimaginable horrors experienced by rescued Yazidi captive Fawzia Sido:

    It is now two weeks since the rescue of the Yazidi hostage Fawzia Amin Sido from captivity in Gaza by the IDF, in a joint operation also involving the US Embassy.

    Fawzia has been returned to her family in the Sinjar area of northern Iraq. This week, she sat for her first filmed interview since her liberation….

    Fawzia Sido, aged nine, was captured with two of her brothers by Islamic State in the summer of 2014. Following their capture, she and one of her brothers, Fawaz, were made to take part in a forced march from Sinjar to Tal Afar, at that time under the control of Islamic State. The journey took three or four days, during which time the Yazidis were given no food by their captors.

    On arrival to Tal Afar, according to Fawzia, “They told us that they would give us food. They made rice and they gave us meat to eat with it. The meat had a weird taste, and some of us had stomach aches afterwards.

    “When we were done, they told us that this was the meat of Yazidi babies.

    “They showed us pictures of beheaded babies, and said ‘these are the kids that you ate now.’ One woman suffered heart failure and died shortly after. The mothers of these babies were there also. One mother recognized her own baby because of its hands.”

    And to the interviewer’s mute sounds of horror, she continues “It’s very hard, but it wasn’t our fault. They forced us. But it’s very hard to know that it happened. But it was not in our hands.”

    The accusation that Islamic State fed human meat to Yazidi captives has been made before, though this has never become one of the widely known elements of the ISIS story in the West. Perhaps the human mind simply and instinctively recoils from such depravity, and as a result it goes unrecorded.

    Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi parliament, was the first to reveal details of this practice by ISIS, in 2017. Dakhil related a testimony she had collected similar in its details to that given by Fawzia Sido. Dakhil revealed these details in an interview given to the Egyptian “Extra News” Channel, which was then translated by Memri.

    Here's that MEMRI clip:

    "One of the women whom we managed to retrieve from ISIS said that she was held in a cellar for three days, without food or anything. Afterwards, they brought her a plate of rice and meat. She ate the food because she was very hungry. When she finished, they said to her: We cooked your one-year-old son that we took from you, and this is what you just ate.

    "One of the girls said that they took six of her sisters. Her youngest sister, a ten-year-old girl, was raped to death in front of her father and sisters. She was ten years old. The question that we keep asking is: 'Why?' Why did these savages do this to us?"