Leaving Las Vegas Part 2
Update 524. Rest of the Anglosphere Special. #BeMorePorcupine.
Here is Part 2. Part 1 looked at developments in the UK. On to the rest of the Anglosphere. Apart from Canada. Sorry, Canada! Canadian readers, please send me Canadian news!!!
Sticking with Leaving Las Vegas. …It’s a finger BTW, a finger, don’t panic!
Ireland - The Media
I always say that if you want the facts about the Gender Woo in Ireland and other issues such as free speech or hate crime, go to Gript News. Here they report on how government funding ostensibly to help with court reporting in fact undermines the independence of the media. All thoughts gratefully received.
Editorial: Government-Funded Journalism Undermines Press Independence
There is no doubt that Coimisiún na Meán’s decision to allocate €5.7 million in funding to support local government and court reporting is well-intended. [ Coimisiún na Meán is Ireland’s media regulator ] challenges facing local journalism are real, and the decline in court reporting raises legitimate concerns about transparency in our justice system.
However, even the best intentions can lead to unintended consequences, and in this case, the long-term effects may do more harm than good.
Trust in the media is already at an all-time low, both in Ireland and globally. A significant reason for this is the perception that journalists are too close to those in power, that they serve as mouthpieces rather than watchdogs. When a regulatory body entirely funded by the state distributes large sums to selected media outlets, it is foreseeable that public skepticism will only deepen. Even if the journalists involved maintain the highest standards of integrity, the mere appearance of state reliance will undermine their credibility.
The goal of ensuring adequate coverage of local government and the courts is admirable. But should this responsibility fall to the taxpayer? If there is genuine public interest in these areas, independent media should be able to sustain such reporting through readership and advertising. Instead, by selectively funding specific publications, the state is making choices about which outlets thrive and which struggle—effectively distorting the market and picking winners and losers. We are often told that the economics of journalism are impossible, but we know it can be done because we’ve done it—Gript funds itself through subscriptions. And, since we are now legally obliged to remind you, you too can support our work by subscribing at this link.
A press that is financially dependent on the state—no matter how indirect or well-intentioned that support may be—will always face questions about its independence. This is not to say that any journalist taking these funds will compromise their integrity, but rather that they will inevitably be seen through the lens of state patronage. This perception is dangerous in a time when trust in institutions is already fragile. It is entirely legitimate for the public to question the impact of this funding. To give one immediately pertinent example, how can these organisations be trusted to hold Coimisiún na Meán to account if issues arise when they are financially reliant on it? Furthermore, will they be willing to critically examine potential issues with the way these funds were distributed or how the selection process was managed, or will they shy away from investigating their own benefactors?
The State has become increasingly preoccupied with combating so-called mis- and disinformation, a concern that has dovetailed neatly with the financial struggles of the media sector. As revenues dwindle, many outlets have found that aligning themselves with this narrative is a convenient way to justify calls for more state support. Yet, rather than bolstering public confidence, these initiatives do the opposite—tying media outlets ever closer to the state and giving people more reason to question their independence. It is inevitable that people will ask: if there were no benefit to the state, why would it be bankrolling these organisations in the first place? Given the dire state of public trust in both politicians and journalists, few will be persuaded by vague assurances that this is being done ‘for the civic good’.
All of this is happening alongside a broader push by major media outlets for state-backed funding models—whether through direct public subsidies or policy changes like the 2023 VAT removal, which effectively served as a financial boost to the industry. Notably, despite this VAT cut, newspaper prices remained unchanged, as highlighted in a report by Gript (link): ‘There has been no sign of any publications reducing their prices, meaning that the reduction is simply being pocketed by media companies rather than passed on to consumers.’ This raises further questions about how much of this state intervention is truly about benefiting the public versus propping up a struggling industry.
If the aim is to strengthen democracy, there must be a broader conversation about how to support journalism without deepening the trust deficit. A free press should be exactly that—free from financial entanglements that cast doubt on its independence. A model that relies on direct state funding, no matter how noble the justification, risks doing more harm than good in the long run.
Ultimately, the question is not just about money, but about trust. How can the public be expected to believe in media that is increasingly dependent on government funding? Even if this funding is deployed with the best of intentions, the optics and practical implications of state-sponsored journalism will only reinforce existing doubts. Ireland needs a press that is robust, independent, and, above all, trusted. We should be wary of any solution that risks eroding that trust further.
At Gript, we have a clear stake in this debate. We have chosen not to seek or accept funding from the Irish state or its proxies, meaning that these schemes actively disadvantage us by subsidizing our competitors with taxpayer money. Yet, our concerns go beyond commercial interests. The real issue is the precedent this sets for journalism as a whole. When financial success hinges on securing government grants rather than producing journalism people want to read, the industry shifts from serving the public to appeasing the state. High-quality reporting and genuine reader support—not bureaucratic favour—should determine which media outlets survive and thrive.
Dusty - hear, hear!!
The United States Air Force
Here is a thing of great beauty 😁
The Air Force sent out a memo directing all Air Force personnel to: • Stop using pronouns in all communications • Terminate all grants, contracts, trainings and programs that promote gender ideology • Ensure no men enter intimate female spaces • Remove any media, directives, plans or forms that promote gender ideology • Fire anyone in a "gender ideology position" • Disband employee resource groups who have ever promoted gender ideology • Remove other gender options from forms — it will be male or female ONLY going forward
https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1889065387381432747
I have gathered all of the relevant Executive Orders (and one lovely letter) in one place for ease of reference:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/a-manifesto
Australia - Puberty Blockers
On his substack, Gender Clinic News Bernard Lane reports on a private ‘gender doctor’. Shades of Susie Green, anyone?
Warning on blocker imports
Regulator advises extreme caution as an online gender clinic promotes a cheaper way to block unwanted puberty
Feb 11, 2025
A prominent gender doctor, who serves on the board of gender medicine lobby the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH), has set up an online clinic where his legal advice on access to hormonal treatment for minors has been challenged as inaccurate.
Dr Darren Russell’s new Australia-wide clinic, Prism Health, also highlights savings of almost $1,000 a year if puberty blockers are imported from overseas suppliers, which his website says is legal with a doctor’s prescription.
Asked about this, federal regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration urged people to take “extreme caution before importing unapproved medicines into Australia for personal or family members’ use.”
Puberty blocker drugs, which suppress natural sex hormones, are approved for various medical conditions but not for the psychological distress of gender dysphoria, where they are used “off label.”
There is a lack of long-term safety data for this relatively recent use of blockers to interrupt the normally timed puberty of children who reject their birth sex. The effect of hormone suppression on the still developing adolescent brain is unknown.
Dr Russell’s website says these drugs are usually started in early puberty (between the ages of 9 and 13) and “may be taken for some years before the young person is mature enough to start [cross-sex] hormone treatment.”
Last month, Queensland became the first Australian state to pause new treatment of gender-distressed minors with puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones in the public health sector, pending an independent review of the evidence. In the UK, routine use of blocker drugs has been restricted in both public and private health.
The advice from Dr Russell’s Australian online clinic is that under the law, puberty blockers can go ahead in the state of Victoria with only one parent’s consent, and that cross-sex hormone treatment in Queensland does not require parental approval if the minor is mature enough.
Emeritus professor of law Patrick Parkinson said both those claims, which favour easier access to these contested treatments, are incorrect.
The full piece is here:
https://www.genderclinicnews.com/p/warning-on-blocker-imports
New Zealand -The Women’s Rights Party
Our friend, Katrina Biggs interviews Jill Ovens, co-leader of the WRP about their plans for 2025.
The Sport Of Beating Up Women!
I covered the Olympic boxing scandal intensively at the time. For example:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/non-e-giusto?utm_source=publication-search
So I am really delighted to see this news.
David Coverdale in The Mail Online ( International Olympic Committee face legal action for letting gender-row boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting fight at the Olympics 10 February) reports:
The International Olympic Committee are being sued for letting gender-row boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting compete at Paris 2024.
Algerian Khelif and Yu-ting of Taiwan both won gold medals at last summer’s Olympics despite being disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for failing gender eligibility tests.
Now the International Boxing Association – the Russian-led body who administered those disputed 2023 tests – have launched legal action against the IOC.
Citing President Trump's recent executive order banning transgender women from female sports in the USA, the IBA said they were filing complaints to the attorney generals of Switzerland, France and the USA ‘regarding the IOC’s actions that facilitated the participation of these ineligible athletes’.
The IBA claim that, according to Swiss law, ‘any action or inaction that poses a safety risk to competition participants warrants investigation and may serve as grounds for criminal prosecution’.
The organisation have also offered to financially support any Paris 2024 boxers who wish to pursue legal action.
The full article is here:
A Poem
Lovely poem from brndsil on the substack for Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans.
Same Old Me
Feb 10, 2025
Someday I'm gonna show up in
That coffee shop that you've been working in
Order something I don't usually get
To convince you I have changed
But it's the same old me
I still love you like I always have
I'm so sorry that I broke your heart
I just can't forget your name
I think about the day you shut me out
And it's clear you feel I've done the same
I can't make you see how much I care
But I'm here if you come home
It's the same old me
I still love you like I always have
I'm so sorry that I broke your heart
I just can't forget your name
It's the same old me
I'm so sorry that I broke your heart
Oh, you know I'll never lie to you
and I won't forget your name
https://www.pittparents.com/p/same-old-me
Endpiece by Liz
#BeMorePorcupine
#EndGenderAffirmingCare
#AdultHumanFemale
#LetWomenSpeak
#GrassrootsArmy
#FightForFreeSpeech
#ByeByeStonewall
#GenderEnders
#NeverSurrender
Thank you, but we 🇨🇦Canuckistans are JUST FINE with NOT being in the news, 1 reason we preferred being ignored by Americans. However since we're in the midst of regime change & self-declared feminist Trudeau was pro-trans, don't expect it to last, 1 alternative candidate seems quite neanderf*k.
Gript’s article on journalistic independence and integrity is very well-written. I enjoyed the relish with which the changes to the USAF’s rules is outlined & welcome, with equal relish, that the IOC is being sued. About time, too!