Mean Streets
Update 497. Moira Deeming Special. #BeMorePorcupine
A reminder that, as you can see, we are not that far short of Update 500 !!! 🥳🎉🎈
So please get me your five favourite films of all time and Update 500 will just involve film clips from the top 5 films according to your votes. Please rank them from 1 to 5. Plus endpieces from Liz and me ( get thinking, Liz!!). And absolutely no gender madness - just for this update - you can briefly imagine that it was all a terrible dream!! 😎 Thanks to those who have already voted.
Given that it is year end I will feature one of my favourite films here (and then not include it in the vote for Update 500 😊).
Mean Streets is a 1973 American film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. It introduced De Niro, Keitel and Scorsese to the world!
The film was the first of several collaborations between Scorsese and De Niro. It was also Scorsese's first critical and commercial success.
In my opinion, the film’s opening sequence is brilliant. You start with a blank screen and words from Harvey Keitel. Keitel cannot sleep. You can hear early morning traffic noise outside his room from the streets of Little Italy in New York. He lies back down again and Be My Baby by The Ronettes starts playing. Cut to a home movie.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS 🎈🎉
There will probably be one more update before the New Year but, in any event, thanks very much to Tenaciously Terfin and Liz for their assistance throughout the year by suggesting pieces. Obviously I am happy for other readers to suggest pieces and additional thanks to Siobhan who occasionally suggests pieces.
Thanks also to Liz, of course, for her wonderful endpieces. I think Teddy the Porcupine was my favourite 😂
Some of the linked pieces below may be behind a paywall.
This Substack
Dusty’s Substack is now read in 21 countries and across 22 US States. During this year there will be sporadic paid subscriber only pieces ( not very often because they take a lot of extra work!). The regular updates take a lot of work in themselves ( I read or listen to much more material than I end up featuring). Now that I have retired as at the end of last October, I am, obviously , no longer receiving a salary ( which previously indirectly subsidised this work) and would greatly appreciate it if you could consider becoming a paid subscriber or else buy me a coffee to help me with my work.
Many thanks to my paid subscribers and those who have donated via ‘buy me a coffee’ - very much appreciated.
I am very grateful to all my subscribers for their continued support.
Please remember to hit the like button if you enjoy an update.
There are always excellent discussions in the comments, so please join in with those.
Moira Deeming - Breaking News
On this substack, we have been following Moira’s case ever since the Melbourne Let Women Speak rally and, of course, we have celebrated her recent successful judgment against the Liberal Party leader, John Pesutto. Excellent news that Moira has been re-admitted to the Liberal Party and Pesutto has stood down as the leader. I hope to bring more details in the next update. 😎
Defying The Ban
Surely near the top of the list of those who should be in the dock for what is possibly the biggest medical scandal ever is Susie Green.
Thanks to my mate, Fingers for this piece from The Times.
James Beal ( Former trans charity boss will defy ban on puberty blockers 21 December) reports:
An organisation led by the former chief executive of the transgender support charity Mermaids has vowed to keep helping children access puberty blockers, despite a permanent ban.
Anne Trans Healthcare, co-founded by the former Mermaids leader Susie Green, criticised Labour after it was announced that the government would keep a ban on the drugs for under-18s.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told MPs last week that he was making the temporary ban, introduced in May, indefinite across the UK. He said that the way puberty blockers had been used was a “scandal.”
…
Green, 56, was dismissed as Mermaids’ chief executive in 2022 over a loss of trust in her leadership, a Charity Commission report on the organisation revealed. Anne Trans Healthcare, of which Green is a director, says on its website that patients can get puberty blockers prescribed by doctors outside the UK and sent to an “EU destination” for pick-up.
England - Another Challenge to the NHS
Patrick Sawer in The Telegraph (NHS faces High Court legal fight over cross-sex hormones prescribed to boy 22 December) reports:
A father is bringing legal action against the NHS after his 16-year old was given cross-sex hormones despite official guidance against their use.
The Brighton man is seeking a judicial review in the High Court of the decision by his local GP to prescribe the drugs to his teenaged son for gender dysphoria.
He claims the treatment given to his son ran counter to the recommendations of the review by Dr Hilary Cass, the paediatrician.
She concluded there was “remarkably weak” evidence to support the use of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers in children with gender dysphoria.
The Cass Review warned the drugs put children on an affirmative pathway that might “change the trajectory of psychosexual and gender identity development”.
Following publication of the report, an emergency ban on puberty blockers was introduced in May this year by Victoria Atkins, the Conservative health secretary at the time.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, made the ban permanent this month, restricting the sale or supply of puberty blockers for under-18s.[ Dusty - strictly speaking, the ban is to be reviewed in 2027]
NHS England is at the same time reviewing the use of cross-sex hormones and warned providers to be “extremely cautious” when considering whether to refer young people under 18.
Cross-sex hormone therapy changes the physical sexual characteristics of a person, while puberty blockers delay the onset of puberty by suppressing the release of hormones.
Lawyers for the Brighton father said the city’s WellBN Clinic acted unlawfully in prescribing the cross-sex drugs and the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board was wrong to fund the treatment.
Court documents state that Sam Hall, a GP at Brighton WellBN, prescribed the cross-sex hormones to Child O in October this year “without any diagnostic process compatible with the Cass Report nor NHS England’s clinical commissioning policies”.
The full article is here:
EDI Jester covers this matter here:
Scotland - Nicola Sturgeon
Daniel Sanderson in The Telegraph (JK Rowling leads feminist backlash against Sturgeon for ‘rewriting history’ over gender self-ID row 23 December) reports:
JK Rowling opposed Nicola Sturgeon’s proposed self-ID law - JOHN PHILLIPS/GETT
JK Rowling led a feminist backlash on Monday against Nicola Sturgeon after she was accused of “rewriting history” over the gender self-ID law controversy.
The Harry Potter author said the former Scottish first minister was attempting to invent a “worthy adversary” to blame for the public opposition her gender Bill provoked.
Instead, Ms Sturgeon was refusing to accept the backlash had been driven by normal women who were outraged over her plans, Rowling said.
It followed a series of Scottish women’s groups signing a joint letter urging Ms Sturgeon to name the “forces” she recently claimed had “muscled in” on the trans debate in Scotland as part of an agenda to “push back rights generally”.
In a round of media interviews, she raised eyebrows by claiming there was no “massive public opposition” to her law until it passed. At the time it was seen as one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in Holyrood’s history and it provoked an unprecedented SNP rebellion.
Ms Sturgeon’s self-ID law would have allowed any Scot aged 16 and over to change their legal sex simply by signing a declaration, but it was later blocked by the UK Government meaning it never came into force.
Nicola Sturgeon resigned as first minister in March 2023 - Robert Perry
Responding to the letter calling on Ms Sturgeon to name the “forces” she was referring to, Rowling said: “Her ego requires her signature Bill to have been opposed by something she considers a worthy adversary, rather than members of the public who don’t want cross-dressing men running rape crisis centres.”
The full article is here:
Ireland - Enoch Burke
I last reported on Enoch’s case here:
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/jimmys-hall?utm_source=publication-search
As I have said before, I admire Enoch’s determination but clearly he is appearing in person because the lawyers are telling him that you cannot just ignore an injunction with impunity. In any event, equally clearly , at least at this stage in the process of appeal, the school are not going to let him teach so turning up there does not serve a lot of purpose. However, I think, of course, he is absolutely right in stating that he should not have to accept the make believe world that says a child can ‘transition’ to the opposite sex. Nobody in a school, teachers or pupils, should have to accept this. All thoughts gratefully received.
Máirín de Barra in Gript News (Enoch Burke free for Christmas: fines will double in New Year if attends school 20 December) reports:
Teacher Enoch Burke, who has been in prison for more than 500 days in total, has been released from prison for Christmas, but has been warned that the daily fine accruing if he continues to show up at Wilson’s Hospital School will double to €1,400 per day.
Mr Justice David Nolan released Mr Burke who has been in jail since 2 September for contempt of court, having been returned to prison after attending the school again after the summer holidays.
The Mayo teacher and his family said he is “out but not a free man” since he continues to have a “threat hanging over his head”, and that this was a “terrible situation”.
Mr Burke’s brother said that he had been in jail because of his religious beliefs and that he had done “nothing wrong” – adding that he believed that Mr Burke had been released because of “public pressure”.
Enoch Burke said that the case since August 2022 was “simply about transgenderism” and that he was “told to use the ‘they’ pronoun”, something he said would put poison “into a child’s mind” and “destroy them”.
However, the judge said the teacher was in jail “because he chooses to be” – and that Mr Burke was in jail because he had not obeyed the law of the land.
The court directed government representatives to attend court in January to explain how they intended to collect some €193,000 owed by Mr Burke in fines thus far – fines accrued when he continued to attend the school despite the court order instructing him to stay away.
Mr Burke is pursuing an appeal against his sacking from Wilson’s Hospital School and continues to be paid his full salary as a teacher.
Judge Nolan used the parable of the talents – Matthew chapter 25:14-30 – to illustrate his belief that Mr Burke was engaging in a “terrible waste” of his life, adding: “It is clear to me that he has been persuaded by others that he is best seen as a martyr,” he said.
The judge put the matter in again for mention next month.
Payton McNabb
This is what happens when you let a larping boy play in girls’ sport.
Psychopathy
In an excellent piece on Jennifer Bilek’s substack, Dr P argues that most larping men ( or ‘transwomen’) are, in fact psychopaths, an opinion I wholeheartedly share. All thoughts gratefully received, of course.
The Psychopathology of "Transwomen"
Dec 25, 2024
When we hear the word ‘psychopath’ we have a mental image of a crazed serial killer. We conjure pictures of Peter Sutcliffe or Ted Bundy. These serial killers were certainly psychopaths. But I contend that society is now encountering a new form of psychopathy, namely the Trans-Type Psychopath (TTP) embodied in the MtF transvestite.
Psychopathy also exists more widely amongst ‘Gender Affirming’ doctors and in the increasingly rabid trans ‘allies’. There are also psychopathic FtM transvestites. But their motivations are different from those of the MtF transvestite, which is the focus of this article.
Personality Disorders
Psychopathy is a form of Personality Disorder (PD). PDs are a group of mental disorders that manifest in long-term, fixed patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors which are inconsistent with an individual’s culture. These thoughts and behaviours are unhealthy and inflexible and cause significant difficulties in interpersonal relationships (behaviour towards friends, family, intimate partners) and in the ability to work. PDs tend to be present from birth. They are difficult, if not impossible, to treat.
Definition of Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a PD characterized by (some or all) of the following traits occurring together in the same individual:
1. Impaired empathy and remorse: The inability to understand and share the feelings of others. In humans the capacity for empathy is thought to primarily result from the actions of ‘mirror neurons’ in the brain. These mirror neurons are cells that fire when a person performs an action, or when an observer watches someone else perform an action.
So, if person ‘A’ looks at person ‘B’ crying or laughing, the neurons in A’s brain that govern emotion will also activate, even though A is not experiencing direct stimuli. B’s response is a ‘mirror’ of A’s emotions. We know this from our daily lives. It’s why we cry at sad films and why laughter and yawning can be contagious.
Mirror neurons are the root of the ability to feel empathy. They are essential in making us human (and humane) and in allowing us to socialise and coexist in a broadly harmonious state. (It is hypothesized that a dysregulation in the mirror neuron system is responsible for Autistic Spectrum Disorder).
2. Boldness: Characterized by a fearless, assertive and socially dominant interpersonal style. This is associated with venturesomeness, thrill-seeking and low stress reactivity.
3. Disinhibition: A general tendency towards impulsive behavior, irresponsibility and a disinclination to regulate one’s actions and emotions.
4. Egocentrism: A focus on one’s own thoughts and experiences; being unable to take other people’s perspectives; not considering other people’s feelings.
5. Superficial charm: Being likable, having good conversational skills, amusing and entertaining, being good at lying.
6. Immunity to stress: Fearlessness and a higher tolerance to stress.
Psychopaths are all around us and their traits can either be channelled positively or negatively. They can be CEOs, lawyers, surgeons and media personalities. Or they can be criminals or even simply people who consistently make others’ lives a misery (eg the hated boss who bullies and humiliates their staff, the controlling intimate partner).
The Trans-Type Psychopath (TTP)
We now, however, have a new manifestation of psychopathy which I call the Trans-Type Psychopath (TTP).
I contend that most of today’s ‘TW’ are TTPs.
Previously, if a man wanted a ‘sex-change’ there was a lengthy period of psychological and psychiatric evaluation and behavioral modification. This lasted at least two years and the sex-change operation could only be conducted after a comprehensive evaluation often involving psychiatry, psychology, social work and medicine. It was rightly recognized that embarking on something so significant as ‘changing’ one’s sex was a profoundly consequential act. This evaluation process helped to weed out people with mental illnesses and with personality disorders including psychopathy. This was the ‘gatekeeping’ now so reviled by TRAs.
However, we have now removed this gatekeeping process. Any man can ‘self-identify’ into being a ‘TW’ and nobody is permitted to challenge him.
The full piece is here and I recommend it:
Battles of Ideas Festival
A couple of clips from this year’s festival.
Joanna Williams on coerced language
Jenny Lindsay, poet and author of Hounded, on freedom of expression (or lack of it) in the arts
Be Kind?
Hold on! Didn’t ‘be kind’ start it all?
In a recent exchange in the comments, Katrina Biggs referred me, on this subject, to a previous piece on her substack, A B’Old Woman where she refers in turn to two pieces, one by Milli Hill ( which I can only read the beginning of since it is behind a paywall) and an excellent one by Julie Burchill in Spiked.
The case for fewer fucks and kicking kindness to the kerb.
Feb 06, 2024
Today, I read a couple of articles in quick succession about giving fewer fucks, and kicking kindness to the kerb. Neither article advocates for either of these to be a no-exceptions rule, but both make a strong case for them as worthy attributes.
The articles pressed all the right buttons in my brain, and if I wasn’t dedicated to the cause of fewer fucks and kicking kindness to the kerb before, I am now. No more wanton kindness and fucks (in a manner of speaking) – they will be meted out circumspectly. It won’t be too difficult, I have to say, as the ship with most of my fucks on board has long since sailed, anyway. For that, I extend my gratitude to trans activists, who had no mercy in demonstrating just how easy it is to shaft us when we’re ‘kind’.
Enjoy these reads –
Milli Hill advises younger women to “be more menopause”, because that’s where the holy grail of zero fucks lies.
How many fucks should we give? - The Mule by Milli Hill (substack.com)
Julie Burchill says in summary “sod kindness - it’s kryptonite for women”.
Why the ‘be kind’ era is bad for women - spiked (spiked-online.com)
https://aboldwoman.substack.com/p/the-case-for-fewer-fucks-and-kicking
A Christmas Message
In case you missed it here is the Christmas Message from Kellie-Jay 😁
Maybe some of you ladies reading this might stand for the Party of Women in 2025 ( there are local elections if this dodgy government doesn’t defer them!).
If you are not a member of the Party of Women please consider joining. My wife and I are members.
Endpieces by Liz and Dusty
Following directly on from Katrina’s piece…
And, for my part, I would like to make Sir Keir Starmer’s policies very clear to you all…
#BeMorePorcupine
#LetWomenSpeak
#Grassroots Army
#GenderIdeologyIsEvil
#KeepOnTerfing
Nicola Sturgeon is so wrong on how she's interpreting the reasons today's social climate, and it's hard to know whether that's deliberate or not - but she's not alone. Once again, I am awed by JK Rowling who exposed Nicola's tactic of trying to make out she lost to a 'worthy opponent', rather than ordinary women and men.
It’s not about the money , supposing everyone behind her gave just 1p , just think of the message !!