OMG, I am swamped, so this is going to be another three parter to make it more digestible, dear readers.
Thanks to a reader for nominating No 15 in the Leading Female Season, namely Katharine Hepburn. But he didn’t say what film , so I will definitely have to go with The African Queen. Katharine Hepburn is Rose Sayer and Humphrey Bogart is Charlie Allnut.
Samuel Sayer and his sister Rose are British missionaries in Kungdu in German East Africa in August 1914. Their post and supplies are delivered by a small steamboat named the African Queen, helmed by a rough-and-ready Canadian mechanic, Charlie Allnut.
When Charlie warns the Sayers that war has broken out between Germany and Britain, they choose to remain in Kungdu, only to witness German colonial troops burn down the village and herd the villagers away to be pressed into service. When Samuel protests, he is struck by a soldier and soon becomes delirious with fever, dying shortly afterwards. Charlie helps Rose bury her brother and they escape in the African Queen.
Charlie mentions to Rose that the British are unable to attack the Germans because of the presence of a large gunboat, the Königin Luise, patrolling a large lake downriver. Rose comes up with a plan to convert the African Queen into a torpedo boat and sink the Königin Luise. After some persuasion, Charlie goes along with the plan.
Please do keep the nominations coming in for Leading Females 😎
Thank You and Recommendations
Thank you to two wonderful readers for referring me to several of the pieces in this three parter.
As ever I recommend EDI Jester for his recent videos but especially the ones referring to:
A piece ( which will be ongoing) by Chris Boid about the Gender Recognition Act;
A piece by Still Tish about trans training for the Stasi …sorry, the Old Bill.
https://www.youtube.com/@edijester
Also a piece on the Glinner Update about Gender GP and their funding from a 23 year old internet celebrity called Finnster and an American ‘sugar daddy’ (!!!??):
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/dirty-money-gendergp-and-another
Let Women Speak are at the Reformers’ Tree tomorrow at 1pm ( since the following Sunday is Easter Sunday):
https://www.letwomenspeak.org/event-details/let-women-speak-london-2024-03-24-13-00
Bye Bye, Mr Varadkar
Leo Varadkar will be standing down as the Taoiseach. I think it is no coincidence that this follows on from the resounding No vote from the Irish people in the recent referenda. Given his support for gender ideology, I say good riddance. Here is the take from John McGuirk, editor of wonderful Gript News.
WASTED POTENTIAL: OBITUARY FOR THE VARADKAR PREMIERSHIP ( 20 March)
It is perhaps a small footnote in Irish electoral history, but Leo Varadkar entered Irish politics as a record setter. His first election, almost exactly 20 years ago, saw him topping the poll in the Castleknock Local Electoral Area as a first-time candidate, winning a literally unprecedented 38% of the vote and securing a still-record 4,894 first preferences. In a council election. This was in an era, it might be forgotten, when Fine Gael morale was at an all-time low: The party was two years removed from a humiliating defeat at the hands of Bertie Ahern, and still three years away from a third consecutive defeat inflicted by Ahern at the 2007 election.
In that election of 2007, Varadkar walked comfortably into a seat in Dublin West without as much as breaking a sweat, depriving socialist stalwart Joe Higgins of his place on the opposition benches. Alongside Lucinda Creighton, his election, on an otherwise disappointing day for Fine Gael, was a bright spot. From the very beginning, hungry Fine Gael eyes looked at Leo Varadkar and thought “this guy is a votewinner”.
Ultimately, there is no further explanation needed for his rise to the Taoiseach’s office. It was cemented, on that 2004 day in Castleknock when a young man with migrant heritage set a political record, and Fine Gael saw its future. His decision to come out as a gay man before the marriage referendum of 2015 may not have been politically motivated, but it certainly didn’t hurt: To Fine Gaelers, Varadkar may have had many merits, but as a vote-winning totem of the new Ireland, he was always going to be somebody the party turned to, eventually, when it needed leadership.
It’s worth pausing to consider at this point how this must all have felt from Varadkar’s point of view: I will not pretend to have known him well, or having been his friend, but know him a little bit I did, back then. He was a quiet, shy, and bookish sort of fellow who thought endlessly about politics and policy. If he had other hobbies or interests, they were well hidden. Fine Gael was both his professional, and social life. Like many of us, he was ambitious, which is no sin.
Unlike many of us, he was given an opportunity that few are: In his thirties, in the absolute prime of his life, he was granted the most supremely powerful political office in the land. This award of power came with something else: Immense goodwill from the media and official Ireland, who, even if they did not love his politics, certainly loved the idea of Varadkar’s Ireland as the sort of diverse and tolerant place where a man of his background could become our leader. He inherited a stable Government, and a party united behind his leadership. The levers of state power were his to command.
What did he do with them?
That, were I Leo Varadkar, would be a question that would haunt me to my grave.
In the earliest days of his Premiership, he hosted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Dublin, and showed off a new fondness – borrowed from Trudeau – for exotic socks. The media swooned. In the era of Donald Trump, here was a hopeful, uplifting, progressive contrast to what the Washington Post describes indirectly as “darkness”.
Ultimately – and I’m no psychiatrist, but I’m not sure you have to be – Varadkar seemed to fall in love with this image of himself. This is partly understandable: The quiet, bookish, nerdy fellow suddenly becomes the cool kid, applauded and admired by the trendiest voices on the Dublin “scene”. From being a youthful opponent of progressive, liberal Ireland, he was suddenly a totem and an icon of progressive, liberal Ireland. When people who’ve spent their lives disliking you suddenly become your fans, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that the new adulation might be addictive. Like many converts, he became something of a zealot: The Thatcherite conservatism of his youth was replaced lock, stock, and barrel with ideas that ensured his popularity with progressives. He converted his views on abortion; he toned down his old hostility to NGOs and “quangos”; in the aftermath of 2016, with Trump and Brexit, he seemed to embrace his role as a progressive counterbalance to the new right, and paint himself as a champion of progressivism, the European Union, and the soft left.
Ultimately, what he didn’t recognise was that he was becoming a champion of the very system that he was supposed to be master of.
He is not unique in that: Many politicians undergo that journey. Elected to change the system and defend the public from its excesses, they end their career on the opposite side: They befriend civil servants and powerbrokers, they start seeing things from the point of view of the insider, and by the end, they’re defending the system from the excesses of the public, and warning about extremism and dangerous ideas, and, of course, “the far right”. Ironically, of course, in the earliest days of his career, Varadkar was regarded as just about as “far right” as you’d get, in Ireland.
And so I wonder, twenty years from now, when he looks back on his life, what will Varadkar make of it all? He was given a chance hundreds if not thousands would give their right arm for: The chance to change his country and leave it better off by implementing his own ideas. Did he, in the end, implement his own ideas? I’m not sure he did. Even once.
He leaves behind a bloated and sprawling state sector, a Government fighting crises in housing, healthcare, immigration, crime, and legitimacy. In his defence, he leaves the national balance sheet in a decent place, but that’s about as much as one could say. If the Leo Varadkar of 2004 could look at the Leo Varadkar of 2024, I think it perfectly fair – even if perhaps slightly harsh – to ask whether he would even recognise himself.
Varadkar, it should be said, is not a bad, or an evil man. It was hard not to be moved by his evident emotion, today, when he spoke about his colleagues and how he feels he is not the one to help them save their jobs. Whatever else he is, that he is Fine Gael through and through is not in dispute. He is also, it should be said, very well-liked by those who work for him, which says a lot for his character.
Nor should it be in dispute though that what Fine Gaelers thought they were getting is not what they ultimately got. They thought they were getting a generational vote-winner; an answer to Bertie Ahern; somebody who would dominate the political and intellectual landscape of the country for several decades in the manner of a Haughey or a Fitzgerald. What they got was, I’d suggest, an ultimately disappointing political career, one that has ended in failure decades ahead of its time.
The ultimate judgment on any politician can be rendered by asking just one question: Did they leave the country in a better place, and a better state, than they found it? Some people out there will be tasked with arguing that Mr. Varadkar did. I do not envy them the job.
Ultimately, the Taoiseach for people who get up early in the morning scheduled his own resignation for noon. That might be an unfair metaphor for his career, but it’s not an inapt one.
Irish Carer Allowance Case
This is a great result but the other relevance of this case for the Terf Resistance is that, if there had been a Yes vote in the Referenda, it would have collapsed. Indeed, I would presume that it has settled precisely because of the No vote.
Máirín De Barra for Gript News ( MOTHER IN CARER ALLOWANCE REFUSAL RESOLVES CASE AT HIGH COURT 20 March) reports:
A mother who challenged a refusal by the Department of Social Protection to pay her a care allowance, despite her daughter requiring full-time care and attention, has successfully resolved her case in the High Court.
The challenge is seen as an important test case, which may have implications for other carers whose applications were declined by the Department.
The woman had applied for the monthly Domiciliary Care Allowance because her young daughter suffers from rare and challenging medical conditions, but her applications were refused by the Department of Social Protection and, on appeal, by the Social Welfare Appeal Office.
A judicial review at the High Court of the Social Welfare Appeal Office claimed the refusal of the allowance was based on decisions that were flawed and in “serious breach” of fair procedures.
The court was informed yesterday afternoon that the matter had been settled and that the Department had agreed that the refusals could be quashed.
The applicant mother will also to be paid her legal costs.
The full report is here:
Melbourne Rally
Thanks to wonderful Feminist Legal Clinic for this report.
Violence erupts, activists pepper sprayed at Melb protest (23 March)
Violent scenes have broken out at a women’s rights rally in Melbourne’s CBD, as pro-transgender counter protestors clashed with frontline police and other activists.
Pro-transgender activists had turned up to counter a #WomenWillSpeak rally, held by the Women’s Action Group.
But scenes turned ugly when pro-trans supporters attempted to push through a police line, which resulted in officers tackling at least two protestors on the ground before deploying pepper spray.
A Herald Sun photographer was injured after he was pushed to the ground and pepper sprayed during the scuffle. Other media were shoved by members of Victoria Police.
Tony Gough, who was photographing the rally, sustained cuts to his face and legs and had his jeans ripped in the incident.
Women’s Action Group co-founder Michelle Uriarau, who was speaking at the #WomenWillSpeak rally, said the action was designed to highlight their concerns about women’s rights and gender-transitioning medicine.
Ms Uriarau claimed members of her movement had received death and rape threats.
“Wherever we speak publicly, there is always an attempt to silence us,” she said.
Source: Violence erupts, activists pepper sprayed at Melb protest
Well done, Women’s Action Group.
Hate Crime in New Zealand
Amazing news from New Zealand. Free Speech Union NZ reports:
Hate speech laws dropped, thanks to you
Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith has instructed the Law Commission to stop all work on hate speech laws.
…this is a huge win for New Zealand, and it's thanks to you and thousands of other Kiwis who have stood with us since June, 2021.
While we're often found holding our leaders to account, we also need to support them when they get it right.
Sign our public letter thanking Goldy for this decision.
Scottish Hate Crime Act
If the Scottish Police and Crown Prosecution Service make the mistake of taking action against JKR once this awful Act is brought into force on 01 April, then the challenge to the legislation itself will be well and truly launched. Bring it on!
Emily Jane Davies in The Mail Online ( Police are accused of targeting JK Rowling with fictional trans-hating character called 'Jo' who thinks 'they all belong in the gas chambers' during hate crime scenario 20 March) reports:
Police have been accused of targeting JK Rowling in a parody by inventing a fictional trans-hating character called Jo who believes 'they all belong in the gas chambers' in a hate crime scenario.
Police Scotland hosted an official crime event where those in attendance were given a scenario where 'Jo' was described as a gender-critical campaigner who believes people cannot change their sex.
The 'youth engagement' event, held last month, was part of a series of events held for LGBT history month by the police force.
The fictional character was also said to have a large social media following - and women's groups claimed 'Jo' was a not-so-subtle attempt to parody JK Rowling, who has 14 million followers on X.
The Harry Potter author's name is Joanne, and is called Jo by her friends. She is well known for discussing gender issues online.
The full article is here:
Great discussion on New Culture Forum about the Scottish Act with Peter Whittle, Rafe Heydel-Mankoo and Amy Gallagher. This discussion is at the start of this episode (though the rest of the episode is very interesting as well).
Reasoned
As an old person, lovely to listen to three young people talking absolute sense about the Scottish Act:
Stop Press
Excellent interview with Kellie-Jay Keen and Andrew Doyle on Spectator TV:
Horrid Crime Scotland
Unfortunately, if you have been burgled or robbed, we do not normally have the resources to help you, but if someone has been horrid ( 😭) to you we will immediately investigate. If someone has slightly upset you or been somewhat dubious about your made up gender then we need to know about it. These heinous criminals can potentially go to prison for 7 years ( hahahaha) so make sure you call in to your local sex shop or mushroom farm where the highly trained staff will take the details of your complaint and we will then ensure that the offender is arrested, put in shackles, strip searched and forced to go through several years of court proceedings. We stand with the LBGTQABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ + 2 Spirit LOL Community. BURP! Pardon me!
Endpiece
Thanks to a reader for suggesting what could be the Terf Resistance Anthem for 2024.
Altogether now…get on your feet…I get knocked down…
When it comes to 'hate speech' I keep thinking of the man who publicly recommended 'If you see a Terf, punch them in the face' getting off punishment because he said he was only doing it for the attention! As if it's OK to advocate violence as long as you say you didn't really mean it. What's that? The law should be about demonstrable facts, not internal feelings.
Great round up, Dusty! Thank you