This is Northumberland Calling 8.03.24
The International Women’s Day edition
Hello America (particularly Central Ohio), this is Northumberland calling
Today is International Women’s Day – a day that wasn’t really celebrated when I was young. It has been around just after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and is about women organizing to get their employment rights. The Triangle Shirt Waist Factory fire made a big impression on me when I did my AP American History course in high school. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire
In recent years, controversially some companies/organizations seek to celebrate trans identified males alongside women on this day. I have no problem with people celebrating trans in the workplace and fighting for those right. I believe there are several days in the year which cater for that. International Women’s Day is about adult human females and the fight for their rights and it is the only day which celebrates that. Do you have to be inclusive of pears if you are making an apple pie? So today is a fantastic day to celebrate the achievements of all adult human females inclusively.
The Women’s Rights Network named me as one of their Women Warriors this year which is very kind of them. It was lovely that some in my chapter thought I was worthy of the title. It is a good group of ordinary women who are trying to make a difference.
https://twitter.com/WomensRightsNet/status/1765726381361475735?t=7cdQ32zZgQSiiupNh23vhA&s=19
The Irish are holding a referendum today to see if they should change the constitution and get rid of the words ‘women in the home’ and expand the definition of marriage to durable relationships thereby including co-habiting couples. The major political parties want a Yes yes vote. There is some grassroots resistance as the terminology is a bit vague. They have already had to make clear that the change would not encompass throuples or polygamous people. It is thought they will easily win and the word ‘women’ will be removed from the constitution. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/07/women-in-home-irish-constitution-referendum-leo-varadkar/ or https://archive.is/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/07/women-in-home-irish-constitution-referendum-leo-varadkar/
The mis-gendering kerfuffle rumbles on. JK Rowling finally had enough of the trans identified male who is also a TV presenter named India Willoughby and called Willoughby a man. Willoughby had made threats of violence against a sitting MP (Joanna Cherry) as well as against JK Rowling and Maya Forstator. Was Rowling within in her rights to be rude to someone who had threatened her? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/07/jk-rowling-reported-police-trans-india-willoughby/ or https://archive.is/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/07/jk-rowling-reported-police-trans-india-willoughby/
Mr Bates v the Post Office will be shown on Masterpiece Theatre (date to be announced) as well as to Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and the four Brit Box Nordic countries. Do watch it when it is shown as it is very good television. British drama at its best. And you too will understand why the PO higher ups are quite so loathed. https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-has-sold-to-a-dozen-territories-itv-execs-reveal/ar-BB1jtOns
Seventy authors wrote to the Times to complain about the Royal Society of Literature’s censorship of the articles about Palestine. The Times has made this clarification about disputed article: While the article in question referred to “the devastating machinery of the Israeli state in operation: the armed checkpoints, apartheid road systems, arbitrary identity checks against Palestinian children and other violent structural harms”, the RSL has asked us to make clear that the phrase “Israeli war machine” was not used. So that kerfuffle rumbles on. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gaza-censorship-royal-society-literature-rsl-writers-authors-tsxr2q8fj or https://archive.is/RFozy
After Sunak’s speech on the need to do more on extremism, Robin Simcox, the counterextremist tsar has weighed. The government has far more powers than it currently uses. It is failing to act on extremism which is just below the threshold of terrorism. For example Iran and its proxies do not have inalienable rights to run charities, mosques and schools in this countries. Not all protests must be moving protests. For years the far-right British Defence League has had to have static protests. No one has the inalienable right to make the centre of London a no go zone every weekend for another ethnic group. Cue screaming from certain quarters who like to think they have a monopoly on strategic essentialism. The op-ed in the Telegraph from Robin Simcox https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/07/extremist-acts-have-been-normalised-in-britain/ or https://archive.is/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/07/extremist-acts-have-been-normalised-in-britain/
On Sunday the Telegraph ran an article which claimed that half the publishing houses in Britain would not publish overtly Jewish authors. This was a claim by a single agent. Other dispute it. What is not in dispute that Gill Freedman who wrote a lovely book, Jews Milk Goats about a North London Orthodox Jewish couple who decamp to Herefordshire and run a smallholding on a whim had a review of the book cancelled because the magazine editors thought the book too controversial in the current climate. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/03/half-of-british-publishers-wont-take-jewish-authors/ or https://archive.is/0t1d1
In solidarity, I bought the book Jews Milk Goats and it is truly an interesting book, managing to combine a primer about Orthodox Jewish life and farming. Totally charming and not in the least controversial. It is somewhat focused on farming in rural England, rather than seeking to make political statements. I do feel that I know far more about Orthodox Jewish life than I did before. The book uses the Jewish festival calendar starting with Purim to illuminate Freedman’s life and that of her animals. (It is available in the US on Amazon)
It is Crufts, one of the biggest dogs shows in the world. Today is the Gun Dog judging. You can watch live. This year dog heroes include dogs which serves as hearing dogs, medical support, and search and rescue. There are videos of the dogs and their owners on the site as well as a live feed. Dog agility is always good fun to watch.
Paddy had a good class on Sunday – it is about building that connection and getting the eye contact. He prefers playing with his toys to watching Crufts…funny that.
I am hard at work on my current Viking as my editor came back late last Friday with kind words. On Monday she actioned the next payment in my advance. Advances are often made in stages. Sometimes when you read of huge advances, they are not actually paid out until the author hits certain targets. So if you see the headlines, know that they are making news because huge advances are rare and that more than one book may be involved.
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I know that Paddy-look. There's really no saying,"No" to it. I've marked the Jews Milk Goats in my Amazon account - it sounds lovely and I will order once I've gone through a couple more of the ones already in my stack.
As to the International Women's Day, I thoroughly agree. Celebrate for adult human females only. It is only one day of 365. Find another day for anyone else you wish to celebrate, but let women have their day.
Good morning, WARRIOR! Congrats on that—and well deserved.
It’s kinda ominous—to put it mildly—to feel like the world has turned into 1930s Germany. Thanks for mentioning Jews Milk Goats. I’m so excited to read it because I have a dream of living in the country, but it’s difficult to live as an Orthodox Jew without a community. Very curious to see how the Freedmans did it. My copy is on its way from Amazon (which IMO is the greatest company in the world). Also looking forward to checking out the Crufts show!