This is Northumberland UK 12 8 22
As I was wearing my procrastination princess tiara this week...I will post on Common Sense substack eventually but have a lot on today including trying to my word count.
This is Northumberland UK calling 12 8 22
The so-called Glorious Twelfth when the grouse shooting season begins in the UK (considered INglorious by a growing number of conservationists as the management of grouse moors is a bone of contention, nothing short of a scandal —read Mark Avery’s Inglorious or Benedict MacDonald’s Rebirding for further details). For readers of Regency romance, it was when the Ton decamped to various estates to kill things with great manly vigour combined with other sorts of nightly entertainment. This week has provided a flurry of trigger warnings and other amuse-bouchées.
The Edinburgh Fringe, once known for its edginess and willingness to shock, dove deeply current mania for trigger warnings. A few might consider a show entitled Puppet Death Scenes would have scenes of a violent nature. The Silent Disco Walking Tour had to warn it contains…walking. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trigger-warnings-rob-edinburgh-fringe-of-its-shock-factor-7vjjbl92d
The Times published an expose on the trigger warnings various universities slapped on staples of literature. While only two books were actually removed (The Underground Railroad for its graphic depiction of slavery and the play Miss Julie for its depiction of suicide), the Times published a 20 page list of books which attracted trigger warnings. These included Romeo and Juliet for inter-family violence, forced marriage and suicide, Julie Bindel’s Strong Expectations because her views are considered transphobic by some, 1984 – self-injurious behaviour, suicide and animal cruelty, Agatha Christie’s Murder of Roger Ackroyd contains murder and so on. The Times op-ed leader asked the very pertinent question – are these universities seeking to offer a university education or a finishing school. The Far Left attempted to rubbish the investigation by saying only two books were banned and in any case , they still can be taken out of the library. No cancel culture exists here. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/censorship-on-campus-universities-scrap-challenging-books-to-protect-students-dp50d9fsd
One professor at Sterling University in Scotland admitted to tailoring her offering of books based on her students’ responses, rather than on the actual requirement to learn history. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/professor-admits-withdrawing-books-83zz9lzgh
Equally worrying was the Times’ next investigation into the role the Hard Left academics played in forcing Dr Kathleen Stock out of her role at Sussex University and how they plotted to keep those they deemed as gender critical (or holding views which they disagreed with) from any power or influence in academia. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hard-left-academics-plotted-gender-id-witch-hunt-on-colleagues-fdqnq5cb9
However, in the case of Dr Wankenstien, Manchester University believed funding a Phd in self-masturbation to specific material (sexual abuse of young boys) was a good use of its limited resources. An investigation is now under way as to whether or not it was appropriate use of funds. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/10/manchester-university-taken-task-publishing-phd-masturbation/
The reaction of several academics who first defended the paper without understanding what it was is also interesting
On Wednesday came the UK attorney general Suella Braverman’s intervention over schools’ social transitioning: Her actual speech plus transcript bears reading. Essentially it is an adult entering room and explaining the potential legal consequences for a school socially transitioning a child without first doing the proper safeguarding (including notifying the parents) and the steps the government intended to take to make this happen. (Braverman is a woman of Indian descent who is unapologetically conservative.) https://policyexchange.org.uk/pxevents/keynote-speech-by-rt-hon-suella-braverman-mp/
The charity devoted to the Affirmation only approach Mermaids UK said that Braverman’s words had no legal standing, and schools could safely ignore the attorney general’s speech. https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/news/trans-rights-in-schools-mermaids-statement/
Mermaids have not reacted to the news of the 1000 former patients suing the Tavistock. The usual suspects are saying that one single lawyer who is ambulance chasing. Some are blaming the parents of the children who suffered and asking why they did not intervene. Seriously. (NB apparently a few class action suits have been quietly filed in the US the Girard Sharp firm in SF is actively seeking clients for the suit it aims to file shortly) https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tavistock-gender-clinic-to-be-sued-by-1-000-families-lbsw6k8zd
Worth listening to the interview with the lead solicitor who is bringing the class action. He and his firm have been working on this case for over a year. Apparently his inbox is now full and the telephone has been ringing off the hook. People know they and their children were failed.
The op-ed piece in the Conservative Home, (a blog which is read by all the Conservative MPs, councillors and activists) shows how far the #RespectMySex campaign has come since last spring. Gender Ideology is now a top issue for conservatives. Culture Wars are something more than an abstract to many people. https://conservativehome.com/2022/08/11/gary-powell-the-nest-pm-must-empower-local-authorities-to-banish-gender-ideology/
To show what GC and anti-woke people are up against –The Welsh government funded bloody brilliant website for everyone who bleeds (originally had for everyone who bleeds across Wales, an interesting image) launched this week. No mention of girls, women, or even the use of feminine pronouns. which urges people to drop “awkward euphemism” in favour of “straight-talking”, also refers to the need for period support for “half the population”.
https://bloodybrilliant.wales/
After an outcry on twitter, the website will be updated at some point in the future to use the terminology girls and women. They may include a dedicated site for girls suffering from gender dysphoria. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11102929/NHS-include-women-girls-guidance-periods.html
A current advertisement for a Rainbow Badge Assessor at the Brighton and Hove Hospital Trust, paying £29,000 to provide meaningful inclusion for LGBTQ+ people at the hospital, including rainbow badges because they are the most marginalized in the community. More than a graduate nurse earns. https://www.switchboard.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/NHS-Rainbow-Badge-Assessor-Job-Pack.pdf
Coffee and tea are colonial spoils on new signage at Nottingham Castle (better known for its associations with Robin Hood) as it tries to decolonise. The real complaint was about how the workforce was treated rather than where coffee and tea came from but why deal with a real life work problem when signage about history serves so well? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/10/tea-sugar-colonial-spoils-say-castle-officials-race-row/
Other news :
As I know Bari, Nellie et al are Jewish, the Conservative Party Leader frontrunner Liz Truss’s interview in the Jewish Chronicle about her attitudes towards Israel, the British Jewish population and one of her early mentors, an Orthodox Jew, might prove instructive as to the near future in Britain. It sounds very positive. https://www.thejc.com/news/politics/liz-truss-my-pledge-to-britains-jews-4B63Ky1zdHaKFfpty7KpJF?reloadTime=1660231515841
The drought in Europe continues along with wildfires. It is exacerbated by the water profligacy displayed in Britain as you know a green and pleasant land doesn’t have to worry about leaks or burst pipes. It is supposed to be four days of hot weather in a row. The price of petrol continues to fall, but the prediction is for a huge cost of energy shock in October and January.
A gun and knife rampage across 55 miles in the Scottish highlands happened on Wednesday – 1 dead and 3 injured. The dead man put himself in harm’s way. Started in the Isle of Skye. All the more shocking as the rate of crime is very low there. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/10/scottish-highlands-one-feared-dead-three-injured-linked-attacks/
An English family stumbled across a large arms cache when paddling in a pond in southern England. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/07/family-stumble-across-cache-firearms-paddling-pond/
For the first time in 40 years, polio is possibly spreading in London. It was uncovered through sewer testing and is thought to be a result of a low take up of the vaccine in London. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/10/polio-vaccine-will-offered-under-9s-london-virus-found-sewers/
The York records of baptisms and marriages are now online. Interesting names including Mr Duck & Miss Peacock who were engaged to be married, one Crumpton Hellson, Phineas Butter, and Pentecost son of Bentecost as well as the baptism records for Guy Fawkes. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/guy-fawkes-baptism-among-2m-records-now-online-t6w7kmfd6
And because I have just seen it -- an interview from Kemi -- basically she likes both candidates. If you want a super-techonocrat who is good on policy vote Sunak, if you want someone who is a maverick and willing to shake up the status quo -- go with Liz Truss. "‘I loved working with her because there was an unpredictability there that usually helped us get into the right place,’ she said. ‘Sometimes if you’re too predictable in politics you don’t think of new ideas. You just do the same thing over and over again and nothing changes.’"https://www.mailplus.co.uk/edition/news/politics/211288/kemi-maverick-truss-could-be-a-creative-pm?new-user=1
Earlier this week Truss indicated that Badenoch would have a senior position in her cabinet btw.
Your reports are FABULOUS.
Since you asked, I subscribed because I read your comments on Bari Weiss's SubStack.
MISS JULIE????
I'm speechless.