Category: Hell in a handcart

  • “You go out into the world and see people and they smile, but what is really in their heads?”

    This is horrific. Lyz Lenz writes about a small town and its conversations on Facebook. It’s a nice Iowa town. In a way that many Iowa towns are nice, and they don’t like being called racist. So, when people called them racist, all hell broke loose. …Screenshots of comments sent to me by people in…

  • I don’t want to talk about her either

    …but Rowling is trolling again, and she’s moving into very dangerous territory. The government is considering whether to ban conversion therapy, which is discredited and dangerous. Rowling is trying to convince people that trans-affirming healthcare is also conversion therapy. Here’s The Trevor Project: Conversion therapists use a variety of shaming, emotionally traumatic or physically painful…

  • “The culture war is an incredibly cheap way of getting votes”

    This is a fascinating post on voters and “culture war” messaging. Right-wing politicians love a good culture war. It’s no coincidence that the terms ‘political correctness’ and ‘woke’, both originating on the American left, have been eagerly seized by the right. They know it is an ideal way of stirring up indignation and deflecting attention from…

  • “Only the wealthy get to survive the pandemic unscathed”

    Deb Perelman has written an interesting piece in the New York Times about working parents in the time of COVID-19. Why am I, a food blogger best known for such hits as the All-Butter Really Flaky Pie Dough and The ‘I Want Chocolate Cake’ Cake, sounding the alarm on this? I think it’s because when…

  • Hateful words lead to hateful acts

    The TIE Campaign is a wonderful organisation that campaigns for more inclusive education. The TIE Campaign posted this yesterday: We are a charity which works with schools, teachers, and educators to tackle prejudice-based bullying. We provide anti-bullying sessions and gender stereotypes/equalities workshops to schools, and produce resources to include LGBT people and history in the…

  • Super Size Media

    Have you ever wondered why so much news output is junk? It’s because of the big board. As journalist Mic Wright explains, the big board was popularised by Nick Denton of Gawker media. It’s a big screen that everybody in the newsroom can see, and it shows you in real time which stories are getting…

  • A tale of two cities

    Something happened in Glasgow’s George Square last night. Tale #1: two rival groups of protesters clashed. One group was there to “protect statues” from vandalism. Tale #2: more than 200 far-right loyalist goons set out to attack a peaceful pro-immigration protest, assaulting protesters, passers-by and the police. Both tales are true, but they’re framed very…

  • “That is phenomenal engagement. What’s not to like?”

    Alex Hern explores the tragic and frightening tale of one man’s descent into psychosis, a descent that was speeded up by online radicalisation. There is no doubt that people have been radicalised by the internet, and by this particularly horrible corner of it. There are just too many cases like Slyman’s, where we can see,…

  • Trans people are planning to escape the UK

    Jane Fae in the Independent: I spoke to a few trans folk: ordinary people trying to go about their daily routines as well as community leaders advocating on their behalf. The result was unanimous and shocking, and not just for the general level of abuse reported back. For this, in the end, is not so…

  • Reaping, sowing

    Apologies for the language, but there is an internet meme that’s become popular: Me sowing: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!! Me reaping: well this fucking sucks. What the fuck. And another: Well, well, well. If it isn’t the consequences of my own actions. I was reminded of them yesterday when a British anti-trans group blogged about…