Apparently the Tory press is going to lead with their desire to remove all equality protection in law for trans people.
Ineptly because, it turns out, they donโt understand equalities legislation.
And also theyโre going to get annihilated so they canโt do it anyway.
But it seems this is now accepted political discourse in the UK, and I would like one, just one opposition party to have the balls to say in response, โyou are terrorising trans people and you need to stopโ.
But they wonโt, because all parties in the UK (yes, all of them) have quite a few people who actually agree with the Tories on this, and itโs more important to avoid upsetting these people than it is to take a stand and say that what amounts to state sponsored terrorism against a minority of your population who just want to live in peace is wrong.
I remember canvassing my council ward in 2012 as a well regarded Liberal Democrat councillor. They phoned their neighbours so they could get their abuse ready.
And after I lost my seat 2 years later, they all told me how much they liked me.
I canโt imagine how much worse it must be for this guy.
Still, I find it difficult to have sympathies for the people who stole our EU citizenship and declared war on trans people.
Aaron Bell said it was โwith a heavy heartโ that he was stepping down, raising questions about why he had been on the campaign trail since Rishi Sunak called the snap summer poll
Whatโs the suspected motivation for standing down beyond no hope of reelection? If I read the article correctly, the PM is putting his allies in easy to win districts - is thatโs whatโs going to happen here?
Thank you and apologies but I barely understand my own countryโs politics.
@Sarah Brown @Dawn Blackbird Weirdly I had some a couple of days ago without changing dose etc. Wonder if there's a hormone-absorbtion related bug going around. (I remember the first time you got Zumenon in Portugal you tried to learn the words "not that one it makes my tits hurt")
Reading r/BestOfRedditUpdates and thanking whatever deities that be relevant for not being cishet because, OMG you guys, a lot of these people are in relationships that are basically wars of attrition.
A lot of people play the Game of Life(1) because they think that's what they're meant to do. Then, halfway around the metaphorical board, something makes them self-examine for the first time, and they realise they don't have to play. But because of the sunk cost fallacy, they can't quit. But if they can make their partner give up instead, then they "win".
And it happens less among people whose sexuality, gender, neurotype, or thing I don't know enough about to name, differ from standard issue.
Because, I think, realising that we are one or more of those things, early in our lives, mean that we learn to self-examine sooner. It does still happen, of course, and heaven knows there are plenty of arseholes in those categories. But it means we can see the issue, more of the time.
@shinydan @kincaid I think you're right about that. I think it also kind of weans people off identifying themselves with the system (I don't mean "identify" in the modern sense, but as in a kind of lack of resolving of the person and the norm into distinct objects).
A thing I have noticed. 2 decades ago, there was decent pharmaceutical knowledge in the trans community. We knew what GnRH agonists were and how they work. We knew that for trans girls, if you couldn’t get them, then a cocktail of spironolactone and finasteride would do a pretty good job as a replacement. We knew that cyproterone acetate worked even better than spiro, but was hepatotoxic, so be careful.
I feel like that’s all been … lost?
I suspect that until this sentence, most currently transitioning people won’t even know that GnRH agonist is the proper term for what is frequently and misleadingly called a “puberty blocker”.
How did we let all this knowledge get lost? We, as a community, used to know how to outflank attempts to stop us accessing medication.
Now the British government just go, “we’re banning prescription of puberty blockers” and everyone throws their hands up and goes, “oh well, no alternative but unopposed testosterone I guess”.
We were better than this. Why did tha
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A thing I have noticed. 2 decades ago, there was decent pharmaceutical knowledge in the trans community. We knew what GnRH agonists were and how they work. We knew that for trans girls, if you couldnโt get them, then a cocktail of spironolactone and finasteride would do a pretty good job as a replacement. We knew that cyproterone acetate worked even better than spiro, but was hepatotoxic, so be careful.
I feel like thatโs all been โฆ lost?
I suspect that until this sentence, most currently transitioning people wonโt even know that GnRH agonist is the proper term for what is frequently and misleadingly called a โpuberty blockerโ.
How did we let all this knowledge get lost? We, as a community, used to know how to outflank attempts to stop us accessing medication.
Now the British government just go, โweโre banning prescription of puberty blockersโ and everyone throws their hands up and goes, โoh well, no alternative but unopposed testosterone I guessโ.
It's possible to genetically modify gonads IN ADULTS so they produce desired levels of T or O. It's not even that difficult (for trans men, it would involve a one-off tamoxifen injection directly into the ovaries). As soon as the trans community figures out how to use genetic engineering, governments will find it nearly impossible to stop us: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10โฆ
yeah I mean, all I know is that back in 2015 bottom surgery was $20k out of pocket, whether you stayed in the US or went to Thailand. Estrogen was always cheap, but the only cheap anti-androgen here is spiro. Doctors here wonโt even prescribe Cyproterone because the FDA considered too risky, and Finasteride is really expensive.
in Ireland it's very hard to get a prescription for any HRT, public has a 10 year waitlist and will tell your GP they're at risk of losing their license if they prescribe HRT (this is a lie), so most of us were relying on UK-based GenderGP, which is now imploding. The website "HRT Cafe" and this dosing chart transfemscience.org/articles/eโฆ have been a godsend for a newly hatched trans girl I know. I just count myself lucky that I've gotten what I needed from testosterone and my body's stock hormones are good enough for me going forward.
@llwynog it depends on where you're based - and possibly if you're open to moving or very very cautiously picking up some mail in another country. (I see the EU flag in your profile, that gives you options re: moving.) In Ireland it's not a controlled substance, and when I was checking the list of sellers on HRT Cafe for E patches I saw some that had injectable testosterone. Anecdotally, I pass much more easily in Ireland, I think because short and soft spoken men aren't out of the ordinary here.
in my generation at least DIY is kinda underground but we still have knowledgeable people you just have to find them scattered across discord servers and DMs
@geekylou :transgender_flag: @Katie Fenn I think thatโs a huge factor. In the 2000s, the de facto online UK trans community was LiveJournal where nobody gave a shit if you talked about grey market HRT. Now its places like Reddit and Facebook groups, where central moderation will nuke your whole group for it.
@alexandria I started diy because I had no interest in socially transitioning and that wasn't an option.
Anyway when I did go to my gp she said "I assume you won't quit if I tell you to" yup. Here's a prescription, being monitored by a Dr is way more healthy than doing it yourself. I'll read up on the subject, come see me in 3 months
also a lot of people do #DIYHRT all the time, even when it's theoretically possible to get meds in their juristiction simply because of #privacy being compromized and other risks ...
The trick is to be rich enough that you can keep all the most important things in your airship, from which you may then look down with your monocle upon those fools whose lives are immovably tethered to the earth.
@Ian Douglas Scott Yeah. Not even close to that rich. Iโm โif youโre careful, you can live in a beachโ rich. Not, โmega yacht volcano lairโ rich.
Different water quality? When I still lived in Germany, the same brand of coffee, made in exactly the same way at my parents' house and at my studio flat in Nuremberg would taste completely differently. The water in my hometown is quite soft, the water in Nuremberg is particularly hard.
Just saw this via the London Reconnections blog and, oh my god, I think you could not do a worse job of redesigning the tube map if you tried.
โPaint all the lines the same colour. Send a train into London centre from Zone 6. Which identically coloured line does it emerge from on the other side? Fuck knows. Good luck!โ
I mean, look at Oxford Circus? Which are the through lines? No? Me neither.
And this is promoted as โaccessibleโ. God help us all.
@Girl on the Net who needs to know where theyโre going when they can tell at a glance which lines were built using cut and cover, which are deep level tubes, and which are national rail loading gauge? EVERY TOURIST MUST KNOW THIS VITAL INFO
Ugh. Oxford Circus is awful, as you say, but both ends of the Waterloo and City aren't much better. It's not at all clear that that line doesn't filter into one of the other ones out of the far side.
Ah, another cartographer convinced that Harry Beck had it all wrong because he wasnโt a cartographer when in fact he got it all *right* because he wasnโt a cartographer.
there are some nice ideas, like the thickness of the lines (not that I noticed), and different stations and connections. Losing the proper colours is obviously not going to work for anyone. Who cares if something is overground or underground anyway?
@girlonthenet It feels so wrong on so many levels.
Even the train frequency is rather confusing rather than helpful on the map. It doesn't offer choice. If I want to get from A to B I usually can't choose a more frequent lines but have to choose the lines which get me there. Same applies to mode of transport.
Additionally, this would mean all maps need to be reprinted if the frequency is changed.
Oh, and the frequency distinction is ridiculously precise. And is there any line with โค minutes frequency? I certainly can't see any at the first glance
Someone on Bluesky yesterday was like, โactually how about national service for Boomers and Gen X doing customer service jobs?โ
And Iโm like, you want to put me, a nerd with zero fucks given and oppositional defiance tendencies, into a customer service job that I canโt get fired from?
You know Police Academy, right? You remember Mahoney, right?
I would have SO MUCH fun!
(And yes, I have worked customer service, but back then I needed to be polite to the ghastliest of customers)
Y'know, I'm struggling to find work and it's bloody depressing just being no earthly use to the world.
I volunteer as much as I can, but I'm not really the type (doing charity work takes a certain kind of *good* person who has a *vision* for the Universe).
So if someone told me that I had to report here or there to serve coffee, or whatever, I'd happily do it. Having some kind of purpose would be wonderful.
I get on quite well in customer service jobs (being top 50% doormat, bottom 50% whetstone), but there are so few that hire at the 21-and-over minimum wage rate..
@Ghost of Hope William Hill and Ladbroke in my case. People who thought that being able to throw a hundred quid at a dog race made them better than you.
@Ghost of Hope I remember in the first year of cadets, the senior NCOs had been to Germany camp and it was raining so they were made to give us a presentation about it.
And they reeled off the list of aircraft they saw, and then said, โwhat else do you find in Germany?โ
Changing from crossrail to the jubilee line highlights how badly the 90โs โtechnoโ styling of the jubilee line extension is ageing. It just feels gloomy and oppressive.
yeah canary wharf specifically has a bit of a dystopian feel to it seen in the current time. It used to just look scifi but now it looks โthe bad guys in scifiโ
@marlies my enduring association with all the docklands redevelopment style is the classic TV show "Bugs" which was filmed around the area! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugs_(โฆ
It's always seemed a slightly depressing riff on grey-and-vast Estate Agent Fascist.
I think about that time there was quite a lot of aesthetic fetish for spies and the security services, paramilitary police units, vigelante cops, etc (the GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies era) a kind of "Dirty Harry"-seque uptick.
Especially with it being Westminster it all just seems like a tired and vaguely offensive cliche.
So my real fear if the Tories die (and to be clear, they absolutely need to) is that the uk media will fucking gleefully embrace Farageist fascism as the defacto legitimate heir.
After 97 it was clear that their drifting rightward had been rejected. Now it very much is not. The instincts of the post 97 Tories was to try and persuade the electorate that they had learned to stop being abject cunts.
The reaction of the British right this time is going to be to dial up the cuntery, and the media will entirely uncritically embrace it, because they think it makes good telly.
Unless the sentiment on the ground shifts back to a rehabilitation of social democracy in the next decade, this means that the UK basically gets a 10 year reprieve, and then when the grey Starmer regime runs out of steam after being fucking useless for a decade, you get full-on V for Vendetta.
We are already seeing the start of this in the US: a proto fascism regime was defeated 4 years ago by an opposition made up of people who clearly wanted to be civil servants rubber stamping stuff, and n
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So my real fear if the Tories die (and to be clear, they absolutely need to) is that the uk media will fucking gleefully embrace Farageist fascism as the defacto legitimate heir.
After 97 it was clear that their drifting rightward had been rejected. Now it very much is not. The instincts of the post 97 Tories was to try and persuade the electorate that they had learned to stop being abject cunts.
The reaction of the British right this time is going to be to dial up the cuntery, and the media will entirely uncritically embrace it, because they think it makes good telly.
Unless the sentiment on the ground shifts back to a rehabilitation of social democracy in the next decade, this means that the UK basically gets a 10 year reprieve, and then when the grey Starmer regime runs out of steam after being fucking useless for a decade, you get full-on V for Vendetta.
We are already seeing the start of this in the US: a proto fascism regime was defeated 4 years ago by an opposition made up of people who clearly wanted to be civil servants rubber stamping stuff, and not actual politicians.
And now the US stands at the cusp of finding out that Trump Series 1 was just the dress rehearsal.
this was my fear during much of May's rule : that if the tory Party shattered, one of the shards would be Norsefire. You're right, I think, that this is another route to the same.
Actually, the key to Labour getting much done may turn out to be whether they can wrench the Overton window back a bit. This is just another reason why that's important...
@Simon Waldman My fear with Labour is that they donโt want to. We see both with them and the US Democrats that they simply accept the clear and obvious deliberate sabotage to democracy and civil society that the other side do as legitimate and do nothing to undo it when they have the opportunity.
I don't think they individually see it as legitimate... But whether they want to spend their time in office reversing tory stuff rather than making their own mark... Yeah.
@Colman Reilly The Trump regime deliberately and systematically stacked the US legal system, all the way up to the Supreme Court, to deliberately sabotage any and all attempts to hold them to account.
It doesnโt matter whether the press would or would not cover any undoing of this, because the Biden regime has clearly just accepted this state of affairs and the constraints it places upon them.
The guy did an insurrection. Not only is he running around free three and a half years later, heโs about to get re-elected.
This is the exact same shit that the Weimar Republic did with Hitler (actually, itโs worse; Hitler actually did jail time, just not what was warranted). They never fucking learn.
@Colman Reilly honestly, โthe media wonโt cover all the good stuffโ is at the level of, โwhy is nobody reporting my brilliant chess opening after my opponent shat on the board and knocked all the pieces over?โ
Specific to the UK, I expect Reform to take over the remnant Tory shell as there will be nobody to oppose them except the rw loons who will welcome them. Reform get their hands on the Tory electoral machine, agents, membership and fundraising lists for pennies. And once that becomes private company data, not very reversible.
Such a reverse takeover would also get them over the fptp lose-your-deposit hurdle, one more step to normalising them. It also allows them to drop any inconvenient history โthat was the other guysโ while claiming any positive-for-them Tory legacy as their own.
@Colman Reilly Trump, the man who tried to stage a coup, is probably going to win anyway.
That heโs even in a position to be able to do that means that โthe thingโ doesnโt exist, and possibly never did.
Fuck the media. Do the right bloody thing.
It reminds me of Gordon Brown in 2010 when he kowtowed to the media and rowed back on the Mrs Duffy thing.
He was going to lose anyway. He bloody WANTED to lose. The absolute bare minimum he should have done given he had the platform is say, โthe things she said are bigoted. People should be ashamed to say things like that. Itโs not right, and Iโm not sorryโ.
I appreciate this is far from where we want to be in a perfect world, but the Tories are heading towards โwe will put you in death campsโ, and given Labourโs reluctance to challenge them on anything, this is probably better than we can hope for.
If you are in touch with Labour peeps, especially your MP, itโs worth letting them know that this stuff is appreciated. They get a LOT of shit from the other side. Itโs worth us pushing back.
WPATH, the global governing body for transgender medical care, have responded to the CASS report. They are not impressed. wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/โฆ
I mean, I definitely caught the 'Rona after my first vaccination, but I've not been ill at all since (yet, I'm exhausted following my show run, so I'm just waiting to be hit...)
For some boiler faucet I regularly took a porcellain mug with water, boiled it in the microwave, added citric acid until it didn't dissolve anymore, and dropped the unscrewed faucet into it. Took next to no time. Same with electric kettles. Just use enough citric acid and HEAT...
@Wilfried Klaebe Put water in kettle. Pour in hydrochloric. Add no heat. Pour out hydrochloric. Kettle is descaled. No residual taste. Entire process: 15 seconds.
r/AskEurope be like, โwhat are the income thresholds for being different social classes in your countryโ and all the Brits are like, โthis question makes invalid assumptions all the way downโ.
Five years ago, the East Of England Liberal Democrats posted a photo of two transgender women, me and @Zoรซ O'Connell, wearing โBollocks to Brexitโ T-Shirts.
It is a sign of how far UK politics has fallen that that is utterly unthinkable now. Both the total erasure of transgender peopleโs existence and acceptance of Brexit are utter orthodoxy across the political spectrum there now.
Do you reckon Brexit, at least in part, is to blame for the rise in British transphobia? Transphobia sadly exists in every country, but few countries are as trans-obsessed as the UK. Brits no longer have the EU to blame for all their problems, so they need another scapegoat. For that purpose, trans people are like low-hanging fruit.
@Llwynog @Zoรซ O'Connell it helped it along, but it was already building before then. The TERFs were well into their quest to capture the establishment by the time of the referendum, and making progress. Too many people made the fatal mistake of thinking that if they ignored them, they would go away.
@llwynog No, but I think they and at least one of the other great disasters of our era, climate change denialism, come from the same cause: Clickbait media and populist parties selling fear of โotherโ and disdain of experts.
The public is not as transphobic or xenophobic as the press likes to make out, though. But โtrans people not a threatโ and โasylum seeker actually had a bit of a rough timeโ doesnโt generate as revenue or get the voters out.
Something that's not as important as the hatred, but seems incredibly weird to me, is how it's suddenly become important for politicians. Doesn't that seem really weird? Compared to like the 90s and 00s. That this is suddenly so important for non-trans people who have no real contact with trans-people other than them being a part of the population. I mean, what's going on in their head that it's suddenly important for them? If it's because of social media /รฉminences grise/, why is it important to *them*? It just seems bizarre. I mean I suppose I *understand* it, but it's always like *so, that's a thing*.
"The only incurable troubles of the rich are the troubles that money canโt cure, Which is a kind of trouble that is even more troublesome if you are poor. Certainly there are lots of things in life that money wonโt buy, but itโs very funny - Have you ever tried to buy them without money?"
People who have what they want areโฆ
And I wish I could afford to gathโฆ
I dontโ mind their having a lot ofโฆ
But I do think that they damn welโฆ
But no, they insist on being stealโฆ
The people that say "money can't buy happiness" always have some stupid hobby that makes them sad instead of happy. People with creative hobbies get happier with more money they have. I have a dozens of things i want to do that i can't because i don't have money.
Elon bought a social media because people made fun of him there.
Mark spends his time stalking millions of people and running psyops with CIA.
Bill Gates is testing how awful a OS can be before people stop using it.
Thereโs a line thatโs a bit harder, but has a bomb proof place for a top rope anchor. The feee solo line has piss all gear at the top, unless you wanna trust a juniper bush.
@:palestine_heart: Pandora I dabble. Dupuytrenโs disease means that I canโt climb properly any more, but free solo a juggy limestone cliff? That I can do.
I've put out* or arranged people to put out litter bin fires I think three or four times. Is it just that no-one else does anything about anything, or am I particularly lucky about turning up just at the right time?
*(nothing particularly dramatic, just going into nearby shop and saying "the bin outside is on fire, do you have a container of water I can dump on it")
A very long time ago I worked at a small gas station. We had a customer who smoked every time he filled up. With the fuel nozzle in his hand. And the boss never wanted to stop him. ๐
Me, in southern Portugal: you seen that Spain and Morocco are contemplating a rail tunnel?
@Zoรซ O'Connell, also in southern Portugal: But they wonโt build a rail line to here? WHY EVEN IS SPAIN?
Me: That would be HARD, Zoe. Theyโd have to build a rail line over at least THREE KILOMETRES of line across land nobody lives on and construct a bridge of about TWO HUNDRED METRES.
@Joรฃo Tiago Rebelo @Zoรซ O'Connell Also, were a bridge to be constructed, it would face the insurmountable engineering challenge of water that is thousands upon thousands of millimetres deep.
Spanish railways were originally built to six (Castilian) feet. Portuguese ones to five (Portuguese) feet. These are, however, only 8mm different - Portugal being 1664mm, Spain 1672mm.
When the two networks joined up (1880s), they agreed a compromise "Iberian" gauge of 1668mm, and gradually all track was switch to that, which was officially completed in 1955.
So yeah, they already fixed *that* problem 70 years go.
@Andrew Zonenberg @Neil Brown Itโs a manual focus lens. I zoomed in to pixel level on the viewfinder and turned the focus ring until the streetlights 50km away were single points of light.
Not easy because the viewfinder image was super noisy.
Autofocus generally has no chance in those kinds of conditions. The other one is a 14mm autofocus lens but thatโs only a 1 minute exposure and there was enough contrast left between the sky and the foliage to get an autofocus lock.
@Neil Brown @Andrew Zonenberg I will say that I have ruined attempts before because of the same end-stop problem. It worked better when I turned the focus peaking off in the viewfinder because it was getting in the way.
@zip (happy halloween 2024!) @Neil Brown The dark frame subtraction is an option on the Fuji X cameras. After the shot, it closes the shutter and takes another exposure of the same length, but in pitch black.
It then subtracts the second from the first, eliminating stuck pixels, a certain amount of background noise, etc.
@neil Oh, yeah I didn't even attempt AF because I knew it'd get nowhere.
That's pretty much what I've done, zoom in as far as I can on the EVF and twiddle the focus ring until the stars stop getting smaller. But yeah, noise makes that tricky. I guess I just need to practice more.
Here's a few examples of otherwise-nice shots I lost due to this.
I've mostly been able to take camera/tripod motion out of the equation by setting a ~5 second self timer, pressing the shutter button, then stepping away and letting the vibrations damp out before the exposure starts. So this blur should be all defocus.
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lenses need that extra, post infinity 'reach' to do the autofocusing. Not sure if any of them actually have the infinity properly marked; none of the few ones I have/had had it. My current one has something that doesn't feel very accurate. Looking at manual focus lenses, they implement a similar cursor, but most seem to have the extra info of FoD, which make hyper focusing easier.
I use a similar technique to what @goatsarah explained. I mostly use Jupiter.
whenever Vanuatu is mentioned I always think of IHP and feel grateful to the nation of Vanuatu for helping me through the first months of my transition while the gatekeepers were keeping gate
Just received the following email from the vice chancellor of my alma mater. They seem to be handling things a bit differently to the Americans:
Dear alumni and friends,
As you may be aware from recent media coverage, an encampment has been set up on the lawn in front of King’s College. I wanted to share with you a note that was sent to our staff and students yesterday, and to assure you that the normal business of the University is continuing as usual.
As the message says, the University is fully committed to freedom of speech within the law, and the right to protest. We ask everyone in our community to treat each other with understanding and empathy at this, and all, times, and our priority remains the safety of our staff and students. We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any other form of racial or religious hatred in our community. The University has set out guidance around expectations to the protesters, and the protestors have issued community guidance which describes a peaceful protest.
Our thoughts remain with all those who
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Just received the following email from the vice chancellor of my alma mater. They seem to be handling things a bit differently to the Americans:
Dear alumni and friends,
As you may be aware from recent media coverage, an encampment has been set up on the lawn in front of Kingโs College. I wanted to share with you a note that was sent to our staff and students yesterday, and to assure you that the normal business of the University is continuing as usual.
As the message says, the University is fully committed to freedom of speech within the law, and the right to protest. We ask everyone in our community to treat each other with understanding and empathy at this, and all, times, and our priority remains the safety of our staff and students. We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any other form of racial or religious hatred in our community. The University has set out guidance around expectations to the protesters, and the protestors have issued community guidance which describes a peaceful protest.
Our thoughts remain with all those who are affected by the current conflict, and we continue to work very closely, offering support and empathy, to those in our community who are affected by tragic events in Gaza, Israel and elsewhere. Yours, Debbie Professor Deborah Prentice Vice-Chancellor
@BashStKid @Sarah Brown She has very little control over the colleges as they're all independent institutions. I think there are separate protests directed at Trinity; with my vaguely-associated-with-Maths hat on I gather various Trinity maths open days have been subject to protests.
@BashStKid I think the attitude of individual colleges is most likely to be dictated by their fellowship. I donโt know what Kingโs fellowship is like and how likely they are to put pressure though.
I remember this topic coming up at my university (mixed) halls of residence, and one of the guys turning to one of the girls and saying โEmma, guys wank.โ
One of the most concisely truthful bits of education Iโve ever seen. ๐
Critical Question #44 - Would you want to spend a week as someone of the opposite sex? Why/Why not?From:Critical Questions - Interval 4 of 9001 - The Quiz A...
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