"Why Does It Have to Be Versus," Asks the Pot of the Kettle

A slightly edited comment by Tube Torpedo on the video “8 December 2016: Cassie Jaye interviewed by Emma Barnett (BBC Radio 5 Live)” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4csMxQJxGIQ

I quite accidentally stumbled upon a petition where all the major feminist organizations in my country had signed a goal to PREVENT any public funding to a study whose purpose was to study male victims of domestic violence. "Because over 90% victims are women and we have no need to use our common resources to fund something so trivial it's better to use every penny we have towards those 'real' victims" and not spend it on those trivialities. That was pretty much the narrative and reasoning behind the petition. And I was wait a minute. Even if there might be less victims in total it's not like they’re less important and the other goal was partly to map out the problem anyway because there had been several studies about female victims but not so much about male ones. Thought in my mind was what on earth has this to do with women's rights and feminism if some individual study happens to get funding or not?   It's a pretty petty and weird thing to have a petition against especially when behind it was major women's organizations and several women's organization/wings that are part of local political parties. How come this study is so special there are most likely plenty of more trivial studies anyway. It's not like the information could not still be useful especially from the victims’ standpoint, be those victims men or women, what does that have to do with anything. And it's not like we have to just handle one issue at the time until it's "solved" because most of the bigger issues are most likely unsolvable in their entirety anyway. Yeah, let’s not use any resources on abuse and assaults before all the murders have been solved.

And after that event I started to pay more attention to the reality in gender politics and it was quite different what I previously thought it was. And it was more in line with what somebody like Erin Pizzey has told when I many years later happened to stumble upon her. It's not that there is a need to make this a versus question, but what seems to be happening is that feminist organizations are actively opposing things like shared parenting or like this film about men’s rights. Or like in that petition I happened to walk into. Or opposing the more equal legislation and supporting structures that can see women as perpetrators too in cases of domestic violence or what is interpreted as a rape. Or when some men’s group wants to have a lecture about some issues and there are feminist protesters pulling fire alarms and shouting and organizing demonstrations so that those events could not even take place. Yup. Why does it have to be versus. In this case maybe ask those feminists about that...

Today I added to my song repertoire by memorizing one of my longstanding favorites, Matthew Sweet's "Sick of Myself."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNfocDNZWY8

In the past week and a half I've composed two new kinky song parodies, for a total of four. I'll perform them over the next couple months' Erotic Literary Salons. (The previous two I did at the March salon, the first one at which I read.)

Quote of the Month

Discretion is advised. It is also advised that discretion is over-rated.
 

-- zoecdarazsdi, “Finding Adult Autistic Women in the Media: A Unicorn Hunt” in The Aspergian

Gab Is Rolling Out an App

The free-speech social media platform Gab is rolling out an app. Copied below is the announcement.

GAB Hello everyone, After three years of work and after being banned multiple times by both App Stores, Gab finally has dozens of mobile apps for our users to choose from. Recently we moved to an open source and decentralized version of Gab that makes your Gab account compatible with a variety of different apps. You can search both app stores for "Mastodon" "ActivityPub" and "Fediverse." The majority of those apps will work with your Gab account, although some of them have unfortunately already blocked our domain. To sign into your Gab account with these third-party apps simply enter "gab.com" as the instance/server and then login with your Gab credentials. Thankfully we have an official Gab app for Android on the Google Play Store here. Unfortunately Apple recently banned our Apple Developer account without cause, but thankfully there are several third-party clients that will allow you to login with your Gab account. Our favorite right now is Roma and you can get it here. Gab Social is now unstoppable. In the coming weeks we will be adding the functionality you know and love from Gab such as groups, editing, and more. With the new Gab, anyone will be able to host their own Gab Social server which will make the Gab platform decentralized and unable to be taken down as a whole ever again. Those who set up their own server will have total control over their content and account. This is a huge step forward for free speech on the internet and we are excited to keep you updated on this development in the coming weeks. Gab is also now open source, for developers who are interested you can view our repo here. If you want to support Gab and help us on our mission to defend free expression on the internet you can do so in one of two ways. Gab is 100% funded by you, The People. Accredited investors can invest in Gab's new funding round and learn more about our stock offering here. Those who wish to go PRO or send a donation can do so by mailing a check or money order to: Gab AI Inc PO Bo 441 Clarks Summit, Pa 18411 Thank you and remember to speak freely! Andrew Torba CEO Gab.com

Not to Make Light

Sometimes I just want to dispose of a matter by combining it with its antimatter equivalent. But that would be making light of it.

Update on Pride/PlannedParenthood/The Red Pill Photo

I sent Cassie Jaye, director of the men's rights movement documentary The Red Pill, the picture sent out by Planned Parenthood of Southeast Pennsylvania from last year, showing me participating in their Pride contingent while wearing the promotional T-shirt I bought at the movie's world premiere (which is also the event at which I met her). She's given me permission to share her reaction:

Eric,

Thank you so much for sharing. I LOVE seeing this! I'm glad you were representing TRP at Pride with Planned Parenthood supporters. You're squashing so many stereotypes right there in one photo. Thank you for wearing the shirt proudly, it warms my heart.

Be well, talk soon ~

Cassie Jay

A SUPER STICKER at 19th and Market!

I just saw this today in Center City, Philadelphia. A welcome sign!

For Men's and Women's Rights, with Pride

A picture of me participating with Planned Parenthood at last year's Pride Parade, as I'll be doing again Sunday. I'm on the right, holding a Happy Pride sign in front of my The Red Pill movie T-shirt.

A Non-Naughty Limerick

A prof at old Miskatonic
Dared to say about gods things ironic
When an un-forecast storm
Altered his form
  -- now he's permanently catatonic!

Caster Semenya Should Compete As a Human Being

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/31/728400819/i-am-a-woman-track-star-caster-semenya-continues-her-fight-to-compete-as-a-femal

There's never been any good reason to segregate sports.

The rationale is given that without segregation, women would have no chance of winning. If true, so what? Many men have no chance of winning either, but they still participate because sports can be healthy and fun. If the only reason someone gets into sports is the hope of winning a medal, they're in it for the wrong reason.

Hence the saying: you should be competing with yourself, not with others

The Truth About Margaret Sanger and Eugenics

https://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2015/oct/05/ben-carson/did-margaret-sanger-believe-african-americans-shou/

This is an example of how an ideologically expedient conflation can backfire. If progressives hadn't stigmatized the concept of eugenics by falsely equating it to Nazi racism, this smear against Sanger would have no legs.

Quote of the Year

Here comes the penalty which a land pays when it stifles free speech and free discussion and turns itself over entirely to propaganda. It does not make any difference if at the time the things advocated are absolutely right, the nation nevertheless becomes morally emasculated and mentally hog-tied, and cannot evolve that healthy difference of opinion which leads to the discovery of truth under changing conditions.

  -- W.E.B. DuBois, Black Reconstruction in America (Harcourt Brace & Company, New York, 1935, first edition), page 144

Quote of the Month

"You have no conception at what extravagant rates everything is paid for in this place " -- US Representative Frederick Muhlenberg (PA), first Speaker of the House, writing home from New York City (cited in Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution)

Three ways to spot dodgy nutrition advice -- Futurity

https://www.futurity.org/nutrition-advice-red-flags-2070432-2/

A coworker desperate to help a loved one with cancer once showed me an article about a supposed cure. It concluded with a long list of citations designed to impress the naïve -- especially the Dunning-Kruegerishly naïve like my coworker. Problem was, the citations were nothing but journal titles. As anyone who's had actual experience with scientific or medical journals knows, each of these typically comes out several times a year and each issue comprises dozens of papers filling hundreds of pages. So a "citation" consisting of nothing but a journal title is absolutely worthless. There's no practical way to pore through thousands of pages for each title in search of something supporting the claims in the article. The sole purpose of such a phony list is to make a quack look legitimate to those who don't know any better.

Yippee!

The place I'm currently working through 5/22 invited has invited me to join them on another project starting 6/3!

No to Capitalist Censorship!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/05/02/facebook-bans-extremist-leaders-including-louis-farrakhan-alex-jones-milo-yiannopoulos-being-dangerous

It's unacceptable that powerful, unaccountable corporations are using their property "rights" to decide which ideas we can discuss. They should be nationalized and brought under workers' control so that the First Amendment governs their platforms.