New Zealand's libertarian/ populist/ right wing coalition Government is trying to follow Wesley Streeting's lead in banning puberty blockers. This is what the New Zealand High Court has just decided (www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases...).

alright kids here it is youtu.be/rSqKz7ohHes

It’s almost like @jamellebouie.net’s point about video based social media being the way to persuade individuals was correct

Looks like zero hours contracts will be gone, now that the Employment Rights Bill is through the Lords. Bunch of other good stuff coming too. I’m not particularly happy with the Labour government I voted for, but this is a good day. (www.acas.org.uk/employment-r... has a reasonable summary I think)

just wept through the "gay marriage is now legal in the US!" episode of Modern Family and god, fuck, how grim that we so recently lived through times when it felt like things were getting better and would maybe just keep getting better and everything's just so fucking grim and ominous now, agh

Keir Starmer needs to stand up for the BBC against Trump's outrageous $5bn lawsuit and protect licence fee payers from being hit in the pocket. Trump wants to interfere in our democracy and undermine our national broadcaster. We cannot let him.

Shocked by the awful death of Rob Reiner. I spoke with him for over an hour last night. We talked about his work and his plans for the future. I always enjoyed his company. We met at his Dad's in 1975. Last thing he said to me was "See you next year.." Such a terrible end. Such a sweet man.

The West Midland Police threatened to arrest me for criticising the Reform Party, after I reported a threat to my life.

i also think it‘s jealously that they can’t do it (& don’t want to admit that), so instead of saying “oh wow, i can’t do this, so it’s impressive that other people can“ (like i do when i see any movie or listen to any song), they dismiss it because if they can’t do it, it has no value to them

A reflexive learned helplessness, formed by years spent in Opposition. Governments have enormous sway over the agenda (or at least forming an agenda) and if this government wanted to, they could have messaging to say “racism bad” - a simple but clear enough message.

The real disgrace in UK's welfare bill is that so much of it is spent on people in work. We are subsidising jobs that do not pay enough to live on. If we genuinely made sure work paid a decent living, then we would not have such a high bill.

My kids woke up so excited this morning for the first night of Hannukah and now yet again we have a festival where I’m very conflicted about whether it’s safe to take them to synagogue to celebrate. Communities shouldn’t have to live like this.

Extraordinary courage from Ahmed al Ahmed, a Muslim, 43-year-old father of two, who bravely risked his life to save his neighbors celebrating Hanukkah. Praying for his full & speedy recovery. And so deeply inspired by his example.

I’m rewatching the Rami Spider-Man trilogy, and I forgot how corny the swagged out Spider Man montage was. I love it, but it was corny as hell.

My least popular (and most correct) view is that cars should be automatically limited to the local speed limit. Put the pedal to the floor and you still can't go over 25mph in a residential area. (15 in Manhattan btw)

i might be biased as a trans person who works at the onion, or its just that the average person sees what people like jesse singal did and are completely revolted by the dishonesty and lack of ethics and contempt for humanity on display

this joke plagues transphobes because it’s an incredibly cutting take on what the modern transphobic panic is, a hysterical panic based off of a lie that transness is fake and that there is an intentional effort from the right to prop up this wedge to destroy all LGBTQ rights

Remember, when someone says they blame “porn” for something, what they mean by that is they blame the WOMEN doing the porn. It’s somehow women’s FAULT that men are behave badly. Scott Galloway is a raging misogynist and gender essentialist, he’s Jordan Peterson without the benzo addiction

I think it's worth emphasising that this isn't Musk being thick and not realising women have hysterectomies. It's rooted in his misogynist, nazi politics – they really do think the only real women are those who are capable of giving birth. That's all women are really for.

Which views the BBC considers unacceptably political in its presenters is particularly telling, isn't it?

When I'm in a "handing my enemy a loaded gun" competition and my opponent is the Democratic Party

i worry that when certain leftists say “working class” they don’t picture ethnic minorities in that vision yes the person lost their job, but they fucked around and found out when they called the somali customers (who may also be working class) a racial slur - actions have consequences

Sensibilities from a bygone era when employees got a turkey for Christmas after 10 years service at the company, and a Rolex Watch after 25 years service at the company

It's wild. We have so many real problems as a country, and instead a large chunk of our political class would rather hallucinate that one of the safest big global cities in the world is actually dangerous.

"Just need to get net immigration down and these people will suddenly become well-adjusted and happy with their lot" - the home secretary, apparently.

There was a swing toward Trump across the whole country, but it was bigger in the states exposed to very little campaign messaging. Harris presidential campaign messages appear to have been more effective than Trump's. She lost b/c of that general swing, likely caused by economic concerns. /2

This is one of the things that really infuriates me. The vast majority of all this confected conflict would go away if injected with minimal grace, good manners, and minding-one's-own-business. Instead, people choose to be gratuitously rude, ungracious, and invasive. It is ultimately so UN-BRITISH!

5/ As some of us have said all along, this is not a clear-cut issue. The Supreme Court did not say that trans people should be pushed out of public life. It instead reaffirmed a duty to ensure everyone — women and trans people — can live freely and without discrimination.

2/ The former Chair of the EHRC can grind her axe in the press all she likes, but these rulings drive a coach and horses through her unworkable, unfair, and potentially unlawful guidance. They also show the Secretary of State is absolutely right to seek her own legal advice.

Once again @heartinamber.bsky.social's 'a big boy made me do it' theory of this government raises its head. Initial post here: bsky.app/profile/hear..., screenshotting so it displays correctly.

All my older relatives who were blue collar workers told my generation to go to school, work hard, and get a white collar job where your back and knees are still in tact by retirement. I can’t imagine this tale is unique to my own upbringing.

This is why hating and mocking AI relentlessly and publicly is vital work.

It's fascinating how Lord Glasman is literally this dynamic in the UK - anything progressive liberal is seen as an attack on the white working class:

I'm sorry, but these attacks are just not going to convince Green-curious voters, because Labour is so visibly out of step with those voters' core values

“and you end up in the grotesque chaos of a human rights lawyer - a *human rights* lawyer - laying the groundwork for a Farage government to gut the Human Rights Act”

This is also my rationale as to why my gut is against these sorts of bans (even if my brain agrees with it) If I didn’t have access to the online resources I had back then, I’d have been a sadder teenager (& I was pretty miserable) (yes I know there are very real harms that need to be addressed)

Streeting to next launch inquiry into “over-diagnosis” of left-handedness. “Never used to be like this,” he insists.

Me, in The Guardian today: "This is a moment that requires bravery in standing up for what is right. Organisations that value trans people should know not just that the law is on their side – but so, also, are many people who will step up to defend them if they have the courage to take a stand."

"Gloves off", Starmer said, barely 2 days ago, before returning to cowering under a table the minute that was tested

As the trans community have known for a while now - the definition of activist is someone who dares to state they exist

one of the main reasons trans healthcare moved away from strict gatekeeping and toward informed consent & GAC is that trans ppl who were denied the means to transition would simply seek it out elsewhere

Critics of disability benefits largely frame it as a concern for government spending but beneath it, there’s often a clear prejudice: disabled people should have miserable little lives (unlike hardworking, normal people).

I also want to express my love for Dr Beth Upton. That woman truly has more courage than any of us.

Here we go

What’s so, so fucking stupid is how often these dickhead techbros with too much money, who’ve never been told once that they aren’t as smart as they think they are, are trying to take SOLVED PROBLEMS and attack them from first principles - with zero knowledge of, or interest in, the subject matter.

I do think Starmer thinking things were basically fine before does explain a lot tbh