ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝
A geologist and archaeologist by training, a nerd by inclination - books, films, fossils, comics, rocks, games, folklore, and, generally, the rum and uncanny… Let’s have it!
Elsewhere:
- Yrtree.me - it’s still early days for me in the Fediverse, so bear with me
- 658 Posts
- 1.91K Comments
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto United Kingdom@feddit.uk•Britain's state-owned energy company will not be allowed to use solar panels linked to Chinese slave labour, under changes to government plansEnglish111·7 days agoI live in hope that this will kickstart a solar panel industry here, rather than us just finding a developing country with cheap labour and lax laws.
Following the ruling, J.K. Rowling, the world’s richest author and perhaps its most prominent transphobe, tweeted a photo of herself enjoying a cigar and a bourbon on her $15 million superyacht, toasting what she called “TERF VE Day,” in reference to the acronym “trans-exclusionary radical feminism” and the surrender of German military operations that heralded “Victory in Europe” 80 years ago. “I love it when a plan comes together,” Rowling added.
She’s become a Bond villain.
Astonishingly, the ruling specifies that what it calls “women living in the male gender”—i.e., trans men, and cis women whose appearance is deemed masculine—“could also be excluded” alongside cis men, from women’s spaces. “Not being allowed into the mens by rule does not mean you have the right to go into the ladies,” clarified the leading anti-trans campaigner Maya Forstater; “That may seem unfair, but these are life choices people make. If you make extreme efforts to look like a man don’t be surprised if you are denied entrance to ladies.” Forstater’s comments underscore the ultimate goal of TERFs and other transphobes: to expunge trans people from public life.
The mask slips there. Even amongst TERFs that has to be a minority opinion (right? Right?) as everyone has the right to go to the toilet, but it does demonstrate that some don’t see this ruling as an end point but just a foot in the door. One of my arguments against the ruling (or the misinterpretation of it) was that trans men will be forced into women’s toilets, changing rooms, etc and this would underline the absurdity of all of this and lead to push back against it, but it seems like some TERFs are already planning for that eventuality.
And, again, who do they expect to police this? I spoke to the landlord of my local and he is pretty clear that everyone should use the toilet that best corresponds to the gender you look like, not necessarily from some high moral ground but because it causes the least fuss and bother.
Over the last six months, one new public charger has been installed every 13 minutes, according to the report. The fastest rollout of chargers has been that of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, which are powerful enough to recharge EVs in as little as 20 minutes. These chargers now make up nearly a quarter (24 percent) of all public charge points in the UK and stand in stark contrast to the declining number of petrol stations (around 8,300) across the country.
The report has been released just days after the government confirmed the ban on new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030. The government is now targeting 300,000 public chargers to be installed in the same year.
That seems pretty good. I wonder about how widely spread they are and what the optimum amount will be.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto UK Politics@feddit.uk•Starmer U-turns on previous position on trans women after gender ruling1·8 days agoWe are subjects in a feudal constitutional monarchy. We can reform the House of Lords (I favour sortition) but the whole system is broken.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto United Kingdom@feddit.uk•Heat pumps to be sold ‘smart-ready’ in plans to save households moneyEnglish2·8 days agoThis will be a welcome move if it let’s people get better control of their energy. I think someone has posted on here about their smart home setup that allows them to monitor their green energy production and usage.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto United Kingdom@feddit.uk•Heat pumps to be sold ‘smart-ready’ in plans to save households moneyEnglish1·8 days agoMy previous house was a Victorian semi that had cavity walls. I phoned up about a green grant to get it done (as people two doors down had) and they wouldn’t believe me until they checked Google Earth. Had it surveyed and it would have needed a lot of preparation work to get into a condition that it could have been insulated. Ended moving and I am unsure what the new owners have done on that front - not flash enough to make their Instagram account about renovating the house which I have been advised not to read as they are horrible people with bad taste. Although I get the gist as it often gets commented on at parties, especially as a friend’s brother-in-law did the bathrooms.
That sounds like a real rollercoaster ride of a weekend!
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPto UK Politics@feddit.uk•UK economy will be among hardest hit by global trade war, IMF warns2·8 days agoGlad I locked in a 18 month energy deal but I am wondering if I should have gone for 2 years.
There’s this show that no-one is talking about: Adolescence.
Two episodes into Doctor Who and it is a mixed bag - first episode was bad, second was great.
Daredevil started strongly but Andor starts today, so I’ll be hammering through that.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto United Kingdom@feddit.uk•‘Honest folk are paying for this’: the fight against Britain’s billion-pound energy heistEnglish1·9 days agothere are also online tutorials which have prompted amateurs to carry out DIY interventions, with disastrous consequences.
You really can learn anything on YouTube.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto UK Politics@feddit.uk•Starmer U-turns on previous position on trans women after gender ruling13·9 days agoThe SC ruling didn’t even say that trans people had to be excluded from single-sex spaces, only that they could.
This is Lord Sumption’s take on it and he reckons the ruling has been misinterpreted. As a former Supreme Court judge, I’m happy to go along with that as he is an expert on interpreting and writing such judgements.
The speed with which some people have jumped on this and given their own, apparently wrong, reading of the law is worrying. Especially as one of them is Baroness Falkner who is threatening to write up “guidance” based on her misunderstanding of the judgement. Almost seems… opportunistic.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto United Kingdom@feddit.uk•Trans women should use toilets based on biological sex, Phillipson saysEnglish131·9 days agoAnd who is going to police this?
My understanding is that it isn’t illegal for anyone to use any toilet and it is down to the establishment to decide who can go in what toilet. I’ve definitely been to theatres were women take over one of the gents. Also the gents in The Philharmonic pub in the middle of Liverpool is so splendid you can ask to be shown around no matter what you sex. I often lock both sets of toilets in my local if we have a late drink and that involves a quick check to make sure they are empty.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto UK Politics@feddit.uk•First police force changes search guidelines for trans women in wake of Supreme Court gender ruling131·13 days agoNot as far as I’m aware - The Guardian says it was only officers who trans women with a GRC who were allowed to search those AFAB. So officers couldn’t pick and chose to suit them.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto UK Politics@feddit.uk•First police force changes search guidelines for trans women in wake of Supreme Court gender ruling522·13 days agoThe BTP jumped on this almost instantly as they’d been under fire because trans women on the force could strip search those AFAB.
I’m waiting for next shoe to drop when someone AFAB complains because they get strip searched by a big hairy bloke because he was also AFAB. At no point does anyone seem to have considered the effect this law will have on trans men now having to go into women-only spaces. I don’t think JK Rowling cares about the messy fallout from her War on Trans Women.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto Buy European@feddit.uk•Reupload of the Buy European sticker (this time not just the EU)81·14 days agoTurkey is also in Europe. Partly.
The hose clamp is for fixing your undergarments.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto UK Politics@feddit.uk•UK Supreme Court rules legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex - live updates14·15 days agoNow trans and cis people are going to get harassed for being in the wrong bathrooms by the gender police.
They said on the radio that the changes in bathroom laws in the US have mainly impacted butch lesbians. This is going to get messy.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPto Fuck AI@lemmy.world•‘All-out war’: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk call for an end to intellectual property laws1·15 days agoThey want to be able to train AIs on everything without any constraint. So they get to make large amounts of money of other people’s work, while the people actually creating original songs and stories get nothing.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukto UK Politics@feddit.uk•UK Supreme Court rules legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex - live updates21·15 days agoIt’s a group funded by JK Rowling, she is laser-focused on trans woman and so intersex people and trans men are an after thought, if they are even given a thought.
I hear there will be a new cartoon out soon about it called Gendercats.