News

Published: 04 March 2021

A Melbourne University professor has come under fire from students for standing up for the right of women to be free of biological men in bathrooms and toilets.

Dr Holly Lawford-Smith hosts a ‘noconflicttheysaid.org’ website which invites women to share their negative experiences about biological men who think they are women using women’s facilities.

Melbourne University students and staff are so incensed at the professor for standing up for the rights of women that they are holding a “trans pride rally” today on campus.

Dr Lawford-Smith’s website states:

In Australia and around the world, legislation is being introduced that replaces sex with gender identity.. Advocates insist that there is no conflict of interests. But governments are not collecting data on the impacts of this legislative change. We're worried about the impacts on women of men using women-only spaces, including but not limited to: changing rooms, fitting rooms, bathrooms, shelters, rape and domestic violence refuges, gyms, spas, sports, schools, accommodations, shortlists, prizes, quotas, political groups, prisons, clubs, events, festivals, dating apps, and language.

Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell said: “We have a strong policy to guide our obligations around freedom of expression to ensure that we remain respectful, fair and lawful at all times within the university and in the wider community.

“This means we must all recognise the right for alternative viewpoints to be expressed within our community,” he added.

Published: 03 March 2021

Six Dr Seuss books are the latest victims of cancel culture due to claimed “racist” and “insensitive” content.

Dr Seuss Enterprises, the company which manages the author’s legacy, made the announcement which will affect the titles And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot's Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super! And The Cat's Quizzer.

“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” claimed Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

“Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families.”

Ben Shapiro wrote on Twitter:

“We've now got foundations book burning the authors to whom they are dedicated. Well done, everyone.”

Shapiro also wrote that: “Liberals, it's time to make a decision: either fight against digital book burnings or ditch your political descriptor. Siding with book burners is dictionary illiberalism.”

Already the value of Dr Seuss books has increased, leading conservative commentator Matt Walsh to remark: “Gonna make a killing selling my kid’s Dr Seuss collection on the black market”.

At the time of writing, seven of the top 20 books sold on Amazon are by Dr Seuss, with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street the bestselling at number three.

Published: 01 March 2021

A doctor says kids are having panic attacks over using the terms ‘boy’ or ‘girl’

The DailyMail reports:

Queensland doctor Thomas Lyons was conducting an eyesight test with six children when he said he made the discovery.

He showed the children drawings of animals and people and asked them what they saw.

Dr Lyons said four of the children refused to use the terms 'boy' and 'girl' while all six of them became stressed...

“These children, without the knowledge or permission of the principal and parents, had been taught by teachers that the words 'boy' and 'girl' had some kind of bad magic and to utter them would somehow harm people,” said Lyons.

“Watching a six-year-old have a panic attack over use of gender identifying language is disturbing,” he added.

It comes in the wake of the Australian National University directing staff to say ‘chestfeeding’ instead of ‘breastfeeding’ and ‘gestational parent’ in lieu of ‘mother’.

While in the UK, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has similarly directed hospitals to use PC terms, including ‘human milk’ or ‘chest milk’ instead of ‘breast milk’.

Published: 26 February 2021

A Dutch anti-euthanasia campaigner is warning Scotland against legalising assisted suicide, saying the Netherlands should offer a cautionary tale.

The Netherlands legalised euthanasia in 2001.

Henk Reitsema writes in The Times:

My country expected a fall in backdoor euthanasia and the stopping of incremental extension by pinning down the definitions in law. But 20 years later it is clear we were profoundly mistaken.

There has been a massive greying of the lines, with a significant increase in life-shortening treatments that are not being called euthanasia. The term “unbearable suffering” has been expanded from physical suffering to include psychological and existential suffering — now even the term “tired of life” is sufficient. We have also seen the restrictions on age and mental competency shift.

Reitsema says that at the beginning it appeared “reform” had reduced the euthanasia rate:

“From 2001 to 2005 numbers dropped from 3,500 to 2,300. Subsequently they started to rise again and are now at roughly 6,500 cases a year. This is more than 4 per cent of all deaths in any given year.”

After legalising euthanasia, the incentive to improve palliative care has declined and euthanasia moved from being an exceptional situation to the norm, according to Reitsema.

“When euthanasia is ever more frequently used, the tendency is then to move in the direction of euthanising those who are not able to request it owing to dementia or other incapacity. Paradoxically, that which was supposed to provide autonomy could lead to the ultimate loss of autonomy,” wrote Reitsema.

In Australia, there are moves to legalise euthanasia in Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.