Monday, June 13, 2022



Anger as eight Iranian men convicted of theft face having four of their fingers chopped off EACH with guillotine in 'cruel and inhuman punishment'

I am not entirely sure I disapprove of this. Property crime is rare where Sharia law is enforced. A huge contrast with the USA

Eight Iranian men convicted of theft and held outside Tehran are in imminent risk of having their fingers cut off, an NGO warned on Friday, decrying the punishment as 'inhuman'.

The men are being held in the Greater Tehran prison waiting for their fingers on one hand to be amputated, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran (ABC) said in a statement. Three of them had been transferred from Orumiyeh prison in northwestern Iran specifically for the amputation.

It added they had been told that their punishment would be implemented once a guillotine-like device for the purpose was operational in Evin prison in Tehran. On June 8, all eight were summoned for transfer to Evin for the amputation which was postponed for unknown reasons.

In a joint statement with the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), the ABC said it was concerned by 'credible reports' that the device had now been installed in a clinic in Evin and had already been used for at least one amputation in recent days.

'Carrying out such a cruel and inhuman punishment violates the minimum standards of humanity and decency,' said ABC executive director Roya Boroumand.

'The international community can and should react urgently to stop the implementation of these amputations,' she added.

Finger amputations are permitted in the Islamic republic under sharia law, but have been rarely carried out until now.

The ABC said it had collected reports on at least 356 sentences of amputation issued since the Islamic revolution in 1979, but added the real number is believed to be much higher.

If the sentences are carried out, the men will have four fingers of their right hand cut off, according to Iran's penal code.

The concern over their pending punishment comes as rights groups also raise alarm over surging numbers of executions in Iran at a time of protests over price rises.

According to Norway-based Iran Human Rights, at least 168 people were executed by Iran authorities in the first five months of 2022, 50 percent more than in the same period last year.

*****************************************************

UK: Trans women cyclists who used to compete as men take first and second place in new 'non-binary' race - leaving young mother in third

An 'inclusive' cycling race that saw male-born trans athletes trounce women competitors has been condemned by critics.

The event on Friday finished with two transgender women in first and second places, with a young mother in third.

Gold in the ThunderCrit race at Herne Hill velodrome in South-East London went to Emily Bridges, a trans cyclist who was barred from a woman's race in March and who had competed in men's events only the month before.

In second place was Lilly Chant who, despite identifying as a woman, is still designated as male on official records.

The tournament's best-performing biological woman, Jo Smith, of Thanet, Kent, won bronze and celebrated with her rivals by posing on the winners' podium with her young daughter.

A photograph quickly spread on social media, sparking fury from female athletes and campaigners.

British Cycling, the governing body that has recently found itself embroiled in the controversy around trans competitors, said the event was independent and it had not been involved.

Sharron Davies, who won a swimming silver at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and has spoken out before on trans athletes, said she was 'very disappointed' at news of the race.

Fiona McAnena, director of sport campaigns at Fair Play For Women, said: 'It's inevitable that if we're going to allow people who have been through male puberty into the category that is supposed to be for females, those people are going to outperform.

'Sport is based on your body, and we have a female category in most sports because male puberty confers such an advantage and it is a lifelong advantage. It cannot be undone.'

In an attempt to devise an 'inclusive' event, the ThunderCrit organisers created two new non-binary races called 'thunder' and 'lightning'.

Its website said: 'Thunder category is for cis men, non-binary people whose physical performance aligns most with cis-men, trans men and women whose physical performance aligns most closely with cis-men.

'Lightning category is for cis-women, non-binary people whose physical performance aligns with cis-women and trans men and women whose physical performance aligns most closely with cis-women.'

Cis – or cisgender – describes a person who still identifies as the gender they were born as. Non-binary refers to people who say they are not solely male or female.

Bridges and Chant competed in the lightning race, despite Bridges being barred by British Cycling from racing against five-times Olympic gold medallist Dame Laura Kenny in March after international sporting bodies claimed she was ineligible.

British Cycling is now reviewing its transgender policy.

**************************************************

Want to Do Less Time? A Prison Consultant Might Be Able to Help

Hugo Mejia remembers when his Xanax habit ran off the rails. It was around when his small-time Bitcoin-cash exchange business blew up and he was handling millions of dollars, and the whole thing turned into what federal prosecutors called a money-laundering operation.

Then, one very early morning last winter, it all fell apart. Some 25 federal agents from a joint Homeland Security and I.R.S. task force stormed his house in Ontario, Calif. “They pounced on my home like I was El Chapo,” he said. His aunt and mother were handcuffed, and Mejia was detained in his den by agents who grilled him for hours.

Of course, he hired a lawyer — one who described himself as a cryptocurrency expert. But soon, Mejia discovered that their expensive sessions mostly involved Mejia’s tutoring his own attorney in the complexities of the blockchain. He was already going to plead out and sensed that he was in the grip of an inescapable process, so he fired that lawyer (and the next one) and wound up being represented by a court-appointed attorney.

In the meantime, he started scouring the internet madly, to see what he could learn about his future. “I would scare myself watching videos of jail,” he said. Mejia had entered one of the Kubler-Rossian periods of the prison-bound, self-terrorism. But then Mejia stumbled on a video of a guy named Justin Paperny, himself a former financial criminal, who was all over YouTube dispensing “so you’re going to prison” advice in a confident peppy patter, answering questions newly charged defendants might not even think to ask. Mejia loved this guy and spent hours watching his videos. “It would kind of calm my anxiety,” he said. The big fears started to seem less terrifying. He learned that he would most likely be going to a low-security prison, where “violence is not even common, let alone rape or anything like that.”

Justin Paperny leads White Collar Advice, a firm of 12 convicted felons, each with their own consulting specialty based on where they served time and their own sentencing experiences. After a deep dive into Paperny’s YouTube lessons, Mejia knew he had to hire him. This was 21st-century America, and this was precisely what he needed: a prison consultant.

Maybe you’ve heard of these consultants recently. After a prominent felon is sentenced, a spate of stories often appear about these backstage fixers for the wealthy, consultants who can help get a client into prisons that one might prefer — say, a prison that has superior schooling or CrossFit-level gyms or lenient furlough policies or better-paying jobs or other refined specialties. The federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., for example, is also known as “federal Jewish heaven” because of its good kosher food (decent gefilte fish, they say, and the rugelach’s not bad). When those Varsity Blues parents were busted for paying backdoor operatives to engineer their kids’ college admissions, it was also reported that many hired prison consultants to game out the aftermath.

Paperny’s business is a natural market outgrowth of a continuing and profound shift in America’s judicial system. Almost everyone facing charges is forced to plead guilty (or face an angry prosecutor who will take you to trial). In 2021, 98.3 percent of federal cases ended up as plea bargains. It’s arguable that in our era of procedural dramas and endless “Law & Order” reruns, speedy and public trials are more common on television than in real-life courthouses. What people like Mejia have to deal with as they await sentencing is a lot of logistics.

The idea of a prison consultant might conjure an image of an insider broker or fixer, but they’re really more like an SAT tutor — someone who understands test logic and the nuances of unwritten rules. Yet prison consulting also involves dealing with a desolate human being who has lost almost everything — friends, family, money, reputation — and done it in such a way that no one gives a damn. So they’re also a paid-for best friend, plying their clients with Tony Robbins-style motivational insights, occasionally mixed with powerful sessions about the nature of guilt and shame.

On television, the journey to prison is nearly instantaneous: a jump cut to a slamming cell door. But in the real world, it’s a set of steps, routine bureaucratic actions that involve interviews, numerous forms to complete and dates with officials. A lawyer is your legal guide to staying out of prison, but once that becomes inevitable, a prison consultant is there to chaperone you through the bureaucracies that will eventually land you in your new home, easing your entry into incarceration — and sometimes even returning you to the outside, utterly changed.

****************************************************

‘What Is a Woman’ Exposes Disturbing Transgender Agenda

Matt Walsh and The Daily Wire's "What Is a Woman?" documentary:

“I’ve heard people say that there are no differences between male and female. Those people are idiots.”

Thus begins Daily Wire host Matt Walsh’s new “What Is a Woman?” documentary, which highlights the left’s ever-growing reluctance and inability to define gender. Think that defining the qualities of men and women is easy for most people today? Think again.

While some may struggle to “figure out” women, Walsh identifies that Western culture’s obsession with gender identity has paralyzed people from defining what a woman is. As the documentary progresses, we see further evidence that the transgender narrative has not only rejected the definitions of “man” and “woman” as insensitive and transphobic, but has dismantled the very concept of universal truth and reality.

Fittingly released on the first day of Pride Month, Walsh’s documentary is a thought-provoking, humorous, yet often emotional and disturbing film that illuminates the contradictory and dangerous narrative of the transgender agenda.

In the documentary, Walsh interviews “the experts,” such as “gender-affirming” therapists, sex-change surgeons, and gender ideology professors (most of whom are transgender themselves or members of the LGBTQ+ community), asking them, “What is a woman?”

The majority of responders say they have no idea how to define womanhood or refuse to answer the question, calling it bigoted and pointless. Not only are they unable to provide a simple definition of a woman, but they find the entire concept offensive and transphobic.

The documentary begins on a humorous note, as Walsh asks a family therapist, “How do I know if I’m a woman? I mean, I like scented candles and I watch ‘Sex and the City.’”

“What a great question!” the therapist (who has every indication of being a woman) says, nodding and smiling encouragingly.

“So, what is a woman?” Walsh asks. A disconcerted look enters the counselor’s eye: “Great question! But I’m not a woman, so I can’t really answer that.”

“I thought therapy would make me less confused,” Walsh said. Us too, Matt.

So, he takes to the streets to ask the common American if they can solve this conundrum. Surprisingly, most of the interviewees responded to the “What is a woman?” question with a blank stare and nervous laughter. Most said it couldn’t be defined and said they would accept Walsh as a woman if that’s what he believed he was.

Especially entertaining is Walsh’s trip to the Women’s March—surely they’ll know what a woman is if they’re marching for them, right? But no, the marching women either ignored Walsh or yelled, “Why are you here?”—insinuating that he was a man (without even asking his gender identity, the audacity!) and that a man had no right to attend a women’s march. “How can you have a women’s march if you don’t know what a woman is?” he asked. TouchĂ©.

What is the female gender, according to the transgender community? Walsh spoke with a transgender surgeon who differentiated between sex and gender, saying that sex-change surgery is “altering the physical characteristics of an individual to fit better with a gender identity that is female.”

In that case, what is a woman, according to this surgeon? “A woman is a combination of your physical attributes, what you’re showing to the world and the gender clues you give, and hopefully those match your gender identity.”

As if the issue couldn’t get any more confusing, Walsh speaks with a pediatrician and professor who has worked in Planned Parenthood and advocates for “gender and reproductive justice.” She provides “gender affirmation care,” saying that a good doctor is there to listen to the patient and act on what they’re expressing.

Walsh asked whether it was ethical for minors to be making life-altering decisions such as taking puberty blockers or opposite sex hormones, since children often have a fantastical, unrealistic interpretation of reality, such as believing in Santa Claus.

“Well, he’s real to them,” the pediatrician said. “But the fact that Santa exists isn’t true,” Walsh countered. “Whose truth are you talking about? It’s very real to the child,” the pediatrician responded.

The documentary makes it clear that Americans can no longer ignore the transgender movement. It is permeating every aspect of society, politics, and education and now targets children as young as preschoolers.

The push for children to define their own realities and irreversibly change their bodies is perhaps what is most disturbing about the transgender agenda. In what other sphere of medicine do patients, especially young children, prescribe both their malady and remedy to the affirmation and acceptance of a counselor or physician? As clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson said to Walsh, “It’s not my job to affirm as a therapist, you come to see me because there’s something wrong.

The fact that the transgender agenda is increasingly targeting young children is what psychiatrist Miriam Grossman finds most disturbing. Grossman explains to Walsh the history of the transgender and sex-ed movement and highlights the unethical, traumatic techniques and flawed studies that have shaped it over the years. “It’s unspeakable what these people have done to our children,” she says.

Not only is the transgender movement harming women’s sports, exposing children to inappropriate material, and encouraging them to reject science and universal truth, it is also irreparably damaging children’s bodies and destroying their futures.

The most moving and persuasive interview occurred with Scott Newgent, a biological female who transitioned to a male as an adult but passionately argues against the rise in gender surgery among children and the subjectivity of gender. “I’m a biological woman that medically transitioned to appear like a man through synthetic hormones and surgery,” Newgent said. “I will never be a man. Is it transphobic for me to tell the truth?”

Newgent describes the details and horrific side effects of gender-reassignment surgery that are so conveniently hidden from public discourse. Having undergone multiple surgeries, illnesses, and painful, permanent side effects, Newgent told Walsh, “Nobody would help me, including the doctor who did this to me, because I lost my insurance. I probably won’t live very long.”

Newgent said the possible risks and side effects were never discussed when considering gender-reassignment surgery, and warns parents and anyone considering sex-change surgery that “the truth is that medical transition is experimental.”

Revealing an arm mutilated from skin grafts, Newgent broke down in tears on camera, exclaiming in horror that minor children are regularly operated on without any discussion of the risks and permanence of the surgery, or any discussion as to whether children should ethically be allowed or able to consent to such procedures.

“We’re butchering a generation of children because no one’s willing to talk about anything,” Newgent said. “This is wrong on so many levels. Kids aren’t able to consent.”

The transgender movement is ultimately an attack on scientific fact, the concept of reality, and the meaning of language. No longer are words allowed to mean one thing. No longer is the word “truth” socially acceptable, because who are we to deny “your reality” or “your truth”?

A professor of women (whatever those are, anyway), gender, and sexuality responded to Walsh’s statement that he was seeking the truth with, “I’m really uncomfortable with that language of ‘getting to the truth’ because it sounds deeply transphobic to me. The word ‘truth’ is condescending and rude.”

Sensing that this concept is a purely Western phenomenon, Walsh heads to Nairobi to immerse himself in the customs of a local tribe. In this culture, gender norms and roles are crucial to the survival of the tribe. The men protect and provide, and the women maintain the home and nurture the children. It’s an honor to be a man or a woman in this tribe, and every member knows their distinct duties and privileges.

A group of men laugh in disbelief when Walsh asks what they would do if a man wanted to look and act like a woman—the entire concept is ridiculous and unheard of. “The Maasai people don’t think much about gender,” Walsh observes on the way back home to America, “but they have a firm sense of their identity.”

Instead of solving gender dysphoria and body image discomfort, Americans’ infatuation with identity has only created greater societal instability and refused to answer the most foundational of questions. “What Is a Woman?” succeeds in highlighting the inconsistencies and dangerous agenda of the transgender movement.

Walsh’s angle is particularly effective, as he gives the majority of the screentime to pro-trans activists and medical professionals. The lack of data or persuasive argument for the trans community isn’t the producers’ fault, the “experts” simply couldn’t provide any. Walsh’s sarcastic, borderline dark sense of humor in the delightfully ridiculous street interviews breaks up the more serious, unsettling information and gives a sense of hope and common sense to the insanity that’s been normalized.

Bold, humorous, thought-provoking, and undeniably chilling, “What Is a Woman?” equips its audience to better face the ever-growing reality of the transgender agenda and its far-reaching effects through civil discourse, empathy, and a firm grasp of truth, science, and reality.

At the end of the film, it’s Walsh’s wife who’s the true MVP. “Hey honey, what’s a woman?” Walsh asks. “An adult human female,” she responds.

Of course, who knew it could be that simple?

****************************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

*****************************************

No comments: