@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

iaruffell

@iaruffell@mastodon.scot

Professor of Greek Drama and Culture at Glasgow (she/her). Sight-impaired, trans, Green

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iaruffell, to random
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

Great that the Ordnance Survey are now tracking vernacular place-names. I am reminded that where I grew up, there was a conspicuous feature in the landscape known universally as "Johnny Boy's Hill" (this needs the traditional rural Essex accent for the full effect) and it was literally decades before I discovered that its official name was "Jean de Bois Hill".

mercedesallen, to random
@mercedesallen@mastodon.social avatar

"what purports to be an 'assessment' [is] in fact an exercise in bringing very significant pressure... on trans youth and their families to cease private treatment, backed up with a threat of a safeguarding referral to social services if they do not..."

Trans kids might have to detransition or face safeguarding referrals
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/05/06/nhs-trans-healthcare-detransition/

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@mercedesallen

Bye-bye HGillick, which is part of the point of course.

What are the odds that there will be no waiting lists or resource problems for whichever unqualified private-sector cowboys they put in charge of this.

iaruffell, to random
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

So, notwithstanding issues that the Scottish Greens have with aspects of the Green Party of England and Wales, it is beyond annoying that their impressive showing in the English local elections and London Assembly vote has been met with the media spending their time talking about the fascists in Reform who have won peanuts . Barely one peanut, in fact.

fkamiah17, to UKpolitics
@fkamiah17@toot.wales avatar

Least surprising political development of the day 🙄

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farageto-announce-return-politics-32706557

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@fkamiah17 of course the BBC will platform Reform at every opportumity, despite their serial lack of success.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@fkamiah17 of course (see, earlier, BNP, UKIP ...). I was thinking of the coverage of elections, where curiously malleable rules are cited to exclude minor parties, except if they are fascists

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

"this is why any government in Holyrood is destined not to deliver. It can't, because London created a system that was bound to fail as a way of securing continuous control whilst ensuring that blame would be directed inward in Scotland itself, as might well happen now" -- @RichardJMurphy

https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/26/scotlands-political-problem/

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke @RichardJMurphy but coalitions are normal throughout Europe. The problem is that WM parties keep wanting WM majorities.

Given that the SNP has been in power since 2007, the lack of continuity is hardly evident.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke @RichardJMurphy hmm, it varies, I think. The SNP seens particularly broad in terms of political ideology.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke @RichardJMurphy well, the polls are as strong as they have ever been - it is the process that is blocked. I don't think that is their fault.

I could wish they had followed through on their progressive stance and become more coherent, but is that what you meant?

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@Shivviness @MadeyeTheCarnaptious @HighlandLawyer @simon_brooke @ferryoons @RichardJMurphy It was never a credible idea. It really does not matter what the SNP (or Greens, or, heaven help us, Alba) choose to believe, the other parties and the media will disregard it, as will WM.

There has, after all, been an indy majority at Holyrood this session, which has cut no ice.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@HighlandLawyer @Shivviness @MadeyeTheCarnaptious @simon_brooke @ferryoons @RichardJMurphy but treating any election as a de facto referendum is always open to enough ambiguity to delegitimise any such conclusions or actions.

And if you are expecting buy-in for that degree of NVDA, you are going to have to be up-front about that. Good luck with that.

The Catalonia example is not encouraging.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@MadeyeTheCarnaptious @HighlandLawyer @Shivviness @simon_brooke @ferryoons @RichardJMurphy without a means to withdraw legally, the difference is moot.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@HighlandLawyer @Shivviness @MadeyeTheCarnaptious @simon_brooke @ferryoons @RichardJMurphy if the polls are regularly above 60%, there may be a more flexible

alanferrier, to random
@alanferrier@mastodon.scot avatar

Green Party representation in Holyrood relies heavily on list votes from, predominantly, SNP supporters who won't look kindly on them for, as they see it, sabotaging the BHA. This means there's little likelihood of a pro-independence majority at the next election.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@alanferrier the evidence of STV elections suggests otherwise.

Greens lending the SNP their vote in constituency ballots fits better.

There are so many wasted SNP votes on the regional list that tactical voting is not general.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@Alternatecelt @sfscotland @alanferrier historically, the Greens have concentrated on the regional list, mainly for financial reasons, but that is changing.

In terms of policy, the SNP embraces some very divergent views, not only on the economy and environment, but also on social issues. Although the SNP has lately tended to present as progressive, many within it are unhappy about that and pressured Yousaf to distance himself from the Greens on both counts.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@Alternatecelt @sfscotland @alanferrier also, with such things as the Freeport and Council Tax freezes, it was trying to have things both ways, which was an ongoing source of tension within the Greens.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke @melanie @Alternatecelt @alanferrier @sfscotland agreed, but localism and subsidiarity have always been important.

But obviously political action is required, both nationally and internationally. That is why there is a European Green Party, of which we are a part, not to mention Green parties worldwide.

Impossible_PhD, to random
@Impossible_PhD@hachyderm.io avatar

Just as a friendly reminder for anyone not aware:

The British press is not our friend. They, as a rule, do not publish anything, ever, favorable about trans folks, because those who control their content would very much prefer that we didn't exist.

So, if a reporter for, say, The Guardian wants to talk to you?

Don't.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@Impossible_PhD in my experience, if you are the target of a story, and refuse to speak to them, they'll just make stuff up, including quotes, anyway. I don't have a conclusion.

rooster, to trans
@rooster@chaosfem.tw avatar

If every trans person vanished tomorrow, every single transphobic troll mocking trans women online would just keep doing the exact same thing to cis women and other minority groups.

We are just the easiest target.

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@Skye @rooster are you saying transpeople forced transphobes to exist? If you wish to be specific, when was that? Give an example or two too.

Wen, to random
@Wen@mastodon.scot avatar

Reform UK leader Richard Tice claims it is 'defamatory and libellous' to call his party far-right

The irony - of is it self delusion?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/mar/19/rachel-reeves-labour-rishi-sunak-keir-starmer-uk-politics-live-latest-news-updates

I suppose this calls for a couple of new tags

iaruffell,
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@Wen can we just go for racist, bigoted, anti-science, immoral and ignorant? I claim this as a protected belief.

iaruffell, to random
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

According to today's Tory press (not linked), the major concerns of the current Minister of Defence are not the persistent recruitment problems for the UK armed forces, nor the lack of any functioning aircraft carriers, but (checks notes) allowing too many foreigners in, EDI policies and, er, gender-neutral latrines. Yeah, it's definitely the woke crowd who have their priorities wrong.

iaruffell, to humanrights
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

Let me get this right. The only reason the UK Government is contemplating abiding by domestic and international human rights laws and treaties is because otherwise Rwanda would object. It is a measure of how low this country, and the have sunk that this is now their standard.

The Tories have long since lost any moral compass they ever had.

iaruffell, to random
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

Home Secretary Suella visits the Met Police to discuss a crackdown on and unaccountably fails to hand herself in.

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

"In 1985, Labour Conference in Bournemouth passed a resolution committing the party to gay rights. At the height of AIDS panic, the topic of equal rights for gay communities was deeply unpopular within the country. But this was the Labour Party at its best, with leaders who stood in the face of criticism and said that what was happening was wrong, and that the dominant cultural norms are wrong. As a political party we are at our best when we do this" – Lauren Harper

http://scottishleftreview.scot/stopping-the-steamroller/

iaruffell, (edited )
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke this is also buying into transphobes' lies. Their noisy propaganda does not equate to a dominant norm. Still after this sustained campaign, most people are not anti-trans. Starmer is a coward, and can't read the roon, or polls.

georgetakei, to random

How hard is it to ask permission?
https://www.comicsands.com/wheelchair-user-pushed-airport-consent-2665867356.html?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=infeed&utm_campaign=linkprogram

iaruffell, (edited )
@iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

@georgetakei it's a daily occurrence for me, walking to work with a long cane. Multiple verbal and physical interventions without any kind of checking if it was wanted.

weirdwriter, (edited ) to ai

deleted_by_author

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    iaruffell,
    @iaruffell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @weirdwriter i can't say AI has solved my accessibility needs.

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