Harry Hill vs Thomas Beatie
Harry Hill's TV Burp (Broadcast on ITV, 6:40pm on 13th December 2008) just went to town on the story of Thomas Beatie, the American transsexual man who has chosen to carry his child as his partner cannot.
Repeated references were made to this not being a man, rather a woman with a beard. This escalated to Harry wearing a fake beard and pretending to be pregnant. I switched off at this point.
This is a simply disgusting treatment of a transsexual and would be clearly illegal under the UK gender discrimination act. Especially from an ex medical professional who should have known better.
You can complain to OFCOM here.
Man Pants!
I love Conservapedia, dead-pan humor at its best. Take this essay about Women wearing pants.
The woman who pioneered women wearing pants was the actress Katharine Hepburn. She became rich and famous but never experienced a happy marriage and never knew the joy of having children. Her philosophy of life of being unfeminine resulted in her not fulfilling her purpose of life. We reap what we sow. There are consequences for actions. Women wearing pants is cross-dressing. It should be looked down on as much as men wearing dresses. The social experiment of feminism to destroy any sense of difference between male and female in the twentieth century has resulted in women wearing military camouflage fatigue pants and boots. The Bible says cross-dressing is an "abomination of God."
I'm so relieved I don't own a single pair of pants, but I can't help thinking about all the women who do. Please, donate your pants so they might be used to feed the homeless, save a whale or perhaps choke a passing conservative who actually believes this shit.
Indiana Update
Just been to see Indiana Jones and was quite surprised, I was expecting to be blogging today about how George Lucas had finally killed my inner child (which he did batter to within an inch of its life with star wars *shudder) but I really enjoyed this latest incarnation of Dr Jones. Yes, Harrison Ford is getting old, but it didn't show. The plot stretches things just a little, but no more than any previous movie. Wouldn't mind watching it again to be honest.
In other news, we're about a week away from going up to Washington, really looking forward to getting out of the desert. I just don't understand why anyone would live in Phoenix by choice, suppose some people just like being trapped indoors / roasted alive on a daily basis.
The letting agency (VS Webb) I rented my old house from are refusing to return the deposit claiming the house was left in an appalling state because we left a couple of bits of furniture. The house wasn't clean when we moved in, the kitchen fell apart as soon as we looked at it (and we were even told we needed a new one several times!!) and on and on and on. Have to wonder what they expect from a damp vintage Victorian terrace. The deposit is only £350 so it's not worth the effort fight and get it back, I would spend more than that just getting a few legal letters sent.
Missing everyone back in the UK loads, hope you're all ok. We're in a terrible routine here at the moment, tend to sleep most of the day away and get up mid to late afternoon as it starts to cool down. Going to try and stay up and make some phone calls in the morning. Love to everyone :x
Oh, and if you ever wondered why teaspoons vanish from communal kitchens, there has been a study...
The Great British Pizza Robbery
DON'T BUY TAKE OUT PIZZA IN THE UK - YOU'RE BEING ROBBED BLIND.
When we were in the UK we would occasionally get a take out pizza from Domino's or Perfect Pizza and very nice they were too. Its only now I'm in the US that it's become painfully apparent that I was being ripped off, and not bit a little either.
Take Domino's for example. In the UK we would get the 555 deal (not available anymore) as that got you the most pizza for your money, three 9" pizza's for £5.55 each. In the US they had the same deal at the same price IN DOLLARS. So with the exchange rate (just shy of $2 = £1) we were buying three pizza's for about $33 US, the same deal in the US would get you the same amount of pizza for just less than $17. So in UK money, that's ~£17 in he UK, and ~£8 in the US for an IDENTICAL meal.
Before we left the UK we had a couple of pizza's from Domino's and spent £32 (About $60 US). The other day we bought two almost identical pizza's here for $10 US (about £5 UK).
Why is take out pizza so expensive in the UK? Who knows, but one thing is for certain. Whenever you buy one, someone is laughing their ass off at you.
eBay + PayPal = THEFT – Seller Beware!
Selling items on eBay and accepting payment by PayPal (owned by eBay) is something I am not doing anymore. It is far to easy for the buyers to claim the items purchased are not as described well after having recieved them, start a dispute with paypal which ends in a refund. If lucky, you get your previously good condition items returned fit for the bin.
The process goes something like this. Win auction, pay via paypal from a credit card, wait till you get your goods. Once you're happy you have something worth stealing, file a "significantly not as described" claim with paypal. Wait a bit. Kerching! Keep goods, keep money, laugh.
It's hedged in favor of the buyer. We all know PayPal are difficult to contact at the best of time, during a dispute process its simply laughable. If you're not talking to the other party you can only send information to PayPal via FAX !! How awesome is that !!
To be honest, I'm gutted. The item in question was something I never wanted to sell, but had no choice. My Sofa - The Thief
UPDATE : Following my last message to the buyer in which I stated the the item was 'inspected' and 'collected' in person. PayPal have 'deferred' on this case. In other words they don't want to get involved and make a decision they will be held to later. I now await the credit card chargeback that PayPal will immediately pass on to me.
Bigotry at the heart of the Transgender Community in SecondLife
Many people have asked why I split from the TRC (Trasgender Resource Centre) and started my own trangender support venue in SecondLife. I have been accused of a lot of things, my friends have been harassed and plenty of rumors about me, my lifestyle and my loved ones have caused no end of hurt and pain.
I will just let Ashley Lynch's own words vindicate my position. This is pulled straight from her own blog. Ashley Lynch is the co-director of the TRC and as such, her views on the transgendered community in SecondLife are of vital importance to the community that organisation claims to represent.
There is a real tendency, especially in the online community, but as a whole for transgendered people to use their gender identity and status as a discriminated class as a crutch to elevate their other issues. Many trans people find themselves latched onto some very strange fantasy ideas and fetish communities in their effort to explore their identity. The end result is people who will defend their “hobbies” to the death as a core part of who they are and demand mass social acceptance for them.
People being led around on leashes in public with their hands bound and saying “Yes Mistress” constantly who assert that to tell them to not be submissive is like telling them not to be trans. People who claim to be infantile preteen children and will debate until the end of time how it is a legitimate identity that must be accepted just like their gender identity. (I’m not kidding.) And no, you are not supposed to be a child in an adult body. That’s a mental issue you need to be seeking therapy for, it is not an identity. You were a child once, but it’s over now, let it go! And while we’re on the topic, let’s talk about furries. You were not meant to be born as a humanoid half fox, half cat. No one has the genetic makeup for interspecies DNA. Your mother was human, your father was human. You’re human! Even if your dad fucked a horse, it would still never result in a furry. Being furry is not an identity that you need to fight for to have social acceptance. You know why? Cause it’s a fetish, plain and simple. Sexual or no, it’s a fetish.
The even greater damage that gets done here is that transgenderism already gets viewed way too much as something sexual or fetishistic. Having BDSM neko trans girls hanging around only help to perpetuate that stereotype and work against creating a proactive atmosphere for trans people everywhere. Some of us are trying to reverse negative stereotypes and get laws and rights passed for all of us to make the world a better place for all transgendered people.
So just because you’re adamant that all these messed up hobbies of yours (and I’m not judging, I have my own messed up hobbies) are an intrinsic part of your identity, every bit as much as your gender really doesn’t make it so. To be painfully blunt (and why stop now), this is merely a roleplaying fantasy that you’ve taken to extreme levels and tried to secure a thinly built connection in attempts to bootstrap it into legitimacy. ie. You are delusional and either need a reality check or a councilor. I know I’m being extremely judgmental and it’s okay. People who indulge in this sort of activity need a slap in the face to get some perspective. I’m not saying don’t have your messed up hobbies. I’m sure it’s fun. But don’t expect me or the rest of society to accept you as anything other than a comical farce if you try and take those hobbies into public. There’s a time and a place.
You can read her full post in its original context here.
The Transgender Lounge's founding principle is "Supporting gender diversity through tolerance" and its very obvious from the statement above why such an organisation is so desperatly needed in SecondLife.
The Transgender Lounge is located next door to the TRC and EVERYONE will always be welcome.
No Blackmail
My exwife (not yet divorced, just separated) moved out with her live in lover a little over 3 weeks ago and in that time I have seen my daughter twice. She has come over in the evening, slept the night and I have had most of the following day.
Its far from what I would like.
When they moved out, they took almost everything. I was left with the kitchen intact, a cheep dining room table thats seen better days, my own personal belongings including my bed and a garage full of rubbish that I am probably going to have to pay to have disposed of.
The one other thing they didn't take with them is half of the credit card debt which at the time of writing is about £3000 ($6000 US).
All the credit cards are in my name as for years I was the only earner in the house and realistically the only one of us who could get a card or five. She always had total control of all the money in our relationship , paying bills, all the buying and all the spending (to the point that I have had wage checks written out payable to her).
Items, shopping, whatever was paid for on the credit card as she deemed necessary and she was in full control of how much was repaid and when.
(Its worth noting at this point that we have had credit card trouble before and my mother came to the rescue and paid the debts off in full a few years ago.)
Today she tried to force me to accept an offer to cover half of the outstanding credit card debt.
She offered to pay back a certain amount each month for the next 7 months that would cover half the debt and interest during the repayment period. Put another way, I would be lending her half of the debt and retaining full responsibility for it as it would still be in my name.
I wanted her to either get a card of her own or a loan or whatever (I don't really care how she does it) and pay me half of the balance as it stands now. Effectively taking responsibility for half of the debt herself.
She refused to even contemplate that option and insisted that I accept her offer. I refused, asking her again to look at my suggestion. She then brought up the as yet unsettled issue of child maintenance, a totally separate issue that just happens to also involve money.
The implication was very very clear. Do it my way, or jeopardize your access to your daughter, and that in my book is blackmail.
I will not allow her to walk all over me, I do it now and it will happen again and again and again for ever. I want things to be fair, the debt to be handled fairly, my maintenance handled fairly and my access to my daughter handled fairly.
Is that to much to ask?