Links - 2nd February 2025 (2 - Get Woke, Go Broke: Ubisoft [including Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin's Creed/Yasuke])

EXCLUSIVE: Ubisoft Seemingly Prepping for Bankruptcy Ahead of Assassin's Creed Shadows Release as Past Failures Spell Almost Certain Doom - "we highlighted Ubisoft’s abysmal credit rating, rooted in troubling financial metrics such as a €1.4 billion net debt, plummeting market cap down over 85% in the past four years, and an unsustainable workforce of 18,666 employees costing an estimated €746.6 million annually.  These indicators painted a bleak picture of a company teetering on the edge of financial ruin. Now, on January 9, 2025, Ubisoft announced that it has appointed leading advisors to review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to “extract the best value for stakeholders.   What does this mean?  On paper, it suggests Ubisoft has hired consultants to address the company’s strategic missteps from recent years. However, in practice, this move aligns more closely with preparations to sell off valuable assets such as intellectual properties like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, streaming rights, or other goods, and possibly edge closer to bankruptcy. This announcement comes on the heels of yet another delay for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, now pushed from February to March. Coupled with declining sales from Star Wars Outlaws and the cancellation of XDefiant, it seems Ubisoft’s financial woes are far worse than initially anticipated."

Assassin's Creed Shadows New Release Date is Anniversary of The Worst Modern Domestic Terrorist Attack in Japanese History, Another Wildly Tone Deaf Ubisoft Move Toward Japanese Culture - "The game, delayed twice already, is now slated to launch on March 20, 2025—a date that marks the 30th anniversary of the Tokyo subway sarin attack, Japan’s deadliest modern terrorist incident. For a game purportedly steeped in Japanese history, this decision has left many questioning Ubisoft’s sincerity and sensitivity. It’s a glaring misstep in a development cycle already riddled with accusations of disrespect and historical inaccuracies."

Ubisoft Value Tanks: Market Cap Dropped 85% From 2021 to 2025

Meme - Perma Banned: "So the claim made by AJ Investments about how the Guillemots and Tencent are deliberately pummeling Ubisoft’s value to the ground through horrible decisions, to facilitate gaining more of its shares… Was very likely not “just a ridiculous conspiracy theory”? I’m shocked…"
"https://aj-invest.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Ubisoft-Open-Letter.pdf
2. Management and Governance: The control exercised in September 2022 by Tencent and the Guillemot family has effectively blocked potential acquisitions and partnerships that could have been beneficial for the company and its shareholders. More recently, in 2022, private equity firms such as KKR and Blackstone expressed interest in acquiring Ubisoft, but were unable to proceed due to existing agreements that prevent any single entity from gaining control without Guillemot and Tencent's consent. ( https://www.bloomberg.com/ news/articles/2022-04-22/assassin-s-creed-publisher-ubisoft-said-to-draw-buyout-interest? embedded-checkout=true) This pattern of blocking potential acquisitions has prevented much-needed restructuring and revitalization that will benefit all the stakeholders of Ubisoft. We believe that Guillemot family and Tencent are discounting potential value of Ubisoft in order to buy more shares at lower valuation and eventually take full control of the company at
Ubisoft Confirms Tencent Buyout Discussions. The studio will continue executing its strategy to meet the needs and expectations of its stakeholders."

Toxic gaming tackled by Ubisoft's unique police alert system - ""We want to be on the right side of history," says Damien Glorieux a senior director of the Newcastle-based Ubisoft Customer Relationship Centre.  It's here, and at four other locations around the world, that staff monitor how players of Ubisoft games are getting on - responding to requests for help and actively getting involved with the communities that have evolved around their titles. They deal with everything from purchasing issues to online toxicity.  Other companies have similar set-ups, but what's unique here is the involvement of local law enforcement... Holliday tells us about a recent case in Norway, saying: "Things were said and behaviours displayed that hit our threshold for intervention. There was a threat to life or serious harm.  "The agreement with Northumbria Police meant that after we flagged it, even though it wasn't a UK citizen - they were able to get Norwegian authorities involved.  "It was a lot quicker, more efficient and safer than trying to do it as a private citizen."... For Northumbria Police, Detective Chief Superintendent Deborah Alderson has been leading the work with Ubisoft on this agreement.  She argues that policing "is about prioritising protecting the vulnerable"... Andy Millmoor is the player experience director at the centre, and says that when it comes to online behaviour, making people feel "safe and secure" is their number one goal.  "Toxicity takes a lot of different shapes," he says."
Thoughtcrime bad!
Clearly enforcing left wing orthodoxy hasn't hurt the studio

Meme - "Star Wars Outlaws' Backlash Proves We Need More Women Protagonists"
"The game failed? Good. make more."

Ubisoft Reportedly Pressures Steam to Get Rid of Concurrent Player Count After 'Star Wars: Outlaws' Disastrous Debut

Meme - "DID YOU STOP HIRING WHITE MALES"
"YES"
"WHAT DID IT COST?"
"EVERYTHING" *plummeting stock price)

Ubisoft CEO Blames Gamers After Poor Sales of Star Wars Outlaws - "Ubisoft recently commented that the sales of its recent Star Wars game were below expectations, which has caused turmoil for the gaming giant. However, instead of taking responsibility for the damages, the CEO seems to have blamed the fandom.   Speaking on an investor call recently Yves Guillemot said that delivering a solid quality isn’t enough for the gamers anymore. He thinks that gamers have extraordinary expectations that are hard to meet now."

'Star Wars Outlaws' Nearly Falls Off Top 40 Most Popular PlayStation Games List Less Than A Month After Release - "To put this in perspective it’s getting beat by Hogwarts Legacy, God of War Ragnarök, and Ghost of Tsushima. All three of those games released over a year ago.   Not only is the game almost out of the Top 40 list, but True Trophies indicates that less than 9,000 people played the game. Similarly PSN Profiles reports that there are only 7,090 Star Wars Outlaws owners.  For comparison, True Trophies noted that Firewalk Studios’ Concord had 1,696 players while PSN Profiles reported 1,662 Concord owners. In the other direction, Black Myth: Wukong has 26,753 owners according to True Trophies and 22,206 according to PSN Profiles.  Finally, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has 12,414 according to True Trophies and 7,558 according to PSN Profiles. Of note, Black Myth: Wukong is 9th on True Trophies most recent Top 40 list while Space Marine 2 is in 12th...   Christopher Dring noted that its “launch sales [were] 55% lower than what Star Wars Jedi: Survivor did.” A week later he shared that its sales were “about half of Assassin’s Creed Mirage... Maybe one of the biggest pieces of evidence that the game is not selling well is that Ubisoft has not touted any sales figures."

LearningTheLaw on X - "The only reason Star Wars Outlaws doesn't drop below a 7 on Metacritic Metascore is because IGN essentially released 400 reviews that count toward the system's score. How is that even legal? lmao 💀"

Meme - Pirat_Nation: "You are now the new CEO of Ubisoft. How do you save the company?"
Nate Hodibrey @DjinnBartimaeus: ">First day as CEO
>Fire anyone with:
1) Pronouns in Bio
2) Brightly colored hair
3) Overt activism on their public Social Media Profiles
4) The entire HR team
Results:
>Costs get cut by 60% by laying off all the useless deadweight & keeping only meritorious devs
>Games get made for GAMERS and not a screeching activist minority
>Customers LIKE the games again instead of actively rejecting them
Congratulations, Ubisoft is highly profitable again."

Meme - Blue-haired bowl cut woman with glasses to table of blue-haired bowl cut women with septum rings, with everyone having the same phone and mug (white mug with heart): "now that the company's diversity goals achieved..."
"UBISOFT CLOSE TO LIQUIDATION AS LAYOFFS ACCELERATE, SHARES PLUMMET"

Ubisoft director blames gamers, says they've been exposed as 'non-decent humans' - "Ubisoft's continuous downward spiral is seemingly only gaining speed, with the latest speed boost coming from the company Monetization Director for Ubisoft, who took to LinkedIn to call gamers critiquing the company and its products "non-decent human[s]"... These company woes have also spawned an internal investigation and review by company board members. All of these bumps in the road have caused Ubisoft's share price to plummet more than 50% in just the last two months, causing the company's board of directors to launch an internal review of the company's performance which will likely result in a reshuffling of staff. Now, in the heat of what could be considered the most tumultuous time for Ubisoft, the company's director for monetization, Stevy Chassard, has taken to LinkedIn to voice his opinion on the public's reaction to Ubisoft and its recent decisions."
Once again, any opposition of the left wing agenda is "hate"

Meme - Grummz @Grummz: "We have no agenda. We want the widest possible audience.  This Ubisoft statement sounds good until you realize Disney said the same thing in response to their movies being accused of a woke agenda.  What happened? Nothing. Disney carried on until they had several more mega flops.  Widest possible audience = code for inclusivity as usual."
"in the light of recent challenges, we acknowledge the need for greater efficiency while delighting players. As a result, beyond the first important short-term actions undertaken, the Executive Committee, under the supervision of the Board of Directors, is launching a review aimed at further improving our execution, notably in this player-centric approach, and accelerating our strategic path towards a higher performing model to the benefit of our stakeholders and shareholders. Finally, let me address some of the polarized comments around Ubisoft lately. I want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda. We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy."

Ubisoft Shares Fall as Star Wars: Outlaws Fails to Meet Expectations - "As of September 3rd, Ubisoft’s stock had dropped by 2.4%, reaching its lowest level since 2015. This decline is attributed to the disappointing performance of Star Wars: Outlaws and the underwhelming reception of another recent release, Xdefiant. The latter, a free-to-play shooter, initially generated buzz but quickly saw a steep drop in player interest and viewership on Twitch.  Analysts were particularly concerned because Star Wars: Outlaws had a significantly higher development budget—at least 30% more—than Assassin’s Creed Mirage, a title released by Ubisoft last year. Despite this, early sales figures and player engagement have not met expectations. J.P. Morgan analyst Daniel Kerven even lowered his sales forecast for Outlaws by 2 million units, predicting that it would sell only 5.5 million copies by the end of the fiscal year in March 2025.   Star Wars: Outlaws was not just another game for Ubisoft; it was supposed to be one of the key titles that would help the company recover from four consecutive years of negative cash flow. After delays and cancellations of other projects, Ubisoft was banking on Outlaws and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, set to release on November 15th, to bring a financial boost."

Meme - Assassin's Creed: "Assassin's Creed Shadows will now release February 14, 2025."
Kangmin Lee: "Just delay it forever. No one wants to play as a black dude killing Asians in feudal Japan. We see that enough in San Francisco."
Ori Girindra: "You know Shits are getting real when you see Korean defending Japanese"

Ubisoft Executive Says 'Assassin's Creed Shadows' Devs "Think It's The Worst Thing They've Ever Seen" - "Ubisoft’s Executive Producer for its Assassin’s Creed franchise Marc-Alexis Côté shared that a number of the developers on Assassin’s Creed Shadows believe the game is “the worst thing they’ve ever seen.” During the Q&A portion of the interview, he also revealed that many of the people working at Ubisoft on the Assassin’s Creed franchise have no experience with the franchise. He said, “One of the things that I’ve noticed since the pandemic is that we have a lot of juniors in our teams. … Probably half the team that’s building Assassin’s Creed is building a game for the first time.”... he shared “that historical experts were brought onto the project much later than usual for a project of this magnitude and that miscommunication between teams and cutting corners when it came to the approval process of assets to meet deadlines” resulted in “many of the historical and cultural concerns” that have been raised by gamers. He also divulged that Ubisoft management had ignored their own developers who had been calling for a delay. He stated, “Seven developers working on the project said that they have been pushing for a delay for some time, and their situation had even been heard at other studios in the company.” YouTuber Endymion also shared information from his source that claimed that Ubisoft is planning to make changes to Yasuke. He said, “One of the things for sure getting removed from Shadows, according to my sources, is indeed the rap, hip-hop music for Yasuke. Apparently Ubisoft brought out a questionnaire and they were unanimously told that the rap music was tonally wrong and completely unneeded. And that it was actually offensive that Ubisoft believed Yasuke needed a hip-hop battle theme in a game that was set well before such music existed and it was only implemented ’cause Yasuke was black.”... They are also going to be removing dialogue from the game that according to my source told me that it would actually enrage players it they heard it,” he added. “I wasn’t given concrete examples of what kind of dialogue but the source assumed it may have been Yasuke saying some sort of sociopolitical pandering nonsense about he was sold by white men or something and that he hates white men and white supremacy must be abolished and such.”"

[ENG] "Yasuke Isn't to blame." arranged from "弥助でもええねん” [Unofficial MV] Assassin’s Creed Shadows - YouTube

The Bogus Story of Yasuke & "wokeness" revisionist history - " We will begin with the fact that Yasuke was a real person, he did exist, he was of African descent and he was put into the service of Oda Nobunaga. This is fact, and is not disputed.  What is disputed are all the revisionist stories of Yasuke as a great warrior, as  having been awarded Samurai status, and earning respect of the Japanese people and other Damiyo that he encountered in the service of the Oda...  THIS IS NOT FACT.  Romantic stories of the famed Black Samurai are nothing more than fables no more real than the futuristic comic book land of Wakanda.  Recent books  by authors such  as Thomas Lockley provide a plethora of speculation portrayed as fact, typically referencing historical documents and then interpreting them in a way to fit the narrative that sells books... the black man named Yasuke was given his own residence and a short, ceremonial katana by Nobunaga. Nobunaga also assigned him the duty of weapon bearer (much to the annoyance of actual samurai)  Here is where the facts morph from what is known, to what is "wished for"...  Nobunaga had a propensity for the unique, and he was particularly interested in all things foreign. Clearly he was fascinated by Yasuke, and this was documented to be to the chagrin of many of his top generals such as Akechi Mitsuhide, who is reported to have been disgusted by the site of Yasuke, and saw him as nothing more than a wild beast.   After the Battle of Tenmokuzan, Nobunaga led his force, including Yasuke, and inspected the former territory of the Takeda clan. So people make the assumption that Yasuke actually fought in this battle, and that he donned Samurai armor and fought valiantly as a samurai hero.
Fact check: A sword bearer stays behind with the general camp, near to the lord, they don't go out on the battlefield, and there is ABSOLUTELY POSITVELY NO RECORD OF YASUKE FIGHTING IN ANY BATTLE!  There is also NO RECORD of Yasuke receiving martial arts training, or use of the Japanese sword, either when in the service of Nobunaga or the years prior.    The truth is that his time with Nobunaga was limited, as they first met in 1581 and Oda Nobunaga was dead a year later. This is hardly enough time for Yasuke to be trained to be the great warrior all the Waukanda dreamers want him to be... some people attempt to equate Yasuke as a non Japanese Samurai in the same way the English sailor William Adams (Pilot) was later viewed.  However Adams was actually presented Samurai status, and  there is no record of Yasuke being bestowed similar Samurai status. The FACTs are that Oda Nobunaga made him a servant for a few months... Another fact that is clear;  Yasuke was kept around as talking piece, an oddity for Nobunaga to show off, much in the same way he enjoyed irking other Daimyo by showing them Azai Nagamasa's gold plated skull... Despite modern romanticized versions of Yasuke, if he was this great Samurai some would have you believe, then it stands to reason that he would have either fought to the death at Honnoji, or at the very least he would have committed Seppuku.  Nope.... didn't happen.  Or if he was an honorable Samurai like the 47 Ronin, at the very least he would have begged to join Hideyoshi in the fight against Mitsuhide and gotten revenge.... don't you think? Nope,  didn't happen  All that is known about the fate of Yaskue , is that he was seen with the Christian Missionaries after Nobunagas death and reportedly fled the country soon after. So while people may attempt to romanticize the story of Yasuke to suit their agenda, the truth is that such blatantly false attempts to rewrite history are pure revisionism and nothing more.  Faking history because it makes you "feel good" does nothing but a disservice to all students of the culture, the Japanese nation and the historical record.  There was no black samurai, no great Yasuke, no hero.... just a man who was a victim of circumstance and the times he lived in"
The "teaching accurate history" people love made up history when it pushes the left wing agenda

Meme - Grummz @Grummz: "Ubisoft is censoring Japanese creators critical of Assassin's Creed, citing "hate speech"."
Hypnotic @RealHypnotic1: "Youtuber and content creator SHOHEI KONDO Gets his assassins creed shadows videos REMOVED for hate speech from YouTube."
Shohei Kondo @shoheikondo: "Thank you for sharing! The video is removed 7 times! Every time the video gets back, it gets removed again and again! I'm contacting YouTube's internal team"

Perma Banned on X - "-be Ubisoft again
-releases another Assassin's Creed Shadow figurine set
-uses a One-Leg Torii as the backdrop for it
-the only known instance of a One-Leg Torii is the Sanno Shrine...which is a remnant/reminder of the Nagasaki incident from...1945
Ubisoft you just...I can't believe it...  Oh yeah Ubisoft, once again so "Respectful of Japanese Culture and History" you are. Using a tragedy reminder, for your merchandise sale. I can FEEL the respect from here.  Passing off historical revisionism from a foreigner as fact, plagiarise reenactment group banners, buying props made by other artists and passing it off as their own, messing up Chinese/Japanese AND time period architecture, culture and EVEN writing.  Now this?  You will have trouble convincing me that Ubisoft doesn't actually HATE Japan at this point."

Domino’s offers Assassin’s Creed Shadows help to “deliver on time” following delay, Assassin’s Creed responds - "On a facebook post on their official page, Dominos Pizza reposted the press report put out by Ubisoft regarding the month-long delay on Assassin's Creed Shadows, adding post-scriptum:      "call us if you need help delivering on time"... All joshing on social media aside, the now further-delayed launch is a pivotal point at Ubisoft's very existence as a game-development company. The once-juggernaut of AAA gaming has undergone significant losses in the past few quarters. With speculations of outright liquidation on the line, it's likely the company will at least go through some corporate restructuring and corner-cutting to make it profit-ready again."

Meme - Loyalists of the Galactic Empire: Somehow returned: "There is truly nothing more colonial-esc than butchering an entire countries history and culture to suit your western political ideology. Then calling them bigots for objecting."
CerberusXt @CerberuXt: "Having to chose between a black guy and a woman is truly the ;9/11 of bigots :'D"
Bizlet @bizlet7: "I can't believe they thought this was a good idea"

Financial Analysts Downgrade Ubisoft Stock Citing 'Star Wars Outlaws' And Predicting It Will "Underperform Expectations" - "“BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to neutral on Wednesday.” The firm’s analyst Nicolas Langlet, who is described by Bloomberg as a “bull of Ubisoft Entertainment SA” downgraded the stock citing a crowded release schedule and increased competition including Grand Theft Auto VI.  According to the report, Langlet “cut his price target on the stock by more than half to €14.50, a new low among analysts tracked by Bloomberg.”   On top of Langlet downgrading the stock, Cantor Fitzgerald also downgraded Ubisoft’s stock...   As for why he believes the company will go bankrupt or be forced into a buyout situation, Valliant Renegade pointed to The Walt Disney Company, which owns Star Wars. He said, “The ‘woke’ is what has murdered this stuff. … It’s very simple. The Walt Disney Company … the same company that destroyed Marvel in Phases 4 and 5, the same company that has destroyed Star Wars since day one is the same company that is now destroying another partner out there.  “The Walt Disney Company has put an enormous amount of downward negative pressure on Hasbro because of the fact that they broke Marvel and they broke Stars Wars. And Hasbro is on the hook for billions of dollars in licensing fees for these toys that they can’t sell like Captain Marvel, like Ms. Marvel, and all this other trash that they had to spend a ton of money to produce. Same with new Star Wars, all the money they lose with Rose Tico dolls, Reva stuff, and all this crap. People don’t want it.   “That’s how woke breaks people,” he declared. Still later, he noted, “This is where the ‘woke’ side comes in. Is that like many other Hollywood studios, television and film, and in this case game development studios have succumbed to the DEI ideology where they are just hiring people to fill a void.  He continued, “Because they can say, ‘Oh, we now have 30% of our game developers and our game writers and all this kind of other stuff are women.’ Sweet! Are they any good?”"

Rumor: Vast Majority Of Developers At Ubisoft Are "Deadweight": "They Don't Know How To Do Anything" - "“So basically the way developers at Ubisoft is classed according to this insider is you have the the superstars. These are the best of the best. And they're incredibly good at what they do and they're often also very well known. Now, he says there's very few of these people left at Ubisoft. Most of them have already left and have found much better positions at companies that is a lot better positioned within the market.”  “Then there's the what he refers to as the good developers, but they don't have brands. They don't tweet,” he relayed. “And he calls himself one of these developers. They make up a small portion of those developers that are still left at Ubisoft. The problem is while they're good they don't have names so they can't get jobs anywhere else.”  “And then the vast majority of developers is what he calls deadweight. They don't know how to do anything no matter what you give them. They're pretty much always doing it wrong. But what they're very good at is social change, pushing social change. So basically if you can't do the job that you were hired for make sure that you become a political activist is what I took from that,” he declared. “He didn't even talk about the DEI stuff with these guys just apparently they make working for Ubisoft very, very, very difficult.”... This rumor comes in the wake of Assassin’s Creed Executive Producer Marc-Alexis Côté revealing during an appearance at the XDS24 conference that half of the people working on Assassin’s Creed Shadows are working on their very first game... “[Assassin’s Creed Shadows] had no business taking as long as it did to be developed, but it's a Molotov cocktail of poor company oversight being poisoned by a competitor wearing the clothing of an ally and a worker base that is purposely being filled to the brim with activist DEI hires.”  “One look at photos of Ubisoft in its prime versus now tells you everything that you kind of need to know. The company is currently overrun by activist developers from the ground level to the very top,” Endymion continued. “I already reported on how Ubisoft has a terrible work atmosphere and a lot of the most important tasks within the company are being handled by outsourced contractors mostly. It's simply because the actual talent is not seasoned enough apparently based on what I'm being told. I got employees telling me that their co-workers have no business being in the industry whatsoever based on the interaction that they've had with these devs.”  “And I've even had two sources tell me they could have most of their teams fired and gone and development wouldn't be changed one bit for the most part,” he added. “The bloat at Ubisoft which is a prevailing problem across the board for many publishers is a self-inflicted wound of their own making.” "

Financial Analysts Downgrade Ubisoft Stock Citing 'Star Wars Outlaws' And Predicting It Will "Underperform Expectations" : r/KotakuInAction - "Saying the issue with SWO is that GTA6 will release a year later is insane cope."

After ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Delay, Ubisoft Acknowledges ‘Outlaws’ Issues, Anti-Woke Pushback - "There was similar pushback to Kay Vess leading Star Wars Outlaws as a woman, and a not-attractive-enough woman at that. No uh, historical accuracy complaints there, as it was pretty straightforward “woke/DEI” talking points there. But it is surprising to see Ubisoft entertain this at all."

Rumor: 'Assassin's Creed Shadows' Had "Only About 7% The Pre-Ordered Numbers Of Valhalla During The Same Time Period" - "This rumor comes in the wake of a previous one from Craig Skistimas aka Stuttering Craig the owner of the Side Scrollers Podcast that claimed Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ physical pre-orders was less than 1 per store.   He shared on X at the end of August, “My insider told me that, as of this morning at their nation wide big box chain, Assassins’ Creed Shadows has less than 800 pre-orders combined for Xbox & PS5 company wide.”  He added, “They have over 900 stores. That is less than 1 preorder per store. YIKES.”...   The game’s pre-orders on the PlayStation store did not look great. The Ultimate Edition of the game, which costs $129.99 was 16th behind New World: Aeternum, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Silent Hill 2, Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns Expansion, and Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO back on September 20th. It was in the 14th spot.  The base game was even further down the list in the 21st place behind Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, Throne and Liberty, and Sonic X Shadow Generations. The gold edition sat on the second page in 30th place...   “But in September 2024 Ubisoft had just launched and seen Star Wars Outlaws flop, which was a game that they expected would completely explode into being one of the biggest titles of the year and from the looks of it, it sold just OK. It sold like the least a Star Wars game should sell when there is no public interest in it, right? And part of the problem was that the game was completely bugged at launch. Ubisoft even had to apologize to the fans and promise that they are working on urgent fixes for performance problems on all platforms”"

Financial Analyst Describes Ubisoft's Sales Collapse And Delaying Of 'Assassin's Creed Shadows' As "Total Meltdown" As Stock Price Collapses - "Valliant Renegade reacted to the news that broke yesterday afternoon in the United States that Ubisoft was not only delaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but that they were reducing their sales expectations for its second quarter by 30% from €500 million to €350-370 million. On top of that the company also revised their entire year expectation to “around break-even” instead of profitability. He described it as a “total meltdown.”   Valliant Renegade specifically reacted to the stock price crashing nearly 20% since the market opened this morning around €9.  He stated, “A little over four years ago Ubisoft was trading at nearly €90. 9-0 euros. And four years and seven months later here we are nine euros. That means the company has shed 90% of its total market capitalization. And right now as this continues on, this is going to make Ubisoft worth probably less than $1 billion on the open market by the end of trading today.”... Valliant Renegade reacted to the latest statement from AJ Investments, who had previously called for the company to sell its assets and go private and replace CEO Yves Guillemot.  According to a report from Reuters, AJ Investments, which itself holds around a 1% stake in Ubisoft, claims it has “gathered support from 10% of the French videogame publishers shareholders.”...   He also speculated that the reason for delaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows has nothing to do with Ubisoft’s official statements about polishing the game, but has more to do with attempting to ensure the company at least breaks even for its fiscal year."

Luton, UK and Mass Migration

ɖʀʊӄքǟ ӄʊռʟɛʏ 🇧🇹🇹🇩 on X

PICTURE THREAD TOUR OF LUTON, UK.

 

I recently visited Luton - a working class town near London infamously home to both the Tate Brothers and Tommy Robinson and one of the towns in Britain most transformed by immigration - to see what it looks like today 

 

Luton was one of the towns earliest effected by large scale immigration. It’s against this background that Robinson’s EDL first emerged, the working class living on the frontlines of a changing Britain. My TLDR impression of Luton is that this change has now largely happened 

In some ways Luton might as well be another country. It’s easy to look at pictures of foreign-coded visuals in your own country and say, “oh it’s from a ghetto, China Town, Little India etc it’s always been like that.” Luton is like if these areas expanded over an entire city 

Luton is so transformed that it helps to compartmentalise it as a parallel version of Britain - ‘The Yookay’. Change on this scale is emotionally charged because it really is just not anything like what Britain has been historically. There’s no ambiguity, it is not the same thing  

Main high street - grotty but not unusually so for British standards. Demographics felt about 60-70% non-White. Selection of chain shops but also shops you only tend to find in heavily immigrant areas selling migrant foods, migrant-coded products - dessert bars, weaves etc  

Central War Memorial. A few pieces of litter in the flowerbeds around it. Some nearby buildings hollowed out and replaced with tatty-looking cheapo ‘poundstores’ - at the ‘higher end’ you have at best brands like… McDonald’s or TK Maxx. No particularly inspiring new developments 

The main shopping mall in the town centre. A detail not pictured, homeless encamped to the side who stared intensely at me as I took this picture. You can see Deliveroo riders, betting shops, smash burger takeaways - classic common features of British high streets in the 2020’s  

Inside the central shopping mall - the demographics maybe 80% non-White British. A few nice ‘Yookay’ details on this shot. The demographics again, the Halal Turkish food, the poster overhead stressing the importance of recycling your bottles in order to reduce the use of plastics 

Lots of remittance shops around, many shops or services that emphasise their owner’s country of origin. Not just Nails & Spa but Moroccan Nail & Spa. “I am a Moroccan. We are Moroccans. This is a Moroccan Nail & Spa.” The streets a patchwork of non-sequitur assertions of identity  

Dessert Bars are increasingly common in British cities in part because many migrant communities use these places as social spaces in lieu of bars. You can’t drink alcohol so you go here to ‘chill’, film crazy TikTok video. I stuck my head in a few, no white people. Many venues are implicitly coded to specific communities in this way - traditional British pubs by contrast for example will be mostly white clientele

Another shot of the main high street. Some banners suspended from lampposts - advertisements for ‘support hubs’ for support for alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse etc. Partly these banners stem from Britain’s overbearing ‘mental health’ therapy culture but I also suspect Luton has a lot of genuine alcoholics, drug addicts, abuse victims etc

At the top of the city by the courthouse. Closed up traditional ‘Red Lion’ Hotel, litter strewn across the floor by a residential block. Don’t know if the local council just doesn’t bothering hiring people to clean or if people throw so much litter cleaning it is a losing battle  

Fairly typical residential street just outside the city centre. Some litter on the floor. There was a particularly egregious house on this street with piles of garbage stacked outside but an obese Pakistani man standing in front of the building smoking began glaring at me as I walked past so I didn’t take a picture

On the way to the South Asian ‘side’ of Luton. Lots of litter. An ugly carriageway surrounds Luton, makes it a hassle to walk - a hangover from post-war urban planning. Combine unsightly features like this with modern Yookayisms for a pungent cocktail of miserable drab aesthetics  

On entering the South Asian area you are greeted by a banner advertising a Festival of Diversity and litter strewn across the grass of a small open green space. I am not making this up - it sounds like I am being deliberately gratuitous here but this is literally what you see 

Dunstable Road is the main thoroughfare in this area, the residents a collection of religions and groups though mostly Muslims and mostly from the Subcontinent. The % of white people on the street drops from about 30% to 1-2% here, surfaces are adorned with Arabic calligraphy  

Dunstable Road is a ghetto of a kind but it’s not a hermetically sealed ‘ghetto’. It spills out into the rest of Luton. It may be 20% more ‘Islamic-Looking’ than central Luton but that jump is pretty incremental, it isn’t a massively jarring huge jump there’s a flowing continuity 

Lots of chicken shops, jewellery shops, hijab shops, remittance services. On some the exterior panelling is plastic-y and the shopfronts extend out onto the pavement. Bi-folding cheap glass doors instead of heavier single doors. They aesthetically resemble shops in Cairo or Delhi  

There is a sense in which this all represents a merging of aesthetic styles. A kind of evolving Neo-Mudéjar. Styles instinctively familiar in the Karachi marketplace merging with post-war British forms. This is how aesthetic forms change and develop over longer stretches of time 

You can see this in the nearby residential area. 20th century British housing stock begins to take on slightly subcontinental features. Porticos grow larger, new panelling or tiling appears, imagery is affixed, features of the houses more resemble features from the home country  

Luton central mosque - a good example of what you could call British Islamic or ‘Rubber Dinghy Rapids’ architecture. Islamic forms built with the red brick of British industrial towns. I don’t find the architectural effect particularly inspiring but in this sense it is ‘British’ 

More residential streets. Some Yookayisms; disability support standups, litter. Also common - signs, flags, imagery. The imagery is I want to say more common than cultural equivalents would be in white areas. Are Palestine flags a cultural equivalent to British Christmas lights?  

Garbage of various kinds left outside the front of houses. This kind of fly-tipping isn’t unusual in parts of Britain and is not necessarily exclusive to particular groups but it was noticeable here how many houses had garbage just dumped outside. Evidences a certain culture 

LEFT: Imran on the back of a ‘white van’ like an England flag

RIGHT: A Syrian Opposition flag seen above a (quite commonplace on Luton’s high streets) bubble tea shop. Luton contributed a significant number of foreign fighters to the opposition groups during the Syrian Civil War  

Another residential street, more litter. A generational divide - the older South Asians wearing traditional kurtas, jubbahs and taqiyahs, the younger South Asians decked out with North Face puffer jackets, Nike and Adidas hoodies, some with half balaclavas, full roadman regalia 

Back to the town centre. Well-maintained flowerbeds in which traditional English trashflowers are growing. The ‘Cakebox’ company is a newer ‘cake business’ founded by Sikh migrants which is quite rapidly expanding across Britain, appears to cater to the sweet-tooth certain migrant groups seem to have in the same way the dessert bars do. If you look inside one of these shops the interiors look quite cheap, tacky, sparse. They resemble the inside of a Mumbai phonecase corner store - possibly a cost saving measure that helps the business expand more, possibly genuine aesthetic preference

Two supermarket interiors

LEFT: A sign warns shoppers that they are being watch by CCTV

RIGHT: An entire section of the supermarket Sainsbury’s devoted to Halal food  

An Islamic Dawah centre just off the edge of Luton’s highstreet. Natives generally do not convert to Islam but it isn’t unheard of, it is possible that the centre does occasionally succeed in converting passersby. The social pressure will be higher the more Muslim an area is 

The main square. A group of youths (yoots) mostly of different migrant backgrounds can be seen milling around on the right. They were standing there a fair while, there every time I passed. It is obviously a kind of socialising but the form it takes is notable  

A full house of remittances seen on the exterior of this electronics-cum-general wares store, not just to the Subcontinent and Africa but to Eastern Europe to. A reasonable ‘chunk’ of the Luton whites are Eastern European, which can make the streets seem more native than they are 

South of the town centre, the area is visibly a little whiter, the signage more recognisably British. Inside the pubs the clientele is entirely white. As with the dessert bars these venues have become almost implicitly ethnic-coded without anybody consciously assenting to it  

The area is not particularly clean, large litter middens can be seen by the side of the pavement. A little but not much better than the South Asian area. Again, why the council cannot clean it I do not know - unsure how you can be this apathetic but perhaps people just give up 

Collection of houses with litter strewn outside. Some of the houses are larger and more middle class coded but there is still a grimy sheen over the neighbourhood. Those with their curtains open look very normal inside. ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ Posters, ‘Our Home’, ‘Our Family’ signs  

Luton Airport in the distance, which provides the town with jobs. Luton is easily one of the most Yookay towns in Britain, I can see many mid-tier towns beginning to transform in this way over the coming decades - many already are. A process of ‘Lutonification’, ‘Yookayification’

Links - 2nd February 2025 (1 - UK Labour Government)

Mario Nawfal on X - "🚨🇬🇧UK ANTI-CORRUPTION MINISTER RESIGNS AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF…CORRUPTION  Financial Services Minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned following scrutiny over her financial ties to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the ousted Bangladeshi prime minister under investigation for corruption.  Siddiq denies wrongdoing but stepped down, citing her role as a "distraction" to the government.   Critics have raised concerns over properties linked to Siddiq and her family, as well as alleged financial irregularities in Bangladeshi infrastructure projects.  Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose approval ratings are plunging, appointed Emma Reynolds to replace Siddiq immediately.  Source: Reuters"

Labour's wretched incompetence may be the key to Britain's salvation - "Watching this new Labour Government, one finds oneself rearing back and shaking one’s head: surely it can’t be true that none of the current Cabinet has private sector business experience, beyond working in the complaints department of HSBC?  Having chanted that this Government will be all about growth, Starmer and Reeves seem to be now set on plunging us into recession. But, of course, the Tories must shoulder much of the blame. A near-universal set of assumptions among Conservative politicians was that if there was a problem, however small, it was for the Government to fix. Money should be spent, a law passed, a new regulator created. So much for any bonfire of the quangos... So when Labour came along, it already had a foundation to build on. The present government didn’t declare war on landlords, North Sea oil companies, car manufacturers, employers, farmers, small businesses, and on. It simply ramped them up... To ensure continued economic stagnation, the Government busily creates a new quango every week. The rest of the world has come to understand that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a farce, but in the United Kingdom we double down on this radical progressive ideology with new regulators – Sir Keir’s chosen instrument of enforcement.  In the US, large and small businesses, and Federal and State government, have abandoned this toxic, anti-growth ideology. The big banks are withdrawing from Mark Carney’s Net-Zero Banking Alliance. But in the UK, Ed Miliband has been handed £37 billion of taxpayers’ money to make Britain “carbon neutral” by 2029, with more futile net zero spending announced every day.  How exactly is the country going to pay for all this? A hit to profits here, a bit more tax there. It all adds up and it all prevents economic growth. But here’s the problem: we have now got to the stage where there is no more money left. The juice has been squeezed and the pips are squeaking. All we can now do is borrow more yet the readiness of the markets to lend is reaching a tipping point. The Labour Party wearisomely chants the discredited mantra that Liz Truss crashed the economy when 10-year bond yields climbed to 4.5 per cent in 2022. They now stand at 4.63 per cent. Truss may have been defeated, but her approach could have created growth; what has come since creates only decline. In consequence, many current and future wealth creators are scurrying away from the country."

Peter B on X - "Unaffordable £1.4 billion of UK winter fuel allowance. Affordable £12 billion of overseas "climate aid""

Starmer's right to jump queues. I jump them and Britain should too - "I was cheering on Sir Keir Starmer as he took his children to the Monte Toboggan Run while on holiday this week in Madeira (still firmly in charge of the country, though, don’t get any ideas Angela…).  You ride on wicker sledges from the church in the village of Monte, 1.9 miles down to Livramento, a suburb of the town of Funchal, whizzing along at a maximum speed of 24 mph.  The only problem being that before you get your sledge you need to queue. In Starmer’s case, that ought to have been for three hours. So, on our next holiday to Madeira that’s something we won’t be doing. Unless, by that point, I happen to be prime minister. Because when Sir Keir turned up he went straight to the front of the queue. As he should have done. As is perfectly right and fitting for our, or indeed anybody’s, prime minister.  Yet the crowd who were patiently waiting in line, a legion of British holidaymakers, apparently, were spitting. And spluttering, and harumphing and fuming. One such queuer was Russell Schacter from Ilford. “It was a difficult pill to swallow to see him pushing to the front after we queued for three hours”... “Brits are famous for being good at queuing,” said Schacter. And what a tragic crown that is. “Best at queuing” is our nation’s most wretched epitaph. Because, actually, if we want to get ahead in the world we need to start hating queues, be bad at queuing, and subvert the queues.  Sadly Downing Street’s response to questions about the incident was: “We don’t comment on the Prime Minister’s security”. They had to waft it away as an issue of safety. Indeed, government sources have also suggested that the decision to escort Starmer to the front of the queue was taken by Madeira police.  It would not have been sensible for a prime minister to have stood outside for hours in a public queue. And that I can understand, he’s trying to enjoy his holiday and all these middle-class Brits start whingeing to him about the increase in private school fees.  Downing Street should have manned up and said: “Of course Sir Keir didn’t queue, he’s a prime minister.”  That, alone, would set fire to the bellies of the nation. Work hard, get to the top, become rich and you won’t need to queue. Well-connected VIPs don’t queue. Taylor Swift got a police escort to Wembley, no ghastly traffic lights and commuter congestion for her concert last August and quite right too. Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby jumped the queue for the late Queen’s lying-in-state, an apt reward for the penance of presenting daytime TV. MPs and peers also famously jumped that queue. If you had a lying-in-state at your office, you shouldn’t have to queue either."

Thread by @NJ_Timothy on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "Labour are going to tell the biggest lie in British politics. They're pretending everything is worse than they realised, so they can break their promise made less than a month ago, and rinse you with taxes rises. This is why it's untrue. First off, we know this is what they have always planned, because Labour sources told the Guardian they were secretly planning to do this before the election. Starmer and Reeves are pretending that the public finances are somehow much worse than they expected them to be. But Reeves admitted in June that, "we’ve got the OBR now... You don’t need to win an election to find out [about the public finances]." She knew what the fiscal choices were, and she pretended she would not put up taxes. She explicitly promised "no additional tax rises" beyond those she set out, and claimed Labour policy "will be fully funded and fully costed - no ifs, no ands, no buts". Here's another one: "We have fully costed, fully funded plans ... Nothing in our plans requires any additional tax to be increased." Now the "if and buts" are coming. Labour claim they have "inherited the worst economic circumstances since the war." This is obviously untrue:
In 2010 Labour left unemployment at 7.8% compared to 4.4% now, and public sector net borrowing 10.3% of GDP compared to 3.1% now... Then, the economy was in deep recession, and now it is forecast to grow faster than any in the G7. Inflation is down to two per cent – compared to 8.3 per cent when Mrs Thatcher came to power, and 15.5 per cent when Harold Wilson returned to Downing Street in October 1974... Reeves has claimed: "If you look at debt as a share of our economy that's the highest since 1951." This is factually incorrect. And while high, UK debt is lower than Japan, the United States, Italy, France and Canada. And whether we're talking borrowing, debt, inflation or growth, with Covid lockdowns and the energy bailout - which affected each of them - Labour demanded the interventions should last longer and cost more. Labour's trick is to commission an "audit" of public spending, showing a supposed "black hole". But as Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, says, this claim is not “very credible at all”. The choices available to Labour were known before the election. They chose to go along with Conservative spending plans, and now claim they didn't know what those plans involved. Now this is another choice. And they are choosing to break their promise and put up taxes.
Some commentators are ignoring the obvious dishonesty and calling it smart politics, comparing the operation to what George Osborne did as Chancellor in 2010. But then Osborne had promised cuts in an election campaign and predicted an "age of austerity". This year Labour made no equivalent commitment. They claimed they had changed on tax. They promised, "no ifs, no ands, no buts", that there would be "no additional tax rises". They are quite openly breaking that promise, and to justify doing so, they are telling a massive lie."

Wetherspoon boss issues price rise warning after Labour's budget - "The boss of Wetherspoon has warned of price rises across the hospitality sector following Labour's tax raid on businesses in the autumn Budget. Sir Tim Martin, the chairman of Wetherspoon, said his pub chain's tax and business costs are expected to increase by about £60 million over the next tax year... Business leaders have told the Government they are now in 'survival mode' following Labour's first budget in 14 years that saw Chancellor Rachel Reeves raise taxes in the UK to their highest level in history... Tax rises will cost business more than £1 billion in increased costs, while the 6.7 per cent increase in minimum wage would set them back a further £1.9 billion."
Time to blame greedy companies for raising prices

Labour is running the country purely for the benefit of the public sector - "The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has reportedly backtracked on plans to cut pension tax relief for higher earnings to 30 per cent, a new flat rate that would apply to all earners. While this would go some way to plugging the alleged £22 billion annual funding gap Labour claim they inherited from the previous government, the Treasury has warned that the law of unintended consequences would mean that significant numbers of public sector workers would be impacted along with the intended targets, the undeserving “fat cats” that inhabit the fantasies of Labour Party members. The backtrack – if that is what it is – is informative of two separate but related aspects to Labour’s approach to government. The first is that ministers seem to have actually learned from their recent mistakes and injected a touch of political realism into their decision-making. The announcement of the scrapping of the winter heating allowance for all but the poorest pensioners has already had a devastating effect on the party’s – and Keir Starmer’s – popularity. No doubt the chancellor was not looking forward to the avalanche of criticism she would receive – not least from her own back benchers – if another tax-saving measure were to make “the wrong people” poorer. Which leads neatly to the second strand of this U-turn: Reeves changed her mind, not because the proposed measure would be unfair to all those who save up for their retirements, but because a large number of public sector workers would be affected as well. And in the minds of the modern Labour Party, that would be unconscionable. Less than a fifth of workers earn their living in the public sector, yet it remains, for the Left in general, the target of all its praise, respect and love. No one is more “deserving” of state largesse than those who toil away in local government, the health service and the civil service, despite the fact that their wages – and the services they provide – are funded exclusively by the productivity and efforts of those working in the private sector. As shadow chancellor of the exchequer, Left-wing MP John McDonnell was fond, in the run-up to Christmas, of wishing all “public sector” employees a Merry Christmas. Few challenged him on why private sector workers were so less deserving of enjoying the festive season. It does seem strange that those who enjoy harsher working conditions, are less securely employed and who have far less generous pension arrangements should be – but are decidedly not – the priority of the so-called workers’ party. But Labour knows which side its bread is buttered on: the private sector might pay the bills but it’s the public sector that comes out to vote Labour... on whose shoulders will the responsibility of digging the country out of the financial hole it’s in rest? Solely the private sector? If that is the philosophy of the government, then it is wholly at odds with its stated (admittedly pre-election) determination to encourage economic growth in order to pay the bills of the coming years. You cannot level extra taxes on only one sector and expect that sector to respond by increasing its size and efficiency. The so-called financial black hole that ministers are trying to deal with was not created by the private sector, nor does it rely on the government’s largesse to fund pay awards. Yet when the going gets tough, it is private employers and their employees, those not reliant on public funds for their secure employment and pensions, who are expected to make further sacrifices."
Left wingers just hate the private sector

Britain: How to Destroy an Economy in Six Months - "The largesse distributed by Prime Minister Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to doctors, train drivers and the nationalised sickness service (NHS – £25 billion extra) led to a budget in which the State raised taxes by a staggering £40 billion, increased the minimum wage, increased already crippling business rates and increased employers’ national insurance payments for each worker. All this was apparently (no joke!) in order to “go for economic growth” but even the Office for Budget Responsibility understandably predicted the budget would make business investment weaker and the Bank of England has reduced its growth forecast – to NIL in the fourth quarter of 2024.  The State-dominated British economy impoverishes everyone. An analysis by the Tax Payers Alliance showed that the average household will pay over £1.2 million in tax in their lifetime, meaning they would have to work for 19.5 years just to pay off the taxman. Even the bottom 20 per cent of households, or families with a household gross income of £19,599, will work for almost 23.4 years to pay off their lifetime tax bill, the longest of any group since taxes long ago stopped taxing income and instead taxed existence, property and jobs.   Since 2020 the State sector has taken on an extra 250,000 employees to add to its appalling low productivity record. Rachel Reeves’ solution is to reduce by a mere 10,000 and ask Departments for 5% savings on their budgets. The international competitiveness of the UK is quite horrific. The three critical elements in economic growth are CAPITAL, INCOME RETURNS and INVESTMENT OPTIMISM. The budget seemed designed to destroy all three.  For decades, as the insatiable appetite of the State grows to meet the ambitions and electoral promises of politicians, taxes have come increasingly from indirect and “upfront’ taxes unrelated to actual earnings or profits and therefore unresponsive to slower or negative economic growth. The State demands its right to spend, unconstrained by the ability of the economy to finance their spending.  Just how unconstrained the parasite State has become was revealed in the purchase by a Government Department of two leather bound files for £1,200!... The degree to which this disastrous government fails to understand the very concept of capital was revealed in their application of Inheritance Tax to family businesses and farms where they actually believe that such businesses can lose 20% of their capital and still function. To tax those families who sell out their capital for a one-off gain, or those who do not farm but buy land as a tax avoidance scheme has a logic but to cripple ongoing businesses as one generation dies is madness... No wonder Bill Gates and British banks are buying up farmland!  The Taxpayers Alliance found that, as the UK is sending farmers abroad over £516m in foreign aid, the inheritance tax changes announced at the Budget will raise £520m for the Treasury...   January 2025 will see a devastating series of announcement of business closures and redundancies as businesses of all sizes react to the enormous extra costs piled on them by the economically illiterate spendthrift Rachel Reeves... The UK has the highest government debt (97% of GDP) since the 1960s... One would think it could get no worse – but the Government seems determined to wipe out major industries like oil and gas, cars, petrochemicals, steel and plastics on the altar of “net zero”. The implications for unemployment, the resulting welfare needs and the fall in taxes are dire.  No wonder company start ups are the lowest for 13 years and the London Stock Market is losing company quotations to Wall Street."

Falling job vacancies may signal recession, recruiter warns - "Job vacancies are falling and the economy is "cooling", suggesting recession may be "around the corner", according to the boss of Reed, one of the UK's largest recruitment firms.  Speaking to the BBC, James Reed said his firm had noticed a sharp fall in the number of jobs being advertised and urged the government to rethink the recent increase in the tax employers pay on staff wages."

Monthly Decision Maker Panel data - November 2024 | Bank of England - "A new question in the November survey asked firms about how they expect to respond to the increase in employer National Insurance contributions that was announced in the Budget. Firms were allowed to select more than one option. 59% of firms expect to lower profit margins, 54% expect to raise prices, 54% expect lower employment and 38% expect to pay lower wages than they otherwise would have done."

Britain is closer to bankruptcy than anyone feared - "If it was a company the shares would have crashed, and the liquidators would be getting ready to take control. The National Audit Office has today refused to sign off on the UK’s accounts, citing a lack of information from local authorities on their potential liabilities. They can hardly be blamed for that. The grim truth is that the country’s balance sheet is a mess – and we may be a lot closer to bankruptcy than we realise... the real problem is not just bad investments. They can always be ring-fenced or unwound. It is the soaring cost of a dysfunctional government machine. Local authorities face bills that are running away from them. The idiotic “war on landlords” has driven up rents, vastly increasing the cost of housing people who have nowhere to live. The price of social care for the elderly is rising all the time, and the increase in National Insurance will drive up the costs of homes that will be passed onto councils. There are an increasing number of illegal asylum seekers – sorry, “irregular migrants” – that have to be looked after. And the courts are imposing backdated equal pay legislation that may land authorities with bills running into tens or hundreds of millions. Add all that up, and it is a surprise that more are not bankrupt already. The central government is hardly in any better shape. The cost of gold-plated public sector pensions is going up all the time, with estimated liabilities of £1.3 trillion, although the true cost may turn out to be far higher. The outstanding stock of student loans is estimated to come to another £225 billion, and may be virtually worthless as no one has any real idea what percentage of them will ever be repaid. Six or seven universities may soon go bust, again hit hard by the rise in NI, and will have to be bailed out at huge cost, or else wound down in an orderly manner, which unfortunately won’t be much cheaper. Net zero is turning into a huge drain on resources, with the endless virtual-signalling pledges on climate change racking up liabilities that no one had bothered to property tally up. The list goes on and on."
Clearly, the solution is to "tax the "rich""

Anger against Rachel Reeves' £40 billion 'tax-bomb' Budget grows - "In a bid to head off a growing business revolt over her £40 billion ‘tax-bomb’ Budget, the Chancellor told the CBI conference she was ‘not going to have to come back for more’. Ms Reeves was heard in stony silence by business chiefs, who say her National Insurance raid will hit jobs, growth and investment. CBI chairman Rupert Soames said business had been treated as a ‘cash cow’ to be ‘milked’. The employers’ organisation said two-thirds of its members were slashing their recruitment plans after the Budget, with firms switching to ‘crisis containment’ or ‘damage limitation’ mode. Salman Amin, chief executive of the firm behind McVitie’s biscuits, told the conference that the case for investment in the UK was ‘becoming harder to understand’. Ms Reeves appeared taken aback by the scale of the business backlash to the Budget. She insisted she had heard ‘no credible alternative’ and claimed the Budget would provide the ‘stability’ needed for growth. But the Chancellor appeared to acknowledge that the economy could not withstand another huge tax raid. And she warned Cabinet ministers that they would have to ‘live within their means’ as she signalled there would be no further increases in public spending during the next four years...
A leading watchdog warned that Labour’s controversial employment rights charter would cost business more than the £5 billion a year claimed by ministers
Vital reforms to tackle Britain’s growing ‘sicknote culture’ were kicked into the long grass, despite a pledge by Sir Keir Starmer to ‘grip this problem once and for all’
The Bank of England warned of the need to be ‘vigilant’ about a possible slowdown, with its deputy governor saying there was a ‘further risk that the UK economy proves less resilient than expected’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told the conference that ‘capitalism is not a dirty word’ as she vowed to rebuild her party’s relations with business...
CBI chief Rain Newton-Smith said the NI raid would ‘hit profits, hit competitiveness, hit investment, hit growth’. Mr Soames, grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, said that in the election Labour had done an ‘outstanding job of winning the confidence of business and convincing us that, very genuinely, they understand that the solution to our economic ills is investment and growth’. But over the coming months, business people would be ‘forming a judgment about what the Government really thinks about business’... Mr Soames quoted Churchill’s comments that some ‘regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger, to be shot’, and ‘some regard it as a cow, to be milked’. "

‘It’s madness’: The crisis forcing cash-strapped councils to cut back on services - "On Election Day, 67 residents voted to remove the government, beating the 60 who voted to keep it. The decision came amid the area’s slow decline, which some residents said was too drastic to recover from with city taxes. It was also emblematic of Americans’ waning trust in government at all levels, an issue that research found is especially prominent in rural areas... Such concerns have been fuelled by the spiralling cost of social care, as England’s councils scramble to plug gaps in their finances. According to estimates from the County Councils Network (CNN), the collective black hole could amount to around £54bn over the next five years... One in five councils in England will be at risk of financial failure by the end of this financial year, while four in 10 are at risk of going under over the next five years, according to Grant Thornton UK... Should Chancellor Rachel Reeves fail to amend her current spending plans, Davies believes pressures on councils will only escalate, prompting more asset sales and an increasing number of bankruptcies."
Weird. I thought austerity was a choice made by evil Conservatives because the cruelty was the point and social spending could and should be increased. Maybe the new cope will be that Labour is really conservative

Meme - max tempers @maxtempers: "🚨 NEW: The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, worked as a ‘complaints support manager’ and not as an economist in a bank according to a former colleague.  She resigned after being exposed ‘doing Labour council business’ under the guise of frequent doctor’s and dental appointments."
Kev Gillett. Professional OAP: "Can my network pis share this factual story. Back in 2009 Rt Hon Rachel Reeves worked 3 levels below me. Just facts. She was a Complaints Support Manager at LBG/HBOS. Not an Economist. #factcheck. Nearly got sacked due to an expenses scandal where the 3 senior managers were all signing off each others expenses. Narrow escape. Then had lots of visits. So she was followed. Turns out she was doing labour council business. When shown the facts. She resigned. #facts."

It's -1°C and I'm too scared to turn on my heating - "My 76-year-old husband, Rajinder, and I voted Labour – but we regret it. That’s because we believe the way they’ve handled cutting pensioners’ winter fuel payments has been atrocious. We rely on that money to get by and now we’re too scared to turn on our heating this winter... We have lost all trust in the Government and now believe they don’t support people like us. Doctors and the World Health Organisation are recommending older people to keep the house to at least 18 degrees to protect themselves, but we can’t afford to do that. If we did that – meaning we’d be constantly using our under-floor heating – it could cost us up to £300 a month. We even had to change suppliers to try to cut back our monthly bill, which is now £100. Instead of turning our heating on regularly, I constantly use my hot water bottle and an electric blanket to keep warm. But we shouldn’t have to scrimp and save when it comes to our heating. Now, according to the Government’s own estimates, an additional 50,000 pensioners will be living in relative poverty next year as a result of cuts to the winter fuel payment. Currently, that total number is at 1.9million pensioners, which is around 15%. That’s utterly shameful. The Government should be doing more to tackle this growing problem. It’s safe to say that we would never vote Labour again."
Left wingers aren't going to gloat about leopards eating people's faces, of course. If they die from the cold they'll never get the chance to vote Labour anyway - maybe that's the plan

Links - 1st February 2025 (2 - Trans Mania)

Mario Nawfal on X - "🚨🇺🇸SCOTUS JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON: "BANNING SEX CHANGES FOR KIDS IS THE SAME AS BANNING INTERRACIAL MARRIAGES""
Mario Nawfal on X - "A Supreme Court justice comparing not allowing minors to have sex changes to racial discrimination seems off… Dr. @GadSaad would this be considered a mind virus problem or a case of suicidal empathy?"
Gad Saad on X - "I'm unsure why she is weighing in on this issue given that she did not have the "expertise" to define what a woman is. She should sit this one out."

Thread by @Miriam_Grossman on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "I’m astonished at the profound ignorance on display at the SCOTUS today. Sotomajor and Jackson- you think giving T to a boy is the same as giving it to a girl? You believe a girl can go through “typical male puberty”? I am dumbfounded. Are there no intelligence standards that must be met for your positions? Male and female are permanently established at conception, you forgot? Kids are not sex neutral beings who can be transformed into M or F with shots and implants. And strangio — “blockers do not harm”, are you kidding me? The reason Sweden rejected them is because “Leo” developed spinal fractures from blocker-induced osteoporosis. Don’t you know ANYTHING?"

Michael Shermer on X - ""Another interesting (and telling) component here is the number of biologists who are silent on the topic." The answer @SkepticJonGuy  is a "common knowledge" problem: Biologists know sex is binary, and they know others know it. If they say it, however, they'll be accused of transphobia They can't say sex is not binary because they'd be lying, and they would know others know they're lying. They can't even say "no comment" because that would signal they know the only 2 options are truth and lies. Therefore it is rational to stay silent."
Of course, there will still be those sympathetic or wilfully blind to trans mania who claim that Steven Novella is a neurologist, not a biologist (and his physiology qualifications don't count), so it doesn't mean anything that he refuses to acknowledge the reality of biological sex

Frank on X - "I once spoke with a PhD biologist who insisted that sex is a "multivariate bimodal spectrum", almost impossible to define or even diagnose yet he never got back to me when questioned why he was able to separate his lab mice into males and females with 100% accuracy."
We will be told that because the biologist is not identified, this anecdote is not reliable, and no biologists believe sex is non-binary

Meme - Sall Grover @salltweets: "Literally no human being has ever changed sex. They’re 100% male."
"Are trans women 'biologically male'? The answer is complicated"
Naturally, the original article is a load of nonsense but a MTF

Children in Need ex-chair: I was thrown under bus on transgender charity funding - "The former chair of BBC Children in Need has claimed she was “thrown under the bus” for being a “whistleblower” on grants given to a transgender youth charity.  Rosie Millard stepped down from her role in November, saying she did not feel she had the full support of her board after she demanded Children in Need stopped funding LGBT Youth Scotland amid her fears it was “harming children”.  The charity, which said it engages in “life-changing work supporting LGBTQ+ young people in Scotland”, was given just under half a million in funding by Children in Need across 14 years. But Ms Millard, in an interview with Times Radio, said she had discovered the charity had “a lot of problems which I felt would bring Children in Need into reputational damage”.  The charity acknowledged in a statement on its website that it has had “challenges”, including previous chief executive James Rennie being convicted in 2009 as a ringleader of Scotland’s biggest paedophile network.  It also noted that a contributor to a coming-out guide published by the charity in 2009 was convicted of crimes against children in 2024. The charity said it condemns “any actions which harm children and young people”.  Its chief executive has accused Ms Millard of having “anti-inclusivity motives” and pointing to “historic allegations against us in attempts to destroy our reputation”. While Children in Need did cancel funding to the charity, Ms Millard said she felt she could not stay on as she did not have the support of her board... On the board not supporting her, Ms Millard said she felt “such is the pressure to appear inclusive, that people bend over backwards to show that they are not prejudiced” regarding sexuality and gender. Ms Millard said she had found the charity to be working in primary schools with a charter which she said “brought in notions of gender fluidity”.  She also questioned the charity’s approach on puberty blockers and chest binders. She said: “I felt this charity was harming children, and Children in Need – the mission for Children in Need – is to support and help children, help them be the best they can be and not harm them.  “If that is being a ‘terf’ (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) then I’m proud to be one.”... Asked if she felt “hounded out” of her role, she said: “I think my position was made untenable. And I think that if you are the whistleblower, then sometimes you’re going to get thrown under the bus.”  Asked if that is what had happened to her, Ms Millard replied: “Yep.”"

Transgender man found to be pregnant during sex change - "  “Having discovered the pregnancy, the first thing to do is to suspend [hormone] therapy immediately,” Dr. Giulia Senofonte, an endocrinologist, told La Repubblica, the news outlet that first reported it.  The expert on gender therapy warned that the fetus could be at risk. “If the halting of the therapy is not immediate, there could be consequences, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy, which is an important time for the development of the baby’s organs,” Senofonte said. “It’s difficult to talk about it in abstract terms, but it all depends on the timing of the suspension of the dosages of testosterone that the person is taking,” she added. High levels of male and female hormones in the parent’s body carry cardiological risk because of possible blood pressure and coagulation problems, Senofonte said, according to the Times of London.  “Hormone therapy blocks the menstrual cycle but it is not a contraceptive. The person can continue to ovulate and, consequently, runs the risk of pregnancy,” she said.  “People dealing with transition usually recommend contraceptive pills that can be used during hormone therapy,” the expert added.  Marco, who is expected to go through with the pregnancy, will be the child’s biological mom but will be registered legally as the dad, according to La Repubblica."

Meme - "r/asktransgender
[NSFW] Why do I feel like such a hypocrite?!
God why. As a trans lesbian woman pre-op, I definitely know how it hurts when someone tells me I'm not a real woman, especially when having sex. I've had ladies go down on me and just telling me they can't do it with me anymore just because it's too male down there. Recently I had my first sexual encounter with another trans lesbian, and I began having the same thoughts. Especially when we were having intercourse, I kept thinking that I'm actually having sex with a man. I honestly feel like the biggest hypocrite in the world right now. And I just want to hide or go hurt myself again. I'm confused and just want to die."

Meme - "I WON'T USE SOMEONE'S PRONOUNS FOR THE SAME REASON I WON'T TALK TO A SCHIZOPHRENIC'S IMAGINARY FRIENDS."

Meme - "A 20-year-old UCLA student has sued two California doctors, saying they inappropriately rushed her "down a life-altering and irreversibly damaging" gender transition beginning at age 12 that she regrets."
Brent Black: ""as a leftist, my healthcare is completely between me, and unethical activist doctors - Pro choice, pro trans affirmative care Karen"

UCLA student sues California doctors, says she was 'fast-tracked' into transgender surgery - "A UCLA student is suing multiple California health care providers and hospitals for medical negligence, alleging she was wrongly diagnosed with gender dysphoria and then “fast-tracked onto the conveyor belt of irreversibly damaging” puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery, according to her lawsuit.  Kaya Clementine Breen, 20, said she experienced sexual abuse as a young child, and by the time she was 11, she “began struggling with the thought of developing into a woman and began to believe that life would be easier if she were a boy,” according to her suit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court. When she expressed this to her then-school counselor, the counselor told her “that she was transgender and called her parents to tell them the same.” Breen, who was also suffering from anxiety, depression and undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the lawsuit, was then taken by her parents to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where she said she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria — the distress one can experience when their gender identity and birth sex are in conflict — and began to receive transition-related care at 12 years old. “This case is about a team of purported health care providers who collectively decided that a vulnerable girl struggling with complex mental health struggles and suffering from multiple instances of sexual abuse should be prescribed a series of life-altering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, ultimately, receive a double mastectomy at the age of 14,” Breen’s lawsuit states.  Breen began receiving puberty-suppressing medication at 12, was prescribed cross-sex hormones from 13 to 19 and underwent a double mastectomy at 14, according to court documents, which stated that her “her mental health progressively declined” following these treatments.  In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Breen said, “In retrospect, I wish that somebody had suggested real, genuine therapy first, instead of gender-specific therapy, because really the only therapy that I received until much later was specifically focused on gender dysphoria, and didn’t connect my gender dysphoria to anything else.” Breen said she began to question her decision to transition after she started dialectical behavior therapy, a type of talk therapy that seeks to help those struggling with intense emotions, earlier this year... The defendants in Breen’s lawsuit include Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, an adolescent medicine physician specializing in gender-affirming care; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Dr. Scott Mosser, a plastic surgeon specializing in gender-affirming surgery; the Gender Confirmation Center of San Francisco; UCSF Health Community Hospitals; and psychotherapist Susan P. Landon... Breen said she doesn’t believe the individual health providers named in her lawsuit “intentionally acted in poor faith,” but she alleged they were dismissive of her pre-existing mental health issues.  When asked what she hopes to get from this lawsuit, Breen said she wants “some semblance of justice or change.” While she is seeking “financial reimbursement for the amount that this has cost me and my family,” she said, she most of all wants to “help dismantle the rumor that no one is ever fast-tracked into gender treatments.”"
Weird. We're told this never happens and it's super hard to get trans "care" and there's always gatekeeping

Detransitioner sues Planned Parenthood, other doctors over hormone therapy, breast removal - "Christina Hineman was in high school when she began to question her gender identity, according to a press release from Independent Women’s Forum. The experience led Hineman to identify as a transgender man, take prescription testosterone and undergo a double mastectomy.  Hineman, now 20, has since detransitioned and is suing the providers involved in the transition. The complaint alleges Hineman “had been betrayed by the lack of care and concern Defendants showed her in facilitating life-altering medical decisions.” “The scars across her chest and the irreversible changes to her body from prolonged usage of testosterone are constant reminders that she needed an unbiased medical expert willing to evaluate her properly and provide the care she needed,” it reads.  The suit charges the doctors involved with malpractice and lack of informed consent. It also holds the employers of the doctors responsible including Planned Parenthood, Rockmore Plastic Surgery and Astor Services."

Meme - "Hey you terf bigot. Here's my middle transbian finger to you, asshole. I'm a real woman whether you like it or not. And I just took a fat shit in the women's bathroom, so cry all you want bigot. We're coming for you"

Former trans charity boss to defy ban on puberty blockers - "An organisation led by the former chief executive of the transgender support charity Mermaids has vowed to keep on helping children get access to puberty blockers, despite a permanent UK ban.  Anne Trans Healthcare, co-founded by the former Mermaids leader Susie Green, hit out at Labour after it was announced that the government would keep a ban on the drugs for under-18s.  Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told MPs last week that he was making the temporary ban, introduced in May, indefinite across the UK. He said the way puberty blockers had been used was a “scandal”. The ban was backed by Baroness Cass, a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, whose report this year concluded that the field of gender medicine was “built on shaky foundations”... Green, 56, was dismissed as Mermaids’ chief executive in 2022 over a loss of trust in her leadership, a Charity Commission report into the organisation revealed.  The following year she set up Anne Trans Healthcare, which offers access to puberty blockers for under-18s and boasts of having secured a “legal route” to get them to Britons. Anne, of which Green is a director, says on its website that patients can get them prescribed from doctors outside the UK and sent to an “EU destination” for pick-up... The organisation was founded last year by Green and the entrepreneur Lizzie Jordan, a HIV advocate who also set up the LGBT youth support organisation Think2Speak. It is named after Jordan’s aunt and, on its website, it says it offers “evidence-based” and “gender-affirming” care for transgender people of all ages... Cass, who produced a report this year on the treatment of children with gender dysphoria, said a lot of “misinformation” was being spread, including a claim that denying access to puberty blockers could lead to suicides, when evidence has suggested that the drugs do not improve mental health.  Cass said: “What is worrying is when people say that if children don’t get these drugs, they will die, because clearly that’s not true.”"
Helen Joyce on X - "What is _wrong_ with this woman that she is _so_ determined to continue providing vulnerable kids with a drug treatment that is so dangerous, and for which there is no evidence whatsoever of benefit? Share token"
J.K. Rowling on X - "Green is one of those who'll go down with the Trans Titanic, taking as many kids as she's allowed to take with her. This woman will never stop voluntarily. To do so would mean admitting doubts about what she did to her own son."
Trust the Experts - unless they threaten the left wing agenda

Diana Alastair💚🤍💜 ✡️⚢ ❌❌ on X - "If someone punched a 70 year old trans-identifying male in the face at a rally hard enough to fracture his skull, every major news outlet would spend weeks on the story. When a trans person fractured a 70 year old woman’s skull with his fists at #LetWomenSpeakAuckland, none of them made a sound.  Trans people are the new sacred caste."
Billy Bragg on X - "The man who did that doesn't identify as trans."
Woman 70, punched in the head 25/3/23 Auckland - "Most of you have seen the footage of the vicious attack on the 70 year old woman, Emily Steel*, at the Let Women Speak (attempted) rally in Auckland NZ on the 25 March 2023. Emily sustained serious injuries from this attack, her life has been fractured and it will take her a long time to heal emotionally and physically. I can assure you that she is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Rex Landy collected initial donations via her substack (buy me a coffee), on behalf of Emily to help get her over the first few days and to have a support person. This fund will help towards Emily's recovery, security and to continue advocating for children. #NeverSurrender #WomenWillSpeak"
Violence against women is good when it helps the left wing agenda

Charlie Kirk on X - "If you're 18 and think you're the opposite sex, you have a mental illness. If you're 8 and think you're the opposite sex, your mother has a mental illness."

CANADA: Metro Vancouver Transit Police Say They "Don't Know" Whether Sexual Assault Suspect Is Male Or Female Despite Having Semen Evidence - "On February 8, the Transit Police issued a press release pleading for help to identify the suspect. While photos and videos showed what appeared to be a male with long hair, some basic information on the suspect was curiously omitted from the release. No pronouns were used, and no information on the suspect’s sex was included... According to their website, The Metro Vancouver Transit Police is “the only dedicated police service in Canada focused on reducing crime and disorderly behavior in and around the public transportation system.” They also describe one of their four operational priorities as “reducing sexual offences.” In 2018, the police force launched an “Anti Sex Offence Campaign,” which consisted of a poster campaign and a number for victims or witnesses to text or call the transit police."
Weird. We're told that sex and gender are different and only ignorant people don't know that

Courage Is A Habit on X - "You all want to know how badly these people want to trans your children?  Today, while the country is watching this landmark Supreme Court case, these 7 radical members will vote on Dec 5 (tomorrow) to install a clinic in schools that can offer transgender treatments and all forms of "therapy" with affirm-only therapist, all without parental consent.  Exactly one month after the Presidential election where the country rose up against the transgender cult, school boards like this one are tripling down.   You do not have to live in Maine to help us stop them. Let's bring the eyes of the country on them. We made it easy for you: http://courageisahabit.org/#msad11"

Andy Ngo 🏳️‍🌈 on X - "The Biden-Harris administration joined the ACLU in a radical lawsuit to argue before the Supreme Court that it is a right to medically transition minors. If they win, it could also fundamentally transform understanding of anti-discrimination laws that protect women and girls across the U.S.  Can anti-Trump TERFS explain why you support Democrats?"

LGBT Courage Coalition on X - "Holy cow. Strangio is making the SEX BASED discrimination claim between males and females who seek to be males."
HeterodorxPodcast🍂🧑‍🦳 on X - "Today Chase Strangio is learning something really important. By avoiding her critics for years and years, the first time she’s had her ridiculous arguments tested is at the most critical juncture of her career. This is what comes from shutting down discourse."
Wesley Yang on X - "There are very few venues where you have to answer cogently, cannot shut down debate, and will be penalized if you rely on fallacies, bullying, emotional blackmail, slander, and veiled threats to get your way. Trans activism relied on this fact for decades."

Meghan McCain on X - "This right here is why the left has lost the culture war. Saying a 2 year old (!!!) should be castrated is nothing short of pure evil out of a science fiction book.   Every sentient normal American knows this and is horrified by it."

May Mailman on X - "Alito asks whether transgenderism is "immutable" meaning you can't change it? ACLU says it's biologically driven, trying to dodge. Alito says, what about "gender fluid"? ACLU admits that exist.   Immutability is key to being a protected legal class."

Andy Ngo 🏳️‍🌈 on X - "At the Supreme Court hearing on whether it is illegal to ban the medical transition of minors, liberal Justice Sotomayor interrupts the TN lawyer when he explains the health dangers. She says there are always risks to medicine, like taking aspirin."

Leor Sapir on X - "Wow.   Justice Alito: the Cass Report finds of no evidence that gender Rx prevents suicide.   Strangio: "completed suicide is thankfully and admittedly rare," the studies apply to suicidal ideation/behavior.   Has the @ACLU  just abandoned the "dead daughter/live son" narrative?"
James Lindsay, anti-Communist on X - "The Left doesn't care about people being bullied into suicidal ideation. Ask anyone they've struggled or cancelled."

Meme - Diana Alastair💚🤍💜 ✡️⚢ ❌❌ @sappholives83: "This man feels “alienated” in his women’s support group, so he wants to force the actual women to restrict all discussion of their “afab body issues” to one day a week.  First they invade, then they demand to be in control. This is narcissism, and it’s gone mad with power."
"I need help coping with feeling alienated in womens groups
I'm apart of a womens support group at my college but i'm the only transgirl there. When the topic of discussion is something like misogyny I can relate obviously. But when the other girls talk about more... biological issues I feel uncomfortable and kinda sad. I tried contributing to the conversation once when one of the other girls was complaining of back pain from her breasts and how she wanted a breast reduction but didnt know if her insurance would cover it. I made a joke saying at least you have breasts haha!" And she kinda just stared at me and looked annoyed. The other girls make jokes about each others bodies all the time like joking about how all their cycles are gonna sync up (and i felt alienated there again) but when i try to make a joke everyone kinda just goes quiet. I know that we arent 100% the same i get that but i still feel miserable when they talk about afab problems. Is there a way i could tastefully bring this up to the group? I dont want them to not be able to talk about those issues but maybe I can ask them to set one specific day of the week (we meet 3 sometimes 4 times a week) to talk about afab body issues? I dont want to seem rude and be stepping on their toes i just wanna feel like i really fit in."

Meme - "MEN: CHECK OUT MY NEW CAR
WOMEN: CHECK OUT MY NEW PURSE.
HOLLYWOOD STARS: CHECK OUT MY NEW TRANS KID."

Meme - J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling: "Never forget: gender identity isn't about sex stereotypes, but playing around with your hair proves you're not a man."
Brianna Wu @BriannaWu: "I know that there's an angry crowd that will never believe trans women are an (admittedly weird) variation of woman. But for people in the middle, here's 25 minutes of @dollcastshow just talking about doing our hair. Can anyone honestly say we would make sense living as men?"

Meme - "Tell me the truth for once!"
"Being anti-third gender is a pro-trans stance. Actual trans people (who aren't faking for tiktok clout) want to integrate into society and just want to be treated like a normal male or female."

Libs of TikTok on X - "Meet Katherine Rigby, a California judge who was appointed by Newsom. She ordered that Tremaine Carroll, a man pretending to be a woman must be referred to with she/her pronouns. Carroll was incarcerated in a women’s prison where he r*ped two women and impregnated a third."

Scarlett Johnson on X - "🚨BREAKING: A boy is now allowed to change in the girls' locker room at Westosha Central High School in Wisconsin.
-He stares at the young girls while they change
-He exposes his p-nis and rubs himself with lotion
-He claims to the girls that the lotion is to “prevent chafing”"

MaryCate Delvey on X - "WOW!! We have reached PART 40 of LISTEN TO TRANS PEOPLE!! “They just want to pee” — you sure about that?"
Items from this post, quoting trans people, follow

Meme - Arrested for internet crimes @C...: "Jerking off in the women's room to own the TERFs
Someone's threatening to call the cops on me for this post lol"

Meme - Liv @livulose: "Invading female spaces to be a sexual degenerate is such a rush. Loudly fapping and moaning and cumming all over the place knowing full well of they complain you can just call them transphobic
Wanna stalk a cutie and rape them in an alley and properly live up to the trans rapist accusation~
The correct response to finding out about a trans rapist and their crimes is to be horny"

Meme - @wishbone 🐭 @wishbone48: "And power The euphoria of “there’s not a damn thing those women can do about it”"
The Heretical Liberal 🇨🇦 @Rob_ThaBuilder: "That is 100% it.  They talk about "passing", These men don't WANT to pass. The thrill is that the women KNOW they're men and there's not a damn thing they can do about it."
@wishbone 🐭 @wishbone48: "Listening to @marycatedelvey  reading posts is utterly enlightening"

Meme - Benjamin Ryan @benryanwriter: "In response to a WaPo article in which an Italian child travels to Spain to obtain puberty blockers and does so on the first appointment following a single online consultation, journalist Evan Urquhart claims there “still hasn’t been a single reported example of a minor getting blockers or hormones without a lengthy assessment.”   Evan is ignoring Jesse Singal’s Economist article from earlier this month about Clementine Breen getting blockers after a single appointment with Johanna Olson-Kennedy.   And he is forgetting my reporting that since 2018, it has been Boston Children’s policy to provide only a single two-hour assessment appointment with a psychologist to determine whether a minor should get blockers or hormones."
Evan Urquhart @evanurquhart.bsk...: "This is a beautiful, deeply reported piece en family forced to travel to Spain to pause puberty for their trans daughter."
Evan Urquhart @evanurquhart.bsky.social: "After years of attempts at sensationalizing rare stories of detransition, there still hasn't been a reported example of a minor getting blockers or hormones without a lengthy assessment and their parents going through the full informed consent process."