Links - 3rd July 2026 (2 - Feminism)

Meme - Emerald Apple @AI_EmeraldApple: "Rebecca is a short adult woman. You can't hate tourists enough. I guess the height of consent strikes again. The word pedo is rapidly losing any real meaning in 2026, just as the same as words like Nazi and racist."
Kai @saikaifan: "Ofcourse the pedo incel game is attracting pedo incels"
Rock Solid @ShitpostRock2: "Sooooooo ... is Wuthering Waves a good game? Cuz GOOD LORD"
"Below Height of Consent"

Environment Agency boss says he was sacked for not being a feminist - "An experienced manager is suing the Environment Agency claiming he was discriminated against for not being a feminist. Kevin Legge alleges that he was forced out after resisting what he says was his boss's agenda to promote women rather than men... Mr Legge has taken the Environment Agency to an employment tribunal claiming discrimination based on a philosophical belief, sex discrimination and unfair dismissal."

Elisabeth Stone (@elisabethstonee) - "The irony of feminism is that casual sex and hookup culture are a direct result of feminism, and so essentially women have fought for the ability and the right to be treated like pieces of meat"

Brandon Warmke on X - "Anyone who's been inside academia very long can see that the dominant narrative about gender bias is risible. But it's one of those dogmas you're not supposed to question because that makes you a bad "ally" or something. "The reality is the opposite of what is believed""
Colin Wright on X - "A zombie belief I frequently encounter in woke papers is that there's a tenure-track hiring bias against women in STEM. A new paper combining all research on faculty ratings for identical CVs for men vs. women show that not only is this belief false, the opposite is true."
Will Kinney on X - "One of the things that happens over and over in social science when it pertains to politically charged results is that early, poor studies are cast as definitive — listen to the science — and then more rigorous studies that debunk them are ignored because the narrative is set."
Organized Dogmatism Controls the Message about Gender Bias in the Academy - "The “dominant gender narrative” in science holds that bias against women is pervasive and occurs in every domain, including tenure-track hiring, letters of recommendation, awards, grants, journal publications, authorship assignment, citations, salaries, promotions, and teaching evaluations. Many of these claims are repeatedly broadcast despite their nullification by larger, stronger studies and meta-analyses that do not find gender bias. Because these stronger studies are cited less often, there exists a false belief among many faculty that gender bias is omnipresent in the tenure-track academy. As an example of this false belief, 248 U.S. faculty were surveyed about their beliefs regarding gender bias. They overestimated the extent of such bias in every domain. We illustrate this misalignment of beliefs by focusing on just one of the many domains in which bias against women is alleged but has been nullified by stronger studies: tenure-track hiring. We show that the dominant narrative of pervasive bias in favor of hiring men is not supported by the evidence. The reality is the opposite of what is believed, with women preferred over comparable men: multiple sources of evidence demonstrate that in tenure-track hiring in the United States and many European countries, women have an advantage over equally-accomplished men. Yet, the claim of bias against hiring women faculty continues to be widely cited in the premier science media. Challenging the gender narrative should be part of normal scientific discourse; however, doing so often evokes a backlash—as documented in testimonials by researchers who have been attacked."

Steve Stewart-Williams on X - "Offenders who killed men received shorter sentences than those who killed women. As the table shows, the average sentence when the victim was male was 17.5 years, compared with 22.4 years when the victim was female."
Proof that Patriarchy doesn't value women's lives

Tanya on X - "“Feminism is just about choice” “feminism is good for women” Also feminism:
In The Second Sex (1949), de Beauvoir wrote: “No woman should be authorized to stay at home… Women should not be allowed to have that choice, precisely because if there is such a choice, too many women will make it.” The mother of modern feminism believed women had to be denied freedom, because freedom would make them choose traditional roles.
Firestone: In The Dialectic of Sex (1970), Firestone wrote: “The end goal of feminist revolution must be… not just the elimination of male privilege but of the sex distinction itself: genital differences between human beings would no longer matter culturally… The tyranny of the biological family would be broken.” The goal was never equality, it was the destruction of sex-based reality.
Betty Friedan: “women who 'adjust' as housewives, who grow up wanting to be 'just a housewife,' are in as much danger as the millions who walked to their own death in the concentration camps...they ate suffering a slow death of mind and spirit.”
Kate Millett: Sexual Politics (1970) argued: “The chief institution of patriarchy is the family. The family unit must go…”
Gloria Steinem: “We Became the Men We Wanted to Marry” Steinem’s vision of feminism wasn’t about honoring womanhood, but replacing it, with a female iteration of male ambition.
Friedrich Engels: In The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, Engels (Marx’s collaborator) wrote: “The modern individual family is founded on the open or concealed domestic slavery of the wife.”To destroy capitalism, you had to destroy the traditional family. That’s why early socialist movements embraced feminism, not to liberate women, but to dissolve the structure that made civilization sustainable."
Feminism is not about choice

‏ً on X - "It’s really a statistical finding so stark that when women get cancer or become terminally ill, the healthcare workers are trained to gently prepare them for the likelihood their husbands will leave. But when men get sick, wives are reminded to step up and do their “wifely duties.” Women also donate living organs far more often than men. So let me get this straight - men are patients, women are support systems. Women are warned about abandonment. Men are promised care. And internet misogynists continue to live in their own delusional world."
Femme on X - "Oh darn. "widely reported finding that the risk of divorce increases when wives fall ill — but not when men do — is invalid, thanks to a short string of mistaken coding that negates the original conclusions, published in the March issue of the Journal of Health and and Social Behavior..""
More than 10 years after the research was corrected, feminists continue to spread misinformation

Dr. Mia Brett on X - "If you’re asking why Russel Brand feels so comfortable admitting to raping a 16 yo publicly it’s because age of consent in Britain is 16. It was perfectly legal for him as a 30 year old man to pick a 16 yo girl up from school for sex. These men know they’re protected"
"love is love is love" got thrown out the window the moment gay marriage got rammed through. Now you're a rapist for having consensual sex with someone of legal age

Sima Bahous on X - ".@UN_Women’s new #EU funded study finds a surge in sophisticated online violence targeting women in public life, driven by AI, anonymity, and weak safeguards. This is silencing voices and eroding rights. We must #ACTtoEndViolence now!"
James L. Nuzzo, PhD on X - "210 male journalists also appear to have completed UN Women's survey. However, UN Women did not disclose the results from the male journalists. If the results from the male journalists are similar to those of the female journalists, then this would invalidate UN Women's suggestion that only female journalists are targeted."
James L. Nuzzo, PhD on X - "This is now the second report on online abuse that UN Women has published using this dataset. The first report was published in December 2025, and the second report was published in April 2026. In both reports, UN Women has not revealed the results from the 210 male participants. Arguably, not publishing the results from the men who volunteered their time to complete the survey violates norms of research ethics. The survey was funded by the European Union."

Meme - James L. Nuzzo, PhD @JamesLNuzzo: "The UN continues to ignores these polls, which show both male and female prevalence rates of ever experiencing any online abuse or harassment. Instead, the UN biases the conversation from the start by only surveying females or by only reporting female data."
"Prevalence of Ever Experiencing Any Online Abuse or Harassment
In the United States, a greater proportion of males than females report ever experiencing any online abuse or harassment.
In Australia, no sex difference exists in ever experiencing any online abuse or harassment."

Karma KΞN on X - ""Online violence" is a made-up feminist oxymoron. Feminists cherry-pick data to paint themselves as eternal victims, perfectly earning their title:
> The Sisterhood of Perpetual Victimhood"

The Mismeasure of Male Feminists - "It’s hard to pinpoint the exact mix of emotions that come up when yet another male feminist is revealed to be less than enlightened towards women in his private life. There’s disappointment, yes, but there can also be a gotcha glee at hypocrisy exposed; joy at the downfall of a sanctimonious type. And that gut sense—I could have guessed—that a dude so proud of publicly checking his male privilege and so aware of why women might fear men, was a man women have reason to fear. But when the feelings fade what’s left looks strikingly like a double standard: Self-proclaimed male feminists are suspected of being hypocrites whether or not they’ve done anything yet to warrant that suspicion and when hypocrisy is involved, our bar for misconduct is lowered... the list of fallen male-feminist icons keeps expanding: There was—is—Louis CK, so attuned to white male privilege in his comedy, yet so cavalier about exposing himself to women colleagues. Also, fellow comedian Aziz Ansari, celebrated as a hyperaware male ally until a story broke about his pushiness on a date … all culminating in his recent re-emergence as yet another comic insisting that political correctness has gone too far. Michael Kimmel, go-to scholar of masculinity and privilege, proved problematic, as have Hugo Schwyzer, Jian Ghomeshi, and former New York attorney Eric Schneiderman. The conventionally handsome and generally admired are not immune: Actor James Franco showed his support for the feminist Time’s Up campaign at the Golden Globes only to stand accused shortly thereafter of sexual misconduct with five women. Even Canadian Prime Minister and feminist icon of not-Trump-ness Justin Trudeau has not escaped #MeToo entirely unscathed: There was, fleetingly, a groping scandal... The ambiguity of male feminism’s motives is matched by that of feminist women’s attitudes towards the role. The same progressive institutions and think pieces celebrating men for getting it are also the ones that can seem most dismissive of the very idea of the male feminist when a male ally is found to have transgressed.  Among the most recent male feminists to disappoint: Jack Smith IV, a now-former senior writer at progressive website Mic."
Male feminists promote the standard by which they fall short, so there is no inconsistency between hoisting them on their own petard and not adopting those ridiculous standards for the rest of society

Meme - "Opinion. I'd rather the police investigate a crime of misogyny than burglary. Suzanne Moore"

Meme - Tihanah @Funkiessss: ""Can I kiss you?" Lmao why are you even asking me Just kiss me ffs!"
Abraham @The_Don_Abbey: "Next day on Twitter *a thread on how I was sexually assaulted"

Meme - *Pressing a Boot on Your Own Head*
*Crying Handmaid with boot on head*
*Boot is placed by Handmaid herself*

Meme - venom @venom1s: "It's real news, you can go search yourself. Girls are always considered victims in this country. Even if a girl rapes a boy, he's the one arrested. No feminist girl will say anything on this. But I expose their reality, so they hate and abuse me."
"12-year-old boy booked under POCSO Act for raping, impregnating 17-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu"

Natania Marshall ✞ on X - "Everyday feminists take their computers (invented by men), power them with electricity (generated by men), access the internet (created by men) and log into Twitter and Facebook (designed by men). To ask the question, “Who needs men?”"

Stay out of it - FML - "Today, my disgusting coworker made a comment about "women versus accountability" and I couldn't even yell at him for being a sexist scumbucket, because my wife threw coffee at me yesterday for pointing out that she'd left the chips open and they went stale. FML "

Yonan on X - "Dave Ramsey tells a nurse to dump her boyfriend after he refuses to propose until she pays off $90K in debt
Caller: "I’m a 26 year old nurse with $90K in student loans. My boyfriend makes $250K a year, but he won’t propose until I’m completely debt free"
Dave: "Dump him. He’s making you prove your worth based on money. You’re having to buy your way into this relationship"
"The No. 1 cause of divorce in North America today is money fights and money problems and guess what this is? This is a money fight""
Chairman on X - "Feminists could've probably sold the whole "patriarchy hurts men too" bit much better if they talked more about stuff like this rather than wearing skirts and shit. Literal boomer patriarch on TV telling you to man up and get into debt for his surrogate daughter"
Feminism is about benefiting women, not gender equality, after all

Emil Kirkegaard on X - "Nordic countries have absurdly generous paid child leave. But this wasn't enough for the feminists, so they looked for a way to make it worse but cost more, and they found it: force men to take some of the leave, thus leaving less for mothers.  How bad was it? Danish study shows. One can do a simple before and after check on satisfaction, women declined from 90% satisfied to 50%, men from 85% to 60%."

Meme - Feminist with punk short white and brown hair: "DID You KNOW HOUSEWIVES IN THE FIFTIES WERE ALL ON BARBITURATES?"
Normal woman with 2 kids: "WELL, I'M NOT. ARE YOU ON ANY MOOD ALTERING MEDICATION?"
Feminist: "I DON'T SEE WHY THAT'S RELEVANT
*Zipping close bag with SSRIs, ADDERALL*
The cope is that even more women are on drugs now proves that more women are now aware of how bad Patriarchy is

Lisa Britton on X - "This NPR article focuses on how we have "missing economically stable men” boiling it down to not enough going to college. But why is this happening? They never mention how, for decades, we’ve only given support, encouragement and resources to girls and women. We’ve told boys and men to “step aside.” They make it sound like it’s all the men’s fault without taking a good hard look at what society has down to hurt our boys and men and ensure they don’t succeed.  If we can’t call out the true problem, we’ll never find real solutions."

Meme - "Women with a Time Machine
Tradwife: Hang in there, sister. One day you will have the freedom to show your butt-hole to millions people on the internet
Nun in wimple: Ahhh... No thank you, child
Men with a Time Machine
Fear not, Little Aisha. I've come to rescue you"

Meme - Fantasy woman with chainmail bikini: "Why can't I have non-sexualized, useful armor like the boys?"
*Male barbarian in loincloth showing his muscular body*

Meme - "FIRST WE EMASCULATE ALL OUR MEN.  THEN WE ACCUSE THEM ALL OF BEING RAPISTS. THEN WE TELL THEM WE'RE STRONG AND INDEPENDENT. Then we constantly whine on FB about, "what happened to All the Real Men...?""

TerryGiant on X - "Women outlive men. Dominate education. Control consumer spending. Have entire legal systems built for their protection. And still call themselves oppressed. Name another oppressed class that lives longer, safer, more comfortably than the group allegedly oppressing them. I'll wait"

Meme - "HANDMAID'S TALE OUTFIT
XS S M L XL 2XL 3XL (sold out) *obese Handmaid Doomer Girl*"

Meme - Nova @novasyndrome: "Being m*rdered by a man is the leading cause of death in 18-44 year-old women globally but were concerned about male loneliness epidemic."
Readers added context: "Globally the leading causes of death among women 18-44 are
1. HIV
2. Maternal Mortality
3. Non-communicable disease
4. Tuberculosis (TB)
5. Injuries
Homicide by male intimate partner or family member falls outside of the top 10."

Clint Warren-Davey on X - "The Barbie movie was unintendedly right-wing. All the scenes that apparently show "patriarchy" are just dudes having an awesome time, with both men and women having fun. The matriachy depicted in the film is just complaining and moral hectoring."

Drunk businesswoman, 39, who glassed a pub drinker after he wrongly guessed she was 43 is spared jail after female judge says 'one person's banter may be insulting to others' - "A drunk businesswoman who glassed a pub drinker after he wrongly guessed her age has been spared jail after a female judge said 'one person's banter may be insulting to others'.  Mother-of-one Joanne Dodd, 39, flew into a rage and attacked Carl Cooper after he suggested she was 43... Mr Cooper fled to the toilet in a bid to get away from the heated situation, but when he came out Dodd ran towards him and twice shoved her wine glass in his face.  He was left with a four inch laceration to his face, narrowly missing his eye, and an injury to his thumb.   When quizzed Dodd, who runs a firm which organises children's sleepover parties, said she was suffering from 'low self esteem' at the time and said the banter was 'disobliging' towards her. At Manchester Crown Court, Dodd, who is from Swinton in Salford, faced up to three years in jail under sentencing guidelines after she admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.  However, she was spared jail and handed a suspended sentence after Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said she was a 'dedicated, hardworking woman' who posed no risk to the public... 'You were seen to be approaching him, throwing your drink over him and then striking him deliberately in the face with the glass that you had. Your conduct was incomprehensible.  'The only explanation that can really be put forward is that you were under the influence of drink, which does you no credit.""
Male privilege strikes again. We all know that patriarchy prizes men and hates women, so men who attack women are let off, while women who attack men get the harshest punishment possible.

New study finds that when people learn that an artist is accused of sexual assault, they are more likely to support censorship of that artists’ work compared to when the artist is accused of other crimes, including murder. : r/psychologyofsex
Proof of rape culture, as no one cares about rape

Democrats call lack of menstrual leave 'economic violence' in push for new federal law
"Violence" is anything a left winger disapproves of. But of course, violence they approve of is speech

Breitbart News on X - "WOKE OVERLOAD: Democrat lawmakers Yassamin Ansari, Adelita Grijalva, and Rashida Tlaib recently held a press conference on how much their periods hurt -- and how it is "economic violence" when employers don't pay women to stay home from work when they are menstruating."
Dr. Naomi Wolf. 8 NYT Bestsellers. DPhil, Poetry. on X - "There goes 40 years of a feminism in which we argued that treating women as impaired because they menstruate, is discriminatory"
Clearly, paying women less because they need to stay home from work when they are menstruating is misogyny

Meme - Feminist News: "More women than men attending med school for the first time ever"
Erica Cudkowicz: "I can't be the only one who finds it strange that a movement claiming to champion equality sees a female dominated field as a victory and a male dominated one as a problem."
Feminism isn't about equality, but benefiting women

Anti-AC as Fiscal Consolidation / Air Conditioning for Pigs

I have no idea why either was blocked by iFunny:

The Fat Electrician: "Every day I become slightly more convinced that Europe's disdain for AC is the result of an EU psyop to make old people die off before they put too much strain on the universal healthcare and pension systems."
Degen CPA: "They really think this is what's happening"
*Air conditioner in North America chilling the continent and blowing hot air to bake Europe*

Gael @Kyyles94: "Va dans une maison de pauvre on verra si y'a la Clim dedans"
宏都拉斯大白蝦 @shrimphead83002: "窮人農戶的院子"

Links - 3rd July 2026 (1 - Housing)

Council tenants keep social housing for life – even if they earn £100k - "A Labour-run local authority has brought back lifetime tenancies for council house residents after a botched Tory crackdown.  Westminster City Council has announced it is bringing back lifetime contracts for all its new and existing tenants, and scrapping fixed-term five-year tenancies.  It means council house residents will have an automatic right to keep their home regardless of how much they go on to earn... After the death of a council house tenant, a property can be passed down to the council by their spouse, child or another member of the family. Paul Swaddle, the Conservative leader of Westminster council’s opposition, warned that the move “risks turning council homes into a permanent asset for the few, rather than a vital safety net for those who need them”... “Westminster has some of the longest housing waiting lists in the country.  “We should be helping those most in need [and] not creating a system where high earners can hold onto council homes for life, regardless of changing circumstances while others wait for years in temporary accommodation.”... Meanwhile, the borough – which Labour won control of for the first time in 2022 – is embarking on a radical shake-up of its housing policy."

An Urban Density-Based Runoff Simulation Framework to Envisage Flood Resilience of Cities
Explainer: Why storm overflows exist and how to minimise spills - "As the UK population grows and the density of housing increases, more and more permeable surfaces are being paved over. This factor, along with changing rainfall patterns and the growing ingress of groundwater into the ageing network, means that ever more water is entering the combined sewer system. This, in turn, is resulting in huge numbers of spills from outfall pipes.   In 2022 alone, there were more than 300,000 recorded spills in England, 83,000 in Wales and 14,000 in Scotland. There is growing public concern that all these discharges are causing excessive ecological damage in the affected rivers and coastal waters."
I was told that there was no downside to allowing housing of any density to be built anywhere, and also that having any regulations about what kind of housing you can build in an area where you can build housing is "commie horseshit" and "a deliberate attempt to keep housing expensive for Boomer NIMBYs and racists". Presumably, government regulation is to blame for higher density housing contributing to flooding risk or sewage overflow

The Folk Economics of Housing - "Why is housing supply so severely restricted in US cities and suburbs? Urban economists offer two primary hypotheses: homeowner self-interest and political fragmentation. Homeowners, who outnumber and have organizational advantages over renters, are said to lobby against development to protect their property values. The fragmentation hypothesis emphasizes that development's negative externalities are borne locally while most of the benefits accrue regionally or nationally, leading localities to block housing. This paper offers another explanation: ordinary people simply do not believe that adding more housing to the regional stock would reduce housing prices. Across three original surveys of urban and suburban residents, only a minority of respondents say that a large, positive, regional housing supply shock would reduce prices or rents. These beliefs are weakly held and unstable (suggesting people have given the issue little thought), but respondents do have stable views about who is to blame for high housing prices: developers and landlords. Large, bipartisan supermajorities support price controls, demand subsidies, and restrictions on putative bad actors, policies which they believe would be more effective than supply liberalization for widespread affordability. We discuss the implications of these findings for efforts to expand the supply of housing."

Radical call to tax Aussie family homes per spare bedroom to solve housing crisis - "A new tax on spare bedrooms has been proposed as a bold solution to fix Australia's crippling housing shortage.  As the federal government struggles with its goal to build 1.2 million new dwellings within the next four years, property researchers have warned that the right homes may not be being built.   New data has revealed more than 60 per cent of Aussie households consist of just one or two people, yet the majority of dwellings are being built for families, with three or more bedrooms."
But if smaller houses are built, left wingers will bitch that they're too small, and that this is why people are not starting families (of course, their anti-natalism has nothing to do with it, and is good, because the earth is overpopulated)

New Zealand’s house prices are finally falling. Could this happen elsewhere? - "According to government-owned property valuer QV, national averages have fallen 13% since 2021, while Auckland has dropped nearly 20% and Wellington 30% - prompting questions about whether New Zealand has finally managed to turn around its housing crisis, and what it could mean for other overheated markets around the world... Multiple factors are driving the downward trend, Rush said. The incredibly low pandemic-era interest rates had increased from roughly 2% to as high as 7-8% in recent years, making borrowing “incredibly difficult”.  High unemployment in New Zealand, and record numbers of New Zealanders moving overseas has also reshaped the landscape, Rush said.  Meanwhile, policies to promote intensification are starting to bear fruit, says Dr Michael Rehm, a senior lecturer in property at the University of Auckland.  “At all levels of government, they want to promote housing supply,” Rehm said, adding that as demand slows and supply increases, the perception that housing is a safe investment has slipped... Like New Zealand, Australia does not have many institutional investors in the market."
This can't have anything to do with the population growth rate falling, and must be due to less greed

Fears as new homes set to be built on edge of Bristol... 'soon we will have no green land at all'
Damn greedy corporations and landlords keeping housing expensive!

The little-known quango choking off Britain’s housebuilding - "Britain is not building homes quickly enough. Housebuilding has fallen to the lowest level in almost a decade, and the number of housing starts dropped by 26pc between July and September compared to the previous three-month period, according to industry analyst Glenigan.  The picture is especially dire in the capital. “It’s disastrous. The number of new starts in London has fallen by over 70pc in the past year. Only 4,170 homes were started during the last financial year,” says Ben Hopkinson, of the Centre for Policy Studies think tank. “A huge reason for that is the Building Safety Regulator.”  The BSR was established in 2022, in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster to raise safety standards across all buildings, setting out rules for their construction and design. The strictest rules apply to residential blocks over 18m or with seven or more storeys. These buildings must go through a new three-stage approval process overseen by the regulator before, during and after construction."

REtipster with Seth Williams | Facebook - "Blue states talk about affordable housing. Red states just build it. This graph says it all: Southern states like South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Georgia build homes at more than twice the rate of coastal blue states. You can argue policy all day, but at the end of the day, permits tell the truth. You either make it easier to build… or you make it harder to live."

Solving the housing crisis isn’t easy – just ask New Zealand - The Globe and Mail - "New Zealand has been a pioneer in working to alleviate the housing crisis affecting much of the Western world.  Some of their measures have worked, others have been an abject failure. But in introducing some of the braver measures designed to increase supply and bring down prices, they have also provided policy makers with some cautionary tales.  In 2020, the New Zealand Labour Party government of then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern brought in a bill that forced municipalities to “up-zone” residential areas in the country’s major cities. It required population centres to raise building-height limits around mass-rapid-transit stops in urban areas.  It also introduced the Medium Density Residential Standards, which allowed for buildings of up to three storeys and three dwellings on all existing residential parcels of land in the country. This did not go over especially well, in part because the government kept the bill a secret until the last minute. City councils felt blindsided. The bill would eventually pass into law, but not without significant political damage being incurred.  Moral of the story? Don’t be dishonest or sneaky about your intentions. Have the courage of your convictions... KiwiBuild was a highly-touted endeavour of Ms. Ardern’s administration. Launched in 2018, the government set out to build 100,000 affordable homes in 10 years. By the time the program wound down last year, just 2,389 housing units were completed... Why was KiwiBuild such a failure? The authors of the MEI study suggest it was partly because of the government’s overreliance on prefabricated homes. The study found that shipping in a prefab home in some instances was far more expensive than just building on-site."
Of course, left wingers just dismiss this with ad hominem as usual

Medium-Run Impacts of Immigration on the Housing Market: Evidence from a Quasi-Experimental Shift-Share Instrument
Jonatan Pallesen on X - "The increasing cost of housing in Denmark since 1999 has been caused 88% by mass immigration! If it wasn't for mass immigration, you would be able to purchase housing and pay rent essentially at 1999 prices. This would have been a complete life-changer for many."
Clearly, the solution to expensive housing is for the mass migration of unskilled minimum wage (or lower) workers

Rent control and the supply of affordable housing - "We generate the first cross-city panel dataset of rent control reforms and estimate their effect on the supply of rental housing overall and across varying levels of affordability. To identify reforms, we use machine learning algorithms to analyze over 76,000 newspaper articles from 7000 news outlets, spanning 27 metropolitan areas and >4000 census places across the US between 2000 and April of 2021. We then manually validate identified articles to ensure accuracy and combine these data with rental unit counts by affordability level, created using Census microdata. To assess the impact of rent control reforms on rental supply, we employ a two-way fixed effects model with place specific time trends and examine the robustness of our results with a staggered treatment design. Our results provide evidence that more restrictive rent control reforms are associated with a 10-percent reduction in the total number of rental units in a city. When stratified by affordability (based on U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development definitions of affordability), these reforms lead to an increase in the availability of units affordable to extremely low-income households by about 52 % (with a lower-bound effect equal to 11 %), offset by a decline in units affordable to higher-income households of about 46 % (with a lower-bound estimate equal to 4 %). These findings highlight the complex trade-offs inherent to rent control policies, illustrating differential impacts across income groups and underscoring the nuanced nature of such interventions."

Meme - realmillennialmortgageguy: "I love this one. For all my haters on affordability and the comparison to the 80's. It's more affordable today than it was then."
"House Payments as a % of Median Income: 1967-2024
1981 - 47.5%
Housing Bubble 1 - 2006 - 38.1%
Housing Bubble 2 - 2024 - 39.4%"

Don’t blame landlords for damp – it’s almost always tenants’ fault - "96pc of owner-occupied homes do not have damp, according to the most recent English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025.  Could this be because owner-occupiers look after their homes and want the best for their building?  If they dry their washing inside (and let’s face it, most of us do) they know they need to crack open the window for a bit of ventilation, or they run a dehumidifier. When they have a shower, they use a squeegee afterwards. When they’re cooking, they use saucepan lids and the extractor fan. When they sleep at night, they have the window open a little, or at the bare minimum open the windows for fresh air when they wake in the morning... Humans create a huge amount of water vapour per day – almost half a litre, just through breathing. When you add in drying clothes indoors (around 2l per load), bathing/showering (up to 1.7l per person) and cooking (up to 3l per day), you’ll soon find yourself in a muggy mess unless you ventilate.  Once it’s in the air, this water vapour will condense into water once it hits a cold surface, so if you’re not heating your property adequately either, you get a double-whammy of a problem... The Germans have a system called Stoßlüften, which roughly translates to “shock ventilation”. It’s also referred to as “house-burping”, and it’s very simple: you briefly open windows and doors for a few minutes every day to replace the stale, humid indoor air with fresh, cold air.  By doing this, you’re improving the property’s airflow and wicking away excess moisture, which prevents mould without losing structural heat."
Time to blame landlords but not doing maintenance and ban airing houses to combat climate change

Apparently discrimination against poor people is now legal thanks mamdani : r/circlejerknyc - "I would never put section 8 in my apartments. I know about 15 people that did and the apartments went from nice to roach infested, holes in the walls, broken kitchens and bathrooms and one apartment caught on fire because the lady was putting her clothes in the oven to dry the clothes. Can’t make this shit up. Section 8 is probably the worst of the worst. Not one person had a good experience. These tenants don’t care about anything. They think the city will fix everything for them. And a lot of hoarding situations going on too. Not sure why these people hoard everything. It’s crazy."
Damn greedy landlords!

New York Could Lose Seats in Congress Because It Won’t Build Housing - "The other states that are projected to lose multiple congressional seats and electoral votes are California and Illinois, according to the research. All three states consistently support Democrats at the statewide level and in presidential elections.  On the other hand, two states are projected to gain multiple seats and electoral votes: Florida, and Texas. Both are set to add four seats, and both consistently support Republicans at the statewide level and for president...   One reason why blue states are losing ground: The red states build far more housing than they do.  From 2021 to 2024, Florida and Texas issued permits for over 1.7 million new homes. California, Illinois, and New York issued fewer than 700,000 total, despite having a combined population over 15 million people larger than Florida and Texas’s total... New York’s housing shortage is driving people out of the state, to places with cheaper options, according to research from the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.  Even when moving to a low-tax state like Florida, middle-income people save significantly more on their rent or mortgage than they do from lower taxes, FPI’s research found... As the legislature stalls, Governor Kathy Hochul is taking on a project that could boost housing statewide: relaxing New York’s state’s environmental review law. As it stands, the law can require developers to spend years seeking approval for even minor new projects, and leaves them open to lawsuits by NIMBY communities seeking to derail new housing altogether.  Hochul’s proposed change would allow small and medium-sized developments to skip the state environmental review process. This wouldn’t turn building into a free-for-all — developers would still have to follow all relevant environmental regulations and protections in New York law."

Why are There so Many Unfinished Buildings in Peru? - "Likely one of the first things you’ll notice upon landing in Peru, besides the reduced oxygen in the air, is the prevalence of unfinished homes everywhere.  You think: these cities have around for centuries, is it possible that they are still expanding?  A quick google search will reveal that it has looked unfinished for decades.  With exception of the wealthy neighborhoods in Lima, this problem is widespread throughout Peru.  But why?... In 1990, a new president, Fujimori, took office.  Among his top concerns was stabilizing the economy.  He enacted a series of neoliberal policies that he called Fujishock.  While extreme, many of the policies were necessary to fix the devastated economy.  One of his policies was aimed at the unfinished buildings.  Fujimori had noticed all of the unfinished homes and that the homeowners just did not have the money to complete them.  To help the homeowners, a new policy did away with property taxes while homes were being constructed.  This was done to encourage construction, which would provide jobs for workers and finished homes for residents.    While this might have worked in a few cases, the abundance of half-finished homes clearly demonstrates it wasn’t really successful.  The law was ripe for abuse.  Peruvians could finish their homes just enough to be comfortable to live in but not all the way, so they can avoid taxes. Still to this day, countless of these homes exist with inhabitants in the lower floors but incomplete upper floors.  While they may look abandoned, if you go inside, you’ll see the first floor is completely furnished and decorated.  Often the upper floor is used for a water tank, laundry, or just an outdoor patio – despite all the rebar hanging around or half walls."

Hunter📈🌈📊 on X - "Fun fact: when large investors, like Blackstone, enter the housing market in the suburbs, rent prices in the area decline. Levels of class and racial segregation also fall."
Diversifying the Suburbs: Rental Supply and Spatial Inequality

Alex Z on X - "There is a similar study from the Netherlands showing that banning rental homes just increases the income of the neighborhood and doesn't decrease prices."
Francke, Hans, Korevaar and van Bekkum - Buy-to-Live vs. Buy-to-Let: The Impact of Real Estate Investors on Housing Costs and Neighborhoods - "How does homeownership affect local housing markets and neighborhood composition? Exploiting the Netherlands' 2022 buy-to-let ban, which prevents investors from buying homes to rent out, we find the policy significantly reduces investor purchases and increases owner-occupancy. Despite removing investor demand, the ban does not negatively impact prices or transaction volumes as neighborhoods become more desirable to owner-occupiers. This desirability emerges through residential sorting: New homeowners have higher incomes, are more often Dutch-born, move shorter distances, and stay longer than the renters whom they replace. Thus, promoting homeownership may improve neighborhood quality but reduce mobility and housing opportunities for low-income renters."
What happened when the Netherlands banned landlords - "Properties that were part of the ban saw minimal impact on housing prices, with only a slight increase of 0.1%.     In Rotterdam neighborhoods where the ban was implemented, there was a significant decrease in the availability of rental properties, resulting in a 4% increase in rents.     Unfortunately, this rent rise unintentionally led to the displacement of lower-income individuals from these neighborhoods while attracting higher-income individuals to move in."

Meme - sam @sam_d_1995: "my most NIMBY take is that I don't like this building. but the real reason this happened is *because of anti-housing laws*. NYC has a floor area ratio cap rather than a height limit. as a result, developers are incentivized to build pencil-thin towers rather than maximize housing"
Micah Springut @mspringut: "It's not that they did this "to demoralize us." It's that they (the city's leaders and planners) have no taste and don't give a shit."

Why Are 50,000 New York City Apartments Vacant? - "The city now has nearly 50,000 empty units, absent from the market either because their operating costs exceed legal rents or because they require considerable renovations... In a city where 100 percent of people owned their homes, the housing stock would be in pretty good shape. Owners have an incentive to keep their properties in good order both because they live in them and because they want to increase the value of their assets. But anyone who can’t or doesn’t want to buy would find that arrangement inconvenient. Such people—students or recent arrivals, for example—would usually prefer to rent.  Where there’s a renter, there’s a landlord who stands to profit—though that profit is by no means guaranteed. To profit, the landlord must make sound decisions as to maintenance, capital investment, and marketing. These costs must be paid; only after they’re met can the owner potentially make a profit. The legal environment also has to permit some return on investment.  But in New York City, that’s not always how it works...   One-bedroom units in the building average $3,500— except two of them, subject to the city’s rent-stabilization laws, which hold rents below $900 per month.  As a result, both units have been allowed to fall into disrepair, because the cost of restoring them to habitability is greater than what they’d generate in rent. “We’re talking a minimum of $100,000 for [the studio we first visited], which requires a complete remodeling,” Michael Johnson, a vice president at the New York Apartment Association, explained.   The cost: $10,000 for an architect to review the plans and obtain a permit; $50,000 for kitchen and bathroom materials and labor; $20,000 for the floors and ceilings; $6,000 for appliances; $25,000 in electricians’ fees; and a miscellany of other significant fees. These figures add up to the typical $100,000–$200,000 costs of renovating a studio apartment like the one we visited. It’s the same story upstairs in the second unit.  Then there are the operating costs associated with each individual unit. As of 2023, these amount to $1,028 for a small building in Manhattan, according to the Rent Guidelines Board. Fuel, hot water, and labor costs go up with each additional unit that’s rented and must be taken into consideration. Fixed costs, like insurance, can be shifted from rent-stabilized to market-rate units, but that drives up everyone else’s rents.   In order to afford to renovate the two units at the building on East 6th Street, the owner could request a rent increase from New York’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal. But the maximum rent increase allowed would be $347, bringing rents to $955 and $1,211, respectively. Any bank could see that the $100,000 investment would never be paid back.   So, the units stay empty. “The owner can’t really figure out what to do with them,” Johnson said. “It’s just wasted space.”  That story is, unfortunately, not an isolated one... Much of the predicament at the East 6th Street building and the apartments on Valentine Avenue can be traced back to one piece of legislation: the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA). Passed by a Democratic majority in the state legislature, HSTPA eliminated landlords’ abilities to raise rents after units were vacated, or when they exceeded $2,775 per month. In doing so, it also eliminated their ability to make improvements profitably and reset the stabilized rent.  “New York is unique in its rent-control system,” Kenny Burgos, who heads the New York Apartment Association, said. “Even Los Angeles [gives landlords] an ability to reset rents after [apartments] become vacant.”...  eliminate rent stabilization entirely. This would let rents rise to meet demand while also making renovations profitable again. New Yorkers whose incomes are below a certain level could get a housing voucher, thereby restoring the investment required to maintain, construct, and operate buildings. New Yorkers would gain a sustainable solution to rent burdens while also keeping the existing housing stock in good shape.  Until one of these solutions is adopted, the problem of “ghost apartments” will only get worse—regulated rent increases will continue to undershoot inflation and renovation costs will continue to increase"
Clearly, the solution is for the government to seize them

Meme - Sar Haribhakti @sarthakgh: "Landlords and private equity firms mysteriously decide to be less greedy in the cities where developers can build more homes easily"
Peter Mallouk @PeterMallouk: "Rents dropping across the country..."
"Top 15 Cities - Biggest Rent Cuts since 2022"

Links - 2nd July 2026 (2 - Wokeness and Women)

Thread by @Scarlett__Mag on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "On the cover of this week's @NewStatesman: Not the manosphere, but the femosphere?  Gen-z women are in revolt against a country they don't like and don't think works for them.  Thanks to @Will___lloyd for commissioning new research on angry young women @emilylawford 🧵👇
✴️Young women are 26 pts less favourable to capitalism than young men, and feel much more positively towards communism than capitalism.  
✴️Women u25 dislike capitalism so much, they view it as (un)favourably as fascism.
✴️UK should pay slavery reparations by a 2-1 margin
✴️They think 43%-40% 'it is unfair some people have more than others and we should redistribute wealth' over 'people deserve to keep what is theirs, even if it means others have less'  
✴️More negative than young men about their careers, earning potential and property
Young middle class educated white women feel the most strongly about these issues.
✴️17% of ABC1 women have a positive view of capitalism compared to 32% of C2DE women  
✴️ABC1 women more likely to think the economy works against them
✴️Female graduates hold much more positive views about communism, feminism, socialism and extinction rebellion than non-graduates
✴️Grads are also more likely to back slavery reparations say we need more government intervention to ensure life is fair
White women are more critical about the country and their chances in it than those from an ethnic minority background  
✴️Young white women are more likely to say the country is racist and sexist  
✴️Young white women are less likely to say they feel valued by society
There is a 'Covid generation'
✴️ U25s are much more likely to think Covid had a significant impact on heir lives and opportunities.  ✴
️U25 women are much more likely to believe that "things are stacked against me, no matter how hard I try"
Strikingly, young women are *a lot* more negative about the opposite gender than young men.  
✴️U30 women are 3x as likely to hold a negative view of young men than the other way around  
✴️Just 35% of u25 women hold a positive view, only 11% a very positive view
✴️6 in 10 (58%) say they would find it difficult to date someone who disagreed on Gaza  
✴️3 in 4 (74%) say the say the same about views of Donald Trump, with even more saying they wouldn't date someone who disagreed about social justice"
Clearly, privileged women feeling more oppressed and miserable proves that they understand how shitty life is for women today and less privileged women are suffering from false consciousness

Why is there such a huge political divide between young men and young women? : r/NoStupidQuestions - "One political party is telling young men that they are the problem with everything that is wrong in the world today  The other is telling young men that they can achieve anything if they just work hard and support their family"
"Show me a single dem who has said that"
"“I just want to say to the men in this country: just shut up and step up. Do the right thing for a change.” - Senator Mazie Hirono
“Men have been getting on my nerves lately… we’re violent, we’re bullying.” - Barack Obama
“The future is female.” - Hillary Clinton
“The Democratic Party is the women’s party.” - Anna Greenberg
There’s no question that the Democratic Party overall is more pro-female than pro-male. You don’t find nearly as many anti-female comments from Dem leaders, and the policy recommendations definitely prioritize women. Just look at their platform and the “Who We Serve” section of their website. The Dems have alienated a lot of men over the years."
"“Now women, I just want you to know, you are not perfect, but what I can say pretty indisputably is that you are better than us [men]." - Barack Obama"
"I mean the top comment here when you sort by controversial is "young men are fucking stupid".  Like why do you smoothbrains love to ignore what's right in front of your face?"

Meme - "Birth rates declining. Governments panicking. Men complaining. Meanwhile women are finally tasting what life feels like when they're not automatically drafted into unpaid labor, emotional support, and struggle disguised as womanhood."
Cory Rogers: "Governments aren't panicking because women are finally "free." They're panicking because societies don't work when people stop having kids. No workers. No taxpayers. No one to replace the aging population. That's not patriarchy. That's just reality. Men aren't complaining because women aren't providing emotional labor. Men are checking out because modern dating has become a bullshit deal where they're expected to provide, protect, pursue, pay, and perform while being told they're not needed. Eventually people stop playing a game that's stacked against them. The feminist propaganda is pretending every sacrifice women made was oppression while completely ignoring the sacrifices men made too. Family wasn't some evil plot against women. It was a partnership that built civilization. The fact they're trying to sell collapsing birth rates, loneliness, and broken families as empowerment tells you everything you need to know."

Feminists Increasingly Engage in Acts of Violent Extremism - "Terrorism has long been part of the feminist armamentarium. During the decade before the First World War, feminists terrorized the United Kingdom with a wave of attacks on churches and shops that included bombings, arson, and physical violence. In 1912, suffragettes attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Herbert Asquith by hurling a hatchet at him (1).  Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst justified these acts of terrorism by claiming that at a time of injustice, it was inexcusable to not set off bombs. As a result of the misguided suffragette campaign, at least five persons died and dozens were seriously injured (2).  In Germany, historian Elizabeth Heineman has written an entire book on Feminism and Terrorism, highlighting the terrorist activities conducted by feminists Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin in the notorious Red Army Faction during the 1970s and 1980s. (3)  Now, feminists in the United States and Latin America are increasingly engaging in extremist and violent attacks on property and persons:
United States: Following the leak of the impending Dobbs v. Jackson decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, a dramatic spike of violent attacks on churches and pro-life clinics and organizations was documented. In 2023 alone, 436 acts of violence were identified, including fire-bombings, desecration of religious objects, and vandalization of buildings (4). In New Jersey, seven high school students were suspended after they assaulted 16-year-old Nichole Pagano for holding a pro-life sign (5).  The FBI later opened investigations of many of these incidents as “potential acts of domestic violent extremism.” (6)
 Latin America: International Women’s Day has become a rallying point for pro-abortion feminists across Latin America as they engage in lawless activities such as vandalizing churches, spraying graffiti, and attacking bystanders. In many cases, civilians form a human shield to protect churches from the attacks.  During the 2021 Women’s Day protest in Mexico City, feminists wielding hammers and sticks attacked the National Palace, injuring 81 police officers and civilians. One photograph depicts four women carrying a slab of metal as a battering ram against the police defenses (7).  In Morelos, feminists sought to violently remove the fencing in front of the Cuernavaca Cathedral. In Oaxaca, feminists attempted to set fire to the church front door (8).
One report reveals the scope of feminist extremism:  “Increasingly violent demonstrations in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, as well in several countries in the West, for example those organized to mark the UN’s ‘Women’s Day’ (8th March), saw religious buildings and faithful attacked. People were left unaided by police and other emergency services as they sought to defend their churches, temples, and other religious buildings at great personal risk.” (9)    World Watch Research analyst Rossana Ramirez admits, “It is especially worrying that the degree of violence and aggression towards churches and religious statues is increasing in intensity every year.” (10)  Of equal concern is the tendency of media accounts to downplay the seriousness of the feminist attacks. Accordingly, there have been few legal consequences for the perpetrators. In England, feminist Emmeline Pankhurst once boasted about the inability of officials to keep her in prison: “Four times they took me back again; four times I burst the prison door open.” (2)  Physical attacks on persons, bombings, arson, and more. Amazingly, not a single feminist organization is known to have ever condemned or called for a cessation of the terrorist tactics."

No wonder men are opting out | The Spectator Australia - "The warning signs have been there for decades. Back in 1983, American author Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a powerful book – The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment – arguing that a male revolt was underway. Since the 1950s, she suggested, men had begun rebelling against the breadwinner ethic – inspired by Playboy culture, the counterculture, and a desire for personal freedom. They were rejecting the cultural ideology that had shamed them into tying the knot and becoming a good provider, lest they be seen as immature, irresponsible, and less than a real man. Ehrenreich understood that marriage was the mechanism by which society harnessed male productivity. Remove the shame, and the yoke comes off. Forty years on, the yoke has disappeared. In April 2026, the American male labour force participation rate hit its lowest level since records began in the 1940s, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. One in three American men – roughly 33 per cent – were not working or actively looking for work. The overall male participation rate for men aged 16 and over stood at just 67 per cent, down from 73.5 per cent two decades ago and from 87 per cent in the postwar years when Ehrenreich’s story begins. The trend is not confined to America. Australian men’s workforce participation has fallen from around 79 per cent in 1978 to approximately 71 per cent today, while similar declines – though less dramatic than in the United States – have occurred in the UK and Canada...  Ehrenreich had made the argument that marriage and productivity were inseparable – that the same mechanism which got men to the altar got them to work. The data suggests she was right. What Ehrenreich did not fully reckon with – could not have foreseen in 1983 – was that the inducements for tying the knot would collapse. The shame mechanism has disappeared, yes, but the incentive has simultaneously imploded. The product on offer has changed beyond recognition. If you want to understand why men are voting with their feet, you need to look not just at what marriage now costs them – and the costs are severe – but at what it delivers. Increasingly, what it delivers is a pretty dud deal.
The modern woman: a prospectus
Some studies show they are the most miserable, anxious, and insecure cohort in living memory – hardly great marriage material. Many married women go off sex – and the husband who objects is seen as the problem. Many women don’t actually like men very much. The more educated she is, the higher the contempt. Increasing numbers of women have gone full throttle left – and three quarters of college-educated women in some studies won’t even date a man who votes differently. The education system contains anti-male rhetoric and it has, in some cases, colonised corporate and institutional life, turning universities and workplaces into man-repellent factories. Yet their hypergamy is still running hot. Despite outnumbering men in education and careers, statistically some women still demand a tall, equally high-status unicorn. The modern female threat-detection system is hyperactive. Almost any male behaviour – silence, opinions, jokes, breathing – gets flagged as a red flag. Many women are well-versed in the lucrative economics of divorce, and there have been reported incidents of false allegations being used to eliminate tedious shared parenting.
What rational man reads this list and thinks: yes, that’s exactly what’s been missing from my life?... many young women don’t like men. A Merlin Strategy poll of young Britons aged 18 to 30 found three times more young women than young men held a negative view of the opposite sex. Only about 50 per cent of women had a positive view of men compared to 72 per cent of men feeling positive about women. For women under 25, it was even starker: only around one-third (35 per cent) reported a positive view of men. This applies particularly to professional and managerial young women of whom, according to some polls, just 36 per cent hold a positive view of men, compared with 61 per cent of working-class women. In other words, the contempt for men is most concentrated in educated, middle-class women – precisely the demographic that has benefited most from feminist gains and whose prospects are objectively the strongest.  The contempt for men is hardly surprising – that’s what they have been taught. Mary Harrington, a British journalist and cultural critic who writes on Substack, frequently critiques what she calls the ‘femosphere’ – the online feminist spaces where women bond through shared grievances about men. ‘The online feminist scene often feels like one long group therapy session for women to compare notes on how awful men are,’ she writes, suggesting this makes men the universal scapegoat, where ordinary male behaviour is routinely framed as toxic or oppressive, while women’s collective resentment is rewarded and amplified. ‘Casual, low-level male-bashing has become the background hum of progressive online culture.’  Encountering these women isn’t much fun for men. Reddit recently published this telling comment: ‘It’s exhausting. You might be having a decent conversation, then she drops a casual “men suck” comment like it’s small talk. Feels like you’re starting every interaction with a presumption of guilt.’...  Not only does this toxic climate encourage women to be wary of men, but growing up in a hate-fuelled online sewer takes a toll on their mental health...  Recent large-scale surveys (Ipsos 2025–26 across 31 countries, Gallup 2025) are showing Gen Z women currently report the highest recorded levels of anxiety, persistent sadness/hopelessness, and depression of any female generation at the same age. Around 33 per cent of young women feel anxious or worried about the future ‘almost all the time’; 40 per cent of Gen Z workers feel anxious or depressed at least a few times per week, according to recent 2025 surveys... For as long as anyone can remember, men were shamed into showing up economically. Society has absolutely nothing to say to women who stop showing up sexually. One obligation was enforced by church, law, and community for centuries. The other is now abrogated on the grounds of bodily autonomy. So here we have the portrait of the modern woman as marriage prospect: miserable, anxious, politically radicalised, contemptuous of men, often sexually rejecting, and trained to see menace in ordinary male behaviour. And yet the puzzled chorus from commentators, economists, and policymakers continues: Why won’t men commit? Why won’t they work?

Meme - Valia @livetime_fe: "No but the men are so lonely I wonder whyyyyy"
""How to k*ll a woman without leaving a trace" was googled 163 million times in 2025. But it's okay-let's talk about alimony and the male loneliness epidemic."
Bobbyman @bobby_man_: "oh please"
"how to kill a woman"
"how to kill a man"
"Interest over time *how to kill a man always being significantly more popular, up to more than 2.5x as popular*

Meme - Kangmin Lee @kangminlee: "Women have spent decades championing feminism, only to end up bitterly miserable. Yet they'll blame capitalism, men, or anything else before admitting that they were wrong."
"me at work because I'm watching my baby sit up for the time through the monitor"

Meme - "wild thought but maybe the rise in right wing men has something to do with the normalisation of being hateful towards men. idk if i was hated on for something i couldnt control i could be radicalised easily too.."

mike bski on X - "Let me tell you something that peer-reviewed science has documented for years and that the Democrat Party is PRAYING you never connect to what happened outside the White House yesterday.  56% of white liberal women aged 18 to 29 report chronic poor mental health. The same demographic of conservative women? 27%. The "extremely liberal" category shows a 150% HIGHER rate of mental illness compared to moderates. These are not my numbers. This is the General Social Survey. 64,000 respondents. Decades of data.  Now here is the part nobody in mainstream media will say out loud.  The Democrat Party knows this. They have always known this. And they are NOT trying to fix it — because a psychologically healthy voter who is not in a constant state of fear might start asking inconvenient questions. Like: what have Democrats actually accomplished in the cities they have run for fifty years? Like: if your policies work so well, why is everything still getting worse?  Those are not questions a panicking person asks. That is exactly the point.
Quinn's Law Number Four: "Liberalism only succeeds when the public is scared into believing it will not survive without it."
So they do not give you small threats. Democracy is dying TODAY. Fascism arrived LAST TUESDAY. Trump is Hitler, a traitor, a pedophile, an EXISTENTIAL MONSTER who must be stopped by any means necessary. They crank the volume to eleven just to get the alarm to fire in a brain that was built to need bigger threats before it activates — and then they CANNOT turn it off.  A woman quit her job in 2025 and moved into her car because she found out her boss voted for Trump. Thousands of supporters cheered her on. Not one Democrat politician looked at that and said "this person needs actual help." Because a woman in a car blaming Republicans is not a person in crisis to them. She is a campaign ad.
Now tell me — what happens when you take that same psychological machinery, run it on a person already unmoored from reality, and tell them for YEARS that the man at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is literally Hitler and that stopping Hitler is a moral imperative?  You get four attempts in [X DAYS] days. That is what you get.  Cole Allen's manifesto at the Correspondents' Dinner read like a Democrat Party press release. Verbatim. He did not invent those words. He assembled them from a media ecosystem that broadcast them daily to millions of dysregulated, chronically anxious people who were never offered help — only more outrage, more fear, more fundraising emails with subject lines that read "THIS IS AN EMERGENCY."  The machine that keeps their voters scared and dependent is the SAME machine that keeps producing assassins...   But what do I know — I am only a science teacher who literally wrote a published textbook on how the human brain works, a medically retired Army combat medic who has run more mental health calls than most people have hot meals, and apparently one of the only people left willing to say that DELIBERATELY KEEPING YOUR VOTERS MENTALLY ILL FOR PROFIT is not compassion — it is predatory."

Meme - Grant Bailey @grantjbailey: "Interesting gap here-teen girls are increasingly saying that being a woman will hinder their work opportunities. @FamStudies"
"Teen girls feel limits on work opportunities % of 12th graders who say being their sex is an obstacle to getting work"
Feminism: teaching women that they are victims to radicalise them so they will push the left wing agenda

John Carter on X - "Women have never been freer, more prosperous, or more independent, they've never been safer, they've never enjoyed more support and validation, they've never had more power and opportunity, and they are absolutely furious about all of it."
Time to condemn misogyny and label misandry a myth

How young women are radicalized into hating men - The Globe and Mail - "While there has been much criticism of the “manosphere” and its associated peddling of misogyny to boys, analogous female-centric online communities – the “femosphere” – thrive as well.  Femosphere influencers encourage women to be calculating in their interactions with men and to use them for their money, akin to how some men will use women for sex. The femosphere is similarly noxious in its promotion of misandry to girls, yet it has elicited milder, if any, consternation by comparison.  Leaving this bias unchecked has had serious consequences. Poll findings published by The New Statesman suggest that a generation of young women have been radicalized by online content, moving further left in their politics and harbouring full-fledged hatred of men.  Young women, especially those with white-collar jobs, have more negative views of the opposite sex than men do. Only 50 per cent of women polled (aged 18 to 30) said they have a positive view of men, while 72 per cent of same-aged men had a positive view of women.  For women under the age of 25, this pessimism was more pronounced – only about a third reported a positive view of men. Although the manosphere’s anti-woman ideology has been loud, it seems anti-male attitudes are more widespread. In addition to polarizing content on social media, the educational system and a cultural desensitization to male suffering have produced this unfortunate shift in young women – including fomenting a sentiment that retribution against men is justified.  In higher education, young women are told they remain oppressed at the hands of men. In response, many scholarships and professional opportunities are offered explicitly to women (but not to men), despite the fact that women and girls are objectively outperforming their male peers. Regarding cultural trends, when pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter began killing men in her music videos, this further solidified her popularity instead of ending her career. I highly doubt a male musician nonchalantly depicting homicidal acts against women in today’s climate would enjoy the same acclaim.  Many young men are understandably aggrieved by this double standard. And the resentment on both sides has roiled the dating pool... How will this battle end? Studies have found that women become more conservative with marriage and motherhood, but as more young women eschew both due to women’s greater economic success and societal norms celebrating their singledom, the political gap – and lack of understanding – between the sexes will only grow.  Single men looking to settle down may feel inclined to downplay their right-leaning political beliefs to spark a woman’s interest, but this does not fare well for the longevity of a relationship. With such a stark misalignment in values, many young people are giving up on dating altogether.  Instead of engaging in an endless spiral of dehumanizing the other, men and women must call out sexism and cruelty on both sides. Our institutions and media should acknowledge that online extremism can occur from women and men alike.  Both sexes must recognize that every person they meet is an individual, not a member of a tribe. A stranger shouldn’t be held responsible for the hurtful things a previous partner did. Consuming divisive content won’t make a person savvier on the dating market. It only lines the pockets of histrionic influencers and Big Tech."

TheTinMen on X - "I'll be honest.  When I read articles like this, I am entirely lost as to what “being a progressive” actually means.  Besides living what seems to be a wretched life, twisted-up within a social-media-induced web of chronic pessimism; a lot of these young "progressive" women appear to have very inward facing, rigid, uncompromising, low resolution, cookie-cutter world views, that to me, are the absolute antithesis of “progressive”, and anything but liberal.  I know this brand of 'angry young woman' well.   They remind me of the arts / politics students I used to critique (95% were women); almost ALL of their ideas were the same, ALL lacking in originality and bravery, every pitch just another spineless, rehashed combo of LGBT and/or feminist soundbites.  It was tiresome.   And these were Masters students, at one of the world's most prestigious arts schools; all of them mid-twenties, living in the zeitgest of London, and nearly every idea they came up with, was just... the same.  You can imagine what I was like being pitched these ideas (lol), and whilst it lasted, I tried my best to snap them out of it, and genuinely challenge their entrenched views.   They never really listened.   "Please, no more pitches about feminism or LGBT", I once asked the entire class, which of course fell on deaf ears; as literally, the next student stood up, cleared her throat, and announced her film on "environmental feminist activism".  FML.   These so-called "progressive" ideas, are actually the new status quo.   And we're so afraid to throw stones at them (especially in higher education), that true progressivism feels like a distant memory, and a word with no meaning at all.  Remember, by its nature, to be a progressive is to be unpopular.   Progressivism doesn't win you applause, it gets you pelted with eggs.  You won't hear it on stage at your local feminist SU society; but rather, whispered behind bike sheds, by outcasts and weirdos.   As a great man said –  “Progress isn't achieved by preachers or guardians of morality, but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels and sceptics”.  So what does "being a progressive" mean to you?"

Italian Food Culture as Marketing

Historiker: "Die italienische Küche ist nichts anderes als Marketing" (Historian: "Italian cuisine is nothing more than marketing")

Translated version:

The story of Pizza Margherita? A fake. Historian Alberto Grandi has discovered that many myths surrounding traditional Italian dishes are completely fabricated.

Everyone immediately thinks of pasta, pizza, and other delicious food when they think of Italy. Specialties like Neapolitan Margherita or Roman Carbonara are now as legendary as the Colosseum, the Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii. For some time now, Italian cuisine has developed a cult following. People cite supposedly original recipes from the time of the Medici dynasty or those originating from poor shepherds in the Apennines. Deviations from these recipes trigger veritable shitstorms on social media. 

 Italian cuisine, the traditional cuisine, is not to be trifled with. This glorification of food is precisely what irks historian Alberto Grandi. That's why he researched the true origins of Italian dishes. What did he discover? It's all fake. Carbonara, the origin stories, even the culinary figure of Nonna. In his book, "Mythos Nationalgericht" (Myth of the National Dish), he claims that Italy's famous cuisine only developed after the Second World War. 

Italian cuisine, the traditional cuisine, is not to be trifled with.  

STANDARD: In some articles about your book, you're described as a "destroyer of Italian cuisine." Is that true? 

Grandi: I'm not destroying it; I'm telling a different kind of story about Italian cuisine. 

STANDARD: Which is? 

Grandi: Over the last 50 years, we've simply invented a great many recipes and stories. There's an excess of myths and legends surrounding Italian cuisine. It's nothing more than marketing. 

STANDARD: So, when I read that tiramisu originated from a 17th-century dish and was already being eaten by the Medici, is that a fairy tale? 

Grandi: Yes, it's marketing. There's nothing wrong with that. Marketing is about selling products. Tiramisu couldn't have been invented until the 60s or 70s. Mascarpone requires refrigeration for production and wasn't readily available to everyone. That only became possible with the development of supermarkets. My mother is 90 today. 50 years ago, mascarpone was a complete novelty for her.

STANDARD: Why do you have a problem with how stories about food are passed down? 

 Grandi: Food has such an enormous place in our culture. And I find that strange. As a historian, I find it difficult that food is now the most important aspect of identity for Italians. I consider that dangerous. Just this morning I was discussing this with a friend. He said that everything in Italy depends on tourism and food. That's not true. 90 percent of Italy's GDP isn't attributable to tourism. The reactions to my work show that many Italians don't know the economic and social reality of our country. 

STANDARD: Food is indeed an emotional topic. Just think about how to prepare a dish "correctly." For many, carbonara can only be made with guanciale and pecorino. 

Grandi: Ten or fifteen years ago, Gualtiero Marchesi, one of the most important Italian chefs, added heavy cream to carbonara. Today, people would go ballistic about that. Carbonara isn't a recipe, it's a religion. A Roman journalist once threatened me with violence because of such statements in my book. 

STANDARD: Is there such a thing? A right or wrong? 

Grandi: That reminds me of the story of Amatriciana sauce. If you use onions in the sauce today, you're considered crazy. But its long history shows that the only truly constant ingredient from the beginning of the 20th century until just ten years ago was the onion. So: What is the right recipe? 

STANDARD: But why does this happen? 

Grandi: Cuisine is no longer just part of our identity, it is our identity. Italians lack confidence in the future, and that's why they invent a past. One true Italian cuisine doesn't exist. It's the same with the nonnas, the grandmothers. They can't cook as well as everyone always claims. Grandmas can make two or three good dishes, and that's it. 

STANDARD: You're telling me the dear old nonnas are fake? 

Grandi: As far as cooking is concerned, yes. They cook up a storm for holidays, but the rest of the year their cooking is poor and monotonous. 

STANDARD: On social media, nonnas are the experts on Italian food. 

Grandi: Massimo Bottura, a very famous chef, says he learned everything from his nonna. That's completely impossible. The ingredients, the flavors, the cooking techniques that a nonna had at her disposal before the World Wars are completely different from today. That's another myth. 

STANDARD: So what did people eat if not pasta and pizza? 

Grandi: Until the First World War, pasta was only known in Naples. The rest of Italy ate a lot of vegetables, soup, and polenta. They cooked with chestnut flour and lard. So not the Mediterranean diet we know. That's also a fabrication. Nobody ate like that. 

STANDARD: Really? 

Grandi: If you look at southern Italy today, it's the region with the highest obesity rates. People used to eat poorly and in small portions; now they eat too much and too rich food. 

STANDARD: Which true story about a dish surprised you the most? 

Grandi: Perhaps the strangest story is that of Parmigiano Reggiano. Parmesan has a very long history, almost 2,000 years. During this time, the cheese has undergone many changes. In its original form—small, soft, fatty, and black on the outside—it was produced in Wisconsin in the USA. Italian immigrants brought it with them. It wasn't until the 1960s that it was further developed in Parma into its current form. 

STANDARD: So how did that terrible Italian food become fantastic? 

Grandi: One factor was the large-scale emigration of Italians between 1860 and 1960. At that time, 25 million people left the country. Thanks to economic growth, some of them returned in the mid-20th century, bringing with them dishes and recipes that are now sold as authentic. 

STANDARD: Which dishes are those? 

Grandi: Pizza, for example. Pizza was invented in Naples, but it tasted awful. The dough was hard, burnt on the outside, and still doughy on the inside. And it didn't have tomatoes. It was only through the Italian diaspora that pizza was further developed and improved in the USA. 

STANDARD: One of the most famous stories is that pizza was created for Queen Margherita's visit and represents the colors of the Italian flag. 

Grandi: There's a document that tells this story. It's a fake. Pizza Margherita wasn't invented until years after the queen's death. And she never ate it. What you find in Naples today is an American invention. 

STANDARD: So the Americans put mozzarella and tomatoes on pizza? 

Grandi: Exactly. Tomato sauce isn't Italian either. It comes from Spain. It only really became established after the Second World War. Tomato sauce is difficult to preserve. That's why industrialization was necessary. 

STANDARD: Is there even such a thing as truly traditional Italian food? 

Grandi: The worst word you can use for Italian cuisine is "traditional." There is no culinary tradition. 

STANDARD: You've listed tomato sauce, Parmesan, tiramisu, and pizza as fake. What about Bolognese? 

Grandi: Everyone makes Bolognese differently. There's no original recipe. These days, people say Bolognese is cooked without tomatoes. But you can't really claim that. 

STANDARD: And Carbonara? 

Grandi: Carbonara is a little different. Although it originated in Italy, it comes from the Americans. At the end of World War II, after the conquest of Rome, soldiers combined their rations of powdered eggs and bacon with pasta. They called it "Spaghetti Breakfast." So it doesn't originate with the charcoal burners in the Apennines who prepared pasta with bacon and cheese during their breaks. Incidentally, the first recipe for Carbonara was published in Chicago in 1952. It wasn't until two years later that it appeared in Italy. And even that was different from the modern version. It used Gruyère cheese, pancetta, and garlic. 

STANDARD: In Austria, Carbonara is also cooked with heavy cream and ham. 

Grandi: Heavy cream was frequently found in Carbonara recipes well into the 1970s. 

STANDARD: So our version isn't a fake Carbonara? 

Grandi: There is no fake Carbonara. Every recipe has its place. But don't say that out loud when you're in Italy. 

STANDARD: Let's go through the rest. What about olive oil? 

Grandi: That's a very strange story. Fifty years ago, olive oil was used for everything except cooking. For oil lamps, for example. It tasted very sour and very intense. It was unsuitable for food. Italians preferred to cook with lard, butter, or margarine. It wasn't until the 1980s that the quality of the oil improved enough to be used for cooking. 

STANDARD: Pasta comes from China, right? Grandi: Yes and no. Pasta came to Italy via Sicily through the Arabs. People used to eat pasta by hand, mixed only with garlic, fat, and cheese. 

STANDARD: Can you still go out to eat in your hometown without being insulted? 

Grandi: (Laughs.) I don't know what it would be like in Naples; I haven't dared to go there yet. But yes, I can still go out to eat. 

STANDARD: What do you eat then? 

Grandi: Spaghetti with tomato sauce.