Armed police arrested man waving a butter knife - "In 2005, the High Court ruled that they are an offensive weapon because they have a blade, regardless that it is rounded."
‘Illegal’ yellow box junction makes London council £1.9m - "The chartered engineer, who spent 10 years specialising in the design of yellow boxes, argued at the tribunal that the council should not have placed a yellow box at a junction with a private driveway access to an office block because it is not legally a road."
The war on cars continues apace
French mayor suspended after calling France ‘too Jewish’ - "Bernard Bazinet, mayor of the small town of Augignac in southwest France, has been suspended from his duties for one month following a controversial social media comment that drew accusations of antisemitism... Bazinet, a former member of the Socialist Party, admitted: “When I saw that France had approved Israel’s participation, it led me to react foolishly. I wasn’t necessarily aware that the term carried antisemitic connotations. When I tried to delete the post, I saw it had already been shared widely and cited by CNews.”"
Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ on X - "Beth Pratt is the left-wing activist in charge of building Gavin Newsom's $114 million cougar and butterfly bridge. She's turned the bridge into a boondoggle, and now blames Trump for blown deadlines and increased costs. Her bio does not note any previous construction experience."
RodeoProfessor on X - "Quacks like this woman have completely infiltrated the wildlife profession, whether it’s crazies who drop wolves in ranch country or make scam bridges for mountain lions when they’re not the main species w/ vehicle strikes. High net worth individuals bankroll these kooky NGO campaigns that are beginning to have major impacts on state level wildlife policy and institutions that used to be pretty apolitical and responsive to what regular people want. You really have to go digging around tax filings to follow the money with these quack environmental NGOs that pose as wildlife conservationists, but the usual cast of characters include: Hansjรถrg Wyss (Swiss billionaire), Google co-founder Eric Schmidt’s Schmidt Family Foundation, Herb and Marion Sandler’s Sandler Foundation (NYC billionaires), Fred Stanback (NC pharma billionaire), Carroll Petrie (SC/FL billionaire). Of course your tax dollars are a big part of the picture too, but their power and influence is much aligned with the NGO borg."
In China, if 'Jody' steals your girl, he gets 10 months in jail - "Reports of a recent legal case in China say a man was sentenced to 10-months in prison for misbehavior that would not be a crime in the U.S. but that many U.S. troops likely think should be. A court in the city of Dunhau, according to a series of reports from Asia-based media, sent a local man to prison after he carried on an affair with the wife of a soldier deployed with the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA. The convict’s name was reported as “Ma,” though his story would translate perfectly in U.S. military mythology as one about “Qiรกo dรญ” — the Chinese translation of “Jody,” the folkloric name for a civilian ne’er-do-well and hometown lothario that plants doubt and fear in the hearts of deployed troops."
ArchaeoHistories on X - "Archaeological evidence reveals that ancient Carthage practiced child sacrifice on a scale previously dismissed as Roman propaganda. The Tophet of Carthage—a sacred burial ground dating from 800-146 BC contains thousands of urns filled with charred infant and child remains. Modern excavations and bone analysis confirm these weren't stillbirths or natural deaths, but deliberate ritual killings performed during crisis periods and as offerings to the gods Baal Hammon and Tanit. The practice, called *molk* in Punic inscriptions, targeted children from elite Carthaginian families. Parents offered their firstborn sons during military defeats, famines, or plagues, believing the sacrifice would restore divine favor. Inscriptions on commemorative stones describe these offerings explicitly. Roman and Greek historians—including Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch—documented the practice in horrifying detail, describing bronze statues with outstretched arms beneath which fires consumed living children while drums drowned their screams. Recent isotope analysis of bones proves most victims came from wealthy families, contradicting theories that the poor substituted slave children. DNA evidence shows many were biological offspring of those who commissioned the burial markers. The practice peaked during Carthage's greatest crises: the invasion of Agathocles in 310 BCE reportedly triggered a mass sacrifice of 500 children from noble families, as Carthaginians believed their declining fortunes resulted from offering purchased children rather than their own. The Romans used these sacrifices as moral justification for Carthage's destruction. While Rome itself practiced infanticide through exposure, they portrayed Carthaginian ritual killing as barbaric proof of cultural inferiority. This propaganda proved effective—Carthaginian child sacrifice became the archetypal example of ancient depravity, used for two millennia to characterize enemies as fundamentally evil. Archaeological science has vindicated ancient testimony that scholars once rejected as wartime propaganda. The Tophet's 20,000 urns stand as physical evidence of a society that systematically killed its children during times of stress. What once seemed too monstrous to be real proved true, demonstrating that even modern skepticism can underestimate historical brutality when confronted with practices that violate fundamental human instincts. Carthaginian child sacrifice profoundly shaped Western civilization's moral framework and propaganda strategies for millennia. The practice became Christianity's ultimate evidence of pagan evil, reinforcing monotheistic claims of moral superiority and justifying religious conquest. It established a template for wartime propaganda—attributing child murder to enemies—that persists today in conflict rhetoric. The Roman destruction of Carthage, morally justified by these sacrifices, normalized cultural genocide as righteous action against "barbaric" practices. Modern archaeology's confirmation of ancient accounts forces uncomfortable recognition that skepticism can become denial, and that societies under extreme stress may embrace unthinkable practices. The debate over Carthaginian sacrifice continues to influence how historians approach ancient testimony, creating lasting tension between respecting source materials and avoiding propaganda repetition. Most significantly, it demonstrates how genuine atrocities become weaponized narratives, complicating our ability to distinguish historical truth from politically motivated exaggeration—a problem that extends far beyond ancient history. #archaeohistories"
Young adult sexlessness skyrocketed in the last decade: study - "The share of young adults who say they have not had sex in the last year has skyrocketed in the past decade, while the virginity rate for young adult males has more than doubled, according to a recent data analysis. Examining findings from the National Survey of Family Growth, Institute for Family Studies Senior Fellow Lyman Stone observes that "all measures of sexlessness rose for both young adult males and females" between an initial survey wave conducted in 2013-2015 and the most recent wave conducted between 2022-2023. Stone's analysis focuses on young adults between the ages of 22 and 34, most of whom have finished their education and are beginning their adult lives. While the dominant majority of young adults surveyed reported having had sex at some point in their lives, nearly a quarter (24%) of young adult males reported not having had sex in the last year, nearly triple the 9% who said the same in 2013-2015. About 13% of young adult females said they hadn't had sex in the last year, up from 8% in the initial survey wave. Nearly one-third of young adult males and females said they hadn't had sex in the last three months — 35% for men and 31% for women. In 2013-2015, 20% of men and 21% of women reported not having sex in the prior three months. About one out of 10 young males (10%) in this demographic reported being virgins in 2022-2023, up from 4% in 2013-2015. For females, the virginity rate increased from 5% to 7% during that time... "The fact that sexlessness is rising faster for men than for women could seem to imply that a small group of men are having sex with many women. This isn't the case," Stone examined. "[W]hat we can actually observe is not that a small number of men are having sex with more and more women, but simply that men and women are failing to couple off together: the major decline is in sex between people who only had sex with one person in the prior year, i.e. approximately monogamous sex." "This is because one of the biggest drivers of declining sexual activity is the decline in marriage," he continued. "Married people have more sex, and for most young adults, marriage is occurring later or not at all. As a result, sex is declining."... "between 2002 and the period 2015–2019, the percentage of teen boys (15–19) who ever had sexual intercourse fell from 45.7 percent to 38.7 percent. During the same period, the percentage of teen girls (15–19) who ever had sexual intercourse fell from 45.5 percent to 40.5 percent," Michael New, senior associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, wrote in an op-ed for National Review. New added that teenage girls who report having ever had sexual intercourse has dropped by 10 percentage points since 1988, while the share of men who said the same fell by 21% since 1988."
Michael Smith | Facebook - "I have worked in the oil and gas business for over 25 years, all on the exploration and production side. That means that I have spent significant time in the Middle East, South Asia, China, and Russia. Having been in majority Muslim countries, I can offer you a bit of wisdom and personal perspective. One Muslim, or even small group of Muslims, can be your friend or friends, but a larger group in a Muslim city, a state/region, or a nation of Muslims, is your enemy. The one thing people do not understand, mostly people who have never spent time in these majority Muslim areas/countries, is the incredible religious peer pressure and the fear of being accused in public or in front of family as a weak Muslim who befriends infidels. It is different in the West, I worked with and employed many Muslims when I worked in the North Sea, and absent the religious peer pressure, they were free to be just like you and me. You can feel it. It is so heavy in places like Saudi Arabia, you can literally feel it. Unless you have seen it, you simply cannot understand the weight Islam and its contemporary leaders push down on the people and if you want to survive, you must go along. Not being a "good Muslim" can harm you and your family. When back to their country, I've had people I call friends, who invited me to their homes for a meal - but would not acknowledge that they even knew me when in large public gatherings. I came to understand that as a issue for them, so I never made the first move to signify we knew each other. You can work together, share jabs at each other, but that ends in the Sauron-like Eye of religious peer pressure. I've had Christians, Jews, and other religions ask me if I wanted to worship with them - but I never had a Muslim ask if I wanted to go their mosque - because an infidel is not allowed. During the week, I've worked with Muslims with whom I enjoyed spending time only to find out they went to a "Death to America" protest on their day off. When I asked about it, I was told "Not you, you are OK". It's not dishonesty, it is just a survival skill for them. Just keep in mind that the Islam you see in the west is NOT the Islam you see in the East. While the pressures of the East force them into a mold, the freedom of the West allows them to be who they really are - but those very same Western freedoms allow the radicals to openly express their hate for the West, Christians and Jews. That hate is depersonalizing, but it is, unfortunately, the real Islam of the Muslim majority of countries that hate America. Others may have different experiences, so I can only offer mine."
Meme - "What date started out as a disaster but turned out to be amazing?
I showed up to a tinder date only to find two toddlers already sitting at the table. She'd "forgotten" to mention she was a package deal. Vibe was crashing fast until a 2015 Porsche 911 GTS pulled up to the curb (I'm a car guy). Driver hops out, turns out it's the ex-husband picking up the kids. He stars apologizing profusely for being late and hoping he didn't ruin the night but I didn't care about the date anymore. I was staring at the car. He was nice enough and we started chatting about cars and exchanged numbers right then and there. Fast forward two years: here's a photo of us about to race a Porsche 911 GTS. In two months, he'll be standing in my wedding as a groomsman (and no, I'm not marrying his ex. That lasted exactly one dinner). Just another example that guys' friendships knows no bounds. *2 guys in race car*"
Meme - Daniel Sugarman @Daniel_Sugarman: "Around 500 Jews died in 9/11. This is an example of Islamist propaganda entering far right circles, not the other way round. Lies that 'Jews were told to stay away from the World Trade Centre on 9/11' were first broadcast on September 18, 2001 by Hezbollah's Al Manar TV station."
Craig Murray @CraigMurrayOrg: "l used to think that those fundamentally questioning the official narrative were unhinged. Now I think I was uncurious."
Mads Palsvig @Palsvig: "The Mossad made sure all jews were warned before their terror attack on the American people at 911. But they were not only warned not to enter the Twin Towers. One of my bosses (jewish) at Credit Suisse First Boston showed me his boarding pass to one of the hijacked planes..."
Matthew Vienneau | Facebook - "In the 1970s there were about 140,000 high school students in Toronto. There are now 73,000. Needless to say, we have not shut down half the high schools from fifty years ago. In fact, in 2017 the Provincial government mandated that no more high schools could close. The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is perennially short of funds. One of the best ways to save money is to optimize your building space. And one of the best ways to provide good service is to have enough students to justify some of the rarer, but still desired services like drama clubs putting on shows, or a football team. The TDSB estimates that the best high school experience requires at least one thousand students. With that number of kids, a sufficient variety of courses, pathways and extracurriculars can be offered while keeping the budget reasonable. So the TDSB really wants to merge the underpopulated high schools. Why run two 500-student schools near each other when either could hold 1,000? ...because of the parents, of course. Everyone thinks that high schools should merge, just not *their* high school. *Their* high school offers intimacy where the teachers know everyone and their child just wouldn't flourish in the large high school. This, of course, contradicts all the data. The small school families don't realize what a larger school would offer and they don't trust the experts. All they know is that they don't want to change. So the Province bowed to the vocal minority yet again. And the school boards continue to bleed cash. In the past few months, the Province has decided to take over a bunch of school boards that are being "irresponsible" with their funding. The Conservative government is, of course, focused on high profile cases of abuse of funds (that have little actual budget impact) and cutting socially progressive initiatives. But what they seem to have discovered once they got into the books is that the Boards weren't lying about "running extra unnecessary schools cost money". And not just at the high school level. There are hints that the ban on school closings could be lifted. Huzzah! ...but just in urban areas. The Conservatives don't want to face the backlash of rural voters whose kids would suffer longer bus rides to the next town. I will not deny that some kids would flourish in smaller schools. I would also argue strongly that most kids would flourish in smaller classes, which is more likely to happen for everyone if we stop running extra schools and can afford more teachers. I believe that this is a case where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. And if your child truly needs specialized care to flourish, then maybe it can be offered via all those funds that were saving by not running and maintaining a huge extra building on prime urban real estate. Rural schooling and rural subsidies is a bit trickier - possibly a topic for a different day. I have not yet heard of any schools actually closing. If any are announced, I'm sure the community backlash will be swift. Hopefully the government of the day will stay strong, communicate well, and perhaps some of those community members will pause and consider the bigger picture. But I'm not betting on it. (Image is four Toronto high schools within a few kilometres of each other. The middle one is at 50% capacity with less than 500 kids According to the TDSB, schools with fewer than 500 kids cost $2,227/student to operate while schools with 1,250-1,500 students cost $727/student to operate.)"
Clearly, the solution is to never close schools and keep increasing school funding as efficiency plummets, because taxpayer money is unlimited, and "cuts" to "education" are evil and cruel to kids
Thread by @matthewmaddock on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "A couple of my colleagues and I were looking into 75 million spent on these 289 nonprofits๐. A couple days after we started nosing around, the state website containing the list vanished.
Michigan workers fund about 3,000 nonprofits which are actually very profitable for the democrats running them."
Anarchists blew themselves up when building bomb in Rome - "Police believed Alessandro Mercogliano, 53, and 36-year-old Sara Ardizzone were plotting an attack against a police station and Leonardo, a defence contractor, which made parts for F-35 jets... he pair were supporters of Alfredo Cospito, the jailed figurehead of a loosely organised anarchist network called the Informal Anarchist Federation. Cospito, 58, is serving a 20-year sentence for a series of parcel bombs and attacks targeting authorities. In 2012, he was sentenced to 10 years for kneecapping the head of the Italian nuclear power company Ansaldo Nucleare. Otello Lupacchini, a retired judge and mafia expert, said that the incident indicated a dangerous resurgence among those opposed to the state and warned that it could lead to more violence. “There has been an increase in the risk level,” Mr Lupacchini told The Telegraph. “It could escalate to a high-intensity level with a risk of mass-casualty attacks.” Counter-terror police have also been concerned after threats of revenge and “war against the oppressors” were plastered on the walls of one of Rome’s metro stations at the weekend. Matteo Piantedosi, Italy’s interior minister, called an urgent anti-terrorism meeting with police and intelligence agencies on Saturday, while Antonio Tajani, the deputy prime minister, accused anarchists of creating tension. “There is a climate of tension that anarchists and far-left elements want to continue to create in our country,” Mr Tajani, who is also the foreign minister, told Italian TV. “It worries us greatly because it confirms everything that was said during the most violent demonstrations that took place in many Italian cities.” Italy has a long and complex history of anarchism across the political spectrum. There was a resurgence during the 1960s, with anarchists held responsible for several violent incidents, including a bombing in Milan’s Piazza Fontana that killed 17 people in 1969. More recently, anarchists were blamed for staging violent anti-government protests in many cities, including a protest in Turin in which many police officers were injured, including one who suffered broken bones after being hit with a hammer. Anarchists were suspected of sabotage after three incidents during last month’s Winter Olympics, including a fire on the railways that caused major delays for those travelling to the games... Ardizzone had been investigated alongside Cospito and other anarchists on charges of incitement to crime and evasion aggravated by terrorist intent. During a preliminary hearing, she described herself as an enemy of the Italian state... She defended violent protest, telling the court: “There’s an enormous difference between the violence of the oppressed and that of the oppressors: the former follows an ethical code, the latter, none.” Supporters of the couple reportedly hailed them as martyrs and called them “a shining example”, according to Italian media. “Sara and Sandro died in action, they died fighting,” the statement said."
Damn far right! Italy needs to crack down on them to keep its people safe
Ancient machine gun was used by Romans to attack Pompeii - "the Romans had a secret weapon – a polybolos. The repeating catapult of Greek design could launch metal-tipped projectiles at the enemy and knock opposing soldiers off the ramparts in rapid succession, with the researchers likening it to an ancient form of machine gun."
M.A. Rothman on X - "๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ช๐ก ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ช๐ก ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ง๐. ๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ช๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ง.
Governor Sanders was dining at the Croissanterie in Little Rock with two other mothers. Her state police detail was present. Her party had been served, their meals were paid for, and they were finishing up — when the owner walked over and told the governor of Arkansas to leave. She complied. Gracefully. ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐. The restaurant released a statement defending the decision. Their reasoning — in their own words — was that allowing her to stay risked being perceived as a lack of support for their team. So they removed the sitting governor of Arkansas because her presence made employees feel uncomfortable. Not because she was causing a scene. Not because she was disruptive. Because of her ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐. One staffer took to Facebook to celebrate. Proud of being gay, proud of being an Arkansan, proud of working there. Fine. But consider what he's actually proud of: denying service to a woman dining peacefully with friends because of who she is and what she believes. The left spent years telling us that refusing service based on who someone is violates the basic dignity of every American. They litigated that principle all the way to the Supreme Court — repeatedly. Apparently the principle has an asterisk. ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐. This is the same thing that happened in 2018 when Sanders was thrown out of the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia — then as White House Press Secretary, dining with her family. Seven years later, same playbook. Different restaurant. Same contempt. Governor Sanders responded with more class than the situation deserved: ๐๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐. ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ป'๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ, ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฝ, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ. The Croissanterie doesn't serve croissants. It serves intolerance with a side of self-righteousness — and then pats itself on the back for it. ๐๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐."
Of course, left wingers cheered it. People's existence can't be political only if that pushes the left wing agenda
Pictures of Nixon on X - "They’re calling Dune Part Three the epic conclusion because they don’t have the courage to film part four where a giant man-worm smashes Momoa clones for 3500 years"
Christian Heiens ๐ on X - "The Right responds to public opinion and the Left manufactures it. One side of the political divide believes "the divide" itself is some sort of fixed, permanent structure that all political actions must be calibrated around, while the other side understands that "the divide" is malleable. It can be made, remade, manufactured, manipulated, and even astroturfed. And we wonder why things constantly move further to the Left with each passing generation. It's because the Right doesn't even bother to shape public opinion. They have totally ceded all culturally-shaping institutions over to the other side. If given a billion dollars to spend on politics, the Leftist will engage in propaganda and the Conservative will engage in polling."
How the abuses of a small-town family doctor tore his community apart - "a gregarious young doctor from Iraq named Wameed Ateyah. Ateyah didn’t need to work very hard to build his reputation in Schomberg... Though he lived with his wife, Saba, roughly 30 kilometres to the south, in Richmond Hill, Ateyah opened his pocketbook to local charities and fundraising drives. He laughed with his patients, making small talk about his dogs and his love of classic cars. Children brought him hand-drawn pictures, which he stuck on his office walls near a decal that read “Life is love—share it.” Whenever a patient was very sick, staff would hear Ateyah murmur a prayer. He made house calls and would often buy medication for those who couldn’t afford it. Schomberg residents called him “our Dr. A” and confided in him about their financial stresses, their family troubles, their most intimate health problems. The townsfolk were ill-prepared for the revelations that emerged about their beloved doctor. When patients began coming forward with allegations of sexual abuse—assaults they said had happened behind the closed doors of his exam rooms—many people in Schomberg refused to believe them. Schomberg wasn’t that kind of town, and their doctor wasn’t that kind of doctor... “People didn’t want to believe it,” she says. A few of them expressed shock at the allegations and sympathy for the complainant, but most seemed outraged on Ateyah’s behalf. Heslop was stunned. People commented that he was a great doctor and a great guy—he had never crossed a line with them. The woman must have fabricated her claims. Positive posts flooded his page on RateMDs.com. One person wrote, “Unfortunately, his name has been slandered in our town.” Another called the patient who had come forward “a sick woman who just wanted to feel important,” adding that the “Me Too movement is going too far.” At first, Heslop tried interacting with Ateyah’s defenders. It was their right not to believe the allegations, but she warned against shaming the woman. Her plea for civility didn’t work. They called her a busybody, pointed out that she wasn’t his patient and declared that he would never harm anyone. Most of the vitriol was contained to Heslop’s Facebook group, but she heard chatter around town too. The village soon became split—and angry. Some people accused Vanessa and her supporters of targeting Ateyah and being a bunch of racist Karens. The Facebook discussion grew so vicious that Heslop turned off the comments. Ateyah, too, seemed incensed by the suggestion that he’d done anything wrong. He became his own greatest defender, maintaining that the women were liars and the accusations were unfounded. He asked some female patients to write letters of support to the CPSO. Rather than cease his inappropriate conduct, he stopped seeing walk-in patients, convinced that they were the source of his woes. “They don’t know me,” he’d say, “and I don’t know them.”"
