1 Jan 2017
Viva Fidel! + Rise And Shine
Time To Honour Erin Pizzey In The New Year Honours List
The Categorical Imperative
By William Collins aka MRA-UK: I really know nothing about moral philosophy. I have always rather inclined to the view that morality is beyond the reach of ‘Western’ philosophy, i.e., philosophy based on rational argument. To repeat a quote I have used before, taken from Jerome Kagan’s The Nature of the Child, “Construction of a persuasive basis for behaving morally has been the problem on which most moral philosophers have stubbed their toes. I believe they will continue to do so until they recognise what Chinese philosophers have known for a long time: namely, that feeling, not logic, sustains the superego.”
Emmanuel Kant
But perhaps we need to distinguish between popular morality and universal morality. The latter is rather out of fashion, and, I will argue, this may be one source of our problems. As religion relinquished its hold in the ‘West’, and hence ceased to impose its particular moral uniformity, so popular morality became a relative, or cultural, morality. But this does not mean that the individual became free to assert his own morality with complete freedom. It merely meant that other forces were free to impose their moral hegemony upon you, because moral uniformity within a community arises naturally as a consequence of the discomfort to the individual of holding ‘defective’ opinions. If it is not universal, what then determines this relative morality? Just as the postmodern denial of absolute truth leads to the danger of might-is-right, so cultural morality is in danger of being determined simply by who shouts loudest.
Emmanuel Kant Donald Trump Victory Sparks Global Marches For The Extension Of Women’s Pussy Pass
Washington DC and London among 30 cities of privileged women and their pussy whipped manginas rallying against so-called ‘politics of fear’ on day after inauguration
By Misandric Radical feminist Tracy McVeigh: After a year of seismic shocks comes the protest and fightback. At least that is what activists plan with the first major demonstration of the year – the women’s march – planned for 30 cities around the world on 21 January, the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the US.
The women’s march on Washington has been given permission by state authorities to go ahead. Tens of thousands of women (and men, who are also welcome to join it) have already pledged to take part and plans for a sister rally in London are gaining support from writers, musicians and politicians.
Organisers say the US election proved a “catalyst for a grassroots movement of women to assert the positive values that the politics of fear denies”.
In the UK the Women’s Equality party has thrown its weight behind the march. “I am a dual national and voted for Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin,” said the party co-founder, Catherine Mayer.
By Misandric Radical feminist Tracy McVeigh: After a year of seismic shocks comes the protest and fightback. At least that is what activists plan with the first major demonstration of the year – the women’s march – planned for 30 cities around the world on 21 January, the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the US.
The women’s march on Washington has been given permission by state authorities to go ahead. Tens of thousands of women (and men, who are also welcome to join it) have already pledged to take part and plans for a sister rally in London are gaining support from writers, musicians and politicians.Organisers say the US election proved a “catalyst for a grassroots movement of women to assert the positive values that the politics of fear denies”.
In the UK the Women’s Equality party has thrown its weight behind the march. “I am a dual national and voted for Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin,” said the party co-founder, Catherine Mayer.
The Illustrated Empathy Gap
Male Contraception
By William Collins aka MRA-UK: Male contraception is a bit like fusion power: it’s just a few years away and has been for over half a century. Is male contraception truly now just a few years away? Here I review the state-of-play, starting with the brief excitement last October.There was much ado last October (2016) with the publication of the ‘latest’ study (Efficacy and Safety of an Injectable Combination Hormonal Contraceptive for Men, Hermann Behre et al in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol.101, Issue 12 – the full article may be downloaded from here). What the many reports did not bother to mention was that the clinical trials upon which this report was based, which started in September 2008, were completed by May 2012, some four and a half years prior to the publication. In fact, the last injection was carried out in March 2011, five and a half years prior to the publication. So this ‘latest’ study is hardly very recent, and one wonders why it took so very long to publish the findings.
There is no mystery, however, regarding the premature termination of the Behre et al trials. All such clinic trials are subject to approval and monitoring by ethics committees. To quote the paper,
“An independent Data Safety and Monitoring Committee (DSMC) was established by WHO/RHR and CONRAD before the start of the trial. At the scheduled meeting on January 17, 2011, the committee reviewed the interim analysis data and determined the study met all criteria for continuation.”
Israel's Never-Ending Crimes: It's Not Just Settlements
Israel has not just committed unspeakable acts of genocide but done so with absolute transparency.
By Stanley L Cohen: Last week, the world stood fixated at a largely symbolic gesture by the United Nations in which it found the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank of Palestine to be illegal. Or did it?
Although the UN Security Council, with rare uniformity, chastised Israel for flouting the law of occupation, the resolution, crafted with ambiguous lawyerly precision, left experienced thinkers on the subject debating just what it means.
In its most ambitious read, some would argue it appears that the decree concerned the occupation as a whole, and swept within its prohibitive reach all settlement activity since 1967 when Israel seized the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Arab-Palestinian control.
Others view its advisory language as helpful through its continued embrace of the time-tired two-state solution and its apparent call for a return to the status quo ante of some 15 years ago when illegal settlements had not as yet swallowed much more than 60 percent of the West Bank.
In its least appealing landscape painting, it would appear that the resolution seemingly bestows upon already completed settlements de facto legitimacy and addresses only that part of the building glut currently under way or planned for tomorrows yet to come.
By Stanley L Cohen: Last week, the world stood fixated at a largely symbolic gesture by the United Nations in which it found the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank of Palestine to be illegal. Or did it?
In its most ambitious read, some would argue it appears that the decree concerned the occupation as a whole, and swept within its prohibitive reach all settlement activity since 1967 when Israel seized the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Arab-Palestinian control.
Others view its advisory language as helpful through its continued embrace of the time-tired two-state solution and its apparent call for a return to the status quo ante of some 15 years ago when illegal settlements had not as yet swallowed much more than 60 percent of the West Bank.
In its least appealing landscape painting, it would appear that the resolution seemingly bestows upon already completed settlements de facto legitimacy and addresses only that part of the building glut currently under way or planned for tomorrows yet to come.