Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 2934

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The Daily Dormouse.
(aka Bike, est. 2007)
Part 2934
by Angharad

Copyright© 2016 Angharad

  
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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
*****

End of April and blizzards in Scotland, frosts and cold winds in the South means lots of plants and small animals will die and the church expects me to believe in some omniscient being? Yeah, right.

Driving to work I watched various hirundines—swallows, martins and swifts—searching for food. They feed on flying insects. When it’s cold insects don’t fly and the birds don’t eat. It’s ironic, they survive flying across the Sahara desert, then across the Mediterranean, the guns of thousands of trigger happy morons in France, Spain, Italy and Malta only to starve to death in England which is probably the most friendly nation on earth to wild animals, especially birds.

So many of them are declining according to the experts who measure the numbers, but something like forty per cent of wild birds have vanished in the last fifty years. Even things like house sparrows, which used to be so numerous are disappearing from areas where previously they were relatively common and tree sparrows are very scarce in most places these days. When I was a kid in Bristol, we used to have small flocks of starlings land on our lawn and they’d go all over the grass eating invertebrates. There’d often be twenty or thirty of them, now it’s about half a dozen if we see any at all.

I was preparing a lecture on the pressures on wildlife from human activities—agriculture, logging, mineral/oil extraction, industry, housing and hunting. The latter in the UK, is only an issue where they have grouse moors or pheasant shoots and game keepers exterminate anything they think may endanger their birds—which are going to be killed anyway—irony is lost on them.

The bottom line is that there are too many humans, despite the efforts of disease, famine and war to thin us out. We are populating the planet at an alarming rate and have very few predators, save other men and disease, so aren’t hunted to extinction, though disease does kill a fair few, frequently caused by poverty even in wealthy nations. The rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer the gulf widening faster than for decades.

The only real weapon we have is education. If people understand why things are happening they usually try to help, but how can you expect them to give up greed when it seems to be their raison d’être?

War seems to be another despoiler of habitats human and wildlife which follows on from the above. Wars are caused by lust for power or resources, the power includes that of religion as most wars are often nominally fought over it, or it’s used to justify the savagery which is really about power or resources; controlling people by their beliefs or superstitions or the resources in an area. We all despise what’s happening in the Middle East and can see the falsehood of the so called Islamic State, but Christianity did it for sixteen hundred years. What drove the British to form the largest empire ever seen—greed and religion, the only good thing being it was also amongst the leaders in the abolition of slavery—which ironically was driven by religion. Apparently, slavery is still in existence though it takes a different form to the blatant exploitation of whole races of people. These days it seems to be about exploitation by stealth especially of young women who are then forced into becoming sex workers. The only answer is education but some cultures are resistant to it.

The reality is, where women are allowed to control their own bodies birth rates fall but more children survive because their mothers have more time to care for them. Where women are educated, the above also happens but also the women become more productive in terms of growing food and helping to run things which is where we have cultural clashes. In strongly paternalistic cultures, women are controlled and actively suppressed, usually there is a strong religious element involved and feminists would suggest that it all springs from men feeling afraid of women’s sexuality and being unable to control it. As a woman, I don’t know if I entirely accept that argument but I suspect it’s at least partly true.

I think it’s also partly true that many men can’t control their own sexuality and libidos and blame women as ‘wanting it’, or ‘asking for it’ if they happen to be ‘provocatively dressed’. What does that mean? How can anyone justify attacking a woman because her clothes provoked them? But they seem to think they can and the courts, mainly run by male judges, support them, yet the whole concept is so ludicrous how can it happen?

I read in the press over the weekend that one university in Utah awards blame to the victims of rape—duh! I thought universities were places of education, learning and logic—except in Utah or possibly parts of India or Afghanistan.

Okay, I’ve sort of wandered off the point or have I? What has all this got to do with ecology and overpopulation? Lots, if we educate women they begin to assert themselves and have fewer children. They tend to be more caring for the land and its wild inhabitants so everybody benefits unless you live in Utah. Feminism and ecology go hand in hand because they benefit everything and I’m talking about the real feminists not the transphobic, radical man-hating lesbians who are like the female Taliban.

While this train was still rattling along the rails of my mind Diane knocked and entered. “Boss-lady, we have a situation.”

I blinked at her. “What does that mean?”

“Geraldine Greene is outside demanding to see you?”

“Who’s she when she’s at home?”

“Leader of the radical feminist group.”

Was this some form of déjà vu? “I didn’t know we had one.”

“Apparently we have.”

“What does she want with me?”

“She wants you to sack Debbie.”

“On what grounds?”

“She’s masquerading as a woman.”

“Is this Geraldine Greene crazy?”

“Shall I send her in?”

“I think some tea is called for; put Valium in mine and arsenic in hers.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect as Geraldine Greene entered my office and we shook hands, her grip was certainly firmer than mine and I didn’t know whether to squeeze harder of let go. I chose the latter.

“Did you know you have a man masquerading as a woman on your staff?”

“Do I?”

“Yes, Debbie Matthews he calls himself.”

“On what grounds do you make this claim?”

“This,” she shoved a rather discoloured fax into my hands. It had been sent by a sister group of bigots from Sussex University and revealed she was transgendered.

“We have policies in this university about the non-discrimination of students or staff on the grounds of their race, religion, sexuality, gender, disability and so on. As far as I am aware employing Ms Matthews complies with that policy.”

“But she’s a bloke?”

“She identifies as female and has had gender-confirming surgery—that’s good enough for me and for the university.”

Diane arrived with a tray of tea.

“You’ve met Debbie Matthews, how did you find her?” I asked Diane.

“She seemed very nice, keen to learn, supportive of her students, easy to work with...”

“You’re both traitors to your sex,” declaimed Ms Greene and knocked the cup of tea from Diane’s hand before storming out in high dudgeon.

“Are you okay?” I asked Diane who was shaking. I made her sit down and having determined she was unhurt, just shocked, I called security. Then I switched off the webcam which had been recording the whole event. I hadn’t expected a personal attack as happened and was recording it mainly to show Debbie what she was up against. I sat comforting Diane until the head of campus security arrived. Just what I needed.

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Comments

Can they be sectioned in the uk?

I will say from my unpleasant contacts with the local GBLT group, Q center as they call themselves, I have learned to stay away from the buggers. Serious T folk shy away, and reasonably well balanced gays and lesbians must tell them to stuff it.

Gwen

Looks

Maddy Bell's picture

Like someone is gonna be sent down!


image7.1.jpg    

Madeline Anafrid Bell

The joys of Turf

persephone's picture

Oops, sorry… TERFs.

A politico-religious movement that makes Westboro Baptist church look moderately tame.

Or perhaps 'Turf' may more appropriate - being an inch above the dirt and generally growing best when liberally fed with manure.

:)

Persephone

Non sum qualis eram

Anagram?

Rhona McCloud's picture

You got me checking if Geraldine Greene was an anagram of Germaine Greer, who I seem to remember objected to the appointment of someone who'd transitioned to a post at a women's university college (Somerville?). On the bright side I can say that, according to last night's new starlings are thriving in Wellington, NZ.

Rhona McCloud

You May Have All Our Starlings Back

littlerocksilver's picture

They are driving many of our birds to extinction. I did see an albino one north of Memphis, TN a few weeks ago. Thanks to a mindless twit who imported 24 (or 48) of them because she missed their singing. She should be exhumed and pilloried.

Portia

I'm no great starling lover…

Rhona McCloud's picture

… as they ousted the birds I liked growing up in the UK and my 'significant other' has a particular dislike of the mynah's that were also, like starlings, introduced to New Zealand. I do my best to find something good to see in the changing relative demographics rather than act like a paranoid radical feminist toward the transgender population they see as invading their patch.

Rhona McCloud

Have to agree

We see flocks of many thousands. Perhaps an issue of killing off predators.

I'm foreseeing a lost of

I'm foreseeing a lost of position as a student and/or leader of a campus group coming swiftly into the life of one Ms. Greene. Just love it when people think so much of themselves that they forget they are just but one very, very, very small piece in the whole spectrum of life.
As for Starlings, I do have to agree with Portia, you may have Cathy come here to the US and re-import to GB as many as she can take back with her.
Can't speak for all parts of the US, but I do know by personal experience that the Pacific Northwest, WA, OR, ID always seem to have hundreds to thousands of these pests constantly flying around like dark clouds of birds. Generally a couple of hundred or even more on occasions.
Haven't yet figured out what they are truly good for, except to give car owners a reason to have their car washed after they pass over and by.

Make me angry to hear

That BYU blames the victims in rape cases by telling them they've violated the "honor code". Good way to stop them from reporting rapes. Too bad the ones harassing the victims can't be charged with aiding a criminal or something like that.

Great story as a;ways

One has to wonder if Sussex has the same protections in place. And does this make it a concerted attack as it was from one campus to another and thus not an accidental outing? So much fun to be had by Cathy...

Greere seems to have a lot to answer for.

Feminists such as Greere and her acolytes just don't seem to understand that most basic element of the HUMAN condition. We are what's between the ears, not what's between the legs!

bev_1.jpg

TERF wars

Sorry, could help myself. Loved the story. I think TERFs are loosing a lot of their power when they go after transgendered people. It is coming across as hate (fancy that!). Most of our community in my area are going to a city hall meeting in Rockwall TX, where they are trying to pass another one of those durn bathroom bills.

Rockwall

It apparently got voted down! Yay!

This started out sounding

This started out sounding like a blog. If you are wondering about Utah, one word...Mormons
I love it , coming to Cathy to complain about a 'man' masquerading as a woman

Karen

Did you spell that right?

Christina H's picture

There seems to be one M too many in the one word?

Christina

Bigotry in all

forms is nothing short of horrible, Both in the messages it sends out and to the people it affects, Geraldine Greene should be ashamed of herself her behavior was nothing short of shocking , I suspect however that she will realise very soon that Cathy is not a person to be trifled with, At the very least she can expect to be warned as to her future conduct ,However given her extreme views she is unlikely to accept anything other than the expulsion of Debbie..

Quite simply thats not going to happen , The far more likely scenario is that Ms Greene will be the one out on her ear , That of course will lead to demonstrations by her fellow bigots .demanding her return ... Life is not going to be easy for either Cathy or Debbie ,Matters could even get violent because as we see all to often nowdays when people hold extreme views and are unable to make their points through argument they often result to other methods. Ultimately Cathy and Debbie will win through but its something that should never have happened in the first place...

Kirri