nmcdnyc

@Doctor_Az_ Deservedly so

Surely the most hated man in Britain

@toadmeister @guardian Frankly, I'd have expected more of the "Senior Tarbell Fellow".

Earlier today a @Guardian journalist sent me this query: Dear Toby Young, I'm Aisha Down, a journalist at the Guardian. I'm getting in touch because we're planning to report that the US state department is considering a grant of $5m to Free Speech Union, your organisation, as part of a new grant-making scheme, and wanted to give you the chance to comment. We would appreciate receiving your comment by 14:30. We are considering reporting the following: - The grant to the FSU is part of a package to Maga aligned groups that former US officials have condemned as a misuse of public money to seek influence over foreign politics and interfere with democracy. - It is rare for the US government to fund partisan political organisations in western countries. - These grants are likely to pose a challenge to Andy Burnham, who has said he will be "very upfront" with Trump about any disagreements. - These grants - including to your organisation - are "sole source" grants, meaning they are to be awarded without any competitive process. This is unusual for a highly regulated process which usually requires grantees to show they have a track record for handling funds and clear plans for the money. - This lack of process has been criticised as "outrageous and absurd" by former US officials, and as "gross incompetence" and "horrible stewardship" of US taxpayer money. - Your organisation does not appear to have a track record of handling grants of this amount. - We describe your organisation as "a rallying point for “anti-woke” grievance" which "frequently allies itself with rightwing causes" and say that you, Toby Young, appeared on Rees-Mogg's GB news show earlier this month to warn about 'Soviet-style' censorship in the UK. - The state department says that its grant to FSU will “support campaigns promoting free speech and countering digital overregulation across the UK, Europe and Australia”. The sole-source award is justified “due to FSU’s global network of free speech activists”. We would like to fully and fairly reflect your point of view and look forward to your statement. Thank you, -- Aisha Kehoe Down Senior Tarbell Fellow, Guardian News and Media I replied as follows: It sounds like a pretty garbled story. Free Speech Union International, which is the umbrella group that FSU UK, FSU Australia, FSU New Zealand, FSU Canada, FSU South Africa and FSU Brazil sit within, has expressed interest in applying for grant funding from the US State Department. This would be to promote the right to freedom of expression in those countries, which, far from being a partisan cause, is a universal human right. But it hasn't submitted a formal application and, consequently, has been awarded no grant from the State Department or any other branch of the US Government. You've mischaracterised the FSUs, all of which are non-partisan organisations that defend people who get into trouble for exercising their right to feee speech regardless of their political views. The FSU UK, for instance, is currently paying for the legal defence of a protestor who's being prosecuted for holding up a sign saying "I support Palestine Action", as well as a protestor for wearing a t-shirt at a Unite the Kingdom rally for saying "Fuck Islam Christ is King". Yes, we helped Lucy Connolly appeal her sentence -- we thought a prison sentence of over two-and-a-half years for a single tweet was excessive -- but we also tweeted yesterday, condemning the arrest of Heather Herbert and offering our support. Yes, we came to the defence of Nigel Farage when he was debanked, but we've also offered to help the Canary in its recent debanking case. So to describe the FSU UK as a "rallying point for anti-woke grievance" is misleading. We are a rallying point for those who want to defend the right to freedom of expression. Best, Toby The @Guardian then ran this story: theguardian.com/us-news/2026/j… You be the judge of whether you think this is good journalism.

@DefiantLs These are the stupidest women in America.

Ana Navarro: "In the middle of this war, you’ve got the Secretary of Defense focused on who’s chubby in the military, who’s got a beard, and now testosterone levels."

I’ve repeatedly been told gender liberals don’t literally mean that people can change sexes, they’re just talking about social roles, of course they understand the biology Also:

@GSpellchecker It seemed tone deaf to the political context.

@nmcdnyc I don't accept their communication was poor though. They used clear simple language to update at various stages. From what I can tell, most criticism stems from a misrepresentation of police statements

Waste of police time. He shouldn't have been charged. Nor should the BBC be playing along with his delusion that he's a woman. Clown country. An Aberdeen University employee has been arrested and charged over social media comments about the death of former MP Ann Widdecombe. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@GSpellchecker Granted, but their poor communication created confusion and eroded trust in a way that seems entirely unnecessary. Perhaps that's inevitable in this climate, but a shame nevertheless.

@nmcdnyc Not everything is a conspiracy. And I'm not sure how having a man in custody and charged within two days of discovering her body is 'incompetence'.

@JenniferSey I feel bad about the lettuce. Chase is still a monomaniac.

Chase Strangio got a parasite and explosive diarrhea which she links to Trump and "anti trans-ness." But it's really just bagged lettuce. Wonder if Chase thinks the Chipotle E.coli outbreak in 2015 was because of Trump's anti-trans-ness too? Or Obama's?

@thepeacepoet99 Stay in the UK long enough, and you'll get it.

I really don’t get the point of tanning beds. Just go out into the fucking sun. Jesus.

Absolutely.

@HeadWarriorTWM @AnnieBishop123 Oh, I assumed the school.

@AnnieBishop123 Green Party meeting

Just found a trans being Exorcised on the back stairs by a priest dressed in a dog collar and bondage gear. Weird lot.

@thepeacepoet99 suits you

Felt fancy, might delete later.

@lymanstoneky Would bet $$ that these "ladies" are laddies

The place that is supposed to be safe and protected for the norms and interests of 95% of the population is called Society

The group chat for normal ladies is supposed to be “the whole world”

@glukianoff I genuinely don't know what to say

SANTOS! THE MUSICAL BIOPIC! is gonna be lit.

@DreyfusJames I think you need to post something with Hobbes as a cleanser.

“Live From The Apollo” last night. I tried… how I tried…

@RosieKayK2CO It did! And I have met one or two people who went multiple times.👀 I shudder to think what one made today would look like.

@nmcdnyc Oh I’d forgotten about that- it went on forever and ever.

Possibly the least funny event, ever?

@JennPellegrino The cringiest part is the guy nodding along in the background.

I can't believe this is real. The Chancellor of UC San Francisco testified under oath that a "vast majority of pregnancies are in women." Implying some pregnancies occur in men. When asked directly whether a non-biological woman has ever had a baby, he refused to answer. This is the head of one of the top medical schools in the country.

Hasn't LA been through enough? My heart aches for them

@larissaphillip @esanzi Underwear in the UK is "pants". It's like when people in the US say something is "ass": "very poor quality, terrible, or worthless" (from a slang dictionary). I think the UK version is a bit more playful.

@nmcdnyc @esanzi You mean, it means pants?