A very weird definition and one that would mean that Johnsons racist remarks you refered to were not racist.

No I’m afraid you’ve got that wrong. Read the article I linked to.

It’s not a definition i have ever seen before.

It’s the definition that is used throughout academia, and which influences institutional structures such as Law.

To understand it better, think about how Black people using the ‘N-Word’ between themselves, isn’t racist, but how when used by others towards Black people, it is. Ergo; Johnson’s remarks were racist because they referenced a perception of physical attributes ascribed by White colonialists, and reduced items of clothing worn by women of a particular minority group, to a mundane object. Such comments not only reduce people to objects of ridicule and derision, they also dehumanise them. That Johnson has never effectively been brought to task (even though his comments were in breach of UK Law) highlights even more, that structure of privilege and power in our society.

Which side of the argument are you on?

The ‘side’ that wants racism to be treated with the seriousness it needs, and for the discussion to not be obfuscated by ‘crying wolf’.

I don’t know why my ethnicity has anything to do with what I’ve said

You were making a personal judgment on what one Black Person said about another. Or rather, the fact that one person retweeted something someone else had actually said. I think your own ethnicity is rather pertinent in this case. It needs to be pointed out that Rio Ferdinand was not censured for any actual ‘racism’, but for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’. And the context of the retweeting a particular remark, needs to be understood too.

Of course it’s racist. It’s an insult based on race therefore racist.

Again, simply stating your own opinion does not make something fact. For actual racism to have taken place, there needs to be a situation where one party exploits their (or seeks to gain) ‘power’ over the other. In the case of Ferdinand v Cole, this just does not happen. It cannot be Racism, because then Ferdinand himself would have been a ‘victim’ of the slur.

https://www.aclrc.com/racism

By extension, it can also be argued that Huq’s comment about Kwarteng is also not ‘racism’. This is a deeply complex issue, and necessitates an analysis that involves context, both current and historical. If people of one groups see a member of their own ‘kind’ acting in a way they believe is detrimental to themselves, and evocative of historical power abuses, then it’s perfectly understandable that they would be critical. Personally, I feel Huq’s only ‘crime’ is that she opted for a very poor choice of words/phrasing of what she actually meant. Concentrating on just that one ‘offence’ means focus is shifted away from where it actually needs to be. The Conservative party are institutionally racist; having several Brown and Black faces in their cabinet does not erase this fact. Ergo the focus should be on that issue. We had, until recently, a Prime Minister who openly made racist remarks yet never faced any kind of censure. Starmer suspending/expelling Huq would achieve nothing other than virtue signalling. Branding people ‘bigots’ without properly considering matters, is something that has contributed to Labour losing an election. Ignoring the deeper issues at stake, shows yet again just how out of touch they really are.

That’ll buff out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63066393

Are you going to do an Ogmios style Zen cycling series?

Cool story. Did you take notes at the ‘footy’?

Why would I? I don’t write for the Guardian.

Ctk; can I ask what your ethnicity is? You don’t have to answer, but I thought it might be pertinent to the discussion.

Saying you should ask a black person what they think is racist in itself as black people cannot decide what is racist any more than white people. It is solely down to which white or black person you ask as black people can be as racist as white people. The person asked above though it was fine, the next person may not think it is fine.
I am white, that doesn’t mean I should be asked about what white people would think about something

Thanks for Whitesplaining that to us.

FTR: Ferdinand didn’t actually call Cole a ‘choc ice’, rather he retweeted a comment containing the slur, made by someone else. For which he was fined £45,000 by the FA, yet not found to be guilty of any actual racism.

And then there’s the context…

Racism is racism whatever colour the perpetrator.

Is it? Regardless of context?

Many of the lads I used to play footy with are Black. When the ‘choc ice’ comment was made, they all found it hilarious. Not a single one of them thought it was ‘racist’, and were highly amused by the fact White middle class Guardian types thought it was…

Ask a black person you know if they think it racist.

I was chatting with a Black friend of mine, yesterday; ‘She’s **** right’, was his assessment. He then went on to call Kwarteng a ‘coconut’. Does he think she was being racist? I didn’t get a definitive answer, because he just laughed.

But let’s carry on letting White men decide what’s racist or not. Because that’s always worked…

She’s right. Put a jumper on.

I have. I draw the line at needing a coat on indoors…

Thermostat is set to 21ºC here, and that’s a compromise, as I’d prefer it at 23º, but my wife complains it’s too hot. It’s kicking in in the mornings and evenings. Being comfortable is important. No kids, so money to literally burn.

Out of interest; how many on here NOT putting heating on are from Yorkshire or Scotland? 🙂

Glue.

I think there must be piles of outtakes where he is raging and swearing at people, nobody is that calm in real life and North London, are they?

It’s not possible. Even if you smoked copious amounts of weed and took tranqs. Not where he’s driving. Stamford Hill, Tottenham Hale, Finsbury Park, Dalston. Madness. People will beep at you if you’re not away from the lights quicker than an F1 car. The funniest thing is though; all that rage, and they’ll be one place ahead of you in the traffic. Which at some point will inevitably be stationary. So it’s utterly pointless, yet they still do it. People are mad.

I don’t like Matt Smith as an actor anyway, but he’s really doing my head in in this

He’s the best thing in it! At least when he appears on screen, you can be sure something will happen. I don’t rate Paddy Considine much; in this, all he does is look like someone trying to act a bad part. Perhaps that’s not his fault though. But so far, it’s only Dr Who holding it all together.

As it’s been said, you can’t drag some of a corpse of possibly the most promising character the week after introducing him as the biggest threat to everybody without him uttering a word and having the big fight off screen and expect people to keep watching. I’m all for slow storytelling but this is just dire

Precisely. I was wondering if they’d perhaps deleted the scenes, concerned about too much violence. But it’s tits n violence that are what the whole GoT thing is all about. If you’re going to portray a fictional land and time as being filled with depravity and gore, then **** show it!

Frankly, it’s shite!

Sums it up perfectly.

Seems I’m on my own but I’m really enjoying it!

Oh no; we’re all enjoying it. Gives us all something else to moan about. Because the reality of life is too depressing to contemplate… 😪

As a resident of North London, how on earth he manages to drive around Stamford Hill and remain calm, is an utter mystery. It’s got to be the worst place in the UK for driving madness. Driving round there would push even the most mild mannered person over the edge. Thank God we’re not in the USA is all I can say.

A word about stripping anodising; the anodising actually prevents oxidisation of the surface of the aluminium, so if that is stripped off, the untreated surface will naturally oxidise, leaving a dull surface. So if you want shiny, you’ll either have to keep polishing, or get it re-anodised.

I have the Hope Evo cranks with a Hope BB, and they’ve been fine for a couple of years now. Very well made indeed, better than anything that’s comparable in price. They may have a slight weight penalty over some some other cranks, but I’ll take that for Hope’s legendary quality and service. Seen enough modern Shimano cranks snapped or otherwise failed. Plus you can fit various spiders to accept different bolt patterns, or fit direct mount chainrings. So very versatile.

Wilkinson seems a decent shop. Proper old school. They’ve got some really nice amps in under £1000; the Rega Brio I’ve heard at a friend’s house, it’s very good. I’d also recommend an Atol IN80 as it’s the closest sound I found to my Audiolab 8000A. Ie; very neutral, well balanced, clear and with plenty of dynamic range. It’s probably what I’d buy if I were starting from scratch right now.

What was the outcome of this then? Did the Op find a perfectly good amp and set of speakers in the loft? Or have they spent £30k+ on something mad? 🤔 I think we should be told…

Been catching up on this; by God it’s dreadful! 😂 Entertaining, however, but not as intended I imagine. Although I was very disappointed not to see the crap feeder villain’s demise. Dr Who comes out of the cave dragging about a third of his corpse, but we didn’t get to witness it! Some utterly dreadful ‘acting’; not least by the king’s daughter, Paddy Corstophine and the main Valerian guy, but the very worst is his son. Can’t act at all. Rhys Ifans was ok though. Not a patch on GoT, this. Hopefully they’ll limit it to one series.

I recently re-discovered a brand new unused set of SqT Middleburn RS-7 cranks with old school 110mm BCD spider. Bought for a custom bike project I lost interest in (once I realised that spending thousands on a frame wouldn’t actually offer any advantage over something off the peg, and I’d be constantly worried about it getting scratched or stolen). In my Spare Bits Box™, I’ve also got some carbon Easton Haven bars, bought when CRC were selling them off for daft money (£40 iirc), unused in a box. Original XTR M900 front and rear mechs, that seem to be only going up in value (for Retrobikers at least). A set of original or perhaps 2nd generation SIDs, that need a service, and some original Judy DH’s (80mm of travel!!) and a whole load of other perfectly good but now redundant bits and pieces. Quite a few bits are just a bit too nice to put on my commuter or whatever. And a set of Magura HS11s that just need a new hose and a bleed. The list goes on. And I haven’t even looked at the pile of tyres in the coal hole; there’s stuff from the early 90s in there…

All while a FIFA executive beats a migrant worker to death with a shovel, before going back to his hotel room with a bag of coke and a couple of rent boys, while woman outside the stadium is horse-whipped for not wearing her hijab correctly

**** FIFA! And **** Qatar!

Yep. Can’t agree more with that. Qatar isn’t quite as mentalfundalist about women’s attire as Saudi or Iran (for ‘non-Muslim’ women anyway), but their laws concerning human rights are more than enough reason to boycott that disgusting farce of a ‘sporting event’. Whilst I won’t hold any individual player to account, I do think nations that claim to embrace ‘inclusivity’ and stand against racism, sexism, homophobia etc, are somewhat completely hypocritical for taking part.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/qatar/report-qatar/

It deserves repeating: **** FIFA, and **** Qatar.

Oh, and my ulcerative colitis has now suddenly flared up overnight for the first time in a decade as (probably) a result of the sudden stress.

You need to reassess your priorities. As above; if no human is negatively impacted by your ‘mistake’, if the ultimate outcome is only that it might affect someone else’s profit margins, then it’s really not something to lose sleep over and make yourself unhealthy. Perhaps it’s time you walked away and looked at alternative work. Always put yourself first, in any job you’re doing.

I was a little hesitant on the choice of Marseille given its troubled history and crime.

Like any large city, Marseille is going to have its share of problems. The difference is that in Marseille, unlike say Paris, the ‘problems’ aren’t pushed out of sight to the outer suburbs the tourists never visit, they are very visible in the centre of town. Families with kids, begging in front of popular tourist attractions. You won’t see such in Westminster and the West End, because the local authority cleanses the streets of ‘undesirables’, and pushes them out to other places where they don’t ‘matter’ as much. This is something that you should always consider when visiting any large town or city, anywhere. Marseille also has a far greater ethnic and cultural mix than many other places; racism plays a big part in helping to create fear in visitors, that is often unfounded. But Marseille also has a history of accepting migrants in a a way that many other French towns and cities wouldn’t; the prominence of the far-right in France means that many regions are full of backward racist attitudes. Even in the oh-so-cosmopolitan Paris, there are far greater social divides, and ‘ghettoisation’ of minorities. Like most places; money gets spent on the wealthier areas, and the poor are ignored. Go to the popular resorts such as Cannes, Antibes, St Tropez etc, and you’ll see a far ‘whiter’ demographic; rich people don’t want undesirables anywhere near them. Monoculture is familiar, secure, safe. But Marseille has so much more to offer, so is well worth a visit.

I’d love to go back , It had the same sort of vibe as Barcelona I found but maybe not as good for restaraunts and bars.

IMO, Barcelona was ‘over’ about 15-20 years ago. Last time I visited was in 2006, and it was a bit of a mess compared to what it was like in the 90s. I imagine it’s only more corporate and crap now. You have to really look for decent food at places that don’t rip you off. Friends who are from/have lived there, say it’s nowhere near as nice as it was at its peak following the Olympics in ’92. What were good little local family restaurants and bars, have gone and been replaced by (more expensive) corporate chains/crap tourist food type places. Air BnB etc have meant living costs have spiralled up, with locals forced out due to huge accommodation costs; foreign money buying up swathes of housing just as ‘investments’. You can still find a good vibe in Barca, you just have to look harder and have a bit of local knowledge. I loved the place, but I doubt I’d go back now.

Well we’ve reluctantly returned to a grey and damp UK, so here’s some feedback for anyone who might be vaguely interested…

We used the aforementioned EVTT hire service, based in La Pointe Rouge which is a suburb to the south of Marseille. Hire for a full suspension e-MTB was €61 per day, which is fairly expensive for bike hire, but I suppose reasonable given the initial cost of such bikes. Which were Cube Stereos; I had a 140 and my wife, the 120. Both were fitted with dropper posts, making fit easier, and flat pedals, although you can also hire Shimano clipless pedals if you so choose. The hire service is run out of a garage beneath some apartments, right on the seafront, very close to the ferry service into Marseille centre. We got a bus from Castellane, the no.19, which stops just 100m or so away.

We were instructed to use an app, Outdooractive, and to scan a QR code to download a route guide, although the app will show several others. We mostly followed the guide into the Calanques national park. Not being as fit as we could the electric assistance was pretty much essential; lots of climbing, a lot of elevation gain in a short space of time. The climb up from the Calanque de Sourmio took about 10 minutes; I reckon it would take 3-4 times that without the E. The bikes had different levels of assistance, from ‘Eco’, good for flat roads, ‘Tour’, a general purpose setting, ‘EMTB’, for a little extra over bumpier terrain, and’Turbo’, which is really fun up steep climbs. A ‘cheat mode’! The greater the level of assistance, the more battery it uses, of course. The route would have taken us right into Cassis, but we chose to cut our journey short because we were a bit concerned about being stranded with flat batteries. We got back with 40-50% each though, so I think our fears were unfounded really. I think the bikes have around a 55-60km range with the Tour setting.

AS for the bikes themselves; obviously very heavy. The 140 in particular, was a beast. The turning was restricted by the fork crown, so not very good in tighter/technical situations. The assistance takes a moment to kick in, so wasn’t very helpful in the trickier bits. You can’t just put the power down to get out of say a rut etc, like a normal bike. And the bikes were very long; we’re used to riding 26″ wheeled bikes, it’s been a while since we did any MTBing, and the larger wheels and longer wheelbase made for ponderous and slow handling, I felt. My wife found getting on and off and going a bit of an issue, because of the weight. And the handlebars were ridiculously too wide. We did stick mainly to wide tracks, but this fashion for very wide bars isn’t for everyone; surely bars should be proportionate to your torso size? My saddle was an evil torture device; I forgot to take cycling shorts. Doh. 😖 But overall, it was a fun and positive experience; stunning scenery and views, a truly beautiful part of the world. We will be returning, and will probably hire bikes again for a similar type of day out or longer; a week’s hire is obviously cheaper per day. Would definitely recommend the service, but I do think it helps if you have a good understanding of MTBing and bikes; you’ll be quite exposed out on the trails, and you may well not see anyone depending on where you go. As I said; we stuck mainly to wider, marked tracks, for which the bikes were overkill, but there are countless unmarked trails all over the place. Marseille is surrounded by some pretty big hills; the Alps aren’t that far away. This isn’t Swinley Forest!

As for Marseille itself; it’s an amazing city, so much to see, so rich in history and culture. The oldest city in France. Visit the History Museum to see loads of Roman artifacts etc. Fantastic views from the Fort de St Jean, and the Notre Dame de la Guarde. Great little beaches in the aptly named La Plage area. And some of the best food I’ve had whilst on holdiay; too many good places to mention, but L’Aromat and [R]égal for lunch, Marafiki, Baskawaï and Limmat for evening meals were all excellent. We ate out in the evenings for around €35-40 each including wine and desserts. Lunch menus are
generally cheaper still; €20 a head inc dessert and coffee. The Rue Saint Laurent, near the old port and St Jean, has coffee and burgers in a very unassuming location. And a real must for me, was Sylvain Depuichaffray for patisseries; works of edible art. Pricey, and a bit snobby tbh, but you won’t find better anywhere else. Fact. I may have put on a few pounds… 😳

In response to comments regarding crime etc; Marseille is blighted by poverty and inequality, and the same ravages of Capitalism we are seeing across Europe now. Racism plays a big part in demonising minority communities, as it does in so many other places. This is exacerbated further by successive governments failing to address genuine societal needs, and instead pandering always to big businesses etc.The Joliette area is scarred by the same kind of wilful social cleansing and corporate greed we see globally. Whilst it is of course easy to have a rose-tinted view of a place form a position of privilege, I will also say that the socio-economic deprivation is very visible and not to be ignored. We weren’t scared of being mugged, like many privileged tourists might be, but also mindful to be cautious, as we are at home. Bu the biggest crimes we witnessed were perpetrated not by individuals but by the very same breed of elitism we get at home. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. We’ll definitely be returning.

I think you’ve missed the point, Kelvin.

If you can’t be bothered to even read the thread I really don’t see why anyone has to respond to you.

I’ve read through the thread. I have the same opinions and views, and knowledge of the distinction between sex and gender that I started with. Sorry if you find that unsatisfactory. If you’d like to convince me your argument is the right one, you’re kind of going about it the wrong way…

Regarding the issue of sexual consent; Lesbian organisations such as Lesbian Strength and Get The L out are objecting to being ‘erased’ by a tiny minority of so called trans activists who accuse Lesbians of transphobia if they say they don’t want to have sex with biological males, regardless of gender status. Because they will only consent to having sex with women, biological women. Because Lesbianism is all about female sexual attraction to other females. As a heterosexual man, I only consent to having sex with women, biological females. I do not subscribe to the view that ‘trans women are women’. That does not make me a ‘transphobe’ as some people might cry, as I am not actually erasing or denying anyone else’s humanity. I am fully supportive of Lesbians who want to protect their sexuality, and of women who want to protect their own status of womanhood and sex based rights. As are many trans people.

I think a lot of people need to actually learn the distinction between sex and gender. One is biological fact, the other is a human social construct. I have no problem with accepting someone within whatever gender they choose, be it masculine, feminine, or a more ‘fluid’ form.

https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/08/29/many-lgbt-organizations-caving-trans-activists-losing-lesbians/

If the number of posters complaining about being variously ‘shut down’ or ‘cancelled’ or ‘not allowed to speak’ had expended as much effort into having a discussion instead of whining then we’d probably have come up with a solution by now

The only person I’ve seen do that, is you. It may have been a ‘joke’, but you literally said ‘help I’m being cancelled’. Just to establish an actual fact. I don’t believe you are at all interested in having a genuine discussion, you seem far more concerned with putting your stuff an opinion forward as the definitive argument. You still seem to want to portray certain Feminist groups as ‘transphobic’ despite no evidence of such, and are still ignoring male violence towards women. Yours is typical of the kind of ignorant and misguided stance taken by some people regarding these issues, a stance which is toxifying the debate to the point where others with more nuanced and thoughtful viewpoints just can’t be bothered wasting their time. I get that you want your voice heard, by God you make a hell of a lot of effort in that regard, on this forum, but for the sake of others, why not just take a step back for a while and let others voices be heard for a change. Just a polite suggestion. It’s not all about you.

Sounds like your local hifi of shop wanted to sell you something they had in stock..

…a bluesound node out of sight to do do all the Tidal/DaB/HDMI/internet radio podcasts etc.

They had some Naim amplifiers in stock. Newer models than the Nait 3. They just couldn’t find any suitable cables to hand. I had no idea what type they were, hence the question about proprietary ones. They sold me a Bluesound Node*. 😀 And I had them service my Audiolab pre/power combo. So I actually ended up spending a lot less than I could have. Audio Gold are most definitely not the kind of shop that would try to rip you off. Quite the opposite. What I wanted was a streaming solution, and was prepared to spend a bit. They helped me realise that the best system was in fact the one I already had, I just needed a digital streamer. Adding something like the Node transforms any decent analogue set up into a fully integrated Wi-Fi streaming system, for not a vast fortune. The guys at AG have forgotten more about hifi than most people will ever know, and have listened to more gear than almost anyone else. They really know their stuff. Which is why getting advice and buying from such shops really is the best way to do it.

*The Node is truly excellent, integrates perfectly with my Airplay system. A big step up from basic DAC streamers like Chromecast Audio, Amazon, Yamaha, Sonos etc. Very highly recommended.

The 'right side of history' look very much like fascists to me.#LetWomenSpeak https://t.co/DFCuIokq3x

— Yr Hen Wrach ? (@yrhenwrach) September 18, 2022

If these men wanted to smash gender norms, they know where the kitchen is. They just like threatening women. https://t.co/5qkPE2do0p

— Victoria Smith (@glosswitch) September 18, 2022

Good to see the A&R a60 getting a mention

Lovely old amplifiers. Hard to beat for smaller rooms, even by much more modern kit. And the venerable NAD 302 was a mainstay of many a ‘budget’ Richer Sounds system back in the day. The Marantz 66KI is another classic. Can’t go wrong with such kit, as it’s simple and unfrilled.

How about a Naim nait 3?

Very tasty. I looked into a Naim system recently, but decided it was a pathway to a world of financial pain, and my home probably isn’t going to do such expenditure justice, so I wisely decided against it. The advice from my local hifi shop (Audio Gold) was that probably wasn’t advisable unless I was willing to commit very seriously. Plus they had problems finding the correct cables to connect it all up; are they proprietary? KISS is my motto. 🤯

Broadly speaking, the loudspeakers want to match/work with your room. You may also want to consider a certain amount of “acoustic treatment” of the room – you mention a wood floor – some rugs will damp resonance; think about where you’re listening from, stuff like that

Very sound (!) advice. The brutal truth is that the average living room has pretty crap acoustics, in terms of providing a ‘neutral’ sound from the equipment. I remember the massive Goodmans Jamo type speakers of the 1980s, favoured by many a teenager. **** loud, but absolutely no subtlety whatsoever. Dreadful things really. Whereas modern home speakers such as Sonus, Focal, Castle and Klipsch can sound amazing even in relatively acoustically poor spaces. At the ‘reasonable’ end of things, you really can’t beat the aforementioned Tannoy, Wharfdale etc, and Mordaunt Short, B+W etc. Because they are designed more for ‘homes’ rather than purpose designed auditoria.

Because it is not possible to have a sensible discussion if one or more party’s starting point is the conclusion.

This is the first post on this thread:

Singletrack World takes the position that Trans women are women

That is a statement by the owners/managers of this website and forum. It is a view that I and others do/may not agree with. Therefore I don’t feel this is quite the neutral space to freely express my own personal views. Perhaps I’m wrong, and it would be interesting to hear what others think on this issue.

If you want to reduce all the work done by Sisters Uncut to simply being ‘trans activists’ then I think that’s being a bit disingenuous.

Literally nobody has done that. Sisters Uncut have done some amazing work, and I wish them every success to continue. Regarding groups such as Lesbian Strength, Get The L Out, Womens Place UK etc, I think SU are wrong. Because none of those groups are actually advocating transphobia or wishing to exclude women from women only groups and activities. There are large numbers of trans people who support such groups as I have mentioned, and people like Debbie Hayton have spoken out in support of them.

Home

My wife is a Human Rights lawyer, and has attended events held by the aforementioned groups and others, and he witnessed attacks by men, on women who are simply exercising their democratic and legal right to protest, speak and hold meetings. I will again point out this is by a very small yet very shrill and vocal minority. This is what I’m talking about when I say that violence against women must be challenged. I myself have witnessed such male aggression (I’m going to call it what it is) against women. I’ve had to escort my wife and other women to events, as they’ve been fearful about possible attacks. I know women who have been attacked by trans activists. If anyone has any evidence of attacks by women on trans people, please feel free to share. Almost all attacks in trans people are by men. So why are some TAs attacking women?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4635845-lesbian-strength-march-in-leeds-cancelled-over-safety-fears

Résistance Lesbienne Threatened at Bordeaux Pride March

Help help, I’m being cancelled! 😁

You’re not. You’re just embarrassing yourself is all. Feel free to continue, that’s your choice. But don’t get upset if you are challenged or (worse) ignored.

This argument isn’t a world apart from saying that you’re standing up for the rights of white people because Muslims are terrorists, then posting links to the Manchester Arena bombing as evidence.

Wow. This is incredibly offensive, and if you can’t work out why, then perhaps you should step away from the thread.

To me, the real issue is that male violence towards women is being ignored, and women are being blamed for ‘transphobia’ simply for standing up for their sex based rights. So why aren’t we, as men (given that this forum is overwhelmingly male by demographic), discussing that?

I’d go with the suggestion to get a modern amp, perhaps with streaming capability or combined with a decent Wi-Fi streamer, as this will offer greater flexibility than a basic analogue set up. High quality digital audio will get much more from any amp, and vinyl ever will anyway, as you have far greater dynamic range etc. What you get depends on budget, and auditorium. 20-30w for a smallish room, 40-50 for an average sized living room, and 60w+ for larger spaces. Richer sounds have a load of offerings around the £400-500 mark, which gets you into ‘proper hifi’ territory rather than ‘lifestyle audio’, but you can spend less and still get something really good. Second hand can be a minefield, but something classic like an A&R Cambridge A60 will offer decent sound for not a fortune, or maybe an Audiolab 8000A for a bit more grunt. Pretty ‘neutral’ sounding amps that have been around for ages for good reason. Stuff like Naim and Quad are excellent, but very pricey, although the Vena streaming models are ok. I was a bit underwhelmed by the Vena, tbh, and I don’t think it does Airplay if you’re an Apple user. Naim etc does require some serious commitment.

Get the Leak in the wooden case

I auditioned the Leak recently, alongside a few other amps both old and new, and found it pretty lacking really. Overpriced and mediocre in my humble opinion.

Meanwhile, in Leeds, a Lesbian Strength rally was threatened with cancellation following threats of violence by so-called trans activists. Who are demanding that trans women be included in a rally that specifically states it is for biological lesbian women only. Now whatever your views, I’m sure most folk would agree that shutting down free speech and the right to protest is somewhat fascistic. Such incidents are increasingly frequent, and there have been several attack on women attending women only events etc, and several so-called trans activists have been convicted of crimes including assault, following such violence. Attacks by biological males on women, are misogyny, pure and simple. And this has to stop.

We are still having our rally, albeit with a heavy police presence and a large, I'd say verging on violence were it not for said police, TRA mob shouting and flag waving at us. This is the first time I've felt uneasy at an event.

— Dr Louise Moody (@drlouisejmoody) September 17, 2022

We (as a country) had a near-identical discussion around homosexuality not all that long ago.

Did we? I don’t remember that. I do remember countless debates and discussions around the ‘issue’, and thankfully we came out of it fairly positively. I don’t remember anything around the fear of erosion of women’s hard won sex based rights being eroded by Homosexuality.

Any discussion of the issue of trans rights has to involve having women’s voices heard. There’s been a lot of cancelling and shutting down of debate, overwhelmingly by a small yet extremely vocal section of the trans ‘community’, it must be said, and an awful lot of knee jerk reactions, which are just ruining any chance of intelligent debate. The abuse and cancelling suffered by women such as JK Rowling, Maya Forstater and many others, is absolutely appalling. We’re going backwards in terms of Womens Rights.

The real discussion that should be happening, is why men are still making women suffer.