Henry Fitzgerald
@henryfitzgerald.bsky.social
Dissolute, but harmless
Canberra, Australia
Canberra, Australia
What rankles most about Sykes is this: it's bad enough when a someone exploits her own win, to hijacks the stage and broadcast her own politics. It's surely more tasteless when someone exploits SOMEONE ELSE'S win to broadcast her politics, which differ from the winner's.
Do you seriously disagree?
Do you seriously disagree?
January 14, 2026 at 9:38 AM
What rankles most about Sykes is this: it's bad enough when a someone exploits her own win, to hijacks the stage and broadcast her own politics. It's surely more tasteless when someone exploits SOMEONE ELSE'S win to broadcast her politics, which differ from the winner's.
Do you seriously disagree?
Do you seriously disagree?
It's not her joke I'm objecting to. The mock threat is funny. Carrying it out is not.
And I don't hold with this idiotic "punching down" / "punching up" distinction. Comedians make fun of the ridiculous. And Gervais is certainly more courageous in his choice of targets than Sykes is here.
And I don't hold with this idiotic "punching down" / "punching up" distinction. Comedians make fun of the ridiculous. And Gervais is certainly more courageous in his choice of targets than Sykes is here.
January 14, 2026 at 9:26 AM
It's not her joke I'm objecting to. The mock threat is funny. Carrying it out is not.
And I don't hold with this idiotic "punching down" / "punching up" distinction. Comedians make fun of the ridiculous. And Gervais is certainly more courageous in his choice of targets than Sykes is here.
And I don't hold with this idiotic "punching down" / "punching up" distinction. Comedians make fun of the ridiculous. And Gervais is certainly more courageous in his choice of targets than Sykes is here.
The joke, I'm fine with. It's playing the game, and in fact mildly funny.
Actually doing what she joked about doing, though, is trashy.
Actually doing what she joked about doing, though, is trashy.
January 13, 2026 at 5:03 PM
The joke, I'm fine with. It's playing the game, and in fact mildly funny.
Actually doing what she joked about doing, though, is trashy.
Actually doing what she joked about doing, though, is trashy.
Yes, yes. Anything but admit that I'm right.
January 13, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Yes, yes. Anything but admit that I'm right.
I can think of no one I would stoop this low to snark at if I were charged with accepting an award on their behalf. The furthest I would go would be to refuse the office. On no account would I abuse it as she has done.
Never heard of her before; but I have nothing but contempt for her now.
Never heard of her before; but I have nothing but contempt for her now.
January 12, 2026 at 10:30 AM
I can think of no one I would stoop this low to snark at if I were charged with accepting an award on their behalf. The furthest I would go would be to refuse the office. On no account would I abuse it as she has done.
Never heard of her before; but I have nothing but contempt for her now.
Never heard of her before; but I have nothing but contempt for her now.
Anyone cheering on this kind of petty, nasty, mean-spirited, below-the-belt backstabbing on Wanda's part, has had his or her conscience hollowed out by partisan loyalty.
January 12, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Anyone cheering on this kind of petty, nasty, mean-spirited, below-the-belt backstabbing on Wanda's part, has had his or her conscience hollowed out by partisan loyalty.
I'm pleased to say I don't have a clue.
January 10, 2026 at 9:39 PM
I'm pleased to say I don't have a clue.
THIS is the kind of thing normal people mean when we say refer to COVID in the past tense. Obviously the virus still exists; what is happily now in the past is the mask-wearing dystopia we endured for a couple of years
January 7, 2026 at 8:56 AM
THIS is the kind of thing normal people mean when we say refer to COVID in the past tense. Obviously the virus still exists; what is happily now in the past is the mask-wearing dystopia we endured for a couple of years
This wasn't the only US protest mob to get dangerously out of hand year of hand in the year of madness following COVID. Earlier, and probably the worst, was in Seattle, June 2020, when rioters seized land AND HELD IT for the best part of a month. The Washington mob were defeated within hours.
January 6, 2026 at 5:31 PM
This wasn't the only US protest mob to get dangerously out of hand year of hand in the year of madness following COVID. Earlier, and probably the worst, was in Seattle, June 2020, when rioters seized land AND HELD IT for the best part of a month. The Washington mob were defeated within hours.
Yes, but that's because we all know the individual for whom the right-on crowd at Bluesky feel such deranged, collective hatred. Had the OP said "she" I would have guessed JK Rowling (who shows that the object of this hatred can just as easily be undeserving of it, as deserving).
December 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Yes, but that's because we all know the individual for whom the right-on crowd at Bluesky feel such deranged, collective hatred. Had the OP said "she" I would have guessed JK Rowling (who shows that the object of this hatred can just as easily be undeserving of it, as deserving).
What happens in three years that you think will bring whatever you think is happening now (I'm a little unclear on that point also) to an end?
December 23, 2025 at 8:05 PM
What happens in three years that you think will bring whatever you think is happening now (I'm a little unclear on that point also) to an end?
Whatever the exact word we use, surely we should all agree it's an outrage that job candidates in academia are required to submit to this, just as it was an outrage that they were once required to acquiesce to the 39 Articles.
December 19, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Whatever the exact word we use, surely we should all agree it's an outrage that job candidates in academia are required to submit to this, just as it was an outrage that they were once required to acquiesce to the 39 Articles.
I don't think of it as a contract. I think of it more as a pledge of fealty, a demeaning gesture of submission. I compared it to formally acquiescing to the 39 Articles of the Church of England, which was not a contract either.
December 19, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I don't think of it as a contract. I think of it more as a pledge of fealty, a demeaning gesture of submission. I compared it to formally acquiescing to the 39 Articles of the Church of England, which was not a contract either.
To get a job at Oxford in 1870 you had to sign a statement of agreement with the 39 Articles of the Church of England. This strikes me as outrageous; but perhaps I should apply your spin, and say that anyone refused employment through not signing was "not submitting the required job materials"
December 19, 2025 at 9:32 AM
To get a job at Oxford in 1870 you had to sign a statement of agreement with the 39 Articles of the Church of England. This strikes me as outrageous; but perhaps I should apply your spin, and say that anyone refused employment through not signing was "not submitting the required job materials"
"He didn't submit required job materials" is at best a highly misleading way of expressing the fact that he refused to sign an ideologically loaded manifesto.
December 19, 2025 at 9:30 AM
"He didn't submit required job materials" is at best a highly misleading way of expressing the fact that he refused to sign an ideologically loaded manifesto.
Anything in my tone that hinted this was Earth-shattering news, should be interpreted as sarcasm.
OBVIOUSLY everyone alive has one mother and one father, and no other parents. This is news to nobody; except, perhaps, to you, and anyone else who would deny the fundamental importance of sex.
OBVIOUSLY everyone alive has one mother and one father, and no other parents. This is news to nobody; except, perhaps, to you, and anyone else who would deny the fundamental importance of sex.
December 19, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Anything in my tone that hinted this was Earth-shattering news, should be interpreted as sarcasm.
OBVIOUSLY everyone alive has one mother and one father, and no other parents. This is news to nobody; except, perhaps, to you, and anyone else who would deny the fundamental importance of sex.
OBVIOUSLY everyone alive has one mother and one father, and no other parents. This is news to nobody; except, perhaps, to you, and anyone else who would deny the fundamental importance of sex.
One detail I'm sure Alyssa missed: you were able to predict, with 100% certainty, knowing nothing about her other than that she is human, that she HAS a mother.
With equal infallibility, we know she has a father.
We also know she has no parents that are neither her mother nor her father.
With equal infallibility, we know she has a father.
We also know she has no parents that are neither her mother nor her father.
December 19, 2025 at 5:53 AM
One detail I'm sure Alyssa missed: you were able to predict, with 100% certainty, knowing nothing about her other than that she is human, that she HAS a mother.
With equal infallibility, we know she has a father.
We also know she has no parents that are neither her mother nor her father.
With equal infallibility, we know she has a father.
We also know she has no parents that are neither her mother nor her father.
Whether the private quotes were really uttered or not, and whether the "antisemitic" construal is just or not, these later things are fair game. The schoolyard stuff is NOT, period. It's utterly irrelevant if you have juicy material from later years. Stick to that material.
December 18, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Whether the private quotes were really uttered or not, and whether the "antisemitic" construal is just or not, these later things are fair game. The schoolyard stuff is NOT, period. It's utterly irrelevant if you have juicy material from later years. Stick to that material.
Actually my point is entirely independent of, has nothing whatever to do with, whether he's "stopped being a racist".
Note that I neither accept nor reject your accusation; but it's irrelevant anyway. Such tactics should be off the table, regardless of what we think of those to whom they're applied
Note that I neither accept nor reject your accusation; but it's irrelevant anyway. Such tactics should be off the table, regardless of what we think of those to whom they're applied
December 17, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Actually my point is entirely independent of, has nothing whatever to do with, whether he's "stopped being a racist".
Note that I neither accept nor reject your accusation; but it's irrelevant anyway. Such tactics should be off the table, regardless of what we think of those to whom they're applied
Note that I neither accept nor reject your accusation; but it's irrelevant anyway. Such tactics should be off the table, regardless of what we think of those to whom they're applied
Whether or not you like this Farage fellow, dredging up things he may or may not have said as a teenager, in the schoolyard, back in the fucking 1970s, is below the belt. He shouldn't have to apologise: I would say he's morally OBLIGED not to apologise in response to such desperate muckraking.
December 17, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Whether or not you like this Farage fellow, dredging up things he may or may not have said as a teenager, in the schoolyard, back in the fucking 1970s, is below the belt. He shouldn't have to apologise: I would say he's morally OBLIGED not to apologise in response to such desperate muckraking.
Have you paused to consider how ludicrously improbable it is that misandry is "not real", but misogyny is?
Claiming either is not real is unlikely enough in itself. Surely there are SOME people out there who hate men, just as surely there are some out there who hate women
Claiming either is not real is unlikely enough in itself. Surely there are SOME people out there who hate men, just as surely there are some out there who hate women
December 16, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Have you paused to consider how ludicrously improbable it is that misandry is "not real", but misogyny is?
Claiming either is not real is unlikely enough in itself. Surely there are SOME people out there who hate men, just as surely there are some out there who hate women
Claiming either is not real is unlikely enough in itself. Surely there are SOME people out there who hate men, just as surely there are some out there who hate women
Cross-dressers who expect EVEN MORE obsequious deference than this would be well advised not to push their luck
December 14, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Cross-dressers who expect EVEN MORE obsequious deference than this would be well advised not to push their luck
The complete lack of scepticism on the part of any institution was unparalleled. The historical record was scrubbed with a speed Orwell himself could not have imagined, and people feigned belief Page's preposterous claim without missing a beat.
December 14, 2025 at 5:24 AM
The complete lack of scepticism on the part of any institution was unparalleled. The historical record was scrubbed with a speed Orwell himself could not have imagined, and people feigned belief Page's preposterous claim without missing a beat.
Indeed "trans" people face far LESS challenge in this regard than one would predict. The moment Ellen Page changed her name to Elliott and declared "I'm a man", this doubtful intelligence was accepted, without question, pretty much instantaneously.
December 14, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Indeed "trans" people face far LESS challenge in this regard than one would predict. The moment Ellen Page changed her name to Elliott and declared "I'm a man", this doubtful intelligence was accepted, without question, pretty much instantaneously.
Yes, but let's break that down.
Obviously people who calls themselves "trans" exist. No one denies that Elliott Page exists, for instance.
Some claims that "trans" people make of themselves are disputed ;but then, that's par for the course. No one can reasonably expect to be unchallenged.
Obviously people who calls themselves "trans" exist. No one denies that Elliott Page exists, for instance.
Some claims that "trans" people make of themselves are disputed ;but then, that's par for the course. No one can reasonably expect to be unchallenged.
December 14, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Yes, but let's break that down.
Obviously people who calls themselves "trans" exist. No one denies that Elliott Page exists, for instance.
Some claims that "trans" people make of themselves are disputed ;but then, that's par for the course. No one can reasonably expect to be unchallenged.
Obviously people who calls themselves "trans" exist. No one denies that Elliott Page exists, for instance.
Some claims that "trans" people make of themselves are disputed ;but then, that's par for the course. No one can reasonably expect to be unchallenged.