Since Orban is in the news again, gender is a critical and often missed element of countries on the slide to ethno-nationalist, authoritarian regimes - Hungary, Trump, Argentina, Modi, formerly Poland. We're seeing it in Netherlands, Italy, even Sweden

'The first freedom' by Hollie Chastain, contemporary US artist who works with collage #womensart #InternationalWomensDay

'The same state that questioned Mayron’s fitness to care for her 4 children forced her to continue a pregnancy that risked her life to have a 5th, requiring more intensive care than the others.' A year in the life of a woman denied abortion in Tennessee:
projects.propublica.org/the-year-after…

New Interview: I talked to the British doctor Deborah Harrington, who recently spent two weeks at a hospital in Gaza, about what the war has meant for maternal care and women’s health. newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/t…

On the decline of hanging out: 'We come into this world craving the presence of others.'
Now, we’re suffering a 'ritual recession, with fewer community routines and more entertainment for, and empowerment of, individuals and the aloneness they choose.” theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

'These bonds are sacred,' said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, this after a man murders 3 children, common-law partner and a teenage niece in a rural community outside Winnipeg. “There is no explanation that can make this okay.” | by Temur Durrani Alanna Smith theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…

'There are kids in Alberta who need help in a hostile world. If the situation at home is a problem, maybe teachers & counsellors can help. Maybe other kids who have been taught right can help. The Premier is determined to curtail that help': John Ibbitson
theglobeandmail.com/politics/opini…

Alberta to restrict access to transgender medical care for youth, require parents’ consent for name change theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta…

A man facing a restraining order and wanted on warrants stabbed a woman to death outside a Calgary elementary school, in what police say was a targeted domestic homicide. A woman is killed by a current or former intimate partner every six days in Canada. theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta…

Breaking: Long-awaited Jeffrey Epstein ‘John Doe’ list is revealed | Miami Herald miamiherald.com/news/local/cri…

Christmas, Combe Park (2019) Peter Brown (born in 1967).

I was on the pill for 5 years and my experience wasn’t terrible, but when I stopped taking it I felt like someone turned the saturation up on my life. It got me thinking more about what the pill does to our brain and body, and why there are so few alternatives.

A court rules there is no public interest (the welfare or well-being of the general public and society) in protecting the slur 'groomer' -- a baseless accusation of child sexual abuse hurled at LGBTQ people

Hopeless cycle: A quarter of 4,000 human trafficking incidents reported to police between 2012 & 2022 involved girls under 18. Some 83% of cases ended with charges stayed, withdrawn, dismissed or discharged. A paltry 11% of cases ended in a guilty verdict: globalnews.ca/news/10149293/…

Out of fear of discrimination, insensitive care, or even memory loss returning them to an earlier time, some LGBTQ2S+ seniors find themselves hiding their identities. Erica Lenti on the seniors being forced back into the closet. thelocal.to/seniors-lgbtq2…

For all the frothy rage over DINKS, let's not forget the SINKS (single income with no kids), DINKYS (double income with no kids yet), SINKYS, DINKWADS (double income with no kids with a dog), and PODWOGS (parents of dinks without grandkids): tiktok.com/@johnefinance/…

'People live in a much more private realm.' So many left big cities for small towns during the pandemic - with some quite smug about their spacious new digs. Some have since come to regret their rural exodus, feeling alienated & unmoored, writes Kelli María Korducki: businessinsider.com/americans-regr…

Retired nursing assistant Ms JJ, 79, can't walk, spending her days alone at home in a chair, surrounded by food, a fan and newspapers. As more of us hope to age at home, Moira Welsh's stark reality check on what this looks like without adequate support: thestar.com/news/canada/th…

Kaethe Butcher- Embrace.

'Scattered here and there are bags of wafers. This is a chance to set up the photo shoot I have always dreamed of: me in the bathtub like Whoopi Goldberg, covered with unblessed hosts.'
Patricia Lockwood • Diary:
When I Met the Pope lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/…