I don’t have the time to write it, but I think there’s a bestseller to be written – with little effort – consisting of a compilation of customer reviews and people’s answers to potential buyers’ questions on Amazon and similar websites. Some of the best relate to technological items. So a potential buyer of rechargeable batteries will ask something like, ‘Will this Yamamoto YKT400-L rechargeable battery fit and work with my Canon EOS SLR516X camera?’ There will be some helpful answers, but invariably also some responses from people with too much time on their hands – visitors to Amazon, say, not Amazon staff – along the lines of:

I don’t know, I don’t own a Canon EOS SLR516X camera. In fact I’ve never owned a Canon camera, I’ve been buying Nikon cameras for 30+ years. Sorry I can’t help any further.

I hope so, because that’s what I ordered them for! Haven’t arrived yet.

Hmm. Difficult question. Don’t take the risk, buy the Canon brand batteries at barely five times the price.

No idea. Still, sometimes you have to take chances in life, don’t you? I was saying that to George only the other day! Send the bugger back to Amazon if it’s no good.

I wouldn’t risk it. My late husband owned a Yamaha motorbike in the 1980s. He died after hitting a BMW in the fast lane of the M1. Somewhere near Luton, if memory serves me right.’

… and so on. All this is by way of a backdrop to my planned purchases of a couple of stainless steel saucepans, I’m keen to try some of the recipes in The Patriarch’s Cookbook (there are no vegetarian recipes, obviously). The book recommends that the food be prepared by a female cook who is required to eat a portion of the dishes before serving them to you – in case of a poisoning attempt – but I no longer employ a cook, female or otherwise.

I looked on Amazon and checked out the entry for a Buckingham Stainless Steel Induction deep Saucepan with Glass Lid , Cooking Pot, 20 cm. It’s rated by buyers at an average 4.5 points (out of a maximum 5.0 points) and I decided to check out the eight reviews (you’ll need to scroll down some way to the reviews section). People can leave reviews without having bought the item, but when they’ve actually bought the item, you know that by the words ‘Verified purchase’. The ‘Top Review’ was by a lady who’d kindly taken the time to write this:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good purchase
28 August 2017
Verified Purchase
Not used it yet but will be doing so soon as I’m always cooking. [J4MB: always cooking? No time to test this saucepan before reviewing it, though?] I lost my lid on one I had the same size when I moved [J4MB: fascinating, do go on…] so chose this one as a replacement. [J4MB: why ‘this one’?] It looks perfect. Came in good packaging. [J4MB: always useful when transporting very fragile items, such as stainless steel saucepans.] What more can I say. [J4MB: please don’t ask yourself that question] Would recommend. [J4MB: why?]

I’m looking forward to campaigning with some of the estimable members of The London Group at Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park, on Sunday. Rod will certainly be there, along with a number of others from the group. They mainly go in for speaking on their step ladders, and do a fine job of it. I generally spend my time at Speakers’ Corner on MGM campaigning, engaging primarily with the people whose religions and cultures favour MGM. I’ll be bringing placards and leaflets, as well as bodycams, harnesses etc. to record anything of interest.

On my last visit to Speakers’ Corner I interviewed and video recorded Zeb, a courageous young Muslim man who opposes MGM – here (6:13) – as well as a discussion with a group of Muslim men – here (18:35) – and an interview with an African Christian supporter of MGM – here (5:02).

If you can come along and support us, you’ll be made very welcome. The weather may be poor and there’s little cover from the weather, so dress accordingly.

We tend to arrive around 10:40, stopping for lunch at around 13:30, then return and press on until maybe 16:30 or 17:00. Afterwards we usually go somewhere nearby for a beer or two. I’ll be driving down so it will be soda and lime for me.

If you’re known to us, and want to join us beforehand at a nearby cafe (09:30 – 10:30), please email us (mail@j4mb.org.uk) to ask where the place is. A warming tea or coffee might be a good way to start the day!

Our thanks to Ian McNicholl, a former victim of extreme domestic violence at the hands of his female partner, for RTing a piece (by a female journalist, inevitably) in the Express. It ends with this:

Anyone affected by the issues raised in the episode should contact Refuge (www.refuge.org.uk) or Women’s Aid (www.womensaid.org.uk). The charities run the 24-hour, freephone National Domestic Violence Helpline 0808 2000 247.

You might reasonably assume the National Domestic Violence Helpline would support both male and female victims of domestic violence. You’d be wrong. The text content of the website’s home page:

Are you experiencing domestic violence?
Do you know of someone who is experiencing abuse and may need help and support?
The Freephone 24 Hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, run in partnership between Women’s Aid and Refuge, [J4MB emphasis] is a national service for women [J4MB emphasis] experiencing domestic violence, their family, friends, colleagues and others calling on their behalf.

The Helpline can give support, help and information over the telephone, wherever the caller might be in the country. The Helpline is staffed 24 hours a day by fully trained female [J4MB emphasis] helpline support workers and volunteers. All calls are completely confidential. Translation facilities for callers whose first language is not English, and a service for callers who are deaf or hard of hearing are available.

In an article concerning the TV portrayal of a male victim of domestic violence at the hands of a woman, presumably watched by millions of people, would it have been so difficult to point male victims to Mankind Initiative? Ian McNicholl, who RT’d the Express piece, is an Ambassador for Mankind. He’ll be speaking at the conference in July, his talk title being, “My journey from victim to survivor”. The talk description:

Between September 2006 and May 2008 Ian migrated from being a picture of health, a home owner, a successful businessman who was financially comfortable, to a permanently scarred, registered disabled, homeless benefits claimant, on the verge of bankruptcy. Domestic abuse was the sole cause of this transformation.

The conference speaker list is here, you can order your ticket(s) here, up to 31 March.

Our thanks to Paul and others for this. Extracts:

White working-class children should be motivated to become more aspirational in schools and “push themselves” the way those from other backgrounds have done, the shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, has argued.

In an interview with the Spectator, Rayner said a focus in the educational system on women and minority ethnic groups had perhaps inadvertently [J4MB: this is from an article in The Guardian, so this is a typo. ‘Perhaps inadvertently’ should read ‘advertently’.] had “a negative impact” on the attention paid to white working-class boys…

Asked about the low position of such boys when it came to university admissions, she said: “I think it’s because as we’ve tried to deal with some of the issues around race and women’s agendas, around tackling some of the discrimination that’s there, [J4MB: What discrimination would that be?] it has actually had a negative impact on the food chain for white, working [class] boys. They have not been able to adapt. [J4MB: Adapt to what? Schools systematically failing them, in order to privilege girls? No shit, Sherlock.]

Our thanks to Nick and others for this (video, 28:47), broadcast by the BBC last night. You’ll need a BBC licence to watch it, and it will only be available to watch for the next 29 days.

This series of University Challenge is between teams of ‘distinguished alumni’ of various universities. The BBC considers Special Snowflake a distinguished alumna of St John’s College, Cambridge, what must their undistinguished alumini look like? She graduated in English in 2007 and has been a whiny pain in the neck ever since, winning several of our Lying Feminist of the Month and Whiny Feminist of the Month awards.

Special Snowflake was the only woman in the Cambridge team in this episode of the programme, the semi-final in the series. A ridiculously large proportion of the questions were about literature and prominent women, presumably in a desperate bid to make her contribution appear significant. She answered none of them.

At 20:47 the question was (for just five points) to identify the chemical symbol of HCl, an acid. If you look carefully at the ensuing footage, you’ll note both Laura Bates and Jamie Barber (who answered many questions correctly over the programme) correctly identified it as hydrocholoric acid, and said so to Giles Foden, who was required to give the answer to Jeremy Paxman. Foden chose Laura Bates to give the answer, maybe in a desperate attempt to pretend she was making a contribution to the team’s performance, maybe also because Barber had confirmed the silly woman had actually got an answer right, against all the odds. Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.

Since Jamie Barber also clearly knew the answer, we’re left with this inevitable conclusion:

Laura Bates was the definition of a ‘token woman’ on this programme. If she had been replaced by a pot plant, her side would not have scored any fewer points.

The three men in the Cambridge team scored no more points after Special Snowflake’s correct answer, presumably being in utter shock.

Nick writes:

The only question which I remembering her answering correctly was essentially what does ‘HCl’ stand for. Even I managed to get that one with my C grade chemistry O level!

The opposing team, from Keble College, Oxford, won by 160 points to 105.

Our thanks to Nigel for this.

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. Our thanks to John for recommending this (video, 1:19:14). Lengthy, but well worth watching to the end.

Madness. An extract:

EU commissioner for justice, consumers, and gender equality Vera Jourova said: “It is an unacceptable and shocking injustice that women in 21st century Europe work two months a year for free. This gender pay gap has remained the same for many years.”

Our thanks to Tom for this:

Our thanks to William for this.