HanoiVillan Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 12 minutes ago, blandy said: Their Government and ours seem similarly wrong on similar things. That's very much not a coincidence; there's a lot of connection between Tories and Liberals, both in personnel like Lynton Crosby and in ideology and strategy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 7 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: but my impression of Australia is always shaped by how intolerant the country seems to be toward migrants, and what seems to me (without ever having been there!) like a deep-seated sense of being a European fortress against its Asian neighbours. I base my views on our Aussie friends on the encounters I have with them in bars in Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia. As you can imagine, they have some repair work to do 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eidolon Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 10 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: I'm not sure if it can ever really make sense to compare countries in terms of how open or reactionary they are or whatever - clearly people of different people persuasions and mindsets live in every different place - but my impression of Australia is always shaped by how intolerant the country seems to be toward migrants, and what seems to me (without ever having been there!) like a deep-seated sense of being a European fortress against its Asian neighbours. I mean, obviously as I say I've never been and I'm sure I'm very much over-generalising and maybe even talking out of my arse to a large extent, but even in the UK where we have a pretty right-wing and intolerant attitude to refugees, we haven't yet ended up with the kind of explicitly cruel offshore processing type stuff; the Tories have been trying really hard to make 'fear of the boat people' into a Thing for a while now, precisely because they know the right in Australia has ridden it to multiple election victories, but even though it's in the news a lot it's just not that big of a motivator here. Maybe that will change of course. I dunno, just overall I don't really have an impression of Australia as a particularly open and tolerant country, but I'm sure it is in some ways and not in others just like everywhere else. I’d say that’s a pretty apt take honestly. As a UK immigrant I found acceptance and integration pretty easy and eventually people just started treating me as Australian. I work in a call centre at the moment (nothing seedy just inbound sales for one of our telecom companies) though and if there’s any place to see how backward a lot of our country’s treatment of Asian immigrants especially it’s in this type of work, a lot of my coworkers get unending abuse just for having an Indian, Thai or Phillipine accent even though a lot of them speak better more coherent English than I do most of the time. As @Blandy said in his fantastic post earlier on it tends to be a bit better in the cities especially the big Eastern ones and Perth but the country and QLD especially are firmly rooted in a mindset more in line with the 70’s than 2021. Although if you go far enough bush to get into some older indigenous communities a lot of them have their own specific cultural acceptance and roles for trans people in their society and culture that in many ways are more progressive than most other parts of the country despite being rooted in centuries and centuries and tradition. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eidolon Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 9 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: That's very much not a coincidence; there's a lot of connection between Tories and Liberals, both in personnel like Lynton Crosby and in ideology and strategy. The issue with our government is the Liberals are completely beholden to the ultra conservative National Party to hold the balance of power. You get the odd Liberal PM who is appealing to both sides like Malcom Turnbull but they invariably have their hands tied by being joined at the hip to the party of mega farmers and resource barons and get remembered as do nothing PMs who didn’t deliver on their promises. If you don’t know him and want to read up on their Leader (and our deputy PM) Barnaby Joyce is a truly baffling individual 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HanoiVillan Posted February 23, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 23, 2022 WTF is this monstrosity Looks like Governor Greg got some of his inspiration from this backasswards country as well: Parents of kids taking puberty-blockers now having to flee Texas ASAP to get to another state. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Oh America, land of the free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 You can always trust Texas to do the wrong thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Eidolon Posted February 24, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2022 This is absolutely devastating and WILL lead to deaths. I am too angry to put my thoughts on this thing coherently at the moment but the saddest part is if they get away with this in Texas we could start seeing our entire existence re-criminalised especially in places of ‘similar ideology’ 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 16 minutes ago, Eidolon said: This is absolutely devastating and WILL lead to deaths. I am too angry to put my thoughts on this thing coherently at the moment but the saddest part is if they get away with this in Texas we could start seeing our entire existence re-criminalised especially in places of ‘similar ideology’ Solidarity. I can't put into words how much this has infuriated me either. Words seem insufficient. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 15 hours ago, Davkaus said: You can always trust Texas to do the wrong thing. Go through life living by 'WWTD' What Would Texas Do? Then do the opposite. Should steer you right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Eidolon Posted March 3, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted March 3, 2022 Some good news in regards to this with Biden and the US federal government actually seemingly coming through for trans kids and their families 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Goldie Lookin Chain fans listen to talk radio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
og1874 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 The whole transgender thing genuinely flummoxes me. Not in the typical "that's wrong/against nature" nonsense way, but more that it's almost being used to rewrite actual science and biology, and that bugs me. Everyone, absolutely every single person on this planet, has the right to dress how they want, act how they want, sleep with who they want, and identify with whatever gender or otherwise that makes them comfortable (once it's not harming anyone else - and being offended isn't being harmed). I believe and support that 100%, and will fight for the rights of everyone to be able to be comfortable with who they are within society. But... A female does not become male by taking hormone pills or having an operation. They take on the external appearance of a male, and if that's what they want then that's great, I'm genuinely very happy for them. But they're not biologically male, and never will be. It's not possible. That doesn't make them any less of a person, nor should it make them feel bad. You just can't fcuking change your chromosomes, whether you feel nature screwed up during your gestation or not. It's no business of anyone's whether someone is trans or not. But when you start turning actual science* into make believe, I've got a problem with it. (*actual science being that you either have YY or XY chromosomes and you cannot change that at a genetic level) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 2 minutes ago, og1874 said: The whole transgender thing genuinely flummoxes me. Not in the typical "that's wrong/against nature" nonsense way, but more that it's almost being used to rewrite actual science and biology, and that bugs me. Everyone, absolutely every single person on this planet, has the right to dress how they want, act how they want, sleep with who they want, and identify with whatever gender or otherwise that makes them comfortable (once it's not harming anyone else - and being offended isn't being harmed). I believe and support that 100%, and will fight for the rights of everyone to be able to be comfortable with who they are within society. But... A female does not become male by taking hormone pills or having an operation. They take on the external appearance of a male, and if that's what they want then that's great, I'm genuinely very happy for them. But they're not biologically male, and never will be. It's not possible. That doesn't make them any less of a person, nor should it make them feel bad. You just can't fcuking change your chromosomes, whether you feel nature screwed up during your gestation or not. It's no business of anyone's whether someone is trans or not. But when you start turning actual science* into make believe, I've got a problem with it. (*actual science being that you either have YY or XY chromosomes and you cannot change that at a genetic level) That's an opinion you are entitled to. It's wrong but, then that's my opinion of which I am entitled to. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
og1874 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 1 minute ago, Seat68 said: That's an opinion you are entitled to. It's wrong but, then that's my opinion of which I am entitled to. Oh, you can change your chromosomes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Just now, og1874 said: Oh, you can change your chromosomes? Are you possibly confusing biological sex with gender? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
og1874 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) 8 minutes ago, chrisp65 said: Are you possibly confusing biological sex with gender? No, I'm not. Like I said, I believe absolutely everyone has the right to identify as whatever gender they like, and be left alone to do so and live their lives in the way that makes them happy. My issue is those that DO confuse (intentionally, and militaristically) biological sex with gender, and want to rewrite science to enshrine it that someone with XX chromosomes IS, regardless of the science, male if they choose to live their life as a male. Semantics do matter in biology and science. Again, I reiterate: I believe with every fibre of my being that everyone has the right to identify however they want without persecution, to use whatever pronouns they like without being judged for it, and to live their lives however they like. Just don't try to rewrite the science, because it doesn't help anyones cause. Edited April 5, 2022 by og1874 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted April 5, 2022 Administrator Share Posted April 5, 2022 Just now, og1874 said: My issue is those that DO confuse (intentionally, and militaristically) biological sex with gender, and want to rewrite science to enshrine it that someone with XX chromosomes IS, regardless of the science, female if they choose to live their life as a female. Semantics do matter in biology and science. Who is doing this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
og1874 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 1 minute ago, limpid said: Who is doing this? Enough people for me to have formed an opinion of it. Yes, it's nothing but semantics, but language and semantics matter, a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted April 5, 2022 Administrator Share Posted April 5, 2022 10 minutes ago, og1874 said: Enough people for me to have formed an opinion of it. Yes, it's nothing but semantics, but language and semantics matter, a lot. Without examples though, it's just a strawman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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