Paul Brownjohn @Paulos_the_fog@social.cleverlibre.org

@freemo @turboquokka @ariaflame @trinsec @pattykimura

My attitude towards transsexuals and indeed toward sexuality in general is extremely simple:
what anyone chooses to do with their body and their sexuality is none of my fucking business unless it adversely affects other people who might need my support or protection. The state, so far as I am concerned, should keep its nose completely out of such matters!

However, I would suggest transsexuals in the West in general and more specifically in the United States of America, are immensely privileged. Consider the fact that in many countries they would be ostracised for their desire to change their gender and in some countries, imprisoned or even put to death!

That a transsexual can obtain gender reassignment surgery, in many cases at little or no cost (in Europe at least) is an enormous privilege, as is the fact that they will be accepted in most circles as being of the gender chosen; in some countries today, they may be able to change their gender on official documents such as passports or ID Cards.

Given those huge privileges that Western countries give to those wishing to reassign their gender, I don’t think it is asking too much, of transsexuals to respond with good grace where there are possibly legitimate objections to taking part, in their adopted gender, in certain activities.

Unfortunately, there is a tendency, most especially in the USA, to attach massively more importance to the individual’s rights than to the individual’s responsibility to act with consideration towards other people.

There you go that's what I think!

You can have your pile-on if you want it; it will give me great pleasure to block anyone who does!

@tristansnell

Americans (and their allies) should also remember how that treacherous piece of filth, Trump, betrayed a close ally of the USA and fellow NATO member to the fucking Russians!

The Dutch secret service managed to hack the surveillance camera on the entrance door of the headquarters of the FSB in Moscow. Thus anyone seen coming and going through that door regularly, could be identified as an operative or close associate of the FSB. Invaluable information if you are trying to track their operatives throughout the world!

That traitor Trump told Putin about the Dutch hacking and of course access to that camera was rapidly shut off to the massive detriment of the intelligence services of the west!

That fat arsehole should hang for that!

@goatsarah
To some extent I have the same issue with Brits who have never seen other cultures except as holiday destinations!

I have lived and worked in France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg and also spent 3 years living in Thailand.

In each of those countries I have learnt of the massive cultural differences that divide us one from another. Some are highly amusing, others deadly serious.

Some of my more narrow minded "stay at home" British friends accuse me of being a turncoat; of abandoning my 'Britishness' for 'Europeanism' and I guess that is true.

However, I am reminded of a friend of mine who is of Vietnamese origin and who was raised in Vietnam; only leaving to move to western Europe when she was about 20. Talking about the end of the Vietnam war, she referred to the defeat of the USA in Vietnam at the hands of the North Vietnamese Army, as "the liberation". I don't think too many Americans would see it that way. What you perceive depends on the point of view from which you perceive it!

@elduvelle

I don't like the classifications you have used - I consider myself to be primarily a RADICAL (of the left). I don't believe we can go on papering over the cracks when things start breaking!

@SweResistance @Ulrich_the_Elder

Yes, it's broadly similar here in Luxembourg. There are patients charges (e.g. about $6 to see a family physician and usually around $12 - $15 to see a specialist) but they are affordable. I believe ambulances are free. As in Sweden, your total patients charges for a year are limited but here it's a percentage of your income.
There are some waiting lists for routine treatment (I need to see a neurologist for a non-urgent consultation and the first appointment I can get with my neurologist is early August) but if your condition is in any way urgent, you will be seen straight away. Overall I'm extremely happy with the healthcare here.

@freemo @turboquokka @ariaflame @trinsec @pattykimura

Thanks for that - you are right, I have no problem at all with Trans people so long as they don't jump down my throat for expressing my opinion.

I don't really have a need to put up with a pile-on over this, or indeed anything else, so I simply block anyone who gets in a strop - I'm here to enjoy myself not to be attacked by hysterical objectors to what I say!

I was hoping that this would be a more reasoned and measured place than the Vulture site - I was wrong!

@SarahDelahunty @pattykimura

WHAT?????

I am absolutely not implying that the rapist shouldn't be blamed! I am trying to find reasons why the rate of such sexual assaults seems so high. I know that many women don't feel able to report rape to the Police; that certainly needs addressing

However, my guess is that the rate of rape varies considerably from country to country but more to the point, the rate at which it is reported varies enormously from country to country. I was horrified to hear that only around 3% of rapes reported to the Police result in a successful prosecution in my homeland!

Unfortunately, the different ways that various countries report rape stats make them all but completely useless for comparison purposes.

What is clear is that males need teaching from a very early age that consent in an intimate context is indispensable - however, I'm not quite sure how that can be done!

@SJHoodlet @pattykimura

I'm not sure, but what I can say with certainty is that a country that elects a President who has been recorded saying quite openly that he regularly commits sexual abuse ("I just grab them by the pussy...") cannot really complain about sexual abuse occurring!

I have had a very loose wisdom tooth for around about 30 years now. The last time I went to the dentist, a few weeks back, he said that perhaps it was time to extract it. I declined as it was giving no trouble and after 30 years, I'm kind of fond of it!
The other night, I was eating some peanuts; I crunched down on one of them which somehow pushed my loose wisdom tooth right over on its side, hurt like hell and loosened it so much that I was afraid it would fall out on its own during the night and I would inhale it. So, today I phoned the dental surgery and asked for an appointment to have it extracted the dentist said “how long would it take you to get here?” To which I replied, “about 30 minutes” so he said “if you want, get in your car right now and I'll be waiting for you”. I drove there and he duly was waiting for me, he stuck some local anaesthetic down into the root of the tooth which hurt like hell as it's very inflamed, and pulled it out which was very easy. As usual I went to reception to wait for the bill but he waved me out and said “no charge, you were only in the chair for a couple of minutes.”
I think I’m rather lucky to have a dentist like that!

@ariaflame @trinsec @pattykimura

Good heavens!

What is the matter with everyone on here today!

Clearly, obviously, in sports where the bone strength or muscle mass advantage that may be occassioned by being born a male and thus being exposed to high testosterone levels, is not an issue, then there is no reason to deny transexuals and in particular M2F athletes, the right to compete on even terms with women in that sport - however, in that event perhaps we should be asking our athletics administrations why men and women cannot always compete together in such sports. It's a rational question.

To me it's self evident that the caveat about allowing transexuals to compete on equal terms with female athletes only applies if the having been a male previously is unfair to the lifetime female competitors!

@pattykimura

Christ! You're a spiteful bit of work!

No, of course, 1,000,000, girls raped is a massive priority! However, looking at the USA from the outside (I live in Europe in a country where rape is vanishingly rare), I see some reasons why the issue may be greater there, than in some other societies, and to me it is perfectly valid to point that out. Where do both boys and men get their ideas of what is acceptable and their moral values from, if not from the predominant media; TV and films?

Of course it's the fault and responsibility of the boys and men themselves BUT blaming them is not actually going to fix the problem whereas making some adjustments to what is permitted to be shown in films just might!

@fkamiah17

Do you take milk and sugar in your tea?

Nah - just a bloody big spider in mine thanks!

@TimWardCam @antinomy

😂 😂 😂

@pattykimura

I have absolutely nothing against trans-men (or women) nor against members of the LGBTQIA+ community in general. However, it seems to be an acknowledged medical fact the level of of testosterone in a baby's bloodstream, even as early as in the womb has a significant effect on the development of bone and muscle mass so even if raised testosterone levels experienced by males in puberty is later prevented by the administration of medication. I fear that girls may therefore be significantly disadvantaged by having to compete against boys who have been "converted" to girls even if the "conversion" is made before puberty.

On the rape question:
unfortunately, much of the output from Hollywood and the US TV studios glorifies rape, violence and male privilege (what might be described as the right to rape). Young people take many of their cues from what they see on TV and in films so it isn't altogether surprising that rapes and other forms of sexual violence are commonplace in the US.

@fkamiah17

Good riddance - we won't miss you one tiny little bit!

@antinomy

There are some things in this life that completely mystify me! One of these things is the overwhelming popularity of gigantic SUV's at a time when it should be blindingly obvious to everyone that what we need is smaller and much, much more economical cars not bloody great big gas guzzlers.

Vehicle manufacturers seem to be falling over themselves to make bigger and bigger SUV's. The largest models from BMW and Jaguar being particularly outstandingly obese!

It isn't just the monstrous fuel consumption and thus emissions of pollutant exhaust gases, of such huge heavy vehicles that occasion a problem. Engine efficiency has improved so much in recent years that the pollution caused by tyre wear has almost outstripped exhaust emissions as a source of life endangering pollution. Of course, the larger and heavier the vehicle, the more tread dust is worn off the tyres as they wear. Rubber, I hear you say, is a natural substance and therefore non pollutant. However modern tyre treads are made of at least 50% crude oil based plastics along with a large number of other extremely pollutant substances.

The other thing that I have discovered about SUV drivers is that most of them have absolutely no idea whatsoever how wide their vehicle is. The result of this is that they drive in the middle of the road or on the wrong side of the road presumably to avoid hitting the curb or other obstacles on the near side of their overweight Chelsea tractor. I will probably make myself very unpopular by saying this, but my experience suggests that female drivers have the greatest difficulty estimating the width of these gigantic vehicles. I say this because on the very narrow country lanes in the area where I live, most of the SUV's whose drivers almost push me off the road, into a ditch seem to be driven by women; perhaps I'm being very unfair; maybe that is simply because much of the driving that is done in this rural area during the day is for school runs or shopping trips; expeditions largely undertaken by women not men.

@Basmitharts @GustavinoBevilacqua @TexasObserver

There are some strange statistics concerning Luxembourg:

More than 46% of the country's resident population are immigrants (like me).
In the capital, Luxembourg City, that figure rises to an almost unbelievable 70% of residents!

The total population of the whole country is only around 650,000 and it is the world's only Grand Duchy. The head of state being Grand Duke Henri. However, as it is a constitutional monarchy, he has few if any real powers!

@Basmitharts @GustavinoBevilacqua @TexasObserver

The same applies to Luxembourg where I live but I'd guess Houston has a bigger population than this entire tiny country!