Open mike 20/02/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 20th, 2023 - 43 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:


Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

43 comments on “Open mike 20/02/2023 ”

  1. weka 1

    Should climate activists use illegal occupation as a form of protest in NZ?

    Asking here to see what Standardistas think. Would be great if you could explain your thinking.

    • Johnr 1.1

      My answer, is a firm yes. But, you have to be really smart about it.

      The perfect example is Bastion Point and Whinia Coopers land march.

      One single clear objective, and whether you agreed or not with the objective it was clearly understood by all of nz.

      Look how successful they were. No side issues or intruding factions clouding the issue.

      Take a humble leaf from a Maori way of operating.

      After all this time I still can't for the life of me, understand what the recent parliament occupation was trying to achieve. Too many voices heading every which way. A classic way of not doing stuff

      • gsays 1.1.1

        You touch on something important with: "No side issues or intruding factions clouding the issue."

        The '81 tour protests have been cited here as an example of 'proper protest', honourable folk, honoutable intention etc. I know of more than one individual that got involved because it meant a chance to have a scrap 'with some pigs'. They didn't give a toss about the cause.

        The Wellington occupation had some folk with really undesirable opinions and non-mainstream views. That is bound to occur when the state did what it did in mandating folk out of their professions, careers, livelihoods, job, identity (by that I mean plenty of people have a string sense of themselves through what they do).

        Couple that with anyone with a twitter account being able to 'report the truth' contrasted with the type and style of media back in Dame Whena Cooper’s day.
        I'm not surprised the occupation is viewed so dimly.

    • woodart 1.2

      such an open ended question deserves an open ended answer> it depends. >occupying a hazardous area? putting rescue personal in danger if it turns to shit? blocking innocent citizens from their legal rights? damaging unrelated private property? there are so many if's and maybe's ,that yr question doesnt answer.

      • weka 1.2.1

        All those depends would apply to any kind of protest so let’s assume the protesters weren’t doing any if that.

    • weston 2.1

      Imperialist expansion etc and other bullshit mainly spouted by neocons and warmongering americans while practicing shameless hypocrisy

      The people organizing and participating in the Rage against the war rally are mostly Americans who feel that a hundred billion dollars and counting could be better spent at home .

      Some interesting speakers were there too Jill Stein for ex tulsi gabbard ron paul max blominfield gerald celante to name a few …

      By the way who do you think is likely to win the prize for being the biggest imperialist joe , Russia with three overseas bases or America with seven hundred and fifty ? take your time lol

  2. Molly 3

    Share token access to Times review of the "Time to Think", a book about the UK's Tavistock Clinic.

    (Relevant here because we follow the same affirmation, medical and surgical guidelines and also have an inadequate mental health service.)

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/91450fd0-a3c5-11ed-8e45-d36dad29d912?shareToken=44fd8d7da26e2377268902296d4bec0c

    "GIDS began in 1989 as a tiny outfit in St George’s Hospital, south London. It was founded by Domenico Di Ceglie, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, who saw just a few dozen children a year with gender dysphoria. Coaxing out their often complex histories via open-ended therapy, he acknowledged that in 80 per cent of cases, this unease with their sexed body would resolve itself. A small number (about 5 per cent) would grow up to be trans adults, but the rest were mainly gay men or lesbians and, crucially, no doctor could predict a child’s outcome. In 1994 Di Ceglie’s service was absorbed into the Tavistock, the mothership for “talking cures”.

    But therapy is costly and labour-intensive, and gender dysphoria can cause deep psychological distress. What if a quick fix could be found?…"

    • Visubversa 3.1

      Also relevant because the Relationship and Sexuality Education curriculum in State schools here is absolutely infested with Gender Ideology. Where it is followed, children are being taught that they have a "gender identity".

    • weka 3.2

      permanent link in case the time share token runs out.

      https://archive.is/IfIRE

    • Molly 3.3

      In the same vein regarding medical treatment for minors.

      Affirmation Generation is a documentary just released on Vimeo (currently free):

      <iframe src="https://player

      h=d57e3ac230" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
      <p><a href=&quot

      quot;>AFFIRMATION GENERATION Feb18.mp4</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user186080953">Dimitri Kanche</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

      Watch @ around 1:03 to hear about the difficulties in getting the American Academy of Pediatrics to listen to membership, or review the guidelines they adopted without scrutiny.

      Article written by documentary filmmaker here:

      https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/02/18/i-made-a-film-about-transgender-kids-that-doesnt-align-with-my-politics/

      Interesting to note that the author/filmmaker chooses anonymity because of concerns regarding backlash from the progressive left. This awkward position is reflected in the somewhat apologetic tone of the opening paragraphs:

      "Politically, the documentary film community is left of center. Very left. Over the last 10 years, I fit right in. I made films about women and children of diverse identities coping with sexual assault trauma, racism, homophobia and mental illness. Then in 2020, after I had sold my last film to Netflix and was wrapping primary photography on my next feature, I chose to begin a new film, one that I was driven to make despite my community’s disapproval.

      It’s a film that is full of viewpoints that may be mistakingly characterized as conservative. I’ve done my best to ensure my work does not become fodder for right-wing hit pieces. But I need to tell the truth, and truth doesn’t always align with a political side…"

      Note: From a personal point of view – given that the filmmaker is apparently a professional filmmaker, there are some editing choices that seem amateurish, but perhaps that was a deliberate choice to hide the usual styling. However, getting past that, there are good interviews with detransitioners and medical professionals about the reality of "affirmation healthcare".

    • bwaghorn 4.1

      Could be right ,I'd imagine it goes about the same for men.

      I'm 51 and it's atleast 5 years since I felt like I was a prime specimen!!

      • Liberty Belle 4.1.1

        Well I've got a few years on you, and I'm ready to take on the world.wink

        • bwaghorn 4.1.1.1

          Next time I've got 2000 fat ewes to drag over the board and dag I'll be sending out the invite

          • Patricia Bremner 4.1.1.1.1

            devil Yes I feel quite young talking to others, and quite old when I have to weed the garden. Age is definitely relative to the task in hand.yes

        • Johnr 4.1.1.2

          The problem with these off the cuff derogatory remarks is that nobody defines " in their prime".

          Is it; sexual performance, mental performance, world wisdom and common sense, empathy and kindness, et al

          • Liberty Belle 4.1.1.2.1

            Lemon was referring to a female Republican presidential hopeful who is 51.

            I'd suggest that unless she's related to Bill Clinton, sexual performance is not a criteria for that role.

            The other criteria you list are or should be, which, given Nikki Haley's age (the only criteria Lemon was referencing), places Lemon's comments into the stupid beyond reasonable doubt category IMHO.

          • bwaghorn 4.1.1.2.2

            In your prime to me is at your mental, physical peak. Which I would say is mid to late 20s to maybe 40.

            But I see it's about a 50 year old presidential candidate, can't see how being fifty is a problem,

  3. Jilly Bee 5

    I'm having issues with not being able to access the comments when opening some of the posts – help. This has been happening since 15th Feb.

  4. Jilly Bee 6

    I've been having issues with this blog since 15th Feb, I've managed to update it on my Galaxy phone but cannot access the comments. This is my go to blog and I'm missing my dairy fixsad

    • weka 6.1

      it's a known issue, the sysop has been notified. There's some discussion in OM from a day or two ago if you can access that.

      Have you tried both versions on you mobile? (desktop and mobile).

      • lprent 6.1.1

        Yeah, I'm unsure where it is coming from. I can't get it on any of my usual or test platforms which makes it hard to debug.

        Thought it was just safari and apple, but have at least one person getting it on Microsoft Edge.

        Cleared all server side caches, the external caches, and now I'm running cloud front in development mode – just trying to isolate the problem.

        • Macro 6.1.1.1

          Can see your above comment on my phone – but the text box for reply is not working – this reply from my laptop

        • Jilly Bee 6.1.1.2

          Just to let Lynn and y'all at The Standard that I'm up and running again my three devices. Thanks for your hard work in getting the site operational. I meant to say in my earlier post, which doubled up that I was missing my daily fix, not my 'dairy' fix!

        • Cricklewood 6.1.1.3

          It's worked maybe twice for me on mobile since the 15th, now working. Use chrome.

  5. roy cartland 7

    Just want to big up the mods and commenters on this site. The open mic and comment sections here are well worth reading, and a lot of good insight is to be gained. A stark contrast to many other sites, which are a free-for-all of uninformed rants, name-calling, trolling and bizarre and off-topic wannabe-posts.

    MWAH!

    • weka 7.1

      cheers roy. I've been impressed by the increase in good debate recently. Makes it all worthwhile.

    • Incognito 7.2

      Cheers!

      TS is a good inclusive on-line community, which is what people need, even at the best of times …

    • Jilly Bee 7.3

      Hear, hear Roy – I even looked at the headings on the Daily Blog by Te Reo Putake, but yeah, nah, it's all a bit demented over there.

  6. joe90 8

    Same old National Party story; trained as a bean counter, buggered off abroad to make his fortune and returns home a first class know-it-all.

    Diversity!

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300811126/carl-bates-selected-as-nationals-candidate-in-whanganui

  7. fender 10

    Lprent, (can't see your email address)

    I'm another who couldn't see updated pages since the 15th, both on laptop using Edge and android mobile using Chrome.

    Was concerned this was due to you being involved with more important things because you have family in Hawkes Bay (?)

    Thanks for the fine job you do with TS, it's really missed when it goes down.

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