*Some one is not going to the Convention as a candidate for the nomination.
They will remain POTUS until January 2025.
He was hoping for a Convention bounce, but it was going to be a divided convention.
If he won the nomination and remained behind in the polls, to pull out then would have created the problem of how and when to determine a new nominee for the party (then there would be the party awareness of the other matter of managing a late change to the campaign – ads, fun-raising etc).
*Heard it on the RNZ news, apparently official – if true, links everywhere. Biden posted it on X, just to say hello to Musk (and annoy those liberals who wanted him to stand down).
If the backers of Trump ("multi multi billionaire" Musk, and "I'm not a vampire" Thiel, et al) , are a reason for the American Left to support who steps UP….they better go hard.
All any opponent to Trump has to do is quote what those of the GOP on Capitol Hill, those who served in government under Trump and his own choice as running mate have said about him.
Biden has indicated personal support for Harris, but is not handing over his delegates (he is not able to) – this means an Open Convention.
Mike Johnson BOTH claims Biden is unfit to continue in office AND any other nominee apart from Biden is illegal. Which sounds like a call for Harris to be POTUS and then hold an uncontested election.
Donald Trump chooses to show his lack of class and repeat his past attacks, essentially boasting of a capacity to destroy anyone who stands up to him by being mean. The strongman bully to be feared and obeyed. Possibly the worst ever American – they pray kingdom come send us a tyrant and God gave them Trump, because they did not love freedom for other Americans, thus they did not respect the constitutional republic their founding fathers created (unless they see it as a return to making slaves of the working class and denying choice to women).
Maybe women should play best of 5 sets. Women's muscular endurance is known to be greater than men's. Men are stronger and faster than women – more explosive speeds. And that includes most competitive sports. This means, as said in the article I linked to,
"According to a 2010 study published in Exercise and Sports Science Reviews, women generally take longer to fatigue. The differences aren't monumental, but they may explain why men and women gravitate towards different types of exercise."
Elite women's sports teams have only recently become more aware of how the differences between male and female physiology require some different training techniques than men, and some slightly different styles of sports wear: eg shoes.
There are some sports that women can compete on an equal footing with men, and that includes equestrianism. And in those ultra long endurance races, such as the 2,800-mile race and others that some of the women in the article have won, women can be competitive with men – hence no need of separate male and female divisions.
One of the fascinating things about transitioning has been the extreme body changes I've undergone. My endurance has absolutely increased, while my general strength has massively decreased. I've also (as you pointed out) had to change my training techniques and my equipment. The Q angle of my knees has increased and my pronation is worse, for example, and I need better back support because obviously breasts are heavy and change load on the spine. Overall body fat distribution has changed wildly as well, and now my center of gravity is much MUCH lower than it was before.
Bodies are effected by hormones. That's why there are significant changes for boys and girls going through puberty.
However what makes a man male and a woman female is thier capacity to produce either small or large gametes at some point in their life. Men produce small gametes (sperm) and women produce large gametes (ova).
No, that’s not correct. What defines biological sex in humans is that humans reproduce via two distinct sexes, female/ova, male/sperm. This is true irrespective of whether any individual can produce egg or sperm at any given time. Post menopausal women are still female, not because they can produce eggs, but because they have the body that developed from conception in the form of egg producers (and you can’t be post menopausal without that).
To pre-empt someone making bringing in intersex, people with differences of sexual development still have bodies that sit within that definition, they just developed differently. There is no third sex.
I don’t agree that gametes is the only consideration for sex. Other than gametes, humans have primary and secondary sex characteristics, as well as hormonal profiles. My body is phenotypically female and I don’t produce gametes. For all useful, real world purposes (as well as legally), I’m female.
Also menopause is a hormone profile change. Until I had my meds adjusted a while back, my doctor and endo stated I was perimenopausal – and if I were to stop HRT I would have a fairly full gamut of menopause symptoms, other than spotting/irregular bleeding.
You can choose not to agree that gravity's keeping you from being flung off into space as well, if you like, but you'll remain here on the planet nevertheless.
Unless you reach escape velocity, then you will indeed ‘fly off’ – which humans have achieved. There’s often an obvious solution to many problems, if you just apply your mind, Psycho.
You seem to be operating under the odd assumption that I want to beat gravity, which I don’t. As I said, if you apply yourself to a problem you can solve it.
With time, effort and science I’ve changed my body massively, as detailed in the earlier post in this thread. I don’t follow whatever your definition of sex is, I think it’s more complex that you do.
Just as ‘gravity’ is more complex than just stopping things ‘flying off’ 🙂
Hey Weka, our body produces all our cells, from brain cells, muscles, organs etc. A person is either male or female. I’m male, any human cell produced by me will intrinsically be male, my cells are part of my body.
Humans also contain non human cells, think bacteria etc. As these cells are not produced by the human body they are not human, therefore cannot be either male or female.
A persons sex can be determined by any human cell from their body, but not from a nonhuman cell in their body.
Hey Caitlin, I’m an engineer, not a scientist. I’ve worked for some very high tech manufacturing companies overseas. One particular company designed and manufactured high tech leading edge equipment for scientific research and medical research. This is leading edge stuff, I personally do not understand the science, I don’t need to, my specialty was the manufacture of scientific equipment. However in saying that, I worked with scientists who know about this. They can now determine the sex of the person that any human cell has come from. I’m in no position to disagree with what I’ve learned from these guys. We may have to agree to disagree
Thanks for the offer Caitlin, I’ll go with the experts that I have worked with.
As much as I love NZ I doubt that we have the scientists here who have the knowledge these guys have.
I’m just an engineer, I specialised in manufacturing stuff, and I was just a small cog in the business. But one thing that I do is to understand the concept behind the equipment we manufactured.
My understanding, which btw was confirmed by the scientists, was that it is possible to determine the sex of the person, from any human cell from any given persons body.
What was not possible say 5, 10, 15 years ago is now becoming possible, or will be in the future.
These guys are scientists, involved in research, they are after knowledge and understanding. Political ideology doesn’t have any place in their world, unfortunately outside of the science, political ideology stands to apply to how we view things like gender and sex. So I guess words and the meaning change to reflect the current political ideologies
do you have contact with them? I’d be interested to know if they consider some blood cells to be the exception? I did a quick google and there is the idea that mature red blood cells can’t identify sex.
However, the exceptions don’t disprove the rule. Nearly all human cells can be used to determine sex nearly all of the time. And that sex cannot be changed.
Weka, the science is clearly defined. A mature red blood cell ejects the nucleus on maturity so it can maximise the haemoglobin load. There are no sex chromosomes.
Hi Weka, I’m working in a completely different field these days, as well as living back in NZ.
I think people may be looking at this the wrong way. Think about DNA evidence, the technology has advanced significantly. We will be able to identify any individual from human cells or sub cellular material, the sex of the individual is just one bit of information that will be extracted from the sample.
[Please fix the typo in your email address in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
well correct me if I am wrong, but this is a first for the Standard where a commenter posts about their breast and asks another commentator to speculate on whether they produce ova or sperm. I have no idea whether you produce ova or sperm and humbly ask that you don't disclose this. A little too much information. But given you seem to want to engage people in talking about your anatomy, I would wager that maybe your a bit of an exhibitionist. But hey what would I know. I wouldn't know you from a bar of soap
Women spent their early days walking across the plains with their households on their backs, and a baby on their front. Even our female primate ancestors would have literally carried a child or two for most of their adult life. Women are built for endurance, men more for the explosive power needed for hunting and fighting.
The hunter/gatherer groups still in existence show that about 80% of the food of the group is brought in by the gathering and small animal trapping of the women and children. The hunters are successful only 1 day in 4.
Yes. it's an evolutionary thing that's developed over millions of years. There's research showing that in the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages in central Europe, women had much stronger upper body strength than elite women rowers today. The research involved examining bones.
Faster speed and superior strength of males has to do with the different muscular-skeletal structures of males & females. Women have wider hips to enable child birth – as human brains got bigger women's pelvis's had to progressively widen.
This means that the Q angel (at the hip & thigh), is different for males and females, enabling males to run faster. The muscular differences enable more flexibility in women (to allow for the expansion of the belly in pregnancy). This means females can be far more flexible than males around the hip area, and along with the Q angel, means males and females walk, dance and run slightly differently. Men's bones tend to be much stronger than women's.
The increased muscle fibre flexibility in females, means they are more prone to ACL injuries and concussion than sportsmen – hence the absolute need to separate male and female divisions for contact and collision sports like rugby. When women's heads' are impacted, the flexible muscle attachments at the top of the spine result in women's brains bouncing around in their skulls more than men's.
I think it would be a good idea to read this article by Dr Ross Tucker about the significant advantage men have over women in sports. The advantage is significant even when men take testostorone lowering drugs. The science is in Caitlin
Well fortunately he’s not in change of those decisions and neither are you 🙂
I note that his research doesn’t cover someone who has zero testosterone for 15 years and who has been on high dose estrogen for longer. There’s clearly a huge gap in his ‘research’ there.
Thanks for your engagement, but it's been quite clear for some time that someone who has gone through male puberty retains a significant advantage and that no amount of hormone treatment removes that advantage.
This is not a trivial issue. If men are allowed to compete as women in, for example, MMA, there will be deaths. There have already been two fractured skulls in a fight with a woman vs. a man who thinks he's a women (this person also expressed his desire to "***k up some TERFS on x/twitter).
Everyone's entitled to their POV but the data is clear here.
That's a very poor example, as women's MMA frequently has awful injuries due to the nature of the sport – it's a common occurrence due to the brutality of the fighting. You're talking about Fallon Fox (someone I know, oddly enough) and she won several fights, then lost a fight to a cis woman.
Using a sport where women kick and punch each other in the head with the intent to knock each other out is really a very poor example of "Women will get greviously injured" and pretty disingenuous, in my opinion.
some of us like to take male violence against women seriously.
The core of the issue that TG raises is that men, as a class, retain the advantage of male puberty, irrespective of what they do with their bodies after puberty. Lots of research and analysis on this in addition to Tucker. That means that generally adult men are faster, stronger, have longer reach, longer limbs and so on. Individual women sometimes beating individual men in a particular event doesn't make that not true. We have women's sport based on sex class not individual performance/events.
For women, the general sports issues in competing against males are around fairness, injury risk, safety and dignity. All of that is well documented, but in the end in it comes down to women saying no and who respects that or not.
As we are now seeing the general public support sports women and GCFs on this. But behind that is the fact that women said no, for very good reasons, and a bunch of people in power (sporting bodies) and a bunch of liberals ignored women, actively suppressed our voices and tied up our time/energy for a long time fighting to get women's issues taken seriously. It's still a hard fight and there is nothing progressive about women having been forced into this position.
Indeed. All that. And it's about (natal) females as a class.
There are teenage boys who are way better at rugby than some 30 year old men. Some young men get into the All Blacks in their late teens. That's not an argument for 30 year old men playing in the NZ under 21years rugby team, or in age grade rugby. It's never the case that people in a higher category can self-ID into the lower category for a lot of similar reasons that you mention, weka.
Women have struggles a long time to get female sports taken seriously (see author Rachel Hewitt's recent X thread). It's interesting that now that women's sports have gained some respect and visibility, not to mention prize money, some males want to self-ID into women's sports.
t's interesting that now that women's sports have gained some respect and visibility, not to mention prize money, some males want to self-ID into women's sports.
Hardly. Renée Richards competed in women's tennis in the 70s, and not for 'prize money'.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what trans women want. We just want to be able to live as women in all aspects of our lives. Ascribing motivations to our transitions like "You want prize money" is gross and frankly very prejudiced.
I competed in women's indoor netball. I did it because I enjoy the sport, the exercise, the camaraderie and the feeling of belonging. I wasn't there to 'win prize money' or even win at all. I was there to play the game and have fun – with my peers.
You're issue here is that you're conflating 'men' and 'male' with 'trans women'. They are not the same category, especially not in sporting events where we are required to meet strict criteria for eligibility (it varies somewhat from sport to sport).
Your 'violence against women' is an emotive misnomer. MMA is probably the most violent sport on the planet; they compete voluntarily in this violence and know the risks that come with MMA flighting. It's brutal, often horrific and leads to extremely bad injuries.
That's you're trying to infantilise these brutal, powerful fighters is quite weird and I'm pretty sure none of them would like you for it, or want you doing it. They are incredible women and can advocate for themselves, and chose who they fight.
And one of them beat Fallon Fox. Despite her supposed 'advantage'.
You're issue here is that you're conflating 'men' and 'male' with 'trans women'.
No, I'm not. All the way through I am talking about humans who are biologically male (whatever their body modification).
They are not the same category, especially not in sporting events where we are required to meet strict criteria for eligibility (it varies somewhat from sport to sport).
As I pointed out, women (adult human females) have been saying for a long time that males shouldn't be in women's sports ie they should be female only, and that some people in position of power eg sporting bodies, ignored this. We already know that the criteria of some sports allows males in women's sports, that's the problem. Fortunately that is now being reversed.
You appear to be saying that males who self ID as women and go through some body modification should be counted as female and thus allowed in women's sports. Women are saying no.
Your 'violence against women' is an emotive misnomer. MMA is probably the most violent sport on the planet; they compete voluntarily in this violence and know the risks that come with MMA flighting. It's brutal, often horrific and leads to extremely bad injuries.
You appear to be missing the point. Men as a class have a physical advantage over women as a class. It's what underpins rape and domestic violence. In any situation you can have a woman stronger than a man for instance. But that doesn't apply at the level of class.
That means that men doing MMA will always, as a class, have an advantage over women doing MMA. And because it is a violent sport, that is more dangerous than women fighting women.
Further, in this example given above, the male MMA fighter appears to like harming women. So in addition to the simple biological issues, there are misogyny issues. This plays out across gender/sex politics generally and I have zero doubt that some males have beating women as a motivator.
No, I'm not. All the way through I am talking about humans who are biologically male (whatever their body modification).
That’s precisely what I’m saying. You’re conflating cis men with trans women even though they are different categories.
What would happen if I did MMA against a cis man? I’m a post-op trans woman who medically transitioned almost 20 years ago. Do you truly believe that with equal training I would have a chance of equal footing?
That’s precisely what I’m saying. You’re conflating cis men with trans women even though they are different categories.
It’s not conflation. Men and TW are the same sex class. Society is willing to treat transitioned TW to some degree as women, but there are limits and many of those limits are around the conflict with women’s sex based rights.
What would happen if I did MMA against a cis man? I’m a post-op trans woman who medically transitioned almost 20 years ago. Do you truly believe that with equal training I would have a chance of equal footing?
Probably not, but that is a problem for TW to solve, just not at the expense of women. If someone’s gender dysphoria is to the extent that they need to use body modification, that’s no different than other kinds of disability. I can’t play sport due to disability, so I empathise. But it’s really not women’s problem to solve for this particular issue for TW.
I will also note that while you seem to understand perfectly well the disparity between medically transitioned TW and other males, you seem to ignore the disparity between TW and women.
However trans women and cis men are not the same sex class. I am never treated as a member of the ‘male sex class’ in my day-to-day life, so I don’t know where you’re getting that idea from. In my direct experience it is simply not true.
It’s possible you believe that I’m treated as a member of the ‘male sex class’ but I am not. If that’s true, your beliefs clash with the reality of the situation, sorry!
Lastly please don’t compare my being transgender with disability. That’s discriminatory and I don’t appreciate it.
As I said, women have welcomed me everywhere; I don’t have a problem that needs solving. It seems like you’re the one who wants things to change? I’m pretty happy with how things are, generally speaking.
But we’re not likely to meet on the netball court, are we? 🙂
However trans women and cis men are not the same sex class
Yes, they are. Literally, biologically male in both cases. You appear to be talking about social expression, which is a different think.
Myself I think there is a strong case for TW to be treated differently from other males in some social and political contexts. Just not at the expense of women. I’m in favour of the idea of a third category of social grouping. But that’s different from biological sex, and women in particular have a strong interest in biological sex class and we have a right to our own politics around that.
Lastly please don’t compare my being transgender with disability. That’s discriminatory and I don’t appreciate it.
I didn’t compare being trans with disability. I consider transness to be a normal variation of human expression of gender non-conformity.
What I said was that gender dysphoria that necessitates serious body modification is a disability and like other disabilities it places restrictions on people’s lives. Society can address that by reducing barriers, and I’m a fan of social theories of disability (so I don’t consider disability to be a negative by comparison), but there are limits on this too. The one in question here is the clash with women’s rights.
As I said, women have welcomed me everywhere; I don’t have a problem that needs solving. It seems like you’re the one who wants things to change? I’m pretty happy with how things are, generally speaking.
In nearly all my comments I haven’t been talking about you. I’ve been talking about women’s sex based rights and gender identity ideology. Yes, women want things to change, including myself, across many areas of society and politics. We have our own politics.
I’m sorry, but you’re wrong again. My biology isn’t male and hasn’t been for two decades. I (probably) have XY chromosomes but my biological expression has been female since I started HRT. In all primary and secondary sex expressions I’m female, albeit an infertile one.
What I said was that gender dysphoria that necessitates serious body modification is a disability and like other disabilities
no Caitlin, I’m not actually talking about you. I’m talking about the politics of sex and gender.
If you don’t consider severe gender dysphoria a disability, I suggest you take it up with the psychiatric sector, health systems in many countries (esp the UK given GIDS), and detrans people who ended up with physical disabilities because their GD was misdiagnosed/mistreated.
But you are talking about me. I’m a trans woman. I’m the demographic we are discussing here. I’m a real, actual person, not a vague academic abstraction.
You STATED categorically that I am disabled because I’ve undergone the recommended treatment for Gender Dysphoria.
I am not disabled. Frankly, it’s godawful that you’re saying that I am.
I am NOT disabled, ‘Weka’.
And kindly stop abbreviating my people just to ‘TW’. We are trans women, or transgender women.
yougov polling in the UK shows that most people support human rights for TW, but many draw a line at where it impacts on women eg toilets once the question includes TS who haven’t had gender reassignment surgery. Details and links here,
Later polling supports that but there also seems to be increasing backlash against trans people, my impression is that the general support is waning. Probably because of really stupid policy like letting serial rapist TW Isla Bryson self ID into a women’s prison.
Gender activists and many liberals ran No Debate hard, so the public GC narratives are often now dominated by the right instead of progressive voices.
Dismissing Kellie Jay Keen as an extreme minority is dangerous. She is a RW populist with a very large following and is already pulling many women rightwards, not just on sex/gender issues. The point of her party in the UK was to put her version of GC issues in the public eye. Everytime they stood up at a public meeting and asked ‘what is a woman?’ they taught more people to not be afraid to speak out or think like her. If the UK tips towards fascism, she’s going to do very well, and is intentionally or unintentionally involved in helping that happen. She is also conservative on a range of issues that impact particularly on women. Nobody serious about progressive politics should be disregarding her.
Jill Ovens of the NZ Women’s Rights Party is solid left wing. They’re just getting on with the longer term projects of rebuilding women’s sex based rights.
That's you're trying to infantilise these brutal, powerful fighters is quite weird…
I didn't infantilise those women. Please don't make shit up about my politics or arguments. Either you patently don't understand the argument here, or you are misleading in your replies and avoiding the central point.
You've done this a number of times in the past week, so know that it's not tolerated here, and I in particular, as a feminist author, have almost no tolerance for people misrepresenting what I say. Anyone is free to ask for clarification, but you cannot take what I or other authors/mods say and change it to suit your own politics. We have enough work to do here without having to spent time pushing back on that kind of trolling.
Weka, you badgered me in another thread for ‘evidence’ that another mod then came and removed – all while refusing to provide evidence that I asked for in relation to a couple of discussions we had.
In short, you’re being incredibly inconsistent in your interpretation of the posting guidelines here and displaying, in my opinion, an implicit bias where I’m involved.
Also other people have also put words in my mouth and called me a misogynist and this was not considered an issue. Just as you implied I don’t take violence against women seriously. I am a woman who has been a victim of violence many times – I suspect more than anyone here.
Please be consistent.
Also I don’t mind if I’m gagged or blocked from posting; this place isn’t that important to me. I’d rather speak my mind fairly and equitably and be censored for it than worry about Weka’s interpretation of my posts.
[it’s up to you whether you comment here or not, and there are indeed plenty of places where saying what one wants takes precedent over robust debate, but this isn’t one of them. If you step over the bounds you will be moderated and the commenting ability may be removed. Just like anyone else.
Many people who get moderated and don’t like it, allege bias, but if you follow moderations you will see that I have often pulled people up on making shit up about an author’s views/politics. I don’t do it every single time because that would be tedious, but where it becomes a pattern, I will intervene.
I suspect the reason you don’t understand how things work here is because you’re not listening and accepting what is being said.
The issue around being called a misogynist was explained to you at the time by two different mods (who have very different politics on trans issues). You appear to either not have understood, or you are bringing it up here out of context as some general complaint about my moderation.
If you didn’t understand that mod note, you could have asked for clarification. Instead you carried on and now bring it up out of context as if it is some unfairness on you.
In my comment above, I’ve set a clear boundary and instead of learning from that you’ve come back to argue.
The biggest reason people get bans here is from arguing with mods and telling us what to do. Next biggest reason is people thinking the rules don’t apply to them. And we are always looking at patterns of behaviour. You’ve had three mods taking time to explain things to you, sometimes in detail. – weka]
Half of the primary care medical practices are not taking new patients. This has impact on job mobility and also the children of parents moving to new areas after being evicted from their rentals.
This sector of health care is short hundreds of doctors with the government co-funding payment declining relative to practice costs for some time.
I'm fine; just having discussions as normal? I do find it interesting when someone badgers me fore evidence (not you) and then refuses to provide it in turn – even when asked multiple times. That lack of consistent application of the 'policy' here is, shall we say, noteworthy.
I'm seeing a fairly clear bias – and one that could easily be addressed.
I don't follow these conversations because I lack knowledge in this area, as well as any technical terms, but I appreciate you putting forth your views and helping others learn along the way. Just wanted to say hi.
In my opinion, you are sealioning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning) and bogging people down with your ‘close combat’ style of ‘debating’. In addition, as weka has mentioned in her Mod note this morning (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22-07-2024/#comment-2005755), you don’t like to listen to and accept things. In other words, you don’t acknowledge your own strong biases and display a surprising (!) lack of self-awareness and reflection on your own comments.
I don't agree. I asked Weka to back up a very basic claim as part of a standard debate – this was after Weka had badgered me for 'evidence' that I didn't want to give, that a mod later deleted (I assume because it was wrong to ask it from me, as it had personal info).
Feel free to point me to a debating guide of your choice, and I'll stick to it as much as possible. I note that other people are getting away with behaviours that I am not, so all I'm asking for is consistency in the moderation.
It was mentioned that both mods share similar views on trans issues. Is this correct?
I said two mods who have very different views on trans issues both gave you guidance on moderation and the issue of calling people names without putting up a political argument. That was in reference to myself and Lprent, and I linked to that conversation in my mod note today here,
No author here is under any obligation to jump to the demands of a commenter.
the consistency you seem to be arguing for doesn't exist. We have a set of guidelines, in the form of the Policy, and in the form of the ongoing moderations. The only way to understand how things work here is to 1) read the Policy (you've already been directed to a it a few times) and 2) listen to what mods say to you and others about moderation.
Moderation is context specific. How we deal with someone's behaviour depends on their behaviour, not the behaviour of other people. We do in fact take notice of what commenters say about moderation, but if you argue with your own moderation and tell us what to do, we tend to look at the behaviour in the moment.
Most mods eventually just shorten moderation process when we reach the point of being sick of saying the same things over and over again. This is to stop our time being sucked up. In the end mods and authors are protected more than commenters.
That you consider moderation to be badgering is a big part of the problem here imo.
I will address the issue of the removed comment separately.
Your badgering was the insistence I provide the exact date of the screenshot about Katrina Biggs. I had already provided you the information you needed, but you made it appear to be an imperative that I comply, as you are a mod.
The point is moot, as I no longer want to contribute to a forum where the (apparently) most active moderator considers me ‘disabled’ because I’m a transgender woman.
The point is moot, as I no longer want to contribute to a forum where the (apparently) most active moderator considers me ‘disabled’ because I’m a transgender woman.
and here you are making shit up again.
I didn't say you are disabled because you are a TW, I didn't say you are disabled at all. And, I already clarified that here, my actual beliefs about disability, and transness,
I didn’t compare being trans with disability. I consider transness to be a normal variation of human expression of gender non-conformity.
What I said was that gender dysphoria that necessitates serious body modification is a disability and like other disabilities it places restrictions on people’s lives. Society can address that by reducing barriers, and I’m a fan of social theories of disability (so I don’t consider disability to be a negative by comparison), but there are limits on this too. The one in question here is the clash with women’s rights.
…
In nearly all my comments I haven’t been talking about you. I’ve been talking about women’s sex based rights and gender identity ideology. Yes, women want things to change, including myself, across many areas of society and politics. We have our own politics.
“I didn’t say you were disabled I just said all people just like you are disabled, which includes you, because you’re in that group”
🙄
And stop calling us ‘TW’ for fucksakes. We’re human beings, and the term is ‘trans women’ or ‘transgender women’. You wouldn’t call black women ‘BW’ so don’t do it to us.
Like Barack Obama, she has the advantage of having no ancestry from black slaves.
She has a lot in common with many students of colour at elite colleges, a first generation American born to parents who worked in such institutions.
Her father came to the USA in 1963
to earn a PhD from University of California, Berkeley which he completed in 1966.
Throughout his career, Harris has worked on economic analysis and policy regarding the economy of Jamaica, his native country. He served there, at various times, as economic policy consultant to the Government of Jamaica and as economic adviser to successive prime ministers. On October 18, 2021, he was honored with appointment to the Order of Merit, Jamaica's National Honor award, "for his outstanding contribution to national development".
(A dual national – Jamaican-American – of black African and Irish ancestry he was later professor emeritus at Stanford University)
He met his future wife, Shyamala Gopalan through the civil rights movement.
In 1958, aged 19, Shyamala unexpectedly applied for a masters program at the University of California, Berkeley; she eventually earned a PhD in nutrition and endocrinology at UC Berkeley in 1964.
She served as a peer reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and as a site visit team member for the Federal Advisory Committee
After the October 1964 birth of Kamala and January 1967 birth of Maya, Shyamala became a permanent resident of the United States in April 1968.
Her story is about legal migration to America – and about those born there living in a meritocracy, where anyone can rise to the highest office. It is not about born into wealth and privilege.
Her story is about an American melting pot, not critical race theory.
"Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies."
With Black Americans overrepresented in US prisons, more likely to get a jail term for the equivalent crime than white Americans, just for starters. Throw in State and Federal electoral boundaries gerrymandered to invalidate Black voters in their own cities. Critical race theory still sounds completely valid, even if you are middle-class and only half Black, like Harris.
In fact, post the Civil War reconstruction period, electoral and legal rights gained for Black people were steadily eroded into the 20th century. Critical race has nothing to nothing to do with slavery.
Very similar to much of the recently-introduced legislation here. I bet you it wasn't lovingly handcrafted by National Policy wonks, but rather came almost fully-written from their funders.
"Simply put, medical inflation is the rising cost of medical care. In New Zealand, in recent times, this has been in the region of around 9 – 11% each year. That means the rate is significantly higher than the country's inflation rate."
The Coalition of Clowns seem to be challenged in understanding that medical inflation runs far higher than the standard variety but will attempt a King Canute type solution with additional (human) sacrifices.
However there has been an increase of staff from health boards to New Zealand health of 2500+. And there are apparently 14 levels of management at NZ Health between the CEO and clinicians.
I guess the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. How will NZ Health and the front line health service be looking in 12 months, 18 months? Watch this space.
No link. I will wait to see what happens with health. There certainly have been a number of articles in the msm lately with health workers stating that vacancies are being filled and NZ Health disputing that, so I don't think things have been going well.
I will wait to see what happens to the Health system over the next couple of years or so. I am looking for concrete improvements. I am not out to prove anything here. I was always against the health restructure as I think the. health dollar really counts at the coal face. I remember discussing this quite a lot of the Standard. I know of Lester Levy and think he is pretty competent. I hope for all NZders sakes things improve. Have had a lot of people needing hospital care around me of late. What they all say is a hell of a wait to be seen, but the health professionals are amazing. This is what I have always thought.
BTW I am really pleased with Seymour and the restructuring of Pharmac, his direction to work with health advocacy groups and the 54 new drugs they are funding. I will also keep an open mind about how the re set of Pharmac goes. Patient advocacy groups are pleased about it. If need be I can provide a link for that.
Repeating a lie over and over again is poor practice, especially when multiple people have asked for evidence of your statements, and each time you have merely run away.
Do you have any evidence for this statement? Or do you just like spreading it?
My source is what Luxon, Reti and I think Levy said. That is probably not an acceptable source on this site. I have had a look and can't find it elsewhere.
It does make sense though, given the Labour Govt increased the bureacracy by one third over their time in office. I have never seen this figure refruted.
You may well be able to excuse me. Having worked in front line services in the health services in the 1990s I have very little time for health bureaucrats. We saw very little of what they did aiding us in our work and when they turned up with clip boards, we had very little time for them, especially as we knew they will be earning far more money than we did, doing what we thought of as "the real work". There is no health system without health professionals.
I also would highlight Mike Kings time when he was invited to attend the Ministry of Health meetings re developing a workforce for people with mild to moderate mental health problems. He resigned in disgust and then went off and set up Gum Boot Friday, which has been enormously successful. Also I would cite from the Ministry of Health (I know its not Health NZ) and their review of Puberty Blockers. This review has taken well over a year, with many extensions. There is no way this review should have taken this long. As Emeritous Professor, Charlotte Paul said, after the Cass report came out, there was no need for such a review. The Cass Review gave us the information we need.
My source is what Luxon, Reti and I think Levy said. That is probably not an acceptable source on this site. I have had a look and can’t find it elsewhere.
The problem isn’t who you are referencing, it’s that you’ve not provided a link. You know better than this Anker. Please provide a link now so we can see what you are talking about.
The problem I have here is that if you had provided the linked reference upfront, we could have clarified earlier and had a conversation about it. Instead you repeated the assertion multiple times and left it to others to try sort out what was real. In otherwords, you had time to look it up and make it clear what you mean and provide a link. You know we have a robust debate ethic here and need a high level confidence in what people are claiming.
Going forward, please provide links for such claims at the time you make them.
The C of C is facing a potential revolt over its planned replacement of the Te Pūkenga mega-institute – with many industries happy with the current training set-up.
Yes indeed. I'd have changed the site to use them, except I have no idea how there were generated.
Flushing the CDN cache at the provider and forcing it to all reload fixed all of the issues related to this outage. The question is what in the hell caused the CDN cache to get munged.
I can't see anything in logs. Just finished a scan for malware at my server without a result. Now looking at the comms system.
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
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*Some one is not going to the Convention as a candidate for the nomination.
They will remain POTUS until January 2025.
He was hoping for a Convention bounce, but it was going to be a divided convention.
If he won the nomination and remained behind in the polls, to pull out then would have created the problem of how and when to determine a new nominee for the party (then there would be the party awareness of the other matter of managing a late change to the campaign – ads, fun-raising etc).
*Heard it on the RNZ news, apparently official – if true, links everywhere. Biden posted it on X, just to say hello to Musk (and annoy those liberals who wanted him to stand down).
Trump vs Biden – Biden needs to lead by 2% in the general poll to win the electoral college and yet he was falling further behind.
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-biden
Harris has better favourability than Biden, not on past performance but on capacity to serve in office.
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/favorability/political-leaders
ON RNZ
If the backers of Trump ("multi multi billionaire" Musk, and "I'm not a vampire" Thiel, et al) , are a reason for the American Left to support who steps UP….they better go hard.
"As endorsed by Joe Biden" is going to be a bit of an Albatross to carry into the election ….
All any opponent to Trump has to do is quote what those of the GOP on Capitol Hill, those who served in government under Trump and his own choice as running mate have said about him.
RNZ
Biden has indicated personal support for Harris, but is not handing over his delegates (he is not able to) – this means an Open Convention.
Mike Johnson BOTH claims Biden is unfit to continue in office AND any other nominee apart from Biden is illegal. Which sounds like a call for Harris to be POTUS and then hold an uncontested election.
Donald Trump chooses to show his lack of class and repeat his past attacks, essentially boasting of a capacity to destroy anyone who stands up to him by being mean. The strongman bully to be feared and obeyed. Possibly the worst ever American – they pray kingdom come send us a tyrant and God gave them Trump, because they did not love freedom for other Americans, thus they did not respect the constitutional republic their founding fathers created (unless they see it as a return to making slaves of the working class and denying choice to women).
British women break men’s Pacific rowing record!
Another big win for women's sports – showing once again women dominate endurance events.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/19/british-women-break-mens-pacific-rowing-record/
Any time women want to get paid for three sets of tennis…
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36802328/
Maybe women should play best of 5 sets. Women's muscular endurance is known to be greater than men's. Men are stronger and faster than women – more explosive speeds. And that includes most competitive sports. This means, as said in the article I linked to,
Elite women's sports teams have only recently become more aware of how the differences between male and female physiology require some different training techniques than men, and some slightly different styles of sports wear: eg shoes.
There are some sports that women can compete on an equal footing with men, and that includes equestrianism. And in those ultra long endurance races, such as the 2,800-mile race and others that some of the women in the article have won, women can be competitive with men – hence no need of separate male and female divisions.
One of the fascinating things about transitioning has been the extreme body changes I've undergone. My endurance has absolutely increased, while my general strength has massively decreased. I've also (as you pointed out) had to change my training techniques and my equipment. The Q angle of my knees has increased and my pronation is worse, for example, and I need better back support because obviously breasts are heavy and change load on the spine. Overall body fat distribution has changed wildly as well, and now my center of gravity is much MUCH lower than it was before.
Aren't bodies wonderful?
Bodies are effected by hormones. That's why there are significant changes for boys and girls going through puberty.
However what makes a man male and a woman female is thier capacity to produce either small or large gametes at some point in their life. Men produce small gametes (sperm) and women produce large gametes (ova).
This is what makes someone male or female.
I don’t agree; but out of curiosity, which gametes do I produce? I must either produce large or small, correct?
No, that’s not correct. What defines biological sex in humans is that humans reproduce via two distinct sexes, female/ova, male/sperm. This is true irrespective of whether any individual can produce egg or sperm at any given time. Post menopausal women are still female, not because they can produce eggs, but because they have the body that developed from conception in the form of egg producers (and you can’t be post menopausal without that).
To pre-empt someone making bringing in intersex, people with differences of sexual development still have bodies that sit within that definition, they just developed differently. There is no third sex.
Oh, you’re replying to me today are you?
I don’t agree that gametes is the only consideration for sex. Other than gametes, humans have primary and secondary sex characteristics, as well as hormonal profiles. My body is phenotypically female and I don’t produce gametes. For all useful, real world purposes (as well as legally), I’m female.
Also menopause is a hormone profile change. Until I had my meds adjusted a while back, my doctor and endo stated I was perimenopausal – and if I were to stop HRT I would have a fairly full gamut of menopause symptoms, other than spotting/irregular bleeding.
You can choose not to agree that gravity's keeping you from being flung off into space as well, if you like, but you'll remain here on the planet nevertheless.
Unless you reach escape velocity, then you will indeed ‘fly off’ – which humans have achieved. There’s often an obvious solution to many problems, if you just apply your mind, Psycho.
Well, good luck with that. In the meantime, not agreeing with gravity doesn't make you any lighter.
You seem to be operating under the odd assumption that I want to beat gravity, which I don’t. As I said, if you apply yourself to a problem you can solve it.
With time, effort and science I’ve changed my body massively, as detailed in the earlier post in this thread. I don’t follow whatever your definition of sex is, I think it’s more complex that you do.
Just as ‘gravity’ is more complex than just stopping things ‘flying off’ 🙂
Every cell in the human body is either male or female, this happens at conception. No amount of hormones, surgery, or ideology will change this.
Sorry to point out your ignorance, but red blood cells and platelets don’t contain DNA and blood is about 8% of your body weight.
Some other cells don’t either, corneal cells, hair, nails and the outermost skin cells.
Not that it matters. You can’t see the chromosomes inside the other people you meet, so they have no practical meaning in day-to-day interactions.
Never really understood that every cell thing. Can you explain it in simple terms?
Hey Weka, our body produces all our cells, from brain cells, muscles, organs etc. A person is either male or female. I’m male, any human cell produced by me will intrinsically be male, my cells are part of my body.
Humans also contain non human cells, think bacteria etc. As these cells are not produced by the human body they are not human, therefore cannot be either male or female.
A persons sex can be determined by any human cell from their body, but not from a nonhuman cell in their body.
Hi David, that’s provably not true, as I outlined in another reply to you.
Hey Caitlin, I’m an engineer, not a scientist. I’ve worked for some very high tech manufacturing companies overseas. One particular company designed and manufactured high tech leading edge equipment for scientific research and medical research. This is leading edge stuff, I personally do not understand the science, I don’t need to, my specialty was the manufacture of scientific equipment. However in saying that, I worked with scientists who know about this. They can now determine the sex of the person that any human cell has come from. I’m in no position to disagree with what I’ve learned from these guys. We may have to agree to disagree
David, a red blood cell is essentially a bag of haemoglobin with no nucleus. It is impossible to sex a red blood cell.
Either you heard wrong, misinterpreted their statements, or they were wrong. There is literally no sexed material in a red blood cell.
Feel free to look it up. Or I can provide you links if your unable to.
Thanks for the offer Caitlin, I’ll go with the experts that I have worked with.
As much as I love NZ I doubt that we have the scientists here who have the knowledge these guys have.
I’m just an engineer, I specialised in manufacturing stuff, and I was just a small cog in the business. But one thing that I do is to understand the concept behind the equipment we manufactured.
My understanding, which btw was confirmed by the scientists, was that it is possible to determine the sex of the person, from any human cell from any given persons body.
What was not possible say 5, 10, 15 years ago is now becoming possible, or will be in the future.
These guys are scientists, involved in research, they are after knowledge and understanding. Political ideology doesn’t have any place in their world, unfortunately outside of the science, political ideology stands to apply to how we view things like gender and sex. So I guess words and the meaning change to reflect the current political ideologies
do you have contact with them? I’d be interested to know if they consider some blood cells to be the exception? I did a quick google and there is the idea that mature red blood cells can’t identify sex.
However, the exceptions don’t disprove the rule. Nearly all human cells can be used to determine sex nearly all of the time. And that sex cannot be changed.
Weka, the science is clearly defined. A mature red blood cell ejects the nucleus on maturity so it can maximise the haemoglobin load. There are no sex chromosomes.
This isn’t up for debate, it’s a medical fact.
Hi Weka, I’m working in a completely different field these days, as well as living back in NZ.
I think people may be looking at this the wrong way. Think about DNA evidence, the technology has advanced significantly. We will be able to identify any individual from human cells or sub cellular material, the sex of the individual is just one bit of information that will be extracted from the sample.
[Please fix the typo in your email address in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
At present, one needs a tissue sample that contains nuclear DNA to determine the sex.
So far, you’ve only alluded to anecdotal evidence but nothing substantial, which means you keep wasting our time on this.
Honestly this just sounds like hogwash to me. The science of blood is one of the most studied fields in medicine. It’s literally our lifeblood.
You’re committing the logical fallacy of ‘appeal to authority’ when you cannot even prove this authority exists.
Here, read up on the subject:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_blood_cell
well correct me if I am wrong, but this is a first for the Standard where a commenter posts about their breast and asks another commentator to speculate on whether they produce ova or sperm. I have no idea whether you produce ova or sperm and humbly ask that you don't disclose this. A little too much information. But given you seem to want to engage people in talking about your anatomy, I would wager that maybe your a bit of an exhibitionist. But hey what would I know. I wouldn't know you from a bar of soap
If talking about human biology disturbs you so much, feel free to leave the discussion.
yeah………..nah
Women spent their early days walking across the plains with their households on their backs, and a baby on their front. Even our female primate ancestors would have literally carried a child or two for most of their adult life. Women are built for endurance, men more for the explosive power needed for hunting and fighting.
The hunter/gatherer groups still in existence show that about 80% of the food of the group is brought in by the gathering and small animal trapping of the women and children. The hunters are successful only 1 day in 4.
Labour and childbirth are also endurance events
Yes. it's an evolutionary thing that's developed over millions of years. There's research showing that in the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages in central Europe, women had much stronger upper body strength than elite women rowers today. The research involved examining bones.
Faster speed and superior strength of males has to do with the different muscular-skeletal structures of males & females. Women have wider hips to enable child birth – as human brains got bigger women's pelvis's had to progressively widen.
This means that the Q angel (at the hip & thigh), is different for males and females, enabling males to run faster. The muscular differences enable more flexibility in women (to allow for the expansion of the belly in pregnancy). This means females can be far more flexible than males around the hip area, and along with the Q angel, means males and females walk, dance and run slightly differently. Men's bones tend to be much stronger than women's.
The increased muscle fibre flexibility in females, means they are more prone to ACL injuries and concussion than sportsmen – hence the absolute need to separate male and female divisions for contact and collision sports like rugby. When women's heads' are impacted, the flexible muscle attachments at the top of the spine result in women's brains bouncing around in their skulls more than men's.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018757712/the-science-of-transgender-women-in-sport
I think it would be a good idea to read this article by Dr Ross Tucker about the significant advantage men have over women in sports. The advantage is significant even when men take testostorone lowering drugs. The science is in Caitlin
I’m sorry, but you don’t know what you’re talking about; I don’t take testosterone lowering drugs.
You don’t appear to have good knowledge about medical transition, and certainly none about mine.
I will just leave it to Dr Ross Tucker to do the talking about ensuring womens sports remain for women only.
Well fortunately he’s not in change of those decisions and neither are you 🙂
I note that his research doesn’t cover someone who has zero testosterone for 15 years and who has been on high dose estrogen for longer. There’s clearly a huge gap in his ‘research’ there.
Thanks for your engagement, but it's been quite clear for some time that someone who has gone through male puberty retains a significant advantage and that no amount of hormone treatment removes that advantage.
This is not a trivial issue. If men are allowed to compete as women in, for example, MMA, there will be deaths. There have already been two fractured skulls in a fight with a woman vs. a man who thinks he's a women (this person also expressed his desire to "***k up some TERFS on x/twitter).
Everyone's entitled to their POV but the data is clear here.
Hi That_guy,
That's a very poor example, as women's MMA frequently has awful injuries due to the nature of the sport – it's a common occurrence due to the brutality of the fighting. You're talking about Fallon Fox (someone I know, oddly enough) and she won several fights, then lost a fight to a cis woman.
Using a sport where women kick and punch each other in the head with the intent to knock each other out is really a very poor example of "Women will get greviously injured" and pretty disingenuous, in my opinion.
some of us like to take male violence against women seriously.
The core of the issue that TG raises is that men, as a class, retain the advantage of male puberty, irrespective of what they do with their bodies after puberty. Lots of research and analysis on this in addition to Tucker. That means that generally adult men are faster, stronger, have longer reach, longer limbs and so on. Individual women sometimes beating individual men in a particular event doesn't make that not true. We have women's sport based on sex class not individual performance/events.
For women, the general sports issues in competing against males are around fairness, injury risk, safety and dignity. All of that is well documented, but in the end in it comes down to women saying no and who respects that or not.
As we are now seeing the general public support sports women and GCFs on this. But behind that is the fact that women said no, for very good reasons, and a bunch of people in power (sporting bodies) and a bunch of liberals ignored women, actively suppressed our voices and tied up our time/energy for a long time fighting to get women's issues taken seriously. It's still a hard fight and there is nothing progressive about women having been forced into this position.
Indeed. All that. And it's about (natal) females as a class.
There are teenage boys who are way better at rugby than some 30 year old men. Some young men get into the All Blacks in their late teens. That's not an argument for 30 year old men playing in the NZ under 21years rugby team, or in age grade rugby. It's never the case that people in a higher category can self-ID into the lower category for a lot of similar reasons that you mention, weka.
Women have struggles a long time to get female sports taken seriously (see author Rachel Hewitt's recent X thread). It's interesting that now that women's sports have gained some respect and visibility, not to mention prize money, some males want to self-ID into women's sports.
Hardly. Renée Richards competed in women's tennis in the 70s, and not for 'prize money'.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what trans women want. We just want to be able to live as women in all aspects of our lives. Ascribing motivations to our transitions like "You want prize money" is gross and frankly very prejudiced.
I competed in women's indoor netball. I did it because I enjoy the sport, the exercise, the camaraderie and the feeling of belonging. I wasn't there to 'win prize money' or even win at all. I was there to play the game and have fun – with my peers.
You're issue here is that you're conflating 'men' and 'male' with 'trans women'. They are not the same category, especially not in sporting events where we are required to meet strict criteria for eligibility (it varies somewhat from sport to sport).
Your 'violence against women' is an emotive misnomer. MMA is probably the most violent sport on the planet; they compete voluntarily in this violence and know the risks that come with MMA flighting. It's brutal, often horrific and leads to extremely bad injuries.
That's you're trying to infantilise these brutal, powerful fighters is quite weird and I'm pretty sure none of them would like you for it, or want you doing it. They are incredible women and can advocate for themselves, and chose who they fight.
And one of them beat Fallon Fox. Despite her supposed 'advantage'.
No, I'm not. All the way through I am talking about humans who are biologically male (whatever their body modification).
As I pointed out, women (adult human females) have been saying for a long time that males shouldn't be in women's sports ie they should be female only, and that some people in position of power eg sporting bodies, ignored this. We already know that the criteria of some sports allows males in women's sports, that's the problem. Fortunately that is now being reversed.
You appear to be saying that males who self ID as women and go through some body modification should be counted as female and thus allowed in women's sports. Women are saying no.
You appear to be missing the point. Men as a class have a physical advantage over women as a class. It's what underpins rape and domestic violence. In any situation you can have a woman stronger than a man for instance. But that doesn't apply at the level of class.
That means that men doing MMA will always, as a class, have an advantage over women doing MMA. And because it is a violent sport, that is more dangerous than women fighting women.
Further, in this example given above, the male MMA fighter appears to like harming women. So in addition to the simple biological issues, there are misogyny issues. This plays out across gender/sex politics generally and I have zero doubt that some males have beating women as a motivator.
That’s precisely what I’m saying. You’re conflating cis men with trans women even though they are different categories.
What would happen if I did MMA against a cis man? I’m a post-op trans woman who medically transitioned almost 20 years ago. Do you truly believe that with equal training I would have a chance of equal footing?
It’s not conflation. Men and TW are the same sex class. Society is willing to treat transitioned TW to some degree as women, but there are limits and many of those limits are around the conflict with women’s sex based rights.
Probably not, but that is a problem for TW to solve, just not at the expense of women. If someone’s gender dysphoria is to the extent that they need to use body modification, that’s no different than other kinds of disability. I can’t play sport due to disability, so I empathise. But it’s really not women’s problem to solve for this particular issue for TW.
I will also note that while you seem to understand perfectly well the disparity between medically transitioned TW and other males, you seem to ignore the disparity between TW and women.
However trans women and cis men are not the same sex class. I am never treated as a member of the ‘male sex class’ in my day-to-day life, so I don’t know where you’re getting that idea from. In my direct experience it is simply not true.
It’s possible you believe that I’m treated as a member of the ‘male sex class’ but I am not. If that’s true, your beliefs clash with the reality of the situation, sorry!
Lastly please don’t compare my being transgender with disability. That’s discriminatory and I don’t appreciate it.
As I said, women have welcomed me everywhere; I don’t have a problem that needs solving. It seems like you’re the one who wants things to change? I’m pretty happy with how things are, generally speaking.
But we’re not likely to meet on the netball court, are we? 🙂
Yes, they are. Literally, biologically male in both cases. You appear to be talking about social expression, which is a different think.
Myself I think there is a strong case for TW to be treated differently from other males in some social and political contexts. Just not at the expense of women. I’m in favour of the idea of a third category of social grouping. But that’s different from biological sex, and women in particular have a strong interest in biological sex class and we have a right to our own politics around that.
I didn’t compare being trans with disability. I consider transness to be a normal variation of human expression of gender non-conformity.
What I said was that gender dysphoria that necessitates serious body modification is a disability and like other disabilities it places restrictions on people’s lives. Society can address that by reducing barriers, and I’m a fan of social theories of disability (so I don’t consider disability to be a negative by comparison), but there are limits on this too. The one in question here is the clash with women’s rights.
In nearly all my comments I haven’t been talking about you. I’ve been talking about women’s sex based rights and gender identity ideology. Yes, women want things to change, including myself, across many areas of society and politics. We have our own politics.
I’m sorry, but you’re wrong again. My biology isn’t male and hasn’t been for two decades. I (probably) have XY chromosomes but my biological expression has been female since I started HRT. In all primary and secondary sex expressions I’m female, albeit an infertile one.
Ah, so you’re saying that I **am** disabled then?
Wow.
no Caitlin, I’m not actually talking about you. I’m talking about the politics of sex and gender.
If you don’t consider severe gender dysphoria a disability, I suggest you take it up with the psychiatric sector, health systems in many countries (esp the UK given GIDS), and detrans people who ended up with physical disabilities because their GD was misdiagnosed/mistreated.
But you are talking about me. I’m a trans woman. I’m the demographic we are discussing here. I’m a real, actual person, not a vague academic abstraction.
You STATED categorically that I am disabled because I’ve undergone the recommended treatment for Gender Dysphoria.
I am not disabled. Frankly, it’s godawful that you’re saying that I am.
I am NOT disabled, ‘Weka’.
And kindly stop abbreviating my people just to ‘TW’. We are trans women, or transgender women.
Oh and only some women are saying ‘no’. Cis women have almost universally welcomed me into every women’s space or event or gathering I’ve been to
As proven my KJK ‘Posie Parker’s miserable poling in the UK and the miserable poling of the Women’s Party in NZ, your views are an extreme minority.
The majority of women said ‘yes’.
yougov polling in the UK shows that most people support human rights for TW, but many draw a line at where it impacts on women eg toilets once the question includes TS who haven’t had gender reassignment surgery. Details and links here,
https://thestandard.org.nz/bene-bashing-6-0/#comment-1991276
Later polling supports that but there also seems to be increasing backlash against trans people, my impression is that the general support is waning. Probably because of really stupid policy like letting serial rapist TW Isla Bryson self ID into a women’s prison.
Gender activists and many liberals ran No Debate hard, so the public GC narratives are often now dominated by the right instead of progressive voices.
Dismissing Kellie Jay Keen as an extreme minority is dangerous. She is a RW populist with a very large following and is already pulling many women rightwards, not just on sex/gender issues. The point of her party in the UK was to put her version of GC issues in the public eye. Everytime they stood up at a public meeting and asked ‘what is a woman?’ they taught more people to not be afraid to speak out or think like her. If the UK tips towards fascism, she’s going to do very well, and is intentionally or unintentionally involved in helping that happen. She is also conservative on a range of issues that impact particularly on women. Nobody serious about progressive politics should be disregarding her.
Jill Ovens of the NZ Women’s Rights Party is solid left wing. They’re just getting on with the longer term projects of rebuilding women’s sex based rights.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Ovens
I didn't infantilise those women. Please don't make shit up about my politics or arguments. Either you patently don't understand the argument here, or you are misleading in your replies and avoiding the central point.
You've done this a number of times in the past week, so know that it's not tolerated here, and I in particular, as a feminist author, have almost no tolerance for people misrepresenting what I say. Anyone is free to ask for clarification, but you cannot take what I or other authors/mods say and change it to suit your own politics. We have enough work to do here without having to spent time pushing back on that kind of trolling.
Weka, you badgered me in another thread for ‘evidence’ that another mod then came and removed – all while refusing to provide evidence that I asked for in relation to a couple of discussions we had.
In short, you’re being incredibly inconsistent in your interpretation of the posting guidelines here and displaying, in my opinion, an implicit bias where I’m involved.
Also other people have also put words in my mouth and called me a misogynist and this was not considered an issue. Just as you implied I don’t take violence against women seriously. I am a woman who has been a victim of violence many times – I suspect more than anyone here.
Please be consistent.
Also I don’t mind if I’m gagged or blocked from posting; this place isn’t that important to me. I’d rather speak my mind fairly and equitably and be censored for it than worry about Weka’s interpretation of my posts.
[it’s up to you whether you comment here or not, and there are indeed plenty of places where saying what one wants takes precedent over robust debate, but this isn’t one of them. If you step over the bounds you will be moderated and the commenting ability may be removed. Just like anyone else.
Many people who get moderated and don’t like it, allege bias, but if you follow moderations you will see that I have often pulled people up on making shit up about an author’s views/politics. I don’t do it every single time because that would be tedious, but where it becomes a pattern, I will intervene.
I suspect the reason you don’t understand how things work here is because you’re not listening and accepting what is being said.
The issue around being called a misogynist was explained to you at the time by two different mods (who have very different politics on trans issues). You appear to either not have understood, or you are bringing it up here out of context as some general complaint about my moderation.
Thread starts here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-07-2024/#comment-2005049
Incognito had good reasons for removing your comment and they explained them at the time.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-07-2024/#comment-2005209
If you didn’t understand that mod note, you could have asked for clarification. Instead you carried on and now bring it up out of context as if it is some unfairness on you.
In my comment above, I’ve set a clear boundary and instead of learning from that you’ve come back to argue.
The biggest reason people get bans here is from arguing with mods and telling us what to do. Next biggest reason is people thinking the rules don’t apply to them. And we are always looking at patterns of behaviour. You’ve had three mods taking time to explain things to you, sometimes in detail. – weka]
mod note
100% That guy
Half of the primary care medical practices are not taking new patients. This has impact on job mobility and also the children of parents moving to new areas after being evicted from their rentals.
This sector of health care is short hundreds of doctors with the government co-funding payment declining relative to practice costs for some time.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018947564/the-doctor-won-t-see-you-now
Well a black female US President will be some kind of miracle.
Best of luck Kamala Harris.
I'd love to see it, but I'm not hopeful 🙁
Hey catespice. I haven't been following your conversations but saw the latest and hope you're OK.
Hey Mountain Tui!
I'm fine; just having discussions as normal? I do find it interesting when someone badgers me fore evidence (not you) and then refuses to provide it in turn – even when asked multiple times. That lack of consistent application of the 'policy' here is, shall we say, noteworthy.
I'm seeing a fairly clear bias – and one that could easily be addressed.
I don't follow these conversations because I lack knowledge in this area, as well as any technical terms, but I appreciate you putting forth your views and helping others learn along the way. Just wanted to say hi.
In my opinion, you are sealioning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning) and bogging people down with your ‘close combat’ style of ‘debating’. In addition, as weka has mentioned in her Mod note this morning (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22-07-2024/#comment-2005755), you don’t like to listen to and accept things. In other words, you don’t acknowledge your own strong biases and display a surprising (!) lack of self-awareness and reflection on your own comments.
I don't agree. I asked Weka to back up a very basic claim as part of a standard debate – this was after Weka had badgered me for 'evidence' that I didn't want to give, that a mod later deleted (I assume because it was wrong to ask it from me, as it had personal info).
Feel free to point me to a debating guide of your choice, and I'll stick to it as much as possible. I note that other people are getting away with behaviours that I am not, so all I'm asking for is consistency in the moderation.
It was mentioned that both mods share similar views on trans issues. Is this correct?
Correction, it was stated that the mods had very different views on trans politics. is this correct?
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22-07-2024/#comment-2005750
Your badgering was the insistence I provide the exact date of the screenshot about Katrina Biggs. I had already provided you the information you needed, but you made it appear to be an imperative that I comply, as you are a mod.
The point is moot, as I no longer want to contribute to a forum where the (apparently) most active moderator considers me ‘disabled’ because I’m a transgender woman.
Have a great rest of your Wednesday.
and here you are making shit up again.
I didn't say you are disabled because you are a TW, I didn't say you are disabled at all. And, I already clarified that here, my actual beliefs about disability, and transness,
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22-07-2024/#comment-2005769
“I didn’t say you were disabled I just said all people just like you are disabled, which includes you, because you’re in that group”
🙄
And stop calling us ‘TW’ for fucksakes. We’re human beings, and the term is ‘trans women’ or ‘transgender women’. You wouldn’t call black women ‘BW’ so don’t do it to us.
Bye Weka.
In only one week here on TS you burned & crashed yourself.
Now, there’s no point in responding to your comments https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22-07-2024/#comment-2005782 and https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22-07-2024/#comment-2005783.
Like Barack Obama, she has the advantage of having no ancestry from black slaves.
She has a lot in common with many students of colour at elite colleges, a first generation American born to parents who worked in such institutions.
Her father came to the USA in 1963
(A dual national – Jamaican-American – of black African and Irish ancestry he was later professor emeritus at Stanford University)
Her story is about legal migration to America – and about those born there living in a meritocracy, where anyone can rise to the highest office. It is not about born into wealth and privilege.
Her story is about an American melting pot, not critical race theory.
What makes you think Jamacians wern't slaves once.
I'll rephrase it, no ancestry from black American slaves – the issue being critical race theory in their (American) politics.
"Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies."
With Black Americans overrepresented in US prisons, more likely to get a jail term for the equivalent crime than white Americans, just for starters. Throw in State and Federal electoral boundaries gerrymandered to invalidate Black voters in their own cities. Critical race theory still sounds completely valid, even if you are middle-class and only half Black, like Harris.
In fact, post the Civil War reconstruction period, electoral and legal rights gained for Black people were steadily eroded into the 20th century. Critical race has nothing to nothing to do with slavery.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=THE+CONNECTION+OF+CRITICAL+RACE+THEORY+TO+SLAVERY+
One of the last Arab Jews looks at the legacy of the “colonialist Zionist” settlement project.
Thanks for the link, brilliant interview.
Biden/Harris discussion post up now
https://thestandard.org.nz/biden-goes-kamala-harris-for-us-president/
Ferries capable of operating beyond 2026 to 2029.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/interislander-ferries-in-better-condition-than-expected-report-finds/
I wonder if willis can manage to get a couple of 2nd hand carrollas by then?
The UK anti-protest legislation introduced under Rishi Sunak was drafted by oil-funded think tank.
Very similar to much of the recently-introduced legislation here. I bet you it wasn't lovingly handcrafted by National Policy wonks, but rather came almost fully-written from their funders.
The government has sacked the board of Health New Zealand, because it would have been in deficit by over $1B next year.
A person they appointed to the board recently is now sole Commissar.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/turnaround-job-health-nz-board-sacked-commissioner-appointed/
A board than included amy adams where the chair now becomes sole commissioner.
Lipstick on the pig from minister cigareti IMO
From Google
"Simply put, medical inflation is the rising cost of medical care. In New Zealand, in recent times, this has been in the region of around 9 – 11% each year. That means the rate is significantly higher than the country's inflation rate."
The Coalition of Clowns seem to be challenged in understanding that medical inflation runs far higher than the standard variety but will attempt a King Canute type solution with additional (human) sacrifices.
However there has been an increase of staff from health boards to New Zealand health of 2500+. And there are apparently 14 levels of management at NZ Health between the CEO and clinicians.
I guess the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. How will NZ Health and the front line health service be looking in 12 months, 18 months? Watch this space.
Can you cite a link to this, other than the Luxon/Reti press conference?
We know Luxon
liesis prone to gross exaggerationNo link. I will wait to see what happens with health. There certainly have been a number of articles in the msm lately with health workers stating that vacancies are being filled and NZ Health disputing that, so I don't think things have been going well.
I will wait to see what happens to the Health system over the next couple of years or so. I am looking for concrete improvements. I am not out to prove anything here. I was always against the health restructure as I think the. health dollar really counts at the coal face. I remember discussing this quite a lot of the Standard. I know of Lester Levy and think he is pretty competent. I hope for all NZders sakes things improve. Have had a lot of people needing hospital care around me of late. What they all say is a hell of a wait to be seen, but the health professionals are amazing. This is what I have always thought.
BTW I am really pleased with Seymour and the restructuring of Pharmac, his direction to work with health advocacy groups and the 54 new drugs they are funding. I will also keep an open mind about how the re set of Pharmac goes. Patient advocacy groups are pleased about it. If need be I can provide a link for that.
I asked Anker for evidence on this and he/she ran away but I see it has not stopped them from continuing to spread this lie on these boards.
Actually we are employing 2500 more bureacrats since the re-structure than under the DHBs. What a waste of money
Repeating a lie over and over again is poor practice, especially when multiple people have asked for evidence of your statements, and each time you have merely run away.
Do you have any evidence for this statement? Or do you just like spreading it?
I agree with MT on this. If you want to keep repeating this assertion, please provide some evidence.
popping you in premod, so I can catch up with this next time you are on site.
Iam back. Will find a link.
Are you both saying that it is incorrect there has been an increase of 2500 bureacrats since the DHBs were folded?
I had a quick google yesterday and couldn’t find anything, so am curious what your source is.
My source is what Luxon, Reti and I think Levy said. That is probably not an acceptable source on this site. I have had a look and can't find it elsewhere.
It does make sense though, given the Labour Govt increased the bureacracy by one third over their time in office. I have never seen this figure refruted.
You may well be able to excuse me. Having worked in front line services in the health services in the 1990s I have very little time for health bureaucrats. We saw very little of what they did aiding us in our work and when they turned up with clip boards, we had very little time for them, especially as we knew they will be earning far more money than we did, doing what we thought of as "the real work". There is no health system without health professionals.
I also would highlight Mike Kings time when he was invited to attend the Ministry of Health meetings re developing a workforce for people with mild to moderate mental health problems. He resigned in disgust and then went off and set up Gum Boot Friday, which has been enormously successful. Also I would cite from the Ministry of Health (I know its not Health NZ) and their review of Puberty Blockers. This review has taken well over a year, with many extensions. There is no way this review should have taken this long. As Emeritous Professor, Charlotte Paul said, after the Cass report came out, there was no need for such a review. The Cass Review gave us the information we need.
The problem isn’t who you are referencing, it’s that you’ve not provided a link. You know better than this Anker. Please provide a link now so we can see what you are talking about.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350351208/dr-shane-reti-replace-te-whatu-ora-health-new-zealand-board-commissioner-after
Ok here it is. I had thought you meant sources other than Luxon or Reti!
this?
The replacement of DHBs happened in July 2022.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_health_board#Dissolution
The problem I have here is that if you had provided the linked reference upfront, we could have clarified earlier and had a conversation about it. Instead you repeated the assertion multiple times and left it to others to try sort out what was real. In otherwords, you had time to look it up and make it clear what you mean and provide a link. You know we have a robust debate ethic here and need a high level confidence in what people are claiming.
Going forward, please provide links for such claims at the time you make them.
Not really sacked, most of them packed it in,
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/acting-pm-hints-at-imminent-change-to-health-nz-board-after-just-two-of-seven-members-remain/INXZTE2WAJGYFJZYHJQORJGQQU/
The only one who was "sacked" was Roger Jarrold.
More like they had to diss-establish the board because they couldn't find any replacements willing to have 'trashed the Health system' on their CV
The C of C is facing a potential revolt over its planned replacement of the Te Pūkenga mega-institute – with many industries happy with the current training set-up.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522801/workplace-training-shake-up-employers-could-go-elsewhere-to-train-staff
Umm there look like having been some weird problem on this server / site while I was away.
Definitely something wrong on the comment editor.
interesting colours
Yes indeed. I'd have changed the site to use them, except I have no idea how there were generated.
Flushing the CDN cache at the provider and forcing it to all reload fixed all of the issues related to this outage. The question is what in the hell caused the CDN cache to get munged.
I can't see anything in logs. Just finished a scan for malware at my server without a result. Now looking at the comms system.