Can I nip something in the bud: If Harris' parents were legal residents in the US, not just on ...

iThink comments on Aug 13, 2020:

Who is doubting Harris' qualification based upon her citizenship? It's a ridiculous argument. One more fine point - USA is one of the few (if not the only) Nation that bestows birthright citizenship. For decades there has been an ongoing problem with wealthy foreigners (mostly Chinese) traveling ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 14, 2020:

Her birth certificate has been circulating on the Right for several days - NOT here. I've seen it because of the range of sites and the people I know. I've tried to step in when it has come across my view. On the birthright status - it is not Constitutional. However, the courts (lower) have repeatedly upheld it. It has generally been prevented from getting to the SCOTUS and by the way, that is one of the reasons DACA is being CAREFULLY managed by the Right and the Left politically. If they screw up, it could get to the Court and then all hell will break loose.... ....unless the Chief Justice twists himself and the law into knots as he did with ACA.

So Biden has gone with Kamala Harris as running mate.

KariPanda comments on Aug 13, 2020:

No, I didn't like her as a Presidential candidate and I think she was a weak choice for VP. Biden would have been better served with Tulsi Gabard or Andrew Yang. I think now he is just being used as a pawn for the DNC. The internal battle between moderate and progressive seems to be swinging ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 13, 2020:

Tulsi would have done the Biden campaign what Palin did for the McCain campaign - energize it. Of course the Left elite would have done to her what the Right elite did to Palin...

I posted this on Reddit.

Admin comments on Aug 12, 2020:

FWIW, I am aware of this "group" and keeping an eye on it. We are a free speech site so are trying to avoiding removing groups unless they are unable to discuss their views with civility and humanization. My guess is that this group is mostly a parody of the "Black Trans Lives Matter" movement but...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 13, 2020:

I dislike someone creating multiple accounts in order to suggest a greater reach than they are organically getting - I consider it dishonesty and attribute such to a broader aspect of a person's personality, ie, I won't trust them in any sphere.

Fighting “Wokeism” and the origin of Slug.com

comments on Aug 8, 2020:

Your version of truth concerning trans women (convenient that you completely avoided trans men altogether, seeing as that conversation would definitely betray your narrative here) is flawed in more ways than I can count, but let's focus on the biggest glaringly obvious fallacy... gender and sex are ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 13, 2020:

@ZuzecaSape The difference (transracial) is that one in an inherent characteristic that can be difficult if not impossible to qualify. The other is a surface characteristic with no bearing on the inner person: it is like saying I identify as a blonde when I am a redhead. It suggests that to others, you consider the surface characteristic to be a defining characteristic of your inner self. It is a category error.

Circa 2005-2014: What would Bill Kristol do if HE were in charge?

KeithThroop comments on Aug 12, 2020:

Yes, as I said in another recent comment, Bill Kristol lost any credibility with me a long time ago, especially since he is too stubborn to change his mind. I'm a U.S. citizen and a Conservative who did not vote for President Trump in the last election because I did not trust him. And I had no good ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 13, 2020:

I made many of the same arguments today to a neighbor. He fights and he has done a better job of keeping his word than any I have know in the last 3 decades. I agree, he is going to get more votes this time.

How old is the Universe? Well........probably older than we've been told... [youtube.com]

Tycho comments on Aug 12, 2020:

There may be no way to really know. In his book*Seeing Red*, Astronomer Halton Arp shows there are two kinds of red-shift; There's the doppler shift and something he called Intrinsic red-shift. The first is well understood and used to measure distance and therefore time since the proposed Big Bang. ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 12, 2020:

I think it had a definitive starting point, I just don't think we have enough info to even begin to understand it and it is clear we don't have the mechanics down well enough to point to WHEN it happened.

One of the Best Takes on Tolkien: Why Frodo Couldn't Destroy the One Ring [youtube.com]

ThomasinaPaine comments on Jun 23, 2020:

Hello Future Me does an amazing job describing Tolkien's philosophy; that evil destroys itself in its own creation. Frodo could not resist the evil--no one could. Sauron made certain of it and in doing so he created the path of his own demise. Frodo could not throw the ring into Mt. Doom nor ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 12, 2020:

@Idgaf Evil is almost always easiest to resist ON THE FIRST TEMPTATION. It's the repeated offering that breaks people down. At least, that has been my experience. Be definitive the first time, remove the circumstances (leave....) replace them with something positive.

Karen Townsend: > It is as though these liberal women expect conservatives to forget how Sarah ...

Tycho comments on Aug 11, 2020:

Being from AZ, I despised McCain ansd liked Sarah Palin. I only voted for him to prevent Obama from getting into office. Oh well.

tracycoyle replies on Aug 12, 2020:

I felt we could survive Obama, so I didn't vote for President in 2008. Or 2012. I did NOT feel we could survive Clinton and was going to vote for whomever the GOP put up in 2016. I worked for the Cruz campaign but supported Trump as the "burn it all down" candidate. I've been pleasantly surprised.

I've posted on a couple of books (series) that I like that involve TS characters - are there any ...

Admin comments on Aug 11, 2020:

I don't think I've ever read a book that included a transperson... but many transpeople are not much different than cis people so who knows :)

tracycoyle replies on Aug 11, 2020:

What genre of literature do you prefer?

> We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien ...

KeithThroop comments on Aug 11, 2020:

My gut instinct would be JFK.

tracycoyle replies on Aug 11, 2020:

It is not that JFK wouldn't recognize today's Democrat Party, it's that he would note he FOUGHT it in WWII.

Does anybody else here just assume you're on some stupid government watch list for your online ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 10, 2020:

I have an entry in the FBI somewhere - I know I was survellied (sp?) back in the 80s when friends were raided by the Secret Service - we were what became known as black hats. Although I never went as far as a couple of friends, we "broke" into many federal computers....because we could. I never ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 11, 2020:

@warminster100 I think he made lots of enemies on both sides of the political aisle and both sides want him for different reasons - he has one 'trump' card and I think he doesn't know to whom to play it.

September 1st.

govols comments on Aug 10, 2020:

Thought you might be interested in this. I don't vouch for the site, but they're planning to unload whatever ammo they have this coming weekend.

tracycoyle replies on Aug 10, 2020:

@govols I have been reading the site for a couple of years. Very indepth reporting.

September 1st.

govols comments on Aug 10, 2020:

Thought you might be interested in this. I don't vouch for the site, but they're planning to unload whatever ammo they have this coming weekend.

tracycoyle replies on Aug 10, 2020:

Which site - no link in your comment....

I loathe the politics and insanity associated with TS, and I really don't care a hell of a lot for ...

RavenMStark comments on Aug 7, 2020:

I recently watched a video on YouTube that was a trans man and his fiancee responding to JK Rowling. But in this video, they made citations to everything they referenced. This includes, among other things, a number of scientific studies, some very recent - from 2019 and 2020. I don't necessarily ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 8, 2020:

Excellent video. I've seen them before on Jamie's transition and on his commentary (which I didn't always agree with). I think it is well worth the time for others to view. It has changed my opinion on Rowling and the controversy that surrounded the original issue. Thank you!!!!

I loathe the politics and insanity associated with TS, and I really don't care a hell of a lot for ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 7, 2020:

I appreciate your skepticism - it is valid. The entire idea of a disconnect between gender and sex, something that can not be quantified or tested objectively for, creates situations ripe for abuse. And for the POLITICAL issues, ripe for destructive policies. So. Let's work with items one at a...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 8, 2020:

@govols To whom? I think anytime you have people having a conversation about interesting or controversial topics that others can listen to or read, it is a net benefit to all communities. We absorb information from many different sources that allow us to form a foundation for our opinions and beliefs. When we have fewer sources, those opinions and beliefs are not only less well founded, they are more fragile and subject to DISinformation.

I loathe the politics and insanity associated with TS, and I really don't care a hell of a lot for ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 7, 2020:

I appreciate your skepticism - it is valid. The entire idea of a disconnect between gender and sex, something that can not be quantified or tested objectively for, creates situations ripe for abuse. And for the POLITICAL issues, ripe for destructive policies. So. Let's work with items one at a...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 7, 2020:

@govols My answer is no - it is the internal sense of self being incongruent with the external presentation of self, which is based first on body, second body image, third conformity or lack thereof with the standards around oneself and finally the gender roles in society. It might mitigate the damage caused by failure to conform and how the 'majority of normals' demand conformity "OR ELSE" that causes so much emotional and psychological damage.

I loathe the politics and insanity associated with TS, and I really don't care a hell of a lot for ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 7, 2020:

I appreciate your skepticism - it is valid. The entire idea of a disconnect between gender and sex, something that can not be quantified or tested objectively for, creates situations ripe for abuse. And for the POLITICAL issues, ripe for destructive policies. So. Let's work with items one at a...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 7, 2020:

@wolfhnd If you see a glass of milk, and the milk occupies 1/2 of the volume, is it half full, or half empty? Both are objectively correct, but our subjective interpretation of the reality is biased. Do we know if at some point it was full, and therefore it is now half empty, or if it was only filled to that point in which case it is half full. Or do just look at a glass and go, there is a serving of bovine hormonally induced liquid protein and fat? I like the 'low level operating system' but to take that and run with it, our sense of self is a 'boot state'. And if that state is not congruent, then the operating system will not function as needed once you start layering the rest of the applications on top of it. This might be surprising: why does the majority of transsexuals recognize they are 'wrong' so early in life (often age 4 to 6 or 7)? My opinion is that when a child understands that there is a "boy (girl)" that is not just some variation on "girl (boy)" there is a recognition that the "self" is not correct. There is no understanding of sex or biology at that point, it is a category error: I am not in the right category. I generally agree with the binary concept - we are a dimorphic species. The rare version that is not either/or, does not change that. And my opinion is that for the same ratio, transsexuals fall into two categories. There has always been more MtF than FtM but that can explained by the fact we all start Female and males change invitro, leaving a failure to grow properly more prone to error in males. Right now, there is a lot more FtM and we have broached that issue here in the last month. While scientifically, observation affects state, I think psychologically, we don't. To explain: what is observed is changed by the observation, but the observer does not change because it has observed. At best the observer is a catalyst - unchanged by the process. We know that humans DO change based on observations which is why we state humans are subjective across the entirety of human experience. I believe we can avoid that if we are grounded well enough in our understanding of reality - unless we seek to change. My degree is in economics, I focused on econometrics, specifically macro modeling. I was good at it because I could see the major variables in a system and catch the minor variables. Any attempt to model human behavior has to address, someway, somehow, the fact that 1) we as a species operate in a nonlinear way and 2) there are seven billion unique data focal points. Complexity doesn't have to be complex - ie chaos theory. But you are right, as a society, we need to limit complexity without compromising individuality (I think that you might have implied such) Which is the true value of our Constitution - a ...

I loathe the politics and insanity associated with TS, and I really don't care a hell of a lot for ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 7, 2020:

I appreciate your skepticism - it is valid. The entire idea of a disconnect between gender and sex, something that can not be quantified or tested objectively for, creates situations ripe for abuse. And for the POLITICAL issues, ripe for destructive policies. So. Let's work with items one at a...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 7, 2020:

@wolfhnd Our understanding, our interaction, our perception of ourselves and our place in the universe is WRONG because WE are built wrong. YOU can't see our 'wrongness', we can't test for it objectively, but it is REAL.....to us. And given our understanding of the mind, it is easier to change the exterior to match the interior than to change our interior to match the exterior and would we want to ? Right now, objections to transition by people not transsexual or not family members of children that are transsexual, are people trying to 'force' their perception of reality on others. It is wrong, not because it objectively is wrong, but because YOU (the generic) perceive it as wrong. YOU (again, the generic) are trying to make MY interior conform to your perception of the exterior you (again, generic) believe is correct. You see 'danglely bits' and want that child to be 'male'. Or the lack thereof to be 'female'. And in 99% of cases, it is. But....

I loathe the politics and insanity associated with TS, and I really don't care a hell of a lot for ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 7, 2020:

I appreciate your skepticism - it is valid. The entire idea of a disconnect between gender and sex, something that can not be quantified or tested objectively for, creates situations ripe for abuse. And for the POLITICAL issues, ripe for destructive policies. So. Let's work with items one at a...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 7, 2020:

@wolfhnd Thank you, I try. I mostly disagree with gender being a social construct. I can see behaviors associated with one sex or the other being a function of the BIOLOGICAL sex, it is more than just the capacity for procreation aspects, it is the physical and mental expression of the bodies capabilities. Many of the 'social cues' that people believe are part of a learned pattern of behaviors are instinctive, ingrained in the human, instinct if you will. My daughter was born in China, abandoned, and adopted by us when she was 9 months old. She did a few things that neither of us did, things none of her peers did, but DID do as her fellow adopted little Chinese girls with whom she had minimal (annual) contact. Now, the actions of 10 baby girls does not make for a solid scientific basis, but I also, grew up (first born) with behaviors that were....incongruent with the accepted standards. Fortunately, I quashed them almost as soon as I was made aware of the incongruentcy. Now, I didn't know it then, I just knew I was getting bullied from a very early age and I changed my behaviors to avoid the bullying. Now, having GID is mentally destructive - parents and others don't understand the problems WE have dealing with a world that is FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG....of course the WORLD wasn't wrong, it was our perception of us and it. If you had a 4 or 5 year old boy/girl that told you they were a girl/boy, you'd consider it, if not some "delusion", certainly not reality. So parents become abusers - not in the horrible way we associate with abuse, but they become the first 'bullies' that force us to comply with our sex/gender and that FUCKS WITH OUR HEADS in unbelievable ways causing all sorts of problems, the primary one being depression. Our interaction with the world just adds to the mental turmoil. Now. as to did it make me more objective? No, it made me MUCH MORE OBSERVANT of the people around me and their behaviors, trying to figure out where my instincts were leading me wrongly and what to forcible change within me to avoid the pain. That observing informs LOTS of my understanding of the world. I've tried to understand the world as it IS, not how I perceive it....because I learned not to TRUST my perceptions. So I observe the world because I can't trust my perception of it.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@KrunoS true, but a society cuts off the tops and bottoms and sits in the center. The value of the one is less than the value of the whole. However, that is not a GOOD thing, just observing that it appears to be a consistent thing.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@KrunoS, @fschmidt the make sure I don't have power or millions would die!! The thugs we see today are not much different than the thugs of the past - NY gangs, KKK, we just SEE it broadcast every day in the media. Want animals? MS-13. No respect for human life, not even their own. BLM and antifa could only exist in Western societies - they'd be slaughtered in the real hell holes of the planet.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@KrunoS It is not as it applies to individuals but rather to societies.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@fschmidt I might be inclined to ask: think WHAT? Because they are not beasts, they just think in ways disagreeable. I am willing to let them suffer for their choices - which means closing most of the safety nets the Left demands for those ascribing to their ideology which of course fails spectacularly.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@KrunoS Without delving too deep, my opinion on the differences is environmental stress. Certainly higher in the higher latitudes.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@KrunoS I'd offer a single word that I think makes civil society possible: respect. For oneself, for others, for Nature,.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@fschmidt, @KrunoS Religion has always been a powerful force in people's lives - for good and evil. Eastern religions are not exempt.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@fschmidt Treat someone like a child, they'll act as a child. Treat someone as an animal, they'll act as animal. Sorry, as much as I'd like to fire into a mob, I'll refrain. And no matter the 'intellectual capacity' of a human adult, I will treat them as such. But I won't take on their responsibilities either. Your hopefully fictitious animal handlers are as potentially corrupt as Mengele.

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@fschmidt Doesn't mean we should attempt to hold 'the average person' to the consequences of their acts

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@fschmidt "the average person", I might agree. I'm 2.5 standard deviations from such (in almost all areas!)

“As bitter as it may be, the fact remains: It is the irresponsibleness of masses of people that ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 6, 2020:

I am being less than honorable here - I'm not reading all of your post but rather commenting on the first "premise" or at least my knee jerk reaction to the first paragraph. I apologize for it. IMO: in all but the rarest of cases, the irresponsible/irrational behavior of the individual is ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@KrunoS Absolutely I remain steadfast with the need for individual responsibility. What do YOU think is the cornerstone of that?

How many young trans people are out there who are now regretting that they had gone through ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 4, 2020:

You point out the primary problem - there is a loud activist community, supported by political forces that demand 'affirmative support', or "what ever you want darling". It is an abdication of the medical community, from the therapists to the surgeons to the hospitals, of their responsibilities....

tracycoyle replies on Aug 6, 2020:

@WhytfAmIHere Following SOC and having good therapists that are FIRST focused on the well being of the patient (and that means sometimes NOT giving in to what the patient wants) helps eliminate SOME problems. If she were 18 before entering RLT and therapy, the odds of de-transitioning after permanent changes is lowered. MY opinion: if someone threatens suicide, there are MORE problems than GID. RLT is a nightmare the first year - I call it my year of hell but I KNEW it was going to end, that I had to walk that path to LEARN 29 years of missed education (living as a girl/woman) in less than 29 years. The longer it took, the harder it was going to be. CRASH course doesn't even begin to describe it. Emotionally and psychologically it is hard. I didn't cry (prior to RLT)....it just didn't happen. There were nights I came home during RLT and just curled up on my bed and cried. Imagine someone bi-polar, or severely depressed BEFORE entering RLT. The older we are the less "this is how it is, this is how it will always be" holds sway with us. We know things change, will change. Teens can't see that. Hell, 20somethings have a hard time with it. 18 is a number. There are people that can handle a gun and war at 18, there are others that can't handle their own daily lives at 18. She might have made the same mistakes at 19 as she did at 16 - but we all would probably put the onous on her FIRST rather than giving her a pass because she was 16.

Hey, you guys! I felt inspired and wrote this silly article on "Can We Please Have The ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 3, 2020:

For the blacks willing to have a conversation - they already are aware of the problems, have left the 'ghetto of irrational thought' and are engaged with and succeeding IN "polite society". The number of such blacks is increasing while the upper tier inciters (the celebs and talking heads and race ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 5, 2020:

@A1fredo No I haven't seen the movie (I tend towards sci-fi). However, sounds like she is a typical white liberal. Racist and virtue signaling. I IMMEDIATELY dismiss someone that demands respect. I don't care whom they are. If you are suggesting that I am similar to the woman noted, I disagree.

Hey, you guys! I felt inspired and wrote this silly article on "Can We Please Have The ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 3, 2020:

For the blacks willing to have a conversation - they already are aware of the problems, have left the 'ghetto of irrational thought' and are engaged with and succeeding IN "polite society". The number of such blacks is increasing while the upper tier inciters (the celebs and talking heads and race ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 5, 2020:

@A1fredo I AM lucky. My parents choose to live their homeland and come to the United States. They demanded education, they respected others, they showed love for their children. I had a 'step up' by their efforts. YOU are in another country - change it. I get YOU are alone and in a sea of corruption and within a failed nation. That doesn't make it the United States obligation to step in to help. I care, I'm just neither obligated nor responsible. This country donates more to other Countries than anyone else - and most of that aid comes from ordinary Americans. BILLIONS goes to your country - sucked up by your corrupt system. I don't, haven't, listened to Jordan Peterson except for about 5 minutes of a video about 2 years ago - and I passed on bothering any further. So, I am neither ashamed, nor intentionally 'channeling' him. If we happen to say some of the same things it is because much of what is reality is observable to those interested in looking. I am glad you contribute. I have too.

If we were able to reset the game for all of humanity, the classically liberal goal might be to ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 4, 2020:

Your very first sentence sets an inaccurate premise - you are divorcing personal responsibility from personal actions. That is certainly not classical liberalism. Patterns in nature (and society as a whole is within nature) occur because forces act on the environment - seeking to disrupt the ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 5, 2020:

@govols The Tallahassee example: sure. Ok. Certainly better than than gerrymandered mess that now exists. But tribal identity is being ENCOURAGED rather than ignored. I'd argue that the white liberal class is the FOREMOST AND PERVASIVE force for EVIL currently in our society. Look at the number of "BLM protesters" that are in fact WHITE. Antifa is the same. Lastly, I have several VERY GOOD friends that are WAY to the LEFT of me - we have excellent conversations and almost all the time determine we are in fact very CLOSE in our opinions about most topics. My partner of 18+ yrs was very liberal. People need to disengage from the current media in the United States - it is corrosive and destructive. I'd rather sit down with people and have discussions over a meal and drinks..... OH YEA, CAN'T because the political leadership has BANNED it....

If we were able to reset the game for all of humanity, the classically liberal goal might be to ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 4, 2020:

Your very first sentence sets an inaccurate premise - you are divorcing personal responsibility from personal actions. That is certainly not classical liberalism. Patterns in nature (and society as a whole is within nature) occur because forces act on the environment - seeking to disrupt the ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 5, 2020:

@govols I can think of THREE other billionaires right off the top of my head: Bill Gates, Larry Ellison (though arguably not "consumer" products), Jeff Bezos. I'll ignore the Google and FB leaders. But your point is not without merit. In part, that goes back to the values instilled in the current "upper crust" by the previous, and by their parents. I've had my share of interactions with the types and while there are some that are really good people, the majority DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW. Ignorance has risen to a virtue and WILLFUL ignorance an art form. I would make ONE change: make employment (whether elected or employed) limited to 10 years. ONE exception: military. I used to say judiciary too, but I am seeing such deep corruption there that I can't continue to support it. I'd like to see the media crash and burn - self-immolation seems to be the order of the day and like a wise man once said: "when your enemy is trying to commit suicide, step away" so I will continue to get my info from a multitude of sources across a broad spectrum of ideologies. I recommend Thomas Paine's arguments against Edmund Burke's support of an aristocracy. Ordered liberty is just tyranny of the majority. The internet has changed things - on the whole, for the better. But like any human endeavor it is corruptible. I like that our billionaire class is supporting charitable causes with significant amounts, even if I think they are ill advised. A lack of faith (religious/spiritual) is one of the main problems with society as is the HORRIFIC out of wedlock birth rates. Support for an education (all but non-existent in the black community) and for marriage before children would go a long way to help.

If we were able to reset the game for all of humanity, the classically liberal goal might be to ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 4, 2020:

Your very first sentence sets an inaccurate premise - you are divorcing personal responsibility from personal actions. That is certainly not classical liberalism. Patterns in nature (and society as a whole is within nature) occur because forces act on the environment - seeking to disrupt the ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 5, 2020:

@govols I am going to take this one paragraph at a time. Yep - a little. You clarified that there are institutions that have failed/are failing and we should not just ignore them. I agree wholeheartedly. I quote from my book on Rights: > The conservative is not interested in the devil we know - such a detestable situation needs exorcism. We should repair, or tear down and rebuild, the institutions of society. That is not engineering outcomes. If you want to return to the values that lead to prosperity and enlightenment, PRACTICE them - don't look to ways to make others do the same. Our failures are generations in the making, they will take generations to repair, unless you just 'want to burn it all down and build in the ashes'. I can guarantee we will not see the likes of THIS society again in our, what of them that might exist, grandchildren's lifetimes. So. What is the FIRST value missing in today's society? My opinion: respect for others. Not the type that is demanded, but the type that is earned.

Hey, you guys! I felt inspired and wrote this silly article on "Can We Please Have The ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 3, 2020:

For the blacks willing to have a conversation - they already are aware of the problems, have left the 'ghetto of irrational thought' and are engaged with and succeeding IN "polite society". The number of such blacks is increasing while the upper tier inciters (the celebs and talking heads and race ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 5, 2020:

@A1fredo Consider it the benefit of being old - I've seen this country in WORSE racial conditions; I've seen this country in worse financial conditions; I've seen this country in worse political conditions. Things change. The ebb and flow of society, from peace/prosperity to war/famine, operates on longer time spans than that average person's awareness. Look where we were just 8 months ago. In 8 months it will be different again. If YOU believe you have nothing to contribute, that there is no VALUE to your life - GET PROFESSIONAL HELP. My 'past', the aspect noted first in my bio, has a 40% suicide rate, has an 80% drug/alcohol abuse rate. I'm one of those 60/20% that had neither - because, regardless of the outside world, I VALUED ME above everything else. Get your internal house in order - the outside world will still be there.

Hey, you guys! I felt inspired and wrote this silly article on "Can We Please Have The ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 3, 2020:

For the blacks willing to have a conversation - they already are aware of the problems, have left the 'ghetto of irrational thought' and are engaged with and succeeding IN "polite society". The number of such blacks is increasing while the upper tier inciters (the celebs and talking heads and race ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 5, 2020:

@A1fredo Yes. Hard as that is to understand. If you remove the consequences of choices people don't learn to stop making bad choices. Even when it is an entire society seeking to self destruct. The alternative is ALWAYS tyranny of the most heinous kind.

If we were able to reset the game for all of humanity, the classically liberal goal might be to ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 4, 2020:

Your very first sentence sets an inaccurate premise - you are divorcing personal responsibility from personal actions. That is certainly not classical liberalism. Patterns in nature (and society as a whole is within nature) occur because forces act on the environment - seeking to disrupt the ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 5, 2020:

@govols I encourage you to look at even response: fortune is NOT random but the result of effort. If there is no effort why should there be fortune? Of course, the people in Western Society benefit, even the poorest, from the efforts of those that came before simply by being within Western Society. Part of our efforts as adults is to provide for, and benefit to, our children. The idea that our children benefit from our efforts is the whole PURPOSE! of our effort. To take that away because some, even if it is most, take it for granted misses the impact / desire of the parents. Those rich kid fucks mostly get what is coming to them, eventually, good and hard. You are still seeking to engineer an outcome, maybe a desirable one, but YOUR value of what it should be. I seek to be the best I can be for myself and to teach my child to be the best she can be for herself. While being a positive influence on those around us. That is the sole purpose for which my efforts exist. I am REALLY arrogant, but I can't imagine designing or thinking that my take on what society should be IS a good idea for anyone or everyone else.

How many young trans people are out there who are now regretting that they had gone through ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 4, 2020:

You point out the primary problem - there is a loud activist community, supported by political forces that demand 'affirmative support', or "what ever you want darling". It is an abdication of the medical community, from the therapists to the surgeons to the hospitals, of their responsibilities....

tracycoyle replies on Aug 4, 2020:

@WhytfAmIHere SOC = Standards of Care. For transsexual surgery - one year in the gender going to, called RLT or real life test, plus one year of hormone therapy, plus letters of recommendation from TWO therapists that have treated the patient for at least one year (this usually means one therapist that sees the patient regularly and one that "supervises" or has met and evaluated the patient initially and at the end of the treatment period ie a concurrence). SOC recommends a year of therapy before beginning hormones but realistically, living in the "preferred" gender has LOTS of hurdles and actual physical risks, getting on hormones is seen as HELPING that process so usually once someone has met and been evaluated by therapists, hormones are usually prescribed. This is a long term issue for the male-to-female (MtF), but it has short term implications for the female-to-male (FtM): the MtF impact can usually be unwound even after a year or two while the FtM impact is usually permanent after just a couple of months. These are "guidelines" and most consider them MINIMUMS. My therapy was shorter - though still a year - than the guidelines established by the program I participated in, but I was in RLT for FIVE YEARS before I had surgery. Most are in RLT for years prior to surgery. The general requires for RLT are living 24/7, financially stable, socially accepted. They want to see that you can handle the day to day life and are generally succeeding at it. This is why kids are generally not considered and why those with problems compromising their day to day lives are turned down for more permanent procedures. And why you can see how a 16 yr old having surgery just blows the SOC all to hell.

Does it matter that George Floyd contributed to his tragic death?

WilyRickWiles comments on Aug 4, 2020:

@Admin, your just-so presentation of this story has me asking more questions about you than George Floyd. This may be off-topic, but have you ever worn blackface before?

tracycoyle replies on Aug 4, 2020:

@WilyRickWiles No, I think you are just skewed in your perceptions of reality.

Does it matter that George Floyd contributed to his tragic death?

WilyRickWiles comments on Aug 4, 2020:

@Admin, your just-so presentation of this story has me asking more questions about you than George Floyd. This may be off-topic, but have you ever worn blackface before?

tracycoyle replies on Aug 4, 2020:

I try really hard to NOT attack individuals, rather preferring to engage on the ideas. But, your comment shows a much deeper filth than what you seem to accuse others of.

Hey, you guys! I felt inspired and wrote this silly article on "Can We Please Have The ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 3, 2020:

For the blacks willing to have a conversation - they already are aware of the problems, have left the 'ghetto of irrational thought' and are engaged with and succeeding IN "polite society". The number of such blacks is increasing while the upper tier inciters (the celebs and talking heads and race ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 4, 2020:

@A1fredo The country is not getting destroyed. It is failing because responsibility is either abdicated or misplaced.

Hey, you guys! I felt inspired and wrote this silly article on "Can We Please Have The ...

tracycoyle comments on Aug 3, 2020:

For the blacks willing to have a conversation - they already are aware of the problems, have left the 'ghetto of irrational thought' and are engaged with and succeeding IN "polite society". The number of such blacks is increasing while the upper tier inciters (the celebs and talking heads and race ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 4, 2020:

@A1fredo You make the same mistake they do - NO, it is not our responsibility. It is NOT an obligation the 'enlightened' have to bear on behalf of the 'unenlightened'. THAT is the point of individual responsibility - a classical liberal position. While a faith might require us to be our brother's keeper, and if it is a burden you are given then may grace go with you, but I can't, won't, assume a responsibility that doesn't belong to me. At some point, children must learn to walk and fall down and pick themselves up. If you always help, they never learn.

November is coming up sooner than you think! Who are you voting for atm?

ThomasinaPaine comments on Jul 29, 2020:

To be honest with you I don't want to vote at all. I have become a voluntarist and believe that regardless of it being a popular vote or electoral it is still a majority using that slender lead to force ideas and laws on people who disagree. Whether you are ruled by one or ruled by a ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 3, 2020:

@ThomasinaPaine There is an entire country of opportunities where politics is a dustbunny under the bed at most. Enjoy and spread your wings!

November is coming up sooner than you think! Who are you voting for atm?

Tfergie81 comments on Aug 3, 2020:

I just can't see how Democrats are doing anything for the American people which they are sworn to represent!!!!!

tracycoyle replies on Aug 3, 2020:

@Rad_Millennial The thing about allegations is that ANYONE can make them - proving them is much, much harder. And we have PICTURES of Biden's many creepy touches upon children and women. And no, the caption isn't. Democrats were/are the party of slavery, Jim Crow and 'keeping them down', then, and now. The "progressive left" of which the dementia suffering Biden appears to be the front runner, is dangerous to society. And the picture you DIDN'T reference, with the Democrat Leadership having been in Congress for DECADES and Obama/Biden holding the WH for 8 years has only made things worse, not better.

What is the nature of the best type of posts?

TimTuolomne comments on Aug 1, 2020:

I doubt that I will represent the mainstream. I engage in conversation for only one purpose: to learn something. I do not have any intention of presuming to educate, nor be enrolled in some agenda. I will sometimes share knowledge, usually backed by references, when a request to do so seems...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 2, 2020:

I generally engage in conversations, for their own sake. And everyone that knows me will readily state I LOVE to argue!

How old is the Universe? Well........probably older than we've been told... [youtube.com]

Hanno comments on Aug 1, 2020:

That is the beauty of real science: it always stands to be corrected. How does the narrator know Methuselah’s real age? Lots of stuff we don’t understand, though not proof we have the age wrong.

tracycoyle replies on Aug 2, 2020:

Generally, the scientific processes used to estimate the age of the Universe are used to estimate the age of stars - the same processes. Which end up with a star older than the Universe it inhabits. Both the narrator, me and LOTS of others agree - we don't necessarily KNOW what we don't KNOW in our ability to understand the Universe and what is in it. We are in the infancy of science - come back in 500 yrs - and things will change. Science doesn't want you to take what Science says as GOSPEL. Take it as a "rough draft".

Is Cultural Appropriation Really a Problem?

ThomasinaPaine comments on Jul 31, 2020:

I want to address why I didn't choose "transracial" first. I believe that people who truly consider themselves transracial have dysphoria just like those who believe they can transition into another sex. Neither hurts anyone but --potentially-- themselves. In most cases it is someone of a ...

tracycoyle replies on Aug 1, 2020:

I think the prefix 'trans' has been over used. You might not like your race, or prefer another, but you can't CHANGE it. Sure, you can 'present' as such but I think that 'dysphoria' is dsymorphia. Different animals.

I started my transition when I REALLY, SERIOUSLY asked myself just three questions: 1.

johnlondon comments on Jul 31, 2020:

I guess you agree with snake oil, charms, chiropractic, natural medicine, voodoo, shamans and quack doctors. About the same as modern psychology.

tracycoyle replies on Aug 1, 2020:

I was required to have therapy sessions with my psychologist. We worked out a program and I participated. But I didn't NEED it - and she and my psych agreed, though it took them till the end to actually say it. I think a GOOD therapist can be great. I think BAD therapists do much more damage than what people are already dealing with. Right now, in the TS community, I'd say there are MANY more BAD therapists than good ones. And that is scary to me for all the people they are harming. As for the rest of the snake oil....well, it's late so I am going to put on a mask and clean my face and put my night cream on....

Tim Pool: Independent Journalist or Republican Shill?

WilyRickWiles comments on Jul 31, 2020:

He's a (part) white Chicago Southsider who has issues with Black people, loves cops, and has fascist tendencies. We have lots of experience with his type in this city. I believe the Blues Brothers put it best.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 31, 2020:

@WilyRickWiles Interesting that you bring up Marquette Park. I lived 5 blocks from the park in the 60s and 70s - I played golf there, I swam in the lagoon (illegally!) and even fished there on occasion. Us "poor white folk" generally had no issue with blacks PER SE. We did have a problem with the crime and destruction that seemed to spill out from their neighborhoods. I lived further East when younger: 64th Carpenter and 73rd Pl near Racine. I know that history and those neighborhoods well. We were lower middle class by economic strata but solidly middle class socio. My parents were also immigrants. We were FINE with blacks coming to the park....WE WERE NOT fine with the Nazi's showing up and trying to start a race war. They were not locals, they were not supported by the locals.

Tim Pool: Independent Journalist or Republican Shill?

iThink comments on Jul 30, 2020:

He's not a shill - says just what he thinks regardless political party affiliation I've been told he "used to be" a leftist - but I don't know if thats true I have no idea what a "COINTEL" is but my guess would be he is not that either He's not a journalist - has no credentials as such and he ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 31, 2020:

Yea....I generally have the same response. I like Sargon better. I started watching, seeing Tim about 2 years ago, I follow him on YT but seldom sit through a whole video. I think a lot of the YTers are similar. Condensing their efforts would be better - a true editor works to do so, but most have no one THEY'D trust....and probably with good cause.

Tim Pool: Independent Journalist or Republican Shill?

WilyRickWiles comments on Jul 31, 2020:

He's a (part) white Chicago Southsider who has issues with Black people, loves cops, and has fascist tendencies. We have lots of experience with his type in this city. I believe the Blues Brothers put it best.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 31, 2020:

Let's see - I was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. I don't have problems with blacks at all. I have problems with racists and bigots, of which I am more and more likely to include you as part of. Sorry, but either you are just a plain troll or your view of reality is skewed HEAVILY to the Left. As @ThomasinaPaine suggests, your little slanders lack substance.

I started my transition when I REALLY, SERIOUSLY asked myself just three questions: 1.

ThomasinaPaine comments on Jul 28, 2020:

I know this group is for those who are transitioning but I have questions if you feel like answering. By your age I assume that you were in the "transsexual" group versus the modern "transgender"concept. The idea it seems was to attempt to transition into the opposite SEX--is that a fair ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 29, 2020:

I transitioned 30+ yrs ago when 'transitioning' was called a real life test. It was called sex reassignment surgery for most of the last 60 years, only really changing in the last 5-10 years. I still consider that I was part of the transsexual community - and I don't consider myself part of the transgender community, though it certainly considers me part of it. I transitioned. I completed the process. I am no longer transsexual by the best definition of the term: I do not suffer from gender identity dsyphoria. Anymore. I don't think feminists (and there has always been a subset that strongly disliked transsexuals) in general have a problem with transsexuals. I don't think there is even a problem in general with transgendered. The problem is the activists that want to erase biological sex and dimorphism with some anti-sex/gender existence that obliterates the binary. They are destructive to the trans community, absolutely destroying transsexuals, lesbians and women. Feminists are right to strike back and I've got their back because I agree with them. BTW, it is a reason why this is a transsexual group rather than a transgender group.

I started my transition when I REALLY, SERIOUSLY asked myself just three questions: 1.

johnlondon comments on Jul 29, 2020:

Have you thought of replacing self-interest with the wonders of the natural world. IT is the only reality out there. It would not matter if you found reality.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 29, 2020:

My first rule: always act in my own best interest. I love the natural world and understand MY place in it. I can not place anyone or anything above my self-interest and remain 'whole'. And the natural world is completely disinterested in me or my attempts to participate with it.

I can't, I won't, support the concept that self-identification (the idea that someone can say "I ...

RavenMStark comments on Jul 26, 2020:

I'm glad to hear your POV on this! My thoughts are more or less in line with yours. As trans people, we have to accept that there are some things that cis people have that we can't share. However, there is one thing that makes me question the bathroom part of the discussion. That is that I ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 27, 2020:

@RavenMStark I think the vast majority of trans people are respectful - the trans ACTIVISTS however are destructive and anything BUT respectful.

Masks make semse so wear one.!

tracycoyle comments on Jul 26, 2020:

To you. Just because YOU believe something doesn't mean others are REQUIRED to also.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 27, 2020:

@CookieMonster That might be so in the UK, in the US, the excess deaths is statistically negligible. Covid was a 'new' bug, so there was no identification protocol, no treatment protocol and politically, an early treatment was dismissed despite promising results. In THIS country, we can not trust the 'cases' or the 'deaths' because we can't trust the numbers as being reported. Given we STILL do not know what the realistic infection rate was - determinations as to how virulent it has been is A GUESS at best. Finally, given the population most impacted, the danger to the general population was/is considerably LESS than the hysteria warranted.

Masks make semse so wear one.!

tracycoyle comments on Jul 26, 2020:

To you. Just because YOU believe something doesn't mean others are REQUIRED to also.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 27, 2020:

@CookieMonster The problem is that by the scientific benchmark used to support masks, the use of masks should be, irrespective of covid, ALWAYS in use given the lethality of the annual flu and the risks to those with respiratory conditions. However, I don't trust the numbers on covid and consider it no worse than an annual flu - and given the population actually impacted, I'd consider it LESS dangerous. So. While people with higher risks might use the masks - and I consider it reasonable to do so - making EVERYONE wash their hands all the time, or not be allowed out if they have even a sniffle, attempting to eliminate risk (which is what you/they are trying to do) is a fools errand.

Masks make semse so wear one.!

tracycoyle comments on Jul 26, 2020:

To you. Just because YOU believe something doesn't mean others are REQUIRED to also.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 27, 2020:

@CookieMonster I would suggest my opinion was without a foundation - I just didn't like being told what to do - until I read the following: > That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any > member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to > others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. > He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be > better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the > opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. These are good > reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading > him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, or visiting him with > any evil in case he do otherwise. From On Liberty. Your point suggests that you (the generic form of you implying people with similar beliefs) know what is better for another and therefore have just cause to impose your belief upon them....for their own good. No greater tyranny exists because it knows no bounds, no limits.

I can't, I won't, support the concept that self-identification (the idea that someone can say "I ...

RavenMStark comments on Jul 26, 2020:

I'm glad to hear your POV on this! My thoughts are more or less in line with yours. As trans people, we have to accept that there are some things that cis people have that we can't share. However, there is one thing that makes me question the bathroom part of the discussion. That is that I ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 27, 2020:

@RavenMStark Yep, as long as self-identification is solely a determining factor. I don't want people arrested for using the 'wrong' bathroom if they are actively transitioning - and there has to be a way to approach it. (There was another event with a women's bathroom that was horrifying but for another time.) Changing the laws for everyone to deal with an issue only some thousands of us deal with is UNJUST.

I can't, I won't, support the concept that self-identification (the idea that someone can say "I ...

RavenMStark comments on Jul 26, 2020:

I'm glad to hear your POV on this! My thoughts are more or less in line with yours. As trans people, we have to accept that there are some things that cis people have that we can't share. However, there is one thing that makes me question the bathroom part of the discussion. That is that I ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 26, 2020:

@RavenMStark I had JUST started transition....less than a month...and went to a movie. When I HAD to go to the bathroom...I was in a t-shirt and jeans, no jewelry or makeup, my ID was all male - I went to the men's restroom - the guys CALLED THE MANAGER! and he came in to tell me I was in the wrong ..... oh....me standing at a urinal.... It was VERY EMBARRASSING and I never went into a men's bathroom again. As you suggest, it is up the trans person which they choose - I can't make that determination from a distance. I might have an opinion if I were IN the restroom at the time however.

Masks make semse so wear one.!

tracycoyle comments on Jul 26, 2020:

To you. Just because YOU believe something doesn't mean others are REQUIRED to also.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 26, 2020:

@CookieMonster I oppose seatbelt laws. I oppose helmet laws. People can take the risks - but they own the consequences too. I don't wear seatbelts unless riding in someone else's vehicle and they ask me to. Their space, their rules. I am fine with people wearing masks, or seatbelts, or helmets. Just don't make ME do it. And yes, I consider all laws to be an infringement upon my liberties/rights. I accept laws I disagree with because I accept the necessity of laws to have a civil society.

I can't, I won't, support the concept that self-identification (the idea that someone can say "I ...

RavenMStark comments on Jul 26, 2020:

I'm glad to hear your POV on this! My thoughts are more or less in line with yours. As trans people, we have to accept that there are some things that cis people have that we can't share. However, there is one thing that makes me question the bathroom part of the discussion. That is that I ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 26, 2020:

Most of my friends and family laugh at my almost complete refusal to enter into public bathrooms that can't be locked with a single occupant. I spent about 10 years avoiding them at almost any cost. That has continued to today but I DO use large public restrooms now....infrequently. If someone is in RLT and can not pass - then I think they need to refrain from single sex spaces.

How They Are Lying to Enslave Us [youtube.com]

tracycoyle comments on Jul 25, 2020:

It is not slavery - which is imposed. It is serfdom which is chosen.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 25, 2020:

@ieuan I agree because both are restrictions on liberty. However, define 'threats' because in MOST cases the threats are empty. Like 25,000 people showing up at a 'closed' beach. Or RACIST!!! Yes, many companies are willing to fire people for ANY claim of behavior outside work or in the deep past and that threat, hollow that it might be for many, is enough to 'chill' speech and behavior. Maybe it is up to us that can't be cowed by threats that have no power to stand up.

You really have to laugh at the SJW's because their priority changes hourly.

solopro comments on Jul 25, 2020:

I mean, you make it sound like these politicians never lie. more times than I care to recall, a politician gets up and swears to uphold the constitution and pro freedom this and that, then after the election its full tilt corruption. solution ? I wouldnt pretend for a second there aren't swathes...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 25, 2020:

That would apply to the FIRST time someone is elected - their lies, and they are legion, are available for anyone willing to look at the record and their pre-election claims. But most people prefer the devil they know to the devil they don't, which just keeps getting devils elected.

In response to various aspects of lockdown, businessman Simon Dolan filed a judicial review ...

Josf-Kelley comments on Jul 25, 2020:

That does not sound like a Court of Law, so...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 25, 2020:

It initially sounded like a UK issue, but by the end I wasn't sure it was a Western country issue...

DO THEY WANT TO LOSE?

tracycoyle comments on Jul 23, 2020:

Biden is incapable of rational thought at this point so will believe the few people around him about whatever they tell him is reality. Now, the political machine around him is equally irrational - data abounds - and therefore think they, just by opposing ALL of whatever Trump is/says/stands ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 24, 2020:

@Machiavelliwar I think his wife is at least complicit if not driving part of his continuing candidacy. I think the party REALLY DOES believe that just opposing Trump is enough. The people I know personally on the Left think it is clear as crystal that Trump is a fascist, racist, idiot that hasn't done anything except get lots of people dead from the virus. I look at them and shake my head and wonder W.T.F. The VP pick is going to tell me if they think Biden is incompetent, or if they ALL are.

What logic is behind this statement? I don't get it...

tracycoyle comments on Jul 23, 2020:

Really? Suggesting the 'rich', ie the 1% with the highest wealth/income, are acting in ways that are destroying the country is not clear? I don't agree with the sentiment....but it is comprehensible....

tracycoyle replies on Jul 23, 2020:

@Naomi ANY statement can be interpreted various ways. I can even infer potential interpretations of explicit facts - if I'm so inclined. As was pointed out on a post here in the last week, just because evidence can be used to support a particular position, it is NOT a reason to put the evidence out there. People make statements that elicit support and derision. Take, do not take, the reasons are your own. Or should be.

I'm beginning to see a problem that needs to be overcome.

tracycoyle comments on Jul 22, 2020:

Your post had be going in two very different directions - kinda gave me a 'knee jerk whiplash'! But I agree with your premise. The problem is the sheer volume of information even within fields is beginning (has) to overwhelm even the most informed of participants. I spend many hours each day ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 22, 2020:

@wolfhnd Right, a computer output is only as good as the input - and bias in data input affects the output in known and unknown ways - I am aware that in defined networks you can get unplanned behaviors. Nonlinear is the natural order of the organic world. I don't think most people WANT to understand the broader world. That is not elitist, just observational.

It is clear that large segments of the population will never give the Government the benefit of the ...

Thasaidon comments on Jul 21, 2020:

You were actually giving your government the benefit of the doubt? :-) I would not give my government (UK) the time of day.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 22, 2020:

@Thasaidon It is Kew Gardens. The Temperate House structure has captivated me for decades when I saw a picture of the steel structures - always wanted to see it, fortunately it reopened about 2 months before I visited. Yep, there are months worth of places to visit - however, I promised myself to see all of the US before visiting elsewhere (I took my daughter for her university graduation).

It is clear that large segments of the population will never give the Government the benefit of the ...

Thasaidon comments on Jul 21, 2020:

You were actually giving your government the benefit of the doubt? :-) I would not give my government (UK) the time of day.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 22, 2020:

@Thasaidon I only REALLY wanted to see one thing when I visited. I am attaching a picture to see if you can guess...

It is clear that large segments of the population will never give the Government the benefit of the ...

Thasaidon comments on Jul 21, 2020:

You were actually giving your government the benefit of the doubt? :-) I would not give my government (UK) the time of day.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 22, 2020:

@Thasaidon I LOVED the tubes!!!! I rode in ALL of them in my time there and was very happy. But my family all lives in the outskirts so I got to see a lot outside the tourist points in town.

Appeals to authority: If the goal of a conversation is to teach or inform, appeals/referencing ...

Thasaidon comments on Jul 21, 2020:

I agree we need more actual discussion but most people just seem to want to make an odd comment.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 22, 2020:

Scared? Not invested enough in their own positions? Everyone around me says I am to quick to jump into the fray (or start one!)

It is clear that large segments of the population will never give the Government the benefit of the ...

Thasaidon comments on Jul 21, 2020:

You were actually giving your government the benefit of the doubt? :-) I would not give my government (UK) the time of day.

tracycoyle replies on Jul 22, 2020:

Your's is a little further down the line towards 'shithole' status than mine - though both seem to be racing to see who gets there first. I have family around London - I was there 2 yrs ago. I lament what is happening there.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@KrunoS I prefer to impugne people for which I have personal experience being 'woke' or politically motivated - rather than large segments of the population or communities because of....political ideology.

One of the things I dislike about IDW community - the set up where literally every new post shows ...

tracycoyle comments on Jul 21, 2020:

The problem with 'down grading' posts is that it becomes a way to silence differing viewpoints. Using a comment count to 'promote' a post seems more useful. I used TweetDeck on Twitter early in Twitter's existance to filter the, at the time, huge flow of tweets. It worked well, till Twitter ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@iThink Sorry, didn't mean to imply such - I ignore LOTS of posts and comments. My comment was with the idea of 'down grading' posts by active intent that can be, not suggesting you would, by people. I doubt 99% of the people here would have that intent, but as the community grows, so does the potential for abuse of such a system. Again, NO INTENT to suggest YOU would do such a thing.

One of the things I dislike about IDW community - the set up where literally every new post shows ...

tracycoyle comments on Jul 21, 2020:

The problem with 'down grading' posts is that it becomes a way to silence differing viewpoints. Using a comment count to 'promote' a post seems more useful. I used TweetDeck on Twitter early in Twitter's existance to filter the, at the time, huge flow of tweets. It worked well, till Twitter ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@iThink I agree, and I would not either - but I think we've probably been around long enough to know that it happens and often.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@KrunoS You are approaching it from the outside from a political point of view. I know MANY medical practitioners that are NOT politically motivated but seek to help the patient in a safe and healthy way. The practitioners range from nurses to doctors to therapists across the country in both public and private practices. I still have my surgical recommendation letters - the evaluations of a psychiatrist and a psychologist of my suitability for gender reassignment surgery. Sorry, they will never be posted in any way to the internet! Not even email! The phone call made to my parents by my psychiatrist, from a well known University Medical Center, helped them deal with my transition. Work against the politics of identity - but recognize there are individuals at the core that are dealing with true, deep issues that need support.

If this community ever goes to crap, I'd like to have a few others to participate with.

Admin comments on Jul 21, 2020:

How can we help this community from going to crap? :)

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@govols I don't think so - it is certainly harder to wade through them, but I have found some wonderful nuggets along the way. Someone recommended a book to someone else. I went and looked at the book on Amazon, thought it looked interesting, picked it up and read it. Enjoyed it. There was a sequel that I liked alot also - so I reviewed the book, then sent an email to the author. Since then we talk regularly and discuss projects he is working on. I continue to like his book and have since joined an author's forum to discuss issues, not always related to the author or his books - it's just a community with a point of commonality. Such is the benefit of the internet ...

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@KrunoS I strongly support the Standards of Care which includes treatment by qualified and experienced therapists - that don't just rubber stamp a self diagnosis - and that the treatment is ongoing. THEN identification should carry some societal accommodation, ie don't arrest me for wearing women's clothing because it is REQUIRED under SOC. Most of us prior to the last couple of years had to use, did use, (speaking specifically of Male to Female trassexuals), women's bathrooms and lockerrooms prior to surgery and in some cases even hormones. It was NERVE wracking and very dangerous TO US. Yet, we did what was necessary and got OUT quickly. We were, ARE, no threat to women or children. Are there predators out there seeking to take advantage? Yes. So? There are such in EVERY group - but given our population it is practically non-existent. I, and most others, oppose self-identification giving blanket access to gender spaces and activities - I want the proverbial 'doctors note'.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@KrunoS yea, but even if it is politicized in a dangerous way, you should not destroy the individual community to root out the ideological attempts to politicize it. And for the majority, we are not suffering from a trauma, but rather a 'birth defect'. But many people that oppose transsexualism in general consider our desire to transition to BE self-harm and by the medical community's acceptance of the treatment to be 'normalization'. I call it removing the stigma and it is a good thing. Your approach is in direct conflict with mine.

What's your internet identity intersectionality?

tracycoyle comments on Jul 21, 2020:

Not. Because I am unwilling to feed my brain and soul with the vast amount of garbage that is out there. GIGO. I am aware of it, like the stink of a dump as you drive by it, but am happy to continue to drive by....with the windows up (so that I can see!).

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@govols I hate to put it this way: a highly defined sense of smell - shit stinks. Usually, a single comment is sufficient to gather the foundation of a position, and it's objection or support can define the community. I usually give it a couple to see if it was a 'one-off' or a trend. My blog reading (42 right now) tends to give me a pretty good exposure to everything out there. Blogs cover politics, economics, science and publishing (I am a voracious reader - science fiction, science, and YA trans-fiction) The blogs often refer to other sites and communities and I use them as a first filter - just because they might oppose the content is not a reason for me to avoid it. I know the blog authors and their biases so I can evaluate their commentary in light of those biases and my approach to them. Akin to someone that always reviews movies and my take on the same movies gives me a foundation to take future reviews more objectively, or at least subjectively according to my tastes.

If this community ever goes to crap, I'd like to have a few others to participate with.

Admin comments on Jul 21, 2020:

How can we help this community from going to crap? :)

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@govols I think it is, in part, the attempt to accept everyone in. An example: Back in 1993 a guy wanted to start an "adult" BBS (if you don't know, ask). I was like the 5th or 6th person that found it. I was actually brought to it by my best friend as a place to get away from the 'kids' on other BBS'. We decided that 'adult' meant people over 18, not SEXUAL CONTENT. And we ruthlessly culled any attempts to spark sexual content. The owner was not happy BUT, the Board became one of the city's premier sites BECAUSE it didn't cater to sexual content. If you want to do the same, it takes constant effort and a willingness to accept that you will get blow-back from people. I strongly support diversity of opinion, even from the fringes of both sides. It just needs to be civil and rational. And @Admin, I don't like videos just being posted to any groups that lack comment from the poster with their take on the content. Otherwise it is just advertising/propaganda. I don't know if there is a way to stop it - other than your change to require comments before showing up. And I don't know that you should change things just because I think they should be....

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@KrunoS Because the number of transsexuals is so small, EVERY study is susceptible to valid criticisms. As far as different societies, transsexuals, by my definition and that of most people involved in the community are found IN EVERY COUNTRY. With very similar etiologies. This is not a 'western political' ideology. I am sure that there is political essays that lay out timelines and voices - but that doesn't define GID. Your criticisms of Benjamin and Money are biased based, on your commentary. Their findings and efforts are suspect because you find their conclusions unpersuasive relative to your approval of alternate ideology. That is fine - your opinion. I don't think you are attempting to marginalize transsexuals so it matters not to me. However, after 30+ active years in the community, 50 years of being a part of it, only the last 10 years has there been a political component - attempting to tie it back to the feminist movements of the 60s and 70s is retro-judgmentalism. I will speak of Benjamin only because of my personal involvement with the Society, there wasn't a bone of political ideology in their efforts. It was driven by a need/desire to help people with a disorder that borders on BIZARRE! And even today, the attempts to describe what is going on is STILL an exercise in self identification. That is different than 'self definition' that is going on now via identity politics. And it is very destruction to the community of transsexuals just trying to live their lives.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@KrunoS Before there was the DSM, there was Harry Benjamin, then John Money. Benjamin created what became the Standards of Care that defined the issues and approaches to deal with MEDICAL cases that were beginning to show up in the 50s. None of this was political. It was all the medical community trying to deal with something incomprehensible to the average person - or doctor. Concurrently, feminists were trying to break sex based stereotypes - transsexuals were the living embodiment of that FROM THE OUTSIDE. The vast majority of us were HAPPY to be part of the stereotypes we were transitioning to! Anyway - the foundations of GID are in medicine and DSM was a late arrival to the party.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@SophiaPistis For me: gender is a combination of the self identity I see in my mind and the mirror along with the societal perceptions of me in daily life. I've been a woman longer than I was ever a man/boy. Society sees me as a woman, treats me as one and that makes me happy! My sex only comes into play when my body is the focus. The biological foundation (male) has not been a factor to me in almost 30 years. I simply SEE a female, FEEL female. There is no conflict between the sex and gender BUT intellectually I understand that 'male' is still my biological foundation. That is why I say that transition resolved the GID.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@SophiaPistis, @KrunoS The problem with GID is that it MUST be self identified - there is no medical way to confirm it (yet). So, there is no way to resolve your issue with it. As to support for my opinions on the topic of gender identity and of the distinction between those involved and those trying to politicize it, it is based on almost 50 years of personal involvement that dates back to close to the origins of the issues. I spent years TEACHING the medical profession how to deal with MY issues because there was little out there for them to learn from. I still do it. Concurrent to the political was the medical. I acknowledge that feminists approached the issue in ways that defined the discussion for decades and continues to do so - but. Internal to the medical community and the transsexual community, the discussion is less about the political and more about the personal. Because of my closeness to the issues, it DOES dominate my opinions. I don't appeal to authorities to support those positions, never felt the need to because the authorities are all over the map.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@SophiaPistis Yes, but there is enough of an overlap that I get where he is coming from and yet I think misses the mark. I don't think he is working up against a strawman, but you are right that the definition of gender is so broad as to be able to stand on opposite ends internal to the definition and still be talking past each other.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@SophiaPistis Interesting game idea. A long time ago I was into RPG or MUG but a really bad experience (ok...it was 25 yrs ago!!!!) turned me off them, apparently forever! The difference is in the types of conversations that we have. Conversations with the two that know (a Leftist and a Righty) tend to include the perspectives that I have because of my unique past. Conversations with the two that don't know (a Leftist and a Righty) tend to have less "personal" in them. How they treat me does not seem to vary - my personality is VERY strong. The two that know and I have very deep and personal conversations that never happen with the other two so it changes the dynamics of the relationship and our approaches to each other, or at least MY approach to them.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@KrunoS I disagree with your characterization of the foundation/start of the word gender. We, society, used the terms sex and gender interchangeably UNTIL it was recognized that there were people (60s into the 80s) for whom they WERE NOT interchangeable. Transsexuals broke the connection most people believe(d) existed. My gender was inconsistent with my sex. This is EXTREMELY hard for people to comprehend. Many - I think you are one - simply believe it is a political, semantic effort rather than something profound that we('ve) struggle(d) with in a deeply personal way. Yes, that struggle is being used by the Left in a destructive way - which is why I call out the 'trans activist' as harmful to transsexuals specifically. Lesbians note it is destructive to them also. I always ask people to separate the Leftist political power struggles from the actual people they PRETEND to represent. These people at the heart of issues, racial, sexual, are dealing with real personal issues - that are being USED for political purposes almost exclusively without their concurrence.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 21, 2020:

@SophiaPistis Depends on your definition of 'close'. I have a mix of people that know and don't. I would consider four to be close - two know. Of all the people that know, I told none of them. Most are friends of family members, a couple from my high school.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@SophiaPistis Interesting question. First, I have friends NOW that I knew but not well in High School. EVERY instance in which I told a 'friend' of my past after they got to know me, sans one, abandoned or left. The one was my partner of 18+ years. I know others that were told of my past by my partner (without my knowledge or agreement) and they have remained the friends I knew without my understanding they'd been told. So, my experience is that when there is another relationship involved, people remain friends BECAUSE of that relationship. Otherwise, they've abandoned the friendship. The vast number of people that I have interacted with online in which my past was a factor, generally continue the conversations but no friendships have developed from it. Based on my conversations with others in the same age cohort and experiences, the results have been similar. I understand people think they've been lied to by us at a fundamental level and feel betrayed - that was the 'initial' reaction of my partner, she however came to the point where she understood my reasoning.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@SophiaPistis Your characterization of transsexual and transgender is very good.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@SophiaPistis I try to make a distinction in discussions and in my personal life. I am post-op. That suggests transsexual. I clarify that I am a Classical Liberal when talking to Conservatives, when talking to someone on the Left I just say Conservative. There are levels of distinction, nuance if you will, in stating things relative to the audience and context. Correct - there are places in my life where my specific past is not known. I don't fear being outed, the people in my life where it is relevant all know. I no longer have GID. It was resolved with transition.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@SophiaPistis I say 'assigned', I mean at birth - a necessary distinction. As adults, we tend to conform to binary representations that give others 'clues' or details as to gender. When someone is non-conforming to the point where direct observation is insufficient, then we have to rely on self identification. People need to recognize that issue and allow for it - the non-conformists have to allow for the 'mis-gendering' at the initial contact, correct and move on rather than scream about it. The goal of the transsexual is not to be misgendered - they seek to pass as the gender they are transitioning to or have transitioned to. Once 'transition' is done, they don't consider themselves 'trans'. Certainly there are those that continue to identify as such and I respectfully don't seek to dismiss them in any way, but I don't consider myself "trans" - I completed the process. Many others I have talked to agree. GID defines a transsexual. Generally speaking transgendered do not suffer from GID as defined. Your comments to @KrunoS: I agree with you and where I don't, it is just semantics.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@KrunoS I mean: We are making distinctions about terms and beliefs, but in the end, I suspect we support individual liberty, "conservative values" and freedom. That we oppose 'identity politics', ie Marxism.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@KrunoS I can be murdered. That ends my ability to assert rights because it ends ME. You can argue the rights go away when I die, and I accept THAT argument, but I can be imprisoned and that also denies me liberty to assert my rights. But the rights don't disappear. This is the situation I indicated above. Our difference of opinion on rights/privileges/responsibilities informs our behaviors and functionally doesn't change how we deal with society - and by 'we' I mean you and me personally. Our differences are generally on the same side of the ideological divide.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@KrunoS By all accounts, our daughter is well adjusted, happy, very heterosexual, in a loving relationship and stable. I know lots of children of heterosexual couples that are NONE of the above. My partner died when our daughter was just about 17 and a junior in high school. Hardest 18 months of my life. What a child needs is loving, capable parents. I note parentS. However, I know a young woman raised by a single mom who is by all accounts, happy, well adjusted, heterosexual and stable. So, the optimum is a mother and father - but sub-optimum situations does not mean sub-optimum results. And making laws that demand the optimum is just as much an infringement upon individual liberties and those that punish the sub-optimum.

Ask someone who believes or supports a trans person to define you what is a man or what is a woman ...

SophiaPistis comments on Jul 18, 2020:

We can tell immediately and automatically, without thinking, who is a man and who is a woman. These are basic-level categories, like "fish" or "tree" or "chair." They don't need explanation. Now, there are some (a few?) people who transition and "go all the way" and appear for all intents and ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@KrunoS > What do you mean... "I think your position with regard to rights and duties reflects your understanding > of the term 'right' and 'duty', ie responsibility. I don't agree with your position and it is not reflected in > our general understandings of the terms." I think your comments following the above clarifies it. I don't agree with your comments about rights and responsibilities and privileges. Or slavery for that matter. We could spend HOURS and huge missives about them, but I don't think we'd fundamentally change our opinions or approaches. I will add another layer of definition into for your consideration. My rights can never be taken away - they are inherent in me. However, the liberty, the freedom to assert them CAN and is often taken away. Those rights are often, usually, infringed upon by laws (and others) but they are not removed. They still exist. It might be considered semantics, but that is wrong.

I'd like to start a discussion around the term 'justice'.

Thasaidon comments on Jul 19, 2020:

Experiments with animals show that Justice is partly genetic. Once you move away from this minimalistic genetic characteristic you move into the realm of philosophy. The situation is then a matter of what is your basic philosophical underpinning and there is a lot of these so take your choice ...

tracycoyle replies on Jul 20, 2020:

@Thasaidon I became very political in 2005 and more active in 2008 when I helped to start the American Conservative Party. By 2010 I realized two things: I was using the term 'rights' a lot and I didn't have a good definition and I was making arguments about government spending with less support than I had in discussing rights. I really needed to have some substance to the assertions and positions I was espousing. In 2010-2011 I spent a lot of time researching "right" to get a firm handle on a definition. I published my conclusions (An Assertion of Right) in 2011. In 2013 I published and had hand delivered to Congress a full and complete Federal Budget (Proposed FY2014 Federal Budget), both can be found on my website (tracycoyle.com). I like conversations like this because it DOES force one to lay out thinking rather than to just toss out points. Thank you too!