All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Tendrin]

It

Joe Rogan: is entertaining for what he is. Again he had a bad run in with the authoritarian left for stating that a transgender man should not be able to fight in women's MMA. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out why he's right. Joe Rogan leans center right, nothing wrong with that.

Do you mean a transgender woman? I think you mean a transgender woman. You're showing a pretty large degree of transphobia in your post, otherwise.

[The no face guy]

Do you mean a transgender woman? I think you mean a transgender woman. You're showing a pretty large degree of transphobia in your post, otherwise.

Apologies yes, transgender woman. Initially biologically a man but has undergone surgery to become a woman. I think that is awesome, and I'm supported of people who have the courage to come out as transgender, but I do think that we have to be aware of the scientific biological reality, that a trans woman is still biologically a man in regards to the development of muscle mass, testosterone, strength and reflexes, and has a clear unfair advantage in competing in women's mixed martial arts because of this.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

White House Claims U.S. Will Have Full Coronavirus Vaccine ‘By The End Of This Year’

“We will deliver by the end of this year a vaccine at scale,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said, despite estimates it could take 12 to 18 months — at least. To quote that famous line from Top Gun, "Don't let your mouth write a check your body can't cash".

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The Child Care Industry Is About To Collapse. There’s No Bailout Coming.

It would cost $9.6 billion a month to keep things going, and Congress is offering a fraction of that.

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CDC Now Projects More Than 100,000 Deaths From The Coronavirus By June

The latest forecast of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. is far higher than President Donald Trump’s estimates. Which leads to this....

Art Of The Deal’ Co-Author Spells Out Why Coronavirus Deaths ‘Don’t Matter’ To Trump

“The deaths, I know this is extreme, the deaths don’t matter to him,” Tony Schwartz told MSNBC’s Ari Melber.

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Whoopi Goldberg Asks Chris Christie Who He’s Willing To Sacrifice To Reopen Economy

The former New Jersey governor told “The View” Friday that “lives are going to be lost inevitably in this, no matter what we do.”

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Medical Journal Pleads With Voters To Pick President Who’ll Put Health Ahead Of Politics

Trump’s “magic bullets” won’t work, warns The Lancet. It’s going to take “test, trace and isolate.”

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Chris Hayes Points Out The Glaring Flaw With Trump Base’s Anti-Coronavirus Mask Stance

“There is nothing stupider, nothing more counterproductive you can do,” the MSNBC host said of the “weird, culture war virtue signaling by Trump people.”

[Steel Inquisitor]

The problem I see with these right wing internet and media personalities is that they invariably get much larger platforms than equivalent voices on the left. Everybody at this point knows who Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Alex Jones, etc. are, but even the most radical left leaning folks would be hard pressed to really point out any equivalent voices on the other side of the aisle, despite the fact that liberals decisively outnumber conservatives and thus you would think there would be a much bigger audience. But this is sort of how the moneyed interests in this country have steered the conversation, because by simply giving these alt rights types a platform they can spread their views among the public, while still having plausible deniability when pressed on whether they support these views themselves. Just look at these lockdown protests, while most respectable media figures have not voiced support for them, simply by giving them so much coverage, they started a conversation about opening up, a conversation nobody in their right mind wanted or needed. Meanwhile, any discussion of progressive policy initiatives is completely shut out of the public sphere, and even as the virus highlights so much of what was wrong with our society, people still are led to believe we can flip a switch and everything will go back to the way it was. I just find it pathetic that the right is constantly complaining about deplatforming, while any objective analysis of the situation would indicate that they are getting a much bigger platform than their discredited viewpoints and limited audience would warrant.

Sounds like you want the left to have its own propaganda networks, liberals do ok with broadcasting networks like MSNBC - that's where the progressive policies are done which you're ignoring. Don't blame us for the left not getting its act together on this front ask them why they're not doing it. In case you haven't noticed the right has an advantage with news networks and propaganda, its why they're so on point with messaging. The left has done zilch to curtail this on their own, but they have supported it when they think it suits them like going on Rogan and Fox News.

Is Joe Rogan a "moneyed interest"? He gives a big platform for the very people you're angry with.

[Tendrin]

Apologies yes, transgender woman. Initially biologically a man but has undergone surgery to become a woman. I think that is awesome, and I'm supported of people who have the courage to come out as transgender, but I do think that we have to be aware of the scientific biological reality, that a trans woman is still biologically a man in regards to the development of muscle mass, testosterone, strength and reflexes, and has a clear unfair advantage in competing in women's mixed martial arts because of this.

I'm gonna say this as gently as possible: you know *much less* about this than you think you do and many of those concerns are ill-informed at best and the proof is in the performance of trans athletes in their respective fields in highly competitive athletics. Ultimately, the fear of 'biological men' in 'women's sports' is steeped deeply in transphobia and is simply a wedge issue to direct hate at trans folks.

[Mecegirl]

I'm gonna say this as gently as possible: you know *much less* about this than you think you do and many of those concerns are ill-informed at best and the proof is in the performance of trans athletes in their respective fields in highly competitive athletics. Ultimately, the fear of 'biological men' in 'women's sports' is steeped deeply in transphobia and is simply a wedge issue to direct hate at trans folks.

Especially since no one seems to give a **** about Transgender men doing anything. No one cares about their performance in sports. No one cares about them entering bathrooms or prisons. Nothing.

[Gray Lensman]

On the political front Newsweek is reporting that Biden plans to interview Tammy Duckworth as a potential VP choice.

Although I worry about the inevitable lawsuit over her birthplace and circumstances.

[TriggerWarning]

Especially since no one seems to give a **** about Transgender men doing anything. No one cares about their performance in sports. No one cares about them entering bathrooms or prisons. Nothing.

Transgender men are still biologically women so they have a huge disadvantage competing against other men. They will usually be shorter, smaller, and not as muscular by virtue of growing up female. The only sports where thats an advantage are things like tumbling in gymnastics where you need to be short. So this issue is likely never going to come up.

Transgender women on the other hand who went through male puberty have tremendous advantages in height, strength, lung capacity, muscle mass, etc. Things that aren't affected by hormones. Sure hormones will make it harder to gain muscle mass but does nothing to what you already have.

Case in point: the two transgender female high schoolers involved in the lawsuit controversy in Conneticut. They came out as trans in high school and began competing against girls. They then started winning everything including state championships.

Or to put it another way. My son ran cross country and distance running in track in high school. He wasn't very good, slightly below average, but he enjoyed it. His times were always below average and well behind the best boys. He was still faster than all the girls. Thats what happens when you grow up male, you have innate physical advantages.

And its not anti trans to accept this. I believe transgender care should be covered by health care. I was for letting gays and trans marry long before liberals came around to it - I voted for Bill Clinton back in 1992 and felt very betrayed by him when he stabbed the LGBT movement in the back with Don't Ask Don't Tell and Defense of Marriage act. I believe there needs to be laws in place adding trans protection to discrimination laws. But there also needs to be reality when it comes to things like athletics.

[PaulBullion]

"Biologically women" is a loaded term.

[JackDaw]

"Biologically women" is a loaded term.

What’s the better term to use to convey the same meaning?

[Tami]

On the political front Newsweek is reporting that Biden plans to interview Tammy Duckworth as a potential VP choice.

Although I worry about the inevitable lawsuit over her birthplace and circumstances.

I like Tammy Duckworth. After looking over her Wiki bio, I agree that the issues surrounding her place of birth and citizenship may come up. Then again, Ted Cruz tried to run for President and he was born in Alberta, Canada. Both are American citizens, naturalized as far as I can tell due to having a naturalized American parent or parent.

The requirement is that the person is a Natural Born Citizen. This only means that the person was born under circumstances that gave them citizenship at the time of their birth. There may be some legal challenge to define what this means.

[Tami]

Criminal group that hacked law firm threatens to release Trump documents

A cybercriminal gang that hacked a major entertainment law firm claims it will release information on President Donald Trump if it doesn’t receive $42 million in ransom.

The group, a known criminal enterprise, didn’t offer any proof it had information compromising to Trump. It did, however, release a large set of stolen files from the law firm, Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks. NBC News reviewed some of the documents, and they appear legitimate.

The law firm said that Trump is not a client and has never been. A spokesperson for the firm said it wasn't clear which of its clients have been compromised.

The group uses ransomware — a type of malicious software — to break into a victim’s networks and encrypt them, demanding a fee to unlock them. If the victim doesn’t pay up, the group slowly leaks out unencrypted versions of files stolen from those networks to prompt payment.

“The next person we'll be publishing is Donald Trump. There's an election race going on, and we found a ton of dirty laundry on time,” the group wrote, giving a one-week deadline. “And to you voters, we can let you know that after such a publication, you certainly don't want to see him as president.”

If they really do have any info on Trump, it would be karma if they did release it.

[Tendrin]

What’s the better term to use to convey the same meaning?

Trans women are women.

Trans men are men.

There you go

All Trigger Warning's post does is show he, also, does not understand things as well as he thinks he does.

(I will add, in all seriousness, this is where the term 'cisgender' comes in.)

[JackDaw]

Trans women are women.

Trans men are men.

There you go

All Trigger Warning's post does is show he, also, does not understand things as well as he thinks he does.

But doesn’t it then make it difficult to discuss issue of whether it’s appropriate for all women to compete in women’s sports events?

Perhaps a formulation like “Perhaps trans women should not be allowed to compete in women’s events...” is okay?

Or are you suggesting term “cisgender” allows better phrasing in issues like this? (That was completely new term to me, just looked up meaning...so obviously not sure of way it should be properly used.)

[PaulBullion]

But doesn’t it then make it difficult to discuss issue of whether it’s appropriate for all women to compete in women’s sports events?

Perhaps a formulation like “Perhaps trans women should not be allowed to compete in women’s events...” is okay?

Or are you suggesting term “cisgender” allows better phrasing in issues like this? (That was completely new term to me, just looked up meaning...so obviously not sure of way it should be properly used.)

"biologically female" or "biologically women" is usually used to deny trans people their identity. It also ignores the fact that Biology, as a science, knows that there are more than 2 genders in nature. Assigning the labels "woman" and "man" to people is an overly simplified social process, not a biological fact.