Thakkar

2 minutes ago, binjalin said:

Hmmm well it is true that I actually don't really understand and I have tried to. But I can't get over the DNA issue anyway I have pulled us off-topic.

You are not alone. DNA is complicated. I don't claim to understand it. All I know for sure is that it isn't a choice, whatever the underlying DNA issue. 

I also feel that once I accepted the fact that it isn't a choice, the right approach is to be compassionate, to accept and to support. I am sure you will feel the same and reject Trump's divisive rhetoric on this matter.

There! We're back on topic.

You are welcome, moderators. ?

T

4 minutes ago, binjalin said:

Why regardless of DNA?  what defines our gender? I quite accept, and respect,  everyone's right to choose how they live their life and that includes:

 

smoking pot

abortion

gay or straight

Trans or whatever 

 

But you cannot change gender it is defined, at conception.

 

PS an aside on the Tennis example you are really saying a Trans can play in the woman's section? with the benefits of male DNA?  strength etc.?  now that IS bizarre but it hasn't been tested yet so let's see?

Smoking and abortion are choices, albeit very, very different kinds.

Gay, straight or trans are not choices. The fact that you think they are is the crux of your misunderstanding on the issue. I thought you were prejudiced. I was wrong. You are just misinformed—a state of affairs much easier to correct. There is hope for you after all. ?

Cheers.

T

T

Diplomats laughing at Trump over leaked Mexico transcript

“He’s the opposite of Teddy Roosevelt,” that official quipped to Guajardo about Trump. “He speaks loudly and carries a small stick.”

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article165305902.html

6 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

Trump just rallied in W. Virginia. The Governor (Big Jim)  just traded up to the Republican Party.

Holding rallies *after* an election is not normal in a democracy; it's what dictators do.

To anyone still not convinced, I urge you to read the transcripts of the Trump/Penña-Nietzsche and Trump/Turnbull conversations. The man really is a moron; it's not an act he puts on for political purposes. Here's a taste:

To President Peña-Nieto:

"In Ohio, they are having rallies for Trump right now because Trump has taken a hard stance on Mexico. We lost a lot of factories in Ohio and Michigan and I won these states - some of these states have not been won in 38 years by a Republican and I won them very easily. So they are dancing in the streets. You probably have the same thing where they are dancing in your streets also, but in reverse. "...And we have the drug lords in Mexico that are knocking the hell out of our country. They are sending drugs to Chicago, Los Angeles, and to New York. Up in New Hampshire - I won New Hampshire..."

To Australian PM Turnbull:

The President: Look, I do not know how you got them to sign a deal like this, but that is how they lost the election. They said I had no way to 270 and I got 306

http://m.sfgate.com/news/article/This-deal-will-make-me-look-terrible-Full-11731445.php

7 hours ago, Credo said:

He really doesn't do well with numbers.  

He's a millionaire who thinks he's a billionaire. He may think there are millions to of Trans people in the army "costing the government gazillions of dollars—money that could be used to pay for a wall that Mexico will pay for and it'll be a big beautiful 50 foot—or 30 foot, is there a difference, they're both numbers, right?—wall made from the finest cheapest materials cause I know about building stuff, a wall is like a golf course, but without grass, but lots of holes to see through so bags of drugs don't get thrown over...what were we talking about again?"

14 minutes ago, MrPatrickThai said:

Didn't 3 million illegal immigrants vote for her?

Yeah, the same 3 million who attended Trump's inauguration.

T

4 minutes ago, Grouse said:

I wonder if he's read Miller's "Death of a Salesman"?

You could've stopped at "read" and you wouldn't be far wrong.

He's losing it. Actual quotes from WSJ interview transcripts:

2 minutes ago, captspectre said:

cowards never step outside. but the relative thing does not ring as i do not have any relatives here and  don't now what you are talking about. but stay under your bed where it is safe. I have you pegged as a lose who does not have anything better to do.

"Don't know what you are talking about"

There's the rub. 

1 minute ago, captspectre said:

what's that supposed to mean? explain yourself.

It means what it says. Do you think this is a two bit bar where you can ask me to "step outside"?

Jennifer Mendelsohn (‪@CleverTitleTK‬)

3/8/17, 09:50

Stephen Miller favors immigrants who speak English. But the 1910 census shows his own great-grandmother couldn't. #oops pic.twitter.com/16GZ6Wtgvf

A classic case of use of pulling up the drawbridge after you yourself have crossed.

The Reagan Battalion (‪@ReaganBattalion‬)

3/8/17, 06:16

Did Melania Trump speak English when she immigrated to the United States in 1996?

And did she obtain her citizenship legally or did she lie about working illegally here first? 

White nationalist talking points FROM THE WH PODIUM!!! On live TV! In the country that invented the term "melting pot"

Just six months after the first black president, no less. No wonder that despite zero legislative achievement, not a single election promise kept, there are people out there who feel Trump has achieved a lot. In their eyes, he has.

Turns out that what Miller was saying (FROM THE WH PODIUM!) is a popular white nationalist talking point:

https://thinkprogress.org/stephen-miller-attacks-statue-of-liberty-poem-echoing-popular-white-nationalist-talking-point-f90c2ae0be48

2 hours ago, simple1 said:

Miller is widely seen as sharing an "ideological kinship" with, and has had a "long collaboration" with, current White House Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Miller_(political_advisor)

In the words of Olberman, Miller can go Bannon himself.

2 hours ago, binjalin said:

But often they do want special treatment. Bathrooms or use the girls bathrooms. They may want

 to be the opposite gender but their DNA doesn't change and that should determine such things. What happens about sports?  men's or women's tennis? (for example). These 'rights' are not rights and the world is not one super PC place where we are all equal. Money divides us for a start. Education and many other things including genetic disposition and intelligence.

 

Trying to morph the world into a Kumbaya boring place where we are all the 'same' is nonsense but I do defend their right to choose who and what they want to be but that should not mean the world elevating their needs. 

When have Trans people demanded a special bathroom for themselves? Someone who identifies as female and who has transitioned to female wanting to use the female bathroom is perfectly reasonable.

A tennis player who has fully transitioned to female should what, compete only with male players? She is female, regardless of DNA.

The world will never be a "super PC place" as long as bigots and boors live among us, so you have no worries there for the foreseeable future.

If you think that asking for equal treatment is the same as wanting to smooth out all differences in wealth, intelligence and talent, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Again, trans people are not asking the world to "elevate" the needs of trans people, just to elevate everyone's level of compassion.

T

8 minutes ago, binjalin said:

I don't believe that anyone has any 'right' to be hateful to another and that includes Trans, Gay's, Blacks or whatever. PC is a hateful thing too as it seeks to enhance minorities into 'specialties' from Trans to Aboriginals. We can respect and work for equality but that's not what is happening with the PC mania that is around these days and the result?  Trump!  people have had enough of it and have gone 'OTT' and elected a megalomaniac.

It seems that for some people, anything they dislike is "PC" and anything they want to do is "free speech" and "I have my rights"

Again, Trans are not asking for special treatment. They are demanding equal treatment. Aborigines would ideally like all their land back and their stolen generations restored. Since that's impossible, a little compensation for generations of victimization is not unreasonable.

T

3 minutes ago, Belzybob said:

Same pretentious nonsense. You can disagree with an opinion, but that does not make the opinion wrong. I don't agree with you, but that doesn't mean you are wrong either.

Agreeing or disagreeing need no criteria.

Right or wrong requires some criteria.

if, base pad purely on a poster's avatar, I were to say that in my opinion they were so ugly that they probably never had a girlfriend, would I be right or wrong or even credible? Would my opinion be at all valid?

T

31 minutes ago, binjalin said:

I don't really care if you were born a man and want to become a lady. Your business. I don't understand it though and can't pretend that I do but I do think the worlds gone into a PC overdrive. Will there be a Trans Olympics next?  

Allowing everyone the opportunity to apply to serve in the military isn't about being PC. It's about adhering to the "equal rights" part of the constitution. It's about equal rights, not special rights.

While on the subject of "PC" please allow me to rant a little and please don't take it as a criticism of you. It's just a general rant that I'm taking this opportunity to spout.

Criticizing "political correctness" is just another way of saying. I get to be as big of a Nazi, racist f#*khead as I want and you can't say sh!t.

Sorry, not happening. 

Stop telling others to respect people's opinions. That's for "I don't like coffee" not for "I don't like black people"

You CAN have an opinion. I don't have to respect it. And I have the right to tell you that it is hateful, exclusionary, wrong, uninformed and unacceptable.

T

2 minutes ago, Golgota said:

I think you shouldn't bother, most of the "retired heroes" (sic) we have on Thai visa do not read the answers or do not comment the arguments

I know what you mean. However, I've taken in a few stray dogs in my time and I've managed to teach even the oldest one a few new tricks, so I'm always hopeful. I believe most people are fundamentally good. I've watched (and not in a creepy way) kids of all types play well together and seen that prejudice of all types is but learned behavior. What is learned can be unlearned.

T

4 minutes ago, Skywalker69 said:

Trump says America has 'the highest taxes in the world'—here's how the US actually compares

 

At a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that, in America, "we have the highest taxes in the world." In reality, the United States has average or below average taxes compared to similar economies.

 

The Pultizer Prize-winning fact-checking site Politifact.com calls the President's assertion, which he has been making for a couple of years now, "one of his most repeated falsehoods."

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/26/trump-claims-america-has-the-highest-taxes-in-the-world.html

Is it still news when Trump tells a blatant lie?

President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal that after his controversial speech at the Boy Scouts National Jamboree in West Virginia, the head of the Boy Scouts called him and told him it was "the greatest speech that was ever made to them." 

But the organization told TIME they are unaware of any call from national leadership placed to the White House.

http://time.com/4883422/donald-trump-boy-scouts-wall-street-journal-transcript/

2 hours ago, Trouble said:

I have no problems at all with transgenders serving in the military and I understand that some people are not comfortable as they were born. However, it is my opinion that transgenders should make their decision about whom they want to be prior to joining not after.  You join as a man, finish the enlistment as a man. Same goes for women.  It is not the military's function to go through the process needed if one wants a sex change in the middle of an enlistment, nor is it the taxpayers responsibility to pay for it. These things normally require months of counseling, etc. and medical procedures taking the person away from their job of being a war fighter.  It's not fair to the other troops. I sure would like to see how the military has been dealing with this situation up to this point. The study which is due should help answer a lot of questions.

People who comment on the issue might find it useful to understand the original policy before commenting. 

"...plan for accepting transgender recruits carries a number of stipulations: candidates suffering from gender dysphoria may not join unless a medical provider certifies that the applicant “has been stable without clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning for 18 months.” The applicant also must have completed “medical treatment associated with gender transition” and have been “stable in the preferred gender for 18 months.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/18/james-mattis-faces-transgender-decision-for-milita/

1 hour ago, captspectre said:

I honorably served in the United states ARMED forces probably before you were born, in two wars and have been properly rewarded for my service!   being physically fit and mentally fit are two different things. 

Being clued up and clueless are also two different things. All applicants have to be assessed and screened before being accepted. Trans people aren't automatically accepted just because they are trans.

T