The Democrat Utopia

[Guy Chamberlin]

34 minutes ago, nic said:

I do not know about trans, but in the local high school it seems to be ‘trendy’ to identify as another gender or sexual preference….I am not even sure how to best word this. Two of the neighbor girls we know have changed how they identify a couple of times now. Most of the kids we see doing this are part of the music and drama programs or the friend groups participate in these areas of study. I only mention this because it’s an observation. It could be that it’s not as comfortable for kids playing football to come out for example. 

 

This is really tricky. I say this as a father of a daughter who has always dated boys but two years  ago informed us they were non-binary and preferred the they pronoun, and then last month announced they were actually trans, a word I was told no long meant transitioning to another sex, but could be used for anyone who no longer identified with their assigned sex or gender.

 

We are loving and accepting parents, but also occasionally confused and irritated. And we found out we are not alone. Among our peer group of parents who met during our kids grade school years, we know at least 8 children who have transitioned in some way. One teenage boy who fully transitioned by name and appearance to a girl, one teenage girl who fully transitioned to a boy (don't know about any chemistry or procedures) and by all reports they are happy and liberated -- feeling like their true selves for the first time in their lives. That's a huge thing.  

 

But the other 6 kids, including ours, are a very mixed bag. When the wine comes out and the parents get all truthful, we admit that in some ways it does feel like a phase and perhaps a social trend. Adolescents and teens who have struggled with issues of identity and belonging since the dawn of time suddenly find there's room for experimentation and yes, a cry for attention that perhaps has little to do with a sense of gender misidentification, more to do with a dislike of social roles in general. Given this bold new category, groups of gender fluid friends are forming. The flavor of rebellion helps, even here in Marin County where parents are quickly learning how to openly support their trans children. 

 

One of our best friends' kids transitioned to male and had started testosterone treatment. What made it painful for them was how he rejected his whole past life as their daughter --- hated seeing himself in old family photos. But they couldn't have been more supportive. Then their new son decided to quit the testosterone, started wearing dresses again, and started dating a boy. He's keeping his boy name and pronouns, but the situation is fluid. 

 

I think we're being asked to accept that the situation is fluid, and maybe we can't keep up with all the changes to the nomenclature, which isn't really the point.  But we'd still like a place where parent can consider the possibility these things may be phases or trends without being accused of transphobia. 

[teachercd]

1 hour ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

This is really tricky. I say this as a father of a daughter who has always dated boys but two years  ago informed us they were non-binary and preferred the they pronoun, and then last month announced they were actually trans, a word I was told no long meant transitioning to another sex, but could be used for anyone who no longer identified with their assigned sex or gender.

 

We are loving and accepting parents, but also occasionally confused and irritated. And we found out we are not alone. Among our peer group of parents who met during our kids grade school years, we know at least 8 children who have transitioned in some way. One teenage boy who fully transitioned by name and appearance to a girl, one teenage girl who fully transitioned to a boy (don't know about any chemistry or procedures) and by all reports they are happy and liberated -- feeling like their true selves for the first time in their lives. That's a huge thing.  

 

But the other 6 kids, including ours, are a very mixed bag. When the wine comes out and the parents get all truthful, we admit that in some ways it does feel like a phase and perhaps a social trend. Adolescents and teens who have struggled with issues of identity and belonging since the dawn of time suddenly find there's room for experimentation and yes, a cry for attention that perhaps has little to do with a sense of gender misidentification, more to do with a dislike of social roles in general. Given this bold new category, groups of gender fluid friends are forming. The flavor of rebellion helps, even here in Marin County where parents are quickly learning how to openly support their trans children. 

 

One of our best friends' kids transitioned to male and had started testosterone treatment. What made it painful for them was how he rejected his whole past life as their daughter --- hated seeing himself in old family photos. But they couldn't have been more supportive. Then their new son decided to quit the testosterone, started wearing dresses again, and started dating a boy. He's keeping his boy name and pronouns, but the situation is fluid. 

 

I think we're being asked to accept that the situation is fluid, and maybe we can't keep up with all the changes to the nomenclature, which isn't really the point.  But we'd still like a place where parent can consider the possibility these things may be phases or trends without being accused of transphobia. 

This is such a great sentence.  

 

 

[nic]

4 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

This is really tricky. I say this as a father of a daughter who has always dated boys but two years  ago informed us they were non-binary and preferred the they pronoun, and then last month announced they were actually trans, a word I was told no long meant transitioning to another sex, but could be used for anyone who no longer identified with their assigned sex or gender.

 

We are loving and accepting parents, but also occasionally confused and irritated. And we found out we are not alone. Among our peer group of parents who met during our kids grade school years, we know at least 8 children who have transitioned in some way. One teenage boy who fully transitioned by name and appearance to a girl, one teenage girl who fully transitioned to a boy (don't know about any chemistry or procedures) and by all reports they are happy and liberated -- feeling like their true selves for the first time in their lives. That's a huge thing.  

 

But the other 6 kids, including ours, are a very mixed bag. When the wine comes out and the parents get all truthful, we admit that in some ways it does feel like a phase and perhaps a social trend. Adolescents and teens who have struggled with issues of identity and belonging since the dawn of time suddenly find there's room for experimentation and yes, a cry for attention that perhaps has little to do with a sense of gender misidentification, more to do with a dislike of social roles in general. Given this bold new category, groups of gender fluid friends are forming. The flavor of rebellion helps, even here in Marin County where parents are quickly learning how to openly support their trans children. 

 

One of our best friends' kids transitioned to male and had started testosterone treatment. What made it painful for them was how he rejected his whole past life as their daughter --- hated seeing himself in old family photos. But they couldn't have been more supportive. Then their new son decided to quit the testosterone, started wearing dresses again, and started dating a boy. He's keeping his boy name and pronouns, but the situation is fluid. 

 

I think we're being asked to accept that the situation is fluid, and maybe we can't keep up with all the changes to the nomenclature, which isn't really the point.  But we'd still like a place where parent can consider the possibility these things may be phases or trends without being accused of transphobia. 

I appreciate you sharing your perspective and agree with teachercd on the last sentence. I have been working with kids in the community for 20+ years and they certainly are all looking for acceptance and belonging. A person I know is a psychologist that specializes in helping families through gender and identity related topics. I haven’t talked with her much about it, but she has shared her struggles with the kids. she struggled with being female while growing up, but not from a sexual context. She said she was always attracted to men but felt like they had all the advantages. She drew the short straw in being born a women so to speak and was angry about it. I would be interested in getting more of her perspective on these topics, but it is not a conversation I tend to bring up is a social context. I do worry about kids making life long decisions on these topics at a young age when they are still developing and are  impressionable. I am not even sure that puberty blockers are safe. 

[Moiraine]

One concern I have with kids wanting to take drugs or have surgeries is there has to be at least some part of the population of people thinking they're trans who are merely confused, and conflating gender/societal pressure with biological sex. And when you're a teenager and you feel like crap you try to find reasons why. Being born the wrong sex is a possible reason why. When for some thinking they're trans the reason is they're a teenager and teenagers have a lot of confusing crap going on in their brains.

I'm not trying to delegitimize being trans but what I'm describing exists. There are people who regret transitioning. As a parent I'd be worried if my kid wanted to take anything or transition before the age of 18 (and after, too, but at that point it'd be out of my hands). I had no idea what I was doing when I was 20 so I'd be concerned with that age too.

I feel the main cause for the people who are confused is that gender is too black and white and there is too much pressure to conform. I would guess the % of girls who are tomboys has decreased and more who would be considered tomboys are now saying they're trans boys.

[DevoHusker]

44 minutes ago, Moiraine said:

One concern I have with kids wanting to take drugs or have surgeries is there has to be at least some part of the population of people thinking they're trans who are merely confused, and conflating gender/societal pressure with biological sex. And when you're a teenager and you feel like crap you try to find reasons why. Being born the wrong sex is a possible reason why. When for some thinking they're trans the reason is they're a teenager and teenagers have a lot of confusing crap going on in their brains.

I'm not trying to delegitimize being trans but what I'm describing exists. There are people who regret transitioning. As a parent I'd be worried if my kid wanted to take anything or transition before the age of 18 (and after, too, but at that point it'd be out of my hands). I had no idea what I was doing when I was 20 so I'd be concerned with that age too.

I feel the main cause for the people who are confused is that gender is too black and white and there is too much pressure to conform. I would guess the % of girls who are tomboys has decreased and more who would be considered tomboys are now saying they're trans boys.

Agree here. I had in my small class a couple tom boy girls that ended up married with kids and one popular dating girl that has been out as gay now happily for years. 

[Archy1221]

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

10 hours ago, teachercd said:

This is such a great sentence.  

 

 

I mostly agree with this sentence. It's dumb and Democrats need to simply abandon talking points on it. But...

 

It's important to remember that one Political Party spent a decade suing the federal government from expanding Healthcare in their states - harming an untold number of people in the process.

 

That same Party spent the pandemic cultivating and weaponizing distrust of vaccines leading to the unnecessary deaths of nearly 320k Americans (5.5x the number of military deaths in Vietnam). 

 

Democrats support often annoying and stupid policies. But they're harmless.  Republicans have gotten hundreds of thousands killed, and that's before we consider their anti-democratic nature.

[nic]

One trans persons take on the current situation with kids. The title is typical FOX, but this person is concerned with the lack of mental health care given to kids that decide they want to transition at any age and also expresses concern about puberty blockers. 

 

https://www.foxnews.com/health/transsexual-pioneer-criticizes-modern-trans-activists-indoctrinating-kids

 

 

[Born N Bled Red]

10 hours ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

I mostly agree with this sentence. It's dumb and Democrats need to simply abandon talking points on it. But...

 

It's important to remember that one Political Party spent a decade suing the federal government from expanding Healthcare in their states - harming an untold number of people in the process.

 

That same Party spent the pandemic cultivating and weaponizing distrust of vaccines leading to the unnecessary deaths of nearly 320k Americans (5.5x the number of military deaths in Vietnam). 

 

Democrats support often annoying and stupid policies. But they're harmless.  Republicans have gotten hundreds of thousands killed, and that's before we consider their anti-democratic nature.

 

Its amazing to me that one party can get away with screaming about unhinged liberty to do what they want, when they want, simply because they want to, without consideration of impact of those around them, yet then turn around and attempt to control every other aspect of other people's lives. Perhaps that's Trump's legacy- making unapologetic selfishness and self centered thought something to be celebrated rather than shamed. 

[Guy Chamberlin]

12 hours ago, Archy1221 said:

 

 

Hey, there you are!

 

[Archy1221]

3 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Hey, there you are!

 

Hi

[knapplc]

You guys remember this story from a couple of weeks ago? The folks accused of bullying the trans kids seem like reasonable, well-adjusted people.

 

Or, you know.... not.

 

 

 

[Archy1221]

 

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/disclosed-how-obama-administration-officials-conducted-shadow-diplomacy-with-iran-to-undermine-trump/

 

Senior Obama administration officials engaged in a secret meeting with Iran in 2018 as part of an effort to undermine the Trump administration's diplomatic push to isolate the hardline regime, according to an internal State Department document.

[RedDenver]

12 minutes ago, Archy1221 said:

 

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/disclosed-how-obama-administration-officials-conducted-shadow-diplomacy-with-iran-to-undermine-trump/

 

Senior Obama administration officials engaged in a secret meeting with Iran in 2018 as part of an effort to undermine the Trump administration's diplomatic push to isolate the hardline regime, according to an internal State Department document.

If this was without the knowledge of the administration, then I hope the official(s) are charged the same as Flynn.

[knapplc]

12 minutes ago, Archy1221 said:

 

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/disclosed-how-obama-administration-officials-conducted-shadow-diplomacy-with-iran-to-undermine-trump/

 

Senior Obama administration officials engaged in a secret meeting with Iran in 2018 as part of an effort to undermine the Trump administration's diplomatic push to isolate the hardline regime, according to an internal State Department document.

 

Which US officials allegedly attended the meeting? John Kerry's name is in the article but it never makes the claim that he participated in the meeting described by the memo. Weird how the memo only identifies the Iranian official, Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif. Who met with him? Was this the only meeting? What was the outcome of the meeting?

 

Having read the memo, I'm not sure how this shows an attempt to undermine the bloated cheeto. Did anyone actually read the memo, or are they just reacting to the headline? 

 

Here's the section on JCPOA. Where's the undermining?

 

---

 

Way Forward in Iranian-US Relations

 

I will answer this question in two ways. First, what people think in Iran. Polls by
the University of Maryland of Iranians, as well as Iranian polls, say the same thing.
Iranians prefer engagement. I was the top Iranian personality for two years after the
end of the JCPOA talks . Zarif had 97%, 87% approval. No one else came close. I am
not a politician, so Iranians prefer engagement is my reading. My popularity dragged as
Obama sourced on the deal. I was as popular as Suleimani but now I am at 47% and
his is up. He is closer to 80%. People of Iran once preferred engagement, now opted
for resistance as the only reality. That is what the polls are telling us now and it is the
reality of the region. This is the choice of Iranians not something they aspire fore, but
something they now see as no choice. The popular mood in Iran now is that
engagement will not work. We haveo be responsive to the population, we don't poll
every day, but have to pay attention.

 

If we apply this to Trump, the problem we see is first of all a photo op with
Trump was an asset for Kim Jung-Un. He needed the photo op for his vanity. We don't.
Second problem is that I talked to the North Korean foreign minister after the
agreement with the US and he said that Pompeo and Bolton can't get the peace
declaration that Trump promised. The US says no peace deal and the US will reimpose
sanctions but the condition is zero missiles, zero nuclear enrichment. This what Bolton
wants. I know Bolton and negotiated with him years ago. His views are so radical, that
we could not reach an agreement. Absolute impossibility to reach an agreement with
John Bolton unless you ask him to sit down and read at dictation speed what he wants
and then you sign it. He is incapable of compromise.

 

My read of Trump is that he will be a two-term president. I said Trump would be
elected in 2016 when others thought it was Clinton for certain.

 

I see Putin saying the same thing that I have: that the US is excessively
weaponizing the dollar and that this is leading to the world pulling away from the dollar
as the currency of choice.

 

Brian Hooks said that the JCPOA was a personal agreement, between two
persons, but we want a treaty. But the JCPOA was a UN General Assembly decision.
We had a treaty, but the US took Iran to the International Criminal Court of Justice on
two cases and appropriated $2billiion of assets but the court ruled against the US. The
US withdrew from the treaty and from the Protocol of Vienna Convention. Is there any
reliability left?

 

When Trump left the JCPOA, Iran had a meeting with EU foreign ministers and
we were asked if were talking behind their backs with the Americans? We can't. There 
are no sunset clauses in the JCPOA but that doesn't matter as Iran will never seek
atomic weapons. The preface alone took eight-and-a-half years. Every time table has
been subject to the longest negotiations and reached the most carefully negotiated
document. It doesn't mean that Iran will start building a bomb in 15 years but when we
start the nuclear fuel project . It is almost impossible to turn fuel rods into nuclear
weapons. The talk about a sunset clause was misleading and those critics don't
understand the assumptions reached between John Kerry and me. This was about
what an industrial scale peaceful nuclear program would look like. One that is
economically feasible, technically sound. I have always believed in non-zero sum
outcomes. 

 

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