octave

Gilbert and Sullivan is great for re-wording. Here is Tom Lehrer. I do tend to judge people on whether they know and appreciate Tom Lehrer.

I have played in the orchestra for many G&S productions. The trouble is in the orchestra pit you can't see what is happening on the stage

I know someone who is disgusted by fat people. they hate seeing them and they resent them and believe they soak up too much of the health budget. I disagree, I think people make choices good and bad but none of us are perfect. I prefer to be tolerant and empathetic partly I suppose for selfish reasons. I am not spending my days being angry about what others do unless it is directly negatively affecting me. This helps me stave off depression and anger.

These pictures represent the most extreme cases and I have never come across individuals like this I would suspect that they are a rarity. Picture 3 is one I don't find challenging at all and in fact I can understand the aesthetic choice here. If that were some kind of lacey sleeve no one would care. As for the others I would find them challenging if I came face to face with them (which I haven't) I would file it under a person I don't quite understand and I would move on. We do live in times when people are probably too easily offended.

My son employs someone who has transitioned. They are a valued talented employee and as far as I can see happy. What we have both done here is cherry pick a single case to make a case either way. These days gender characteristics are more fluid. I am presently on the Melbourne Geelong train and in the seat in front of me is a man dressed as a man but with long fingernails with glossy blue nail polish. It is just an observation and makes no difference to me. I would not care if they wore a dress or had had hormones or surgery. It simply is none of my business and has zero effect on my life.

Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Susan Ertz

Nomadpete I accept my body as it is also, however I have no problem with people who can't and choose to do something about it. I simply don't see it as any business of mine what a person and their doctor decides to do. OME I think it is a bit of an old fashioned notion that gay couples split into masculine and feminine roles. My sister and her partner don't have discernable roles and most gay friends I have do not indeed a large proportion of hetero couples don't either. Throughout my marriage, roles have varied. I have worked full-time whilst my wife worked part-time and visa versa. In fact I would think if we totalled up work hours she would have done more than me. After the birth of my son I stayed home full-time with my son for the first year. This was fantastic and I now have a closer relationship with my son. The traditional old male female roles in a relationship are much less prescribed than they used to be and this is definately a good thing.

The thing with electricity is the there are many ways if producing it. You can produce electricity from coal or gas, solar hydro nuclear. Even those who who are suspicious of EVs surely must admit that using our own source of fuel has to be better than importing oil. I know some people do experiment with producing fuel from cooking oil etc but generally refining your own fuel is not possible. I have done a bit of modelling and I could easily provide enough solar to drive 14000km and that is from a relatively small solar system.

Do you mean the price of electricity?

Not bad, but as Mrs Octave said it is not exactly the Orient Express but quite a nice way to travel. We will probably do it again.

So today I am on my way to Adelaide. This is a trip we make every 3 months. Flying is the usual method but this time we thought we would try the train. Anyway when it comes to celebrating the positive this picture really reminds me of a good day. In 2018 my son who lives in NZ had planned a campervan trip around NZ south Island with his business partners. About a week before they were due to depart he messaged us and said "why don't you book an RV and tag along?". Long story short, we did and had a brilliant time. I have many great pictures of this adventure but this one always seems special. We arrived at Dunedin, parked the vans and walked into town. We chose to walk along the beach although it was late afternoon and pretty cold and windy.

When it comes to fear, my wife is more concerned about these things: Speaking to the media in Bondi on Sunday, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she had received reports the man was motivated by a desire to attack women and it was "an obvious line of inquiry" for the investigation." and Three women killed in Ballarat: Australia’s violence issue in the spotlight after brutal VIC alleged murders These things seem to pose a greater threat than someone who started out life male and now has essentially the body of a woman and more importantly the hormonal profile of a woman. I am not aware of cases of females being assaulted or harassed in a toilet or changeroom by someone who has transitioned but every few days a woman is murdered. According the Australian Institute of Criminology around 125 women are murdered per year and 94% of the perpetrators are male. This is the real crisis we face. https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/tandi124.pdf

that is also my question. They make the assertion but don't provide an explanation.

In the video, she says at about 20:40 "if we lose women's rights cease to exist in international law, that's whats at stake""

OME this forum is about discussing things and of course, we will often disagree. I don't believe anyone has done anything other than offer a counter-opinion. You don't need to pick up the Mr Sheen and you are absolutely free to criticize the counter points.

OME I have watched most of this video and I will watch the whole thing but I have a couple of points. Firstly let me just say I have not expressed an opinion on THIS case either way yet. This video is only one side of the argument, I note that the YouTube channel is "The New Culture Forum" which is a right-wing think tank started by Peter Whittle a prominent member of the UKIP party. While this does not negate every point made in the video it does make me wary just as articles from the ABC may make you wary. At around the 9ish minute mark, she mentioned the ABC and says they will not report on it and yet they actually have. I don't know if this was true at the time of the interview or not. The interview was very much a soft-touch affair from a socially conservative think tank. As I say I have not formed an opinion other than the sky is not falling. By the way the other day I met a neighbour who has lived next door for 5 years but we have never spoken. They always seemed ultra-shy or extremely private. When they moved in they were female in appearance and have transitioned to a male appearance. It was great finally meeting them and now we can have a brief chat while passing. I have no idea whether they have a uterus or not (and I don't give a toss) but I assume they were born with one. I am wondering whether they would be able to join the app or would be excluded. As I say I don't have any particular opinion on the actual case. Perhaps it will come down the way you want it to and then that will be good for you won't it?

Does the video have a leaning? Fair point however.... https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/peta-credlin/disaster-sal-grover-to-defend-complaint-against-womensonly-app/video/df41f3388b0f6b07f4bd5063e6c69c44 https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnation%2Flandmark-transgender-discrimination-case-gets-to-the-heart-of-the-issue%2Fnews-story%2Fb22d1b53bf48a5db1686015c38d7306e&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=HIGH-Segment-1-SCORE&V21spcbehaviour=append https://www.aap.com.au/news/judge-to-ponder-what-is-a-woman-case-as-hearings-wrap/

I am not trying to be deliberately picky here but I was already aware of this case and it has been in the MSM that I read. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/11/what-is-a-woman-court-asked-to-rule-on-definition-in-transgender-womans-case-against-giggle-for-girls-platform https://theconversation.com/tickle-vs-giggle-in-a-world-where-transgender-people-are-under-attack-this-is-a-test-case-for-australia-227702 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-11/transgender-woman-seeks-damages-giggle-for-girls-app/103696500 Social change has always thrown up conundrums that eventually get solved. I don't believe this is some terrible crisis such as the likes of Trump and DeSantis bang on about.

Why is it that males pose a safety risk to females? Perhaps there is a problem here that males must address.

No, not much here.

We went out to a local brewery for lunch today (retirement is hell) and I noticed they have installed complementary EV charging.

You can replace all phone batteries yourself however it is a bit of a pain. You can pay to get a non-replaceable battery replaced. New legislation in the EU will require all phones to have replaceable batteries by 2027 so things are going in the right direction. I have been lucky lately as my still tech-savvy 90-year father inlaw replaces his phone every few years and hands me down his old but still good phone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Hurricane