The Silver Fern

@canefan said in RIP 2023:

@MN5 said in RIP 2023:

@canefan said in RIP 2023:

@Stargazer said in RIP 2023:

Really sad to hear this.
Still love this song.

I remember hearing that when Prince heard she was going to cover his song, his expectations were low to say the least. He was pleasantly surprised it must be said, in fact Sinead's version is the iconic one

Prince was a genius but some of his lesser songs were done better by others.

Manic Monday by the Bangles and I feel for you by Chaka Khan spring to mind.

He was fucken petty, weird and a bit of a cock though.

There was NOTHING of his on YouTube until after he died which is stupid from his point of view because it essentially stopped a legion of younger fans discovering his music.

Rumour had it he gave Manic Monday to the Bangles because he wanted to get with Susannah Hoffs. A reasonable wish if you ask me

Perfectly understandable.

@dogmeat said in RIP 2023:

@paremata I met him a few years ago along with his two sons Dilhan and Mahlik .

He was a real old-fashioned gentleman. Used to drink 18 cups of tea a day, starting with an English Breakfast when he woke and progressively getting weaker as the day wore on before ending with a peppermint to aid his sleep.

You are spot on about his good works.

Dilmah is the only plantation to retailer operation going. When he first started out, he told his staff (about 15 in number) that he would fund their children's education right through to university graduation. He also offered all staff full health cover. Even though Dilmah ended up employing thousands he continued to honour his original promise.

His obituaries have made for interesting reading .
I can’t quite imagine drinking 18 cups of tea with a 90 year old prostate though. Truly a man of steel .

@Donsteppa said in RIP 2023:

@mikedogz said in RIP 2023:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-drink/300932045/merrill-j-fernando-the-founder-of-dilmah-tea-has-died-at-93

Tea and Dilmah Tea Parties at the cricket. A life well lived.

Apparently all the tea in hospices in NZ is supplied for free by Dilmah . There’s probably a lot more stuff this guy did that will come to light over the next few weeks.

@Bones said in Twitter:

@paremata That Chapman one is outright bizarre. How did the writer think they could get away with that?

Agree It is bizarre, putting aside the fact she’s never said she was queer (batshit crazy Alice Walker claims they were a couple, Chapman never confirmed it) that song was just absolutely massive.

The real travesty is she missed out on best song to Don’t worry be happy by Bobby McFerrin ffs.

I love community notes

Rhys got so comically fat before he was banned that the guy who’s job it was to hold him up on the velodrome couldn’t support him anymore

Transwomen were finally banned from competitive cycling. Trans Armstrong aka Rhys McKinnon aka Rachel McKinnon aka Veronica Ivy probably did more harm than anyone to transwomen competing in cycling but he was competing in masters events . The final straw was a trans woman winning an actual title . The fact a fat slob like Rhys was ever competitive actually proved the point about biological differences between men and women .

Rhys spent years doing things like mocking a terminally ill feminist and suggesting that feminists “die in a grease fire” while being the public face of transwomen in cycling and appearing on talk shows etc. He clashed with Martina Navratilova a couple of times, she got the last laugh though

@Victor-Meldrew said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

@paremata said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

The term “assigned at birth” is based around external genitalia obviously. It’s a recent turn of phrase the trans community have adopted along with gender identity to muddy things.

Bit bored so I did some googling. Some surprising figures,

The term has little to do with the trans community and has been around in medical circles for decades. Google shows the sex of around 1 in 200 babies is indeterminate at birth and can weeks before it becomes clear and determined. Surprised by that - perhaps something which isn't talked about?

Even then about 0.2% of births result in genital ambiguity and are classed as intersex. That intersex figure is even higher if you count things like hormone levels & Chromosomes. Surprised by those figures but they are referenced, so assume many are regarded as a medical condition treatable with surgery, drugs etc in the West.

For what it’s worth her school principal thought she was a boy till she was 16 .

Read she suffered real abuse at school as she looked like a boy and often forced to strip to show her genitals or lack thereof. Regarded as a freak, she had a pretty appalling childhood because of the way she was born

When did you first hear the phrase “assigned at birth”? It’s only recently escaped the trans community and medical circles and surfaced on articles about trans people in the media etc .

It’s a silly phrase that is usually a signal you’re dealing with a loon , much like insisting on they/them pronouns.

My mother was a nurse and told me about a couple of kids born on her watch . One had no anus and got a colostomy bag until they gave it surgery before it went to school . Another had six fingers on one one hand and surprisingly wasn’t swaddled in a Canterbury blanket .

@MajorPom said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

@booboo if she’s male, why was she assigned female at birth?

The term “assigned at birth” is based around external genitalia obviously. It’s a recent turn of phrase the trans community have adopted along with gender identity to muddy things.

Because of her testosterone she has male bone density and male strength . She’s intersex but presents as female .

For what it’s worth her school principal thought she was a boy till she was 16 .

@Victor-Meldrew said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

@paremata said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

So because you think one of the top athletes in mma could beat her all the women she’d have to beat along the way to get to a title fight should just deal with competing against what is effectively a man strength wise?

Not trolling, but can you put some grammar into that as I really don't understand it and would like to!

He used the example of Rhonda Rousey being able to take down CS.

To get to a title fight against someone of her calibre she’d have to beat a lot of other women along the way . The real point isn’t whether she’d beat Rousey but that she’d have an unfair advantage against the other contenders.

We already have the example of Fallon Fox , born male , fathered two kids then gets a couple of bolt ons tells no one he’s a man and competes in mma. Apparently he wasn’t actually that good technique wise but he had superior strength to women in his weight class and dominated them even crushing the skull of one of them . Eventually he came up against a woman who was a much better fighter and he got his balls handed to him . So yeah maybe RR could beat CS , a lot of women have to compete with her though for to get to that fight.

His Wikipedia page actually covers it quite well, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallon_Fox

@MajorPom said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

@paremata said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

You don’t have a problem with her competing? You’re not the one who’s going to miss out on prize money , scholarship opportunities or sponsorships or medals. Women who have no chance to compete with her because she has internal testes are though . Having male hormones is nothing like Ian Thorpes feet .

Would you feel comfortable with her competing against women in a combat sport ?

It’s obviously a shit situation for her and other intersex female athletes , I think the women who aren’t intersex deserve a level playing field though.
Zero sympathy for her for the reasons I’ve already mentioned.

Yeah, I think the case is very tricky and I don't see a solution which is fair. Woman aren't missing out because Caster Semenya is a woman. She's not an ex-dude which is the crux of the Trans issue.

Ultimately, not everybody can be a top level athlete & they do have certain genetic things that put them there. I've never seen Caster naked (and have no desire to) but as she was female at birth, then I have to assume that, if you put science aside, then she is in actual fact, a woman.

Combat sports? I'd feel pretty comfortable that Rhonda Rousey, Serena Williams would take her down, no problems.

Honestly can’t tell if you’re trolling.

First you say having internal testes is similar to having big feet now you say you’d be comfortable with her competing in combat sports because Rhonda Rousey could take her down? So because you think one of the top athletes in mma could beat her all the women she’d have to beat along the way to get to a title fight should just deal with competing against what is effectively a man strength wise?

@MajorPom said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

@Victor-Meldrew said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

@MiketheSnow

She's a rare and interesting case. Intersex and assigned female at birth and isn't trying to be what she isn't - unlike Lia Thomas.

It's a tricky one and according to what you read, people have tried their best to resolve the issue even though it's been a bit cack-handed at times. Not helped by the Sth African government screaming racism either.

Agree entirely. Caster's case should not be conflicted with the transgender debate. They are not two of the same.

I hold a slightly different view on her in that I think Thorpe's feet is a valid comparison. I don't really have a problem with her competing.

You don’t have a problem with her competing? You’re not the one who’s going to miss out on prize money , scholarship opportunities or sponsorships or medals. Women who have no chance to compete with her because she has internal testes are though . Having male hormones is nothing like Ian Thorpes feet .

Would you feel comfortable with her competing against women in a combat sport ?

It’s obviously a shit situation for her and other intersex female athletes , I think the women who aren’t intersex deserve a level playing field though.
Zero sympathy for her for the reasons I’ve already mentioned.

Was the bloke who has convictions for kidnapping , torture and attempted murder of a fellow inmate and now larps as a woman calling for TERFs to be punched covered?

Due to the outcry about this landwhale police are investigating. I wouldn’t expect much though

@Victor-Meldrew said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

@MiketheSnow

She's a rare and interesting case. Intersex and assigned female at birth and isn't trying to be what she isn't - unlike Lia Thomas.

It's a tricky one and according to what you read, people have tried their best to resolve the issue even though it's been a bit cack-handed at times. Not helped by the Sth African government screaming racism either.

Women shouldn’t have to compete against her. The argument from South Africans that her internal testes is no different to Ian Thorpes massive feet giving him an advantage is pathetic too .

There were three top female runners from Africa who turned out to be intersex . She was the most famous, I couldn’t find the thirds name although I didn’t look too hard . I’d feel some sympathy for them if they didn’t hide behind politics/racism when they were told they couldn’t compete against women who didn’t have testosterone coursing through their veins .

Mar 11, 2023

Intersex runner Annet Negesa fighting for everyone's right to compete in sport

Ugandan middle-distance runner Annet Negesa was preparing for the London Olympics when she was told she had high testosterone levels. What followed effectively ended her career and up-ended her life. Now she's speaking out.

Any memes about this yet?

Stuff

Been a shit couple of days, first Treat Williams and now Cormac McCarthy .

@Tim said in Good podcasts:

Might be good:

In February 2016, a hit-team of 6 men burst through the doors of a boxing weigh-in at Dublin's Regency Hotel. There, a Kinahan Cartel lieutenant named David Byrne, was shot point blank in the head. The attack took place in front of a room packed full of sportspeople, media and civilians including young children. From that moment on, Irish gangland would never be the same again.

THE KINAHANS

This is awesome, cheers.

@antipodean said in Stupid shit you see on the internet:

@paremata How can she be an influencer with those sorry excuses for fun bags?

I think her arse makes up for that tbh but hopefully this helps balance things out for you.