some thoughts

Good Morning.
  I read this article on Milkboys today, and I'd like to share it with you, and my thoughts, and ask yours in return. 

  Transgender Sterilization Finally Dying



There is no good reason why our passports & IDs should hold any information about our genitals. Gender is a fluid concept and for many it doesn’t have anything to do with having a penis or a vagina, not to mention the fact that some people have both or neither. Alas we live in a world where only two genders are recognised and bureaucracy insists on aligning your gender to your genitals.
This may work for some people but it obviously is problematic for others. In many European countries and U.S. states transgender people, for example, have to undergo sterilization surgery if they want to legally change their gender. Forcing someone to undergo surgery, which always comes with risks, just because they want their ID to reflects their actual gender is just barbaric.

Transgender Rights Protest in Sweden


Sweden was trying to end this practise, that doesn’t really go well with their reputation of being the paragon for gender equality & queer rights, for some time now. But while the oppositional parties (Left, Green & Social Democrats) and the major ruling parties (Moderates, Liberals & Centre Party) agreed on ending transgender sterilization, a very small, hardly relevant party (being at only 3% in the polls) of the ruling coalition, was holding back the indented change.

Luckily, after a nation-wide outcry over their position the leaders of said party, the Christian Democrats, came to their senses. Last week they published a statement in Sweden’s biggest newspaper saying:

We believe that even if there is an argument against allowing people who undergo gender reassignment surgery to become parents in their original sex, these reasons are not enough to justify the continued demand for sterilization. Therefore it is our view that the demand for sterilization on change of sex should be dropped.

Many transsexuals face hatred and fear which goes against the principle that all people are of equal value – the guiding principle for our traditional Christian beliefs, and therefore for the Christian Democrats.

  This article raised some questions for me, and will come with a few admissions.  First and foremost, I must admit to being uncomfortable about transexuals.  And, in all respect, I would imagine they are the more uncomfortable at times.  But, please understand that my lack of comfort is my problem, not theirs.  It is because I have a tendency to like things in nice neat understandable packages, and these are folks who are not so easily packaged and labeled for me.  Nonetheless, again, this is due to my own issues.
  When we ask a person for identifiable information, we take a fair amount on faith.  It would take a genetic scan worthy of Star Trek to determine if my ancestry is other than the French/German I believe it to be.  And, in the end, few really care.  Well, since their has been such a deal of intermingling, it likely is moot.  And though this isn't the best example, perhaps, it is one relevant.  When we ask someone if they are male or female, again we take a fair bit on faith.  I have yet to see someone strip search another in order to determine if the prefix of Sir or Madam should be used.  So, what makes one male, and what makes one female?
  In terms of Chromosomes, it's incredibly near thing.  The reports are that we are all female for a time being in the gestation cycle.  So, biologically, it can be assumed that one is male if a penis swings, and female if it doesn't.  But, that's not so fool proof, is it?  Certain differences in birth can allow one to have both, or none.  So, really gender, as opposed to sex?, can only really be determined by the way one sees oneself.  And, in a fair culture, that does tend to be fluid - as the article states.
  One of the things I truly love about the Naturist or FKK culture is that they are far less concerned with label on the locker room door than many.  I recall at work, being busy and tired, a bit distracted, I walked into the wrong bathroom to wash my hands.  At the time, I recall thinking "wow, it sure is clean in here.  When did the boss repaint?" only to have the proverbial light begin to blink.  Good news, no one was in there and no one saw me leave with a very red face.  And, odd that it is, the toilets are divided and doored, so in any event I would have seen nothing in the "worse case".  So, why should it matter?  Why do we get so caught up in this?  Even little children soon come to realize that girl parts and boy parts are different.  Who cares?  Oddly for me, I'd be more apt to stare in an all male environment - but that's off topic...
  So, back to point; people are who they are.  Outside of some very few examples, we are who we say we are.  And even when forced to provide documentation, it is typically only stating that we are who we said we were previously as well.  Even a birth certificate only says who someone else said we were.  It isn't an identity, it's a tag.
  So, as I come wandering back to a point, discomfort with less than tidy packages does not allow me - or anyone else - to dictate to another how that person should identify them self.  Do we say to a person of African heritage that because I am more comfortable with those of "European" ancestry markings, that he is not worthy?  Is it acceptable to tell a person of Indian characteristics that it is not ok to be them?  Of course not.  And yet we have no problem stigmatizing some for other "characteristics", or I guess what I'd prefer to say is "identifiers" if one were to decide labels are mandatory. 
  No, we are so wrapped up in being nice and comfortable with sorting people into our little ordered world, so focused on stereotyping and labeling, that we simply don't care about the person.  Who they are in their hearts is not relevant to us, only how we can fit them into our comfortable labels.  And that, my friends, shows just how small we can be.

I found this incredible..

Incredible.  Intriguing.  Mysterious.  Sensuous.  Athletic.   These are words I found running descriptive to this performance.  I was truly enjoying the show, and would love to have been there.  The mystic music, coupled with the rythmic dance, seemed to make the performance a rapture.  I was enthralled by the obvious talent, the sinuous movement, and the strenght required.  Great performance, please watch.  It was titled: Circonvolution improbable.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Alex4circus

A three minute vacation...

Hi Friends;

  I couldn't post this here.  But, please click on this link and relax... LINK ... I think it will be a nice few minutes for you.  It was for me.

"Don't say Gay"

Hello Friends;
   There is now a bill before the Tennesee  congress which would instruct the public schools to not say anything about "gay" issues, at all, before high school.  Really?  Well, who needs reality.

 
http://www.towleroad.com/2012/02/dont-say-gay-bill-approved-by-tennessee-house-panel.html

thoughts...

Hi Friends;

  I've been spending a bit of surf time this morning.  I saw that Santorum was doing quite well in Michigan and expectations are that he may actually take the state.  That sort of scares the daylights out of me.  But, it gives me a lot of hope, too.  And, the reason it scares me is this picture. 

  You see, I find this to be one of the most beautiful things ever.  It's incredibly innocent, caring, hopeful and endearing.  And yet, for Santorum, it is evil, hedonous and despicable.  He sees it as the end of civilization and a riot in the making.  Why?

  As the man running for the head of one of the most powerful countries in the world, I want someone at the helm that has integrity, but I also want someone who has the understanding that culture changes, people change, and we need to define ourselves not by what was acceptable 2-6,000 years ago in a country half way around the world, but by what are truly foundational concepts important to a people who long to be free and happy.  We need to be less concerned with the fact that someone may love another of the same sex and be more concerned with the fact that people know how to love.  How to care.  How to put another first in their lives and see the wonder and beauty about them.  The fact that Santorum has focused so strongly on "Biblically" based lifestyles concerns me.  To be blunt, he is one who would have stoned Christ for healing on the sabbath. 

  So, why do I think that there's some hope in having someone run who is so polarizing and distasteful and yet unaccountably popular?  Well, I guess it comes from two sources; one is that I find myself an Obama supporter.  I wasn't at first, but he's made some real progress in areas that needed help.  My hope is that he can make great use of a second term and, unconcerned about keeping his job, can really do his job and be the change this country needs.  I personally believe that Obama can beat Santorum.

  My second hope is in America.  I really do have a lot of hope for our country.  It is my sincere hope that given the opportunity to go from what is interesting to fiddle with to what is reality, people will begin to see just how sanctimonious and dangerous this bigot and backwards thinking man really is.  Perhaps we need the opportunity to be tested and grow up.  Of course, everytime one comes to the plate, the chance of striking out is actually greater than the chance of a homerun.  One has to dream. 

~

Electric and hybrid cars.  I drive a pick-up truck.  A chevy, because I am partial to them, though I love the head-on look of the F-150.  The Dodge is not so appealing to me.  Toyota Tundra I like.  But, the point of it all is mute:  I can't afford any of them. 

  The problem I have is though I love my truck, it sucks gas.  I am really only getting about 17 mpg.  But, at 6'5", I don't fit in the little trucks - well, not in the cab.  So, I'm forced to stick with the larger vehicles.  What would really strike me is the electric/gas version of my truck!  I don't think they make one, and if they did it would cost way too much.  For that matter, I have no idea what the projected maintenance is one electric.  Do any of you?

  So, what brings this to you today?  The Iranians.  Do you remember the Seinfeld show?  Specifically, the episodes that referred to "The Soup Nazi"?   He was so disagreeable, so explosive and unsettling, but sold the best soup.  People would line up out the door with hat in hand hoping to be so humble and yet worthy of a bowl of this man's soup.  From what I hear, it is actually based on a real person who really sells great soup.   

  I think of these middle eastern countries as much like this soup nazi.  The have us by the collective curlies.  We are so addicted to the crude that we seek ways of controlling those countries at the cost of billions of dollars and thousands of lives, while at the same time courting them like psychotic rich wives and excuse any and all offenses until they become just too much.

  Wouldn't it be wonderful to not be a slave to oil?  Wouldn't it be wonderful to end our reliance on oil?  Or more to the point, the endless drama and distasteful actions of people so enamoured with the power that the oil brings them?

  My goal this year is to buy a bike.  I haven't ridden a bike more than a couple of times since I was a kid.  I think shortly after buying my first car.  As a teenager, it just didn't seem so very cool.  But, as an adult struggling to maintain my ever expanding waist line and gut, there is a certain attraction to it again.  For one, the few times I did ride a bike over the past many years, I really enjoyed it.  It was quiet, peaceful, and moved me right along.  Oh - and the thing about never forgetting how to ride a bike?  Not quite true.

  The benefits in exercise being obvious, I also have a dog that loves to run.  I am unable.  My joints just won't take it.  I joke now that as a kid I'd maybe run from a fight - now I'll take the ass whoopin just so my knees and back don't get trashed.  So, taking my puppers for a run is something I know that she would enjoy.  But, also, I spend at least a 1.5 gallons of gas just to go to work every day.  The projections are for gas prices to raise to $5.00 this summer.  I could ride to work every now and again.  Ok, that's bs and we all know it - but it's as good a reason to spend $500 as any other.  And, it would be nice to be able to ride around a bit and enjoy the wind in my face, the bugs in my teeth.  I wonder how long it would take before the dog decided to run in front of me and stop?