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Obviously there are profound and ancient reasons behind the gamete binary. No human would be here to contemplate the nature of sex if not for genetic recombination via sexual reproduction! But still, it's worth asking, why is it not also important to consider the many other aspects and dimensions of sex, sexuality, and gender? Why should they be subordinate to gametes in discussions about human life? I mean, most people on this forum don't want to limit sexual intercourse to reproduction, right? The conservatives who prioritorize baby-making over pleasure can be said to keep every other aspect of sex subordinate to its primeval ultimate function of binary gamete bonding. I don't think that you're doing that here, by the way. But the question of "why gametes as most important aspect of sex to focus on in discussions of human living" is a pertinent one to ask.

Very troubled. False flag crap.

Fair enough, they bother me as well. How do you feel about the presence of violent Zionist counterprotesters who keep trying to incite a violent response from the protesters? Like the man who, in the middle of the mess, yelled “kill the Jews” causing the police to react only for it to be shown later he was a Zionist activist?

I’ll repeat: No. I think with the civil rights movement coerced change was necessary due to the incredibly slow pace of change in the US. But it is coercive and people react poorly to coercion. So when we talk about coercive methods to force change blowback should be considered. The evil corrected by the civil rights movement makes the blowback worth the cost.

Then maybe just state your point instead of asking leading questions and then moving the goal posts.

I appreciate your point. I was born in 1971. I’m 53.

At Brown, Evergreen College, and Middlebury then protests have gotten the administrations to agree to some of the student demands, including voting on divestment and making statements in support of a ceasefire. So the idea that protest is always fruitless or irrational doesn't hold up. The average person in the US can't do shit to stop what's happening in Gaza. The tow people we can vote for that can do something are bad and worse on this issue. The fact that we're so quick to crack down on people protesting genocide or something very like it, but so hesitant to do anything about it, should be revelatory. You don't like protests because they are inconvenient. That's entirely the fucking point. There is nothing in the electoral process that offers relief for the issue people are protesting. This is the tool available to call attention to issues that are not being given any consideration.

Well that is what I’ve been saying. That’s why the conversation keeps moving in to Gametes because that is the primary binary we are talking about. Secondary sexual characteristics are bimodal. If people keep talking past each other it’s because they seem to be talking about different things when they say sex, and they often just merge it in with gender as well.

....which tells me that you don't think that the evils that the US is empowering by Israel in Gaza are not worth the cost of any blowback. And there it is. The honest admission that this is ultimately about your dislike of protests. A lot of issues like this feel a lot more "clear cut" now for many people because of hindsight. I personally know that there are many people in the South who now portray themselves as anti-segregation and pro-Civil Rights who definitely were NOT so during the 50-70s, who were against the protests by civil rights groups. They were also bothered by the presence of "extremists" in these groups.

"Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division." Pretty hard to argue with that statement

I'm not going to search a whole bunch of scientists for the nuance of their language use, but I did stumble upon this post by Jerry Coyne. https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2022/08/17/sex-is-not-assigned-at-birth/ And, lo and behold, his post uses some qualifiers when talking about sex: "a nearly complete binary," and "almost completely binary." In the comments, someone argues that bimodal is the better description to fit the data than binary. And Coyne agrees! He says his main beef is when people say that sex is on a spectrum. (the x-axis of a bimodal distribution can be thought of as a spectrum, though, so it's not completely wrong. it's just an incomplete picture, as "spectrum" doesn't give people an idea about what options are more pervasive than others) Language, attention to detail, and a desire to communicate effectively with people are all really important here. I humbly suggest that insisting on binary without further explanation or qualification, is not the most productive hill to die on.

I'd rather they received fire and brimstone here

Since she is standing down at the general election, accepting her costs nothing and gains them points in embarasing Sunak.

I think you kind of have to accept that the media landscape right now is incredibly polarised and it’s very rare for one person to be able to talk to both sides of the room because the incentive is toward polarity. If someone like Wright or Dawkins speaks to more right wing outlets it’s probably a mix of being invited on by them because it helps their agenda to discuss certain issues, and inversely left wing outlets might blacklist the same people because they absolutely won’t touch a topic with a bargepole or find opposing views dangerous, or don’t want to be associated with talking to people with opposing views. We just have to take all that into account. It’s not as if the sources cited from the other side of this conversation have been all that unbiased or fair minded either.

No. I think with the civil rights movement coerced change was necessary due to the incredibly slow pace of change in the US. But it is coercive and people react poorly to coercion. So when we talk about coercive methods to force change blowback should be considered. The evil corrected by the civil rights movement makes the blowback worth the cost.

Disney+ and Hulu made a profit for once, probably due to the combination of ad-supported tier and cracking down on password sharing. https://apnews.com/article/disney-iger-peltz-b5e6af22728e2d7ccc91dd1315b6c9aa

I think this is basically it. The first head consumes the one to be reborn. The third head spits out the reborn. The second head consumes the necessary sacrifice to "fuel" the process. My suspicion is that Rhaegar's conversation with Elia had very dark undertones. When she asked Rhaegar if he was going to make a song for their son, that's a bit of a red flag. Usually people have songs written for them after their death. In other words, was Rhaegar planning on sacrificing their son so his son could be reborn as a dragon? And the reference to the third head, was the additional sacrifice needed to allow the transformation to occur? It's all a bit biblical. The Valley of Gehenna. The Kings of Judah "passing their sons through fire" in a religious sacrifice. In other words, princes being passed through flames. Prince's Pass.

I’m never going to favor protesting. I will sometimes agree the issues being protested are important and need to be addressed (Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians is absolutely an issue that needs to be addressed and the US should stop all arms sales to Israel because of it) but I will never think protesting is the best way to do it. I can acknowledge it’s effectiveness during the civil rights movement. But I see that as more of a clear cut issue than this one is. The presence of pro-Hamas anti-Semitic protestors does bother me.

Your point is all over the place, Scott - as we were talking about protests and refunding tuition - and you keep pulling us along before you finally get the point. So I will be frank as well in my discussion. The problem with protests for you seems not to be about what they say or do but, rather, the fact that they exist as an inconvenience. Considering how inextricable the United States is with violence being committed by Israel in Gaza and pro-Israel lobbyists, do you think that protesters may feel like it is impossible to sit down and have a serious discussion about these issues?

Sure.

I just thought Butnham had gotten all zen on us. She does seem calmer, less impulsive, like she has fully grown into her leadership role. It's the "captain" voice, So while I thought it weird, I did come up with a reason for it. (ok, it's still weird)

No. See my point above.

I did. If they break in… to trespass… that’s also violence.

If hate speech is violence… then speech alone can be violent. I would suggest protests have a duty to police this if they have participants who are engaging in anti-semitic hate speech if they believe such hate speech is violence. That’s my point.

A sign of just how far right Labour have drifted though, that they are willing to accept her in their ranks. Apparently she thinks Starmer will be better at "stopping the boats" than Sunak!