Wow. So, sometimes people make fun of Russia. You know, the Cyrillic-vs-Roman lettering thing, "In Soviet Russia", Rocky IV. We get it: Russians are often unfairly stereotyped. This is a fact. And sometimes - just sometimes - you kind of elect certifiable lunatics to carry out what could be called at a bare minimum questionable social policies. And this is one of these. Russia bans transgenders, people with disorders from holding driver's licence Melbourne, Jan 09 (ANI): The Russian government has reportedly banned transsexual and transgender people from holding a driving licence as part of its initiative to bring down the number of road accidents in the nation. This decision of Russia has outraged human rights advocates who have branded the change as an "alarming violation of the rights of the transgender community," News.com.au reports. The report quoted lawyer Shawn Gaylord as saying "banning people from driving based on their gender identity or expression is ridiculous and just another example of the Russian regime's methodical roll-back of basic human rights for its citizens". Well, no shit. Now, don't get me wrong: I'm sure it isn't spurious thing. I'm sure there's some logical connection that Russian lawmakers have made after watching, I don't know, straight-to-video LA-based cop movies where a transsexual stereotype gets into a rear-ender (and you just go ahead and insert whatever jokes it is you're thinking of here - no, you just go right ahead and do that. We'll wait. All better now?) and gets out and starts going off on a stereotypical rant. And maybe the subtitles were done in a half-assed way - hey, it was the VHS era, and you were lucky enough to smuggle in a pair of freaking Levis as an actual video tape of a movie by an Eddie Murphy knock-off - and maybe that gets translated as some kind of an oblique threat of castration. And maybe the Russians watching it panicked. Holy Saint Peter, did you see what that big gangly man-woman said? Did you see the way she was waving around that handbag? She threatened to cut off that upwardly mobile black detective's pee-pee! What could such drivers do in Russia? Should - should I even call her a she? What pronoun should we be using? Sure. We've all been there. But - fucking really? At least it can't get any stranger. The change was introduced by the Russian Health Ministry last month. OK, it was stupid of me to say that. All right? That was my fault. Clearly it could have gotten so much wierder. The fucking Russian Health Ministry issued that change - not the police, or the Army, or the whatever-the-hell the KGB is these days, or the Office of Ivan Drago, but the fucking Health Ministry. With the doctors in it. Okay, they're probably almost all bureaucrats - maybe they bring in some medical version of Anna Chapman for the meetings - but really they have a closer associations with presumed MDs than anyone else does. So they should, you know, have brains and all that. Yet... As per the changes, a new list of medical restrictions will decide whether or not a person is capable of holding a licence in the country. Although the list has been designed to crack down on the number of road accidents in Russia, it has outraged human rights groups because it lists transsexual, transgender and amputees as having "disorders" that could prevent people driving safely, the report added. (ANI) Get it? Amputes = transsexuals. Because, of course... the driving gene is located in the dick. Oh well that explains it! we all cry, throwing our hands in the air. Of course! Now it all makes sense. Jesus Christ. 21st century. And here's the sobering kicker: there is fuck all you can do about it. The Americans aren't going to pressure the Russians on it, not really, and even if they did, the Russians would probably issue transsexuals pogo sticks to get around on just to be shits. Oh, you don't like our new initiative. Well, we just gave them all pogo sticks. Yes, to get to work on. Ha ha! my American friend, you may make whatever Freudian associations you like with that. In Soviet Russia, the State makes jokes against YOU!!
This issue was posted in the Gay Fray thread yesterday. And as I noted in that thread, about this latest douchebaggery against the LBGT community in Russia, has nothing to do with reducing death tolls on the roads: _____________________ Russia has reportedly banned transgender people, as well as those who suffer from "disorders of sexual preference," from obtaining driver's licenses. The BBC reports that the Russian government has released a legislative document which outlines a revised set of medical controls for drivers in an effort to cut down on the number of car accidents. Although most of the provisions refer to physical impairments (such as blindness), "gender identity disorders" including "transsexualism” and “dual-role transvestism” are referenced in the document, as well as “sadomasochism" and “exhibitionism," according to BuzzFeed's J. Lester Feder and Susie Armitage. Laugh as we may at the stupidity of Putin and his Government, we should remember that yes, it has come to even this. In Putin land, if you are a transsexual, you now apparently pose such a risk to society, that you cannot even be allowed to drive. Could it be that speeding and consumption of alcohol may be a cause in accidents in Russia? Well, that would be the reasonable connection since such a large portion of accidents in Putin land involve people driving while drunk. But no, heaven forbid drink driving be curbed or tougher penalties be handed out to drunken Russians getting behind the wheels of their cars and killing others on the road. Or perhaps the blame for the horrific road toll in Russia is not just on drink driving, but also on what Medvedev described as: “undisciplined, criminally careless behaviour of our drivers,” Not to mention terrible road condition and what the article goes on to describe as the corruption that exists within the police force which allow people to get off with bribes and other illegal (well, illegal in civilised parts of the world, not Russia apparently) acts, not to mention people trying to make money by being hit by cars in insurance scams: Drivers certainly play a role, but Medvedev did not mention Russia’s traffic police, which, Galperina writes, “is known throughout their land for brutality, corruption, extortion and making an income on bribes.” That is not hyperbole. Russia ranks 133rd among the world’s nations in corruption (where number one is the least corrupt), according to Transparency International. Much of that corruption is on the part of the traffic police, an institution that, along with kindergartens and higher education, was ranked by Russians as the country’s most corrupt. In a recent poll, 32 per cent of Russians surveyed called traffic police the most corrupt institution. So going to the police with a legitimate complaint is far from sure to produce a good result. In addition to authorities they deem untrustworthy, Russian drivers must contend with the possibility of being attacked by another driver. The below video compiles fights between drivers that feature crowbars, slapping, punching, and worse. Then there are pedestrians who get themselves hit by cars on purpose, for a payoff. A video compilation (below) of failed scams offers a few examples. Overall, in a country where traffic conditions are horrible, insurance scams and roadside fights are always a possibility, and the police are widely viewed as corrupt, video evidence of one’s innocence can be a very valuable thing. No.. Of course not.. Because in Putin Land, this sort of thing is normal and accepted. But what is not accepted is that gays, lesbians and transsexuals have equal rights and freedoms. The dark side to this obscenity of a regulation is that if a transsexual needs help, medical or psychiatric help, they are going to be afraid to get that help because to do so could result in being denied even more of their rights: “Beyond the denial of basic freedoms, this provision may deter transgender people from seeking mental health services for fear of receiving a diagnosis that would strip them of their right to drive, and leaves the door open for increased harassment, persecution, and discrimination of transgender people by Russian authorities," _________________________________ And Russia does allow pigs to fly. Putin flies regularly.
This is hard to believe. That doesn't mean that it isn't true, but I'd like to see the wording of the document. Are you sure that it doesn't say that some people suffering from personality disorders may be banned from driving if doctors advise that their illness affects their ability to drive. I don't find it hard to believe that the Russian authorities think that transgender people are suffering from a disease, but I find it hard to accept that they are seriously proposing that they are unfit to drive. That would be crazy.
Half a Glass You're half-right, Captain. The way it goes is that― Russia has listed transsexual and transgender people among those who will no longer qualify for driving licences. Fetishism, exhibitionism and voyeurism are also included as "mental disorders" now barring people from driving. The government says it is tightening medical controls for drivers because Russia has too many road accidents. "Pathological" gambling and compulsive stealing are also on the list. Russian psychiatrists and human rights lawyers have condemned the move. (BBC) ―transgenderism is listed a sexual psychiatric dysfunction, and then the class of disorders is banned from driving. Psychiatrists, as you might imagine, disagree with the Russian prerogative on this one. The longer this sort of stuff goes on, the more it looks like closeteer overcompensation; we're into such a realm of absurdity that other explanations are starting to fall away. It's time for a massive social media campaign encouraging Vladimir Putin to come out of the closet. ____________________ Notes: British Broadcasting Corporation. "Russia says drivers must not have 'sex disorders'". BBC News. 9 January 2014. BBC.com. 10 January 2014. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30735673
I've checked Russia Today, and even they are making little attempt to justify this ludicrous "decree". The potential ban also affects short people. http://rt.com/news/221235-russia-driving-ban-transgender/ It is a very bad law. At best it is badly framed, and I hope it is rescinded quickly.
It won't be rescinded. Have you seen the laws targeting members of the LGBT community in Russia? This is Putin's Russia we are talking about. It is probably why he also has a chauffeur. Because he is dangerously batshit crazy and does pose a danger to society.
Natural design is based on logical connections between form and function. What is naturally selected, in any group of animals, has the form that is best suited to its needed functions. Transgender deviates from natural selection in that perception of function attempts to alter form to suit the needs of the perceived function. Natural selection let the bigger natural picture decide form and function, while unnatural selection uses a narrow picture. Picture a lion that wants to be a gazelle, because it thinks it is a really a gazelle in a lion's body. It would like to do is alter the lion body so its form looks more like a gazelle. This will allows the form to better equate with it sees as its true function in nature. Although wishful, they cannot happen naturally within the context of biology. The animal cannot change shape based on wishful thinking. This is not a natural path. This change will require artificial changes, using human agencies like science and technology, not found in nature. The entire path is unnatural and needs artificial to work. The other way around is possible. The lion, who thinks it is a gazelle, can look at itself in the mirror to see its natural form. It can then decide that its imaginary dream of being a gazelle does not have a natural path. Without artificial changes, it cannot occur. It can remain in natural reality and can change its mind, like overcoming a phobia, to allow function to equate with the limits of form. There is a natural path that does not require modern science to trick the system. To make this more clear, say someone thought they could fly. Their form does not allow this perception of function. They do not have wings so their perception of function is irrational. Culture will require they clear they mind and re-equate their function as a ground dweller. But say science could theoretically fit them with fake wings so they can glide and some form of bionic propulsion, does this make them sane? Should the imaginary fliers of the world get a drivers license, based on the stipulation that science could hypothetically add flight components? The answer is no. One would require they first get past their irrational obsession and learn to walk like their form says. There is a lot of money to be made, if one can con the system to believe that adding wings justifies people who think they can fly so they are no longer considered pathological.
Perhaps you could outline what the above has to do with a law potentially banning gay people from driving. Surely you can't think it is rational to connect someone's sexual preference to their driving ability?
Oh yes he can. Apparently Putin doesn't mind alcoholics driving. Putin is keeping the price of Vodka artificially low. If Putin was serious about reducing auto accidents, one would think he would do something to reduce alcoholism. But no, he would rather blame transgendered and gay folks. By the way Putin is a small statured man. He is only 5'7" and his number 2 man is only 5'4".
Yeah I completely echo your views on Putin. My cousin works with a DUI attorney Los Angeles and he often tells how things are drastically different here and in States. Here you get a feel that you have so much liberty to mix drink and drive.
What you don't realize is that the mechanism of inheritance is subject to mutation, which is a driver of innovation. Transgender people are a product of one of those variations. They are no more unnatural than an albino. Gender is not a black and white issue, there are shades of grey, there are people with ambiguous genitalia. And sex is more than just genitals. How did you know to act like a boy? You didn't. It's a product of biology.
Picture a catepillar that wants to be a butterfly, because it thinks it is really a butterfly in a catepillar's body. What it would like to do is alter the catepillar body so its form looks more like a butterfly. This will allow the form to better equate what it sees as it true function in nature.
Or they could learn to fly, and work hard to make enough money to become a pilot, a skydiver, a hangglider or a paraglider. Then they could fly above all the people who claim that they are irrational - and laugh at them. I have "fake wings." I seem to be sane. I have coworkers who are transgendered. They are sane as well. No - they should get pilot's licenses that enable them to accomplish what they desire to do. Just as transgendered people should get surgery to accomplish what they desire. No "conning" required to learn to fly. Indeed, we are fortunate that we have more "irrational" people like the Wright Brothers, Chuck Yeager, Neil Armstrong, Joe Kittenger and Burt Rutan, and fewer people like yourself.
A morbidly obese person can also look in the mirror and decide being a normal weight isn't natural. Adding a gastric bypass is afterall artificial, not natural. Or a person with a weakening heart can accept that that is also natural and so decides not to install a pacemaker. That too would be artificial and unnatural. Same with a person with a brain tumor. Or an extra thumb. Or any debilitating medical condition at all that nature has seen fit to give them. Better these folks just resign themselves to your "accept whatever nature gave them" rule in the holy name of being "natural". Overcome their phobias of being different, or of dying, or of being unhappy, and just stoically plug on accepting their fate. That's what happens when you elevate natural to some moral imperative. But there is NO moral imperative at all to accept what nature gives us. None whatsoever. If your quality of life requires physical change to your body or your brain, then by all means make it. We only go round once here. There are no second chances. Live the life that you need to in order to make yourself happier. That's the only imperative.
Turns out the Russian law only broadly restricts mental disorders based on medication needs that could impair. News orgs just found the WHO definition that Russia used, which includes "gender identity disorders". There does not appear to be any explicit restriction in their law. If it were true though, or even used as excuse to actually do so, it would be ridiculous. Penalizing such behavior cannot address it, no matter what you think of its rationality.
Transgender is an example of where function does not match form. If I thought I was meant to fly like a bird, but was born a human, this is also where form and function would diverge instead of unite. The person who thinks they can fly like a bird, will not be treated as sane, because anyone can see there is a divergence that will have social costs. There is a logic behind the divergence between form and function. It has to do with the writing of memory, and using memory to infer and deduce. When memory is created, the limbic system attaches an emotional tag to our thoughts. This allows memory to be stored in layers; each layer will have similar emotional tags. When we feel hungry, images of food, restaurants and cooking may appear, because these all have a hunger tags; hunger layer. Because thoughts are both thought and feeling, feelings can induce thoughts and thoughts can induce feelings. We can think about food and get hungry, we get hungry first and begin to think about food. Although one can induce our memory, from either the thought or feeling side, these are not the same in terms of extended thinking. For example, the feeling of hunger appears at breakfast, lunch and dinner. At each meal, we will feel hungry, yet at each meal different food items or thoughts might appear. That one feeling of hunger can shuffle the memory layer into different arrangements, any number of which appear to satisfy the base feeling of hunger. It is subjective as to what the feeling will induce in the layer. If we go the other way, and begin with thoughts, no matter whether you think of breakfast, lunch or dinner foods, they all lead to hunger. The feeling side first created divergence of thought, while the thought side first creates convergence of feeling. If we think of breakfast, it would not be normal, to feel hunger today, the next day feel love, and then the next day feel fear. These thoughts have a certain instinctive valence connection to reality, that leads to breakfast (form) defining the same function of hunger. Transsexual and other forms of divergence, between form and function, are due to starting with the feeling side of memory where natural cause and effect of feelings are substituted for a divergent perception where there is no standard form and function; breakfast is not dinner but both are valid for hunger. Say we layer this deeper. We will start with feelings, to induce some thoughts, which will then induce other feelings. The second scenario will start with thoughts, to induce feelings, to induce new thoughts. The first might be our hunger triggers images of food in my mind. From these various images of food, I pick certain ones that touch my fancy or which induce a feeling of "All Right". This could be creative and need me to cook up a storm. The other way is more analogous to going to work with a lunch box has certain things in it, which define the reality of what is possible. Reality sets a limit for the thoughts. I look into the lunch box and these various items will trigger memories, which make me feel hungry. This feeling of hunger creates secondary thoughts, but these are restricted by the reality of the content of my lunch box. This might causes me to eat the sandwich first and the apple last. It is not about wishful thinking or creativity, due to emotion first. The form of the lunch box define the limits of the function. When I write, I am able to generate a lot of unique ideas because I will use emotion (inspiration), first, to trigger my memory. This general feelings allows it to put the piece together for a new meal. This new arrangement of ideas will then generate secondary emotions with these secondary emotions helping me to weigh the nebulous. This emotion first path makes me divergent from the cultural body of knowledge. I am sort of trans-intellectual to coin a term. The normal body of cultural knowledge starts with established thoughts leading to feelings of conformity/acceptance. I don't stop there, but I also go the other way; thought first. As my ideas are generated from the many angles induced by feeling; breakfast, lunch and dinner, some of the ideas will give me a unique feeling; eureka! These thoughts are then isolated and approached from the thought side first; form and function are conformed to the world as it is, and not as I wish it to be. In real life, we all try new things in life, motivated by the various feelings of youth. But there comes a time, one needs to think about these experiences and allow thought to lead. We add the best to the lunch box of life and then use this to have a good meal. My advice is for transgender to try thoughts leading emotions and for conservatives to try emotions leading to thoughts.
