If you want an example of the ABC's dishonesty watch the DRUM tonight,
I think it is on 24 tonight.
In it the Sth Australian is talking about Pauline Hanson and stated
that she made an anti-vaccination comment.
Then later the host repeated the statement.

Now I saw the original Hanson statement.
What she said was that parents that do not want to vaccinate their
children should not have their welfare entitlements stopped.
She went on to say her children had been vaccinated and also her
grandchildren had been vaccinated.
She also said they should get tests done first. A doctor came on
various outlets and said tests are not available. However I was told
that in some cases restricted tests are available.

However the rest of the week the ABC made comments about Hanson's
vaccination policy etc just letting people think it was
anti-vaccination that they were talking about.
They were very careful not to say anti-vaccination.
Obviously they were aware of what was said but they were not about
to enlighten anybody about that.

That is what I call blatant dishonesty.

However that would not have suited the ABC's agenda.
They will claim of course that it was just typical incompetence.
Like the blackout of Kayser Trad it will just be one of those things.

Bazz,

That information is a surprise. I had formed the view from reports that she is anti-vax and no-one has said anything to the contrary.

Bazz,

As someone who keeps a close eye on the latest BS to come from the anti-vax movement, I can assure you that Pauline Hanson’s statement was a typical anti-vaxxer statement.

<<What she said was that parents that do not want to vaccinate their children should not have their welfare entitlements stopped.>>

Yeah, that’s a typical anti-vaxxer statement. Although, in Hanson’s case, I’d be willing to grant that she is probably just stupid enough to not fully appreciate the idiocy of what it was that she was saying.

<<However I was told that in some cases restricted tests are available.>>

No, there are no tests available. Not even “restricted” ones (whatever they would be). We do, however, know how to tell easily enough if a person is not able to be vaccinated. They’re generally known as “cancer patients” or “newborns”. These are the people who are at risk of the stupidity that Hanson was endorsing under the guise of liberty.

That being said, I don’t think the media needs to push the “Pauline Hanson is an anti-vaxxer” line too much. This uneducated idiot is her own worst enemy. All the rest of us have to do is sit back and watch her destroy herself; just as her ACTUAL anti-vax hero, Trump, is currently doing in the US.

Phano: We now call the stories of the Roman and Greek gods myth, in the sense of imaginary, but only because that religion was replaced by Christianity; otherwise we still might be worshipping Jupiter and his family or the Norse equivalents, in which case we'd call this religion, not myth and legend.

However 'myth' is used more broadly in the anthropological sense: the stories people tell to explain the world, including themselves. Those stories can be religious, fictional or they can be about real people. (Some old myths may have been based on real people too).

Further, at least one form of transgender surgery has been around for a very long time: castration. This was practised in many cultures, from ancient China to Ancient Greece to Europe and for many reasons (harem attendants, castrati singers).

So I stand by my previous post: human sexuality and its variants has been a long-standing obsession of humans (for fairly obvious reasons). It's not a 20th century construct (check out what the Victorians got up to!) Just read some history, some literature, look at some art. People have thought about and told stories about human sexuality, including transformations between sexes, and between humans and animals, since, well, probably since we became human. Just because there are now surgical techniques allowing easier external gender change doesn't means humans haven't thought about it for a very long time.

Dear Cossomby,

Articulate as ever.

You've put it all into a nutshell and done it so well.
I wish I could have done it. The more we know about
what does exist in our communities and the problems that
some people face in their daily lives - perhaps we shall
begin to understand that "one size does not necessarily
fit all." Nor does it need to.

Thanks Foxy. I actually earn a living writing, turning complex information into clear English. Posting here occasionally is an educational experience because of the feedback: it shows just how easy it is for people to misconstrue what you write, no matter how hard you try to be clear.

My favourite feedback quotes (not from OLO, but in the real world):
'What you really mean is' ....then proceeding to rephrase what I said but with the reverse meaning.
'It doesn't have to be accurate, it's just for the public'.
'It has to be much simpler than that, it's for the Minister'.