Daily review 11/04/2024

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 62 comments
Categories: Daily review

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

62 comments on “Daily review 11/04/2024”

Comment numbers have changed to permanent references. Older quoted numbers may no longer identify the same comment.

  2. 2

    James, he will be missed, a man of integrity and well informed on the things he stood for. Wishing him well in his next chapter

    1. 2.1

      I credit j.shaw with getting the green party to where it is now..

      ..having the credibility to be within biting distance of labour..and being a credible opposition voice..in their own right..and ready for power..

      I have said previously that shaw has been playing a long game..in building that credibility/trust..and I stand by that..

      He was the right person for that time/role..and he succeeded in that/his task…

      Much respect to him…

  3. 3

    The final Cass Report was released yesterday. Four years in the making, it's a damning indictment of the affirmation only model of health care for children with gender dysphoria in the UK's GIDS clinic.

    A lot of commentary and complexities in what Hillary Cass has revealed. This one stands out and should make people pause and think about what has really been going on.

    It's previously been reported that GIDS refused to share data with the initial work Cass did, then it turns out that they hadn't actually been collecting it. That's the data that would have showed if their treatment model, including puberty blockers was working. Once the Cass review got up and running, this happened,

    Amid all today's noise, please don't let this important story get lost: Hilary Cass says the adult gender clinics conspired, for ideological reasons, to prevent her doing follow-up studies for outcomes of the children passing through the Tavistock. The whole scandal in microcosm

    https://twitter.com/simonjedge/status/1778000213149377015

    Hilary Cass was actively impeded from doing a follow-up study of Tavistock children by adult gender clinics who wouldn’t co-operate. She believes this stunning refusal was co-ordinated and ideologically driven. All credit to @ameliagentleman in the Guardian for this revelation

    https://twitter.com/simonjedge/status/1777983256224210993

    From the Guardian piece,

    It was “unbelievably disappointing” that the research study she had hoped to conduct to look at the outcomes of 9,000 former Tavistock patients had been blocked by the adult gender clinics, who refused to contact former patients for permission on her behalf.

    The former health secretary Sajid Javid had changed legislation to allow researchers to link pre- and post-transition NHS numbers, but the research had to be abandoned when all but one of the adult clinics refused to cooperate, Cass said.

    “I do think it was coordinated. It seemed to me to be ideologically driven,” she said. “There was no substantive reason for it. So I can only really conclude that it was because they didn’t feel that it was the right thing to do to try and nail down this data.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/10/children-are-being-used-as-a-football-hilary-cass-on-her-review-of-gender-identity-services

    that's a medical scandal in its own right.

    1. 3.1

      And yet the NZ parliament has recently passed legislation that is likely to criminalize any parents or medical professionals who are unwilling to endorse medicalization of a child's gender dysphoria, because that would be "conversion therapy". Jacinda Ardern herself acknowledged that such prosecutions could happen under the new legislation.

      https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/08/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-doesn-t-rule-out-parents-facing-charges-under-conversion-therapy-ban.html

      Every single Labour, Green and Maaori Party MP voted for this legislation, as did "libertarian" David Seymour, who apparently believed that a 13-yr old girl can give informed consent to life-changing and irreversible procedures.

      According to this article below, Te Whatu Ora "commissioned the Professional Association of Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) to update the national guidelines and referral pathways for gender-affirming healthcare." If that's true, it's cause for great concern. Why did Te Whatu Ora commission an activist body to guide clinical practice? The article itself is rather poor journalism, in that it fails to challenge PATHA's misleading claim that the Cass Review "ignores the consensus of major medical bodies around the world and lacks relevance in an Aotearoa context". Is PATHA really unaware that Sweden and France have also recently halted the uncritical application of "gender-affirming care" (such as Orwellian term)? And what exactly is meant by "an Aotearoan context"?

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/514044/ministry-of-health-taking-the-time-to-get-it-right-on-puberty-blockers

      1. 3.1.1

        NZ has a much higher rate of prescribing PBs than the UK I think.

        the scandal will reach here eventually. But as Visubversa says below, we will go through a lot of denial and blocking first.

        Most of the National MPs also voted for the bill.

        1. 3.1.1.1

          Yes, sadly I fear that Visubversa is right. I'm aware that most of the Nats also supported the bill – including all of their current front bench apart from Shane Reti. And unfortunately, two of the eight who had the courage to oppose the bill are no longer in parliament.

          1. 3.1.1.1.1

            The one aspect of politicians that may work in favour, is their chameleon ability to change position as the political background changes.

            Public awareness changes the political background.

            What is required here is immense effort, and care must be taken to ensure those harmed by this medical treatment – have high-quality care and support delivered to them.

            1. 3.1.1.1.1.1

              As substantive – and harder to dismiss – evidence comes to public awareness, insurance companies may play a big part in stopping harmful procedures as they will not insure doctors or surgeons, or pay for treatments via health insurance.

              Does anyone know if NZ doctors carry a liability insurance, or is this completely covered by ACC?

              If so, asking ACC what their exposure is may be worth investigating.

              1. 3.1.1.1.1.1.1

                Molly I think this document sheds some light on your question:

                https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://nzmii.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NZMP-INF002-C2-Doctor-in-Training-Fact-Sheet-03.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjBk5H5l7uFAxUdjGMGHTorDT8QFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2FUI0mFrlFlzxRwD2iWay8

                It sounds like ACC will shield doctors from most (but not all) of the damage here in NZ. Whereas in Australia, where they don't have ACC, one insurance company has recently dropped coverage for doctors who carry out "gender affirming care":

                https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-13/qld-medical-insurer-drops-cover-private-doctors-gender-dysphoria/102592298

                1. 3.1.1.1.1.1.1.1

                  Thank you, Dolomedes III.

                  Then I might get on with a letter to Minister for ACC, Hon Matt Doocey, and an OIA for Dr Tracey Batten as Chair and David Hunt as Deputy Chair to the Board of ACC to see what mechanism they can use to change the identified harmful practices we are still doing here in NZ.

                  (On the list for the weekend…wink)

                    8. 3.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.8

                      Molly – you and others may be interested that Doucey's work with Tavistock has been/is under discussion in the last 24 hours on "X" aka Twitter under a post by Stephen Franks (weka's tweet posted in her comment above is in this thread:)

                      https://twitter.com/franks_lawyer

                      "Have I missed the NZ journalist demands from Matt Doocey MP our most prominent local connection with Tavistock etc for his response to the Cass review? Surely it’s relevant that our Minister of Mental Health, and our Minister of Youth, was proud of being a former operative in what has been confirmed to be an unscientific and barbaric chop industry. Has he recanted? Pretty important in a country that has reportedly been using the life-ruining drugs even more than the UK. Our weak and Trudeau-trendy rulers voted unanimously for the ludicrous self-identification law. They voted their contempt for free speech with the ban on what Tavistock and its sinister collaborators branded ‘conversion therapy’. Are those who still don’t know what is a woman still controlling the puberty blocker drug spout?

                      Re questioning by some as to why Doucey is a National MP etc, Doucey is in fact part of the Carter family which includes David Carter, former Speaker of the House – his uncle. From Wikipedia:

                      Doocey is a member of the well-known Carter family. Family patriarch Maurice Carter, a Christchurch City Councillor for over 30 years (1956–1989), was his grandfather, and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, David Carter, is his uncle. Doocey grew up in Christchurch and attended St Bede's College for his secondary schooling.

                      Doucey's Wikipedia entry also records that his qualifications as follows (although note "citation needed")

                      Doocey worked in mental health and healthcare management in both New Zealand and the UK. He studied Counselling Psychology at Weltech, has a BSc (Hons) in Social Policy, an MA in Healthcare Management from Kingston University in London and an MSc in Global Politics from Birkbeck, University of London.[citation needed]

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Doocey

                  2. 3.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2

                    I'm heartened that the new Minister of Health (Reti) voted against the inclusion of gender identity in the "Conversion Practices" legislation. So if PATHA's review is predictably ideological, maybe he will quash it – if he doesn't, he will get a letter from me.

        2. 3.1.1.2

          Public health expert and Otago University emeritus professor Charlotte Paul said Pharmac data showed New Zealand children aged 12 to 17 were being prescribed puberty blockers at *10 times the rate* as children in the UK.

          Referral guidelines allowed for children as young as eight or nine to get blockers, she said.

          https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/04/government-won-t-say-if-it-will-follow-britain-s-move-to-ban-routine-use-of-puberty-blockers.html

          I see red flag after red flag in that article. People still saying that PB are "safe and reversible". PATHA "not responding". Parent reports saying that PB made their kids mental health worse.

          Incoming medical scandal. It will be bigger here because we always overdo stupid overseas trends to prove we're part of the world.

          1. 3.1.1.2.1

            The "review" of puberty blockers initiated by the outgoing government – is due out next week:

            https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/news-items/mental-health-and-wellbeing-inform-evidence-brief-puberty-blockers

            Apparently, PATHA was contracted to conduct and author the review…

            "Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, which was responsible for clinical care and guidance, had commissioned the Professional Association of Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) to update the national guidelines and referral pathways for gender-affirming healthcare."

            https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/514044/ministry-of-health-taking-the-time-to-get-it-right-on-puberty-blockers

            Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

            1. 3.1.1.2.1.1

              I look forward to a totally ideology-free and evidence-based review of the available evidence, and also hope that one day I will gain the ability to shoot laser beams out of my eyes and lightning bolts out of my arse.

              One of these outcomes is considerably more likely than the other.

      2. 3.1.2

        Christina Buttons has just posted an article about the circular "citation cartel" when it comes to referencing for "affirmation only" healthcare.

        Worth the read, which clearly identifies what many have previously understood and tried to draw attention to.

        https://www.buttonslives.news/p/new-systematic-review-exposes-deceptive

        Insufficient Evidence

        The findings of the review were deeply concerning. It concluded that clinical guidelines globally used to treat gender-questioning children and adolescents were crafted in violation of international standards for guideline development. These guidelines recommended medical interventions for minors despite insufficient evidence, particularly regarding long-term treatment outcomes in adolescents. Additionally, they relied on other guidelines that recommended medical treatments as the basis for making similar recommendations.

        1. 3.1.2.1

          PATHA – Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa

          references WPATH SOC8 in their guidelines:

          "We recommend healthcare providers refer to the latest Standards of Care version 8 (SOC-8), released by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), for guidance for working with transgender children and adolescents.2"

          – Page 5 Primary Care Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy Initiation Guidelines (2023 – Aotearoa New Zealand)

          https://patha.nz/Guidelines

        2. 3.1.2.2

          A small number of "scientists" (e.g. Jack Turban) publish garbage-tier statistically dubious work in journals where they either directly know the reviewers or editorial team or know their ideological stance.

          That work gets picked up by the PATHAs of the world, further inflating the influence of said "scientists".. ("my work has been cited by International Bodies and used to create Important Guidelines!!")

          The "scientists" on the basis of Being Used to Create Important Guidelines then publish further garbage-tier science, which then inflates their importance further, which lends them further credibility that the PATHAs of the world then cite to show that their guidelines are based on credible "science"

          The "No debate" means that no contrary opinion ever enters the citation merry-go-round.

          It's not the kind of merry-go-round that kids play on. It's the kind of merry-go-round that plays with kids.

          1. 3.1.2.2.1

            The evidence of harm has been around for decades, but ignored.

            Genevieve Gluck posted this in 2021, linking to news stories from 2001:

            https://genevievegluck.substack.com/p/puberty-blockers-and-the-medical

            "Endocrinologist Dr. Will Malone, who is one of several doctors raising the alarm on this issue, said, “It is misleading to state as fact that ‘puberty blockers are reversible’. No one knows if the physical and psychological impacts of halting normal puberty are reversible.” Research conducted by Dr. Malone and Dr. Michael Laidlaw found that after two years of pubertal suppression, up to a third of children aged 12 – 15 years old were found to have abnormally low bone density. Moreover, further research conducted by Dr. Michael Biggs found that after two years of ‘puberty blocking’ medications, bone density in a significant number of children “declined to a level that should trigger clinical concern”. In the study, Biggs cites an example of a patient at the Tavistock clinic who began taking endocrine disruptors at the age of 12 and experienced four broken bones by the age of 16."

            For a shorter 6 min video expressing an overview of the concerns visit Gluck's Twitter post:

            https://x.com/WomenReadWomen/status/1644332569641762816

            1. 3.1.2.2.1.1

              I agree, preaching to the converted but please keep on preaching.

              What bugs me about all this is how obvious the problem is. So many politicos will be like "I'm so surprised! Nobody could have known! I trusted the science!" and that's because politicians consume science like they are at a salad bar. Yeah, I'll have the croutons, but not the coleslaw. Don't like the coleslaw. I'll pretend it does not exist.

              Unfortunately Chloe Swarbrick is a prime example of this.

              1. 3.1.2.2.1.1.1

                I enjoy the exchange of info here too, @That_guy, but also post knowing that there may be some who retain intellectual curiosity, and will start to look into the issue because others have posted some starting points to investigate.

                Forever the optimist…wink

  4. 4

    It all just demonstrates that this is an ideology – a form of quasi religious belief which leads its "true believers" to defy any requirements that they feel are against their accepted dogma.

    They have moved from "no debate" to obstruction, obfuscation and the abuse of power.

  5. 5

    Ducking for cover.

    https://unherd.com/2024/04/the-cass-reports-cowardly-converts/

    "Thousands of kids have been harmed by this ideology, along with many, many adults. Those of us who have been shunned, lost jobs, friends and reputations as a result of accusations of bigotry and transphobia are, of course, secondary victims. And as for those who have played it safe? Inevitably, they will now stay silent or pretend that the evidence of harm contained in the Cass Report is a shocking revelation. The truth, of course, is that the evidence has been there all along. To those new converts now pretending otherwise: we see you."

        1. 5.1.1.1

          wait until you get your head around what is really going on. Then you too can choose which side you are on, or if you want to swap sides.

                1. 5.1.1.1.1.1.1.1

                  while you are doing that, I would encourage you to read the first hand accounts of detransitioners. They are the ones most badly damaged as young people. Let me know if you would like some links.

                    1. 5.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1

                      try this first hand account of medical/surgical transition and detransition from Ritchie/TullipR on twitter, written in 2022 when was 35. He started transitioning at 26. Not sure when he started detransitioning, maybe 3 years ago or longer.

                      I want to tell everyone what they took from us, what irreversible really means, and what that reality looks like for us. No one told me any of what I’m going to tell you now.

                      I have no sensation in my crotch region at all. You could stab me with a knife and I wouldn't know. The entire area is numb, like it's shell shocked and unable to comprehend what happened, even 4 years on.

                      I tore a sutra 4 days post recovery, they promised to address it, i begged them in emails to fix it, they scorned me instead. Years later, I have what looks like a chunk of missing flesh next to my neo-vagina, it literally looks like someone hacked at me. They still wont fix it

                      No one told me that the base area of your penis is left, it can't be removed – meaning you're left with a literal stump inside that twitches. When you take Testosterone and your libido returns, you wake up with morning wood, without the tree. I wish this was a joke

                      And if you do take testosterone after being post op, you run the risk of internal hair in the neo-vagina. Imagine dealing with internal hair growth after everything? What a choice… be healthy on Testosterone and a freak, or remain a sexless eunuch.

                      And thats something that will never come back and one of the reason why i got surgery. My sex drive died about 6 months on HRT and at the time I was glad to be rid of it, but now 10 years later, Im realising what im missing out on and what I won't get back.

                      Because even if i had a sex drive, my neo vagina is so narrow and small, i wouldn't even be able to have sex if i wanted too. And when I do use a small dilator, I have random pockets of sensation that only seem to pick up pain, rather than pleasure.

                      Any pleasure I do get comes from the Prostate that was moved forward and wrapped in glands from the penis, meaning anal sex isnt possible and can risk further damage.

                      Then theres the dreams. I dream often, that I have both sets of genitals, in the dream I'm distressed I have both, why both I think? I tell myself to wake up because I know its just a dream. And I awaken into a living nightmare.

                      In those moments of amnesia as I would wake, I would reach down to my crotch area expecting something that was there for 3 decades, and it's not. My heart skips a beat, every single damn time.

                      Then theres the act of going to the toilet. It takes me about 10 minutes to empty my bladder, it's extremely slow, painful and because it dribbles no matter how much i relax, it will then just go all over that entire area, leaving me soaken.

                      So after cleaning myself up, I will find moments later that my underwear is wet – no matter how much I wiped, it slowly drips out for the best part of an hour. I never knew at 35 I ran the risk like smelling like piss everywhere I went.

                      Now i get to the point where im detransitioned and the realisation that this is permanent is catching up with me. During transition, I was obsessive and deeply unwell, I cannot believe they were allowed to do this to me, even after all the red flags.

                      I wasn't even asked if I wanted to freeze sperm or want kids. In my obsessive, deeply unwell state they just nodded along and didnt tell me the realities, what life would be like.

                      And finally, theres dilation, which is like some sort of demonic ceremony where you impale yourself for 20 agonising minutes to remind you of your own stupidity.

                      This isn't even the half of it. And this isn't regret either, this is grief and anger. Fuck everyone who let this happen.

                      https://twitter.com/TullipR/status/1536422533230206976

                    2. 5.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1

                      Thanks (I think), weka.

                      That is some grim reading.

                      These are the real casualties in this culture war.

                      Like others, I trust the PTB wake up to the harmful ideological mindsets at play here.

        2. 5.1.1.2

          @Robert Guyton – A strange response. What do you think you are contributing here – other than a exposure of some of your less savoury personality traits?

          visubversa, posted this: "Thousands of kids have been harmed by this ideology, along with many, many adults.".

          weka's response – for those who have kept up with the discussion – identifies two well-funded organisations that completely failed at child safeguarding.

          If you care about the iatrogenic harm that has been identified, and is still being facilitated in NZ via the same guidelines, then you could instead look into this further instead of playing schoolboy games while the grownups talk.

              1. 5.1.1.2.1.2.1

                Response from InsideOut (the org that goes into schools etc to preach about being in the wrong bodyetc)

                "We categorically reject any calls to restrict access to gender affirming care in Aotearoa, following the release of the Cass Review in the U.K. earlier this week.

                The Cass Review is a biased, unethical, methodologically flawed and politically motivated review that disregards a strong evidence base in support of affirming models of trans healthcare. It ignores the consensus of major medical bodies around the world and lacks relevance in an Aotearoa context."

                (words in bold done by myself)
                https://www.facebook.com/insideoutkoaro/posts/pfbid0VSjpfJxxiUNs3ACmH4N9gtG8vsejEbvQVkqcU2LGWMNnwyJMNSvxo9zURHvp7vSZl

                1. 5.1.1.2.1.2.1.1

                  And more denialof NZ’s PATHA on the evidence in the Cass resport:

                  "In a written statement, PATHA president Jennifer Shields [NZ] said the Cass Review "ignores the consensus of major medical bodies around the world and lacks relevance in an Aotearoa context".

                  "The final Cass Review did not include trans or non-binary experts or clinicians experienced in providing gender affirming care in its decision-making, conclusions, or findings. Instead, a number of people involved in the review and the advisory group previously advocated for bans on gender affirming care in the United States, and have promoted non-affirming 'gender exploratory therapy', which is considered a conversion practice."

                  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/514044/ministry-of-health-taking-the-time-to-get-it-right-on-puberty-blockers

                  From the Cass report

                  "Dr Cass is clear that standards in this field have been woefully subpar, with children given treatments that lacked any evidence base. This might be excused temporarily, given that this is a fast-developing field, but what is inexcusable is that there has been no attempt to build an evidence base, and indeed Dr Cass’s own attempts to build one were “thwarted” by the adult and child NHS gender services. The most important overarching point in her report is that the standard of care for gender-distressed children has fallen far short of what this vulnerable population needs and deserves. "

                  https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/the-cass-review-is-a-damning-indictment-of-what-the-nhs-has-been-doing-to-children/

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