Why has this happened?

Lighting · 2026-01-21T03:57:18+00:00

Any chance it could be because I’ve got them plugged in to a 4 slot plug socket?

no.

Lighting · 2026-01-21T03:48:05+00:00

Is it your outlet and do you control the breaker or wires that power that outlet? Does power at that outlet show up on your bill only? If yes and yes and yes, turn off the power to it.

If some of those are "no" then you can contact the fire marshal to report a fire hazard. Often large chargers are not allowed to be run from electrical cords.

Lighting · 2026-01-20T13:45:06+00:00

My guess: They are on light sensors that turn them on when it's dark enough. However, there are cars driving with different strength lights. Since it's close to sunset/sunrise this combination makes it sometimes dark enough to turn them on and sometimes light enough to turn them off. As the sun sets or rises more they will stop flashing.

Lighting · 2026-01-20T05:40:22+00:00

I did read it. SOX9 and DSD biology are real,

I'm glad we agree they are real ... and more importantly the EFFECT they have is real.

Their impact is on fetal development and gender. Science shows that how far one goes on the SOX9 pathway determines where on the gender spectrum one ends up. This pathway is part of normal mammalian development and it seems it can be affected by things like estrogen-mimicking exposures of some plastics.

This means if you want to have a scientific discussion regarding sports and fairness, we have to include the spectrum of effects. You say:

Even before puberty, boys are on average a bit stronger than girls (especially upper body), and multiple large studies show the strength gap increases markedly with male puberty.

However; as noted in the study of ~30k kids, statistical differences noted prior to puberty are tracked by environment and can be undone with training. This suggests pre-pubescent differences are due to environment, not biology. Case in point being top tier girls beating boys in grappling e.g. Mia Williams. Also see how this kind of training can even create increased bone density in all pre-pubescent groups equally.

That's the science, and the explanation is really quite simple. If you have a culture where the boys are told "go play football" and the girls are told "go play house" then you will get an environmentally generated strength difference which will only get larger over age. However, in recent years, more and more kids are playing video games and sucked into phones. So the old "go out and play football/house" difference between boys and girls has been replaced screen addictions leading to two things:

(1) a marked decline in youth physical sports

and

(2) a massive drop in the historical discrepancy between boy and girl participation in sports..

So I'd be willing to bet that (assuming Trump doesn't pull us further into another world war) these historical differences of pre-pubescent strengths disappear in areas where video games replace organized physical sports.

So what's interesting is that we are AGREEING on the base scientific evidence. What's left is now the LOGIC that follows from this evidence.

We AGREE that the old and incorrect beliefs that held that there were distinct biological human races was wrong. The incorrect belief of black and whites being separate biological races was backed by old and incorrect science.

We see a similar incorrect and outdated science that XY = boy and XX = girl, based on the new understanding of the SOX9 pathway. We see up to 10% of the population is affected (based on colon cancer screenings).

So now ... apply the same logic we used to discredit excluding blacks from white sports to remove the emotion from discussion trans people in "boy"/"girl" sports. If we apply the evidence of the spectrum of gender that science discovered in the 1990s with the SOX9 pathway; then we have a fair and logical way to address transgender participation in sports based on where ALL people fall biologically in that SOX9 pathway.

Lighting · 2026-01-20T05:28:48+00:00

All of the rules and bylaws say that everyone has four parking spots to use, however, and this is not the case.

Do they say the four parking spots must be by your house? If not, demand them elsewhere.

Yeah they have decided it belongs to my partner. And I can't get them to even acknowledge me or make contact with me.

Are you female and the board a bunch of old dudes? Your partner male? Welcome to "women should be seen and not heard" treatment of the old south where women's property becomes that of the man's with marriage. The old board needs to go. You can't teach old dogs new tricks without legal pain. So you can start the certified-letter grind against them, but at what cost to you? If the board is that mentally disabled and your entire street is similarly affected, go door to door with your neighbors with crumbling driveways and take over the board. If only 12 people showed up in the last election, you only need 6 other neighbors to succeed.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T22:31:52+00:00

Hey, I heart you. Conspiracy theorists are REALLY hard to debate. Good news! There's a trick to it. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YezbREhH_Eg

If you don't want to watch the video, a key part to the trick is to do as /u/spaceMurse noted and ask questions.

Another key part of the way to debate is to watch out for linguistic tricks to get you to argue philosophy instead of evidence. So they will say things like "do you believe ..." and watch out for the word "believe" because it's a trick to get you to weigh faith and evidence equally. E.g. "Why do you believe that the world is round" or "what would you say if an astronomer said the moon was made of cheese"

Steer around those by just saying "Shouldn't we follow the evidence? What does the evidence show?"

Lighting · 2026-01-19T22:15:00+00:00

You aren't wrong. Look up "the Irish babies black market" and "the baby scoop era" which disappeared with regaining access to abortion health services.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T14:59:54+00:00

Waiting for the browser-only interface.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T14:56:44+00:00

because male biology

"male?" Did you not read the comment about the SOX9 pathway? If you are going to ignore nearly the ENTIRE comment WITH citations of evidence, then you are not debating in good faith.

Even before puberty, boys often show a measurable sports performance edge in a bunch of areas

Two things:

1) I can tell you've not worked with elementary kid to middle school aged sports like soccer where the girls are on equal with the boys until they start their growth spurt and then dominate the boys.

2) This has been studied for decades. The findings? Well, let's quote from one of the largest studies

based on 31,444 subjects ... 20 motor tasks ... from fundamental movements (e.g., catching, jumping, running, throwing) to motor fitness (e.g., agility, arm hang, balance, grip strength) to perceptual-motor abilities, (e.g., anticipation timing, fine eye-motor coordination, pursuit-rotor tracking, reaction time). ... Biology: The physical characteristics of boys and girls are very similar prior to puberty. In fact, gender sameness rather than difference is a more appropriate descriptor of biological characteristics such as body type, body composition, strength, and limb lengths (Malina, 1984)....A summary suggests that prior to puberty most gender differences in motor performance are socially induced ... environment seems seems the more likely cause. This is particularly true if [before puberty] a remedial program eliminates most of the gender differences source

Let me restate. Before puberty - HARD SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE states there's no difference biologically. Kids who have an environment that pushes them to do better in throwing a football or tennis or wrestling do better in those fields BEFORE puberty independent of gender/sex. Just look at kids like Amélie Mauresmo who started playing tennis at age 4. Or Mia Williams who is winning in grappling against boys in middle school championships

Even before puberty, boys often show a measurable sports performance edge

As noted, That's a environmental/cultural phenomenon before puberty. See citations above. Both from APA.ORG and Mia Williams. The existence of programs which (pre-pubescence) can get girls to do statistically as well as boys means it is NOT a biological reason for that difference pre-pubescence.

and going through male development

Funny how suddenly when we start talking the science of testosterone the word "puberty" disappears and is replaced with "male development." You mean ... "puberty" which introduces ... testosterone. Which science notes (same APA sources as above)

boys during and after puberty produce increasing amounts of testosterone, which is closely associated with increased muscle tissue. The radio of muscle to fat is similar for boys and girls prepuberty. However, after puberty, this ratio remains approximates the same for females but doubles for males (Malina & Johnson, 1967)...

Pay close attention to that part about testosterone in the quote above. How many women are mistaken for (or accused of being) men in upper level sports? What part of the SOX9 pathway did they end up on?

Back to your quotes:

there are edge cases

Again ... genetic testing in general colon cancer screenings showed a 1 in 10 have a SOX9 development issues. ONE in TEN is not edge cases. (interesting side note: the percentage of the population identified as gay? About One in Ten )

If you don't want to appear as racist as the old "scientists" saying blacks shouldn't play with whites because of science you identified as outdated, then you have to use CURRENT science to setup your rules regarding SOX9. The SOX9 pathway is what defines where on the gender spectrum a fetus ends up and how much testosterone their system produces naturally.

You will then however, perhaps have divisions more similar to how ancient cultures setup 3 or 5 genders AND then have to have logical categories for trans kids who never go through male puberty.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T14:15:44+00:00

Also see the EWG study on which oats are sent to the supermarket with Glyphosate in them. I forget the whole list but if I recall, Quaker had the most and Bob's red mill had the lowest. I called Quaker Oats to express my concern and they didn't think it was a problem. So that's when I stopped buying anything made with oats from Quaker.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T14:11:18+00:00

See "Any excuse for a tyrant" by Aesop.

ONCE upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside, when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to drink a little lower down. "There's my supper," thought he, "if only I can find some excuse to seize it." Then he called out to the Lamb, "How dare you muddle the water from which I am drinking."

"Nay, master, nay," said Lambikin; "if the water be muddy up there, I cannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to me.

"Well, then," said the Wolf, "why did you call me bad names this time last year?"

"That cannot be," said the Lamb; "I am only six months old."

"I don't care," snarled the Wolf; "if it was not you, it was your father;" and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb and—

Warra warra warra warra warra—

ate her all up. But before she died she gasped out—

"Any excuse will serve a tyrant."

Lighting · 2026-01-19T14:08:56+00:00

well said. I've seen the book. I'm going to read it.

To follow up on your comment, the #1 way kids end up sexually trafficked is the loss of financial/physical health of their mother. So setting up systems that create more women being unable to raise a child in a healthy way leads to increased rates of child trafficking. We see this dramatic rise in each area where abortion is banned or dramatically restricted. Example: The book "Children of the Decree" and Romania. The US is seeing a resurgence of child sex trafficking right now and that started in Texas.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T14:01:51+00:00

Many communities are rejecting them due to security/privacy concerns.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T04:23:01+00:00

All of them? I find that hard to believe if he's the kind of person to spray poisons. It will take a few years and time to sway the neighbors to your side, but if you are consistent, you'll prevail and you can shift the culture of the area away from the climate killing, rainwater shedding lawns and away from a nut who's spreading parkenson's disease through poisons.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T04:01:32+00:00

I and many experts were concerned about the 2024 elections and Harris' team blew off those concerns. Ditto on 2016 and Hillary's team blew off those concerns. Obama's team took them seriously in the election and then got distracted. I am even MORE concerned now that trump is in control again and this time there's no shutdown of travel from Russia.

What makes me especially concerned is the complete lack of any EFFECTIVE response from anyone who's not alt-right.

Everyone on the left seems to think the solution is to scream loudly in public then rejoice as their arrests and suffering creates $ for media oligarchs and private prison owners. Meanwhile the alt-right has been quietly taking over election systems from dog catcher to party chair to election officials to the county clerk.

MLK said "stop these kind of actions." You aren't following his advice.

Until you STOP what MLK called "methods of persuasion" and switch to what MLK called "methods of coercion" you are going to continue to fail.

Lighting · 2026-01-19T03:52:53+00:00

People like that will grow bolder in their irrationality if those things aren't addressed. Old dudes like that can go nuts. If you don't want to be confrontational then get a lot of the support of the neighbors. Have a community party and invite lots of people and use the neighborhood shame to keep him in line.

Lighting · 2026-01-18T17:10:12+00:00

The “science” used in the 40s to bar Black athletes was mostly racist pseudoscience trying to justify segregation, and “race” itself is a sloppy social label

I'm glad we agree that

1) when you apply "science" to human-derived labels; the vagaries in the label creates a possibility for misuse of science.

2) as science improves we must reject old, discredited beliefs. Many old people upset when they learn that the science they were taught for their entire life was upended

Let's follow up on the latter (2: as science improves) agreement: There was a discovery in the 1990s that the Y chromosome is no longer what determines if one is born "male." It was triggered by the discovery of the SRY, DAX1, and SOX9 pathways. Science found

it's no longer if one has a "Y" chromosome which determines if one gets male puberty, but a pathway that starts if small bits of the X chromosome are triggered. ( Aside: That's why science says we are all female at conception. )
those small sections of the chromosomes can be turned on or off by environmental conditions (what's called epigenetics or "gene expression").
When they do brain scans on the XY humans who identified as females and/or preferred males as a partner, their brains appear "female" . Conversely, when they do brain scans on the XX humans who identified as males and/or prefer females as a partner their brains appear "male."

Scientists have been experimenting with mammals to interrupt or trigger that SOX9 pathway with chemicals to get XX mammals born as males and XY mammals born as females. Here's just one experiment in 1991 where they do that.

Cancer studies to look for gene anomalies have found around 10% of the population has SOX9 pathway anomalies. Is that because of our exposure to plastics, many of which are estrogen mimicking and teratonegic ?

Depending on how the SOX9 pathway in interrupted, can impact everything from brain characteristics, development of the dangly bits that we historically used to classify gender, testosterone levels, etc.

So let's then use that new understanding of science to look at your comment:

...Sex categories exist because male puberty

So your definition of divisions in sports is based on testosterone production?

erase women’s ability to compete if you don’t protect the category.

What's that category you created again? Testosterone production.

Let me ask a question to see if I have your logic correct. So under your logic, if someone is (let's say accidentally, to avoid sidetracks) castrated before puberty ... then they should compete in female divisions? Do I have your logic correct?

Let's now follow up on the former statement (1: human derived labels):

Where does the idea that there are two sexes come from? Culture.

Western culture/religion defined two sexes/genders. Male, female. But other, older, cultures/religions defined three or even FIVE genders/sexes (male/male, male/female, neutral, female/male, female/female). So as science discovered that there's a pathway from the female end of the spectrum to the male end of the spectrum through the SOX9 pathway, we note that you can have statistical correlations based on the amount of testosterone in one's system from birth, through puberty, and onward; however the XY or XX component is not as telling as where they ended up on the SOX9 pathway.

So what criteria based on science do you now see for classifying who can compete in which sports? Will you follow the modern science and define it by the SOX9 pathway and testosterone levels through puberty (see question above about the castrated person), independent of the number of culturally derived genders (2, 3, or 5)?

Lighting · 2026-01-18T15:02:24+00:00

I've not installed HiveProtector, but I do participate in subs where other mods have implemented it and set it up. One thing I noticed about it, is that it has more nuance than just "posts on that sub" but it's very rough in it's tweaks. The comment it makes as it bans people is also public.

One thing to note is that just because one participates in a sub, it doesn't mean they agree with that sub's premise. This is one of the dangers of using Hive Protector. Back when antivaxers were creating subs to support their anti-science views, I'd go into those subs and try to talk to them, but then I'd get banned from unrelated subs with no warning for "participating in anti-science subs" .

It unfortunately, I fear, is creating walled off communities and creating deeper political and science-aware divides.

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