ASIO director-general Mike Burgess says mix of ideologies promoting violence behind rise in terror threat level – ABC News

The head of ASIO says the targeting of Australia’s youth and the rise of a violent mix of ideologies that defy logic are among the major reasons Australia’s terror threat has been raised.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess says Australia’s terror-level threat has been raised to “probable” due to a rising mix of ideologies where more people think “violence is permissible”.

Mr Albanese earlier said the raised level had been driven by increases in youth radicalisation, online radicalisation and the rise of “new mixed ideologies”.

[Ed: When will they mention the danger posed by extreme trans ideology as found in the posts recorded on TERF is Slur?]

Source: ASIO director-general Mike Burgess says mix of ideologies promoting violence behind rise in terror threat level – ABC News

Court approves puberty blockers for 12-year-old child | The Australian

A Victorian court has granted permission for a 12-year-old child to be prescribed treatment to block the onset of puberty, despite a hospital raising concerns that the father had not been consulted, and pointing to “ongoing uncertainty” about approvals for the treatment of children with gender dysphoria.

Judge Melinda Richards last week ruled that the mother’s consent alone is enough to allow the hospital to prescribe puberty blockers to the biologically male child, who first presented as a girl aged seven when she told her mother she was “no longer her son, she was her daughter”.
The child’s mother is supportive of the child taking puberty blockers, but the hospital raised concerns with the Victorian Supreme Court over whether they could do so without the father’s consent.
The court heard the father had not been involved in the child’s life since she was one year old. Around that time, the mother took out a family violence intervention order against the father for a one-year period.
The case comes as the Family Court continues to grapple with the complexities of gender identity, especially in the context of children, medication and surgery.
In a separate matter, a judge determined a father’s refusal to conform with traditional gender norms left his three children “confused” and encouraged them to “question their gender identity” after they all began identifying as non-binary, ruling the two youngest children would not be permitted to see their ­father for an extended period.
In another case, the mother of a 13-year-old with gender dysphoria abruptly withdrew an application seeking a Family Court order to allow the child to take ­puberty blockers after trying to have the independent children’s lawyer assigned to the matter thrown off the case.
All Family Court judges were last year presented with a legal paper from a top barrister arguing the court must reassess how scientific advancements should apply to the family law system.

Source: Court approves puberty blockers for 12-year-old child

Maternal Health Matters Survey

This survey aims to understand how expectant mothers access information about pregnancy, birth, after the birth and maternity related matters.

This survey is aimed at expectant mothers or mothers who have been pregnant in the past 5 years.

About Us: Maternal Health Matters is an incorporated organisation and registered charity with the goal: to ensure all women receive respectful maternity care. That is respect for women’s autonomy, dignity, feelings, choices, and preferences. It is care that delivers better maternal health outcomes and a better maternity care experience

Source: Maternal Health Matters Survey

The Biological Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance: Consensus Statement for the American College of Sports Medicine

Biological sex is a primary determinant of athletic performance because of fundamental sex differences in anatomy and physiology dictated by sex chromosomes and sex hormones. Adult men are typically stronger, more powerful, and faster than women of similar age and training status. Thus, for athletic events and sports relying on endurance, muscle strength, speed, and power, males typically outperform females by 10%–30% depending on the requirements of the event. These sex differences in performance emerge with the onset of puberty and coincide with the increase in endogenous sex steroid hormones, in particular testosterone in males, which increases 30-fold by adulthood, but remains low in females. The primary goal of this consensus statement is to provide the latest scientific knowledge and mechanisms for the sex differences in athletic performance.

. . .

Several longitudinal studies in transgender women show a reduction in hemoglobin/hematocrit (the latter equivalent to cisgender women after ~4 months), and lean body mass, muscle cross-sectional area, and muscle strength, but are typically stronger than cisgender women (387) even 14 yr after initiation of GAHT (388). For example, nonathletic transgender women who underwent estrogen treatment for 12 months decreased muscle volume by 5% but maintained muscle strength (384).

. . .

Individuals with 46,XY DSD who are born with female or ambiguous genitalia and functioning testes, such as in the case of 5-alpha reductase deficiency, will produce testosterone concentrations in the typical male range (9,325) (Fig. 2). Except in cases of androgen resistance (CAIS), the individual will respond to testosterone made during puberty and adult life with increased virilization and muscle development (9,325). The prevalence of 46,XY DSD is estimated to be ~140 times greater (7.1/1000 vs 0.05/1000) among elite women athletes than the general population (18,404). These findings, together with an increased occurrence of mild forms of hyperandrogenism (PCOS) among elite female athletes (393), support an advantageous role of endogenous hyperandrogenism for athletic performance in women.

Source: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise

Wagga Wagga Base Hospital maternity patients say investigation ‘glossed over’ their trauma – ABC News

  • A complaint was filed on behalf of 30 women who say they had traumatic birthing experiences at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
  • The women say the investigation by the Health Care Complaints Commission did not address their claims
  • The first hearing of the Select Committee on Birth Trauma takes place in Sydney on Monday, September 4

Source: Wagga Wagga Base Hospital maternity patients say investigation ‘glossed over’ their trauma – ABC News

International Olympic Committee Was Warned About Male Boxers, World Boxing Organization Vice President Says – Reduxx

A Hungarian sports official has come out and stated that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is not female. István Kovács, the European Vice President of the World Boxing Organization and former Secretary General of the International Boxing Association, told Hungarian press that he had warned the International Olympic Committee about males participating in women’s boxing as early as 2022, but that nothing was done.

In a shocking statement made to Magyar Nemzet yesterday, Kovács confirmed the speculation surrounding the Algerian boxer, adding that it had been known as early as 2022 that Khelif was biologically male.

“The problem was not with the level of Khelif’s testosterone, because that can be adjusted nowadays, but with the result of the gender test, which clearly revealed that the Algerian boxer is biologically male,” Kovács said in an interview with Magyar Nemzet, adding that a total of five boxers had been examined including Khelif by the International Boxing Association, and all of them “were indeed men.”

Kovács asserted that he personally reported shocking result immediately to the International Olympics Committee, “but as unbelievable as it is, they have not responded to this to this day.” The retired world champion boxer also commented that he recently spoke with former women’s world champion Mária Kovács, who bitterly remarked that in modern women’s boxing, “there is a 20 percent chance that one of the athletes will suffer a testicular injury.”

Male athletes with DSDs are sometimes actively sought out by national coaches because of their tremendous “natural” advantage over biological females.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, male runners with DSDs won all three top spots in the Women’s 800m race.

Source: International Olympic Committee Was Warned About Male Boxers, World Boxing Organization Vice President Says – Reduxx

World Boxing boss Boris Van Der Vorst addresses gender issues as Angela Carini quits mid-fight against Imane Khelif – ABC News

Khelif won her(sic) first Paris bout on Thursday when her(sic) Italian opponent, Angela Carini, emotionally quit after just 46 seconds and a few punches.

Even though Carini said she wasn’t making a political statement about Khelif, Carini’s tearful abandonment of the bout became a worldwide sensation on social media and in Western culture wars.

Criticism of the two boxers is based partly in the policies and decisions of the IBA, which has been out of the Olympic movement since 2019 after years of IOC concerns about its leadership, integrity and financial transparency.

The IBA disqualified Khelif from its world championships because of what it said were elevated levels of testosterone, and it stripped Lin of a bronze medal because it claimed she(sic) failed to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test.

Source: World Boxing boss Boris Van Der Vorst addresses gender issues as Angela Carini quits mid-fight against Imane Khelif – ABC News

Rival hits out at ‘incredibly dangerous’ boxers who failed gender tests outside Olympics |The Telegraph

Olympic approval of two boxers who failed gender and testosterone eligibility tests is “‘incredibly dangerous”, according to one leading woman fighter.
Australia’s boxing captain Caitlin Parker voiced her fears as one of her team-mates is fighting in the same 66kg weight category as Imane Khelif.
“I don’t agree with them being allowed to compete in sport, especially combat sports,” Parker said, having just reached the quarter-finals in the 75kg division with a unanimous points victory over Mexico’s Vanessa Ortiz.
“It can be incredibly dangerous. I don’t agree with it. It’s not like I haven’t sparred men before. But you know it can be dangerous for combat sports and it should be seriously looked into.”
Studies show higher testosterone carries a huge safety risk for women in any combat sport.
Men, the science shows, punch 2.6 times harder than women; the biggest documented performance advantage in any sport.
“Yes, biologically … genetically they are going to have more advantages and in combat sports it can be dangerous,” said Parker. “I really hope the organisations get their act together so that boxing can continue to be at the Olympics.
“It’s the oldest Olympic sport. Women’s boxing was only introduced in 2012 and I want to see it for the next 100, 200 years to come.”
Australian boxing coach Santiago Nieva said, in contrast with Parker, that there would be no complaints if Williamson met the Algerian in the ring.
[Ed: I am proud to see it is Australia’s women’s boxing captain who has had the courage to speak out first. A true leader – unlike her coach.]

Source: Rival hits out at ‘incredibly dangerous’ boxers who failed gender tests outside Olympics