There's No Common Sense In This, Steven...

Queensland Premier Steven Miles on the sad story of a magpie called Molly, seized by Queensland's Department of Science, Environment and Innovation:

'I think sometimes common sense needs to prevail and in this instance ensuring that they can legally take care of Molly is the best outcome for Molly.'

Oh, if only common sense prevailed, but Steven, there's no sign of it in this case, is there? 

Queensland legislation bans native wild animals from being domesticated because of the possible impact on wildlife.

Animals that are sick, orphaned or injured can only be rescued and cared for by those who hold a rehabilitation permit and intend to release them back into the wild.

A sensible law? Yes, so long as there's an understanding that there will always be cases that fall outside of it. 

However, the couple claim they did not look after Molly in the way a pet owner might look after a Cockatoo or a Parrot, insisting instead that the bird is free to fly around and forage for food.

Ms Wells was first asked to surrender Molly six months ago when authorities visited her home but she was unable to capture the bird as it was in a tree.

And that, right there, should have ended any planned DESI action. But bureaucracies are pricklier about their role that 17th century monarchs, and don't like to admit they were wrong. So of course, they doubled down and went in like stormtroopers, ignoring the evidence of their own eyes. 

Previously, DESI said that Molly could not fly like a normal magpie.

It's in a bloody tree! How else did it get there? 

Sound Like The Same Old Story To Me, Bri...

National Geographic says storytelling “helps us to find order in things that have happened to us and make sense of the events of a random world”, and that studies suggest “the more compelling the story, the more empathetic people become in real life.” According to the BBC, “storytelling is a form of cognitive play that hones our minds, allowing us to simulate the world around us and imagine different strategies, particularly in social situations … brain scans have shown that reading or hearing stories activates various areas of the cortex that are known to be involved in social and emotional processing …”

Wow, Bri, since you're an author, that must be a good thing to hear, right? 

Oh, wait, this is the 'Guardian'! What was I thinking? 

The problem is that some of the most urgent and lethal challenges our society is facing are too giant and unwieldy to fit into the little patterns our human minds are used to making.

*sighs* OK, go on, give us an example... 

Our present pandemic response policies suggest some people don’t get to be “heroes” on a “journey”, and many traditional western storytelling conventions aren’t up to the task of understanding a climate emergency that defies any sort of conflict-resolution arc.

*yawns* Boy, some stories do get old real quick...

Calling Down The Lightning...

A female-only app has come under fire for discriminating against transgender women with its facial recognition AI.

Giggle, a social network 'only for females', which launched in early 2020, has since been the subject of complaints from transgender women, who told the Verge, that their requests to join have been denied by the app's facial recognition system, because their features ware not 'feminine' enough.

Oh dear, I bet the CEO is grovelling wretchedly in the teeth of the resulting media firestorm, and promising to...

Wait! 

However, now Giggle's CEO Sall Grover, who is based in Queensland, has doubled down, claiming that there is no space on the app for 'men claiming to be women'.

*gasps* 

Grover, who does not believe trans women are female (Ed: Like it was some kind of wacky fringe belief, eh? In fact, as Longrider points out, it's not even 'a belief' at all...), told Femail: 'The fact is, women of colour are on Giggle. Giggle is used by women of every race, religion and culture. The quality that Giggle users have in common is they are female.'

Look well, oh women, look well: this is how you draw a line in the sand and say 'Yhis far, and no further!'. 

Grover continued: 'I understand that PinkNews will be writing an article in support of trans women with the belief that they are female, with the specific purpose to condemn Giggle, an app for females.'

She said that she hoped the article would point out that there are plenty of apps created specifically for trans people, which she fully supports, and added: 'All I ask is for is the same respect for female spaces.'

I think she knows full well that this is not the goal of the trans activists; they don't want equality with women, they want subjugation of women. But it sounds like she's up for a fight. Which is so very refreshing, isn't it?   

Oz, The Great And Terrible...

Ever since their police gave up all pretence that the brutal covid restrictions were anything to do with concern for people's health and wellbeing, they seem to have decided that anything goes:

Furious parents have hurled abuse from the stands as they watched an all-boys netball team trounce a girls team 46-12 in a state grand final - after they were controversially allowed into the competition by organisers.

And they didn't even have to put on frocks and lippy! 

Netball Queensland defended its decision to include the boys in the tournament, where they easily won their seven games on the way to the title, on the basis they had nowhere else to play due to the lower number of male players.

/facepalm 

'We are hopeful this will be a catalyst for a stand alone men's competition in 2022.'

'Queensland Suns acknowledges the perceptions of disadvantage or unfairness for the girls regional teams, however the purpose of the opportunity afforded to us was not to overshadow them, but to provide some much-needed exposure on a significant stage,' it said.

This 'reasoning' is something I'm unfamiliar with, as I am of this new incarnation of the Aussie, no longer a tough-talking, resourceful but fair member of society. What the hell happened?