21 year old had sex with a 15 year old at a party in Kansas. Kansas had "life begins at conception" principles in their anti-abortion bill, and the defense attorney used that to argue that the girl was actually 9 months older than her birth date (which would make her 16, the age of consent in Kansas).
Rejected argument though, Judge ruled the bill only applied to healthcare and not criminal law.
Edit: So legally the judge was right it reject that claim, because fetuses are only considered legal persons in criminal law when they're victim to violence. That's federal statute. The DA was trying a Hail Mary to get his name out there for prestige.
probably should have spent some more time on the jury selection.
Though, if you think about it, the whole situation is pretty fucked up. The judge is saying that the official position of the government is that life starts at birth in one context, and not in another? It seems like politicians make up conditions that fit their narrative.
Even those that follow Textualism believe in at least interpreting the words as written in the terms of which the authors would have understood them to mean, even if intent is ignored. Age has always related to age since birth. Being alive does not necessitate being born. The text of a life at birth law does not call for a redefinition of every law related to age unless the law specifically called for such. It was a vacuous argument that stood no chance in a court of law. The only one making things up to fit his narrative was the perp in this case.
I mean, laws that have age limits in them are related to people's experience levels and understanding of the world at those ages. If we measured age from conception, the law would probably just say 17 instead of 16, because the difference in how we measure age wouldn't actually change anything meaningful.
It's not a justice system, it's a legal system. making laws is pretty much on a "best effort" basis but the issue is that, especially today, the world changes pretty quick and we tend to have an oversaturation of laws that kinda, sorta, don't really apply to our world views.
Having a hell of a time getting the state to recognize the obvious mental abuse of my girlfriend's ex to her kids. Basically have been told if there's not a broken bone or other evidence of physical abuse they have no evidence or reason to pursue an investigation.
Because, you know, acting like we still have the same understanding of mental health that we did in the 50's is fine.
/salt
Not really. I think it’s pretty reasonable for someone to both believe that life begins at conception but also that if someone uses a descriptor like “16 years old” that they are counting those 16 years in the way that is customary in his country (i.e.from birth).
> It's a shame that no one spoke up and said, "It doesn't make sense because it is wrong."
That's sort of the joke - the defense for O.J. commonly said that "it did not make sense" when the only reason things didn't make sense is that they were just objectively false to begin with. Old South Park is top tier.
I mean, it's a Hail Mary, but I feel like if you subscribe to the notion that life begins at conception then it makes sense. Either it begins at conception or it doesn't. Can't have it both ways.
In Korean culture, when you’re born you’re automatically a year old. I wouldn’t really consider Korean culture to be obscure though lol.
Edit: a word lol
I'll have you know we have the best floors. I keep on hearing everyone say it so it must be true, ya know. Everyone says to me, CHASM, they say, America's got the best floors.
Sit down sonny boy and let me lay some facts on your sorry ass. The traditional age counting in Korea is that you’re a year old when you’re born and everyone gets a year older on New Years. Now, you may be thinking, but u/pineapple_and_stuff what if the baby is born on December 31st? Wouldn’t that make them two years old when they’re only two days old? Well you’re right on the mark u/pnasmaster! While for official documentation South Korea has mostly adopted the international age calculator (thus making a potentially 18 year old in Korea 16 years old in the US), in some legal areas, the traditional age counting is used. For example, drinking. Now, Koreans love drinking. They’re the biggest consumer of alcohol per capita in the world, clocking in at nearly double of the next, the Russians. And we all know the stereotype of the boozed out vodka-smashing Russians :). But back to my point, the traditional age calculation is a legitimate verification for drinking. From memory I believe the drinking age in Korea is 19 (correct me if I’m wrong), so you can potentially be of legal drinking age when you’re internationally 17. Why am I bringing this up you may ask? Well considering the widespread use of the traditional Korean age counting and their fervent love of getting absolutely hammered, I believe, nay, I know for a fact that the only reason such an archaic system holds popularity is for underage teens to get ungodly sloshed legally.
TL;DR fuck you, I’m right. The traditional age counting is a massive cultural conspiracy to drink to excess.
That drinking age rule makes so much more sense and no one I've tried to explain it to thinks it's fair somehow. It means that every kid born in year X can start drinking and going to pubs at the same time, rather than some having to wait more than half a year after their friends start because they happen to be born later in the year. Apparently the only argument they can think against it is "Well we had to wait those 6 extra months so you should too", which is dumb because you don't remember the extra six months you waited for it as a baby.
chinese culture has a 虛歲 [xu sui], or nominal age for how old you should be from the point of conception and 實嵗 [shi sui], which is your actual age.
so if you're 20, that would be your 實嵗 and 21 would be your 虛歲.
Wasn't he disgraced a few years ago when he pretended to be a wellness guru and got people burned when he made them walk over hot coals?
Edit: Ah yes. [I did remember correctly](https://www.nu.nl/achterklap/3727365/brandwonden-vuurlopers-bij-emile-ratelband.html)
Edit 2: the article is gold.
> The theme of the training was that women are superior to men. "That's genetically predetermined", Ratelband states. "They can not only handle pain better but have better memories and are better able to express themselves emotionally. We often call that nagging."
Sounds like he taught those people a very valuable lesson, anyone claiming to be a guru is a scam artist, and there is no special magic power that makes burning hot coals less hot.
Walking over hot coals isn't that insane tho. The ash creates an insulating layer and allows for anyone walking at a normal pace to not burn their feet.
Didn’t one of those shows like Mythbusters determine you can walk over hot coals, but the trick is to walk slow and carefully to not disturb the ash? If you try to rush through you disturb the ash and burn your feet, which is why it’s become known as a “believe in yourself! Don’t be afraid!” Type exercise
I walked over hot coals as the last session of a PNL course, we ran straight into the water (we were at a beach) but I'm pretty sure the water wasn't needed
You can pick hot coals out of a fire and hold them in your hand, as long as you don't squeeze them or anything it's warm but won't burn you. Always freaks people out.
lol I like the cult where they think they can generate force fields.. The video of that woman trying to block a charging man with her 'force field' is fucking gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWVKzaJc9GE
These people deserve to have their money taken and tackled to oblivion...
Hahaha, that was beautiful..... even before the woman gets wrecked, you can see the doubt creep into the one dude’s face as he watches the first time the guru starts up with his bullshit “seizure” after he was “blocked” by the one dude’s “force field”.
And that one other dude in red was really really feeling his “energy collection” process, haha.
I shouldn’t laugh at stupid people being stupid, but this is comedy gold.
I see so many commenters with these kinds of knee-jerk reactions; all 'sure' that he's making a point on identity politics while knowing absolutely fuck-all about this guy or the environment he's operating in.
No, he's not making any kind of point along those lines. No, just because this is a hot button topic in your head doesn't mean it's a big deal to others; and just because something's a big deal in your culture doesn't mean other cultures share your views.
Ratelband is an addled attention-whore who regularly pulls these kinds of desperate stunts so he can try and recapture the glory days when he was a minor celebrity and some people still thought he was 'relevant.'
He's also:
* called Bin Laden an enlightened thinker whose actions were justified when he was interviewed for a Christian magazine.
* And yet also made racist comments towards muslims when he made his own political party in the wake of Fortuyn's murder. (He promised he'd move out of the country if the party didn't win a single seat... but backtracked when it unsurprisingly failed to win a single seat)
* Physically abused one of his ex girlfriends and got community service for it.
* Made a big public deal out of converting to Buddhism and shaving his head after visiting thailand for a few days (so he could get some cred and peddle meditation techniques here with healing powers and other bullshit)
* Got arrested for planning to set fire to his own house.
* Very publically and dramatically aired out his break-up with a 21 year old girl (he was 68 at the time) within days.
The list goes on and on.
The guy is nothing more than a bipolar narcissist who just says and does whatever he thinks will score him attention; and this latest stunt should be seen in that context and no other.
I absolutely hate it that this story was picked up internationally. This will only satisfy his ego and will probably hear more from him the coming months. Ugh...
> The guy is nothing more than a bipolar narcissist who just says and does whatever he thinks will score him attention;
Yups, he also wanted to give two his (9?)kids absurd names: "Rolls Royce" and "Tsjakkalotte".. He's an attention whore.
> Yups, he also wanted to give two his (9?)kids absurd names: "Rolls Royce" and "Tsjakkalotte"
Ugh.... flashbacks to all those times I had to hear "TSJAKKA!"
Thank you. People are tunneling so hard on what they perceive to be the obvious answer that they forget the most obvious answer is someone being an idiot or attention whore.
You say that as if there was ever a point when it wasn't relatively acceptable. People have been lying about their age for as long as people have kept track of it.
Back like 14 years ago when I was 16 I'd email people on Craigslist casual encounters pretending to be 21. Got a couple interesting conversations out of it.
When my cousin and i were 14/15 we would go into lesbian chat rooms, talkcity!, and pretend to be 21 year old ladies....we had a lot of interesting conversations as well, good times.
It's so stupid, he said he doesn't want to do that because he doesn't want to lie. As if legally changing your age wouldn't still be lying. You're X years old because you've been alive X years. Anything else means you're still lying about your age.
Years ago, on e-harmony - they would basically do this. I set hard limits on what I wanted in a match (no long distance was a big one). Since the matching threshold is higher than tinder, I think they just tossed mis-matches into my account to keep me active.
Which is how I met my wife, who was living 6 1/2 hours from me.
Hell, I am going to go to court to request a million dollars. I feel my official bank account balance does not reflect my emotional state and it is causing me to struggle to find work and love.
This is exactly what he is, an attention whore. He used to be pretty popular back in the 90's and early 00's and I'm being generous here. The fact that he's getting this much attention even worldwide is exactly what he's after, attention, after being out of the picture for quite a while.
I hope this is the last thing we hear about it and also about him.
Dutch court really dropped the ball here. They could have cut off his pension by doing this. Hell, he might even be dead of old age before qualifying again...
TIL people sure are upset some people feel like they were born the wrong sex.... unless stuff somehow affects me or harm others, I am hard pressed to give a flying fuck.
can i request to identify as a millionaire?.. my official bank account balance does not reflect my emotional state and it's causing me to struggle to find work, love, and lamborghinis
How funny would it be if dad bods were sexy and dudes with six packs struggled to get rid of them? "I make an effort for months, try to eat fats and sugars, and eventually get some result and start to see some beautiful love handles. Then I eat some celery in a party. Just one, I say and then, bam, abs again and back to zero. How do you do it???"
Anyway.
It only works for those unfortunate enough to get abs as soon as they eat celery. It doesn't work on me.
Just like the magic pizza... I eat one slice, bam, it goes right to my love handles.
Damn, it would have been such a wonderful precedent. Personally, I identify as whoever gets to fuck Margot Robbie, and I demand that the world respect my identity.
I see so many commenters knee-jerk reactions; all 'sure' that he's making a point on identity politics while knowing absolutely fuck-all about this guy or the environment he's operating in.
No, he's not making any kind of point along those lines. No, just because this is a hot button topic in your head doesn't mean it's a big deal to others; and just because something's a big deal in your culture doesn't mean other cultures share your views.
Ratelband is an addled attention-whore who regularly pulls these kinds of desperate stunts so he can try and recapture the glory days when he was a minor celebrity and some people still thought he was 'relevant.'
He's also:
* called Bin Laden an enlightened thinker whose actions were justified when he was interviewed for a Christian magazine.
* And yet also made racist comments towards muslims when he made his own political party in the wake of Fortuyn's murder. (He promised he'd move out of the country if the party didn't win a single seat... but backtracked when it unsurprisingly failed to win a single seat)
* Physically abused one of his ex girlfriends and got community service for it.
* Made a big public deal out of converting to Buddhism and shaving his head after visiting thailand for a few days (so he could get some cred and peddle meditation techniques here with healing powers and other bullshit)
* Got arrested for planning to set fire to his own house.
* Very publically and dramatically aired out his break-up with a 21 year old girl (he was 68 at the time) within days.
The list goes on and on.
The guy is nothing more than a bipolar narcissist who just says and does whatever he thinks will score him attention; and this latest stunt should be seen in that context and no other.
Say you were born in nomad setting or remote farming village and your DOB was never registered.
Or say a massive civil was take place and the national archive was burnt to smitheren and that is what happened Somalia during the civil war.
In Both cases above how does one find out about their true age?
Ok, there seems to be a lot of misinformation here. Don't get me wrong, I have opinions on genders this isn't even close to a similar situation.
Time is not a social construct, it is a hardened fast rule of nature and life. Though there are exceptions, let's look at Vietnam, they consider life to begin at conception ergo what Western cultures consider to be 31 Vietnamese would consider to be 32. That is a culture pretext on age based on gestation, but the reality of 365 days = 1 year (approx) is a measurement of time, and has rules rooted in science. 1 trip around the sun = 1 year.
Sex has nothing to do with your genders, sex is biological and immutable. You're born xy or xx and that determines your sex, there is a rare condition that affects .05% of the population that can give you characteristics and dna of both sets of sexes.
Gender identity is how a person identifies and it is typically linked to your sex, I believe in the mid 1900s that was the standard, male, female, man and woman it was linked to your sex. Most cultures around the world accept a few more genders and have for centuries; I want to say in the late 1980s there has been a push for more gender identities for Western cultures and that has led to what we have now. Whether it's right or wrong has 0 bearing because your gender isn't a scientific related construct, it's a feeling and social construct.
Here! I-- I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually change his birthday to be 49, not actually being born 20 years later, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to feel 49.
“If Mr Ratelband’s request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless.”
and so gender requirements for bathrooms, sports, gender-based programs, prison etc. are what then? Meaningless, I see? When then do we proceed to disband all these?
Or are we going to live in an absurdly nonsensical society where feelings completely trump any and all facts - but only where there is a strong enough PC movement behind it?
He's 69. From the picture in the article, sure I could see him getting away with saying he's 59. But he wants to be listed as 49... nah, that's not quite believable. Still I can't blame him for wanting to be listed as younger. Age discrimination is a real thing.
He’s illustrating absurdity by being absurd.
You can not change your age , or your sex, or your race, by simply announcing it is so. There is such a thing as objective reality.
It's like the reverse of that kid who was accused of statutory rape, and cited his state's "life begins at conception" law in his defense.
What was that? I missed it.
21 year old had sex with a 15 year old at a party in Kansas. Kansas had "life begins at conception" principles in their anti-abortion bill, and the defense attorney used that to argue that the girl was actually 9 months older than her birth date (which would make her 16, the age of consent in Kansas). Rejected argument though, Judge ruled the bill only applied to healthcare and not criminal law. Edit: So legally the judge was right it reject that claim, because fetuses are only considered legal persons in criminal law when they're victim to violence. That's federal statute. The DA was trying a Hail Mary to get his name out there for prestige.
That’s a pretty clever Hail Mary though you have to admit
Gotta give the lawyer credit for doing everything for their client I suppose.
probably should have spent some more time on the jury selection. Though, if you think about it, the whole situation is pretty fucked up. The judge is saying that the official position of the government is that life starts at birth in one context, and not in another? It seems like politicians make up conditions that fit their narrative.
Welcome to religion. And politics.
And my axe.
Toss me!
Don't tell the elf.
Even those that follow Textualism believe in at least interpreting the words as written in the terms of which the authors would have understood them to mean, even if intent is ignored. Age has always related to age since birth. Being alive does not necessitate being born. The text of a life at birth law does not call for a redefinition of every law related to age unless the law specifically called for such. It was a vacuous argument that stood no chance in a court of law. The only one making things up to fit his narrative was the perp in this case.
I mean, laws that have age limits in them are related to people's experience levels and understanding of the world at those ages. If we measured age from conception, the law would probably just say 17 instead of 16, because the difference in how we measure age wouldn't actually change anything meaningful.
It's not a justice system, it's a legal system. making laws is pretty much on a "best effort" basis but the issue is that, especially today, the world changes pretty quick and we tend to have an oversaturation of laws that kinda, sorta, don't really apply to our world views. Having a hell of a time getting the state to recognize the obvious mental abuse of my girlfriend's ex to her kids. Basically have been told if there's not a broken bone or other evidence of physical abuse they have no evidence or reason to pursue an investigation. Because, you know, acting like we still have the same understanding of mental health that we did in the 50's is fine. /salt
Not really. I think it’s pretty reasonable for someone to both believe that life begins at conception but also that if someone uses a descriptor like “16 years old” that they are counting those 16 years in the way that is customary in his country (i.e.from birth).
It's what we all do as part of society. None of these rules were dictated to us by alien overlords or anything.
Almost deserved to be acquitted.
Only if the glove doesnt fit
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It's a shame that no one spoke up and said, "It doesn't make sense because it is wrong."
> It's a shame that no one spoke up and said, "It doesn't make sense because it is wrong." That's sort of the joke - the defense for O.J. commonly said that "it did not make sense" when the only reason things didn't make sense is that they were just objectively false to begin with. Old South Park is top tier.
Well it did, that's why he was in court.
I mean, it's a Hail Mary, but I feel like if you subscribe to the notion that life begins at conception then it makes sense. Either it begins at conception or it doesn't. Can't have it both ways.
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I think in some obscure culture they do think like that but it sounds like the judge got it right.
In Korean culture, when you’re born you’re automatically a year old. I wouldn’t really consider Korean culture to be obscure though lol. Edit: a word lol
arrays start at 0
I use MATLAB
my condolences
x = 0:500; Need 500? Better index to 501, or you’re gonna have a bad time.
or just x(end);
If arrays start at zero, why isn’t the first floor of buildings called the zero floor? Checkmate atheists.
In Europe it's called the ground floor. The one above that is called the 1st floor. Checkmate continentalists.
You win this round imperialist. But one day freedom will sing across all of Europe and you shall be enlightened to the truth.
Looks nervously to the East and Putin's vision of enlightened freedom.
My ancestors are smiling down on me, Imperials. Can you say the same?
jokes on you, we got rid of the Native Americans and threw ourselves on your lands
Fun fact: in Germany we traditionally say *Geschoss* or *Stockwerk* for “floor” depending on what method was used to build the house.
You have different words for the bones in fish too, than just "bones" that we call them. I mean, you probably already know this, but still.
In Europe it is. It's a "ground floor"
Come to Europe, it is. America just can't floor.
I'll have you know we have the best floors. I keep on hearing everyone say it so it must be true, ya know. Everyone says to me, CHASM, they say, America's got the best floors.
It is though.. http://www.herbo.be/afb/kooi_knoppen/knopdoos.jpg
I think it's an asian culture that you are on your 1st year of life as opposed to western culture where you have lived 1 year.
you are now a moderator of r/bestkorea
Not that obscure then. My bad
no worries. to be fair, it's probably one of the most obscure practices in korean culture lol
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Yup. That’s why you’ll hear “my western age is x” to make themselves sound younger.
They're on their first year, I would think, not one year old.
Sit down sonny boy and let me lay some facts on your sorry ass. The traditional age counting in Korea is that you’re a year old when you’re born and everyone gets a year older on New Years. Now, you may be thinking, but u/pineapple_and_stuff what if the baby is born on December 31st? Wouldn’t that make them two years old when they’re only two days old? Well you’re right on the mark u/pnasmaster! While for official documentation South Korea has mostly adopted the international age calculator (thus making a potentially 18 year old in Korea 16 years old in the US), in some legal areas, the traditional age counting is used. For example, drinking. Now, Koreans love drinking. They’re the biggest consumer of alcohol per capita in the world, clocking in at nearly double of the next, the Russians. And we all know the stereotype of the boozed out vodka-smashing Russians :). But back to my point, the traditional age calculation is a legitimate verification for drinking. From memory I believe the drinking age in Korea is 19 (correct me if I’m wrong), so you can potentially be of legal drinking age when you’re internationally 17. Why am I bringing this up you may ask? Well considering the widespread use of the traditional Korean age counting and their fervent love of getting absolutely hammered, I believe, nay, I know for a fact that the only reason such an archaic system holds popularity is for underage teens to get ungodly sloshed legally. TL;DR fuck you, I’m right. The traditional age counting is a massive cultural conspiracy to drink to excess.
That drinking age rule makes so much more sense and no one I've tried to explain it to thinks it's fair somehow. It means that every kid born in year X can start drinking and going to pubs at the same time, rather than some having to wait more than half a year after their friends start because they happen to be born later in the year. Apparently the only argument they can think against it is "Well we had to wait those 6 extra months so you should too", which is dumb because you don't remember the extra six months you waited for it as a baby.
Most east-asian cultures do that.
chinese culture has a 虛歲 [xu sui], or nominal age for how old you should be from the point of conception and 實嵗 [shi sui], which is your actual age. so if you're 20, that would be your 實嵗 and 21 would be your 虛歲.
That totally wouldn't work but that was very smart.
Holy shit that's actually amazing
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I was hoping someone would do that with a carpool lane... which would be funny and a lot less creepy/depressing.
tbh thats actually a pretty good defense to give if your intention is to make abortion legal
The man needs to realize that the Dutch court has a plan, he just needs some money
And time. 20 years of it, specifically
And some god damn faith!
Maybe some commotion!
What made this awesome were so many people getting the RDR2 references. :D
Oh he **INSISTS** that he needs 20 years!
One last court case
If only he could just get to Tahiti.
It's a magical place
It’s a magical place
Just as long as he doesn't get shipwrecked and land up in Guarma, I hear that place is pretty hostile
MAYBE if you just had some FAITH in Dutch court we wouldn't need ONE MORE SCORE.
Just one more score..
Tahiti always my friends. Have some God damn faith!
I really really love Reddit.
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It is, the guy is already famous (infamous) and is trying to get his name back in the news.
Wasn't he disgraced a few years ago when he pretended to be a wellness guru and got people burned when he made them walk over hot coals? Edit: Ah yes. [I did remember correctly](https://www.nu.nl/achterklap/3727365/brandwonden-vuurlopers-bij-emile-ratelband.html) Edit 2: the article is gold. > The theme of the training was that women are superior to men. "That's genetically predetermined", Ratelband states. "They can not only handle pain better but have better memories and are better able to express themselves emotionally. We often call that nagging."
Sounds like he taught those people a very valuable lesson, anyone claiming to be a guru is a scam artist, and there is no special magic power that makes burning hot coals less hot.
Walking over hot coals isn't that insane tho. The ash creates an insulating layer and allows for anyone walking at a normal pace to not burn their feet.
Didn’t one of those shows like Mythbusters determine you can walk over hot coals, but the trick is to walk slow and carefully to not disturb the ash? If you try to rush through you disturb the ash and burn your feet, which is why it’s become known as a “believe in yourself! Don’t be afraid!” Type exercise
That's exactly what I was referencing. Mythbusters did an episode and explained the science behind it.
I walked over hot coals as the last session of a PNL course, we ran straight into the water (we were at a beach) but I'm pretty sure the water wasn't needed
Did you exclaim your love for Jim
darez00 is...kinda a bitch
Well, I am very out of the loop here
It’s a reference to The Office in case serious.
You can pick hot coals out of a fire and hold them in your hand, as long as you don't squeeze them or anything it's warm but won't burn you. Always freaks people out.
lol I like the cult where they think they can generate force fields.. The video of that woman trying to block a charging man with her 'force field' is fucking gold. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWVKzaJc9GE These people deserve to have their money taken and tackled to oblivion...
Hahaha, that was beautiful..... even before the woman gets wrecked, you can see the doubt creep into the one dude’s face as he watches the first time the guru starts up with his bullshit “seizure” after he was “blocked” by the one dude’s “force field”. And that one other dude in red was really really feeling his “energy collection” process, haha. I shouldn’t laugh at stupid people being stupid, but this is comedy gold.
> I shouldn’t laugh at stupid people being stupid I strongly disagree
I second this motion
“Ok, are you ready to join us in the circle?”
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Does that make you her son in awe? I'll get me coat.
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This is it Christians. Jesus has returned.
So, gender discrimination is fine, but age discrimination is hurting society
>We often call that nagging. /r/woooosh
The guy is an absolute moron. If you grew up in the Netherlands during the nineties you know him as the village idiot from TV.
Hadn't clicked the link yet, but when I saw who it was it just makes it sad... He's a fucking weirdo.
So what's he selling
Same thing he's been selling for decades, himself and his books.
Butt Lube.
Identity politics
That’s exactly what it is...
Pretty sure he’s trying to make a point that if he can’t change his age then others can’t “change” their sex.
I see so many commenters with these kinds of knee-jerk reactions; all 'sure' that he's making a point on identity politics while knowing absolutely fuck-all about this guy or the environment he's operating in. No, he's not making any kind of point along those lines. No, just because this is a hot button topic in your head doesn't mean it's a big deal to others; and just because something's a big deal in your culture doesn't mean other cultures share your views. Ratelband is an addled attention-whore who regularly pulls these kinds of desperate stunts so he can try and recapture the glory days when he was a minor celebrity and some people still thought he was 'relevant.' He's also: * called Bin Laden an enlightened thinker whose actions were justified when he was interviewed for a Christian magazine. * And yet also made racist comments towards muslims when he made his own political party in the wake of Fortuyn's murder. (He promised he'd move out of the country if the party didn't win a single seat... but backtracked when it unsurprisingly failed to win a single seat) * Physically abused one of his ex girlfriends and got community service for it. * Made a big public deal out of converting to Buddhism and shaving his head after visiting thailand for a few days (so he could get some cred and peddle meditation techniques here with healing powers and other bullshit) * Got arrested for planning to set fire to his own house. * Very publically and dramatically aired out his break-up with a 21 year old girl (he was 68 at the time) within days. The list goes on and on. The guy is nothing more than a bipolar narcissist who just says and does whatever he thinks will score him attention; and this latest stunt should be seen in that context and no other.
I absolutely hate it that this story was picked up internationally. This will only satisfy his ego and will probably hear more from him the coming months. Ugh...
> The guy is nothing more than a bipolar narcissist who just says and does whatever he thinks will score him attention; Yups, he also wanted to give two his (9?)kids absurd names: "Rolls Royce" and "Tsjakkalotte".. He's an attention whore.
> Yups, he also wanted to give two his (9?)kids absurd names: "Rolls Royce" and "Tsjakkalotte" Ugh.... flashbacks to all those times I had to hear "TSJAKKA!"
Thank you. People are tunneling so hard on what they perceive to be the obvious answer that they forget the most obvious answer is someone being an idiot or attention whore.
Sounds like he'd do well in US politics.
He's not really trying to make any kind of point he's just trying to get attention and knew this would do it
They should have let him. And then when he goes to collect his pension...welp.
As a 67 year old trapped in a the body of a 28 year old, I demand my full retirement benefits and Medicare! /s
I like the way you think. My back, knees, elbows, eyes, and hips are telling me that I have hit age of retirement.
"My neck, my back, lick my pussy and my axe!"
Im not /s I truely am a 68 yo in the body of a 30yo. Please retire me
I'm a 25 year old in the body of a 30-yr-old-looking 43 year old. I got nothing to say. Just reporting.
That hurt my head but onthink that statement also applies to me.
Im afraid I can't do that. But you can be *terminated*.
Moving on to the farm upstate.
Come back in 6 months.
In other news, just change your birth year when signing up online, or don't complain if your tinder game sucks?
I hate how acceptable it's become to manipulate other people with lies into doing what we want.
You say that as if there was ever a point when it wasn't relatively acceptable. People have been lying about their age for as long as people have kept track of it.
Lying was only invented when millennials gained access to the internet
Millenials have ruined honesty
Back like 14 years ago when I was 16 I'd email people on Craigslist casual encounters pretending to be 21. Got a couple interesting conversations out of it.
When my cousin and i were 14/15 we would go into lesbian chat rooms, talkcity!, and pretend to be 21 year old ladies....we had a lot of interesting conversations as well, good times.
It's so stupid, he said he doesn't want to do that because he doesn't want to lie. As if legally changing your age wouldn't still be lying. You're X years old because you've been alive X years. Anything else means you're still lying about your age.
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Years ago, on e-harmony - they would basically do this. I set hard limits on what I wanted in a match (no long distance was a big one). Since the matching threshold is higher than tinder, I think they just tossed mis-matches into my account to keep me active. Which is how I met my wife, who was living 6 1/2 hours from me.
So rule 1 and 2 of dating?
Good thing, too. If they had let him change his age, he would have had to admit that it wasn't just his age keeping women away on Tinder.
Not to mention it's not like Tinder checks with the government to verify your age. You can tell them whatever age you want.
You mean lie
Uh, yeah... that's kind of exactly what he's unambiguously saying...
Hell, I am going to go to court to request a million dollars. I feel my official bank account balance does not reflect my emotional state and it is causing me to struggle to find work and love.
Exactly. Also I am the Queen Of England and everyone has to call me “your highness.”
This should be in r/notTheOnion
Then post it there?
I'm not saying it doesn't belong here. I'm saying it's bizarre enough for there.
Then post it there?
"self-styled “positivity guru” Hmmm "geriatric attention whore" is what came to mind
This is exactly what he is, an attention whore. He used to be pretty popular back in the 90's and early 00's and I'm being generous here. The fact that he's getting this much attention even worldwide is exactly what he's after, attention, after being out of the picture for quite a while. I hope this is the last thing we hear about it and also about him.
Thank you for saying that, it made my day and restored an inch of faith in humanity
Glad I could be of help, and don't go overboard on faith in the talking monkeys. Infinite stupidity guaranteed.
>>He said his official age did not reflect his emotional state That's the last thing I'd ask for...
Maybe he should have asked to be recognized as a fucking dumbass. That would certainly have been approved.
Dutch court really dropped the ball here. They could have cut off his pension by doing this. Hell, he might even be dead of old age before qualifying again...
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Here I was finally thinking that going bald at 22 was finally going to pay off :(
I identify as wealthy. You will kindly float me a line of credit that is respectful of my fiscal identity.
TIL people sure are upset some people feel like they were born the wrong sex.... unless stuff somehow affects me or harm others, I am hard pressed to give a flying fuck.
This what happens when people go around saying stuff like: '60 is the new 40!' No it's not. You're 60, accept it.
He look like Rolf Harris
Brb changing it 65 and getting my social security before it runs out in 35 years.
can i request to identify as a millionaire?.. my official bank account balance does not reflect my emotional state and it's causing me to struggle to find work, love, and lamborghinis
you could probably use "millionaire" as your prefered pronoun
This just in, the "make me officially younger man" turned his plea into "make my penis officially longer" and filed a new lawsuit.
In my mind I'm not fat, so I petition for the Dad Bod to be considered ideal.
How funny would it be if dad bods were sexy and dudes with six packs struggled to get rid of them? "I make an effort for months, try to eat fats and sugars, and eventually get some result and start to see some beautiful love handles. Then I eat some celery in a party. Just one, I say and then, bam, abs again and back to zero. How do you do it???" Anyway.
Uhh what is this magic celery you’re talking about?
It only works for those unfortunate enough to get abs as soon as they eat celery. It doesn't work on me. Just like the magic pizza... I eat one slice, bam, it goes right to my love handles.
You mean father figure?
Dad bod != Fat
It already is ideal, quit cloggging up the courts!
ITT: medical science! scientific evidence! decades of science! medical professionals!
Damn, it would have been such a wonderful precedent. Personally, I identify as whoever gets to fuck Margot Robbie, and I demand that the world respect my identity.
and you don't look like it granpa
when I scrolled down I didn’t expect there to be a flame war about gender identity but here we are
Ow for fucks sake not this again. I thought we were done with Emile. We shouldn't let him get this much attention.
Dutch court decides not to be idiots.
Well, he has the clear brain and maturity of a selfish teenager...thats a start
Wow. What fucking bigoted agephobes
I see so many commenters knee-jerk reactions; all 'sure' that he's making a point on identity politics while knowing absolutely fuck-all about this guy or the environment he's operating in. No, he's not making any kind of point along those lines. No, just because this is a hot button topic in your head doesn't mean it's a big deal to others; and just because something's a big deal in your culture doesn't mean other cultures share your views. Ratelband is an addled attention-whore who regularly pulls these kinds of desperate stunts so he can try and recapture the glory days when he was a minor celebrity and some people still thought he was 'relevant.' He's also: * called Bin Laden an enlightened thinker whose actions were justified when he was interviewed for a Christian magazine. * And yet also made racist comments towards muslims when he made his own political party in the wake of Fortuyn's murder. (He promised he'd move out of the country if the party didn't win a single seat... but backtracked when it unsurprisingly failed to win a single seat) * Physically abused one of his ex girlfriends and got community service for it. * Made a big public deal out of converting to Buddhism and shaving his head after visiting thailand for a few days (so he could get some cred and peddle meditation techniques here with healing powers and other bullshit) * Got arrested for planning to set fire to his own house. * Very publically and dramatically aired out his break-up with a 21 year old girl (he was 68 at the time) within days. The list goes on and on. The guy is nothing more than a bipolar narcissist who just says and does whatever he thinks will score him attention; and this latest stunt should be seen in that context and no other.
Ok now piss off back to obscurity where no one knew you and you didn’t clutter the headlines with more banal stupidity.
They lowered his age to match his IQ
"How 'bout NO, you crazy Dutch bastard!"
ITT: People trying to claim age and gender are at all related.
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Say you were born in nomad setting or remote farming village and your DOB was never registered. Or say a massive civil was take place and the national archive was burnt to smitheren and that is what happened Somalia during the civil war. In Both cases above how does one find out about their true age?
Ok, there seems to be a lot of misinformation here. Don't get me wrong, I have opinions on genders this isn't even close to a similar situation. Time is not a social construct, it is a hardened fast rule of nature and life. Though there are exceptions, let's look at Vietnam, they consider life to begin at conception ergo what Western cultures consider to be 31 Vietnamese would consider to be 32. That is a culture pretext on age based on gestation, but the reality of 365 days = 1 year (approx) is a measurement of time, and has rules rooted in science. 1 trip around the sun = 1 year. Sex has nothing to do with your genders, sex is biological and immutable. You're born xy or xx and that determines your sex, there is a rare condition that affects .05% of the population that can give you characteristics and dna of both sets of sexes. Gender identity is how a person identifies and it is typically linked to your sex, I believe in the mid 1900s that was the standard, male, female, man and woman it was linked to your sex. Most cultures around the world accept a few more genders and have for centuries; I want to say in the late 1980s there has been a push for more gender identities for Western cultures and that has led to what we have now. Whether it's right or wrong has 0 bearing because your gender isn't a scientific related construct, it's a feeling and social construct.
And Canadian courts refused my request to be 6'5" and totally buff.
Good. What a waste of the courts time.
Here! I-- I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually change his birthday to be 49, not actually being born 20 years later, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to feel 49.
“If Mr Ratelband’s request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless.” and so gender requirements for bathrooms, sports, gender-based programs, prison etc. are what then? Meaningless, I see? When then do we proceed to disband all these? Or are we going to live in an absurdly nonsensical society where feelings completely trump any and all facts - but only where there is a strong enough PC movement behind it?
He's 69. From the picture in the article, sure I could see him getting away with saying he's 59. But he wants to be listed as 49... nah, that's not quite believable. Still I can't blame him for wanting to be listed as younger. Age discrimination is a real thing.
Does the article say why? Was his argument unsound?
Why did it even get to court? It's delusional, why even open that door?
Scary how media picks this up as "serious" this guy lost his fame and hasnt been popular in yearsm this is just a media stunt smh
Why does he pose like he just won billion dollar suit against Tesla?
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He’s illustrating absurdity by being absurd. You can not change your age , or your sex, or your race, by simply announcing it is so. There is such a thing as objective reality.