Yesterday, I piddled around with a bunch of small household tasks. Can’t say as I really accomplished much, but sometimes getting a bunch of little stuff out of the way does feel like accomplishment.
Cartoon – Incidentally, I own a framed copy of the print made from this rendition by Bryan Moon of that occasion. I love his work.
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – Pathetic Arizona Manbabies Cosplay Gomer Pyle At Elementary School
Quote – Now, I could write a normal article, citing The Washington Post and Daily Beast, outlining the absurd and outrageous details of this dangerous nonsense. Frankly, these three don’t deserve the national attention or my resultant rise in blood pressure. Instead, I shall vent my spleen, and open a good, old-fashioned can of Brooklyn whoop-ass on them, as god and my DNA intended. In case you missed this, click through. The principal is physically fine, as is the other staff member, but both were naturally terrified. Since, she has received so much support from the community, she can’t talk about it without tearing up with gratitude
CNN (H/T Carrie B) – Like Washington and Jefferson, he championed liberty. Unlike the founders, he freed his slaves
Quote – It was 230 years ago Sunday that Robert Carter III, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia, quietly walked into a Northumberland County courthouse and delivered an airtight legal document announcing his intention to free, or manumit, more than 500 slaves. He titled it the “deed of gift.” It was, by far, experts say, the largest liberation of Black people before President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act and Emancipation Proclamation more than seven decades later. Click through for the full (and virtually unknown) story. It deserves to be known far and wide. (Without going into detail, it appears possible that Carter Burwell, composer of the music for many films, especially Coen Brothers films, is a descendant.)
Yesterday was definitely hot. It is supposed to cool down today. I certainly hope so.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Official White House Document: National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism
Quote – Too often over the past several years, American communities have felt the wrenching pain of domestic terrorism. Black church members slaughtered during their bible study in Charleston. A synagogue in Pittsburgh targeted for supporting immigrants. A gunman spraying bullets at an El Paso Walmart to target Latinos. It goes against everything our country strives to stand for in the world, and it poses a direct challenge to America’s national security, our democracy, and our national unity. This National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism lays out a comprehensive approach to addressing the threat while safeguarding bedrock American civil rights and civil liberties – values that make us who we are as a nation. Click through for full document. Yes, it’s long. It is also an official document, which mkes it a benchmark for wht to expect from government and how to evaluste how governmen is doing. Something to download or bookmark.
The Hill – Pelosi calls on CDC to extend eviction moratorium unilaterally
Quote – As House Democratic leaders struggle to find enough party support to extend an eviction moratorium, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is advocating a temporary fix, urging the Biden administration to act unilaterally to help the nation’s most vulnerable renters. The Speaker said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has instituted a ban on evictions through the end of Saturday, should extend the deadline further, giving House Democrats more time to codify the extension in legislation. Click through for deets. It is like Nancy to thibk outside the box when necessary to get stuff done that needs doing.
HuffPost – ‘Comically Minimal Ego-Stroking’: Inside The Bumble Takedown Of A Violent Capitol Rioter
Quote – A citywide curfew was in place, and she could hear the helicopters hovering in the sky. Outside her window, “Claire” could see Trump supporters streaming back from the Capitol to a hotel near her home, carrying their flags and wearing “Make America Great Again” hats. “I was watching on the news and seeing everyone walk back,” Claire told HuffPost. “It felt kind of useless for me to be that close and not kind of do anything proactive about it.” Click through for the whole story. I loved this when I first saw it – and I love even more knowing that she’s not the only one looking, and he’s not the only one getting foumd.
Glenn Kirschner – DOJ Announces it will Defend Donald Trump in Defamation Lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll this week is turning into a workshop on how decent people express anger. Glenn makes his voice into silk dripping with sarcasm.
Meidas Touch – with Stuart Stevens
The Lincoln Project – The Line
BARF BAG ALERT! Campaign “ad” from Lauren Boebert. Yecccch!
Now This News – Magawa the Landmine-Sniffing Rat is Retiring a Hero (Just a little break. There are actually maany of these rats and the lives they have saved, and are saving, are priceless.)
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
Treanspphibia is probably not something which affects as many people as does racism, or misgyny, or even homophobia. But those whom it does affect are affected more deeply than those affected by any other form of discrimination. It’s probably impossible to truly feel what these people are going through, but surely we can get some idea if we put our minds to it. Although some new legislation under consideration strestches that pretty far. To have your parents criminalized for believing you – to have your doctor criminalized for helping you – that seems to go farther in hate even than the HIV epidemic, and that was pretty bad (and in some ways still is.)
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I’m a pediatrician who cares for transgender kids – here’s what you need to know about social support, puberty blockers and other medical options that improve lives of transgender youth
When Charlie, a 10-year-old boy, came in for his first visit, he didn’t look at me or my colleague. Angry and crying, he insisted to us that he was cisgender – that he was a boy and had been born male.
A few months before Charlie came into our office, he handed a note to his mother with four simple words, “I am a boy.” Up until that point Charlie had been living in the world as female – the sex he was assigned at birth – though that was not how he felt inside. Charlie was suffering from severe gender dysphoria – a sense of distress someone feels when their gender identity doesn’t match up with their assigned gender.
The first thing our team does is make sure our patients and families understand what gender care is. We always begin initial visits in the same way. “Our goal is to support you and your family on this journey, whatever that may look like for you. My name is Mandy and I am one of the doctors at CATCH – the Child and Adolescent Trans/Gender Center for Health program. I use she/her pronouns.” Sharing pronouns helps transgender people feel seen and validated.
We then ask patients and families to share their gender journey so we can better understand where they are coming from and where they hope to go. Charlie’s story is one we often hear. A kid may not think much about gender until puberty but begins to experience worsening gender dysphoria when their body starts changing in what feels like the wrong way.
Support and acceptance from family has a huge impact on a transgender person’s mental health. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
In addition to being accepted at home, young people often want to live in the world in their identified gender. This could include changing their name and pronouns and coming out to friends and family. It can also include using public spaces like schools and bathrooms, participating on single-gender sports teams and dressing or doing other things like binding breasts or tucking back male genitalia to present more in line with their gender identity. Though more research needs to be done, studies show that youth who socially transition have rates of depression similar to cisgender peers.
However, most young people also need to make physical changes to their bodies as well to feel truly comfortable.
Medical options for transgender youth can include hormone blockers or hormone therapy as a first step. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Gender-affirming medical interventions
When I first met Charlie, he had already socially transitioned but was still experiencing dysphoria. Charlie, like many people, wanted his physical body to match his gender identity, and this can be achieved only through medical interventions – namely, puberty blockers, hormonal medications or surgery.
For patients like Charlie who have started experiencing early female or male puberty, hormone blockers are typically the first option. These medications work like a pause button on the physical changes caused by puberty. They are well studied, safe and completely reversible. If a person stops taking hormone blockers, their body will resume going through puberty as it would have. Blockers give people time to further explore gender and to develop social supports. Studies demonstrate that hormone blockers reduce depression, anxiety and risk of suicide among transgender youth.
Once a person has started or completed puberty, taking prescribed hormones can help people match their bodies with their gender identities. One of my patients, Zoe, is an 18-year-old transgender woman who has already completed male puberty. She is taking estrogen and a medication to block the effects of testosterone. Together, these will help Zoe’s body develop breasts, reduce hair growth and have an overall more female shape.
The health risks from taking hormones are incredibly small – not significantly different, in fact, than the risks a cisgender person faces from the hormones in their body. Some prescribed hormone effects are partially reversible, but others are more permanent, like voice deepening and growth of facial hair or breasts. Hormones can also impact fertility, so I always make sure that my patients and their families understand the process thoroughly.
The most permanent medical options available are gender-affirming surgeries. These operations can include changes to genitals, chest or breasts and facial structure. Surgeries are not easily reversible, so my colleagues and I always make sure that patients fully understand this decision. Some people think gender-affirming surgeries go too far and that minors are too young to make such a big decision. But based on available research and my own experience, patients who get these surgeries experience improvements in their quality of life through a reduction in dysphoria. I have been told by patients that gender-affirming surgery “literally saved my life. I was free [from dysphoria].”
In March 2021, nearly five years after our first visit, Charlie walked into my exam room. When we first met, he was struggling with his gender, anxiety and depression. This time, he immediately started talking about playing hockey, hanging out with friends and making the honor roll. He has been on hormone blockers for five years and testosterone for almost a year. With the help of a supportive family and a gender-competent therapist, Charlie is now thriving.
Being transgender is not something that goes away. It is something my patients live with for their entire lives. Our multidisciplinary care team continues to see patients like Charlie on a regular basis, often following them into young adulthood.
While more research is always needed, a gender-affirmative approach and evidence-based medicine allows young transgender people to live in the world as their authentic selves. This improves quality of life and saves lives, as one of our transgender patients said about his experience receiving gender-affirming care. “I honestly don’t think I would be here had I not been allowed to transition at that point. I’m not always 100%. But I have hope. I am happy to see tomorrow and I know I will achieve my dreams.”
Mandy Coles, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and co-director of the Child and Adolescent Trans/Gender Center for Health, Boston University
================================================================ Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, one phrase struck me in this: “assigned at birth.” Specifically the word “assigned.” Could this help ore people to realize that external physical details really aren’t enough to determine for certain what gender a person’s soul is? By itself, maybe not … but as one tool in our learning, perhaps it can help.
It’s a busy day, here in the CatBox, and this is my only article today. WWKiisten will be here soon to destink the thoroughly rancid TomCat, goop, and help with chores. WWWendy will be here again on Thursday. Tomorrow I may be running behind, as Diana, my palliative care nurse, will be coming to change my pain patch. Have a Republican-free Sunday!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:11 (average 5:23). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 3,835,430 US Deaths: 142,883
Short Takes:
From Common Dreams: Consumer and workers’ rights advocates are warning that new details of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to shield businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits show just how far the Republican leader is willing to go to ensure corporations are not held accountable for endangering public health and safety.
“Congress must reject this dangerous proposal,” the National Employment Law Project said in response to a draft (pdf) of McConnell’s plan obtained by Politico and other outlets on Friday.
The draft, authored by McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.), proposes relieving businesses, schools, churches, and other institutions of legal responsibility for workers, customers, and others who contract Covid-19 except in cases of “gross negligence and intentional misconduct”—a difficult standard to prove in court.
As the Associated Press reported, the Republican plan “offers a broad shield by requiring heightened pleading standards, stiffening burden-of-proof standards, and capping damages on awards. Employers would also be shielded from investigations by federal agencies.”
Additionally, McConnell and Cornyn’s plan would empower companies to move coronavirus-related personal injury and medical liability cases to more business-friendly federal courts. “Defendants are liable,” the draft states, “only if they failed to make reasonable efforts to follow applicable public-health guidelines.”
You know it’s evil coming from Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch, and co-authorship by Cornhole Cornyn makes it even worse. The Republican Reich wants to give corporate criminals license to kill workers using Trump’s Republican plague. RESIST!!
In the Republican Reich, what you know hadsno value. It’s all about who and how much you pay . That’s why Republican politicians love to suck Koch. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast from labor): Which Side Are You On — Pete Seeger
Except for unmuzzled Republican police unions, support labor! RESIST!!