This man understands, this person gets it! Those of us not center, those of us not maga, those of us paying attention to what is happening and see what red states are doing to the LGBTQ+ and how hard they are trying to keep anyone not fully supporting them from voting … Yes we are scared. We feel all the movement to the future acceptance of people who are different from the main stream, all the rights for black people, all the rights for minorities, all the rights for the disabled, all the rights for the poor, and all the rights that have been gained for the LGBTQ+ are being wiped away with the goal being removing us from public society so that we have no voice in the very country we live. Welcome to the 1950s white cis straight men in charge society. Hugs. Scottie
Category: Drugs
3 for Science on Labor Day
so I guess you may read them tomorrow, if you like. 😎
Biologists have studied an extreme gymnast of the animal kingdom, watching as it moves so quickly it appears to all but vanish.
The globular springtail (Dicyrtomina minuta) is a small but mighty bug that can backflip more than 60 times higher and 100 times longer than its own body length.
This tiny bug grows to only a couple of millimetres and can’t sting, bite, or fly its way out of danger. Instead, its preferred method of avoiding predators is to flip out so forcefully it seems to disappear! (snip-More on the page, with photos)
Next, a possible source of new antibiotics (and this brought Ten Bears to my mind, for some reason):
A study has found promising antibiotic candidates inside bacteria harvested from the deep Arctic Sea.
The research, by Finnish and Norwegian researchers, is published in Frontiers in Microbiology.
Antibiotic discovery has slowed in recent decades, which has exacerbated the risks of antibiotic resistance.
Most licensed antibiotics – about 70% – have been derived from a type of soil-dwelling bacteria called actinobacteria.
“For example, members of the Streptomyces genus produce several secondary metabolites, including clinically useful antibiotics such as tetracyclines, aminoglycocides and macrolides,” says corresponding author Dr Päivi Tammela, a professor at the University of Helsinki, Finland.
But soil isn’t the only place these bacteria can be found.
“Marine actinobacteria found in the sea, on the seafloor, or within the microbiome of marine organisms, have received far less attention as possible sources of antibiotics,” says Tammela. (snip-More on the page)
Then, an analysis for coal phase-out in Asia:
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region account for 76% of the world’s thermal coal power generation, and many of these plants will need to retire early to meet global emissions targets.
But according to a new analysis, it’s possible to phase these coal plants out and transition to renewable energy while investors still make money.
The study, done by Australian, Singaporean and Chinese researchers, is published in Energy Policy.
“There is a drive and interest from a number of different investors like the Asian Development Bank, but also private sector investors, to finance the early retirement coal fired power plants,” lead author Professor Christoph Nedopil Wang, director of Griffith University’s Asia Institute, tells Cosmos.
Nedopil and colleagues looked specifically at 6 Chinese-sponsored coal-fired power plants in Vietnam and Pakistan.
“With investors wanting to invest in, and ideally also providing lower cost financing for, green projects, refinancing of these coal fired power plants becomes possible at a lower cost,” says Nedopil.
The researchers modelled the future performance of these stations under a variety of financing and geoeconomic scenarios.
“That brought us to the conclusion that, depending on the age of the coal-fired power plant, we can retire these plants earlier than currently envisaged, while reducing the financing cost and therefore increasing enterprise value,” says Nedopil. (snip-More on the page)
Testosterone and Pharmacy 8 21 2024
I hate the sound but know of no way to improve it with this mic. If anyone knows a way let me know. Ron and I have been talking to getting a Yeti Blue mic or a label mic. The lighting was off again. I can not seem to get it right like I used to do when I was in my other office. Hugs. Scottie
Trump fearmongering about Harris
Trump Warns Harris Will Give “Everybody Health Care”
“She wants to take away your private health care. There are many people in this country who spend a lot of money on private health care.
“It’s the best health care in the world, by the way. But they want to do it. They worked hard to make money and they want to do it under her. You’re not going to have private health care plans anymore.
“And you can be a wealthy person or middle income person and you want to spend on a really good plan, better than a government plan. And you’re not gonna be allowed.
“You’re all going to be thrown into a communist system. It’s a communist system. You’re going to be thrown into a system where everybody gets health care.” – Trump, at yesterday’s disastrous “press conference” in New Jersey.
Uterus transplant trial ends with bundles of joy
August 18, 2024 Ellen Phiddian
https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/medicine/uterus-transplant-trial-dallas/
(This piqued my interest for a number of reasons. It also made me think of Sen. Vance, very briefly. But it is news-y.)
A US study of 20 people who received uterus transplants has found the process feasible, with 14 recipients going on to have live births.
Researchers said there were no abnormalities in the children born via transplanted uterus, but they highlight risks from surgery that affected both recipients and donors.
The study, which is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reports on a clinical trial run at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, USA.
Since the first successful uterus transplant in 2011, there have been about 100 transplants worldwide, from both living and deceased donors.
Recipients are generally women with “absolute uterine infertility” – that is, problems with their uterus that make them unable to have a successful pregnancy.
In the USA, there have been 48 uterus transplants since they began in 2016, with 33 of the recipients going on to have live births.
In this trial, researchers enrolled 20 people, aged between 20-36 years old, all of whom had absolute uterine infertility but at least 1 working ovary.
Participants received uterus transplants from 18 living and 2 deceased donors between 2016 and 2019.
Of the 20 participants, 6 had graft failures within a fortnight and lost the transplanted organ.
“During the study period, the technical success of graft survival improved with time and experience,” write the researchers in their paper.
All 14 of the successful transplant recipients went on to become pregnant via IVF, and give birth via caesarean.
Two of the recipients gave birth twice, resulting in 16 total live births. Some of the recipients had miscarriages, mostly early in their pregnancy, as well as having full-term pregnancies.
None of the 16 babies had congenital abnormalities, and none show any notable developmental delays to date (the oldest child the researchers have followed up with is 6). One child was diagnosed with autism at age 2 after missing communication milestones, and the researchers note his younger sister shows no signs of developmental delays.
Transplanted uteruses are typically removed again after 1 or 2 successful pregnancies, and this is the case with these 14 recipients. At the moment, 13 have had hysterectomies, while 1 still has the transplanted uterus in place for a second pregnancy.
Some of the surgeries in the trial – transplant donation, transplant reception, caesarean section, and graft hysterectomy – had complications.
Four of the living uterus donors had grade 3 complications – that is, they required surgery to fix – but none of them had experienced any long-term illness when they were followed up roughly 4 years later.
None of the successful graft recipients had severe complications from their transplant surgery, and while graft loss is a grade 3 complication, none of the 6 unsuccessful recipients had experienced long-term effects when they were followed up.
The researchers also point out that all recipients needed immunosuppression treatment to accept the donated organs, and the “long-term impact of immunosuppression in these otherwise healthy women remains unknown”.
In their paper, the researchers conclude that uterus transplants are technically feasible, but the surgeries involved carry risks for donors and recipients.
“The live birth success rate in this study suggests that a successfully transplanted uterus is capable of functioning at least on par with a native, in situ uterus,” they write.
But they also point out that the “currently prohibitive cost of uterus transplant” makes it difficult to tell how generalisable their results are.
More Science!
Bright future for medicines and farming after fluorine discovery
July 30, 2024 Ellen Phiddian
US researchers have figured out an environmentally friendly way to mix fluorine into carbon molecules using enzymes and light.
The discovery illuminates a path for safer and more ecologically sound materials, particularly pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals.
“This work could pave the way for new, greener technologies in chemical production,” says senior researcher Professor Huimin Zhao, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The discovery is published in Science.
Fluorine atoms can be very powerful additions to bioactive materials. They can make medicines easier to absorb, more stable in biological systems, and better at interacting with other proteins. About 20% of pharmaceuticals on the market contain fluorine.
But these organic (carbon-containing) molecules all typically need a bond between a fluorine atom and a carbon atom to work.
This bond is rare in nature, and difficult to make in a lab. At the moment, most fluorine-containing substances are made using super-toxic hydrogen fluoride, which can be fatal with just a small splash to the skin.
This has spurred chemists to hunt for other ways to fluorinate molecules.
In this research, the scientists used a protein that responds to light, called a photoenzyme.
Using this enzyme, they were able to add fluorine to a class of molecules called olefins. These carbon-containing molecules are widely used as a feedstock in the chemical industry, because they’re easy to turn into a range of other molecules.
The reaction is also “stereoselective”: it can differentiate between molecules that are chemically identical, but optically different. This is a difficult property to achieve in a lab, but crucial to the pharmaceutical and agricultural market because biological organisms can react differently to optically different molecules.
“Our research opens up fascinating possibilities for the future of pharmaceutical and agrochemical development,” says Dr Maolin Li, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“By integrating fluorine into organic molecules through a photoenzymatic process, we are not only enhancing the beneficial properties of these compounds but also doing so in a manner that’s more environmentally responsible.
“It’s thrilling to think about the potential applications of our work in creating more effective and sustainable products for everyday use.”
https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/chemistry/fluorine-addition-pharmaceuticals/
I should explain
Hello Everyone. As everyone knows my blog means a lot to me, I have used blogging the friends it brought me as a help against all the bad memories I have in my life. But for the last three weeks I couldn’t really do the blog and today at nearly 1 pm, after being at the computer since 3:30 am, I am just now starting to get to the comments I love.
I went to bed yesterday after a grand meal of a steak and large salad. Even though I did not finish all the steak but did eat the entire salad is because I just don’t eat like I use to, I now eat like an older person. But it was great and grand. But after, I went to bed about four pm.
I woke on and off until 1:30. I tried to go back to sleep but at 3 am Ron’s rescue cat tummy feed me alarm went off so I got up to feed him. At 3:30 I got to my computers. Then I went to the Male survivor site. I found I had several private messages and a bunch of replies to what I wrote before. Plus there were 20 more posts. I read them and replied to those I had something to add to the thread. Plus it is not just one person, every person is adding their thoughts and we all add our responses to them. It took me until 10 am this morning to clear it all out. Then I had to lay down and I slept for an hour and half.
When I got up, I went to the admin on my blog and checked the posts from Ali and Randy. I set them up in tabs to like, add comments to, or just read. I love that both Ail and Randy are adding their thoughts here. First it makes sure there is content when I can not get to it, and second what they both post is their ideas, their concerns, and different from what I might post. As Ron says it broadens the blog to give a far more diverse reason for people to come visit. Not to steal from the Christian or other holy books, but I looked on it and find it good. 😛😀😁😍😎
I have been feeling dragged out and tired. But I am hoping as the cold fades and I have more energy I can do better at handling both the blog and the other sites. I hate the feeling that there is simply not enough of me, and both Ron and Randy are worried about the time I am spending on the abuse site, immersed in others abuse and reliving mine. They are afraid it will cause me a relapse into depression on my own abuse. Yes it is possible I have already had bad dreams and been fighting that at night.
One guy was abducted at age 7, tortured and abused to be made a sex toy for a cult leader. Scary stuff, after a few years he was rescued, but still finds himself hitting himself if he doesn’t refer to the guy who abused him as master. He hits himself before he can stop it. Then he simply gave himself to anyone who demanded it or told him to please him. As a teen and young adult he simply lived in a house with no clothing thinking he had a boyfriend who loved him, but instead the guy would invite friends over and they used him when ever they felt like it. He got to the point that no matter what he was doing guys who were friends with his “boyfriend” simply would grab him and fuck him or tell him to drop down to suck them off. I understand the trained behavior, I was trained to it also. But most of mine stopped when the hell spawn left the house, only the adults were left to use me and occasionally the hell spawn came back or took me to their home to service them. One took me out in his semi and forced me to “please” him when he parked in a truck stop. I was an adult maybe 26 and still had not learned to tell them no. I never went out in his truck again no matter how much he tried to get me to.
The victim and I spend hours talking, writing back and forth. He wants more like a video call or phone call, but I have explained to him those things trigger me. Even now at 61 there are only two people in my life I feel comfortable / OK talking to on the phone, I still resonate with the beatings to never touch a phone as a child. I do much better on a computer or video app on the phone like FaceTime, because I don’t have to look like I am holding a phone to myself, getting open for an angry beating. But with ear buds it works also.
So right now I am tired. Again, I am going to lay down a few minutes because I can not finish this, my eyes are crossing. Yhrrn —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Several hours later … I just got up. What happened is along with my normal medication I took a med my doctor wanted me to try that is also given to MS patients. Ron has it at a much smaller dose. He wanted me to try it with my other when my muscles hurt or spasms more than I could stand with my regular medication. I took a half one. When it kicked in, my eyes crossed and I felt so tired, needing to lay down. Once the med cleared my system after a few hours I feel fine again but I will say my pain and spasms are much better. I got so foggy I wrote the last above the line before I went to bed. I decided to leave it in.
So the day is gone by, I have not posted or replied to comments, I have not helped Ron much around the house. I plan to make a sauce tomorrow. I did not even post my meme post this week, but I have not added to it in four days until today. So I think I will hold it a few days, or at least until tomorrow afternoon.
I thank everyone for hanging on here, to listening to me, Ali, or Randy. I feel so much better since I got up, I am going to go to the blog and reply to comments that are there I have not lost yet. As always to those who posted a comment I missed, reposted it or use my email listed to get my attention to it. Know I love you. This is a minor hiccup that is going to work itself out soon. Hugs. Scottie
Day 1 RNC Speeches Attack Trans Day Of Visibility, Pronouns, And Safe Schools
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/day-1-rnc-speeches-attack-trans-day
On day one of the Republican National Convention, at least four Republicans used their platform to target transgender people.
On the first day of the Republican National Convention, prominent Republicans used their national platform to target transgender people. This signals that the party is not abandoning its efforts to curtail transgender and LGBTQ+ rights if they gain power in the next election. This comes after the vice presidential running mate pick of JD Vance, the lead author of a Senate bill that would institute a national ban on transgender youth care and bar all medical schools from teaching about transgender care, including adult trans care.
The most prominent figure to use her platform to attack transgender people was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene criticized Transgender Day of Visibility for falling on the same day as Easter Sunday in 2024. Notably, Easter Sunday is a moving holiday, while Transgender Day of Visibility has always been held on March 31. There have been more Transgender Days of Visibility on that date than Easter Sundays since America was founded.
“They promised normalcy and gave us Transgender Visibility Day on Easter Sunday,” Greene said to raucous boos. “And let me state this clearly: There are only two genders, and we are made in God’s image,” she continued.
Video at link aboveMany on X (formerly Twitter) questioned the statement and its implications for the nature of God’s gender. Vinny Thomas, a user on the platform, pointed out, “‘There are only two genders and we are made in God’s image’ is so fascinating because what exactly are you saying about God’s gender?”
Representative John James from Michigan also joined in, using some of his time to target transgender women in sports and changing rooms. “Our daughters were sold on hope, and now they are being forced onto the playing fields and into the changing rooms of biological males. America was sold on hope, and now the world is on fire,” Rep. James continued.
Senator Ron Johnson joined in with his speech, calling LGBTQ+ inclusive education, sports participation, and inclusion “sexual indoctrination,” and stating that it was an attack on American values. “This fringe agenda includes biological males competing against girls and the sexualization and indoctrination of our children,” he said to boos. He continued, “Today’s Democrat agenda, their policies, are a clear and present danger to our institutions, our values, and our people.”
Video at link aboveOne of the “everyday Americans” chosen to speak at the Republican National Convention, Linda Fornos, was the last to target transgender people. In a speech that fell rather flat with little reaction, she questioned children learning pronouns in schools. Many correctly pointed out that pronouns have always been part of an English education.
Video at link above
The willingness to lean into anti-LGBTQ+ policies on the first day of the Republican National Convention may seem puzzling. Attacks on LGBTQ+ people have faltered in 2024 compared with 2023, with far fewer laws passing. Several states that had targeted trans people in previous years, such as Florida, Georgia, West Virginia, and Kansas, failed to pass anti-LGBTQ+ policies this year, despite over 80 bills proposed in those states targeting the community. In many elections where anti-trans policies were a major issue, the Republican Party suffered setbacks: 70% of Moms for Liberty and Project 1776 candidates lost their races in 2023. Other losses Republicans have suffered on this issue occurred in the Virginia legislature elections, the Arizona Governor’s race, the Michigan legislature elections, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, the Walker-Warnock Senate race, and in dozens more places. Furthermore, recent polling from Gallup, Navigator, and the LA Times indicates fading public support for such laws, with huge majorities of respondents seeing them as a distraction and opposing bans on trans youth care.
Still, Trump’s selection of Senator JD Vance as his running mate indicates that he and the Republican Party have not backed off from this issue. Vance notably was the primary sponsor of a Senate bill to bar all trans care for trans youth nationwide. His bill would also bar secondary educational institutions, including medical schools, from teaching gender-affirming care for any age. Trump himself has called for investigations of hormone therapy manufacturers, bans on LGBTQ+ inclusive policies in schools, and targeting transgender people “at any age.”
As the Republican National Convention unfolds, the stage is set for a parade of speakers with deep-rooted anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ records. For LGBTQ+ people, these are not just rhetorical threats but a potential harbinger of laws that could be passed over the next four years. LGBTQ+ people will therefore likely be especially tuned in over the remaining nights.
Some positive trans posts debunking the hate lies of the anti-trans, I post some of Ethel’s videos. If you are interested in the truth about trans people, trans rights, trans people in sports then please follow her channel.
Hi, welcome to Essence of Thought with me, Ethel Thurston, as your host.
Today’s video explores the Cold War’s impact on the West, namely how the Red Scare laid down the groundwork for the modern anti-trans panic in sports. From the media’s open misogyny to literally cartoonish fearmongering, there’s a lot to unpack.
@EssenceOfThought7 hours ago Today’s video explores the Cold War’s impact on the West, namely how the Red Scare laid down the groundwork for the modern anti-trans panic in sports. From the media’s open misogyny to literally cartoonish fearmongering, there’s a lot to unpack.
Some old Joe My God stuff I did not have time to post. Chose those you like to read ignore the rest. I was interested in them all.
Scottie's Playtime 