Category: Health / Healthcare / Illness / Vaccines

Wichita East students walk out to protest anti-trans legislation

https://www.kake.com/story/50653908/wichita-east-students-walk-out-to-protest-antitrans-legislation

Thanks to Ali for the link.   

This is what terrifies the fundamentalists and right wing.   The acceptance and normalizing of kids / people who are not straight and not cis.  Schools have long taught kids to get along with each other and to not bully those who are different.  But republicans in red states want to change that teaching of acceptance and tolerance so they pass don’t say gay bills and anti-woke bills which simply mean get all representation of LGBTQ+ kids out of schools, libraries, and keep kids off social media.  It means stopping positive representations of LGBTQ+ people and stopping anti-bullying programs.  It means making LGBTQ+ kids targets of hate, anger, and labeling them as not normal.  It is othering them so they can be mistreated.   This is what it was like in the regressive past these older legislatures and fundamentalist religious leaders desperately want back.  These people want a straight cis Christian world only, no one else will be allowed.   Since these laws passed attacks on LGBTQ+ kids in schools and people in general have risen quickly.  It is a green light to thug gang rule.  Luckily the old kids won’t accept the intolerance and hate, but sadly it is working on the younger new students in schools.  They are being taught to hate and not accept the ones who feel different.   We have to stop these laws and reverse them.  Please help get the word out.  Please keep speaking up in support.  The haters and religious people on the other side are driven, they won’t stop, they will fight hard.  We have to also fight back as hard, and be louder than they are.   Hugs.  Scottie

https://www.kake.com/clip/15462622/wichita-east-students-walk-out-to-protest-anti-trans-legislation  Is the link to the video.

Wichita East high schoolers used their first amendment rights and walked out of class Tuesday to stand up for transgender youth rights. 

 

Dozens of Wichita East students made their voices heard at a walkout in protest of a piece of anti-trans legislation that bans minors from receiving gender affirming care. That piece of legislation is Senate Bill 233, and has already received approval from the Kansas House and Senate. 

 

“This will cause suffering that cannot be overstated. This will cause suffering,” said sophomore Juan Carlos Garcia. 

 

Garcia spoke up at the protest, to tell his peers about the importance of gender affirming care. 

 

“I have hope that those I love and those that need it will get their treatment. I hope that they will feel comfortable and I know if this bill is passed then they won’t be able to,” said Garcia.

 

Miles Wilson organized the protest, and he shared his experience as a person in the transgender community. 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

“I thought I would not make it past 14, but I am 17 now,” said Miles Wilson, junior at East. 

 

The students discussed how validating gender affirming care was, and in a world without gender affirming care, many believe that would lead to an increase of youth trans suicide. 

 
 

“I hope that people learn that the students of East High are not going to stand for discrimination and oppression and we support the trans community and the cis kids here stand in solidarity  with the trans community and the trans community here will not sit back and let people oppress us,” said Wilson. 

 

The bill that started the protest is currently sitting on Governor Kelly’s desk awaiting approval or veto. 

 

After chanting, holding signs, and having a great discussion, the students said the walk out was a success. 

 

“We deserve to feel safe in our bodies, we deserve autonomy. We deserve happiness, we deserve to grow up,” said Wilson.

Ted Cruz VS Collin Allred

My thoughts on RFK Jr!!

info- http://www.Kennedy2024.com The Hill article by Filip Timotja 04/04/24 Alyssa Farah Griffin article she originally wrote in the Daily Beast! I am not a fan of RFK Jr. However, I am I huge fan of mental health and medication.

Is Libs of TikTok a Terrorist?

For legal purposes the title of this video is a question and not to be construed as a statement of fact. The Nex Benedict story has been tied to Libs of TikTok and its founder Chaya Raichik. Is she to blame? Why does the first amendment protect Libs of TikTok?

Life by crisis, another clod hits the fan.

Long time followers / readers may remember the struggle we had getting Ron’s older brother in a nursing home as he lost touch with reality and couldn’t care for himself.  He actually knew it was happening and drove himself to the VA to get help, but it progressed so quickly.  The VA stabilized him and sent him home, but he got both physically and mentally worse.  He is a long time cancer survivor from the time when they over radiated cancer patients, causing his intestines to harden and die, requiring many surgeries to remove them to stop internal bleeding.  So he got so bad he was constantly bleeding out from his butt and pooping everywhere along with not being mentally able to clean himself, up after himself, or even understand the issue. 

Ron and his sister worked hard to get him into a nursing home that could care for him.  It took a lot of money, his sister had to pay over 5 grand for the first month to even get him into a nursing home.  Medicaid rules said a person had to be in a nursing home for a month before they could be covered my medicaid and medicare.  Ron’s brother is very low income so he got a small $100 supplemental income from the military for his illness in the military, and had medicaid.   But because he was on medicaid he couldn’t have a lot of assets and the nursing home would take all but 30 dollars of his income.  Which meant Ron and his sister would have to put money into his bank account every month to pay his credit card bill, other expenses, give him extra money in his home account to buy treats and stuff, and his car insurance.  The other siblings despite having far more money than Ron and I simply couldn’t find it in their hearts to help pay their brother’s bills.  One sister tried a few times to help, but she was losing her own grip on the world and couldn’t figure out how to do it or would forget, so Ron and his other sister just started covering the entirety themselves.  The paid off his card and sold his car.  They had to stop his military supplement because that would have put him a few dollars over the Medicaid limit, and Medicaid was paying for his care.  His brother went into the nursing home the end of 2019 or beginning 2020.   That required twice a year expensive trips to NC.

Ron would drive up to NC and get a hotel room just outside the airport.  Ron’s sister would fly into the airport and they would go to the town that the nursing home was in and get a hotel room.  They would spend a week or so with their brother, buying him clothing or things he needed / wanted.  At first they bought him electronics like phones but he was unable to use them and they realized that was useless.  A year ago they moved Ron’s brother to in nursing home hospice care.  And at some point they started doing Zoom calls every couple weeks first with the brother and family done by the home staff then hospice staff included.

While writing this Ron was heading for a nap.  I went to restart the 17 year old dryer as it had stopped.  It wouldn’t start.  I looked and the door switch which had been getting flaky the last year gave up the ghost.  It had all our only deep pocket bedding for the Purple mattress we bought.  So no nap for Ron, he got up, together we pulled it out, he is cleaning it and trying to figure out how to get to the switch.

Over the last 3 and half years his brother got worse.  Sometimes he would go months tracking reality, but then he would slip and lose touch with the real world.  This year he has been out of reality, and a lot of the time his health was so bad he couldn’t really hold himself upright and needed support.  Ron and his sister started getting calls this last month that his brother got out of bed during the night without calling for staff and tried to go to the bathroom by himself.  He can’t walk.  So he falls.  It has happened I think three times.  The first were minor but this last time was serious.   Remember this is a nursing home, not a prison and they couldn’t restrain him in bed.  

This time he fell and broke his leg bone right at the hip joint.  The home and hospice people called Ron but they did not know how bad it is.  He was so bad that when Ron authorized him to be taken to a hospital, the hospital called him and said he would only last a couple of days and that he had internal bleeding they couldn’t trace that may have been going on for a while.  His brother had the issue with his intestine hardening and getting so brittle they would tear apart.  The last few years the doctors removed as much as they could, but it was dicey if anything they stitched to would hold.  That was yesterday.  Ron and his sister were making plans to quickly go see him.

They may have just run out of time.  As I am writing this at 2:32 pm on 4/10/2024 and while Ron was working on fixing the switch from the dryer the hospital called.  His brother was stopping breathing and then after a few minutes would suddenly take a breath.  The intervals are increasing as they watch him.  Remember that he is on hospice, we knew he was dying for the last few years and so while all comfort measures can be given, no lifesaving care can be.  No intubation nor resuscitation.  We just had no idea it would be this soon or Ron and his sister would have gone to see him again.  But normally a hip or upper leg break is hard for an elderly person to come back from, most people in their 80s who break a hip die soon after.  

Ron is on his phone, but 17 years working in ICUs tell him his brother has only hours to live.  The nursing staff at the hospital agreed.  There is no way short of a Star Trek instant teleporter that Ron could get there in time.  He so far is calling people and holding it in.  But he is going to need all my sympathy and support tonight.  Thank you everyone.  But I may be a few days before I get back online depending on how much Ron needs me.  He comes from a large once very tight family, 8 siblings.  He has handled the loss of the older ones but it gets harder for him as he ages and more have died.  He may need a lot of support.  Best Wishes.  Hugs.  My love for all of you.   Scottie

Trans Kids Are Fighting for Their Rights in Texas

I want to thank Barry for sending me the link to this video.  Best wishes friend.  Scottie.

The video is about the politically driven fight to end trans care in Texas for minors and adults.  And how it is affecting four trans families and others.   In it you will hear false claims made about chopping off little boys penises which is not happening, but no mention of breast augmentation and nose jobs for teenage girls.  You will hear claims made that are misinformation, lies, and myths.  The goal is to create a straight cis fundamentalist Christian republican society ruled by men, and to do this they use the claims of saving the children to rile up the base and muddy the water to get more votes.  They don’t care who they hurt in the process, they wouldn’t even allow current minors on puberty blockers and hormones to be weaned off or to continue treatment.  This is not about the health of children as Texas did not accept summer food assistance for poor people, they did not do anything about school shootings and gun control, they did not increase child health care at all they only removed the medically accepted best practices for gender nonconforming kids.  Hugs.  Scottie

When Texas lawmakers introduce a record number of anti-trans bills, transgender kids and their families from across the state converge on the Capitol to fight back.

DeSantis: Florida Has “Restored Sanity” On Measles

DeSantis: Florida Has “Restored Sanity” On Measles

I refuse to post the full story of DeathSantis beating his chest proudly denying that vaccines against measles need not be taken while a horribly dangerous disease sweeps the state keeping kids out of schools for months at a time.   It is not just an itch spots disease but one that can kill, main, leave lifelong disabilities, pain, and blindness along with many other things like organ failure.   Why oh why do you think parents were desperate to have their children vaccinated in the 1960s.   They had seen the results of the disease.  The vaccines are safe and effective.  Plus nowhere in the bible does it say don’t take vaccines.  This entire anti-vaccine crap was started by people conflating something with them that they did not cause, then quacks, scammers, and conspiracy nuts kept it going and growing.   It has become a sign of what political party you belong to by if you accept medical science.  Think about that, people walking around with modern tech all over them, want to return to a medical time when people barely washed their hands.  Hugs.  Scottie

 

Hank: NO MORE WoW!!!  Loria month ago

With NOT getting the MMR, it is also Rubella, “German Measles”, that, if a woman gets it while pregnant in the 1st Trimester, the child could be born with

The most common birth defects from CRS (Congenital Rubella Syndrome) can include:
Deafness
Cataracts
Heart defects
Intellectual disabilities
Liver and spleen damage
Low birth weight
Skin rash at birth

https://www.cdc.gov/rubella…

Darretha month ago

‘The national medical health establishment and the media lost the public’s confidence with their botched response to COVID-19.’

Premise is false. All that happened is that the federal gov’t didn’t capitulate to the delusional violent MAGAts who believed COVID was a hoax.

That’s it.

Nothing more.

StarGmom a month ago

I guess we’re in Opposite Land today

Charlie In SFa month ago

So, his kids are in private school/day care and I am sure have all their shots.

Halou a month ago

“To date, no additional cases have occurred at Manatee Bay Elementary since Friday”

Might be because they’ve changed the rules around reporting infectious diseases? And consistently go out of their way to attribute “politically inconvenient” deaths as anything else.

 

Calmly Destroying Christian Apologists with Science for an Hour

Another great video destroying anti-trans propaganda, myths, and misinformation.  He talks slow, is methodical, and uses sources he displays and has in his description box to make his points.   Often he will go through the studies that the anti-trans people use to show they either did not say what is claimed, are way out of date, used the wrong methods, or simply were created to be used for anti-trans propaganda.  He shows not only the bad studies and debunks them, but the real modern medically reviewed and approved studies showing that very few detransition and those that do mostly do so because of negative treatment from society, peers, and family.  People who live all their childhood knowing and claiming they are a different gender are not suddenly going to stop saying it at 18 or 21.  If they are going to suffer all that mistreatment and hate growing up, they are what they are telling you.   Hugs.  Scottie

Frank Turek and Sean McDowell make ridiculous pseudoscientific claims about LGBTQ people. Here I debunk them with actual scientific research.

Go to https://ground.news/skeptic to verify your information.

Subscribe using my link for 30% off unlimited access or try it this month for less than $1. Claims I debunk: Abuse and trauma cause non-heterosexuality and gender non-conformity, not affirming queer people is the best way to help them, being gender nonconforming is a social media contagion, rapid onset gender dysphoria is real, gender dysphoria can and should only be treated with therapy or prayer, gender dysphoria is similar to and should be treated in the same way as anorexia, 80% of gender dysphoric youths grow out of it by age 18, medical intervention for gender dysphoria does not help mental health outcomes, and trans s rates skyrocket 10 years after transition.

DeSantis signs social media restrictions for kids, age verification for porn sites

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/25/florida-gov-desantis-signs-bill-social-media-restrictions-for-kids-age-verification-porn-sites/73089957007

I have covered these bans before.  Simply put the fundamentalist conservative right are terrified that social media is showing our kids that it is ok to be accepting and tolerant while doing things for all the public instead of just the wealthy.   In other words, showing them a different way they could be than simply right wing fundamentalist religious straight cis republicans.  So they revamped schools to indoctrinate the kids with right wing fundamentalist.  Ah but their indoctrination was being undone by social media.   Well ban that also.  See that is the right wing way, they don’t like it so ban it, they are the original cancel culture creators.  Their way of thinking is to force everyone to live and be just as they are, think like they do, be who they are told to be.  Force everyone to worship the same way, live the same way, listen to only the same stuff, eat the same meals … in the land of the free!  Their idea of freedom is the right to take freedom away from others.  Hugs.  Scottie

House Speaker Paul Renner said the bill addresses the ‘addictive features that are at the heart of why children stay on these platforms for hours on end.’

Douglas Soule
USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida
 

Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday signed into law sweeping social media restrictions that also requires age verification to access pornographic websites in Florida.

The measure would take effect at the beginning of 2025 – if it survives expected lawsuits from the nation’s largest tech companies.

In that case, minors under 16 would be barred from social media platforms, unless they’re 14- or 15-year-olds who get a parent’s permission.

“You can have a kid in the house safe, seemingly, and then you have predators that can get right in there into your own home,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Jacksonville. “You could be doing everything right but they know how to get and manipulate these different platforms.”

 
 
 

The governor was joined by local school officials and bill sponsors as well as state Attorney General Ashley Moody and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., all of whom backed the policy.

Also there was House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, who negotiated with DeSantis on the legislation (HB 3) after the governor vetoed the original version, citing legal and parents’ rights concerns.

The legislation passed both legislative chambers by a broad bipartisan basis, with only a fraction of Democrats dissenting, claiming it was government overreach that would be overturned in the courts. First Amendment advocacy organizations have also come out against the measure, saying largely the same.

Florida social media ban:Florida bans social media for children under 14. Here’s what happens next

But DeSantis and Renner said they believe the measure will survive judicial scrutiny.

“What’s unique in this bill is we didn’t focus on content,” Renner said. “You will not find a line in this bill that addresses good speech or bad speech because that would violate the First Amendment.

“… But what we have addressed is the addictive features that are at the heart of why children stay on these platforms for hours and hours on end.”

The bills defines the affected social media platforms as ones with features such as push notifications and infinite scrolling, which loads content as the user scrolls down, eliminating the need to click to a next page. Those features have had an “devastating effect” on the mental health of children, Renner said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the paperwork for Florida House Bill 3 at the Cornerstone Classical Academy in Jacksonville on Monday, March 25, 2024, along with local and state leaders. The bill bans Floridians younger than 16 from "addictive" social media platforms but with exceptions for those who are 14 or 15 and get parental permission.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the paperwork for Florida House Bill 3 at the Cornerstone Classical Academy in Jacksonville on Monday, March 25, 2024, along with local and state leaders. The bill bans Floridians younger than 16 from "addictive" social media platforms but with exceptions for those who are 14 or 15 and get parental permission.
 

He predicted an imminent legal challenge from NetChoice, a tech industry trade group that has filed lawsuits in other states against similar measures and has opposed Florida’s.

In a statement shared shortly after the signing, the group called the restrictions unconstitutional.

“An unconstitutional law will protect exactly zero Floridians. HB 3 is also bad policy because of the data collection on Floridians by online services it will in effect require. This will put their private data at risk of breach,” said Carl Szabo, NetChoice’s vice president and general counsel.

“HB 3 forces Floridians to hand over sensitive personal information to websites or lose their access to critical information channels,” he continued. “This infringes on Floridians’ First Amendment rights to share and access speech online.”

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA TODAY Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com.

 
 

Gender Theory: Why Now?

If you are unsure of the difference between sex and gender, or if you are question many of the hate myths about trans people, or possibly thinking trans people are new and never been accepted then please watch this video.

The host is easy to listen too, shows his sources, and uses facts, yes those pesky facts that refute all the anti-trans misinformation spread desperately through the right wing media.  The video covers how anti-trans groups formed fake medical groups to claim science said that trans was a sickness or such, but the video show that real professionals in medical science disagree and show that being trans and gender nonconforming is a normal difference some people have.  

Finally the hosts shows how the anti-trans movement push was started around 2008 when conservatives and fundamentalist religious groups were losing the war against gay people and gay marriage.  They were seeing gay people normalized on TV and moved to prevent that from happening for trans people.  Plus the video shows how this is about state control over everyone’s body.   He shows how the idea of strict gender roles formed when men felt marginalized and wanted to create a society that was male oriented and was based on male superiority.  For men to be superior, that meant they needed females to be inferior.  So strict gender roles were created and enforced.  This only has been the way for the last few centuries, not forever.  Hugs.  Scottie 

Does Gender Even Matter?

There’s a full blown panic sweeping America, and it’s all about gender, and especially people who don’t conform to traditional categories. But what is it about people’s gender choices that makes others so worried? Was this an inevitable facet of modern life, or is something more complicated going on? Let’s find out in this Wisecrack video on Gender Theory: Why Now?