Daily cartoon / meme roundup: The destruction of public education plus the depressed low wages and rising prices for more profit equal a desperate population struggling to survive that will work for any minuscule amount under any unsafe conditions. The wealthy dream come true.

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Scottie’s world today

unfollow people more lost than I am

I had a lot of fun putting this one together today.   Lots of topics and  discussions with right wing cult members on right wing media cartoon sites.  Even with the 5 day and growing plumbing problem disaster.    Enjoy.   Scottie

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Explains a lot
Explains a lot

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Thanks a lot #WageInequality

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Labor value is stolen from workers and given to shareholders. Their record profits is your misery.

Corporations are private tyrannies. They expect your total subordination.

Workers must unite and demand better conditions and wages.

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For Better or For Worse Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Forgive college debt

https://twitter.com/ryanhoulihan/status/1477895622028107781?s=20

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It’s a special interest group that broadcasts predetermined narratives and coordinates with the Republican Party.

Jack Ohman Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Rob Rogers Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

Nick Anderson Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Marshall Ramsey Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

M2Bulls Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Robert Ariail Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

Michael Ramirez Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

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Trump destroys everything he touches. All who touch Trump die. The circular firing squad will continue. All to protect the ego of the most mediocre silver-spooned asshole in history.

John Deering Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

 

Chris Britt Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

ViewsAmerica Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

Political cartoon

He even gave the exact number he needed, open and shut case.
He even gave the exact number he needed, open and shut case.

Steve Breen Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Clay Jones Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

reality the other way trump

Jeff Danziger Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

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What makes you think they were NOT Trump supporters?

Ron Johnson is typical bad faith shithead. Even if you showed him exactly what he asked for, it would not change his mind. It’s the GOP MO.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/ad2d15d29b822591dfdfbd0a12a477d5/9dc7db06beeb1836-39/s500x750/0cc61968f96316b0da65304728b5b9955ca70c80.jpg

People need to know just how close this came and how many / who were involved in the prior planning to over throw valid election results because they did not like the will of the people!   Scottie

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Strategic racism. Structural racism. Writ large

Candorville Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

The Knight Life Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

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The media depends on narratives. They know negative news is clickbait. When something does not fit their narrative, something positive, they will refuse to report on the positive.

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Free protection against Covid

“Testing psychology” wtf does that even mean. People are dying. #getboosted #maskup

spread by assholes

https://twitter.com/duffyink/status/1478467255742734344?s=20

covid graph showing benefits

Drew Sheneman Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

Cornered Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

The original virtue signaling
The original virtue signaling

Doonesbury Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

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Following the theme of recent posts, we give you the work of artist Kris Kuksi.
Link to his work: https://mymodernmet.com/kris-kuksi-church-tank/

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ViewsEurope Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

This holds up

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Misleading right wing media cartoons / memes

It depends on the environment and the emphasis put on the remote learning.   Kids today spends hours online and can recite the minutia of every game they play, every tick tok they see, every music video, movie, and so on.    They do learn online.   It is just they are learning what they want.  School work has to be given that priority and made to keep their interests, just like in schools.  If kids are in an environment where they are not comfortable or have connection issues or they are just allowed not to view the lessons then they wont learn.  Scottie

Henry Payne Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Is it any wonder that the number of cases, the number of hospitalizations and the number of Covid-related deaths are all proportionately higher in red states? Which also happen to have lower rates of vaccination…  The smart people are taking precautions and abiding by health and safety regulations in order to do their part to help prevent the spread of the pandemic! Scottie 

Lisa Benson Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

The filibuster rule has been modified many times over the years. In fact, the Senate started out with no filibuster rule at all.   Moscow Mitch stole the goal post to pack the courts with unqualified judges and Supreme Court Justices.  McConnell had no problem changing the rules so he could stack the judiciary. They had no problem changing the rules to raise the debt ceiling. Now, our democracy hangs on the vanity of one (expletive) Democratic senator. Meanwhile, where’s the line between being a “conservative” cartoonist and a supporter of those who would destroy our democracy and Putinize America?  There’s a term for a professional whose services are enjoyed by criminals and traitors.  Scottie

Mike Lester Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

Most experts are expecting this wave of Covid cases to crest and recede in weeks (as opposed to months like other variants) and that cases will start dropping again within this coming February or so. Also, most of these cases thus far are either mild or asymptomatic (particularly if the patients are fully vaxxed) and the ones who are seriously ill from Covid aren’t vaxxed. Yes, that’s cold comfort to those who are pulling back because of the rise in cases. But this too shall pass. Hopefully, by mid-2022 or so, we can largely move on and then turn our attention to the midterms. I am hopeful that the Democrats can bounce back (if there’s a major turnaround in the case situation) and they can widen their majorities in both houses. History, though, is on the side of the party currently not in the White House gaining seats in both houses in midterms (the last time was 2002). But, even if that happens, the GOP could end up playing the foil to Biden the way earlier GOP majorities played the foil to Clinton and Obama. Both Clinton and Obama saw their parties lose control of the House and Senate in 1994 and 2010. But that didn’t stop either President from winning reelection in 1996 and 2012.  Scottie

Gary Varvel for Jan 06, 2022

Please note that in the preamble to the constitution the reasons given to create the new country / constitution. One of those is to promote the public welfare. To take care of the people. That includes the health of the people. The government has the responsibility to create polices and rules that help people live together in a communal society. That is why we have things like traffic rules / laws for example. For society to work there has to be rules, not everyone can do what ever they like regardless of how it effects others. Scottie

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of …

Al Goodwyn Editorial Cartoons Comic Strip for January 05, 2022

Conservatives want things to JUST STAY THE SAME… and for EVERYONE TO FOLLOW THE (my) RULES… and for (my) AUTHORITY TO BE HONORED.   Qublican response to every problem all the time: TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH AND MORE CULTURE WAR!   People should be given the opportunity to be what they are. It must be really unpleasant to have to live your life pretending to be something else.   Scottie

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And now some for fun

Bloom County Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Barry Manilow is gay and married to a man.   Back in the 60’s to cover up being gay he married a woman.  The marriage last only two years.    Scottie

Speed Bump Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Eek! Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Moderately Confused Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Baldo Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Aunty Acid Comic Strip for January 06, 2022

Daily cartoon / meme roundup: Treat others as you wish to be treated … is that so hard?

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Scottie’s world today

get my you-know-what togethertour gym winded worn out

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because it is the right thing to do

https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/b5/eb582a22-6828-11ec-a604-27f5ac3bcf5c/61cb882cb1d5c.image.jpg?resize=750%2C526

Non Sequitur Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Working It Out Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Prickly City Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Brian McFadden Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

gop party hat jan 6th

Joe Heller Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Jeff Stahler Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Jeff Danziger Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Jack Ohman Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Gary Varvel for Jan 04, 2022

This was drawn by a right winger to slam Schumer.   I put it here because it really is a slam against the Republicans.   Republicans have become obstructionists.   The only bill they worked with Democrats on are the two things their big donors wanted, in fact insisted on.   The infrastructure bill that had massive benefits for  corporations, and the debt ceiling raise which the wealthy had to have or they would lose a huge pile of money.  Other than that the Republicans say no to everything.   They did the same thing when Obama was president.   The Republicans don’t want to govern they want to stop the government, destroy it so nothing can be done to help the people or benefit the public.  So changing the filibuster is necessary to have a functioning government.   Scottie

Clay Jones Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Political cartoon

how hospitals should respond

Views of the World Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

ViewsBusiness Comic Strip for January 03, 2022

ViewsAsia Comic Strip for January 03, 2022

Reality Check Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

M2Bulls Comic Strip for January 03, 2022

ViewsAmerica Comic Strip for January 03, 2022

Doonesbury Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

The right, the party that bills themself as the pro-life party, is very angered and upset that the idea that the death penalty is being done away with because it doesn’t work as a deterrent, is racially biased, and  more costly along with tying up the courts.   The other advanced developed countries already figured this out and learned that progressive sentencing and detainment works best for lowering recidivism.  Again if the US would get over the idea that everything we do must be the best thing in the world and would look at what really works being done in other countries we would be much better off.    Scottie

Thank you Nan for the above suggestion.   It is grand.   Scottie

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Misleading right wing media cartoons / memes

Really the right needs to catch up.   First it was only one Democratic party member who said motherfucker during a campaign rally.   Once.   What was it tRump repeatedly said?   He cursed all the time.  But really the right not only thinks saying lets go Brandon triggers the left, they are desperate for it to be true.   They are trolls, they are the school yard name callers, little kids giggling they are almost using a naughty word.  Adults don’t care.   Biden did not care.   Most of us are not even thinking of it but the right is full time.   This is what passes for serious legislators in the time of the Marge Greene, Gym Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, and the other failing loser kids hanging out in the halls of congress.   Scottie

Same right wing cartoonist paid to try his best to make the Republicans look good and the Democrats look bad.   He rarely even makes sense and his cartoons normal reverse the situation.  But in this case he is right.   Some Republicans have promised to impeach Biden as soon as they get control of the House.   That is their great goal for the country, a revenge impeachment to sooth the ego of the former guy.  Really they said this a few months into Biden’s term.   They do not care that Biden has not violated any laws and that the former guy did, they just want to invalidate any Democratic election win.   They are cheapening the meaning of impeachment again because it stings that their cult leader got impeached twice for breaking laws.  But this is the lofty goals to help the people and country, make impeachment a joke.   Scottie

Partially correct.   The truth is that ICU’s are filling up with anti-vaxxers along with all the other hospital beds so that non-covid emergencies and non-emergency procedures are unable to be treated and proceed.   We have seen the stories, verifiable stories of people dying because there were no beds available in the hospitals due to anti-vax Coronavirus who are really sick.   I was not sure if this cartoon was mocking the idea that non-vaxxed people are getting really sick or if it was mocking the vaccinated.    Scottie

I hate how the right likes to misrepresent the relationship between Biden and the progressives.   The progressives are the ones that were fighting for Biden’s agenda.   The build back better bill was Biden’s agenda, what he ran on, what he wanted.   The full bill, not the stripped down version.   Yet the media keeps trying to portray the progressives as the ones sabotaging Biden’s plans instead of the real villains killing it, Manchin and the other old corporate politicians right and left.  The right wants to hide the truth and blame others for their actions.  Sound familiar?   Scottie

Rivers is on a roll for misleading anti-Biden cartoons.   This one is just a general slam at Biden because he / the right hates what Biden is doing and wants the right to think Biden is a failure even though they never can show what he failed at.   What policy is being addressed here?  None, it is just hate Biden please.   Scottie

There has been no wide scale defunding of the police, nor has any real police reform been enacted.  The one place the police were radically changed in NJ it worked really well.    The problem is the police have become the very monsters they are to protect the people from.  The police are a gang of thugs who prey on the public like a military occupying force ruling over a prisoner population.   That police believe they can get away with the worst actions against the public and if they do get caught no real punishments happen to them.  At most they use to get fined, which the people had to pay not the cops.   Now lately several cops have been found guilty of killing.   But that is two out of …   Heck one  police department was found to have cops protecting a sex trafficking ring in exchange for sex.   It seems it was rather widely known.   This is their idea of serve and protect?   Police reform is desperately needed.  No more militarized cops on the streets.   They want to be military, let them join the military and fight for the country, not against our own people.    But to them it is a game with other peoples lives, theirs is never in danger.   Scottie

The people wanting government to serve their needs rather than cater to the wealthy. It is about where taxpayers dollars going. To the public needs, or the wealthy wants. Will the government work for the people or only for the wealthy. History has shown the best economic times while being the most product the country had was during the period that corporations and wealthy paid a much higher tax which they could afford and still gain great wealth. Scottie

Mike Lester Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Notice the bait and switch here by the misleading right wing media.   See the cartoon implies and wants the right to read that there is no consensus about vaccines.    The reality is that there is complete consensus that the vaccines work and everyone who can should get them.   The split in consensus is on the Republican side and is about if mandates for vaccines work.  But the truth is it is only a Republican talking point used by Republican governors and media.   The data shows that mandates / rules do increase compliance not only with vaccines but any enforced rule.   It is common sense.   But if you want data the police union in NY City was claiming that thousands of cops would quit if forced to vaccinate.   But only 34 really were willing to quit.   Enough said. 

Tom Stiglich for Jan 04, 2022

A day the Republicans want to forget entirely, and wipe it from history because it clearly was an insurrection attempt against the US government. The Republicans want people to forget what their supporters did that day so they can try it again and the next time have a successful coup against the peaceful transfer of power. Scottie

Rob Rogers Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Oh yea the right has something to blame Biden for.   I guess it was tRump’s fault there was a toilet paper shortage?   There is an increased demand for testing due to everyone gathering for holidays and businesses want to test all their employees.   This too will work itself out.   Scottie

Al Goodwyn Editorial Cartoons Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

“U.S. financial markets are outperforming the world by the biggest margin in the 21st century,”“…Biden’s first year in the White House the standout among the seven previous presidents, based on 10 market and economic indicators given equal weight.” – https://www.bloomberg.com

Gross domestic product surged at an average annual rate of 5.03% in each of the first three quarters of 2021, and is poised to expand 5.6% for the year based on the average estimate of more than 80 economists surveyed Bloomberg.

graph: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FH9jVN9WYAQ8SAS?format=jpg&name=medium

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And now some for fun

Strange Brew Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Herman Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Moderately Confused Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Aunty Acid Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Dog Eat Doug Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

as ron loses his phone

Real Life Adventures Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Pickles Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Pluggers Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Rubes Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Wizard of Id Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Lola Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Close to Home Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

Mannequin on the Moon Comic Strip for January 04, 2022

How a music video about a gay teen may have saved hundreds of lives

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/01/music-video-gay-teen-may-saved-hundreds-lives/

 
Logic, 1-800-273-8255, music video, save lives, suicide, National Suicide prevention lifeline
A scene from “1-800-273-8255”Photo: YouTube screenshot

The 2017 music video for rapper Logic’s song “1-800-273-8255” may have saved hundreds of lives, a new study found.

The song’s title is the phone number of the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Its video showed a gay Black teen calling the number after being outed and receiving homophobic abuse by his track-and-field teammates.

Related: Here’s the new number to text for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

The video gained attention for its unique story and also the celebrities who appeared in it. It featured Nickelodeon star Coy Stewart as the gay teen, Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle as his father, Modern Family’s Nolan Gould as his boyfriend, Emmy-nominated actor Matthew Modine as his boyfriend’s father and the boys’ dads and award-nominated character actor Luis Guzmán as a supportive coach.

The study, published in the December 2021 edition of the British Medical Association peer-reviewed trade journal BMJ, looked at suicide data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the number of calls into the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from the start of January 2010 until the end of December 2018.

It also looked at Twitter posts to determine the amount of attention that Logic’s song received. It found that the song received the strongest amount of public attention right after three events: the video’s initial August 17, 2017 release; the August 27, 2017 MTV Video Music Awards; and the January 28, 2018 Grammy Awards. Logic performed the song at the two latter events.

In the 34-day period following all three events, the Lifeline received 9,915 more calls than it had on average during 34-day periods in the years before. These calls were a 6.9 percent increase over the number of calls usually expected.

Furthermore, in the 34-days after these three events, there were 245 fewer suicides nationwide than usually experienced during the same time-spans in previous years.

The study’s lead researcher — Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, an associate professor at the Suicide Research Unit at the Medical University of Vienna — said his findings support the idea that media messages can have an impact on suicide prevention and crisis management, according to Psych Central.

However, Niederkrotenthaler also concedes that other factors may have contributed to the increase in Lifeline calls and reduction in suicides that his research team observed. But while Logic’s video may have saved lives, research also suggests that media reporting of suicides and suicide myths can increase suicide rates.

Regardless, the study suggests the importance and positive impact of promoting suicide lifelines in popular media. This could especially help LGBTQ individuals, who experience suicidal ideation and attempts more than the general public.

A 2016 research review by the Williams Institute revealed that 17 percent of LGB adults have attempted suicide, compared to 2.4 percent of the general population. Additionally, 82 percent of respondents to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey said they had seriously considered suicide at some point in their lives, with 40 percent reporting having attempted suicide at some point.

On the youth side, the Trevor Project’s 2021 National Youth Mental Health Survey found that 42 percent of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, including more than half of trans and non-binary youth.

I am not a music listener normally.   I prefer podcasts about current political events.  But I did listen to the song and it was good.   I was worried it would be head banging hard to understand the lyrics too much base song, but I was surprised.   The video was riveting, and I am glad to see so many big names in it.   The times they are a’ changing.  Scottie

Overwhelming majority of Switzerland agrees that gender isn’t binary, encouraging study finds

Switzerland has an encouragingly nuanced perception of gender, according to a new poll, with more than eight in 10 Swiss people agreeing that there are more than two genders.

Just 18 per cent of people are convinced that there are “only men and women”, according to research based on a survey of nearly 2,700 Swiss residents that was carried out by the Sotomo research institute on behalf of the Gender Equitable platform.

 

The research found that while most people identified as men or women, the idea of non-binary identities is becoming an increasingly mainstream concept.

Despite an overwhelming number of respondents seeing themselves as clearly male or female – 99.6 per cent – the survey found that people’s perception of gender is increasingly nuanced, with only 14 per cent of men considering themselves “exclusively male” and just six per cent of women saying they are “exclusively female”.

Twelve per cent of people surveyed said they are equally feminine and masculine.

The researchers also looked into how important gender is, finding that a person’s political leanings influence the importance of their own gender to them.

While 55 per cent of respondents said that gender is important or very important for their own identity, among men there was an ideological divide. Sixty-two per cent of right-wing men said being a man is important to them, while only 12 per cent of left-wing men said the same.

Women found gender more important than men did, with 60 per cent of female respondents admitting that gender “shapes who they are”, compared with 49 per cent of men.

 
 

Non-binary awareness growing as Switzerland brings in self-ID for trans citizens

The research revealing an increasingly nuanced and complex understanding of gender in Switzerland comes just days before the country plans to bring in legal gender recognition for trans citizens by self-declaration.

Under the new law, which will go into effect on Saturday (1 January), anyone over the age of 16 and not under legal guardianship will be able to change their gender marker and legal name by self-declaration at a civil registry office.

 

Current rules on changing gender markers vary by region in Switzerland, but many often require a certificate from a medical professional confirming a person’s trans identity, according to Reuters.

Some require a person to undergo gender-affirming surgery or hormone treatment to legally change gender. If a trans person wants to change their name, some regions require proof that the chosen name has been unofficially used for several years.

The move to strengthen trans rights comes months after Switzerland approved marriage equality in a historic referendum, with same-sex couples being able to get married from July 2022.

Switzerland introduces landmark gender affirming legislation

Arizona doctors could face prison time for providing therapeutic care to trans youth

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/12/arizona-doctors-face-fines-prison-time-providing-therapeutic-care-trans-youth/

transgender medical care, trans affirming care, transgender affirming care, bill, illegal, Arizona, transgender youh
Photo: Shutterstock

Arizona state Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers has proposed Senate Bill 1045 to prohibit medical procedures that affirm the gender identity of children and teens who are transgender.

The law would ban medical staff from performing gender-affirming surgeries on transgender minors as well as prescribing testosterone to transgender men or estrogen to transgender women under the age of 18. Health professionals who do so would be guilty of a Class 4 felony, with a prison sentence of one to three years.

Related: Hormone therapy lowers suicide risk for transgender young people

Senate bill 1045 also states that teachers, school staff, and administrators cannot “withhold from a minor child’s parent or legal guardian information related to the minor child’s perception that his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with his or her biological sex.” This would ultimately force teachers and schools to oust trans and gender non-conforming students to their parents, even at the student’s potential peril.

This proposed bill follows suit with a bill that was ushered in Texas in April 2021, one that did not pass during its legislative session.

Leading health care organizations in the state condemned the bill, including the Texas Medical Association, Texas Counseling Association and Texas Pediatric Society. The organizations all say gender-affirming care is the best way to provide care to transgender children. The American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and others have agreed for years that gender-affirming care is the best path forward for trans youth.

Despite the common misconception, trans youth do not get surgeries either. Gender-affirming surgeries are not performed on anyone under the age of 18 in the United States.

According to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines for standards of care, a candidate must be age of majority in their given country (18 in the United States), and also must have received  12 continuous months of hormone therapy as appropriate to the patient’s gender goals (unless the patient has a medical contraindication or is otherwise unable or unwilling to take hormones).

Trans youth do not receive surgeries. That is not what gender-affirming care is. Gender-affirming care is more along the lines of social transitioning and hormone therapy, such as the use of puberty blockers (a treatment that is also reversible, if necessary).

Gender-affirming care saves lives

Studies have proven that both hormone therapy and social transitioning have been proven through studies to be beneficial for transgender youth— a group that is at an elevated risk of suicide due to bullying and lack of school social support.

A most recent study in 2021 found that hormone therapy has a positive effect on trans youth, reducing their risk of suicide.

Other studies have found there is a significant inverse association between rendering treatment with pubertal suppression during adolescence and lifetime suicidal ideation among the transgender adults who wanted such treatment. These results align with past literature, suggesting that pubertal suppression for transgender adolescents who wanted it is associated with favorable mental health outcomes.

Another study by the American Academy of Pediatrics reached the exact same conclusion.

It is also important to note that not everyone who is transgender can fully transition or wants to fully transition, either. The trans community often faces significant obstacles to acquiring health care, either due to lack of employment opportunities or to health insurers choosing not to cover vital healthcare procedures for transgender people.

Lambda Legal wrote:

“Access to transgender health care is challenged further by laws and policies across the country that codify myths that the care is risky, cosmetic or monolithic. For example, the federal Medicare program excludes coverage of sex reassignment surgery, deeming it “controversial” and “experimental,” despite decades of research supporting its effectiveness. Exclusions like this one are rampant in the private insurance context, with many large insurance companies excluding all coverage for “sex reassignment treatments” or equivalent care.”

Access to gender-affirming care is quite difficult in most countries, especially in the United States. Conversely, while it’s difficult for people in the trans community to access gender-affirming care, some trans people just want to socially transition, and studies show the benefits of social transitioning.

What is social transitioning and how does it help transgender people?

A social transition involves a child presenting to other people as a member of the “opposite” gender in all contexts (e.g., wearing clothes and using pronouns of that gender).

Previous studies about gender-nonconforming kids who weren’t allowed to transition found they experienced high levels of depression anxiety. A 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that allowing social transition can be greatly beneficial to the mental health of trans youth.

Another study published in 2018 found that calling a student by their chosen name is linked to reduced depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior among transgender youth.

Rogers’ attempted ban on gender-affirming care as detailed by the evidence would lead to more harm than good for gender clinicians and the youth under their trusted hands. Forcing teachers to oust students to their parents and also blocking the beneficial healthcare trans youth see as necessary and vital to their livelihood has been shown to be the antithesis to what will help trans youth.

When a bill similar to the one in Arizona passed in Arkansas (the first one of its kind), one doctor, Dr. Michelle Hutchison, raised the alarm that a bill like Arizona’s SB1045 would lead to more suicide attempts by trans youth — and it turned out to be true. Arkansas saw an increased rate of suicide amongst trans youth immediately after it was passed.

“It is dangerous,” said Ryan Starzyck, a local business owner and former board member of the local LGBTQ group Phoenix Pride. “It is deadly because if (children) don’t have the foundational information, if they have nobody they can turn and oftentimes is the only one they can turn to is the professional at school before, (the legislature) is laying the foundation for students suicides.”

Starzyk also said it reminds him of the bullying he constantly faced in the military for being gay.

Rogers also has proposed a bill to ban trans students from playing sports based on their gender identity, as a way to block trans girls from playing sports. That bill would also mandate a medical review of a student’s anatomy, hormone levels and genetics if the student’s biological sex is disputed while seeking to participate in sports programs at public and private schools, community colleges and state universities.

She authored this bill despite the fact that the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) said that girls in school sports are not facing disadvantages because of their transgender peers, an assertion that flies in the face of the AIA’s policies on transgender athletes.

 
The scare over trans people in sports is a made up myth to generate outrage.   The bathroom scare is losing its ability to gin up rage so they moved on to women’s sports.   These people who did not support women’s sports in anyway before are now suddenly the fierce protectors of the women.   Reason says the fear of trans women winning all the time leaving other women out is misplace because it is not happening.   From the Olympics on down to local sports transwomen are not winning all the contests.   They simply are not.   Where they do win they spend the time and effort to be better.    The funny thing about those who want transwomen banned is they never mention all the times trans people lose, they only make a big deal of the few times a transwoman won.   Scottie

Pennsylvania school district bans LGBTQ+ books from its libraries

A school district in Pennsylvania has introduced new rules that ban gender identity books from its libraries.

According to a report from WHYY, employees within the Pennridge school district were notified about the rules by an email from the Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education, Anthony Rybarczyk.

“The district is requesting that library book with content regarding gender identity be removed from the current elementary circulations,” the email stated.

The email went on to say that the removed books will be reviewed for “sensitive topics involving foul language, intense violence, gender identity, and graphic sexual content.”

After this process, the selected titles are then “placed in an area” by counsellors and only available to parents or guardians upon request.

“Developmentally, these topics should always involve conversations between the student and trusted adults, both at home and at school,” the email continued. “Creating this resource library will ensure that our students are fully supported.”

On top of removing these informative books, the district also unveiled another set of strict guidelines regarding students pronouns and names.

In an additional email, the school district’s Director for Pupil Services – Dr Cheri Derr – said the terms “related to LGBTQ+” should not be discussed with elementary students.

The new regulations also said middle and high school students who request a change to their name or pronouns must supply “parental permission.”

Parents and students within the school district have since come out and condemned the new rules.

Witold Walczak, who is the legal director for ACLU Pennsylvania, said the policy “raises very serious concerns” regarding a student’s privacy and safety.

“From a policy perspective, you’re setting these students up for a situation where there is no adult that they can talk to,” Walczak told WHYY.

“Very often in these kinds of situations, parents are not an option. Sometimes parents are the problem.

“If you impose this disclosure requirement, you’re shutting the door to students being able to talk to school professionals. Some of these kids could really get hurt.”

LGBTQ+ youth therapist Erin Eagles, who is gay and has a two-year-old child, echoed similar sentiments and said she’s scared to send her child to school in the district.

“I’m terrified of her feeling shamed or like she can’t just talk about the most normal things, like her immediate family,” she explained.

“We’re trying to have another child, and I worry that I’m doing the wrong thing. But if we leave this community, that’s one less [family] here to normalize LGBTQ and other minority individuals.”

In terms of future legal action, Walczak said that a potential case could head to court in the new year.

“My guess is we’ll be litigating at least one of these cases in 2022 somewhere,” he said.

Because everyone knows that if we pretend that LGBTQ+ people don’t exist they will disappear, right?   It is not like grade school kids know that gay people exist.    It is not that some grade school kids might be LGBTQ+ themselves.   All parents are understanding and helpful on subjects dealing with sex and gender, especially in places where the politicians want to ban even the reading about LGBTQ+.   These kids have parents who will take time off work go to the school library and check out a book from the special banned section for their child, right?  No one will spread the news about that around town, gossiping about the parents and family, will they?  Everyone knows that kids are turned gay by reading about it.   It well known that there are no LGBTQ+ unless the kids see it on TV in a 30 second commercial or read it in a book written for kids.   It is like catching a virus we won’t wear masks or get a vaccine for to protect the kids from getting really sick or dying because that is not important as making sure all the LGBTQ+ books are out of reach of those who might need or simply want to read them.   Why teach kids to be understanding, accepting, and tolerant of other kids wanting to use a name or pronoun they prefer because in these areas the adults sure are not accepting, understanding, and tolerant of other adults asking the same thing.   

Scottie

Sodomy laws are still being used to persecute queer people

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/12/sodomy-laws-still-used-persecute-queer-people/

LGBTQ, sodomy laws in U.S., lgbtq, ACLU, united states, south carolina
Photo: Shutterstock

A man publicly identified as “John Doe” is suing South Carolina for requiring him to register as a sex offender after his 2001 sodomy arrest for having consensual sex with another man. His case is just the latest example of how anti-sodomy laws continue to harm queer people.

The U.S. Supreme Court declared all sodomy laws as unconstitutional in 2003 in the case of Lawrence v. Texas. However, South Carolina, Mississippi and Idaho all require people who were convicted of sodomy before then to register as sex offenders, even if they move to another of those three states.

Related: Four men arrested for breaking sodomy law in Maryland police raid

Doe’s lawsuit, filed on December 22, says that the requirement violates his Fourteenth Amendment constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the law.

Registering as a sex offender has harmed Doe’s life, he said. The registry is public and requires a person to “report to the sheriff’s office twice a year and provide detailed information about his residence, his employment status, and every online account he has, in addition to copies of his fingerprints and palm prints,” Metro Weekly reported.

At least 18 other individuals have also been impacted by the law, his suit claims. He wants his name removed from the registry and for others affected by the law to no longer have to register as sex offenders.

Doe’s lawsuit also argues that the state’s anti-sodomy law — which remains on the state’s legal code despite being overturned — is so vague that it could apply to all oral sex as well as anal sex acts.

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling invalidating sodomy laws nationwide, such laws remain on the books of at least 16 states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

The statutes of Kansas, Kentucky and Texas are explicitly aimed at same-sex couples. The laws continue to be cited by police in justifications for sex raids against people having sex outdoors or in private businesses.

Historically, the laws have been used to persecute LGBTQ individuals, subjecting them to intrusion, punishment and public humiliation just for the “crime” of having same-sex relations.

Such laws have also been cited in courts as a pre-text to denying LGBTQ parents custody of children, firing them and denying them jobs as well as discrediting queer voices.

The American Civil Liberties Union has been working to repeal the remaining anti-sodomy laws. The group is also helping represent Doe in court. But repealing the laws has been difficult, as few politicians want to go on record for helping repeal a “sex crime” law, no matter how bigoted or archaic.

Outrage after gay woman diagnosed at Spanish hospital with ‘homosexuality’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/07/outrage-after-gay-woman-diagnosed-at-spanish-hospital-with-homosexuality

LGBT group complains to Murcia government after teenager was given report that included line: ‘Current illness: homosexual’

Pride march this June in south-east Valencia region of Spain
A Pride march in the Valencia region of Spain. LGBTI activists in Murcia want their regional authorities to apologise over a teenager’s treatment at Reina Sofía hospital, saying some in the health service ‘view sexual orientation as an illness’. Photograph: Biel Aliño/EPA
 

A family and an LGBT collective in south-east Spain are demanding answers and an apology after a 19-year-old gay woman who visited a gynecologist over a menstrual condition was diagnosed with “homosexuality”.

On Monday the woman went to an appointment at the Reina Sofía hospital in the city of Murcia. After being examined she was given a piece of paper that included the line: “Current illness: homosexual.”

 

The woman’s mother told the online paper elDiario.es that the gynaecologist had asked her daughter whether he could include her sexual orientation in his report, and that she had consented – despite her surprise – as she thought at the time it might be relevant.

“At first, I thought it was funny, but it just isn’t,” said the patient.

The mother and daughter brought the matter to the attention of the local LGBT collective, Galactyco, which has lodged a formal complaint with Murcia’s regional government, the regional health ministry, and the regional health service.

“The World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses in 1990, and yet, 31 years on, there are still some professionals in Murcia’s health service who view sexual orientation as an illness,” Galactyco said in a statement.

The collective said it was seeking an explanation and an apology, adding that the regional authorities had ignored the patient’s legal rights. It also said the case was far from an isolated incident.

“Our association has received countless reports of degrading treatment because of sexual or gender orientation,” the statement said. “We find it alarming, unacceptable and intolerable that there are professionals today who are responsible for our health, but who ignore the realities of LGBTI people.”

The regional health service could not be reached for comment. But a spokesperson told elDiario.es that it was aware of the incident and that “all necessary measures would be taken to properly establish the facts and to proceed accordingly”.

Initial investigations, added the spokesperson, suggested a mistake appeared to have been made “when the patient’s details were taken”. In any case, they said, the hospital would be offering an apology to the patient.

Daily cartoon / meme roundup: I am worried about the US future and the well being of the public

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Scottie’s world today

lets enjoy it before it spoils

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worried about next year

Prickly City Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

I do not want crumbs

blacktwittercomedy:
“Black Social Comedy
”

#increaseminimumwage

Do you notice how low the bar is going? Be grateful for a library…. as billionaires in space have all our money? #Wakeup #FollowTheMoney USAunify.org

Do you notice how low the bar is going? Be grateful for a library…. as billionaires in space have all our money?

Already talking about the same s**t in the New Year

Fear

Working It Out Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

Do you notice how low the bar is going? Be grateful for a library…. as billionaires in space have all our money? #Wakeup #FollowTheMoney USAunify.org

Do you notice how low the bar is going? Be grateful for a library…. as billionaires in space have all our money?

Doonesbury Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

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Trump predicted to his cult the market would crash if he were not re-elected.

He lied. The scare tactic was obvious. The fear was the obvious message. The cult lives on fear.

Show the cult these market numbers and they will refuse to admit they got played.

The cult can’t admit Trump is a tremendous loser because then they would have to internalize they are tremendous losers.

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The Fox News article doesn’t mention what DeSantis was doing the other 13 days when he failed to make any public appearances.

While Florida has been exploding with record COVID-19 cases six days in a row.

58,013 single day record in a 24-hour period.

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He is either unwilling or unable to respond to his constituents during a Pandemic.

Either way Florida deserves better.

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kids cowering in classrooms

should not have child we force you to

wlaking iincubators and boob factory

your bodies designed to please men

Steve Kelley Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

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God forbid we give 3% less to the military and save humankind.

I take issue with the phrase “health-care system”. It’s misleading. In the 1st place, it’s not a system. A system is something that’s designed to achieve a particular end, in a coordinated way, usually as efficiently as possible. (Think computers or automobiles.) In the 2nd place, it’s not about care, it’s about capitalism.

What we have in lieu of a true health-care system (you know, the kind that every other industrialized democracy on the planet has and loves) is a haphazard scattering of profit centers concentrated in areas where the money is, with vast swaths of the nation under- or unserved. By contrast, the US Postal Service and the public schools are true systems that serve every square centimeter of the country. (And yes, the metric system too is a true system, well and intentionally designed, not like ACHU, the Accidental Collection of Heterogeneous Units that the US alone in the world still clings to.)

So I recommend using the phrase “health-insurance industry”, because it’s more accurate.  Scottie

Scary Gary Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

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omghotmemes:
““The world is burning and the government is useless. Let’s protest against a flu shot.” ”

Somehow these simple rules are intangible for half of our country
Somehow these simple rules are intangible for half of our country

““It’s not so much religion per se, it’s false certainty that worries me, and religion just has more than its fair share of false certainty or dogmatism. I’m really concerned when I see people pretending to know things they clearly cannot know.”
–...

I know an older highly devote Catholic lady that goes to church 4 times a week, sometimes more.  She was telling me one day she knows there is a god.  I corrected her that she feels there is a god, but she again stated as a fact she knows there is a god.  I replied she thinks there is a god.   Nope she knows, so I asked her to show me the proof of her god and she replied she feels her gods presence around her all the time and she thinks that she sees his work in everything around her.    But of course she couldn’t show me the proof of what she knew.   Scottie

Stay away

Speed Bump Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

For Better or For Worse Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

https://twitter.com/roderickgraham/status/1477467052898148357?s=20

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Misleading right wing media cartoons / memes

The fact is the inflation we are seeing right now is profit taking price gouging.   Watch CSNBC and see all the CEO’s and market people crowing about how much money they are making and bemoaning the fact the feds might be cutting off the faucet that gives them free money to prop up their stock values.   Biden’s polices would help the people with out putting more unearned free money in the pockets of the wealthy.    So of course corporate media, especially the right wing corporate media hates them.   Scottie

So the right is now going to deny their favorite phrase and what they mean by it like a little kid who got caught saying a dirty word.    Grow up.   Scottie

The right wing media is desperate to paint Dr. Fauci as some incompetent out of his field like Paul Rand or Sean Hannity along with all the right wing opinion hosts.    Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., was the NIH AIDS Coordinator before being appointed as the first Director of the Office of AIDS research when the office was established in 1988. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Fauci received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1966. He then completed an internship and residency at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. In 1968, Dr. Fauci came to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a clinical associate in the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation (LCI) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In 1974, he became Head of the Clinical Physiology Section, LCI, and in 1980 was appointed Chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation. In 1984, Dr. Fauci became Director of NIAID–a position that he still holds – where he oversees an extensive research portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, illness from potential agents of bio-terrorism, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.  

 Dr. Fauci has kept up 16-hour workdays during most, if not all, of his career. That obviously leaves very little time for sleep and relaxing, but instead offers more time to be involved in the medical community. This includes being a member of:

  • National Academy of Sciences
  • National Academy of Medicine
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • American Philosophical Society
  • American College of Physicians
  • American Society for Clinical Investigation
  • Association of American Physicians
  • Infectious Diseases Society of America
  • American Association of Immunologists
  • American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

Dr. Fauci also serves on the editorial boards of many scientific journals and was an editor of “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. To add to his incredible rap sheet, Fauci has authored, co-authored, and edited more than 1,300 scientific publications and textbooks.

Compare this to his detractors and the people who think a few hours on Facebook and YouTube equal his understanding of Covid public health measures.   Scottie

Al Goodwyn Editorial Cartoons Comic Strip for January 01, 2022

You are correct Al, the country did elect Joe Biden as President, fair and square. The idiot trump lost and instigated an insurrection against the very nation he swore to protect. President Biden got to work to make life better for all citizens, not just those who overwhelmingly voted for him. Here are a few accomplishments under President Biden’s first-year watch:

The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

$1.9 trillion Covid relief deal, cutting child poverty in half.

Getting 73percent of American adults vaccinated with at least one dose.

An economy where the unemployment rate has dropped to 4.2 percent.

The average number of Americans filing for unemployment over the last four weeks is the lowest since 1969. When President Biden took office, over 18 million were receiving unemployment benefits. Today, only 2 million are still receiving unemployment

Having competent federal judges appointed and confirmed.

When President Biden took office, “46% of schools were open. Today, 99% of schools are open.

The U.S. was the only G7 country [U.S., U.K., Canada, Japan, Germany, France, and Italy] to surpass pre-pandemic output by Q2 2021 and keep growing. No other G7 country had reached pre-pandemic output by end of 3Q 2021.

Of course, not everything President Biden wanted to do in the first year was accomplished. However, for a First-year President, inheriting a country in the middle of a pandemic, it’s not a bad record. And what have Republicans been focused on? Denying voting rights to minority citizens, lying about the 2020 election, and denying reproductive rights to women. Not a good look for Republicans, Al.   Scottie

*https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/biden-2021-was-year-big-accomplishments-big-disappointments-n1286092

**https://www.axios.com/biden-year-accomplishment-memo-5ec5cfa3-fa08-4fbc-83fb-5d688a8b79eb.html

Why does trying to help people, cut child poverty, and mitigate a deadly pandemic pure anathema to Al Goodwyn and his little nihilist troll supporters? Oh yeah, that’s right, because it’s the Democrats doing it. The Trumpublican goal is, quite simply, total power achieved through hatred, fear, anger, ignorance, and cruelty. And nihilists like the previous poster is a perfect example of that.

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And now some for fun

Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

Reality Check Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

Herman Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

The Flying McCoys Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

Dog Eat Doug Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

Real Life Adventures Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

Pickles Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

Family Tree Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

B.C. Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

Stone Soup Comic Strip for January 02, 2022

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