Category: Science / Medical Information

An Informational Resource

I receive Economic Policy Institute’s newsletter for general info about which I contact my congresscritters. EPI have opened a page dedicated to what the White House, the Legislature, and the courts are doing that affect working people. I figure, first of all, forewarned is forearmed, as to little things that may not be loudly reported but which affect us regular people just out here trying to live our lives. So, here’s a link and a snippet. When a person goes on the page, you can get your choice of newsletters in your email box, if you care to; or you can just look around. Thanks for checking it out-I think it will help people.

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Snippet: (and page link)

Featured

This week in Federal Policy Watch

Trump administration undermines federal workers, immigrants, and DEI programs. Read more

The origin of Federal Policy Watch

EPI’s 2017 Perkins Project on Worker Rights and Wages tracked the first year of the first Trump administration.
Learn more

(Lots more on the page. It offers a filter, so you can be sure to see that which affects you and those for whom you care.)

Debunked: 61-98% of Trans Youth Desist During Puberty

As I have written and posted I love Ethel’s videos.  She presents the facts with an easy to listen to rhythm and tone.  She uses facts to present the medical studies and medical science for trans people not emotion, feelings, or guess work.   She presents the sources she uses and gives the details of how the conclusions were reached and the validity of the studies.  Such as to if it is peer reviewed, how large the sample size, and the conclusions of the data match what the person pushing the information is claiming it does. Often Ethel catches bigots simply lying by claiming a study shows negative results when in fact the studies and data present a positive or are completely opposite from what the haters claim. 

Plus for those who would rather read than listen she provides a transcript of the videos she does and again as I mentioned she supplies her sources so others can look up the studies / data themselves to show she is telling the truth.  That is why you never see videos by trans haters such as the TERFs trying to claim she lied.  If you care about the facts and wish to have the information to combat the lies of bigots please check out her other videos supporting trans people and debunking anti-trans lies.  Hugs

Watch all our videos debunking gender ‘critical’ fascism here! –    • Debunking Gender ‘Critical’ Fascism  

Today’s video debunks the myth that between 61-98% of all trans youth desist if we take a ‘wait and see’ approach, exposing the linguistic sleight of hand used by those set on undermining gender affirming care as the only ethical approach. #ProtectTransKids

Hi, welcome to Essence of Thought with me, Ethel Thurston, as your host.

Some things I found a need to know

CA Citrus Harvest Halted As Workers Don’t Show Up

A lawyer who represents Federal Employees.. the last bit is chilling.

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Fox Suddenly Decides Bird Flu To Blame For Egg Prices

Target Caves And Ends Diversity And LGBTQ Programs
DOJ: No More Arrests For Blockading Abortion Clinics
DeSantis Lies About Abortion Record At March For Life

 Today’s speeches were delivered from behind bulletproof glass. Meanwhile, Trump just gave violent anti-abortion zealots free rein to blockade clinics and probably much worse.

DeSantis: Framers Of The 14th Amendment Didn’t Intend To Grant Citizenship To Children Of “Illegals”
DeSantis Seeks To Effectively Ban Ballot Initiatives
Mexico Refuses To Allow Deportation Flight To Land
DOJ Drops Case Against Texas Doctor Accused Of Illegally Accessing Medical Records Of Trans Children
Idaho Advances Resolution On Overturning Obergefell
Trump Illegally Fires Overseers Of 12 Major Agencies
Trump: No Disaster Aid To California Without Voter ID
Trump: Rachel Maddow Is “The Enemy Of The People”
Musk Addresses AfD Rally: “Multiculturalism Dilutes Everything, Move Beyond Past Guilt” About The Nazis
WHO To Slash Health Programs Due To US Withdrawal
SCOTUS To Hear Suit On OK Funding Religious School

The proposed school is being defended by the governor and state attorney general.

In 2022, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt declared, “Father, we just claim Oklahoma for you. Every square inch, we claim it for you in the name of Jesus. Father, we can do nothing apart from you. We don’t battle against flesh and blood but against principalities and darkness.”

During his 2018 inauguration, Stitt pledged that his primary mission would be to “bring people to Jesus.”

Stitt last appeared here in November 2024 when he warned that “Satan is trying to take over my state” because a pagan woman gave the invocation at Tulsa’s city council meeting.

In June 2024, Still signed a bill allowing public school students to leave campus three times a week for “religious instruction.”

Everyone! So, there.

We Get Another Hummingbird This Week: “Border Beauty”

https://abcbirds.org/bird/buff-bellied-hummingbird/

Bits of a Couple of Pieces I Found Late, Right Before Bedtime

Fast radio burst found in an old, dead galaxy for the first time

A new discovery adds to the mystery of the source of fast radio bursts.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extremely energetic pulses of radio-frequency light which travels across the universe that last just a few seconds or even milliseconds.

Radio telescope array under night sky
Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME). Credit: CHIME, Andre Renard, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto.

More than 1,000 FRBs have been reported since the first was discovered in 2007. (snip-More; click the title see it all.)

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Godless Libs Of Tulsa, OK, City Council To No Longer Force Jesus On People Just Trying To Attend Their Meetings by Rebecca Schoenkopf

Good for you Tulsa, Oklahoma! Read on Substack

Tulsa City Council Facebook Page

The City Council of Tulsa, Oklahoma — faced with the choice of upsetting Christian Republican legislators or making non-Christian community members feel like they didn’t belong — voted 8-0 (with one abstaining) this week to eliminate the practice of starting each meeting with a prayer invocation.

Now, instead of invocations, there will be a moment of silence, so that everyone will have to sit there and feel uncomfortable instead of just those whose religion is not represented by the opening prayer.

As Hemant Mehta of Friendly Atheist reports, this all started last year after the invocation was delivered by Amy Hardy-McAdams, co-owner and creator of the Strawberry Moon Herbal Apothecary & Ritual Center in Broken Arrow. Hardy-McAdams, who described herself as “a Third-Degree High Priestess of the Artemisian Faerie Faith Tradition of Witchcraft” (which I’m sure is a real thing), was invited by retiring City Councilmember Crista Patrick, who also happened to be a Pagan and wished to see her faith represented at the meeting just as Christianity had been. (snip-More; the statements from the Gov and Schools Supt. are worth the click by themselves, but the entire thing is gold!)

AM Nature Science

I saw this title in a couple of places first thing, and thought it’s a great way to get started! Enjoy. -A

Sunfish that got sick after aquarium closed has recovered — thanks to human cutouts

By  MARI YAMAGUCHI Updated 8:27 AM CST, January 22, 2025

TOKYO (AP) — A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in southwestern Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fishtank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations. As a last-ditch measure to save the popular fish, its keepers hung their uniforms and set up human cutouts outside the tank.

The next morning, the sunfish ate for the first time in about a week and has been steadily recovering, said Moe Miyazawa, an aquarist at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki.

The large sunfish arrived at the aquarium in February 2024 from the southern coast of Kochi in the Pacific Ocean. The sunfish, a member of the blowfish family known for its unique shape and big eyes, became one of the most popular attractions at the facility.

When the sunfish began looking unwell days after the aquarium closed on Dec. 1 for a six-month renovation, its keepers suspected digestive problems, gave it less food and visited the fish tank to comfort the sunfish when there was construction noise, but to no avail.

Then at a staff meeting, one person suggested that the sunfish might have been affected by the sudden absence of an audience.

“We were skeptical but decided to do anything we could,” Miyazawa said. They hung their uniforms and placed human-shaped cutouts with photos of smiling faces outside the tank to cheer on the fish, Miyazawa said.

“I knew (the sunfish) was looking at us when we were placing them, but I never thought it would start eating the next day,” Miyazawa said, beaming. The staff now visit more often and wave at the sunfish.

The aquarium keepers say they hope many fans will return to see the sunfish when the aquarium reopens in the summer.

The Crucible and more in Peace and Justice History for 1/22

January 22, 1953
The Arthur Miller drama, ”The Crucible,” opened on Broadway.
It was a parable that reflected the climate of fear that pervaded American society and the politics of its time, witchcraft in the late 17th century, communism in the mid-20th. In both times there existed also the fear of false accusation.
From the New York Times review of the Broadway revival in November 2001:
“Today, the play is a cautionary tale of astounding immediacy. Its themes include the pathology of rumor, the arrogance of the religiously righteous, the dangers of private panic in the face of public terror, and the individual’s difficulty in acting rationally in the face of mob hysteria.”

scene from the original production
Read the playwright’s reasons for writing it: 
January 22, 1973
Women won control of their reproductive rights when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that Americans have a constitutional right to privacy, and thus women may terminate a pregnancy before the last 10 weeks. Only during the last trimester, when a fetus can survive outside the womb, would states be permitted to regulate abortion of a healthy pregnancy.
Prior to the Court’s ruling that the decision was private and belonged to the pregnant woman, abortion was essentially illegal in all states except New York (as of 1970).
 
About the decision  
History of New York’s law  
January 22, 2001
President George W. Bush signed a memorandum the day after his inauguration reinstating full restrictions on U.S. overseas aid that might go to any program that provided abortions or considered them an option for women.
Known as the Mexico City policy, or global gag rule, first signed by President Ronald Reagan, it had been withdrawn by President Bill Clinton as soon as he took office. 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january22

#actuallyautistic voices

Autistic Pride Is NOT Just about the Good Parts of Being NeuroDivergent

I am not autistic. But many of us here read Barry’s blog to learn, and to be more effective allies. The next 2 entries on his blog are informative, as well.

New French guidelines show doctors overwhelmingly support gender-affirming care

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/12/new-french-guidelines-show-doctors-overwhelmingly-support-gender-affirming-care/

This study is grand.  If you read it you will see it debunks the trans haters talking points of lower bone minerals and the complete shown to be false Cass report. 

The guidelines also directly push back against claims in the U.K. Cass Review that puberty blockers affect cognition, revealing that they have “no negative effect” on any measures of intelligence or academic success.

The guidelines even provide a definitive rebuke to the claim that puberty blockers cause lower bone mineral density (BMD) by saying, “Trans youth have an average BMD before the onset of puberty that is lower than that of the general population, regardless of treatment. This is probably related to the consequences of dysphoria: less physical activity, eating disorders, and/or poor dietary balance.” After taking the hormones that align with their gender identity, the guidelines’ authors note that trans patients’ BMD is “comparable to that of the experienced gender.”

The guidelines strongly oppose a beloved tactic among anti-trans activists, dubbed the “wait-and-see” approach, wherein medical providers render no care to see if the patient still desires transitional care — the approach has been likened to conversion therapy. The approach, also known as “gender exploratory therapy,” is swiftly criticized by the guideline’s authors who state that it “does not reduce psychological distress.” Instead, it “increases the risk of committing suicide and can affect psycho-affective and cognitive development.” 

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The medical guidelines contradict numerous conclusions from the UK’s infamous Cass Review.
By  
LGBT pride month concept or LGBTQ+ or LGBTQIA+ with rainbow colorful heart shape for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Agender, Non Binary, Two Spirit, Pansexual

Medical professionals in France just came out in strong support of gender-affirming care for transgender minors, according to independent trans journalist Erin Reed.

The French Society of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology released a set of guidelines that can be considered the first consensus to come out of France for gender-affirming care. The guidelines were thoroughly conducted: Each section of the review is broken up up into separate categories evaluated by smaller groups of study authors who incorporated input from external experts. The final guidelines were also refined by the broader group of authors.

Related:

Anti-trans laws cause increase in suicide attempts according to massive new study

Trans youth in states that enacted anti-trans laws had up to a 72% increase in suicide attempts.

The authors and studies in the report unequivocally support gender-affirming care, backing puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy for trans minors. The approach to care they suggest is individualized and evidence-based, promoting the right of trans youth to explore their gender identity and find where they fit in on their own time. By allowing youth to transition early, some elect to skip future surgeries entirely, the study said.

The guidelines strongly oppose a beloved tactic among anti-trans activists, dubbed the “wait-and-see” approach, wherein medical providers render no care to see if the patient still desires transitional care — the approach has been likened to conversion therapy. The approach, also known as “gender exploratory therapy,” is swiftly criticized by the guideline’s authors who state that it “does not reduce psychological distress.” Instead, it “increases the risk of committing suicide and can affect psycho-affective and cognitive development.” 

A study published in September shows that anti-trans laws increase the likelihood of suicide by upwards of 72%, suggesting that attempts at implementing these bans on care and advocacy for the “wait-and-see” approach are only harming transgender individuals.

The guidelines even provide a definitive rebuke to the claim that puberty blockers cause lower bone mineral density (BMD) by saying, “Trans youth have an average BMD before the onset of puberty that is lower than that of the general population, regardless of treatment. This is probably related to the consequences of dysphoria: less physical activity, eating disorders, and/or poor dietary balance.” After taking the hormones that align with their gender identity, the guidelines’ authors note that trans patients’ BMD is “comparable to that of the experienced gender.”

 

The guidelines also directly push back against claims in the U.K. Cass Review that puberty blockers affect cognition, revealing that they have “no negative effect” on any measures of intelligence or academic success.

The French guidelines are especially detailed in that they contain information on how trans youth can alleviate dysphoria as well. They discuss binding techniques, how transfeminine people can tuck, and how to best treat youth in varying stages of their transition.

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) is staffed by trans people and will not contact law enforcement. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). Help is available at all three resources in English and Spanish.

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