gulliver
gulliver's Journal"Gender-affirming care" is a likely mistake that parents should have the right to make
Thus far, I think of GAC in the same way I think of the opioid crisis and some types of mass population mental health drugging. The medical and pharma industry is a complete mess in this country, but there are so few GAC candidates that the harm is lower than these other "iatrogenic" harms. I would say that parents, as always, have the right to make decisions about their children, for good or ill.
I think a better bill would have extended any statute of limitations for lawsuits for GAC patients and detransitioner patients to the lifetime of the patient. That would allow parents to save the life of their child (to the extent they believe that is what they are doing). In the event that fraud, malpractice, or negligence are later uncovered, parents could then sue caregivers and child patients could sue parents and caregivers.
To me, that protects both children and the adults they will become while respecting parental rights in (as DeWine says) making gut-wrenching decisions.
Putin: "Nice place you got here Benny! Too bad what happened!"
"Maybe I can help with that. Everyone knows I'm a peacemaker, right Benny? (Can I call you Benny?)"
"Yes, Godfather. You know I love my Godfather!"
"Now, I know you're going to help me with my Ukraine problem too. As my friend. Let's say the Iranians decide to talk to the Gazan military leaders to get them to let go of some of their 'insurance.' What can you do for me?"
"I can be grateful for your peacemaking, your pragmatism Godfather. I can be grateful for your talking to Hamas and getting them to release some of the hostages they took when you gave them the Ok. I mean, the 'insurance' that the 'Gazan military leaders' took...without you or Iran having to say anything, of course."
"Yes, that's right. I appreciate your gratitude, Benny. That's good. Good, Benny! Very, very good! I didn't attack Ukraine and Israel. They're separate issues...separate funding issues with the Americans. Right? It's simple. Ukraine attacked me. Then the Gazan military leaders independently decided to attack Israel and take insurance. And here I am, your friend, stepping in to help Israel. A friend. A friend to you. A friend to our mutual friends in America."
Inspired by: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218560241
If many Gazan Palestinians are afraid of Hamas, is that true in the Palestinian diaspora too?
There's the psychological concept of "displacement." Your boss yells at you, so you yell at the dog. You're afraid of one, so you pick on the other. You pick on the easy target. Happens all the time. Very easy to not notice you're doing it.
Are a lot of these protesters out there "making a show of Palestinian loyalty" out of fear of crazies in their midst? Do Canadian Palestinian marchers not show the Canadian flag because they know there about three or four Hamas "Islamist Charles Mansons" in the crowd and they don't want trouble? Do Palestinians and their TikTok likers "stand up" to Australian Opera Houses, London business districts, and even Jews because righting the Islamist house (fumigating for Columbine-profile, incel-like nuts) is too scary?
Protesting people and countries that won't do anything to you is, frankly, pretty easy and safe.
Israeli response vs. prevention. Is this a blind spot?
It doesn't seem like a lot of folks take time into account. If I had to guess, I would say it is a lot of young folks. Perhaps they haven't observed the passing of time and interacted with it enough to really have a wise and balanced feel for it.
For some, the recent past, even as recent as Oct. 7th, evidently fades. They even seem to fight for it to fade, perhaps without thinking, by doing things like tearing down hostage pictures and trying to drown it all out with organized mob misbehavior and crude, counterproductive protests. Future Oct. 7ths, promised by Hamas, the terrorist organization that is—unfortunately for everyone—the government and military of Gaza, will happen in the future unless there is prevention.
This is the way time works, it seems silly to have to say. Something happens in the past that demonstrates something terrible can be done. The broken- and ugly-minded perpetrators vow to do the same thing again forever, eliminating all doubt as to their intentions. The future is under contract. Therefore, when we say that a response to the Gazan Hamas attack of Oct. 7th is a "response to Oct. 7th," we need to remember that it is a response to Oct. 7th, 2023 and every future repetition of it for an indeterminate, possibly limitless amount of time.
That changes the moral equation and argues absolutely clearly for prevention by Israel, for the protection of future lives on all sides and in the wider world. Can it be that this simple fact is really being missed? I hope it's just blindness. If it isn't blindness, what is it? Blindness to the need to think about whether it's blindness?
These uncharming, self-selected "lead voices" really are a burden to Liberalism and Progressivism
Just saying. Pseudo-saintery displaces the real thing. We need a lot less posing and preening on these "fringest of the fringe" issues. We need climate action, free school lunches, voting rights, reproductive freedom, health care, etc. Other things that "seem nice" need to be considered for the possibility that they actually aren't, that they're actually lazy, self-indulgent, and self-regarding at worst, peripheral and distractions at best.
If someone tells you who they are, don't believe them. If someone tells you someone else "told us who they are," don't believe either of them.
Wearing a mask to a protest is a jerk move
According to Wikipedia, it's actually illegal in some jurisdictions. I tend to think just about every protest is nothing but a chance for showboats and the self-regarding to get face time. But wearing a mask takes away even that narcissistic payoff. The KKK is calling, they want their anonymous mob idea back.
By definition, there are no "American people" who don't support the Constitution
The American people voted for presidents. The presidents duly appointed Supreme Court justices. The justices were duly confirmed by the Senate. If the Supreme Court rules that a state has the right to take a candidate off its ballots, it is the American people who are, in fact, making the decision.
It's not that the American people are being denied the right to vote for Trump, in other words. They will have exercised their right to take him off of the ballot. The people who resent it can pound salt. That's the Constitution. They're Americans. End of story.
Hamas supporter social media must be on fire
I wouldn't know. An innocent Israeli taken hostage by Hamas and killed by those who were trying to rescue him? Must be thrilling for Hamas and its supporters. It will probably trend on their social media over "gays thrown off of buildings" and "Adam Lanza is my role model" posts.
Those three presidents showed they shouldn't be presidents.
They had Stefanik just sitting there, and there were three of them. And she beat them. Unforgiveable.
Dream exchange that should have happened but didn't:
Stefanik: "Does calling for genocide of Jews violate your code of conduct?"
Any of them: "Yes, I'm sure it does. The Constitution doesn't protect speech that deliberately incites violence. The Constitution is a document you may be familiar with, Congresswoman Stefanik, because (as many have argued in exercising their free speech), you violated an oath you swore to protect that Constitution."
Hamas helped link radical Islamism with sadism and unmanly, inhuman "incelism."
It's something that should have been suspected and guarded against all along. They could have gotten an economic paradise going in Gaza on some prime land. But they are sick puppies. Everyone knows it now.
And don't forget. If Israel gets rid of all the tunnels and rocket launchers, maybe puts in street cameras or the U.N. finally does its job and polices the situation, then Hamas and its like are done for.
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