News You May Have Missed June 16, 2023
During last night’s Jester Politics’ Spaces we talked about free speech being under attack, especially on college campuses and today I see this: College threatened criminal charges for conservatives tabling on campus. If you read the article they were clearly exercising their 1st Amendment right of free speech. Lone Star College-Tomball later apologized and in response to a question stated, “All college personal routinely undergo training to ensure they are compliant with board police.” First, the training must not be very good and second they need to add training in constitutionally protected liberties.
We are failing our Youth: Kids and young adults age 10-24 are dying from suicide and homicide at highest rates in decades. Perhaps we should take some of that money being spent on illegal immigrants and divert it to effective programs to address these problems and not feel good nonsense programs that don’t work. Effective mental health services for the suicide problem and increased law enforcement and longer sentencing targeting gang members and repeat offenders might be a good place to start.
Higher Education: Marquette University’s Philosophy Professor Grant Silva, “gets “anxious” when he sees an American flag.” He must go into shock when he sees the university’s ROTC battalion. On the bright side you can send your kids to Marquette University so they can get a degree in philosophy for only $63,022 a year – room and board included. Of course, they’ll likely not be able to get a job after they graduate so I hope you all have a nice basement.
Riddle me this – why are so many “experts” only experts in their own mind? A perfect example is Dr. Meredithe McNamara, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine. She testified as an “expert” witness at a recent Congressional hearing opposing the blocking of federal funding to hospitals that provide “transgender services” for minors. However, when pressed by Rep. Crenshaw, she could not cite any scientific evidence that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgery provided any benefits to children.
At a minimum, an expert arguing for the funding of radical medical procedures should have some scientific evidence to support their position. Yet Dr. McNamara had none, zip, dada.
However, Rep. Crenshaw, who is not a medical expert, did not find it difficult to locate scientific evidence finding that “there is great uncertainty about the effects of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries in young people.” So, where did he find this evidence? Well, in the British Journal of Medicine, a journal I would think a Professor at Yale School of Medicine, who claims to be expert, would be familiar with. A couple of other eye-opening statements in that article:
“Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare…determined last year that the risks of puberty blockers and treatment with hormones ‘currently outweigh the possible benefits’ for minors;
“Finland’s Council for Choices in Health Care…issued similar guidelines, calling for psychosocial support as the first line treatment;
Both Sweden and Finland “restrict surgery to adults”
“Medical societies in France, Australia, and New Zealand have also leant away from early medicalisation”
“NHS England…recently said that there was ‘scarce and inconclusive evidence to support clinical decision making’ for minors with gender dysphoria and that for most who present before puberty it will be a ‘transient phase,’ requiring clinicians to focus on psychological support and to be “mindful” even of the risks of social transition.” (Emphasis mine).
Rep. Crenshaw stated “This is a radical new movement that is performing permanent physiological changes to children with no evidence of any benefits.”
I call it child abuse.
Chicago welcomes it’s new Mayor with a 38% increase in crime…during his first month in office. Of course, this spike in crime is not a result of Mayor Johnson’s policies – he’s only been mayor for a month or so. But he better get hot fast before Chicago goes from Afghanistan war bad to Ukraine war bad. I guess a bright spot is that even though shootings are up 5%, murders are down 5%. Johnson better hope the gangs don’t decide to get some more range time in.
More Stupid from Higher Education: From Princeton comes guidelines for ‘Consent on the Dance Floor.’ First I thought “who would have sex on a dance floor with all those people dancing?” Alas, these are guidelines for getting consent to dance, not have sex. Did you know you should keep asking your dance partner if they still consent as you dance? Yea, me neither, but it’s a real thing. God have mercy on us!