Archive for 2024

WHEN SINEMA REFUSED TO ENDORSE ELIMINATING THE FILIBUSTER THE DEMS MADE HER CONTINUANCE IN THE PARTY INTOLERABLE:  Oh, So That’s What Kyrsten Sinema Is Doing in 2024.

If/when the GOP get control of the Senate, their first order of business ought to be to take a vote to end the filibuster, subject to a cloture vote enabling the Senate Dems to cast the deciding votes to end or preserve the filibuster. Put them on the spot and put them on record.

OPEN THREAD: Tuesday’s gone with the wind.

SCIENCE! Alzheimer’s Might Not Actually Be a Brain Disease, Expert Reveals. “In July 2022, Science magazine reported that a key 2006 research paper, published in the prestigious journal Nature, which identified a subtype of brain protein called beta-amyloid as the cause of Alzheimer’s, may have been based on fabricated data.”

And for a couple of decades, leading scientists made sure that research into other causes was starved for funding.

IF YOU COULD TRUST THE AIRLINES WITH YOUR BAGGAGE, IT WOULD GO AWAY: The Carry-On-Baggage Bubble Is About to Pop: Airplanes aren’t made for this much luggage. “We know that airlines overbook their seats, then count on no-shows and rebookings to make the system work. This helps ensure that each flight will be as full as possible, but it also leads to situations where passengers must be paid to take a different flight. What if the airlines are doing the same thing with overhead bins and “allowing” more carry-on luggage than a plane can even hold? What if they’re overbooking those compartments in the hopes or expectation that some passengers won’t bother with a Rollaboard and will simply check their bags instead? If that’s the case, then the aisle pandemonium can’t be chalked up to passengers’ misbehavior or to honest confusion at the gate. No, it would mean that all this hassle is a natural outcome of the airlines’ cabin-stowage arbitrage.”

But letting them have your bags means delays and a solid chance of not having your bag at the other end. Then there’s the asinine practice, on international flights, of having you retrieve your bags, walk past a Customs officer who does nothing, and then recheck them and go through security again before connecting to your next flight. (Presumably because you’ve been in the presence of checked bags and might have retrieved a knife or something.) A carry-on can shave half an hour off the process of going through customs.

ACCORDING TO THE NUMBERS ON DEPLATFORMING ATTEMPTS, THE PICTURE FOR FREE SPEECH ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES IS GRIM: In a new post for The Eternally Radical Idea, FIRE’s Chief Research Advisor Sean Stevens and I unpack the data and zero in on where these attempts are coming from and who they tend to impact.

“The last couple of weeks alone have been absolutely terrible, and it’s no surprise why. Campuses exploded in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, with attempts to deplatform speakers coming in about equal numbers from both sides. However, as of this moment we are not aware of a pro-Palestine event being disrupted by pro-Israel students. The most recent examples we have are all pro-Palestinian protestors shutting down pro-Israel speech.”

GREAT MOMENTS IN SELF-AWARENESS:

Regarding the text highlighted above, for once, we couldn’t agree more with Capt. Dan. Or at least his ghost-tweeter:

https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/1765024543024800127

UPDATE: Unglued ‘Father of Fake News’ Dan Rather Demands Media End ‘Both-Sides-Ism’ When Covering Trump.

The month after Rather self-immolated in September of 2004, I can remember the DNC-MSM making similar demands about their coverage of GWB: ABC News Political Director Memo Sparks Controversy: Both Sides Not ‘Equally Accountable.’

And the media wonders how they ended up covering Trump, after 25 years of going full-DefCon One on Dubya, McCain, Palin, and Romney:

(Updated and bumped.)

UNEXPECTEDLY: Doctors admit link between transgender hormone therapy and cancer in leaked emails.

Doctors on a leading transgender healthcare body have admitted that patients have developed cancer owing to the effects of hormone treatment.

Leaked emails show other medical professionals admitting that trans patients do not always understand the consequences of gender reassignment.

The cache of files from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which sets guidelines that have influenced NHS treatment, show that doctors are carrying out life-changing surgery and prescribing puberty blockers even though they are aware the adults and children may not fully understand the long term ramifications.

One doctor talked about a transgender person who died of cancer as a result of his hormone treatment.

“I have one transition friend/colleague who, after about eight to 10 years of [testosterone] developed hepatocarcinoma [a form of liver cancer],” the doctor wrote.

“To the best of my knowledge, it was linked to his hormone treatment… it was so advanced that he opted for palliative care and died a couple of months later.”

It’s not clear from the documents if the person who died was made aware or knew about the side effect.

Flashback from Steve last year: Here Come the Teen Transgender Lawsuits. “To give you an even better idea of how deep this country has gone down the rabbit hole on this transgender madness, let me share with you a telling detail I couldn’t help but notice from the WOWT News report linked above.”

UPDATE: Liver Cancer in Teens, Reduced Sexual Function, Lack of Consent: Internal Docs Reveal Experimental Nature of ‘Gender-Affirming Care.

In the latest Eternally Radical Idea post, Sean Stevens and I dig into the campus deplatforming numbers. 2023 was the worst year on record for shout downs, hecklers’ vetoes & disinvitations, but unfortunately if the current pace is kept, 2024 will top it.

FINALLY: Sydney Sweeney has brought boobs back.

See, back in my day, kids, boobs were everywhere. It was the Nineties and early Aughts. We had Pamela Lee and Baywatch. Jennifer Love Hewitt graced the cover of Maxim with her boobs. My girlfriends always used to complain about not understanding men — I told them, “stop reading Cosmo and start reading Maxim.” Our supermodels — like Tyra Banks and Cindy Crawford — had curves. Carmen Electra did one of the hottest photoshoots in the history of Playboy magazine in her 2003 cover spread. McCarthy was Playmate of the Year in 1993 and from there became a host of Singled Out on MTV. The Man Show with Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel, had a segment that was just girls jumping on trampolines. We were a culture awash in tits — and it was glorious.

We could look at boobs and not feel bad about it — and that’s a good thing. In fact, I’d argue it’s a healthy thing. Boobs are fantastic. There’s a biological component that makes it totally normal to be fascinated by boobs.

Then came the advent of the highly-strung women’s site and, understandably, shit got weird. It’s been weird ever since.

If only the GOP had listened to Glenn over a decade ago: “I think that rich people wanting to support the Republican Party might want to direct their money somewhere besides TV ads that copy, poorly, what Lee Atwater did decades ago. My suggestion: Buy some women’s magazines. No, really. Or at least some women’s Web sites.”

CHANGE:

UPDATE: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Won’t Run for Re-Election. Centrist has played pivotal role in series of bipartisan deals but angered progressives. “Had she chosen to run for re-election, her path to the nomination would have been difficult, something her own team acknowledged. A flier circulated by Sinema’s camp at one point and viewed by the Journal said a winning formula for her could include 10%-20% of Democrats, 60%-70% of independent voters and 25%-35% of Republicans—margins that far exceed her 2018 totals with independents and Republicans.”