Human Gender Is Not Binary

Original Facebook comment by me in a post by Kat Carlson concerning the disrespectful comments about the LGBTQ+ community:

A response to my comment:

The response by Culture Guard that I displayed was, as reiterated in its first paragraph, to a comment about "sexual species," not specifically humans. However, the reply does go on to explain how a binary view of "human" sexuality is absurd. Thus, I do think there is a point. Culture Guard is not just comparing insects to humans. They are explaining how chromosomes and genetics work.

Not just one gene on one chromosome determines gender or sexual identity. There are multiple factors at play. Some people are asexual wholly or partly—their sexual attraction is lessened or absent. Some are attracted to both genders. There are people born with both male and female sexual organs. Some girls grow a penis at age 12.

Do you still think gender is binary? Male or female?  Point out which gene on what chromosome is on or off that would make gender binary in human beings.

It is a spectrum. It's not just genitalia that makes one male or female. Each person has different levels of estrogen and testosterone. And there are trillions of neurons in our brains, and those connections influence sexuality and attraction.

There are multiple ways genital development can go wrong, including in the formation of sensory nerves. Culture Guide’s reply covered human X and Y chromosomes and how unusual things can happen. How many genes on just those two chromosomes have a part to play in our sexual identities?

And it's not just genes that are involved. Add in epigenetics. The epigenome surrounding DNA has control over whether genes are ON or OFF. It's like software that runs on the genetic DNA hardware.

Did you know that estrogen and testosterone have their own little arms race via the duplication of genes that create the hormones? That they essentially compete to outproduce each other? 

Should we do an analysis of peoples' complete genomes and use our limited understanding to tell them that they are either "normal" or are an abomination? Should we tell people that who they are is illegal and wrong? That's my opinion as to why religion and those who use their faith to govern their personal lives should have nothing bad to say about sexuality and who adults are allowed to love in consensual relationships.

Did you know that the texts in the Bible about homosexuality are deliberate mistranslations by people with an agenda? The original translations referred to pedophilia as being forbidden, not same-sex relations.

And what of the modern obsession with banning “gender-affirming” care for minors being somehow wrong? Do treatments that were developed for cis (straight) children being used in cases of gender dysphoria render all such care suspect whether the recipient is straight or on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum? Such care usually does not involve hormone treatments, and very rarely is surgery necessary. Note that surgical interventions also include correction or reconstruction of the genitals or breasts of straight children, whether the problem was due to birth defects, accidents, or puberty onset problems (such as a need for male breast reductions).

A binary view of gender and sexuality? How absurd.

Liberal World Order?

My response to a very old video with problems that have already been solved.

Biden inherited the mess; he didn't create it. And I hardly think Biden would ever claim that we are entering a "new liberal world order." That is just stupid. This is just misinformation and fear-mongering.

What would this new liberal order look like? Universal Healthcare without bankruptcies like most Western nations already have? Free higher education? Living wages? An independent judicial system that is not dependent on fines and court fees?

How about ending Debtor's Prison (criminal contempt of court when you can't pay what collection agencies demand)?

Fewer for-profit charter schools that teach whatever they want by people without any teaching credentials to students handpicked to exclude difficult (less-profitable) children? The charter system that leaves public schools with increased expenses with a budget that pays a set amount per pupil, now with fewer students?

How about that liberal idea of clean water, air, and soil?

Things like not making optional the upgrades needed to change the civil-war era braking systems on freight trains so more communities are not wiped off the map in preventable tragedies?

How about that liberal notion of letting people be themselves instead of trying to cram them into an inaccurate binary gender classification system?

An end to the sacrosanct modern revision of the Second Amendment so AR-15s are not in the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. (The militia referred to in the actual wording of the Second Amendment is today's National Guard.)

All of this gets lost when liberalism is defined by guns (Stand-Your-Ground, no restrictions), religion (freedom only for Christians), and abortion (the Fourteenth Amendment that underpins so many other rights having been declared irrelevant by today's Supreme Court).

Where does the third K go when spelling Kentucky?

Video: Time is short, the choice is yours

Kennedy After-hours Floor Speech

A bizarre after-hours floor speech to an empty chamber by Senator John Neely Kennedy (R-LA)

https://www.facebook.com/TheScoop.Politics/videos/566119378981569/

My reaction?

OMG. Biden is responsible for inflation across the whole world! He's arranged for companies to have record profits while okaying their price gouging! He is ensuring companies keep subsidies and tax breaks even as they rake in the money!

Shame on Biden for blocking those leaky pipelines that would bring toxic tar sands from Canada to be refined here and sold abroad. He should have encouraged Canada to allow pipelines to cross their country to Canadian refineries on the western coast. Wasn't it clever of him to let refineries process Canadian oil just when our capacity to process our own oil dropped with those refinery fires? And the 5-year process of bringing back online refineries that were idled during the pandemic? Well, Biden must have arranged that during the Trump years.

High food prices? That has nothing to do with record profits by Tysen and others. Let's keep blaming the import shipping crisis.

And now we have those nasty people at the EPA burdening our suffering corporations with unnecessary paperwork. The Supreme Court gutting EPA's ability to regulate must have had no impact. Clean air, water, and soil? We don't need that wishy-washy feel-good liberal tree-hugging here in the land of unregulated capitalism!

I am curious how long ago this speech was given to the empty chamber during the record-speeches-for-constituencies portion of the day. Gas prices have since gone way back down. Ooh, Let's blame Biden for lower gas prices at the pump!

Me thinks this joker is blowing smoke up people's skirts. But what do I know? 😁

A strange new version of the Second Amendment

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

A sneak attack on the Second Amendment?

"Well governed armed forces, which are vital to provide security and protection to the independent State, shall not disobey the natural right of a person to bear arms."

This reinterpretation (rephrasing) turns the Second Amendment on its head. It says that 'well governed armed forces…shall not disobey the natural right…'

Not only does it separate the militia clause from possession of guns, it tries to say that armed forces cannot interfere with individual ownership of weapons.

Although the article later goes on to say that rights are conditional and limited, it does nothing to correct the subservient role of armed forces, be they local, state or national.

It also completely disregards the meaning and intent of the original phrasing of the Second Amendment. It's akin to the truncated version the NRA displays on its headquarters and preaches to the public and to Congress.

Too many people don't even know there is a militia clause, and if they do, they disregard it as being irrelevant in modern times.

The radicals who took over the NRA leadership in the 70s have achieved their objectives. The NRA itself has gone from an organization that promotes training and responsible gun ownership to an organization that espouses an absolute right of any citizen to own any weapon they want anywhere they want. Even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia did not advocate such a position.

Since the text of the article will rarely accompany this new version of the Second Amendment, it's a disingenuous and dangerous rewording.

14 Main Pros and Cons of the Right to Bear Arms

Vote Out Sinema?

Why should anyone vote for Gallego over Sinema? Just getting a new face in the Senate means little in itself.

Yeah, we should just let the lying authoritarian hypocrites take away all our freedoms. 

What contraceptives we can use, what religion we can practice, what books we can read, what businesses we are allowed to patronize (No cake for you!), who we can marry, when and where we are allowed to peacefully assemble, where we can send our children to school without worrying some douchebag with an AR-15 will terrorize and murder them, how we can get healthcare without going bankrupt (nevermind how all those other countries can do it), how we can keep our retirements from being trashed in a manufactured crisis and then privatized in the name of reform by greedy profit-hungry vultures.

Sure, why should anyone want a lying, money-hungry sellout to be voted out of office? It's just one Senator, right? And another over here, and two over there. We wouldn't want a pedophile, evil, godless, communist, cross-dressing, rapist, tree-hugger to be voted into office, right?

So, how's that Republican healthcare plan working for you? The one where you drink Clorox and shove lights up your butt. The plan that would replace the older Republican healthcare plan known first as Romneycare, then Obamacare, the plan dreamed up by a conservative think tank. 

Just keep yelling "It's my body!" while refusing to wear a mask to protect others (Thou shalt not kill), then screaming at a woman who has a medical reason to get an abortion or take birth control to keep from dying. Or screaming at a pregnant 10-year-old rape victim.

Just keep thinking, along with millions of other apathetic voters, that voting for the 99% is an exercise in futility.

Inflation. What is it good for?

The Solution To The Inflation Crisis That Worked TWICE Before!

The text included with the above video:

There’s no question that the inflation crisis is here and it’s not going away any time soon. So what was the cause – the Ukraine War, government spending, sun spots? And what’s the best way to solve the crisis? The New School economics professor Richard Wolff says the explanation for the current crisis is actually quite simple, and notes that the government has acted dramatically to curb inflation twice in the past, and could do so again if only those in positions of power had the political will to challenge corporate interests profiting handsomely off the high prices.

=========================

My summary of the video:

How do you stop inflation? The simplest and fastest way is wage and price freezes. Both FDR and Nixon did this. Couple that with a tax on windfall profits.

Higher inflation. Is it because of the Ukraine war or weather or supply chain problems? No.

Who sets the prices of goods and services? Employees? Consumers? No. Employers set prices. They are raising prices and increasing their profits to record levels. Where does all that money go? Mostly not for supplies that they need to produce their own products. Not for wage increases to deal with inflation. It goes into the stock market or in stock buybacks, and it goes into the pockets of the wealthy.

Will it help if the Feds increase the cost of borrowing by raising interest rates? No. Who are the people that are in debt? Consumers. Not the wealthy. Consumer interest rates on mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, etc., are often tied to federal interest rates. It's the people with those debts that will be impacted.

Will cutting 'entitlements' and raising the retirement age help? No. Social Security is self-funded and has for decades been putting surpluses into the Trust Fund to handle baby boomer retirements. Cutting Social Security only changes the date that the Trust Fund zeros out. There is no effect on federal budget deficits or the National Debt.

Socialism Is Not Communism

Socialism is not communism (the far-right's boogeyman). It is not a fascist dictatorship like the USSR.

Democratic Socialism is capitalism with social programs where needed, such as Social Security, Universal Healthcare, public utilities, police, fire, highways, roads, EPA, OSHA, FAA, SEC, and public education.

It is not a profit-driven, unregulated, unfair, unjust, monopolistic, theocratic, oppressive, fascist corporatocracy where corporations and the wealthy gouge consumers and create an ever-widening income disparity. That's what today's Republicans are hell-bent on creating. 

Democratic Socialism is about worker's rights, consumer protections, environmental safeguards, financial protections, an end to predatory loans, a stop to monopolies that eliminate competition, a fair (instead of an unregulated "free" cheaters-always-prosper) market, non-profit justice, and a halt to the gutting of public education.

CRT is a law school subject, not taught in K-16, and it's not about white guilt. And no, Democrats don't want your guns. They want to eliminate weapons of mass murder, such as AR-15s. They want reasonable gun laws such as background checks and a return to keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. They want a return to having financial advisors to have the client's interests foremost. An end to the nanny state the self-righteous right-wing is creating.

Wake up and look closely at the degenerates you are voting for.

Corporate Greed - Ohio Train Disaster

The ground and water were not tested for vinyl chloride. The substance is not even classified as hazardous material despite its toxicity. Only the air was tested, and the EPA said, "All clear!" Vinyl chloride dissipates in the air rapidly, but it contaminates soil and water.

Politicians are more concerned with campaign contributions than safety. Railroad car brakes are often still Civil War technology despite safer brakes being available since at least the 1990s.

Personnel reductions were made, and safety check inspections were cut from 5 minutes for each railroad car to 60 seconds. Railroads are even lobbying Congress to allow trains crewed by only one person—a conductor but no engineer.

Forget the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. Welcome to the Corporate Age—a government ruled as a corporatocracy rather than a democracy.