We await the Supreme Court taking up the case on medication abortion, based on a lower court ruling that the drug mifepristone is not safe for women to use.
Of course, the drug is safe and everyone involved in the case knows it is safe. The case isn't really about safety, it's about a mnority religious belief being given precedence by conservative judges over facts and science on a medical issue. How can they get away with this?
I don't know if I'll end up seeing the Barbie movie. I never had a Barbie doll ... I was more a stuffed animal kind of kid. But I do like this song from the film, I'm Just Ken, sung by Ryan Gosling.
Conservatives, from Republican politicians to Pope Francis (Pope Francis: Gender ideology is ‘one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations’ today), all seem to be obsessed with transgender people and what they like to call "gender ideology". Though the percentage of trangender people in the population is very low, the subject has become a political wedge issue and a religious bugaboo.
It's hard to argue with conservatives on this subject because they have opted out of critical thinking and instead have chosen to be loyal to a certain value-system team. But, I can't help anyway wanting to post what science has to say about gender identity, for those who still care about trying to figure out what corelates with reality.
There he is ... the 77 year old realty show host/rapist/tax cheat/failed dictator, resplendent in his hair dye and greasepaint, giving us the "through the eyebrows" stare. I think it's meant to be scary.
The latest show I've been watching on Netflix is The Witcher ...
a fantasy drama television series ... based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Set on a fictional, medieval-inspired landmass known as the Continent, The Witcher explores the legend of Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg and Princess Ciri. It stars Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan.
I've wanted to see it for some time because I like the actor who portrays the main character - Henry Cavill - you may remember him as Superman in Man of Steel.
I'm pretty tired of medieval-themed tv shows, but while Game of Thrones was a cynical, gore-filled, rape-loving piece of garbage, I think this show will be way better. There's still a lot of violence, but the main character is basically a good guy and the women seem to be real-ish people (Game of Thrones's Treatment of Women Will Tarnish Its Legacy).
Here's a scene from the show (violence) showing Geralt (Cavill) and a friend on the way to rescue his young ward, Princess Cirilla, trying to pass by the evil soldiers of Nilfgaard without incident. But then he decides to help the woman and child in distress ...
California doesn't normally get hurricanes. We don't ever even get just rain in the summer. So, this is weird. I cant help but wonder what Republicans tell themselves about all these extreme weather events, since apparently they aren't allowed to believe in climate change.
It is appalling that "pro-life" nuts can second guess the doctors and scientists of the FDA on which drugs can be used and how they can be used by the American people. The hubris of a religious minority forcing their extremist beliefs down the throats of a whole country is breathtaking.
Before we who are pro-choice get too happy about Ohio and other states, we need to realize that the religious extremists who championed the Dobbs decision are not done with us yet.
Not satisfied with returning the decision about abortion to the states, allowing the people in the states to decide, they want to reinterpret Dobbs as imposing a total abortion ban on the whole country. An example is a disturbing article from the conservative First Things titled "Life After Dobbs" (sorry - can't seem to attach a link).
Political pundits find it hard to understand why Republicans don't cut their losses on the abortion issue, knowing they will lose voters. What they fail to understand is that the pro-life movement is not made up of pragmatists, but of religious fanatics. Those fanatics cannot be reasoned with or bargained with, and they will not stop, ever, until they have their way.
As in Kansas, the conservative religious minority working against women's reproductive rights has failed. A democracy is about majority rule, even in the Red state of Ohio, where most women (and people in general) are pro-choice.
Slitting throats, says this "pro-life" would-be president of the United States. This is who you are, Republicans. I would argue that this is who you've always been, at least in my lifetime. Only difference - now you're just letting it all hang out. You must be so proud.
The Pope's in Portugal for the church's World Youth Day summit, and Francis met with some victims of clergy sex abuse there, because ...
A report this year concluded that at least 4,815 children had been abused in Portugal and that the Church had sought "systematically" to conceal the issue. - BBC
The meeting with the Pope took place with just a few vitims and was, as it always is, kept secret as to what was said/done. There's just one time I'm aware of where one of the victims taking part in a secret meeting with the Pope actually broke the silence. From the Irish Times ...
Clerical child abuse survivor Marie Kane (43) has asked Pope Francis to remove Cardinal Seán Brady as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland due to his handling of a clerical child abuse inquiry in 1975 ....
“It’s a big thing with me that there are still members of the hierarchy there who were involved in the cover-up. I feel personally they (Church) cannot contemplate any change happening, there will be no success” as long as such people remained in place, she told The Irish Times today.
During a meeting in the Vatican, she told Pope Francis that “cover-up is still happening and you have the power to make these changes.” There were others besides Cardinal Brady, she said, but “I didn’t want to go into a litany.”
Pope Francis responded that “it was difficult to make these changes,” ..
Pope Francis has done nothing to ameliorate the clergy sex abuse problem. Nothing. He refuses to apply a world-wide standard of reporting to police of sex abuse by priests and other church workers ... Pope mandates reporting of sex abuse to church, not police. He refuses to extradite pedophile priests and bishops hiding out at the Vatican ... Vatican Tells Poles It Won’t Extradite Archbishop Accused of Pedophilia. Pope Francis refuses to consider married priests. He refuses to consider women priests. The list goes on
There are exceptions, but overall, the Pope and the church cannot and will not be held accountable for clergy sex abuse. And Catholics just keep on being Catholic. I guess the only children that matter are the "unborn".
