A History Of Women's/Reproductive Rights

Beginning at the 11:00 mark of the podcast below there is an obvious history of how women's rights have always been suppressed in the USA:

Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood

Trans Athletes: The Current Knowledge

"A groundbreaking study that was sponsored by the International Olympic Committee and released late last week sought to compare a range of athletic abilities between trans athletes and their cisgender counterparts. The finding that trans women athletes are at a relative disadvantage in many key physical areas relating to athletic ability and perform worse on cardiovascular tests than their cisgender counterparts could be the first step in fighting back against the conventional wisdom conservatives have spread that trans women’s participation is inherently unfair."

Click on the link below for the details that fly in the face of ignorance, dogma, and bigotry:

This study on trans women's athletic disadvantages ought to change the debate

"Trickle-Down" Economics: A Major Feature Of Republicanism Once Again Debunked

"New research examines the history of Republican tax cuts and the results will chill you to the bone. Who wins vs. who loses. the working class or the billionaires... "

Click on the link below for a video supporting the fact that Republicans have to be rejected at all levels of government. Vote wisely in 2024:

Scientists Examined 50 Years Of Tax Cuts For The Rich - Their Shocking Conclusion

This graph begins just before Reagan started the Republican attack on all but the 1%
(Note: this ends in 2007. It is much worse after Trump left office)

Rural Whites: Somehow The USA Must Defang Them

"Rural America is hurting. Trump is justifying attitudes that some scholars try to underplay. Can rural rage be pulled away from reactionary movements offered by the far right or will rural white rage consume America?"

Click on the link below for an evidence-based look at the problem, its cause, and how to resolve it:

Why America's Rural Whites Are Angry

Homelessness And Policing

"Police often are the first (and sometimes the only) point of government contact for persons experiencing homelessness (PEH). Although it has been common for police to rely on traditional law enforcement powers in dealing with homelessness, many agencies have moved away from arrest-focused methods in favor of approaches that are designed to foster positive relationships with PEH, assess individual needs of each person or area, and guide homeless or unsheltered individuals to the services they require.

"To better understand the potential challenges of the law enforcement response to homelessness, the RAND Corporation and the Police Executive Research Forum, on behalf of the National Institute of Justice, convened a workshop of practitioners and researchers to discuss current law enforcement responses to homelessness and identify the highest-priority needs to support and improve existing efforts. During this meeting, four major themes were identified. First, there is a common set of factors underlying homelessness that law enforcement can address. Second, homelessness and overall health and wellness are deeply intertwined issues that should be treated together. Third, effective responses require the collaboration of stakeholders across governments, the private sector, and the community. Finally, acquiring and sharing data is necessary to understand the nature and scope of homelessness in each jurisdiction and to measure the effect of any implemented strategies. All four of these themes are vital to understanding the current challenges confronting the implementation of innovative police responses to homelessness."

Click on the link below for the details:

The Law Enforcement Response to Homelessness 

The Current Status Of Recycling

"In this episode, which comes out right before Earth Day, we're going to do a sort of  'state of the recycling world' address. Every so often there's big news about recycling, so it makes sense to check in every once in a while to see what's the current state of things. The famous "chasing arrows" logo — three arrows chasing each other around in a triangle — promises a closed cycle: no waste, no inputs. Obviously, that's an idealization but efficiency should always be the goal; beyond the obvious environmental concerns, efficiency puts money in all of our pockets. How are we doing?

"Basically we want to find out if recycling a given material is a net win or a net loss, and deciding what's a win and what's not is really the first question. You could look at it from a purely financial perspective, or you could look at it from a purely environmental perspective, or some combination of the two. Recycling requires a lot of energy, including all the logistics of transportation, the materials preparation, and all the energy that goes into the actual industrial process of recycling. You have to consider the entire cycle. That includes a ton of variables, and those variables are different in every location and in every industry and material type. Compare recycling bottles in Texas to recycling the same bottles in Alaska. One might make a lot of sense, the other might not at all."

Click on the link below for details:

Is Recycling for Real?

Gender-Affirming Care: More Heat Than Light

"Dr Hilary Cass has submitted her final report and recommendations to NHS England in her role as Chair of the Independent Review of gender identity services for children and young people.

"The Review was commissioned by NHS England to make recommendations on how to improve NHS gender identity services, and ensure that children and young people who are questioning their gender identity or experiencing gender dysphoria receive a high standard of care, that meets their needs, is safe, holistic and effective.

"The report describes what is known about the young people who are seeking NHS support around their gender identity and sets out the recommended clinical approach to care and support they should expect, the interventions that should be available, and how services should be organised across the country.

"It also makes recommendations on the quality improvement and research infrastructure required to ensure that the evidence base underpinning care is strengthened.

"In making her recommendations, Dr Cass has had to rely on the currently available evidence and think about how the NHS can respond safely, effectively, and compassionately, leaving some issues for wider societal debate."

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Click here for the Final Report of a detailed independent review of gender identity services for children and young people for the British NHS

Do NOT Underestimate The First Criminal Trial Of The Bastard

Click on the link below for one of the best-detailed analyses you will find regarding this first of many trials of the bastard:

The real DOJ corruption scandal at the heart of Trump's criminal trial in New York

What's Really Happening Within The Republican Party

"There are really two major Republican political stories dominating the news these days. The more obvious of the two is the attempt by former president Donald Trump and his followers to destroy American democracy. The other story is older, the one that led to Trump but that stands at least a bit apart from him. It is the story of a national shift away from the supply-side ideology of Reagan Republicans toward an embrace of the idea that the government should hold the playing field among all Americans level."

Click on the link below for an interesting take on the real problems within the US Republican Party:

The Republicans Are Toast

Immigration: A Look At How Trump & Biden Handled It

"We’re excited to share the first conversation in our WITHpod 2024: The Stakes series. For the first time since 1892, we have an election in which both candidates have presidential records, which provides a unique opportunity to cut through messaging and rhetoric and culture war flotsam and actually take a hard look at what each man has actually done as president. On The Stakes, WITHPod will choose specific areas of policy -- immigration, taxes, climate -- and talk to an expert about the two candidates' records on the topic. We’re starting with one of the highest salience and most complex policy areas: immigration. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, joins to unpack immigration policies under Trump vs. Biden, border enforcement, the state of the asylum system and more."

I have posted previously about the fact that Immigration is not only good for the USA, but is needed (link). The above series of podcasts begins with the issue that polls show is the number one topic for Republicans. Click on the link below for the stated podcast:

The Stakes of Immigration

James Webb Telescope = New Knowledge

"Unravel the mysteries of the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope! From impossible galaxies to ancient black holes and potential signs of extraterrestrial life, explore five mind-blowing discoveries in this captivating video!"

Click on the link below for an example of how science continues to advance our knowledge:

5 Incredible Things We've Already Discovered thanks to the James Webb Telescope

Philosophy And Science: A Dialogue

Below please find a dialogue between me and one of my best Facebook friends one year ago regarding the nature of philosophy and science:

If you disagree, please tell me how to validate any philosophical claims.

Jay Feldman

We can have quite a philosophical discussion about this!

Reply
Tom Rafferty

Jay Feldman, will you take my challenge? Outside of logical syllogisms, how can any other philosophical belief be verified/justified?

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Jay Feldman

Tom Rafferty the problem is you posed two quite different questions: “verifying” a belief vs. “justifying” a belief. Moreover, there’s a definitional (or semantic) issue with these terms: belief, verify, justify, and - when combined - you create an entirely new problem: i.e., what is meant by a “philosophical belief?” Until we may agree on these definitions (which can be so agreed upon as limited to the purpose of our discussion), we can’t really have a meaningful discussion…can we?

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Tom Rafferty

Jay Feldman, your response is consistent with others to whom I ask a question such as this. I fail to see a distinction that makes a difference between the two words. Science has no problem with these words, but the philosopher and/or the religious apologist seems to.

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Jay Feldman

Tom Rafferty I have a somewhat different question: which came first, science or philosophy? Now you would immediately advance the notion that philosophy came first (because science requires the scientific method?). I don’t agree. Observation, hypothesis and experimentation are built into our Darwinian survival process, so I suggest that science preceded philosophy. Your thoughts?

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Tom Rafferty

Jay Feldman, yes, I agree. Science means "knowledge", thus, the basic search for it is science. Before modern science, philosophy was humanity's first attempt to ask questions and form hypotheses. Then science evolved from natural philosophy to develop a method to systematically actually find the answers that philosophers were asking AND TO VERIFY/JUSTIFY its findings.

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Jay Feldman

Perhaps man’s first impulse toward reasoning was sentience, followed by or almost simultaneously with curiosity. Coming before those two manifestations of humanness were the basic impulses that drive all living creatures: the need for sustenance and procreation (promoted by hunger and sexual desire). Into the mix were fear and anger. Exactly when love, sharing and self-sacrifice entered the picture is a mystery. Communication among the first humans probably did not include language (although sounds would have been involved, as well as visual and olfactory cues and touching). But I see curiosity — inquisitiveness — as a primary starting point toward intellect. Certainly many other sentient creatures exhibit this trait, but it remains one of mankind’s most fundamental thinking qualities which led to our higher intellect.

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Jay Feldman

Tom Rafferty the above suggests to me that indeed science came first, because the need to know, to understand, to question (curiosity) was our first step into intellectualism. Philosophy attempts to answer those questions. It is part of the process of science, whereas science is the overarching process itself. There can be no philosophy absent curiosity. Agree?

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Tom Rafferty

Jay Feldman, this point (science is prime) is lost on the magical thinkers. They ONLY view science as an overreaching intellectual enterprise of the elite that is attacking society's values.

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Jay Feldman

Tom Rafferty I wonder what these people think science is…

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Jay Feldman

Tom Rafferty if we define “science” broadly as “the application of reason to reality,” I believe we must not omit one key ingredient: provisionality, meaning that our conclusions are always temporary and or incomplete, and we always remain prepared to modify our conclusions as new and more accurate data are presented.

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