Random News: June 27, 2023

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s June 27, 2023, and it’s a Tuesday. I seem to have awakened with a sore throat and I’m trying to not freak out about that, so let’s all assume it goes away on its own, and in the meantime let’s learn some things…

• As we’re heading toward the end of June and hence the end of Pride month, I wanted to be sure we gave some attention to one of the most important and, recently, controversial segments of the LGBTQIA+ populace… the transgender people.
• Transgender is the “T” in LGBT. Let’s clarify some misconceptions you may have.
• A transgender (or just trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth. We already covered the concept of gender identity in depth. What I want to talk about today is how people transition to other genders and the challenges they go through before, during, and after that transition.
• But let’s back up a sec.
• The most important aspect of transgender topics is the aforementioned gender identity. A person does NOT need to look like, act like, dress like, or have medical treatment to feel more attuned to a gender which was not assigned to them. A transgender identity is not dependent upon physical appearance or medical procedures.
• By age 4 or even earlier, most children have a conscious and stable awareness of their gender. But for people who have gender dysphoria, over 75% of them aware that they’re not the gender that was assigned to them by age 7, and 96% of them are aware by age 13.
• I should note here that gender dysphoria is not considered a psychiatric disorder. The previous term, gender identity disorder, was eliminated in 2013 to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder. Dysphoria refers to the discomfort or distress felt by the person trapped in the wrong body.
• It must be awful. Try and imagine waking up tomorrow and you’ve been magically transformed into a different gender. Other than some momentary novelty (use your imagination), you’d probably want to quickly get back to the gender with which you identify through any means necessary.
• But let’s be clear. Again, most trans people throughout the ages have not had the option of making physical transformations. Trans people have been around since time immemorial, but most have expressed their gender identity via their dress, their mannerisms, and the like.
• But even today, not all transgender people desire the medical treatments needed to make a full transition, and others may be unable to access them for financial or medical reasons.
• The Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People (SOC) require that patients seeking gender-affirmation hormone therapy be evaluated for gender dysphoria by either a mental health professional or hormone provider who is qualified in the area of transgender care.
• The Standards also require that the patient give informed consent, in other words, that they consent to the treatment after being fully informed of the risks involved.
• Transgender hormone therapy is a treatment in which sex hormones and other hormonal medications are administered to transgender or gender nonconforming individuals for the purpose of more closely aligning their secondary sexual characteristics with their gender identity.
• Masculinizing hormone therapy, for transgender men or transmasculine people, consists of androgens and antiestrogens.
• Conversely, feminizing hormone therapy, for transgender women or transfeminine people, consists of estrogens and antiandrogens.
• An important note: if possible and appropriate. those hormone treatments should get started at the onset of puberty. Puberty-suppressing hormone therapy is a fully reversible intervention if necessary. Delaying puberty allows individuals more time to explore their gender identity before deciding on more permanent interventions, and prevents the physical changes associated with puberty.
• After a full and final commitment to gender transition, continued hormone therapy over the course of 1-5 years does have some irreversible effects, such as breast development in transgender women or voice deepening and growth of facial/body hair in transgender men.
• There are more steps that vary based on the individual. These may include genital surgery, electrolysis or laser hair removal, chest/breast surgery, or other reconstructive surgeries.
• Let’s talk about the end result. I could show you hundreds and hundreds of pictures of men and women and then challenge you to tell me which ones have transitioned and which are still using their assigned gender.
• I absolutely promise you, no matter how confident you are in your ability to discern gender via visual cues, you’d be wrong far more often than right.
• But the more important result isn’t about you and your ability to accept a person’s choice of gender identity. It’s about them, and their relief at being in the body that matches their soul.
• As you’re well aware, in the last few years states have advanced a record number of bills that attack LGBTQ rights, especially focusing on transgender youth.
• Here are the types of anti-trans laws that have been enacted or are in the process of being pushed through state legislatures, per the ACLU…
• Accurate ID laws: these bills attempt to limit the ability to update gender information on IDs and records, such as birth certificates and driver’s licenses. This puts transgender people at risk of losing jobs, facing harassment, and other harms.
• Civil rights: these bills attempt to undermine and weaken nondiscrimination laws by allowing employers, businesses, and even hospitals to turn away LGBTQ people or refuse them equal treatment.
• Free speech and expression: despite the safeguards of the First Amendment’s right to free expression, politicians are fighting to restrict how and when LGBTQ people can be themselves, limiting access to books about them and trying to ban or censor performances like drag shows.
• Healthcare: these bills target access to medically-necessary health care, like Medicaid, for transgender people. Many of these bills ban affirming care for trans youth, and can create criminal penalties for providing this care. Other bills block funding to medical centers that offer gender-affirming care, or block insurance coverage of health care for transgender people.
• Public accommodations: these bills seek to prohibit transgender people from using facilities like public bathrooms and locker rooms. If you can’t use the restroom, you can’t fully participate in work, school, and public life.
• Schools and eduction: state lawmakers are trying to prevent trans students from participating in school activities like sports, force teachers to out students, and censor any in-school discussions of LGBTQ people and issues.
• There’s nothing new about transgender people. They’ve been part of human culture and society for millennia. It’s time to grow up and accept that not every other person in the world thinks like you, or acts like you.
• And finally, their choice to be open and honest about their true selves, going to great lengths at great costs to do so, should be commended rather than criticized and punished.
• Okay, that’s it. And now, some news…
• Former President, current accused felon, and forever asshole Donald Trump can be heard in an audio recording apparently showing and discussing — "off the record," he says — what he describes as "highly confidential, secret" documents with a writer and aides in 2021.
• ”It is like highly confidential, secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. You attack and…." Trump can be heard saying, before another person interrupts.
• The July 2021 recording of a meeting at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, NJ, was cited by special counsel Jack Smith in the indictment of Trump and an aide, Walt Nauta, on a combined 37 counts related to alleged mishandling of classified documents. Trump entered a not guilty plea to the charges on June 14, and Nauta is expected to plead not guilty at a hearing today.
• In the audio, Trump can be heard saying "these are the papers" and describing them as a plan of attack related to Iran. The audio, which you can hear for yourself on just about any news outlet, appears to confirm the accuracy of the previous reports.
• Let’s move on to another investigation of the Creamsicle Criminal…
• About half a dozen Secret Service agents have testified before the grand jury that will decide whether to indict former President Trump for his alleged role in the January 6, 2021 failed coup attempt and his efforts to interfere in the peaceful transfer of the presidency.
• Five or six agents have appeared in compliance with subpoenas they received. It is not known what the agents’ proximity to Trump was on Jan. 6 or what information they may have provided to the grand jury.
• Special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the events of Jan. 6 is separate from his probe that led to Trump’s recent indictment in Florida for the handling of classified documents. About 24 Secret Service agents had appeared before the grand jury that considered that case in Washington before the case moved to Florida. 
• Get his ass, Jack.
• Let’s talk SCOTUS.
• In breaking news from a few minutes ago, the Supreme Court declined to impose new limits on state courts reviewing certain election-related issues by ruling against Republicans in North Carolina fighting for a congressional district map that would heavily favor their candidates.
• This is a HUGE win for voting rights, and a huge blow to an evil plan that was supported by Trump.
• The justices ruled on a 6-3 vote that the North Carolina Supreme Court was acting within its authority in concluding that the map constituted a partisan gerrymander under the state constitution. This has national voting right implications, since other states were poised to try the same bullshit.
• In another SCOTUS case, yesterday the Supreme Court left in place an appellate ruling barring a North Carolina public charter school from requiring girls to wear skirts to school. A federal appeals court had ruled that the school's dress code violated students' constitutional rights.
• School founder Baker Mitchell had said the dress code was intended to promote “chivalry” by the male students and respect for the female students, according to court documents. What a load of fucking shit.
• And then, literally seconds ago, the Supreme Court vacated a Colorado man’s stalking conviction on First Amendment grounds, ruling in a 7-2 decision that an unprotected “true threat” must require a showing of recklessness.
• Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, rejected Colorado’s test that would weigh how an objective, reasonable person would perceive the statement.
• Billy Counterman was guilty of stalking after he sent more than 1,000 online messages to musician Coles Whalen. Counterman argued that he was diagnosed with a mental illness and did not personally intend for the statements to cause fear. 
• “The State must show that the defendant consciously disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence,” Kagan wrote. “The State need not prove any more demanding form of subjective intent to threaten another.”
• We’re expecting a number of important SCOTUS decisions — student loan debt, affirmative action, LGBTQ rights and more — over the final few days of June. I’ll keep you abreast of them.
• In other news… with no comment needed…
• “Nobody died in the Holocaust. It SHOULD happen. Six millions Jews SHOULD die right now, because they cause all the problems in the world.” - Roseanne Barr
• That’s nice.
• Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23, who pleaded guilty to killing five people and injuring 17 others at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, was sentenced yesterday to life in prison.
• The shooter was charged with 323 criminal counts including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and bias-motivated crimes.
• Ensuring Aldrich has close to zero chance of freedom again as long as he lives, the FBI has also opened a case against Aldrich in conjunction with the Department of Justice. An indictment or further charges could come from the DOJ or the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado.
• It won’t bring back the dead or heal the hurt, but at least it shows that this country takes seriously the job of meting out harsh punishments for hate crimes.
• In other news…
• Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of the return of locally acquired cases of malaria, meaning the infections were not linked to foreign travel and appear to have been transmitted by mosquitoes in the U.S. carrying the parasite.
• They’re the first new local cases of malaria in the USA in two decades. So far, there have been four locally acquired cases of malaria in Florida and one in Texas within the last two months.
• Imagine asking people in Florida and Texas to get a malaria vaccination.
• In related CDC news, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who spent decades on the front lines of America's fight against infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and COVID-19, will join the faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., starting July 1.
• Fauci will serve as a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Medicine's Division of Infectious Diseases. Georgetown is lucky to have him.
• And now, The Weather: “Silent Song” by Night Tapes
• The miserable heat down over Texas is going to be around for awhile. Dallas “feels like” temps have climbed over 115. Houston will remain unbearably hot for another week or more. People die in those temps. Please do what you can to stay cool and hydrated.
• From the Sports Desk… literally nothing except, I guess, people qualifying for Wimbledon. I don’t know who they are. I assume they are good at tennis.
• Today in history… The thirteen Stratford Martyrs are burned at the stake near London for their Protestant beliefs (1556). In the Battle of Dettingen, George II becomes the last reigning British monarch to participate in a battle (1743). Cherokee warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, NC (1760). The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia (1898). The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War (1950). U.S. president Richard Nixon visits the Soviet Union (1974). France grants independence to Djibouti (1977). Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the final research and development flight mission, STS-4 (1982). Tony Blair resigns as British Prime Minister (2007). NASA launches the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun (2013).
• June 27 is the birthday of French king Louis XII (1462), French king Charles IX (1550), anarchist/activist Emma Goldman (1869), author/activist Hellen Keller (1880), pool player Willie Mosconi (1913), philosopher/activist Grace Lee Boggs (1915), businessman/politician Ross Perot (1930), fashion designer Norma Kamali (1945), fashion designer Vera Wang (1949), actor Tobey Maguire (1975), actor Drake Bell (1986), and singer-songwriter H.E.R. (1997).

Okay, I’m capping this shit there for now. Time to work out and then do those things I do. Enjoy your day.