Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 94th Edition. Performance Bad Art and the News.

My goodness.

An item in the cultural wind we noted yesterday here; 

Lex Anteinternet: Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 93d Edition. Porn ind...: Porn industry, Supreme Court weigh in as Wyoming requires age verification on adult sites : As of Tuesday, Wyomingites' access to some c...

That being this:

In other sex, sort of, news, a dude who looks like a dude went to the lady's room accompanied by the press (including a dude) and hoped to get arrested.

Transgender woman protests new law with visit to a Wyoming Capitol bathroom: Rihanna Kelver used the women’s restroom at the Wyoming Capitol building Tuesday in defiance of a new law prohibiting transgender people’s use of public facilities.

Has managed to be a feature story in every Wyoming news outlet, it seems.  At least its in Wyofile, Cowboy State Daily, and the CST.

So, to get this straight, a guy, dressed as gal, goes to the lady's room, and nothing happens.

Is that really news?

If so why?

Well, because the dude claims to be a gal, and was hoping to get busted by the police, who had other things to do and didn't take note of it.

But still, you see (are you paying attention), he could have been arrested, really, he could have been. . . 

and was hoping to be. . . 

but, sadly, was not.

This is, I'd note, something for real conservatives to take note of. This guy has a mental illness being celebrated on the left as normal.  Almost everyone knows that's BS.  And the stench of that is what is causing, in part, conservatives, who would otherwise be horrified, to vote for a moral heap of stench such as Donald Trump, which Trump well knowns.

Indeed, right now, the Trumpites and his Merry Band of National Conservatives hope stuff like this keeps your eyes off the Big Ugly, and causes you to forget the Big Ugly in the next year.

And the press, for its part, plays into the delusion of the lies of the right and left.

Transgender woman protests new law with visit to a Wyoming Capitol bathroom

That didn't happen. What happened is a man who wants to be a girl, went to the capitol bathroom with members of the press and his female fiance (so I guess he's wants to be girl. . . but still marry a girl), hoping to be arrested, but nobody cares or even notices.  A headline reading:

Man goes to capitol bathroom dressed as woman and nothing happens

Wouldn't be news, I guess.

On the Big Ugly, headline from the Tribune.

Medicaid, insurance cuts in ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ will harm Wyoming, healthcare advocates warn.

I personally know one person whose a radical Trump fan who completely depends on government healthcare.  I suppose folks in that category deserve to get what's coming.

Chances are that Wyoming is going to be hammered by this. Chances are that Dr. John Barrasso, our Senator, knows that, even though he said it "probably" won't happen.

The question is if we care about the human impact or not.

Speaking of headlines, this is making the rounds:

First Wyoming measles case in 15 years found in Natrona County

I'm making assumptions here, but it's going to turn out that the negligent parents, or parent, didn't vaccinate their kid.

Wyoming has a first rate education system.  I note that, as a parent who wouldn't vaccinate a child probably isn't from Wyoming originally, I'm guessing, and is a dumbass.  The Wyoming Freedom Caucus sort of hates education, because educated people know stuff and won't play this game, tend not to believe their fanciful version of reality, and hence we have this headline.

Wyoming expected to see $686M deficit in education spending

With an ignorant population, they can hope to bring Wyoming into rural stupidity such as occurs elsewhere in the US and helps explain a population voting to slit their own throats.  They wouldn't see it that way, as they're ignorant themselves in many, although not all, instances. 

And we have this:

Trump mental health cuts hit rural schools hardest

Last edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 93d Edition. Porn industry retstricted, Supreme Court weigh in as Wyoming requires age verification on adult sites, Dudes in the lady room, and on women's teams, Trump helping where no law or help was needed.

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Tuesday, June 3, 1975. New rules for boys and girls.

The Department of Health, Education and Welfare promulgated rules prohibiting separate physical education classes for boys and girls and schools from excluding pregnant students from the classroom.

I can't recall this happening, and I wonder if there were nuances to it.  In junior high, which I was just going into, PE classes were definitely separated into male and female.  They were not in high school.

I can only recall one pregnant student while in high school, and she was married.

Uganda nationalisted all land holdings.

Sultan Alimirah Hanfere, leader of Ethiopia's Afar people and of the Afar Liberation Front, declared war on the Ethiopian government.

Last edition:

Saturday, May 31, 1975. Laying down arms.

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist 84th Edition. The uncomfortably agreeing with the far right edition (on some things). Hegseth orders transgenderism out and a bill to outlaw pornography.

"Transgendered" troops to depart.

I'll be frank, I don't think transgenderism exists at all.

Gender dysphoria, however, certainly does.  It's a psychological condition, and indeed, a mental illness, often a temporary one.

Moreover, "transitioning from a man to a woman", or vice versa, is impossible.

Whether or not that fiction should be allowed to medically occur for adults (for anyone not in their majority, it's child abuse), is another thing.  I basically don't feel that it should be allowed, as its a manifestation of a mental illness that isn't served by being medically and surgically coddled, but I'll also fully admit there's more than one allowable medical procedure I don't think should be legal either.  Plastic surgery, for example, for mere cosmetic reason for uninjured and the morphologically normal people is also wrong, in my view, and that's not the only such thing.

Nonetheless, the sudden, and it was sudden, post Obergefell societal trend towards treating this mental delusion as something that should be fully supported is not only stunning, but it's flat out wrong.  It may be the only mental illness which has rising to be not only culturally tolerated, but for which the left makes cultural demands.  As I predicated at the time of the Obergefell, making such demands would have a societal ripple that would be devastating, and it has been. There's a straight path from Obergefell to  Donald Trump, as what it brought in was just a bridge too far.

So, here, I find  myself agreeing with Secretary Hegseth's action, even though I'm not a fan of Secretary Hegseth.




As readers here know, I don't agree with letting women serve in combat, so I'm clearly on the far edge of the right on these matters.  But I don't feel that appropriate.  Be that as it may, while women's cycles propose challenges to their serving as combat troops, they don't require medication just to exist in their state.  The "transgendered" do.  So, setting aside that what transgenderism really is, is a mental illness, it'd rapidly become a physical illness to a soldier trapped in an isolated combat environment or a prisoner or war.  As stated here some time ago, I fear for women who will be POWs, as I know exactly what they're going to be subject to. For a soldier who was "transgendered", the treatment as a POW would be barbaric.

By the way, there's a transitioned high school softball picture who has been blowing the doors off of her opponents with her pitches.  Well, she's genetically a guy.

This is just wrong, and shouldn't be allowed to happen.

I'll also note that I may be one of the view Wyomingites in my region to have encountered a guy pretending to be a gal and seeking medical assistance for the delusion, with that person in uniform.  Some time back I had some email correspondence with a full time National Guardsman on something, although I don't recall what.  What I do recall is that he was "transgendered".  Like a lot, but not all, "transgendered" men affecting the appearance of a woman, he looked very much like a guy, which of course what he genetically and morphologically is.

Gender studies also out.

In something that is sort of related, and sort of not, UW is eliminating its Gender Studies degree.

UW looks to end embattled gender studies degree

I don't know much about gender studies other than its one of those host of degrees that came in during the 1970s and 1980s in the liberal arts that have always baffled me a bit.  What do you do with it?

Having said that, I'm not as condescending towards the degree as I once was.  I do, however, think that what US is doing makes sense.  Folding the program into some other sort of sociology degree strikes me as making sense, rather than having it stand alone.

Sorority transgender pleading allowed.

In something else sort of related, and sort of not, the Federal Court has allowed for an amended complaint to be filed in a suit in which it seeks to address a man identifying as a woman being admitted to its house at UW as a sorority "sister".

Banning pornography.

And here's another item that come from the far right, and indeed from Project 2025, which generally scares me overall, but whose goal I find myself in agreement with:


I've posted on the topic of pornography here from time to time.

Pornography is a devastating scourge. It's wholly destructive, and about that there's no doubt

This bill will be interesting to watch.  I suspect it will get no traction  I don't know, for one thing, that Donald Trump cares one whit about pornography.  After all, his wife became famous as a model for posing in a manner that I'd regard as pornographic.  And a guy who rode the Lolita Express to Epstein's jail bait fantasy island doesn't strike me as a man of deep moral principles.  And hte pron industry is powerful and will take this on in the guise of free speech.

It may ironically prove to be the case that deporting people to foreign concentration camps is something most Americans are willing to tolerate, but stopping young women from prostituting their images is not.

Related posts:

Topic One.

Normalizing Mental Illness isn't helping to address it.





Topic Four

The life of Fran Gerard/Francis Anna Camuglia. Was Francis Anna Camuglia and Cynthia Blanton.






Secrets of Playboy


Lex Anteinternet: De mortuis nihil nisi bonum. M'eh. Throwing rocks at Hugh Hefner . . . I'm not alone in that.




De mortuis nihil nisi bonum. M'eh


Last edition:


Saturday, April 12, 2025

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist 82nd Edition. The This Is Your Economy On Dementia Edition.

Substitute brain for economy, and drugs for dementia, and you get a picture of what might very well be going on with the administration of the United States right now.

Is Trump Insane?

As Donald Trump’s tariff plan slams the stock market, investors are beginning to wonder if the president doesn’t have some broader economic agenda—but rather if he’s just mentally ill.

As Donald Trump’s tariff plan slams the stock market, investors are beginning to wonder if the president doesn’t have some broader economic agenda—but rather if he’s just mentally ill.

“In the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers,” wrote Tom Lee, the head of research at the financial analysis firm FSInsights.

“And their concern is that the White House is not acting rationally, but rather on ideology. And some even fear that this may not even be ideology,” Lee continued. “A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”

The New Republic.

They're just asking this now?  Some of us have been stating that Trump is probably demented for a long time.

This is a serious, not a rhetorical, question.

Some psychologist have looked at his behavior and said no, others, have said a definite yes.  For instance, an April 1, 2025 interview of Dr. John Gartner states the following, and accuses the press of "sanewashing" Trump:

He is losing his capacity for coherent speech. We’ve collected dozens and dozens of Trump’s phonemic paraphrasias, in which you use sounds in place of an actual word  (a hallmark of brain damage and dementia).  What happens is that someone is trying to say a word and then they get the first part out but they have to end it or create one because they can’t remember the rest. Trump will say something like ‘mishiz’ for missiles, or “Chrishus” for Christmas, because he can’t complete the word. Then we see also a lot of semantic paraphrasias, in which he uses a word incorrectly, as in “the oranges of the situation” because it rhymes with “the origins of the situation.” This is not within normal limits; his basic ability to use language is breaking down.

So there is that verbal deterioration. And then there is the physical deterioration. He used to be quite graceful, and now he uses a wide-based gait typical of frontotemporal dementia, sometimes he swings his right leg in a semi-circle. He also has trouble getting up the ramp; he has trouble doing physical things.

The other way we see deterioration is in his behavior. Actually, this is where people say, ‘Well, how can you tell? He’s a bad person; he breaks every rule of law and decency, what is new?’ But he is much more impulsive and erratic now. He blurts things out; he makes impulsive decisions that he has to then reverse, like his many reversals on tariffs.

‘The Press Has Sanewashed Trump’s Dementia and Mental Illness’: Dr. John Gartner by Diana Hembree

I think there's a lot to this, and have for some time.  I don't think he's a well man. The amazing thing is that there are an army of people backing him up.  Gartner notes some are doing so for their own purposes:

Now people may think that because Donald Trump is demented that he won’t be very effective in his agenda. But the problem is he has the whole Project 2025 team behind him, led by Russell Voight. And he’s got Elon Musk, who is a mental health study in and of himself. Musk is on the spectrum; like Trump, he is hypomanic, and like Trump, he is clearly also a sociopath. He feels no remorse in inflicting pain on people; in fact, he feels a sense of glee and mastery in doing it. He was joking about using a chainsaw (to cut federal jobs), holding one up and laughing about it. He’s taking away the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. He’s a monster, just as Trump is a monster, and Trump attracts monsters. Now we have a real Trump problem, because we now have a whole government that is populated by people who have some version of his personality disorder.

‘The Press Has Sanewashed Trump’s Dementia and Mental Illness’: Dr. John Gartner by Diana Hembree.

Okay, that's pretty extreme, but that doesn't mean that he's incorrect on Trump. . . and Musk.

Some related threads on this one:

We should worry.



And there's plenty of evidence of this.  Consider this statement when the Dodgers recently visited the White House:
When you ran out of healthy arms, you ran out of really healthy, you had great arms, but they ran out, it’s called sports, it’s called baseball in particular, and pitchers I guess you could say in really particular.

Donald Trump

What the f***? 

Or this, about the Great Lakes, this past week:

I assume the lakes are all interconnected.

Or this, earlier this month, on groceries.

 An old-fashioned term that we use – groceries. I used it on the campaign. It's such an old-fashioned term, but a beautiful term. Groceries. It says a bag with different things in it.

The last two comments are monumentally stupid.

By the way, if Trump is demented, this will get worse.  His dementia will get worse, and his erratic behavior will get worse.  His meanness will likely get worse, and its already pretty evident.

And I say this as a person who has witnessed the onset and advance of frontotemporal dementia in a person up close, and personal.  Let's take a look at the symptoms, according to Mayo, keeping in mind they advance over time:

The most common symptoms of frontotemporal dementia involve extreme changes in behavior and personality. These include:

  • Increasingly inappropriate social behavior.
  • Loss of empathy and other interpersonal skills. For example, not being sensitive to another person's feelings.
  • Lack of judgment.
  • Loss of inhibition.
  • Lack of interest, also known as apathy. Apathy can be mistaken for depression.
  • Compulsive behaviors such as tapping, clapping, or smacking lips over and over.
  • A decline in personal hygiene.
  • Changes in eating habits. People with FTD typically overeat or prefer to eat sweets and carbohydrates.
  • Eating objects.
  • Compulsively wanting to put things in the mouth.

Speech and language symptoms

Some subtypes of frontotemporal dementia lead to changes in language ability or loss of speech. Subtypes include primary progressive aphasia, semantic dementia and progressive agrammatic aphasia, also known as progressive nonfluent aphasia.

These conditions can cause:

  • Increasing trouble using and understanding written and spoken language. People with FTD may not be able to find the right word to use in speech.
  • Trouble naming things. People with FTD may replace a specific word with a more general word, such as using "it" for pen.
  • No longer knowing word meanings.
  • Having hesitant speech that may sound telegraphic by using simple, two-word sentences.
  • Making mistakes in sentence building.

Movement conditions

Rare subtypes of frontotemporal dementia cause movements similar to those seen in Parkinson's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Movement symptoms may include:

  • Tremor.
  • Rigidity.
  • Muscle spasms or twitches.
  • Poor coordination.
  • Trouble swallowing.
  • Muscle weakness.
  • Inappropriate laughing or crying.
  • Falls or trouble walking.
For a man in command of the world's most powerful Army and Air Force, and second largest Navy, this should be a matter of grave concern for everyone.

What were you thinking?

That's what those who voted against Trump have been wondering about those who voted for him.  New stats on this, however, suggest that many rank and file Trump voters now are at the point that they understand why those who voted against Trump wonder that. They're wondering a bit themselves.

In spite of the embarrassing spectacle of Trump apologist struggling to keep up with his meandering and dangerous policies from day to day, most Trump voters didn't vote for anything like what we're seeing.  They simply discounted the warnings.

Is White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stupid?


There's a fair number of people who are asking this question.

She is a college graduate, but she comes across as a somebody who obtained her position for her looks.  It's embarrassing.

As a co religious of mine, she's embarrassing.  Married to somebody 32 years her senior (that's odd) and who lies without hesitation, which is sinful, she also comes across as simply dumb.

Catholics, who fit into a group that a lot of "Evangelical Christians" of the type Trump supports that, while being the first Christians, aren't regarded by the latter as Christians, are, I'm convinced, really going to come out with the short end of the stick the longer the Trump Administration lasts and the association of a certain brand of  Christianity, which they aren't part of, with Trump, is going to hurt Christianity in the US overall.

No Female Four Stars


There are 27 four star officers in the U.S. military, including two in the Space Farce.*

Not one of them is a woman.

It hasn't been really noticed, but with dismissals in the Trump administration, they're all gone.

I doubt this is an accident.

Now, this is where I'm probably legitimately a target for the charge of hypocrisy, as I don't feel that women should serve in combat.** I don't object to them being in the service, however.

Now, a person could, an d rightfully, point out, that if women can't serve in combat, it'd be difficult for them to obtain a combat command, and that would be true. . . except history has demonstrated the opposite.

Dwight Eisenhower never had a combat command. Neither did George Marshall.  And the Coast Guard arguably has no combat commands, although a person could argue that.  The Space Farce very clearly has no combat commands and there's no earthly reason whatsoever that the various occupations occupied by their junior birdmen couldn't be occupied by either sex equally well.

Indeed, the dirty little secret of the US military is that at some point after World War One, and before World War Two, most occupations in the military are in fact non combat roles.

And speaking of the Space Farce. . . 

Getting fired for being sane.

U.S. Space Force Col. Susan Meyers, 821st Space Base Group, noted her support for Denmark after J. D. Vance visited her base and got canned immediately thereafter.  She noted that her base in Greenland proudly flew the US and Danish flags.

For Release

Published April 10, 2025

By Space Operations Command Public Affairs

Pituffik Space Base, Greenland --  Colonel Susannah Meyers, commander of Pituffik Space Base was removed from command by Colonel Kenneth Klock, commander of Space Base Delta 1, on April 10, 2025 for loss of confidence in her ability to lead. 

Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties.

Colonel Shawn Lee has assumed command.

Col. Meyers may be the first serving officer to publicly criticize the Trump administrations per World War One colonialist views.  She surely knew she'd be relieved and fell on her sword.  Good for her.

J. D. Vance seems to have something against Europeans.  He may really be a hillbilly.  Whatever it is, in spite of being very well educated, he just doesn't seem to like them, which may be proof that you can take the hillbilly out of Appalachia, but you can't take the Appalachia out of the hillbilly, even if he is from Ohio.

I just can't see how this is a good thing.

Degenfelder Cheers Dismantling of U.S. Dept. Of Education At White House Signing Ceremony

Wyoming Superintendent of Education Megan Degenfelder was in attendance.  Governor Gordon begged off, saying he had other things to do.  

Maybe he did, or maybe he just didn't want to be associated with this populist bad idea.

Trump, in signing the executive order, stated; "“We want education to come back to them — to come back to the states — and they’re going to do a phenomenal job".  Yeah, well clearly they aren't all doing a phenomenal job now, and they're already in charge of education.  Frankly, tha'ts a pretty uneducated statement, but then its not like Donny or his family have every had to depend on public education.

The Wyoming Education Association, which is made up of teachers, was less thrilled.

“The Wyoming Education Association stands in strong opposition to the dismantling of the Department of Education (DOE),” 

Wyoming's Secretary of Education stated:

“It’s just a truly momentous and historic day for education in America, and it’s a win for American students,” said Degenfelder. “We’re taking out the middle man in education, putting education back where it belongs — in the classroom and not in D.C. offices.”

Degenfelder ran in the last election against Sergio Maldonado.  I voted for Maldonado who is a Native Wyomingite and Native American.  He's also a professional teacher, which Degenfelder is not, who is a graduate of BYU and Arizona State University. While he's no spring chicken, he's a doctoral candidate at the University of Wyoming.  He had served during the Bush Administration as a member of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education.

He's also a Democrat.

Footnotes:

*What the crap?

**

Women and combat



Related threads:



Monday, March 31, 2025

Monday, March 31, 1975. Resupply and luck.


U.S. Army Chief of Staff Frederick C. Weyand was in South Vietnam and determined that: "It is possible that with abundant resupply and a great deal of luck, the GVN [Government of South Vietnam] could survive...It is extremely doubtful that it could withstand an offensive involving the commitment of three additional Communist divisions...without U.S. strategic air support."

Colonel William Le Gro of the U.S. Embassy said that without U.S. strategic bombing of North Vietnamese forces, South Vietnam would be defeated within 90 days, which proved to be an overestimate of the time the South could hold out.

Gro would later write a book about the fall of South Vietnam.

North Vietnamese General Dung, was instructed to  "liberate Saigon before the rainy season [mid-May]" rather than the original plan of taking the city in 1976.

Technicians from the United States Atomic Energy Commission escorted by Navy SEALS removed the fuel rods from the nuclear research reactor at Dalat University (Đại học Đà Lạt) in Đà Lạt, capital of Lâm Đồng Province, Vietnam. and flew them to Johnston Atoll.  It was a Catholic institution at that time.  It still exists, but of course is no longer a Catholic university.

Last edition:

Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975.