Our mission, as God-fearing and God-loving patriots, is to defend this Constitutional Republic and to increase its greatness, in all good things and ways, by using our voices in free but courteous speech, by discussing the happenings of the world and coming to a profound understanding of those things, and by sharing and promulgating these Truths on both this platform and others.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Word of The Week:
gwnofaoadfjsadf
noun
random typing on the keyboard by Wolf
Mole Day in some imaginary language
Used in a sentence
Wolf thinks that gwnofaoadfjsadf looks a bit like Welsh, even though it’s just jibberish.
A Bit of Music
This is a great but weird one.
The story is that Gretchen Wilson was a session artist for rock and country back before she got famous in country. Discussed here.
Apparently she’s always been quite a fan of Heart.
Let’s have some of the original!
OK – we have to finish with some science bluegrass for Mole Day. This is surprisingly good.
And now, back to business!
Election 2023 – The Final Stretch
Ohio Issue 1 is definitive. This is the ultimate groomer amendment, backed by the commies, begging to be added to the state’s constitution.
I will be doing what I can, which is never enough, to help defeat this monstrosity.
The choice is stark.
If this passes, parents will lose control of their kids FROM BIRTH – if the babies even make it that far.
I won’t be here on The Q Tree most of the time, during this home stretch, but I invite ALL OF YOU to bring the ammunition here. Bring the news about EVIL Issue One! Help me alert the nation to what they are doing in Ohio, which is worse than what they did in Michigan. Help the people of Ohio stop the insanity of “reproductive freedom” of CHILDREN FROM BIRTH.
After today, I will copy this post as a placeholder until the election is over. I will comment occasionally, but I will have to fight every day to STOP ISSUE ONE.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
What the heck! This chick will NOT get out of my Twitter X feed!
In the Bay Area today talking about vaccines for COVID, flu and RSV! Now is the best time to get #vaccinated to protect you and your family. pic.twitter.com/O3ZRIOutcA
"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26)
The still image is from the 1938 movie comedy, “Carefree“, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Mr. Astaire plays a psychiatrist and Ms. Rogers plays his reluctant patient. And, yes, there’s lots of great dancing and funny one-liners. And, yes, the psychiatrist cures the patient, and they “go off into the sunset together.” And, yes, the songs are by Irving Berlin and are delightful.
Please get a cup of coffee or tea and settle in to peruse the following. There are so many negative things going on in the world today, so many things to be concerned about. But it is very important not to let the COVID-19 situation and the COVID-19 “vaccines” disaster go out of sight. Yours Truly has tried to avoid making the following sound like a boring college lecture.
Are some people afraid of getting an injection of any kind? Yes. Are they “afraid of needles” in general? Yes. Are they afraid of “what might happen” due to an injection? Yes. These feelings are normal and may be called “anticipatory dread.” These feelings may have started in childhood, or may have started after a negative reaction to an injection later on. Today, Yours Truly will discuss psychiatric issues induced after an injection of a modRNA COVID-19 “vaccine.”
The FDA knew, back in April, 2021, that the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines” induce or aggravate over 1,000 medical disorders or illnesses. The document that lists the reports of these serious adverse events is the 5.3.6 Cumulative Analysis of Post-authorization Adverse Event Reports for the Pfizer-BioNTech “flagship” COVID-19 “vaccine”, BNT162b2, in the Appendix 1. List of Adverse Events of Special Interest section at the end of the report. The company gave this document to the FDA on 30 April 2021. The document can be found here:
Among the list of medical disorders and illnesses are at least 23 different items that affect the Central Nervous System and/or the brain of the “vaccine” recipient — from ataxia to Guillain-Barre syndrome to neuropathy to stroke (called “cerebral artery embolism”) to epilepsy to multiple sclerosis (both initial onset and relapse), and more.
However, there are also at least five psychiatric or neuropsychiatric medical conditions on the Appendix 1 list: Alpers disease; Dreamy State [the medical condition]; Limbic Encephalitis; Neuropsychiatric Lupus; Paediatric (sic) autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection (this last one is a kind of “two-fer.”) Alpers disease leads to dementia and liver failure; Limbic Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain’s limbic system (see below); Neuropsychiatric Lupus affects the central nervous system and also has psychiatric presentation (depression); the medical condition of Dreamy State is linked to another condition called “Twilight State”, in which the person loses touch with present reality.
THE LIMBIC SYSTEM OF THE HUMAN BODY — A VERY SHORT OVERVIEW: The limbic system of the human body is part of the cerebrum (the largest part of the brain.) Three important organs of the limbic system are the hippocampus, the thalamus, and the amygdala. The limbic system processes emotions and regulates emotions and memory. It also influences human behavior, long-term memory, and motivation. Behaviors related to the actions of the limbic system include reproduction, the instinct to eat, the taking care of children, and the “fight or flight” response. More information can be found here: https://www.webmd.com/brain/limbic-system-what-to-know
The hippocampus is located in the brain’s temporal lobes directly above the ears. It is important in memory formation, long-term memory, spatial navigation (the ability to “determine and maintain a route from one place to another (Gallistel, 1990).” See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3380196/.) When the hippocampus is damaged, any of the following may occur, among other issues: memory impairment; disorientation; depression; and amnesia. Keep this in mind when reading on.
Since the rollout of the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines”, a new type of medical research has evolved: the study of the onset of psychiatric issues, including mania, depression, and other conditions, in persons after they receive a COVID-19 “vaccination.” A growing body of investigative papers and articles is being published. It appears that both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines” are responsible for inducing these psychiatric issues. One paper, from researchers in Italy, pinpoints where in the brain the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines” appear to “trigger” a negative alert: the hippocampus. The paper can be found here: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17923.84002, titled, “mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 triggers an alert in the hippocampus: Brain Sensors activate in the limbic area.” Using Quantum Biophysical Semeiotics, Sergio Stagnaro and Simone Caramel found that there was a “…sudden and persisting microcirculatory activation, type 1, associated, in the limbic area — and in the hippocampus in particular — starting immediately after the administration of the afore said vaccine…” In other words, it appears that the hippocampus immediately registers an “alarm alert” after the body is injected with a COVID-19 “vaccine.” The “vaccine” referred to in the paper is the Pfizer-BioNTech “flagship” COVID-19 “vaccine”, BNT162b2.
It appears that COVID-19 “vaccine”-induced psychosis can occur in persons who have no prior history of psychiatric issues before “vaccination”; and in persons who do have psychiatric issues tendencies but never exhibited them before “vaccination.” Yours Truly will present the following examples of case studies:
Of the first type of COVID-19 “vaccine”-induced psychosis, in a person who had no prior history of psychiatric issues before “vaccination”: https://www.psychiatrist.com/pcc/covid-19/psychosis-associated-covid-19-vaccination/, from February, 2022. The patient, after being “vaccinated”, began to have hallucinations and anxiety. After admission to the hospital, the patient became combative toward staff. The patient was in the hospital for almost a month, taking medication and under supervision. The patient was then discharged to home, but still had “…some residual symptoms, mainly reduced concentration and motivation.” (Italics mine) Recall what was discussed above about the hippocampus. There is another “clue” in the case report: “…there is a possible viral transmission to the nervous system [of the COVID-19 virus]…via circulation,…” (In other words, in my opinion, COVID-19 virus elements cross the blood-brain barrier; in my opinion, this would implicate the virus’ spike protein and its modRNA present in the “vaccines.”) Unfortunately, it appears that this case report implies that onset of psychosis after a COVID-19 “vaccination” is “rare.”
Of the second type of COVID-19 “vaccine”-induced psychosis, in a person who had psychiatric issues tendencies but never exhibited them until after “vaccination”: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114165, from October, 2021. The patient, who had “some schizotypal personality traits ” [a “cluster A personality disorder”] but no exhibition of them previously, began to show grandiose behavior, claimed to be clairvoyant, and other symptoms, after COVID-19 “vaccination.” An MRI showed, among other things a “…focus of susceptibility in the right lateral thalamus.” (Italics mine) The modRNA COVID-19 “vaccine” that the patient took was the Moderna “flagship” COVID-19 “vaccine”, mRNA-1273. After a short hospital stay with supervised medication, the patient was discharged with ongoing medication in stable condition. A week later, he was back at work and asymptomatic. Recall what was discussed above the Limbic System of the brain — the thalamus is part of that system.
In summary: It appears that the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines” can, and do, either cause first-onset of, or kick off a predisposition to, psychosis in the “vaccinated” person. It appears that the hippocampus of the “vaccine” recipient’s brain sends out an “alarm alert” immediately upon the person getting “vaccinated.” It appears that the spike protein and its modRNA elements are transmitted to the recipient’s nervous system via the blood. Separately, and, in addition, it is now known that the spike protein and its modRNA migrate to, and enter, into cells in areas all over the body, including to the brain, of a “vaccinated” person. It is also now known that the lipid nanoparticles in the COVID-19 “vaccines”, which facilitate “transfer” of the spike protein and its modRNA to the cells of the recipient’s body, are elements that the body likely cannot break down and eliminate. It is also now known that elements of the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines” continue to remain in the recipient’s body for weeks, if not months, after “vaccination.”
A couple of caveats here: First, Yours Truly is not implying that the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines”, once inside a person’s body, will inevitably induce psychiatric issues. Second, that the study of psychiatric issues induced by modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines” is just “getting off the ground”, and much more investigation is necessary. (However, recall that incidences of myocarditis after modRNA COVID-19 “vaccination” were previously called “rare”, but which have since been shown to actually be much more numerous. See https://www.openvaers.com/, noting that VAERS actually enumerates only about 40%, at most, of all incidents.)
Among the questions that come to mind, one is: Since the FDA knew back in April, 2021, that the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines” can, and do, cause onset of psychosis in persons who take them, why didn’t the agency immediately stop the use of these “vaccines” until the situation could be further investigated?
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
To begin: Yours Truly is grateful for the opportunity to be an author here at The Q Tree. Thank you, Wolf Moon.
One is not a trained psychologist: she has, however, taken enough courses in psychology in the process of earning her BFA and MA degrees to submit the following opinion piece regarding the entire COVID-19 situation.
Those who frequent this board are aware that the modRNA and the spike protein of the COVID-19 “vaccines”, facilitated by the lipid nanoparticles in said “vaccines”, migrate to all areas of the “vaccinated” recipient’s body, including to the brain. The mechanisms of these “vaccines” negatively effect the brain, both in physical ways (for example, suffering a stroke after “vaccination”), and in emotional/psychological ways (for example, sudden onset of psychosis after “vaccination.”)
Today, Yours Truly will posit that there is yet another way in which the entire situation of COVID-19 and its “vaccines” have been used, and continue to be used, in this case, to influence behavior: by the utilization of gaslighting. According to Psychology Today, “Gaslighting is an insidious form of manipulation and psychological control. Victims of gaslighting are deliberately and systematically fed false information…Over time, a gaslighter’s manipulations can grow more complex and potent, making it increasingly difficult for the victim to see the truth.” Gaslighting is about a person or entity gaining as-near-total control as possible over another person, to the point where the victim can begin to wonder if he/she is losing their mind; and/or, begins to give up and does what they are told. The process requires, first, that the victim has trust in the gaslighter; from there, various techniques are employed by the gaslighter, including constant lying and then denying the lies, to gradually undermine the self-confidence of the victim until control is achieved. The term comes from the 1938 play, “Gas Light“, which became the 1944 film, “Gaslight.” In the film, Charles Boyer plays the gaslighter, and Ingrid Bergman plays his wife who he is attempting to drive insane in order to steal her inheritance.
How does gaslighting apply to the era of COVID-19? It is now clear that the CDC, the FDA, the NIH, the AMA, Big Pharma, and the mainstream media in the United States—entities that formerly were held to be trustworthy by the American public—have lied constantly regarding numerous aspects of the COVID-19 virus and of the modRNA COVID-19 “vaccines”: about the “benefits” of masking and social distancing; about the “safety and efficacy” of the “vaccines”; about the actual data from Pfizer-BioNTech and from Moderna regarding the real dangers of their COVID-19 “vaccines”; about the “safety” of using remdesivir (Veklury) to treat a COVID-19 infection; and about many other aspects. In addition, the government-driven “mandates” regarding the closing of schools and businesses; the “15 days to slow the spread”; the “requirements” for “vaccination” against COVID-19 in order to work or to go to school; the “regulations” by hospitals, health clinics, sports teams, and other entities, that employees, healthcare professionals, and athletes be “vaccinated” in order to keep their jobs or to play—all of these are well-orchestrated psychological techniques used to, first, gain “trust” (“follow the science”); then, to manipulate and coerce people into getting “vaccinated”; then, to minimize and/or to lie outright about the serious and deadly adverse effects of the COVID-19 “vaccines”, stating that these are “rare instances” and that “the benefits outweigh the risks”; then, to accuse anyone who questions what is going on as “spreading misinformation.” The result, unfortunately, is that, apparently, many people have given up using their own judgement and simply do what they are told (getting the latest COVID-19 “Bivalent Vaccine” injections, going back to masking, and so forth)—in other words, they are under the control of the gaslighting entities, who can then push them even farther.
Gaslighting loses its power when the victim realizes what is really going on, says, “No!”, then follows through on that. Sometimes, the following through is the victim calling the police; sometimes, the victim leaves the situation and doesn’t go back. The victim may need help to regain his/her self-confidence and to trust in their ability to make their own decisions.
It is the opinion of Yours Truly that in regard to gaslighting in the era of COVID-19, the time has come for people to realize what is really going on, to say, “No!”, then follow through on that.
Reports of COVID-19 “vaccine” injuries, including deaths: www.openvaers.com/
Risk of stroke after getting a COVID-19 “Bivalent Booster” injection: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.11.23295368 “Risk of Ischemic Stroke after COVID-19 Bivalent Booster Vaccination in an Integrated Health System” Katie A Scharff MD, et al.
First onset of psychosis after a COVID-19 “vaccination”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35091388/ “First episode psychosis following receipt of first dose of COVID-19 vaccine: A case report” Sandeep Grover, et al.
Protocols to reduce or to possibly eliminate the effects of the spike protein in a “vaccinated” person’s body, among other COVID-19 protocols: https://covid19criticalcare.com/treatment-protocols (From the FLCCC Alliance website)
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Another Beths song I don’t think I’ve heard before.
How about a new version of Mo Ghile Mear by Celtic Woman?
Aw – we can’t have that one without playing the original, dream-inspiring version of the song brought here by cthulhu!
OK – gotta have some Wheatie music (TSFH). Lots of dancing – not just this lady flasher on the intro photo!
OK – let’s finish in a very classical way.
The Epstein Amendment – New Outrage Discovered
Just when you thought that the Epstein Amendment Issue 1 in Ohio could not be any worse, somebody figured out that it legalizes PROSTITUTION and (drum roll) CHILD PROSTITUTION.
Yes, it’s THAT BAD. “Reproductive freedom of all individuals” is what they’re selling us. YIKES.
Can this thing possibly win? Well, if it does, Ohio will become the playground of pedophiles.
Looks like NORMAL PEOPLE have their work cut out for them, stopping this leftist travesty.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Word of The Week:
instigate
verb
To initiate or bring about, often by inciting.
To urge on; goad.
To goad or urge forward; to set on; to provoke; to incite; — used chiefly with reference to evil actions.
Used in a picture (h/t Barb)
Used in a picture (as the associated noun)
Music time!
Beginning with some classical (your mileage may vary on the “sadness”)….
But check out these social media-driven “fiddle girls” – very interesting phenomenon!
To make it more commercial, just add some MTV….
So let’s finish with a string quartet of sorts!
AHHH – what the heck – I need some boy music. A song that cthulhu played Friday that takes me back. Mmmmmm, mmmmmm.
System Report
The system is back up, as of the writing of this post.
What a fight.
On the subject of “war is hell”, let the following video (set to Wheatie’s favorite music) be a reminder of why peace matters. (You have to go to the link – it’s pretty graphic.)
Wasn’t Gail saying something about Prussia? I seem to recall…..
As for the present….
Has the UFO propaganda got you scared? AS IF!
No, it has you bored and dismissive. Interesting psychology – isn’t it? So why did we get all of THIS stuff first?
Enjoy the epic music set to alien invasions – or something like that.
The plugin “nonce” problem got fixed, as well as some security issues.
The fact is, we’re dependent on “plugins” that are often weak links in WordPress security AND functionality. The team fixing our commenting system seems to be small and subject to competing duties.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Word of The Week:
trinitite
noun
Trinitite, also known as atomsite or Alamogordo glass, is the glassy residue left on the desert floor after the plutonium-based Trinity nuclear bomb test on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The glass is primarily composed of arkosic sand composed of quartz grains and feldspar that was melted by the atomic blast.
You’ll see why I chose trinitite later in this post.
OK – here is the epic orchestral Wheatie music I was looking for….
Maybe some “Celtic mystique” music?
How about “Viking folk music”? No guarantees of authenticity here.
But let’s finish with some orchestral-backed vocals…..
OK – that was inspiring!
Carl was back on Sunday! Praise God!!!
I know it has been a while since I said “Trust The Plan”, but every once in a while I realize that it’s there.
Some very interesting posts (and replies) on X. Let me give you a guided tour.
This is an oldie but goodie on an old QAnon account that does indeed put time frames in perspective.
Now That We Have Confirmation From Dr. Jan Halper-Hayes That There Is In Fact A Military Intelligence Plan In Place Playing Out, This Timeline Puts Things Into Perspective. pic.twitter.com/dNOPGzlz5j
I found the reply here terribly interesting. It’s worth looking at Brian’s full tweet.
You have an enduring spirit—and always keep in mind, in prayer we are saved, even though we cannot see what it is (that’s called faith). With reason, we can see and test it because we can see and touch it…faith and hope are things that you cannot see, you need to trust that one…
This is also going to be big – Lara Logan’s new production on January Sixth.
Trennis Evans pled guilty to one misdemeanor charge of entering a restricted building & he is forced to serve out his sentence in jail where he is held in solitary confinement for a few days at a time. The cell where he is housed is where they put prisoners to punish them. All… https://t.co/OhCoMlGpXn
Now – check this out – a long train of tweets to some fascinating references.
First – UGH – the photo on the right.
Munchausen by proxy (MBP), also known as factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), is a mental health disorder in which a caregiver, often a parent or guardian, intentionally fabricates or exaggerates physical or psychological symptoms in someone under their care. This could… pic.twitter.com/QbahOR55cn
That post notes the prior self-cutting by the young woman, visible in the photo. A pro-trans poster excuses the cutting as a result of gender dysphoria thereby requiring the surgery, while I might see the surgery as the ultimate form of “cutting”.
As an aside, I think the mom may be relieved of some guilt here. She was likely ready to believe anything that the doctors and trans activists told her. Thus, it is to some extent likely to be a kind of “Stockholm syndrome X Munchausen by proxy syndrome”.
The original poster responds with an excellent old article questioning trans surgeries.
Jest to zwyczajnie nieprawda: nawet lewicowe publikacje były wielokrotnie zmuszone przyznać, że "tranzycja" nie pomaga:https://t.co/4GIbkxsUfj
New Data Show “Gender-Affirming” Surgery Doesn’t Really Improve Mental Health. So Why Are the Study’s Authors Saying It Does?
This is an absolutely fascinating example of “agenda science” and intentional misrepresentation of data. Check out the summary of the article:
Data from a new study show that the beneficial effect of surgery for transgender people is so small that a clinic may have to perform as many as 49 gender-affirming surgeries before they could expect to prevent one additional person from seeking subsequent mental health treatment. Yet that’s not what the authors say. That the authors corrupted otherwise-excellent data and analyses with a skewed interpretation signals an abandonment of scientific rigor and reason in favor of complicity with activist groups seeking to normalize infertility-inducing and permanently disfiguring surgeries.
This is EXACTLY what is wrong with science all over the place now. COVID science is just like this. Mask science, too. This dishonesty of interpretation is everywhere. AGENDA SCIENCE.
Here is the full text of the article, saved from censorship.
A new study appearing last month in the American Journal of Psychiatry concluded that “gender-affirming” surgery is associated with reduced demand for subsequent mental health treatment in a sample of persons diagnosed with “gender incongruence.” Predictably, such news received wide media interest and coverage. And yet even a cursory reading of the study itself tells a far less optimistic story than the media narratives—as well as the authors’ own inexplicable confidence—have offered. Indeed, the analyses would seem to suggest the benefit of a hormonal or surgical course does not outweigh the demonstrable physical and financial costs of such treatments. Future studies might suggest otherwise, but not this one.
The study’s shortcomings have nothing to do with the data, nor the methods employed by its authors (and public health researchers) Richard Bränström and John Pachankis. The data come from the Swedish Total Population Register, a massive, longitudinal survey effort that collected information from over 9.7 million Swedes, or about 95 percent of the country. No complaints there. The analyses are high-quality: the authors tracked respondents over time and assessed their use of mental health treatment (for a mood or anxiety disorder) in 2015, as well as other related measures (such as hospitalization after a suicide attempt), as a function of time since gender-affirming hormone and surgical treatment. Its measurement precision is excellent, and would satisfy most methodological purists. So far, all good news. But then come the scholarly interpretations of the study’s results, which are remarkably out of step with the far more modest conclusions they merit.
The study found no mental health benefits for hormonal interventions in this population. There is no effect of time since initiating hormone treatment on the likelihood of subsequently receiving mental health treatment.
First, a word about the hormones: the study found no mental health benefits for hormonal interventions in this population. There is no effect of time since initiating hormone treatment on the likelihood of subsequently receiving mental health treatment. Given the surge in interest, demand, and supply of hormonal therapies to self-identified transgender persons today, you would think that it is a solution that pays obvious benefits in reduced subsequent need—over time—for treatment of mood or anxiety disorder, or hospitalization after a suicide attempt. Yet there was no statistically significant effect. In fact, the confidence intervals actually reveal a nearly significant aggravating effect of hormonal treatment on subsequent mental health needs.
It is the surgical effect, however, that has grabbed all the attention. Bränström and Pachankis detected a statistically significant effect of time since last “gender-affirming” surgery on reduced mental health treatment. The adjusted (for controls) odds ratio for this was 0.92, meaning that, among respondents diagnosed with “gender incongruence” who then received gender-affirming surgical treatment, the odds of being treated for a mood or anxiety disorder (in 2015) were reduced by about 8 percent for each year since the last surgery. In other words, it would appear that the surgery—or more typically, the series of surgeries—benefited their mental health.
But the authors discuss a “linear decrease” in seeking subsequent mental health care that is simply not visible in the study’s graphs, where post-surgical mental health treatment hovers stably around 35 percent among those in their first nine years after surgery, and then drops to only 21 percent of those patients who are in their tenth (or higher) year since their last surgery. However, only 19 total respondents reported their last surgery as having been completed 10 or more years ago. By contrast, 574 (out of 1,018 total) reported their last surgery as having been conducted less than two years ago. (Surgical treatment is clearly surging.) This means that the apparently helpful overall effect of surgery is driven by this comparatively steep drop in mood/anxiety treatment among only 19 patients. By the math, that would seem to indicate that four out of these 19 Swedes (i.e., 21 percent) sought help in 2015 for mood/anxiety problems.
While the study reports the adjusted odds ratio of the overall effect of time since surgery (0.92), which I cannot replicate without having data access, you don’t need the data to calculate an unadjusted odds ratio from the information presented there. This can tell us the baseline effect of time since surgery on receiving mood and anxiety treatment, only without the controls (like age, income, etc.). Doing this reveals the fragility of the study’s key finding: if a mere three additional cases among these 19 had sought mental health treatment in 2015, there would appear to be no discernible overall effect of surgery on subsequent mental health. The study’s trumpeted conclusion may hinge on as few as three people in a data collection effort reaching 9.7 million Swedes, 2,679 of whom were diagnosed with gender incongruence and just over 1,000 of whom had gender-affirming surgery.
The study’s trumpeted conclusion may hinge on as few as three people in a data collection effort reaching 9.7 million Swedes, 2,679 of whom were diagnosed with gender incongruence and just over 1,000 of whom had gender-affirming surgery.
An increase of just three treated individuals (from 4 to 7 of 19) brings the overall effect to zero. On the other hand, a decrease of just three treated individuals (from 4 to 1 out of 19) yields an (unadjusted) odds ratio of 0.88, which would enable a claim of a 12-percent reduction in mental health assistance from getting the surgery. These large swings in estimates are due to very small adjustments in the data. As is often the case with small samples, tiny changes lead to large fluctuations in estimated effects. But, for this patient population, you are not going to find larger data collection projects than the Swedish data. This is as good as it gets when it comes to studying transgender medical experiences and outcomes.
Another helpful statistic I calculated is called the NNT, or “Number Needed to Treat.” It’s a measure of clinical impact. In this study, the NNT appears to be a staggering 49, meaning the beneficial effect of surgery is so small that a clinic may have to perform 49 gender-affirming surgeries before they could expect to prevent one additional person from seeking subsequent mental health assistance [ref] In this case, the NNT = -1 * [1/[(OR-1)UER] + OR/[(OR-1)(1-UER)]]. Using an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 0.92 and an unexposed event rate (UER) = 0.453, I get NNT = 49 cases. The UER I employ here comes from the mood/anxiety treatment rate for “perioperative” individuals with gender incongruence, as reported in the study’s Figure 1. The term “perioperative,” however, is vague and not defined by the authors. (It could mean right before or right after surgery.) It is not, however, a control group (that is, of Swedes diagnosed with gender incongruence who have not pursued surgical treatment). However, even such a control group would have limitations, including selection bias (e.g., screening for co-occurring mental illness or a lower level of gender dysphoria). Indeed, a prospective randomized controlled trial is not possible with this population. Nevertheless, the number employed offers a reasonable baseline UER, given the available data. NNTs below 10 “usually denote a worthwhile difference when comparing one intervention with another,” notes Leslie Citrome in “Quantifying Clinical Relevance.”[/ref]. If no other treatment was available, or the treatment was not invasive and the hazards were insignificant, clinics might consider surgery a low-risk but low-payoff approach. But none of those applies here. Conducting 49 surgeries to secure one additional patient who benefits? Unheard of.
The authors are nevertheless quick to declare that “this study provides timely support for policies that ensure coverage of gender-affirming treatments.” I cannot see how such confidence is merited. Time since hormonal treatment yielded no discernible effect on subsequent use of mental health treatment, while the modest effect of surgery hinges on a handful of cases from an earlier era (10 or more years ago) when very few gender dysphoric patients pursued surgery at all. And it’s not a leap to wonder whether those who did so a decade ago are a different kind of group than those who do so today. Moreover, suicide—the threat that seems to prompt all the urgency in doing something radical to alleviate psychological distress in these patients—may well have claimed an unknown number of Swedes who had had gender-affirming surgery ten or more years ago. We just don’t know, because the study does not track completed suicides for this sample.
If this were a clinical trial seeking to establish the efficacy of a particularly invasive medical treatment in comparison with a non-invasive standard protocol, there is no way that these published results would favor the invasive treatment—in this case, “gender affirming” surgery—when the statistical difference in outcomes was so tiny and fragile. This is not, contrary to what Bränström told ABC News, an evidence-informed treatment. That the authors corrupted otherwise excellent data and analyses with a skewed interpretation signals an abandonment of scientific rigor and reason in favor of complicity with activist groups seeking to normalize infertility-inducing and permanently disfiguring surgeries.
Physicians should not be pushed to prescribe such profoundly consequential treatment by threat of call-out, malpractice suits, patient demand, or—in this case—the overreaching interpretations of quality data. Clinicians are being bullied into writing a radical prescription based on fear, not on sensible conclusions from empirical data.
But this reasonable position is getting more difficult to defend. Less than two months after another team of activist psychiatrists landed a weak study on “conversion” therapy in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, its lead author has commenced a movement aimed at a wholesale ban on such a notion. This is alarming, especially since the idea itself—“converting” from having become convinced you are born in the wrong body to concluding that you can live with the body you have—is nonsensical. There is no defined psychotherapeutic method for treating gender dysphoria that can be widely characterized and consistently identified as “conversion therapy” in order to be banned. Nor has there been a clinical trial evaluating specific psychotherapeutic methods of counseling gender dysphoria that could potentially demonstrate whether such methods are helpful or harmful.
This is not how normal medical research works.
Can’t end this discussion without some interesting discussion of trinitite.
Right, there was probably a meteor strike. No way something like that doesn’t get the “why did this happen” treatment from generations to follow. Here’s the Forbes article.https://t.co/6WVj4kxPzs
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
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Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Word of The Week:
Brix
unit of measurement
Degrees Brix (symbol °Bx) is a measure of the dissolved solids in a liquid, and is commonly used to measure dissolved sugar content of an aqueous solution. One degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution and represents the strength of the solution as percentage by mass. If the solution contains dissolved solids other than pure sucrose, then the °Bx only approximates the dissolved solid content. For example, when one adds equal amounts of salt and sugar to equal amounts of water, the degrees of refraction (BRIX) of the salt solution rises faster than the sugar solution. The °Bx is traditionally used in the wine, sugar, carbonated beverage, fruit juice, fresh produce, maple syrup and honey industries. The °Bx is also used for measuring the concentration of a cutting fluid mixed in water for metalworking processes.
As opposed to
Birx
Scarf Wench
Have not read her book, I must admit. Nice scarf.
YouTube says “violins” while I’m looking for “Wheatie epic music”, so let’s go with that….
Hey – what about the cellos?
Yeah! You remember last week…..
But we simply have to finish with the cellos!
Yeah, I’m spending far too much time in the near vicinity of Marxists and their downstream effects, and it shows. But still, kinda fun.
Continuing to pray for Carl. Thank you to DePat for helping out with a perfect Sunday message about Sunday itself!
And now for some useful scoop from the front lines.
TL;DR – Ohio has a sneaky “children’s sexual rights amendment” on the ballot.
In the course of our political work, I’ve come into contact with an interesting assortment of people representing a wide variety of political interests. There is often some “adjacency” and “intersectionality” as the other side loves to say, and in particular we run into specific candidates, issues or causes which matter to our group.
You may or may not have been following the August “Issue 1” vote in Ohio, which was designed to make it harder to amend the Ohio constitution – meaning a 60% vote for passage of amendments instead of just 50%. The proposal had other features that weakened it, but the main factor leading to its defeat was the fact that the Ohio Dems had an abortion amendment coming in November, and that amendment was unlikely to get 60%+ support. The Demmunists got out the vote to defeat fundamental improvement of the Ohio constitution, using abortion. It worked like crazy.
The new abortion amendment is likely to pass in November, ironically as “Issue 1”, but worried Dem operatives have confided that the proposal has two weaknesses which give them a bad feeling. Some have even called these two problems “poison pills” in the amendment.
One is that the amendment leaves open the option for abortion due to “mental health of the mother” until birth, despite otherwise making abortion restrictable once the baby is viable (which is not well-defined). Pro-life forces can usually get voters out to the polls on this.
The other weakness is that the amendment implicitly removes parental rights regarding one’s own children, because the “reproductive rights” are granted to “individuals”, not adults. The term “individuals” is designed to include teens, and even logically includes younger children. So the right-to-life people are focused on the problem of abortion without the consent of the parents. This is also something that can bring pro-life voters to the polls.
But THESE are not the worst aspects of the bill.
The part of the amendment which grants this right to all individuals, which necessarily includes children of unspecified age, covers not just abortion, but anything of a reproductive nature. The amendment uses specific language to say that it is not limited to the examples listed, which include abortion and fertility, but which curiously do not include sex change or “gender affirming care” – and yet these things and more would clearly be covered as reproductive.
In other words, this amendment is a sneaky way to take away all parental rights regarding sex change of children – or indeed, anything else touching on reproduction.
I repeat – this amendment allows children to submit themselves to “gender change”, and takes away all parental rights to oppose it.
The amendment MAY even take away parental rights regarding sex education, or anything where the “individual” has “reproductive rights”.
Do you see what they’re doing here?
The amendment uses tricky lawfare wording to distract and deceive voters, implying that it is mainly about abortion, when it is dangerously relevant to transgender issues.
An overt sexual rights amendment for children could never pass, but an abortion amendment might.
It’s very interesting to note that Ballotpediavery deceptively HIDES the sneaky “not limited to” wording of the amendment in their description of it, except when they are forced to quote the amendment verbatim.
Et tu, Ballotpedia?
The Dems are getting ahead of the storm on the REAL sneakiness by making sure the controversy is all about Republicans changing the term “fetus” to “unborn child” on the text of the ballot issue, which generally clarifies the abortion part without changing the meaning in any significant way, in my opinion. Thankfully, the Republicans did NOT try to conceal the “not limited to” part, so we can still make that case without contradiction.
Very typical Dem behavior – distract to a smaller, winnable controversy. And, of course, the leftist media is helping. And very typical RINO idiot behavior, following the left’s laser pointer focus on minor stupidity instead of WINNING on the fact that this is exactly what the Democrats call it: Ohio Issue 1, Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative. The trick is, this amendment should really be called Ohio Issue 1, Children’s Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including But Not Limited To Abortion, Sex Education, Gender Reassignment, and Sex with Adults Initiative.
Are you seeing how bad this is, and how stupid the Republicans are?
They should be printing up yard signs in big bold letters:
SAY NO TO CHILDREN’S SEXUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
This bill for an amendment, if it passes, will destroy public education in Ohio. [Admittedly, some conservatives are actually rubbing their hands in glee at this possibility!] Teacher’s unions will be utterly free to “trans your kids” and even more, under the color of an “individual’s reproductive rights”. Whether the bill destroys education completely depends on whether private schooling can lock out transgender ideologues from their teaching staff. Nobody can trust left-wing teachers once this passes.
So watch out for this CHILDREN’S SEXUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT – which is definitely a DEMS CAN TRANS YOUR KIDS AMENDMENT – and see if the national conservative media catches on to its insidious nature RE spreading the trans agenda to red states using abortion. If they don’t, Ohio will join Michigan and California as a “fleeing resident” state starting next year.
Note how the “pro-choice” side and the old feminists (including TERFs) were THROWN UNDER THE BUS by the Pritzker transgender males to get their much bigger agenda into law. “You want to protect abortion, ladies? Here, try this amendment!” The Pritzkeroids don’t care if people catch on and abortion is defeated, because their number one fundraising issue is still preserved if they lose. A simple 12-week bill (Robert Kennedy Jr. gets this) would PASS and WIN in Ohio, satisfying everybody on their bottom lines, but NO, we can’t have THAT!
Does the amendment do anything to protect pedophiles and sexual consent by minors? With the lunatic leftists on the Ohio Supreme Court, I am certain that it does. These goofballs actually decided that bail increases based on danger of the accused individual to the public were illegal, until an amendment to allow higher bails for dangerous criminals was passed over Demmunist objections.
Remember – THIS BILL ENSHRINES REPRODUCTIVE/SEXUAL RIGHTS FOR MINORS.
The left always goes too far. The trick is catching them early.
And here I thought this was an exciting election already!
Next week, we will start a new half-year of Monday posts.
I may take some liberties with the format! Be brave!
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
And yes, it’s Monday…again.
But we WILL get through it!
‘Cuz Wheatie Sez!
Just like Trump!
So HOLD ON for the ride of your life!
Dedication
WHEATIE – OUR WARRIOR ANGEL
by Duchess01
Please forgive us, Wheatie, we did not know That you had left us with armor in tow We had no idea with what you dealt We did not know the pain you felt And now we can only imagine With you what really did happen Cause rarely did you complain And/or share your personal pain Of one thing we are most certain You are flying high behind the curtain Watching over us above the crowds Our Warrior Angel above the clouds Thank You, Wheatie, for caring for us While you were here among the fuss We miss you dear you have no idea Since time began in the pangaea With you there was no time In your wisdom you would chime To clarify and magnify The what where how and why We did not question when you left We were not slightly bereft But over time we wondered why You did not at least stop by Now we know where you have gone With the break of this new dawn We could be angry but are not Tho with an arrow we’ve been shot Rest peacefully Warrior Angel dear Send us a sign that you are near A butterfly a flower a kiss of rain From your love do not refrain God sends Angels to watch over us And now we have an Angel Plus A Warrior Angel of Magnificence From today and forward hence
Boilerplate, more or less, but worth reading again and again, if only for the minor changes, and to stay out of moderation.
MINOR CHANGE NUMBER 1
Now shortened.
Give them nothing.
Play smart. Every minute, the COUPISTS who stole the election – who lied – who deserve to be at the business end of the very same laws they are using so wrongly against the January Sixth defendants – are trying to set you up. Don’t be a chump. Turn everything back against THEM. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second.
YOU are responsible for your own comments, if they come knocking. YOUR choice. Just remember this…..
For an updated version…..
And for a version that includes your having righteously defended yourself…..
OTHER THAN THAT…….
The bottom line is Free Speech. Theories and ideas you don’t agree with must be WELCOME here, and you must be part of that welcoming. But you do NOT need to be part of any agreement.
Bottom line – respect other people’s FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS.
Our only additional requirement is that you do so NICELY. Or at least try to make some effort in that direction.
SO….. [ENGAGE BOILERPLATE…..]
We must endeavor to persevere to love our frenemies – even here.
Those who cannot deal with this easy requirement will be forced to jump the hoops of moderation, so that specific comments impugning other posters and violating the minimal rules can be sorted out and tossed in the trash.
In Wheatie’s words, “We’re on the same side here so let’s not engage in friendly fire.”
That includes the life skill of just ignoring certain other posters.
We do have a site – The U Tree – where civility is not a requirement. Interestingly, people don’t really go there much. Nevertheless, if you find yourself in an “argument” that can’t really stay civil, please feel free to “take it to the U Tree”. The U Tree is also a good place to report any technical difficulties, if you’re unable to report them here. Please post your comment there on one of Wolf’s posts, or in reply to one of Wolf’s comments, to make sure he sees it (though it may take a few hours).
We also have a backup site, called The Q Tree as well, which is really The Q Tree 579486807. You might call it “Second Tree”. The URL for that site is https://theqtree579486807.wordpress.com/. If this site (theqtree.com) ever goes down, please reassemble at the Second Tree.
If the Second Tree goes down, please go to The U Tree, or to our Gab Group, which is located at https://gab.com/groups/4178.
We also have some “old rules” and important guidelines, outlined here, in a very early post, on our first New Year’s Day, in 2019. The main point is not to make violent threats against people, which then have to be taken seriously by law enforcement, and which can be used as a PRETEXT by enemies of this site.
In the words of Wheatie, “Let’s not give the odious Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven that Wolf has created for us.”
A Moment of Prayer
Our policy on extreme religious freedom on this site is discussed HERE. Please feel free to pray and praise God anytime and anywhere.
Thus, please pray for our real President, the one who actually won TWO elections.
By grace you have been saved through faith; not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8-9
You expect me to believe that Ben Brody a political science student at UCR, a liberal college in California who was unmasked at a protest event is a member of the “far right” organization Patriot Front? Yea right, this guy is an Antifa crisis actor hired by the Feds. pic.twitter.com/BkBNJsO4Jf
— Only God can save us (@godoverpolitics) June 25, 2023
I’m proud to say that Peter Hotez has blocked me. 🤣🤣🤣 Given that he has a PhD in propaganda, I’m going to take this moment to reflect on what I did that was so effective. I will then do more of the exact same thing. Tyrants might be liars, but at least they’re cowards too. pic.twitter.com/pYnsE4m7dk
What is an implosion, and what would it have been like for the Titan sub passengers?
The Titan submersible was so deep, experts told NBC News, that the forces crushing it would have been equivalent to the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
The deep-sea water pressure that appears to have crushed the 22-foot craft would have been roughly equivalent in weight to the 10,000-ton, wrought-iron Eiffel Tower, experts told NBC News on Friday. The colossal forces would have acted so quickly that it would be like the vehicle’s carbon-fiber hull “suddenly vanishing” before anyone inside knew what was happening, one expert said.
“They would have known nothing — the minute this body of water hit them, they would have been dead,” said Paul White, a professor at England’s University of Southampton, who specializes in underwater acoustics and forces.
…
“The air inside would compress down to a point, and the forces of the water rushing in and the collapse would be enormous,” he said. “Structurally,” he added, it would be equivalent of the capsule housing the crew “suddenly vanishing.”
“This whole process from start to finish is happening in the blink of an eyelid, the click of a finger,” he said. “I don’t think there would have been any suffering or any knowledge of what happened.”
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