October 15, 2025

Only?

I'm reading this NYT column by Jessica Grose: "Kennedy’s Comments on Circumcision Are Only Going to Confuse and Shame Parents."

The headline makes it sound as though human beings cannot be trusted with information. We'll only get confused or descend into shame.

What's the issue here?

On Thursday, Kennedy, the secretary of health and human services, said in a cabinet meeting, “There’s two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they’re given Tylenol.” Was he trying to persuade parents to avoid circumcision, Tylenol (the most popular brand of acetaminophen) or both?...

Why not read it for exactly what it is, an observation that you can take into account when deciding whether to have your child circumcised and, if you do, what form of pain relief do you want? What's confusing or shameful about that? Health info often comes in this form — studies find that a substance is associated with a health problem. It might not be causal, but don't parents have the right to decide if they should take the risk?

133 comments:

Derve said...

Lolol. Ann, do you not understand this is the same argument that was employed AGAINST letting parents in several states decide what healthcare is right for their transgender child suffering gender dysphoria? We can't trust the parents anymore. They mutilate their kids and there's no undoing that. The State knows best what medical care your kids should get. Now shut up and follow, woman... /s

Jaq said...

"The headline makes it sound as though human beings cannot be trusted with information."

If you start giving people information in one area, they might demand it in others. Why are there so many illegals? Why do we keep getting into wars? Why did a jar of peanut butter and a pound of coffee cost me $20? Questions, questions, questions...

n.n said...

Boys, not children.

The correlation is with acetaminophen, in a cohort study of circumcised boys.

Jaq said...

Democrats have become the Andy Rooneys of this century.

Temujin said...

Most people like to be directed. But it varies as to how much or how little an individual likes to take direction from others. I don't know if there's been a study done on this, but I would suspect that left leaning people tend to prefer more direction from perceived higher ups than do right leaning people. While leftists love to think they are more independent thinkers, the evidence of my senses tells me that they are much more cult-like, more clone-like in their thinking. Hell...they've been made to argue that you cannot define what a woman is. It seems it's more important to follow the group lead, than to answer based on reality.

And though there are most definitely right leaning clone-like groups ("I agree with whatever Tucker says!"), for the most part, people on the right tend to be more focused on individual actions and rights, less about group actions and rights.

All this rambling said, I think Democrats/progressives need someone in a white lab coat, or at least with multiple post grad degrees, to tell them what the government directives are so they can believe in them and follow them.
Republicans/conservatives tend to question that person with a white lab coat telling them anything because like the old saying goes: "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me."

Conservative minds will not be confused by any of this.
Progressive minds are in a twirl, not sure what or who to believe, staring at their newborn boys penises wondering what to do next.

PM said...

Circumspectism.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

From what I've seen the media has been doing a much better job of confusing people over this issue than RFK jr could ever do.

RCOCEAN II said...

RFK confuses and shames parents. LOL. People are shameless today. And how is he confusing them? By stating science they don't want to hear?

I guess circumcision cant be undone. According to my sister, the whole circumcision fad - which started after WW2 with the boomers - is going away. Good. Unless you're doing it for religious reasons (Jews, Muslims), its unneccessary and possibly unhealthy.

rehajm said...

…foreskin for a drop or two of wisky seems a bad trade until I realized Catholics get nuthin…

RCOCEAN II said...

Whoops should have read the actual paragraph and not just the headline. Anyway, don't circumcise your kid, then he wont need a painkiller.

Achilles said...

Democrats are just bad faith people.

Ampersand said...

Jessica Grose makes the case for censoring websites that provide medical information. So many different opinions, so confusing.

Beasts of England said...

‘Welcome to life, little buddy! We, as your parents, are gonna love and cherish you. We’ll also do our best to protect you from life’s sharp edges and physical harm.

Now, hold still while someone chops off a piece from the most delicate and sensitive part of your body…’

Skeptical Voter said...

NYT writers default position (shared by extreme sufferers of TDS); "If Trump, or a person in Trump's administration takes a position--it's wrong." Of course that default position will sometimes make a person look stupid, but hey, that's the price of the game.

Aggie said...

"The headline makes it sound as though human beings cannot be trusted..." How very gracious of you, as if it was inadvertent. Which is not to say I buy into the idea. And, I wonder why they didn't refer to the subjects as 'penis-bearing persons'. Maybe it's progress, who know. A truly trans-man would have a penis constructed, and then get it circumcised, Change My Mind.

Iman said...

Follow the money.

Jupiter said...

"I don't know if there's been a study done on this, but I would suspect that left leaning people tend to prefer more direction from perceived higher ups than do right leaning people."
Heh. I remember my Father used to begin a sentence with "If a study were done, it would show that ...". Why follow the Science when you can lead it?

Jaq said...

Funny how once Tucker turned on Israel, he gets these random, unsupported shots taken at him all the time.

Here is Joe Rogan taking down Bari Weiss for the same kind of knee jerk neoconism. Turns out that she couldn't even define the terms she was using, and certainly couldn't support her use of the terms.

Joe Rogan EXPOSES Bari Weiss's Baseless Smears Against Tulsi - Glenn Greenwald on YouTube

How did he expose her? Just asked her honest questions. That's why Newsom calls him a "right wing tough guy." Eventually she switches to genuine whataboutism, attacking Tulsi Gabbard for beliefs she had when she was twenty about something totally irrelevant to the discussion anyway.

Iman said...

Had a co-worker who bought a Toyota Foreskin. As I recall, he was quite happy with it.

Derve said...

A truly trans-man would have a penis constructed, and then get it circumcised, Change My Mind.
----------
Don't steal a dead man's schtick...
He hasn't even been dead a year yet.
Fight your own battles. We do. Why can't you or your boys?

MB said...

Don't want Tylenol? Make laudanum great again!

Greg The Class Traitor said...

The Left HATES it when people are given information and left to think for themselves.

Thus all the censorship programs whenever they have power

Anthony said...

Studies "linking" this or that to that or this are almost literally a dime a dozen.

People will believe whichever studies suit their purposes and discard the rest.

bagoh20 said...

"Why not read it for exactly what it is..."

Althouse tries out her new standup routine. Not bad. I laughed.

n.n said...

Removing the foreskin from a boy... uh, child's penis, has been a practice for thousands of years, among billions of families.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

RCOCEAN II said...
Unless you're doing it for religious reasons (Jews, Muslims), its unneccessary and possibly unhealthy.

Wrong, as usual:

Yes, there are numerous scientific studies, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), meta-analyses, and observational research, demonstrating that male circumcision reduces the risk of acquiring HIV (often referred to as AIDS in its advanced stage) infection in men, particularly through heterosexual intercourse. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorse voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) as an effective HIV prevention strategy in high-prevalence settings, estimating a ~60% reduction in risk for heterosexual men. This protective effect is attributed to the removal of the foreskin, which harbors HIV-susceptible cells and can trap inflammatory microbes that facilitate infection.

Circumcision is good, and it's never going to be easier than doing it early, where you don't remember the pain

MadTownGuy said...

From the post:

"Why not read it for exactly what it is, an observation that you can take into account when deciding whether to have your child circumcised and, if you do, what form of pain relief do you want?"

Because that's not the point. The point is that professionals, not parents, get to decide what's best for the kids.

This is of a piece with the SCOTUS rejection to hear the parental rights case from Colorado<)a>. Parents can't be trusted to make decisions for their kids. The rights of experts trump the rights of parents. "For the children."

Earnest Prole said...

Now that Jews cause autism I’m nostalgic for the days when it was just vaccines.

Jamie said...

I read the meta study that RFKJr was discussing - the circumcision study was one of many that the meta study referenced. It was significant in that the two populations - circumcised and not - were otherwise statistically identical, but the circumcised cohort had (if memory serves) double the rate of neurodevelopmental disorders as the un- cohort. And the study makes clear that they chose these two cohorts specifically because acetaminophen/paracetamol is given so often to baby boys undergoing circumcision that circumcision can be used as a proxy for acetaminophen exposure.

The meta study concludes that acetaminophen exposure during a period of "oxidative stress" (they at least imply not just incidentally "during" but often as a result of* the child's undergoing "oxidative stress") and while the child is in a particular developmental window is responsible for "most" cases of autism.

* The meta study counts this characterization - "during" rather than "because of" stress - as a prominent error that many studies have made in determining what data to include. These studies consider the stress to be a confounding factor rather than a contributing cause, and they tend to discount those days.

AlbertAnonymous said...

OMG OMG OMG Trump is firing all the "experts" at the CDC and he appointed an HHS secretary that's not a doctor. This is authoritarianism. He's giving the people misinformation. OMG what will we do?

So much for "my body my choice" and keep the government out of my bedroom/doctors' office/etc.

Jamie said...

Sorry, those DATA.

jim5301 said...

Does anyone still rely on kennedy- or trump for that matter -for accurate health information? I suppose people here do.

Peachy said...

The corrupt left have destroyed and are on the march to destroy it further - our health care system.

Democrats are making it illegal to make basic choices. If you want to pay out of pocket - illegal. If you need Medicaid - you have to be so poor as to not own anything and not have a cent in your bank account.

WE pay and pay and pay - and we get less and less - and our freedoms are diminished - All on purpose - from the corrupt democratic-Socialist Party USA.

Jaq said...

"particularly through heterosexual intercourse. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorse voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) as an effective HIV prevention strategy in high-prevalence settings, "

So in some countries, it's a good idea.

Jaq said...

Hit and run, unsupported by factual reference, slam at Kennedy noted.

Howard said...

A snarky article written for her Brown University girlfriends is as useful as tits on a bull. She might even have several good points, but comes off as a know it all who's main argument is an appeal to authority. I renember the good old days when libtards sported a Question Authority bumper sticker on their baby puke yellow Vulva 242 with a broken taillight. I believe you, Anita

n.n said...

HIV is primarily transmitted through sodomy by transgender males, particularly those who participate in social liberal club. It is also transmitted by intravenous drug users and contaminated blood.

TreeJoe said...

I am not an expert in autism, nor an epidemiologist, but this is the sharing of a thesis: that tylenol/acetaminophen is a contributing factor/causative factor in autism, and that tylenol exposure at a specific time point is directly correlated to much higher autism rates (i.e. "Double")

A few things here:
- Nothing wrong with sharing this information when presented in the right way
- It's a thesis you can then test in a number of ways
- Either way, and lets assume the thesis is confirmed, it establishes tylenol doesn't cause autism, but it can increase it's likelihood. That means the cause is still unknown, but contributing factors are being identified. That's good science.

As far as I can tell, this is more well founded than vaccines cause autism and that has caused issues for nearly 30 years.

Derve said...

If you teach your boys to lift the foreskin and wash, and use a condom when they don't know the HIV status of the person they're sleeping with, very few uncircumsised men have complications...
As for this? n.n said...
HIV is primarily transmitted through sodomy by transgender males, particularly those who participate in social liberal club. It is also transmitted by intravenous drug users and contaminated blood.

Trans men actually have the lowest HIV transmission rate of all. Safest penetration you could ask for!

Rocco said...

Iman said...
Had a co-worker who bought a Toyota Foreskin. As I recall, he was quite happy with it.

You have to be careful, though, because some older models had a design defect that - over time - it could limp and sag, and even potentially snap in two, which nobody wants.

Over time, water or any other liquid could pool in areas missing a little drain hole, causing rot. Toyota tried protecting some models with a protective sheath, but that was only a temporary solution.

Toyota ended up having to spend large sums of money on customers affected by this.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

jim5301 said...
Does anyone still rely on kennedy- or trump for that matter -for accurate health information? I suppose people here do.

Says the idiot who relied on Fauci for "health information".

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Jaq said...
So in some countries, it's a good idea.

"the foreskin, which .. can trap inflammatory microbes that facilitate infection."

It's the "can trap inflammatory microbes that facilitate infection" part that I key on, because that affects all males, in every country, not just heterosexual males in Africa.

Jamie said...

this is more well founded than vaccines cause autism and that has caused issues for nearly 30 years.

And, if borne out by further study (which was the point of the meta study - that this link deserves more and specific study and that clinical practice ought already to have responded to the apparent link), could explain the anecdotal observations of all the parents who linked the timing of their children's vaccines and the onset of regressive autism. Of course these observations have been written off as confirmation bias - but what if they gave their babies and toddlers acetaminophen for their post-vaccine discomfort, as they were advised to do, and that, combined with whatever else made that child vulnerable, kicked off the regression? If babies who were given Tylenol were not included in a study because the administration of medication was considered a confounding factor, no link would show up.

boatbuilder said...

My wife asked her 92-year old mother if she took Tylenol when she was pregnant with her. She replied "Only if I was hung over."

jim said...

No, "only" in this case clearly means that any parent who takes Kennedy seriously will be confused and guilted.

The man has no business making this inane statement, but I guess that is what he was hired to do.

Jamie said...

I was never a "vaccines cause autism" proponent. But reading that study has made me think twice about what else vaccines and other things that produce an immune or stress response might have on common.

Tina Trent said...

It's really just a hypothetical. Stop thinking with your foreskins, which have infectious downsides too. But if the message here is to limit exposure to drugs in infant boys, there's no reason not to research further.

Some of the research needs to include the effect of pain in infancy, but male "circumsion" doesn't rank high on that scale compared with dental and ear and breathing issues. I'd start with ear issues, which have already been proven to be trauma-inducing in children, plus innocent, previous SSRI use by pregnant women.

If the take-away is vigilance for fewer drugs in an infant's body, who can disagree?

Jamie said...

If the take-away is vigilance for fewer drugs in an infant's body, who can disagree?

Three guesses!

This said, we do have to approach with caution: the precautionary principle is often bad too. But man, I hope this doesn't make a bunch of progressive women start giving their small children Tylenol with their gummy vitamins or whatever else they give them.

Earnest Prole said...

RFKJr has already said that his comments have been mischaracterized ("as usual," he said) - he's not talking about circumcision as a practice.

Oopsie-poopsie!

The man has been in the business of making public statements for what, fifty years?

RCOCEAN II said...

Dont mutilate your sons penis without his permission. If he wants to get circumicized he can do it at 18.

RCOCEAN II said...

I dont know a single man with an uncut dick who got "infections". But then they're not Gay.

tommyesq said...

The headline makes it sound as though human beings cannot be trusted with information.

You have just identified the leftist mindset. Pretty much everything they have done since the Obama era involves trying to keep the public from knowing stuff. Obamacare? Have to pass it to see what is in it. Questioning the Covid vaccine? Government pressures Facebook and the like to censor and suppress even the slightest hint that there may be an issue. Voting irregularities? Lets not look into it so that we can continue to assert that there is no evidence of voter fraud. Etc.

Dogma and Pony Show said...

Even if RFK is/proves wrong on his medical hunches, people should still appreciate his efforts to end the sort of exclusive franchise that the public health establishment has tried to hold on medical information. Similarly, even people who didn't agree with Charlie Kirk's religious and patriotic values should still applaud him for the way he actively promoted the value of civil discourse.

Gospace said...

boatbuilder said...
My wife asked her 92-year old mother if she took Tylenol when she was pregnant with her. She replied "Only if I was hung over."


Tylenol wasn't available OTC until 1960. Sounds like false memory to me. Probably took quite a bit of aspirin.

Inga said...

Jews have been circumcising their baby sons for over 3000 years. So now it causes a higher rate of Autism because of Tylenol use? Whatever… I believe Jewish parents are smart enough to make an informed decision, not based on RFK Jr. latest theories. Most parents are cautious about giving their babies any drugs haphazardly.

Jaq said...

Yes Inga, the use of Tylenol in hospital circumcisions, not those done by a moyle, who use alcohol traditionally, it's not the circumcision itself, seems very likely to increase the risk of autism in genetically susceptible boys. Why is it wrong for parents to have this information?

Jaq said...

The use of the term "Jews" is very reductive, BTW, and it's almost never grammatically required.

Inga said...

“Today, in a cabinet meeting, U.S. secretary of health and human services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., claimed that there is a link between autism and circumcision. “There’s two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol,” he stated, without citing the studies.

Kennedy was probably referring to a 2013 study of eight countries and a 2015 study from Denmark, both of which claimed to show a link between circumcision and autism rates. Helen Tager-Flusberg, an autism researcher and a professor emerita at Boston University, calls the methods used in those studies “appalling.” Tager-Flusberg leads the Coalition of Autism Scientists, a group that advocates for high-quality autism research.

Neither study shows a causal link between circumcision—or the pain relief medications that are often prescribed along with the procedure—and higher rates of autism. In the decade-plus since each was published, autism researchers have heavily criticized these studies.And after reviewing both studies, scientists last year found no evidence supporting the claim that circumcision leads to autism or any other adverse psychological effects.”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-jr-cites-truly-appalling-studies-to-tie-autism-to-circumcision-and/

Jaq said...

My sister was born post 1960 and my mother would be in her late 90's were she still alive.

tcrosse said...

Seinfeld presented the last word on circumcision

Jaq said...

Inga plays three card monte with the facts, and changes the claim from Tylenol to circumcision in order to pretend to prove her point.

Inga said...

“The use of the term "Jews" is very reductive, BTW, and it's almost never grammatically required.”

As a noun: "Jews" is the plural noun for Jewish people, and "a Jew" refers to an individual. Both are acceptable and not inherently offensive.“

Jaq said...

It's like the Democrats are either painfully stupid —Is it like being high all the time? Or they think that playing stupid is good politics.

Inga said...


“Inga plays three card monte with the facts, and changes the claim from Tylenol to circumcision in order to pretend to prove her point.”

I said…”So now it causes a higher rate of Autism because of Tylenol use?”

I guess Jaq missed this sentence of mine in his haste to make an ass of himself.

Inga said...

Timofey, don’t you have some Russian propaganda to peddle?

Jaq said...

Well, gee, if it says it on line, it must be true, just like the stuff about circumcision and autism!

Jaq said...

Well, missy,
after reviewing both studies, scientists last year found no evidence supporting the claim that circumcision leads to autism

The conclusion in your link did not address Tylenol, did it.

Jaq said...

I guess you can't be a good Democrat if you don't implicitly trust ever pronouncement out of the military industrial complex that has gotten us into war after war after war, how things have changed. Remember when they used to say "Question Authority"?

Bob Boyd said...

The headline makes it sound as though human beings cannot be trusted with information.

That is a fundamental tenet of Progressivism.

Derve said...

As a noun: "Jews" is the plural noun for Jewish people, and "a Jew" refers to an individual. Both are acceptable and not inherently offensive.“
--------
And happy holidays to all the Jewish students in the room who celebrate! lol

mikeski said...

not those done by a moyle

It's "mohel", but I like the idea of:

Q: "Hey, how did the bris go?"

A. "Great, it went exactly According To Moyle."

Inga said...

Jag said…
“The conclusion in your link did not address Tylenol, did it.”

“Neither study shows a causal link between circumcision—or the pain relief medications that are often prescribed along with the procedure—and higher rates of autism.”

I guess Jag is having issues reading carefully today.

Bob Boyd said...

They didn't have Tylenol yet in my day. They just gave me a bullet to bite on.

Howard (not that Howard) said...

You had a bullet? I had an arrow. Got tetanus too.

Inga said...

I remember when my newborn son was circumcised in the hospital the day after he was born, I heard a baby being brought up the hospital hallway screaming bloody murder, I was thinking I’m glad that’s not my baby coming this way. Well, it was, the nurses in the nursery thought he needed some of mommy’s magic milk to calm down and forget about his owie.

Jaq said...

Neither study shows a causal link between circumcision—or the pain relief medications that are often prescribed along with the procedure—and higher rates of autism. In the decade-plus since each was published, autism researchers have heavily criticized these studies.And after reviewing both studies, scientists last year found no evidence supporting the claim that circumcision leads to autism or any other adverse psychological effects.”

For one thing, this is word salad. Because the authors of the study claim that they did, and some "professor emerita" who seems to be an activist, has criticized the studies, that's not the same as showing that they were wrong.

Why is the final sentence more tightly qualified than the earlier sentence? And why is no support provided for the claim that the studies showed no link beyond criticism of their methodology by an activist retired professor.

Had I written a paper like this in college, as poorly reasoned as this article, and with my conclusions as mixed up and poorly supported, it would have come back marked up in red, and the look the prof would have given me when he or she handed it back, I can only imagine.

Jaq said...

"And after reviewing both studies, scientists last year found no evidence supporting the claim that circumcision leads to autism or any other adverse psychological effects.”

This seems to refer to a later review, (last year) one which does not criticize any claims regarding Tylenol, but only addresses a claim never made, which was that it was the circumcision.

Kakistocracy said...

The first cut is the deepest.

Mickey said...

Raping children with knives and harvesting their flesh for profit is wrong. What is complicated about that? Girls are protected from it. Why not boys? The whole issue is spoken of in an upside-down way and it's a mystery to me why. My best explanation is that people are trauma-bonding with each other. If you don't have to cut babies, you shouldn't, so stop.

Jaq said...

So basically there were two studies, which agree with the most recent review of studies, that Tylenol use can impact neurodevelopment.

Some retired professor criticized them, whose opinion carries a lot of weight with a retired nurse.

A later study (last year) upheld the finding about Tylenol, or at least did not contradict it.

Jim at said...

I must've missed the part where RFK, Jr. mandated any of the things he said.

Smilin' Jack said...

“It might not be causal, but don't parents have the right to decide if they should take the risk?”

You’d think that right would be subsumed in their right to mutilate their children.

Ralph L said...

In college, I read about an African tribe that circumcised during puberty in a mass religious right-of-passage ritual. Did not sound like fun. Send Tylenol.

Circumcision rates have drooped in 60 years, but the rate of Tylenol usage for it may have shot up with autism rates. I suppose someone's plotted both over time.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

RCOCEAN II said...
I dont know a single man with an uncut dick who got "infections".

Really? How many guys do you know where you know the status of their dick? And why do you know that?

Iman said...

“The first cut is the deepest.”

Be honest, it removed all you had, Sparky.

RCOCEAN II said...

"Jews have been circumcising their baby sons for over 3000 years. So now it causes a higher rate of Autism because of Tylenol use"

Non-Jews and Non- muslims should not circumcize their sons. The only real medical risk is an infection of the penis which only occurs if you don't clean yourself properly. Even if you dont, the infection is easily treated.

STIs are a different story, but having a circumized penis doesn't help you with that.

RCOCEAN II said...

BTW, we don't use tylenol - only aspirin. Unless medically recomended for some treatment.

Derve said...

I know! Ann and meade are flying out to LA today to catch the next two Brewers games and cheer in person for da boys. That's why no posts today... she's not hiding, licking her wounds after that first one she put up today. Just no blogging on the plane. Amitrite?

James K said...

"male circumcision reduces the risk of acquiring HIV"

It also prevents a painful (and not so rare) condition in boys called paraphimosis, one of the treatments for which is ... circumcision.

rhhardin said...

Foreskins on toast is still a military favorite.

lonejustice said...

Jews are always circumcised. Maybe Kennedy wants a way to tell the Jews from the Gentiles. For whatever future use.

JAORE said...

Parental rights? Make your own decision? Gedouttahere with that right wing bullshit.

lonejustice said...

Kennedy and Vance are devout Catholics. We all know what the official view of the Roman Catholic Church was during the Holocaust.

JAORE said...

"The first cut is the deepest."
Were that it was so....

Jamie said...

Most parents are cautious about giving their babies any drugs haphazardly.

And most parents take comfort in knowing that their doctors believe acetaminophen to be entirely safe even for their newborns.

Wouldn't it be great to know for certain whether human babies, born at a much earlier developmental stage than most mammals, notably with regard to their neurological development since that's humanity's stock in trade, are vulnerable to the neurodevelopmental effects of acetaminophen as demonstrated in animal studies? After all, thalidomide is still prescribed for certain conditions - just not during pregnancy anymore.

And doctors used to encourage women to smoke for weight loss. (And then to smoke to calm their nerves, of course.)

But of course we can't make that sort of mistake anymore... The Science has spoken!

Trump, that magnificent bastard, as people say, has worked his jiujitsu on the Democrats again - turning them into the party of big pharma and heads in the sand.

Butkus51 said...

One word answer.

Trump.

FormerLawClerk said...

And not a single word about CONSENT.

Dude1394 said...

Another one word answer. REPUBLICAN. See, there is nothing coming out of a democrats mouth these days that is honest, straightforward or trustworthy. They seem to have gone completely mad while lying about biden for 4 years.

Jaq said...

lonejustice is imagining that RFKJr is planning to round up Jewish people, and she expects us to take her seriously, and remember, no sarcastic answers to her!

Derve said...

A rat necklace for ann.
https://foxblood.com/collections/halloween/products/rat-necklace

Inga said...

“Wouldn't it be great to know for certain whether human babies, born at a much earlier developmental stage than most mammals, notably with regard to their neurological development since that's humanity's stock in trade, are vulnerable to the neurodevelopmental effects of acetaminophen as demonstrated in animal studies?”

YES, indeed it would, but that hasn’t happened yet.

n.n said...

"Wouldn't it be great to know for certain whether human babies, born at a much earlier developmental stage than most mammals, notably with regard to their neurological development since that's humanity's stock in trade, are vulnerable to the neurodevelopmental effects of acetaminophen as demonstrated in animal studies?”

We know there is a correlation. We don't know if it's a causative, coincidental, or contributory effect. However, the clinical studies have demonstrated an increased risk, which should be considered when administering the drug to pregnant mothers in order to protect her baby.

FullMoon said...

Any studies done regarding climate change effect on autism? Seems rather obvious. How about effect of unleaded gasoline?
Modern technology making it easier to perform and access studies.

FullMoon said...

Does one or two qualify as on the spectrum?

"Common signs of autism in adults include:

finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling
getting very anxious about social situations
finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own
seeming blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to
finding it hard to say how you feel
taking things very literally – for example, you may not understand sarcasm or phrases like "break a leg"
having the same routine every day and getting very anxious if it changes"

JaimeRoberto said...

They think we are stoopid, and that our relationship with The Science must be mediated by Experts.

Jamie said...

Inga @4:56, exactly my point. But what are we hearing instead? "Tylenol is perfectly safe even for newborns! The Science Is Settled!"

n.n said...

Climate change? The northern hemisphere is cooling, precipitation is increasing, and the days are growing shorter. The hurricane season has yet to materialize in any significant degree. Mothers should stay warm, to keep their babies warm, and avoid drugs and jabs with toxic and inflammatory effects, and clinics, in order to minimize risk to her baby's viability.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Maybe there is a good reason why pharma makes a Tylenol for children?

Yancey Ward said...

"Unless you're doing it for religious reasons (Jews, Muslims), its unneccessary and possibly unhealthy."

Why even this exception? There should be a full on ban of the practice on newborns continuing until the age of 18. If at the age of 18 you want to get your foreskin chopped off, then that is on you.

n.n said...

Tylenol advised... nearly a decade ago?... that mothers should minimize consumption of acetaminophen while pregnant in order to mitigate risk to her child's neurological development. Similar warnings were offered by other drug and jab manufacturers. The recent studies only confirmed what was already known about elevated risk to her child.

Rocco said...

lonejustice said...
Kennedy and Vance are devout Catholics. We all know what the official view of the Roman Catholic Church was during the Holocaust.

The official view of the Catholic Church - before, during, and after the Holocaust - is that circumcision is not needed for theological reasons, and should only be performed for medical reasons, not cosmetic.

n.n said...

The same risk analysis and choices should be considered for other procedures and treatments, including: piercings, jabs, drugs, diet, abortions, etc, which affect viability, sex-correlated gender, etc.

Aught Severn said...

Don't want Tylenol? Make laudanum great again!

If the tincture is good enough for Stephen Maturin, why, it is good enough for me. Come, there is not a moment to be lost!

narciso said...

Actually pope pius was working with the anti nazi resistance for the bulk of the war and before of course if you take hochhuth as your watchword im so sorry for you

Derve said...

Did Jewish doctors urge circumcision on Christian boys so that the Jewish boys could effectively be hidden in the population back in the days when the Jews were all changing their names and hoping not to be identified as Jewish? Seems odd that so many in America just started circumsizing their own b/c forskins are allegedly "dirty" or that they wanted to emulate Jewish traditions...

Derve said...

Is she hurt or sick
or just sulking, meade?

n.n said...

Science is constructed with correlations in a limited domain of reference from the observer. Humans use judgment and exercise risk management in order to mitigate progress and sustain viability. For example, to mitigate risk of HIV infection, don't use the back... black hole... whore h/t NAACP for anything other than elimination, and don't indulge your hedonistic appetite in social liberal club. Also, be wary of intravenous jabs and contaminated blood.

William50 said...

I would be curious to see the percentage of autistic Jewish children compared to the group total.

ceowens said...

I, for one, am glad I do not look like there is a blind mole emerging from my nether regions. Much prefer the comparison to one of Elon's rockets.

Derve said...

ceowens said...
I, for one, am glad I do not look like there is a blind mole emerging from my nether regions. Much prefer the comparison to one of Elon's rockets.
--------
You've never enjoyed docking though...
Don't knock it til you've tried it.

Also, for the sake of your women partners, stop pounding her because you have limited sensitivity and that's the only way you can get off. I think uncircumsized men are better lovers because they don't need to go to poundtown to get off.

Derve said...

William50 said...
I would be curious to see the percentage of autistic Jewish children compared to the group total.
-----------
You'd have to distinguish anti-social behavior that comes from autism from the anti-social behavior that some Jews simply inherit naturally tho. Be honest: there's an awful lot of socially uncouth -- deliberately so? -- anti social Jewish men with bad personality problems out there...

How could you tell if it's just innate Jewishness or autism?

Jaq said...

"I would be curious to see the percentage of autistic Jewish children compared to the group total."

Why? Moyles use whisky or brandy. Nobody has ever found a link between circumcision and autism.

Original Mike said...

Spent the afternoon listening to NPR as I drove home from our summer place. There was an hour on how Trump is Stalin (well, not quite yet, but we have to be super vigilant because he wants to be and it could happen), and I was told that RFK said that circumcision causes autism. I kid you not.

Tina Trent said...

In the capacity of a refugee placement VISTA specializing in public health and a state lobbyist who helped pass the first anti-female genital mutilation state bill in the country, I have seen Muslim females who have been "circumsized." And you whiny men who compare Western male circumcision at birth with this inhuman mutilation, done at adolescence, with no anesthetic, sometimes with sharpened rocks, complete removal of the clitoris thus ability to ever feel sexual pleasure, and crude stitching that nearly closes off the vagina and sometimes urethra, causing life-long pain, infections, severe, sometimes life-threatening menstrual problems, loss of normal urination, UTIs, kidney failure, fistulas as menstrual blood builds up (go ahead, look that one up), dangerous deliveries of children through a wall of scar tissue, and hubby tearing the scars open on the wedding night, are just hopelessly ignorant or mentally ill. Or both.

Research that, freethinkers.

gadfly said...

Religious circumcision is a practice primarily associated with Judaism and is known as Brit Milah. The Jewish ceremony of circumcision is performed on the eighth day after a male infant's birth. It symbolizes the covenant between God and Abraham, as described in the Book of Genesis. Bobby Jr. needs to stay away from First Amendment rights.

As for acetaminophen, it remains the only over-the-counter pain reliever outside of NSAIDs, including aspirin, which have long been proven to be bad for the heart. NSAIDs can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes by affecting blood clotting and raising blood pressure. NSAIDS may also cause changes in blood flow that can lead to cardiovascular issues. RFK, Jr. offers no viable alternative to Tylenol.

n.n said...

Male Circumcision in Islam

Male circumcision is one of the important rites in Islam.

n.n said...

khitān, in Islam, circumcision of the male; by extension it may also refer to the circumcision of the female (properly khafḍ).

Peachy said...

Parents are all so dumb. Please give your children to the pedo left.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Back in the 90s I remarked in a discussion about child seats for cars, that I thought that DOT should simply publish the relevant data, and let parents make up their own minds about what to use.
I got immediate vigorous pushback along the lines of "Most parents are too dumb/busy/careless/evil to study that data. They must be COMPELLED to do the RIGHT THING."

Tina Trent said...

Shall I list the cowards?

GRW3 said...

Once again, correlation is not causation. However, a correlation like this might point to something related to causation. So, let's consider what that might be. These days, circumcision is seen as more of a square thing to do, less likely among those who eschew society norms, like hippies and, quite likely, anti-vaxxers. Someone who disdains a societal expectation like circumcision, may also be very skeptical about vaccines.

Bunkypotatohead said...

But if parents want to have their sons dick cut off so they can call him their daughter...well everyone's fine with that.

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