Tag: Children

Putting Children At Risk

This group leading the country has already but our children at risk by depriving them of the food that some need to survive and now he, Donny and RJK,Jr, want the children to expose themselves to debilitating diseases….

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits. The order advocates separating the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different shots administered in separate appointments, and directs the nation’s health department to improve vaccine research, according to a White House fact sheet on the order. Separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines for children are not currently available in the United States, and vaccines are already extensively researched, the AP reports.

Speaking about the order at the Oval Office on Monday, Trump repeatedly suggested the number or timing of vaccines could play a role in rising rates of autism spectrum disorder, even as scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link. He also touted several changes to the childhood vaccine schedule that his health department has already attempted, but that have been blocked by a federal judge. He said his administration would no longer recommend COVID-19, flu, and hepatitis B vaccinations for children.

  • Trump said he wants to find out “what’s going on with autism,” Mediaite reports. “It’s many, many times what it used to be years ago, and it gets progressively worse, and we’ve had progressively more and more vaccines,” he said, adding, “Very simply, large amounts of vaccine—large amounts—like vats of vaccine are currently pumped into your child’s body.”
  • The renewed focus on vaccines marks a departure from his administration’s recent efforts to emphasize less controversial health policies related to healthy eating, drug price negotiations and medical fraud crackdowns ahead of November’s midterm elections, the AP reports.
  • Public health experts have raised concerns that spacing out shots as Trump suggests can lead to an increased risk that children become infected with a vaccine-preventable disease before returning for another visit. Childhood vaccines—and how and when to give them in combination—go through rigorous studies, and safety tracking continues for years as the shots are used.
  • “I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong,” Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said on X. “The President does not have the expertise to make these changes.” Vaccines, Cassidy said, are effective, “overwhelmingly safe,” and do not cause autism. “Breaking up vaccines will mean children have to get more shots to get the same protection, not fewer shots,” he said. “It will increase hesitancy and make children less safe. Parents should listen to their child’s pediatrician about vaccines rather than listening to an inaccurate executive order. This is so wrong.”
  • Even as the order calls for revised vaccine recommendations, states, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. The order advises states with school vaccine mandates to consider updating their laws to reflect the administration’s preferred schedule, the fact sheet said. Many states have already said that they no longer follow federal guidance and instead rely on recommendations from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Washington Post reports.
  • Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist before he entered politics, set out to overhaul immunization guidance in the first year of Trump’s term. He fired an entire 17-member vaccine advisory committee, installing replacements who made far more restrictive recommendations that have since been halted by a federal judge. He also personally directed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism, without supplying any new evidence to support the change.
  • Scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded that there is no link between childhood vaccines and autism. On Monday, Kennedy repeated his assertion that he believes an unknown environmental factor is to blame for rising autism diagnoses and said that his department will deliver research findings “as soon as they are ready.”

If this goes forth stand back and watch the problems that he creates…..think Whooping cough and measles, and you cannot see this as a good thing.

Children in the crosshairs.

I read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Proof Is In The Policy

Since 1980 the GOP has been the champion of the anti-choice movement…..they have put all their energy in protecting a fetus from termination and so far they have been successful.

In that time people like me has been preaching that fetus is all important, right of choice has no bearing, that the GOP cares for a fetus and yet once it is born there is no concern.

Now there is more proof that they care nothing for children….

RFJ, Jr, the slug in charge of HHS, has made another of his pronouncements and condemned many children to crisis….

Federal health officials have yanked millions in grants from one of their most outspoken critics, and the American Academy of Pediatrics says kids will pay the price. The Department of Health and Human Services this week canceled seven grants to the AAP worth an estimated $18 million, according to documents reviewed by the Washington Post. The money had funded programs on issues such as sudden infant death, adolescent health, rural care access, birth defects, early autism detection, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. AAP CEO Mark Del Monte said the sudden cutoff would “directly impact and potentially harm” children and families, adding that the group is weighing a legal challenge.

Administration officials say the grants were scrapped because the projects no longer match the department’s priorities. Termination letters cited the academy’s use of “identity-based language”—including references to “pregnant and postpartum people,” racism- and poverty-related health disparities, and commitments to “diverse perspectives”—as out of step with current CDC and HHS direction. One Health Resources and Services Administration termination letter said a youth health grant didn’t sufficiently emphasize nutrition and chronic-disease prevention. Internal emails show senior political appointees at the HHS and CDC pushing staff to cancel the awards swiftly.

The move comes amid an escalating feud between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the AAP over vaccines. The academy has accused Kennedy of sidelining scientific advisers, dismantling the CDC’s independent vaccine panel, and weakening trust in immunizations. It has pushed back by making its own vaccination recommendations, reports the AP. The group has also criticized Kennedy’s promotion of leucovorin, a form of vitamin B9, for regular use with kids with autism, noting a lack of evidence on its benefits and risks, per Reuters.

Kennedy has responded by highlighting AAP’s funding from pharmaceutical companies and suggesting its COVID vaccine guidance for children may serve “Big Pharma benefactors,” per the Post. The AAP and other medical groups are already suing the HHS and Kennedy, arguing his changes to federal coronavirus vaccine policy breached the law and asking a court to reconstitute the panel of vaccine advisers. A former senior CDC official warned that cutting off groups like the AAP risks undermining the public health network that connects scientific evidence to everyday medical practice.

This opens up a bunch of health problems, both mental and physical, for children….

I have been telling you so…..at what point do the mindless idiots stop drinking the poison kool-ade?

Just another disgusting individual serving a disgusting leader.

I must return to the hospital today for labs and doctors so I may not be around later……

If you are planning on Christmas parties then please drink responsibly and as always Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

He’s Coming For Your Kids

Anyone that has enough intelligence to watch the news knows just how much Donny loathes education along with his silly cronies in the GOP….he, Donny, proves how much he hates educated kids almost daily….

Since President Donald Trump went back to the White House in January, his administration has been on a frenzied and haphazard tour gutting existing government agencies, flouting norms and attempting to force conservative values across the government. Much of this effort has, ostensibly, been laser-focused on ending or curtailing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

So it may seem discordant that the administration also has announced investigations into several school systems for allegedly violating federal laws surrounding student civil rights, threatening to pull their federal funding if they don’t comply.

Until, that is, you realize the schools are mostly in blue states. And the allegations all have to do with questionable claims about transgender kids.

“They’re using schools and education as a big battleground for their culture wars,” Will Ragland, a researcher at the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, told HuffPost.

Throughout his campaign and the early days of his second term, the president has claimed that American schools are failing because the Department of Education is pushing so-called radical left-wing ideas such as teaching about the history of racism in the U.S. or reading books with LGBTQ+ themes. It’s a common talking point in conservative circles, despite the fact that the agency does not set curriculum.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-education-punish-blue-states_n_67e6db87e4b043ff63a71782

Then there is those dolts in the GOP they have a hard-on for education since about 1980 and it just keeps getting worse with every election.

Red states suffer the mist from a lackluster education……like red state Mississippi which is the least educated state….

50th Place – Mississippi

Once again, the Magnolia State finds itself at the tail end of the American educational race. This isn’t a new view for it, as it’s often seen the back of the pack when it comes to schooling systems. But wait, there’s more! This educational rollercoaster doesn’t seem to have an end in sight, with the state’s academic woes continuing to pile up.

The Magnolia State, Mississippi, has sadly earned the dubious distinction of being the nation’s least educated state, according to WalletHub. Other reports echo this sentiment, with Education Week giving it a disheartening ‘F’ for academic achievement and a ‘D’ for student success. But can you guess which state is nipping at Mississippi’s heels, vying for second-to-last place?

If you would like to see where your state falls on the least to most stat….

https://parentinfluence.com/educated-states-in-the-us-is/2/

Red states keep making laws that have nothing  to do with educating children and more about insane fears of problem that do not exist…..Voters in red states are idiots and the stats show why.

Education of our children is too important to be sidetracked with bullshit.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

But The Economy Is Doing Well

Have you noticed that the MSM reports the economy is doing well….apparently based on market information not reality….in other words as long as corporations are turning a big profit the people should be happy and compliant.

If all that is true and the economy is going great why is one of the biggest issues in the upcoming election the economic woes we are facing those days?

If the economy is working so well how come child poverty has risen yet again?

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and congressional Republicans faced fresh backlash on Tuesday after the U.S. Census Bureau released new data showing that the nation’s child poverty rate more than doubled in 2022 compared to the previous year, thanks in large part to the expiration of the boosted Child Tax Credit.

The expanded CTC, an American Rescue Plan (ARP) policy that sent eligible families up to $300 per month for each child and eliminated the original CTC’s regressive phase-in, helped push the U.S. child poverty rate to a record low of 5.2% in 2021.

But the program expired at the end of that year after Manchin (D-W.Va.), who supported the ARP, opposed an extension, baselessly claiming that some parents would use the money on drugs instead of their children. (Survey data showed that most families, including those in West Virginia, used the money to buy food and help with rent, along with other essentials.)

Congressional Republicans, who unanimously opposed the ARP, also rejected calls to support an extension of the boosted CTC, part of a broader pandemic-era safety net that is now collapsing.

The result of the program’s expiration, as predicted, was a devastating surge in child poverty. According to the new Census Bureau data, the child poverty rate rose to 12.4% in 2022—the largest single-year increase on record.

The overall U.S. poverty rate also increased, rising from 7.8% in 2021 to 12.4% last year. More than 37 million people in the U.S. lived in poverty in 2022, the Census Bureau said.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/manchin-child-poverty

No one I talk with seems to hold the belief that the economy is doing good.

How about you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–30Jan23

A few weeks back one of the big stories was that the birth rate in the US is declining for yet another year.

And right on cue all the speculation for this was put into action.

But really what is the reason for this decline.

Personally I think it is nothing but fear on the part of potential parents.

There has been a lot of buzz in the media over the last few years around declining population growth — people aren’t having as many babies as they used to, especially in the United States. The birth rate in the U.S. has indeed been in steady decline since around 2007. Spurred by the Great Recession of 2008-2010, the birth dropped to 1.71 in 2019, the lowest since the 1970s. And although it’s gone up since then, the birth rate has remained relatively low.

Alongside the decline in birth rate has come widespread speculation that a population collapse is looming on the horizon, which could result in economic upheaval — and, if you’re prone to flights of whimsy, a Mad Max meets the Wild West-style dystopian future.

According to a new study, however, the plummeting U.S. birth rate is not because people want to have fewer children than their parents and grandparents did; it’s likely that they’re scared to have any kids at all. In case you haven’t been paying attention, things aren’t great for parents in the U.S., and many people of child-bearing age are playing it safe and waiting to see if conditions improve before having a baby.

“It’s hard to have children in the United States right now,” said study co-author Sarah Hayford, director of Ohio State University’s Institute for Population Research. “People feel more worried about the future than they might have been several decades ago. They worry about the economy, child care, and whether they can afford to have children.”

Hayford’s team asked 13 cohorts of women and ten cohorts of men born between the 1960s and 2000s about the number of children they would like to have. The average number they reported was not dramatically different compared to the number of children people in previous generations wanted. Hayford’s study groups reported wanting 2.1 children, compared to 2.2 children in the early 1960s.

https://www.fatherly.com/news/birth-rate-us-study-social-safety-net

Good points but I feel it is deeper than that….how about you?

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Nothing For Child Poverty

I go and on about the amount of taxpayer dollars being thrown at Ukraine when that cash is needed here and now.

The Congress has authorized almost a trillion dollars (that is a “T”) for the Pentagon but when a bill to help fight child poverty….and it failed.

Congressional Republicans happily teamed up with Democrats this month to authorize $858 billion in military spending for the next fiscal year, but the GOP is refusing to even consider proposals to revive the Child Tax Credit expansion that lifted millions of kids out of poverty last year—even though bringing the program back would cost a fraction of the Pentagon outlay.

A spokesperson for Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told HuffPost earlier this week that Republicans have thus far been unwilling to negotiate over the Child Tax Credit (CTC) boost, which they unanimously opposed when it was enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan last year.

“Republicans have refused to engage at all on the Child Tax Credit,” said Ashley Schapitl. “In fact they made clear they would not negotiate on any deal that includes the child tax credit.”

Leading Republicans readily confirmed their refusal to consider the CTC boost as part of an end-of-year tax package. With the 60-vote Senate filibuster intact, Democrats need the support of at least 10 Republicans to revive the expanded CTC in some form.

“As of right now there’s no support for that on the Republican side,” Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, told HuffPost.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), one of the 176 House Republicans who voted in favor of the $858 billion National Defense Authorization Act last week, declared that “the country frankly doesn’t have the time or the money for the partisan, expensive provisions such as [the] Child Tax Credit.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/12/17/congress-just-passed-858-billion-military-budget-gop-blocking-12-billion-fight-child

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of just 11 senators to vote against the NDAA, lamented that the bill provides the military with “many billions more than Congress has invested in addressing many of the biggest security concerns facing the American people—such as climate change, the opioid epidemic, poverty, hunger, and disease.”

“Instead, it doubles down on the failed approach of pouring money into a bloated, inefficient, and sometimes counterproductive national security machine underwritten by an army of lobbyists and gold-plated contractors that fails to deliver on the needs of the American people,” Markey added. “I simply cannot support it.”

I just wish that the American people cared more about their neighbors than some made up BS that needs our money thrown at it…..while that cheer for military victories they allow children to go hungry…..very disturbing at the lack of empathy.

This is so sad.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What About Child Poverty?

I have waited a few days to see what the MSM would say about this… but sadly Ukraine situation became hot and truckers were preparing to try and shutdown DC….so this report was of NO importance.

With the rise of inflation this problem will get worse.

The rise in child poverty is just not that worthy of a report….a problem that could have been resolved with needed funds given freely to a corrupt government to fight a war……

The number of children in America living in poverty jumped dramatically after just one month without the expanded child tax credit payments, according to a new study. Advocates fear the lapse in payments could unravel what they say were landmark achievements in poverty reduction, the AP reports. Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy estimates 3.7 million more children were living in poverty by January—a 41% increase from December, when families received their last check. The federal aid started last July but ended after President Biden’s Build Back Better bill stalled in Congress. Payments of up to $300 per child were delivered directly to bank accounts monthly.

The Columbia study, which combines annual US Census data with information from the Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey bulletins, found that the monthly child poverty rate increased from 12.1% in December to 17% in January. That’s the highest level since December 2020, when the US was grappling with high unemployment and a resurgence of COVID-19. Black and Latino children experienced the highest percentage point increases in poverty—5.9% and 7.1% respectively. Last week marked the second missed deposit of the year.

Megan Curran of the Center on Poverty and Social Policy said the sudden spike shows how quickly the payments became core to financial stability for millions of families. “It really had a huge impact right off the bat,” Curran said. “We saw food insecurity drop almost immediately as soon as the payments started … all of that progress that we made could now be lost.” Curran said the increase in children living in poverty could also partially reflect rising prices. The original goal of the child tax credit program was to cut nationwide child poverty in half.

The Pentagon budget is around $750 billion and little opposition politically….so that tells me that children and poverty in this country means NOTHING to the slugs in DC

For that matters means little to the American people….and that is the saddest part of this.

But let’s be honest….Russia, Ukraine and China are not the real problem they made out to be….but rather the rise in poverty here in this country….

Mainstream US media continues to celebrate the supposed strength of the US economy. Almost daily, headlines speak of hopeful numbers, sustainable growth, positive trends and constant gains. The reality on the ground, however, tells of something entirely different, which raises the questions: Are Americans being lied to? And for what purpose?

“US Economy Grew 1.7% in Fourth Quarter, Capping a Strong Year,” The New York Times reported. “US Economy Grew 5.7% in 2021, Fastest Full-Year Clip,” The Washington Post added. Reuters, Voice of America, The Financial Times, CNN, Market Watch and many others all concurred. But if that is the case, why then is US President Joe Biden’s approval rating at an all time low? And why are many Americans literally going hungry?

…

Here are some sobering numbers: 56% of all Americans cannot produce a meager $1,000 as an emergency expense from their existing savings, CNBC reported; 1 in 10 US adults have gone hungry last December as a result of poverty, Forbes.com reported; Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy revealed that child poverty rate in the US stands at 17%, “one of the highest among developed countries”.

If American workers are studied separately from the larger population, the numbers are even more grim: three quarters of American workers said that “it was very or somewhat difficult to make ends meet,” according to a study conducted by Shift Project, and reported in NBC News online, 40% of the polled workers said that they are not able to come up with $400 in emergency money. But the most shocking of all, according to the same study, is that “around 20% said that they went hungry because they couldn’t afford enough to eat”.

Biden’s Real Challenge is Not Russia or China, but Poverty in America

If the MSM were truly the bringer of news then the focus should be on what is happening in our country….but then since corporate America owns the news….truth and accuracy is not their intent.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Kids Say The Damnedest Things

Sunday and time for a little humor….

Back in my day Art Linkletter had a program on the Tube called “Kids Say The Darnedest Things” where he would talk with kids on every show and their hilarious answers…..

Keeping in that vane…I found a site that has some great stuff by kids….who, by the way, are a lot sharper than we give them credit…..

Learning new, fascinating, and sometimes boring facts in school is a rather daunting task. If you really think about it, kids have to be prepared to learn new things every day and then regurgitate that information in the form of test answers. Sometimes, kids nail their tests and other times they provide answers that are wrong but worth a few points just because of the humor they bring to our lives. Here are some absolutely correct but wrong test answers that will have you rolling on the floor laughing.

I’m A Freeloader

This kid didn’t mince their words and for that, we love him. Because deep down, we definitely feel the same way. At least we know exactly where this kid stands on finding a job and supporting themselves. Maybe their attitude will change in the future and they’ll pick up a job or two, but honestly, we don’t know.

Freeloader-Kid-86626.jpg

https://www.giveitlove.com/hilarious-kid-answers-to-test-questions/

Believe me…their answers will tickle your fancy and in some cases make you cry with laughter….

Enjoy!

In closing….TS Cristobal bears down on the Gulf Coast….we will see lots of rain and a bit of wind…Louisiana may not be that lucky…they are looking at a possible storm surge….

Be Well…..Be Safe……

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–07Jan20

We are always looking for someone to blame for the poor nutrition of our children…..and we have found a new foes….Dollar Stores…..

This latest front in the food wars has emerged over the last few years. Communities like Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Fort Worth, Birmingham, and Georgia’s DeKalb County have passed restrictions on dollar stores, prompting numerous other communities to consider similar curbs. New laws and zoning regulations limit how many of these stores can open, and some require those already in place to sell fresh food. Behind the sudden disdain for these retailers—typically discount variety stores smaller than 10,000 square feet—are claims by advocacy groups that they saturate poor neighborhoods with cheap, over-processed food, undercutting other retailers and lowering the quality of offerings in poorer communities. An analyst for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, for instance, argues that, “When you have so many dollar stores in one neighborhood, there’s no incentive for a full-service grocery store to come in.” Other critics, like the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, go further, contending that dollar stores, led by the giant Dollar Tree and Dollar General chains, sustain poverty by making neighborhoods seem run-down. “It’s a recipe for locking in poverty rather than reducing it,” an institute representative told the Washington Post early this year.

https://www.city-journal.org/banning-dollar-stores

Sorry but blaming a store is just lazy and avoids responsibility…..

We could fix the problem of children’s nutrition….make healthy food cheaper….yep it is that simple……and yet not possible in our current society.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–18Nov19

Child Soldiers!

A despicable tactic in war is to use children to fight the many wars…..it happens in the Middle East and Africa.

I have written my condemnation many times….

https://lobotero.com/2019/03/08/closing-thought-08mar19/  (This post has other references to this situation)

I bring all this up yet again because of something I read that I found to be reprehensible…..

There are laws that the US has signed onto that attempts to punish those that employ children to fight wars……

The White House recently announced the US was granting full or partial waivers to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) to Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

For the third straight year, President Donald Trump has issued waivers to a law that prohibits US military assistance to nations whose armies or proxy militias include children among their ranks.

The White House recently announced the US was granting full or partial waivers to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) to Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, seven of the 11 nations identified in the State Department’s 2019 Trafficking In Persons Report (TIP) as being eligible for sanction under the law. CSPA, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2008, prohibits US military aid and arms sales to countries whose armed forces recruit, conscript, employ or enslave children under the age of 18. The law contains a provision granting the president the authority to issue full or partial waivers if it is determined that doing so serves the US national interest, and if the country in question has taken steps to end the use of child soldiers.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/01/9th-straight-year-us-grants-waivers-countries-violating-anti-child-soldier-law

This news is pathetic and makes me sick.

And Trump is NOT the only president to turn his back on this law…..Obama is just as guilty.

Not to worry you will probably NEVER hear a word from the MSM about this pathetic policy…..

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”