I have been seeing interesting tweets about the sudden popularity of transgenderism among young people. One of them went something like this. First, they deny that sex-change surgeries are happening. Then, they say they are happening, but not many. Then, they say many are happening, but not to children. Sadly, this new study shows that many are happening to children.

Here’s the story from Daily Wire:

A new study of nationwide hospital databases found that at least 1,130 adolescents between 2016 and 2019 received “gender-affirming” chest surgeries in the U.S.

The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, saw a 389% increase in adolescents (ages 12-17) obtaining chest surgeries from 2016 to 2019. An overwhelming majority (1,114) of the adolescents seeking this surgery were female (98.6%), and just 16 were male (1.4%).

“To our knowledge, this study is the largest investigation to date of gender-affirming chest reconstruction in a pediatric population,” the paper’s authors wrote, who are each affiliated with Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “The results demonstrate substantial increases in gender-affirming chest reconstruction for adolescents.”

Here is the breakdown by age:

The ages of the pediatric patients ranged from 12 to 17, with 42 (5.5%) of the recipients between 12 and 14, 131 (16%) aged 15, 291 (34.5%) aged 16, and 365 (44%) aged 17.

It’s an interesting situation. I would expect parents to set boundaries on their children. First, to shelter them from public schools and social media. But second, at least keep them away from the people who are profiting from “gender-affirming care”.

Speaking of profiting, there was this:

The median total charges for chest reconstruction were $29,886 ($21,285–$45,147), a number that was adjusted for inflation, the authors note. Most of the chest surgeries (61.1%) were covered by private health insurance, 16.5% used public health insurance including Medicaid, 15.8% paid out of pocket, and 6.7% indicated “other.”

Remember what the lady from Vanderbilt said?

It was reported by Daily Wire:

“It’s a lot of money,” VUMC Clinic for Transgender Health’s Dr. Shayne Sebold Taylor said at one Medicine Grand Rounds lecture, video reveals. “These surgeries make a lot of money.”

Taylor noted that a “chest reconstruction” can bring in $40,000 per patient, and someone “just on routine hormone treatment, who I’m only seeing a few times a year, can bring in several thousand dollars … and actually makes money for the hospital.”

Citing the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, Taylor said vaginoplasty surgeries can generate $20,000, gushing that it “has to be an underestimate,” since hospital stay, anesthesia, post-op visits, and other add-ons are not included in the total.

“And the female-to-male bottom surgeries, these are huge money makers,” the doctor continued, adding that such surgeries could bring in “up to $100,000” for the hospital.

Some clinics are “entirely” “supported” financially by such phalloplasty surgeries, Taylor boasted.

“These surgeries are labor intensive, there are a lot of follow-ups, they require a lot of our time, and they make money,” she emphasized. “They make money for the hospital.”

Sadly, for one reason or another, the adults have decided that it is more virtuous to go along with the agenda of the schools and social media, and inflict surgeries on their children. I could never understands why anyone would cut healthy organs off of a child with mental health issues. That would be like putting an anorexic person on a diet.

There was a previous study:

In July, the same four authors, with the addition of two others, published a separate study on adults who received “gender-affirming” chest reconstruction surgeries. Their results, also using NASS outpatient hospital data, found that 21,293 individuals obtained chest surgeries between 2016 and 2019, a 143.2% increase. The large majority of chest surgeries were performed on female patients, with 82.1% receiving double mastectomies; 27.9% of trans-identifying males received breast augmentations.

When it comes to debating social issues, I like to have studies close at hand. For same-sex marriage, I use studies showing different outcomes for children raised in same-sex homes. For abortion, I use science textbooks showing that the embryo is fully human. It is self-directed and has distinct DNA from either parent. And for transgenderism, I like to use studies like these, showing how health care providers are profiting from the social trends being pushed by the “don’t judge” compassion crowd in the public schools. The study showing that gender-affirming care does not lower the number of suicides (in the long term) is a good one, too.

I’ve already been blogging about Ron DeSantis’ record of achievements as governor of Florida. DeSantis announced his candidacy on Twitter Wednesday night. 600,000 people wanted to listen, and it crashed Twitter’s servers! After that, he went on Fox News to do an interview. We now have a good picture of what we would get from him as president on Day One.

Here’s an article from Daily Caller about the Fox News interview:

“I have always rejected the politicization of the weather and I think what we should be doing in the United States is focusing on being energy-independent and making sure that we are utilizing the resources… and oh, by the way, when you have market-based solutions and when you innovate, in Florida we have seen emissions go down dramatically in the last 10 years, but that is through market and innovation,” DeSantis told Fox News host Trey Gowdy.

I like this. He is aware of how green energy policies have affected Germany and California. Those are the exact two examples I use on this blog, as well as Canada, which has seen its electricity prices skyrocket after going green.

“What Biden wants to do, he wants to take us in a direction where we are like Germany where we don’t have a reliable power grid, where prices spike,” DeSantis said. “California for example, they have a tough time keeping the lights on, and yet they want to ban the internal combustion engine?”

California has pushed to ban gas stoves, diesel trucks, and gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf-blowers in the name of combating climate change. In August, the state advised citizens not to charge electric vehicles to avoid potential blackouts.

One of the top issues of the 2024 campaign will be what to do about corruption and treason in federal law enforcement.

Daily Caller reports:

“I would not keep Chris Wray as the director of the FBI, there would be a new one on day one, I think that’s very important,” DeSantis told Fox News host Trey Goudy. “In terms of an attorney general, you need someone that’s got a very strong backbone. You need somebody that knows that if you are going in there and you are taking care of business, The Washington Post is not going to like you, The New York Times is not going to like you, you are going to get attacked by CNN and you have to wear that as a badge of honor.”

[…]The FBI has frequently been accused of becoming politicized in cases involving pro-life advocates and parents protesting at school board meetings, and was involved in censorship of social media, according to documents released in the Twitter Files.

“I think the DOJ and FBI have lost their way, I think they have been weaponized against Americans who think like you and me and I think they have become very partisan,” DeSantis said. “Part of the reason that is happening is because Republican presidents have accepted the canard that the DOJ and FBI are ‘independent.’ They are not independent agencies, they are part of the executive branch, they answer to the elected president of the United States.”

Garrett O’Boyle, Stephen Friend and Marcus Allen testified at a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government Thursday about retaliation they faced after they raised concerns about FBI activities, noting their security clearances had been suspended, resulting in them losing their pay and health benefits.

“If the FBI or DOJ, whatever collude with a tech company to try to censor information, everybody involved in that would be fired immediately if I were the president,” DeSantis said. “And right now, I think those agencies have been able to go without any real accountability and so guess what, when there is no accountability, the bad behavior is going to continue.”

You might remember that Trump appointed Director Wray, so this would be quite a change in policy. Trump also praised the work of COVID tyrants Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci, praising them for their work in locking down the country. Meanwhile, DeSantis kept Florida open and got a lot of flak from the corporate news media.

DeSantis is running to the right of Trump on abortion. DeSantis signed a 6-week ban on abortion into law in Florida. Trump condemned the law, saying it was “too harsh”.

Daily Caller reports:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there is “a role” for the federal government in restricting abortions during a Fox News appearance Wednesday evening after he announced his candidacy for president.

[…]Florida’s heartbeat bill, signed by DeSantis on April 13, restricts abortion after six weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking or when the life of the mother is in danger, and brought the state’s abortion restriction down from 15 weeks gestation.

[…]Former President Donald Trump criticized DeSantis’ signing of the bill, claiming many in the pro-life movement believe the abortion ban was “too harsh.” DeSantis seemingly fired back at the former president’s remarks, where he insisted it was “the right thing to do.”

“When we are acting to protect an unborn child that has a detectable heartbeat, that is humane, that is not harsh – that is the right thing to do,” DeSantis said at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Orlando, Florida, on Monday.

Daily Wire also posted an excellent article about DeSantis’ announcement and his record of past achievements. And noted that DeSantis had raised $1 million in the first hour after the announcement. A lot of Trump’s former campaign staff have moved over to DeSantis, so he’ll have a good experienced team.

As far as I’m concerned, we have to make this election about achievements. If we choose a candidate based on his ability to clown around, insult people, and entertain us, that won’t work to get results. Let’s just pick the person who is known to get things done in the areas we care about.