Well, here goes another try to post under the new system. I hope it works. This is going to take some getting used to. I’m hearing from some of you concerned about the commenting system — not sure how it works, whether or not you have to subscribe to the magazine to be able to comment, and so forth. I’m trying to get answers for you, but it was my understanding that you won’t have to subscribe, but you will have to register. If that turns out to be the case, then I think that will be a good system, because it will probably mean that I don’t have to moderate the comments — that is, they can go up as soon as you post them. I’ve been passing along your questions to the Mothership in Washington. They’re overwhelmed, trying to get the new system implemented, working out bugs, and so forth, so we appreciate your patience.

Earlier today, I posted this to Twitter:

Here is the text from the Times:

I stand by what I said: stop living like a rutting animal, and maybe you won’t get monkeypox, you weirdo. Well, someone in Germany complained to Twitter about this tweet of mine, and under German law, Twitter has to let me know. Twitter reviewed my tweet and said it didn’t break any rules, so it stands.

I suppose to some people, it’s bigotry to say you should avoid having multiple sexual encounters with random strangers if you want to avoid catching a communicable disease. If we had a sane public health system, they would close the bathhouses. But we don’t, so they won’t. And we will all be expected to pretend that we don’t see what is right in front of our noses, because promiscuity is a sacred ritual among Americans, especially gay male Americans.

Meanwhile, some states and hospital systems are working to allow minor children to direct their own gender transition without parental consent or knowledge. This is not paranoia; it’s really happening:  

In Washington, children as young as 13 are now allowed to undergo gender reassignment surgery and other questionable medical treatments without parental consent.

More:

New York has hopped on the bandwagon of removing parents from the treatment room as well. New York-Presbyterian recently sent out emails to their patients explaining that accounts for 12-17-year-olds must be updated to reflect the adolescent’s personal email address as the primary contact as New York State law allows children “to keep their sensitive medical information private and to consent to some of their own medical treatment.”