Princesses

Shivonne and Millie got to meet several Disney princesses yesterday. Saw they were at Epcot. 

This morning they're near the Disney Art in Animation facility, not far from Windemere, where several professional golfers live.

W&MC are staying at the hotel near Disney's Animal Kingdom, with giraffes and other wild animals outside their balcony.

We had a good meal at Houstons. Ceil got the salmon, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. As usual I ordered the burger. When we arrived at 655 there were lots of people waiting, outside even. I checked in and we only had a short wait, maybe 5 minutes. The long hard work day had worn me out, followed by the 55 minute drive home through traffic, immediately followed by the 45 minute drive through even heavier traffic to Houstons. While we waited for our food I slumped against the side of the booth. Lots of people breaking the dress code. Saw a couple of grey form fitting sweatsuits, a Falcons cap, bare midriffs, etc.

Was after 9 pm when we got back home. By the time I had taken the dogs outside it was 930 before I plopped down on the couch. C watched an episode of Death in Paradise and later I flipped over to Gutfield.

Up early to lift weights in the gym this morning.

R.I.P. FERNANDO VALENZUELA [Wiki Bio] + [PBS News Obit] threw the first pitch at the first game played outside the US or Canada, in his native country. On 16-Aug-1996, the Padres beat the Mets in Monterrey 15-10. He was the first rookie to win the Cy Young Award, the 1981 CYA. As a rookie in 1981 he led the NL in games started and complete games while leading the majors in shutouts and strikeouts: 25 GS; 11 CG, 8 SHO; and 180 K in a season shortened by a nearly two-month-long players' strike. Tim Raines stole an MLB-leading 71 bases. And prevented Fernando from being a unanimous rookie of the year winner. Teammate Dusty Baker remembers, "Every Latin American country was represented when he pitched, not only Mexico.  I'm talking El Salvador, Nicaragua. There'd be flags" in a quote told to mlb.com in 2021.

On 29-Jun-1990, Valenzuela no hit the Cardinals while Dave Stewart was no-hitting Toronto. In the 2nd ever All-Star Game in 1934, NY Giants screwball pitcher Cark Hubbell struck out 5 notable opponents in a row. No other pitcher did this until Fernando in 1986, setting down Don Mattingly, Cal Ripken, Jesse Barfield, Lou Whitaker, and Teddy Higuera consecutively, all on strikes. Attendance in games he was starting surged dramatically throughout the league for the first decade of his career. Games averaged 40,000+ fans, which was between 10,000 and 20,000 more per game than usual, for basically the entire 1980s. His winning the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award in the same year is now listed among baseball's most unbreakable records. Fernando was only 62 when he passed away.

DENISON: when Johanna Olson-Kennedy began research into the effects of puberty blockers on children in 2015, the research was supposed to last for two years. She has yet to have published their findings nearly a decade later. The study found the 95 children recruited to participate did not show signs of improved well-being as a result of the puberty blockers. The lack of impact was due to the children being well-adjusted before beginning the trial. But in 2020 roughly a quarter of the kids were depressed with significant anxiety and suicidal tendencies. The negative response toward the decision to withhold the results of "the largest grant that's ever been awarded in the US on the subject" isn't sitting well with the scientific community, including those supportive of transgender rights. Olson-Kennedy's research is not the first to point to puberty blockers being a poor way to address gender dysphoria in kids. England has stopped prescribing them, and several other European countries have done the same. The United States is one of the few countries left where puberty blockers are still used to treat children who claim to have gender dysphoria. At this point, it seems clear the decision to do so is motivated by politics more than science or a genuine desire to help hurting kids.