Weekend Parting Shot: ‘Patients of Childbearing Potential’

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers. I hope this weekend allows you to do something to escape the heat since the world is boiling, and it’s all your fault. My wife attends monthly networking parties for our business. This week she met someone who makes documentaries for a living. My wife mentioned a few excerpts from the life of your humble correspondent and now the filmmaker wants to talk to me. I didn’t know there was a market for stories of unknown columnists, but I’m game. I have suggested the working title of View From a Horse’s A##.  Who knows? Someone may watch it other than me and my wife, and whoever I can duct tape to a chair.

There could also be an opportunity here for PJ Media’s first advice column:

Dear Horse’s A##,

My wife and I went to Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law’s house. As soon as I took off my coat, my sister-in-law began yelling at me about climate change and calling me a fascist for voting for Donald Trump. Then she insisted we wear masks in between bites and said there would be no pumpkin pie for people without their vaccination cards. I put my cigar out in the mashed potatoes and walked out with the bottle of wine she had on the table. Am I the a-hole?

– Turkey Tempest

Dear Turkey,

No.

– H.A.

Quite a Bit of Potential

Cromwell Hospital is a private hospital in London. England, as you know, has long been exploring levels of wokeness that our leftists can only dream of. So it should not surprise you that this hospital has found a way to refrain from saying the word “woman” in one of the most bizarre expressions of creative avoidance I have heard of all week.

According to The Telegraph, the radiology department has developed a phobia of sex. Not that kind of sex, the kind of sex in which we call men, men and women, women. But not at Cromwell’s radiology department. In fact, there are no women patients there. Instead, they have “patients of childbearing potential.” Staff members are asked to “state the date of the first day of the patient’s menstrual period.” I suppose there aren’t any men there, either. I guess there are only “patients of impregnating potential” or maybe, “patients of jar-opening potential.”

Maya Forstater, co-founder and executive director of Sex Matters, rightly noted that Cromwell was asking “non-sensical questions.”

Healthcare records should show everyone’s sex clearly and accurately. ‘Patients with childbearing potential’ are women There is no point in being coy about sex. We are seeing this kind of thing all over as NHS organisations decide not to record patients’ sex because they are afraid of falling foul of the criminal penalties in the Gender Recognition Act. Going around the houses with nonsensical questions about ‘childbearing potential’ is not necessary and it makes it more likely that mistakes will be made.

The founder of the Positive Birth Movement, Milli Hill, agreed. She stated:

Over and over again we see these examples of ‘inclusive’ language which actually excludes the vast majority of the intended audience – women. Not only is it offensive to erase women from language in this way, it’s actually obscuring health messaging which could potentially be dangerous to women with low literacy or English as a second language. There is nothing inclusive about it.

Even Bev Jackson, the co-founder of Britain’s LGB Alliance and a women’s rights activist, commented, “There is no reason for the rest of society to adapt our language so as not to offend people who are offended by reality.” Best of luck to all of you, ladies. In the 21st century, only the sane risk being institutionalized.

Tomorrow morning, I shall be a “person of grass-mowing potential.” Later today, I shall check on the “animals of egg-laying potential” and let the “animals of barking potential” out to become “animals of potty-going potential.” Of course, eventually, we shall all become “people of banging-their-heads-against-the-wall potential.” But if you injure yourself, be sure to go to Cromwell Hospital. The people there will be able to help you maximize your potential. Whatever it may be.

Wine Recommendation: Because we will drink no wine before it is time, and that time is now.

I usually have a specific wine in mind when I pick out the bottle for the week. But sometimes I play vino roulette and grab the first bottle that looks like it has possibilities. So this week, I rolled the dice on the 2022 Cedar+Salmon Pinot Gris from the Willamette Valley.

To be blunt, my reaction to this wine was… meh. I mean, it’s okay, but I wouldn’t buy it again. It is an extremely dry white, and the first thing I noticed about it was its bouquet. And to be honest, I detected a hint of peanut butter. Weird, huh? That probably shows how uncouth I am at heart, but honestly, the first thing I thought was, “Who the hell replaced my wine with a jar of Jif?” A more careful assessment turned up some peach, a dash of green apple, and a little light citrus. You can taste the mix of the fruits, and there really wasn’t a dominant flavor, so they did that well. And the tastes all blended nicely. Or perhaps I was still thinking about peanut butter. Maybe it was just my bottle, but instead of the “lemon sorbet finish” I was promised, it actually finished a little flat, with the citrus disappearing after the first taste. Plus, the acidity was billed as “gentle,” but my bottle was higher than I expected for a Pinot Gris. That wine should have a little acidity, but it was very strong. Again, it might have been this bottle since I normally enjoy mild-to-strong acidic wines.

A flyer from the winery stated:

I probably need to be fair and try it with some of the dishes mentioned above. And once in a while, you find a wine that has to grow on you after a few bottles. Not all at once, of course. Then again, it’s your liver. And not all wines are made for all palates. So there’s that. I wouldn’t suggest this wine to go with a meal, but maybe you could serve it with some nice light appetizers or party food. It averages around $18, and I got it for $12.50. But that’s Utah for you.

One More Thing:

The book lists are still trickling in. This list is from Rabbi Michael Barclay of Temple Ner Simcha in Agoura Hills, California. Or perhaps I should refer to him as a “person with bris-performing potential.” Although technically, a bris is usually performed by a mohel, and Rabbi Barclay said it might be more accurate to refer to him as a “person with bris-receiving potential.” Fair enough. Rabbi Barclay is a contributor to PJ Media and also writes for American Thinker. You may remember him for the speech he gave outside of Dodger Stadium when the Dodgers and The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence tried to ruin baseball for the rest of us. Here are his recommendations:

• Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
• Illusions:  Adventures of the Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
• The Tales of Rebbe Nachman by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
• I and Thou by Martin Buber
• When Nietzsche Wept by Irwin Yalom
• Symbols of Transformation by Carl Jung
• The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart edited by Robert Bly, Michael Meade, and James Hillman
• Sacred Fire by Rabbi Kalonymos Kalmish Shapira
• The Knowing Heart by Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto
• The Sabbath by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
• The Unabridged Mark Twain, volumes 1 and 2
• The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
• Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu
• The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
• The TaNakh, published by Artscroll Publishing (Hebrew Scriptures with straight Hebrew to English translation)

That’s it for me. Have a great weekend, remember to live up to your potential, and I’ll see you on Monday.