Morning Wire XX
[0] Netflix releases Ricky Jerva's controversial comedy special, seeming to double down on their commitment to free speech.
[1] We discussed the blowback from activist groups and how Netflix is responding.
[2] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[3] It's May 28th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
[4] The average age of puberty for girls has been dropping precipitously over the past few decades, concerning doctors and parents.
[5] At least one study indicates the trend.
[6] may have escalated during the pandemic.
[7] And Doug Mastriano's decisive GOP primary victory for the Pennsylvania governor's race last week sent shockwaves through the political establishment.
[8] Why are progressive opponents calling Mastriano the most radical candidate in the country?
[9] And what does his platform actually look like?
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[11] Stay tuned.
[12] We have the news you need to know.
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[21] The latest Netflix comedy special by Ricky Jervase is sparking controversy for jokes the comedian makes about transgenderism.
[22] Here to tell us more about the special and the reaction to it, and whether it signals a new direction in Hollywood is Daily Wire Culture Reporter, Megan Basham.
[23] So, Megan, you and I have both watched this special.
[24] It's titled Super Nature.
[25] In my opinion, it definitely was quite pointed.
[26] How would you say it compares to the Dave Chappelle special that caused walkouts at Netflix?
[27] Well, I would have to say that it makes the Dave Chappelle special last year look fairly tame by comparison.
[28] This is a small sample.
[29] The old -fashioned women.
[30] Oh, God, you know, the ones with wombs.
[31] No, I love the new women.
[32] I know the new women.
[33] They're great, aren't they?
[34] You know, the new ones we've been seeing lately.
[35] The ones with beards and they're as good as...
[36] They're as good as gold.
[37] I love them.
[38] No, it's the old -fashioned.
[39] And now the old -fashioned, they go, oh, they want to use our toilets.
[40] Why shouldn't they use your toilets?
[41] For ladies.
[42] They are ladies.
[43] Look at their pronouns.
[44] What about this person isn't a lady?
[45] Well, his penis.
[46] Her penis, you f***in' bigot.
[47] What if he rapes me?
[48] What if she rapes you?
[49] You f*** the turf, whore.
[50] Right, so a little controversial there.
[51] How have the LGBT groups responded?
[52] Well, as you might expect, they are condemning this special.
[53] Glad, for instance, has described it as a dangerous, anti -trans rant masquerading as jokes.
[54] So their statement also addressed Netflix, and they said that the company, quote, has a policy that content designed to incite hate or violence is not allowed on their platform, yet it refuses to enforce its own policy and comedy.
[55] So along with that, the legal counsel for the National Center for Transgender Equality said the special could give people permission to discriminate, harass, and even commit violence against.
[56] trans people.
[57] And finally, Tara Field, who is that former Netflix employee who led walkout efforts over Dave Chappelle last year, called for a boycott.
[58] So how has Netflix responded to that criticism?
[59] Ah, well, that's pretty interesting because they really haven't.
[60] And it's hard not to look at this special in light of the platform's very recent Artistic Freedom memo to employees that informed them that they may have to work on content that they personally find offensive.
[61] Now, that document also said if staffers are not willing to do that, then they might be better off leaving and finding work elsewhere.
[62] At the same time, we all, and that includes me, took that as a reaction to the dust -up over the Dave Chappelle Comedy Special.
[63] And I'm sure that it was that, but now you have to consider that they issued that memo knowing that this Ricky Jervais stand -up show was about to be released.
[64] And no doubt, they knew that there would be some pretty big blowback.
[65] So maybe having learned a few things from the Chappelle experience, they were making preemptive statement that they weren't going to put up with the kind of walkouts and internal activism that they allowed that last time.
[66] So do you think this is an ideological commitment to free speech among the higher ups at Netflix, or do you interpret this to be a business decision on their part?
[67] You know, I think to a large degree, this is probably a business decision.
[68] As you and I have discussed before, Georgia, the biggest streamer in the business is in pretty significant trouble right now.
[69] for the first time in a decade, it has started losing subscribers.
[70] So domestically, Netflix was down 200 ,000 people in the first quarter of the year, which was bad enough.
[71] But it's actually forecast to lose another 2 million subscribers in the second quarter.
[72] As a result, the stock has dropped off precipitously.
[73] Now, a number of forces are working against the company right now.
[74] You have to look at the end of the pandemic and increased competition.
[75] But I also think it suffered by becoming too identified with one side of the political spectrum so that it risked turning off a pretty wide swath of people.
[76] And I think the company may be calculating that it lost more by seeming to capitulate to some pretty niche forces on the left than it would by presenting itself as a champion of comedy and free expression.
[77] So I think what we may be seeing here is a bit of rebranding on Netflix's part.
[78] All right.
[79] Well, Megan, thanks so much for giving us that context and we'll be following this.
[80] That was Daily Wire Culture reporter.
[81] Megan Basham.
[82] Coming up, the average age of puberty for young girls is dropping precipitously.
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[86] According to doctors, signs of puberty are appearing earlier and earlier in young girls.
[87] Here to give us the details is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
[88] So Charlotte, girls are experiencing puberty at a younger age than they did in the past.
[89] Yes, it appears so.
[90] Starting in the 90s, researchers began documenting the finding that girls were starting to develop breasts around the age of 10, which was more than a year earlier than had been recorded in the previous medical literature.
[91] The same study noted that black girls were starting puberty even earlier at around age 9 on average.
[92] That study wasn't a one -off.
[93] Researchers began monitoring the trend over the next decades in countries around the world, and that body of research points to a worldwide trend.
[94] In many countries, the puberty age for girls appears to have decreased by about three months each decade since the 70s.
[95] Now, aside from some social concerns, is early puberty associated with other health issues?
[96] Yes.
[97] Early puberty and girls is associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other issues compared to those who reach puberty later.
[98] It's also been linked to some cancers if they start menstruating earlier than others.
[99] So the big question is, why is this happening?
[100] A definitive answer is hard to pin down, but researchers have identified three factors that are likely contributing to the issue.
[101] Body weight, stress, and exposure to certain chemicals.
[102] Obesity is certainly a main factor, and that's been shown in various studies.
[103] One theory is that fat cells, are known to produce a variety of hormones, some of which may trigger body processes that stimulate the onset of puberty.
[104] We should note, though, that fat cells aren't inherently bad.
[105] This is part of a normal, healthy developmental process, but it may be an issue when girls accumulate high levels of body fat at an early age.
[106] However, researchers believe that can't be the full explanation because plenty of girls start puberty early who are not overweight.
[107] Another possibility could be chemicals.
[108] A 2009 study of almost 1 ,000, thousand young girls in Copenhagen discovered that the average age of breast tissue attainment was much earlier in the group of girls from 2006 compared to 1991.
[109] The 2006 cohort were starting puberty more than a year earlier than their 1991 counterparts.
[110] The doctor behind that study hypothesized that chemicals could be part of the change.
[111] He said that the girls with the earliest development of breast in the study also have the highest level of phallates in their urine.
[112] Thalates are found in a lot of plastics and in some hair products, and they have long been on researchers' radar as possibly harmful.
[113] Thalites are part of a wider group of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, which can also impact hormones.
[114] However, although various studies have looked at this, they've had a hard time drawing a definitive link between specific chemicals and early puberty.
[115] Now, you also mentioned stress.
[116] What's the evidence for that?
[117] Well, there's some preliminary evidence that girls who experience sexual abuse early in life may be at an increased risk for earlier puberty, but it's hard to establish a causal link.
[118] Researchers have also identified a few other interesting correlations.
[119] For example, it's more common for a girl to have early puberty if her mom has a history of mood disorders or she doesn't live with her biological father.
[120] Again, it's very hard to establish causality, but sustained stress may be the common factor.
[121] One very interesting study that implicates stress is an Italian study published in February.
[122] It looked at the number of kids who presented with suspected precocious puberty at five pediatric endocrinology offices in Italy in 2020 compared to 2019.
[123] The study found that only 140 girls presented with precocious puberty symptoms in 2019 compared to 328 in 2020.
[124] So the number of girls presenting with these symptoms more than doubled in 2020.
[125] The researchers also established a link between confirmed precocious puberty and girls and a sedentary lifestyle, as well as greater use of electronic devices.
[126] Now, is there anything that can be done about this?
[127] Well, without a clear idea of what's causing it, it's difficult for doctors to make recommendations, but it's definitely something that's currently being studied.
[128] All right, well, Charlotte, thanks so much for bringing us this story.
[129] That's Daily Wires, Charlotte Pence Bond.
[130] Last week, Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mostriano decisively won the GOP primary for governor.
[131] Mastriano won the primary by nearly 24 points over his next opponent after building his following around issues of election integrity, which earned him a late -breaking Trump endorsement.
[132] Here to discuss is Kerry Sheffield, senior policy analyst at Independent Women's Voice.
[133] So, Carrie, the media is in a real frenzy about Mastriano.
[134] Why is this race garnering so much national attention?
[135] Thanks for having me, Georgia.
[136] Well, as a Pennsylvania state senator, Mastriano was a strong supporter of President Trump in 2020 up to and including being present outside the U .S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
[137] Although I will note, he says that he left before the rioting began.
[138] Now, he was also subpoenaed by the House January 6th committee over his efforts to send alternate electors to Congress.
[139] Here's some sound from Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is Masteriano's General Election Democrat opponent.
[140] He was speaking Sunday on CNN's State of the Union.
[141] Here in Pennsylvania, the next governor will appoint the same.
[142] Secretary of State, and the governor, and the governor alone appoints electors based on the will of the people.
[143] And Senator Mastriano has made it clear that he will appoint the electors based on his belief system.
[144] Listen, he's essentially saying, sure, you can go vote, but I'll pick the winner.
[145] That's incredibly dangerous.
[146] And it is what is at stake in this governor's race.
[147] Now, Mastriano has been described as radical by opponents.
[148] What does his platform actually look like?
[149] Mastriano says he doesn't want a repeat of the 2020 election chaos, which he said resulted from judicial overreach.
[150] Now, most of his proposed bills involved tightening up election procedures, which he claims will restore the public's faith in the integrity of the vote.
[151] Here's Mastrano himself describing a state Senate bill that would end the use of drop boxes, which he said were allowed by the state Supreme Court.
[152] The courts interpret the law.
[153] They don't make law, but they wrote the law, they changed the law, and I believe that compromised our election.
[154] So today we pass legislation to end dropboxes.
[155] Anything that undermines people's confidence in the vote is a danger to our Constitutional Republic.
[156] Now, aside from ending drop boxes, what else has he proposed?
[157] Mestriano also wants to crack down on so -called ballot harvesting or collecting ballots from other voters.
[158] The current penalty for illegal ballot harvesting is a misdemeanor, and Mastriano proposes increasing that into a third -degree felony.
[159] Mastriano also pushed to ban outside electoral spending like that scene from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
[160] You know, Zuckerberg and many other entrepreneurs threw millions of dollars into Pennsylvania.
[161] Disproportionately, the money went to Democrat counties.
[162] Now, I understand that he's also been scrutinized for his stance on abortion.
[163] Tell us about that.
[164] That's correct.
[165] Mastriano has described abortion as his top issue, and he has proposed a heartbeat bill like those we've seen in other states.
[166] He's also made statements indicating that he would back future bills that banned abortion outright.
[167] Progressive opponents have really latched onto that claiming that Masteriano plans to eliminate all abortion in the state, without exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
[168] That claim has become the basis for a new $6 million ad campaign that began airing this week in Pennsylvania.
[169] Democrats are gambling that abortion will be the issue that will hurt Mastriano most in the general election.
[170] Right.
[171] Well, definitely a race to keep watching.
[172] Carrie, thanks so much for reporting.
[173] Thank you.
[174] That was Carrie Sheffield, senior policy analyst at Independent Women's Voice.
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