17 thoughts on “Thursday Open Thread”

1. If the court decides the Douglas County School Board can give vouchers to attend religious schools, I'm going to open a Wahhabist Madrasa.

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   1. You'll have to compete with my Academy of Necromancy.

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      1. Maybe I can recruit someone to locate a "Church of the Groovy Blue Chrysler" Theological/Roller Skating University (if Tim Foster can do it, so can I)  over there. Ours is thriving, but some free gubmint money would be swell….we charge a franchise fee.

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   2. I have always felt that prayer in public school was a goog idea as long as the kids were required to face Mecca when they prayed.

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   3. MADCO is actually on to something. Maybe a Unitarian school? There are similar, non-school voucher, cases around. Like satanists trying to put up a holiday display to compete with the manger scene. And non-Christians trying to give invocations at openings of town councils, etc. The funny thing always is; and it's more pathetic than funny; the fundamentalist Christians crying for religious freedom and then getting pissed off when somebody else uses their line for religious freedom of their own.

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   4. You heretics and non-believers are all going to hell. Repent and swear you allegiance to the one and only Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. 

      I will be seeking ordination to assist with our application for vouchers. However, I need a little help with the $25 ordination fee. Any contributions would be gratefully appreciated.

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2. Bipolar disorder examined . . . 

   In a New York Times/CBS News poll last month, nearly one-fourth of Sanders supporters said that in a Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump matchup, they would either vote for Trump (which suggests bipolar disorder!) or stay home.

   . . . and other worthwhile illuminations at:

   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/opinion/sanders-clinton-and-er-president-trump.html

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3. Moderatus's best chance ??? . . .

    

   https://trumpsingles.com  ???

   or

   https://wherewhitepeoplemeet.com  ???

    

   Taken from article at —

   https://newrepublic.com/minutes/134131/donald-trump-supporters-now-dating-site

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4. Managing Your Feelings Is Not My Job

   One of the almost unconscious (and completely unpaid) jobs that women are doing all the damn time is managing their own behavior in order to manage men’s emotions.  We do it so much that we’re often not even aware that we’re doing it.  While the Jungian projection is that women are “too emotional” and “let their emotions run away with them,” the fact is that, of course, it’s most men who really can’t manage their own emotions.  Margaret Atwood famously said that men are afraid women will laugh at them, while women are afraid that men will kill us.  Women must never dress in ways that make it OK for men, who can’t control themselves, to rape us.  We must never lean in too hard or we will threaten the men.  We must soothe their hurt feelings, let them feel as if they won even when they lost, always be receptive to their desires.  Failure = death...

    

   As we’ve edged closer and closer to the moment (sometime within the next 24 hours) when America will, after 240 years, select a woman as the nominee of a major political party, women are being warned not to be, as my grandma would have said, “poor winners.”  On Facebook, Heather Michon, tongue in cheek, provided these helpful suggestions:

   As the clock ticks down to Hillary Clinton winning her “presumptive nominee” badge, I thought I’d pass on a few helpful hints to Hillary supporters – the ladies in particular – about how you are expected to comport yourself over the coming days and weeks. These are tips I’ve gleaned from various FB posts, blogs, and opinion pieces over the weekend.

   1) Don’t get too excited. There’s nothing notable whatsoever about a woman winning a major party presidential nomination, and most likely the presidency. Just because it’s never happened before doesn’t make it “historic.” History is the domain of men; HERstory is something that’s taught in Women’s Studies departments. One is fact, one is fringe. DO NOT compare one with the other.

   2) Remember, the white guy could still save us. Team Sanders has every right to spend the next seven weeks trying to convince DNC superdelegates that YOUR vote counts less than the fact that Bernie reeeeeellllly wants to run for President. No, he’s not going to be able to convince them, but bursting that bubble would be so friggin’ unladylike.

   3) Women Clinton Supporters: When talking about the primaries, always keep in the forefront of your mind that all Sanders supporters came to that decision through a rational and dispassionate comparisons of candidate platforms and philosophies. YOU voted with your vagina. Nothing good ever came out of a vagina. Nothing.

   4) Don’t smile. Well, smile, for God’s sake – nobody likes a resting bitch face – but don’t smile *too much.* Don’t shout….it scares people! No outbursts! Play it safe: sit quietly, legs crossed at the ankles, hands folded on your lap. Employ a buddy system. If you feel a creeping sense of joy that threatens to spill out onto your face, have your friend elbow you hard, right in the boob. Repeat as needed.

   5) If you absolutely must celebrate, go ahead. Everyone knows women are emotional creatures. Just remember, from here on out, everything is either all your fault, or complete luck. If Hillary wins with the 336-202 Electoral College blow-out Princeton’s Sam Wang is predicting at the moment, it’s because Donald Trump is such a weak candidate that a sea otter could have won by a country mile this year. If she loses it’s ALL. YOUR. FAULT. You, and your vagina.

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5. The only way I can reply to that (@Daft Punk 2:06PM), without swearing, is to say that I think, on this forum, it seems like most of Hillaries' staunchest supporters have been of the male persuasion…perhaps my observation is incorrect…it is not uncommon.

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   1. On this forum, yes, but at large, she is a heroine to a generation of feminist women who are quite verklempt about this moment, and Bernie not acknowledging the history of her accomplishment, and the hostility his army of bros (do you follow erstwhile polster Steve Harvey on Facebook?) really fits with this piece.

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      1. No, I don't have a Facetube page….and it is just that I am as tired of man-bashing as I am of any other kind of sexism. I am an honorary, lifetime member of the National Organization for Women…awarded that honor in 1976 by the newly founded Grand Junction group.

         just sayin'….

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         1. Good for you, Duke.  It is, after all, National Organization FOR Women, not OF women.  

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         2. Yes, Hillary has already made history, as Al Smith did in 192'8 as the first nominee of another once despised group, Roman Catholics.  But if it stops there, God help us all.  American democracy survived the well meaning but hapless Herbert Hoover.  Donald Trump is not well meaning and his racist policies would make America a pariah in the world and his sheer stupidity — like defaulting on the national debt — would trigger an economic collapse to rival the great depression.  It's Hillary or Trump.  My cap reads "Another Veteran for Hillary."  I had to go to war once because LBJ thought communism was a monolithic threat.  I don't want my grandson to have to fight because Trumo has destroyed . NATO ,cozied up to Putin, annd unleashed North Korea.  This is not a game.   

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         3. I actually find it quite liberating, not having a Facebook page . . . 

            . . . I've never had to have any concern or thought about what anyone else has on theirs.  Seriously.

            And, then there's the time I save . . . 

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      2. Oh, heavens to crackers, no . . .

         Now, recognizing that I have the wrong genetalia to have a properly informed opinion on this matter, nevertheless . . . 

         I do think Ms. Clinton's accomplishment here is historic, and I have no problem with anyone celebrating that fact.

         IMO, the really important accomplishment, however, is not yet over.  I think that it's generally best to let the narrative of history be: 1) written by others, and 2) that the best biographies are written after one's largest accomplishment.  (Sorry, Kanye West.)

         What I'm saying here, is that as much as anyone wants to celebrate this now, fine – that's great.  I do think it's a potential error on the part of Ms. Clinton to be making a big deal personally out of her present level of "historiousness" — she should focus on running as the very best, most qualified, (human) Presidential candidate for the country at this time, period; man or woman!

         Leave it to others to write another chapter of her accomplished biography — after November!

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   2. I'm with her!

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