Below The Fold ...

To be clear I unreservedly support the separation of Church and State.
Many U.S. citizens don't know for certain whether the phrase "separation of Church and State" comes from the United States Constitution, or from our Declaration of Independence.
This precise phrase does not appear in either document. Reverend Jerry Falwell taught me that. BUT !

In the objective interest of prospering humanity we should acknowledge the purpose of U.S. "public" (government) schools is to produce viable self-sustaining adult members within our society.
That surely must include "the 3 R's", but in the 3rd millennium that's not enough.

Even our youngest adults have basic practical need of distinguishing right from wrong.
"Ethics is the scientific study of right & wrong." Tom Clancy
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Some assert our children should learn mathematics in school, and morality in church.

But as a practical matter many of our children do not attend church regularly. And not all of those that do receive adequate training in basic ethics & morality.
Attendance at school is compulsory, government compelled. Violators declared "truant". Attending church?

How many more mass-murders do we need in our schools before we constructively contend with our cultural morality / ethics deficiency?

"How come federal law prohibits bibles in classrooms, and yet distributes bibles in prisons? That’s too late." attributed by Paul Harvey to Glenn Wheeler / Columbus, OH

- Lemonv. Kurtzman, 91 S. Ct. 2105 (1971)
Established the three part test for determining if an action of government violates First Amendment's separation of church and state:
1) the government action must have a secular purpose;
2) its primary purpose must not be to inhibit or to advance religion;
3) there must be no excessive entanglement between government and religion.

-Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980)
Court finds posting of the Ten Commandments in schools unconstitutional.

Banning a banner:
Shiftless2 said:
"God Is Love" #619
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When an ideal solution is unavailable, erring on the side of caution may seem prudent. BUT !
If we do not provide our school children practical insight in such matters, should the result we have achieved with our failure surprise us?

Ethics: obedience to the unenforceable.

Morality is about judgment. Ethics is about rules of conduct (based on morality).

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Shiftless2 said:
"you will burn" "in hell.. because he loves you." #619
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This is more directly satirical.
I have NOT fact-checked the hypocrisies it alleges. They appear plausible.
Thus this meme seems more directly, more specifically focused on precise "chapter & verse" hypocrisy.
I'm receptive to counterargument, but this meme seems thumb-up worthy. (y)
Thank you S2.

Shiftless2 said:
"Have to say, I always thought Bernie was smarter than that." S2 #620
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Totally.
So much so I doubt the validity of the attribute. The more plausible interpretation, the meme seems libel against Sen. Sanders.
 
For all the students at Dunning-Kruger University.

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But before that, they have to tell us where that research was published.
 
And the latest news on the pseudoscience front

RFK, Jr., is focusing attention on electromagnetic fields. Here’s what the science says about exposure​

The research into how electromagnetic waves and radio frequency radiation influence health has been plagued by low-quality studies

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is turning his attention to the potential health effects of electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation—stoking a controversial theory that digital devices are doing untold damage to human health.

Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services put out a call for information on the subject that included a request for stories from people who believe they have been harmed by mobile phones, Wi-Fi, wearables or other digital devices.


That will likely lead to a lot of alarming personal anecdotes, says Kenneth Foster, a professor emeritus of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania—but these will almost certainly shed little light on whether .....

CONTINUED
 
Shiftless2 said:
"And the latest news on the pseudoscience front" S2 #623
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I saw that !

Shiftless2 said:

"RFK, Jr., is focusing attention on electromagnetic fields." #623​

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Good idea. Sally's getting old.

There are already concerns about prolonged exposure to concentrated energy sources, cross country high tension power lines for example.
BUT, the battery in a cellphone is orders of magnitude weaker.
BUT, omnidirectional energy dissipates according to the inverse square rule.
And cellphone transmissions take place potentially in contact with the human head.

I wouldn't break the bank with it, but some judicious research in carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic potential doesn't seem insensible.
 
Not sure where to put this but I don't want to start a new thread - could have put it in the LGBT thread but ...

They're starting to do the same thing to autistic and neurodivergent health care that they've been doing trans healthcare. They're trying for eugenics. They want some pure perfect population of people, not by caring for people's needs, but eliminating tho​


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Janice Turner - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Shades of 1930's Germany. Where short fat people with poor complexions, dark hair, and deeply insecure personalities decided that 6 foot tall, blue eyed, blond "aryans" were what societies should be aiming for. (Cletus in the deep south believes that too.)
 
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BREAKING
🚨
ABC refused to let eight Epstein survivors speak on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Rosie O'Donnell gathered them and filmed it herself — and the women told her no famous person had ever called to stand beside them. Now she says she will tell all eight of their stories, one by one.

O'Donnell guest-hosted four episodes in August and pitched what she called "the Epstein reveal" for her final night.

"They said that they were certain that could not happen," she said on the Jann Arden Podcast. "So I said, 'Well, then I'm going to do it myself.'"

She called Survivor Sisters, an advocacy group formed by Epstein survivors, and asked how many women could get there in three days. Eight came. They filmed for about two hours.

She first posted a short video from the shoot. Andrea Sterling, Sharlene Rochard, Lara Blume McGee, Jena-lisa Jones, Wendy Pesante, Lisa Phillips, Marina Lacerda and Chauntae Davies stood together in white, fists raised, singing Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman." It ended with childhood photos of the women.

Jimmy Kimmel later shared it on his own Instagram Story.

Now O'Donnell says each woman will get her own up-close segment telling her story. The eight segments could become a full documentary, a YouTube project or something they release themselves on social media.

O'Donnell said she made the video after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, said he did "not know whether there are men out there that abused these women." That same day, the Justice Department released more than 3 million additional pages from its Epstein files.

"You are all heroes, and you're going to change how the world deals with child sex abuse," O'Donnell told the women.

Afterward, she said, they told her no famous person had ever called to stand beside them.
 
Some people inherit a crown. The wise ones earn the right to wear it.

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In 2023, a 17-year-old girl packed her bags, said goodbye to her family, and walked through the gates of a military academy. She wasn't just any cadet. She was the future Queen of Spain.

Her name is Leonor. She was born in 2005, the eldest daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. Since the day she was born, she was the heir to a crown that had not been worn by a reigning queen in nearly 150 years.

Most princesses are raised for ceremonies. Leonor was raised for something harder.

In Spain, the king or queen is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Her father had trained in all three branches of the military. So had her grandfather. It's a tradition that the future monarch must understand what it means to serve before they ask others to do so.

So after finishing school in Wales, where she studied the International Baccalaureate, Leonor made a choice. In August 2023, she entered the General Military Academy in Zaragoza.

There were no palace servants waiting on her. She wore a uniform, ate in the same dining hall, did the same drills, and followed the same strict rules as everyone around her. She woke up at dawn. She marched. She trained like every other cadet. And on October 31, 2023, her 18th birthday, she stood before

Parliament and swore to uphold Spain's constitution.

That was only the beginning.

The next year, she moved to the Naval Military School in Marín. And in January 2025, she boarded a famous training ship called *Juan Sebastián de Elcano* and sailed across the Atlantic. For months, she lived at sea, far from her family, rocked by the waves.

Then came the final test: the Air Force.

In September 2025, she arrived at the General Air Academy in San Javier. This time, the challenge wasn't marching or sailing. It was flying. She trained as a military pilot. She learned to fly training aircraft. She trained in parachuting, jumping from a plane in the sky. The kind of training that tests whether someone can stay calm when everything inside them is screaming to panic.

It was her toughest year yet.

And on July 10, 2026, in San Javier, Murcia, with her family watching, Leonor finished it. Three years. Three branches of the Spanish military. One future queen.

She had done what no woman in her position had done before: she had trained in the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force.

Afterward, she turned the page. Her next step: university, to study political science.

Think about what she gave up. She spent the years most teenagers spend with friends, phones, and freedom living in barracks and cockpits. She wasn't doing it for fame. The country was already watching her. She was doing it for the day her father's crown would pass to her, and she would need to look at soldiers, sailors, and pilots and say: I know what you do, because I've done it too.

Some people inherit a crown. The wise ones earn the right to wear it.
 
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At 80 years old, Nona Gaprindashvili sued Netflix for $5 million over a single line in The Queen's Gambit. The series celebrated a fictional woman conquering the male-dominated world of chess. But its finale had managed to diminish a woman who had already done exactly that.

The hit drama premiered in 2020. In its final episode, set in 1968, a commentator discusses Beth Harmon's remarkable success against male opponents. He mentions the real-life women's world champion, Nona Gaprindashvili, and claims she had "never faced men."

Nona knew otherwise. By 1968, she had competed against at least 59 male players, including ten grandmasters, according to her lawsuit. At a tournament in Gothenburg that year, she was the only woman in the field. She defeated seven male competitors and finished third.

Born in Georgia, Nona became women's world chess champion at just 21. She defended her title repeatedly, ultimately winning five world championships and holding the crown for 16 years. In 1978, she became the first woman awarded the international grandmaster title, one of chess's highest distinctions.

The television series also identified her as Russian, despite her Georgian identity. To Nona, the mistake was not a harmless detail. She had spent her career competing against men in a sport where women were routinely underestimated.

In September 2021, she filed a defamation lawsuit demanding $5 million. Netflix argued that the series was fictional and that its dialogue deserved protection as creative expression.

In January 2022, a federal judge rejected Netflix's attempt to have the case dismissed. A fictional work, the court explained, was not automatically immune from defamation claims involving a real person.

The case ended in a confidential settlement in September 2022. No settlement amount was publicly announced.

Millions had watched Beth Harmon win battles across a chessboard. Nona Gaprindashvili had been winning those battles in real tournaments decades earlier. When television rewrote that record, she challenged it in court.
 
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