nickiwest

Your candidacy would put the Church in quite a predicament, for sure. They could either embrace a trans woman as a leader (confirming that there's nothing wrong with trans people) or reject her for being a woman (therefore admitting that one can, in fact, change their gender).

Of course, this is a false dichotomy, but a good PR team could spin it as a human rights win either way.

Age isn't really a factor in the way you're perceiving it here.

There's a very large population of US Christians who think it's a sin to work on Sunday but who also go out to eat in restaurants when they leave church. That particular population of Christians is pretty demanding and on the whole are bad tippers.

I grew up going to several of those churches. If my mom had to work her retail job on a Sunday, the Church Ladies™ would tut about it and say what a shame it was for her to be working on The Lord's Day™. But then they would turn right around and head out for lunch at the nearest buffet restaurant where they'd run the server ragged for two hours and leave a dollar or two as a tip on their entire bill. They never understood how hypocritical their actions were.

I don't understand the downvotes here. Parental age has in fact been identified as a risk factor for more than a decade.

But also, just being on the spectrum is not problematic. And, as you point out, a lot of people are probably somewhere on the spectrum but are undiagnosed because (in the US, at least) we generally don't seek medical attention unless we're experiencing some sort of crisis.

My family was super meat-centric for all holidays except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Any meal where it's physically possible to barbecue, we would. And a family barbecue meant hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pork steaks, and beef steaks -- one of each per person, plus a couple of extras. Sides were German-style slaw and potato salad. Buns were not included, but my grandma would always put a stack of white bread on the table (she was the only person who ever ate it).

When I started dating my husband and took him to a family holiday, he was shocked by the fact that my whole family was eating hamburgers and hot dogs with flatware instead of on buns. And he was actually sad at the lack of side dishes.

When I went to one of his family barbecues, I was sad that there was just one hamburger per person (already on a soggy bun) and a ton of weird casseroles.

Trump definitely won't attack Russia. Vladimir Putin is his bestie.

I think Putin is uncomfortable with a NATO country in that strategic position, so he has manipulated Trump into thinking that it would be a good "real estate deal" for the US to take it over.

Where's an entmoot when you need one?

Thanks. I've been on my own for a long time now. I'm glad that I'm still far enough from retirement that my accounts should have plenty of time to bounce back before I need to rely on them.

I really feel for the retirees who voted against this who are finding that their finances are not as stable as they should have been.

My mom retired last year. She also voted for Trump. She made her bed ...

I remember a time when the United States actually took a break from reporting on elections instead of manufacturing hype for four solid years between major elections.

The current political media landscape is exhausting, and I'm so sorry to everyone who is young enough to think that constant election projections are "normal."

I found this part surprising:

He has also established himself as a wellness guru.

Do you also think that saying "Happy Holidays" somehow excludes Christians?

Increasing the size of your umbrella doesn't discriminate against the people who are already under it. It simply invites more people to join them.