The Observation Deck

Tim Liston wrote:"Target’s stock has fallen 20 percent since...."

Stephen are you implying that Target's transgender policies have caused its stock to lose value? Have you looked at the recent performance of similar retail equities in the same time period? (Macy's has lost over 30% in the last two months.)

That "correlation" and "causality" thingy.... Stephen you're smarter than that....

Tim, did you actually read the article? from your response, I would say no... Tim, Macy's and Target are two different animals.

http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers ... titors.asp

From Fortune Magazine:

http://fortune.com/2016/05/18/target-stock-earnings/

No mention of bathroom policy. . .

The schools mentioned they were following the 2015 mandate. When will they begin to follow the 2016 recent mandate?

Trevor Noah's (The Daily Show) take on the bathroom issue. Well said for the young comic trying to fill Jon Stewart's shoes.
https://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow/v ... 924321800/

Time will tell on the impact of the boycott.

*drops mic*

Dear creepy heterosexual men guarding our bathrooms, My entire life, I've been told to fear you in one way or another. I've been told to cover my body as to not distract you in school, to cover my body to help avoid unwanted advances or comments, to cover my body as to not tempt you to sexually assault me, to reject your unwanted advances politely as to not anger you. I've been taught to never walk alone at night, to hold my keys in my fist while walking in parking lots, to check the backseat of my car, to not drink too much because you might take advantage of me. I've been told what I should and shouldn't do with my body as to not jeopardize my relationships with you.

I've been warned not to emasculate you, to let "boys be boys", to protect your fragile ego and to not tread on your even more fragile masculinity. I've been taught to keep my emotions in check, to let you be the unit of measure for how much emotion is appropriate and to adjust my emotions accordingly. I’ve been taught that you’re allowed to categorize women into mother/sisters/girlfriends/wives/daughters but any woman outside of your protected categories is fair game.

So to those of you who think you're being helpful by "protecting" me and my fellow women, you're like a shark sitting in the Lifeguard chair. I wasn't uncomfortable until you showed up at the pool and the only potential predator I see is you.

Your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, wives and daughters don't need you to walk them to the bathroom for safety. Your fathers, brothers, friends and sons need to walk themselves away from their own double standards. Women are sexually harassed and sexually assaulted on school campuses, on the street, at their jobs, on the Internet, in their own homes, in ANY public place. And it has been excused or ignored for so long because of what you and I are taught from the first years of our interactions with each other: You, as a male, are not accountable for your own actions. It's MY responsibility, as a female, to not "provoke" you. But then you get to Knight-In-Shining-Armor your way through life for those in your protected categories and I am expected to applaud you. Why the outrage now over bathrooms? Why aren't you outraged every single day?

If you're telling me that there are high volumes of boys and men out there, in schools or in general, who are just waiting for a "loop hole" to sexually assault girls and women, we have bigger problems on our hands than bathrooms. The first problem would be your apparent lack of knowledge of how often it happens OUTSIDE of bathrooms, with no "loop holes" needed. This isn't about Transgender bathroom access. This is about you not trusting the boys and men in your communities and/or fearing that they're all secretly predators. Why do you have this fear? How many fathers have panicked when their daughters started dating because they "know how teenaged boys can be because they used to be one"? How many times have girls been warned "boys are only after one thing"? A mother can bring her young son into the women's restroom and that's fine but a father bringing his young daughter into the men's restroom is disturbing because men are assumed to be predators and "little girls" shouldn't be exposed to that.


So instead of picking up your sword and heading to Target or the girls' locker room to defend our "rights", why don't you start somewhere that could actually make a difference? Challenge your children's schools to end sexist dress codes and dress codes that sexualize girls as young as age 5. Advocate for proper (or any) sex education classes in all public schools by a certain grade level. Focus more on teaching your sons not to rape vs teaching your daughters how to avoid being raped. Stop asking "How would you feel if that was your mother or sister?" It shouldn't take the comparison to clue you in to what's right or wrong. Question why you're more worried about your daughter being around men than your son being around women in bathrooms and dressing rooms. Stop walking by Victoria's Secret with no problem but covering your son's eyes if a woman is breastfeeding in public. Stop treating your daughter's body as some fortress you're sworn to protect as if that's all she's got to offer the world.

Author: Kasey Rose-Hodge

I realize that these must be very frustrating days for those people on the left. The last 7 years have been disastrous. $10 Trillion added to the National Debt, more than all of the previous presidents combined. A declining workforce participation rate that now matches the Jimmy Carter era. A Nobel Peace prize winner that has been at war longer than any other American president. A president that has bombed more countries than his predecessor. A president that had no clue that Russia was Geo-political threat to the US. And now in a desperate attempt to save his disastrous legacy, (after the Iran debacle) we get a policy that literally opens Pandora's Box. I am fine with Target embracing this policy. I am fine with any company that wants to administer an open restroom policy based upon an individuals own gender identity. I am not fine with having this same policy forced upon our schools. This policy will only create more problems for our schools. These are children. In some cases, they are not even capable of dealing with their own emotions or physical self being. Why would Obama create such an adult problem for our children?

Uh-- Steve-- why don't you try and rework that post and make it relevant, coherent, organized and pertinent?!

3 words... Another Obama Disaster

Another example of how uncomfortable this new rule is making everyone feel...

http://time.com/4324687/even-in-liberal ... ry-parents

It appears that our city is being sold off little by little by Lord Lakewood and Company and a few others. So far this month our city has had three rapes, our hospital was stolen from us, we have news media that appear to be Lord and Company's friends resulting in NO news coverage whatsoever in Lakewood unless ordered by Lord and it makes him look good, our schools all over grades according to the ODE are D's and F's, and this is what we are worried about?

Just because people's ideas, values etc. are different doesn't make them pedophiles, rapists, queers, etc. I have NEVER heard nor read of any child being attacked by a pedophile in a restroom. Really? I don't see this as being anything worth fighting about. The purposeful demise of our city is where those of us that don't support Lord and Company should be putting our time and efforts.Picking on transgenders is just plain ridiculous!

Ms. Allen, the 1% and the radical right distracts with the culture wars, all the while robbing the bank and the public coffers. It's a very well-worn record.

cmager wrote:Ms. Allen, the 1% and the radical right distracts with the culture wars, all the while robbing the bank and the public coffers. It's a very well-worn record.

Have you missed the last 7 annual Federal Budgets and the $10 Trillion added to the National Debt? Hey Kool-Aid

Stephen,

Agreed.

It is probably more than the 1% by now. It is now the majority that has to go and work for a living to pay for Obamaphones, Obama internet, ObamaCare, etc. It is reckless spending for programs like these that have contributed (but not completely caused) such a drastic, likely irresversible debt.

I see the results of this spending in Lakewood every day. People that appear to have no job and start their day at 2 or 3 P.M.. and stay up fighting with their "child's father" (which of the ten fathers?) until 4 A.M. It is not a racial issue, as there is "trash" of every race in Lakewood, for lack of a better term. This is another issue that Summers appears to have turned his back on.

So the top 1% and wealthy should actually be thanked, as they are the ones that pay for this stuff.

Sorry to thread drift, but since others were doing it, I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Back to transgenders now. Such a small issue blown way out of proportion.

FWIW.

Stephen Eisel wrote:3 words... Another Obama Disaster

Presidential power builds upon itself. Obama's "power" would not be so great if Bush's "power" weren't so accepted and unchallenged. Obama is only building on what George wrought. How can any of this be a surprise in any way? The right says they have all this problem with presidential power but never was there a peep when this got out of control 15 years ago. Hence the challenge of keeping the balance of powers.