{"id":15780,"date":"2015-08-07T12:31:25","date_gmt":"2015-08-07T19:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=15780"},"modified":"2015-08-07T12:31:25","modified_gmt":"2015-08-07T19:31:25","slug":"open-thread872015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/07\/open-thread872015\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–8\/7\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m feeling thoroughly tired out after watching the Cavalcade of Criminal Clowns on Faux Noise<\/em>.  Today will be hot, 85\u00b0, but it will be followed by several days in the 70\u00b0s.  I can\u2019t wait!<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today’s took me 3:40 (average 5:06).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From The New Yorker<\/a>: <\/font>Psychologists at the University of Minnesota have issued a research study recommending that people suffering from low self-esteem watch Thursday night\u2019s nationally televised Republican debate.<\/p>\n

The recommendation came after the psychologists spent weeks showing research subjects video clips of the debate\u2019s potential participants and observed striking improvements in the subjects\u2019 overall morale and sense of worth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe interviewed the volunteers before we exposed them to the Republican candidates and afterward,\u201d said psychologist Davis Logsdon. \u201cThe spike in their self-esteem was off the charts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the candidates who most improved the research subjects\u2019 sense of self, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush were found to be consistently helpful, but the most marked increase in self-esteem levels came after the subjects were exposed to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.<\/p>\n

According to the data, people who viewed Walker for approximately three minutes reported feeling better \u201cright away\u201d about their intelligence, knowledge, and prospects for obtaining high-status employment that they had previously considered well beyond their reach.<\/p>\n

LOL Andy! Aren’t you overstating the clowns’ worth?<\/font><\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>She has a way with words, she does. Sort of like presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) gets to the point without apology and holds nothing back. It was no different when she spoke on Monday before Congress – the day Republicans put up a vote (again) to defund Planned Parenthood<\/a>. In her first sentence she asks the GOP if they fell on their heads and woke up in another century. (Oh, to be true.) <\/p>\n