|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 14, 2024 18:50:13 GMT
From a TFG campaign spokesperson... In the video she says his name( she supposedly made up) ........Tim A Walz......... quickly which infers a very negative thought!! Trump campaign spokesperson Caroline Sunshine said Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz "never held a real job in his life" — despite his years of teaching and serving in the National Guard.During a Wednesday interview on Real America's Voice, host Terrence Bates complained to Sunshine that reporters were not questioning Walz "on his repeated lies about his military service and every single other thing that seems to come out of his mouth." "Tim A. Walz, as I like to call him, because when Tim was asked to, you know, answer the call to service and deploy and fight for our country, he chose to step down and run for Congress," Sunshine replied. "He's never held a real job in his life, by the way. He spent all of his life running for Congress, running for office or in office."Sunshine insisted Walz's retirement from the military after 24 years amounted to "being derelict in his duty." "And Tim Walz went on to have a political career, like the career politician that he is, always putting himself ahead of his country," she opined. Walz worked for years as a geography teacher and high school football coach, and served for 24 years in the National Guard. www.rawstory.com/tim-walz-real-job/Random comments: **. So, teaching for almost 20 years isn't a job? Being in the National Guard for 24 years is not a job? Being a member of Congress for 12 years isn't a job? Being a governor for 5 years isn't a job? Boy, she stepped on a ton of toes there. **. I was in the Guard for 16 yrs. My unit was a collection of cops, teachers, firefighters. Especially heavy on LE & Fire. I don't know who the GOP thinks populate the "citizen soldier" ranks, but regularly insulting them is weird. **. She has just insulted every current and former teacher, every current and former member of Congress and every current and former governor. What an idiot, but according to trump she must be the best of idiots because he only hires the best. Plenty of Republicans these days accuse teachers of “sucking the government tit.” I’m just left speechless. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 14, 2024 18:47:55 GMT
My husband has several cousins with two names. Catholic family. Mary Frances, Mary Agnes, John Michael, etc. They use both names.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 14, 2024 18:40:03 GMT
We visited a 900 year old winery, I think as part of our trip to Montserrat from Barcelona. Enjoyed it very much and they still make good wine!
Our favorite smaller city to visit was Malaga. Gorgeous, on the coast, three layers of history (Roman, Moorish, Spanish) to explore. Accessible via train from Madrid. Well-preserved Roman theater and Moorish castle. Great walkable old town and beautiful museum and cathedral. Excellent food and wine all over.
Something I did not know before we went is that the “old town” in Barcelona is not old. It’s a re-creation built for tourists in the 1970s. Disappointing for us as history buffs. But it’s still a beautiful city. We loved Sagrada Familia.
Spain is one of my favorite places on earth and I hope to spend significant time there in retirement.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 13, 2024 20:57:05 GMT
I have dark brown hair and went to a salon for highlights once. They pulled brassy orange just like his! I went and got a box color that was close to my hair color, and dyed it back. It worked. Lesson learned, lol. This won’t happen with a colorist who knows what they’re doing. My highlighted brown hair has never been brassy like that. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 13, 2024 16:54:02 GMT
I love a musical, but I make sure to listen to the songs ahead of time so that I know what they are saying. True. We had practically memorized the Hamilton cast album before we saw the show. I love musicals, but don't go very often. Not sure why. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 13, 2024 16:23:10 GMT
Yoga pants/joggers and a workout tank are my go-to. In the winter I'll throw on a sweatshirt over the top.
I've been trying to put on something more professional when my students arrive, though. My favorite is a loose linen dress, but I also wear flowy pants and a nice tee. Again, will change in the winter or I'll just add a cardigan.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 13, 2024 15:03:40 GMT
Does he hate it? I don't think it looks terrible unless he wants it very obviously light blonde. Maybe on my screen it's not as bad as in real life. He can bleach it again and use a toner to remove the brass to get a true blonde, or you can try a warm brown at home. Just don't try anything ash toned. He does hate it. He was trying to get it really blond but picked the wrong hair sample (at the salon). Lesson learned! A salon did that? Please go to a better salon to get it fixed. No reputable colorist would let a client walk out like that and blame it on what "he picked." Sorry. I hope he didn't pay for it. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 13, 2024 13:54:00 GMT
Yeah, it generally takes more than one process to lift dark hair to a real blond. It's not something to be done at home. Honestly, I'd take him to a salon rather than try to fix it yourself at this point.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 13, 2024 13:00:47 GMT
Both Jen Psaki and Michelle Goldberg pointed out that there's more to Trump's conspiracy theories and rants about VP Harris' crowd size than just his ego. He's setting the stage to delegitimize the election, if she wins. www.nytimes.com/2024/08/12/opinion/trump-crowds-kamala-harris.htmlBut even if the system holds, Trumpist officials are likely to cause delay, confusion and uncertainty over the election’s outcome, all justified by the big lie that America has a MAGA majority.
The people who refuse to accept that Kamala Harris’s crowds are real are telling us they won’t accept that her votes are either.crowd sizeInside with Jen Psaki @insidewithpsaki
.
One of the biggest stories of this presidential election right now should be that one of the candidates is spewing unhinged conspiracy theories usually reserved for the darkest corners of the internet."
Oh absolutely he's setting the stage. He tried to claim it wasn't possible he had lost in 2020 because of his "crowd sizes." |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 12, 2024 2:13:09 GMT
As a teacher mom, I really couldn't bail them out with the possible exception of giving them money for something they needed during the years they were at the same school.
They survived.
(Breakfast and lunch were free for all for several of the years they were in school, so that took care of forgotten meals even if they didn't love what they were being served. )
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 11, 2024 18:58:53 GMT
So happy for and proud of you! I really admire how you've gone out there and created the life you want.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 11, 2024 15:11:36 GMT
My health insurance to supplement Medicare is with Kaiser. I had been signed up with Kaiser through my job when I changed companies in the 90s and was very happy with them. I liked having all services in the same building or at least very close by. It reminded me of the way the Mayo Clinic was run during my son’s cancer treatment. I like that I can email my doctor with questions and have my prescriptions mailed to me. I even get a text reminder when a medication is able to be refilled. In California, there were certain strong pain meds that they could not mail and I had to get those in person and show my ID. But here in Oregon, I was very surprised that they will mail out all my meds, even the powerful pain meds. I do appreciate not having to go pick them up every 28 days but I admit to being a little scared that they might get stolen. If they do, it won’t be from my porch because my dog lets me know when anyone steps foot on the property. He is a very diligent little watch dog and I know something has been delivered, whether mail service or Amazon, so I retrieve it immediately. For anything nonprescription, I typically order through Costco and get delivered with my grocery order via Instacart. If I am not due for a grocery order, I order from Amazon. I did use the local Walgreens that is very close to the house a few times but my preference is Costco for the bigger bottles of nonprescription drugs. We like our Walgreens for prescriptions. The pharmacists are super nice and they know us and our dog (who gets her phenobarb from the people pharmacy). That said, I rarely buy OTC stuff there. When I do, it’s because they’re running a BOGO deal on something I need and I happen to see it while I’m there. Mostly I go through the drive-thru, though. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 11, 2024 0:36:10 GMT
I remember when we lived in South Carolina, White Lily and Red Band flour were held in high esteem. None of the brands you mentioned are sold in Texas, so IDK the answer to your question. I can get both White Lily and King Arthur in Texas at HEB. I would think King Arthur is nationwide. White Lily is for biscuits and nothing else. Cookies will turn out too soft. Ask me how I know. 🙄 It’s made from a particular kind of wheat, I think. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 10, 2024 22:38:21 GMT
Quarter them up and throw them in a stir fry or curry. They absorb flavor very well. Lots of Thai dishes have eggplant in them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 10, 2024 22:19:09 GMT
I would think that when she re-registers the Kindle to her Amazon account, the Unlimited would follow it. But maybe not.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 10, 2024 16:39:43 GMT
If Walz had not left the education world, he would have been an excellent and beloved principal, I think. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 10, 2024 1:18:46 GMT
What I take away from this thread after a few drinks is that those of us who disagree on some things agree on many others, and that we all want a better future for our kids and grandkids. And that’s something to build on.
Cheers.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 22:18:20 GMT
When we were in Key West last year, our tour guide was telling us that the locals had voted to disallow cruise ships from stopping there. The feeling was that they overran the small island and ruined the culture and feel of the place, and left a lot of trash and pollution behind. They did a study and found that the island actually made very little from cruise ship tourists - certainly not enough to offset both the cultural and environmental problems they created.
DeSantis, of course, told them they couldn't do that and that they had to keep allowing cruise ships to dock in their port. It's a whole thing. If you've been to Key West, you know they see themselves as basically another country and they resent being told what to do.
I feel for all the other places that get overrun by cruise ships. We're not fans of cruising ourselves, and we also tend to travel in the off season or shoulder season, so we've never been someplace when a cruise ship was docked there. We've also felt very welcome during those seasons - but we do our best not to be "ugly Americans" as well. Speak some of the language, be polite, respect the culture and environment, speak appreciatively about the area when talking to natives. It's not hard.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 22:08:28 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 22:02:35 GMT
Yes. But I would posit that would should be more concerned about the wealthy being *too* able to safeguard what they have than the poor getting some crumbs from the table. Time to tax the rich and reduce the burden on the middle class. Ok. I'm cool with that. But can we agree that that should actually reduce the burden on those that are actually working and contributing? Please note, lest I be called out... there are many many people that DREAM of "middle class" that work their asses off and don't want a handout. They get left out the most. The people making the $80k when the help is given to the ones making $79,999. The ones struggling at $85k that are expected to come out of pocket tends of thousands of dollars that others don't have to pay. They need to be able to sit at the table too. Policy in my adult lifetime has never given anything back to "the middle class" (however we define that.) They may say they will, but they never do. Even when they claim to have done so. That's not going to change. I know different areas of the country are different. But good luck living where I live on $85k, saving a pittance for retirement, paying for healthcare that god forbid you may have to use, and keep a roof over your head. Good luck paying for your own student loans or saving for your kid(s.) Hell, child care alone is more than most people's mortgages in 85% of the country. Oh for sure. We've all been paying for the misguided "trickle down" theory of tax cuts for the rich in the Reagan era for 40 years. The working poor, the middle class ... and we have to recognize that different numbers define those groups in different areas. And to your point - neither party has been willing to meaningfully move the needle on that. Rs don't want to piss off their donors and Ds are terrified of being called communists. $85K would be a poor living for a family in my city, too, and we're supposedly a lower-cost city. It would be quite good for a young person starting out. But not a family. (New teachers in my district start at about $65K, and my daughter working in HR makes about that much - though unlike a teacher, she can expect her income to grow significantly over time.) What chaps my hide is that somehow we've got the working poor defending and voting for the people who want to perpetuate tax cuts for the rich. Make that make sense. It just doesn't. And they say people who actually want to work toward economic justice are "communists" and "too progressive" or "the radical left." When people like Tim Walz (to bring this back to the point of the thread) give kids free lunch to level the playing field a TINY bit, people lose their minds. SMDH. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 21:47:55 GMT
I wonder how someone can feel resentful toward a low income young woman whose dad died? Wow. That's what you got out of it? And it was her mom- but hey. I do find it interesting you assume her dad died because I said the other parent was low income. I don't feel resentful towards her, at all. Quite the opposite, actually. I feel as if the system is set up to squeeze anyone that could possibly be considered middle income. There are safeguards for low income, and wealthy people have ways of safeguarding the their wealth. I think everyone (including my kids) should be able to participate in what I (and now they too) pay to fund. I'm a pretty well over my tax dollars being yanked from my check but then being stopped at the door, and not allowed to sit at the table. Yes. But I would posit that would should be more concerned about the wealthy being *too* able to safeguard what they have than the poor getting some crumbs from the table. Time to tax the rich and reduce the burden on the middle class. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 21:24:36 GMT
Since we are now talking about student loans I’ll tell you about another thing that happened during MN’s last budget session. Students whose families make less than $80k per year can attend our state schools tuition free. It’s good for students and the schools. It was not incredibly expensive to do either considering that students still fill out the FAFSA forms. I do some subbing at the high school level and when I talked to high school kids several of them told me that they were choosing to attend schools where they could go tuition free. Many students are using the program to attend trade schools - I’ve done some subbing in shop classes. I am currently paying for college for my own kid and I’m not mad about it. Tim Walz was able to do this with a one seat majority in the legislature. He gets things done and doesn’t worry too much about his next election. There has been a lot of complaining about us being socialist, but as people benefit from these things they start to understand and like it. North Star Promise Scholarship ProgramI wonder how much the students families who make 80-90k pay? Valid. I was one of those kids whose parents made a bit too much to qualify for Pell grants but not enough to actually pay for my schooling. Lots of people who end up with loans fall into that category. I know at some schools with large endowments, what the student pays for tuition is based on household income. So if under $80K is free, then the next tier up would be some small amount, and the next tier up a bit more, and so on. I still think that, though, that a public tertiary education should be free or low cost for anyone who wants it. We made a decision as a country over 100 years ago to make high school free because we needed an educated workforce for middle class jobs. Today's middle class jobs require some level of training beyond high school, whether that's a degree or training in the trades. We should invest in our kids and our country that way. Other countries do. We're falling behind. I will also share this possibly unpopular opinion - I don't think federally subsidized grants or loans should be allowed to apply to private colleges. In the same way that I don't think vouchers should be allowed for private and/or religious schools, I don't think tax money should be subsidizing private/religious colleges. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 20:21:18 GMT
The school may have gotten a better per-unit price for them by buying in that quantity, too. And the same with food.  Also RE: the Chromebooks. At least in my district, they all have to be district owned and imaged to be on the district internet. They have strict internet security and student-owned devices can only access the much less robust "guest" wifi. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 19:30:25 GMT
I don't believe many had this pie in the sky experience, but all had some version of at least some of it. My daughter came from a working class family and lived on campus and was required live on campus and to have a meal plan the first two years because it was required (money making opportunity for the school.) She worked, and had to take out loans. I agree, working your way through college is nearly impossible. She took out more and larger loans that she really had to- to be able to keep up with her friend group and study abroad and have her earned money as spending money. Her choice. And those loans are her problem. My son saw the $8k student loan that he can get, and his eyes were huge!! He looked at it as ACTUAL money that he will have to pay. I honestly don't think he realizes that he can pay it back $30 at a time for the next 50 years. (Exaggeration- but... I've been out of high school 30 years and these folks are still complaining about their student loans. People just continue to sign these student loan forms like it's just going to work itself out. I think that is the main difference in mindset. This is real money, with the intent of setting a person up in their career. It is irresponsible and gross to assume that burden isn't on the person that benefitted. I will repeat, here, that I absolutely agree that these loans are predatory and they should be overhauled. As should the whole financial aid system. FWIW-- I have a number of degrees. Ironically, the job that I currently do didn't actually require but a 2 year degree when I got started, and I could have easily gotten around that. Now, it requires a 4 year degree, and most people have to have at least a masters. Along with rethinking the financial aid process, and loan process, it's good to see states like PA re-evaluating the degree requirements for certain roles. More of that needs to happen. I guess from my perspective, I’d been earning $3.35/hr minimum wage all through college, so the $21K I was offered as a first year teacher felt like it was going to be wealth. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 18:09:05 GMT
Reread what Merge posted on this. What is being forgiven is the excessive interest that is being charged that’s well over and above the principal amount that was initially borrowed. It’s not like someone took out a $10K loan, paid nothing on it for a decade and the principal on that debt is now being wiped out. It’s more like someone borrowed $10K, has already paid back that $10K plus a boatload of interest already, but yet they still somehow owe $10K fifteen years later. It’s the predatory lending that’s the problem. What’s being forgiven is the excessive interest that these folks still find themselves owing. The whole system needs to be overhauled. Don't tell me what you *think* and try to pass it off as fact. I agree predatory lending is a problem. And I agree the whole system needs to be overhauled. If I go and buy a dryer at Best Buy and spend $1000 and pay only the minimum, absolutely, I'll pay more and more for interest, and I'll pay much much longer. Student loans are even more set up against the borrower. My point is, you got the degree. You ate the food. You lived in the dorm. Maybe even semesters abroad. Got to be in the sorority and got to learn more about things that interest you. You got the contacts, you got the information. You got the alma mater and maybe even enjoyed some games etc. Then, you got out of college and had a leg up getting a higher paying job than a person who didn't go to college (in the vast number of cases.) And, if you dropped out and didn't get that, well.. you dropped out. You opted to waste the investment. You know what you owe. We all *KNOW* if you have a loan and you CHOOSE to pay it off like a snail, the capital costs you more money. Period. Make no mistake- I don't misunderstand. And, until you're willing to pay me back the interest I paid on my credit cards and the higher interest I paid on my car loan while I learned how to be a better steward of my credit and finances- I have no "interest" in paying off the interest that students opted to commit to. K? Please don’t believe that everyone who has student loans had the pie in the sky experience you seem to believe they did. Many come from working class families and commute to the local university while working and living at home. They took out loans because it’s not possible to “work your way through” any more. Costs are too high. My student loans - which I paid off in full - were taken while I was living in a shithole apartment and working three jobs during grad school. No dorm, no sorority, no fancy college experience. Just grinding out that degree as quickly as possible because, at the time, it was supposed to make my teaching salary higher. (That’s no longer true, though it has made me a better teacher.) |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 18:06:36 GMT
There definitely is no right answer and there is absolutely no way to make everyone happy. I am able to make peace with forgiving interest beyond the initial committed amount for accounts in good standing. Not a penny of principle should be forgiven (in my perfect world.) These loans are predatory and make many very important roles (jobs) in our society undesirable because not only is the pay considered low- but the student loans often necessary to make it happen are crushing. My daughter has fallen into every trap imaginable and she has been trying to pay off her loans for almost 10 years in good faith. But it isn't easy. And- not everyone makes it a mission in life to get that monkey off their back immediately, then it drags out, sadly, seemingly forever. I'll help my son, because I planned for it before he was born, and I can. I recognize not everyone can. But education was a massive hurdle for me, and I had to figure it out from the dirt up. "Figuring it out" resulted in paths that delayed me, changed me, and ended up defining my life. I am incredibly salty that I never had the chance to have "the college experience" and choose my career path. Meanwhile, social media shows me how many of my high school peers squandered their opportunities and rail on about student loan forgiveness. Education costs and housing are going to define this country for years to come. Supply and demand (and greed) keeps driving the price of education up up up. The government giving out money like Oprah has allowed them to do it, and the people that paid the price are the ones that had to take out big loans. I like seeing enrollment is down. Maybe the colleges will dial it back a little and the people that pay with real dollars- that *they* earned, will see a benefit. I hear you. My beginnings weren’t as tough as yours, but I did watch my friends hop off to fancy private liberal arts schools while I went to the third-tier state school that offered me a free ride scholarship because I worked my tail off in high school (and I had to continue to work hard to keep it). My kids went to the local state university that we could afford to pay for, while again watching many of their friends go off to expensive private schools far away. They did that in part because their mom chose to be a public school teacher (while paying off student loans) instead of choosing a more lucrative career like other kids’ moms did. Still, I don’t think that just because things were hard or even unjust for our generation, that they should continue to be that way for the next generation. Fact is that predatory interest on student loans is preventing many people from saving for retirement. That’s going to bite us as a society in the butt in about 25 years. High costs are preventing many from going into professions that our society needs, and that’s also going to hurt us. We’re already importing so many of our scientists, engineers, and doctors from overseas because American kids can’t afford those degrees. But I also agree that we need to look at ways to reduce costs. States that have made community college free are helping with that, and we can do more. But we can do two things at once - reduce the economic burden on people who have already completed college, and make sure that college is more affordable in the future. We have to do both, actually. It needs to be a national priority. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 15:59:58 GMT
I have to wonder if we’d have more young people go into teaching if they didn’t leave college with $30k in student loan debt. The starting salary already makes it hard for them to live independently. This is only going to get worse. A lot of people have been faithfully making payments on their student loans and then many years later they have more than paid off far more than the amount they borrowed, but they still have an incredible amount of debt. It seems like it would be better for the economy if they had that money to spend on other things. We made saving for our kids college one of our priorities. We were in a situation where we could. Had my husband’s parents not died when he was young, we couldn’t have done that. I am ok with someone else having their debt cancelled. It’d be great if people got outraged about tax cuts that benefit extremely wealthy people, but they don’t. People have been trained to turn on each other. Education costs have a bunch of second and third order effects. Who can afford to pursue a profession and what kind of biases and blind spots that introduces when a field is dominated by people who grew up with privilege. Where that person can reasonably practice that profession afterwards. Remember the premise of the old show Northern Exposure? But people can’t see the connection between, “Why doesn’t my town have better X, Y, Z” services like health care, veterinary care, pharmacies and a host of other “expensive to educate vs earning potential” jobs. And at some basic level, yeah, we’re talking about simply the ability to participate in the local economy. Ab. So. Lutely. IMO everyone should be able to receive a two- or four-year degree from their state university for free or for relatively cheap (sliding scale payments based on income for a set number of years) because we need people to participate in the economy. This isn't a matter of giving free stuff to rich kids. We need middle and working class kids to reasonably be able to afford to become teachers, accountants, data analysts, HR people, engineers, graphic artists, etc. without taking on enormous debt to do so. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 15:54:55 GMT
That said.. now that "kid" is a 22 year old working in a trade having to pay full price for the tuition for the education required in addition to his years of work hours to get his license. It's bs that he makes so little as an apprentice, but yet financial aid (FAFSA) requires taking into account mine or my husbands income, making it so he gets no help. He's 22 freaking years old. Granted, if he'd f-ed up and had a kid (for him way too young) he'd be able to basically have his schooling paid for. It's nuts how "free stuff" is distributed. Why not treat people the same? We need skilled labor but there isn't enough training available. This is my point about "cancelling" student debt. Should your son, who paid for his training and probably has to buy tools and a vehicle to do his job, not be eligible and, worse yet, have his taxes go to repay someone else's debt? Skilled labor should be taught at local community colleges, which are becoming free in more and more places (and should be in all, IMO). In fact much of it could and should still be taught in high school. I hate the for-profit vo-tech schools that prey on kids who just want to get a stable job, but saddle them with ridiculous amounts of debt in the process. But let's not perpetuate the myth that taxpayers will be paying off debt that is forgiven. What is being forgiven is the years and years of interest paid beyond the capital in those loans. That doesn't cost anyone anything. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 9, 2024 2:06:45 GMT
Welp, I have just discovered that Tim Walz taught his first three years at the same high school where I did my first year of teaching in western Nebraska. I missed him by a few months - he was there from 93-96 and I taught there during the 96-97 school year. He met his eventual wife there and they moved to MN, which was her home state.
My (almost) brush with greatness! Haha.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 8, 2024 15:47:40 GMT
Quesadillas are easy and tasty.
|
|
