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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 19:04:10 GMT
If there is a dress code it should be enforced. If you don't like your school's dress code, please come to school board meetings and let them know. Please don't be mean to teachers who are having to enforce it. It doesn't mean I think our dress code is right, but I am required by my district to enforce it. I am a teacher. We have a dress code. Our administrator's rarely enforce it. I won't enforce it at all. I don't care what kids wear to school anymore. During my one hellish year in middle school, if admin came in and found a kid out of dress code and the teacher hadn't already written them up, the teacher could be written up. That place was a shitshow in so many ways.
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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 18:58:48 GMT
Abortions are expensive and painful, I literally cannot wrap my head around this argument. Yeah, who does that when birth control is much more readily available today than it was back when? Isn’t there a version of the pill that’s basically OTC now, and others are 100% covered by insurance. Back when I was in my 20’s-30’s, I was paying $25-30 a month for mine and that was WITH insurance! I think I read in one of those reports that over 25K of those pregnancies were the result of rape in Texas alone, so way to go, Gov. Abbott! You’re doing a bang up job of eliminating rape. Don't forget - there's a vocal subset of Republicans who also want to outlaw most forms of birth control. I had a man on Twitter tell me it was easy to avoid pregnancy - women just need to "keep their legs closed during the two days per month they can get pregnant." I had to acquaint him with some basic biological realities. But then there are also a shocking number of women who don't understand their own fertility and biology because it's considered shameful to talk about these things.
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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 15:54:40 GMT
I should say, even with standardized dress, the kids find ways to show wealth and status with brand names - especially shoes and other accessories. Or certain brands of jeans at the middle school. And the required polos in elementary school were miserable for some kids with sensory issues and some older girls who got big and/or busty in 4th and 5th grade. Really nothing less flattering to a curvy shape than a boxy polo shirt. But I digress … 100% this. When I was in elementary school we had the hideously ugly plaid polyester uniforms. I’m sorry, but that SUCKED. There were kids in my school who were even poorer than me who maybe had only 1-2 sets of uniform clothes that they had to wear EVERY DAY. By the time kids hit about grade 4-5, you could tell who those kids were because they were pretty stinky by about Wednesday after having gym class, playing outside or even sitting in hot classrooms with 30 other kids and no A/C when it was 90° outside in September or May. And the rich kids at my school had no problem pointing out that my no name brand shoes from K-Mart weren’t Nikes or that my navy corduroys weren’t Levi’s or that my white polo shirt wasn’t Izod. And yes, I opted for the navy blue corduroys even when it was 90° outside because the alternative was the plaid jumpers or skirts that the boys would constantly try to flip up every chance they got. No, unfortunately, there's no sure way to prevent kids from being shitty to other kids. One thing we do, at least in Title 1 schools, is to take in donations of outgrown uniform clothing so it can be distributed to other kids who need it - trying to ensure that no one has to wear the same stinky uniform all week. Many schools also have a washer/dryer and will discreetly wash clothing for kids who need it. I will say, however, that SEL does work to some extent to decrease this kind of bullying. Teaching and expecting kindness and empathy doesn't solve every ill, but it helps. It also helps that teachers now don't treat the poor kids (or the "bus kids" as another poster once said) as less than the others. When I was growing up, the kids from the trailer park or other poor areas were often treated badly by teachers, and that example spread to the students. That shouldn't happen now, though I suppose it does in some areas. And to go a step in a different direction that you didn't bring up, kids who want to show gang affiliation find plenty of ways to do that without resorting to colors or symbols that may be banned - a certain brand of shoe or type of haircut, for example.
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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 15:09:16 GMT
Both our dog and our foster dog are mutts. No offense taken.
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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 2:35:41 GMT
I’m going to add Mexican food, both real and Tex-Mex. We’ve seen what passes for Mexican food in Europe and Australia, and … no. The Asian food was generally much better in Australia, though. Hahaha, Mexican food in Australia....... yeah nah! You're spot on. I did a training program a number of years ago, and the woman running it was from the US, and she was (what's the appropriate word here?) bemused by our Mexican offerings. Mexican is probably my least favourite cuisine, and I am certain it's because we don't have many decent Mexican restaurants. Most places have enchiladas, fajitas, and quesadillas, with either chicken, beef, or prawns, and not much else! But I don't think you can go past our Asian food. The Thai food that I ate in Thailand wasn't as good as what we get here, for the most part. Our Modern Asian Fusion restaurants are second to none. IMO. I agree. We stayed right in Chinatown while in Sydney and had some of the best Asian and fusion food I've eaten. And TBH Houston has some good Asian food! But that was even better.
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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 2:26:23 GMT
I should say, even with standardized dress, the kids find ways to show wealth and status with brand names - especially shoes and other accessories. Or certain brands of jeans at the middle school. And the required polos in elementary school were miserable for some kids with sensory issues and some older girls who got big and/or busty in 4th and 5th grade. Really nothing less flattering to a curvy shape than a boxy polo shirt. But I digress …
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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 1:51:56 GMT
I’m so sorry to read this. Losing a furry friend sucks. I’ll keep you in my thoughts.
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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 0:57:53 GMT
And an educated woman with a Masters degree told me some women use abortion in place of birth control. Just one of the many ways people - including other women - vilify women who have an abortion. They feel like they have to justify their own decision to deny women bodily autonomy by making them out to be monsters.
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Post by Merge on Jan 31, 2024 0:16:31 GMT
It’s common for schools here to have standardized dress (like uniforms, but more flexible). For example, my kids had to wear a red or blue polo and khaki bottoms to elementary school. Middle school required the school’s purple logo shirt and jeans. So I don’t really have a problem with it. It definitely made outfit decisions easier and it eliminated gender-based policing as the required elements were largely gender neutral.
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Post by Merge on Jan 30, 2024 18:24:33 GMT
I’m going to add Mexican food, both real and Tex-Mex. We’ve seen what passes for Mexican food in Europe and Australia, and … no.
The Asian food was generally much better in Australia, though.
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Post by Merge on Jan 30, 2024 16:32:20 GMT
Thanks. You might be right. She is getting lots of love, cuddles, and treats, so we'll keep on doing that. She is our first foster and I want to make sure we are able to turn out a dog that won't get returned to the rescue because of behavior issues, KWIM? So good of you to save her. We adopted an old boy cancer survivor last year. It’s fascinating to watch their personalities emerge. Even after a couple of months he was still revealing new things about himself, like the fact that he must have been paper trained in a bathroom. (He has trained us to put a peepee pad in the bathroom.) Yeah, she quickly showed us where she wanted to go potty (dining room) and that’s where we put the pad.
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Post by Merge on Jan 30, 2024 13:41:27 GMT
Well said. I believe that if Republicans get the WH, Senate and the House, there is a good chance that they will enact a national ban. This exactly. www.nytimes.com/2024/01/29/opinion/biden-trump-abortion-election.htmlWhat is plausible is that, returned to the White House, Donald Trump would seek to use his executive power — power that his allies are aiming to increase on his behalf — to further curtail abortion access. This election is the most consequential for reproductive rights in half a century — a referendum on whether voters continue to be the ones to decide on this issue, or whether instead conservatives in the executive branch will decide for them. A second Trump administration could still try to eliminate access to the drug nationwide even if the court sides against the anti-abortion plaintiffs in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. The road map created by Project 2025 calls on the F.D.A. to limit access to mifepristone and ultimately withdraw it from the market as a drug “proven to be dangerous to women and by definition fatally unsafe for unborn children.” The choice in this election is not simply between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The choice is between the status quo — or a chance for more protection for reproductive rights — and the possibility of an effective abortion ban that would be all but impossible to achieve using democratic means. A Supreme Court transformed by Mr. Trump promised that with the demise of Roe, it would be up to the voters of each state to decide on the future of reproductive rights. If plans for institutionalizing Trumpism come to fruition, the future of American reproductive rights may not be up to the voters of each state for much longer. It may be up to Donald Trump. To be clear, in states like mine, it isn't up to the voters. Because of our gerrymandered lege and the fact that Texas doesn't allow citizens OR the minority party in the lege to place ballot initiatives, the ban here was passed without ever asking the voters. And what we see in some other red states now (Missouri comes to mind) is their legislatures wanting to end citizen ballot initiatives in their states to prevent outcomes like we've seen in Kansas and elsewhere - abortion rights protected by citizen vote.
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Post by Merge on Jan 30, 2024 1:20:19 GMT
Thanks all. She is a very good girl. She looooooves toys and frequently goes to the dog toy box. Today she pulled out one of our heeler's old tennis balls, and after playing with it for a few moments, she came over to me and dropped it in my lap. I tossed it for her and she chased it down and brought it back again. This time she dropped it in my hand. She did that over and over again. I have never seen a dog willingly give up a tennis ball without having been taught a 'drop it' command and/or having it traded for a treat. So she's smart enough to know, at least, that if she wants to chase the ball she has to give it back to me. Our old blue heeler - supposedly one of the smartest breeds out there - never did figure that out.
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Post by Merge on Jan 30, 2024 1:16:32 GMT
Yeah, after Texas passed its total ban, Greg Abbott promised the state was going to "eliminate rape" so there wouldn't be any reason in his mind for a woman to need an abortion.
That hasn't happened, obviously.
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Post by Merge on Jan 30, 2024 0:05:18 GMT
Only four days. Haha. Maybe I'm jumping the gun. We've never tried clicker training and I'd need to read up on that and/or watch some videos. I think this is probably your problem. Give her some time to decompress and truly trust you. Just love her on for now -- maybe a few weeks? -- and then try again. Thanks. You might be right. She is getting lots of love, cuddles, and treats, so we'll keep on doing that. She is our first foster and I want to make sure we are able to turn out a dog that won't get returned to the rescue because of behavior issues, KWIM?
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Post by Merge on Jan 29, 2024 23:59:55 GMT
I’d consider clicker training used in conjunction with treats. How long have you had her? Only four days. Haha. Maybe I'm jumping the gun. We've never tried clicker training and I'd need to read up on that and/or watch some videos.
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Post by Merge on Jan 29, 2024 23:59:04 GMT
I had this issue with our recent adopted dog. She would jump or spin on her hind legs if the treat was near her or went over her head for sit. LOL Anyways, I first taught her to come to me via her name. Worked over and over to help with recall. After that was established, we taught her to come to my hand with her nose and would immediately treat. Then worked on no treat. It helped with the jumping impulse. She realized treats happen without the need to jump. Then I would call her and used my legs to help her sit with treat in hand but not over her head. I never touched her, but just bent my knees a bit and got into her space. Once her butt was down I said sit! Yes sit! After that, I began word command sit, again no treat over head and she would sit. I would treat at nose level as if she was looking forward. Then we began hand communication with word sit. Now I can do hand command. But teaching that treat us low really helped as well as other tasks first to show her treat happens down. Thanks, that's helpful. I hadn't thought to teach her to come and touch first. I can see how that would help with keeping the jumping down.
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Post by Merge on Jan 29, 2024 22:54:50 GMT
We are fostering a little girl who was set for euthanasia in the pound. A rescue stepped in to save her and we’re the fosters. She has had no training whatsoever, but she is a little love and we want to help her. I had no problem teaching our other two dogs to sit and stay. You hold the treat a bit over their heads and slowly move it back, and their bottom naturally goes down. Not this girl! She just backs up and/or jumps for the treat. I’ve tried doing this while sitting and standing in front of her. Same result. YouTube has given me no further instruction than what I already know to do, so I’m turning to the peas. If it helps, she’s some kind of terrier mix and about 20 lbs. Other issues we will have to tackle - she was mistreated at some point and is terrified of collars, leashes, and the crate. She growls and snaps if any of these are introduced. She also will not potty outside but does use pee pads inside. But those are for a little further down the road when she’s decompressed a bit more. Any thoughts? Here’s a pic of her sleeping because I know how the peas are.
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Post by Merge on Jan 29, 2024 20:40:03 GMT
The "both sides are the same so Trump is fine" argument is pathetic and delusional.
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Post by Merge on Jan 29, 2024 17:39:50 GMT
One of the things I liked best about teaching in IB (international baccalaureate) schools was the focus on the learner profile, which emphasized intrinsic values like being principled, having integrity, and showing respect for others. No, discussion of those characteristics didn't magically solve all behavior problems, but it did cause most kids to think about how they view themselves (and how they'd like to view themselves) rather than focusing on immediate gratification or validation through extrinsic means. And it gave us a common framework to discuss behavior issues when they came up.
I hadn't really realized just how marked a difference that made until I came to a school this year that is a very highly rated school academically, but doesn't have a structure in place like the IB curriculum to teach kids how to examine their own behavior and motivations. The idea that you do the right thing even when no one is watching is completely foreign to most of them. I do not see the respect and tolerance for kids with special needs here that I've seen at the other schools I've worked at.
Anyway, all that to say that I agree with the article. And I despair of right wing attempts to remove SEL from public schools, because that's where we teach intrinsic values. And they're important. Trump is certainly exhibit A when it comes to what happens when you grow to adulthood with no internal moral compass.
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Post by Merge on Jan 29, 2024 17:07:24 GMT
I had that kid (my oldest) and she served plenty of detention for her tardies. Consequences didn’t seem to help. She still struggles with getting to work on time at age almost 23, apparently, but seems able to do so when she has a meeting or something where her bosses would notice her lateness.
I don’t know what to tell you. She gets this from my husband and it drives me nuts in both cases as I am one of those aggravatingly punctual people.
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Post by Merge on Jan 29, 2024 14:44:03 GMT
Came back to add these cinnamon rolls. I posted last week that I was getting a kitchen aid mixer at long last, and also that I was craving cinnamon rolls. These were the first thing I made with the new mixer. The dough hook worked perfectly and I can’t recommend this recipe enough. The special method they have you use makes a dough that is very easy to roll out and that bakes up super soft and squishy and stays that way! www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/perfectly-pillowy-cinnamon-rolls-recipeI added cream cheese to the icing but otherwise made them exactly as shown. Delicious! I will never use another recipe.
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Post by Merge on Jan 29, 2024 1:50:45 GMT
Republicans are only interested in the border as an election issue and getting revenge for impeaching Trump, they're not actually interested in solving problems. Instead of negotiating or working on a border deal, this is what they're doing. They invited Mayorkas to testify but instead of waiting until he's available, they're rushing forward with this ridiculous impeachment. This has been their plan all along. www.npr.org/2024/01/28/1227459949/house-gop-impeachment-articles-homeland-security-mayorkas-border-immigrationHouse GOP releases impeachment articles in bid to oust Homeland Security's Mayorkas
The House Committee on Homeland Security on Sunday released draft articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
In its 20-page resolution, the Republican-led committee accuses Mayorkas of high crimes and misdemeanors, including "willfully" disregarding immigration law.
The two articles accuse Mayorkas of "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" for failing to manage the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border and "breach of public trust."
Democrats on the committee and DHS are calling the articles a "sham."
Ranking member Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., accused Republicans of abusing their impeachment power to "score political points."
"Republicans don't actually want to work towards bipartisan solutions to fix the border – in fact, they have repeatedly sabotaged the Secretary's efforts to secure the border and denied DHS' funding requests," Thompson said in a statement. "Secretary Mayorkas is upholding the law and honoring the public trust as he has throughout his more than 30 years of service to our Nation."
DHS responded Sunday with a memo that called Republicans' effort "a distraction from other vital national security priorities and the work Congress should be doing to actually fix our broken immigration laws."
"They don't want to fix the problem; they want to campaign on it. That's why they have undermined efforts to achieve bipartisan solutions and ignored the facts, legal scholars and experts, and even the Constitution itself in their quest to baselessly impeach Secretary Mayorkas," the memo read.
The committee plans to meet on Tuesday at 10 a.m. to mark up the articles and then could vote sometime time after that. If the articles pass the committee, they then go to the full House for an impeachment vote. It would then be up to the Democratic-led Senate on whether to convict.So supposedly Trump is the one who does not want this immigration issue solved, because it is a good campaign issue-he thinks-and he wants to solve it. www.politico.com/news/2024/01/28/senators-border-deal-murphy-next-week-00138231Oh yes. Republicans in the house are on record saying they don’t want to help solve this problem because it would give Biden a win. But also they’re constantly screaming about the “crisis” at the border. And their voters are too deluded to ask themselves, if it’s such a crisis now, why do you want to put off any solution until after the election? I really hope it hurts to be that stupid. I hope it hurts like hell.
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Post by Merge on Jan 28, 2024 15:02:08 GMT
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Post by Merge on Jan 27, 2024 22:54:33 GMT
No idea about HOU. We only fly United out of IAH these days because that’s where DH’s status is. I feel like IAH had more international nonstops pre-Covid, though. I strongly dislike having connecting flights. Living in a place where the airport only connected to larger ones to get anywhere would be a bummer. Totally agree. Recently checked for a trip to Grand Cayman and there were no direct flights! We won't fly Southwest so don't really use HOU any longer. United has been our go-to in the past but we are shifting away from them whenever possible. United has declined so much in service (DH has had a few really bad experiences in the past few years). Now that DH rarely travels for business and we aren't expat we no longer have status and have discovered there are advantages to being free agents. I hear you. Flying with DH on United with his 1K status is pretty nice, though. They really roll out the red carpet for us. If we didn’t have that I’m sure we wouldn’t be so loyal.
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Post by Merge on Jan 27, 2024 18:53:38 GMT
In the middle of two, both about 20 miles away. IAH has lots of international flights. I think DFW has more options and better prices typically, but that's a 4 hr drive away and not worth it. HOU is smaller and has some international flights, mostly on Southwest I think. Those are to Mexico, Central America and a few islands in the Caribbean. Merge might know more about options out of HOU. Yes, my nearest airport is Munich which is the second biggest in Germany. Seriously one of my favorite airports in Europe! Any time I can route through there instead of Frankfurt I will. No idea about HOU. We only fly United out of IAH these days because that’s where DH’s status is. I feel like IAH had more international nonstops pre-Covid, though. I strongly dislike having connecting flights. Living in a place where the airport only connected to larger ones to get anywhere would be a bummer.
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Post by Merge on Jan 27, 2024 3:18:13 GMT
First of all--Americans of a certain age were brought up to believe that European things are far more glamorous and fashionable and better than American things. This goes all the way back to colonial times with homemade things vs having things imported from Europe. So while the products may or may not be better, the perception by many, if not most, Americans will be that if it's from Europe it's automatically better. Artisan products here can be every bit as good, but if it's "Irish wool" or "Italian leather" or "Belgian chocolate" etc it's going to be perceived as better than. And artisan products aren't readily available all over. "Made in Europe" automatically makes most Americans assume quality. Just as almost anything stamped Made In China is deemed lower quality, whether it actually is or isn't. (Fine china and jade would be notable exceptions). In the past it was Taiwan, or Hong Kong, or Mexico. I will definitely give you that actual champagne, from France, beats out most sparkling wine and prosecco! I had a bottle of Dom for my 50th bday that was divine. I tried to open a bottle of Korbel after it was gone and I couldn't even drink it. Normally Korbel is just fine for my NYE but that year I got spoiled 😁 Yes! I rarely drink actual Champagne because of the prohibitive cost, but it just blows our domestic sparkling wine and all prosecco out of the water. I've started drinking cava from Portugal and Spain because it's made in the methode Champenoise of French Champagne, unlike prosecco, which is just an insipid imitation. I love Cava! Other parts of the world make wine so much better that the US does. (Sorry, Napa. I'm just not impressed.) Europe, Aus/NZ, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa make some excellent wines - often at very good prices unless you're looking for something rare or exceptional.
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Post by Merge on Jan 27, 2024 3:11:51 GMT
Dryers, apparently, since everyone here stated they have to line dry things Yes, your clothes dryers are MUCH better, from what I have heard from Merge and several other Americans. But I don't line dry because I "have to", I line dry as often as possible so I'm not using electricity unnecessarily. And when it's too cold or wet to use my clothes line outside, I dry my clothes on a rack over the ducted heating vents. I'm still flummoxed by this. When my kids lived at home we did literal mountains of laundry each week. I don't know how I would ever have hung everything to dry inside the house (never mind that our heat vents are in the ceiling, so they're no help in drying things). I imagine hanging clothes to dry as a relic of earlier times when people had many fewer clothes. Clearly it would be better for the environment if we had fewer things AND hung them to dry, but here we all are at the peak of modern consumerism.
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Post by Merge on Jan 27, 2024 3:08:12 GMT
I think part of the problem with US products is the mega corporations are being compared to much smaller ones in Europe. There are excellent, cheese, beer and chocolate producers in the US - but people are comparing Kraft, Budweiser and Hershey which all suck. I agree with this. America has long prioritized mass production and widespread availability over quality, though, so if you want quality you have to be willing to look for it (and pay for it). Or make/grow/raise it yourself, of course.
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Post by Merge on Jan 26, 2024 23:45:39 GMT
Sending you both my very best thoughts. Please do let us know how he goes on.
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