One of the strangest arguments I have ever had and will ever have, I sincerely hope, is that we should make sure we are feeding our children. On the face of things, you would rarely hear someone argue differently, but when people talk about discontinuing food stamps and school lunch programs, that is the real argument: feeding kids isn’t an important enough use for my money. In this country, we throw away food because our leadership is unable/unwilling to prioritize taking care of our people at a basic level of food, housing, education, health. Hugs all. randy
In fiscal year 2023, the federal government spent $112.8 billion on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is the largest nutrition assistance program in the United States. This was about 1.84% of the federal budget.
According to research, childhood hunger can significantly impact adulthood by increasing the risk of chronic health conditions like diabetes, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease, as well as contributing to mental health issues like depression, lower cognitive function, and reduced life satisfaction, even when adjusting for socioeconomic factors in adulthood; this is largely due to the developmental disruptions caused by malnutrition during critical growth periods in childhood.
40% of American families are one paycheck away from poverty. This means that they would be unable to cover an unexpected expense if they missed a paycheck
In 2022, 9.1 percent of U.S. households with adults aged 65 and older were food insecure at some time during the year, meaning they had difficulty providing enough food for all their members because of a lack of resources.
Hello All. I am stumbling over how to express my thoughts on this or even if they are accurate, so I think I need your help. I don’t know if it is best listening to Belle talk about Recisions first, but I’ll put forth her video and let you know my thoughts after that I need some help understanding.
Recision is a trackable and mostly upfront process where the congressionally approved monies are rejected by the executive branch. Where I differ from Belle on this, sort of, is that the republicans in general and more specifically whoever is the brains behind the drumpf administration would seriously consider this idea of Recision. I think this is pure smoke and I very much do not believe that is their goal for a variety of reasons:
First and foremost, that then makes those funds unavailable. Not for a moment do I believe that drumpf want to limit his access to funds.
Making the Recision process fact is time consuming. The type of governing, if I can call it that, drumpf engages in is one of misdirection and chaos. Recision is a predictable and voted process that does not allow for dictatorial maneuvering by the powers that be, which not only allows for others to opine or even stop the process, it limits the “well what’s done is done, can’t stop it now” response.
But Mostly: The goal of replacing government workers with partisan drones has not been forgotten. The game plan outlined in Project 2025 that drumpf repeatedly said he knew nothing about yet seems to be marching right along point by point was to replace government workers with partisan compatriots so that he would not be blocked from accomplishing those plans.
In a recent interview Elon said that the rank and file government workers are a hinderance to his ability to make the “efficiency” mandates and cuts a reality.
Of the first firings were the very people who are trained with the policies and laws associated with the departments they oversee and charged with investigating allegations of abuse and fraud.
drumpf has used the ‘how creatively can you kiss my ass’ process for his cabinet and department meetings since his first term, expecting these grown men and women to expound on how great ‘dear leader’ is as a man and a leader. Those government workers removed – while individually agreeable perhaps – as a whole are not willing to debase themselves to perform their jobs.
Elon required government workers to list what they did last week so to justify their job. (It did not go well)
This is what I am betting I will see soon: These displaced workers performed x-amount of work. That work, those services, will soon to be seen as necessary, but as the workers were dismissed for being “unfit“, they will need to be replaced with those “fit” for the job. And, of course, the first definition of “fit” is one who will do what they are told no matter what while publicly kissing sweet potato hitler’s ass.
Where I need input now is in consideration that the guy in the mirror isn’t giving me a lot of erudite thoughts on this issue, so I’m a bit lost in my own wanderings and I simply don’t have the time in front of the interviews and news to have better information. So far I’m not hearing the news organizations talking about this in this expected outcome. What do you think?
One of the least comfortable things that having older parents is that I have to deal with the fact that they are not as quick with their memory as they once were. I may hear the same jokes I’ve heard before, the same stories I’ve already been told about this cousin or that things just weren’t like that in their day.
And, as I’m coming to get older, I’m finding a level of adaptation and a willingness to forgive those lapses. I’m telling myself that I have to be thankful that I can share in the many memories and the great times.
For instance: This year I bought myself a Brita water filter. I really like it, and feel very congratulatory for myself because I got it at a great 50% off sale price. At the same time, I bought some replacement filters – got those at a 40% off sale.
I liked it so much, I bought my parents one as well, but got them the better filter so they wouldn’t have to replace the filter so often. And they really seem to like it as well. They are down in Florida where the tap water is ~ uhm, chewy? ~ Yeah, we’ll go with that. They really like the filtered water. So, back to the whole memory thing….
Can someone remind me where I put my extra filters???
By the way: I’m 23 of 24 on the list. Never had a MySpace. How did you do?
The wealthy and powerful want us to kick down, the liberals want us to kick up, and the sheep go where they are told without thought or reason. Chaos, divisiveness. “Don’t trust the main stream media”. “Don’t trust the courts”. “Don’t trust your very eyes, they only lie to you”. But who are we to trust? It’s a fevered dream screaming out What’s Going On?
If I were to ask 1000 people what they value the most in a partner, I would likely get near to 1000 similar answers, that would likely consist of variants of someone being a horny boy scout: Cleanliness, commitment, common sense, communication, compassion, confidence, consistency, courage, creativity, harmony…. You get my point.
If I were to ask the same questions of employees, I would get, again, similar answers.
We want to work for an employer who is creative, confident, inspiring, loyal and successful, among other attributes. Most of middle class workers want to be paid every payday, have a confidence that we will have a job the next week rather than living in fear of what is just around the corner, and know that our hard work is valued and appreciated.
But we have found that when we want a national leader, we find those staid truths boring. Carter was one of the smartest and kindest presidents we have ever had, but he was thrown over for someone who spoke well at celebrity shows and told good stories. That man went on to convince the country that if they only gave the rich man more money they would prosper by the scraps falling to them from on high. The die was cast: oratory skills of a story teller hold precedence over other attributes such as trustworthiness, competence and consistency. Somehow being bombastic and entertaining gained the highest priorities for way too many.
When I was going to school, I remember a dream of man that he was a warrior so that his son could live a life of peace and be a farmer, putting food on his table and raising his family in safety and security. And the farmer wanted his son to be a businessman so he didn’t have to live a life of broken hands and aching back.
And the businessman wanted his son to be a scholar and an artist so he could bring innovation, understanding and beauty to his world. This was to be the guide for man living a life of peace and confidence in the wonderful things that life could bring.
Some of my proudest moments in life were to see equality in marriage made fact, to see the government of the people begin to value the health of the country rather than just the martial stance of our army, and to see our youth feel free to be themselves no matter how that was expressed. Conversely, some of my saddest moments have come with the avowed destruction of those points of authenticity and growth of our people because some found it so profoundly threatening that they preferred fake entertainment, avarice and chaos. My enduring hope is that people want to be genuine, they want to be free, they want peace and security and a reality that does not change whenever the powers that be find it inconvenient.
Good Morning. Yesterday I ran head long into a problem I’ve been putting off. In fairness, we all weigh our priorities and sometimes put off one thing for another. Welcome to a busy life. The problem, of course, is that issue is still waiting resolution.
As happened yesterday, my forklift driver had let his area get messy. He was angry because the person who is to be doing the trash disposal hasn’t been doing very good. He has a point – one that he expressed quite loudly when I asked him to clean things up a bit. Yet, I came to appreciate that outburst.
I’m finding it difficult to get all the things I physically need to have hands-on to get done while at the same time going about and pushing people to do the things that they are supposed to do. I have a tendency to expect people to be adults, to do what they are supposed to do. And, while I don’t have a problem coming along behind and catching the occasional fallen task, I’ve come to see that I am spending too much on catching other’s fallen tasks and not enough on attending to my own.
My rough draft of this post began to talk about how the forklift driver had allowed his area to be so messy, then got angry when I asked him to tighten it up. I’ve had to re-examine this and realize that I’ve ALSO not been doing what is right. I’ve not been holding people to account well enough. I’ve allowed things to become a problem unresolved and stacking up.
The hard part about integrity is that there is always one person who is watching, or at least should be watching: that guy in the mirror. He is the only one we are accountable to, the only one we can’t fully evade, fully lie to, fully deny has the right to the truth – no matter how uncomfortable. Gotta tell you, that guy is a real pain in the ass.
Delegitimization: To remove the authority, the very veracity of a thing, an idea, a process or a person.
We saw it become more and more used as a word in the 1990’s, raising to a regularly seen word in the modern era.
The idea of a politician lying to the people is as axiomatic and expected as to be enfolded within the very image of the word “politician”. The sad part is not the lie, it is the full purchase of the lie by those who prefer the lie to the reality that they might be wrong.
Nonetheless, the very invention of the modern internet created an unexpected leveling of information sources where the respected scientists and journalists somehow were delegitimized to become equal footing with the internet troll and conspiracy theorist.
My grandfather used the term “talking out both sides of your mouth”. Certain “news” pundits used the politicization of reality to unashamedly become very rich. They sold themselves and whatever morals they once held for this idea that the public doesn’t have the right nor the need for the actual truth.
From a very good 2018 article in the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-42724320In the future, the term “fake news” might come to be seen as a relic of febrile 2017 (if we’re lucky). But the fight against misinformation won’t go away. Companies and governments are now starting to take concrete action… Google and Facebook have both said that they are going to be hiring a lot of people to review content and enforce their terms of service…” we have instead seen Zuckerberg first accused by the republicans of violation of the 1st Amendment only to then bend the knee to Trump, and the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk to remove such standards and accuracy oversights. We witnessed live the overthrow of journalistic integrity by the very people journalists are meant to hold accountable.
Musk went on to purchase both president trump outright and the “mandate” to purge the government similar to his destruction of Twitter all the while publicly declaring fascism alive and well.
In the midst of this, we have seen the republicans refuse to allow evidence that trump attempted to bribe a desperate foreign head of state to implicate Joe Biden in a conspiracy of fraud, only to then fire and oust the people who did their job in reporting that problem to the government.
The very same republicans who were once cowering under their chairs as the Jan.6th insurrectionists smashed their way in an attempt to keep trump in power and hang Mike Pence, again – if a bit late – for doing his job. They later called it a “tour”, then cheered when the very person responsible for their crimes came back into power and pardoned each and every one of them.
And refused to do their jobs when it was found that trump had stolen boxes upon boxes of national secrets.
Trump violated the law and was – shockingly – expected to account for his actions, garnering sexual abuse convictions, fraud convictions, rico election fraud accusations… and they were ignored. The government employees charged with the thankless task of holding a president to the very laws of the country he once headed were fired, ostracized, threatened. The supreme court was packed with the questionable… yeah, we’ll leave it at that. The Justice Department was put into the hands of his former personal attorney, the one who was refusing to allow him to be held accountable for his crimes, foregoing the very notion that the Justice Department is the “People’s Attorney”.
I’m absolutely out of breath! I’m no where near a complete description and I’m out of breath. I can only wonder if there will ever be a history book describing this, or if we are witnessing the final acts in the decimation of the education of our youth and the idea of facts, reality, justice. What will be left that made America what it is? The Constitution? Already disrespected. The People? They are cowed into hysterical sycophantic abasement on the one hand and bewildered incredulity on the other. I just don’t know what is left and I seriously question what will we become now.
When I watched the fiasco that trump gave as a communication regarding the plane crash in Washington, I realized that I, as a small business manager, am under a much greater expectation than our so-called president, trump.
Let it be known: if I proceeded to allow an activity to go forth that I determined was unsafe, my boss would have two questions for me: Why do you believe it is unsafe? Why would you then ever allow it to go on if it was unsafe?
The simple answer is that you CANNOT stand on some pedestal and declare that you knew all along it was unsafe but you allowed it to go forward, because thereby either you are a fool or a wimp; either you don’t know what is or is not safe or the best you have is to bitch from the cheap seats.
Harry S. Truman put a plaque on his desk that said “The Buck Stops Here”. He was a real man.
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