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fuggled

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Everything posted by fuggled

  1. I'm in TX-32 so I'm interested in what happens here. This used to be Allred's district until he left to run for Senate and now Julie Johnson is in the seat. There are already several Republican candidates registered. No idea what's going to happen on the D side because it sounds like Johnson may move to another district instead of trying to hold on here.
  2. I wasn't sure where to post this as it's more a philosophical topic than anything else. Have you ever accepted charity and were you unsure how to feel about it? The weather turned cold here in DFW this week and we had to bundle up my son (11 yo) on his way to school. Earlier in the semester there was an event at his elementary where Operation Warm came out and gave winter coats to every single kid in the school. We are a Title 1 elementary with a high proportion of low income students who receive free or reduced lunches, so we're definitely the type of school that a non-profit like this would engage with. So, back in September my son came home with this new winter coat. It was pretty plain, orange and gray with a hood. Nothing fancy and no branding on it. They had written his name in it. When I first saw the coat, I thought it was nice of this non-profit to give it to us but our family is in a solid financial position and we don't need charity. I thought we'd pass along the coat to Goodwill or some other organization that could get it to someone who needs it. Then I thought about the practical side of it. My kid's growing so fast at this age (1.5 shoe sizes in 6 months!), I'm not even sure his current coat still fits. We probably actually need to get him a new one. Then, I'm a bit ashamed to admit, I had a prideful moment. Do I really want to send my kid out in a pity coat that was given away in some corporate sponsored community service event? What an asshole I am. Then it hit me. There are kids at this school who wouldn't have a winter coat this year if it weren't for this event. Our district has a policy of cancelling school when it gets cold just because there are so many kids for whom it would be dangerous to wait for the bus without winter clothes. I knew this already, but I had never thought too much about how that connects to my family. What message would I and my son be sending if we passed this gift coat along to Goodwill and bought ourselves a new one that was a little nicer and probably came with a logo on it? We think we're too good for this coat? We deserve something better? When the first cold front blows in, my son's classmate will wear the only coat he has and my kid will have discarded that gift in favor or something nicer. How is that classmate going to feel? I realized that accepting the coat wasn't just about what I or my son needed and wanted. Our decision could impact the culture of our school and the community around us. We had the opportunity, in an admittedly small way, to avoid creating division among students and, hopefully, to make one or two kids feel a little more welcome and less self-conscious. So, I asked my son, "Do you like the coat? You like the color? You like the hood?" Yeah, of course he did, he had no reason not to. He wore the coat this week. It looked good on him. I wondered if there might be a couple dipshits in his class that tease him about it. I was prepared for him to come home upset at being teased and to have a teaching moment about gratitude and what's really important in life. Doesn't seem like that was necessary, as I haven't heard any reports of teasing. I picked my son up from school yesterday and saw quite a few kids in similar Operation Warm coats. Certainly not all the kids, but many. It was a learning moment for me to realize that in accepting charity, even when I don't need it, I'm giving a gift back out to others. I hope my son will recognize that lesson in time.
  3. Glad to see that my local school district is finally getting in on the action here. As far as I know they haven't been putting up any posters so far. I traded emails with our Principal and Superintendent at that the start of the year and they seemed to be doing their best to just stay quiet and not draw any attention. New lawsuit filed by Texas families seeks to block school districts from displaying Ten Commandments in classrooms
  4. Yeah, more wars!
  5. We use the Google Nest doorbell. We also have a few Nest cameras. One thing I liked is that Google's Nest Aware subscription gives you storage for all their devices on a single plan. Trying to figure out the storage/recording options on these different products was a pain.
  6. That's a really good deep-dive article that people should read. Thanks for sharing.
  7. The dissent on the redistricting case seems like it could be a fun read.
  8. FYI, the police have said that the homeowner is not a retired cop. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/investigation-continues-death-cleaner-went-100728346.html
  9. Wouldn't want this to get missed under all the Epstein news.
  10. Sounds like the DOJ is going to sort this all out for us. Trump Blames High Beef Prices On Foreign Competitors—After Backlash From Argentine Import Plan
  11. Couldn't find the video anywhere else
  12. For those who may not have seen the ad from Ontario
  13. I hadn't heard anything about this before, but, wow, this seems incredibly fucked up
  14. Is this how we get billionaires to pay their fair share?
  15. Interesting, I'm really curious about this. Do you know what they were doing with Chase and Zelle? Were they receiving payments through Zelle? I can't imagine why Chase would cancel anything if you were just sending money. Could it be possible these people weren't maintaining a checking account balance with Chase (i.e. just passing money through) such that it wasn't profitable for Chase?
  16. Just a few more American children in zip-ties, no big deal
  17. Blowed up guy is back home now
  18. Can you explain this? I have Chase and use Zelle no problem (mostly to pay tutors/lesson teachers for the kids).
  19. In a shock to nobody, the ICE raid on a Chicago apartment building 17 days ago has resulted in zero criminal charges.
  20. I think we already pretty much knew this.
  21. So, after blowing up their boat, the government is just sending these "drug smugglers" back home. We're not going to prosecute them for drug offenses or as members of a terrorist organization. We're not holding them as POWs in the war of Venezuelan invasion. We're just sending them home. Seems totally legit.
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