Yes, but authoritarian leaders also put out lots of propaganda and misinformation and then try to discredit any media sources that disagree with them or criticize them. And supporters of those leaders can easily live in a news bubble and only get very biased news. The amazing number of people in the US who still believe the 2020 election was “stolen” shows that these tried and true techniques of authoritarian leaders are alive and well right here in the US. And you can easily find other examples throughout the world and history. I long for the days of my youth when we all got our news from the same limited number of sources and only disagreed what to do about it. I think the genie is out of the bottle and there’s no going back now. I honestly can’t think about it for very long without getting really depressed.

I think right wing talk radio also has contributed greatly for a long time. I remember many years ago(before Trump, Covid, etc.) watching a documentary about the state of politics in WI and both long time Ds and long time Rs there primarily blamed it for how bad things had gotten in their state.

We just did a 21st celebration for our “adopted” local international college student. We made her favorite foods for dinner, took her and her roommate to a local musical (a new experience for her which she loved), and then had cake (the type she requested) and ice cream. She spent the night with us and we made a special brunch together before she went back to campus. All of this except the cake was a new birthday experience for her.

Junior high is actually early, not late, for the onset of bipolar. The average age is around 25. So it sounds like they were theorizing about something they didn’t really know much about.

Working through feelings is being productive.

The program screened families so as to know which were most likely to be helped by it. And at least at my location, they also had lots of other support and programs that operated at a day center separate from the food and housing provided by the churches. And people have to want change in order to be helped by psychologists and psychiatrists. I think most of us here have experienced enough in life to know that unfortunately there’s a fairly significant chunk of people out there who don’t want to change or don’t want to do the work involved with change. That’s not to say I don’t think we should keep making as much mental health/family function help available as possible. We absolutely should. Edited to add that it would also be helpful in many cases if we could get people to accept the help they desperately need to become functional and stable before they bring children into the mix.

I was also involved with this program for many years and agree with your observations. And this is probably going to offend many here, but I also observe it on this board. People sharing difficulties they are having and then continuing to do more of the same thing that led to the problems in the first place.

By that definition, I don’t think I’ve ever taken a mid-term, so it fits with us not ever using the term during undergrad or grad school. Calling all non-final college exams mid-terms is definitely something I’ve only encountered on the west coast.

Yes, all exams (usually two or three) that are not a final are referred to as mid-terms. We just called everything but the final exam a test, unless it was the rare quiz (shorter, counted less, sometimes unannounced).

It was the same for my son at a university on the quarter system. When he took college classes in high school at a university on the semester system, it was three midterms and a final. As an aside, even I’ve lived on the west coast for over 25 years now, I still can’t get used to people calling all non-final college exams midterms. It wasn’t a thing where I attended school in the Midwest or on the east coast. But it was similar to my son’s experience, three exams (or papers) and a final for each semester course was the norm. Except most of my graduate school math classes did grade and count hw. Prior to that, I hadn’t been graded on math hw since middle school.

A good quality solar powered cash register was a big hit at that age and well used for many years. Also, a big roll of tickets from an office supply store led to many different make believe scenarios. Melting beads were another gift that was used for many years with regular replenishing.

I’d be fine with public funds for the other options if we fully funded public schools first. But I can’t imagine we will ever do so, much less take money from federal defense spending and focus it on children and families.

But when you do this, then you end up with situations like the rampant unemployment fraud, the rampant PPP loan fraud, tax fraud, etc. Carefully screening things takes time and money and inevitably when people want it expedited it leads to rampant and costly abuse. Bad people make it so that the rest of us have to go through more hoops and bureaucracy than we would like in order to protect limited government funds.

But all of this money is being diverted from public schools, which in most states, including Arizona, are woefully underfunded. How about fully funding them first before diverting money to private schools and questionable providers.

But isn’t that what public school is for? I’m not sure I’m on onboard with providing public dollars for homeschoolers, just as I don’t support doing it for private schools, either directly or through tax credits or vouchers. I know public schools are not ideal for every child, but if a parent wants education money from the state, then I think they need to access it through a public school program, even if it’s some sort of hybrid public charter school program.

I’d be curious to now where the programs are readily available? Are they also affordable? They certainly aren’t readily available here, nor are they affordable for many. I agree addiction is very hard, though.

Since you live so close, is it possible for them to play together without you really being involved? I know things are different now, but it’s a relatively new thing for parents to be involved in setting up play dates. If you need her to come home, could you send one of your older children to pick her up? Or maybe send a spare phone with her so you can call when it’s time to come home and then go outside and watch her walk home? I’m so sorry for what you are experiencing, it must be very difficult and painful.

Manipulation of the masses is so widespread right now. It’s like a huge chunk of our country never learned anything from the history they studied. You can literally see the constant propaganda, misinformation, and manipulation right before your eyes everyday and yet so many are so oblivious. It’s really sad and very discouraging. I honestly don’t see a way back from it at this point due to the fragmentation of our “new sources” (I put news in quotes because I think what many are using for news is almost straight up propaganda and misinformation with a few facts here and there).

Huge hit with recipient! Thanks @Corraleno!

I think it goes way beyond defunding libraries, although some might view that as a positive side effect.

But that wouldn’t further their political agenda. These attempts to restrict access to books at public schools and libraries are not, for the most part, arising organically. They are part of a concerted national effort that seeks to ferment anger and outrage in order to divide, conquer, and get votes, not to mention make $ for medie platforms. The more crazy, extreme, and false the better because we now know without a doubt that it works.

This time. I’m sure they will try again in the future.

I’m so sorry. I hope your husband finds a new work from home job soon so you can stay put. I’ll be thinking if you and yours during this difficult time.

This. Relatives were in Argentina this year and were very happy about what they could buy with $. They loved everything about Argentina, and can’t wait to go back, but won’t be returning to Chile.

Well it’s certainly better to be dealing with inflation while employed rather than unemployed. Partially due to our 30 year mortgage system, there’s no quick fix for inflation unless you want to be in a recession or worse. I don’t deny inflation sucks, especially for those with lower incomes (which is true of just about anything), but I actually find it quite impressive how so far we’ve managed to thread the needle, bring it down, increase growth, and not enter a recession.