Curriculum is not a lesson plan, and educational standards are not curriculum(ae). Teachers can still follow state & district guidelines, and/or curriculum, while choosing lesson plans that better meets the needs of their students. Lesson plans have objectives and goals which relate to what the state has decided needs to be covered for each grade. They're not chosen out of the wild, as you seem to think. *However*, many districts now *require* (under risk of termination) that teachers *only* read directly from the selected curriculum, regardless of how that may work - or not - for each classroom of kids. How much each individual teacher decides to conform to that strict of a straightjacket depends upon many factors. Many now are giving it up entirely. Different teachers can teach the same English 10 class, which selecting different literature, particularly in high school, and still reach the same objectives.

The math teachers in both districts in which I worked complained bitterly about lack of autonomy. Math textbooks - and teaching approaches - change frequently (in districts that can afford to), and are chosen by the School Board, often without input by teachers. Most of the high school teachers in my last district created their own lessons (pulling from teacher web sites) and bypassed the math-curriculum-of-the-moment entirely. You seem to have very outdated ideas about what goes on in public schools.

There are *many* resources for teachers to share lesson plans and related resources. Those web sites - both national & state- are common knowledge & commonly used by most teachers. Nearly every district provides a very specific list of curriculum and books for use in classrooms. It has been this way for at least a decade. Certain media broadcast "scandals" - at least some of which are later proven to be entirely false (litter boxes in bathrooms, anyone)? - as if they are every day occurrences. I'm not saying bizarre things don't happen - there are ~3,500,000 public school teachers in the US and there are going to be some weirdos in the mix, but districts now are far more clamped down than they are open. It's part of the reason why public school teaching absolutely SUCKS, and why so many teachers are checking out. (I'm a former public school teacher and still have many friends in the system.)

Sorry, I was in a rush and actually posted the wrong graphic. Not that the graphic is wrong, it's just old. That graphic is from the Physicians For a National Health Program. And it covers two years (I believe it was 2014 & 2015). The difference in compensation amounts is due (I believe....it's been awhile) to stock options awarded & stock performance, as most CEOs (whether in healthcare or not) receive significant stock options/awards each year. I'll attach the one I meant to post, from Dr Money Matters (a site focused on financial advice for health care professionals). However, there are many more sources available through a search (such as this one - 2021, or this - 2022), as CEO compensation is readily available for all publicly traded companies. I'd also point out that this is just CEO compensation; there are many other layers of executive management in these health insurance companies, most of which receive multi-million dollar compensation packages.

Good idea.

I have a lot of family in Seattle, and lived there for years. A lot depends on where they will be working...will they be commuting, or working remotely? If not remote, commuting distances need to be of primary consideration, as in any large city, and their neighborhood selection should be focused on proximity to jobs. By "Seattle", do they mean "downtown Seattle" or "metro area"? If it's just metro area, there are many more possibilities. Pierce County and Bellevue/Issaquah are good suggestions. If they mean Seattle proper, I've always been partial to West Seattle. They might want to compare COL between Seattle and their current area. Seattle home prices have dropped almost 10% in the last year, but the average sales price is still currently ~$850,000 for a basic house and rental prices are laughable (not in a good way). Child care costs are almost unbelievable. I don't say all this to discourage them (people should go where their hearts are calling them), but it's sooo easy to gloss over expenses when you're excited about moving someplace new. That being said, Seattle will always have a special place in my heart, and the natural beauty of the area can't be beat.

Where has anyone in this thread said that you were an evil business owner, that capitalism is evil, or the profit motive is the devil?

Labeling it a distraction makes it convenient to ignore all the ways this society supports government loan forgiveness for one group of people, and loses it's mind over loan forgiveness for another group. ETA: And, for the record, since this whole "distraction" seems to result in several people wanting to put words in my mouth, I'm not - at least in theory - against the PPP program. Small business owners definitely needed the help at the time. Even large businesses were unsure how much they were going to be hurt. But it *has* turned into a massive giveaway. With practically no one even blinking an eye about "government loan forgiveness" for this program, for this group of people, for this amount of money (nearly double the total amount of student loan forgiveness).

I'm not sure how playing around with the definition changes the fact that the vast majority of PPP "loans" (nearly all of which have been forgiven) were given to those in the top 20% of income. Page 20: "Panel A of Figure 6 reports the distribution of PPP, UI, and household payments in billions of dollars across household quintiles. The distribution of Paycheck Protection Program loans over- whelmingly accrued to high-income households. Of the $510 billion in PPP loans provided in 2020, we estimate that only $13.2 billion ultimately flowed to households in the bottom fifth of the income distribution, and that $130.8 billion to the second through fourth quintiles. The remaining $365.9 billion (72 percent) flowed to the top-fifth of household income."

I got that you were deflecting. Speed has nothing to do with it. You tried to make a point about how PPP loans were inherently different than student loans. When I asked a direct question that called out the hypocrisy of calling an obvious handout a "loan", you've deflected (twice, now) to completely unrelated topics, in a bid to prove.......that you're OK with deceptive language, as long as it's a program you support? Are you able to stick to the topic at hand?

Does one negate the other? Try something other than "whataboutism".

Seems appropriate here. "Americans are very generous when it comes to giving money to the rich. We are tolerant and forthcoming when it comes to giving away public lands and assets to people who are already overstocked with both. We are generous to corporations-- giving them tax breaks and subsidies, pay their bills when they destroy what doesn't belong to them, bailing them out when they go broke through corruption and inefficiency. We are indulgent toward polluters, prisoners, and white-collar thieves. But we turn stingy when it comes to paying the people who protect our homes or educate our children. And we would far rather see our tax dollars pour freely into the pockets of billionaires than allow a welfare mother living in abject poverty to get one more dinner for her children than she is entitled to by the law." -Philip Slater

According to this article (CBS), out of $790 BILLION in PPP "loans" (LOL), $757 BILLION has been forgiven. ETA a quote from the article: "Between two-thirds and three-quarters of the PPP's benefits "did not go to paychecks, however, but instead accrued to business owners and shareholders," the study found, estimating that "about three-quarters of PPP benefits accrued to the top quintile of household income."

So the PPP was nothing but a huge handout, then. Why then was the program developed & continually referred to as "PPP loans"? Why do people have to apply for forgiveness if it's not a "loan"?

One thing you may want to factor in while weighing the "move or stay" decision....the impact of the insurance crisis on the real estate market. Florida realtors are already reporting disruptions due to buyers having difficulty obtaining homeowner's insurance/flood/wind coverage (other sources available with a search), which, as I'm sure you know, are required by mortgage lenders. I don't want to encourage catastrophizing, and your body politic seems to think that recent reforms will be enough and it will just take some time (maybe true, maybe not...I don't know enough to judge), but the insurance crisis is currently snowballing there, and the state may well hit a 3-5 year period where sellers will have a much more difficult time completing a transaction, unless they have all-cash buyers. Point being: it may be a good (or at least better) time to sell now, or soon. And keep your fingers crossed for a quiet hurricane season this year.

And if they hadn't offered hope, they would be excoriated for "giving up too early / easily". No one was going to be happy with the rescue attempts and it's very easy to blame the people who were handed a hot-a$$ sandwich and expected to complete an instant miracle. It just frosts my muffin that the Ocean Gate CEO had gone on the record, loudly & frequently, bitching about US gov't regulations (w/ submersibles) and how "burdensome" and "unnecessary" they were, how they "stifled innovation", and on and on, and then the sub disappears and the company instantly switches to blaming the military & gov't workers who aren't immediately able to rectify a decades-long chain of laughably stupid decisions.

This. What is going on with the daughter is (in large part) due to long-standing family dynamics. There is no straightforward solution to the elephant(s) that set up housekeeping in the room(s) decades ago. However, I agree with others that getting daughter out & away (the further & farther the better for her, ideally in a somewhat structured way, as mentioned elsewhere). Hopefully, she will then begin to find her way toward more conscious choices. OP, I've recommended the book "The Dance of Intimacy: A Woman's Guide to Courageous Acts of Change in Key Relationships" before (by Harriet Lerner; "The Dance of Anger" is also excellent) and I'll recommend it to you. It's 30+ years old, but that book for me really helped me to start to see - & navigate - the *patterns* that dictate unhealthy familial dynamics, and how, so much of the time when we think we're doing something different, we're actually just reinforcing the existing unhealthy power dynamics. I'm sure there are many other excellent books, but this might be a good place for both you (& your daughter) to start. Books are not a substitute for therapy by any means, but self-education can help in the meantime while you are (hopefully) getting therapy arranged.

12-year-old boy uses Assault Rifle to kill a fast food employee (who had told the dad not to pee in the parking lot). Not sure how a good guy with a gun would have stopped this (shot the 12-year-old, I guess? hopefully before the 12-yr-old shot the employee? Is that a win? /s), but don't worry, we'll all carry on as before.

Well, it's good that you are not having issues, but, overall..there is an *enormous* home owner's insurance crisis in Florida (source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, many more are available through google). A relative of mine lives there and her insurance has gone up 84% in 3 years, and is expected to jump another 25% at her next renewal. Ten years ago, she paid <$3000/year for HO insurance. In 2023, she expects to pay ~$12K. A year. Insured for only $250K, too, even tho current value is estimated to be 450K. And, no, she does not live on the water, or even that close. And her house is a typical-ish, middle-class-style home. Nice, but nothing fancy.

I haven't watched it, and won't (for multiple reasons), but....it sounds less like a documentary, and more like propaganda. If so, treat it as such.

A tactic that is now in full-on use by both sides, yes. Me, I'd like the government to be able to fix anything. Anything at all would be nice. (Side note: my local gov't is still pretty effective. To a lesser extent, so is my state. This comment is more directed at federal level.) ******************************************* A few years ago, I really wanted to leave the country. I knew *many* people who had done that, and whose lives were greatly improved by doing so (health care, calmer societies, greatly reduced gun violence, etc). Unfortunately, in the same vein that MEmama has discussed, most of those places have also gone to sh*t in the last 3-5 years. Lots of problems everywhere, and I really can't name a country which doesn't have significant problems that concern me.

Your view is actually a very succinct summary of climate change. The increase in heat won't kill off civilization (not for awhile, anyway), but the unpredictable weather (ever-increasing frequency of droughts, floods, hail & wind events, esp during harvest times) & repeated catastrophic storms will kill off the annual agriculture that is nearly solely responsible for sustaining it.

I see this level of cognitive dissonance in my friends on the Left who all firmly believe in man-created climate change, but who's passport books are stamped from 30+ countries throughout the world. And, yes, I know it's a complex & delicate thing for any individual to determine how much to change his/her own life in the larger scheme of overwhelming systems. But at some point, your actions need to support your beliefs at least somewhat....or they're really not your beliefs.

That is a gross simplification (although it's an oft-repeated tale in certain circles) of what actually happened, & of the number of actual scientists - very few - who actually predicted an ice age. If you're interested in a not-too-long summary of the nuances of the beginnings of climate science, and of the confusion there was over the effects of particulates-vs-carbon, this is a pretty good article.

The hard part is that there are SO MANY guns in this country....more guns than people. They are EASY for ANYONE to get. Who the hell needs to buy one when (chances are, esp in certain circles) you can get any gun of choice from any one of a number of houses / friends / networks? I honestly do not think passing new gun laws will change anything. We're way past that point, because we can no longer restrict access. Such is the natural result of the past 30 years of loosening restrictions/access/laws on gun ownership & the "right" to randomly shoot other people. What we could do is to start holding the owner(s) of the guns legally liable for the use of their guns. Someone steals your gun? You get 24 hours to report, or you are legally (& financially) responsible for what is done with that gun. THAT would change things. But we are years from that happening. Too many people will never agree to it, because the point has become....power in irresponsible gun ownership (& use). That is what is now considered a right. I'm willing to fight, but don't misunderstand what we're going to be up against. It will take years of voting out some people and voting in others.