#hws u.s. states

[betty-bourgeoisie]

Probably my most unpopular Alfred headcanon is that he didn't participate in the roaring 20's at all because he was busy being a farmer in Oklahoma that decade

[batboyblog]

A federal appellate court in Richmond became the first in the country to rule that state health-care plans must pay for gender-affirming surgeries, a major win for transgender rights amid a nationwide wave of anti-trans activism and legislation.

The decision came from a set of cases out of North Carolina and West Virginia, where state officials argued that their policies were based on cost concerns rather than bias. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit rejected that argument, saying the plans were discriminating against trans people in need of treatment.

It’s the second ruling in favor of trans rights this month from the 4th Circuit, a once-conservative court that has become a trailblazer in the realm of transgender rights. The court was the first to say trans students had a right to use the bathrooms that align with their gender identity and the first to recognize gender dysphoria as a protected disability. Earlier this month, the court said a federally funded middle school could not ban a trans 13-year-old from playing on the girls’ track and field team.

LINK

The 4th Circuit has 15 judges, 1 appointed by Reagan, 1 appointed by George HW Bush, 2 by Clinton, 1 by George W Bush, 3 by Obama, 3 by Trump, and 3 by Biden. The newest Biden appointee, Nicole Berner, was only seated just last month. Berner is a Lesbian, famous for among other things suing Israel in 2000 to force the Israeli government to recognize the children of same sex parents as being equally both their parent's child on documents like birth certificates and passports. She's only the 5th LGBT Judge at the Appeals Court level, 3 of whom are Biden appointees. Elections matter.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Another CIA Director was George HW Bush. No wonder the RINOs are so frightened to have Trump back in the White House.

"While decent, freedom-loving folks are celebrating the liberation of political prisoner Julian Assange, who’s finally heading home to Australia, a slew of deep-state cronies have revealed their true, dark colors. They can’t hide their anger and contempt for the fact that one of history’s greatest truth-tellers is getting his life and family back."

The hits keep coming from the 2 Mike P's: Mike Pompeo & Mike Pence

1-Flashback to that time Mike Pompeo threatened to arrest Tucker Carlson if Tucker published that it was indeed America's own CIA that murdered POTUS JFK. No wonder Tucker Carlson is so paranoid about our government unaliving POTUS Trump:

2-Mike Pence, who literally attracts flies (Jordan Peterson's choice for America's Next Top POTUS), is having a mental breakdown because Julian Assange is FREE:

Mike Pence: "Julian Assange endangered the lives of our troops in a time of war and should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The Biden administration’s plea deal with Assange is a miscarriage of justice and dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families. There should be no plea deals to avoid prison for anyone that endangers the security of our military or the national security of the United States. Ever." — Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) June 25, 2024

While decent, freedom-loving folks are celebrating the liberation of political prisoner Julian Assange, who’s finally heading home to Australia, a slew of deep-state cronies have revealed their true, dark colors. They can’t hide their anger and contempt for the fact that one of history’s greatest truth-tellers is getting his life and family back. And leading the pack of fuming uniparty loyalists is none other than the traitor, Mike Pence, who is seething today. Unable to contain his fury, Pence vented on X with a post that’s just dripping with irony. Think about this: Mike rarely calls out his warmongering buddies who’ve endangered our troops with “weapons of mass destruction” lies and dragged us into endless pointless forever wars that have taken countless young American lives. If he’s truly serious about protecting our troops, Mike should be targeting his criticisms and concern at much bigger offenders instead of hurling his poison darts at Assange. But that’s classic deep state behavior—deliberately fanning the flames with propaganda and blatant lies. It’s the “look over here, not over there” mentality. Biden does the same thing. These guys are all operating from the same playbook.

It’s the classic “look over here, not over there” tactic. Biden and his crew are all reading from the same playbook.

When news of Assange’s release broke last night, we were right on top of the story:

Revolver: The nightmare is over for Julian Assange. Reports are hitting the wire that he struck a deal for his release, a development that’s being celebrated by freedom-loving people, his supporters, and especially his family. The momentum actually began about a month ago, when Assange won an appeal to contest his extradition to the United States.

NBC News: WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge this week as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department that will allow him to go free after spending five years in a British prison, according to court documents.

Assange was charged by criminal information — which typically signifies a plea deal — with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, the court documents say. A letter from Justice Department official Matthew McKenzie to U.S. District Judge Ramona Manglona of the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands said that Assange would appear in court at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday (or, 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday) to plead guilty and said that DOJ expects Assange will return to Australia, his country of citizenship, after the proceedings.

U.S. charges against Assange stem from one of the largest publications of classified information in American history, which took place during the first term of Barack Obama’s presidency. Starting in late 2009, according to the government, Assange conspired with Chelsea Manning, a military intelligence analyst, to disclose tens of thousands of activity reports about the war in Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of reports about the war in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of State Department cables and assessment briefs of Guantanamo Bay detainees using his WikiLeaks website.

Court documents revealing Assange’s plea deal were filed Monday evening in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. Assange was expected to make an appearance in that court and to be sentenced to 62 months, with credit for time served in British prison, meaning he would be free to return to Australia, where he was born.

Let’s hope that the American political prisoners and those who’ve suffered the “Assange treatment” under the Biden regime find justice too—hopefully without succumbing to these orchestrated “conspiracy” plea deals. In the meantime, we’re thrilled that Julian will finally be heading home to his family. We wish him all the best.

As soon as the plea deal was signed, sealed, and delivered, Julian made a mad dash for freedom—and why not? It’s tragic that he had to admit to any crime at all. Ideally, the US government would show some humility and humanity by acknowledging their mistakes, but that’s wishful thinking these days. They’re fixated on securing that “guilty plea” and are ready to strong-arm and wear you down until you cave. But don’t fault Julian; he deserves his freedom and his family. The blame lies squarely with our corrupt regime.

The regime and their uniparty cronies are hell-bent on silencing anyone who dares speak the truth about government actions, our elections, and other dubious shenanigans. Just think—if Mike Pence got his way, the non-violent J6 political prisoners, who simply waltzed through the Capitol with their jolly police escorts, might very well be facing the death penalty. But Pence isn’t the only deep state “Mike” had it in for Julian Assange. Mike Pompeo, another uniparty heavyweight, is probably reeling over the idea of letting a truth-teller who targeted corrupt governments and politicians walk free.

After all, for the longest time, rumors have swirled that Pompeo even tried to assassinate Assange. He was summoned by a Spanish court to explain the alleged US government plot to murder Julian Assange.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

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Cruelty is all the Republicans have left

Thom Hartmann

August 24, 2024 5:55AM ET

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks to members of the press on the steps of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol on May 8, 2024. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

During the 1950s, Republicans were the party that promoted labor unions, Social Security, and a top 91% income tax bracket and 70% estate tax on the morbidly rich. Dwight Eisenhower successfully campaigned on what we’d call a progressive agenda for re-election in 1956.

During the Reagan years, Republicans embraced Milton Friedman’s neoliberalism with its free trade, opposition to unions, ending free college, and tax cuts for the fat cats. They called themselves “the party of new ideas.” They may have done more harm than good, but for most Republicans it was a good-faith effort.

Today, they’ve pretty much given up on all of that. All they have left is cruelty.

When Governor Tim Walz gave his heartwarming acceptance speech Wednesday night here at the DNC in Chicago, his son Gus was caught on camera proudly proclaiming, through tear-streaked eyes, “That’s my dad!”

The response from Trumpy Republicans was immediate: Ann Coulter wrote, “Talk about weird.” Rightwing hate jock Jay Weber posted, “Meet my son, Gus. He’s a blubbering b---- boy. His mother and I are very proud.” Trumpy podcaster Mike Crispi ridiculed Walz’s “stupid crying son,” adding, “You raised your kid to be a puffy beta male. Congrats.” Another well-known podcaster on the right, Alec Lace, said, “Get that kid a tampon already.”

Compassion for a learning-disabled child is dead on the right: all they have left is cruelty.

Ronald Reagan helped shepherd through Congress the most consequential border bill in American history, and when it needed updating Oklahoma’s Republican Senator James Lankford worked with Democrats to update it in a meaningful way. Trump demanded Republicans kill the legislation, invoking the memory of his tearing over 5,500 babies away from their mothers and trafficking them into fly-by-night “adoption” schemes (around 1000 are still missing) and his demand that the border patrol shoot immigrants in the legs.

Trump’s acolytes in Congress don’t even pretend any more to have a border policy: all they have left is cruelty.

Stephen Miller and 16 Republican state attorneys general are suing for the right to tear apart about a half million American families because at least one member of their family has brown skin and is not yet a US citizen.

Their hatred has almost no limit because all they have left is cruelty.

President George HW Bush worked with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to unwind the USSR in the hope of creating a democratic Russia. Neither expected Vladimir Putin to turn that nation into a virtual concentration camp where gays are routinely murdered, child pornography is legal (and they’ve kidnapped over 700,000 Ukrainian children), and dissenters are tortured, poisoned, and sent to brutal Siberian gulags. Donald Trump celebrates Putin, calling his invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “savvy,” handing Putin’s ambassador a western spy and top-secret information in his first month in office, and trying to abandon America’s traditional role as a moral leader in the world.

Trump’s GOP has abandoned our founding principles: all they have left is cruelty.

During the 2020 election, Trump followers tried to run a Biden/Harris campaign bus off the road in Texas, threatening to kill the occupants (which they believed included Kamala Harris). A crazed Trump supporter broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home and attacked her 82-year-old husband with a hammer. Trump tweeted a picture of the bus being attacked, writing below it, “I LOVE TEXAS!” and repeatedly makes jokes about the attack on Pelosi, as if to encourage future attacks on the families of other Democratic politicians. Most recently, Donald Trump posted a picture on social media of Joe Biden tied up in the back of a pickup truck with a bullet hole in his forehead.

Not a single elected Republican (as best as I can find with a pretty thorough web search) has condemned any of these, because all they have left is cruelty.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis turned down federal money that would have fed 2.1 million low-income children in his state; he was one of 13 Republican governors to do the same, in a nation where one in seven children — over 11 million every year — go to bed hungry.

We are literally the only developed country in the world with a massive child hunger problem because all Republicans have left is cruelty.

When President Obama succeeded in passing and signing the Affordable Care Act, it offered every state funds to expand Medicaid to give healthcare coverage to all their low-income citizens with the federal government covering 90% of the cost. To this day, ten states under Republican control have refused to accept the money, leading to millions of preventable illnesses and early deaths.

Republican states could have joined all the Blue states and every other developed country in the world by providing universal healthcare, but refuse to because all they have left is cruelty.

When a 10-year-old girl was raped and impregnated, Republicans like Congressman Jim Jordan, Governor Kristi Noem, Fox’s Tucker Carlson and Jesse Waters, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost ridiculed the claim. When the rape and pregnancy were proven and the girl fled Ohio to a state where abortion was legal to terminate the pregnancy, Indiana's Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita promised to launch an “investigation.”

Rokita didn’t investigate the rape, however: he instead went after the physician who performed the abortion. Because cruelty is all Republicans have left.

When Donald Trump lost the 2020 election by seven million votes, he sent a violent mob against the US Capitol. As they tried to murder the vice president and speaker of the house, covered the walls of the building with feces and defaced priceless paintings, Trump gleefully watched on live television for over three hours while refusing to call in the national guard or take any other meaningful action.

Five civilians and three police officers died as the result of his sending that murderous mob because all he and his GOP have left is cruelty.

This week Americans saw Democrats display compassion, care, respect, and reverence for our democracy. We saw the best of this country, hope for the future, and actual plans to improve the lives of Americans.

Last month, in sharp contrast, we watched the Republican convention and saw, instead, a cavalcade of anger, bile, grievance, hate, and, of course, cruelty.

Because cruelty is all Republicans have left.

For customer support contact support@rawstory.com. Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.

[juliapilecki]

HW:

1. Jasione Montana (purple): I learned that this plant is also called “sheep’s bit scabious.” This plant is toxic to people and animals which I was surprised to learn after I already picked it. This plant is characterized by generalized pollination syndrome.

2. Solidago Gigantea (yellow): I learned that this plant is native from Quebec to British Columbia and throughout the 48 states except for Arizona. It is also commonly called goldenrod.

3. Spreading Hedge-parsley (white): I learned that this plant is an invasive weed that is native to southern Europe and thrives in many parts of the U.S. It is safe to people and animals.

[phonemantra-blog]

The price has not yet been announced HW Electro has unveiled a van called Puzzle that runs on solar energy. The new product is presented in Japan, but will also go to the United States. “The launch of Puzzle marks HW Electro’s commitment to addressing environmental issues and creating innovative green solutions for the commercial vehicle market,” a company spokesperson said at the event. “We’re excited to officially launch Puzzle today and look forward to making it available in the U.S. market in 2025.” [caption id="attachment_84517" align="aligncenter" width="780"] miniature solar-powered van[/caption] Puzzle, a miniature solar-powered van, unveiled At 3.4 meters long, Puzzle is much smaller than other vans. It has just two seats and plenty of rear cargo space, making it a great option for small businesses interested in reducing their environmental impact. Puzzle can also be used as a solo camper. Puzzle has AC outlets, USB ports and an emergency kit that includes a first aid kit and a crowbar. They are hidden behind a door on the outside, allowing anyone to help someone who may be trapped inside after an incident. [caption id="attachment_84518" align="aligncenter" width="670"] miniature solar-powered van[/caption] But Puzzle's most interesting feature is its solar roof, which converts light into electricity as the car drives around the city. The limited announcement left many unanswered questions about Puzzle's solar battery: where is the generated energy stored and how efficiently is it consumed by the car's engine? Are other charging options available when Puzzle is parked indoors or driven on a cloudy day? The price has not yet been announced.

[thatsamericano]

Moodboard/Aesthetic for a Louisiana OC. I was inspired by @alfredtalia‘s drawing of her Louisiana OC, but I made this independently.

[betty-bourgeoisie]

I just genuinely think it's kind of weird that there aren't more OC's for Liberia in this fandom

[meetthemidwest]

Basically how the year 1850 went in U.S history

Virginia: Alright, just play it cool. Don't offend anyone and you'll be fine.

America: Oh please, I'm great with you guys!

Texas, walking by: Hey America! Lovely weather isn't it?

America: Hey Texas! Go fuck yourself!

Virginia: You're supposed to be compromising!

America: I'm going home!

[thatsamericano]

Bonus if Mexico serves him really spicy Mexican food because they’re amused by their gringo neighbor’s eyes watering every time he eats something with jalapeños or habaneros in it.

Hetalia America headcanon:

America loves spicy food. He can not handle spicy foods. Everyone KNOWS he can not handle it, but they can never stop him.

They're also always like..."well, it's better than Fast Food...I guess?"

[crash-c2]

2 Years Ago from the RollerCoaster...Follow the Facts... Read Between The Intentional MSM Distortion Tactics... They Don’t Want You to Understand. Comprehension once absorbed leads to an Awakening and Informed Resistance and if We Did Not Have Trump, The Patriots Behind Him and a very sophisticated well planned tactical dissemination ... We would be in Full Revolt...🏴‍☠️

We know German bank records prove the fake Russian dossier was paid for by funding from the DNC and Hillary campaign. The funding went through the law firm of Perkins-Coie and managing partner Marc Elias to Fusion GPS and on to Christopher Steele. Russian and British Intelligence were feeding Steele disinformation. There were reporters on the DNC and Hillary campaign payroll who was revealed in the recent FISA application.

We know that the Senate Intelligence Committee (filled with corruption) leaked classified information to the media. We know the top security person on the Committee was having an affair with a New York Times reporter.

We know John McCain was a bag man for distributing the phony dossier.

We know that the dossier and Yahoo News story plus a letter from Harry Reid that originated from the dossier were the basis of all the FISA warrant applications.

We know the FBI paid Steele directly also, in addition to what he got from Fusion.

We know FBI guy Strzok told his girlfriend he would stop Trump. We know that Strzok's father was an Iranian sympathizer and Strzok was raised in Iran and trained by the CIA.

We know the dossier was unverified, not obtained through U.S. intelligence activities, and paid for by the DNC and Hillary campaign. We know neither fact was disclosed to the Court or to Trump as a candidate, as President-elect, or as President. The release of the FISA application proves the FISA Judge was not told this before he approved the warrant to spy on Trump and his associates based on the phony dossier.

We know that the Michael Isikoff story on Yahoo News which was used as partial justification for the warrants was leaked to Isikoff by Chris Steele directly.

We know that Strzok and Page spoke of an insurance policy in case Trump was elected, and they spoke of it in Andrew McCabe's office. Many believe the insurance policy was the Mueller investigation.

We know that James Clapper testified that Obama personally called for a counter-intelligence investigation into Trump.

We know the warrants also named George Papadopoulos and the Trump Campaign in addition to Carter Page. We know that when Trump said that Obama was surveilling him at Trump Tower and the media laughed, that he was being surveilled.

We know that Susan Rice and Samantha Power unmasked over a hundred people recorded in the surveillance.

We know that Lisa Page texted to Peter Strzok that "POTUS wants to know everything we're doing."

We know Obama knew all about Russian meddling, Trump had no idea, and Team Obama did nothing to stop it or tell anyone.

We know Comey pre-exonerated Hillary and granted immunity to five senior advisers and two IT staff who wiped her server.

We know Obama wrote to Hillary on her private server using an alias even though he claimed not to know about it.

We know the DNC via Bob Creamer staged every act of violence at Trump rallies.

We know the DNC rigged and stole the primary from Bernie for Hillary.

We know there was a shredding party at Obama's State Department one weekend.

We know Comey leaked his classified notes to the New York Times.

We know that Comey did not tell Trump the truth about the dossier.

We know that the warrants were renewed multiple times without any updated information (i.e. surveillance yielded nothing).

We know McCabe leaked and lied about it and that he was compromised by the large donation from Hillary bagman Terry McAuliffe to his wife's Democratic Virginia Senate campaign.

We know that Carter Page is not a spy as he was never charged and the surveillance ended.

We know Lynch and Bill Clinton met inappropriately in Phoenix two days before Comey exonerated Hillary. We know Lynch was lying when she said she did not know what Comey was going to say before he said it.

We know Lynch personally issued an extraordinary visa waiver to Putin Stoogette Natalia Veselnitskaya after she was denied a visa in Moscow so she could get in to attend the staged meeting at Trump Tower with the President's son and son-in-law. And that shortly thereafter she was a front-row guest at a Congressional hearing, sitting next to Obama's Ambassador to Russia.

We know piles of cash flowed to the Clintons after the sale of Uranium One. We know Bob Mueller had uncovered massive Russian corruption with regard to U. S. uranium BEFORE the sale, that Eric Holder knew about it and signed off anyway, and that the Maryland prosecutor who sat on the charges until the sale was complete was Rod Rosenstein.

We know that President Trump asked Rod Rosenstein to be Deputy AG. We know Robert Mueller met with President Trump after he fired Comey. After Sessions recused himself, Rosenstein was in charge of the Mueller investigation.

We know that George Papadopoulos was baited and hooked by Alexander Downer, and invited to London to allow Downer to get him drunk and report it to the FBI, which is why Papadopoulos was named in the warrants, and that Downer had just overseen the Australian $11M donation to the Clinton Foundation.

We know Peter Strzok was personal friends with Judge Rudy Contreras, a FISA judge and the one who accepted the Flynn plea before he was recused without explanation. We know Lisa Page planned a fake dinner party so Peter and Rudy could talk without arousing suspicion.

We know Brennan and Clapper were part and parcel of the whole thing. Clapper's starting to blame Obama now and calls him the kingpin behind the investigation.

We know that a former CIA pit bull who worked for HW Bush and went to school with Bill Clinton was an FBI informant, hired by Obama, to spy on the Trump campaign.

We know that Stzok's wife got a promotion at the SEC.

We know Rod Rosenstein's wife is a Clinton attorney.

We know dozens of wealthy Silicon Valley and Never Trumpers like Ryan, McConnell, and Graham met at Sea Island in March 2016 to stop Trump. They failed.

[imagine-all-the-people]

Biden wears a tan suit almost exactly 7 years after right-wing media made Obama wearing one into a scandal… 🤣

The tan suit was such a nice touch of “shade”…. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

The Barack Obama tan suit controversy occurred at 4:09pm on August 28, 2014, when U.S. President Barack Obama wearing a tan suit held a live press conference on increasing the military response against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.

Obama's appearance on television in the tan suit sparked significant attention and led to media and social media criticism.

The issue remained prominent in the media for several days with the issue being particularly widely discussed on talk shows.

Interestingly enough other presidents wore tan suits… Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, George W Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower and William J. Clinton.

The GOP could not stand having a black man as president… and they still can’t stand it. 🇺🇸

[schoolnutritioneducator]

Seminole County Bites Above the Rest

<a href=”http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood?s_cid=healthyweight-007-bb” title=”September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. 12.5 million U.S. children are obese. Join the conversation. Spread the word. Take action.”><img src=””http://www.cdc.gov/images/campaigns/dnpao/hw/hw-ncoam01-180×150.jpg” style=”width:180px; height:150px; border:0px;” alt=”Help your children play! Celebrate Worldwide Day of Play.” /></a>

Imagine, if you can. The year is 1989. You are in elementary school waiting in line for lunch. You grab your chocolate milk. Put it on your green tray and grab a fruit cup. The lunch lady puts a scoop of canned corn and a slab of rectangle pizza on your tray. Those were the days, right? School lunch has come such a long way since I was a kid, eating in my school cafeteria. I am here to tell you it’s not what it used to be and that is a good thing! The 3 reasons you should consider leaving your child’s lunch box at home are that eating at school can help to fight childhood chronic diseases, it is free for everyone right now and we service delicious and nutritious meals every day, here in Seminole county.

In the United States children and adolescents overall are not meeting the current nutrition guidelines. We are fighting an epidemic of obesity in adolescents in this country. The percentage of adolescents that are considered to be obese has nearly doubled over the last 20 years. Chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, high blood lipids and hypertension are being seen in children younger and younger all the time. Eating meals at school guarantees a child has access to healthy balanced meals, twice a day. This sets them up to be on track to meet the nutrition guidelines, that so many adolescents are not meeting.

As a nation we are also battling food insecurity. In 2017, 11.9% of Seminole county was considered to be food insecure. Food insecurity is having limited or questionable availability of a person or family’s food supply. If one person in the family misses out on a meal through the day, because of availability of food, that is considered food insecurity. Food insecurity is a problem at every level, city, county, state, nation and the world. Which, has only elevated overall food insecurity worldwide.

So, what causes food insecurity? One of the biggest causes is poverty. Families living below the poverty line are at much higher risk to be food insecure. There are local, national and worldwide organizations, such as food banks that are there to help families in need of food. This year especially has put a strain on our government, communities and food banks. Causing many throughout our communities to stand up and help by donating food, time and money to organizations willing to help feed fellow citizens.

Some of our high schools have also partnered with a local charity to provide our school leftovers to those in need of food. This not only allows us to give back as a district, but lowers our food waste as well. Hopefully we can get more schools working to help more people truly in need. So, when you are supporting Seminole County Public School’s breakfast and lunch program, you are supporting people locally who are in need.

In Seminole county alone, 47% of our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, regularly. Eligibility is based on the poverty level. Children in families with income at 130% below the poverty level are eligible for free meals. Those with incomes between 130 and 185% are eligible for reduced lunch, which is $0.40 for lunch and $0.30 for breakfast. So, for example a family with 4 members and with an income of $31,005 would be eligible for free meals and up to $44,123 would be eligible for reduced meals.

There are schools in the district that do offer school wide free breakfast. So, look into your specific school for details on your school’s eligibility. The application for eligibility is fast and easy. If you need assistance filling it out the school staff is happy to help you fill out the application. It is something that needs to be done each year. So, be sure to visit the cafeteria during your schools open house.

One thing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has done recently to help out families through COVID-19, is they have made school breakfast and lunch free for all children. School Nutrition professionals have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to provide nutritious meals for breakfast and lunch 5 days a week. They have made many adjustments in order to serve as many families as they can. Being flexible and understanding every step of the way.

Allowing your students to eat at school will lessen your burden, as parents. Lowering the cost of providing nutritious fresh meals for 10 out of 21 meals each child eats every week. While students or parents do not have to worry about planning and packing a lunch box every day. Saving them money, time and aggravation.

In order for our meals to qualify for reimbursement through the NSLP, they must meet certain USDA regulations when it comes to nutrition. A district is required to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat free and low-fat milk. They are also required to lower sodium and reduce saturated fats. The lunch menu must contain 1/3 the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for calories, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C for recommended age of the students.

The School Breakfast Program has its own guidelines, too. These meals must provide a quarter of the DRI for protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C and calories. This program is offered at all schools within the Seminole county district. We offer a hot meal option, cereal or a breakfast bar in middle school and high school. Students can always have milk, juice or a fruit with their breakfast.

In Seminole county, we go above the minimum requirements. Setting the standard high for the quality of food we serve. We have many fresh fruits and vegetables daily. Many that are “Fresh from Florida.” We do like to let our guests know what foods we get that are local to our area. We use whole wheat pizza crust, using a recipe made specifically for our district. We use real tomato sauce and shred our own cheese. Our meats we choose are 100% antibiotic free and are a high-quality product.

Fresh from Florida is a state agency that was started in 1990. They provide up to date in season produce for the state of Florida. They offer recipes ideas using Fresh from Florida items. They also provide gardening tips for plants by Florida zones. In our service lines we like to show what we are offering each day that is “Fresh from Florida.”

There is a government program “Farm to School,” that help local schools access to fresh, local foods. They also help with educating kids by funding school gardens, teaching kids how to cook and farm field trips. Teaching kids about how food is produced and grows sets each student up for making healthy life choices. Utilizing this program helps us get a wide variety of local foods and support local companies.

In Seminole county we do not limit the number of fruits or vegetables a guest takes. We encourage the goal of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Our nutrition team works very hard to provide balanced, nutritious and delicious meals for our students, teachers, staff and guests. We have Registered Dietitians, a chef and a full department working together to perfect our menu.

An example of a breakfast would be a chicken biscuit with a serving of fresh fruit of their choice, and a fat-free milk. For lunch middle and high schoolers can enjoy a burrito bowl. Which is Brown rice, their choice of beef crumbles or grilled chicken, freshly made pico de gallo, corn salsa, sautéed sweet peppers, and black beans. Along with a milk, and a fresh fruit or vegetable of their liking. We also offer a side salad as an option with any meal. We do offer a chicken sandwich and pizza daily in our middle schools and high schools and the kids take a fruit or vegetable to go with it. All schools enjoy our baked pasta. Made with real tomato sauce and our own shredded mozzarella cheese.

I love how ahead of the game our district is when it comes to feeding our children. It truly is a team effort to nourish our kids. With all the programs available to assist schools I would like to see more education brought into the breakfast and lunch process. School nutrition has a very unique opportunity because there are so many children eating in schools every day. If you feed them nutritious meals and teach them important life lessons on how to make healthy choices, you help them make these choices throughout their entire life.

We need to teach our children what healthy foods are and how to grow them. Incorporate basic nutrition education such as, food groups, RDA’s and how to cook and prepare these foods. Adding gardens to our schools and having the kids help maintain them, is a great way to add more educational opportunities. The state of Florida also offers grants and assistance setting them up. Creating cooking clubs and labs would be a fun way to get them involved.

So, as you can see, school lunch is not what you remember from when you were in school. Especially, here in Seminole county where our mission is to nourish and enrich the lives of our guests through an exceptional dining experience. We are not just any district when it comes to education and it is no different for what we feed our kids. We want you to feel confident in sending your children to eat because we know school meals can help fight chronic diseases in children, continue to be free through September and our meals are nutritious and delicious.

Submitted by: Jessica Tillmann, Food and Nutrition Student

Total word count:1621

[nolvini]

i want to get into jojo, but i dont know where to start lol, do you think you could summarize it:?

ok ok so despite what people say, my friend gave me a flash drive with all of part 3 (stardust crusaders) on it, and after that i watched 4 and 5 and then went back to 1 and 2 and god i’m terrible at explaining but I’ll try my best lol

Anyways tbh,,, each part can be watched on their own since they all have a different protagonist and plot/setting. I don’t recommend watching it completly out of order (like 4->2->5->etc) but recurring characters from other parts are present so you may not fully understand their importance at first.

SO it’s very long like not as long as homestuck but maybe a tier or two below so I’m going to go over the main aspects of each parts below with a copied-pasted summary from the wiki in italics and a better understanding underneath:

Warnings: gore heavy, sexual assault, I’ll add more as I think about it (i’m sorry it’s almost 1am here)

Some good ol’ vocab

Hamon/Ripple: a technique used in the early parts of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Through the use of controlled breathing, the user can fill their body and attacks with sunlight energy, making it very effective against Vampires, Zombies, and Pillar Men.

Stands:  a visual manifestation of life energy, unique to the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series. It generally presents itself as a figure hovering over or near the user and possesses abilities beyond that of an ordinary human, which, depending on the Stand User, can be wielded for good or evil.

Part One: Phantom Blood (9 episodes)

In 19th-century England, a youth named Dio Brando is adopted by the wealthy George Joestar to repay Dio's father for seemingly saving his life. Jonathan Joestar, who aspires to become a gentleman, finds himself shunned by his family and friends as part of Dio's plot to take the Joestar fortune for himself.

This is the beginning of JJBA. Each protagonist of each part is nicknamed “JoJo” (i.e. Jonathan Joestar), so like it’s the protag’s bizarre adventure, and they are super weird!!!

Anyways Dio is Jonathan’s adoptive brother, and he’s like just pure evil and is the antithesis of Jonathan and later he becomes a vampire. Jonathan meets a man who teaches him Hamon/Ripple which he tries to use against Dio.

Part Two: Battle Tendency (17 episodes)

Taking place in 1938-39, the story follows the misadventures of Joseph Joestar (a.k.a. JoJo), grandson of Jonathan, as he masters his innate Ripple abilities in order to combat hostile, ancient super-beings named the Pillar Men, creators of the Stone Mask that plot to become the ultimate lifeforms.

Joseph is Jonathan’s grandson, so this shows that this series follows the JoJo bloodline (so like descendants of Jonathan) and their misadventures. But yeah like the summary above states, Joseph also learns Hamon/Ripple (it’s the same thing idk why it has two names).

Part Three: Stardust Crusaders (48 episodes)

Jotaro Kujo and his friends as they journey from Tokyo to Cairo to save his mother's life by defeating his family's resurrected archenemy, DIO.

OK the concept of Hamon/Ripple here is just, completly removed lmao and in my opinion i think it’s better. Hamon is replaced with Stands, which many characters have. Jotaro Kujo is Joseph’s grandson, so again, follows the bloodline. HEY I LOVE THIS PART!!!! The majority of the story takes place in south Asia, the Middle East, and Egypt which is great bc i’m brown and it’s nice to see some rep in anime even if it’s not the main focus lol ANYWAYS sorry for the tangent just if anything I recommend starting with Stardust Crusaders since Jotaro is kind of the mascot of JJBA, but of course up to you

Part Four: Diamond is Unbreakable (39 episodes)

Takes place in the summer of 1999 in Morioh, a midsized japanese town. Jotaro Kujo has come to visit for two reasons. One, to meet Josuke Higashikata, Joseph Joestar's illegitimate son. And two, to find a serial killer, and figure out how he got a stand.

Parts 4-6 explore the Stand concept in depth, where they came from, why certain people get a stand while others don’t, etc. while also havinf their own plots aside from that. Part 4 is more slice of life-ish but of course still has it’s fair share of gore and sadness, but compared to others I personally think it has a more uplifting endings than the other parts which is great bc Josuke deserves the world

Part Five: Vento Aureo aka Golden Wind (39 episodes)

Set in 2001 Italy, the story follows Giorno Giovanna and his dream to rise within the Neapolitan mafia and defeat the boss of Passione, the most powerful and influential gang, in order to become a "Gang-Star". With the aid of a capo and his men, and fueled by his own resolve, Giorno sets out to fulfill his goal of absolving the mafia of its corruption.

This is the season that just ended (summer 2019). Giorno is actually Dio’s son, but is still considered to be part of the JoJo bloodline because of.... spoilers. ANYWAYS this is kind of where jjba becomes more “feminine” in lack of a better word; with its floral/art imagery and Giorno not being as masculine as the other parts’ protagonists. Anyways i cried.

Part Six: Stone Ocean

In 2011, Florida; Jolyne Cujoh, daughter of Jotaro, is wrongfully accused of a crime she didn't commit and sent to a maximum security prison. While imprisoned, she struggles within a longstanding plot agreed between dead villain DIO and ideologue Enrico Pucci.

Here is our very first female jojo (wow gif) but let me tell you all the female characters in this part are so badass and powerful in their own ways it’s just... wrow. This part isn’t animated yet but hopefully will be bc I need to see Jolyne or else I will die.

Part Seven: Steel Ball Run 

Set in the U.S. in 1890, the story follows Johnny Joestar, a paraplegic ex-jockey, and Gyro Zeppeli, master in a mystic art named the Spin, as they compete with a vast number of others in the Steel Ball Run race: a mad-dash across America for a grand prize of 50 million dollars.

Steel Ball Run describes a new continuity apart from that detailed in Part 1-6 of the series. On top of core features to JoJo such as Stands, the story is marked by many references to the original series.

Legit I just finished reading this in the last week and it is a fan favorite. I’m still processing everything that happened honestly kjsdhfsjkdhfj but yes it’s good 9/10 imo. Anyways this is on a different timeline from parts 1-6 because of the events that happened in Stone Ocean.

Part Eight: JoJolion

The story begins in 2011 and follows Josuke Higashikata, a young man afflicted by retrograde amnesia, in his search to uncover his identity in Morioh Town, a coastal Japanese town affected by the Tohoku earthquakeW. However, his digging pulls him and his adoptive family into the unfinished business between his previous life and an impending inhuman threat.

I haven’t read this part yet but i will, but know that this part is in the same timeline as Steel Ball Run.

OK THANK U FOR READING i didn’t do any of my hw and I’m going to sleep now but I hope this helps!!! IM SO SORRY IF THIS IS MORE THAN YOU WANTED I’m just extra and hopefully this can be summed up in a better way but yeah: that’s jojo’s bizarre adventure in a nutshell.

[iakshaysrivastav]

US Elections 2020: Joe Biden beats Donald Trump - Renewed hope for the Indian Americans

The first Indian American vice-presidential candidate, Kamala Harris has been in talks since the election campaigns in the US began for 2020. Apart from that many other candidates belonging to the Indian community in the US emerged victorious in key places across the USA. The Indian Americans comprise around 1% of the total U.S. population out of which registered voters are even less than 1%. Yet none of the main parties missed out in connecting with the community.  

There are some Indian Americans who gave their valuable support for Democratic nominee Joe Biden, while others made efforts to keep Donald Trump as the president. The contribution for donation money in 2020 US election campaigns is the highest ever among the Indian-Americans in history.  

By the 4th of November, more than $11 billion is estimated to be paid for the US election campaign and it comes out as the most expensive expenditure in the country’s election history. A handful of wealthy donors belonged to the Indian American community. During the Donald Trump governance, India and US relations soared with the defense alliances between two countries.

The increasing rivalry of China with the US and India made them share their military diplomatic ties to balance the power in the Asian region. After few weeks of India and China’s border clash, an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier entered the Bay of Bengal region. Almost 50 years back, Former US President Richard Nixon sent the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier into the Bay of Bengal to put pressure on India in the phase of victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war, now a similar move but in the context of solidarity with India amid tensions with China. 

Joe Biden emerged victorious acquiring the US presidency with this election. Readers from India and around the world followed the presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Donald Trump has become the first president after George HW Bush to rule a single term. He has challenged the results alleged Biden’s victory suspect to fraud. 

It will be interesting to see how US-India Ties proceed with the new Biden administration in the United States. The policy paper of the Biden administration suggests a high priority on strengthening the country ties. Joe Biden strongly believes in zero tolerance for terrorism in South Asia and cross-borders. 

[thatsamericano]

How would the us states react to America dating Romano?

I’ve mostly only thought of the US states as a fun thing for incorrect quotes posts, but I imagine most of them like America enough to want him to be happy, so they’d be happy for him. Some of them might have met Romano during the time Romano lived with America, so they wouldn't be particularly surprised. (New York had a lot of Italian-American immigrants, for example, so I definitely think he/she could’ve met Romano at some point while he was living with America.) IDK how much America discusses his private emotional life with the states, but the older and the more emotionally astute ones may have been able to pick up on how he felt and would think something like “Thank God America finally managed to get it together enough to date Romano. He was obvious as hell.” Others who haven’t met Romano might be a little surprised, but they’re willing to roll with whatever makes America happy.