Records: Walters paid assistant, press secretary massive bonuses during final days in office​

Former State Superintendent Ryan Walters handed out two more five-figure, taxpayer-funded “performance bonuses” to top staff in his final days in office, including one to a press secretary who had only been on the job a matter of weeks.

About a week passed between the time Walters announced his resignation on Fox News on September 24 and when he officially left office on September 30.

During that week, new records obtained by News 4 reveal Walters gave out two large taxpayer-funded performance bonuses to staff at the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Among them was his executive assistant Lexie Flanagan [who] graduated from McAlester High School in 2016—when Walters taught U.S. history there.

In April, News 4 reported Walters gave former communications director Dan Isett a final paycheck for more than $75,000.

Last December, Walters gave his Texas-based chief advisor Matt Langston a bonus of more than $40,000.

In February, Walters gave his incoming chief of staff Matt Mohler a first paycheck for nearly $50,000.

Last week, News 4 reported Walters gave both Mohler and Langston nearly $30,000 each in the final days before all three of them left OSDE for good.

Maybe consider it cheap if they're all gone?

rambot said:

You think societies before the Jews didn't have any idea of what their moral boundaries were?

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I don't understand the question.

essentialsaltes said:

Jeffries responds...

We work for the American people. We are fighting to lower the high cost of living. And to protect the healthcare of everyday Americans. And Mr. President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face! Say it to my face!

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Sorry, best offer Trump can make is a fake myspace on the White House website.

your tax dollars at work

Meanwhile, by next week, more US Naval ships will be in the region than during the Cuban Missle crisses.

Reuters summary based on open-sources:

About ten Scaramuccis.

SNAP benefits will restart, but will be half the normal payment and delayed

The Trump administration says it will restart SNAP food benefits but it will pay out only half the amount people normally get.

The administration says it will use money from an Agriculture Department contingency fund. The $5 billion in that fund falls well short of the full cost of SNAP benefits — $8 billion — each month. In a court filing, officials said depleting that fund means "no funds will remain for new SNAP applicants certified in November, disaster assistance, or as a cushion against the potential catastrophic consequences of shutting down SNAP entirely."

The administration warns there could be lengthy delays before benefits get into the hands of low-income families who depend on SNAP to put food on the table.

The government said Monday that state agencies will have to recode their eligibility systems to adjust for the reduced benefits, and it is unclear how quickly state systems will be able to do so. It warned that in some states, these system changes "will take anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months."

Several states have said they will use their own funds to cover any shortfall in SNAP funding. However, the Trump administration has warned it will not reimburse states. Several states, including Arkansas, New Hampshire and Washington, have also announced measures to help support food banks and pantries.

What is clear is that a lot of money has disappeared from people's food budgets, and anti-hunger advocates say that food banks alone will not be able to make up the difference.

"We're in uncharted territory," Elizabeth Keever, chief resource officer at Harvesters, a food bank in Kansas City, Missouri, told NPR Sunday.

"It's nearly impossible to make up the gap that SNAP is leaving us, but we're doing everything we can to make sure that we are easing this burden for folks," Keever said. "It's just this really scary moment where there's a lot of uncertainty. So the gap is massive, and at the end of the day, food banks can't necessarily fill it."

~bella

Pepperdoodle said:

In the years I've been online, I've found more of the convos to not be productive sadly.
Those who are on the wrong side of a topic I've never once seen their mind changed, anymore than they would change my mind.
If views aren't changed toward a right, even godly view for those who claim to be Christian, then they just stay the same or get worse in their views. We are seeing some of that in the last 15+ yrs especially where wrong things prevail and more follow it.
This isn't surprising to me, it's just sad.

Yes, we each have different personalities which are interesting to observe and interact with.

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We used to have lots of conversions to the Faith but things seem to just be political anymore. Not much interest in Faith based discussions. I see more Christians here critique Christianity more than not.

Valletta said:

It's not humane to exploit people under the guise of asylum. The abuse of the system and abuse of the border laws that took place under the Biden administration must never be allowed to happen again.

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How in the world is allowing people from Hatti going through war to seek asylum "exploiting?"
How in the world is allowing people from Venuzelua going through the chaos there to seek asylum "exploiting?
And you STILL didn't answer my question. But I don't expect you to, because obfuscation is how you roll.

I was at the Golden Corral and some old veteran was struggling to get up. The waiter would walk around but did not offer to help. There was a mother and two children seated next to him and the children offered to help the old guy on his walker. I noticed that the old gentleman gave the kids the tip. In which I thought was the just thing to do.

For reference, the actual quote is "I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m going to pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.”

Harvard conservative student magazine says it will continue publishing despite suspension

The editor of a conservative magazine run by Harvard University students reportedly announced that the outlet would continue publishing despite being suspended by its board of directors for publishing “reprehensible” material.

The Harvard Salient’s Editor-in-Chief Richard Y. Rodgers, in an email to the magazine’s mailing list, said the publication’s suspension was an “unauthorized usurpation of power by a small number of individuals acting outside the bounds of their authority,” The Harvard Crimson reported.

The Salient is independent from Harvard University and is dedicated to publishing conservative thought, according to its website.

The publication’s current board members consist of six Harvard alumni and former Salient presidents and four current professors as ex-officio members.

The publication’s board of directors said in a statement that the magazine published content “wholly inimical to the conservative principles for which the magazine stands,” and said it would suspend the magazine pending an investigation and review.

The board’s statement did not specify the material it deemed “abusive” and “demeaning,” but also said it received complaints about the Salient’s culture.

Naomi Schaefer Riley, director of the Salient’s board, declined to comment Tuesday night, and other members of the board of directors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This action was taken without notice to or consent from the duly appointed leadership of the organization and in direct violation of the bylaws governing The Harvard Salient,” the Crimson reported Rodgers wrote. “The Harvard Salientcontinues to operate under its legitimate editorial leadership until further notice.”

Rodgers told the Crimson Tuesday that the Salient’s board members should “consider resigning their posts in order to allow the organization a chance to rebuild in good faith.”

Rodgers also told the Crimson that the board allegedly did not follow the protocol for holding a meeting, making the suspension illegitimate.

Rodgers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.

~bella

Ophiolite said:

Excuses can be made for nations that used to be called Third World. (Forgive, me but I am up to date on what the current euphemism is.) The same is not the case for First World nations, who are - supposedly - advanced. While it is convenient to blame politcians for failing to implement laws and programs that are sufficiently robust, I point my finger at the electorate who stubbornly refuse to vote for the few individuals and parties who could make a difference. Unfortunately, those who see the need are outnumbered by the ill-informed, the selfish, the shortsighted and the stupid, the latter being the only category with a decent excuse.

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I actually find this very impressive. I figure that Uruguay does not necessarily have a "huge tax base" from which to draw tremendous amounts of funds and yet they STILL chose to prioritize that!

Cape Codder said:

I've been looking for information on the Anglican church, not sure where to post the thread on this website.

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Thread on GAFCON call to leave Anglican Communion

General Anglican News Website

GAFCON website

Anglican Communion (Canturbury)

CF Anglican Congregational Area - non-Anglicans please post in fellowship if posting in there.

'I hope it burns your [doggone] house down': Man used tiki torch to set fire to pride and other flags, said he was 'fighting for the children,' authorities say​

Thomas Niehaus, 52, faces seven counts of aggravated arson and three counts of arson,Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich announced earlier this year. Now, the suspect also faces a multi-count federal indictment for his alleged actions.

It was July 30, of this year when Niehaus "targeted the homes of people displaying Pride flags" and other decorations, Pillich said.

The defendant allegedly roamed around Cincinnati in the neighborhoods of Clifton and Northside looking for targets, at one point setting fire to a "yard sign with a picture of a Ukrainian flag."

Home security videos allegedly captured the defendant setting the fires, yelling, and in some cases laughing, saying homophobic slurs and "I hope it burns your [doggone] house down," as well as, "you're dead…kill them all."

Michie said:

Jews are already inherently unique. We don’t need to prove it by naming our kids Cinnamon, Aqua, or Afternoon.​

A clip from the second season of the Netflix series Nobody Wants This recently made the rounds in the parent-verse. In it, interfaith couple Joanne and Noah (Kristen Bell and Adam Brody) attend a baby-naming party and submit to only the most L.A. experience: pretending you didn’t just hear something completely, utterly, and offensively dumb.

Joanne asks the Jewish mom, played by a peppy Leighton Meester, an innocent enough question: “What’s [your daughter’s] name?”

“Afternoon,” replies the mom.

“That’s not a,” starts Joanne, before catching herself mid-snicker. She quickly reverts course: “That is … my favorite time of day.”

I know this routine all too well, the one in which we swallow our tongues, nod, and reflexively exclaim “beautiful!” while simultaneously relishing new fodder for group texts. “You won’t believe the name I just heard” has grown all the more frequent and yet all the more competitive: No longer does Republic, Churchill (for a girl), or even Quinoa raise an eyebrow. I recently overheard Farro (or Pharaoh—unclear!) at the playground, and my group chat pals were unimpressed: “I dunno, I could see a President Farro/Pharaoh.”

It used to be that faddish progeny trends were more prevalent within our gentile neighbors, but not us–we who name after our beloved Bubbes and Zaydes and a long lineage of Jewish leaders, Biblical characters, and that one female Israeli prime minister. I come from a generation in which every other Jewish kid was named Talia, Ilana, or Rachel. Now I see those very same peers opting for Coyote, Striker, and Roxstar.

It’s sometimes hard to square away these peculiar pairings—an unorthodox first name with an often Jewish surname. Gravity Cohen? Aqua Levenstein? Cinnamon Goldberg?

Continued below.

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/stop-giving-jewish-kids-dumb-names

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All Jews are given a Hebrew name. Cinnamon Goldberg may be Rivkah or Leah Goldberg.

In a video of a sermon he gave, Yosef claims that the messiah will come in 15 years and that 200 years after that, the world will end.

I thought YEC in Judaism was relatively rare. I mean this one guy doesn't make it common, but if his party is behind that, it represents about a tenth of the knesset.

essentialsaltes said:

Speaking of propaganda, that's some pretty blatant stuff.

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"All Palestinians are terrorists and their babies."
If i had a nickle for everytime I read this idea on CF I'd have 2 nickles, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice.

Michie said:

A United Kingdom-based developer has created a website that purportedly demonstrates how the Bible can be used to support two contradictory views on moral issues.

Created by developer Jon James, the "Bible Both Ways" website, which launched mid-October, gives users the chance to submit a moral or ethical question and then, according to the site's premise, generates two contradictory responses found in the pages of Scripture.

It works like any standard online search engine: type in your prompt, click the "Get Both Sides" button, and find out how, according to the site, "Scripture can be interpreted to support different perspectives on moral questions."

Continued below.

Agnostic developer's search engine uses AI to find alleged Scripture 'contradictions'

A United Kingdom-based developer has created a website that purportedly demonstrates how the Bible can be used to support two contradictory views on moral issues

www.christianpost.com

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Yet another example of "garbage in, garbage out."

In other words, a text devoid of a context is a pretext for a prooftext, and this is even the case for those who are agnostic.

apricots

housekeeper

thrice

washcloths