#Department of Social Services

[manwalksintobar]

DSS Dream  // Martín Espada

I dreamed the Department of Social Services came to the door and said: “We understand you have a baby, a goat and a pig living here in a two-room apartment. This is illegal. We have to take the baby away, unless you eat the goat.”

“The pig’s OK?” I asked. “The pig’s OK,” they said.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

i think it would be funny if people occasionally arose from the dead. like if that was a real-life one-in-a-million but well-documented Thing That Sometimes Happens, and the entire legal system around death (laws on inheritance & marriage & murder etc) had to include caveats for the unlikely-but-scientifically-possible event that the dead person in question might spontaneously self-resurrect, even years or decades after death. it would raise so many inconvenient and absurd possibilities

[kittykatninja321]

Any au that has Jason willingly working for the government even if it’s as a social worker has automatically kinda lost me because we’re talking about someone who distrusts the system so much that as a child he chose the streets over going into custody of social services. Jason’s lack of faith in institutions continues into adulthood (but also through his original Robin tenure low key), one of the most substantial differences between his and Bruce’s philosophy is the fact that Bruce puts his faith in the law and the criminal justice system while Jason decidedly does not in the slightest

[yardsards]

i needed to express a sentiment in the creative stylings of @dunmeshiminimumwage

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

House Republicans are trying to exact a price from Democrats for agreeing to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and prevent the government from defaulting on the obligations it has accrued over decades. They’re arguing for their priorities and going after President Joe Biden’s in a separate bill that passed the chamber on Wednesday.

The legislation in question has virtually no chance of becoming law. But Republicans hope the bill’s passage will force Biden to the negotiating table, where they could seek concessions in return for lifting the nation’s borrowing authority and ensuring that the U.S. Treasury can fully pay its bills.

“He either has to negotiate now or we’re the only ones that have raised the debt limit,” McCarthy said after the vote.

A look at key aspects of the legislation that the House approved by a vote of 217-215.

LIMIT FEDERAL SPENDING

The bill would set federal discretionary spending at $1.47 trillion during the next fiscal year and allow it to increase only 1% annually from there, far below the rate of inflation in most years.

The cap on spending is the big-ticket item in the bill, accounting for about two-thirds of the $4.8 trillion in deficit reduction that the Congressional Budget Office says would occur over 10 years if the bill is enacted.

Discretionary spending includes things like weapons programs, servicemember pay, grants for schools that serve large shares of low-income students, rental assistance to house millions of poor and disabled, and money to fund research on cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It’s the spending that Congress approves through appropriations bills.

The House GOP bill doesn’t affect spending on Social Security and Medicare. Such spending, referred to as mandatory, accounts for about two-thirds of all federal spending.

CLAW BACK COVID MONEY

The bill would rescind all unobligated COVID relief money from six bills enacted from 2020-2022. The changes would reduce spending by about $30 billion over the next decade, according to the CBO. That’s less than 1% of the total cost of the six bills.

TARGET THE IRS

House Republicans began their tenure in the majority by passing a bill that would rescind nearly $71 billion that Congress is providing the IRS to upgrade its technology and boost hiring. They have included the same proposal in their debt limit bill.

Democrats approved the higher IRS funding on top of what Congress normally provides the agency annually through the appropriations process. The boost immediately became a magnet for GOP campaign ads in the fall claiming it would lead to an army of IRS agents harassing Americans.

The CBO has said that rescinding the IRS money actually would increase deficits by more about $120 billion over the coming decade due to the impact on the agency’s work. But McCarthy said the step is needed to “protect families and businesses from a weaponized IRS.”

BLOCK STUDENT LOAN RELIEF

The Republican bill would repeal actions taken by President Biden to waive $10,000 to $20,000 in debt for nearly all borrowers who took out student loans. The bill would also prohibit the administration’s efforts to cut monthly payments in half for undergraduate loans. The CBO projects that the student loan changes House Republicans seek would save about $460 billion over 10 years.

Republicans argue that Biden is unfairly transferring the obligations of people who incurred student loan debts onto millions of American taxpayers who did not go to college or who already paid off their student loans. And the say the policy will do nothing to curb the soaring tuition rates at colleges and universities.

Biden has said the student loan forgiveness would give millions of younger Americans a little breathing room financially. It would improve their ability to plow their resources into a house, car or just basic essentials, which helps power the economy. Nearly 90% of the debt cancellation would go to borrowers who earn less than $75,000.

GOING AFTER RENEWABLES

Republicans are seeking to repeal most of the tax breaks that Democrats passed in party-line votes last year as they sought to boost the production and consumption of clean energy.

McCarthy argues that the tax breaks “distort the market and waste taxpayer money.” The White House says the tax credits are leading to hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investments, creating thousands of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

Republicans dropped their efforts to strip out some biofuel tax breaks, however, after the proposed changes threatened to tank the bill. The restoration of those credits was a top priority of Republicans from Iowa and other Midwestern states where the production of alternative fuels such as ethanol play a major role in the rural economy.

Citing estimates from the Joint Committee on Taxation, the CBO projected that repealing the clean energy tax breaks would save about $570 billion over 10 years, though that amount will shrink with the decision to keep some of the biofuel breaks.

WORK REQUIREMENTS

One of the key elements of the GOP bill is expanded work requirements for recipients of federal cash and food assistance.

Under current law, able-bodied adults under 50 and without dependents risk losing their food stamp, or SNAP benefits, if they don’t spend 20 hours a week in work-related activities. The bill would apply the requirement to those ages 50-55.

In addition, the bill would apply work requirements to able-bodied adults without dependents in Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health insurance coverage for low-income Americans. Job training and performing community service count toward fulfilling the work requirement.

McCarthy said changes would help those affected learn new job skills and earn a paycheck while helping to fill some of the millions of job openings throughout the country. The White House said millions of people, many already working, would lose their health insurance coverage.

A Congressional Budget Office review last year of work requirements for Medicaid recipients said Arkansas was the only state where a work requirement was imposed for more than a few months. It found many of the targeted adults lost their health insurance and employment did not appear to increase. It said that while evidence was scant, research indicated that many were unaware of the work requirement or found it too onerous to demonstrate compliance.

The CBO estimates that about 15 million people could be subject to the new Medicaid work requirements each year, although many would qualify for an exemption. About 1.5 million, on average, would lose federal funding for their Medicaid coverage, and of that group, about 600,000 would become uninsured.

FOSSIL FUEL BOOST

The debt limit package includes legislation the House passed earlier this year that aims to increase domestic production of oil, natural gas and coal, and to ease permitting restrictions that delay pipelines, refineries and other projects.

Known as HR 1 to signify its importance to House Republicans, the energy bill also seeks to boost production of critical minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt that are used in electric vehicles, computers, cellphones and other products. Biden has described the House GOP’s legislation as a “thinly veiled license to pollute.”

INCREASE THE DEBT LIMIT

The Republican would suspend the debt limit through March 31, or by $1.5 trillion, whichever comes first. That would tee up another debt ceiling fight for early next year, just months before the November election when control of the White House and Congress will be decided.

[187days]

Day Sixty-Seven

Mr. B, Mr. I, and I met with The Principal, the Director of Student Services, and both Deans during PLC time this morning to discuss the way we currently track/level Global Studies and American Studies (I told the rest of the department they could join us, or do work on their own). Mr. B observed that students who aren't college-bound are being placed in college prep courses because there's no other option, and made the case that's not the best way to serve them or their college-bound peers. So we discussed possible changes we could make in the future, and obviously, that's going to take more than this one conversation, but I think we made a good start.

I spent my prep time checking over the essay outline assignment my Global Studies students had been doing; it's set up like a standard citation practice assignment (a set of questions to research, answer, and properly cite in MLA format), but this one had three, color-coded parts. Today, when my students came to class, I had them read the instructions and two examples of the Religion/Philosophy Essay, and some saw straight away how the work they'd done was going to set them up for essay drafting. The rest figured it out as we discussed the examples, and what was included in their introductions, bodies, and conclusions; I wrote discussion notes on the board in the same colors as the color-coding on the outline, and then it became totally clear.

For a lot of my students who're daunted by essay writing, realizing they'd already done the research and had it organized was a game-changer for their confidence. So I definitely think the way I sequenced these essay prep lessons- outline assignment, then instructions and examples, rather than the other way around (in which case a lot of students would have skipped the outlining, I think)- worked as intended. Feeling good about that!

APGOV was pretty excellent, too. We got into the Civil Rights Movement today by discussing Brown v. Board and subsequent school desegregation efforts, as well as the resistance to those efforts. A lot of my students knew about Ruby Bridges and the Little Rock Nine, a few knew about James Meredith, and it was good that they could bring their background knowledge into the conversation. After that, we tackled some things they new less about: the Federal Interstate Commerce Commission rule that interstate trains and buses- and station waiting rooms- had to be desegregated, Boynton v. Virginia, and the Freedom Rides. I showed an excerpt of PBS' Freedom Riders, which students found really engaging. It led into a great discussion.

And I had nothing to do at the end of the day, so I actually got to leave on time! Woohoo!

[panicinthestudio]

Further reading:

HKFP: Gov’t seeks to ban protest song ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, including from internet, June 6, 2023

HKFP: Protest song ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ dominates local iTunes top 10, hours after gov’t sought ban, June 7, 2023

HKFP: ‘Too early’ to say if ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ ban would result in Google withdrawal, data scientist says, June 13, 2023

[sapphia]

USA please listen to me: the price of “teaching them a lesson” is too high. take it from New Zealand, who voted our Labour government out in the last election because they weren’t doing exactly what we wanted and got facism instead.

Trans rights are being attacked, public transport has been defunded, tax cuts issued for the wealthy, they've mass-defunded public services, cut and attacked the disability funding model, cut benefits, diverted transport funding to roads, cut all recent public transport subsidies, cancelled massive important infrastructure projects like damns and ferries (we are three ISLANDS), fast tracked mining, oil, and other massive environmentally detrimental projects and gave the power the to approve these projects singularly to three ministers who have been wined and dined by lobbyists of the companies that have put the bids in to approve them while one of the main minister infers he will not prioritise the protection of endangered species like the archeys frog over mining projects that do massive environmental harm. They have attacked indigenous rights in an attempt to negate the Treaty of Waitangi by “redefining it”; as a backup, they are also trying to remove all mentions of the treaty from legislation starting with our Child Protection laws no longer requiring social workers to consider the importance of Maori children’s culture when placing those children; when the Waitangi Tribunal who oversees indigenous matters sought to enquire about this, the Minister for Children blocked their enquiry in a breach of comity that was condemned in a ruling — too late to do anything — by our Supreme Court. They have repealed labour protections around pay and 90 day trials, reversed our smoking ban, cancelled our EV subsidy, cancelled our water infrastructure scheme that would have given Maori iwi a say in water asset management, cancelled our biggest city’s fuel tax, made our treasury and inland revenue departments less accountable, dispensed of our Productivity Commission, begun work on charter schools and military boot camps in an obvious push towards privatisation, cancelled grants for first home buyers, reduced access to emergency housing, allowed no cause evictions, cancelled our Maori health system that would have given Maori control over their own public medical care and funding, cut funding of services like budgeting advice and food banks, cancelled the consumer advocacy council, cancelled our medicine regulations, repealed free prescriptions, deferred multiple hospital builds, failed to deliver on pre-election medical promises, reversed a gun ban created in response to the mosque shootings, brought back three strikes = life sentence policy, increased minimum wage by half the recommended amount, cancelled fair pay for disabled workers, reduced wheelchair services, reversed our oil and gas exploration ban, cancelled our climate emergency fund, cut science research funding including climate research, removed limits on killing sea lions, cut funding for the climate change commission, weakened our methane targets, cancelled Significant National Areas protections, have begun reversing our ban on live exports. Much of this was passed under urgency.

It’s been six months.

[chronically-chaotic-cryptid]

Yeah I have this really exciting employment opportunity coming up called Fighting My Disability Allowance Denial Because They Pulled Their Excuse Out Of Their Behind

[carlocarrasco]

Las Piñas City Government releases cash aid to over 2,000 “Tara, Basa” beneficiaries

Recently in the City of Las Piñas, more than two thousand beneficiaries of the “Tara, Basa” program received cash aid from the City Government (in tandem with the Department of Social Welfare and Development), according to a Manila Bulletin news report. The distribution was led by Vice Mayor April Aguilar. To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from Manila Bulletin news report.…

[navinsamachar]

लोक सेवा आयोग से बने सहायक प्राध्यापक, जीवन कौशल तथा अभिवृत्ति पर व्याख्यान एवं राइंका नैनीताल में बनेगा राजकीय वृद्धाश्रम

डॉ. पंत और डॉ. जोशी का लोक सेवा आयोग उत्तराखंड से सहायक प्राध्यापक के पद पर चयन  =(Nainital News Today 31 July 2024 Navin Samachar) नवीन समाचार, नैनीताल, 31 जुलाई 2024 (Nainital News Today 31 July 2024 Navin Samachar)। डीएसबी परिसर के पूर्व छात्र डॉ. भूपेश पंत और डॉ. स्वाति जोशी का शिक्षा शास्त्र में लोक सेवा आयोग उत्तराखंड से सहायक प्राध्यापक के पद पर चयन हो गया। इस पर कूटा यानी कुमाऊं…

[sohaibsmart]

Amazon Prime Day occasion begins, gross sales up 12% in first 7 hours: Report | Firm Information

Prime Day can function a bellwether for the vacation procuring season. 3 min learn Final Up to date : Jul 17 2024 | 12:10 AM IST Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Day gross sales rose virtually 12 per cent within the first seven hours of the occasion in contrast with the identical interval final 12 months, based on Momentum Commerce, which manages 50 manufacturers in a wide range of product…

[townpostin]

Anti-Drug Campaign Concludes at Ghatshila College

World Drug Day event marks end of 8-day awareness drive Officials praise student participation in promoting substance abuse prevention. GHATSHILA – Ghatshila College wrapped up its 8-day anti-drug awareness campaign on World Drug Day, June 26. The closing ceremony featured notable guests including: – Dinesh Bauri, Secretary of Sub-divisional Legal Services Authority – Sacchidanand Mahato,…

[remittancesday]

Remittances helps families to achieve their own Sustainable Development Goals.

By 2030, it is projected that over US$ 5 trillion will be sent home by migrants to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with much of this money going directly to rural areas where 80 per cent of the world’s poor live, face food shortages, and the impacts of climate change.

This money, sent by migrants and diaspora communities, directly supports millions of families to achieve their own Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They contribute directly to poverty alleviation, education, healthcare, small business development, gender equality, and rural economic growth.

[meteorologistaustenlonek]

Uninvitation

Dear Meta Facebook Public Affairs hashtag#Facebook,It took me a while to get the point, but now I see it.After N+1 attempts to reconnect after someone in New Orleans tried to hack my FB account over a month ago, uploading numerous and various proper/official ID’s, ID’s that were painstakingly created in accordance of your size/clarity/orientation – all of which have been rejected as being…

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

WPTV is learning more about some of the social studies textbooks the Florida Department of Education did not recommend for students.

Last week, WPTV education reporter Stephanie Susskind told you about 66 books that were accepted or modified to meet state approval. Now we've uncovered that, of the dozens rejected, two of them were for high school Holocaust education classes.

33 social studies textbooks submitted for review to the Florida Department of Education were rejected for not meeting state standards. Those textbooks cover everything from civics to financial literacy to the Holocaust.

Marc Hopin leads the Alpert Jewish Family Service in West Palm Beach, providing care to people throughout the community, including 200 Holocaust survivors. He said highlighting that point in history is critical to prevent it from happening again.

"The Holocaust, it didn't start with guns and death camps. It started with words. It started with, sadly, some of the words we are hearing in Palm Beach County today. Some of these antisemitic leaflets and projections of swastikas," Hopin said.

Hopin is impressed with the level of Holocaust education in Palm Beach County schools. "We are asked all the time by high schools and sometimes elementary schools, can we bring a survivor to speak to the students? And the survivors love it," Hopin said.

But the Florida Department of Education brought some new Holocaust educational material into question as it adopts new social studies textbooks.

Last week, the state released several examples of textbook material that was rejected, including a description of the Black Lives Matter movement.

While we don't know exactly what was in the Holocaust textbooks that landed them on the not recommended list, the state said the "History of the Holocaust" book received a 3.7 score out of 5 for aligning with subject specific standards. A book needs at least a 4 to be accepted.

A textbook titled "Modern Genocide" received a 2 out of 5.

"There are many textbooks and other approved instructional materials that support our efforts to make sure our students never forget about the horrific annihilation of Jews by Nazi Germany," said Alex Lanfranconi, the director of communications of the Florida Department of Education, in a written statement to WPTV.

Lanfranconi added that Florida requires instruction on the Holocaust for all students beginning in fifth grade.

According to Lanfranconi, "reviewers evaluate each instructional material based on its alignment to state standards," and "this process ensures instructional materials on the adoption list are of the highest quality and align to Florida's state academic standards."

"Florida has many materials and resources available to support high-quality teaching of Holocaust education, including comprehensive Holocaust education standards," Lanfranconi said. "The textbooks are evaluated based on these standards. If the activities and lessons within a textbook do not help students learn the content and master the standards, then the textbook would receive a low rating for standards alignment, as did the two textbooks in question."

"I would hope that at the end of the day — and I don't know when that day is — that we have enough Holocaust education materials and a way of presenting it to put some of the other issues aside," Hopin said.

Hopin added that while the books are important, there's no substitute for hearing from someone who survived it all first-hand.

"As much as we can offer opportunities to have survivors come and present, we should be trying to do that. We're running out of time," Hopin said.

The Florida Department of Education said it's working with the publishers to address concerns so the books can be added to the adopted list.

A bill signed in 2020 also designated the second week in November as "Holocaust Education Week" in Florida schools.