I'm finishing up my first year. I didn't try to be the friendly doormat type of teacher--it just sort of happened. And I really try to look at my students in the best possible light, I try to be stoic about things, and I tried really, really hard to make my classes almost impossible to fail (alas). I greet every student with good morning and good afternoon. I say the same things every day every five minutes. I nag and remind and wax poetic about how one must crawl before they walk and walk before they run. I remind people to keep their feet on the floor. I talk to students about their gambling (phone) addictions, using the DSM-5 criteria. I blocked Google on GoGuardian. I talk about how the human brain is a quintillion times faster than punching out-of-context questions into Google or ChatGPT or whatever. I ask people to put their phones away and somehow they text their friends the pencil and paper assignments anyway and I get duplicate answers from the quietly failing friends who have my classes at different times throughout the day. I get Snapchat AI a lot on anything that involves chromebooks, or anything that uses logical cognitive processes. I ran out of copy machine money. I made four versions of the upcoming final exam and printed them at the public library (I ran out of copy machine money).
So--what's worth fighting for? Cell phones? In-class discussion? Drafts and revision? Cold calling? Reading aloud?
For cellphones: My department is mostly brand new, with a couple of burnt out veterans. One idea everyone is floating is collecting cell phones at the beginning of every class. I'm not sure about it, but right now reified as a sliced-bread solution.
For in-class discussion: One idea that might actually be worth it for me is to make porpsicle storcks (tongue depressors) and enforce participation. I figured, because I was new, that people simply enjoyed silence (and darkness) in the classroom. I've discovered, though, that I had to do a zillion little things every day because I excised discussion from my slate of options.
Because High School is not college, I'm okay with making participation part of the grade next year. I little birdie told me that only work ought to be graded, but there's no other place on Earth where people can finish their work and then just sit there for 40 minutes waiting for a bell to ring. Colleges don't do it. Workplaces don't do it. So I figure the environment dictates the activity, and participation needs to be graded, otherwise people are going to pretend that using their phone under their desk with their heads on the desk makes them invisible.
For drafts and revision: Early in the year I asked students to write a paragraph and I remember clearly a student saying "I ain't writing a goddamn fucking paragraph." And they didn't. So I made my classroom anti-reading and pro-stupid-videos-all-the-time. And students complained about watching 5-10 minute chunks of not-so-High-Quality-Instructional-Materials. I walked the class through EdPuzzles and asked open-ended questions, and I got the selected responses and blanks. I handed papers back and got blanks again. My content area is one where writing across the curriculum is more than a stupid idea--it could actually work in a school where people write goddamn fucking paragraphs.
For cold calling: I was informed that students of low SES/academic achievement would experience pants-shittingly-bad anxiety if I asked them a question. So I would ask the whole group a question and count to 270 slowly in my head. Then I would move on to the next thing. So next year, I'm going to have a lot of people with shit all up in their pants.
For reading aloud: I was informed that the majority of the students at the High School are aliterate and illiterate, and that asking them to read aloud is like duct taping their hands and feet together and throwing them in a kidnap van. So I read everything. But I think my informants were wrong about a lot of things.
Also: My school doesn't have a phone policy. It's up to me to put on an iron coat and run my own gauntlets. I think they want to wait 5-10 years for national momentum to build. Maybe it won't. Maybe it will.
So, all that to say: Which battles do you fight? Do you win? If not, is it worth it for you to be Sisyphus, and where in the 180 or so days does it pay off for you.
Thanks for noticing me.

Hello, I'm selling my mATX PC that I built in November of 2023. Reason for selling despite it working perfectly, is that I'm moving and trying to get some extra money to help with the move. The PC works flawlessly on 4k 144hz and looks amazing. Can control RGB lighting with L-Connect 3 from Lian Li and EXPERTOOL from Gainward.
Looking to sell local for $2400 ZIP: 78215 San Antonio, TX area. Willing to meet somewhere close to Austin/Houston/Dallas as well.
Timestamps

GPU	Gainward GeForce RTX 4090 Phantom GS 24GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core, 16-Thread Desktop Processor
CPU COOLER	EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark All-in-One Liquid CPU Cooler
RAM	G.SKILL Flare X5 Series (AMD Expo) DDR5 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) 6000MT/s CL30-40-40-96 1.40V Desktop Computer Memory UDIMM - Matte Black (F5-6000J3040G32GX2-FX5)
SSD	WD_BLACK 4TB SN850X NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive - Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280, Up to 7,300 MB/s - WDS400T2X0E
MOBO	ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Gene WiFi 6E Socket AM5(LGA 1718) Ryzen 7000 mATX Gaming Motherboard (16+2 Power Stages, PCIe® 5.0, DDR5,USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Front-Panel, USB4® Ports, Wi-Fi 6E)
PSU	Seasonic VERTEX GX-1200, 1200W 80+ Gold, ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 Ready, Full-Modular, ATX Form Factor
CASE	Fractal Design Pop Mini Air RGB Black TG mATX High-Airflow Clear Tempered Glass Window Tower Computer Case
CASE FANS	5x Lian Li SL-INFINITY 120 RGB
CABLES	CableMod RT-Series ModMesh Black

I seemed to have upset the mods last night by posting a screen shot from the Avs subreddit, so instead I would like to share a completely original statement a friend of mine shared with me. His statement is as follows:
Dallas has to be the luckiest franchise in the history of hockey. Imagine building your franchise around Benn for $9.5M and Seguin for $10M and still winding up fuckin good?? These guys were fucking invisible. They should be in a similar purgatory to the Leafs. Fringe fraud “contenders.” But no. A bunch of random draft picks all pop off. Who the fuck is Johnston? Who the fuck is Stankoven? Who the fuck is Steel? These are their fucking best forwards aside from Robertson and Hintz. Name another franchise who spends $23M on what would be an ok third line for most contenders. Nvm one who does this and is good. I fucking hate Been and Duchenne, of course they scored lol. I can’t even hate stankoven Robertson or Johnston, they’re all fucking sick. But I’m so fucking jealous. Most teams staring down the barrel of $20M to those dirty useless plugs would be starting the rebuild yet they’re fucking contenders. Fuckin kill me

I'm bout a year and a half away from EAS & want to reenlist into the DAP into one of those MOS. Born/raised/Stationed in SoCal and don't wanna stay here looking into moving into Tx (San Antonio or Dallas area) and was wondering if anyone can provide insight if they are one of the MOS above. Currently in the wing and don't wanna be a maintainer.
Edit: anyone a reservist 1371/0861 in tx.

​The draft is coming up and even though this is a perceived weak class there are some scenarios of players we can get that I'm very excited about and I'm curious what you guys think.
Tier 1A: Reed Sheppard
I'm heads over heels in love with the idea of Sheppard in Charlotte. I think our two biggest needs as a team right now first and foremost a point-of-attack/off-ball guard defender and not close behind that in second a guard that has some explosive ability on offense to both play next to and takes on ball handling duties without LaMelo. I feel that Reed was borderline made in a lab to address those needs.
Let's start on offense. Sheppard is a marksman. The guy shot above 50% from three for the duration of the season on 4 attempts a game. He also has a smooth quick release that will allow him to be able to get his shot off against NBA-level defense in my opinion.
He also showed the ability to play both on and off the ball and thrive with a number of different guards with different skill sets at Kentucky.
He also showed extremely highly basketball character in accepting an extremely underserved bench role without ever complaining at Kentucky when frankly he was the best player on the team. He shows some juice as a playmaker he averaged 4.5 assists per game in just 29 minutes off the bench with a lot of those minutes being spent off the ball.
Multiple guard lineups are all the rage these days but it's a lot more complicated than just sticking two guys together and saying you can never have enough playmaking See Garland and Mitchell in Cleveland and Young and Murray in Atlanta.
Reed I feel fits seamlessly in the best-case scenario of LaMelo being a healthy ball-dominant All-Star and also provides nice insurance for the scenario where LaMelo remains unhealthy.
Now for defense, this is an interesting discussion.
From appearances alone, Sheppard looks like a nightmare on defense. He is only 6'3" with a 6'3" wingspan. He is not a very explosive athlete laterally (we will get to his vertical later). But simply writing off Reed based on that is a mistake.
The guy is maybe the best hustle defensive stat player I have ever seen. He averaged 2.5 steals per game off the bench at his size and even more absurdly averaged nearly one block per game at .7.
That's where that 42-inch vertical comes into play. He had 2 fewer blocks on the season than Kentucky's starting center. Sheppard hustles like hell off of the ball and reads passing lanes exceptionally.
He can be exposed in 1 on 1 situations by size and speed to such an extent that he will never make an all-defense team but he's far from a liability in total on defense and is any many ways an asset. He brings an effort and intensity to that side that we really lack.
While he does lack the elite physical traits of a plus defender, he certainly punches above his weight and is an upgrade to anything that we have had at the position in quite some time.
As far as making a comparison, I think Fred VanVellet on the Raptors is a similar mold to what I think Reed can be here.
FVV started off as a UDFA who slowly made his way up the Raptors rotation.
FVV is even smaller than Sheppard at 6'0". But, he also is a player that punches above his weight defensively.
While he was their backup point guard behind their All-Star in Kyle Lowry, FVV also became an excellent off-the-ball player there, especially during their title run.
Sadly, I think there is a good chance Sheppard is off of the board by the time we get to pick 6.
There is some downside of him being a tweener who is neither a truly explosive player at the point guard position and too small to be a high impact at the 2. In that scenario, I think his career could follow somewhat of a Luke Kennard, Grayson Allen arc.
But I absolutely love this pick and am rushing it in if I am Jeff Peterson and he's on the board at 6.
Tier 1: Stephon Castle
Not gonna lie, I came into this wanting to hate Castle. I looked at him as a non-shooter, who was riding the hype of a UConn team that won the title and thought that his desire of being a more ball dominant player was unfounded.
But as I've looked into him I've gotten really comfortable with him being the guy at 6.
Starting with the positives, as I said earlier, the Hornets' biggest need to me is a point-of-attack defender at the guard position and Stephon Castle is that guy.
He showed amazing defensive chops at UConn and was trusted with some of the toughest assignments in major games. He's 6'6" got good size for his age at 19 in 210 pounds and a 6'9" wingspan.
To have the defensive presence and acumen he did for a team more focused on winning the title than it was at developing NBA talent at his age was highly impressive.
I think he can guard both guards and wings at his size and do both at a higher level than Sheppard approaching that all-defense ceiling.
The offense is where his age did show he very much looked like a freshman at times with just inconsistencies throughout his game.
His jump shooting was sporadic at best and more often than not just poor. He only shot 26.7% from 3.
He did get hot at times and is a decent free throw shooter at 75% so while hope is not lost on that end. Banking on him being a good shooter in the next 2-3 years is far from a guarantee.
Castle is adamant that he has more juice with the ball in his hands than he showed at UConn and wants more opportunities to play the 1 in the NBA.
While his offensive profile would concern me greatly if I were a team building around him as my lead guard. I do think that playing with LaMelo and Brandon will give him the space to add a little more juice to his game while not having too much creation responsibility.
This comparison is a lot more friendly than it sounds but I think a possible deluxe version of Nickeil Alexander-Walker for the Timberwolves could be the mold for Castle. Great defender that has more guard skills on offense than you typically get from someone who can defend 1-3 but not enough guard skill to really be happy if he was ever your lead guard.
If LaMelo can stay healthy, I do really like the idea of him coming along slowly as the defensive connective tissue and connector on offense in between LaMelo and Bradon.
Tier 2: Donavan Clingan, Nikola Topic
I am decidedly less excited about both of these options than the first two but there are some things to like.
Clingan could come in immediately and I feel replicate the role that Brook Lopez and Kristaps Porzingis played as drop coverage rim protectors for Charles Lee in Milwaukee and Boston.
He also shows some nice traits as a passer which could carry over from the things Boston's does with KP and Al Horford.
I think Clingan could be worth it even if we have confidence that Mark Williams' back injury will be fine in the long term. Look at Dallas with Gafford and Livley; their ability to have that caliber of center play at all times is a huge asset.
Downside for Clingan is he's a very poor free throw shooter and will be a hack-a-shaq target more than likely/
His upside on offense really isn't there, it's really a what you see is what you get proposition.
Topic, if we take him it's really getting into a best player available proposition because I really do not love the fit here.
He's a very high IQ player, and shows some really nice crafty traits and tricks of the trade. He's played at a high level professionally as a teen all of which are great.
However, I think he really does lack zip and explosiveness with the ball in his hands, he's a pretty stiff and rigid mover that kinda plays like he's stuck in one gear on offense. He struggled to shoot the ball only making 26 threes in 22 games.
That lack of explosiveness shows on defense as well where I found him be pretty poor.
He is a good free throw shooter so there is possibly some upside to the jump shot. He's a very smart player who I do think takes good angles and does crafty things to get to the rim and get downhill and playmaker for others so I do see how he can at least develop that out to the mid-range area.
He reminds me a lot of Josh Giddey, who is currently a bad fit with SGA and Jalen Williams, two players that I view as a very good blueprint of how I would like to see the team be built around LaMelo and Brandon.
On the high side of outcomes for Topic, I could see Goran Dragic on the Heat and possibly even a little bit of Franz Wagner, and I do think he is the best choice if the first three choices are off the board.

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Here is the recap of the 8 monetized posts from Kylea and Joseph "Joe" Gomez of Kylea G Weight loss Journey on 05/17/24.
"Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away." Elvis Presley
⚠️ Compuslive Buying Disorder (CBD), aka shopping addiction, Disordered Eating, Domestic Violence, Gaslighting, and Religion will be discussed.
Disclaimers: I am not a physician, influencer, or paid content creator. I am not affiliated with WW. I am semi-retired from the healthcare field with multiple college degrees. These opinions are my own based on social media content. I wish no harm to Kylea or Joe Gomez.
☎️ If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, please call or text 988 for assistance.
☎️ National Domestic Violence Helpline: Confidential Help is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233. Or text START to 88788.
The tagline of Kylea G Weight loss Journey is, "I changed my entire life with prayer and a playlist of songs. No surgery, no meds. Just Jesus."
DAILY STATS 05/17/24:
0/8 posts discussed prayer
0/8 posts discussed music
1/8 posts mentioned walking outside
0/8 posts shared a recipe
2/8 posts were about something Kylea ate or drank
1/8 posts was about driving home
2/8 posts were about a current pet
1/8 posts "Joe" discussed Kylea being a dog mom
1/8 posts "Joe" made about Kylea sending him McDonalds
📢 For our friends at Meta, that means that approx. 50% of the monetized posts had nothing to do with weight loss, which is the tagline and purpose of her page.
⚠️ Disordered Eating- Daily WW Points Used (Data compiled from monetized content):
2 WW Points: Plate of scrambled eggs + plate of fresh fruit + Peanut Butter Chocolate Muscle Milk in coffee.
8 WW Points: Double Shot Espresso over ice with almond milk, sugar-free vanilla, 1/2 of Peanut Butter Chocolate Muscle Milk shake, with cinnamon on top. Turkey, bacon, cheddar & egg white sandwich.
📢 For our friends at Meta, that means Kylea consumed 10 out of (up to) 30 daily WW points in maintenance mode= Disordered Eating. This is dangerous and potentially deadly messaging for those on a weight loss journey.
Recipes Shared: ZERO
🚨 Please speak with a medical professional about any questions or concerns you have about your health.
Comments: In my opinion, Kylea falsified the timeline of her arrival home. She frequently lies and has a history of mental breakdowns during travel. Let's see if you agree...

1. Unknown Breakfast Location: Kylea does not even vaguely mention her sister's presence and shows a closely cropped picture of food and a beverage.
   
2. "Joe" posted this, "My wife has been waiting to be a dog mom for a long time. I'm so excited for to be welcoming one into our home soon. 🐶 🏠"
   

*I kept the wording of the quote exactly as it appeared. "Joe" shared an old photo of Kylea holding RayRay's face (her mommma's Frenchie) and kissing him above his left eye.
⏸️ Remember, Kylea was traumatized from a dog biting her face as a child and told her followers she wanted a puppy from a breeder because of this event. This was an odd picture to share.

1. Unknown Starbucks Location for Lunch: A tightly cropped image of an empty Starbucks paper bag, Iced Beverage, and Muscle Milk is shared. There is no mention of her sister, leading Reddit users to believe Kylea was in an airport, possibly alone. How is she consuming all these dairy products without issues this trip?
   
2. God is Good: Kylea's sunburn disappeared from yesterday in this tightly cropped photo of her near a flowering plant. Her location is not disclosed. "I've just been walking around and appreciating all of the beauty of the world around me today. God is so good!!"
   

⏸️ This suspicious photo led Reddit users to believe Kylea was either already home, almost home, and/or there was a serious disagreement with her sister (they have a history of this happening). Why buy a Go City Pass and barely use it? Why go to CA to whale watch and not complete the task? Why so secretive this trip? Was she alone the majority of the time? The entire vibe has been off.

1. "I think Oliver is missing his Mom 🐈‍⬛️ 🐾" An old 📸 of Kylea sitting on the floor, squeezing Oliver to her chest (he looks like he's trying to get away), is shared. This is the 1st mention of Oliver this trip. She normally posts more often about missing him while traveling...
   
2. "Joe sent me a picture of the fur babies and they both look like they're ready for me to be home 💖" An (allegedly) old 📸 of Oliver and Alice on the back of the couch is shared.
   

Concern has been growing for weeks about the welfare of Alice. 🐈‍⬛️ I hope she is okay.

1. Driving 6 Hours Home: "The last few days of adventure in California was fun but I'm so ready to get home to my hubs!! I had a long day of travel today. ✈️ Now for the 6 hour drive back home! 🚗 Ready to cuddle my cats 🐈‍⬛️ and introduce you to our new family member later this weekend! 🐶 🐾"

⏸️ Notice, Kylea never says "we" today. This fuels the speculation of a separate return trip home from her sister. I would hardly call scrambled eggs, fruit, salsa chicken salad, and coffee an adventure. Her photos (if they were even hers) showed empty tourist destinations. I learned nothing of note from her "California adventure." What an odd trip.

1. "Joe" posted McDonalds: "I worked late last night and my wife still made sure that I got one of my favorite dinners. I love McDonald's cheeseburgers! 🍔 🍟"

I have shared resources this week on domestic violence. Not only is McDonalds triggering content for those on a weight loss journey, why is Joe Gomez unable to buy his own food? These photos (Joe holding the takeout bag) remind me of a young child posing with objects for praise.
📢 To our friends at Meta, "Joe" posting (under Kylea's account with her name) 25% of her content today is ridiculous. The page name is not "Kylea and Joe's Journey." This is not a lifestyle page. Kylea blatantly violates many monetization policies with her content. Please follow your policies and take action.
Final Questions: Do you believe Kylea traveled alone or with her sister? Do you think they were together the entire time? When do you think she arrived home? What did you learn about San Diego? How did she do as a travel blogger? 🤔
Takeout: Unknown breakfast restaurant for KG= $18 est + tip; *Possible breakfast for sister= $18 est + tip; Starbucks for KG (unknown location)= $15 est + tip, *Possible lunch for sister= $15 est + tip, Muscle Milk for KG= $3.50 est;
Shopping/Travel Expenses: Airport Parking (up to 50% off with prebook)= $16 est; Return Flight for KG on Unknown Carrier at unknown time (I do not believe she ever had a $45 round trip flight)= $82 + fees; *Possible Flight for Sister (same issue as above)= $82 est + fees; Mileage Dallas, TX to Joplin, MO= (350 est mi/33mpg) x $3.85 est= $40.83 est;
All info from Reddit. ✌️

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JEFFERSON CITY — The 2024 legislative session that ended Friday seemed more a referendum on Republican Party loyalty than a collective venture toward policy.
Constant infighting among Republicans over priorities and which ones were truly conservative led to days-long filibusters, name calling and the death of many conservative bills, including a top party priority: making it more difficult to amend the Missouri Constitution.
The divisions were so ingrained that the Senate Democrats, holding 10 seats in a 34-person body, delivered the deciding votes on some of the session's most important bills.
The hard-right Freedom Caucus has said their issue with mainstream Republican leaders in the legislature is a lack of dedication to “big red” policies like reducing personal property tax and preventing foreign countries from owning Missouri land.
Looking back at previous sessions, that argument doesn’t quite stack up. In the last several years Republicans have passed one of the nation's most strict abortion bans, limitations on transgender health care and enacted several income tax cuts.
The Freedom Caucus went to great lengths to disrupt Senate procedure and strong-arm leadership in an effort to pass their highest priority, changes to the initiative petition process. The impact was that they were tossed off Senate committees by the Republican leadership and later in the session failed to convince their Republican colleagues to embrace their priorities.
Less than two weeks before the constitutional deadline for the budget and with an important federal health care reimbursement that creates over $4 billion in revenue, Freedom Caucus members filibustered for 41 hours with the demand that leadership first bring up a resolution changing the approval threshold for state constitutional amendments.
Going into the last week of session, initiative petition reform still had not passed.
This week, the Freedom Caucus supported a motion among Republicans to end the Democratic filibuster on the issue through an extraordinary motion — the previous question — that hasn’t been used in the Senate since 2020. But only 16 Republicans would support that plan, which needed 18 votes, so it was never brought before the floor.
With that failure on Wednesday, the resolution was sent back to the House, which refused to budge on Thursday and sent it back to the Senate. On Friday the Senate adjourned without any further action and the effort died.
The failure to pass the resolution making initiative petition changes showed the inability of even a supermajority to act when splintered on such chaotic, disruptive lines.
Senate President Pro Tem. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said that this session showed that more can get done through compromise than confrontation.
"I'm walking out of here as a guy that has basically accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish and I did it in a way that was respectful and collegial," Rowden said in a press conference after adjournment.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, R-Independence, backed up that point saying, "I don't think Democrats won or Republicans lost (the session), I think decorum won."
Fiscal Year 2025 budget
A set of constitutionally mandated bills that fund the state's operations passed just three hours before the May 10 deadline. The final budget is $51.7 billion, $1 billion less than what the governor proposed, and about $2 billion less than last year's budget.
Three things stuck out in this year's budget: Infrastructure continued to be a major focus, spending was reduced to come in line with revenue projects and numerous members on both sides of the aisle were frustrated by the lack of transparency in the process.
Over the last two years, about $3.5 billion has been put into widening I-70 to six lanes statewide and I-44 in the southwestern part of the state. Both projects are about equally funded through debt and general revenue. The budget that was approved is expected to reduce the state surplus to about $1.5 billion.
Up-to-date numbers from the Office of Administration show a more rosy revenue picture than anticipated. So far Fiscal Year 2024 revenue receipts are up 2.7% year over year. That's far higher than the projected .2% growth in revenue used to craft the budget. If that revenue continues at the same pace and with a current general fund balance of over $4 billion there is a chance the state's surplus will hardly be tapped over the next year.
The declining budget also represents a return to normal state budgeting. Since the pandemic, states have received an unprecedented influx of federal COVID relief and infrastructure cash. That has led to record high appropriations that oftentimes don't get spent. In the FY 2023 budget, $10 billion of the $48 billion appropriated was never used. In 2018, only $2 billion of the $28 billion budget was left unspent.
No public comment was taken during the budget process and meetings between the House and Senate where the final budget package was finalized only existed behind closed doors. Senators only had a few minutes to review the bills before voting on them and House members had little time to debate as they passed the budget just hours before the constitutional deadline.
This backdoor process drew criticism from Democrats, Freedom Caucus members and the governor as many felt out of the loop.
Elections and initiative changes Fighting over changes that would make it harder to amend the Missouri Constitution again put the brakes on normal operating procedures on the Senate floor this session.
The Freedom Caucus has more than once sent the Senate into disarray over a piece of legislation that again failed to cross the finish line after years of attempts.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, would have asked voters whether the current threshold to amend the state constitution — a simple majority, or 50% plus one — should be raised to also require a majority vote in at least five of the state’s eight congressional districts.
This year’s proposal included two provisions that led the chamber to several lengthy filibusters totaling more than 100 hours. In addition to the threshold requirement, the provisions would ask voters to bar noncitizens from voting on constitutional amendments and to ban constitutional amendments sponsored by foreign governments.
These provisions are already state law and Democrats made a point of filibustering against those provisions.
Republicans this session also pushed a resolution that would ban ranked-choice voting in Missouri. SJR 78 was passed by the House on Friday. The question will now go to voters to decide.
Ranked-choice voting is a practice where voters rank their preferred candidates on a single ballot until a winner is declared after receiving a majority of the vote. The idea is to give voters more options once their top-ranked choice is eliminated by distributing their vote to their next preferred candidates. Opponents said the practice does the exact opposite by splitting the vote.
While it is not in state law, St. Louis practices a version of ranked-choice voting that will be protected if the ban passes.
Education bill An omnibus education bill, SB 727, raising the minimum teacher salary, allowing charter schools in Boone County and providing private school scholarships to low-income students, has already been signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson. The provisions of the bill, approved by the minimum vote required in the House, are estimated to cost the state $468 million.
The new state minimum salary for teachers is set at $40,000 a year beginning with the next school year and includes additional incentives for teachers with longer careers and those with master’s degrees.
The voucher-like scholarship program for private school students offers up to $6,375 per child for expenses such as tuition, textbooks and transportation. The program is funded by private donors who can claim tax credits.
The size of the bill ballooned from 12 pages to more than 150 because of amendments in the Senate. House leaders blocked amendments so that the bill would not have to be returned for another vote in the Senate out of concern it would die because of filibusters on other topics.
The law requires a public vote to approve any switch to four-day school weeks while providing incentives to schools that stick with five-day weeks.
New crime provisions A major public safety bill that passed during the final House session on Friday made changes to how children are viewed in the court system, increased punishment for various crimes and limited the authority of citizen police review boards, among other items.
The bill tracks legislation passed last year, except for two technical provisions that prompted a veto by Parson. The law increases the age under which children could be considered adults in felony offenses from 12 to 14.
On July 4, 2011, Blair Shanahan Lane was killed by reckless celebratory gunfire. A portion of the bill dubbed "Blair's Law" creates penalties for such activity. After the bill passed on a bipartisan basis Friday, House members rose for a round of applause directed at Blair Lane's mother, who was in attendance.
The bill also creates "Valentine's Law" raising punishments for fleeing a law enforcement stop. It is named for St. Louis County Detective Antonio Valentine, who died in a crash pursuing a person fleeing police.
And there is a provision known as "Max's Law" that increases punishment for injuring or killing law enforcement K-9 dogs.
Sludge regulations House Bill 2134, which would create new regulations for wastewater sludge under the Missouri Clean Water Act, gained bipartisan approval and was signed by Parson.
The bill gained traction as concerns about waste lagoons and land application practices by Arkansas-based Denali Water Solutions have been brought to light. The new law prevents companies like Denali from applying waste as fertilizer without a regulatory process and testing.
Denali was previously forced to cease operations in Missouri after 6,000 gallons of slaughterhouse waste spilled into a field, causing residents to complain about the smell and runoff concerns.
Regulatory Sandbox Act The House Friday gave final approval to SB 894 creating an avenue for new companies offering innovative products to be excused from meeting some state regulations for the first 24 months that they begin offering innovative products to consumers.
Companies would be required to apply and meet certain criteria to participate in the program.
The bill also creates an Office of Entrepreneurship within the Department of Economic Development that will promote policies and initiatives to support the growth of entrepreneurship of Missouri-based businesses with less than ten employees.
Eviction moratorium A bill passed on Friday barred any municipality from enacting an eviction moratorium. The bill, SB 865, comes in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic when cities across the country prevented landlords from evicting tenets. Realtors and apartment associations spoke in favor of the bill as they feel moratoriums violate the rights of property owners.
National Guard deployment Parson signed a bill on May 8 approving additional funding for a Missouri National Guard deployment to the southern border. The governor traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas, to sign House Bill 2016 into law and visit with members who have been deployed since March.
“The battle that we’re fighting down here at the border is keeping it from happening in our own borders, in our own state in Missouri,” Parson said before signing the bill.
Members of the National Guard are assisting with Operation Lone Star after being invited by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Operation Lone Star is a state-level border security effort at the Texas-Mexico border that began in 2021.
The $2.2 million in funding supports the operations of approximately 200 National Guard members and 22 Missouri State Highway Patrol officers for 90 days. Since the start of their mission, only around 50 guardsmen and 22 members of the highway patrol have served in Texas.
Sports wagering moves ahead After years of failed attempts to get legalization through the Missouri General Assembly, sports gambling appears to have found a more promising path.
Early in May, the Winning for Missouri Education committee along with a coaltion of Missouri professional sports teams submitted over 340,000 signatures for a ballot initiative to the Secretary of State's office desk.
If the Secretary of State verifies that enough signatures are genuine, the question would be put to voters in November. Thirty-eight other states have legalized some form of sports wagering.
The petition proposes a 10% tax on wagers to be collected by the Department of Revenue, deposited into the state treasury and credit to the "Gaming Proceeds for Education Fund," raising a projected $35 million.
Approximately $5 million in funds from the sports wagering tax would go into a fund to help compulsive gamblers and the rest would go to public school and higher education programs.
Child tax credits Bipartisan support and a State of the State address plug by Parson helped two bills, SB 742 and HB 1488, which would add provisions allowing for tax credits related to child care services to reach the Senate floor for consideration.
However, opposition from Freedom Caucus members of the Senate stalled action both in an effort to advance bills they felt deserved more priority and out of a general dislike of tax credits. The Senate version is sponsored by Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City, while the House bill is sponsored by Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph.
Protecting IVF House and Senate bills to protect in vitro fertilization clinics got a flurry of attention but did not advance following an Alabama state court ruling that relied on a state abortion ban to restrict in vitro fertilization clinics.
The Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled in 2016 that IVF-created embryos were a matter of “marital property of special order.” This has provided legal protection for doctors and patients in the IVF field.
However, that court ruling cited abortion protection offered by Roe Vs. Wade, which was overturned in 2022. With Missouri having a similar abortion ban to the one in Alabama, leading advocates and lawmakers alike are concerned about what could lie ahead.
Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, filed SB 1486 which would specify that Missouri's abortion ban does not have a definition that includes in vitro fertilization embryos that have not been implanted in a body. Rep. Bill Allen, R-Kansas City, filed House Bill 2845 which states that the IVF process is protected under law and no one can be prosecuted for undergoing or administrating IVF.
Here is what happened to other legislative topics that garnered attention during the session but did not pass:
Protections for pesticide maker: HB 2763, sponsored by Rep. Dane Diehl, R-Butler, would have protected pesticide manufacturers from claims that they failed to warn consumers of possible cancer risks in their products as long as the federal Environmental Protection Agency has approved those products.
Much of the debate before the House approved the bill focused on Bayer, the company with U.S. headquarters in St. Louis that purchased Monsanto, the original manufacturer of RoundUp pesticide. According to The Associated Press, the company is seeking to stem a tide of lawsuits claiming that Bayer’s products cause cancer.
Diehl, a farmer, said he drafted the legislation out of fear that Bayer would be forced to pull RoundUp off of the market, harming farmers ability to grow crops. The bill never made it to the Senate floor for consideration.
Presidential primaries: New voting laws passed in 2022 eliminated the presidential primary in Missouri. Following low voter turnout in this year’s Republican presidential caucus, SB 1120 and HB 2618, which would reinstate presidential primaries, passed out of their respective committees. The House bill passed with amendments that would create new residency restrictions for candidates vying for U.S. Congress. Ultimately, neither bill got floor consideration.
The Taylor Swift Act: Bills in both the House and Senate sought to address the impact of problematic images created by artificial intelligence but did not make it into law. While ten states provide some form of retribution for this type of crime, only Minnesota and New York statutes allow for both civil and criminal relief.
The Taylor Swift Act, House Bill 2573, offered by Rep. Adam Schwadron, R-St. Charles, targeted fake pornographic images. The bill was approved by the Special Committee on Innovation and Technology but never received a floor vote. The name of the bill referred to explicit AI-created images of the singer that went viral in January.
A similar bill, Senate Bill 1424, sponsored by Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, did not get a hearing.
Media Literacy: Companion bills, House Bill 1513 and Senate Bill 1311, aimed to teach students about media and digital literacy. Neither bill advanced.
Danny's Law: Legislation that sought to protect 911 callers from prosecution when calling to report a hazing incident stalled in the House. The bill was named after former University of Missouri student Danny Santulli, who suffered irreparable brain damage after drinking too much when pledging a fraternity at MU in the fall of 2021.
Danny’s Law was meant to offer exoneration to those involved in hazing incidents if they’re the first to call for emergency help.
“As the mother of three college-age men, I understand this is a major issue,” said Rep. Jo Doll, D-St. Louis, who spoke during a March 7 committee hearing. “It’s really important to give kids the ability to call 911 without being afraid of the consequences to them.”
Protecting major water users: House Bill 2669, which sought to limit information being released to the public about major water users, was approved by a House committee but failed to get a floor vote. The bill was meant to protect the information of Missouri’s family farmers and would keep information about individually identifiable water users from being disclosed to the public.
Highway Commission changes: A bill, House Bill 2568, that would have changed the makeup of the Missouri Highways & Transportation Commission was voted down in a committee in Apri. Two other bills that would have either changed the makeup of the commission or done away with it altogether failed to move forward after being the subject of public hearings in early February.
Nursing restrictions: Missouri is one of only a few states not to allow nurse practitioners to practice independently without the authority of a physician. A House committee passed an amended version of one bill, HB 1773, sponsored by Rep. Chad Perkins, R-Bowling Green, that would allow nurses to practice independently after 6,000 hours of work under a physician's supervision. The bill was never placed on the House calendar, a roadblock which some nurses point to opposition from House Floor Leader Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit.
Dmitry Martirosov, Molly Miller, Aidan Pittman, Grant Green and Madeline Shannon contributed to this story.
Cover image: State Representative Chantelle Nickson-Clark(cq) throws her papers at the end of the legislative session on Friday, May 17, 2024 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. Nickson-Clark was the first Black woman elected to represent District 67 in St. Louis County in Nov. 2022.

Thread I wrote comment to:
https://www.reddit.com/Psionics/comments/2ef39a/sheepking_here_former_psipog_author_former_psi/
Screenshot of thread I wrote comment for.

My comment:
If phones were not considered a luxury during my teen years, I would have no problem producing video of Psychokinesis. I have found that Psi Balls can trigger a EMF reader, whether it was between my hands, or if i programmed it to travel across the room to the sensor, or if I was somewhere further away it still worked.
Stayed away from telepathy because my mother told me something along the lines of I do not have clinical credentials to be messing around with that. May cause irreversible damage. Solid advice. Thank you mom.
Psychokinesis, 100% legit. Spinning the psi wheel, predicting how many rotations it will spin, writing numbers on different sides of it to call when it would stop, now rotate the other direction, now do it again under glass, under glass with witnesses. After a year, spinning the wheel was easy. Stopping and controlling it was what I was practicing.
When you introduce the glass enclosure, you need to get used to it because you know that it does not matter if the glass is there or not, but it still trips you out at first. It was hard to get my high school science teacher to take a moment and open his mind. But, I refused to sit there and have him and the textbook say that it's a scam. Not delusional, a scam.
As time went on and I fucked off his class, I would practice at my desk. Eventually I got him to understand that he himself held many assumptions and logical fallacies around it. Just because I claim this is true, does not mean I claim that is true. I do not know how it works. I just know that it does with practice. The practice began at the pin wheel balanced on a thumb tack. I would place my finger next to it so close i could almost feel it without touching it. Then building my way up over a long time.
Then rolling an empty Monster drink on a table was easy after the second year. I could push it, pull it. Never could slide a pen/pencil.
It began when I saw my uncle sliding a paperclip around on top of the laundry dryer in the garage. I stood in the doorway, but he was unaware I was there. I was going to startle him and it would have been hilarious, so I waited. And he was focused on the paperclip. He stopped when he finally noticed I was there. What the hell was he doing? How the hell was he sliding it without touching it?
My mother said that the mind is very powerful thing when I had asked her. That is it. He wouldn't tell me anything about it, in fact he would deny the paperclip incident flat out to my face after. Not like it was a secret, but like, with a smirk on his face. Like he knew, that I knew, that he knew that we know what I saw.
I was puzzle dusted. Every single person I saw, I had ask them if they ever seen or heard of anything like that. 0 shame. Nobody had any information. And that part still stands out ot me because as time goes on to this day, I asked a huge amount of people. Million people, easy.
I found when asking people about it, they fall into these categories:

1 - They never thought about the idea of moving an object that was not apart of the body: MAJORITY OF PUBLIC.

1.5 - Dragon Ball Z. Was just a dumb kid. Enough said: Notable amount of American Millennial males.

2 - When they were real young child...whatever the story is, they thought about the idea. That is it. No action taken: 8% of public.

3 - When they were real young child...whatever the story is, they thought about the idea...and they tried something. Maybe it was just wishing really hard on it like a birthday cake candle or whatever. Doesn't matter. No results. Did not try more than an hour: Less than 2% of public. Went on with their lives, no second thought about it,

4 - Looking back now as I write this...there should have been more people that had been exposed to the concept as a stage magic trick. But, no, not many at all. Interesting.

Nobody I asked, not a single person, tried it, did not get results, and persisted anyway. That part. Regardless of if they heard of it or not. If they think its just a party trick or that its a scam or its a delusion. NOBODY TRIED IT, DIDN'T GET RESULTS, BUT KEPT TRYING ANYWAY. It took me about 3 weeks of practice every single day to get "maybe that was the wind that moved it...".
Then persisting to the point it became a discipline. Every. Single. Day. Then after a month or two, YOU KNOW that was not the wind. Even if it was the wind, I felt that. In fact, a small draft of air in the room moving it helped me feel what it felt like to move it. Bizzare thing to try and articulate here so I'll try to keep the inner-game details to myself.
Then after 3 months or so, every, single, day - I did it! Woah! You break the state of mind because you are so excited.

Then I smoked pot. I couldn't practice the next day because my mind was still fuzzy. It was noticeably fuzzy the day after that too. Then I got high again.
Now...I am 31 and I have never explained everything like I just did and went to say this part to another person: I never been sober since. I mowed the lawn for my aunt and she gave my a ziplock bag of bud and it was too much...

Overall,
Psychokinesis gave me excellent critical thinking skills that has served me very well.
I try to be honest with myself about what I do know and do not know. Regardless of what other people say is true or false. Regardless of how many other people say what is true or false. Anything I think I know could be proven primitive because of innovation tomorrow.
An example of the mental tools my experience gave me: Look at the recent .xz Linux Backdoor that was discovered. It was right there, nobody noticed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS9em7Bg0iU
Psychokinesis is 100% real.
James Randi has unrealistic expectations for his million dollar challenge.
The million dollar challenge being unclaimed does not equal paranormal phenomena proven false.
The idea that "laws of physics" say paranormal phenomena can not be real is an assumption and a fallacy.
I am skeptical of the godfather of skepticism.
Thank you, whomever reads this for your time.