yuna628

I went handbag shopping yesterday, and haven't found the right one yet. 😄

She always was crazy.

Wild story but basically a local Maryland principle was accused of making offensive comments in a recording. What followed was an investigation, harassment, death threats, media circus, and anger from community members that accused the principle and staff of bias without allowing the investigation to conclude. Parents and students were rightfully very distressed that they were being spoken about in this manner, and so distrust was rampant. Eventually they discovered the recording was AI and not actually of the principle. He'd been framed. Yesterday the real culprit was arrested at the airport with a gun.

The ex-athletic director was being investigated by the principle for theft, fraud, behavior towards students, and other issues. And from there the story gets crazy..

Quote

Baltimore County Police arrested Pikesville High School’s former athletic director Thursday morning and charged him with crimes related to the alleged use of artificial intelligence to impersonate Principal Eric Eiswert, leading the public to believe Eiswert made racist and antisemitic comments behind closed doors.

Dazhon Darien, 31, was apprehended as he attempted to board a flight to Houston at BWI Airport, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. Darien was stopped for having a gun on him and airport officials saw there was a warrant for his arrest. Police said they did not know whether Darien was trying to flee.

Darien was charged with disrupting school activities after investigators determined he faked Eiswert’s voice and circulated the audio on social media in January, according to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office. Darien’s nickname, DJ, was among the names mentioned in the audio clips authorities say he faked.

“The audio clip ... had profound repercussions,” police wrote in charging documents. “It not only led to Eiswert’s temporary removal from the school but also triggered a wave of hate-filled messages on social media and numerous calls to the school. The recording also caused significant disruptions for the PHS staff and students.”

Police say Darien made the recording in retaliation after Eiswert initiated an investigation into improper payments he made to a school athletics coach who was also his roommate. Darien is also charged with theft and retaliating against a witness.

Darien was allowed release on $5,000 bond and waived an attorney at an initial court appearance, according to court records. Attempts to reach him by phone and at his home were unsuccessful.

Eiswert’s voice, which police and AI experts believe was simulated, made disparaging comments about Black students and the surrounding Jewish community and was widely circulated on social media. https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/eric-eiswert-ai-audio-baltimore-county-YBJNJAS6OZEE5OQVF5LFOFYN6M/

Some students are very relieved that the real culprit has been arrested as the ex-director made many of them uncomfortable. Others are glad the principle did not actually make the comments but feel his behavior towards students has also not been the best. Still other students questioned the motives of a PE teacher's behavior regarding the case. https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/dazhon-darien-eric-eiswert-ai-deepfake-ZUGJ3GBW45CRTFM5HEP7AASLIE/

SSN should be obtained first, before marriage to save a host of problems that can crop up. But you could also literally apply for the license before or on the same day. SSN is not required for the foreign fiance to get marriage license.

If I recall correctly we went to the SSA, court clerk for license, and the bank all on the same day.

21 hours ago, Iowa65 said:

Hi all!

I decided to get rid off lots of papers related to all my previous cases. Do I need to keep anything for the future? If so, I guess I should keep ex spouse copies of passport and birth certificate, divorce and marriage license.
Do I need to keep the copies of my work permit, receipts and etc?

Any thoughts on this.

Thank you!

After citizenship is done and you have a passport? My husband and I recently went through boxes and boxes of stuff. First we made sure to scan everything, including old evidences, official documents, official correspondence, NOAs, and anything pertinent to the case history. We made many digital copies and labeled them thoroughly. Once that was done we only saved official items/correspondences/NOAs, and important documents. That came to a small stack of papers and we put that into a safe. It's weird how some stuff is hard to let go, but it brought back some memories.

2 hours ago, Ban Hammer said:

so much for him finding the killer............

He did. It was cancer.

(I am probably a terrible person for that joke). Truly my fondest memory of OJ was from Naked Gun.

1 hour ago, appleblossom said:

 

Odd, but if it's not available to adults then it's not available. Same as the varicella vaccine which is required for US immigration, but which is waived for UK applicants, as we can't get it there. 

 

Just give them a call and ask, they're super helpful and they'll be able to tell him if they'll mark it as 'not routinely available' of it it will be an issue and he'll need a waiver.

 

 

Adults, unless you are female, don't get a straight whooping cough vaccine in the UK. But anyone can get the accepted vaccine of DTP, Tdap, DtaP, or TD. If doctor is being a pain about it, Knightsbridge will be more than happy with $$s.

Knightsbridge will give out the required vaccination if you are willing to pay for it. If you do not, you can get it stateside at any doctor or pharmacy, keep receipt of it, and get your vaccines all recertified at US civil surgeon. However as Nik had originally stated, TD, Tdap, DTP, OR DtaP all get accepted too. My husband sure as heck didn't chase down a doctor and argue the finer points of pertussis  - he just got a Tdap. No one had an issue about that. DTP from Knightsbridge runs about £70 I think. https://visamedicals.co.uk/united-states/

Also check this post from 2022

Hi as was posted long ago in this thread:

Its a little out of date now but some info still applies. 

Quote

• Td or Tdap - Tetanus/diptheria/pertussis or get DT, DTP or DtaP and it will be accepted for AOS also. The latest shot must be no longer than 10 years ago or you need a booster. If you have a record of receiving pertussis, then the Td is okay for the booster.

What fiancé needs to get is a Td or Tdap to be covered. Make sure you have a record of receiving it along with anything else required. If you'd really like him to get a pertussis vaccine, that can be done stateside, just for his own health, but Knightbridge will be good with Td or Tdap. If you have not received the required vaccines before going to Knightbridge or do not intend to receive the vaccines at Knightsbridge appointment, then everything you get afterwards will have to be recertified by a US civil surgeon when you file AOS after marriage.

14 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Is this for real, or just a bunch of social media addicts needing attention?  Not sure how you get insomnia in the middle of the day unless you are a night shifter.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13284847/Eclipse-sickness-Americans-headaches-insomnia-menstrual-cycle-changes-leading-todays-celestial-event.html

That's hilarious. I'm guessing the cycle stuff has something to do with the old myth of women's cycles and moon phases and a great deal of attention seeking. If a woman generally has something happening every 28-32 days there's going to be an eclipse somewhere in the world eventually coinciding mathematically. Anxiety stuff? Well the amount of "world's gonna end!" nonsense I've heard from some people would be enough to generate anxiety in plenty. I would imagine that there would be some people with mental issues or sundown syndrome to be affected.

I keep my dog inside, as he's dumb/blind enough to look right at the sun. These days I stick goggles on him, but still he's just fine today - happily snoozing by my side. He was a bit reactive to the earthquake the other day though. I will say that there were plenty of birds making noise earlier, but when it started they all went silent. The woodchuck was also poking around but quickly went back into his den.

It's a partly cloudy day so that hasn't helped but.. otherwise it got mildly dark, the color it would be if there was a strong storm on the horizon. The sun is coming back out so I'm assuming it's almost over.

OP: Ultimately you need to figure out what you want to do with this relationship. Unfortunately you've lost your VWP privileges and I think a B2 is kind of iffy. I mean you can certainly pay the money and try, just don't be disappointed if it doesn't happen. So that's why you need to consider a backup long term plan for the future. Your USC boyfriend can go visit you, and eventually you will need to decide if you want him to immigrate to you, or you to him. Your previous loss of VWP will not affect if you want to use a K1 fiancé visa or marriage visa. 

The immigration officers do not care if you have a cat even though I'm sure you love it very much. 

A true delicacy to eat in this state. I don't think we will see them up in these parts, but we always see some stragglers every year along with the annual ones. I'm excited for the next big brood.. love those things.

8 hours ago, Boiler said:

When I was 7 I went to school by myself, either by bus or train, 6.7 miles according to Google Maps.

 

I find this sort of thing weird.

 

And yes a lot further north and in the winter it was dark.

I think a lot of people in the UK are accustomed to go to school, either by walking or on public transport. But there is a big difference between a child finding their way in many locations in the UK as completely normal vs places in the US. There is a different cultural mindset as well. In general, places in the UK feel safer to me, even if such a feeling may be overrepresented or not 100% accurate. If there was a different public perception in the UK of safety vs harm risk things may be different. My husband would not choose to let his kids do the same things he was accustomed to as a kid even in the UK (he was assaulted and robbed in the UK as a child). You would agree that in many areas of the US there is a higher chance for a kid to be assaulted, harmed, taken, shot, stabbed, or robbed. The 7 year old in the story was told not to talk to strangers but could not distinguish from strangers trying to help him (which is not his fault and is why a child that young doesn't have that kind of discernment), but was not taught to not run off from his siblings nor his siblings taught to keep an eye on him. The homeschooling parents also seem to have the inability to watch him.

We can likely agree that when we were kids there were things we did that were thought of as safe, or not thought of at all, that likely are risky now. And every day there are kids who are walking through dangerous areas of their neighborhoods from school to get home - does that make it right though?

1 hour ago, A031 said:

Hello, 

 

Is my soon to be wife able to use sportsbooks? I matched bet (promos, both side errors. etc.) so it is always profitable and I was wondering if this would be considered "work" for her and disqualify her from further citizenship proceedings. Additionally, she does not have a credit card or bank account yet and I wonder how we go about getting those since she is a non-citizen.

 

Thanks for the help!

I cannot answer about sports betting.

However, do you have a bank account and credit card? If you do you can add her jointly to those accounts. Getting an SSN beforehand is helpful in doing so.

1 hour ago, A031 said:

Hello,

 

My fiance and I will be married soon. I have healthcare under my parents government plan and she does not have a plan. Are there any recommended, inexpensive plans that she could have?

 

Thanks!

Your options:

Ensure fiancé has their SSN or you may have a hard time.

1)Find a plan through the affordable care act's marketplace (either state or federal marketplace whichever is available). If using this option you will need to also have the NOA1 for Adjustment of Status as an immigration qualifier.

2)Buy a plan out of pocket through any insurer available in your state.

3)Wait until new spouse is employed at a job that offers insurance.

4)Get off your parents insurance and use any of the above options including finding insurance via an employer to have a joint plan.

Any of the above does not mean that those plans will be 'inexpensive'. Cheaper does not equal better quality insurance either, when shopping for insurance you will have to compare quality of the plan offered vs cost. The third option is not ideal as who knows when the spouse will be work authorized and then be employed. Immigrating to a new country and marriage are QLE (qualifying life events) which make a person eligible to use the marketplace outside of open enrollment. You will need to explore qualifying documents required. 

For me, I chose to buy a joint plan out of pocket with an insurer and used that until my husband was employed and offered us coverage which was far better. However that was a long wait and was quite expensive. How affordable it will be for you will be based on a variety of factors unique to you and your state.

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

OMG, my parents wanted a break from the kids.  During the school year it was school, in the Summer, it was get your behind outside.  No phones, no nothing else except be back for dinner before the church bells ran (6p), and after dinner, get in when the street lights come one.  I guess what we have now is "progress".

I've been thinking a lot about this article ever since it popped up and it's just nuts. At first I thought it was going to be about kids using phones to goof off in class but no... it turns out it's the parents being all insane. This is not a healthy way to raise a child, nor is it a healthy state for a parent to be in either.

An odd one from Slate but a lot of schools are now going for cellphone free policies - either taking phones from kids or locking them in lockers for the day. Our local schools are planning to do this and it's causing a lot of uproar in parents who want 24/7 access, and some kids that are scared something bad will happen and will be unable to call their parents. But there are other reasons parents are demanding all sorts of uses for cellphones in class.

Some notable snippets:

Quote

Some parents of kids in my class watch the screens of their kids’ school-issued Chromebooks remotely when they’re in class. “My mom wants to know I’m not playing video games,” a student said. Many parents are so tightly tethered to their kids it’s as though they’re sitting in our classrooms with us. And it’s not only through screens. Some of them contact us about schoolwork so their kid doesn’t have to. A student told me he saw no reason to talk to me about an assignment he was struggling with “because I know my mom is going to email you about it for me.”

I think what’s not getting across to parents is that school isn’t a livestream. And it’s for students, not their parents. The incessant monitoring is disrupting the learning environment and violating the sacred space of the classroom.

{..}

A few months ago, one of my students sneakily took a picture of a spelling quiz and sent it to his mother. Ten minutes later—students were still taking the quiz—I received an email from her asking why I had given it and if he could, instead, take it the next day “so he can review more.”

The student hadn’t prepared for the quiz and was understandably anxious. He’d also been trained that his mom would take care of it for him. But as soon as she took over, the opportunity for him to work through his frustration was gone. If he had experienced the natural consequence of being unprepared, chances are he would have studied for the next time. The lesson available to him could have been greater than studying for one quiz. He didn’t learn it.

Educators don’t mind when parents contact us with questions. We want good communication with families, and we hope our students share what they are doing in school. But the increased parental surveillance has blurred the boundaries between home and school so much that students are not developing into independent thinkers.

{..}

The classroom is so important that even during lockdown, when we were remote, teachers tried to duplicate the physical space. Students played games in the Zoom chat, shared their screens to show presentations they created, and led discussions. Yet, some parents still violated the sanctity of the classroom by surveilling their kids.

One day, during that time, a mother of one of my students sent me an email. The subject line, in all caps, read, “I CAN HEAR EVERYTHING AND I DON’T LIKE IT.”

We were discussing Romeo and Juliet. Her email quoted things students had shared about whether they believe in love at first sight and if they think that love lasts forever. It was the liveliest discussion they’d had all year. With everyone stuck at home—and given the increased mental health concerns during the pandemic—I was glad my students were eager to talk about relationships and human connections in the cyber world we’d created together. I never fully understood why the parent didn’t “like” what she heard. It didn’t matter. Our classroom wasn’t for her. Her son barely spoke in class after that. I tried to encourage him, but his mother was right there with us, having scolded both teacher and student. https://slate.com/human-interest/2024/03/phone-free-schools-movement-parents-teenagers.html

So, I'm of two minds about this.

 I was also a child that was frequently left unattended. Not out of any wanting their child to be independent or anything, but because there were periods of neglect in my life. I was left alone in cars and the house for hours. My siblings report a similar experience. Thankfully no one got into trouble, but we all had situations where we very much wished we had guidance and safety our parents hopefully could have provided. I have often told stories where tiny me balanced on a step stool over a gas stove around age 5 or 6 completely unattended. I would be left unattended outside my city home nearly every day and to be fair many city kids would have long walks off the bus.. and sometimes things would happen to them. My sister tells the story of being left in a car for hours, with no parents in sight and needing to go to the bathroom badly - so she ventured out and was helped by a kind but very concerned stranger. These days the cops would be called, and I don't blame them.

I would never do that to my children. When I spent a good deal of time watching over my nieces/nephew I went with them everywhere and paid close attention to what they were doing. I'd never in my right mind dream of letting a 7 year old wander wherever he wanted because I remember being put into such a situation. I do recall my nephew's mother letting his father watch him around that age (I say 'let him' because he's not very reliable in that regard) and before you knew it he managed to wander through the streets to a bodega for food. Mom and Dad panicked of course when they couldn't find him. He was okay, grandpa found him safe and sound, but a little scared.

My point here is the article frames these parents as just fine, and maybe they are, but we are no judge of that. These kids are all supposedly homeschooled, which means there's some parent that *should* be watching them at all times... but yet, aren't. Why? We don't know, but gone are the days where I think kids are safe to wander. I don't really think there was a time when kids were safe to wander. My dad will laud the times when he routinely skipped school and spent hours doing whatever he pleased and that included getting into 'trouble' as if it was some golden era of safety. I don't think he was necessarily safe, and if anything he was the one making others not safe. Having kids is a big responsibility and imo many problems we have today is because generations of parents have really screwed up that responsibility. Some parents overcompensate by being complete disaster case helicopters (I meant to post an article about helicopter parents, cellphones and school systems) and others just seem like they don't care.

17 hours ago, PGA said:

Ok... yeah. I'm being nice...I'm just noting that, with democrats, everybody ELSE should pay their fair share....

I am not a democrat though? At any rate that has no bearing paying our taxes and on receiving a refund, which is the question that was asked as the subject of this thread. I know many republicans that also received refunds and have always received them.

3 hours ago, Dashinka said:

What about the company that employed the local river pilots?

Maritime law is complicated and weird. The company that owns the boat is responsible for whomever is piloting it no matter if it is a different pilot I think. Isn't that kind of like some state car insurance rules where the insurance follows the car and not the driver (that is how it is in this state)?

In the incident where Ever Forward ran aground due to both pilot's negligence it was the owner of the ship that agreed to pay the state roughly $700,000 in damages. This is probably not the actual cost of the damage they caused, but it was the best we could get because it would have been too expensive to litigate. That money didn't actually go toward the habitat it destroyed, and there was a political fight which county was going to receive that money to build a new habitat.

I have heard that the Dali's bow is currently stuck on the bottom of the river, but also on top of a gas line and potentially some sort of water supply structure.

22 minutes ago, PGA said:

So, I know you're a super liberal...are your REALLY paying your fair share?

Not sure what you're implying or what that has to do with receiving a refund, nor do I know what "super liberal" means.

The company has already filed paperwork to attempt to get out of paying for very much. I think we really need to overhaul our maritime laws. We managed to open a small channel today but it's not very deep. At least it was enough a few things were tugged through it.