Pretty simple as that.
Ever since I was in elementary school I have always felt that I only needed 1 friend, or more than 1 was too much. I did have a best friend during elementary but I always had FOMO. I was the type to be clingy , or I would feel left out if they weren’t hanging out with me. I remember in an elementary field trip when that same best friend told me she’d sit with me and just sat with someone else… I ended up sitting alone on the bus. The situation hurt and had happened once or twice but I don’t know why it’s something I think about to this day. Maybe it was one of the first times I actually felt hurt as a child.
My elementary best friend was very important to me. We met in Kinder and ended up being friends until Freshman year. We would have sleepovers and we would just talk about anything. Our family knew each other, we became softball teammates. I fucked up the friendship. I became a horrible friend , I wasn’t there for her and i made mistakes that I know fucked her up. I have messaged her and she never replied. I regret it to this day, and I will always have love for her. She is a core memory and instead of being sad, I try to be grateful because maybe we were only meant to be in each other’s lives for a period of time.
In 5-6th grade my depression started kicking in before I knew what depression was. I would cry out of nowhere and would either excuse myself or cry in class. I remember I started to see a therapist in school. I would be called out like once a week during a time and I hated it bc it drew attention to me. Around this time I also became close with my teacher. She was aware of my breakdowns and would try to talk to me… she would reassure that I’m smart and would always ask me how I felt. I feel like she was one of the first people who believed in me. I have a core memory of her reading a poem I wrote and telling me I should become a poet or writer. To this day I still write poetry. Due to my elementary school closing I ended up seeing her again last year for a proper goodbye. She is truly one of those people I will always remember.
As time passed on I had like 3 friends in Jr High and other students were just people I knew. I never had a big social group, in fact I would try so hard to find one. Around Jr High is the time I started to have suicidal thoughts. I was battling with my gender identity and my sexuality. I was being bullied for the stupidest things (what I would wear) and I just felt like I had nobody. Even my “closest” friends didn’t feel like my closest friends because of how much I felt like I was changing. This is the time when I started looking for social groups and more friends. I joined choir with my former best friend, but also hoping to be introduced to more. I won’t lie, I was attracted to a lot of people so I would talk to a lot of people, which kinda killed my “reputation”. And my depression was worse, that I ended up hospitalized twice in Jr. high.
Jr High felt like a lot but I know HS was worse. Too much drama.. I got into more relationships, people didn’t like me but also a lot of people didn’t know me. I tried being outgoing more in HS. Never ended up joining clubs though, (or I would but wouldn’t follow through) I remember trying out for softball but I didn’t even make it to the second round. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. I found out that my old best friend made it on. I felt like that was karma to me. It took me a while to get over our friendship.
I kept dating and focusing on school. The first two years I was getting A’s and B’s. The last two years I kinda stopped trying and I blame myself completely. I let weed kinda take over my high school life. I didn’t go to parties , I would just smoke or do homework. I didn’t end up walking for graduation with the class. I was behind in school and would miss often. I took summer school to get my diploma. I didn’t go to any prom. I missed out on all the senior activities. And I blame myself. I isolated myself , and a part of me feels I couldn’t make friends. And that I still can’t.
Im 18 about to be 19 now. I know people from high school but I wouldn’t consider them friends. I know I’m young, and I know it’s a lot but I just want to talk to people but I have such bad anxiety and I just feel like I do self sabotage.

Hello zen, welcome to my ongoing experimental book report on David Hinton’s China Root.¹
The “experimental” part of this book report is mostly for my personal self-observation: I have been doing it over such a long span of time that, at this point, I am significantly reduced, in a cognitice sense, compared to where I was when I began issuing “reports” on David Hinton’s curious tome several years ago now. (I have early onset dementia—and the fact of the matter is that I’m already a decade beyond the “early” part, for all practical purposes.)
I only introduce this subject to explain any verbal deficiences in this post. I am nicotine-less, and still trying to figure out how to get my brain to output words in a consistent or coherent manner. I’m totally incapable of filming videos right now, as I forget what I am talking about within 5 minutes. But when I woke up today I saw a post from u/sje397 in my feed, and it reminded me of how kind and cordial he was to me when I first posted here, and I thought: “Well that really did work out pretty well, didn’t it?” And so I wanted to pop up with a post that showed him that my efforts to bring my study of Ch’an to this forum have not deviated one iota since that very first video—in which I brandished an apple rather wildly, talked about sutt, and made a pretty decent broom joke, if I remember correctly.
In any case, I have the perfect content slotted up: the next two chapter’s in my revolutionary book report on David Hinton’s locally controversial book: China Root. (Revolutionary because, while I have never been a fan of the book report standard, nor highschool nor university scholarship whatsoever, I did find it important to try and fit in with zen locals, by offering them one example of their favorite form of content: one book report in classical “book report” style. [Linseed: Full disclosure: most of the time when I wrote book reports in elementary school, I did so in the form of short fictions that discussed the text—so reporting on a book as if I am some desk bound nerd that puts weight into “scholarship” and “facts” does not come naturally…so just keep in mind that, even though this is a book report, it is still offered up by a literati who is neither drunk on themself, nor on anynone else, nor on any particular pack of lies that is bundled together and sold as “authority” to the masses. Thanks.])
No…even my book reports are quite clearly the product of a literati, and not some desk-fascist who has something to “prove with words”—so I do hope you enjoy!
First, here is a run down of book reports so far, for any who are curious, want to get up to date on the book, or who are interested in what the process of reporting on a book thoroughly looks like (for the many of you who have never actually seen that before):
Introduction: a work on "Original Zen."
Reader's Note and First Chapter
Meditation, Breath, Mind, and Words
Absence
Empty-Mind and Mirror
Bonus post:
The Utility of China Root for Literate People
Oh, and before we actually proceed: you are caught up to me in my own progress in the book so far. It’s kind of an exciting moment for me, honestly, because while I have profited immensely from Mr. Hinton’s poetry translations over the years (and I highly recommend both his Li Po and his updated Tu Fu)—to be completely straightforward I have never found his philosophical interests engaging or pertinent, think his take on a “Tao” based framework of “Ch’an” wonky to the point where I ask “so this is only for PhD’s with $400 sweaters and / or rural aristocracy that have things like actual looms in their homes?”, and am entirely unconvinced that an “academic” poetry translator with a giant list of millionaire foundations in his resume is going to be able to successfully introduce Ch’an at all.
And after the above introductory segments, we start to get into the real world today. Let’s see what the “artist-intellectual” aristocrat has to share with us tired and lowly masses on the subject of Ch’an, shall we?

山水 Rivers-and-Mountains

This chapter is probably of the least interest to the zen user. (But is particularly useful for New Ager lampoonery.) It’s worth plucking out two quotes in order to show who Hinton is and how he sees himself / his approach to Ch’an, as well as how he recognizes not only himself but also, clearly, many of his readers in Tang and Song China’s class of artist intellectuals. This certainly makes him somewhat of an outlier in the world of Zen study (and it also restricts him to a certain demogrpahic of readers, and obviously flips the bird to many others, such as non-artists and non-intellectuals, scholars, members of religious instituitions, etc snd so on). It is worth pointing at this location of his book when it comes to audience, however: because this is the audience he has been cultivating very successfully for several decades, and it is the audience where this particular book already has and will continue to find many readers: ie the class of artists and intellectuals (many of whom are academics) who choose to live in rural settings (or keep a vacation home there)—and enjoy reading poetry. This is why I know this book will actually be read by quite a few people. I live among this demogrpahic, and have already seen Hinton’s book surface in the wild amongst readers who never expressed a lick of interest in “Zen” or “Buddhism.” (It’s weird—I thought users here would be particularly interested in this tome due to the fact that it will reach completely beyond the world of relgious instituitions and thought, and bring a new wave of secular readers to Zen…sadly the curioisity, verve, and amicability of the contemporary “internet scholar” apprenely leave much to be desired.)
Now, obviously 99% of these folks, the “artist intellectuals” Hinton writes for, would never stoop to touch Reddit—which is precisely why I feel this forum owes them, but even more so Reddit users, a thorough review of Hinton’s book. (And please, do add your comments and opinions about the book to this OP—I would love to see them myself.)
But wait—I suppose some of you may be asking, “well if this book is written for a bunch of folks with oil paint and bruschetta on their fingers, or who have those fancy tethers on their eyeglasses that allow them to be taken off and rested on the chest while while eyes are opened a little wider, looking up and out some window some mountain or some river vista, as they wistfully contemplate their analgoues in medieval China—then why should I be interested?” ::redditor munches doritos:: Well, while that is a question only you can answer, reader, I can say that, if you ever do end up becoming the sort of student of Zen who moves to a rural locale, and begins walking around with a stick—or even if you just visit on some pastoral vacation—the book will / can be rather useful when you’re walking on the path and you bump into someone who quotes Leibniz, or mumbles something about Chartres when they see a particulalrly grand upended tree…and you want to poke that person in the eye.
Anyway. Hinton on how he sees things, and the very specific class of folks he writes his book for—even while clearly halfway imagining that class into existence himself (call it a “writing trick” I suppose):
(On the “cenrality if landscape” in “Chinese culture and Ch’an practice”)

This explains the centrality of landscape in Chinese culture and Ch’an practice: indeed, the abiding spiritual aspiration of China’s artist-intellectuals was to dwell as integral to rivers-and-mountains landscape. The cultivation of this dwelling took many forms, all of which recognized rivers-and-mountains landscape as the open door to realization. Ancient artist-intellectuals lived whenever possible as recluses in the mountains, wandered there where that cosmological process could be experienced in the most immediate possible way. The arts were considered ways to cultivate that dwelling: poetry being most essentially rivers-and-mountains poetry, painting most essentially rivers-and-mountains painting. And that dwelling was also the central concern of Ch’an practice.

Hmm. Like I said, this guy’s wonky. Maybe if I went to one of my fancier neighbor’s houses—while they smoked high-cbd, low THC cannabis, and casually ate something I didn’t even recognize (likely while dipping it in something else that looks like my monthly food budget contained in one bowl)—and listened to them pontificate about what happened that one time they “did psylicibin right after reading Walt Whitman on a camping trip in the Himalayas”…this would resonate. [Linseed: Hey, they read a lot—but I’m not saying they’re particulalry skilled at reading what when where or how!]
Anyway, you see how Hinton writes about this stuff. “Good luck getting through WWIII ‘aritst-intelleftuals’! I truly hope your walnut wardrobes and families and looms and easels and designer dog breeds—and literally to die for appaeritif spreads—all manage to navigate history safely together, with nary a hiccough or a stumble!”
—Linseeed (for reals)
In this next passage we see Hinton’s highly personal and very…idk, sort of “radically independent”² take on the history and location of Ch’an. What is interesting is what he brings up about the centrality of mountains in the Ch’an record. (I mean when the local “Zen Master” is often given the name of the local mountain, it does tell you something.) Anwyay, Hinton being weird and some other stuff:

Ch’an’s beginnings can be traced to around the fourth century C.E., when there was a resurgence and deepening of Taoist thought (Dark- Enigma Learning) together with the beginning of landscape’s centrality for China’s artist-intellectuals, most notably when China’s mature mainstream poetic tradition emerged in the form of rivers- and-mountains poetry invented by two epochal poets: T’ao Ch’ien and Hsieh Ling-yün (author of “Regarding the Source Ancestral,” a seminal text in Ch’an). The reason for this is no doubt the mirror- deep clarity of empty mirror-mind that Buddhist meditation so resolutely cultivated. And in fact, the original meanings of the Ch’an ideogram, before it was chosen to translate the Sanskrit dhyana (“meditation”), were “altar” and “sacrifice to rivers-and-mountains.” Hence, meditation as a place where one honors or celebrates rivers- and-mountains. In addition, Ch’an monasteries were typically located in remote mountains (those in cities surrounded themselves with the domesticated landscapes of gardens), and Ch’an masters leading those monasteries generally took the names of local mountains as their own because they so deeply identified with mountain landscape: Hundred-Elder Mountain, Yellow-Bitterroot Mountain, Cloud-Gate Mountain, Heaven-Dragon Mountain, Wind- Source Mountain, River-Act Mountain, Buddha-Land Mountain, Cloud-Lucent Mountain, Doubt-Shrine Mountain, Fathom Mountain, Moon-Shrine Mountain, and indeed: Mirror-Sight Mountain.

So much for the “New Ager Crack” chapter—let’s get to some interesting stuff.

法 Dharma

Holy Smokes! Hinton is finally gonna talk about something real! 😜 (Or at least we can hope…I have no idea—these are uncharted waters for me from here on out.)

In common usage, 法 (Dharma) means “law.” The first sense of the “law” in Ch’an is simply the teachings of the Ch’an tradition, the essential truths about reality and the essential principles that guide practice. But that initial meaning is quickly dismantled, because Ch’an’s essential teaching resides outside of words and ideas.

Oh shit! Did he just kill all scholars with one stroke?!? Those feisty artist-intellectuals! Must be a warzone in the academy these days, what between the old guard and the encroahing corporatists, who carry the banner of “truth” wherever they go backlit by flames.
After this passage he goes into some of his worst (imo) schtick: talking about how Tao “unfurled” into “Dahrma / Ch’an”, etc. The aritst intellectuals might slurp it up, idk—but that milkshake offers no real flavor to a student of Zen that I detect.
Now he quotes Huangbo (whom he coyly refers to as “Yellow Bitteroot Mountain”):

This dharma is mind: outside of mind, there is no dharma. And this mind is dharma: outside of dharma, there is no mind.

And wowzers, this is going to make some folks choke on tea:

Mountain continues (in a passage we have already seen) to equate both to Absence: “Mind is of itself Absence-mind, is indeed Absence- mind Absence.” So in Ch’an, dharma can be known through meditation where one can “see original-nature.” In fact, Bodhidharma described dharma as “the inner-pattern of original- nature’s purity.”18

Pretty spicy, n’est pas, zen users? Now, this “Inner Pattern” concept is an interesting one that I’ll come back to in a future post. For now, he ends on the “dharma” thusly:

And so, dharma’s wordless teaching resides in empty-mind, rivers- and-mountains landscape, the sheer thusness of everyday life.
And as Patriarch Sudden- Horse Way-Entire says, dwelling as integral to that dharma is itself the liberation of awakening: The dharma of all things themselves, that is the Buddha-dharma. All those dharmas together are liberation, and that liberation is the existence-tissue itself all clarity absolute.

Is not “Sudden-Horse Way-Entire” the absolute best “Zen Master Name” for that particular patriarch? Imo, the names are the most fun part of the book thus far.
What did you think of the last paragraph, zen? Is it comprehensible to you? Or does it make you sneeze birkenstocks, and screw Odyssean wax out of your ear with one finger?
My opinion so far is that Cleary is defintiely a better translator, and that this “intro” book seems so wonky, thus far, that I am not sure if it will ever limp its way out of the library of some retired Don Quixote, or not. Thankfully, time will tell—and all I have to do is write a book report.
—Linseed
PS: How was that, sje? It took both you and spring herself peeking in my window this morning—but I did eek out some content.
¹ The most recent installments were made under the moniker of u/golden_eyebrow, that alter-id I conjured to a lonely and savage life of historical piracy, and launched into the past and future last summer.
² Is it still worth making literary or etymological jokes in this forum? Or am I already the last of the funny people?

I attend a University in London, England. Without doxxing myself, it's both renowned and very established, dating back hundreds of years. Even during the day, when I take a wrong corner and end up in a silent corridor or the such, I spook myself out.
One evening, about a month ago, I found myself pulling an all nighter to get an assignment finished. You know how it is, gotta burn the midnight oil. I found myself with serious cramp in my back at about midnight so decided to call it a day and head back to dorms. The space I was working in was the older section of the University and it was mostly empty by 7pm, save for a few janitors here and there some nights. That night, I had been completely alone and uninterrupted while I worked.
On my way to the stairs I heard deep voices which I assumed to be coming from outside. The old windows were single glazed and let in both noise and a nasty draft when the weather turned cold. Baring it no mind, I continued my way to the stairs, but noticed the bass in the voices get louder as I made way. It was only after the last turn, when I could see the stairwell in sight that I realised those voices weren't coming from outside, nor of some otherworldly origin, but from a class that seemed to still be in session! Honestly, it was a relief to find out I wasn't there alone and sense of comfort returned to my worried steps.
Curiosity got the better of me when I wondered what sort of class could be happening at this late hour, so as I swiftly made my way to the stairs I turned my head to take a quick peek through the open door. It was literally only a second, and I kept moving, but I swear whatever comfort knowing there was others up there with me was taken away when I tried to understand what I saw happening in that room.
The room was dark, except for a glow that was emanating from a part I couldn't see for the door. At the end of room I made out the a young girl, her eyes completely glassy and white, dancing- no, moving erratically in such an unnatural way, and with such force and tempo that I was filled with a dread or guilt that I had seen something in that instance that I was not meant to have seen, something that should have not even been possible. So weird that my mind didn't even think to double back and confirm what I saw- or perhaps, not wanting to.
By the time I reached the bottom of the stairwell I had convinced my better sanity that it was in fact something innocuous. I would like to tell you that I didn't think on the matter for the rest of the night but the image of the girl contorted in such a unnatural position, her eyes rolled into the back of her skull as she flung her body with such abandon flashed in my thoughts during the ride home, at dinner with my roomate, and took stay in my feverish nightmare that evening.
The next morning I inquired our online University scheduling system to see which class, club or tutor had booked the space. Nothing. I approached the front desk at campus and spoke to the receptionist with whom I had a good rapport, and asked her if that space was used last night. Annoyingly, she consulted the same scheduling system I had and confirmed what I already knew but added that sometimes students will use rooms adhoc when their regular classroom had been taken.
I thanked her for the theory and then truly let it leave my mind so I could begin my day's work on my thesis, enough time had been spent on spooking myself out on curiosities I had no right in having, not with the a thesis deadlines looming over my head. I had no other sightings of the mysterious class for the next couple of weeks though admittedly avoid that wing of the campus. But just yesterday I saw her. The girl that performed that movement. Except there in the daylight and surrounded by students and lecturers she looked normal, like any young student sitting amongst her friends; talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company
I confronted her there and then. I know it's not polite, especially here in Britain where social norms between strangers err on the side of muting anything more dramatic then a friendly smile, but I felt a compulsion to know.
I interrupted her mid conversation and asked whether she studied dance. she looked confused, as did her friends, and answered negatively. I then told her that I saw her the other day in the east wing, at midnight, where she was practising dance. I kept emphasising the word dance when I spoke, not knowing what to call what I had seen, but hoping it would make her betray something on her face. Nothing, she declined again. I swear I saw no tell on her face that indicated to me that she was lying. I was almost convinced she was telling me the truth and that she knew nothing about it, except for the swarthy fellow who she was seated next to. He was staring death at me. I could see something in his eyes- that he knew exactly what I meant and I bet everyone on that table knew as well.
Unable to stand that fellows deathly glare for much longer I excused myself and told her I must be confused. As I made my way out of the canteen I looked back, and sure enough the entire table was looking at me- which admittedly, I don't blame them for. I must have seemed like a rambling mad man, but I had a feeling I stumbled onto something I shouldn't have.
There is actually another part of this story that I haven't told you yet, and that I wish to tell you- but truth be told, since that encounter and the following one which I have yet to elucidate, my nerves have been shot. Even recounting this much of the story has effected my disposition negatively and filled me with dread. I am to see my doctor tomorrow to prescribe me some salts to help with my fraught mind, but until then wish me a better health. I'll endeavour to finish the recounting of these events then.

It’s crazy how back then when I had a low voice no one would ever give a fuck about anything I had to say even if it was atleast mildly interesting, I was always oblivious about why no one gave me any attention and why I had major issues forming friends and relationships… After I figured out that my quiet voice was behind all of this and changed it to a louder, more subtle and charismatic voice (which I literally had to do manually for the first like 3 weeks) I’ve noticed a drastic change with how people treated and saw me. I seriously could throw in any ramblings into a conversation right now and people would actually acknowledge my existence and respond to me. It’s been around 4 months since I changed the way I talk to people and I’ve made a lot of minor friendships and a few strong ones with other students in comparison to the first year in uni where I literally couldn’t make it into any basic form of friendship with anyone.
Looking back to it it actually makes me mad and frustrated, why do quiet folks get fucking treated like that?

Hi all! I have a few questions as I go through the prep process and would love advice as I’ve seen this forum be so helpful for others! I detailed my current hours and experiences to date (didn’t project ahead for any hours) to provide more context for what I’m asking. Questions at bottom, and I’ll try to reply as soon as I can for any questions!
-cGPA: 3.38
-sGPA: 3.30
-Research: 4503 hours
-ECs: 2340 hours
-Clinical: 594 hours
-Non-clinical and non-research work: 156 hours
-only have about 20 shadowing hours of my PI in the OR and clinic but have others I can shadow, honestly this has been low on my priority list since it doesn’t seem as beneficial
-have extremely strong LORs from an MD (my boss), prior PIs, and science professors as well as my volunteering coordinator at the homeless/residential shelter, but still need a non-science professor LOR
Details
-Graduated May 2021
-Was in the honors program at my school which waived general education requirements, so I took almost all STEM classes with 2 exceptions. Was so focused on my research in college that some of my harder science classes slipped for grades, and I have an upward GPA trajectory.
-retaking two classes I got C-’s in, then taking psychology, an english class (even though I have lots of writing credits from my courses they’re not ENG designated), and biochemistry
-in undergrad, wanted to do a PhD, got in senior year (was told by multiple schools I had strong interview and interpersonal skills) then realized I liked clinical so have been looking at med school and am in a translational surgical lab at a local hospital with a surgeon and surgical fellows
-Currently I have 9 publications (2 first authors), on track for 4 more by the end of the summer and roughly 20 by the end of next summer (end of my job contract). Was awarded “Most Outstanding Research Undergraduate” senior year for my medium-sized university, received a research grant one summer for research that I later published and was accepted to an international conference to present and awarded the undergraduate travel award for it (conference canceled due to COVID), Honors in Biology distinction from my senior thesis which I was selected present at a collegiate conference as my university representative, and my senior thesis was later published.
-worked as a team leader of the student public health educators on campus during COVID (156 hours)
-ECs:
In college included being a staff leadeorganizer for annual service day on campus creating activities for special needs adults in the community (90 hours), teaching elementary and middle school students in the community introductory science and a service trip to Peru with the same organization (120 hours), part of a marine mammal rescue team and assisted with a pygmy sperm whale necropsy (250 hours), SCUBA club member (150 hours), volunteered while abroad with the Galapagos National Park Service (50 hours), and lots of volunteering/fundraising through my sorority in college (and now involved post-grad in alumni chapter) for breast cancer education and awareness (200 hours), was a peer mentor for both the honors program (120 hours) and my college within the university (80 hours)
Have been volunteering every month at a local homeless/90 day residential shelter since graduation (300 hours), and I’m on my university’s alumni board for my region helping to organize networking events, fundraisers, etc. (100 hours)
-I also work per diem as a nursing assistant in the cardiac ICU at another local hospital (594 hours)
-for fun I go to a nearby boxing class, play in a hockey league, and SCUBA dive.
My questions:
-I know I have low stats and I need to raise my GPA, which I am currently working on and have an A+ in my chemistry course and lab I’m taking. What else can I be doing to help strengthen my application to have them look past my GPA and look at the rest of what I’ve done?
-When I look online, it seems like I need an english course or 2 for fulfilling premed requirements. Do my writing credit courses not count towards this since they are non-english classes?
-Any advice you have! I plan to apply Summer 2025, working in my current job until summer 2024 then taking 6 months to solely study for the MCAT and have my application in order to submit ASAP once it opens summer 2025.

I’m filling in at an elementary School. A teacher and (young) speech therapist asked me to observe a student. She is not chewing food she just swallows it. Mom is following up with a. Dentist and her pediatrician (I do believe she does have pst history of dental issues). However, they are looking for ideas of how to teach her to chew her food. I do completely understand the concerns as it is a risk for choking but am struggling on what my role is here. I have some feeding experience in my outpatient job however that’s more to do with sensory/textures and utensil use. Am I correct that chewing/swallowing falls more in the scope of speech therapy? Also, I am not sure in the school setting that feeding type therapy is appropriate/allowed. I appreciate any guidance and insight!

I’m filling in at an elementary School. A teacher and (young) speech therapist asked me to observe a student. She is not chewing food she just swallows it. Mom is following up with a. Dentist and her pediatrician (I do believe she does have pst history of dental issues). However, they are looking for ideas of how to teach her to chew her food. I do completely understand the concerns as it is a risk for choking but am struggling on what my role is here. I have some feeding experience in my outpatient job however that’s more to do with sensory/textures and utensil use. Am I correct that chewing/swallowing falls more in the scope of speech therapy? Also, I am not sure in the school setting that feeding type therapy is appropriate/allowed. I appreciate any guidance and insight!

I'm 26F, he's 25m, together 7 years.
So first. He has been very familiar with this girl around me, to the point where I get pushed out of conversation. We had a gathering at my house where they started discussing songs to be played at weddings -- I have no idea how this came up -- and his coworker (let's call her Sally) started talking about a particular Paul Simon song, saying how much it would mean for her and her dad to be together. I said nothing, because my dad is dead but she had no way of knowing that. However she kept pushing and finally I said my dad was dead so I wouldn't have a chance to enjoy a song with him (though that sounds a lot meaner than it actually was.) She apologized over and over but kept saying how she couldn't imagine not having her dad at her wedding... um, yeah, me too.
Then later we had another party, a Halloween party where we had a ton of people show up, like 40-5-0. Sally gets there and starts getting upset. She says her boyfriend doesn't want to drive her home so I say it's cool, they can just crash on our couch. Her boyfriend ends up leaving angry and she stays there, super drunk.
I decide I'll get her situated before returning to the party. Out of all the things happening I ask her what does she want to do: play beer pong, play Rock Band, play drinking card games, hang out? She says she wants to play a 1 player game on our extra video game setup in the basement. Ok, fine.
I get her set up on a 1 player game (just happens to be my boyfriend's weirdly obscure favorite game) and she sets her player name. As she does I say offhandedly (because I just want to get back to the party) "Oh, that's a cute name." Let's say the name is Polly.
She drunkenly says "Yeah, me and (OP's boyfriend) were talking about baby names, and we both thought Polly was cute for a girl."
Now. Wtf? I didn't make a big deal, I just told her to play her game. When I went back to my boyfriend he said "Are you seriously going to ruin this whole night?" Just because I asked about what Sally had said.
TL;DR
My boyfriend seems to have a relationship with his coworker and gets mad at me when I call him out.

I(31m) work at a movie theater while attended a local university (took me a while to figure out what to do with my life). Honestly, I have no idea where to start with this post. I’ve worked with Quincy (26M) for a year and half now and have accumulated so many stories about him, so this post might end up being a bit long. Just know that what I have posted isn't even a fraction of what he has done.
(Somewhat important information to have. I live in a very liberal city and the majority of the staff (including me) are openly LGBT+)

• For religious reasons says that he can't work on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Has admitted to some of us that he doesn't want to work on weekends. He does go to church on Sunday but his church doesn't actually have restrictions about working on that day. When management even dares to asks if he would be willing to work on Friday or Saturday he claims they are trying to discriminate against him. He has come in to cover shifts on those days, though.
• Quincy forced management to have him work on Halloween. Our assistant manager was making the schedule in advance and asking staff if they planned on dressing up for Halloween. Quincy replied with, “It’s against my religion to celebrate Halloween.” Manager told him no problem and that she wouldn't schedule him. She wanted us to have a theme for our costumes, which is why she asked and was trying to give us advance notice. Quincy had a melt down and accused them of discrimination. He said that he couldn’t not schedule him because of his religion. Everyone pointed out that he wasn't scheduled that day because he didn’t want to wear a costume, and not because of his religion. He was still getting his 4 shifts that week. In the end he complained to HR and forced his way onto the schedule. It cause the whole schedule to be rearranged and a lot of people who were looking forward to working no longer were. He refused to help customers wearing costumes, and if someone said "Happy Halloween" he would tell them about how it was against his religion to celebrate it.
• He requested Christmas Eve and Christmas off for religious reasons and to go to dinner with his family. Nothing wrong with that. The week leading up to those days he complained nonstop about having to go to his sister’s house. His sister had just found out she had cancer and “she is going to ruin the whole mood and make this all about her.”
• Talks constantly about being "an upstanding Christian" but also talks about all the women he is sleeping with. The "cougar" he has living on his couch without his girlfriend (does he have one? Who knows?) knowing. Talked at length about the prostitutes' he has hired, and how he refuses to use condoms because he really wants to be a dad. Also makes a ton of sexual jokes that make a lot of our female staff uncomfortable.
• The Last of Us is a much beloved show (and game) among the staff and we talked about each show weekly. Episode 3 (ifykyk) was heavily talked about. Quincy (who knows nothing about the game) avoided all mention of it till he thought it was just him and one of our leads. He said that he found the episode disgusting and went on a small lecture about how the “lifestyle shown is a sin.” Lexie (21F) walked from out of the back when he said this and went “that’s hurtful.” Quincy sent that co-worker a text after work saying “Due to what happened today I do not believe we can be friends any longer. It would be against my morals and religion to continue talking to you. I will be blocking your number.” Should be noted that Quincy had a major crush on Lexie. She was the only person he was nice to. He no longer talks to her, barely looks her way when they work together, and just walks away if she gets mentioned in conversation. He stills talks to the other LGBTQIA people on our staff. He knows they are a part of the community. It is only Lexie he refuses to talk to for that reason.
• A couple of weeks ago a customer wrote a review about an employee being rude. The employee wasn’t named but we were all told about the review and immediately went “Oh, that had to be Quincy”. Our district manager saw the review and told our GM to follow up on it. So the customer was called and he described Quincy down to his glasses and freckles. It is Quincy’s first write up (amazingly) and won’t go on his record for more than a month, but we suspected he’d still get mad. When Quincy is in a bad mood he makes it everyone's problem so management waited till the end of his shift to talk to him. He had a meltdown. I could hear him yelling through the door to the back. The next time we worked together he said his reaction was our manager's fault for laughing (she got nervous when he started yelling and laughed a little). He now tells everyone that management is targeting him on purpose. His attitude is shitter than ever and if he is asked to do anything other than run concessions he will complain about it the rest of the day. (example: being asked to clean something before we open. He then talks about how he is the only one asked to clean).

Again, these are just a few things he has done. I have so many more stories. Most of the other stories have nothing to do with his religion. I only notice that it happen to be the theme of this post after I was done typing it. I would be glad to post more if anyone wants to hear them, like why management only has 3 people they feel comfortable scheduling him with.

I want to start out that I’m aware I’m in the wrong. I guess I’ll tell one of the incidents that made me sad.
Before my boyfriend, we’ll call him Jake, and I got together, there was the girl he really liked. We’ll call her Ashley. Ashley was in a relationship at the time so that prevented him from actually asking her out.
Well this incident happened when Ashley broke up with he bf and Jake and I were together. The incident was a long time ago, like a couple of months, and I still hurt when I think about it. It sucks because I do forgive him. I really do. I just can’t help but cry about it.
I had an event that I went to early in the morning that Jake dropped me off at, and I asked if Jake could pick me up when it was done. He said sure. The event was 8 hours and at about 3-4 pm I got back to the place Jake dropped me off. I called him and he didn’t pick up. Then I called a second time and he picked up. I told him I was back and if he could pick me up. He told me he couldn’t because Ashley was there, and he asked me to walk back. I was okay with this because he lived about 20 mins away. I’m a college student and I walk that every day! So no problem. When I got there, Jake was with his 2 friends and Ashley.
Later that day we decided to go swimming! So we go swimming. Jake has a big ass leather football bc we were gonna play. We were all in a group. Including Ashley. Boom he hits me in the face with the football. I wasn’t upset till I saw him laughing. I obviously got upset and left after a while bc I was embarrassed. I didn’t dramatically leave, I waited a few minutes then left. All I wanted to do was cry bc I felt embarrassed.
He came up to me a minute later and asked if I was mad. I said yes, and he said I could push him in the pool. I did just that. And we were okay.
Okay now this is the part that hurts my feelings the most. So, I’m the youngest out of my friends and not as smart. I’m not going to lie, I’m insecure. There are a few comments from some of the people in the group that say things along the lines of me being stupid. So I’m insecure about the stupid comments.
We decided to go back inside and play a game called Taboo. If you don’t know it’s a game where one player on your team has to guess a word with descriptions from your other team members. The goal is to get as many correct words in a certain time limit.
I was on the team with Jake. Ashley was on another team. When it was my turn, I already was insecure because they say things that make me feel stupid. As I’m about to stand up Jake goes, “Aw no, can we switch team members? Can I have Ashley?” I instantly felt my heart drop. We had a conversation before that incident where I didn’t like the comments he made, and for him to do it in front of Ashley made me extremely embarrassed. I try to laugh it off. His friend called him out and said “dude she’s already insecure, why would you say that?” And I felt better. I just wanted my turn to be over. Then it was Ashely’s turn. Jake was complimenting her the whole time, saying “wow, she’s like a secret genius.” And so on. I got more insecure and I felt a mess.
After the night was done, Jake and I went back to his place. We were in bed and the conversation got brought up. He then told me that Ashley was cold, and snuggled up to him. I was confused and made a face at him. He tried to say that he didn’t do anything and then said “I just looked at her.”
Is it bad that I wanted him to get away from it? Maybe say something? He could even blame it on me and say “I don’t think my name would like this.” But he just looked at her. Granted he didn’t snuggle back.
I think back to this day, along with other issues sometimes and cry. I told him I have problems about the issues and he apologizes. I do forgive him, but I can’t forget. That’s what brings me back to me being in the wrong. I know I’m being toxic because I keep crying and thinking about some stuff he’s done, then bringing it up.
What can I do? I want to be a better gf.

I have a question for any NY certified teachers.. I got my bachelors in elementary education from SUNY Oneonta in 2020.. I never took my certification tests because I decided to pursue school counseling… I’ll be graduating with my masters in school counseling this May.. I’ve been thinking of getting officially certified in teaching so I can possibly teach if I can’t find a counselor job.. does anyone know how I would go about this? Would I have to student teach again? What tests do you need as of 2023?

My name is Thomas Saul, I am a member of the Skatin Nations tribe in British Columbia, Canada. I am of Salish, and European descent. I began this project around May 2021 when news broke about the Kamloops residential school where the remains of 215 children were allegedly found. As a teenager I briefly Attended Norkam secondary in Kamloops, and have friends and family who still live in Kamloops, so this hit close to home. Upon my research into The origin of this residential school I found that Israel wood Powell, a Freemason, was the Indian Superintendent at the time it was built. Four generations of my family attended residential schools, some in Port Alberni and some Mission City, so naturally I wanted to know more. I have come to the conclusion that Colonisation, Freemasonry, and residential schools go hand in hand. Its a Fact, both the United States and Canada would not exist without Freemasonry, Therefore many Freemasons played a leading role in the genocide of Indigenous Americans. “Freemasonry, as it exists in various forms all over the world, has a membership estimated at around 6 million worldwide.”
Genocide: The UN definition, which is used in international law, states that genocide is: "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group," as such:(a) "Killing members of the group;"(b) "Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;"(c) "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;"(d) "Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;"(e) "Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
The supreme governor of the Church of England is the head of the Church of England, a position which is vested in the British monarch. The father of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 King George III was not a Freemason, George III had announced that the colonies would no longer seize Native lands or purchase them without treaties. Starting in 1763, no English settlers could legally travel through or acquire land west of the Appalachian Mountains. The proclamation specifically stated that Native Americans had been subject to “great Frauds and Abuses” and that their sovereignty should be protected. Freemason Thomas Jefferson in his list of 27 grievances accused the king saying “He has excited domestic Insurrections among us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions.’’ Thomas Jefferson did this to build support for the revolutionary act that the Declaration of Independence would represent. It was suspected that the Freemasons were behind the Boston Tea Party, the American War of Independence, the french revolution, and Napoleonic France triggering British prime minister William Pitt’s, the Unlawful Societies Act of 1799 where he aimed to see Freemasonry abolished. Some Freemasons addressed Pitt explaining how vast their membership is and its connection to Royalty and As a result, Freemasons were excluded from the Act, but lodges were obliged to return a list of members to the local Clerk of the Peace every year, which are recorded in the Quarter Sessions.1. King George IV reigned from the death of George III until 1830, he was the first of many British Freemason kings and was the head of the Anglican church. William IV, Edward VII, Edward VIII, George VI were also masons. In the 209 years since the Union of the Premier and Ancient Grand Lodges to form the United Grand Lodge of England, a member of the Royal Family has been its Grand Master for more than 150.
A Freemason warrant of constitution is the Document which authorizes or gives a Warrant to certain persons therein named to organize and constitute a Lodge, Chapter, or other Masonic Body. The first Warrant for a military Lodge was issued by the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1732 to the First British Foot Regiment. Within a few years the Grand Lodge of Scotland and both the Grand Lodge of England, Modern and Ancient were issuing Warrants to military Lodges. In 1733, 18 men gathered at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern on King Street in Boston and organized the first Masonic Lodge in North America. The first record of a military Lodge Warrant being issued in the new world happened during the French and Indian Wars. It was issued by the then Provincial Grand Master at Boston to the 28th British Foot in an expedition against the French at Crown Point. Edward Cornwallis became founder in December 1748, of a military Lodge in his regiment, the 20th. Foot, No. 63, on the registry of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. The warrant was issued to Lord George Sackville, Lieut. Col. The Hon. Edward Cornwallis and Captain Milburne. When in 1759 this famous regiment gained new honors at the battle of Minden, that name was immediately adopted as the name of the lodge. Cornwallis’ second lodge was founded in Halifax early in 1750 or possibly earlier, under a “deputation” or dispensation from Major Erasmus James Philipps of the 40th. Regiment at Annapolis Royal, Provincial Grand Master for Nova Scotia under Henry Price of Boston. Of this lodge, known as the First Lodge, Cornwallis was the first Master. Cornwallis In October 1749, issued an order that came to be known as the Scalping Proclamation. His government would pay a bounty to anyone who killed a Mi’kmaq adult or child in a bid to drive them off mainland Nova Scotia.
Sir William Johnson, an agent for the British Indian Department met Joseph Brant, a 9-year-old Mohawk boy while doing a land deal with Joseph's father King Hendrick. Sir William eventually started a common-law relationship with Joseph's sister Molly giving him incredible power over her tribe. Johnson groomed young Joseph Brant to become a loyal warrior and eventually leader of the six nations tribe. At 13 years old Joseph accompanied Johnson on his first tour with the military. Missionary Samuel Occham, a student of Eleazar Wheelock (father of The Great Awakening) procured a 19-year-old Joseph Brant to attend Moore's Indian charity school in Lebanon Connecticut with the blessings and charity of William Johnson. Freemasons Benjamin Franklin and Benedict Arnold had also donated money to Wheelock’s cause. William was the British Crown's first superintendent of Indian Affairs for the colony in 1756 and Joseph Brant was appointed as a captain in the Indian Department. Many Freemason colonists were high-ranking military who waged many wars on the Indigenous American population, scientists say so many Indigenous people were killed as a result of colonization it caused a mini ice age. After the North American wars, many Freemasons took positions as Indian agents helping to remove and segregate the native population. Anyone who wanted access to the six nations had to go through Indian agent Sir William Johnson and his family which includes the Brant family and the Kerr family through various marriages. At one point Johnson proposed that the moor's Indian Charity School move from Lebanon, Connecticut, to Johnstown but it never happened. Eventually, Johnson withdrew the support for Wheelock. In a letter Wheelock had suggested to Lord Dartmouth "The Nations will not make war with us while their Children, and especially the Children of their chiefs are with us” Dartmouth college claims that In 1766, Johnson was invited to join the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), the largest and most influential Anglican missionary society in the 18th-century British-Atlantic world. He began working to place Anglican missionaries like Freemason and bishop Charles Inglis, rather than Congregationalist and Presbyterian ones, among the Six Nations. I believe Moore's dubbed “the great design” was the original model for the Mohawk Institute and the Canadian residential school system.
On April 10, 1766 Sir William Johnson was raised to the position of Master Mason of St Patrick's Lodge No. 4 where many Freemason Indian agents like John Butler, Guy Johnson, Sir John Johnson, William Johnson Kerr, Christian Daniel Claus, Gilbert Tice, George Croghan and A protégé of Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, Rev. Samuel Kirkland attended. In 1770 Johnson's fellow St Patrick's lodge Freemason Rev. Samuel Kirkland coincidentally parted ways with Wheelock and Moors charity school. Eventually Kirkland founded the Hamilton-Oneida Academy as a boys' school in central New York. In 1776 Joseph Brant was initiated into the Freemason fraternity in London England where it is rumoured a benefactor of Moors charity school king George III gave Brant his masonic apron. When Brant returned to Canada he became affiliated with Lodge No. 11 at the Mohawk village on the Grand River, of which he was the first Worshipful Master, and later affiliated with Barton Lodge No. 10. Joseph Brant invited fellow Freemason and grandson of Eleazar Wheelock to be a minister to the Mohawk. To Joseph It was imperative that Freemason Rev. Davenport Phelps was made minister of the Mohawks, so he reminded the Bishop, through Sir John, of the pledge which the Archbishop of Canterbury had made to him in the presence of the King, that whenever the Indians, by the erection of a church, should be ready for religious instruction, he would do all in his power to supply their wants. A Freemason named Rev. Robert Addison helped make this happen. Mr Addison, a relative of William Johnson, had been minister to the Six Nations and Joseph Brant and Freemason John Norton were his translators. Freemason Reverend Davenport Phelps and Jarvis Wheelock, the brother of Eleazar, were invited to Canada and granted land by Freemason and founder of the family compact John Graves Simcoe, the man behind the Simcoe patent. Mrs Simcoe in her Diary says, “In April of the following year Mary Brant (sister of Freemason Joseph Brant and common-law wife of Freemason Indian agent Sir William Johnson) successfully prescribed a favourite Indian remedy, the root of sweet flag (acorus calamus), for Governor Simcoe, who had been extremely ill with a persistent cough. The medicine relieved his malady “in a very short time. This brought the Brant family and Simcoe family close together. Davenport Phelps became the Worshipful Master of The Barton Lodge under Freemason William Jarvis and he was the first chaplain at the Mohawk Chapel. Davenport was the leader of many Indian agents who were members of The Barton Lodge. I suspect Davenport's mission was to help with the so-called Indian problem.
Chief Joseph Brant has been accused on many occasions of selling off land for his own enrichment and in a lot of cases he sold land to Freemasons. He granted 999-year leases to many families, the Nelles, the Young’s, the families of Adam Young UE, his three sons, Lieutenant John Young (Indian department) UE, Sergeant Daniel Young UE, and Private Henry Young UE, along with Captain Henry William Nelles UE and his families (Rev. Abraham Nelles). Many of these Indian agents were members of The Barton Lodge. Both Captain Henry William Nelles UE and Adam Young UE, fourth great-grandfather of Robert Collins McBride UE, were also the first Freemasons to settle in Haldimand County. Freemasons Robert Kerr and Rev. Robert Addison, William Kennedy Smith, also had land there. "There were very few outright legal sales of our land; 90 per cent of the leased land has never been paid for or paid to Six Nations," according to a research document prepared by Six Nations. Many Freemasons were involved with the Simcoe patent and the Haldimand Proclamation. Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe stated that the Indians could not lease their land since British subjects could lease land only from British subjects. Freemason William Jarvis signed the Haldimand proclamation, Freemason Thomas Ridout surveyor-general was behind the Ridout survey, Freemason Sir Peregrine Maitland lieutenant governor informed them that they had no title to the northern part of the grant, Freemason John Butler acted as an agent of purchase on behalf of the government, Freemason chief John Brant) and Freemason Robert Johnson Kerr finally went to England to lobby on behalf of the Six Nations.
Freemasons King George IV, and King William IV, reigned from January 29 1820 to June 20 1837. The idea of residential school was brought forward by the Freemason Governor of Upper Canada, Sir Peregrine Maitland, within the context of a proposal he made in 1820 to the Colonial Office "for ameliorating the condition of the Indians in the neighbourhood of our settlements." Maitland's proposal contained most of the civilising concepts and techniques that would be adopted in the next three decades. The American Freemason, President Andrew Jackson succeeded in pushing the Indian Removal Act through the United States Congress in 1828 leading to the trail of tears. John Brant solicited help from the New England company to build the Mohawk institute, the first residential school in Canada. The mohawk institute operated from 1831 to June 27, 1970. John Brant appointed Rev. Abraham Nelles son of Freemason Robert Nelles as principal of the Mohawk Institute. Abraham after over 30 years was succeeded by Freemason Robert Ashton. Oronhyatekha aka Peter Martin was also a Freemason and played an important role in the development of the Mohawk Institute. The Arthur of the Historical sketch of the Barton Lodge, No. 6, G.R.C., A.F. and A.M., says “the name of Brother John Brant is connected with important events in the history of Canadian Masonry.” John Brant is responsible for the formation of at least 12 residential schools in Ontario, while Freemason Israel Powell the superintendent of Indian affairs in British Columbia Powell “was able to boast that the government had established seventeen Indian schools, one for each year in office.”. Powell sought to establish several boarding schools across the province and particularly pushed for creating a school in Kamloops to address communities in the province’s interior.The school opened in Kamloops in 1890 and became one of the largest residential schools operated by Indian Affairs. The Freemason Organisation is vicariously liable for all abuses in those residential schools.
In 1837 a Rebellion in Upper Canada was led by William Lyon Mackenzie, who was a fierce critic of Simcoe’s Family Compact, an elite clique of businessmen and many Freemasons. Mackenzie opposed a system of land grants that favored settlers from Britain. Many Freemasons such as William Botsford Jarvis and Sir Allen Napier Macnab who was Joint premier of the Province of Canada helped stop this rebellion. Sir Allen Macnab was succeeded by Freemason Sir John A. Macdonald as Joint Premier. This Rebellion of 1837, this triggered the 6th generation Freemason Lord Durham to write The Durham Report, he was appointed governor in chief of British North America. In his 1839 Report on the Affairs of British North America, he recommended that Upper and Lower Canada be united under a single Parliament, with responsible government. In 1863 a steamboat named the Brother Johnathan) carried smallpox from San Francisco to British Columbia killing 1/3rd of the Native population. Many Freemasons like Thomas Harris the first mayor of Victoria, Israel Wood Powell who served in the Victoria Rifle Volunteer Corps which was established to protect the colony from the indigenous population, Amor De Cosmos who was the extremely racist editor of The Daily British Colonist, and Ronald J. NcDonell clerk for magistrate Pemberton who forced The Nuu-chah-nulth to leave their camp, escorted by two gunboats. There are many many more who may have purposefully mishandled the smallpox epidemic of 1863. British freemason Edward Jenner created the life-saving smallpox vaccine but on the other hand Freemasons Jeffrey Amherst and Col Henry Bouquet have been accused of distributing smallpox contaminated blankets to their enemies.
As early as 1866 Israel W. Powell, with his colleague Amor De Cosmos, had proposed confederation with the Canadian colonies. Israel Wood Powell, Superintendent of Indian affairs also outlawed potlatching an indigenous ceremony In British Columbia. Following the Lord Durham’s report, Freemason Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon proposed The British North America Act, 1867 Under section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, the federal government has exclusive legislative authority for "Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians." Of the 36 Fathers of the Canadian confederation, 11 were Freemasons. One being Freemason Sir John A. Macdonald, He was named by the United Grand Lodge of England as their Grand Representative near to the Grand Lodge of Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald took a page from American Freemason Andrew Jackson's book by removing the Indigenous people from their land. He was proud that he was able to subdue the Indigenous people with less blood shed than his American brethren. One Of Macdonald's Legacies is the Canadian Pacific Railway which displaced many tribes across Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald's campaign promise in the 1870s was that he would have a railway built that would link the country from coast to coast. Freemasons Richard Marpole, Sir Sandford Fleming, Sir George J.A. Bury And the Chinese Freemasons of Vancouver and Alberta made Macdonald’s promise come true. As quickly as the railroad was laid Freemason lodges were erected. Louis Riel a Métis hero, led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its Freemason Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald. Riel sought to defend Métis rights and identity. The Wolseley expedition was a military force authorized by Sir John A. Macdonald to confront Louis Riel and had been dispatched to Red River under Freemason Colonel Garnet Joseph Wolseley. Another of Mcdonald's legacies is the North West Mounted Police. Macdonald established the N.W.M.P in 1873 which boasted 750 Freemason members in its time. He claimed that “it was intended to have a body of mounted rifles to protect the people from the chance of an Indian war.’’ Meanwhile, The Pacific Scandal, the first major post-Confederation political scandal in Canada, Sir John Macdonald and senior members of his Conservative Cabinet were accused of accepting election funds for the contract to build the C.P rail.
The near completion of the railway allowed troops from eastern Canada to quickly arrive in the territory causing Riel to surrender to Canadian forces. The NWMP barracks was where Louis Riel was detained after his arrest in 1885 for leading the North-West Rebellion. Many Freemasons were involved in the defeat of Louis Riel. The RCMP museum had a display of the noose which hung Riel. Macdonald said this about Riel "He shall die though every dog in Quebec barks in his favor." John A. Macdonald is also one of the fathers of the Canadian Indian act First passed in 1876. In 1879 Freemason Nicholas Flood Davin wrote the Report on Industrial Schools for Indians and Half-Breeds, otherwise known as The Davin Report. An amendment to the Indian Act in 1894 under Freemason Prime Minister Sir Mackenzie Bowell, made attendance at day schools, industrial schools, or residential schools compulsory for First Nations children, resulting in over 100000 Indigenous children being forcefully removed from their families by Indian agents and the RCMP. From 1740 to 1896 The Mexican government's response to the various uprisings of the Yaqui tribe have been likened to genocide particularly under Freemason Porfirio Diaz. Due to slavery and massacre, the population of the Yaqui tribe in Mexico was reduced from 30,000 to 7,000 under Diaz's rule. One source estimates at least 20,000 out of these Yaquis were victims of state murders in Sonora. It was during this period of the conflict that the United States Army fought the last battle of the American Indian Wars, the final battle being the Wounded Knee Massacre December 29, 1890, and in the subsequent Drexel Mission Fight the next day. In recent history the statues of Freemason John A. Macdonald, Freemason Edward Cornwallis, Freemason George Washington, Freemason Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Freemason Robert E. Lee and Andrew Jackson have all been vandalized but no mention of their affiliation to the Freemasons in the news. We can't point fingers at the church or government without first confirming whether or not the accused are Freemasons. The Order of the Eastern Star, Job's Daughters, and Rainbow Girls are masonic fraternities for women such as the daughter, widow, wife, sister, or mother of a Master Mason. All masons will cry out that Freemasonry has nothing to do with what an individual member has done, yet they all praise these men and prop them up as heroes. Freemasons claim to have superior morality compared to the average person, that they are the most honorable men on the planet, yet they refuse to acknowledge their members role in the genocide of the Indigenous Americans.
You may believe Freemasons are irrelevant nowadays but that is far from true. Winston Churchill is regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century. Churchill was initiated into Studholme Lodge No. 1591 on 24 May 1901. He said of the Pashtun people “all who resist will be killed without quarter,” Pashtun territory was occupied by the British in 1848 and divided into two areas. Winston Churchill's policies caused a famine that claimed more than 3 million Indian lives during the The Bengal famine of 1943. President Harry Truman, known as one of the most dedicated men to have joined Masonry on the morning of August 6, 1945, ordered an American B-29 bomber to drop two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians. John Edgar Hoover, more commonly referred to as J. Edgar Hoover, was an American attorney and director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Hoover was raised on November 9th 1920 in Federal Lodge No. 1 in Washington D.C. In 1919 Hoover became the head of the Bureau of Investigation's (predecessor of the FBI) new General Intelligence Division. The division was also called the Radical Division because it was the task of the division to find radical elements in American society to monitor and disrupt their activities. The Duke of Kent was initiated as a Freemason in Royal Alpha Lodge No. 16 in London on 16 December 1963. The Duke of Kent, is now UGLE’s longest-serving Grand Master. The Duke’s brother, Prince Michael of Kent, is also a Freemason and is Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, and Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex. On 6 March 1953, HRH Prince Philip progressed to the Second Degree of Freemasonry, before advancing to the Third Degree on 4 May 1953.
I encourage those who have been affected by the actions of Freemasons to begin a class action lawsuit against this organization in what ever country, state or province you live in and hold Freemasonry accountable for genocide. The first thing a Freemason will say when presented with this evidence is you don't know how masonry operates, that the lodge is not responsible for individual members actions. That is exactly what the Catholic church said before the Canadian Court of Appeal on July 28, 2020 had found the Archdiocese vicariously liable for abuses committed by a civilian employee. I witnessed countless people stand up against the Catholic Church for what they have done and the Pope came to Canada and apologized. Now it's time to turn your sight toward Freemasonry. You must understand that all Freemasons on the American contenent have greatly benefited from the genocide of Indigenous Americans.
“ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's acceptance of an inquiry's finding that Canada committed genocide against Indigenous people could have tremendous legal impact if a court ever weighs Ottawa's responsibility for crimes against humanity, experts say.”
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/trudeau-s-acknowledgment-of-indigenous-genocide-could-have-legal-impacts-experts-1.5457668
"I didn't use the word genocide because it didn't come to mind but I described genocide," Pope Francis told reporters on the papal flight from Iqaluit to Rome on Friday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-francis-residential-schools-genocide-1.6537203
“The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it.”
― President John F. Kennedy
“President Kennedy issued an Executive Order prohibiting use of facilities on military bases by groups not integrated. The result was to bar Masonic lodges from using the bases.” Masonic Parallels with History - A Chronology of General and Masonic History by Alphonse Cerza. themasonictrowel
THE MILITARY AND FREEMASONRY
Freemasonry in Nova Scotia
Freemasonry at the Two Sieges of Louisbourg 1745 and 1758
Freemasonry in Quebec
Sir William Johnson, the Brant family, the Kerr family and the British Indian Department
MOOR’S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL
Mohawk Institute (Mush Hole)
The rebellion of 1837
Manitoba Freemasons
Saskatchewan Freemasons
North-West Rebellion
Provincial Premiers Alberta masons
The Canadian Pacific Railway
Smallpox epidemic of 1862
British Columbia Freemasons
Freemason Prime Ministers
American Freemasons and the genocide of the
Indigenous peoples.
Spanish Freemasons
Royal Freemasons
300 Years of Freemasonry Celebrated at Royal Albert Hall Global Event
Freemasonry according to Masons.
The Fourth Council of Toledo Canon 60 and Indian Residential Schools
Sources
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQ4QiANX3BnEdEwD94FXfh1Nkg_RJ-XN5UhN0_gLX10isR2i08xUziA9ZX7sErUMdp4PTKKPhP0P7F2/pub#h.fpjzhjnusgk1

Hi all! Im 25y and currently at a crossroads with my career. I am currently an Registered behavior technician in ABA, but am in my last semester of SLP pre-reqs (leveling program). I love speech a lot, I love the school that I have been doing my leveling program in. I’m deciding between being an SLP and an elementary school teacher. Keep in mind in my state a school SLP and a teacher makes the same amount (~50k starting).
I applied to both the SLP masters program at the school I’m currently at, and an M.Ed ARL (alternative route to licensure) program. I feel passionate about both fields and I can see myself being happy doing either.
Option 1: Masters in SLP- 2 year program
Pros:

• Passionate about the field
• Love the school and professors
• Already in pre-req program

Cons:

• Full time school
• Can not work during it due to clinicals, externships and classes during the day
• I’m turning 26 so idk how I’m getting health insurance- school does not offer it for students
• Will have to take out loans
• Pushes back my timeline for other goals in life (having kids, getting married, buying a house, etc)

Option 2: Masters in Education (ARL program)- 1 year program
Pros:

• I feel like I'd be a really good teacher due to my work experience
• Guaranteed job- Allows you to work as a teacher while going to school
• Faster (1 year only)
• Cheaper- will not have to take out loans Full benefits

Cons:

• Feel like I'd have wasted the past two years since I've been in the speech leveling program
• It might be difficult to re-apply to a speech masters program if I wanted to do that in the future
• burn out, admin, meetings, duty, finding a sub if you need to call out, etc

SLP's who started out as teachers: what made you want to change and do you like it better? What made you choose speech?

I am hoping someone more knowledgeable than myself can shed some light on an experience I had. I want to understand the "system" involved in what I saw. A few years ago I was training to be a hypnotherapist. My goal was to conduct a bunch of past life regressions on new agers and get paid for it. I didn't want to get involved with a client coming back to me for multiple visits when heaven forbid I might be able to help them. It was all very superficial for me and meditation and hypnosis always had my interest.
The 500 hour course was grueling. It was half online and then after each module was finished I would have to meet up at this school/office complex to practice what I learned and to observe techniques. The owneteacher was a very greedy and exploitative man. I didn't like him in the least but I wanted to learn. Besides learning hypnosis techniques he did a lot of guided meditations to us and also hypnotism sessions. During one of the in person classes , the teacher was teaching in front of us. I think we just came out of a guided meditation and I was in a light trance. I now think of this as the second attention. I observe the teacher has a large black outlined form behind him. It is a human shape but no human characteristics like eyes, mouth, hair etc. The form is filled with a brown color like someone used a stamper and swirled the stamp ink through out the human form. It formed out of the back of him, it surrounded him. Head shape, arms, torso etc When he gestured his arm, it gestured at the same exact time. I look around and nobody else sees this. I watch the teacher as he moves towards a student sitting up front. I think that now since his "aura/energy body" is visible to me by proximity I will see hers. No, this was not the case. I watched the form's arm go very close to this woman student and it had a definite boundary. The brown color was contained inside of a black colored boundary. Ok, the course is grueling to me. I had an abusive childhood and it is being dragged to the forefront of my consciousness. I decided to be my own client and help myself. I could no longer escape my memories or thoughts.The next module was age regression hypnosis. Since I had no love for this teacher, I decided to pay a mentor to critique me on age regression hypnosis. This was a mentor I trusted and she was also my hypnotherapist for the duration of the course. I had to bring in my own client (family member) and go through the whole age regression protocol to pass the module. We were allowed to look at notes and we had to take notes on what our client said. However, it was suggested we get into a light trance ourselves so we can "impart information to our client." From where this information came from was not specified. I find staying in a light trance peaceful and do it with ease when I am lulled by the montone hypnospeak of my own voice and deep breathing. As I am speaking with my client, I see a white light forming over him. It looks like a jail cell , a grid. I am surprised but I keep my cool. The cell of white light goes down to his torso and lays over his body but not touching it. Probably a couple of inches over it. He is lying down. Where his chest is there is a face. It is made of the same white light. It has slit like eyes and it is pushing through the grid of light. It is struggling. Do you know those halloween decorations where you see a creepy face pushing through a white wall or a shower curtain? It was like that. It was staring at me. I felt sorry for it. My vocabulary at the time gave me energy fragment. But I have since read about Genaro and the waterfall. I also think of giving birth despite my client being male. I look over at my mentor. She now has the form of the human outline in back if her. Just like the teacher had yet hers is different. Her form is filled with greens and blue colors. They are moving and beautiful. It is not fully closed, there is an opening on it's right shoulder where the colors are pouring in from mid air. It reminded me of old photoshop paint bucket . My client is really under distress and very uncomfortable. I tell my mentor that I can see her aura she asks what it looks like and I tell her. She basks under this description. Now, I could not see any white lights coming from her nor could I see this form behind my supine client. Only his lighted jail cell and this poor face struggling to get through. Ok, I have read a few CC books and I have read many links on this subreddit. In fact as a gift, I have received all of the books and I have been making my way through them. Plus I read the two Taisha books. Carlos didn't know what an aura was, if I remember one of the links I read. I admit this experience motivates me to keep reading and practicing. I do recapitulation daily even though it can be an emotional nightmare. I sometimes combine it with hypnosis since I can bring up some very early people. I have a black out eye mask and I practice dark room. I also do some light tensegrity moves. After reading one of the books I decided that what I see is for me. I don't have to "help" my client due to this struggling face coming out of his chest. But I want to know what I saw. I think both the grid of light and the form of the body are connected. They are part of the person. Was my mentor and teacher making a shield for themselves? They weren't aware of this form themselves. I have been confused about the face. I thought for a time it could be his double but I have discounted that, I thought the aura was an energy body then I thought it might be part of the egg but I think I am incorrect on all accounts. Why was my mentors right shoulder of her form open when my creepy teacher's form was closed. Where do these colors come from? So, can someone please give me their input on what I saw? I have other experiences to keep up my motivation. I just would like some clarity on this. Thank you

Hey all, I’m at a high school with quite a few other new teachers or sped teachers who previously were in middle/elementary. We’re navigating the new challenges that come with transition IEPs and post-secondary planning.
We typically treat the “Graduation Plan” similarly to a LRE: what can they accomplish in order to graduate, and what is within their capabilities?
That said, are there major benefits or consequences to the different “levels” of an IEP driven diploma? I assume modifications in classes will be seen on a transcript and limit entry into a 4-year college. But what about community colleges or trade schools? What about work or work programs? Does it benefit them? Are they still eligible for jobs that require a diploma?
What about students who achieve graduation through IEP goals and do not meet the credit or class requirements?
I don’t feel like I have a good scope or who would see and interpret that information after students graduate, insight would be appreciated!

Hi all,
Looking for some guidance here –
For context: I’m a part-time evening law student working as commercial real estate/corporate paralegal. I was hired on as a LAA in May and promoted to paralegal in 2 days since the department was losing 3 paralegals. The promotion was branded as a “battlefield” promotion and no pay raise was provided for the hybrid duties since I didn’t have any paralegal experience. Since the dept was short-handed, by September-October I was tasked assigned 10 deals with minimal guidance in learning how to draft closing statements and adjustments, but I learned the best I could by research and asking for help.
Fast-forward to post year-end closing madness (January and after), the department has slowed significantly as in the other paralegals and I are constantly asking the senior paralegals if they need help with anything. The firm has since hired 2 transaction assistants to help but the delegation of their roles is confusing (They do work that we could bill for?). I have reached out constantly to the senior paralegals and attorneys for new deals but have only been assigned 1 since January. I spend most of my days looking for post-closing work to do or simply scanning title insurance notes into matter files.
For further context: I did make crucial errors during the past 3 months while learning the transaction process [Think wiring a large sum of money to the wrong account] that was thankfully fixed. I sat down with the attorney to review the closing statement and accepted full responsibility for my oversight and assured him that I would be more diligent and reach out if I didn’t understand anything. But since then, it seems like I’ve been “benched” from working on deals. I completely understand the sentiment but I’m also feeling like I’m just wasting time not doing anything.
As a law student, I’m realizing that transactional work isn’t what I want to focus on. Prior to accepting this position, I was looking for litigation roles because ultimately, I want to practice in litigation. As such, the firm’s biggest competitor had an opening for a litigation paralegal, and I interviewed for the position without giving my current firm any heads up I was looking and applying. The competing firm sent me an offer letter with a $5k pay raise which I accepted!
My question is: How should I give HR and my attorneys proper 2 weeks notice? We’re in a tight knit community so people will find out that I’m leaving to their competitor. I’m feeling nervous about blind-siding everyone since I was promoted quickly. I also don't want to feel like I'm leaving solely because I made mistakes and I'm running from learning from these mistakes.
Am I overthinking all of this?
Any insight on the above would be much appreciated – thank you!

It was a long night. We wrapped up around 1:10 am.
Look who found the share button on the School Board website. The only new info is going to be the voting records on the motions overturning the appeals, but the appeals and motions are available here, http://go.boarddocs.com/fl/escambia/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CMYQBZ67EF22.
There were a lot of speakers. Some were on topic. Some were not. Some spoke about the law. Some referenced school board policy. Some appealed to a sense of decency. Some railed against indoctrination, woke, and "other acronyms."
In the end, I think people being there and speaking against the bans helped the board decide to keep the challenged books. I only say that because we went from all four challenged books being banned last meeting, 2/21, to all four books being kept this meeting. Even if they were kept at fewer grade levels than I had hoped for.
Drama - approved for middle and high schools
New Kid - approved for middle and high school.

New Kid being pulled from elementary schools stung the most. This book is perfectly suited for those students. I thank School Board Member Patty Hightower for trying to make that happen. I'm disappointed that School Board Member David Williams moved to amend the motion by removing the book from elementary schools. And School Board Member Paul Fetsko for seconding that motion. 

The Bluest Eye - approved for 11th and 12th grade

I'm glad The Bluest Eye was kept at all. But I'm not happy that David Williams only voted to approve it for even those two grades because he was afraid of how his former students would be impacted with its removal, without the same regard for other students, especially with his amendment to New Kid. 

The Nowhere Girls - approved for 11th and 12th grade

Because of the relevance to consent, standing up the bullying, and discussion of sexual assault, this would have been good to keep in grades 9-12. 

If the video gets posted to YouTube, I'll add the link as a comment.
The comments on my last post were great to catch up on when I could. I appreciate that most people kept it civil. And the support was much needed.
I'll be sure to post information concerning the next meeting with more notice. The novel Push will be up for appeal. Looking for Alaska, Black Brother, Black Brother, and Ground Zero could be if the appeals are/were submitted in time.
Thanks for your support and hope to see more people opposed to book bans next meeting. Maybe we can show the School Board that it's a vocal minority seeking these bans.

Hey again, as i mentioned in my previous post i have another pretty recent school drama story. The main people i mentioned there where John, Mike and Sam, this post is going to be all about things that have happened sorrounding sam, so let's start. (for more context look at my previous post)
This all started in the 5th or 6th grade, me John and Mike where friends with Sam since the 3rd grade. Now Sam was special in many ways to say the least, as mentioned in my previous post, Sam often picked his nose and ears, wich is undoubtly discusting, but as 10 year olds, we didn't mind. Sam was sensitive to alot, mostly with swearwords and names, someone could say a swear (not even torwards Sam) and he would get offended and go tell a teacher. later on in around the 5th grade, he did this torwards everyone, mostly me for some reason (probbably because i was with him alot). So sam could get offended if i said something and report me to a teacher. At our elementary school we a thing where a student could report another student so that the school would speak wit them, the school beeing Principal, Teachers and parents. He did this to me multiple times throughout the 5th and 6th grade, and i didn't think anything of it.
But then when me John Mike and Sam got to Highschool, Me John and Mike got together and spoke a bit about Sam, and how we almost look after him like a child. Our head teacher had previously told us that whe had to make sure Sam gets to calsses on time as he was not paying attention at all, he was always staring down at his cell phone and doing something there. So me John and Mike came to the conclusion that later that day we where goin to tell are head teacher we are not dealing with this shit any more, that day was also the day before christmas break so we where doing "fun" christmas activities. So after we had done an activity/game in a class room, we all walked out and moved to the next classroom. Sam, watching his phone, decides he wants to show something funny he found, and me talking with buds, i said no maybie later. Sam then gets frustrated and says, No you're going to look at it, now! And i again say no, and jokingly close my eyes. So Sam then tries to oped my eyes with his fingers, but i pushed him away before he did that. And me, as a germaphobe freaked the F out, as he had dirt filld long nails, and rarely wached his hands, even though he picked his nose. So after i push him away i say: what the f do you think you're doing!? Sam gets real mad and tackles me into a wall and holds me there, Sam was also larger than me so i couldnt do anything. So i shout: Help, this dumbass tackled me into the wall! And thankfully John came and pushed him away. Sam proceeds to run away as i put my fists up. I was close to running after him, but John Mike and another student there held me back from doing it, wich i'm thankfull for. After this, we didn't even bother telling our head teacher anymore as the situation had gotten worse, and she was quitting after christmas.
Fast forward to the next year after christmas break, some people from the school safety team wanted to speak with me, so i confusingly go to meet them. They sat me down and asked me what happend that day. I was confused as to why they where asking me about this, becaouse neither me John Mike or the other person had said anything about that day. So i explain to them what happend, and when i finished they said something along the lines of "well thats alot different from what Sam said". SAM!?!?! i said, did he report me for calling him a dumbass after he tackled me!? they respond saying, yes he did, according him the situation went down something like this "I wanted to show him something funny on my phone, but he said no and called me a dumbass" and remember thats what Sam reported me in for. I said this is bullshit, how the hell do they even belive this crap, i even have whitnesses!!! They said they didn't care, and proceeded to lecture me not to swear and stuff around Sam. They even pointed out that it was "rude" of me to write an sms to Sam during the break saying i was not his friend anymore. I walked out of that room, my blood boiling and not knowing why they took his side in the whole thing.
Fast forward again around 3 years later, present time. Me John and Mike have been holding distance from Sam as we didnt want any drama. But around 2 months ago, we where in woodshop class, and i was making a wood ladle. I was walking around the class room waving a little with the ladle, i walk be Sam an d accedentaly tap him on the back with it, i apoligise and keep walking, Sam chuckles a bit and stands up. He pulls out his leather belt and walks up to me, taps me on the back and says, Hey. i turn around, and he slaps me on the face with the belt, the metal peice luckily not hitting me. Almost the whole class gasps and stares at Sam, the teacher was sadly not in the room. Later that week he had reported me to the school security team. They once again ask what happend and i tell them, i also remind them that i have the whole class as eye witnessses. They once again dont give a damn and lecture me to be carefull how i act around Sam. He apparently reported me for for hitting him with a ladle. A week or so later i wanted to have a meeting with the head od the school sekurity team, my head teacher and my parents with me. At the meeting, they only told me and me parents the same bullcrap about me needing to be more carefull how i act around Sam.
Today i still dont know what to do about this situation, as the school doesent seem to have any intresst in taking my side for once. So please leave some advise because i don't know what to do, thank you for the read.

Hello Internet, I am a first yeapart time software development student. I work full time so can only really study after work and off days.
I am having trouble with an exercise regarding file handling.
The question is:

The employee.txt file contains records with the following fields: number surname initials salary Example: number,surname,initials,salary 1,Van Wyk,J,3000 2,Austin,P,5000 3,Davidescu,K,3000 4,Van Wyk,B,2500 5,Savile,F,2500 6,Van Wyk,E,8000 7,Garvill,S,6000 8,Fancott,O,6700 9,Van Wyk,D,5600 10,Van Wyk,X,9000 All employees with the surname Van Wyk must have their details written to vanwyk.txt. 

All other employees must be written to another.txt. Each employee must receive a printout with their number, surname, initials and salary.

The manager would like the following from the Van Wyk file: A printout of the total number of Van Wyks. The employee numbers of all Van Wyks earning less than R5 000. Print these numbers. 

I have spent a couple of days on this, and hours and hours of youtube and googling it's starting to drive me mad.
Here's what I got so far:
​

file = open('employee.txt') data = file.readlines() new_list = data[1:11] vanWyk = [] for x in new_list: if 'Van Wyk' in x: vanWyk.append(x) for i in vanWyk: print(i) 

It's really not much and at this point my brain is just toast.
if I just print the vanWyk list it returns

['1,Van Wyk,J,3000\n', '4,Van Wyk,B,2500\n', '6,Van Wyk,E,8000\n', '9,Van Wyk,D,5600\n', '10,Van Wyk,X,9000\n'] 

How do I go from using this data to create a new .txt file with only the values from the list vanWyk?
Also how would I convert the data so that I can loop through to determine who earns less than R5000?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.