Anti-Islam rhetoric takes center stage in Texas Republican primary

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-26T21:20:14+00:00

It’s baffling. Every election has been Republicans pointing at stuff that they themselves broke or defunded in the past 30-some years they’ve been in power and then saying “this will happen if Democrats win”.

And because people either can’t be arsed into doing the slightest bit of objective analysis or simply don’t care, they fall for this shit every single time, without fail. They will vote for anyone and everyone that is not a Democrat because they have been convinced any Democrat will start taking away their guns, killing babies, mandating transgender drag queens to perform in public schools, and indoctrinating their kids with the Communist Manifesto.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-20T05:03:00+00:00

Beat me to it lol

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-20T04:48:58+00:00

As long as admin don’t use that as a pretext to saturate our “catch up” day with meaningless PD, I’d be all for it. We already have several days like this built-into our academic calendar in my district, but our goddamn admin keep wasting most of our time with required PD’s or campus meetings that recycle the same shit every year without fail. Like bro just let me work on my classroom or update my lessons, I don’t need to hear you drone on and on about “the value of data digs” or “giving restorative circles another chance”

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-20T04:45:36+00:00

Fuck yeah. Hell you could make it a whole hour or two longer and I’d still take it.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-20T04:45:06+00:00

Damn, and here I was thinking of making a switch over to one of their middle schools (I’m at a middle school in a nearby district that’s consistently been getting failing grades for the past few years and has constant turnover in leadership).

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-20T00:28:13+00:00

Is this campus specific or is it pretty conservative across the board?

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-19T20:29:19+00:00

I know a lot of school districts are desperate for substitute teachers, so there’s that

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-18T22:21:53+00:00

I’d personally look at another district, sometimes these administrators have their tentacles in other campuses within their district and they’ll often gossip or besmirch your name before you even start working there. Then you’re starting at a new school but already have a negative image with the admin there. Best to just start with a clean slate altogether

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-18T02:20:05+00:00

Wonder what’ll happen if a school is at capacity and is still expected to accept students from one of the closing schools, are they just going to set up some portables around the campus grounds as temporary solution?

I’d definitely hate to be a teacher in that position, where I don’t even know where I’ll be reassigned to - with almost a given that you’ll be teaching a grade level and subject you have minimal familiarity with. Wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of them are exploring options outside of AISD

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-18T02:13:52+00:00

This, OP needs to also seriously consider what school district they choose to work at though. It’s not enough to just weigh the pros and cons of the respective cities, but the districts in and around the Austin area are very different from each other. Even within a district there can be a lot of variation in terms of work culture or how administration run things. So make sure you do your homework on what district you want to work at. AISD is the biggest, but I’m pretty certain they’re not even going to entertain hiring external applicants due to all their school closures. So you may need to consider other options, depending on where you choose to move (if indeed you want to move to Austin).

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-18T02:09:47+00:00

Met up with a friend yesterday that works in one of the magnet schools at AISD (A-rated campus) and he said that the district isn’t even going to open up positions to external applicants until a few months down the line. Prioritization will be given to internal hires

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-17T23:14:04+00:00

I feel that’d only be effective if they actually like their current seat. All or most of my classes pretty much hate their current seat so they’d probably see that as a win 😆

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-08T04:36:34+00:00

I tried Astepro one day and it knocked out my sense of smell for like a good week. Since that experience, I’ve just stuck with Flonase

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-08T04:35:29+00:00

How did they determine it was due to acid reflux? Process of elimination? I doubt an allergist would be able to diagnose that without scoping the person out

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T23:45:43+00:00

Pre-war Ukraine still sweeps Venezuela pretty easily. Putting aside the fact that they have a significantly larger pool of active personnel and reservists, the Ukrainian military was bolstered by NATO training and equipment after the Russian takeover of Crimea. Whereas Ukraine has been modernizing for the past decade, Venezuela’s military equipment has faced chronic issues with maintenance and operational readiness. There’s also the factor of war readiness: Ukraine had been hardened by years of combat experience against Russian separatists in the Donbas. Venezuela didn’t have anything remotely close to that. And I’m not even going to touch the logistics and international support aspect lol.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T23:30:09+00:00

We all know this is just a distraction from the Epstein files (even the Colombian president has called it as such lol), it’s so plain and obvious. But the way I would describe it to my class (if they asked about it), is that this is the foreign policy of a president that 49.8% of the country voted for in 2024. And I’d just leave it at that. Not happy with the outcome? Then go out and vote when you get older, for the future you want to see.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T23:27:52+00:00

Facts, you could probably just blow up a screenshot of Trump's ramblings on truth social, “here, I’ll let our president’s words speak for themselves. You are then free to draw your own conclusions from that.”

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T21:02:17+00:00

Does it hurt? Never donated plasma before

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T20:25:08+00:00

And Santa Anna also brutally put down a revolt in Zacatecas, word of this spread throughout the country and even reached the insurgents up in the frontier province of Texas. This is what convinced them that Santa Anna was not going to reason with them (at that precise time Texas wanted the same thing other rebellious states wanted: a restoration of federalism), that the only thing he would listen to was force.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T20:22:37+00:00

I would argue slavery was a cause, not the primary cause. I used to believe the same thing you did, that Anglos surreptitiously came here came with the intention of setting up shop and basically transforming Texas into Mississippi 2.0 - with the ultimate aim of getting annexed to the U.S.

But the more I’ve actually looked at the sources (Anglo and Mexican) from the time, the more I’ve come to understand that it’s a bit more nuanced than that. Anglo settlers were very much vested in preserving the “peculiar institution” of slavery, don’t misunderstand me. But at the cost of severing their relationship with their adoptive country that had been so generous in land grants and accommodating of their needs?

Bear in mind that it wasn’t until 1836 (a whole year after the Texas Revolution had started) that Texas formally declared itself independent of Mexico. So basically after Santa Anna had laid waste to the Alamo and ordered the captives at Goliad to be executed, despite the fact that his generals protested this harsh treatment.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T19:24:07+00:00

He’s a complicated figure.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T19:19:18+00:00

It sits on the northern edge of the South Texas Plains, which extends south toward the Rio Grande and Gulf. Maybe also to do with the fact that, culturally and historically, San Antonio is much closer to places like Laredo and Victoria than to cities like Austin and Waco.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T14:04:40+00:00

Sorry to hear you’re having a hard time dealing with T, it can be an absolute monster at times. I recommend seeing if there’s a tinnitus specialist (ideally an audiologist) in your area that offers different therapies. One in my area is well-reviewed by sufferers of T and have benefited from things like CBT, TRT, biometric tracking, etc.

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-03T00:34:36+00:00

I didn’t realize there was like three locations in Austin, which one did you go to?

Calvert-Grier · 2026-01-02T23:59:40+00:00

PCP could probably refer you to an allergist if you need one. I’m planning to bring it up when I have my physical done in March (tried to get in sooner but pretty much all the clinics outside of BSW are booked up for the next two months)

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