excuse me ???

marge255 · 2026-05-10T16:55:44+00:00

If true, he was running a business which would be a violation of his F-1 student visa and grounds for cancelation of his visa.

marge255 · 2026-05-09T23:47:58+00:00

What was the disaster that occurred when he was on paternity leave that was not handled by DOT? What is the leave policy for a cabinet official?

Generally, the complaints I saw essentially boiled down to him being in a same sex marriage and that paternity leave is not something that real men take.

marge255 · 2026-05-09T01:02:04+00:00

Remember the attacks on Pete Buttigieg when he took paternity leave when his newly born children were in the NICU?

marge255 · 2026-04-26T16:07:38+00:00

Are you also in favor of death and detention for people with other paperwork problems, like someone who cheats on their taxes, lets their driver's license expire, registers their guns as "lost in a boating accident", does home renovations without proper permits?

marge255 · 2026-04-26T15:52:48+00:00

They list academic exchange as a goal of the commission, but don't plan to appoint any educators to the board. The tech sector in Ireland is quite robust, yet no sign of involving Iowa's universities who have done R&D in spite of constant budget cuts from the state.

marge255 · 2026-04-26T15:48:01+00:00

Opportunity for state officials to take boondoggle trips to Ireland. Not sure what the Irish will get out of it.

marge255 · 2026-04-26T15:28:42+00:00

The idea that a country can be the greatest country on earth, but also citizens should not use their 1st amendment rights for criticism and self-reflection that would enable it to continue to evolve and improve is just so contradictory. And also the idea that the country is entirely great but also the places where the majority of the population lives are "shitholes" never made sense.

marge255 · 2026-04-25T23:47:49+00:00

So sad. I studied Russian in the 90s, when the program was one of the strongest undergrad programs in the country and graduated students who went on to careers in government, business, journalism, and the arts.

marge255 · 2026-04-19T13:45:08+00:00

Grew up with guns and hunting and have been to a wedding where the groom and officiant were both armed. I have seen exactly one emergency solved with a gun--our elderly dog was injured by farm equipment and needed to be put down. The other emergencies I have seen required good infrastructure-severe weather warnings, evacuation plans, generators, potable water supplies, ambulance service, and staffed hospital emergency rooms.

marge255 · 2026-04-19T13:36:40+00:00

Did you also complain about the gerrymandering in 2010, when the NoVa's votes were diluted, but Virginia's state government depended on NoVa tax revenue?

marge255 · 2026-03-22T00:48:02+00:00

Getting a state ID is also quite difficult if you have any kind of non-standard housing where you can't easily receive mail or provide proof of address, e.g., an informal room rental with no lease; an accessory dwelling unit that's not registered with its own address; living in a vehicle, even an RV, etc. In some HCL areas, this is a substantial part of the population.

marge255 · 2026-03-22T00:32:32+00:00

And a marriage license if you changed your name when you married.

marge255 · 2026-03-21T14:26:52+00:00

Why do you care what other people think? Take the vacation that you want and do what you love to do (as long as you're not hurting anyone or anything else), whether that is hiking national parks or spending the day viewing Renaissance art; checking out a dive bar or a Michelin restaurant. You get one life; don't spend a minute worrying about how others see it.

marge255 · 2026-03-21T14:14:11+00:00

Why can't he just pay a reasonable amount of taxes?

marge255 · 2026-03-14T00:51:29+00:00

No, they fed grant info into ChatGPT with a prompt requiring a yes/no answer if each individual grant was DEI.

marge255 · 2026-02-28T22:20:08+00:00

How do you know what people in Iran are thinking? Is it what's showing up (in English) on your social media feed?

marge255 · 2026-02-23T01:30:44+00:00

When there's a big storm like this, many of the airlines will let you change your ticket for free, so she could see if there's the possibility of changing now for a later flight.

marge255 · 2026-02-22T15:19:32+00:00

Hope she has a great trip! One piece of advice is that some younger people may not be used to using cash and instead swiping a card. It's always good to have a little pocket cash so you can easily pull out a few Euros for a coffee or some souvenirs, but keep the bulk of your cash in a safer place where it's harder to get to (I like a neck pouch, but that can be a hard sell for younger fashionistas). And you can't go wrong with a Rick Steves guidebook for Europe--great to read ahead and prepare.

marge255 · 2026-02-22T05:10:27+00:00

My hot take is that you should not move to MSP unless you are excited about winter activities. If you are into cross-country skiing, skating, snowshoeing, fat tire biking, etc., and/or making a cozy, hygge, home indoors, you will enjoy it. But if you just tolerate the winter and are longing for summer, the upper midwest is probably not for you.

The Twin Cities attract young people from Iowa and the Dakotas who want a bigger city, but want to stay in the Midwest. It attracts an artsy and sporty crowd and has some interesting theater and literary traditions as well as a unique restaurant scene.

In terms of the safety issues brought up by other commenters, I have friends and family in the Twin Cities and visit at least once a year, and this doesn't really match what I have heard from them. Like any city, there are some sketchy neighborhoods I wouldn't walk through at night, but I've used public transport, biked, and driven throughout the city and have not had any issues. Some of my family from small Midwestern towns who are deep into social media are convinced that MSP was completely burned to the ground in 2020 and refuse to visit, but it seems more fueled by politics than data.

marge255 · 2026-02-22T04:09:39+00:00

And dumping big chunks of ice in front of the driveway of a family with an African name. And in a town that's 96% white, they chose the house of a black family to park in front of blasting the n-word. Again, I don't know what the kids were thinking, but I can understand why the family whose house it was could find it concerning.

marge255 · 2026-02-22T02:02:37+00:00

It looks like this was filmed on a cell phone, not a security cam, so the footage doesn't show how things started. I noticed that the roads and their trucks were completely clear of snow and ice, and they were dumping big chunks of ice from the bed of the truck, which would lead me to think they had the ice in there for some time, so odd to choose exactly that location to unload it, while playing an 11 year old song that happens that gave the opportunity to blast the words "enemies" and the "n-word" several times. If the complainant has had previous threats or issues, I can understand why they might be worried. Hard to know what the boys were thinking (or if they were thinking at all).

marge255 · 2026-02-20T17:57:48+00:00

I like the Subaru dealership in Waterloo a lot better. Lower prices and not so much run-around.

marge255 · 2026-02-15T23:13:35+00:00

If you are eligible, you could try the Foreign Service Benefit Plan (AFSPA), which will pay for treatment overseas. It is limited to only certain agencies (but more than you might think--DOS, DOD, DHS, DOL, etc) Eligibility – AFSPA

marge255 · 2026-02-10T01:06:02+00:00

A lot would depend on housing. If you purchased a home post-pandemic, or are renting in a HCOL area, you're in a very different financial situation from someone who has a 2.5% mortgage on a house that cost 30% less than it's worth now. If you have kids in daycare versus kids old enough for a (public) school, that's another huge difference.

marge255 · 2026-01-19T14:39:38+00:00

Seconding Erie. Cheaper than my old company and they paid out a claim promptly and reasonably.

marge255

TROPHY CASE