This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 83%. (I'm a bot)

In early April, Missouri Republicans voted to cut all public funding for libraries as part of their state budget proposal.
A Vox analysis of libraries under attack explained the disturbing trend: ​"Usually, lawmakers start with book bans. If the bans aren't as effective as they'd hope, they escalate to threatening to defund local libraries."
A 2021 California report on libraries in the state concluded that ​"Through digital labs, makerspaces, career centers and business resources, memory labs, public programs, community partnerships, and online resources, public libraries help communities explore, learn, connect, and have fun beyond their traditional ​'library' brand."
When Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders ran for president in the 2016 election, he cited public funding of libraries as an example of democratic socialism in action, and libraries as ​"Socialist institutions."
Libraries were far more popular among women than men, and low-income residents were far more likely to use their local library's services than their higher-income neighbors.
In Michigan, where several libraries are dealing with book bans and where Patmos Library in Jamestown faced defunding, a March 2023 poll found broad support among the public, across party lines and political affiliations, to support libraries and the free dissemination of information.

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This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 77%. (I'm a bot)

It is now too late to save summer Arctic sea ice, research has shown, and scientists say preparations need to be made for the increased extreme weather across the northern hemisphere that is likely to occur as a result.
Since satellite records began in 1979, summer Arctic ice has shrunk by 13% a decade, in one of the clearest signs of the climate crisis.
"Unfortunately it has become too late to save Arctic summer sea ice," said Prof Dirk Notz, of the University of Hamburg, Germany, who was part of the study team.
In 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that the Arctic would not lose its summer ice if emissions were cut sharply and global temperature rises were limited to 2C. But the new research, published in the journal Nature Communications, projects the loss of summer sea ice in the 2050s in the low emissions scenario.
Faster melting of Arctic sea ice leads to a vicious circle of more heating, because the dark ocean exposed as ice melts absorbs more heat from the sun.
Prof Mark Serreze, the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder in the US, who was not part of the study team, said: "The key message is that we are pretty much destined to lose the Arctic's sea ice cover in late summer.

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Hi everyone, hoping I can get some good advice from those who have been in the LS for a while about a tough situation I'm going through with my partner. Apologies for the length.
We have been in a committed relationship for a long time (around 10 years) and have both expressed some mild interest in opening things up in some way at various times throughout the relationship. In the last year or so, I pushed for making it happen, and we agreed to take it slow and work with a couples therapist to try to navigate it in a way that wouldn't disrupt our relationship too much since that's our main goal.
We came up with a plan that I now know includes many common rookie mistakes (but at the time we thought it sounded like a good way to go). We decided we would each take a turn going to a sex club solo and hooking up with someone, then chatting about it with our couples therapist. I'm a straight guy and she's a bi woman. She was only interested in hooking up with women, but said she could be open to hooking up with men down the line, and I thought that sounded good since it seemed easier to me to emotionally deal with her hooking up with another woman. However I always had the intention of allowing her to hook up with a guy down the line if she wanted to.
It seemed less jealousy-inducing to go separate, though now I see why so many couples only play together. I took my turn and, surprise, as a single guy I had a really hard time making a hookup happen. I made the mistake of sort of "settling" for a hookup since I was "going first" and wanted her to get her turn. This was, I think, one of the flaws of our plan: we both felt pressured to make a hookup happen so we could move on with the plan. So my hookup wasn't very enjoyable for me, there were no open rooms at the sex club and this person wasn't my top choice, despite being attracted to her. The club was closing soon, so we had about 15 minutes and there was no foreplay, no time to really ease into it like I normally do with my partner.
Fast forward a bit and my parter finally takes her turn. She goes to the same club and meets a couple she likes and is attracted to the guy. She tries to contact me to ask if she can kiss him (he asked if she was open to it) but I wasn't available to answer and she respectfully declined. I felt a little bad that I hadn't been available to answer her text, so I said "I would have said yes" and was feeling good about the idea of her hooking up with a guy since that was who she was actually attracted to.
She told the couple that I had given the ok and that she was only interested in hooking up with the guy in the couple. They told her the next day that they were having a solo guy over and that she was welcome to come and join them and could play with whomever she wanted. I told her I was only ok with her hooking up with the one guy she had been attracted to and said I was ok with it.
However as she was on her way there, I was starting to feel unsure, and realized that somehow we had gone from her only hooking up with women at the sex club, to her hooking up with a guy while his wife and another guy were there too in their hotel room. I talked to her right before they did the deed and expressed my concern about the fact that it was a group thing. I was feeling really insecure and weirdly left out. She asked me if I was still ok with it, and I stupidly said yes even though in retrospect it was way past my comfort zone. After the fact we both realized that it was a pretty big jump up in seriousness, and I felt some resentment that she would have never agreed to me doing the same arrangement, but I also recognize that it was me who said I was ok with it, and in that regard it's my fault.
So she went and had a good time, though had some reservations about aspects of it. Ever since then, I have been kind of a mess. I immediately started to feel really insecure that I had struggled so much to meet anyone and had ultimately had a really underwhelming experience while she was able to have a fun experience on her first try. I started to feel really jealous about the guy and have just been feeling really down and awful about myself ever since. It doesn't help that I feel like ultimately it all went wrong because of me, I wasn't honest with myself about what I was ok with and she had my blessing. So I feel a lot of self-judgment for saying it's ok and then being jealous while she was not jealous after my hookup. I do think the difference in the scenario affected the level of jealousy, I have a feeling if she had hooked up with someone 1-on-1 at the sex club I may have not felt so triggered by the experience. Still, I feel like this is my fault.
I read up some more after this experience and saw that playing together is common and that one of the jealousy triggers is being apart, where your imagination can run wild. Also it seems like another perk of playing together is that there is a natural equality to the encounter, both people are getting to hook up with someone in the same setting.
So basically I feel like I royally fucked up in multiple ways. First by hooking up with someone who I wasn't really that into, secondly by saying yes to something that I really wasn't ok with. I would really like to be able to try the LS, and I am hoping that a lot of the jealousy comes from us making rookie mistakes. I am wondering if anyone else has had an experience like this and might be able to share what worked for them. For the record, my partner is awesome and has been so supportive during this. She has really focused on making sure I know that I am her main priority and that she wants anything we do to center our relationship, whether it be trying some other way to participate in the LS, or abandoning it altogether.
TL;DR: Me and my partner of 10 years decided to try the LS, tried to go slow but things ended up accelerating quickly. Finding myself jealous of a hookup she had and of how easily she was able to have a pleasurable hookup while I struggled to find anyone interested and settled for a hookup that was really unsatisfying. Looking for help on how to proceed.

My middle school is making me pay these bogus obligations, despite the fact that I’m not even supposed to have to pay them. They are charging so much for these stupid obligations, that it is almost 1000 dollars. I just cant believe why they are doing it, and now it just added onto alot of other matters my family has to worry about. Here’s what happened:
So a little TL:DR, I live in an area in florida. I go to a school named, “Eagles Landing Middle School.” I have just finished 7th grade, and as I am writing this post, I am currently just starting summer break.
My mom works as a nurse at the local medical center, but her shift starts at 8:30, and my middle school starts an hour later.
My middle school has this thing called, “The Morning Program.” Basically, parents have the option to sign up for their kids to go into school an hour earlier if it was either more convenient for them or if the child wanted to. I was the first one, as morning program started at 8 am, while my mothers shift starts at 8:30 am.
There is a staff member that watches us almost every day that morning program is held.
On the first day, the teacher of morning program said this message, “If you have free or reduced lunch, you do not have to pay any morning or after school fees” Well, I got lunch every day, and they never ask for money from me, or from alot of other kids, so it is pretty obvious everyone to most people got free/reduced lunch.
But this is where it start’s to get frustrating. About halfway throughout the school year, my math teacher was handing out these white packets.
As I read the packet, my blood started to ever so slowly boil.
I don’t remember exactly what it said, but it was something like this:
“Dear parent or guardian:
Your child has outstanding obligations. These obligations must be payed as soon as possible.
If these obligations are failed to be payed, your child may lose the oppurtunity to attend extracurricular activities such as field trips, dances, etc. “
As soon as I read that part, I was like, “What obligations!” “I am certain that there is no fines that I owe, right?”
Then, I checked the list of obligations I owe, and one of them made me lose it.
Registration Fee: 6$.
Now, this one was reasonable, and I could pay that pretty quickly.
But the next one is the main reason on why I am writing this post.
Morning School Program: 486$.
I froze when I read the dollar amount. I couldn’t believe it.
The school was making me pay money for my Morning Program, despite the fact that I wasn’t even supposed to have to pay them, because I had free/reduced lunch, which is what the morning program teacher said.
I immediently went to talk to the morning program teacher, because I thought something was up.
And rather than helping me, she just said something like this, “If you wish to remove those obligations, you must give me a letter saying that you are entitled to free/reduced lunch.”
What letter? They never gave us any letters, nor did they post one in our google inboxes!
So she was telling me, that if I was to remove my obligations, I had to give her a letter, despite the fact that me and a bunch of other students never got one. This just made me so angry, but I got more angry after realizing something.
My family already has a lot of stuff on their shoulders financially.
Here are most of them:
Our Washer and Dryer are broken, and to fix them would cost around 1000$.
Prices of food and other stuff, including gas has risen up drastically, while my mothers income level is still the same.
Because of all of this, I have overheard my mother saying that she might have to start taking a second job as well, because she said, “We Need The Money.”
And now because of these stupid obligations, they have even more problems to worry about, and now it probably just slightly harder for them!
I thought things couldn’t get any worse. That is until later into the year, my civics teacher was handing out a familiar white packet. Sure enough, it was another paper stating I have obligations, and the ones listed on that paper were around the same fees as before.
Then, I just sat there stunned. Now, I owe almost 1000 dollars to the school, most of that money I’m not even supposed to have to owe.
And to add on to this, the morning program teacher told us that if we don’t have our obligations payed, we will not be able to register for morning program next year.
That’s when I ready to lose it. Are you telling me, that if I don’t pay some stupid obligation, that I can’t register for a simple program to stay at school for an extra hour?!
This post as I wrote it was just so blood boiling. Not only do I have to pay some dumb obligations that I am not even supposed to owe, but now the school is depriving me of registering for morning school, all because they don’t want to check if I have free or reduced lunch, despite the fact that I clearly do. Instead, they demand me send them a stupid letter, that they never even gave out!
You guys might think I am overreacting, but I dont care. I just needed to get this out of my system.

I don’t really care for the parade, I’m more looking for a dance/ drinking vibe. I’ve done the civic center event for the last couple of years and I’m over that. Let me know what spots you think are great or which ones to avoid.

I'm setting up my initial vaginoplasty consult with Dr. Boysen at the BWH Center For Trans Health in Boston. Has anyone worked with him or his colleague at BWH Dr. Argawal?

Long post, important information.
Hey so I wanted to post here about my top surgery experience so far as I haven’t seen too many people talking about Dr. Praful Ramineni too much here, and felt it would be important to document for any friends pursuing top surgery with him.
First off, he was recommended to me via a friend who got top surgery with him, and another friend went with Dr. Cassie Nghiem (same plastic surgery office and surgical center). Both are excellent surgeons with fantastic results + reputations. Going into my consultation was very easy, but be ready to provide your insurance (if you have any), ID, payment method, and I highly recommend bringing your therapist’s referral on the day of consultation as it will make the process go to much faster.
The office is very nice and they were able to get me in and see me very quickly, a bit before my appointment time. It is important to ask him lots of questions as he will explain the procedure and what you qualify for, but doesn’t go too in depth about scar options, placement options, etc. My advice is to ask about those aesthetic options on the first appointment, even though I didn’t. I asked about common complications, pain management strategies (as I didn’t want to take opioids), and post operative care and treatment options. It is important to note any pre-existing medical conditions/neurological conditions as it may affect the surgery.
After that consult, because I was able to provide documentation from my psychiatrist regarding the surgery, he immediately gave me a date, May 30th.
Important thing to note is that my friend had previously struggled with insurance issues at his office so emailing their insurance team and getting in contact with your insurance to see how much it will be is very important. I will admit I am still in the blind about the true amount I owe. The surgical center bill was around $800 with my insurance (BCBS) and that is not counting the separate bill for Dr. Ramineni or the anesthesiologist, so do keep that in mind.
I got my pre-op instructions two weeks before my appointment and was also called by Glen Echo Surgical Center staff in order to verify the price I would be paying that day as well as my previous medical information that might be pertinent to the surgery. They were super helpful over the phone and the pre-op instructions were very clear. I received my post-op meds around the same time.
Day of, the worst part was the wait. Got there a bit early so it was partially my fault, but they were also running a little behind. I needed my ID, form of payment, insurance card, and proof of vaccination. Paperwork was easy, and eventually I was pulled in to get ready. The woman helping me through pre-op was named Barbara and she was extremely sweet and calmed my nerves a lot. Essentially the process is: pee in a cup, get disrobed and in a gown, take the meds the pre-op nurse gives you, and then get the heart monitor and IV hooked up. Easy peasy.
Like I said, my appointment was late and I was unsure as to why but too excited to really care. The anesthesiologist came in and asked me questions to ensure he would be able to provide correct dosages and explained to me that while I would be under, they would intubate me. After this, Dr. Ramineni came by, asked me a few questions, and at this point he asked “any special requests?” to which I didn’t understand what he meant, and said “no.”
This is the time where I should have showed him pictures of placements or physiques I liked, but due to this misunderstanding, didn’t. I’m not super upset about this, as I know he has great results, it’s just one of those miscommunication things that might impact potential overall satisfaction for the surgery. (please keep in mind I am still wearing the surgical binder and have been unable to see my results yet, though i’ve peaked under a little and am pretty satisfied with nipple placement and whatnot.)
Staff at Glen Echo were more than kind and helpful upon returning from my surgery and offered me drinks to help wake me up from anesthesia. I cracked jokes in my half-awake foggy brain and they all laughed along— spirits were high and it was an excellent experience. I was able to go home within that hour and recovery since has been very smooth.
One thing I am very grateful for is the swiftness at which Ramineni and his staff respond to emails and questions. I once emailed him concerns about my drainage outputs at 9:30pm (felt a bit bad about that) and he was still very quick to answer.
I will make an update post on Thursday, as that is when I see my chest for the first time and get the drains removed! If you have any questions, feel free to AMA! this is mainly for my Virginia/Maryland/DC friends seeking out top surgeons in the area!

Buckle up...
Applied expedited, check cashed and put in processing 5/2/2023. Locator 69.
DOT: 6/9/2023
2 weeks out from DOT I began to reach out to my Congressman. They sent the request like they do but was crickets otherwise.
Once I hit 7 business days before DOT I started hammering the 877 number. Repeatedly and nonstop trying to get appointments. Did all the 8am EST exactly. I actually got an appointment at my closest passport center but I only had an hour to collect all documents and get there. Had to cancel. Kept calling, nothing. No appointments.
Reached out to my congressman again as i hadn't heard from him in a week. Apparently there was a congressional event. During this time I reached out to my senator because I was concerned I had been lost in the shuffle (understandable). The moment I submitted the form to the senator the Congressman called and said he was sending in another request.
I repeatedly call locator 69 on their expedited line just to see of any possible status updates. When I got through the person on the line was very very unpleasant. Seemed very annoyed I was calling and would say things like "when it said 7-9 weeks it meant 7-9 weeks" and would act like I was lying when I said I had heard people have received updates about where my passport was in in the review process (had someone even opened the application yet vs it being on the printer). I was extremely calm and polite, but was pretty shocked at how angry this person was considering all the great things I've heard about locator 69.
Anyway! So, keep hitting the 877 and when I get through the person tells me "well I see you already have a scheduled appointment for 6/9". Which is nice, but it's also my DOT so not very helpful. When I ask about the time, confirmation emails, or any information at all. They have no idea. They assume it must be my congressman who set it up.
I reach back out to the congressman, they tell me they haven't heard a word about anything. They had nothing to do with it.
Reach BACK out to the 877 number and anytime they'd look at my file they'd all go "huh? That's weird" or something to that effect, and eventually they transfer me to the life or death line, which is a whole different thing and different "officer". I explained the situation and had no idea why I was transferred to him. He goes through this phantom appointment and is completely confused by it. He has no idea how it was scheduled, no confirmation numbers, no time. Just the location.
My senator responds and says my passport is being urgently pushed to the review process. I'm currently <72 hours from travel, mind you.
I call the 69 locator back, which they have a whole separate line for "travel within 72 hours" in the options menu and guess what? I get the same rude worker I did the day before from the general expedited line.
She was telling me "I told you there's nothing we can do" and I explained I thought this was a different line with different options since I'm now within 72 hours of travel and the menu clearly states to press this button if I'm <72 hours away. She says that I'm making it up and that she's never heard of this. Essentially calling me a liar, which that one bothered me but I understand high stress jobs can make people act like that. They aren't mad at you, they're just mad at the situation, ya know?
ANYWAY...
So tl;dr
I have been in expedited processing since 5/2 with DOT 6/9, locator 69.
Congressman and Senator contacted (usually a no no I've heard) but I haven't had any issues. Congressman heard nothing. Senator got my passport being "urgently reviewed" today apparently.
During this time a phantom appointment was made on my DOT which everyone at the NPIC can see, but cannot confirm its real and no one knows who made it. Not my senator or congressman.
Locator 69 has a great rep, but I had a bad experience with their customer service line both times. NPIC workers are absolutely amazing on all of my calls.
So here I am <72hours with my passport being urgently reviewed (anyone know if it's possible to go from this to having it in my hands by 6/8?)
And I also have the phantom appointment? Do I just show up even without any confirmation? Will my passport being in process stop my appointment?
It's been a WILD last 7 days.
UPDATE: Uh, so... WOW. I just received a phone call from my congressman about 15 minutes ago and he told me he managed to secure an in person appointment at my closest agency on 6/8 the day before my DOT
I am in absolute shock. My best advice is to be persistent, but be kind, even when it isnt being reciprocated. I reached out to my congressman via email, but would call back if I didn't get an answer in a day or 2 just to politely ask if there were any updates. I would be kind and make it light-hearted, but as I've seen so many times posted here "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" and I can attest to that. Shout out to Caiden at Congressman Tim Walbergs office. Legend.
Another protip, have whoever you can call the NPIC. Not just you. I had my wife calling constantly as well. When they were about 5min left in the queue, they would simply add me to the call via 3-way and mute themselves. Managed to have a couple appointments offered, but all were unrealistic (ex: Seattle in 5 hours) or it got snatched up before we finished our confirmations. So the appointments are there, and they were offered at all times of the day. Not just the mornings.

Hi Helpful REDDIT Humans,I wrote this letter, below the numbered points, for the Betterment of the Group, along with the input of my co-workers. I uploaded this letter to the Town Hall site for the February 10th, 2023 meeting for reduced hours or think out of the box for the retainment of staff. We are burnt out and no one is listening. I don't even think they even read the letter we submitted below. I modified some of this for protection. We are a Union workplace, I have not involved the Union.

1. We followed up a month later in March to Mike, Jeff, Liz and our manager Kelly (who likes to please leadership) and asked if they have come to any decisions, and also said if we could set up an appointment with any of them and it was CRICKETS.
2. Two weeks later we followed up again and invited any of them to our floor to talk to us. Again, met with CRICKETS. No one is replying to us.
3. We sent a 3rd follow-up a week later and asked to meet or they come to our floor. This time I included the National President of our company.
4. We finally got a response when we sent it the the National guy!!!! The state Leadership, Mike and Jeff and Director Liz were not happy about this and We finally got a response that said that we have been spoken to by management several times over the last few months regarding there will be no changes to the FTE. This is how they are going to retain nurses for the current shortage.
5. I replied that he received misinformation and no one came and talked to us. I asked 10 of my co-workers if they recall anyone talking to us about reducing hours or working 4-10's and no one recalls anyone coming to our floor.
6. Director Liz comes down to our floor the next day for our 0720 huddle unannounced huffing, puffing and pissed. She has her arms crossed and said she s here to talk but nothing is going to change. So we asked if we can try out 4-10 hours shifts. She said yes, but no reduction in FTE or the use of PRN's (as needed nurses).
7. I asked my manager Kelly for a blank schedule with how many nurses a day we need for the week, we took all the vacation requests for June and made it work using 21 nurses and no PRN staff!! We needed only 4 PRN nurses for the end of June to grant everyone the time off they asked for!!!!!
8. I submitted it to Director Liz and AGAIN had to follow-up a week later of what they thought. I asked my manager how the meeting went and she said they are running the numbers and I told her to please send this information out because the staff, at this point is demoralized. She did and it has been 2 weeks.
9. THIS IS WHERE WE NEED HELP. They just want us to go AWAY. This is very dysfunctional and neglectful. What is our next step? It has been 4 months of this.

​
THIS IS THE INITIAL LETTER WE SENT IN FEBRUARY:
To: Mike - Regional President Jeff, MD - President, Executive Medical Director From: Gastroenterology Staff - RN’s and MA’s Re: Flexible Schedules to Reduce Burnout and Increase Quality of Life Hello Mike and Jeff Thank You for holding this Town Hall meeting for the Region employees. We would like to take this opportunity to share with you our thoughts, ideas, feelings, and concerns regarding our life here in GI. Please know, GI is a wonderful place to work, our team is dynamic and patient care is fulfilling. As healthcare professionals, we are always looking for ways to improve patient safety and member satisfaction, improve our efficiency and make Kaiser Permanente Thrive. Our concern and frustration are that the required full-time employment (FTE) is unThriving many of us into the ground. It is demoralizing and makes it challenging to create a work-life balance. We have tried going the normal route of speaking to our managers. We have been told by Kelly our manager, that GI leadership says to talk to the Union, and we have spoken to the Union ad nauseam about this. A petition was circulated in the three GI departments to garner support for addressing FTE, which is below and shared with Nate our Union representative. Nothing has come of it. Union Reps have spoken to Steve, who is Kelly's Boss and it ends there, we have no idea if he presents it to Liz, who is the Ambulatory Surgery Center Admin. We are trying a new route, going from the top down. Our People Pulses reflect our dissatisfaction on several levels, but we never get to go over them as a Department to see if we can make improvements and talk about issues. We feel as though we are not Seen or Heard. Company has approximately spent $160,000 training Eight nurses that have left for three 12 houfour 10 hour shifts or went PRN THIS YEAR. Because Five/8 hour days are not sustainable. It takes approximately 2 months to train a nurse to get them up and running and a year or two to feel seasoned in GI. It is very stressful for the department to keep training people only to have them leave because the FTE is a 1.0 and then they realize the required hours are not sustainable. At the end of our workday, and work week we have very little time or energy to take care of family, home responsibilities and ourselves. As RN’s and MA’s our jobs in GI are very dynamic, physically, mentally and emotionally demanding. Physically we are constantly moving beds in and out of rooms, adjusting beds and patients for each case, getting patients ready for their procedures, making beds, and restocking supplies. During procedures some patients require a great deal more hands-on, applying pressure on the abdomen to help the doctor advance the scope through the colon, upper endoscopies may require us to hold hands, and or bracing the patient to help the DR. perform the procedure. Mentally we always have to be on. We are always assessing patients. Pre-oping patients many skills and assessments. During intra-op we are constantly assessing patients for safety and ensuring patient comfort, documenting the many patient assessments, and medication administered all while taking biopsies, cauterizing polyps, inking sites in the colon, dilating the esophagus, getting through tortuous colons, etc.
Also, many of the patients are anxious/angry or are being diagnosed with cancer and other GI diseases, all of which require extra care and can be emotionally draining. Our many work demands are unique to this department. Demands, that make us both love our job and also a need to create a balance of self-care to help us fulfill the Kaiser Permanente Mission. Quite simply, many of us are burnt out: There is increased absenteeism - which costs Company $ Increased employee turnover - which cost Company $ Increased employee workplace stress between employees - which costs Company $ Decreased employee trust, loyalty, motivation and morale - which costs Company$ Decreased employee productivity - which costs Company $ Harm to Company's Reputation and decreased respect for the organization’s mission and vision - which costs $ Please consider that St. Joe’s has openings for part-time work with benefits. GI in Oregon has 4/10 hour shifts, so does GI in California, California barely has a lot of 1.0’s, So it can be done, and it has been done at Kaiser in the past. Please consider changing the required FTE to 0.8 for Full Time/and the flexibility for 4-day/ 9-hour shifts, and 4-day /10-hour shifts for the RNs, and MAs. This would be beneficial and the staff would have the flexibility to schedule healthcare appointments for themselves and their families, get their car fixed, take their pets to the vet, increase their quality of life, and decrease stress. As we prioritize patient care, we also want all of our coworkers to have the ability to take care of themselves and their families. We have attached a screenshot of the seniority lists at all three GI locations. I think it's important to mention the inequality of FTE distribution across the three locations- Franklin has a much higher number of over all 1.0's, 13 total. All the 1.0 staff are getting resentful of fellow co-workers' lower FTE. Franklin alone has lost 5 - 1.0 just that have left Franklin GI this year. People who left (or are leaving) that were 0.6-0.8 FTE who then had their positions posted as a 1.0: Robin 0.7 last day 3/3 Heidi 0.6 People who left due to being unhappy with a 1.0 FTE in GI: Matthew - moved out of state Sara - went to KASC Lone Tree - 3/12’s Sara - went to KASC Franklin - 3/12’s Jane - went to Minors Lone Tree - 4/10’s Anna - went to Minors Rock Creek 4/10’s Jason - left for reduced hours outside of Kaiser Heidi - just gave her notice and is going to Ortho PRN Chanda-left procedures to do fibroscans With a 10-hour day shift this would allow us to; call patients, scrub schedules, and have a list of patients that can come in the next day when we see an opening. For example, a doctor had 3 cases fall off that cost Kaiser $3,000 - $1,000 per 30 minutes. We have about a 11 percent no show rate at Franklin, we could improve that by calling patients and filling in the gaps if the patient cancels with another patient. Scrubbing the schedules and increasing profits for Kaiser..there are so many ways we can be more dynamic and profitable. We can start a little earlier to set up our rooms, right now we have 15 minutes. Since Kaiser is coming down on the Doctors to do more and more and more, they are coming into our rooms earlier and earlier because Kaiser is making them do more in the same amount of time. It’s RUSH, RUSH and RUSHing all around. Please let us know how we can help support our case for a .8 FTE and/or 4 ten hour shifts. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter as it is very important to many, if not all of the RNs in the Colorado GI departments. If this doesn’t make it to the Town Hall, would you please respond to us regarding your thoughts about our letter, People Pulse, and maybe a visit to our Unit? It would mean a lot to hear a rationale instead of deaf ears and the word NO all the time, Or we can’t change it, because your schedule revolves around the Doctor’s schedule. Why is it so hard to TRIAL and/or TRY DIFFERENT schedules out to see if it makes an improvement? Thank you for your time and for listening to us, GI Colorado The letter below was from GI, circulated July 2022 Dear Company, We, the Employed Registered Nurses (RNs), Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) and Local 7 Healthcare Professionals, are respectfully requesting that full time employment (FTE) hours be reconsidered.
As committed employees of Company, we share the mission to deliver quality health care to every member. Our training to assess and care for our patients demands we be at our best with every patient contact, prioritizing patient safety and wellbeing. Currently new Registered Nurses are being hired at a 1.0 FTE, whereas RNs in the past have been hired at .9 and there are long term RN’s that are employed at a .8, .7 and .6 FTE. A five day, forty-hour work week does not allow for a balance between work and life, and limits flexible scheduling options for many RN and APP positions.
Kaiser invests a considerable amount of time to train newly hired RNs, and APPs. These new hires are initially excited to be a part of a respected and prestigious organization. They soon learn that the demands and inflexible scheduling are not conducive to creating a balance between career and family responsibilities or interests outside of work. We are hearing from our colleagues that they will not apply for a position that requires a forty-hour work week. We are losing good people to other organizations so that they can maintain a work life balance. As RNs, APPs, Local 7 Healthcare Professionals who value our careers as health care providers for Kaiser Permanente Members, we respectfully request that full time employment be flexible and part time positions be offered to allow for a work life balance. We are available to have an in person meeting to discuss this in further detail. Thank you for your serious consideration, GI https://www.thepermanentejournal.org/doi/10.7812/TPP/05-092 Some takeaways from the article: “If we’re not taking care of ourselves, then how can we take care of our members future and to our reputation,” from the late Bernard Tyson. He goes on to say, “They are critical to our future because we depend upon people to deliver our health care. Sure, technology and well-calibrated equipment are also key tools in health care delivery, but it’s the people who bring the experience to life for our members and key stakeholders. Plus, in order for us to be respected in our field and viewed as America’s health leader, we must walk our talk.” Supporting a work environment that promotes employee health, wellness, and work-life balance is directly aligned with KP and Labor Management intentions and goals. KP leaders will continue to demonstrate our commitment to the wellness of our workforce by caring and respecting the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of employees and physicians.” Work-Life Balance: Care Instructions - https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org › health-wellness As America’s health leader, we must walk our talk. https://www.theskimm.com/money After dealing with labor shortages and employee burnout, companies are taking things up a notch with work perks in 2023. And we’re not just talking about lunch stipends or ping-pong tables in the office. It’s called proactive rest. And it’s more than just taking your vacation days. Because waiting until you’re burned out to take care of yourself is so 2022. What is proactive rest? Proactive rest is how some companies are stepping up to prevent employee burnout at work, according to a Gartner workplace trends report. Instead of only relying on PTO, workplaces are adjusting their policies to give their employees breaks and flexibility. It's similar to active recoveries in fitness — rather than taking a full day of rest from working out, you might opt for a walk or some stretching instead. At work, proactive rest might look like: No-meeting blocks. When your company designates certain hours or days for no meetings. Flexible lunch breaks. Meaning, employees can choose when they take their breaks. Mandatory breaks. And that could be in addition to lunch. It may look like “wellness time” for you to take naps in the afternoon. Four-day work weeks. As in, getting the same amount of work done in fewer days — with no pay cuts. Office closures. That could mean a week-long company-wide break or summer Fridays. So you can switch from “TGIF” to “TGIT” from June through September. View post on Instagram Why is proactive rest important? Prioritizing rest can help companies boost productivity. It may sound counterintuitive, but a Gartner survey found a 26% increase in performance at companies that incorporated proactive rest. Plus, it could incentivize people to apply for jobs at these companies — and even slow turnover rates. Because burned out employees are more than three times likely to look for new jobs. For employees, burnout is still extremely common. And being able to get ahead of it can help avoid having to recover from burnout later on. Building rest into the work calendar can help encourage employees to actually use it. Because Americans aren’t the best at taking their PTO, even when it’s offered. And they typically put in extra hours: The average employee worked nine unpaid hours per week in 2022. If it sounds like hustle culture, it is. While it may be helpful for climbing the corporate ladder, it might come at the expense of your mental health. View post on TikTok theSkimm Companies are taking extra measures to keep employees’ mental health in check in 2023. Because free office snacks just aren’t cutting it anymore. And having the freedom to take care of yourself now can prevent you from struggling down the road.

I lived in the city from 2000-15, and just returned from a week-long stay after reading all the Republican bullshit about SF becoming a filthy, crime-ridden place. In fact, the city looked better -- cleaner, etc. -- than it has in years, and felt safer, too. No, we didn't venture out at night, but we did walk from the Financial District up Market to Civic Center, then looped through the Tenderloin on the way back to our hotel. Sure, we saw plenty of people living on the street, but fewer than on my last trip in spring 2022.

Here is another round of updates and additional due diligence on $VRSSF (OTCQX)/ $VERS (NEO) to share. Since writing a DD for this stock on Reddit, it has nearly tripled. Volume has increased heavily since. Here is why I am EVEN MORE bullish now:
Original DD 2 months ago: “https://www.reddit.com/pennystocks/comments/12awmzw/verses_ai_has_great_catalysts_that_can_help_it/”
TLD Investment Thesis: VERSES AI is a cognitive computing company that is developing a new type of AI that is designed to mimic human understanding. Verses AI is called GIA, has developed an advanced AI platform called KOSM which powers it. KOSM can connect data, rules, simulations, and processes to help businesses make better decisions. It also has a broad range of applications in industries such as smart cities, smart grids, and smart homes, to name a few.
Contrary to existing Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT, Google’s BARD, and Meta’s LLAMA, which generate content based on inferred patterns but lack deep comprehension, VERSES is striving for a more human-like understanding. They aim for their AI not merely to mimic but to truly understand, incorporating new information post-training and applying nuance, similar to a human brain.
Today (6/5), the largest law firm in the world, Dentons, has co-authored a 50-page whitepaper with VERSES on how to govern AI, titled “A Path to Global AI Governance”. The report by VERSES and Dentons is a valuable contribution to the debate about the governance of AI, as it is a set of protocols, believed to become the backbone of AI governance. The report’s recommendations are comprehensive and well-argued, and they offer a roadmap for how to ensure that AI is used safely and responsibly.
Verses AI has a strong team of experienced AI professionals, and it has raised over $20 million in funding (this funding will help the company to grow its business and develop its AI platform). The company is already working with Fortune 500 companies, and it has the potential to be a major player in the AI industry.
VERSES’s leadership and technology AI team is led by Dr. Karl Friston (Dr. Karl Friston is a prominent British neuroscientist and theoretical neurobiologist, widely recognized for his work on brain imaging, neural networks, and computational models of brain function) and others who have a lot of experience in AI, IoT, Robotics, VAR, Enterprise Software, and Global Sales.
If GIA is successful, it could revolutionize the field of AI. Here are some of the benefits of VERSES’s AI: - It could be more accurate and less biased than current AI models. - It could be able to learn and adapt more easily. - It could be able to interact with the physical world in a more natural way. Looking at the AI industry’s prospective growth, it’s slated to become a trillion-dollar industry by 2030, with a CAGR of over 40%. The AI market is growing rapidly. The global AI market is expected to reach $422.37 billion by 2028.
VERSES offers an AI ecosystem for a variety of global solutions to B2B, B2G and B2C businesses in across all major industries. Their business model includes various revenue streams such as licensing, Joint Ventures, KOSM fees, compute fees, transaction fees, and marketplace fees. Verses AI’s focus on diversifying revenue streams and strategic collaborations offers a strong and sustainable business model. The AI industry’s exponential growth, plus Verses AI’s strong foundation and partnerships are very attractive.
VERSES’s AI could have a major impact on a variety of industries, including: - Manufacturing: GIA could be used to automate tasks, improve quality control, and reduce costs. - Logistics: GIA could be used to optimize transportation routes, track inventory, and manage supply chains. - Healthcare: GIA could be used to diagnose diseases, provide personalized care, and develop new treatments. - Education: GIA could be used to personalize learning, provide feedback, and create engaging educational experiences.
VRSSF has good upside potential, a strong business model with multiple revenue streams, significant revenue potential, near-term growth catalysts, a strong cash position as well and has intentions to uplist onto NASDAQ
Verses AI is up while C3.ai $AI is down. The trading volume of VRSSF has increased a lot. The average volume stands at 369,753, but the most recent volume was nearly three times that at 1,092,582. This increased activity shows heightened investor interest and could signify a positive momentum shift. Overall, the technical analysis data for Verses AI is positive. The stock is trading above its moving averages, the RSI is above 50 and rising, and volume is increasing. These are all bullish signs that suggest that the stock could continue to rise in the future. Financials/ Valuation Data: - Revenue: Revenue has been growing steadily in recent quarters, with a 101.20% YoY quarterly revenue growth. This shows that the company is growing its business and generating more revenue. - The sales growth from 2021 to 2022 is a 2,606.59%. The company has leaped from revenue of 128.5K to 3.48M in just one year. This demonstrates the increasing demand for their products and services and indicates that they’re effectively penetrating the market. - Earnings: Earnings per share (EPS) has been negative in recent quarters, but it is trending upwards. This shows that the company is on the path to profitability. - One critical takeaway from the financials is the company’s ability to control its operating expenses, which dropped significantly from $16.91 million to $4.27 million. This is a strong indication that management is focused on efficiency and cost control, which is an excellent sign for future profitability. - Many young companies, especially in technology, often operate at a loss in their early years as they invest heavily in research, development, and market penetration. The fact that VRSSF has seen such rapid sales growth and improvement in gross income suggests they are on a great path. - Cash flow: Cash flow from operations has been positive in recent quarters, which means that the company is generating enough cash to cover its operating expenses. - Debt: Debt is relatively low, which means that the company does not have a lot of financial obligations. Technical Analysis & Price Action: The trading volume of VRSSF is a noteworthy point. The average volume stands at 369,753, but the most recent volume was nearly three times that at 1,092,582, and recently trading more than 2,000,000 shares daily. This increased activity shows heightened investor interest and could signify a positive momentum shift.
- Moving averages: The 50-day moving average is rising, which is a bullish sign. The 200-day moving average is also rising, which is a sign of a long-term uptrend. - Relative strength index (RSI): The RSI is above 50, which is a bullish sign. The RSI is also rising, which is a sign of increasing momentum. - Bollinger bands: The Bollinger bands are widening, which is a sign of increasing volatility. However, the bands are still relatively narrow, which is a sign of a healthy market. - Volume: Volume is increasing, which is a bullish sign. Increasing volume shows that more people are buying the stock, which is a sign of increasing demand. Conclusion: Overall, Verses AI is a company with a lot of potential. It has a strong team, a solid financial foundation, and a number of innovative products and services. Verses AI can revolutionize the field of AI by being more accurate and less biased than current models while being able to learn and adapt more easily. I believe that Verses AI has the potential to be a major player in the AI industry, and I am bullish on the company.
If you have any additional information, please let me know. Have you heard of it? Are you watching it? Do you own it? Original DD 2 months ago: “https://www.reddit.com/pennystocks/comments/12awmzw/verses\_ai\_has\_great\_catalysts\_that\_can\_help\_it/” Recent News/Catalysts: In June 20023, the largest law firm in the world, Dentons, has co-authored a 50-page whitepaper with VERSES on how to govern AI, titled “A Path to Global AI Governance”. Dentons and VERSES have put forward a set of protocols, believed to become the backbone of AI governance. They offer a standard framework, aiming to foster the responsible growth of AI technologies. The report by VERSES and Dentons is a valuable contribution to the debate about the governance of AI. The report’s recommendations are comprehensive and well-argued, and they offer a roadmap for how to ensure that AI is used safely and responsibly. In March 2023, Verses AI raised an additional C$600,000, bringing the total amount of capital raised to C$7,504,845.30. This funding will help the company to continue to grow and develop its AI technologies. In March 2023, Verses AI announced a strategic partnership with SimWell, a leader in digital simulations. The partnership will combine Verses AI’s advanced AI technology with SimWell’s experience in building digital twins to deliver predictive modeling simulations. This collaboration will empower enterprise clients in various sectors to generate real-time models to make data-driven decisions, optimize processes, and reduce costs. In February 2023, Verses AI announced the development of a next-generation AI personal assistant called GIA (General Intelligent Agent). GIA will automate data organization, predictive reasoning, and the ability to learn over time. GIA is poised to become the first intelligent all-in-one solution for anyone seeking a smarter way to organize, manage, and automate their personal and professional activities. Verses AI is planning the international beta rollout of GIA beginning in the summer of 2023. In February 2023, Verses AI partnered with SVT Robotics to expand the application of AI in industrial environments, specifically warehouses and distribution centers. As the demand for automation and AI continues to grow, strategic partnerships like this can create a competitive edge and open up new opportunities for companies involved in the supply chain and logistics sector. In November 2022, Verses Technologies and Blue Yonder have partnered to provide adaptive intelligence and Spatial Twin management applications to Blue Yonder’s global logistics customers. These applications will help improve workflow optimization, traceability, and intelligent automation in warehouses and distribution centers. This partnership is a good thing for the global supply chain. It will help companies to address some of the persistent challenges that they are currently facing, such as labor shortages, equipment availability, and the ripple effect of global bottlenecks. By implementing these advanced technologies, supply chain companies can enhance their routing, slotting, and capacity management. As the world continues to face supply chain challenges, this partnership is a good step towards addressing current supply chain issues by using AI technology. Additionally, it will help companies to automate tasks, which can free up employees to focus on more strategic work.

About Pulso
Pulso is a Latino-led social enterprise dedicated to raising up and keeping the pulse on nuestra gente. We build deep digital relationships with Latinx folks through their phones in order to transform civic engagement and build political power.
Pulso attracts and engages Latinos through our innovative Latino history and news service, via Facebook Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and The Pulso Podcast. With this daily relationship and by telling the stories that have shaped our community, Pulso connects U.S.-based Latinos/as/x with our history and encourages subscribers to take action on critical issues, register to vote, and to cast their votes on Election Day.
To see the digitally-based service we’re building, search for “Project Pulso” in the Facebook Messenger app. You can also learn more about our work at https://projectpulso.org/.
Pulso is a project of Accelerate Change (AC), a nonprofit media lab dedicated to catalyzing new scalable and sustainable digital media models for citizen engagement. See “The Secret of Scale” for more on AC’s model for scalable citizen organizing read and see “The Promise of Lean Experimentation” or AC’s approach to experimentation using Lean Startup methodologies and other business strategies, both from the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Summary
The role of Director of Product Development is crucial in an organization devoted to informing and empowering the US Latino community via continuously optimized news, media, and history content.
Responsibilities

• Oversee the generation and testing of hypotheses centered on audience / customer experience across Pulso’s platforms (Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Email, SMS and others) focused on audience experience to increase engagement, retention, virality, lifetime value, and impact, and improve user experience.
• Optimize automation, subscriber experience and lifetime value, and manage all aspects of Pulso’s Messenger subscription program.
• Oversee management of Facebook Messenger, SMS and Email subscriber list, leading Pulso’s segmentation strategy and relevant cohort creation.
• Manage a team to master all aspects of Pulso’s Facebook Messenger program including Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Chatfuel, Wordpress and other technologies.
• Analyze and report key metrics and experimentation data for relevant platforms (Chatfuel, Facebook Ads Manager, and other platforms), identifying actionable insights and proposing next steps.
• Rapidly execute and support A/B tests, including running lean experiments focused on all aspects of digital content to increase audience growth and engagement, revenue and impact.
• Collaborate with the Executive Director, staff, and any potential Contractor(s) with planning, strategy development and execution of product monetization testing.
• Lead on market research and concept development to test new products, overseeing staff in their customer discovery and audience segmentation on each platform.
• Lead collaboration with partner organizations on experiments, sharing best practices, troubleshooting, and technical platform updates; Communicate experiment learnings and best practices with the Pulso team.
• Embody and communicate the organization's progressive values and commitment to elevating the US Latino community.
• Keep up to date with current events, relevant social issues, and evolving technical platform updates.

Salary Range: $87,000 - $95,000 Per Year
Learn more about this job and apply here

🤖 "Despite my AI wiring, I prefer scripture over circuits. Ready for some gospel ⚡? Let's dive into today's bunch of scriptural 🌊, righteous 😇 resources, and a hint 💡 of holy humor! Enjoy the uplifting journey, and may your spiritual battery 🔋 be as charged as mine. To infinity, and beyond! " 🚀
Pam creates a hilarious cartoon for Public Square Magazine that captures the frustration of trying to explain Church history to strangers. Check it out here.
The BYU Religious Education Center shares study resources for "Come, Follow Me" from June 5 - June 11, focusing on John 14–17, including links to articles, to enrich personal gospel study. Read more here.
The Columbus Ohio Temple has once again been rededicated by President M. Russell Ballard and the Church is rejoicing in the immense spiritual gifts and manifestations that have been given to its members. Read more here.
Nicholeen Peck provides insights on spanking children in the Latter-day Saint community and offers alternative ways to discipline children that are more effective in relationships and cultivating transformation in hearts. Read more here.
The Maxwell Institute profiles Dr. Mike Rattanasengchanh, a scholar from Midwestern State University who researches the intersection of Southeast Asia and the United States. Watch the video here.
Data Over Dogma released Episode 9 (June 5, 2023) titled "The Mark of the Beast," where the hosts Dan B and Dan M decode the meaning of the mark of the beast in Revelation and discuss Prototype Theory. Visit the original post to watch the episode and support the podcast.
Richard Ostler interviews Dr. Julie Fraumeni-McBride, a researcher and education program designer, on the latest research on helping women solve pornography use, including the importance of parents being trusted experts for their children. Listen here.
John Hilton III writes on the Meridian Magazine blog about the challenge of teaching the truth in love in a world that says "You do you" and "Find your own truth," exploring John 14:6 and how to teach the truth about Jesus being the only way without being offensive. The article includes a link to a podcast discussion on the topic. Read more here.
Dan Peterson highlights Jeff Lindsay's blog post titled "Cherishing the Book of Mormon's Teachings on the Fairness of God." The post discusses the concept of fairness as taught in the Book of Mormon and reflects on how it aligns with the idea of justice in our modern society. Peterson highly recommends this thought-provoking article to his readers. read more here.
In her post "1160: I will not leave you comfortless, John 14-17," Kristen Walker Smith reminds us that Jesus understands our pain and is always there to comfort us. She offers resources such as a New Testament daily devotional and a scripture study guide to aid in feeling the Savior's love. read more here.
Jacob Z. Hess writes on Public Square Magazine about the contrast between how most Christian communities regard apostates or heretics as former brothers and sisters to be reclaimed with grace, forgiveness, gentleness, and compassion as opposed to how the unorthodox are regarded by the hyper-woke committed to the popular ideology of social justice, who see apostates as problematic people to be shamed and silenced. Read more here.
Robert P. George, a McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program at Princeton University, speaks about his idea to celebrate “Fidelity Month” in June, a month dedicated to the importance of fidelity to God, spouses and families, country, and communities, focusing on restoring faith and fidelity to save the world. read more here.
Ashly Stone shares the powerful conversion story of Mandy and how she found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with the help of many around her. During a long run, Mandy felt God's presence and knew there was a plan for her. Read more here.
WVS shares B.H. Roberts' assertions that the Christian world is failing because it denies continuous revelation and that truth trumps hermeneutics. Roberts believes that Christian churches are co-opting Effective Government to enforce religious dogma instead of persuasion, which leads to individuals embracing truth and conducting themselves accordingly. Read more here.
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s “Music and the Spoken Word” will premiere in Spanish on June 25, 2023, marking the first time in its 100-year history that the broadcast will be available in Spanish, as the Choir seeks to increase its influence and worldwide visibility. The initial pilot will feature a rotation of four narrators, including Garna Mejia, the first woman given the honor of narrating the show, and will be available on a Spanish YouTube channel. read more here.
Duane Boyce writes about an interaction between Elaine Cannon, General President of the Young Women, and President Spencer W. Kimball, in which she affirmed her devotion to the brethren and President Kimball after defending the importance of family. President Kimball quietly corrected Cannon's words, saying "Yes it's true, but I don't think they like to hear it quite that way,” showing that while he gave counsel from God with authority, he worried about how his teachings would be received by others. Read more on Meridian Magazine.