This is DENTAL NANOTECH. So it’s interesting to see the tobacco wars going on, especially down there in Melbourne. Govco continues to push the price of tobacco up and up and up to the point where it is 60 or $70 for a pack. Insane! Is it just for taxation purposes or is there another reason? You will also remember when Tucker Carlson was out here he boldly stated that everyone should be using nicotine. Was he dropping a clue for the Australian people? When I was over in Indonesia recently, I was really enjoying smoking tobacco and brought some packs back with me. What are your thoughts on this one? ????‍♂️????

At a March GOP meeting in my congressional district, I said, “I am a Christian first, an American second, and then a Republican.” Immediately, an older gentleman yelled out, “That is why we don’t like you!” I wondered what bothered him more, the Christian or the American part. Our politics have become toxic. Too many voters treat their political party as the most important thing in their lives. They consider the other side to be their enemy or, even worse, evil. This phenomenon spans both...

The maker of the party game Cards Against Humanity has sued Elon Musk’s SpaceX accusing it of trespassing on and damaging company-owned property in Texas.  The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Texas court, asks for $15 million to cover damages including what the company calls the destruction of natural vegetation.  The dispute involves a plot of vacant land near Brownsville, Texas, far from the Cards Against Humanity corporate headquarters in Chicago. The game maker bought the...

A new rule governing what Portland Public Schools educators are — and are not — allowed to put on the walls of their classrooms is drawing pushback from its vocal teachers’ union. Under the rule, items on display in classroom walls and bulletin boards must be related to approved curriculum or district sponsored events. The rules specify that classroom spaces “cannot be used for an employee’s personal expression, whether that is related to a political or personal issue.”

A Texas Democrat running for U.S. Senate is under scrutiny for his claims about border security. Similar to Senate Democrats claiming to support border security, including distancing themselves from Biden-Harris administration policies, U.S. Rep. Collin Allred, D-Dallas, who’s challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says he will secure the border. In a recent campaign ad, Allred says, “I’m working with both parties to finally secure the border, to add more border...

ormer President Donald Trump's campaign and his supporters have tried to strike out at Vice President Kamala Harris' interviews and presentations throughout the presidential race, attempting to paint the Democratic nominee into a corner. Trump has claimed that he is "better-looking" than Harris, an opinion that was mocked by the Harris campaign earlier this month, while Republicans have tried to accuse the vice president of changing her accent during public appearances.

The campaign cited data showing from 2021 to 2023, murders in Springfield, Ohio, rose from five to nine. That’s an 80% increase.  A crime data expert cautioned against making annual comparisons in places where less than one homicide is reported each month, noting that homicides would be considered too rare to draw conclusions.  FBI homicide data also showed that the number of homicides in Springfield fluctuated without a clear trend from 2012 to 2022.

There is nothing about learning English that is easy if it's not your first language. Heck, you could probably find more than a few native English speakers that continue to get tripped up on different words, meanings and grammar rules. There are so many words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have completely different meanings. English also borrows the sounds or spellings of words from other languages just to mix things up a bit. So when an adult tries to learn the language for the first time, it's understandable why it can be a little frustrating. But Mary Gomes, a woman from Brazil has been enthusiastically learning English on her own amassing millions of "teachers" online.The native Portuguese speaker gained traction from her infectious joy while reading English from pre-written notes in an effort to learn the language. She calls her viewers teachers as they often help her with pronunciation and correct emphasis on certain parts of speech in the comments. But recently the "teachers" have been trying to dry the tears of Gomes after an unpleasant encounter with a caller.Gomes who is normally extremely bubbly in her videos appears red faced and somber in a recent video uploaded to TikTok. The mom of three explains through tears that she received a phone call from someone who needed to verify information but the caller began getting frustrated with the new English speaker. There was a miscommunication when the man on the other end of the phone asks Gomes for her address from seven years ago. @_mari_gomes__ ♬ som original - Mary Gomes Since Gomes just started learning English in March 2024, she's not fluent yet and has a heavy Portuguese accent. This led to anger from the man when she struggled to give him the address. In her video she takes a deep breath to try to explain."I'm sorry. The name of the address is 190 T-H but I don't know how I say this number in English you know. 190 T-H, I think I speak wrong and NE. I said NE but I don't know, I think it's north east, north east. I don't know if I speak wrong, I don't know but the guy was so rude, so rude you know," she says through tears. woman sitting near the osfa Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash The man tells Gomes the address isn't found. Gomes says she tries to apologize to the man for misspeaking or him not being able to understand her. She tells her followers the interaction left her feeling small."Because I've been struggling to learn English. I do my best every day and when this happened. When this thing happened I feel oh my gosh why," Gomes cries. People were hurt for Gomes as she has spent months learning to speak English and no longer needs to use notes to record videos. Commenters left the emotional woman positive comments to encourage Gomes to keep learning, praising her ability to speak more clearly now than when she first started. @_mari_gomes__ ♬ som original - Mary Gomes One person notes, "the fact that you told this entire story so clearly in English shows how well you are doing.""You are being able to express such deep feelings in a language that is not your native language, and that's really difficult, so, you are doing an amazing job Mary. Please don't feel discouraged," another person shares."Mary even as a native English speaker I forget words and mess up! I remember when you were still reading out of a notebook to make videos and look at you now telling a full story even while emotional," someone praises the upset woman. Normal People Love GIF by HULU Giphy "Numbers in a second language are so so so hard!!! I can't even remember all of my addresses in English! You're struggling, but you're learning & expressing yourself so well, even while upset," one commenter writes.Someone else encourages Gomes, "it hurts my heart to see you so upset! The world is such a cruel place sometimes. You're doing so well, we are all so proud of you. Don't let the worst people pull you down." Season 3 Friends GIF by Living Single Giphy People tried to help Gomes with the correct pronunciation of the number but were unclear on what number she was saying due to her accent. She clarified in the comments that she was attempting to say 190th which people heard as 1938, 19038 or 908. Since the interaction was over the phone, Gomes wasn't able to write the number down for the man to see to better understand her. In the end, though Gomes was left in tears, she was reminded of how many people are rooting for her success. Learning a new language is hard and when dealing with people who have less patience for your endeavor, it can be deflating. The support Gomes is getting isn't waining. People wish her nothing but the best hoping she will continue trying to learn.

It takes a special type of person to work in retail without losing their mind. Retail jobs are both mentally and physically taxing and the pay isn’t usually that great either. Most retail workers spend all day on their feet and they have to have a pleasant attitude even when dealing with the most difficult customers. On top of customer drama, there’s inevitably a boss or manager lurking around to make sure you didn’t take too long of a lunch break or that you’re wearing the appropriate amount of flair. One great thing about retail is being able to bond with coworkers who are going through the same thing. Retail employees tend to be friendly, social people so it’s a great environment to build friendships. You’re gonna need somebody on your side after you’ve spent an hour dealing with a customer who keeps demanding they speak to your manager.The Retail Problems Instagram page does a perfect job of explaining what it’s like to work in retail through hilarious memes that anyone who’s ever had to work a cash register understands.Here are 17 of the best memes at Retail Problems. 1. See on Instagram Retail workers should be eligibile for Academy Awards. 2. See on Instagram The first thing you lose after taking a retail job is your love for Christmas music. Having to hear the same 25 songs on repeat for eight hours a day is seriously traumatizing. I left my retail job in 2004 and it took 15 years for me to be able to listen to Christmas music again.3. See on Instagram Having a retail job is like being on a treadmill. No matter how hard you work, you never seem to get anywhere. 4. See on Instagram The coworker who switches shifts with you at the last minute is worth more than gold. 5. See on Instagram You'll never truly understand what the general public is like until you've spent at least six months on the floor of a retail store dealing with people from all walks of life. 6. See on Instagram A great way to see what someone's character is like is to go out with them to a restaurant. You can learn a lot about someone by watching them interact with a server. Good people go out of their way to be nice. Entitled people do whatever they can to make the server's life miserable because they can't fight back. 7. See on Instagram "The badge says I work here."8. See on Instagram Coworkers in a retail job are like war buddies. 9. See on Instagram There should be a law making it illegal to subject anyone to more than four hours of Christmas music a day. It gets burned into your head and never goes away, even when you're not at work. 10. See on Instagram Seasoned retail people know to avoid their managers at the end of the day. They're known for suprising you at the end of your shift with one last task. "Could you go clean up the register on aisle six? Do you have some time to put up the new signs for the sale tomorrow?"11. See on Instagram "Just start with the number at the top of the receipt and we'll go form there, ok?"12. See on Instagram Murphy's law of retail: the fewer the employees, the more the customers. 13. See on Instagram Everyone working in retail should have received hazard pay for having to be around people during a pandemic. 14. See on Instagram Retail people are the masters of going from joking around with a coworker to quickly throwing on their professional smile to ask, "How may I help you?"15. See on Instagram In retail, success can feel like failure. If you get your job done quickly, they pile more work on your plate.16. See on Instagram There are few things that feel lonelier than when your bestie at work finds a new job and leaves you behind.17. See on Instagram The register is the great equalizer. This article originally appeared on 12.21.21

Cherie Garcia managed to score some major mom points from her response to her child's creative—yet slightly flawed—coming out letter. Using colorful cut-out letters, Garcia's son Crow made a short letter coming out as transgender, which looked something like a ransom note. The message was meant to be: Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of your very own son.Garcia was nonchalant about the announcement, but she did notice something unsettling that every mom would notice. And she was quick to point it out. Aware that something was getting ready to transpire (mother's intuition, after all) Garcia told Crow's dad—her ex-husband—on the phone that Crow was "either working on homework or holding someone ransom" after walking by his room. She was relieved to find out that neither was the case.Garcia's tweet read: "My teenager handed me this envelope and asked that I wait to open it until after he went to his dad's house. After opening it, I called to let him know that the *only* thing that's wrong with this is the 'r' he accidentally left out of congratulations." She concluded the tweet with a supportive trans and rainbow flag emoji. Thanks, mom. My teenager handed me this envelope and asked that I wait to open it until after he went to his dad’s house. After opening it, I called to let him know that the *only* thing that’s wrong with this is the “r” he accidentally left out of congratulations . ??️‍⚧️?️‍? pic.twitter.com/0DXmvcgGjk— Cherie Garcia (@CherieAmours) November 14, 2021 Garcia and Crow make a game out of pointing out spelling errors on signs, so she felt especially compelled to call him out on that missing "r."The follow-up tweet is really the kicker here. "There is nothing my kids could do to lose my support and unconditional love. My prayer for each of them is that they live life as their authentic selves, without compromise. My teen is figuring things out and I support him 100%, because God created both of my babies perfectly." There is nothing my kids could do to lose my support and unconditional love. My prayer for each of them is that they live life as their authentic selves, without compromise. My teen is figuring things out and I support him 100%, because God created both of my babies perfectly. ❤️— Cherie Garcia (@CherieAmours) November 14, 2021 Garcia's welcoming embrace for her son, along with the bonus spelling lesson, soon went viral on Twitter. Comments came flooding in from other parents wanting to commiserate with the coming-out letters they had received."I love the drama of it," wrote one mom. "My own non binary kiddo nailed a note to their door in the middle of the night and declared that if we must refer to them to refer to them as our spawn. I commented on the atrocious handwriting."Garcia's reply? "I'll call you Voltron if you want, but please spell it correctly."Another person shared their own creative process while coming out, saying "I couldn't decide when I came out so I gave my parents 3 different cards. This was one" followed by a (really well done) image of Pinocchio saying "I'm a real boy." I couldn't decide when I came out so I gave my parents 3 different cards. This was one. pic.twitter.com/piv6dCig7z— CapnV (@CapnVonV666) November 16, 2021 Every kid just wants to be seen as perfect in their mom's eyes. Spelling is important (as Garcia jokingly stated on Twitter) but to a teenager going through a major identity transition, compassion and acceptance are crucial. Growing up and figuring yourself out is no easy process. But knowing mom is always gonna love you, no matter what, at least makes it seem a little less impossible. Thanks Cherie Garcia for the spelling lesson and gesture of love all-in-one. And to Crow, "congatulations."This article originally appeared on 11.18.21