u/Mental-Hospital-790

How does it work at facilities that have government contracts and has clients that are in prison and do not meet DSM criteria for active SUD yet being told that they do have SUD if we use their legal history as criteria and years old substance use issues? I feel like I'm on another planet. Was told I can't use in remission in a controlled setting as well as a specifier. Oh and that certain programs have different rules and that its fully compliant with the state and aligns with the DSM.. and I've asked info on where I can see any actual laws/policy that reflect this and nada, it's in their contract.. I'm sinking as a new LCDC-I that received what I thought was fantastic training for chemical dependency counseling at a local college and my practicum site as well. Now I'm feeling like something isn't right.

This speech is from 12 days ago at the Convention. The speech is long. I get it. Why is it underreported? I personally felt it was an incredible speech and newsworthy! I'm clueless as to why it hasn't been featured more with the press outside from his campaigns social media.

The comments alone on YT are how I felt too. Felt refreshing, inspiring, and presidential. Made me feel pride in my state that I haven't felt in a long time. Why is this speech going quietly into the dark as if it never happened. Am I perhaps biased because I already am a huge supporter of Talarico? Truly would love to hear insight from others as to why this wouldn't be considered newsworthy in Texas and elsewhere.

Link from James Talaricos You Tube channel

https://youtu.be/CamYITDOLDE?is=QQ0QZ3X5m6HK3I8\_

June 28, 2026 (Sunday)

A wide range of Democratic voices are in the process of shaping new political language to move their party, and the country, forward. James Talarico is one of those new voices. On Friday, June 26, he delivered his official acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator from Texas at the Texas Democratic Convention held in Corpus Christi.

He began by invoking Barbara Jordan, a lawyer who in 1972 became the first Black woman elected to Congress from Texas. A brilliant orator, Jordan delivered a statement on July 24, 1974, from her seat on the House Judiciary Committee during President Richard Nixon’s impeachment that is considered one of the most powerful speeches in U.S. history. “My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total,” she said. “And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.”

After tying himself to both the state’s multicultural history and its defense of democracy through Jordan, Talarico used a different vision from Jordan to make his case for the future. He recalled that Jordan said “the soil and spirit of Texas” made her feel that she could accomplish whatever she wanted, “that there are no limits.” Talarico used Jordan’s embrace of the American dream to anchor his own new political vision for the twenty-first century.

It is a vision that resonates beyond Texas.

Talarico rooted himself firmly in Texas’s past and present. He emphasized that he is an eighth-generation Texan whose family arrived in the region when it was still Mexican. “We may not have always been wealthy or well educated,” he said, “but we always served our state.” His ancestor Elijah Stapp signed the Texas Declaration of Independence that declared the region free from Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna, risking everything, Talarico said, “to defy a tyrant.”

That independence cost Stapp dearly. Four months after he signed the document, Santa Anna's army destroyed his home, leaving him, his wife, and their six children destitute. But Stapp was undeterred. He wrote to his neighbors, “Any duty that my bodily strength would enable me to perform, either in public or private, that would advance the cause of Texas, I feel anxious and ever ready to perform.”

“Texans don't like tyrants,” Talarico said, “And we don't surrender easily.”

Bringing that theme to the modern era, Talarico told the story of his mother, “a seventh-generation Texan from Laredo,” who left an abusive relationship to make a life with her infant son. “That's what it means to be a Texan,” he said. “We are strivers and builders and dreamers of all colors and creeds of all backgrounds and beliefs. It's in our blood.”

“Texas is big,” Talarico said. “Big hair, big hearts, and big dreams. Our athletes are beloved across the globe. Cowboys, Astros, Spurs. Our musicians, our musicians are so iconic, they only need one name. Willie. Selena. Beyoncé.”

“But the current political landscape is too small for Texas,” he said. “Texas used to be known for our hospitality…. Friendship across tribes, friendship across divides. That's what makes Texas so great. We're this big mash-up of all these different people, all these different cultures, all these different friends. Think about, think about Tejano music. If you're listening to a Selena song, you're hearing Spanish vocal styles from northern Mexico. But you're also hearing polka dance rhythms from Czech and German immigrants. This uniquely…Texan ability to welcome new friends and new ideas has made us one of the most exciting and innovative states in the country.”

“We're the state that put a man on the moon,” Talarico said. “We're the state that pioneered ranching and energy and computers. We're the state that gave this country Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, LBJ, and the Great Society. We're the state that put breakfast in a taco.”

Then Talarico turned to the present. “[T]oday, we face a new threat,” he said. “Our state is being taken over by a new kind of tyrant: billionaire megadonors. They're not invading with an army. They're just buying the system. The billionaires who own the social media algorithms, who own the cable news networks, who own the politicians fighting on our screens, they are turning neighbor against neighbor. Weakening that spirit of friendship that makes Texas so great. They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion, so we don't notice that they're picking our pockets. It is the oldest strategy in the world. Divide and conquer.”

“But,” he said, “Texas will not be conquered.”

Talarico accused “these new tyrants” of looking out of state “to find puppet politicians who were willing to do their bidding.” He said they picked his opponent, Ken Paxton, “the most corrupt politician in America,” who was “born in North Dakota, raised in California, and has a place in Hawaii.”

“Listen,” Talarico said, “I believe anyone can be a Texan.” That identity lives “not in the boots or in the truck,” but in people’s hearts. But the billionaires and “their puppets have the wrong state of mind. Their hearts and their dreams are just not big enough. We let these small men get their hands on our big state. You know the kind of people I'm talking about. The kind who make themselves feel big by making everyone else feel small.

“These men, they took all the money and power they could grab, and they set out to shrink Texas down to their size. They're shrinking our Texas economy with job-killing tariffs. They are shrinking our Texas public schools with private school voucher scams. They're shrinking our healthcare, so it covers less and less. They're shrinking our paychecks and how much those paychecks can buy. And they're shrinking our power by attacking our God-given rights at the ballot box and redrawing our districts to keep themselves in power. They have been shrinking Texas for three decades now. But that ends this year in this election.

“In November, we can make Texas big again,” Talarico said. “We can make Texas friendly again. We can make Texas, Texas, again. We have the chance to take back our state from those billionaire mega donors and their puppet politicians who stole it from us.”

“This isn't a partisan thing,” Talarico said as he pointed out that Republicans and Democrats came together to impeach Paxton, and he reminded people that Sam Houston, the first president of the Texas Republic, told people to “do right, and risk the consequences.” “What would Sam Houston think about the small men who are shrinking Texas?” Talarico asked. “What would Sam Houston, who put Texas before himself, say about Ken Paxton, who puts himself before Texas? What would Sam Houston say to all of us at this critical moment in Texas history? I think he would say, do right, and risk the consequences.

“There's an old country song by Gary P. Nunn, called ‘What I Like About Texas.’ In the song, he lists the rivers and the bluebonnets, the music and the food. But ultimately, he settles on one answer. He says it's the spirit of the people who share this land. The spirit of Barbara Jordan. The spirit of my mom, the spirit that's in this room. The feeling that we can accomplish whatever we want to….

“This election shouldn't be about the Democratic Party or the Republican Party,” Talarico said. “It should be about chasing a vision of what our state can be. Texas schools that are the envy of the nation. A Texas economy that is second to none, and Texas families that are stronger and healthier than ever before. It won't happen overnight. But a giant state deserves giant dreams. We are— We are bigger than extremism. We're bigger than partisanship. We're bigger than corruption. Texas is bigger than all of those things. Because it's not just a state. It's a state of mind….

“Texans don't like tyrants. And we don't surrender easily. Tonight, standing before you, to accept your nomination for the United States Senate, I make the same commitment to you that my ancestor made 200 years ago. Any duty that my bodily strength would enable me to perform, either in public or private, that would advance the cause of Texas, I feel anxious and ever ready to perform.”

‐-------

Here's the link to the whole speech for anyone interested.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1JgrGLYkNK/

Per the Texas Tribune:

​

Speaking at the Republican Party of Texas’ convention in Houston, Patrick accused Talarico, an Austin state representative, of introducing faith into the contentious Senate race, expected to be expensive and brutal as Democrats seek to capitalize on anti-Trump sentiment to claim the minority party’s first statewide victory in more than three decades.

​

“It’s James Talarico who decided to bring the Bible into this election. And let me tell you, that’s not a Bible I’ve ever read. I’ve never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office,” Patrick said to an uproar of applause. “Let me tell you what, I’m going to pray for that guy, because when he loses the Senate race, if he campaigns against God as he’s been doing, he’s going to Hell, for sure. That’s what we’re up against. That’s the darkness. That’s the light. That’s why we must be one.”

​

In a statement Friday evening, Talarico responded saying that Patrick had “sold out the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable to enrich his donors” for decades.

​

“Love feels like blasphemy when you worship power,”

​

Talarico wrote in a social media post.

​

Pretty decent write up from a guy that worked alongside Ann Richards, Bush, and McCain. Also a consultant on a few big films like House of Cards.

Anyone here know anything about the Tomball location graduation? I have 2 friends graduating but not sure why the graduations are separate. One is graduating with an associates in nursing and it's on Tuesday. The other is graduating with an associates in graphic design and it's on Friday. I found both of their names in Tomballs commencement program online for the Friday graduation. I'm confused af. Why is my friend saying her gradution is on Tuesday. Is she confused? Because I graduate from MoCo this Friday. And we have a pinning ceremony on Tuesday for nurses and I think they graduate with us on Friday like everyone else. Does Tomball do it differently?

Ok so needing $3000 for partners college fees due and financial aid didn't cover summer and she just found this out at the last minute with school funds needing to be paid in just a few days and they do not offer payment plans for the summer. She is supposed to graduate this month as a summer graduate and has a internship tied to her graduating. Additionally she is out of work as she was let go from a seasonal job. Blew through our savings due to some emergency events at the same time this all came to head this past week and learned the hard way that we need to save more than we realized. We have low credit scores (580) because of bad choices made when we were younger and blew it off until we moved back here in 2024 (US) and have slowly worked on better scores because they were far worse then.

So we have our tax return coming in at 6k thankfully in the next month (hopefully!). I get my quarterly bonus next month too which is always pretty decent and put into savings. What is the best loan we can get by this week (Thursday!) to pay for this. We have tried alternative avenues (bank has strict credit requirements). And our family members are out of the question. Wasted the last few days seeking alternatives and now I'm needing to make a move on this.

Applied on credit ninja and got approved SHOCKED at the required 1500 CAB that is lumped in with the 3k loan so even if you pay it off quickly you are paying them this origination fee, didn't sign that offer. Didn't get approved with Opploan for whatever reason. Also I would be the borrower and I make a little over 60k in salary not including bonuses. I get direct deposit, weekly paychecks.

Figured I'd ask here and stop wasting time applying/ stressing. I am truly looking to pay this off the minute our tax return hits.