[POLL] United States Presidential Elections 2016

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Expert opinion.

You know you're doing something right, when ISIS is supposedly afraid of you or thinks you're "the crazy one" in the room.

I'd like to know how this "participation trophy" saying got involved with the protesters. I find that the participation trophy stuff is mostly recent, say the year 2000+ which would make those with actual participation trophies not old enough to vote yet...

I remember seeing them passed out when I was in the First grade that was '97, I've been viable to vote in the past 3 election cycles.

 

[McLaren]

I grew up in the 90's and never once received anything for participation. I guess western Colorado in the 90's hadn't caught up to the participation trophy craze yet.

Same here. I always figured the "Participation Award" craze gained coverage in the last 5-6 years & was usually centered around elementary-middle school kids. I think this generation that was finally able to take part in the elections came just before that craze, but maybe not in certain parts.

I don't think these people are looking for "participation" awards anyway. They want the 5-foot tall award with the little figure at the top and for Trump supporters to have nothing.

 

[Tornado]

I remember it was mocked in early King of the Hill, so that would probably be around '99?

 

[Chrunch Houston]

 

[CodeRedR51]

Same here. I always figured the "Participation Award" craze gained coverage in the last 5-6 years & was usually centered around elementary-middle school kids. I think this generation that was finally able to take part in the elections came just before that craze, but maybe not in certain parts.

Yeah, agreed. Definitely in the last handful of years.

 

[mustafur]

I got a participation trophys for sports as a kid, and this was in the mid to late 90s.

But none were given for School Sports at any time.

 

[Chrunch Houston]

I'm watching the pilot episode of "The great indoors".

It is about a magazine company with a staff of millennials. They were just all awarded with participation trophys.

Such great timing.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

A message to millennial snowflakes from someone in Seattle:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/rnr/5875767021.html

A week ago:
"People on the left need to stop painting all Trump voters with the same brush".

Now:
"Ha, all millennials are the same."

It's good to see both sides so willing — eager, even — to be hypocrites.

...

I remember the "participation trophies" thing being an issue as a kid, but mostly because I remember my parents, as well as the parents of friends, rallying against the idea of it. They thought it defeated the purpose of competition, and that kids (rightfully) needed to learn that losing is a part of life.

I don't really remember ever getting anything like it throughout school (or sports) though. Closest thing was a little awards show at the end of the year in elementary school. Teachers had about two dozen different stickers, and they could put as many (or as few) on each student's little faux-diploma that they wanted. There'd be some basic ones ("less than five absences per semester" or "environmentally-minded") alongside more specific ones ("great penmanship", "80% average in math"). They meant almost nothing to kids or parents: pretty sure half of us lost them by the time we got on the bus.

All through elementary and high school, if you didn't hand in homework, you got a zero.

 

[Milouse]

Not surprising, but still depressing, an interview of a professional fake-news maker:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ld-trump-is-in-the-white-house-because-of-me/

Just an excerpt:
You mentioned Trump, and you’ve probably heard the argument, or the concern, that fake news somehow helped him get elected. What do you make of that?

My sites were picked up by Trump supporters all the time. I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don’t fact-check anything — they’ll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist.

Why? I mean — why would you even write that?

Just ’cause his supporters were under the belief that people were getting paid to protest at their rallies, and that’s just insane. I’ve gone to Trump protests — trust me, no one needs to get paid to protest Trump. I just wanted to make fun of that insane belief, but it took off. They actually believed it.

I thought they’d fact-check it, and it’d make them look worse. I mean that’s how this always works: Someone posts something I write, then they find out it’s false, then they look like idiots. But Trump supporters — they just keep running with it! They never fact-check anything! Now he’s in the White House. Looking back, instead of hurting the campaign, I think I helped it. And that feels [bad].

 

[Johnnypenso]

Not surprising, but still depressing, an interview of a professional fake-news maker:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ld-trump-is-in-the-white-house-because-of-me/

Just an excerpt:
You mentioned Trump, and you’ve probably heard the argument, or the concern, that fake news somehow helped him get elected. What do you make of that?

My sites were picked up by Trump supporters all the time. I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don’t fact-check anything — they’ll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist.

Why? I mean — why would you even write that?

Just ’cause his supporters were under the belief that people were getting paid to protest at their rallies, and that’s just insane. I’ve gone to Trump protests — trust me, no one needs to get paid to protest Trump. I just wanted to make fun of that insane belief, but it took off. They actually believed it.

I thought they’d fact-check it, and it’d make them look worse. I mean that’s how this always works: Someone posts something I write, then they find out it’s false, then they look like idiots. But Trump supporters — they just keep running with it! They never fact-check anything! Now he’s in the White House. Looking back, instead of hurting the campaign, I think I helped it. And that feels [bad].

Probably the same guy that labeled Steve Bannon an anti-semite.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

So it this the Post trying to find a band-aid answer to why the proverbial **** hit the fan when it came to all things DNC. Cause if so, for a short fee of 200 bucks I can easily tell them why, using sources on both sides of the fence, hell they could figure it out for free just by reading through the thread. I don't think that one guy and a few people chain mailing fake articles on either side got someone elected or not. Perhaps some influence to justify voting Trump was involved, but surely some of the fake ones I saw weren't going to convince the Bernie Sanders, Jill Steins, and Gary Johnsons of the nation over. Nor was it going to get the historic voters from the Obama election to vote Hillary.

I mean how long does the media plan to beat the dead horse with their useless war drum? Until December, until January when he's sworn in? I'm just curious when some actual news will start to cycle through.

Like how is the DNC trying to re-establish, or more articles on the potential admin we're about to get...not this and "Trump didn't tell us he was going to eat, Mr. you're grounded"

 

[Pupik]

Looks like that Common Core is really working. I suppose it's dumbing down everyone equally though so there's that.

You're quick to blame schools and curriculum but not excesses of television, internet, movies, radio. Or that parents are more interested in other things than their child's education. Maybe it's because the parents became dumber, and won't show that weakness to their children. Or that there's broken families or those working multiple jobs to make ends meet, and there's little time for discipline and showing people the right way to study and do their homework.

How about an attitude that feels time spent in a bar is more useful than learning something, a culture that puts sports figures above scientists, renames avenues of local botany for local politicians rather than novelists, artists, mathematicians, and inventors. It's a culture that just kicks the can down the road. It's a culture that just continues on with pre-convinced notions of everything and gets desperate when it realized it messed up terribly. A two-faced culture that bitches about the role of government and lack of self-sufficiency and then cheers on the same actions when "their team wins".

Seriously, take that kind of ignorance and keep it out of my god-dammed way, lest it be slain by the sword of truth.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

You're quick to blame schools and curriculum but not excesses of television, internet, movies, radio. Or that parents are more interested in other things than their child's education. Maybe it's because the parents became dumber, and won't show that weakness to their children. Or that there's broken families or those working multiple jobs to make ends meet, and there's little time for discipline and showing people the right way to study and do their homework.

How about an attitude that feels time spent in a bar is more useful than learning something, a culture that puts sports figures above scientists, renames avenues of local botany for local politicians rather than novelists, artists, mathematicians, and inventors. It's a culture that just kicks the can down the road. It's a culture that just continues on with pre-convinced notions of everything and gets desperate when it realized it messed up terribly. A two-faced culture that bitches about the role of government and lack of self-sufficiency and then cheers on the same actions when "their team wins".

Seriously, take that kind of ignorance and keep it out of my god-dammed way, lest it be slain by the sword of truth.

I agree with your sentiment and believe that it's two fold. What you're saying has a strong input into why children don't strive (not all kids, but some aren't going to take the initiative on their own). I do think schools are to blame for lack of better educations before kids hit the real world, I do believe that common core isn't the fix that some present it to be, however I must not (just in case) that I know you're not defending common core or the U.S. education system.

I just feel it should be said that yes, you're correct, but there is some blame to go to all parties.

 

[Pupik]

The same people who are so bothered by the "Participation Trophy" usually the same who are mysteriously offended by "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Clearly, both are an affront to all mankind and the unseen hand guiding the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Neither of which have anything to do with our Presidential Election.

It's still very hard to believe. But perhaps they were thinking that it depends on the origin of your reference frame. I mean if you're using an ECEF (earth-centered-earth-fixed) reference frame, the sun does go around the Earth.

Yeah, I'd imagine most folks probably don't really know the answer, rather than just intentionally subverting what they've learned. We still constantly use terms like sunrise and sunset and our literature and day-to-day dialogue typically makes references to the ideals of a sun that seems to move around the earth. (Well, it does move from a galactic and expanding universe standpoint, but everything else does too.)

So I think much of it is from not remembering what they've learned because Earth and Space Sciences are boring and hard for many people to grasp.

 

[Johnnypenso]

You're quick to blame schools and curriculum but not excesses of television, internet, movies, radio. Or that parents are more interested in other things than their child's education. Maybe it's because the parents became dumber, and won't show that weakness to their children. Or that there's broken families or those working multiple jobs to make ends meet, and there's little time for discipline and showing people the right way to study and do their homework.

How about an attitude that feels time spent in a bar is more useful than learning something, a culture that puts sports figures above scientists, renames avenues of local botany for local politicians rather than novelists, artists, mathematicians, and inventors. It's a culture that just kicks the can down the road. It's a culture that just continues on with pre-convinced notions of everything and gets desperate when it realized it messed up terribly. A two-faced culture that bitches about the role of government and lack of self-sufficiency and then cheers on the same actions when "their team wins".

Seriously, take that kind of ignorance and keep it out of my god-dammed way, lest it be slain by the sword of truth.

I thought it was the job of educators and the system as a whole, to take all those factors into account and continue to do their job effectively. The culture is changing and changing rapidly, perhaps part of the problem is the whole Common Core philosophy and our preoccupation with treating everyone the same when they clearly aren't and of expecting equal outcomes when clearly the recipe ingredients are not all the same everywhere. A system that creates an atmosphere where individuality and individual attention are quashed in favour of conforming to a set of norms and standards written by some faceless bureaucrat in a far away capital. A system where the rules are more important than the children and where teachers aren't nearly as free to be compassionate human beings interacting 1 on 1 with children but are instead forced to follow guidelines that discourage close relationships with their charges. IMO of course.

 

[CodeRedR51]

The culture is changing and changing rapidly...

Home schooling is becoming more and more popular every year as well.

 

[ryzno]

Well look what I found...
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/11/17/apple-mulls-moving-iphone-production-to-us-report-says.html

Yeah, yeah, prices are going to double blah, blah.
So now instead of laying down enough money on a phone, to buy a puddle jumper crap car. Soon you can lay down enough money to buy a puddle jumper decent car, but get a phone instead! Priorities!!

 

[mister dog]

Since populist's followers lives with the idea that the reality should bend to match their believes

Not surprising, but still depressing, an interview of a professional fake-news maker:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ld-trump-is-in-the-white-house-because-of-me/

I'm not going to deny that right wingers take over certain news stories as fact, or bend reality to match their believes (heck i'm guilty of it myself sometimes), but i do hope you realize it's exactly the same on the left side?

What makes it even worse is that the left have the majority of media outlets to back them up in their hypocrisy by using selective quoting, manipulating facts, blowing things out of proportion or showing only one side of the story to promote their agenda.

 

[Pupik]

I said some stuff yesterday about Common Core, but it's easy to miss that in a thread that seems to chug along at about 80-100 new posts a day.

I thought it was the job of educators and the system as a whole, to take all those factors into account and continue to do their job effectively.

As much as possible - they're not babysitters. Call a conference with the parents, and see how often the results change. Or if the even show up. Usually, 10-25% parents do anything about it. The parents that arrange the conferences, are usually just there to ask for special favors or work out something (behavior issues or allergies) or beg for special-snowflake status. Some things can be worked out, sometimes not. A the end of the day, the parent(s) are the biggest factor of their child's performance - excepting any truly horrible influences of other kids - send them in with a bad attitude and you'll get that in return.

The culture is changing and changing rapidly, perhaps part of the problem is the whole Common Core philosophy and our preoccupation with treating everyone the same when they clearly aren't and of expecting equal outcomes when clearly the recipe ingredients are not all the same everywhere.

Sure, just now companies allow for special snowflakes, right? If yes, then yes, if no, then nope. Something had to be done. Not all teachers are going to be great at their job, either. But the classroom has to treat just about all situations equally; you are there to listen, learn, cooperate, and do your tasks while in the school. Everything else outside the school is out of their control, otherwise we call that "interference".

A system that creates an atmosphere where individuality and individual attention are quashed in favour of conforming to a set of norms and standards written by some faceless bureaucrat in a far away capital.

Right, where some school districts eliminate truth for a fan-fiction version of science. That's why common core exists, among other reasons. It's imperfect, but it's only as good as the instructors and their willingness to use it.

Some of the most ridiculous things I've heard is that it fosters attitudes that parents don't want in their children, and I don't see any of that. It's a problem that really isn't there, and it seems to be an easy excuse.

What individuality is missing? The part where each makes their own rules, or where they learn to work as a group. Or where they have to do their own work? Or both? Not every situation applies in all instances in real-life.

A system where the rules are more important than the children

Entirely opinion-based. I'm sure you agree that most school rules exist for the purposes of safety and to prevent disruption (like pretty much all workplaces that don't involve the MMA/UFC). If there's no rules, what sort of institution is that?

and where teachers aren't nearly as free to be compassionate human beings

More opinion. We can find case-by-case examples on all sides of that spectrum (from instructors and staff that have done everything from taking a bullet to molesting children...I don't think we need to cherry-pick). But in the end, showing up to work and doing your job is about as compassionate as one could be. The definition of compassion is "shared suffering"; at a minimum, children go to school and get what they can out of it. And the teachers and administrators get paid for it, maybe some satisfaction out it, to boot. But all of them would like to be playing or taking the day off.

interacting 1 on 1 with children but are instead forced to follow guidelines that discourage close relationships with their charges.

Teaching one-on-one is rare occurrence, unless it's a very tiny classroom. Think about that: how would that be the best use of labor? Do you expect that an instructor is going to find 30 minutes of one-on-one per student - let's say there's 16 kids...a generous scenario - that's eight hours for individual-time. Factor in lunch, recess, a special, and...wait a minute, what the hell are the other 15 kids doing?!?

So either you agree the schools are woefully short of instructors and therefore should be funded greatly to make up the difference, or teachers need to put in 14/15-hour days at school. I work from home some weeks, and I see the home-schooled kids playing outside for hours and probably learning diddly-squat, since their social interactions are also removed from the equation.

I'm not going to deny that right wingers take over certain news stories as fact, or bend reality to match their believes (heck i'm guilty of it myself sometimes), but i do hope you realize it's exactly the same on the left side?

What makes it even worse is that the left have the majority of media outlets to back them up in their hypocrisy by using selective quoting, manipulating facts, blowing things out of proportion or showing only one side of the story to promote their agenda.

They all do it, all of them. Distort truth into lies, and vice-versa. Blame the other side for those lies, or make something that didn't happen into a news story. And if opposition doesn't really exist, make one up. They have sponsors with expectations, or a leader with an axe to grind. Slow news days turn outliers into to social means. Events that have little to nothing to do with anybody are distorted into fears. Blind support turned into a fear of missing out. And even when the unexpected happens, there's someone to be blamed. We're content with the idea that nobody is perfect until it's time to hand out blame. Somebody has to pay for it. Bad press is good press nonsense.

Balance yourself: It's easy to find enough data to support your viewpoint to the extent you can't see over it. We live in an amazing time where you can find all sorts of information and it's very easy to build a fortress that only lets in what you want to see, and the so-called vanguard of information knows that we have the weakness of information overload.

 

[Danoff]

I thought it was the job of educators and the system as a whole, to take all those factors into account and continue to do their job effectively. The culture is changing and changing rapidly, perhaps part of the problem is the whole Common Core philosophy and our preoccupation with treating everyone the same when they clearly aren't and of expecting equal outcomes when clearly the recipe ingredients are not all the same everywhere. A system that creates an atmosphere where individuality and individual attention are quashed in favour of conforming to a set of norms and standards written by some faceless bureaucrat in a far away capital. A system where the rules are more important than the children and where teachers aren't nearly as free to be compassionate human beings interacting 1 on 1 with children but are instead forced to follow guidelines that discourage close relationships with their charges. IMO of course.

I said some stuff yesterday about Common Core, but it's easy to miss that in a thread that seems to chug along at about 80-100 new posts a day.



As much as possible - they're not babysitters. Call a conference with the parents, and see how often the results change. Or if the even show up. Usually, 10-25% parents do anything about it. The parents that arrange the conferences, are usually just there to ask for special favors or work out something (behavior issues or allergies) or beg for special-snowflake status. Some things can be worked out, sometimes not. A the end of the day, the parent(s) are the biggest factor of their child's performance - excepting any truly horrible influences of other kids - send them in with a bad attitude and you'll get that in return.



Sure, just now companies allow for special snowflakes, right? If yes, then yes, if no, then nope. Something had to be done. Not all teachers are going to be great at their job, either. But the classroom has to treat just about all situations equally; you are there to listen, learn, cooperate, and do your tasks while in the school. Everything else outside the school is out of their control, otherwise we call that "interference".



Right, where some school districts eliminate truth for a fan-fiction version of science. That's why common core exists, among other reasons. It's imperfect, but it's only as good as the instructors and their willingness to use it.

Some of the most ridiculous things I've heard is that it fosters attitudes that parents don't want in their children, and I don't see any of that. It's a problem that really isn't there, and it seems to be an easy excuse.

What individuality is missing? The part where each makes their own rules, or where they learn to work as a group. Or where they have to do their own work? Or both? Not every situation applies in all instances in real-life.



Entirely opinion-based. I'm sure you agree that most school rules exist for the purposes of safety and to prevent disruption (like pretty much all workplaces that don't involve the MMA/UFC). If there's no rules, what sort of institution is that?



More opinion. We can find case-by-case examples on all sides of that spectrum. But in the end, showing up to work and doing your job is about as compassionate as one could be. The definition of compassion is "shared suffering"; at a minimum, children go to school and get what they can out of it. And the teachers and administrators get paid for it, maybe some satisfaction out it, to boot. But all of them would like to be playing or taking the day off.



Teaching one-on-one is rare occurrence, unless it's a very tiny classroom. Think about that: how would that be the best use of labor? Do you expect that an instructor is going to find 30 of one-on-one per student - let's say there's 16 kids...a generous scenario - that's eight hours for individual-time. Factor in lunch, recess, a special, and...wait a minute, what the hell are the other 15 kids doing?!?

So either you agree the schools are woefully short of instructors and therefore should be funded greatly to make up the difference, or teachers need to put in 14/15-hour days at school. I work from home some weeks, and I see the home-schooled kids playing outside for hours and probably learning diddly-squat, since their social interactions are also removed from the equation.

I'm largely with Pupik on this. But I've got a wild and crazy monkey wrench to throw into the big public school argument. How about we stop paying schools with property taxes and instead just have all schools charge tuition. That way parents can decide where they want to send their kids to school, how much they want to spend, and what kind of instruction they want regardless of how large their house is or how nice their neighborhood is.

Pupik is correct on all points, and Johnny is correct on some points as well (probably not common core though). Some kids need 1 on 1 instruction, and if parents are willing to pay for that kind of teacher-student ratio in a private school, say, for 1/3 of the day, more power to them. They shouldn't ALSO be kicking in for everyone else's education. And people with no kids shouldn't either. Setting the schools up to compete with each other in terms of price and education level would yield great results. Right now my kids go to a private institution that I pay for (because there is no public school at this age) and the level of service and education is fantastic.

Edit:

Also, I hate the psychological signal we send to everyone that their kids' education is everyone's responsibility but theirs. Oh "it's society's responsibility to care for your kids"! No, that's nonsense. You're responsible for your kids' food, clothing, nurture, and education. That signal needs to be as loud as possible. Otherwise we keep encouraging parents to check out of the needs of their children.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I'm largely with Pupik on this. But I've got a wild and crazy monkey wrench to throw into the big public school argument. How about we stop paying schools with property taxes and instead just have all schools charge tuition. That way parents can decide where they want to send their kids to school, how much they want to spend, and what kind of instruction they want regardless of how large their house is or how nice their neighborhood is.

Pupik is correct on all points, and Johnny is correct on some points as well (probably not common core though). Some kids need 1 on 1 instruction, and if parents are willing to pay for that kind of teacher-student ratio in a private school, say, for 1/3 of the day, more power to them. They shouldn't ALSO be kicking in for everyone else's education. And people with no kids shouldn't either. Setting the schools up to compete with each other in terms of price and education level would yield great results. Right now my kids go to a private institution that I pay for (because there is no public school at this age) and the level of service and education is fantastic.

Or vouchers. Allow the parents to decide where to use the money associated with their child's education. Vote with your dollars. Seems to work for most things quite well.

 

[Danoff]

Or vouchers. Allow the parents to decide where to use the money associated with their child's education. Vote with your dollars. Seems to work for most things quite well.

Yea, vouchers would be better than nothing. But why take the money and hand it back?

 

[Johnnypenso]

Yea, vouchers would be better than nothing. But why take the money and hand it back?

Competition, for one thing. You would be able to take your voucher and use it at a charter school or a private school and pay the difference. Or you might decide to drive your kids to school everyday to a different school other than the one which is nearest to him or in his district. It gives parents more affordable choices where they educate their children.

 

[Danoff]

Competition, for one thing. You would be able to take your voucher and use it at a charter school or a private school and pay the difference. Or you might decide to drive your kids to school everyday to a different school other than the one which is nearest to him or in his district. It gives parents more affordable choices where they educate their children.

Right, but why take the money in the first place? Just let parents pay tuition.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Right, but why take the money in the first place? Just let parents pay tuition.

You could do that but I think the odds of that happening in any western democracy are pretty slim.

 

[ryzno]

Right, but why take the money in the first place? Just let parents pay tuition.

Not everyone is responsible with money, not saying that the government is either. That idea could really fail the education system though. Say the parents say ok, I'll keep the money and teach them myself. Who knows what the child will actually learn and some never taught anything.
As hard as it is for some to believe we have Americans who have never stepped foot in a school and don't know how to read or write at least.
I think the voucher idea is better, there's no way the parent can misappropriate the money.

 

[Danoff]

Not everyone is responsible with money, not saying that the government is either. That idea could really fail the education system though. Say the parents say ok, I'll keep the money and teach them myself. Who knows what the child will actually learn and some never taught anything.
As hard as it is for some to believe we have Americans who have never stepped foot in a school and don't know how to read or write at least.
I think the voucher idea is better, there's no way the parent can misappropriate the money.

Let's tax people for food money too, and then give parents vouchers for that. After all, not everyone is responsible with money. Say the parents say ok, I'll keep the money and feed them myself. Who knows whether the kid will actually get nutrition? As hard as it is for some to believe we have Americans who refuse to feed their children and kids who are malnourished. Clearly we should tax parents and give them food vouchers, there's no way the parent can misappropriate the money.

 

[ryzno]

Let's tax people for food money too, and then give parents vouchers for that. After all, not everyone is responsible with money. Say the parents say ok, I'll keep the money and feed them myself. Who knows whether the kid will actually get nutrition? As hard as it is for some to believe we have Americans who refuse to feed their children and kids who are malnourished. Clearly we should tax parents and give them food vouchers, there's no way the parent can misappropriate the money.

I see what you did there. But how can you sell someone a voucher for school? Not everyone gets food stamps. The price they sell them at it's easy to get rid of them. And since education is mandatory unlike food stamps, I doubt the black market would be large if everyone received a equal voucher.

 

[Danoff]

I see what you did there. But how can you sell someone a voucher for school? Not everyone gets food stamps. The price they sell them at it's easy to get rid of them. And since education is mandatory unlike food stamps, I doubt the black market would be large.

All you'd have to do is tie the food voucher to an ID and you're done with the re-sale. Food is mandatory for children.

 

[ryzno]

All you'd have to do is tie the food voucher to an ID and you're done with the re-sale. Food is mandatory for children.

We didn't qualify for food stamps when we had our son. The crap they give you in the WIC vouchers is crap and they stop giving them when the child turns 5, when they should start school. What do you do with condensed milk and cheese that don't melt and 1% milk?
I don't know how food stamps work up there but all you need down here is the EBT card and the pin number and a cart of uncooked food. I've bought some off neighbors before who don't even have kids.