In case you haven't watched it a thousand times yet, the 3rd Star Wars The Force Awakens Trailer.
"A life in the arts is rewarding in so many ways, but you have to be very lucky just to make a living wage." An article on working in the arts and the ever present fail mode of burning out. Out of my graduating class of 26 designers, I think maybe 4 or 5 of us are still working in the arts. "I think the level of resourcing in most arts companies would not be acceptable in the corporate sector.'" Actually, it is more prevalent everywhere. Some people I work with at the hospital get grumpy when they've worked 10+ days in a row. Last month I worked 28 days without a day off. And many of those days were 10+ hours, or like today where I'm working 8 hours at the day thing and then another 6.5 at the hospital to cover someone's shift. "‘It's both internal, your home is your workplace, and external – the need to pay the rent. Most writers I know seldom take holidays, and if they do, they're usually work-related and seldom have days off… The plus side is that your time is your own to manage, but it's too easy to fall into a default of working all the time. When you combine that with having a life, family and so on, it can just wear you out. It's not dramatic, it just creeps up.'" Yea, that. So very that. (Grokked from Maureen Johnson)
What do I do for self-care or to take a break. Well, you're reading it.
"(Nilotinib)that's already approved for treating leukemia appears to dramatically reduce symptoms in people who have Parkinson's disease with dementia, or a related condition called Lewy body dementia." It's a very small study, over a limited amount of time, but wow. But please note "… nilotinib is very expensive. The cost of providing it to leukemia patients is thousands of dollars a month." And "Alan Hoffman was okay for about three weeks after the study ended and he stopped taking the drug. Since then, 'There's (been) a pretty big change,' his wife says." A change for the worse.
Sure, you may be psyched for the SW VII trailer, but what about the movie no one wanted, the Michael Dell story. (Grokked form Dan)
The problem with racism is it has long legs. In this case, a housing community that still has exclusionary terms in their bylaws of just whom can move in. And, yes, these have been illegal for years. Doesn't mean they still aren't out there. Wonder where the conservative "they're not letting us do what we want with our land" types are in this fight?
Why should you support mandatory paid sick leave? "Fifty-one percent of food workers… said they 'always" or "frequently' go to work when they're sick, according to the results of a survey released Monday. An additional 38 percent said they go to work sick 'sometimes.'… (T)he vast majority of reported cases of norovirus — the leading cause of foodborne disease outbreaks and illnesses across the country — have been linked to infected food industry workers." Yea, that would be a pretty good reason.
John Scalzi on the problems of the 1%. What he said. Plus, you know, the rich wouldn't feel so isolated if they actually, you know, lived where other people live, not in gated communities, attending $1000 plate dinners, having separate entrances for the "poorer" people in the building, etc. Here's the article John is referring to. Yea, all the "but if we were black or gay you wouldn't be saying these things"… wow, that's some sense of entitlement you've got. Also, that line about coming out to someone as rich is like coming out to someone that you're gay? Hold your horses there. When was the last time a rich person was beaten bloody and left tied to a fence in the middle of nowhere, left to die in the cold, because they were rich? Can't remember? Right, that's the difference right there.
Researchers find that researchers don't understand child development and the word "verisimilitude". Sigh. Of course kids want the "real" story over "fantastical" story if the choice is given to them that way (actually, they're 50/50, whereas adult prefer the fantastical). Kids are trying to learn how to live, how to be an adult, how to make it through the world. They don't get the concept of metaphor as an existential thing (although they understand it intuitively). Also, I don't see "How to Win Friends and Influence People" winning out over "Harry Potter" anytime soon. "And, unlike hearing a realistic story from an expert, engaging in imaginative play doesn't offer new data about the way the world works — it instead offers an opportunity to explore what we think we already know, including its limits and entailments." Ugh, no. Play offers an "undo" button the way the real world doesn't.
This is just unconscionable. Repeat after me, there is no "safe" dose of ionizing radiation. Using large x-ray devices where living tissue may be exposed without knowledge or consent is a health hazard and is unethical.
"Remember (this) when you read the next "THE GOP IS DOOMED" piece." I've long stated that the Democratic Party really needs to focus and push more strongly for the local level elections (city councils, county level, school boards, etc). The GOP has pushed very hard and built a good ground game for these seats. This is where the next leaders come from. This is where they're groomed. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
When boom goes bust. "When energy booms go bust, the public is often left responsible for the cleanup. That's because while most states and the federal government make companies put up at least some money in advance to pay for any mess they leave behind, it's often not enough… After the methane industry collapse, there were almost 4,000 wells in Wyoming that the company responsible walked away from. Now, the state has to pay the price." The flip-side of "Drill, Baby, Drill." Also, just in case someone is spouting off about government regulation, remember that it's your tax dollars that are going to be cleaning up the mess. Of course the answer is to make drilling companies put up a bond for each and every well. But then, you'd have to change the law. Good luck with that.
Congress punts again. There is the rabidly loyal base that loves this kind of crap (we're only gonna fund things that nobody will hate us for). But it really shows just how poorly the national GOP does at governance. And it's because they have swallowed the concept of "Government is the problem" hook, line, and sinker. And since it wasn't, they're going to make it that way. The problem is, without actual government services, the economy will collapse. We saw it in the first shut down in the 90s. We saw it two years ago. Insanity is doing the same thing expecting different outcomes.
"In the half-hour interview, Mondale expressed surprise at Obama’s response to reported CIA abuses and called for punishment of agency employees who were involved with penetrating computers used by Senate staffers reviewing CIA interrogation methods." Among other things. And Walter Mondale knows from where he speaks. Yes, this. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)
The Lone Wolf concept comes to small town politics. See, the party and the candidate can then deny all they want, but still get the benefit of having racists doing their shouting for them.
Oh look, Congress is voting to (partially) repeal Obamacare. Again. Instead of, I don't know, passing an appropriations bill, fixing the debt limit crisis, fixing the Highways Fund, fixing about a few hundred other things. Nope, gotta vote one more time. Worst music revival evar.
No comments:
Post a Comment