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Child language development books for...children
My 6-year-old is interested in how language develops, specifically in babies. I'd love to get him a couple books on it that hit his age level, do these books exist?
Media featuring normal people with superpowers?
I'm looking for movies/shows/books that center around a protagonist who has superpowers but still lives a relatively normal life (no fighting supervillains, etc, superpowers used mainly for the hassles of everyday life). Particularly looking for psychics/people with telepathy because that tends to not be a great power for fighting evil, anyway. Also partial to workplace comedies because of how regular/normal they tend to be.
Solar Conundrums
Is there a good unbiased clearinghouse/site to answer all my home solar questions?
50 Days to ... Something Athletic?
I have a special event coming up in 50 days. I'm looking for a fitness challenge lasting approximately that long. Ideally it would get me moving without requiring any kind of special equipment. My goal is not to lose weight, but I am also not averse to the idea of losing some. My goal to feel more vigorous and confident 50 days from now -- and look more toned and "fit" while I'm at it.
Ship a 400 lb package to be held for pickup in Laredo
I need to ship a 400 lb package to Laredo, Texas to be held for up to a week so someone can pick it up for me. Are there companies that specialize in this kind of thing? I could ship it to some friends in Texas and have them drive it down on the day but I would prefer to skip the complication.
Shooting the Money Cannon
Airbnb is spending millions of dollars to make nightmares go away by Olivia Carville [CW: bad things happening to short-term renters, including assault, rape & murder]
One-time fees that are worth it?
What have you paid a lifetime/one-time fee for that was worth it?
(Previously, but now pretty old.)
What "lifetime" subscriptions or memberships do you recommend?
Do you know of a "lifetime" subscription or membership or purchase that you recommend or that seems interesting or a good deal? (An opportunity to pay once and reap ongoing benefits/dividends indefinitely.)
In this modern era of low job security, I think I'd like knowing I'll always have a few Nice Things (or simply just reliable things) regardless of what financial turbulence the future may bring, so I'm curious what might be out there along those lines.
Looking for super simple recipes for the crockpot
I have a crockpot, need to eat at home more, and am really short on time. Anyone have recipes I could use?
It is but a quest.
Because many of us like a time sink: Hermeticism: the
nexus between science, philosophy and spirit has been a font of Art over the ages.
As Above, So Below. (Hermeticism Previously)
As Above, So Below. (Hermeticism Previously)
I smell a nightmare...
My mother lives in NB, Canada and I live in ON. She's suggesting she add me to her bank account and home ownership as she believes this will ease any transfer after she passes. I think it will affect my taxes. What's the best move?
woody root systems resemble pancakes rather than carrots
Unearthing root truths.
The Garden Professors have a lot to say about roots and the appalling condition of most root balls. Some extol the benefits of washing and pruning root balls before planting. Horticulture professor Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott had to remove close to 70% of the root system of this tree due to poor root quality, a widespread issue in containerized and balled-and-burlapped trees.
What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople?
What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople?
A blind and opaque reputelligent nosedive
Data isn't just being collected from your phone. It's being used to score you.
- "Operating in the shadows of the online marketplace, specialized tech companies you've likely never heard of are tapping vast troves of our personal data to generate secret 'surveillance scores' — digital mug shots of millions of Americans — that supposedly predict our future behavior. The firms sell their scoring services to major businesses across the U.S. economy. People with low scores can suffer harsh consequences."[1]
I'm looking for great sentences from literature
Contribute your favorite sentences to help me with my letterpress project.
How much time do you have? 😂
T. Greg Doucette, regular member of #LawTwitter and Vic Migonga/Ty Beard commentator par excellence, gets asked what might we do to stop the takeover of the police and the judiciary by white supremacy.
Greg replies with an epic 15 point thread.
shitgibbon
Building the Perfect Profanity (Discover): Researchers asked what makes certain words rude, and what happens when you compound profanity with normal words. [The authors] took 487 common, innocuous English words and asked participants to consider how well they would lend themselves to being combined with a profanity (they give the example "assdoor"). "We examined a potential source of emergent tabooness when combining extant taboo words (e.g., shit) with common nouns (e.g., gibbon) to form novel compounds (e.g., shitgibbon). [...]The five strongest candidates for taboo compounding included sack, trash, pig, rod, and mouth ... the five least acceptable candidates were fireplace, restaurant, tennis, newspaper, and physician." (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review study abstract)
Life like Walden
After many years of living a very social life in a very big city I find myself living alone in a very remote part of the world. Seeking advice and insight into a life of solitude.
People who live alone, in isolation
Looking to read books, articles, memoirs etc. about people who live/lived alone, i.e. in areas where they were one of the few/only residents.
🌶️ Store-Bought Sauce Chemistry 🍅
I like to combine Frank's Red Hot with Heinz Ketchup. I like the 'spicy-sweet' flavor profile that combining these two ready-made sauces creates. I want to experiment and find out what other ready-made, store bought condiments and sauces I can combine for similar yumminess. Please keep suggestions limited to combinations that ONLY contain ready-made condiments and sauces (mayo, Greek yogurt, and sour cream also count); I am not looking for lengthy recipes that require making things from scratch. I am looking for quick "instant" sauce combinations I can make without fuss by simply combining two or more store bought sauces.
What should I write on the company whiteboard?
I just moved office cubes. There's a big whiteboard in the main hallway near it. Every day, somebody writes "Happy [day of week]!", with usually a heart or something on Friday. There's lots of room on the whiteboard, and this is just BEGGING for a new doodle or remark, snarky or unsnarky. What should I write or doodle on this whiteboard? (We're a bunch of smart, friendly engineer types who appreciate almost anything.) Thank you!
L'Obvs: "It's time to go beyond capitalism"
Economist Piketty's latest book a 1,200 page tome about abolishing billionaires
- "The new book, called 'Capitalism and Ideology', tops 1,200 pages and delves into the political ideologies behind income inequality, while providing radical solutions for reversing the world's wealth disparities." (previously)
How much do we make?
Between the discussion of the average American and the previous FPP about parental aid and class and the discussion of grocery cashiers in another thread leading to a comment from a person to the effect of not feeling like a real MeFite because of salary, I've been thinking about class on MeFi. What is the range of incomes and class experiences here? Where are we, collectively, coming from? And how can we handle things better when we discuss class?
Radicalism 101
The Chicago DSA and Midwest Socialist presents Primer Red, introductions to the basics of radical thought and history.
Dialectical Materialism (“What are the forces of history?) - Alienation (“The cheaper each worker is, the more they have to work to survive.”) - Class (“What do you sell in order to live?”) - Value (“Why does surplus abundance go to the people who need it least?”) - Praxis (“How do you do things?”)
Dialectical Materialism (“What are the forces of history?) - Alienation (“The cheaper each worker is, the more they have to work to survive.”) - Class (“What do you sell in order to live?”) - Value (“Why does surplus abundance go to the people who need it least?”) - Praxis (“How do you do things?”)
dry, the beloved country
I wrote to my friend Paul, who lives in an apartment in an upper-middle-class neighborhood, to see if I could stay with him in Cape Town. He agreed—but only if I understood what was going on. What was going on, he suggested, was not just a drought, but a kind of vast, unplanned, crazy—and fabulous—social experiment. “I hope you’ll be game to test your water-saving limits!” he wrote me. “Nothing leaves the flat except via the toilet these days. The sink and bath are plugged ... I can manage the washing machine on the lowest setting, and its output goes into a 25-liter container for additional flushing. It’s all a bit extreme perhaps,” he conceded.Surprising, even beautiful things can happen when it feels as if the world is about to end.
Against Marriage
Marriage is what happens when the state gets involved in endorsing and regulating personal relationships. It's a bad idea.
Good Old-Fashioned Sci-Fi Escapism
The last several books I've read have been good but Heavy and Sad. I would now like to read some Exciting Space Adventures.
Blue Marble Data
planet.parts
is a set of links to "Near-realtime Earth observation resources"
My whole life could be different!
What do you wish you had started doing sooner?
Share your Instant Pot love here!
I think I want an Instant Pot. If you love yours, what model/size do you have and why do you love it? What do you make in it the most? Do you have a favorite cookbook that you find helpful?
Possibly relevant details—I only cook for myself, but love bulk-cooking ahead and freezing single servings. No dietary restrictions.
from hell's heart, I STaB at thee
Stephanie Kelton: How We Think About the Deficit Is Mostly Wrong - "Unfortunately, budgetary effects are the sun around which everything revolves in Washington. Should we invest a trillion dollars in our crumbling infrastructure, offer Medicare for All or pass the biggest tax cut in the country's history? ... In a more rational world, lawmakers would abandon the crude C.B.O. scoring model and recognize that the risk of overspending is inflation, not bankruptcy. They would avoid fruitless battles over the debt ceiling, and they would acknowledge that the deficit itself could be deployed as a potent weapon in the fights against inequality, poverty and economic stagnation."
said, and left unsaid. done, and left undone.
In The Baffler, Siddartha Deb asks us Stranger than Fiction - Why won’t novelists reckon with climate change?
To help thousands of people in over 200 countries diagnose, treat and prevent common illnesses
Hesperian is a non-profit publisher of books and newsletters for community-based health care, mostly aimed at the third world. Their first book, Where There Is No Doctor, A Village Health Handbook, has been translated into 88 languages and is one of the most widely used training and work manuals for community health care in the world. They have now made 20 of their publications available for free download, many of which can now also be browsed online through their website using an "Ebrary" in-browser interface.
Mathematical Paintings of Crockett Johnson
From 1965 until his death in 1975 Crockett Johnson painted over 100 works relating to mathematics and mathematical physics. Of these paintings, eighty are found in the collections of the National Museum of American History. We present them here, with related diagrams from the artist’s library and papers.
The tyranny of work
The American workplace is an unaccountable, near-dictatorial private govenment with sweeping powers over our lives. Why can't Americans see this? And what should be done about it?
[SLVox] Philosopher Elizabeth Anderson makes this argument in her book Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It), based on her 2015 Tanner Lectures in Human Values. She elaborates on these themes in an interview in Jacobin. But Miya Tokumitsu, writing in the New Republic, warns that "[i]n reality, the employment landscape is even more dire than Anderson outlines." (Related previously: F*ck Work!)
How to survive gaslighting
"How to survive gaslighting: when manipulation erases your reality"
"Right now, many Americans listening to their president are experiencing what I experienced frequently a child. Nothing means anything, and reality is being canceled. There is confusion, there is chaos, everything is upside down and inside out. When facts and truth are being discredited, how is it possible to know what to believe, especially when it comes from someone we expect to embody both ethics and etiquette?"
Probus vir, parvo contentus
The colorful and influential career of Reginald Foster, Vatican Latinist.
To the rock and roll cognoscenti, how does the band "Sparks" measure up?
I've been a serious classic rock fan since before it was classic rock, and have always sought out lesser-known or more esoteric bands in the hopes of finding a hidden gem. Having been at it since I was teenager in the late 1980's, I thought by now I had heard of pretty much every band of the 1960s and 70s that was even the least bit successful or famous.
Sparks had a #1 single in 1974, yet had never heard of them before a couple weeks ago. I've been listening to them a lot since then, and really like what I've heard so far. In fact, they kind of impress the hell out of me, which makes me wonder why they aren't better known.
Please inform. gracias
Second hand enforcers of a creditor's paradise...
Mark Blyth is the Eastman Professor of Political Economy at Brown University.
Author of the book, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Previously on the blue.
He has written extensively about the creditor's revolt that begin in the late 70s.
He has become more well known over the last year after he called Brexit, Trump, and the Italian referendum, and is now warning about the French presidential election. He sees the current global trend as creditor-debtor stand-offs. He has referred to many center left and right parties as enforcers in a creditor's paradise For instance, in a speech to the center left, German Social Democratic Party. After they gave him an award for "thinking differently" about economics.
Author of the book, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Previously on the blue.
He has written extensively about the creditor's revolt that begin in the late 70s.
He has become more well known over the last year after he called Brexit, Trump, and the Italian referendum, and is now warning about the French presidential election. He sees the current global trend as creditor-debtor stand-offs. He has referred to many center left and right parties as enforcers in a creditor's paradise For instance, in a speech to the center left, German Social Democratic Party. After they gave him an award for "thinking differently" about economics.
Don't Stay in School
Don't Go to School (slyt)
David Brown posits that the traditional school syllabus is a poor fit for modern life.
Classicists in Interesting Times
Eidolon
is a general-audience webzine about the Greco-Roman classics. Subjects covered include a comparison by modern American and ancient Roman foodie cultures by Ben Thomas, Alexander Hamilton's self-identification with Catiline by Joanna Kenty, re-queering Sappho by Ella Haselswerdt, classical references in rap by Dan-el Padilla Peralta, and the contemporary popularity of ancient stoicism by Chiara Sulprizio. But by far the biggest splash was made by editor Donna Zuckerberg's How to Be a Good Classicist Under a Bad Emperor, about resisting the alt-right interpretation of Greco-Roman culture and society.
To Build A Better Ballot
No, this is not about the 2016 U.S. election. Not just that, anyway. First, I need to explain a weird glitch in our voting system…
Nicky Case Previously -who you may remember from his (and vi hart’s Previously, 2, 3, 4) “playable post” Previously about the Schelling Segregation Model Previously- has made a new playable post about different voting systems.
Nicky Case Previously -who you may remember from his (and vi hart’s Previously, 2, 3, 4) “playable post” Previously about the Schelling Segregation Model Previously- has made a new playable post about different voting systems.
Connecting to the divine feminine
The Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, operating since 2006, trains women to become Jewish ritual leaders by tapping into earth-based spiritual practices that they believe harken back to pre-rabbinic Judaism.
While it has attracted its share of criticism for being kind of "pagany,", its graduates regularly go on to positions of leadership, communal or religious, and bring the lessons they learned while studying there.
Quiet Pine Trees Microfiction
Quiet Pine Trees
is a twitter based stream of haunting and provocative micro-fiction by T.R. Darling.
"Being brief isn’t enough. You can boil down a story to a sentence or two, but often you need context. If you need to convey a setting, like a fascist dystopia, or characterization, like a reluctant soldier, suddenly one or two sentences won’t fit. I often must resist the temptation to omit punctuation or fall back on abbreviation, like some kind of barbarian."
Full Interview.
Creative People Say No.
"How much less will I create unless I say “no?” A sketch? A stanza? A paragraph? An experiment? Twenty lines of code? The answer is always the same: “yes” makes less. We do not have enough time as it is. There are groceries to buy, gas tanks to fill, families to love and day jobs to do."
Given the Taubes/Lustig view on sugar, why not use dextrose everywhere?
If we assume the (increasingly accepted) view that sugar, in any decent quantity, is a highly unhealthy thing to eat, and that the main culprit is actually fructose, is there any good reason to not aggressively replace sugar or HFCS with dextrose?