NPR: Despite a 2009 law designed to prevent this from happening, "since January 2009, the Army has 'separated' 22,000 soldiers for 'misconduct' after they came back from Iraq and Afghanistan and were diagnosed with mental health problems or traumatic brain injury. As a result, many of the dismissed soldiers have not received crucial retirement and health care benefits that soldiers receive with an honorable discharge."
posted to MetaFilter by beagle at 6:30 PM on October 28, 2015 (44 comments)

At the end of a quiet road, behind a veil of twisted black oak trees, there was a house. A woman lived there. On bitter nights like this one, she sat by the fire and read until she grew tired enough for sleep. But on this night, as her lids grew heavy, she was startled by a sound. A sound she wasn’t accustomed to hearing these days. Who could be calling, she wondered? And this late? She rose from her chair and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”
posted to MetaFilter by pwally at 9:06 PM on October 28, 2015 (47 comments)

Every job I have ever had I become convinced I am getting fired. How can I stop believing this and sabotaging myself at work.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by thelastgirl at 3:29 PM on October 28, 2015 (26 comments)

I'm a fairly seasoned developer but not much of a relational database expert, though I know the fundamentals. I'm looking for resources to get to the next stage.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by tempythethird at 10:04 AM on October 28, 2015 (7 comments)

To commemorate the last decade’s worth of failures, we organized and analyzed the data we’ve collected. We cannot claim—nor can anyone, really—to have a definitive, comprehensive database of debacles. Instead, from the incidents we have chronicled, we handpicked the most interesting and illustrative examples of big IT systems and projects gone awry and created the five interactives featured here. Each reveals different emerging patterns and lessons. Dive in to see what we’ve found. One big takeaway: While it’s impossible to say whether IT failures are more frequent now than in the past, it does seem that the aggregate consequences are worse.
posted to MetaFilter by jenkinsEar at 5:21 PM on October 27, 2015 (61 comments)

The Life and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp: What the future of low-wage work really looks like. "In the years since Amazon became the symbol of the online retail economy, horror stories have periodically emerged about the conditions at its warehouses—workers faced with near-impossible targets, people dropping on the job from heat or extreme fatigue. This isn’t one of those stories." (SLHuffPost)
posted to MetaFilter by Melismata at 1:52 PM on October 27, 2015 (76 comments)

"When a student at Spring Valley High School, South Carolina captured a cellphone video of a police officer flipping over a student and her desk, then throwing the student across the room, the video quickly got national attention: people were alarmed that a police officer in a school would do that to a teenager who didn't pose a threat."
posted to MetaFilter by roomthreeseventeen at 10:23 AM on October 27, 2015 (279 comments)

A while, I read Putnam's Bowling Alone and Fishman's The Walmart Effect and I enjoyed them. I didn't necessarily agree with everything they said, but I enjoyed them. A lot has changed since they were written. I'd like some recommendations of more recent books that are along the same lines as those -- books about social change written in layman's terms that aren't overtly biased.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by MildredMakenpace at 2:27 PM on October 26, 2015 (6 comments)

9 Cities Around the World That Are Going Carfree
posted to MetaFilter by aniola at 2:21 PM on October 25, 2015 (58 comments)

The voluntary nature of friendship makes it subject to life’s whims in a way more formal relationships aren’t. In adulthood, as people grow up and go away, friendships are the relationships most likely to take a hit. You’re stuck with your family, and you’ll prioritize your spouse. But where once you could run over to Jonny’s house at a moment’s notice and see if he could come out to play, now you have to ask Jonny if he has a couple hours to get a drink in two weeks.
posted to MetaFilter by ellieBOA at 3:27 AM on October 26, 2015 (58 comments)

Old NYC Mapping New York City (and beyond) using old photos from the NYPL.
posted to MetaFilter by ColdChef at 6:47 AM on October 26, 2015 (12 comments)

How do you learn to keep your balance when skydiving? Take lessons in a wind tunnel
posted to MetaFilter by growabrain at 9:35 AM on October 26, 2015 (14 comments)

The most cut-off man on Earth. The story of Slava, a meteorologist who works at the most remote weather station on Earth and in a time capsule all his own.
posted to MetaFilter by Kitteh at 9:49 AM on October 26, 2015 (21 comments)

Of course, the real answer is most books, but I'm looking for something a little more specific...
posted to Ask MetaFilter by still bill at 10:14 AM on October 25, 2015 (39 comments)

I would like to collect movie clips of the same actor playing a supporting, deferential role and a leading dominant role. Or of actors playing other dramatically different personalities in different movies. do you have any suggestions where you thought: wow i can't beleive that is the same person as X?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 2:49 PM on October 25, 2015 (83 comments)

What America’s immigrants looked like when they arrived on Ellis Island.
posted to MetaFilter by chunking express at 8:58 AM on October 26, 2015 (31 comments)

My partner (32, male) and I (31, female) have been having the worst year of our lives. We've been together for six years, but the last year has been one horrible thing after another. Our relationship is suffering and it's become difficult for us to spend time together without conflict. My partner has just about given up because he feels like all we do is fight. I think that our relationship is worth saving but I'm not sure what more we can do. How can we right what seems like a sinking ship?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 6:46 AM on October 26, 2015 (22 comments)

"Though there appears to be no definitive research on gender and gibberish, it became clear to me that girls are drawn to gibberish and the dozens of other secret languages and language games, also called argots and ludlings, because using them builds social bonds." Jessica Weiss, "The Secret Linguistic Life of Girls: Why Girls Speak Gibberish."
posted to MetaFilter by MonkeyToes at 3:40 PM on October 25, 2015 (57 comments)

The deadly legacy of HIV truthers
posted to MetaFilter by zarq at 5:57 AM on October 26, 2015 (72 comments)

I am looking for ideas on budget-friendly, healthy and easy to make meals for a single person. See inside for details.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by bearette at 8:54 AM on October 25, 2015 (17 comments)

The Hot Dog Report: Everyone makes jokes about chicken lips in their hot dogs but someone finally tested a wide variety of brands to see what they're really made of.
posted to MetaFilter by LizBoBiz at 10:01 AM on October 24, 2015 (120 comments)

This week, in an article for The Nation, Bill McKibben reports the story of how two separate teams of reporters at Inside Climate News and The Los Angeles Times have, “reached the same bombshell conclusion: ExxonMobil, the world’s largest and most powerful oil company, knew everything there was to know about climate change by the mid-1980s, and then spent the next few decades systematically funding climate denial and lying about the state of the science.”
posted to MetaFilter by ob1quixote at 5:02 PM on October 24, 2015 (70 comments)

Welcome to Home of the Brave. I’m [Peabody-winning journalist and sometime This American Life and NPR correspondent] Scott Carrier. A couple weeks ago I was watching Donald Trump on television wondering how and why anyone would want him to be President of the United States. He’s a rude, arrogant condescending, chauvanistic egomaniac. What if he were president and got angry and had a fit? But then I realized I don’t actually know any Trump supporters, so I decided I should drive around Nevada and find some. (He also drives around a little bit of California.)
posted to MetaFilter by Going To Maine at 11:12 AM on October 23, 2015 (72 comments)

Need to slow down? Here is the very first episode of The Joy of Painting, in which Bob Ross encourages viewers to take a walk in their own happy little woods. (SLYT)
posted to MetaFilter by swift at 7:19 AM on October 23, 2015 (36 comments)

Most questions about work hours and productivity imply that it's normal to be focused on work the entire time you're at the office, with short breaks and maybe a lunch break. I've seen lots of advice suggesting that you may have ADHD or depression if you spend a lot of time, say, surfing the Internet while procrastinating. Is procrastinating really a pathology, and is 90-100% productivity really normal?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by chickenmagazine at 1:55 PM on October 22, 2015 (37 comments)

When I visit Lake Michigan, I feel staggering incredulity: How is this not an ocean? Driving between cities around its 1,400 miles of shoreline—say, from Chicago to Grand Rapids—emphasizes the lake’s vast scroll, since the only way to go is around. A new map captures that experience.

posted to MetaFilter by cthuljew at 7:14 PM on October 21, 2015 (72 comments)

"We all know tech is excluding most people from participating. But one group is actually over represented. And we’ve been conspicuously silent." Metafilter's own Anil Dash asserts that "Asian American men who work in tech are benefitting from tech’s systematic exclusion of women and non-Asian minorities" and gives some recommendations about what they should do about it.
posted to MetaFilter by Potomac Avenue at 6:56 AM on October 22, 2015 (23 comments)

On behalf of the MeFites of Norway: It has come to our attention that somebody has let slip that "totally Texas" (in Norwegian "helt texas") is used as an expression to convey that some event is crazy or totally out of control. After decades, the Americans now know. An investigation into the leak will be made. Thank you.
posted to MetaFilter by Harald74 at 6:16 AM on October 22, 2015 (132 comments)

The latest thing is Recipes as animated GIFs:
Pull-out monkey bread
Avocado & Eggs breakfast
Better than sex brownies
Homemade Nutella
Apple roses
Pizza dip
PES guacamole
Mozzarella sticks
Archer's Margarita

posted to MetaFilter by growabrain at 11:20 AM on October 22, 2015 (100 comments)

"What is Social Anxiety Disorder?": The Atlantic's Olga Khazan interviews Stefan G. Hofmann, the director of the Social Anxiety Program at Boston University. (SLTheAtlantic)
posted to MetaFilter by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 11:23 AM on October 22, 2015 (161 comments)

My dear friend across the country is going through a difficult time, and I want to materialize on her doorstep a giant pile of components she can swiftly -- and I mean swiftly -- turn into dinner for herself and her eight-year-old. I'm thinking of good ramen-y things, canned fish, and more stuff I can get on Amazon (or similar) for her, and I'd love your suggestions.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Stevia Agave at 4:46 PM on October 21, 2015 (23 comments)

Yo Zushi: Many of those calling out cultural appropriation of all kinds – from clothing and hair to musical genres – seem to share this proprietorial attitude, which insists that culture, by its nature a communally forged and ever-changing project, should belong to specific peoples and not to all. Banks is doubtless correct to feel this “undercurrent” of racial persecution by an industry that prefers its stars to be white and what they sell to be black, yet there is also truth in the second part of that undercurrent: “Y’all don’t really own shit.” When it comes to great movements in culture, the racial interloper is not wrong. None of us can, or should, “own” hip-hop, cornrows, or the right to wear a kimono.
posted to MetaFilter by Chrysostom at 8:34 AM on October 21, 2015 (348 comments)

Diabetes-related peripheral arterial disease is rapidly overtaking trauma as the leading cause of amputation, a trend made all the more horrifying by the racial disparity in amputations and the way in which lack of access to quality primary care converts treatable PAD into amputations.
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 7:20 AM on October 21, 2015 (21 comments)

Doc Brown: We're descending towards Hill Valley, California at 4:29 PM on Wednesday, October 21st, twenty-fifteen.
Marty: Two thousand fifteen?! You mean we're in the future!
posted to MetaFilter by leotrotsky at 6:22 AM on October 21, 2015 (130 comments)

I'm looking for cotton bed sheets that are soft and remain cool throughout the night. With those characteristics in mind, what type (not brand) of cotton sheets should I be seeking?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by iamisaid at 5:00 PM on October 20, 2015 (18 comments)

The Story of Technoviking. July 8, 2000. Matthias Fritsch put down the camera on his lap on the back of a DJ van at Berlin's Fuckparade. Unknowingly, he recorded a dancer that became one of the first massively popular internet video memes, at a time downloading stamp-sized MOV and RM files was still norm. But TECHNOVIKING was not pleased, and a lawsuit left Fritsch bankrupt. This is the full story, as told by the creator of the original video with guest artists, sociologists and lawyers, how he (and Technoviking) lost control of their images, the implications of remix culture, the propagation of internet memes, and the impact of the internet on privacy rights. (Slightly NSFW censored private bits, 5 minutes in.)
posted to MetaFilter by lmfsilva at 10:16 AM on October 20, 2015 (27 comments)

One Texas lawyer is helping companies opt out of workers’ compensation and write their own rules. What does it mean for injured workers?
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 1:53 PM on October 18, 2015 (100 comments)

Vetch (dropbox PDF link) is the first known literary journal for transgender poets and prose writers.
posted to MetaFilter by roomthreeseventeen at 7:03 AM on October 19, 2015 (5 comments)

I grew up in Wisconsin and spent many summers of my youth vacationing in small towns like Minocqua, St. Germain, Egg Harbor, and Bayfield. Where should I vacation in Michigan?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by rachelpapers at 8:08 AM on October 16, 2015 (16 comments)

Why Don't Queer Butch Women Exist in Games? Meanwhile, Julie Compton wonders Why Hollywood Can't Get with Butch Women. And Jack Halberstam asks, Is the Butch Back?
posted to MetaFilter by thetortoise at 1:07 AM on October 15, 2015 (40 comments)

We tell women to have sex with as many partners as they desire while neglecting to tell men to study up on female anatomy. But who wants sex if it’s not good? A woman’s right to say ‘meh’
posted to MetaFilter by almostmanda at 6:20 AM on October 15, 2015 (182 comments)

Meditation has gotten hip again. With events like Wisdom 2.0, DIY apps, trendy in-person sessions/ networking, and even free 10 day sessions, the backlash has begun.
posted to MetaFilter by JiffyQ at 7:02 PM on October 14, 2015 (46 comments)

If someone had told me even a few years ago that such a thing wasn’t pure coincidence, I would have had my doubts about that someone. Now, however, I reserve my doubts for the people who still trust. There are so many ghosts in our machines—their locations so hidden, their methods so ingenious, their motives so inscrutable—that not to feel haunted is not to be awake. That’s why paranoia, even in its extreme forms, no longer seems to me so much a disorder as a mode of cognition with an impressive track record of prescience. --Walter Kirn on modern paranoia in The Atlantic
posted to MetaFilter by chavenet at 3:54 AM on October 14, 2015 (33 comments)

“What do I think is the American dream? There is no dream for anyone who isn’t a lawyer or banker,” he said. “Everyone else, we are getting a raw deal. Immigrants taking all our jobs. Only jobs we get is keeping the rich happy: we release fish downstream for work, they catch them upstream for fun.” (slGrauniad)
posted to MetaFilter by Kitteh at 8:42 AM on October 14, 2015 (91 comments)

NYC restauranteur Danny Meyer is eliminating tips at his 13 restaurants. "Significantly increased" prices will make up the difference. (More from NYTimes.)
posted to MetaFilter by ndg at 8:59 AM on October 14, 2015 (108 comments)

"I am a hetero white cis man working to take the space I have in the world and make it feminist... I know that it should be rapists' responsibility to not rape instead of survivors' responsibility to not get raped, and I know that by virtue of being a dude who doesn't talk to other dudes about rape I am complicit in rape culture, but I just have no idea where to begin. Can you talk to me about talking to rapists about rape?" [cw: potentially triggering language abounds]
posted to MetaFilter by divined by radio at 9:16 AM on October 14, 2015 (31 comments)

I want some books about women going on the traditional hero's journey! Ideally, non-fantasy and non-young adult.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Ziggy500 at 4:19 AM on October 14, 2015 (25 comments)

Thoreau was kind of a dick. Actually, more than "kind of." He was, in fact, a huge, total dick. (OK, he was a strident and powerful abolitionist. But somehow he managed to be a dick about that too.)
posted to MetaFilter by neroli at 6:47 PM on October 13, 2015 (111 comments)

What's the Difference Between Data Science and Statistics? — Not long ago, the term "data science" meant nothing to most people-even to those who worked with data. A likely response to the term was: "Isn't that just statistics?" These days, data science is hot. The Harvard Business Review called data scientist the "Sexiest Job of the 21st Century."  So what changed? Why did data science become a distinct term? And what distinguishes data science from statistics?
posted to MetaFilter by tonycpsu at 5:20 PM on October 13, 2015 (37 comments)

Why are glasses so expensive? [SLYT] According to Forbes, "Today more than 80% of major eyewear brands, including the world’s No. 1 seller, Ray-Ban, [and Oakley] are designed and retailed (over 7,000 stores US alone) by Luxottica" (2012).
posted to MetaFilter by mecran01 at 12:17 PM on October 13, 2015 (199 comments)