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)

...if I’m honest with myself, I would be lying if I didn’t say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight. I didn’t want to seem “difficult” or “spoiled.” At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn’t worry about being “difficult” or “spoiled.”

Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence on the wage gap between male and female actors
posted to MetaFilter by The Gooch at 11:17 AM on October 13, 2015 (130 comments)

Nine days ago I had a heart attack. A week ago I had two stents placed in my right coronary artery. Today I'm back at work. Whoa ... WTF just happened??
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jrchaplin at 6:24 PM on October 12, 2015 (21 comments)

Two-spirit people, body sovereignty and gender self-determination
posted to MetaFilter by kamikazegopher at 9:30 AM on October 12, 2015 (13 comments)

The tragic tale of Mt Everest’s most famous dead body is part one of a two part BBC article centered around the story of Tsewang Paljor, known as "Green Boots", whose body has remained for 20 years near the summit where he died. Part two is Death in the clouds: The problem with Everest’s 200+ bodies
posted to MetaFilter by danny the boy at 3:28 PM on October 9, 2015 (75 comments)

Chick-fil-A and the Politics of Eating: In recent days, the complicated politics of urban consumerism have been playing out most visibly, with the arrival of Chick-fil-A, a totem of red-state habits, in New York City. Created by a conservative Christian child of public housing, S. Truett Cathy, in Georgia, in the mid-20th century, Chick-fil-A has come under fire during the past few years over comments made by the founder’s son Dan Cathy, the company’s president, in opposition to same-sex marriage.
posted to MetaFilter by wondrous strange snow at 8:46 AM on October 9, 2015 (249 comments)

...as someone who is invisibly sick, I often feel pressure around the clear boundaries I have in my head of what my disease really means, and how to convey that to others
posted to MetaFilter by lonefrontranger at 9:40 AM on October 9, 2015 (11 comments)

I'm on brain rest (yes that's a thing) with a concussion, and need simple TV shows I can get in the US.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by The corpse in the library at 6:08 PM on October 7, 2015 (45 comments)

The Pernicious Rise of Poptimisim, by Saul Austerlitz.
posted to MetaFilter by grobstein at 5:32 PM on October 6, 2015 (101 comments)

Following the 2014 implementation of a strict photo voter ID law and a 54% increase in the cost of a driver license earlier this year, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency cited budget cuts as the instigating factor for the recent closure of 31 driver license bureaus across the state. As of last week, every county in Alabama where black citizens currently comprise more than 75% of registered voters has had its driver license office closed.
posted to MetaFilter by divined by radio at 8:01 AM on October 7, 2015 (125 comments)

Sources can be tricky things. The Daily Mail doesn't have the greatest reputation. Lord Ashcroft is a Tory billionaire with a grudge against David Cameron. And so far they are the only sources for this one. That said, judge for yourself:

Prime Minister David Cameron ‘put a private part of his anatomy’ into a dead pig’s mouth .

(Over on Twitter, as you might have guessed, it's Christmas.)
posted to MetaFilter by bonaldi at 5:49 PM on September 20, 2015 (376 comments)

I live in a very quaint apartment, but winter is just around the corner and I know it will be a bear to heat. It was hard to keep cool this summer, so I expect heating will be even tougher and there is nothing I hate worse than being cold. What have you found to be the most economical, safe, and comfortable way to heat your abode in the winter months?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by OkTwigs at 5:12 PM on October 6, 2015 (16 comments)

"That sound you hear at 11 a.m. Tuesday — those exultant cheers swiftly muffled by mouthfuls of English muffin, bacon, egg and cheese? They are the victory cries of thousands of McDonald’s breakfast lovers, who for the first time in 43 years will (officially) be able to consume Egg McMuffins at whatever time of day they deem fit. These are heady times, people." By Sarah Kaplan. SLWashPost.
posted to MetaFilter by valkane at 5:35 AM on October 6, 2015 (142 comments)

Mother Jones: How the Media Inspires Mass Shooters, and what it can do to prevent copycat attacks
posted to MetaFilter by roomthreeseventeen at 7:31 AM on October 6, 2015 (123 comments)

I've reached my jerk quota in the real world, so I'm looking for some good TV shows (preferably on netflix or amazon prime streaming) that aren't about jerks.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by specialagentwebb at 9:34 AM on October 5, 2015 (94 comments)

I'm looking to up my backpacking game. What tricks, strategies, and indispensable-but-overlooked items do you take with you into the backcountry? I'm looking for little things that cost little or nothing in terms of weight or money, but which make life easier in camp or on the trail. What are some of your most clever solutions?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:46 PM on October 2, 2015 (40 comments)

Do I have boobs now? "Dear Facebook and Instagram, I'm a trans woman starting hormones. Are you going to censor me?"
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 9:15 PM on October 3, 2015 (17 comments)

A study published in the journal Animal Behavior found that crows can recognize their fellow dead crows and learn to avoid the dangerous circumstances associated with death. The BBC described the study, which involved a "masked individual playing bad cop, arriving on the scene holding up a dead crow."
posted to MetaFilter by Rangi at 3:53 PM on October 2, 2015 (37 comments)

How to structure forced time off work to not fall into a rut, and to help myself feel, and actually get, better?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by The Noble Goofy Elk at 6:39 PM on October 2, 2015 (8 comments)

"The famous festival in Nevada has a policy of ‘inclusion’ yet you won’t see many ‘burners’ who are black. Is it unwelcoming, or are there other matters in play?" [Slightly NSFW]
posted to MetaFilter by I-baLL at 9:48 AM on October 2, 2015 (50 comments)

[T]here are immediate practical benefits to trolling. The way we’ve designed the Internet has made the old cliché “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” actually come true. It’s now possible to monetize any kind of attention, good or bad—and if your gift happens to be generating the bad kind of attention, then it’s well within reach to make trolling into a full-time career.
Arthur Chu writes about “The Big Business of Internet Bigotry” for The Daily Beast.
posted to MetaFilter by Going To Maine at 10:39 AM on October 2, 2015 (81 comments)

I feel like I'm suffering from caregiver burnout though I'm not really a caregiver. How do I recharge? How do I prevent this from happening again?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 12:13 PM on October 2, 2015 (18 comments)

What old age is really like. Getting beyond "Generic Old Man" and "Eccentric Old Woman" by examining literature by 'natives' of old age.
posted to MetaFilter by BuddhaInABucket at 8:36 AM on October 2, 2015 (6 comments)

I haven’t exercised regularly in a long time and am really out of shape. I think I can swing spending between 15-20 minutes exercising most mornings. (I know it’s not much, but I figure even 15 minutes is a lot better than the 0 minutes I currently do.) What activities/types of exercise should I try that can be done in that short amount of time?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by pupstocks at 9:30 PM on October 1, 2015 (33 comments)

"The way to kill a complex city is to chase out all the poor people – and their food" "When greed makes a place like New York, London or San Francisco unaffordable, the non-wealthy leave, and the city loses the smells and tastes that made it great." [SLGuardian]
posted to MetaFilter by gucci mane at 7:08 PM on October 1, 2015 (57 comments)

President Obama says mass murder has become routine, and prayers just aren't enough. Since the Sandy Hook massacre in December of 2012, there have been 142 school shootings in the United States, including today's murder of 10 students. In total, there have been been nearly 1,000 mass shootings in less than three years, "with shooters killing at least 1,234 people and wounding 3,565 more."
posted to MetaFilter by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 7:50 PM on October 1, 2015 (701 comments)

I need help finding a great project management tool for visual people with too many deadlines. Overly-demanding list of criteria inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mjm101 at 11:00 AM on September 30, 2015 (11 comments)

I'm just getting into running and would really like some kind of device to monitor my heart rate. I'm a little overwhelmed by all the different fitness trackers and don't know which one to get.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by désoeuvrée at 11:25 AM on September 30, 2015 (12 comments)

Why Five Friends Stopped Watching the NFL and Started a Book Club

Instead of watching the NFL, we’re launching Football Book Club. And you know what: No one ever got concussed reading The Goldfinch. No one ever suffered a career-ending cervical spine injury curling up with his Kindle. No one’s mind was every slowly destroyed by books — the effect is really quite the opposite — despite what some social conservatives would have you believe. And, best of all: There is no way Roger Goodell can ruin this — he’s not even invited. Every week, we’re exchanging one love for another: Instead of turning on the TV, we’ll read a new book — great works of fiction and nonfiction, poetry and graphic novels — and then we’ll share our thoughts about the current title and what our lives are like without the NFL.

posted to MetaFilter by Fizz at 5:34 AM on September 30, 2015 (79 comments)

Americans spend a lot of time worrying about not having friends and even more time having them.
posted to MetaFilter by poffin boffin at 8:29 AM on September 30, 2015 (137 comments)

I’m changing my name (for non-marriage reasons) and having a hard time. Looking for advice on how to make this easier and more positive, how to normalize it in conversation with people and deal with rudeness or nosiness, and also on dealing with a sense of loss and finding ways or rites to mark and celebrate this change.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ITheCosmos at 8:01 AM on September 30, 2015 (15 comments)

The time expert looked through the messy time diaries I'd been keeping (one mysteriously went through the dryer) and found 27 hours of what he called leisure, and I called bits and scraps of garbagey time. Five minutes here. Ten minutes there. Listening to the radio, exhausted, trying to get out of bed. Getting some exercise. Waiting by the side of the road for a tow truck. (Yes, he said that counted as leisure.) The image that came to mind was this: time confetti.
posted to MetaFilter by sciatrix at 8:32 AM on September 28, 2015 (99 comments)

I'm just finished up my last day at a toxic workplace. Help me come up with some great recovery activities in my time off. More details inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 6:51 PM on September 26, 2015 (4 comments)

I need to start dressing more professionally, but I'm terrible at it and the sort of person who would happily wear t-shirts and shorts or jogging pants all the time if it were acceptable. How can I get better at this?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by synecdoche at 5:22 PM on September 24, 2015 (17 comments)

So I kind of hate dealing with buying razors at the local CVS, and there are a couple of services that proide razors by mail (Harry's Razors and Dollar Shave Club come to mind; I assume there are others). Can anyone recommend one?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by GenjiandProust at 7:49 AM on September 23, 2015 (26 comments)

Today my sibling has decided to cut ties with me. I am devastated and at an utter loss on how to handle some of the finer social details.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 1:43 AM on September 22, 2015 (19 comments)

"I Reviewed Jail on Yelp Because I Couldn't Afford a Therapist." Why people are using sites like Yelp to vent and offer tips about prison and jail.
posted to MetaFilter by Harald74 at 1:46 AM on September 22, 2015 (18 comments)

The human microbiome is the subject of intense scrutiny for a variety of reasons -- probiotic yogurt, as a replacement for bathing, even down to the viral level -- but what we really want to know is How incredibly gross am I being by merely existing in the world? It turns out that the answer is Way gross -- like Pigpen, each of us sheds a unique cloud of bacteria that could conceivably be used to track criminals and to more precisely survey disease outbreaks.
posted to MetaFilter by Etrigan at 7:18 AM on September 22, 2015 (48 comments)

What are some good men's style blogs for someone who hates most men's style blogs?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by invitapriore at 3:57 PM on September 21, 2015 (8 comments)

In fact, women have never once asked me why my account is locked—and unlike some of my male editors, they’ve never recommended opening it up. They understand that the online world has become a horror show, and that men largely drive that horror.

Stacey May Fowles: I am afraid of men on the Internet.
posted to MetaFilter by MartinWisse at 12:32 PM on September 21, 2015 (98 comments)

Guardian: Scott Walker 2016 presidential campaign in crisis after plunge in polls. BBC: Scott Walker drops out of US 2016 presidential race. New York Times: Scott Walker Said to Be Quitting Presidential Race. Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: Campaign woes prompt Scott Walker to drop out of race. The Onion: Aides Rush On Stage To Rotate Scott Walker Back To Direction Of Audience.
posted to MetaFilter by Wordshore at 1:46 PM on September 21, 2015 (240 comments)

I've realized that morning adrenaline and cortisol surges are largely responsible for my daily hours of panic and dread. While I know ways of soothing that after the fact, I want to prevent it altogether and am looking for supplements, medication, lifestyle hacks. More inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 5:23 AM on September 20, 2015 (16 comments)

Smallish medical bill went to collections-- how to proceed in paying?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by geegollygosh at 7:58 AM on September 18, 2015 (6 comments)

Ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming to this all-hands meeting. We'll get started just as soon as you open your binders to page 246: Infographic Breakdown of Video Game Console Traffic on YouPorn (NSFW Text)
posted to MetaFilter by griphus at 6:51 AM on September 17, 2015 (120 comments)

Really brief, dumb question about nutrition: How bad is sugar for you if you're not overweight/obese or diabetic?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by easter queen at 10:05 AM on September 16, 2015 (16 comments)

“I didn’t take him seriously,” is what Joey says again and again to the people who keep asking the same questions again and again, including investigators who arrived at the trailer after one of the most notorious mass killings in recent American history. Why did he do nothing? they asked. What kind of people would do nothing? (Longform WaPo)
posted to MetaFilter by roomthreeseventeen at 9:22 AM on September 15, 2015 (98 comments)

My husband is honest enough to say he's never found my body sexually attractive. And yet, we have a happy marriage.
posted to MetaFilter by roolya_boolya at 10:50 AM on September 15, 2015 (187 comments)

Eleven hours of live-action Neko Atsume [SLYT]. Neko Atsume on the blue previously.
posted to MetaFilter by Itaxpica at 8:54 AM on September 15, 2015 (17 comments)

meet the man NASA paid $18,000 to lie in bed for 70 days straight
posted to MetaFilter by and they trembled before her fury at 12:40 PM on September 14, 2015 (38 comments)

"​I got out, and it’s not too late for you." - Sarah Nyberg on being the subject of an online hate mob. Meanwhile Zoe Quinn talks about sympathy for her abusers, and actions turned out to have consequences for internet troll Joshua Goldberg.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 7:29 PM on September 14, 2015 (244 comments)