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Families in cars, driving all night with the heat on to keep kids warm

A new report on on rural homelessness Finding Home: A True Story of Life Outside (full report) and press release. Of the hundreds of homeless Oregonians interviewed for the report, roughly 60% are employed but cannot earn enough money to meet income requirements, credit scores, and security deposits necessary to re-enter the rental housing market. Interview with report author and former mayor of Ashland Oregon Julie Akins: At what point do we accept that? That you can be a working person and still homeless? That you can be a retiree who worked your entire life — and now you’re unhoused because your wife died, and only one Social Security benefit is not enough?
posted by spamandkimchi to MetaFilter on Mar 25 at 8:48 AM
44 users marked this as a favorite

This Was Village Life in Britain 3,000 Years Ago


An Anarchist’s Guide To Dune

A long time ago in a place called Olympia, Washington… The Transmetropolitan Review places Frank Herbert’s Dune within the anarchist history of the Pacific Northwest.
posted by mbrubeck to MetaFilter on Mar 21 at 2:30 PM
38 users marked this as a favorite

whereas, the alt right prepper alone in his basement with tons of food

Zoe, The Leftist Prepper, on supporting one another after disaster. From the Struggle Care podcast, with an auto-generated transcript. It's this rugged individualism that I think combined with gun love, because they are in my comments every single day... 'Oh, I'm gonna come to the blue state when the apocalypse hits and just take all your stuff.' And it baffles me... like, don't you care about the old granny next door who may need help opening her cans? I just, I don't get it.
posted by spamandkimchi to MetaFilter on Mar 27 at 10:15 AM
35 users marked this as a favorite

The fish doorbell

Welcome to the Fish Doorbell. Will you help fish pass the city boat lock? Every spring fish migrate upstream, in search of places to spawn. They swim through the centre of the city of Utrecht. Unfortunatly, the boat lock is closed during spring. You can help the fish. Do you see a fish? Press the Doorbell! All the photos are collected. When there are enough fish waiting, the lock will be opened. This is the link to a cartoon about it. This is the link to the official doorbell site.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 8:18 PM
35 users marked this as a favorite

“I actually think that AI fundamentally makes us more human.” (BOOOO)

Ted Gioia: "Tech leaders gathered in Austin for the South-by-Southwest conference a few days ago. There they showed a video boasting about the wonders of new AI technology. And the audience started booing." [Xitter link] Gioia argues that users are becoming much more wary, not only about "AI," but about tech in general.
posted by JHarris to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 9:05 AM
35 users marked this as a favorite

Lil Jon has a guided meditation YouTube stream

10 different 10-minute guided mediations by crunk progenitor Lil Jon. Lil Jon is very serious about meditation, and sharing its benefits. These 10 guided mediations include ones focusing on boosting focus, gratitude, grief, deep sleep, and much more.
posted by Shepherd to MetaFilter on Mar 27 at 5:14 AM
34 users marked this as a favorite

"I have not seen a group of attorneys general target a fellow AG before"


on television, CPR works about 70% of the time

GeriPal podcast has over 300 episodes on geriatrics, hospice, and palliative care (with transcripts!) that are accessible to the layperson and feature a wide range of interviewees. One standout episode is The Language of Serious Illness with Sunita Puri, Bob Arnold, and Jacqueline Kruser: "[doctors] just offer options without context. And given that the culture of medicine is always to do more, the context will always push people to try something."
posted by spamandkimchi to MetaFilter on Mar 26 at 11:29 AM
29 users marked this as a favorite

Bridge Collapse in Baltimore

The 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 1977 as an outer crossing of Baltimore Harbor, over the Patapsco River, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority, its operator. It was struck around 1:30 am EDT by a container ship on its way out to sea. “What’s been indicated is the vessel lost power, and when you lose power you lose steering,” Cardin said. “But they’re doing a full investigation.”
posted by hydra77 to MetaFilter on Mar 26 at 7:18 AM
29 users marked this as a favorite

The Tapa Room Tapes - Hawaiian music, Hawaiian Village Serenaders, 1950s

The Tapa Room Tapes are a collection of recorded performances by various Hawaiian artists (includingi Alfred Apaka and Jules Ah See) from the Tapa Room of the Hawaiian Village in the late 1950s. Originally uploaded by British steel guitarist Basil Henriques. The sound quality can be variable, but the music is hot Hawaiian swing with plenty of steel guitar.
posted by wellvis to MetaFilter on Mar 24 at 4:33 PM
28 users marked this as a favorite

the wombles could not be reached for comment

Woman mistakes bobble for baby hedgehog and rushes it to Cheshire animal hospital. "Volunteer Danielle Peberdy, 36, said the kind-hearted woman had done the right thing in not ignoring a hedgehog out in the day. She said: "Hedgehogs shouldn't be out in the day so she did the right thing; the only problem was that it was a bobble.""
posted by fight or flight to MetaFilter on Mar 25 at 1:17 PM
28 users marked this as a favorite

WELCOME TO THE WOOORLD OF TOMORROW

March 28, 1999: Futurama. It seems to go on and on forever. In fact, the pilot episode of the original run aired 25 years ago tonight, kicking off what would become one of the smartest and most hilarious comedies in TV history. So celebrate with an overview of character intros, ★ key scenes, clips, ♫ songs, and other links, why not?
posted by Rhaomi to MetaFilter on Mar 28 at 11:59 AM
28 users marked this as a favorite

A lot of the best Graeber has an “undeniable” quality

It has taken a little while and repeated readings for it to sink in, but I think that Graeber was reaching the point of rejecting, or at least severely (if implicitly) qualifying, almost all of these positions by late in his authorship. Particularly in On Kings (2017), his collaboration with his mentor Sahlins, and The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021), co-written with the archeologist David Wengrow and completed just a couple of weeks before his death, Graeber’s politics grew more “mainstream” in a number of respects, even as his narrative of the origins of political authority and economic hierarchy remained fresh, radical, and richly documented, and even as his prose style retained all its charm. But perhaps LSE professorships, FSG book contracts, and the approval of the Financial Times have moderating or even co-opting effects after all. from What Happened to David Graeber? [LARB, ungated]
posted by chavenet to MetaFilter on Mar 27 at 12:41 AM
28 users marked this as a favorite

Joementum Comes To A Halt

Former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman has died at 82 from complications from a fall.
posted by NoxAeternum to MetaFilter on Mar 27 at 5:14 PM
27 users marked this as a favorite

#smalleuropeanwoman

This week, Jasmin Paris became the first woman to complete all five loops of the Barkley Marathons (NYT, gift link) a mere 99 seconds ahead of the 60-hour cutoff time. Only twenty competitors have ever completed the (absolutely bananas) Tennessee event often called the "World's Hardest Race."
posted by charmedimsure to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 11:41 PM
26 users marked this as a favorite

"...If you love a story, let other people know!"

A Bronx Teacher Asked Tommy Orange to Visit His Class. “In our 12th-grade English classroom, in our diverse corner of the South Bronx, in an under-resourced but vibrant urban neighborhood not unlike the Fruitvale, you’re our rock star. Our more than rock star. You’re our MF Doom, our Eminem, our Earl Sweatshirt, our Tribe Called Red, our Beethoven, our Bobby Big Medicine, our email to Manny, our ethnically ambiguous woman in the next stall, our camera pointing into a tunnel of darkness.”
posted by storybored to MetaFilter on Mar 24 at 8:00 AM
26 users marked this as a favorite

It's spaceships all the way down

Need some mesmerization in your life? Gaze deep into Life Universe, a zoomable, infinitely-recursive Game of Life simulator [technical explanation]. Inspired by the classic video Life In Life and the OTCA Metapixel (previously). From shr, the developer behind Bubbles (previously), Blob (previously), and a wide variety of other fascinating and fun physics web toys.
posted by Rhaomi to MetaFilter on Mar 23 at 12:30 PM
25 users marked this as a favorite

Society for Fantastical Computer Anachronism

Welcome to Picotron: Picotron is a Fantasy Workstation for making pixelart games, animations, music, demos and other curiosities. It has a toy operating system designed to be a cosy creative space, but runs on top of Windows, MacOS or Linux. Picotron apps can be made with built-in tools, and shared with other users in a special 256k png cartridge format.
posted by SaltySalticid to MetaFilter on Mar 23 at 1:36 PM
24 users marked this as a favorite

For a 15% increased efficiency in exposure times

Dr. Fatima presents a video essay on decolonizing astronomy. (slyt, 2h 51m) She focuses on the proposal to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea, but is able to wind her way through several heavy topics with grace. She dives into the scientific efficacy of the site, the history of colonization on Hawaii, and an aside on Palestinian liberation and solidarity, before finishing with both pathos and praxis.
posted by crossswords to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 3:16 PM
24 users marked this as a favorite

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But the epidemic of loneliness and depression that has swept society reveals that many of us are now walled off from one another in vats of our own making. Balderdash. The loneliness epidemic isn't going anywhere until we stop a) blaming lonely people for being lonely and b) thinking that insisting that lonely people stop being... [more]
posted by MrVisible to MetaFilter on Mar 24 at 7:09 PM
142 users marked this as a favorite

could we just have public transit [view]
posted by mhoye to MetaFilter on Mar 21 at 5:40 PM
141 users marked this as a favorite

As someone currently negotiating an older parent through a cancer diagnosis/treatment in the UK, facing a grossly underfunded and under resourced NHS; where we've waited months and months for "urgent" appointments and diagnostic tests, can't get answers, can't get treatment in the local area they're comfortable with but have to travel... [more]
posted by AFII to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 1:18 PM
121 users marked this as a favorite

I want to make sure the first comment says: what sad news for that poor family and those kids, and yes, even for Prince William too. [view]
posted by fortitude25 to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 12:47 PM
107 users marked this as a favorite

>No empathy for other people with cancer? I have loads of empathy for people with cancer, less for those who got things we couldn't at our expense. I find it hard to accept 'you're not alone" messages from someone who has been given everything we need when we can't access it ourselves. My problem is that I don't think that 'cancer'... [more]
posted by AFII to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 1:39 PM
101 users marked this as a favorite

I'm late to this conversation, but earlier today I did a back-of-the-napkin calculation and worked out that the entire 8500 feet of the 4 lane bridge (which includes the approaches and everything) probably weighed about 25,000-35,000 tons (the main span being some fraction of that). With the ship weighing more than 100,000 tons, that means that the... [more]
posted by WaylandSmith to MetaFilter on Mar 26 at 6:25 PM
95 users marked this as a favorite

As someone who has personally captained a (much smaller 100') ship in a commercial harbor that has lost power, I can say the priority is keeping the ship in the channel, away from crashing into things or running hard aground until you can get power/propulsion back online. The Whats Going on With Shipping video is a great explainer, possibly missing... [more]
posted by danapiper to MetaFilter on Mar 26 at 12:46 PM
94 users marked this as a favorite

what a clusterfuck. so excited to see maersk dodge it's responsibility for the hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars of longterm economic damage (not to mention injuries and likely deaths) by using its subcontractor and flag of convenience jig as excuse remember many of the "privatize the profits, socialize the... [more]
posted by lalochezia to MetaFilter on Mar 26 at 7:42 AM
93 users marked this as a favorite

I think it’s going to be an interesting few years getting there but things will sort out relatively quick. That is a fun little way to gloss over bankruptcy, housing insecurity, loss of healthcare coverage, the torpedoing of personal savings/retirement preparation and all the other things that come with mass layoffs in multiple... [more]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 10:28 AM
88 users marked this as a favorite

"We have arrived at the scary moment when our prevailing attitude to innovation has shifted from love to fear." Am I fearful? No. So far with AI, I'm seeing only useless bulk that makes my life harder. I am not fearful of garbage, I am annoyed with garbage. [view]
posted by Capt. Renault to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 9:29 AM
86 users marked this as a favorite

At what point do we accept that? Every time you vote for lower taxes. [view]
posted by mhoye to MetaFilter on Mar 25 at 9:00 AM
84 users marked this as a favorite

It boggles my mind that "texting several times a week and offering advice and financial support" is considered highly involved amongst anglo-americans. In latine families if all you do is offer advice once in a while and help with some bills now and then, that's dangerously close to outright neglect. [view]
posted by oddman to MetaFilter on Mar 23 at 8:25 PM
78 users marked this as a favorite

Textbook. Huberman sells a dream of control down to the cellular level. A conservative grifter selling the idea of self-improvement because it seems far easier to remake yourself than to work with others for systemic change, especially when other people are the source of your trauma? Oh, and have an apolitical appearance but... [more]
posted by AlSweigart to MetaFilter on Mar 26 at 4:33 AM
75 users marked this as a favorite

Comments like "they shouldn't let ships under that bridge" make my head spin with the complete absurdity of the statement. Things like ports and bridges are pieces of infrastructure that take decades to create. Ports aren't chosen arbitrarily - they are naturally occurring geographic features that were chosen precisely because they were... [more]
posted by grumpybear69 to MetaFilter on Mar 27 at 7:23 AM
70 users marked this as a favorite

Yeah. As one of the people most vocal in MeFi “AI” threads in terms of “yes, this is an interesting technology that has legitimate use and the fears are often overblown,” I absolutely agree with every single one of the nine “You must be suspicious of tech leaders when…” points in the article. I do think it’s interesting tech. I think it’ll... [more]
posted by Ryvar to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 10:04 AM
70 users marked this as a favorite

I think it’ll change jobs and many of us are going to find ourselves in more editorial/director-lite roles. I think it’s going to be an interesting few years getting there but things will sort out relatively quick. Dude, no offense but this is such an irritating attitude. In the 20s people said this about automation, that our jobs will... [more]
posted by picklenickle to MetaFilter on Mar 22 at 10:24 AM
69 users marked this as a favorite

I know folks are struck by how quickly it collapses, and I caution people to think it is because of faulty design. It's a susepension bridge - able to be light and easy to build by the strength of the opposing forces. Knock out one piece, and it collapses. [view]
posted by frecklefaerie to MetaFilter on Mar 26 at 7:54 AM
67 users marked this as a favorite

we don't really have a homeless problem we have a deeply ableist, racist, and classist society and homelessness is a natural product of that system I'm also reminded of a book that came out a while ago about how mental illness rates in homeless populations is largely misattributed - it's not mental illness that leads to homelessness but, in a... [more]
posted by paimapi to MetaFilter on Mar 25 at 10:44 AM
67 users marked this as a favorite

at least in your matrix pod you're guaranteed food, housing and healthcare [view]
posted by Coeliac McCarthy to MetaFilter on Mar 24 at 5:43 PM
66 users marked this as a favorite

There is never a bad time to revisit Dee Xtrovert's comment about living through the Siege of Sarajevo. Some people (very few) were prepared for what they thought would be the "long haul" - this tended to be a couple of months. These people were widely seen as lunatics and dangerously pessimistic ones at that. [...] Those who'd... [more]
posted by The Pluto Gangsta to MetaFilter on Mar 27 at 10:52 AM
66 users marked this as a favorite