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The rise of anti-intellectualism has been crazy to witness especially bc people aren’t putting the pieces together. Like more and more I’m seeing average every day people saying things like an education and even literacy are not necessary to earn a living. Meanwhile those in power are absolutely sending their children to the best schools and ensuring that they will receive accredited degrees. The people who hold economic, legal and social power are educated; why would you want to lock yourself out of being able to participate in those spaces? If knowledge was so useless, why do those in power not want you have it while they hoard it for themselves and their children?

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Rich Progressive: "I used to be working class. I became rich when I became an actor, singer, athlete, or something else that I got extremely lucky and could have easily failed at. Anytime I see someone who's homeless, I realize that that could have easily been me if things were just slightly different. I still have trauma from my struggles of being working class, so I want to use my privilege to speak up for others who are currently struggling."

Working Class Conservative: "Oh come on. You're rich. You can't speak for me. You have no idea what it's like for people like me who have to work multiple jobs just to feed my family. Now shut up and move out of the way so I can listen to rich people who were born rich, got richer by exploiting the working class, and openly advocate for policies that will make them richer, but who I worship because they hate the same people I do."

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Just an extremely Normal thing to say

Reminder they want to increase the budget for ICE from 3.5 to 45 billion dollars.

Reminder the majority of that will be for building new detention centers.

Reminder ICE are *currently* detaining tourists who can pay for a plane ticket home and people with visa issues that were already resolved, because they have to make quota so Trump can brag about the numbers going up.

Reminder most of these people were already in the immigration system - that's why they were easy to detain.

Reminder this is all at taxpayer expense.

Reminder these are people.

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I would normally never do this and I normally avoid all political posting, but the FDA has had to stop a lot of food testing due to staff cuts currently planned at least until September 30th.

This is very dangerous for certain foods and if you live in the United States, I highly recommend that you keep track of this list: https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/food-traceability-list

That is a (not fully comprehensive but useful) list of the high-risk foods for contamination and sickness that could result in serious harm or death. The broad strokes are cheeses, but especially soft cheeses, raw/fresh vegetables, pre-sliced fruit packages, ready to eat salads, chicken eggs, milk (bird flu), anything fermented like melons, and pet food, among others.

This is likely not a comprehensive list, so be sure to look things up yourself as well.

If you buy vegetables and plan to eat them, it is best to cook them to a safe temperature and wash their outsides well with water and light scrubbing instead of eating them raw. Treat it like chicken in that regard.

Make sure that the individual foods that you buy often are safe to eat or at risk, and adjust accordingly. This is a fundamental necessity that everyone here will need to follow. Testing is reduced or gone, and reporting on outbreaks will also likely be reduced or banned outright as well.

All you can do is stay safe, use your masks in public again, and make sure that you are clean as well as your food.

Attached below are more tips for vegetables, meat safety should be the same, just be more vigilant.

I love you all and don't want any of you hurt. Let's all support each other, thank you.

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Btw you can be intensely critical of the Democratic party and recognize that it is full of aged out of touch moderates who are refusing to meet the urgency of the moment,

and also recognize that voting for Democrats is extremely important because it allows things like the confirmation of Justices and prevents the literal fascist party from gaining more power and that harm reduction is an important end in itself

These things can coexist

Politics is a long game. Being disappointed and angry today does not obviate your responsibility to participate

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anything that contains the phrase “secret BBC memo reveals” intrigues me automatically ngl but I want you all to know that as far as I can gather, the facts are even better than this headline

which is to say, this was part of an initiative in the early 1970s that not only featured marginalized groups on BBC programming, but made moves towards handing them editorial control – the BBC had to approve proposals, but after that, the station’s role was primarily to provide technical resources, facilities, and copyright handling. (another notable program under this initiative featured Black teachers discussing racism in the school system, and a link to that – plus discussion of the hurdles it faced – can be found here).

the program on trans experience was aired in 1973.

The programme, featuring trans women, began: “Jokes about ‘the operation’ are all that most people know about transexualism [sic]. Tonight’s group discuss their situation in a more serious and comprehensive way, and draw attention to the many difficulties they endure”.

you can watch Open Door: Transex Liberation Group here (as well as other archived LGBTQ programming from BBC). 

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Keep your messaging simple:

“Trump fired everyone in charge of airplane safety, and a week later planes started crashing into each other.”

That’s it. That’s the messaging. Don’t get bogged down disputing Trump’s false claims. Just blame him, in short and repeatable sentences.

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Are we playing the victim? Instead of pointing out, “What tech is doing to us...” what if we asked, “What are we doing to ourselves?” This past year I ate at a restaurant which placed cute, chest-like boxes on each table. It was a gentle, decorative nudge to place your phones in there while dining. I loved it. Past tense. After the third time eating there, I thought: “How fucking grim.” That we’re reliant upon a restaurant to remind us it’s rude to text in front of family, friends or a date is a grave signal of our moment. We’ve relinquished any sense of responsibility. We have more agency here than we think. This is on us. Not restaurant decor.

see also: "modern control isn’t about repression but about self-regulation within feedback-driven systems"

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asking "wait so what do you think I'm saying" mid-disagreement will replenish years of your life actually

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When Republicans say crime is out of control and crime is actually historically low, the bias is that crime is high because of an 'open border' that does not exist. The layers of disinformation lead conservative voters to 'we need white supremacy' to get through these fictional issues.

The 49% pardon is a pardon for white supremacy.

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if I've learned anything from grad school it's to check your sources, and this has proven invaluable in the dozens of instances when I've had an MBA-type try to tell me something about finances or leadership. Case in point:

Firefox serves me clickbaity articles through Pocket, which is fine because I like Firefox. But sometimes an article makes me curious. I'm pretty anal about my finances, and I wondered if this article was, as I suspected, total horseshit, or could potentially benefit me and help me get my spending under control. So let's check the article in question.

It mostly seems like common sense. "...track expenses and income for at least a month before setting a budget...How much money do I have or earn? How much do I want to save?" Basic shit like that. But then I get to this section:

This sounds fucking made up to me. And thankfully, they've provided a source to their claim that "research has repeatedly shown" that writing things down changes behavior. First mistake. What research is this?

Forbes, naturally, my #1 source for absolute dogshit fart-sniffing financial schlock. Forbes is the type of website that guy from high school who constantly posts on linkedin trawls daily for little articles like this that make him feel better about refusing to pay for a decent package for his employees' healthcare (I'm from the United States, a barbaric, conflict-ridden country in the throes of civil unrest, so obsessed with violence that its warlords prioritize weapons over universal medical coverage. I digress). Forbes constantly posts shit like this, and I constantly spend my time at leadership seminars debunking poor consultants who get paid to read these claims credulously. Look at this highlighted text. Does it make sense to you that simply writing your financial goals down would result in a 10x increase in your income? Because if it does, let me make you an offer on this sick ass bridge.

Thankfully, Forbes also makes the mistake of citing their sources. Let's check to see where this hyperlink goes:

SidSavara. I've never heard of this site, but the About section tells me that Sid is "a technology leader who empowers teams to grow into their best selves. He is a life-long learner enjoys developing software, leading teams in delivering mission critical projects, playing guitar and watching football and basketball."

That doesn't mean anything. What are his LinkedIn credentials? With the caveat that anyone can lie on Linkedin, Mr. Savara appears to be a Software Engineer. Which is fine! I'm glad software engineers exist! But Sid's got nothing in his professional history which suggests he knows shit about finance. So I'm already pretty skeptical of his website, which is increasingly looking like a personal fart-huffing blog.

The article itself repeats the credulous claim made in the Forbes story earlier, but this time, provides no link for the 3% story. Mr. Savara is smarter than his colleages at Forbes, it's much wiser to just make shit up.

HOWEVER. I am not the first person to have followed this rabbit hole. Because at the very top of this article, there is a disclaimer.

Uh oh!

Sid's been called out before, and in the follow up to this article, he reveals the truth.

You can guess where this is going.

So to go back to the VERY beginning of this post, both Pocket/Good Housekeeping and Forbes failed to do even the most basic of research, taking the wild claim that writing down your budget may increase your income by 10x on good faith and the word of a(n admittedly honest about his shortcomings) software engineer.

Why did I spend 30 minutes to make a tumblr post about this? Mostly to show off how smart I am, but also to remind folks of just how flimsy any claim on the internet can be. Click those links, follow those sources, and when the sources stop linking, ask why.

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a friend of mine is a science educator. not a classroom teacher - he does the kind of programs you see in museums, fun experiments with lasers and dry ice and shit.

yesterday, a young girl asked him why he was allowed to pour liquid nitrogen all over his own arm but he didn’t want her doing it. I braced myself for some dumb “well I’m an adult so I’m allowed” non-answer, but instead he surprised me by giving some of the best science (and life) advice I think you can give a young person:

“well, it’s one of those rules designed to keep you safe. and following the rules really can help you stay safe, but they’re not perfect. sometimes, usually because they’re too simple, the rules let you do things that aren’t safe, or don’t let you do things that are safe if you know how to do them. one of the reasons I’m good at what I do as a scientist is I try to understand how things work so I can figure out my own rules for keeping myself safe. and sometimes my rules are little more complicated than what I might hear from other people, but they work better for me. like, I let myself play with liquid nitrogen, but only in really specific ways that I’ve spent time practicing. you should follow the rules you’re given at first, but if you take the time to understand how things work, maybe you can make your own, better rules.”

I loved this response. it’s a great encapsulation of two really important things I think people need to learn and re-learn all the time: on the one hand, listen to genuine authority figures; when someone knows more than you about a subject, don’t treat their expertise as “just another opinion” and act like your ignorance is just as good as their knowledge. but on the other hand, don’t obey anything or anyone blindly. recognize that rules and systems and established ideas are never perfect. question things, educate yourself, question things more.

and then, of course, a parent had to butt in and spoil this wonderful lesson by saying:

“but not the rules mom comes up with!”

everyone in the room laughed. except me. I gave her a death glare I’m pretty sure she didn’t notice.

because no. no. your rules are not above reproach if you’re a parent. the thing about the dictates of genuine authority figures - people who deserve to have power, and to have their positions respected - is that they are open to question. genuine authority figures are accountable. governments can be petitioned and protested and recalled. doctors must respect patients’ right to a second opinion. journalists have jobs terminated and credentials revoked if they fail to meet standards of integrity and diligence. scientists, to bring us back full circle, spend their entire careers trying to disprove their own hypotheses! you know who insists on being treated as infallible? megalomaniacal dictators, that’s who. oh, and parents.

I’m beyond sick and tired of this “my house my rules, this family is not a democracy, I want my child to think critically and stand up for themselves except to me ha ha” bullshit. my friend gave this kid the kind of advice that doesn’t just help people become good scientists - if enough people adopt the mentality he put forth to that girl, that’s the kind of advice that helps societies value knowledge and resist totalitarianism. and her mother shut it down because, what, she didn’t want to deal with the inconvenience of having someone question her edicts about whose job it is to wash the dishes on Mondays?

we already know you’re more likely to be a Trump supporter if you’re an authoritarian parent - and that this is a stronger predictor of your views on the current president than age, religiosity, gender, or race. I’ll say this another way in case you didn’t catch the full meaning: people who believe in the absolute, unquestionable authority of parents are more than two and a half times as likely to support Trump as people who don’t, and that’s just among Republicans. we can’t afford to treat the oppressive treatment of children or the injustice of ageist power structures in our society as a sideshow issue any longer. the mentality that parents should be treated by their children as beyond reproach and above dispute is a social cancer that has metastasized into the man currently trying to destroy the foundations of democracy in this country.

in short: parents, get the hell over yourselves before you get us all killed. and kids, learn as much as you can, and then make your own rules.