I knew the CRISPR baby gene editing was bad, I didn’t realize quite how bad it was. But of course if you’re going to be unethical, why would you bother to be meticulous about the quality of your work?
Oh great, another data breach. This time with my favorite hotel chain: Starwood.
As much as I’m an introvert and don’t want to talk to anyone, I also do want a little bit of a fabulous neighborhood.
Whew. A standard marriage according to the research sounds absolutely terrible: “Experts used to tell straight couples they should get hitched and stay that way, no matter what. But one researcher told a different story: marriage was not only harder for women—it could actually ruin their lives.” Also I’m not so sure what the big deal is about your friends choosing to have polyamorous relationships. In what way does that affect you?
This FlyerTalker’s question about what salary you make and how often you fly business class was interesting in how people pushed back. Some interesting anecdotal information there. Personally we make more than the OP, together, but I don’t think we’ve ever flown business class. There was that time Dad went and bought us Premium Economy for an overseas flight when we could ill afford it but that was foolishness in the extreme, they were paying for that for ages. One set of friends got hooked on business class recently because of an unexpected upgrade and blanched at the real business prices ($5000 for a single overseas flight). I don’t think I know anyone else who travels business class regularly (outside of Kathy) but I’d like to, once or twice. It’s not really a thing you do with kids, though. Still other well-off friends choose to travel economy, despite traveling in style during their working years, to preserve their retirement income for all the other fine things in life they enjoy.
Massive climate change report: probably no surprise at all that this was released a month early, on Black Friday, when it would garner the least attention
As a parent who manages kid-free unattached staff and covers for them days nights, weekends and holidays as they need to care for their family or personal needs, as a person with chronic pain who never calls out unless it’s dire crippling pain and even then I don’t want to ask them to cover, I find these parent-coworkers enraging. What terrible selfish people!
Nnedi wanted to give Fwadausi Bello of this terrible story an alternative ending of triumph.
Thank goodness for this federal judge: A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a Mississippi state law that sought to forbid most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, writing a sharply worded opinion with implications for states weighing similar measures. Furthermore, he called the Legislature’s professed interest in women’s health “pure gaslighting,” pointing to evidence of the state’s high infant and maternal mortality rates. “Its leaders are proud to challenge Roe but choose not to lift a finger to address the tragedies lurking on the other side of the delivery room, such as high infant and maternal mortality rates,” he wrote in a footnote.
I didn’t know any of this about Billie Holiday’s life and death.
This year I’m dry brining and roasting a turkey but maybe next year I’ll feel up to spatchcocking, if we get a big enough pan. Maybe I should test it on a chicken first?
I am hardly any hand at sewing but I am living Kristine’s needlecraft posts because they’re so accessible and get that part of my brain that WANTS to create ticking over with ideas. This week is darning! I used to attempt darning socks purely based on my mental theory of what should be done and the results were pretty hideous but I’m willing to try again now that I have a good guide.
One climate scientist’s commitment to not flying. We are working on our carbon footprint and fly a lot less now than we did years before which is a step in the right direction but I don’t think that we’ll be able to completely give it up for a while yet between my health limitations and being hundreds of miles away from loved ones. I think as we grow our financial independence and have the options to take more time to travel, we can reduce our flying even more. At present I think we’re flying once or twice a year.
Mining crytocurrencies is absolutely devastating for our environment: During the past two years, researchers estimate cryptocurrencies generated between 3 million and 15 million tons of carbon emissions.
Did you know about Paw Patrol’s dominating popularity? I had just seen some of their co-branded things like Band-Aids but knew nothing about them despite having a preschooler. All the kids are into PJ Masks (absolutely terrible stories in the books we checked out), Peppa Pig, and one other color coordinated set of kiddie superheroes but I don’t know their names.
I’m SUCH a pessimist. Tawcan’s right at the basic level that if things go wrong in FIRE, you should just go back to work for a while but I can’t help but think of all the complicating factors that may prevent you from getting a job or getting a job that pays enough to cover the bills because I remember my Mom having this problem: ageism, an inability to get back into the field you have experience in, leaving you entry level jobs that might discriminate against your longer resume, etc.
Why Allison is leaving cancer research. I’ve followed her career highlights for a while now and am so happy that she’s able to make the shift that she wants to. I wish that the world of research wasn’t so broken. I know quite a few people still in it who can make it work one way or another for a while but it’s draining and a sacrifice frequently and feels less than worth it.
Veronika on obligatory gift giving. I’m very much in favor of eliminating this entirely but that’s out of my control.
I am not at the point where I can afford fashion as a regular part of my budget, my annual spending is under $250 a year because there’s just no justifying spending good money on clothing when I have plenty that sorta kinda fits and my work doesn’t care what I look like. BUT when I do want to shop, this post full of ethical shopping sources is fantastic.
Ways to guard against financial elder abuse. I’ve been thinking of older dear friends with assets (but no children to help) and hoping we can help them guard against this as they get older and need more help.
How to Write About a Vanishing World. I have to admit that knowing this is happening has got me quite down. We’re destroying our planet, right now, for us and for our kids already born. How has dystopian science fiction NOT prepared us to stop it??
Tanja is reading my mind pretty much always: Climate change. How are you preparing for climate change in the long run?
Comments are off on this post for reasons I can totally understand but I wanted to comment here – Debt is exhausting! Apparently some people think mortgage debt is “good” (probably because of tax deductions?), I personally find it exhausting and want it GONE.
Parents, are you behind the camera or in the picture? I always forget to try and take pictures with the kids, so generally I have pictures of them playing but PiC has always from Day One made it a point to take pictures of him and JB together. Those two goofballs. I love that succession of pictures.
I don’t typically keep up with most rap feuds, though they can produce some amazing music and this is no exception, but a friend passed on the link with a note: TI had a feud with Shawty Lo so he filmed this video in Shawty Lo’s hood. I especially appreciate this in light of this money related story I just read about TI buying up homes in his old neighborhood that’s rapidly gentrifying and creating affordable housing. That’s a multi-millionaire I can tip my hat to.
How an irked Northern California postal patron helped crack a global plant smuggling scheme
