This is absolutely frustrating and yes, people should know better. But as our government becomes less trustworthy generally, and the business world increasingly turns into a carnival of cynical scams, it becomes harder and harder for members of the public to figure out who they should be listening to.

I just hope we find some way to turn things around and also just turn down the noise without everything collapsing first. Not sure how to accomplish that, though.

It’s not really student-led if the schools are making them go, is it.

Poor kids. They don’t deserve to be used as a means to an end like this.

“Make America Healthy Again” has always meant “bring back eugenics.”

I think you’ve pretty much got it. It’s a way to communicate that you’re thinking hard. It helps the speaker know what effect they’re having on the audience - if a lot of people looked confused or bored, the lecturer might adjust their delivery.

🤞

Politicians keep passing gas tax holidays too, to keep people happy.

People love to do activities where their efforts and rewards have a strong correlation to each other. Athletics are an activity where hard work pays off. That’s rare at a job.

We elect world leaders who don’t know anything about any of those things. Why shouldn’t a singer or actor use their voice, too? At least they had the discipline to learn a craft.

This is a very broad question. But broadly, I think if you’re an artist, you probably got where you are by sharing your point of view with your audience in an authentic way. If you’re going to let fear of disapproval stop you from doing that, you might as well quit anyway.

If the tour gets canceled, Ed still has a public voice that people actually listen to. He could try to turn his fans on the owners of the venues, and what are they going to say? No one cares what some glorified landlord thinks or feels.

This was cowardly of him, and he’ll have to live with the fact that he could have been a man and wasn’t.

What did they think he was going to do? Palestine has been Macklemore’s whole thing for a few years, now. When they booked him in the first place, did they think he’d just play Thrift Shop 5 times a night or something?

Maybe try to find people to study with. Preferably from your class, but even setting up a few hours a week with any other students to have coffee together and just read in a quiet space can help you stay on task. Make use of your library and treat it like a job.

People spend too much time doing everything in the same physical space, and having books downloaded on devices doesn’t help at all. How is your boring textbook supposed to compete with the universe of more attractive activities on your computer? Create an environment for yourself that facilitates study. Structure your life around it.

Isn’t Israel supposed to be a bastion of freedom and democracy in the Middle East?

I figured it was something like “still transitioning,” something like that. I agree that part’s a little difficult to parse, but I think Susie’s exasperation makes it work.

It’s entirely possible this is just attentional bias on your part. You noticed the more vibrant, active adults when you were younger because they were more interesting to you.

But generally, things are worse these days, too. I feel like people used to talk about the future optimistically when I was growing up. Maybe people still talk to kids that way now, but I don’t. And I don’t hear people doing it. So, maybe you’re on to something here.

That’s so encouraging, honestly. At times I’ve worried that maybe I was wrong not to circumcise my son.

I felt so strongly about it when he was born but as he grows up I care more about him having a positive body image than fulfilling my own philosophical position. I’m glad to hear that he won’t be the odd man out, so to speak.

It’s only 49‰? Color me surprised.

A People’s History of the United States blew my mind wide open in high school.

It absolutely helps their goals well beyond pleasing their voter base. Census data is used to determine the distribution of House seats and the distribution of resources to communities. This will influence the actions not just of government agencies, but non-profits as well. It’s considered the most authoritative source on the US population.

This is supposed to be the first census with the newly revised race/ethnicity question, which would count Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) as it’s own category (until this point they are instructed to report themselves as “white”), and removes the “multiracial” category in favor of a “check all that apply” approach.

These are measures that are sure to reveal the White population to be smaller than previously thought, and also to bring attention to the fact that Americans are increasingly growing their families beyond the color line. Of course they don’t want us to see that.