The United States has always been a terrible place to be sick and disabled. Ableism is baked into our myths of bootstrapping and self-reliance, in which health is virtue and illness is degeneracy. It is long past time for a bedrock shift, for all of us.
Because it is not mentioned by name in the article!:
If any of you develop “violent new food allergies” after having covid — even allergies that present as migraines, malaise, nausea, irritability rather than swelling and itching — you need to get checked for mast cell activation syndrome. It is staggeringly common to develop from long covid and is often treatable.
In the remote Arctic almost 30 years ago, a group of Inuit middle school students and their teacher invented the Western Hemisphere’s first new number system in more than a century. The “Kaktovik numerals,” named after the Alaskan village where they were created, looked utterly different from decimal system numerals and functioned differently, too. But they were uniquely suited for quick, visual arithmetic using the traditional Inuit oral counting system, and they swiftly spread throughout the region. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, they will soon be available on smartphones and computers—creating a bridge for the Kaktovik numerals to cross into the digital realm.
Today’s numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system. This system, adopted by almost every society, is what many people think of as “numbers”—values expressed in a written form using the digits 0 through 9. But meaningful alternatives exist, and they are as varied as the cultures they belong to.
18 August - “A large majority of Americans support the writers and actors strikes, and a plurality hold an unfavorable view of the Hollywood studios, according to a new poll by Data for Progress.
The poll found 67% support among likely voters for the strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, while just 18% oppose them.
The poll also found that 48% have an unfavorable view of the major studios, and just 31% support the studios. The survey also found that 60% of respondents subscribe to Netflix, 41% subscribe to Hulu, and 35% subscribe to Disney+.
The firm also asked strike supporters if delays in their favorite movies and TV shows would cause them to change their minds. The survey found that 86% would continue to support the strikes, while 10% would oppose them.
Data for Progress is a progressive polling firm that conducts surveys on issues including climate, education, health care and workers rights. The firm surveyed 1,124 respondents online from Aug. 3-5.
The respondents gave mixed answers when asked the primary reason for the two strikes, with 33% citing fair compensation for streaming shows, another 33% citing pay and benefits, and 16% answering protections from artificial intelligence.
The survey found 85% support for SAG-AFTRA’s position that actors should be get consent and fair compensation for any use of their likeness by AI. The survey also found that 74% believe studios should be barred from replacing writers with AI.
In a statement, Liz Shuler, the president of the AFL-CIO, said that the results confirm broad national support for the striking unions and the importance of AI across industries.
“Voters understand that this isn’t just about one industry — this is about all of us — and unions need to have a seat at the table to take on the existential threat AI poses to our livelihoods and economy,” Shuler said.
The results are similar to those of another poll conducted recently for the Los Angeles Times. That survey found that 38% of respondents were more sympathetic with the actors and writers, while 7% sided with the studios. Another 29% were ambivalent while 25% said they did not have an opinion.
According to Gallup, support for unions climbed steadily in the U.S. from a low point of 48% in 2009 to 71% in 2022. The firm cited the low unemployment rate during the pandemic as having “altered the balance of power between employers and employees,” leading to unionization drives at Amazon and Starbucks.
A 2021 poll from Data for Progress also found broad support for unions, with 68% in favor and 24% opposed.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director of SAG-AFTRA, said in a statement that the poll shows Americans understand the reasons for the strike.
“I suspect many are seeing the same dynamic playing out in their own lives, with employers undervaluing their contributions,” he said. “That’s why this fight is so important. Our demands aren’t unreasonable, and it’s a fundamental principle of fairness that workers should be fairly compensated for the value they bring their employer — in every industry.”
Lowell Peterson, the executive director of WGA East, concurred.
“Everyone who works for a living understands what it’s like to get squeezed economically, to face threats from disruptive technology like AI, to try to hold one’s own against huge corporations motivated by their own profit rather than their employees’ well-being,” Peterson said.
The WGA has been on strike since May 2, while the performers’ union began striking on July 14. Both unions are seeking increased residuals for streaming shows, regulations on AI, and increases in minimum compensation rates to keep pace with inflation.
The WGA also wants a minimum staff size and a guaranteed minimum number of weeks of work in television, and weekly pay for screenwriters.”
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Note from mod: This poll is great news—but as the strike goes on, it’s more essential than ever to keep support up. Correct misinformation whenever you hear it (online and in real life), and source your information directly from WGA and SAG-AFTRA sources; don’t rely on opinion. And be critical of the trades like Deadline/The Hollywood Reporter/Variety (saying this even though we linked the article from Variety above; you have to take their articles critically and on a case-by-case basis to see if they’re useful or not, because sometimes they just publish studio press releases uncritically!)
[image description: a video of a tiny, fluffy dog getting a haircut. at the end, the groomer puts the dog in little sunglasses and a little cowboy hat.]
laptop overheating?? pour water on it to cool it down!
i trusted you
Do not trust people like me. I will take you to museums, and parks, and monuments, and kiss you in every beautiful place, so that you can never go back to them without tasting me like blood in your mouth. I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible. And when I leave you will finally understand, why storms are named after people
sorry I make this post frequently but apple really doesn’t get enough hate
so if you don’t like them it’s fine. I know a lot of people who are really mean to picky eaters about their preferences, and it doesn’t actually help.
However, some people only think they hate apples because they’ve only tried the horrible mealy Red “Delicious” variety. If that’s the case, you might be surprised by how much you enjoy a tastier variety. Honeycrisp and Cosmic crisp are some of the most popular apples and they are really good.
https://applerankings.com/ is a great, and wittily written, trove of apple reviews and information and will help you find nice apples. It is focused on apples available in the US, and idk where you are. I really miss discovery apples, which don’t seem to be a thing this side of the Atlantic.
They can be a little pricey though. Obviously I don’t know your personal situation, but if that’s an issue, there might be local programs that can help. I don’t know where you live, but here in Seattle there’s a program called Fresh Bucks that gives people $40/month to spend on fruit and vegetables at local farmers markets. There might be something like that near you. Or, if you just really wanna try a really nice apple and it’s not accessible to you, dm me and I can PayPal you something. I just want everyone to have the chance to have a nice apple from time to time.
Anyway, like I said, if you just truly don’t like any apples, you are 100% valid and you shouldn’t force yourself to eat something you don’t like. Body autonomy includes not having to eat foods you hate. But I’d hate for you to go through life not knowing how much you could enjoy a high-quality apple, just because you’ve only experienced the worst apples.
oh snap I just realized op meant the phone company
