The Post For Stuff You Wanna Tell People

[AmLitHist]

It's in the 50s and sunny here this morning, headed up to 75. I did my laundry early and just got done hanging most of it out on my folding racks in the back yard.  This always makes me happy, and it's taken the edge off a little this morning, as I'm listening to CNN's vote reporting.

[Parasaurolophus]

Holy poopdog, Amazon makes it hard to figure out how to cancel your free channel trials/subscriptions. I just spent fifteen minutes, doggedly looking.

I eventually figured it out, no thanks to Google or the 'help'. Bastards.

[polly_mer]

Holy poopdog, Amazon makes it hard to figure out how to cancel your free channel trials/subscriptions. I just spent fifteen minutes, doggedly looking.

I eventually figured it out, no thanks to Google or the 'help'. Bastards.

Why would anyone want to leave the family?  The whole point of the free trial is that you will then be so impressed that you will sign up for life.

[marshwiggle]

Holy poopdog, Amazon makes it hard to figure out how to cancel your free channel trials/subscriptions. I just spent fifteen minutes, doggedly looking.

I eventually figured it out, no thanks to Google or the 'help'. Bastards.

Why would anyone want to leave the family?  The whole point of the free trial is that you will then be so impressed that you will sign up for life.

The Hotel California principle.

[polly_mer]

'Full time/part time' hiring dichotomy is a socialist structure. The idea is the full timer deserves health insurance, pension, other benefits because he needs them, while the part timer doesn't deserve them because he doesn't need them. Yet the inequality gets justified according to free market capitalism morality, i.e. he full timer has outcompeted the part timer for the more desirable employment.

Uh... that doesn't sound very socialist. Sounds rather capitalistic, in fact.

Both.  My school purports to believe we don't need health insurance because we already have it. But I don't believe them. What they believe is you can get people to work without offering benefits. But certain people need benefits, so they must get them.

If people are working without benefits, then it looks as those the school is right.  If you need benefits, then get a job with benefits instead of a job without benefits.

Or form the union and get the contract to cover benefits for part-time people.  Years and years ago, Mr. Mer was a union officer as a part-time employee who did get benefits.  After Mr. Mer was promoted to a job where he was not allowed to be part of the union, the union negotiated away health insurance for everyone in favor of higher pay since most of the union members at that point had health insurance by being retired veterans in second careers.  That was a huge mess when the uninsured part-timers quit in favor of full-time jobs elsewhere with insurance.

Academia would change if the reality were such that part-timers wouldn't take jobs without benefits.

[marshwiggle]

My school purports to believe we don't need health insurance because we already have it. But I don't believe them. What they believe is you can get people to work without offering benefits. But certain people need benefits, so they must get them.

If people are working without benefits, then it looks as those the school is right.  If you need benefits, then get a job with benefits instead of a job without benefits.

Or form the union and get the contract to cover benefits for part-time people.  Years and years ago, Mr. Mer was a union officer as a part-time employee who did get benefits.  After Mr. Mer was promoted to a job where he was not allowed to be part of the union, the union negotiated away health insurance for everyone in favor of higher pay since most of the union members at that point had health insurance by being retired veterans in second careers.  That was a huge mess when the uninsured part-timers quit in favor of full-time jobs elsewhere with insurance.

Academia would change if the reality were such that part-timers wouldn't take jobs without benefits.

It ocurred to me that academia is unique, as far as I can see, in getting part-timers who include retired professionals and fully-employed professionals doing it "on the side". You don't get part-timers in food services like that. The closest I can think of is theatre and music, where retired people and otherwise emplyed people do it, but then it's typically with no pay in community theatre or musical groups.

Is there any other field where that happens?

[polly_mer]

Source: https://www.aaup.org/report/1940-statement-principles-academic-freedom-and-tenure

Tenure is a means to certain ends; specifically: (1) freedom of teaching and research and of extramural activities, and (2) a sufficient degree of economic security to make the profession attractive to men and women of ability.

The claim in the mid-twentieth century was that tenure was important to allow smart people forgo better money elsewhere for stability in the income they were getting.

The rise in contingent faculty numbers to being the numerical majority has given lie to the idea that people of ability must have "a sufficient degree of economic security" to choose being college faculty.  It turns out many people of ability will teach, sometimes at great personal cost in unstable economic conditions, instead of leaving academic employment for better money and/or more stability.

[Charlotte]

The Hotel California principle.

This made me laugh and I needed a laugh today. Thank you!

[hmaria1609]

Spotted on my morning walk: a neighbor already has decorated the exterior of the home with Christmas decorations! It made my day. :)

[ergative]

I cooked with chillies last night. Despite washing my hands after cutting them, I ended up with burning on my left ring finger and thumb all evening. Uncomfortable, but it's a risk I willingly took. I knew going in the price that I might have to pay for flavouring my dinner that way.

However, since last night's dinner, I have had a shower, washed my hands multiple times, both with bar soap and also dish soap, and, as I have just learned, it is still not safe to rub my eyes. Ow.

[mamselle]

^Unrelated.

Outrage plays well to the peanut gallery, but those in the front-row seats are looking for nuance and subtlety.

M.

[Charlotte]

^ unrelated

Yes, out of necessity I am slightly involved with this academic subgroup and yes, I do handle some of their social media posting. Please note that I do not ever post anything remotely to the crazy level this group is known for nor am I truly in the group. I am interested in the good research they are producing but I did not drink their koolaid nor do I agree with everything they believe. There are quite a few of us around this group who are not so extreme.

And while we are working on labeling and/or not labeling people, unlabel me as a member of my biological family who have clearly lost their minds and are quite alarming with their past and current actions/beliefs.

Signed,
Someone who is getting splattered by the labeling paint and doesn't appreciate it.

[polly_mer]

^Unrelated.

Outrage plays well to the peanut gallery, but those in the front-row seats are looking for nuance and subtlety.

M.

There are far fewer seats in the front row than standing room in the peanut gallery expanded to online streaming.  $100 * 20 (assuming all the seats can be filled) is a much smaller number than $5 * 5000.

Outrage happens because outrage sells. 

Far fewer people really want nuance and subtlety than want to watch the outrage from afar.  That reality is a hard lesson that many well-meaning adults seem to keep failing to learn.

[marshwiggle]

^Unrelated.

Outrage plays well to the peanut gallery, but those in the front-row seats are looking for nuance and subtlety.

M.

There are far fewer seats in the front row than standing room in the peanut gallery expanded to online streaming.  $100 * 20 (assuming all the seats can be filled) is a much smaller number than $5 * 5000.

Outrage happens because outrage sells. 

Far fewer people really want nuance and subtlety than want to watch the outrage from afar.  That reality is a hard lesson that many well-meaning adults seem to keep failing to learn.

Exactly. And sadly, more and more of the media play to some part of the peanut gallery, for that reason. ( Also, to actually collect data, fact-check, and produce objective and fact-based analysis takes time, which doesn't lend itself to the attention span of the mob, which will have moved on from the story long before all of the facts are even known.)

[polly_mer]

^Unrelated.

Outrage plays well to the peanut gallery, but those in the front-row seats are looking for nuance and subtlety.

M.

There are far fewer seats in the front row than standing room in the peanut gallery expanded to online streaming.  $100 * 20 (assuming all the seats can be filled) is a much smaller number than $5 * 5000.

Outrage happens because outrage sells. 

Far fewer people really want nuance and subtlety than want to watch the outrage from afar.  That reality is a hard lesson that many well-meaning adults seem to keep failing to learn.

Exactly. And sadly, more and more of the media play to some part of the peanut gallery, for that reason. ( Also, to actually collect data, fact-check, and produce objective and fact-based analysis takes time, which doesn't lend itself to the attention span of the mob, which will have moved on from the story long before all of the facts are even known.)

Fact checking only matters if the point is to inform so that people can make decisions that affect their lives.

For much of the news cycle , there's no decision to be made for the average person watching.  At best, the decision may be "that sounds important and I'll have to do my own research to find out how this could affect me so I can take appropriate action".

In general, though, most of what is shown on the news is about maintaining viewership numbers.  One reason it's actually safe to go on a pretty strict no-mass-media-diet is anything that is truly both urgent and important (e.g., the hurricane/tornado/fire is headed this way) is not limited to a couple minutes during the designated news time.  People may even physically come to your house to let you know to evacuate.

The people who want nuance and subtlety aren't the target audience for the fast news cycle and generally won't tune in for the breathless updates that don't mean anything.  People who want nuance and subtlety read, at most, daily outlets that put effort into good over fast, but even then are more likely to be the remaining subscribers to weekly/monthly outlets that focus on long-term important issues, not breaking news.