Friday, July 22, 2016

Weekend Reading: The Trying to Move On Edition

Well, here it is Friday again. We're all back to our routines, and as I wrote yesterday, even improving on our routines.

So, let's get straight to the links.

Scalzi has a pretty good scathing post about Trump, the convention, that speech, this election, and all that, if you're still reading those sorts of things.

Yoni Applebaum has a good, concise article about why, exactly, that speech was so scary.

Ezra Klein has a good article about why Trump scares him.

Matt Yglesias has a good article on how the problem goes beyond Trump.

And that's enough of that s***show.

I refuse to spend my summer reading about that horrible man and his horrible family and whatever horrible thing he's said today. So I may try to tune out the politics a bit, but don't mistake that for me not caring. I care a lot, and last night I put my money where my mouth is. Next, I'm going to try to figure out what the most useful volunteer thing someone in a safely blue state like California can do.

Don't get complacent. Vote. Convince others to vote. Donate. Volunteer. This election matters more than most, and don't get lulled into thinking it is a normal election by the way some media can't figure out how to cover how unusual it is.

But I still think we'll get through this, and then come November, we'll need to start the work of really dealing with the racists in our midst. I have no idea how we do that, but if we don't, we're vulnerable to more elections like this one.

So, moving on to happier things.

Here's a nice story about how the Danish town of Aarhus is working to keep its young muslims from going to ISIS.

Tips for raising kind children. I picked up some new ideas from this.

This is a good look at the subtle sexism at work in expense policies.

Trip Gabriel got amnesia. His story about it is fascinating.

Some personal promo (or, more accurately, corporate promo):

Academaze, a collection of essays and cartoons that is like an insider's guide to academia in STEM, has a GoodReads giveaway running right now. Enter for a chance to win a paperback copy of the book.

The Lilies of Dawn, a beautiful, lyrical fantasy novelette from Vanessa Fogg, is available for pre-order. It comes out next Wednesday.

And something fun to end on:

Here is a cool dance video made with motion capture and computer graphics.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:10 PM

    The expense article was interesting! My husband has taken on a role that involves significant travel (ie weekly) and he negotiated a bump in pay to cover expenses such as before school care (since we can't split drop off/pick up) and maid and lawn service (again since he can't help during the week). I have SAHM friend who have husbands that travel and their jaws dropped when my husband mentioned negotiating this. I'm lucky that he knows how his schedule affects mine and he works with me to make sure things are running smoothly for all of us. It's a privelage for sure.

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  2. I am excited and optimistic about next week. The democrats always put on a good show, at least from this wonk's perspective.

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  3. Also found the expense article fascinating. Never thought about it that way. I will say in our dual-earner household, I think of childcare expenses / household upkeep expenses as coming equally from both of our salaries, but obviously a single mom isn't able to share the burden that way.

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