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On I Made $570K Last Year, But I Don't Feel Rich (In Fact, I Feel Worried)
I just... I can't even... HOW IS A $32,000 LEXUS AN AVERAGE CAR? I just can't feel sorry for this guy's money worries when he is living with 3 cars and 3 houses and a 3 year cash cushion in savings. I honestly can't imagine how anyone could be so un self aware.
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On How Star Trek Does Money
He does not address my biggest Star Trek money question of all: While TNG seems to indeed be set in a post-scarcity economy where money is obsolete, in DS9 frontier capitalism seems to play a huge role in the lives of the characters. Some of this could be explained by Ferengi culture, but clearly not all of it. Billfold, only you can provide the nerdy answers to my questions!
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On 14 Million Americans on Disability
@aetataureate No, I thought the Harper pieces were, in general great. But I live in Chicago, and we've been struggling so hard to save public mental health clinics and neighborhood schools as Mayor Emmanuel closes them at record numbers, that to hear about these donations really took me back a bit. I couldn't help but be like, really? What about the tens of thousands of students in the city who don't get those services? Who weren't lucky enough to get a radio piece on their plight? I wish that TAL had included a couple of links of other ways people had gotten involved, since there is a lot of work going on daily about that.
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On 14 Million Americans on Disability
@aetataureate If you look at the Media Matters piece I linked to, there is plenty of hard data debunking the anecdotes in the TAL pieces, in addition to my own personal experiences. It's not just a matter of "my experience is different than yours so you must be wrong." The piece I had more issues with was definitely the one about children on disability rather than the one about the outsourcing of SSI applications. But just suggesting that people with back pain should get a job where they can sit shows a really poor understanding of what it's like to live with a disability, and it's frustrating when they don't take the time to talk to disability activists about the realities of disability in America today. They also failed to address the fact that the kinds of poverty wage jobs that are available to people who work are more likely to injure them through accidents or repetitive stress, (like warehouse, factory, and housekeeping jobs). On a personal level, my family depends on the disability system to survive. My mom is on SSDI, my sister is on temporary disability, and I work with a disability that requires accommodation from my workplace, although it does not prevent me from working. Disability services and funding are being cut back across the country, and this piece uncritically plays into the narrative that is being used to cut them. That is neither trivial or apolitical. In terms of TAL's rightward creep, I've definitely noticed it with their planet money pieces, although I can't remember a specific instance off the top of my head. But one thing that did bother me recently was their collecting money to save Harper high school's school counselor, which is great and all, except for the fact that the city government is systematically dismantling public schools and mental health services in poor communities across Chicago. To make people feel like private charity can fix the problem at this one school lets the people who are causing these problems at a systemic level off the hook. This is a literally a life or death battle in Chicago right now, and it's not going to be solved by the charity of NPR listeners.
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On 14 Million Americans on Disability
@boringbunny Badly written or not, the Media Matters rebuttal (http://mediamatters.org/mobile/research/2013/03/22/this-american-life-features-error-riddled-story/193215) does point out that the TAL piece makes sweeping generalizations based on anecdotal evidence that are not backed up by solid data. Generalizations that are particularly dangerous as all forms of assistance face severe cuts that are already impacting peoples' lives. The reality is that a)people with disabilities face profound disadvantages in the job market and are FAR more likely to be living in poverty than able bodied people, b) the process of applying for disability is incredibly byzantine and difficult. I applied for my mom, who is seriously disabled, and as two college educated adults (with access to a number of medical professionals in our family) we needed to ask for help repeatedly. It's not as easy as just claiming your kid is slow and "pulling a check." And finally, c) raising a kid with developmental difficulties is really difficult and expensive. From taking time off of work for IEP meetings, to doctors and drugs, to tutoring, I know middle class parents who are really struggling to do it. I can't even imagine trying to navigate that system while struggling with the problems of poverty, homelessness, etc. I found the TAL program on kids on SSDI really disappointing and offensive. I've increasingly found that that TAL has a creeping right wing spin to a lot of their pieces couched in charming "who'd a thunk it?" anecdotes.
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On Practically Free Mom-Endorsed Advice On Turning Your Frown Upside Down (Or at Least, Like, Bringing It Back to Neutral)
@Anna Jayne@twitter are you aware of http://calmingmanatee.com/ Because it pretty much saves my life on a weekly basis.
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On Things To Do At Work Instead Of Working (An Incomplete List)
Research art shows I could submit my work to, then feel anxious about the idea of submitting work to be judged by strangers, and never do it. It's somehow more wasteful because nothing ever comes of it.
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On Generic Products I'll Never Waste Money on Again
Kirkland brand beer really isn't that bad. And szajic, Target's generic Q-tips have come a long way. They are really almost as good as the real thing. But my big no-nos are tissues, toilet paper, and plastic wrap. All worth every penny.
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On 'Good Things Disappear And Bad Things Take Their Place'
@Jennifer Roehm@facebook truth.
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On How Much Do You Spend on Groceries Every Week?
We spend around $75 to $100 a week for two adults. Maybe more during the summer, when we buy our produce at farmers markets. And we tend to do one big trader joe's trip a month where we stock up on olive oil, frozen lunches, wine etc so that week can get up to $130 or so depending on how long it's been since we've been. We eat vegetarian so I would say our biggest grocery splurges are fancy cheese, really nice toilet paper, and the farmers market.