Lyrl

@Lyrl@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Me_IRL⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:
I appreciate having the stamina to work a job with a comfortable salary, but damn I wish I had enough more to do more with my parents than let them feed me, and to go socialize once a week with people who aren’t family. I used to have stamina like that and lost it after chemo a couple decades ago. Scrolling and simple games are fine if done because I want to, but when done hour after hour because I don’t have any brain cells available to do more enjoyable things it really loses the sheen.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:
The survey design and data collection are described at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cps/design.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cps/data.htm

Some excerpts:

The sample is made up of addresses, not the names of people or families at those addresses.

The CPS [Current Population Survey] starts with a probability sample of about 74,000 assigned housing units each month. Approximately 62,000 housing units are eligible for interview each month, after excluding those which are destroyed, vacant, converted to nonresidential use, contain only people whose usual place of residence is elsewhere, or are ineligible for other reasons. Interviews are completed for about 54,000 housing units. In a given month, about 13 percent of housing units are not interviewed, because of the temporary absence of the occupants (they might be on vacation, for example), other failures to make contact after repeated attempts, inability of people contacted to respond, unavailability for other reasons, and refusals to cooperate.

The Census Bureau will contact each household for 8 monthly interviews over a 16-month period.

Personal visits are typically required the first month the household is in the sample, and they are preferred in the fifth month. In other months, interviews generally are conducted by telephone. Households without a telephone and those which specifically request a personal visit usually receive in-person interviews each month. About 10 percent of eligible households are interviewed via computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) from telephone centers located in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Tucson, Arizona. Field representatives interview the remaining households (approximately 68 percent of households in any given month) by telephone.

Because of the crucial role interviewers have in the CPS, a great amount of time and effort is spent maintaining the quality of their work. Interviewers are given intensive training, including classroom lectures, discussion, practice, observation, home-study materials, and on-the-job training. Interviewers receive self-study training each month, as well as periodic refresher training sessions. They also are periodically accompanied by a supervisor during a full day of interviewing to determine how well they carry out their assignments.

A selected number of households are reinterviewed each month to detect and deter falsification by interviewers. These reinterviews are conducted by a dedicated staff operating independently of the CPS management structure.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:
A common misconception. Below quotes are from www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm, bolding mine. Also, the BLS report has six different measures of unemployment counting various different groups. The “headline number” of U3 counts only people actively looking for work, but other measures count people who want jobs but aren’t looking and people who work part time but want to be full time. Labor force participation is also in there, counting people even if they don’t want to find a job. It’s all reported!

Some people think that to get these figures on unemployment, the government uses the number of people collecting unemployment insurance (UI) benefits under state or federal government programs. But some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed.

Because unemployment insurance records relate only to people who have applied for such benefits, and since it is impractical to count every unemployed person each month, the government conducts a monthly survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. The CPS has been conducted in the United States every month since 1940, when it began as a Work Projects Administration program. In 1942, the U.S. Census Bureau took over responsibility for the CPS. The survey has been expanded and modified several times since then. In 1994, for instance, the CPS underwent a major redesign in order to computerize the interview process as well as to obtain more comprehensive and relevant information.

There are about 60,000 eligible households in the sample for this survey. This translates into approximately 110,000 individuals each month, a large sample compared to public opinion surveys, which usually cover fewer than 2,000 people. The CPS sample is selected so as to be representative of the entire population of the United States
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Excellent rant⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:
What a roller coaster for the people caring for Charlotte. She has a lump that’s probably a tumor, no it’s eggs, no it’s a baby, no it’s a reproductive disease.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"No precedent in American history!" NYT would have defended child labor.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:
The public service should provide a universal floor for citizens. There are quasi-medical services like massage that both have medical benefits and are also used more as a spa treatment, and people with pets are finding pet medical insurance more attractive these days. I think areas like that can make more sense to keep private.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"No precedent in American history!" NYT would have defended child labor.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:
It’s not possible to approve all care. Taxpayers will, through representative lawmakers, allot a certain amount of money to healthcare, and within that budget, decisions must be made. The realistic goal is not to have every possible treatment always approved, it’s to have a moderately high floor of care that everyone has as a baseline.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"No precedent in American history!" NYT would have defended child labor.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:
Unfortunately our morass of a healthcare system is deeper than insurance - medical device companies, big pharma (&PBMs), venture-capital-owned hospitals, and more all take their cut. Universal health care would not end the rip-off. But it would be an excellent first step.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"feminine"⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:
The most satisfactory setup seems to be great indirect and task lighting that is just as easy to turn on and off as the overhead. Requires lighting purchases and maybe installation, and maybe “smart” switches if there aren’t switched outlets or other readily accessible places for the controls, which is a barrier. As an intermediate step, a different colored (warmer white) and less bright bulb in the overhead can make it more tolerable.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"feminine"⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:
For the first forty years of my life, I could not understand people (including my mom) who disliked overhead lighting. Now, I would way rather fumble in the dark than have that stuff glaring at me (grudging exception if I am using a knife in the kitchen). I don’t understand what changed.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Urine Luck⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Thanks for the kind thoughts, stranger. It was eighteen years ago now, and I am glad to have been here for those years!
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Urine Luck⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
It’s only the marrow that is wet. The structural part of the bone is non-absorbent.

The marrow can exert a lot of pressure. Many years ago, I had to have chemotherapy, and in between chemo rounds got marrow-stimulating shots to make the marrow ooze blood more and reduce the amount of time I was anemic. The associated pain in my large bones was the worst pain I have ever had.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Urine Luck⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Many years ago, I had to have a central line (semi-permanent IV to a large vein) for a while. Whenever a nurse flushed my line with saline, the tastebuds in my mouth felt like they were tasting salt. Our body wiring connects in strange ways.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Never hurts to check though⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Taking notes for reference seems like a use AI is halfway decent at. Going by your surprise at its use, they aren’t using it wholesale for things it’s bad at. Seems like good judgement on the part of your developer.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨This Apple Lie at the grocery store⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Cattle farming is also a major cause of rainforest deforestation (although beef cattle since that is internationally transportable where dairy is more perishable). Palm oil produces more calories per production acre than dairy, where many acres have to be used to grow the grains used to feed the cattle. The transition is being managed irresponsibly, but once stabilized it should have less environmental impact.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Sprout 🌱⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Apparently the wild forms are native to Mexico and South America, so none growing in Europe or the US. Also, it is one of the earliest domesticated plant families - cultivated beginning more than 8,000 years ago - so the domestic varieties overwhelmingly outnumber the wild ones. From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita

C. argyrosperma is not as widespread as the other species. The wild form C. a. subsp. sororia is found from Mexico to Nicaragua.

The origin of C. ficifolia is Latin America, most likely southern Mexico, Central America, or the Andes. It grows at elevations ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 meters (3,300 to 9,800 ft) in areas with heavy rainfall.

C. maxima originated in South America over 4,000 years ago, probably in Argentina and Uruguay.

C. moschata is native to Latin America, but the precise location of origin is uncertain. It has been present in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Peru for 4,000–6,000 years and has spread to Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

C. pepo is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, domesticated species with the oldest known locations being Oaxaca, Mexico, 8,000–10,000 years ago.
The domesticated forms of C. pepo have larger fruits than non-domesticated forms and seeds that are larger but fewer in number.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Damn straight!⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Increased unemployment can lead to decreased wages, depending on other factors. I had read your post above as claiming a multipart chain of higher minimum wage -> increased unemployment -> decreased wages, and my post was intended to address the first link (minimum wage -> increased unemployment), not the second.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Damn straight!⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Lots of people get degrees in lower-earning fields because they value working on things that are interesting or meaningful to them more than they value the income tradeoff. Growing as a person is its own reward.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Damn straight!⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
A few percent of job seekers as structural unemployment supports a healthy economy where people change jobs and careers to match changes in labor needs.

That doesn’t mean an increase in minimum wage increases unemployment. There are hundreds of academic studies investigating that question, and it seems the increased economic activity of low-income people having more money generates enough new jobs to at least balance whatever job cuts happen due to the higher labor costs (low-income people tend to spend all their money, so they are more effective agents of short term economic stimulus than higher-income households that tend to save some of it).
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Damn straight!⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Having more than your neighbors is a huge drive to human happiness. House size has no impact on happiness. Having the biggest house on the block is a huge happiness boost. Above the level needed for minimum sustainable food and shelter, wages have no impact on happiness. Making more money than your friends is a huge happiness boost.

It’s something about how we are wired as humans. Many of us have other drivers that are stronger than the drive to have more than others in our community, but to get social support any strategy for raising the living standard floor needs to acknowledge the issue of this hard-wired drive.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gold⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
If economies were only about hard assets, sure. But human work is a big part of modern economies, and a free base income lets more people pay others for services. It takes time for entrepreneurial-minded people to spin up businesses and grow the economy to absorb the increased income, but done in a thoughtful ramped manner, cash payments have net positive effects.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨🫡🫡🫡⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
It seems to be a common social phenomenon, something about how our human brains are wired. People have expert knowledge - burn the witches! China’s Great Leap Forward, the Cambodian genocide under Khmer Rouge, and on and on. I hate that we as a society haven’t figured out how to avoid this yet.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨So how would you handle this?⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Or it’s a fake explanation of the picture, or a fake picture (AI or old fashion photoshop).
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Every job that I was ever trained to do and every job when I trained others was like this⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
I work in manufacturing, lots of physical tasks. The work instructions for the physical tasks get out of date with control system and physical machine changes just as much as the non-tangible type work documents.

I have found work instructions that (succintly, no essays) explain when something is a safety protection, or affects quality, are more effective. Most workers want to make a good product, and are genuinely trying to be helpful by making a change, but might not have visibility to the full impact. Explanations can also help reduce change fear: often managers won’t approve change because they don’t know why a rule exists, but are afraid it’s important. Having the explanation right there with the rule can help reasonable arguments prevail over fear.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Every job that I was ever trained to do and every job when I trained others was like this⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Aw, thanks. I hope you gain a document savvy coworker!
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Every job that I was ever trained to do and every job when I trained others was like this⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
It’s an unfortunately rare skill set to change documents. If the way it’s being done is better than the document, there is a process to make the document match, but that idea seems to not even occur to most of my coworkers, across multiple industries in my couple of decades working. They usually seem happier if I go through the paperwork and get their training to match what they are doing, though.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Wiper malware targeted Poland energy grid, but failed to knock out electricity⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
This really veers out of the espionage lane and towards the act of war lane. Acknowledged as a war action when done successfully against Ukraine. Possibly “only” a message if the failure in Poland was deliberate on the hacker’s part, but still awful.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tips⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
China’s ten-year presidential terms worked well for their people for a long time. That Xi has gone the dictator for life route is IMO a significant threat to their future direction.

Many countries also seem to be on a fine interim path to building up a combination capitalist/socialist economy and bringing up their median and minimum living standards. China is big and influential, but doesn’t have a lock on that.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tips⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Yup, small percent of people. But those 4% (or whatever it is) are the only possible audience capable of breaking free of living from paycheck to paycheck by following “tips”. And 4% of 300 million people is a reasonably large number of people.
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tips⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
Or AI
⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tips⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:
It didn’t last. Surely there’s something in the middle that can both lift up the potential floor for standard of living through social safety net and also be sustained long term.