The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida M. Tarbell
Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.
Open Society
THIS IS WHAT TRANS PUNK LOOKS LIKE (full documentary)
"This Is What Trans Punk Looks Like" is a documentary about the transgender punk culture in Texas and the beauty of community. It features several interviews...
Pluralistic: Circular battery self-sufficiency (06 Aug 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
As a species, we have always treated energy as scarce, trying to wring every erg and therm that we can out of our energy sources. Meanwhile, we've treated materials as abundant, digging them up or chopping them down, using them briefly, then tossing them on a midden or burying them in a pit.
Chachra argues that this is precisely backwards. Our planet gets a fresh supply of energy twice a day, with sunrise (solar) and moonrise (tides). On the other hand, we've only got one Earth's worth of materials, supplemented very sporadically when a meteor survives entry into our atmosphere. Mining asteroids, the Moon and other planets is a losing proposition for the long foreseeable future:
As Chachra says, infrastructure is inherently altruistic, a gift to our neighbors and our descendants. If all you want is a place to stick your own poop, you don't need to build a citywide sanitation system.
Our species' historical approach to materials is not (ahem) carved in stone. It is contingent. It has changed. It can change again. It needs to change, because the way we extract materials today is both unjust and unsustainable.
This isn't to say that cleantech is a solved problem. There are many political aspects to cleantech that remain pernicious, like the fact that so many of the cleantech offerings on the market are built around extractive financial arrangements (like lease-back rooftop solar) and "smart" appliances (like heat pumps and induction tops) that require enshittification-ready apps:
Take "innovation." Silicon Valley's string of pump-and-dump nonsense – cryptocurrency, NFTs, metaverse, web3, and now AI – have made "innovation" into a dirty word. As the AI bubble bursts, the very idea of innovation is turning into a punchline:
Routledge Handbook of Creative Futures Author Series – Transformative Studies–CIIS
Dr. Gabrielle Donnelly and Dr. Alfonso Montuori, the co-editors of the Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures, delve into the challenges of thinking about c...
Identifying the functions of restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests in Autism: A scoping review.
Restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests (RRBIs) are common and integral to the everyday living of autistic persons. While RRBIs are often s…
Radical Unschooling: Anarchy Starts at Home — Academic Anarchy
Conscious parenting and unschooling go hand in hand, blending together into what Dayna Martin dubbed Radical Unschooling . This philosophy transcends traditional education, reshaping how we interact with and nurture our children. We cast aside conventional practices like strict bedtimes, mandatory
Former geography teacher Tim Walz is really into maps • Minnesota Reformer
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz really, really likes maps. The former Mankato geography teacher, now a vice presidential candidate, identifies as a “GIS nerd” and proclaimed November 15, 2023 as Geographic Information Systems day, writing that an understanding of maps and data “helps community leaders and government officials make data-driven decisions” governing important policy issues like […]
Reacting, Retreating, Regulating, and Reconnecting: How Autistic Adults in the United Kingdom Use Time Alone for Well-Being | Autism in Adulthood
Background: Firsthand accounts by autistic people describe a need for regular time alone. However, there is little in the literature that explores (1) why time alone is desired, (2) how that time is spent, or (3) where that time is spent. This article describes a neurodiversity-informed, qualitative study that demonstrates the importance and purpose of “alone-time” for autistic adults. Methods: We interviewed 16 autistic adults living in the United Kingdom about how and where they spent their “alone-time” and the benefits experienced from this time. We conducted the interviews online, some using a video link, and some using a synchronously accessed text-based document, according to the participants’ preferences. Results: We used Reflexive Thematic Analysis with the interview data to generate four qualitative themes as follows: (1) reacting to social and sensory overwhelm; (2) retreating from social and sensory overwhelm; (3) regulating, recovering, and recharging; and (4) ready to reconnect with others. Conclusions: These themes highlight a need for balancing social activities and spaces with time and space alone and the benefits of creating or protecting spaces, which encourage recovery from overwhelm.
These themes highlight a need for balancing social activities and spaces with time and space alone and the benefits of creating or protecting spaces, which encourage recovery from overwhelm.
This study shows the importance for autistic adults in balancing social activities and spending time in social spaces, with alone-time. It also shows the benefits of finding/creating and protecting spaces that are not overwhelming for autistic adults. These findings may help autistic adults explain their need for alone-time, which is useful information for people who support, live with, and work alongside autistic adults.
Broadening the Scope of a School, by Mary-Ann Ridgway - Progressive Education
What if a school were a vibrant hub for change? Change that starts with the inner blossoming of oneself, inspiring further shifts to happen within the community and impacting action locally and beyond. What if our endeavours to develop ourselves within an educational setting were deeply connected to a compassionate movement towards change in society, […]
What’s in the blue box on an Algiers Point sidewalk?
For 7 years, the Algiers Point Free Lil Pantry has been in business.
Remember the time Tim Walz's dog locked himself in the bedroom? We do
Every dog has its day, even if it means locking its owners out of their bedroom.
Amzi 🥥 🌴 on X: "Cool video from 2010, literally from Nancy Pelosi's YouTube channel. Walz citing his 25 year military experience to speak in support of repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, which banned openly gay people from serving in the military. Walz helped lead fight against DADT! https://t.co/Z4kdMu41nH" / X
Walz citing his 25 year military experience to speak in support of repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, which banned openly gay people from serving in the military.
Walz helped lead fight against DADT!
— Amzi 🥥 🌴 (@AmziQureshi)
Why we don’t have technical interviews for technical roles at Buffer
Before Buffer I never had any experience hiring. When I moved to the CTO role in April 2013, I was thurst into the position to build out…
Why We've Stopped Saying "Culture Fit" – and What We're Saying Instead
Culture fit can be an exclusive term, perhaps even a new way to discriminate without even realizing we're doing it. Here's what we're trying instead.
Don’t Be Fooled: Laws like KOSA Are Just Book Banning Democrats Can Get Behind
It is almost impossible to believe, as the nation stands on the precipice of one of the most important elections in our lifetime, if not the nation’s history, that Democrats would want to stick it …
Cops 'Help' Naked, Possibly-Suicidal Schizophrenic Man By Tasing Him To Death
“Excited delirium” makes an appearance in another case where medical help for a mentally ill person was sought, but instead, police arrived and delivered someone to an early grave. (h/t…
Mental Health Team Handling 911 Calls In Denver Wraps Up Six Months With Dozens Of People Helped, Zero People Arrested
In June of last year — as protests over police brutality occurred all over the nation — Denver, Colorado rolled out a program that combined common sense with a slight “defunding&#…
Los Angeles Police Union Decides Maybe It’s Better If Cops Aren’t Asked To Be First Responders
For the most part, police unions are a net negative for both the police and the policed. They tend to excuse the worst behavior of their members while showing genuine disdain for anyone who dares t…
AMERICAN SIKH
Marginalised or missed? The curious case of influential autistic self-advocates in England: introducing the 3i instrument - Interest Groups & Advocacy
This article argues that the social policy influence of marginalised groups is at risk of being underestimated, in the scholarship, policy communities and wider society. It proposes the 3i instrument: a new, triangulated approach to measuring influence with a broader set of indicators than usually attempted. These indicators, which are designed to include influence in its early stages, are explored through a case study of autistic self-advocates in England. Surprisingly, the results show not just that autistic self-advocates but, through them, the wider autistic community, have more policy influence than they or others expect, but that influence is also being missed in its later stages, indicating that researcher bias may also be a complicating factor. While a single case of ‘missed’ influence is not sufficient to generalise to other contexts and groups, this research opens the door to a wider methodological discussion and reflexivity on the part of researchers.
Despite having a low opinion of their own influence, and despite being socially constructed as disempowered, autistic people, through skilful self-advocates, actually exert influence at all stages of the policy process and represent the primary form of expertise taken into account by policymakers.
The belief that you can have influence, even when society tells you that you cannot, is a powerful factor in motivating people from marginalised groups to lobby for their needs and rights (Dempsey and Foreman 1997).
Return-to-office mandates hurt employee retention, productivity, survey says
Survey of 4,400 US employees who are at least 18 years old.
Meshell Ndegeocello Could Have Had Stardom but Chose Music Instead
The bassist, singer and composer’s 1993 debut jolted the industry — then she decided to change. Now she is releasing a powerful album inspired by James Baldwin.
This preschool in Alaska changed lives for parents and kids alike. Why did it have to close?
In rural Alaska, the federally funded Head Start preschool program has helped parents earn college degrees.
Tammy Duckworth eviscerates Trump for painful comments about disabled Americans
‘It’s hard to describe the pain millions of Americans with disabilities are feeling in response to Donald Trump’s newly-reported comments,’ Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth said
Kaplan-Myrth: COVID is back, so let's take care of ourselves and others
The numbers are up, and when September rolls around, we will be vulnerable again. Let's not be complacent about protection.
The Chinese educational revolution with outdoor play as its beating heart
Reflections from a visit to Anji Play, the early learning programme that is gaining an international profile for its emphasis on risky outdoor play.
Children’s spaces of belonging in schools: bringing theories and stakeholder perspectives into dialogue
This paper discusses the question: What is the explanatory power of bringing into dialogue theories of space and place with participatory research approaches that focus on joint perspectives of pup...
Study: Why Autistic People Love Board Games
Hello and welcome to this week’s wholesome NONPOLITICAL video in which I talk about anything other than the literal most important topics currently being discussed elsewhere. You know what I love? …
Imagine if... Creating A Future For Us All - Sir Ken Robinson
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_custom_heading text_font=”font-201687″ text_weight=”300″ uncode_shortcode_id=”405820″]Imagine if… Creating A Future For Us All[/vc_custom_heading][vc_custom_heading text_font=”font-205248″ text_size=”h4″ text_weight=”300″ uncode_shortcode_id=”197155″]A call to action that […]
Autistic Burnout - How to Recognise and Understand it
How to recognise and understand Autistic Burnout in children and adults as an Autistic person, professional, parent or carer.
You crash and you keep crashing.