The Trump administration has proposed a new rule governing the wages of tipped employees, after an earlier effort sparked a backlash from waitstaff, bartenders and other workers. The proposed rule from the Labor Department would allow employers to require more widespread sharing of tips with "back of the house" coworkers, such as cooks and dishwashers. The rule makes clear, however, that employers cannot pocket those tips or use them to reward managers and supervisors. The rule would also give employers more flexibility in assigning non-tipped tasks to workers who rely on gratuities for a big part of their income. The proposal was cheered by the restaurant industry. But workers' advocates and some lawmakers say they still have some concerns. "This rule establishes once and for all an appropriate balance, and ends arbitrary and capricious regulations," said Angelo Amador, regulatory counsel for the National Restaurant Association. "We commend the U.S. Department of Labor for providing

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

Looking back at more than 25 years in public service, Susan Rice — former U.N. ambassador for the United States and national security adviser to President Barack Obama — describes much of her career as a balancing act. Sometimes, that meant toeing the line between her personal and professional life. "My now 22-year-old son, in fact, learned to walk in the halls of the State Department," recalls Rice in an interview with NPR. "And there were those who thought that was a little bit inappropriate for the staid halls of the State Department." But luckily, she says, she had the support of then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Other times, Rice had to balance her ambition with her identity as a person of color: At the age of 28, having just started her career in government, Rice turned down a position working on African policy for the Clinton administration out of fear of pigeonholing herself. She worried "this predominantly white national security establishment would see [her] as

God wants to do more, exceedingly, abundantly more than we can think but we need to ask, and pray. How should we pray?

I wanted to participate in the 666th Disquiet Junto, so took by first idea and first takes to get this song done. It's built around "six" in reverse sounding like "skisk".

Still messing around with the updated rig but trying to get more involved with melodies and overall arrangement. The DX7 and the Korg Monologue are both deadly for leads/melodies and FL Studio's famous Sytrus VST came in handy to provide a last-minute pad before exporting the final mix.

I am so sad, angry and confused by the recent US election result that I created this: a fitting fanfare from the people of the rest of the world. It is puerile and disgusting.

This is a ~30 second excerpt from the full work, which is almost two minutes long. It was compiled entirely using the command line tool sox, including the stereo spatial effects. Yes, it's farts. Lots of farts. It shows the appropriate level of respect.

A little driving music for the Trump II era.

here through the 24^th while moving randomly across the surface of europe. the last roll of the dice got me to sweden during midsommar, so that's pretty cool

Welcome to another week of the MetaFilter 2024 Fundraiser! Our community is mostly run by member contributions like yours and, as always, you can help the community by contributing directly to the site, via Paypal, Credit card or through our GoFundMe Campaign. But, seriously, we also want to have fun, don't we? To kick things off, we'd love to help us build our own Community Cookbook and prepare questions for the Ask Mods Anything Podcast... oh, and did you forget about the Pet Tax Wall? There's still time...

The Joy of MeFi Cooking: A Community Cookbook We'd like to hear all about your food adventures and traditions in this thread! Share your favorite dishes, the ones you can't stand, the ones you like but don't know how to cook and, of course, share any secret recipes you've concocted. Game Rules: 1. Use this thread to ask for recipes you are interested in and to talk about the food you love and miss. 2. Use this form to share your recipes for the cookbook. 3. Wait for the full recipe book and enjoy trying new recipes. Ask the Mods Anything 2.0: The podcast Want to know more about the ins and outs of the mod team? We want to make a podcast where Jessamyn will chat with Loup and ask questions directly from the community and you can vote on which questions get to be asked via one time contributions. Game Rules: 1. Use this form to submit your question (questions can be anonymous) 2. Wait for the next post to vote for your favorite questions.

In this post Shepherd suggested a book mark exchange and mine arrived today. Thanks to Shepherd for both idea and execution and to everyone who sent in bookmarks. I got a lovely selection, including a library one you can use to track your reading (I mean, I use StoryGraph, but more manual methods are also good) and 3 bookmarks for non Anglophone bookshops. If other people taking part could check in, that would be lovely.

I know a lot of us are in the path of Helene in Florida and Georgia (Alabama, Tennessee, SC, NC, too! It's a big storm!). I thought it might be nice to have a (text-based, low bandwidth) place to check in and provide information updates as it moves ashore this afternoon and across the Southeast overnight and through tomorrow.

Both an idea (for outreach/promotion) and a confession. The day before I was set to table at the local zine symposium, I was scrambling for another mini-zine idea, and ended up excerpting some of the answers to an Ask Me I made earlier this year"What's your random (but regular) act of public service?" Here's a link to the one-page mini zine (mod note: link removed, see this note).

In retrospect, this is very much of the "ask for forgiveness not permission" M.O. that I usually hate on. But also it seems like an idea for getting the word out about Metafilter to potential members. My tablemate at the zine fair was all (paraphrase) "oooh, I'll check that out. I love the idea that it is old school." People whose answers I used and MeFi mods, please forgive me for not asking in advance. I didn't use any usernames, but obviously if someone finds the original post there is only the usual level of anonymity. People in general, what do you think about making a Metafilter zine series? I think the DIY ethos of zines is very much in the spirit of MeFi, and zines also spans across the generations (aka gen x-ers, millennials, gen z-ers etc). It could be an internal fundraiser (like stickers and magnets) but I think it would be more fun if it was directed to non-members?

Many MeFites are in the track of this beast, and there's a post on the Blue to share info. I thought we could use a space to check-in and keep each other company, share best wishes, worries, hopes and suggestions for staying safe.

As of November 1, 2024 (it took some time for the notice to arrive), the Metafilter Community Foundation exists as an officially registered Delaware nonprofit non-stock corporation.

What this means:
1. We can now get an EIN, apply for a bank account, and apply to the IRS for not-for-profit designation.
2. The interim board of directors can get to work. We will have to adopt bylaws, approve (with community input) a policy and procedures manual, obtain insurance, and transfer the existing LLC and its assets into the new entity, among many other tasks.

We have a lot of work ahead.

Many people have expressed concern about this process, how long it's taking, and the future of the site. We share these concerns, which is why we've been donating so much of our time to this task. It will soon be time for members of our community to run for the Board of Directors, choose officers, join committees, and generally start doing all of the "community" things people have been calling for over the years. Think you know how to improve Metafilter? Now's the time to prove it. Friends, this is a long way from being over, but I believe that our community's best days are ahead of it. I expect that many people are going to be seeking internet communities in the coming months where civility and thoughtful discussion are still the norm, rather than the exception. If ever there were a time to do more outreach for new members and promote our site and what it can do, what it might yet be, this is it. If there's any silver lining to the current tumult in the world, it's that it gives us even more impetus to band together, talk to each other, and over-analyze those plates of beans. Now, let's get organized!

MLRv is a great tool for live performance, as proven by a number of talented button mashers such as Galapagoose and Daedelus. It creates an immediate feedback loop between button presses and sounds that audiences just “get”. But if you’re only using MLRv for button mashing, you’re missing out on a ton of potential it has […]

In my last post, I suggested that MLRv could be used to enhance your production workflow, outside of its abilities as a live performance tool.  In this post I’ll cover the configuration necessary to get MLRv set up for automation with Ableton.  In the post following this, I’ll give an example of how this setup […]

In post 1 and post 2 of this series, I talked about why it’s worth trying MLRv as a production tool, as opposed to a live performance tool.  Let’s get to some examples of what this really means. A couple months back, I was approached by Edison to do a remix of his track My […]

I put this mix together recently for a friend who doesn’t listen to any electronic music.  While each of the artists below have a lot of boundary-pushing avant garde material, I picked their “safe” tracks to provide an introduction to the genre(s). Download the mix here. Don’t forget to look these artists up if you like […]

I’m moving back to http://www.makingthenoise.com Follow me there!

Since the coronavirus pandemic battered China's economy, tens of millions of urban and factory jobs have evaporated. Some workers and business owners have banded together to pressure companies or local governments for subsidies and payouts. But many of the newly unemployed have instead returned to their rural villages. China's vast countryside now serves as an unemployment sponge, soaking up floating migrant workers in temporary agricultural work on small family plots. "Say a factory used to hire 1,000 temporary workers; now, without new orders, these business owners can't afford to hire this many people," Yan Xiyun, a labor intermediary, told NPR. "The factory I usually go to in previous years could easily hire 2,000 people. Now there is scarcely anyone [on the factory floor]." Ten years ago, Yan left her own village near the small city of Zhumadian in Henan province for the first time and joined the migrant workforce. Now, she's a headhunter working on commission, placing thousands

Our national fascination with sourdough starter appears to have stopped. Or at least slowed down a bit. The price of baking flour fell last month along with the price of eggs, suggesting that the baking craze that gripped hungry and housebound consumers in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic has cooled. "Sourdough is definitely a commitment," says Kristin Hoffman, who makes instructional YouTube videos for aspiring bakers. "I have heard a couple of people say that they really don't understand why somebody would want to put so much effort into a loaf of bread." Hoffman's Baker Bettie website saw a surge of interest from first-time bakers in late March and April, when tens of millions of Americans found themselves stuck at home with time on their hands. "I saw four to five times higher traffic than even during peak holiday-baking season," Hoffman says. "It has started to kind of level back out, now that things are reopening." Even if the bake-off was a turnoff for some, people

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . Johannes Eisele / AFP via Getty Images The United States has been grappling with a global pandemic, an economic meltdown and massive protests — and yet, until recently, the stock market basically shrugged it all off. Between March 23 and late last week, the market surged 45% , erasing the drop it had seen at the start of the pandemic. That is, until last week, when apparently the market rediscovered that there's a freaking pandemic still going on. Public health experts have been warning for months now about the dangers of reopening without a solid plan for testing and tracing. But they're just uptight nerds, right? Economists consider the stock market a "leading indicator" of the economy, meaning it often signals where the real economy is headed. But it's a notoriously faulty signal. The MIT economist Paul Samuelson famously joked that big drops of the stock market had predicted nine out of the last

Shanna LaFountain has been a nursing assistant in New England for 20 years. About two months ago, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, she stopped working. "It was an extremely hard decision," she said. LaFountain has three children and made the decision once their schools closed and their learning went online. "My son was not answering teachers, not doing assignments," she said. "I had to be home with my children." Instead of working, she gets state unemployment benefits and receives another $600 each week from the federal government. She is making more money now than when she works. LaFountain is not alone. As part of the CARES Act, the federal government added an extra $600 per week to individuals' unemployment checks. Such benefits may be available not only to those who were let go but also to those who quit their jobs due to the virus. While a Federal Reserve report said the expanded benefits provide a critical lifeline to many individuals, there is concern that the

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . A health worker sprays disinfectant inside government offices as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus. ARUN SANKAR / AFP via Getty Images Last week, I went into Planet Money 's vacant office in midtown Manhattan to pick up some stuff. It felt like visiting the ruins of a bygone age. It reminded me of a time when you could hop in a crowded subway car, stroll into work without a mask, and interact with your colleagues without having to stare at their disembodied heads through a computer screen. Our building is still mostly abandoned, but our building's manager had already taken precautions for that elusive day when we might all return. There were stand-six-feet-apart circles in the lobby to encourage social distance. Our elevators could only fit four circles, and they didn't even seem like they were actually six feet apart. This being a skyscraper, it had always been a pain in the

Updated at 5 p.m. ET Employers added a record 4.8 million jobs last month, as the U.S. economy continued to slowly bounce back from a deep and painful coronavirus recession. The unemployment rate dipped to 11.1%. Job growth accelerated from May, when revised figures show employers added 2.7 million jobs. Loading... "Our economy is roaring back," President Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room. "It's coming back extremely strong." What's odd this time is that the closely-watched monthly jobs report offers a snapshot of the economy that was already somewhat out of date as soon as it was issued. The Labor Department report reflects conditions from the middle of June. The COVID-19 outbreak has since been accelerating in many states , which could put the brakes on the nascent economic recovery. Investors welcomed the positive jobs news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 92 points while the Nasdaq composite index hit a new, record high. "This is not just luck, what's

Many people with underlying medical conditions are worried about what's going to happen at the end of the month. It's not currently safe for many of them to go back to work. The COVID-19 death rate is 12 times higher for people with underlying conditions. But an extra $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits, which has been enabling them to pay their rent and other bills, will stop coming at the end of July. "We don't have a whole lot of options that don't involve risking our lives," Lauren Van Netta says. "We need help. We really do." Van Netta lost her job at a perfume store in New Orleans during the outbreak. She says she's had serious bacterial infections that have damaged her lungs and compromised her immune system. And she has asthma. So even if she could find another job in retail, she says her doctors have told her it would be risky. She says even wearing a mask and trying to keep social distancing in a workplace, "it's like the fear of, you know, I could make a mistake.

Updated at 8:44 a.m. ET From airlines to paper mills, the job news is grim, and there are growing signs it won't be getting better anytime soon. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported nearly 2.4 million new applications for state and federal unemployment benefits last week. And United Airlines is warning that it may have to furlough as many as 36,000 employees this fall. Demand for air travel has collapsed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The president of the flight attendants union called the warning a "gut punch" but also "the most honest assessment we've seen on the state of the industry — and our entire economy." Union President Sara Nelson tweeted that demand for air travel had recovered a small fraction of its pre-pandemic levels this summer and "even those minimal gains evaporated over the last week due to surging COVID-19 cases across the country." Jobs in other industries are facing similar threats as the coronavirus tightens its stubborn grip on the country. Derse

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . Pixabay Banks and laundromats are scrambling. Arcades and gumball machine operators are bracing for the worst. Grocery stores are rounding their prices to even dollars or rejecting cash altogether. The specter of the coin shortage lurks everywhere. Blame COVID-19. The U.S. Mint cut back on coin production this spring to keep its workers safe. Meanwhile, the economy is constipated. "With the closure of the economy, the flow of coins through the economy has ... kind of stopped," explained Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last month. Coins sit idle in closed stores' cash registers and people's homes, and they're not making it to the banks and companies that need them for business. The coin shortage could be a rallying cry for a long-running movement that has lost steam in recent years: Kill the penny! Last year, almost 60% of the coins that the U.S. Mint churned out were pennies. 60 percent . It

Downticket Democrats highlights candidates for the House of Representatives and state legislatures in competitive districts, making it easy to donate for maximum impact.

Donations to House and state candidates can have a much bigger impact than donations to presidential and Senate campaigns. This site helps you find candidates by state or rating (toss-up, lean Democrat, or lean Republican), and offers lots of ways to donate, from links to the candidates' campaigns to featured slates that let you donate to several at once. All the data comes from MeFite Michal Migurski; he sources it from Sister District, Cook, and other reliable sources. He supplies the links and maps, as well. I was inspired to put together a quick website when Mike posted this:

I've started running a Downticket Dems bot on Bluesky (link) and Fedi (link) focused exclusively on D candidates in and near districts that Cook Political Report defines as competitive. Follow and donate!

A Free 42-page PDF you can read on your phone, tablet, or laptop and enjoy!

My friend Jordanlafordan, organised and compiled a Fanzine to celebrate Star Trek: Discovery. Full of Fanfic, essays, photos, games, poems, and quotes from our beloved Star Trek: Discovery, this is the first annual Celebrate Disco fanzine! I (Faintdreams) submitted the crossword. Enjoy! If you like it please let the organiser know. They have a mastodon account here: ( https://tenforward.social/@jordanlafordan )

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Stark Raving Mab, the third book in my urban fantasy trilogy Gravity's Daughter is out as of yesterday. If you're intrigued by any of the following: action-heavy urban fantasy, less-traditional faeries, gravity-defying antics on public transit, Canadian settings or in-over-their-heads characters who will not give up sarcasm 'til you pry it from their cold, dead hands, then give the books a look or request them from your local library.

I did a projects post back in 2022 on the first book but I think I forgot to crow about the second last fall, because I have trouble regularly remembering to talk about myself. (Or even, uh, irregularly--like when I publish a literal book.)

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North Continent Ribbon is a collection of linked short stories including an assassin with a crystal sword, a judge whose best friend is a book, and spaceships on strike. I wrote about the way the worldbuilding intertwines with eighteenth-century crime records for Mary Robinette Kowal's column My Favorite Bit, and the first story, Closer Than Your Kidneys, is available for free at Frivolous Comma.

You can find North Continent Ribbon at Neon Hemlock Press as a paperback or ebook, buy it from your favorite bookstore, or request it from your library.

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The polls in the headlines are alarming ... but polls have been way off in the past few years. This website documents some of the huge discrepancies between polling predictions and the actual results; notes some reasons for those errors; and suggests some other indicators that may offer a better sense of how the candidates are doing. The site's main message: don't panic - take action instead.

I was inspired to create this site after posting some of this information in various threads on MetaFilter.

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The Shakespearean Sonnet Machine is a slighty pointless little randomiser app that spits out endless variations of Shakespeare's 154 sonnets. (Well, not quite endless, but there should be 562,448,656 different ones in there if you're patient enough to keep reloading.)

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A 6-page guide for research-group leaders in academia, providing concrete suggestions to make labs more welcoming and accessible to autistic students and postdocs. Written by a late-diagnosed autistic academic.

Contents: 1. Dispel your misconceptions. 2. Communicate clearly. 3. Check the sensory environment. 4. Be aware of different cognitive profiles. 5. Model inclusivity to your group.

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By Satan's forelock, it's Jabo's Annual Halloween Cartoon 2024. Not much to be scared about this year, amirite? So this year I've just drawn up my favorite cartoon scalawags mixed in with a liberal dose of tales about THE END OF THE WORLD! Nuthin' special and no worries about HOW WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE. Enjoy!

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I started a Substack to promote some liberal, progressive friendly views online.

At this time it feels like the right-wing echo chamber is growing larger and larger by the minute and progressive voices are drowned out. This obviously is a result of the devastating outcome a few days ago. My attempt is to offer some analysis and strategy. I will also try to cover the numbers in a bit more detail while also putting them in a narrative that is easily digestible (or so I hope).

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Rising R&B singer Carol Doche warms up the icy airwaves with her newest party starter "Montego" featuring Taylor Gang founder Wiz Khalifa. The track was produced by Grammy award-winning Swedish…

Sandhouse’s latest single, “Bite Me Back,” is a strong follow-up to their debut release, “Sick Of Your Face,” and it plunges listeners into an atmosphere of intense, dark allure. With…

Alternative indie artist Neito Han released his first fully original bilingual song, “Good Luck, Stranger,” on Friday. This is Nathan Sharp’s second overall release under this new moniker after seemingly…

Eclectic Belgian singer/songwriter Sylvie Kreusch digs deep into the unbeaten path in her new LP Comic Trip. The 11-track album is adventurous, emotionally dark, and revealing all at once. Straying…

Atlanta-based emerging artist Captain Highside hones in on his funky yet sultry musicality with “Technicolor Rewind,” the focus track from upcoming LP SAGITTARIUS II, a smooth neo-soul anthem that comes…

The sweet and soulful DJ Teddie Bear marries country music with the sounds of down south blues in his latest single “Southern Soul Twerk.” DJ Teddie Bear is a Georgia…

French Horn Rebellion makes music that is an irresistible fusion of funky electronic pop and retro flair, where the grooves are as infectious as the melodies are catchy. Hailing from…

Bronson Scott’s new single, “Mistakes,” is the anthem for anyone who's ever wrestled with regret and wondered what life would look like without a few of their bad decisions. Scott…

Today, we hear how one Bay Area Jewish teenager is trying to make sense of generations of conflict. Then, how should artists respond when destruction and death are streamed daily to our phones?