Vanessa Parks

Family-friendly workplaces are great − but ‘families of 1’ get ignored In an era of family-friendly workplaces, how can employers treat single people without kids fairly?

I read another piece recently that said single/never marrieds pay out over 1 million more in their lifetimes compared to married people who often share bills, mortgages, and on health insurance. Our systems are built to support and advantage married people.

‘We Are Not Expendable’: Southaven Residents Fight xAI Plan for 41 Gas Turbines to Power Musk's Grok Many residents around Southaven, Mississippi, oppose xAI’s data centers and presence in their backyards, fearing for their health and environment.

Devan Jenkins' home in Memphis' Whitehaven neighborhood—a stone's throw from Southaven—has been disrupted by a persistent drone making it hard for her to think and sleep. The noise is from xAI's data centers and the gas turbines powering them.

"You can feel it rattling your eardrums," she said.

This is a great tool for state policy-makers and organizations supporting veterans and their families.

As millions face climate relocation, the nation’s first attempt sparks warnings and regret Three years after a federally funded move, Indigenous residents of Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles report broken homes — and promises

The “New Isle” settlement was built to house Indigenous families displaced by climate change in coastal Louisiana.

But residents report leaking doors, broken appliances, and homes that feel like they’re leaning. “We should not have this many complaints."

This is a very cool figure. Can’t wait to read more! Curious how y’all did the “similar state” comparison.

This made it onto a girliepop IG meme account.

Simpler times

punxsutawney phil (just had visions of pestilence, blood rain, malignant false idols, stillborn livestock): uuuh 6 more weeks of winter

Situation in Mississippi Grows More Dire After Days of Ice, Outages and Rising Death Toll Mississippi dispatchers are fielding desperate calls for medication or oxygen in a state where 100,000 remain without power.

Mississippi dispatchers are fielding desperate calls for medication or oxygen from people stuck in their homes in a state where 100,000 remained without power amid freezing temperatures, days after last weekend's ice storm.

www.mississippifreepress.org/situation-in...

Not great, Bob!

Opinion | Would You Let Claude Do Your Taxes? Preparing a return is the kind of task AI ought to be good for.

Today’s large language models—ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok—can write code and polish prose. But would you trust them to do your taxes?

RAND's @carterprice.bsky.social discusses in @wsj.com.

Quilt with black, white, and green stars.

Quilt with red, blue, and white stars.

Over the summer, I learned how to sew. In October, I took a beginners quilting class. It’s now December, and I’ve finished quilts for my niblings. This has been such a good reminder that we can always learn new things.

The creature!!!

That black and white fabric is everything.

For anybody who has ever obsessively watched the AQI, it’s nice to see the readings over time. #quilting

Potential Security Implications of AI-Induced Psychosis Reports of psychosis induced by artificial intelligence suggest that large language models are capable of inducing or amplifying delusions or psychotic episodes in human users. What is the scope of th...

New research explores the potential security implications of AI-induced psychosis: https://bit.ly/3MotZmc

These were the only three tofurkys I found in the East End of Pittsburgh. The politics around food are really changing.

I laid it out over the tub and on towels, rotating it every 12 hours or so. It probably took 3 days to fully dry.

I just washed a very large quilt in a very big tub. It took a very long time to wash (and dry!), but I felt like it was a safer choice than a washing machine.

Data to Help Support America's Veterans Updated analyses of U.S. veteran demographics, mental health, and labor market outcomes provide timely evidence to guide policies, services, and interventions that address the evolving needs of the ve...

New data can help shape policies that address veterans' needs, close gaps in support, and foster better understanding of the veteran population and their families. ⬇️

What Census Calls Us Explore the different race, ethnicity and origin categories used in the U.S. decennial census, from the first one in 1790 to the latest count in 2020.

The different race, ethnicity and origin category names in the U.S. census have often changed in a reflection of changing politics and public attitudes. Explore those changes, from the first census in 1790 to the latest count in 2020.

I remember this omg

Even if folks think this about religion, the dismissive mocking attitude toward *studying* religion is part of the problem. Love it or hate it, religion matters A LOT and isn’t going away anytime soon.

Here's a quick 11 min chat about low birth rates and population panic. I'll pile on with the note that the United States is one of only eight countries in the world to not offer a paid federal maternity leave (along with Suriname, Papua New Guinea, and five South Pacific island nations).

Heather is such a fantastic choice to lead this new division at RAND! I’m excited for her leadership.

I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.

certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.

Idk the climate change and children one is pretty funny too. It’s not that we’re not having kids BECAUSE we are afraid of climate change. She’s almost there. Maybe a good interview would clear things up.

This panel will be such a resource! Veterans connected to the VA are just a subset of veterans and are, in many ways, different from those who aren’t.

In the rural South where Medicaid has been a lifeline, residents brace for cuts With Medicaid cutbacks on the horizon, millions in the U.S. are expected to go uninsured. In the Mississippi Delta region — one of the poorest places in the U.S. — people are stressed and mad.

With Medicaid cutbacks on the horizon, millions in the U.S. are expected to go uninsured. In the Mississippi Delta region — one of the poorest places in the U.S. — people are stressed and mad.