J, Robot sends in Gentrification is Inevitable (And Other Lies) which is an interview with Leslie Kern, the author of a book with the same name.

The spread of gentrification today is less about household tastes and aesthetics (though you can still roll your eyes at hipsters and artisanal breakfast foods if you want) and more about policy making and corporate giants in the development, real estate, and finance industries...Unfortunately, these kinds of changes are often portrayed as a natural evolution of city space, rather than as the result of deliberate policy making and sets of choices by powerful actors. We conflate the idea that cities change (of course they do!) with the idea that neighborhoods are inevitably taken over by wealthier, whiter residents.

A few weeks ago, someone commented that a condition on new developments should be that current residents are not displaced or charged more than their current expenses. I can't remember if it was a hypothetical policy or an existing policy, but it has stuck with me. Is this a sufficient precondition for new developments, or are there other major needs?

This is a weird, sad story:

In October 2020, a post on indie romance author Susan Meachen's Facebook page, allegedly written by her daughter, announced that Meachen had tragically died by suicide a month earlier. This news was followed by more posts from Meachen's "daughter" (on Meachen's account) in the author's private writers group, The Ward, suggesting her mother took her own life because her peers in the online indie book community bullied her.

In light of this horrible news, authors and online friends helped fund Meachen's funeral, created an anti-bullying anthology in her memory, and offered to help her daughter edit her mother's final book, free of charge. On Monday--over two years later--Meachen's account posted something new in The Ward. This time, it was Susan saying she's actually been alive this whole time.

People are mad and feel tricked. Fundraisers had been held in her honor, etc.

It seems like maybe the author had attempted suicide* and survived, and her daughter thought it was best to just exit out of the public eye altogether. But then as time went on, the author crept back in to the community under various pseudonyms. There's a version of events which would not require any ill-intentions or treachery. (People are still mad, though.)

*I think this must not be the right term, if we're switching to "died by suicide" language, but I don't know how else to convey it.

Since nothing can compete with the pleasure of watching the Republicans eat their own shit sandwich, I'm just going to share a cute kid story.

I took Ace to Goodwill for the first time yesterday, and they were absolutely enthralled. They picked out a bunch of sassy teeny-bopper pajamas (think "I need a nap"/grumpy cat), some hoodies, and some extremely high heels.

Anyway, this is my favorite part: at one point, Ace looked at a black pleather miniskirt with a chain. They showed it to me and said, "I love this! It's so ...rebellious."

!! It is exactly that.

An anonymous commenter writes: Has anyone dealt with the abrupt (or abruptly noticed) mental deterioration of a parent?

I'd prefer not to tell the whole story here just yet, it's very fresh and I'm still processing, but I'd appreciate any thoughts or tips. Especially given factors such as: the other parent living with them & needing support; the adult children being physically distant from both; and deep incoherent conspiracy theory syndrome that the sufferer is still canny enough to change the subject about with others most of the time.

Heebie's take: I am so sorry - that sounds incredibly stressful. I don't yet have experience on that particular front, but I hope the collective wisdom of the shaft offers some insight.

Frequently the 'tariat divides into two camps on this kind of thing:
1. pass the popcorn vs
2. there are ominous undertones and people will suffer.

I'm mostly Type 1, with a dash of late night insomnia of Type 2.

This is intended to be our system for checking in on imaginary friends, so that we know whether or not to be concerned if you go offline for a while. There is no way it could function as that sentence implies, but it's still nice to have a thread.

Episode Kobe forty-seven