Bruce Macintosh

That would be why we call it the Goldilocks zone.

And, of course, when your evaluation of something has gone from "is this fun" to "how bad is this for your mental health", it's usually time to take a break. I'll be off trying to be less sarcastic but still amusing on the blue place. Will check back here in a few months.

Posts by experts in economics, epidemiology, or climate science are pretty much all followed by a nightmare flurry of comments that are reflexively mean-spirited, hostile, and uninterested in learning things. I admire the people who keep trying but that's not going to be me.

Not going to delete my account, but also not going to use it for a while. My original goals here were (1) science communication (with sarcasm), (2) connecting with other astronomers (with sarcasm), (3) learning from people in other fields (econ, epidemiology, climate...), (4) fun

And support bring the observatory to K-12 students by purchasing portable solar telescopes tinyurl.com/3umfe2e7

UCSC Giving Day opportunities to support @LickObservatory: support bringing undergraduate students to the observatory to give them experience of scientific discovery tinyurl.com/3744jnxn

For the first time since WWII, every governing party facing election in a developed country this year lost vote share, via @jburnmurdoch 2024 Democrats are the red dot. Absolutely critical context to any postmortem.

I voted for a little bit of hope. Most people reading this probably have voted already, but if you haven't: your vote matters. Go out and do it! And then pet a dog. (Meanwhile, I'm going to call and help voters in other states.)

I voted for people who believe in women - believe that they they can lead, make their own decisions, and chose what to do with their bodies. I voted for the sake of my family and friends and students.

I voted for people who believe in the rule of law, and in getting people on courts that support the rule of law and protecting people with it.

I voted for listening even to people who disagree with you, and trying to find policies that benefit everyone.

I voted for people who believe in science; who know climate change is real, and who will continue and extending the largest-ever US efforts to address it. People who believe in math, and data, and listening, and don't believe that their answer is always right.

I voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Like everyone, part of it was voting against someone manifestly unfit for office; but also I voted happily for people who believe in facts, and fairness, and listening, and caring.

I've seen the complexities of elder care with my parents and my in-laws; I voted for improving Medicare to let people have choices and be looked after in their homes.

I voted for sensible economic policies - a child tax credit that could cut childhood poverty in half, an earned income tax credit that will help the lowest-income people without children; helping the poorest, not the richest. I voted for math.

@Astro_LisaDang @UWaterloo Congratulations - great news for Waterloo.

@UWaterloo Three postdoc opportunities now open: 🔹 WCA Fellowships (Nov 15, 2024 shorturl.at/xm5ue) 🔹 Provost’s Program for Interdisciplinary Scholars (Dec 2, 2024 shorturl.at/Sp7Jh) 🔹 Provost’s Program for Black & Indigenous Scholars (Dec 2, 2024 shorturl.at/q6JqE)

🌟 Exciting News! 🌟 I will be joining the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the @UWaterloo as Assistant Professor this spring! I’m also thrilled to join the @UWaterlooAstro, a vibrant hub conducting research ranging from cosmology to now exoplanets! (1/N)

@ProfHWalsh @GailSimone The expanded EITC (making permanent the ARPA version) is designed to be claimable by basically anyone who has income; people earning $10,000/year would get almost three time as much as prior versions. (Graph from a ARPA discussion but still applies)

@bmac_astro @GailSimone Unfortunately, that doesn't help the poorest of the poor. Taxes are great, but they can only do so much.

It sucks how little any politician talks about poverty during the greatest economic inequity of our lifetimes. We can BARELY get them to discuss the middle class, let alone anyone who is really struggling just to survive. Why isn't lifting people one step up a priority?

@ProfHWalsh @GailSimone There’s also a significant expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit targeted for people without kids - and I think designed to make it reach more of those people

@bmac_astro @GailSimone That's only effective for people with kids. If you're poor and single, you get hit from all sides.

@GailSimone There’s also an expansion of the EITC for families without children. Overall her tax policies are pretty well targeted to provide the most benefits to those in the bottom half of the income distribution

@GailSimone One of the biggest parts of Harris’ economic plan is a large expansion of the child tax credit specifically targeted at the lowest income families. This would be effective - the last expansion cut child poverty almost in half (but republicans in congress wouldn’t extend it.)