Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with progressive

Considering moving from the NE and wonder about Durham NC

privatechef — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:48:16 -0800

We are a couple in our mid-50's and are looking for some specific things in our next move; more temperate weather than the North East where we are now; progressive thinking people, good food and a thriving food scene, ability to buy a house for less than $350K, low property taxes ( less than $5K) within driving distance (45 minutes is the max) to a major airport and open-minded people. We are both entrepreneurial and active, love the outdoors and nature and want a small yard for a garden and to be near some kind of water be it a large lake, river or coast. We are considering Portland Ore. or Durham NC. We are still working and work for ourselves. Anyone have an opinion on either or both?

New glasses: progressives or single?

epersonae — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:47:35 -0800

My near-sightedness is getting worse, and now I'm getting presbyopia, so I have to take off my glasses sometimes for reading or other close work. I can go progressive now or "next time." What should I be taking into consideration when I make my decision? I've worn glasses to correct near-sightedness since I was 11. My left eye has always been better than my right eye -- when I started wearing glasses, I had plain glass on that side. I've always had great up-close vision.

Well, my left eye is catching up with my right eye, so my overall distance vision is worsening, and apparently the presbyopia is catching up with me as well. Over the last 6-12 months I've started taking off my glasses when I need to read something up close. (Glasses work fine for middle distance, ie computer work, which is what I do all day. I sometimes take them off for reading, particularly on my phone, or for particularly fussy knitting.)

I had an eye appointment yesterday to talk about all that, and as I suspected, the doc brought up the idea of progressives. He thought I could maybe skip that this time, if I'm okay with removing my glasses when I need to. The close-up part of the lenses would be no correction at all.

Current prescription is -2.25/-1.75, with the lower number having jumped from -1.25 the last time I got glasses a couple of years ago. Doc thought that the jump might cause me to have to take off my glasses more often for up close work.

Other vision/activity details: my worse eye turns in slightly; I love cycling; I work on the 4th floor and take the stairs a lot. The change in my distance vision is bugging me enough that I'll probably get glasses within the next month, and my benefits are such that the next time I get glasses will probably be at least two years from now. I have prescription sunglasses with an older prescription, and I'm likely to replace those as well. I have NO plans to get contacts.

So:

Should I make the jump to progressives now, assuming that it's likely that I'll want to sometime in the next five years?

If you've been in a similar situation, what did you do, and how did it work out?

Is there something else I'm missing?

How can I become a better progressive?

WhathaveIdonenow? — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:45:00 -0800

I am not as good of a person as I would like to be. Is there anything like a social justice life coach to help me figure out how? Probably not. I don't want a therapist, because even though I hate myself, I want to be a better person rather than a happier one. Plus, and this is why I need to not talk to my friends about it, it's really gross to whine about how it's so hard for me as a privileged person to deal with the fact that I can never be a good or trustworthy friend. I read a lot of blogs, and while I have improved, I also cry over what a worthless creep I am and that is gross, useless and also no fun either. Not terrible like actually suffering, but I don't like it and it interferes with my ability to have friends what with how annoying I am. So: no life coach ( I think), no bothering friends, blogs aren't perfect, what do I do? For instance, even though I have become more liberal over time, the rest of the world has become more liberal more quickly. I thought for quite a while that it was good that I was a feminist and supported gay marriage. With feminism's history of racism and transphobia, can I really call myself a feminist without essentially telling trans people and POC that I don't care about them? One of the things I struggle with the most is a quote saying that gay marriage is a form of racism. Every person I have showed it to agreed, even white lesbians. Now, I don't think that gay marriage is the most important issue facing the GLBT community, never did, but I can't bring myself to believe it's wrong for married gays to appear or be portrayed in public, even if other forms of love are just as valid. I always get stuck on "but such and such isn't inherently bad, it's just over-represented". And I can see the problems with that outlook, but I STILL can't be disgusted at married gays for being hegemonic, and I feel that I need to. I do romanticize marriage a bit, even if it's not at all for me. And I feel like I'm not part of the GLBT community (is it okay to call it that? That doesn't cover everything) because even though I always thought I was bisexual, I am straight-leaning and don't date. I think when I first realized it, that made me bi, but now it just makes me straight and ugly.
TL;DR: I used to think I was a pretty good person but now I feel like Rush Limbaugh or something. And even though it's gross for a privileged privileged princess to whine about how haaaarrrd it is to be a terrible white bitch, I hate myself and I don't want to hurt anyone. These are some of the people I care about the most.
I know how annoying I am and that's why I didn't send this in an e-mail to someone I know.

What are some creepy dance tracks?

deusdiabolus — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:55:20 -0800

What are some creepy, disturbing, scary, eerie DANCE tracks? I'm DJ-ing a forthcoming gig on Friday the 13th and I'm wanting to go for an appropriately "unlucky" vibe. I would like to pick your brains regarding dark modern dance tracks, particularly house or progressive house but any suggestions will be kept for future use. I would also prefer something with a consistent beat (as opposed to IDM/glitch, but I'll still consider it).
EXAMPLES:
Kelli Ali - Kids (Rui Da Silva Mix) (SLYT)
Plastikman - Ask Yourself (SLYT)
The Timewriter - Room of a Million Rainbows (PQM's Deephead Pass) (SLYT)

Let's get creepy!

Evolution of the English present progressive tense

feelinggood — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:28:22 -0800

Have the rules for using the present progressive (continuous) tense in English recently evolved/changed? Most grammars for English learners seem to say that the progressive tense is never or seldom used with "stative" verbs - verbs expressing emotions or mental states, etc. I have always agreed with that and taught the tense that way.
But recently a student has pointed out to me that she has heard some stative verbs that are used in the progressive tense. Examples: (To a kindergarten child): "Are you missing your mom?" "I'm really liking the recent changes in the student newspaper." "I'm assuming that the administration is acting on good faith in this issue." Etc., etc. I must say that I have heard similar usages.
Is this just a case of informal vs. formal, or spoken vs. written, or in fact, have we started using some of these verbs in the progressive tense, perhaps to express a slightly different nuance than would be possible with the simple present?

How did mainstream liberals lose their direction (and cojones)?

evil holiday magic — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:16:25 -0800

[Distraught Progressive Filter] I need a postmortem on liberalism in the United States. [Feel free not to agree with me regarding my fundamental assumptions about conservatism, but please take arguments to Talk or MeMail, and respect the point of this question. I'm interested in relevant answers, though they needn't be flattering ones. Thank you.]

Background: I've been reading about right wing politics; the psychological motivations (e.g. Fromm's Escape from Freedom, Blumenthal's Republican Gomorra, Zaitchik's Common Nonsense), the ideology which — for lack of a better term — informs the perspective (Ayn Rand, Hobbes, Schaeffer, Hayek, Adam Smith), and the think tanks which translate the dystopian philosophies into mainstream propaganda.

But it's difficult to draw a bead on the current state of things only studying one side's pathology. I have plenty of left-progressive texts in my library; while many of them can eschew the trite idealism of, say, stinking hippies, and provide systematic ideas, they remain impersonal and disinterested in the specifics of how the progressive mindset has evolved. It doesn't tell me anything about how the leftist mainstream got how it is today.

Bear with me (or stop reading), as I'm operating under the premise that something has gone deeply wrong with progressives/liberals/leftists/Democrats, in terms of their ability to clearly see and push a clear ideological framework; to stick to their convictions, and stop reflexively responding to every little twitch of reactionary bullflop chucked out by right wing PR flacks.

Coming finally to the question, how did this happen? How did we lose a firm, unshakable belief in human rights, labor, social issues, and start blindly making compromises that deign to acknowledge validity in bankrupt ideas we thought we defeated decades ago? I'm aware of Reagan and the rise of neoconservatism; what I don't know is what psychological circumstances lead us to what our views were, and how they easily degenerated into appeasement.

I want to read about the socio-psychological development of progressives, and how it's become such a strange, scatter-shot movement, with no clear purpose — at least over the aggregate of mainstream culture. I hope it goes without saying, but I'll dismiss anything by imbeciles like Beck, Coulter, Malkin, O'Reilly, et al. I'm looking for something much more nuanced and detailed.

Apologies for the broad request; it's the best I could describe it.

God Bless Liberals!

AzraelBrown — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:48:39 -0800

Where are the liberal, progressive, Christian blogs and media? Short story: when driving through Wisconsin, we passed a huge sign that simply said, "God Bless America". Progressive, liberal me winced at the percieved conservatism, evangelism, and other ickiness I attribute to that sort of sentiment. However, there's nothing overtly Republican, Tea-Party, or conservative about that phrase -- so where are the people using it in any other way? The wonderfully liberal side of Jesus gets trotted out by modern progressives ironically, but I don't see any genuine deeply-christian progressives promoting those sentiments unironically. A Google for the phrase "God Bless Obama" finds some things along those lines, but it's pretty sparse. Does anyone know a good source for non-conservative, progressive, liberal Christian politics? Such an animal may not exist, but I still hold out some hope...

Progressive Mix

netbros — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:49:53 -0800

If you were creating a "work mix" of public background music on Pandora or Last.fm or Slacker for a laid back, progressive retail environment, what artists would you include? The customer demographic is mostly middle-class age 18-45 outdoorsy types shopping in a mom&pop outfitters retail store. Need to be careful of nsfw lyrics, but otherwise most anything goes. We've been doing this for awhile, but we're looking to add some new material to the mix.

Is Present Perfect Progessive Passive possible in English?

MostHolyPorcine — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:24:50 -0800

GrammarFilter: Present Perfect Passive Progressive. Real or a myth? The consensus seems to be that perfect progressive sentences can't be stated in the passive voice, but could someone tell me what this would be classified as:

Present perfect progressive:

I have been painting the house.

?:

Having been painted, the house was ready to live in.

___

No real need for this beyond idle curiosity. Thanks!

Why can't I just be a liberal?

hiteleven — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:54:34 -0800

When and why did modern liberals, especially bloggers, begin to label themselves as "progressives"? Why do they do so? I'm well aware of the history of various progressive movements and Progressive parties in the United States. But, speaking as an outsider (I'm from Canada), it seems that recently, particularly in the past year or two, left-wing liberals have begun to use the term "progressive" increasingly to describe themselves.

I've been following American politics quite closely since the early 90s, and this seems to be a new phenomenon. Political commentators in the mainstream media refer more and more to the "progressive" political perspective, and this is echoed by politicians and pundits who embrace the label. Previously, as far as I know, these people would have been described as liberals or "far-left" Democrats, perhaps.

I'm aware that there is a Congressional Progressive Caucus in Congress that has been around for nearly 20 years, but, again, the term "progressive" itself just seems to have caught on recently.

I have to say that this trend annoys me for several reasons. Firstly, it seems to imply that being a regular old "liberal" (which I consider myself to be) is a bad thing. Secondly, progressives, particularly bloggers, seem to be turning into the Tea Partiers of the left, so that if you don't agree with their beliefs and worship their heroes such as Paul Krugman (which I don't), then you're the enemy. Finally, using a term that decades-old allows conspiracy nuts like Glenn Beck to link modern progressives to their older counterparts, however speciously, making it easier for him to weave his vast webs of insanity.

Looking for a nice enlightening magazine

thirteenkiller — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:44:42 -0800

Can you help me find a good progressive magazine to get? I'm looking for something that has in-depth, credible reporting, isn't too shrill, and covers a variety of political, scientific/environmental, and cultural topics. I don't want a weekly magazine since I don't find time to read one thoroughly and it generates too much waste. I want something with lots of content in the issues and not too much advertising. I'm pretty sure I want something with a strong liberal/progressive perspective, but articles need to be well-sourced.

Mother Jones seems to fit the bill, but I'm wondering if there's something else I should look at. Utne Reader seems pretty interesting and maybe a little too esoteric, but I'd like to hear what other people think.

Can I go back to an optician and get a prescription for a different kind of lenses without another exam?

micawber — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:47:03 -0800

Yet another optician question. I got a prescription for reading/computer glasses, but I really need progressives (I think) because I can't see anything closeup without the glasses on. But I don't trust my optician. I went to an optician at the beginning of the year and got reading/computer glasses that are great. The issue is, however, that I've finally come to terms that I cannot see ANYTHING close up without the glasses. Even cooking, eating dinner, is more pleasurable with the glasses on because I can actually SEE with clarity.

My distance vision is still fine. The exam confirmed that. And we talked about progressives but I didn't know enough to ask the right questions and I realize that I basically don't trust anyone who is covered by my vision plan (they tried to forcefully push this extended exam on me, and swore it was covered by insurance, and then never called me back to confirm - and when I called myself to confirm I got a runaround, and finally cancelled the exam).

So the question is, can I go back to him and get a prescription for progressives without another exam? I do not trust them to tell me the right thing, and since I have to pay for another exam out of pocket, I would try to find a decent/reputable optometrist in NYC who isn't going to try to sell me the farm. If I have to pay for another exam I will definitely go elsewhere, but if he can get a prescription together with the results of my last exam then I'll go back there, simply because money doesn't grow on trees. He told me, specifically, "If these don't work for you, come back and we'll get you something that does," since the glasses I had gotten the previous year were worthless and I'd gone back to using the previous prescription, and I'd told him that. But, again, he might say "I can't do that" and I need to know if that's true or not.

I love crooks and liars, but seek heroes and prophets

history is a weapon — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 09:36:24 -0800

What're the OTHER political video blogs? Crooks and Liars is great, but what other progressive political video blogs are there? I'm looking for ones that curate well-produced advocacy shorts? Ones that share TV clips are fine, but I'm really looking for ones that distribute non-tv clips (e.g., clips like what barry says, activist report backs, etc).

I am asking a question.

mary8nne — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:47:47 -0800

What is the origin in English of the present continuous tense (present progressive tense)? I've just been studying a bit of Latin based languages and they do not seem to have the same Present Continuous / Present Progressive verbs for "I am running" or "He is asking a question".

Also wikipedia seems to suggest not many other languages have this verb congugation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_tense

I've also been told that its a recent occurance in English - ie Shakespeare did not use it nor do older translations of the Bible. So where did it come from?

Do you know of any funky, progressive towns or cities?

letahl — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 10:36:23 -0800

Help me identify progressive, funky towns and small cities in this Good Ol' U S of A. I'm thinking in a range of 5,000 to 100,000 for population, but can be more if the city is really cool and there is substantial space outside of it.

My ideal town/city...

IS PROGRESSIVE. That means some yogis, artists, and liberty-seekers. Hopefully racially diverse but not mandatory.

HAS PLENTIFUL FRESH FOOD AVAILABLE. Farmers markets and local butchers are our friends.

HAS GOOD SCENERY. Maybe mountains, maybe greenery, maybe cool desert views. Places to hike and get outdoors, road cycling is great too.

HAS A DECENT CULTURAL SCENE. With small galleries or museums, and probably will have good bars and music. Definitely has to have a few decent ethnic restaurants (Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, etc.).

HAS A COOL HISTORIC ELEMENT. Old buildings rock, and I like the vibe of some history.

ISN'T TOO DAMN CROWDED. I like to be able to move around, and drive without worrying about The Man and The Multitudes. Yeah, I don't know what that means exactly, but know when I'm in a big city I'm always glad to get out.

LOW-ISH CRIME RATE. I lived in an amazing place once but the crime rate was out of control. Couldn't hang. I like to be able to take a walk without worry about some crackhead pulling me into the bushes.

So far I've thought of Taos, Asheville, and Burlington. Are there others out there? Help me find them! Bonus points if they are roughly between Houston and D.C.

The career change I need

ignignokt — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:37:53 -0800

Do any progressive organizations need full-time programmers? I just got done working as a data fellow for the Obama campaign. It was only three weeks, but I found it to be the most satisfying work I've done in about three years. It certainly wasn't the most sophisticated software engineering I've ever done - it was mostly ad hoc scripts in Perl, Greasemonkey, PHP, and SQL - but I knew that what I was doing had an effect on something I cared about.

Now, it's time for me to think about getting a regular job in the next month or so. Before I was thinking of getting out of programming, as I was getting less interested in technology for technology's sake, but now I'm thinking I'd like to work for a cause I care about with the skills I've built up over the last decade. Unfortunately, I don't really know how to find a job like that.

The causes I feel the most passionate about are civil rights and voter protection, but I'm generally on the liberal side of most issues, and it's certainly possible that some other cause could fire me up. Does anyone know where I should look? Or is this not a feasible thing to be looking for? The last couple of hours of Googling have been unsuccessful.

Can LensCrafters adjust frames with progressive lenses?

lockedroomguy — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:18:07 -0800

Glasses filter. I bought my frames at Lenscrafters, but had the prescription filled, and the lenses put in the frames, by a doctor in my hometown. The lenses are the progressive type. My doctor mailed the finished glasses back, and left the markings on the lenses which help with adjusting and fitting the lenses the first time. After the first time fitting you erase the markings with acetone. Can I trust Lenscrafters to fit and adjust these? My doctor did do an initial fitting and measurement of the glasses (without lenses) while I was wearing them. But he recommended that someone do a final fitting now that I have the glasses, and that they use the lines that he drew on the lenses as a guide. Apparently this is important with progressive lenses.

I called Lenscrafters and this is a free service since I bought the frames from them. I imagine they can fit regular glasses no problem. But is this progressive lens thing too tricky for LensCrafters, or is it old hat?

I ask because I have the markings on the lenses now, but after they are erased they are obviously irretrievable.

I want to go to LensCrafters because it's free and convenient. I'm looking for answers that say. "Yes, LensCrafters does this all the time!" I called them, but got a perky person who just kept saying, "Yes the fitting is included if you bought the frames from us, without addressing my question."

Thanks

Progressive alarm clocks in Vancouver?

Iax — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:18:56 -0800

Where can I buy a progressive alarm clock in Vancouver, BC, Canada? I would like an alarm clock that lights up or makes noise gradually, without having to buy it online. The one I am interested in right now is the Peaceful progression alarm clock.
But if you have any other suggestions and you can buy it in Vancouver, by all means suggest it here.
Thanks.

It...it...flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my car, heaving...breath...insurance.

quakerjono — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:55:05 -0800

My car spontaneously combusted. Please help me avoid getting burned by the insurance company! Of all the values out there, which one is the closest to what they insurance company will offer me, which one should I be aiming for and how should I go about getting it? While joining friends for dinner on Leap Day 2008, my car literally burst into flames in the restaurant's parking lot for no obvious reason. I had taken my beloved 2001 Mercury Sable LS Premium, with CD changer, leather interior and moonroof into Midas at the beginning of February to replace the battery and get an oil change. They did their standard little once-over as well and said everything was in good shape, so I was stunned on several levels as I watched the fireman light his cigarette from the smoldering wreckage that used to be my car's hood. What's worse is I bought the car used in 2003 and still have around $3,000 on the 6-year loan.

After spending the weekend in mourning, I set about trying to find out how much I could reasonably expect from Progressive. I checked listings with Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book, NADA and through local car trader papers. I'm left with quite a range of figures (everything from around $3,585 for Edmunds' general trade-in value for 2001 Mercury Sables to $6,925 for NADA's retail value for the car with my specific options) and I'm not sure which ones are most accurate. I realize, since half the car looks like a bombed out apocalyptic nightmare, full retail value is out of the question. Bare-bones trade-in seems shockingly low, though, particularly given the extras the car had and how much care I lavished on it. I even have the maintenance records...or rather, I had them...in my glove box...which was attached to the dashboard...which the firemen impaled on their axe and hurled seemingly halfway across the parking lot.

This is the first time I've filed a claim with Progressive in the three years I've had them, and so far, they've been great. I filed Saturday morning, they called me back by 9 am the same day, I spoke with my specific claims adjuster this morning at 8:45 am and within a couple of hours has been contacted by Enterprise to let me know Progressive had my $40/day rental car reservation ready to go. So I'm hopeful they won't low-ball me, but I'm not even sure how I'll know if I'm getting a fair deal. Also, they'll only pay for three days of car rental after they tell me how much they're offering me so I don't have a lot of time to weigh options. While I can do without a car for awhile, longer than a couple of weeks becomes impractical to say the least.

How do I know what's a reasonable amount to aim for from Progressive and, if I think I'm being low-balled, how might I negotiate and increase in the offer?

Office Space?

Brandon1600 — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:59:40 -0800

I am thinking of taking a job selling insurance for Progressive. Do any of you have any experience with this company or type of job? The job description states I would spend 90% of my time taking calls from customers and talking about rates and policies for $12-$14 an hour plus a 7.5% shift differential. I realize this sort of environment differs from office to office, but what could I expect in terms of pay increases, career advancement and stress? I have never worked in an office before.

suggest resources for budding liberal

chicainthecity — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:09:14 -0800

A student of mine (college junior) asked me to give him a list of progressively-oriented blogs, films, and websites. I have a few ideas for him, but would like to solicit the hive mind for more.

Help me get my head on straight about a political idea

snsranch — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:55:04 -0800

How can a person who doesn't even have a blog start a meme like thing, a cultural change or influence based on word play? I'm really tired of the use of the word "liberal", "lib" etc. So my propagandist idea is to somehow replace it with "progressive" or anything that doesn't connote mediocrity, weakness and lack of focus.

It's a long shot, and no I'm not exactly pro-Democrat, but it's worth a try.

(sorry-kinda USian context)

Is there life after 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'?

Ash3000 — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:17:08 -0800

In light of the horrendously awful "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," are there any GOOD (i.e. both funny and non-homophobic) comedies about straight people either having to pretend they're gay or, more generally, about straight people slowly but surely letting go of their prejudices towards LGBT people? I saw an advanced screening of INPYCAL recently, and am still in disbelief of just how awful it is, and in disbelief that post-Brokeback Hollywood still seems to believe that a. all gay people prance about and/or wear leather and feather boa's, and b. that we're supposed to be grateful that Adam Sandler will lecture his fanbase about how the word "faggot" is hurtful. I'm no pc fuddy-duddy, but this movie's totally non-ironic depiction of gay people as all being silly, silly people sets us back about 20 years - is there any movie that's both funny and progressive that I could recommend to a friend in its place? It can totally poke fun at gay culture, again, it need not be super-p.c., but it better be defensible. (I've heard of Happy, Texas, but some reviews say they basically portray gay people as helpful comic foils in that film as opposed to actual people - any thoughts?)

grants for liberals?

delmoi — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:42:35 -0800

I have some ideas about creating a sort of web site or "netroots" organization around promoting progressive, liberal, and anti-authoritarian ideas, as opposed to a lot of what I see online which mostly concerns itself with the short term goal of getting democrats elected -- not that that's not important, but I don't see much focus on long term strategy and ideas. Anyway I'm wondering if there are any grants I can apply for to help get started. I have a good idea how I might want to proceed. Basically a blog or community site to start, and eventually creating sort of a transparent system for promoting and refining ideas democratically, and funding politicians who subscribe to them, and it would all be facilitated by some cool social networking software.

Anyway, it seems like there might be some groups interested in helping to create this sort of thing, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any places I might be able to apply for grants to help get started and initially promote the site.

70's samples

Jesco — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 14:48:46 -0800

Are there any rap or hip-hop songs that sample from 70's prog groups? I'd like to find examples of songs sampling from early Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, etc.

I guess it doesn't have to be hip-hop or rap, any songs will do.