Category: Culture (Page 5 of 13)

WSJ: Taylor Swift says, “suck it up and get to work”.

May 12, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

A clear sign hustle culture is coming back is how quickly America’s office set has glommed onto Swift’s upbeat dance hit, “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,” released in April as part of her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”

I don’t know or care about Taylor Swift, but if she is telling people to get to work, rather than wallow in sadness, I am all for it. Her message of resilience is much more appealing than the teachers taking a mental health day because they just can’t.

They can’t even finish the sentence to explain what is so untenable.

WSJ: Medical effects of marijuana

May 12, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

WSJ: Pot and health

Being naturally lethargic, marijuana isn’t for me. Being naturally libertarian, I don’t care what other people do so long as it doesn’t ruin things for everyone else.

The “marijuana is good for everything and has no downsides” angle that shows up most in media sounds too much like propaganda. The Reefer Madness side isn’t convincing either.

A 2022 survey sponsored by the National Institutes of Health found that 28.8% of Americans age 19 to 30 had used marijuana in the preceding 30 days—more than three times as many as smoked cigarettes. Among those 35 to 50, 17.3% had used weed in the previous month, versus 12.2% for cigarettes.

Marijuana is everywhere. People should be a little more concerned.

For starters, she says, the “addiction potential of marijuana is as high or higher than some other drug,” especially for young people. About 30% of those who use cannabis have some degree of a use disorder. By comparison, only 13.5% of drinkers are estimated to be dependent on alcohol. Sure, alcohol can also cause harm if consumed in excess. But Ms. Madras sees several other distinctions.

Professor Madras sounds scientific, impartial and alarmed. I don’t know if she is correct, but more actual scientific research and informed policy would be prudent.

Instead of bankrolling ballot initiatives to legalize pot, she says, George Soros and other wealthy donors who “catalyzed this whole movement” should be funding rigorous research:

George Soros seems evil and only funds chaos in order to undermine civilization, so this is troubling. Maybe I’m wrong.

Guardian: Michigan woman living in a sign.

May 11, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Guardian: Woman living in sign

Contractors curious about an extension cord on the roof of a Michigan grocery store made a startling discovery: a 34-year-old woman was living inside the business sign, with enough space for a computer, printer and coffee maker, police said.

I think about living in cubbyholes like this all the time.

The woman, whose name was not released, told police she had a job elsewhere but had been living inside the Family Fare sign for roughly a year, Warren said.

Living in a sign, a person could bank pretty good money. Get a Planet Fitness membership for $10 per month to shower, and it isn’t so bad.

Unfrosted is a comfort movie for people born before 1963. 9/10

May 8, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Unfrosted was written and directed by Jerry Seinfeld and is currently playing on Netflix. The movie is set in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1963 and provides a fictional account of the development of the Pop Tart. It shouldn’t be watched by anyone born after 1963.

On IMDB, Unfrosted isn’t rated highly, because it’s a tricky movie to categorize. It isn’t a satire or a parody, or even especially funny, but it is fun to watch, for people born before 1963. Imagine an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and George have to explain how Pop Tarts were invented to Kramer. Jerry and George make up an elaborate tale while Kramer asks questions about superfluous details.

It’s hard to imagine how this movie was made. The cereal companies, Kellogg and Post, are in a race to develop a new breakfast product. Both companies and their actual products are mentioned dozens of times. Neither company is portrayed favorably, but it’s clear that everything is fictional except for the details. The details are what make the movie fun. Characters, products and music are all from the era, and familiar to people of a certain vintage. It isn’t nostalgia, because the story is absurd, but it’s entertaining to hear a bunch of shout-outs and references that we understand.

This is a pop culture movie that covers two eras. I’ve never seen Jack Lalanne referenced in any contemporary TV show or movie, but people of a certain will enjoy the shout-out. I also liked seeing Bill Burr play JFK. It seemed like every actor was recognizable from a TV show or movie.

Unfrosted isn’t a great movie, but for people eligible for Social Security, it’s a comfort movie. There is no strong language or message, just the joy of watching familiar actors playing long-gone characters to a good soundtrack. I’d give it a 9/10 for what it is.

Stellar Blade is under attack.

May 7, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Sign this petition on Change.org.

I am a marginal gamer, but Critical Drinker mentioned this issue. Hollywood has been hammered by pushing an agenda. The movie industry is down something like 40% from the pre-Covid days. Creative properties that used to be box office gold, like the MCU and Indiana Jones have been trashed and people are losing their jobs. We don’t need to go through this again for video games.

The gaming industry is huge, and now, studios are being pressured to surrender to DEI. Gamers are pushing back. Stellar Blade is a popular game that is getting censored by corporate. People who bought the game had to download a patch before playing for the first time. The patch censored the game in ways contrary to how the game was marketed. Here is one example.

That is a minor change, but we know the wreckers are never satisfied. If the activists capture the video game industry as they have Hollywood, another popular diversion will be gone.

Even if aren’t a gamer, sign the petition to push back.

WaPo: Outside agitators are involved in campus disruptions.

May 3, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

WaPo: Many protesters are outsiders

More than a quarter of protesters arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and 60 percent of those arrested at the City College of New York had no connections to the institutions, according to data from the New York Police Department.

It’s time to take these provocateurs seriously. When a DA wants to, an avalanche of charges can be dropped on a defendant. Outside agents should be treated as a serious threat. They should be kept in jail as long as is legally possible to keep them from fomenting chaos elsewhere. Intelligence agencies should be investigating their background. Foreigners can be expelled, and student visas revoked.

The useful idiots from the student body should face university disciplinary hearings along with more modest charges. Academic freedom doesn’t shield faculty from punishment for criminal activity. They should be dismissed from the university.

Our government representatives should be monitoring the response by university and local officials. If these disruptions aren’t seriously addressed, those officials should face consequences.

Indulging bad behavior isn’t doing anyone any favors.

May 2, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

My old classroom at North Royalton was on the second floor. The windows opened on to the roof of the first floor. Prior to my employment, a physics student climbed out the window, on to the roof. The teacher, Miss Jen, tried to coax the student back in. She begged, promised, compromised and negotiated. The student screwed around on the roof until the period was almost over, then came in.

There are a few ways to handle a situation like this, but the main dysfunction is that the student thought climbing out the window was an action to consider.

NYT: Illegal campus occupations are illegal.

April 30, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

NYT: Colleges have gone off the deep end.

David French explains where the college protestors have gone wrong. I don’t recall seeing any push-back during the Occupy Wall Street or BLM actions.

April 30, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Politico: Far Right wants more babies.

Real Clear Politics: Have more babies.

Based on recent articles, we are supposed to worry about not having enough babies and people who worry about not having enough babies.

Back in the 1980’s, before we were afraid all the time, I supported several environmental groups. Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund and a few others. Never Greenpeace, they were already crazy. World population was an issue of interest, so I supported a group called Negative Population Growth.

They were completely reasonable, but in retrospect, I can see how they could go off-the-rails in a catastrophic way.

Guardian: Kristi Noem makes a bad call.

April 27, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Guardian: Noem kills dog

By taking Cricket on a pheasant hunt with older dogs, Noem says, she hoped to calm the young dog down and begin to teach her how to behave. Unfortunately, Cricket ruined the hunt, going “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life”.

“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, adding that Cricket had proved herself “untrainable”, “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog”.

“At that moment,” Noem says, “I realised I had to put her down.”

Nope. No sale, sister.

It’s not because my winsome dog Sparky has turned me into a bleeding heart.

I understand that some dogs are vicious. Some dogs have to be put down, and as a practical matter, in a rural setting, the owner does the wet work.

Several aspects of Kristi Noem’s account are disturbing.

As a rising star in conservative circles, she decided to put this account in her book. Why? She is trying to send a message that she thinks will be appealing to voters.

Noem “hated that dog”. That is an emotional response that shouldn’t be used to justify a killing. If the dog had to be put-down, it should be related in a clinical and detached manner.

The dog was 14 months old. Puppy brain lingers until a dog is a few years old. It may be routine to start training a dog for hunting at such a young age, but many dogs must fail that test. If that proves the dog will be untrainable for hunting, surely the dog retains some value. Give the dog away or keep it as a pet.

I am not squeamish or opposed to killing animals.

I use traditional mouse traps. I don’t celebrate a mouse with a snapped neck or brag about my trapping prowess. Mice are free to live in the wood pile or make a nest in the woods. A mouse invading my home has crossed the line and forfeited the right to live unchallenged.

Deer hunting is a subject about which I’ve posted. Deer in our area live a blessed life. They have no predators and freely roam, devouring our landscaping. I have passed on many deer that were too small or presented only a marginal target. I only take a clean shot and eat what I kill. It is exciting to shoot a deer, but it’s adrenaline, not blood lust. I don’t mount the heads, but do have an antler mount. I’m not nuts about those photos that hunters take with the deer’s tongue hanging out and the visible blood.

Noem demonstrates bad judgment for not realizing that her story is appalling and for the actions she took with regard to the puppy.