Month: December 2019
In the News – December 24, 2019
Boeing’s fired CEO could walk away with a $60 million golden parachute
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/24/tech/boeing-ceo-dennis-muilenburg-severance/index.html
Travis Kalanick severs all ties with Uber, departing board and selling all his shares
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/24/travis-kalanick-to-depart-uber-board-of-directors.html
Hunter Biden owns massive home in swanky Hollywood Hills, court docs reveal
https://nypost.com/2019/12/24/hunter-biden-owns-massive-home-in-swanky-hollywood-hills-court-docs-reveal/
Adam Gase on not caring about fan criticism: ‘I’m rich as f–k’
https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/ny-adam-gase-jets-fans-20191224-aqdwksbo5nditexjl65gvdb6ye-story.html
6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon or “Bacon’s Law” is a parlour game based on the “six degrees of separation” concept, which posits that any two people on Earth are six or fewer acquaintance links apart. Movie buffs challenge each other to find the shortest path between an arbitrary actor and prolific actor Kevin Bacon. It rests on the assumption that anyone involved in the Hollywood film industry can be linked through their film roles to Bacon within six steps. In 2007, Bacon started a charitable organization called SixDegrees.org.
Here’s an example –
Bill Pullman has a Bacon number of 2.
Bill Pullman
was in
A League of Their Own
with
Tracy Reiner
who was in
Apollo 13
with
Kevin Bacon
Try it out at: The Oracle of Bacon
Faces in the news quiz – New York Times
Quiz: Can You Identify These Politicians, Athletes and Celebrities? Most Americans Can’t.
Recognizability matters, to politicians and celebrities alike. See how many people you can identify based only on a photograph.
Kristof tweet on Afghanistan
Afghanistan War – How Long Will It Last?
“We learned some very important lessons in Vietnam,” Bush replied. “People often ask me, ‘How long will this last?’ This particular battlefront will last as long as it takes to bring al-Qaida to justice. It may happen tomorrow, it may happen a month from now, it may take a year or two. But we will prevail.”
“I tried to get someone to define for me what winning meant, even before I went over, and nobody could. Nobody would give me a good definition of what it meant,” McNeill told government interviewers. “Some people were thinking in terms of Jeffersonian democracy, but that’s just not going to happen in Afghanistan.”
“From the ambassadors down to the low level, [they all say] we are doing a great job,” said Flynn in a 2015 interview. “Really? So if we are doing such a great job, why does it feel like we are losing?”
Of the leaders who rotated through the country, Flynn recounted, “they all said, when they left, they accomplished that mission. Every single commander. Not one commander is going to leave Afghanistan . . . and say, ‘You know what, we didn’t accomplish our mission.’ ”
“Bad news was often stifled,” said Bob Crowley, a retired Army colonel who served as a counterinsurgency adviser in Afghanistan in 2013 and 2014. “There was more freedom to share bad news if it was small — we’re running over kids with our MRAPs [armored vehicles] — because those things could be changed with policy directives. But when we tried to air larger strategic concerns about the willingness, capacity or corruption of the Afghan government, it was clear it wasn’t welcome.”
Christopher Wilson, yahoo
“We seek knowledge only because we desire enjoyment, and it is impossible to conceive why a person who has neither desires nor fears would take the trouble to reason.” Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Epigraph to, Great Books, by David Denby
At the age of forty-eight, writer and film critic David Denby returned to Columbia University and re-enrolled in two core courses in Western civilization to confront the literary and philosophical masterpieces — the “great books” — that are now at the heart of the culture wars. In Great Books, he leads us on a glorious tour, a rediscovery and celebration of such authors as Homer and Boccaccio, Locke and Nietzsche. Conrad and Woolf. The resulting personal odyssey is an engaging blend of self-discovery, cultural commentary, reporting, criticism, and autobiography — an inspiration for anyone in love with the written word.
Recent Pics from Denver
Hardcover fiction best sellers, December 18, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/hardcover-fiction/
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
by Delia Owens
In a quiet town on the North Carolina coast in 1969, a young woman who survived alone in the marsh becomes a murder suspect.
THE GUARDIANS
by John Grisham
Cullen Post, a lawyer and Episcopal minister, antagonizes some ruthless killers when he takes on a wrongful conviction case.
CRISS CROSS
by James Patterson
The 27th book in the Alex Cross series. Copycat crimes make the detective question whether an innocent man was executed.
THE INSTITUTE
by Stephen King
Children with special talents are abducted and sequestered in an institution where the sinister staff seeks to extract their gifts through harsh methods.
A MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT
by David Baldacci
When Atlee Pine returns to her hometown to investigate her sister’s kidnapping from 30 years ago, she winds up tracking a potential serial killer.
THE DUTCH HOUSE
by Ann Patchett
A sibling relationship is impacted when the family goes from poverty to wealth and back again over the course of many decades.
BLUE MOON
by Lee Child
Jack Reacher gets caught up in a turf war between Ukrainian and Albanian gangs.
TWISTED TWENTY-SIX
by Janet Evanovich
The 26th book in the Stephanie Plum series. A New Jersey gangster’s associates go after a bounty hunter’s widowed grandmother.
THE TESTAMENTS
by Margaret Atwood
In a sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” old secrets bring three women together as the Republic of Gilead’s theocratic regime shows signs of decay.
OLIVE, AGAIN
by Elizabeth Strout
In a follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Olive Kitteridge,” new relationships, including a second marriage, are encountered in a seaside town in Maine.
Tom Waits on quitting drinking
I always wanted to be mystified by it all – and rather fascinated with life itself. I think maybe when you drink, you’re probably robbing yourself of that genuine experience, even though it appears what you’re doing is getting more of it. You’re getting less of it. And it takes a while, when you’ve had a rock on the hose like that for so long. It takes a while for the hose to be a hose again, you know, and for things to start flowing.
https://beamsandstruts.com/bits-a-pieces/item/882-the-piano-has-been-drinking-ginger-ale
The above link seems to have died. Here’s the reddit post where link was found:
https://www.reddit.com/r/stopdrinking/comments/3d2yfi/tom_waits_on_sobriety/
Former banker in San Francisco confronts new reality
The 20 best documentaries of the 2010s
How to watch the 20 best documentaries of the 2010s
In a decade where reality and fiction blurred, these movies showed us who we really are.
Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
20. Dawson City: Frozen Time
19. This Is Not a Film
18. Fire at Sea
17. Citizenfour
16. Pina
15. Amazing Grace
14. Quest
13. The Work
12. In Transit
11. Shirkers
10. Actress
9. No Home Movie
8. Stories We Tell
7. I Am Not Your Negro
6. The Prison in 12 Landscapes
5. In Jackson Heights
4. Minding the Gap
3. Hale County This Morning, This Evening
2. The Act of Killing
1. Cameraperson
Positive Re-framing. The Power of Perspective
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
If you would like to help out, you can donate here:
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Silicon Valley Trends of the 2010’s
Literally Everything Should Connect To The Internet
…Then there’s the Griffin Connected Toaster ($99), which sends a notification to your smartphone when your toast is done. Perfect for those who can’t hear the sound of the toaster while swimming in their giant money bin. For some real Star Trek meets Idiocracy shit, the toaster can also pair with the upcoming Griffin Connected Mirror (estimated at $1,000), which displays the weather, news headlines, and toast readiness while you brush your teeth. So much more convenient than glancing at your phone.
There are even smart flip-flops, which pair with an app to send you “special offers” (ads) as you walk around. Not even the makers seem able to justify this. Onvi is developing a toothbrush that films the inside of your mouth and beams the footage to your phone, presumably to market to some fetish community we haven’t heard of. And if you’re thinking Silicon Valley can go shove this tech up their ass, don’t worry. They literally can with the Kinsa Smart Stick rectal thermometer ($125). You simply connect the thermometer to your phone via the headphone jack, and it displays the results through an app! Just, uh, make sure you plug each side into the right hole.