Blog: Matt Taibbi is a 50-ish journalist who has a Blog and I subscribed a few months ago for $5 a month. I have a love/hate relationship with him in that he is a Libertarian which I sometimes see as code for very conservative. He does not like Trump or the Proud Boys but he really really really does not like the current Democratic Party and its figureheads. He has an obsession with woke-ness. He occasionally makes me laugh. He accurately summarized a few articles from the news and the Times emphasizing the woke point of view that Thanksgiving celebrates a holocaust when in fact, it is about the Detroit Lions and family getting together. He got me thinking…….which I always enjoy……. His writing is an almost stream of consciousness and references many things from the news that I have to look up, so it is a style that grates for a more traditional (HAH!) reader like me.
Podcasts: Of note, I have recommended TWIV (This Week in Virology) before. This last episode #800 and something is a bit dry as they talk about genetics and virology at a level I fast forward through BUT their thoughts on Omicron matched mine so they came off as somewhat brilliant, if not insightful: By this, we mean: the news coverage is nothing short of the Twitterverse!!!! Stir the pot! Scare people with news headlines and intense top of the hour coverage! The Omicron variant was predictable and does not to this point of knowledge (is it more infectious? Is it more deadly? Will the vaccines work on it?) change the strategy or likely curve of disease. Bottom line, it is a problem like the other variants mostly for the unvaccinated and those predisposed by illness. The coverage will undoubtedly lead to hassles in our lives be we living in cities or with travel plans.
Streaming: PBS; Kernie is the murder mystery queen. She turned me on to a series called Shetland (PBS) and it is worth a watch if for nothing more than the views and hearing Scottish people speak.
Netflix: The Power of the Dog. I liked this a lot and Kernie hated it. The visuals were stunning (Montana 1925). The action was slow but there was a quirkiness (but absolutely NO humor) that reminded me of a Coen Brother movie--only there are no laughs, no matter how dark you are. NOT Christmas themed. Great ending.
Amazon Prime: The Cleaner—a whimsical British 30-minute show about a middle aged crime scene cleaner in England. It is definitely British but funny and interesting.
Movies: Gucci—I knew nothing of this story but went to see Adam Driver and Lady Gaga. The acting was spectacular and for me made the movie. And the clothes are to die for……
And you thought Al Pacino died……..not yet!
Articles: The Atlantic November 2021 has an article on the Methamphetamine business that will make you realize what an insignificant spec we all are in the scale of things going wrong.
The Atlantic December 2021 has a likewise depressing article on Autocrats in the world and how they have hit a critical mass that makes “the West’s” reaction to them out-dated and mostly irrelevant. Also in this edition, a look at the effect of societal trust on how the economy functions: high trust states do better than low trust states. The state of the United States is of decreasing trust with all the cautions clearly labeled by this author. Makes a person think about New Zealand in a completely different context.
NYT book review: SAN FRANSICKO. Why Progressives Ruin Cities By Michael Shellenberger—This investigation into the causes and costs of San Francisco’s homelessness crisis, written by the journalist-turned-culture-warrior Michael Shellenberger, gets one important thing right: The city’s progressive leadership has proved totally incapable of ending the huge spectacle and tragedy in the streets. The review is interesting and does confront the dilemma of good intentions vs functional status that seems to be front-and-center in every community I visit.
Comments