Month: December 2021

Review: Licorice Pizza


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Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza may not be a full-on coming-of-age classic—it’s a little disjointed and maybe a little too long. But whenever the beaming Alana Haim is onscreen, or Bradley Cooper roars in to do some wild-card comedy damage, it’s a great movie.

So it’s a special kind of drag to see this amiable film being suddenly peppered with hostile fire from the direction of the sex-and-racism lobby. And it’s especially dismaying to have to admit that, at least in one aspect, the detractors‘ ire is understandable.

Naysayers can’t cancel the movie’s buoyant spirit, though. Bright-eyed Alana Haim, making her big-screen debut here, is already well-known as a member of the Los Angeles family band Haim, for which Anderson has directed a number of videos. The picture is thick with these sorts of connections. Alana’s costar is affable Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, who featured memorably in such earlier Anderson films as Boogie Nights and Magnolia. Leonardo DiCaprio’s father and a couple of Spielberg daughters are also in evidence, along with the rest of the Haim family (including Alana’s bandmate sisters Este and Danielle), and composer Jonny Greenwood, too, back again to provide Anderson with a distinctive score.

The story is set in the suburban environs of LA’s San Fernando Valley in 1973 (the golden age of the Licorice Pizza record-store chain, which gets no actual mention in the film). Haim is Alana Kane, a 25-year–old photographer’s assistant who can’t get her life together. Hoffman is Gary, a 15-year-old child actor who’s aging out of the business but is blossoming into a real-world entrepreneur. Gary is determined to win Alana over; she’s initially, strongly resistant. But the two actors have a sweet rapport; and despite the 10-year age difference between their characters, it’s hard to see how a non-addled viewer could classify Kane’s uncertain acceptance of Gary’s romantic moves as predatory, or Kane herself as a “pedophile“ (will somebody please take the trouble to look up that word?).

A bit more odd is a restaurant scene in which Kane shares a martini moment with a much older movie star named Jack Holden (played with craggy charm by Sean Penn). Kane wants Holden to give her a role in a picture, so…okay, maybe. (Anderson hasn’t written Penn’s character as a predator either.)

Two scenes in the movie are much cringier. They’re centered on a character named Jerry Frick (John Michael Higgins). Jerry has a thing for Japanese women, but has never learned to speak their language; instead, he grunts at them in English, using a vaudeville-level Japanese accent of a sort not heard since Mickey Rooney donned fake buckteeth to play a yammering Japanese neighbor in the 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It’s not hard to grasp why an activist group called the Media Action Network for Asian Americans was appalled by these scenes (little surprise: They are appalling). In an interview with The New York Times last month, Anderson discussed his decision to write and include them in the movie.

“I think it would be a mistake to tell a period film through the eyes of 2021,” the director said. “You have to be honest to that time. Not that it wouldn’t happen right now, by the way. My mother-in-law’s Japanese and my father-in-law is white, so seeing people speak English to her with a Japanese accent is something that happens all the time. I don’t think they even know they’re doing it.“

Okay…maybe?

Objections like these don’t seem to have had a lot of effect yet: Licorice Pizza opened nationwide on December 25, and now has a 92-percent score on the Rotten Tomatoes review-aggregation site. Word is getting out about Alana Haim’s star-making performance, as well as Bradley Cooper’s wonderfully daffy turn as Jon Peters—a real person, once renowned as a celebrity hairdresser, film producer, and boyfriend of Barbra Streisand. Peters reportedly okayed his portrayal as a period whack-job in this movie, and Cooper memorably makes it so. “It’s good to meet you,” Jon tells Gary. “I want you to be horrified.”

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30,000 Evacuated, Hundreds Of Homes Burned In Wind-Driven Colorado Wildfires

30,000 Evacuated, Hundreds Of Homes Burned In Wind-Driven Colorado Wildfires

On Thursday, a wind-driven wildfire forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate near Denver as hurricane-force winds devoured homes and businesses. 

The wildfire began at 1030 local time Thursday and swept through suburban areas in Boulder County. At least 30,000 people were evacuated as fast-moving wildfires burned nearly 600 homes, a shopping mall, and a hotel. By night, the fire had burned 1,600 acres. 

This wildfire was the most destructive in state history in terms of destruction. The last fire to burn 500 homes was in 2013 and called the “Black Forest Fire.” 

The good news overnight is that the National Weather Service Boulder Office said winds calmed, and the fire is expected to simmer down. 

A second fire was reported around 1100 local time, “ballooned and spread rapidly east,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said. The blaze engulfed roughly 2.5 square miles of land, but no building structures were lost. 

Both wildfires occurred late into the winter season and were fueled by hurricane-force winds, upwards of 110 mph in some recordings. 

“This is the kind of fire we can’t fight head-on,” Pelle said. “We actually had deputy sheriffs and firefighters in areas that had to pull out because they just got overrun.”

The fires prompted Gov. Jared Polis to declare a state of emergency, allowing the state to tap into disaster funds. Much of the evacuations were across Superior and Louisville and for some residents of Broomfield and Westminster. All the areas are near Denver. 

Broomfield Police tweeted absolutely shocking videos of the fire consuming homes. 

More videos of the fire have surfaced on social media. 

The historic drought has made wildfires harder for firefighters to combat. Much of Boulder County hasn’t seen rain since mid-summer.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/31/2021 – 07:27

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Peter Thiel Hires Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz As Chief Global Strategist

Peter Thiel Hires Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz As Chief Global Strategist

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been lying low since he was forced out as Europe’s youngest head of state. Now, with the prospect of a criminal prosecution hanging over his head, it seems Kurz is turning to an old ally – Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.

Kurz is set to take over as chief global strategist at Thiel’s investment firm, Thiel Capital. He’s reportedly set to start with the advent of the new year.

Sebastian Kurz

According to Bloomberg, Kurz completely withdrew from politics earlier this month, setting off another change in power. Kurz has denied any and all accusations of wrongdoing, including accusations that he used public money to plant fake opinion polls in the press and bolster his political career.

Thiel has long cultivated connections in Europe, particularly among more conservative politicians, not just in Austria but in Italy, France and beyond. Kurz and Thiel, a native German, have long had a personal connection.

Before his downfall, Kurz maintained an image as a populist conservative, on par with Italy’s Matteo Salvini or France’s Marine Le Pen. Unfortunately for Kurz, a domestic scandal managed to force him from power. Now, he’s pivoting toward a globe-trotting career as a chief strategist in a major private investment firm.

After partnering with Elon Musk, Thiel scored major hits by becoming an early investor in Facebook, among other Silicon Valley home runs. Known for his conservative politics, Thiel has backed Republican candidates including President Trump.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/31/2021 – 06:45

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The History and Politics of Public Radio


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Public radio is much older than NPR. As early as the 1910s, universities were transmitting weather reports to farmers and, in one historian’s words, “esoteric jokes” to themselves. In the 1920s, as New York’s municipally owned WNYC started operation, one of its founders argued that the government should establish big outlets in each region while “cutting out poorer and weaker stations which broadcast inferior programs.”

Drawing on both original research and earlier scholarship (including—full disclosure—my own work), James T. Bennett’s The History and Politics of Public Radio surveys those two strains of noncommercial broadcasting, one scrappy and bottom-up, the other centralist and elitist, with an eye on the subsidies and regulations that have boosted the centralist tradition. It covers funding fights (which do not always fall along expected left/right lines), political manipulations (Washington’s funds often come with Washington’s strings), and historical ironies (jazz has become an NPR staple, but the New Deal–era advocates of educational broadcasting “absolutely hated jazz”).

The book doesn’t deride the idea of noncommercial radio. Instead, Bennett’s libertarian critique argues that noncommercial radio can be detached from the state—indeed, that it’s better that way.

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The History and Politics of Public Radio


minisThe-History-and-Politics-of-Public_Springer

Public radio is much older than NPR. As early as the 1910s, universities were transmitting weather reports to farmers and, in one historian’s words, “esoteric jokes” to themselves. In the 1920s, as New York’s municipally owned WNYC started operation, one of its founders argued that the government should establish big outlets in each region while “cutting out poorer and weaker stations which broadcast inferior programs.”

Drawing on both original research and earlier scholarship (including—full disclosure—my own work), James T. Bennett’s The History and Politics of Public Radio surveys those two strains of noncommercial broadcasting, one scrappy and bottom-up, the other centralist and elitist, with an eye on the subsidies and regulations that have boosted the centralist tradition. It covers funding fights (which do not always fall along expected left/right lines), political manipulations (Washington’s funds often come with Washington’s strings), and historical ironies (jazz has become an NPR staple, but the New Deal–era advocates of educational broadcasting “absolutely hated jazz”).

The book doesn’t deride the idea of noncommercial radio. Instead, Bennett’s libertarian critique argues that noncommercial radio can be detached from the state—indeed, that it’s better that way.

The post The History and Politics of Public Radio appeared first on Reason.com.

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Big Mother Is Watching


topicslifestyle

What does it mean to grow up under constant parental surveillance?

Devices like Verizon’s GizmoWatch are used to track young kids at an age long before they’d carry a phone. The parents get an alarm if the child ventures beyond the “geofence” they have set, at which point they can call and say, “I see where you are!”

Apps like Life360 do the same thing for older kids with smartphones, “allowing you to make sure they’re safe at all times,” as an app reviewer explained on YouTube.

If that sounds uncontroversial, even calming, pause for a moment to think about your own childhood. Do you wish your parents had been able to know where you were at all times? Would it have changed your childhood if they had?

About a year ago, The New York Times ran an article on kid trackers and asked kids themselves to respond. More than a thousand did. Many said they were glad their parents were keeping them safe. Others said they didn’t mind being tracked, because their parents didn’t check on them much. And then there were a lot who said things like this: “[My parents] say it’s about my safety but I feel like I have no freedom and that I’m always being watched.”

“Really the only difference between an iPhone and an ankle bracelet [monitor] is that one is in your pocket,” says Oregon psychiatrist David Rettew, author of Parenting Made Complicated (Oxford University Press). Parents who insist their kids install the tracker are “sending a message that the child sort of needs to have adult electronic eyes on them at all times.” Kids may believe the world is so dangerous that they’re never safe without a minder, or that they aren’t trusted.

The danger message is way off. The odds of a child being kidnapped are so tiny that using an app to prevent abductions is like wearing a helmet to prevent eagle snatchings.

Worse, such apps can undermine a kid’s budding sense of independence. “When I was a kid, maybe I sometimes said I was going for a bike ride but went to the variety store to buy a treat instead,” says Carli Sussman, a Vancouver mom. Today she lets her 10-year-old ride his bike untracked because “eventually you end up in the adult world and you have to be able to make decisions.” You learn to make good ones by sometimes making bad ones.

When someone else is in the driver’s seat, all you learn is passivity. But many parents don’t see it that way. “For us it’s a logistical tool that actually reduces nagging and hovering,” a mother of teens wrote to me on Facebook. “If I see by location that they’re en route to an activity, I don’t need to call or text to remind/confirm.”

So she is making sure, from afar, that her kids are doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. If they aren’t, she can and does immediately intervene. That’s the opposite of trusting them to do the right thing, or to at least to handle the consequences if they mess up.

The Facebook mom added that “it’s rare we’ve used location surveillance to catch them somewhere they shouldn’t be—though they’re likely deterred from ‘sneaking out’ knowing we can see their location.” Note that she is not talking about being able to reach her kids. Rather, she is putting them in something like the panopticon, a circular prison with an unseen guard manning a tower at the center, so prisoners can never know when they are not being watched.

One teenager who responded to the Times article managed to wrest free. He had felt betrayed to discover that his mom had put a tracking device on his car. “As a teenager,” he wrote, “I have to experience my own freedoms and learn how to keep myself safe.” Somehow, he actually convinced his mom of this. She removed the tracker and now, he wrote, “I feel our relationship is stronger because she trusts me to make good decisions and be honest with her. I have more freedom and am responsible.”

If we want our kids to embrace freedom and responsibility, it’s probably a bad idea to deprive them of both.

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Big Mother Is Watching


topicslifestyle

What does it mean to grow up under constant parental surveillance?

Devices like Verizon’s GizmoWatch are used to track young kids at an age long before they’d carry a phone. The parents get an alarm if the child ventures beyond the “geofence” they have set, at which point they can call and say, “I see where you are!”

Apps like Life360 do the same thing for older kids with smartphones, “allowing you to make sure they’re safe at all times,” as an app reviewer explained on YouTube.

If that sounds uncontroversial, even calming, pause for a moment to think about your own childhood. Do you wish your parents had been able to know where you were at all times? Would it have changed your childhood if they had?

About a year ago, The New York Times ran an article on kid trackers and asked kids themselves to respond. More than a thousand did. Many said they were glad their parents were keeping them safe. Others said they didn’t mind being tracked, because their parents didn’t check on them much. And then there were a lot who said things like this: “[My parents] say it’s about my safety but I feel like I have no freedom and that I’m always being watched.”

“Really the only difference between an iPhone and an ankle bracelet [monitor] is that one is in your pocket,” says Oregon psychiatrist David Rettew, author of Parenting Made Complicated (Oxford University Press). Parents who insist their kids install the tracker are “sending a message that the child sort of needs to have adult electronic eyes on them at all times.” Kids may believe the world is so dangerous that they’re never safe without a minder, or that they aren’t trusted.

The danger message is way off. The odds of a child being kidnapped are so tiny that using an app to prevent abductions is like wearing a helmet to prevent eagle snatchings.

Worse, such apps can undermine a kid’s budding sense of independence. “When I was a kid, maybe I sometimes said I was going for a bike ride but went to the variety store to buy a treat instead,” says Carli Sussman, a Vancouver mom. Today she lets her 10-year-old ride his bike untracked because “eventually you end up in the adult world and you have to be able to make decisions.” You learn to make good ones by sometimes making bad ones.

When someone else is in the driver’s seat, all you learn is passivity. But many parents don’t see it that way. “For us it’s a logistical tool that actually reduces nagging and hovering,” a mother of teens wrote to me on Facebook. “If I see by location that they’re en route to an activity, I don’t need to call or text to remind/confirm.”

So she is making sure, from afar, that her kids are doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. If they aren’t, she can and does immediately intervene. That’s the opposite of trusting them to do the right thing, or to at least to handle the consequences if they mess up.

The Facebook mom added that “it’s rare we’ve used location surveillance to catch them somewhere they shouldn’t be—though they’re likely deterred from ‘sneaking out’ knowing we can see their location.” Note that she is not talking about being able to reach her kids. Rather, she is putting them in something like the panopticon, a circular prison with an unseen guard manning a tower at the center, so prisoners can never know when they are not being watched.

One teenager who responded to the Times article managed to wrest free. He had felt betrayed to discover that his mom had put a tracking device on his car. “As a teenager,” he wrote, “I have to experience my own freedoms and learn how to keep myself safe.” Somehow, he actually convinced his mom of this. She removed the tracker and now, he wrote, “I feel our relationship is stronger because she trusts me to make good decisions and be honest with her. I have more freedom and am responsible.”

If we want our kids to embrace freedom and responsibility, it’s probably a bad idea to deprive them of both.

The post Big Mother Is Watching appeared first on Reason.com.

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French Tennis Star Benoit Paire Rages After Testing Positive For COVID For “250th Time”

French Tennis Star Benoit Paire Rages After Testing Positive For COVID For “250th Time”

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times,

French tennis player Benoit Paire has tested positive for COVID-19 just weeks before the Australian Open gets underway on Jan. 17, 2022.

The sportsman, 32, revealed on Wednesday that he had contracted the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, and admitted regular quarantining had taken a toll on his mental health.

“Hey my name is Benoit Paire, and for the 250th time I tested positive for Covid!!” he said on Twitter. “Honestly I can’t deal with this Covid s*** anymore.”

“How am I doing? Because of Covid, I got a runny nose but because of all these quarantines spent in a hotel room halfway across the world, I don’t feel good mentally,” he continued.

“Last year was tough, and this year starts exactly the same way!!”

Paire, who is vaccinated, added that he is “100 percent for the vaccine,” but urged people to “just live as before Covid, otherwise, I don’t see the point.”

Paire is the second player to test positive for COVID-19 among the arrivals in Australia this week after Denis Shapovalov announced that he had tested positive in Sydney.

“I am following all protocols, including isolation and letting the people who I’ve been in contact with know,” Shapovalov announced in an Instagram post last week. “Right now I am experiencing minor symptoms and look forward to getting back on the court when it is safe to do so. Thank you in advance for your support and wish you all a safe and happy holiday.”

Other players who have tested positive in recent weeks include Rafael Nadal, Andrey Rublev, Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic and Ons Jabeur. Meanwhile, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka will miss the Australian Open due to injuries.

Paire was ruled out of the 2020 U.S. Open after testing positive for COVID-19 just days before his first match. He was placed in isolation for two weeks, meaning he was unable to play. After leaving isolation, he tested negative for the virus but then tested positive again two weeks later at the ATP tournament at Hamburg, Rothenbaum.

However, he was allowed to play because the positive result was due to a prior infection of the virus.

In a statement at the time, Hamburg officials explained why the tennis star was permitted to remain in the event.

“According to tournament doctor Dr. Volker Carrero, it is not uncommon that three weeks after a positive result, fragments of the virus can still be found inside the body,” officials said. “Paire has not shown any symptoms of disease and has not been contagious at any time. Local health authorities in Hamburg made the decision on Saturday that Paire is allowed to play.”

In January this year, Paire, the world No. 46, had to complete 14 days of quarantine before the Australian Open after one person on his flight to Melbourne tested positive for COVID-19.

This week, five Australian jurisdictions agreed upon a new definition for a COVID-19 “close contact,” which will ease the burden on PCR testing clinics and help keep the economy running.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that from midnight of Dec. 31, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory will change their definition of a close contact and follow-up procedures.

“Except in exceptional circumstances, a close contact is a household contact … of a confirmed case only,” Morrison said. “A household contact is someone who lives with a case or has spent more than four hours with them in a house, accommodation, or care facility setting.”

“You are only a close contact if you are effectively living with someone or have been in an accommodation setting with someone for more than four hours … who has actually got COVID-19. Not someone who is in contact with someone who has had COVID—it’s with someone specifically who has COVID,” Morrison said.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 12/31/2021 – 06:00

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