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Culture Tag

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on March 15, 2018 42 Comments
An American Idol episode filmed last fall and aired this week has created some controversy.  Katy Perry, a judge on the show, surprise-kissed a young man on the lips just before his audition. He told the NYT that this was his first kiss, and that he had been saving this milestone for his first relationship.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 11, 2018 40 Comments
After having my car keyed during the Bush era for a pro-president bumper sticker, I have avoided those with political slogans. As I live in California, in a veritable sea of soccer mom mobiles, having a distinguishing feature on my Honda is critical. So I chose "Star Trek Valedictorian".

Posted by New Neo on March 10, 2018 5 Comments
Reading reports of so many high-profile murders by teenagers, it's not unusual for people to assume that there's been a big increase in killings by young people, both murder and suicide. But statistics tell a much more complex story. To the question of whether there been a rise in teen suicide, the answer is both yes and no (the following quotes are from an article dated November 2017):
An increase in suicide rates among US teens occurred at the same time social media use surged and a new analysis suggests there may be a link.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 05, 2018 27 Comments
Whether they're lecturing the rest of us lowly Americans about our political beliefs, feigning moral superiority, mocking traditional values, or acting like everyone from the South is a racist hick, those in Middle America no longer give a rat's ass about the annual self-aggrandizing parade known as the Oscars. Turns out, no one is really interested in listening to a bunch of overpaid phoneys parade their shallowly formed moral opinions, especially not when the same elitists are simultaneously harboring rapists and pedophiles.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on March 03, 2018 57 Comments
Earlier this week, Dick's Sporting Goods announced that it will no longer sell AR-15 style and semi-automatic rifles.  This announcement seems a bit cynical given that Dick's stopped selling AR-15 style and semi-automatic rifles six years ago, though its affiliate Field & Stream had returned to selling them five years ago.  As of this week's announcement, Field & Stream's 35 stores will no longer carry these rifles. Dick's did announce something new, though:  they are imposing their own age limit on gun purchasers.  Regardless of state or federal law, Dick's set its own age requirement for the purchase of firearms at 21.  Not to be outdone, Walmart soon followed suit, as did Kroger's.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 01, 2018 11 Comments
This made its way into my feed and I selfishly decided I would not suffer in solitude, thus this post. Wednesday morning, Utah's House of Representatives tweeted a music video explaining how a bill becomes law. The bastard child of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song and School House Rock's, "I'm just a bill", "Fresh Prints of Bill Here" is painfully cringe-worthy, but cute and endearing in the way your Grandma misuses a completely random pop culture reference. If you're not triggered by memories of your 16-year-old self mortified or struck with giggle fits watching your parents try their hand at the whole "being cool" thing, then I'm not sure you can fully appreciate the awkwardness that lies ahead.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 25, 2018 41 Comments
Few things make me as simultaneously sad and frustrated as what is happening to higher education in this country.  In an apparent effort to boost the number of anti-Second Amendment high school walkouts, colleges and universities are now announcing that suspensions for anti-gun protests won't harm their chance of admission. It's not difficult to understand from these announcements that such suspensions would actually make the applicant more attractive to these very institutes of higher learning.  In this socio-cultural climate, nothing says "top admissions candidate" like a proven record of social justice agitation and protest.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 19, 2018 53 Comments
If you've spent any time on the internet, you know that school shootings bring out the worst in people and in supposed constructive discourse. If there's any "at least" this time around, it's that the conversation has largely passed up gun control advocates seeking to capitalize on tragedy and has shifted to "this is how we need to discuss these things with one another" and "this is how the system has failed our children." The latter is more deserving of our time and attention, but the former is necessary if we're ever to get to the point where we can rationally and earnestly discuss solutions.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 18, 2018 39 Comments
Lobsters have gone from being considered "trash" food fit only for servants, the poor, and cats to being a much-loved, often expensive delicacy. Everyone has heard the myth that lobsters "scream" when tossed in a pot of boiling water—they don't, they have no vocal cords, but research does indicate that lobsters (and crabs) may feel pain. It is on this basis that Switzerland passed a law last year banning the boiling of live lobsters.  The law goes into effect on March 1st.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 17, 2018 14 Comments
Until the prof sent me this story, I had never heard of a pangolin, and my initial impression (as a Southerner) was that it looks like a giant armadillo.  The pangolin, however, is an anteater that is currently endangered because its scales are seen as medicinal and its meat a delicacy in Africa and Asia.  As such, this scaly anteater is the most poached and most trafficked mammal in the world. seeks to illuminate the plight of the pangolin and to ensure that this mammal survives into future generations.
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