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Culture Tag

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 03, 2016 5 Comments
Devastating floods have forced officials to shut down the Louvre and evacuate priceless works of art. The Louvre houses the Mona Lisa, but workers assured people she will remain protected on her upper floor. But the most visited museum in Europe must shut down:
"Due to the level of the river Seine, the Musée du Louvre will be exceptionally closed to the public on June 3, 2016 to ensure the protection of the works located in flood zones. We apologize for any inconvenience caused," the museum said on its website.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 01, 2016 29 Comments
So, this is pretty gross, but to each her own (placenta smoothie). ::shudders:: After extensive research, pregnant Jordan Thiering decided she wanted to take the afterbirth (placenta) and whip it up in a smoothie. When she talked to her OBGYN, she was told to check with the delivering hospital. The hospital told her she would need a court order. “I grew my baby, I grew my placenta,” Thiering said. “There should be no one that can tell me what I can or can’t do with it.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 31, 2016 18 Comments
Katie Couric has changed her mind and finally decided to take responsibility for an edit in her "Under the Gun" documentary that made a pro-gun rights group look idiotic. She released this statement last night:
As Executive Producer of “Under the Gun,” a documentary film that explores the epidemic of gun violence, I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL). My question to the VCDL regarding the ability of convicted felons and those on the terror watch list to legally obtain a gun, was followed by an extended pause, making the participants appear to be speechless. When I screened an early version of the film with the director, Stephanie Soechtig, I questioned her and the editor about the pause and was told that a "beat" was added for, as she described it, “dramatic effect," to give the audience a moment to consider the question. When VCDL members recently pointed out that they had in fact immediately answered this question, I went back and reviewed it and agree that those eight seconds do not accurately represent their response.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 29, 2016 30 Comments
Newspapers face a range of problems from loss of public trust to loss of print readership to bankruptcy and collapse to transitioning to digital journalism.  The newspaper industry has lumbered, sometimes grudgingly, into the digital age and is still experimenting with ways to remain financially viable: web subscriptions (i.e. pay walls) and advertising are among the primary sources of online revenue. Online advertising, however, is not as viable as it might be for the newspaper industry due, they argue, to ad-blockers, and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) has taken note.  The NAA, according to its website, is "a nonprofit organization representing nearly 2,000 newspapers and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as nondailies, other print publications and online products." The Washington Post reports that the NAA has filed a federal suit against the ad blocking industry, "alleging that software companies which enable users to block ads are misleading the public."
The complaint asks the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the government agency that oversees trade practices, to investigate ad blockers that offer “paid whitelisting,” – a service which charges advertisers to bypass ad-blocking software – along with services that substitute ad blockers’ own advertising for blocked ads or get around publishers’ subscription pages.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 29, 2016 11 Comments
As Americans across the nation begin Memorial Day weekend with thoughts and prayers honoring our nation's fallen heroes, vandals defaced veteran memorials in California, Kentucky, and Virginia. ABC News reports:
Memorials to veterans in a Los Angeles neighborhood and a town in Kentucky, as well as a Civil War veterans cemetery in Virginia, were damaged as the nation prepares to mark Memorial Day, officials said. A Vietnam War memorial in the Venice area of Los Angeles has been extensively defaced by graffiti. The vandalism occurred sometime during the past week, KCAL/KCBS-TV (http://cbsloc.al/1RAa3mg) reported. The homespun memorial painted on a block-long wall on Pacific Avenue lists the names of American service members missing in action or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. News of the vandalism came as another veterans-related memorial was reported damaged in Henderson, Kentucky. Police say a Memorial Day cross display there that honors the names of 5,000 veterans of conflicts dating back to the Revolutionary War has been damaged by a driver who plowed through the crosses early Saturday.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 28, 2016 19 Comments
In 2015, Kate Steile was killed by an illegal alien who had been deported five times prior to this crime and had a lengthy criminal record; San Francisco's status as a well-known sanctuary city is believed to have contributed to the senseless murder. Kate's relatives are now filing suit. Fox News reports:
Relatives of the woman shot to death on a San Francisco pier last year filed a lawsuit Friday saying the illegal immigrant accused in the killing should have been in custody if not for a series of mistakes by city and federal workers. . . . .  The sheriff at the time of the killing, Ross Mirkarimi, is named in the lawsuit, along with ICE and the Bureau of Land Management. Mirkarimi previously defended the release of the suspect, a repeat drug offender and habitual border-crosser. Frank Pitre, the lawyer for Steinle's family, said the lawsuit points out "failures at every level." "We're approaching the one year anniversary of Katie's death and it is a particularly difficult time for the family."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 27, 2016 7 Comments
WARNING: You will need the Kleenex for this Kleenex ad, but it was too good not to share. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse, Renee, spends her shifts with babies that aren't expected to make it through the day, much less on to live full, happy, healthy lives. "These parents, they don't get to take their babies home," she says tearing up. "I feel like if I treat the babies like I would want somebody to treat my baby when I'm not there, that's the most important thing." Not all NICU stories end in loss. Renee's full heart and willingness to love on the frailest among us has impacted the lives of many families and children.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 27, 2016 18 Comments
In case you're one of the holdouts not yet convinced the Idiocracy is upon is, here's a little story for you. Seventeen-Year-Old TJ Khayatan placed a pair of glasses on the gallery floor of San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art to test patron's responses. And well... yeah...

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 25, 2016 22 Comments
Katie Couric's documentary Under the Gun edited out remarks by a guns rights group to make them look unprepared for a simple question. Couric sat down with the Virginia Citizens Defense League and asked them, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?” The clip shows the members sitting silently for around nine seconds, but audio provided to the Washington Free Beacon's Stephen Gutowski shows the group provided an answer.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 23, 2016 7 Comments
Surely the progressive ideological utopia across the pond is more lenient when it comes to the convenient disposal of unborn human life, right? RIGHT?! Not quite. Though they constantly bemoan laws that make abortion-on-demand more difficult, the progressive abortion paradise is actually in the United States, where laws are significantly less stringent than those of most Western European countries. Elisha Kraus reports for Prager University:

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 23, 2016 13 Comments
Vietnam veteran Roberto Gonzales does not have much time left, but he wanted to spend a few moments with his horses Ringo and Sugar. His wife Rosario described the reunion:
“When the horses came up to him, he actually opened his eyes,” Rosario Gonzales said. “They came up to him and I think they were actually kissing him.”
The final meeting took place on May 21, exactly 46 years after he was injured in Vietnam.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 23, 2016 2 Comments
What's the key to viral video-making? An appreciation for the small things in life, a talking Chewbacca mask, and an infectious belly laugh. Or it was in Candace Payne's case. After buying a talking Star Wars mask at Kohl's as a belated birthday present to herself Thursday, Candace Payne sat in her car, flipped on her phone, and recorded what would be the single most watched Facebook Live video in the history of Facebook Live videos. More than 130 million people watched Payne's video which was posted with the caption, "it's the simple joys in life." The previous Facebook Live record holder was Buzzfeed's watermelon smashing video, which had about 10 million views. If you haven't seen her video, it's four minutes of your time well spent:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 22, 2016 15 Comments
While Americans squabble over which bathroom stall to use, a block of fifty-one Muslim countries blocked eleven gay and transgendered groups from attending an upcoming AIDS meeting at the United Nations, scheduled for June. Western countries are not happy.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 22, 2016 24 Comments
In 2015, Obama announced that he was calling on all federal agencies to no longer check the criminal history of job applicants.  This "ban the box" move was part of a larger criminal justice reform agenda that is now being extended to the nation's colleges and universities. Judicial Watch reports:
The Obama administration has ordered the nation’s colleges and universities to stop asking applicants about criminal and school disciplinary history because it discriminates against minorities. Institutions are also being asked to offer those with criminal records special support services such as counseling, mentoring and legal aid once enrolled. The government’s official term for these perspective students is “justice-involved individuals” and the new directive aims to remove barriers to higher education for the overwhelmingly minority population that’s had encounters with the law or disciplinary issues through high school.
Part of the problem, the Obama administration and opponents of "the box" believe is that asking such questions about criminal or school disciplinary history "disproportionally affects blacks and Latinos."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 22, 2016 5 Comments
Legal Insurrection has been covering the lawsuit against the producers of a Star Trek fan film, and the amicus brief filed in the case by the Language Creation Society. There has been a development in this case that has been...fascinating.
In advance of the July release of Star Trek Beyond, it seems Paramount is going to try to get itself beyond a serious problem it’s having with the passionate fanbase of Trekkies, and clear up a PR black eye in the process. Tonight during a Trek fan event held on the Paramount lot, Star Trek Beyond executive producer JJ Abrams announced that the studio will be dropping a contentious lawsuit against a Star Trek fan film production. “This wasn’t an appropriate way to deal with the fans,” Abrams put it bluntly, signaling a major about face and many mended fences.
That is thrilling news indeed for many Trekkies. The Star Trek universe is certainly large enough for both the involvement of major studios and group-funded fan productions. It seems like Abrams and the director of the movie poised to be released this summer, Justin Lin, put a lot of pressure on the studio to back off the legal attack.
“A few months back there was a fan movie — Axanar — that was being made and there was a lawsuit that happened between the studio (Paramount and CBS) and the fans and Justin was sort of outraged as a longtime fan. We started talking about it and we realized that this was not an appropriate way to deal with the fans. The fans should be iceboating this thing, like you’re saying right now.” Abrams said when asked about the Axanar lawsuit.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 22, 2016 9 Comments
Having been denied their Ground Zero victory mosque, the owners of the site have planned to build an Islamic museum there since 2014.  This museum, apparently, will be an impressive structure containing apartments, a children's play room, and the museum itself. NBC New York reported at the time:

The developer who once proposed a mosque and Muslim community center near ground zero now plans a museum devoted to Islam at the same site.

Sharif El-Gamal said in a statement he wants to build a three-story museum "dedicated to exploring the faith of Islam and its arts and culture."

He said he commissioned French architect Jean Nouvel to design a 5,000-square-foot museum. The building also would include a sanctuary for prayer services and community programs.

. . . .  The five-story building, which was once a Burlington Coat factory, now includes a Muslim prayer space that has been open for three years.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 21, 2016 8 Comments
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, one of the original members of Delta Force and later its commander, was fired from his teaching position at a Virginia college because of comments he made at a conservative gathering. The all-male college, Hampden-Sydney College, was apparently inundated with SJW's demanding that the decorated hero be removed from his teaching post, so they removed him . . .  only to then be faced with a new onslaught of outraged Americans demanding that the college reverse its decision. It did. The Washington Free Beacon reports:
An all-male college in Virginia has reversed its decision to fire a prominent retired U.S. Army general hours after reports that he was removed over political correctness provoked outcry. Hampden-Sydney College decided to offer Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin a one-year contract, walking back its decision to fire Boykin after he made controversial comments about transgender bathrooms that angered LGBT activists. Fox News first reported Thursday that Boykin, an original member of the Delta Force who served as undersecretary of defense for intelligence under President George W. Bush, had been fired after nine years of teaching at the school after criticizing transgender bathrooms. “The first man who goes into the restroom with my daughter will not have to worry about surgery,” Boykin said of the debate surrounding transgender bathroom rules during a speech to conservatives in March.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 20, 2016 7 Comments
Sir Nicholas Winton rescued 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in 1939. Not a soldier, not a government official, Winton petitioned the British government for permission to organize "Kindertransport." For fifty years, Winton kept his Kindertransport activities to himself. It wasn't until his wife discovered a scrapbook that his story was made public in 1988. It wasn't until the details of his rescue missions were unearthed that the children he saved learned who saved them and how. More than 7,000 people credit their lives to Winton's efforts. Winton passed away last year at the age of 106. Thursday, hundreds attended a memorial service to commemorate Winton's incredible bravery and selflessness.
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