I was looking at the new releases on Netflix and noticed something called “Queen of the South.” I thought that name sounded familiar, so I checked the synopsis. Sure enough, it’s La Reina del Sur. Not the real show, though–it’s an English language remake, because Hollywood is completely unable to come up with an original idea.
Category: Uncategorized
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Quote of the Day
Alcohol & Fats
It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies.
The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
Conclusion: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
Original source unknown
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A look at cultural differences
Honor, Dignity, Victim: A Tale of Three Moral Cultures. Honor cultures emerge when a centralized state authority is not present or not legitimate and when people are extremely materially vulnerable. Under these conditions, people will take offense very easily, grow quickly fearful, and engage in higher rates of defensive, pre-emptive aggression as well as vigilante justice in order to settle their disputes.
[…]
In a dignity culture, people in this more modern form of society may resort to legal authority when disputes and wrongdoings are sufficiently severe, but otherwise they will make efforts to privately resolve disputes in a non-violent manner. In such a society, all citizens are assumed to have a sense of dignity and self-restraint, and everyone is expected to, at least at first, give the benefit of the doubt to a disputant to see if a conflict can be resolved peacefully.
[…]
Victim cultures share in common with honor cultures the sensitivity to slights or insults, but whereas those in an honor culture might try to retaliate (physically or otherwise), people in a victim culture will instead appeal to a powerful, omnipresent state/legal authority. Classic examples are Mao’s China and Stalin’s Russia. In contrast to honor cultures that expect victims to be strong and stern enough to defend themselves, and dignity cultures that expect victims to be calm and charitable when in a dispute or disagreement, victim cultures emphasize how complainants are emotionally or physically fragile, vulnerable, and weak. [Skeptic]
A good explanation of the underlying cause of the current “culture war,” where most of the country is still a dignity culture but various high-profile areas (the media, academia) are a victim culture.
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Lots of books
I just noticed that my library has exceeded 2,000 titles (2,075, in fact). The advent of electronic books has really made a huge difference–I never would have had enough room for that many physical books, but over 1,300 of them are ebooks for my Kindle which take no room.
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Time to find a new job
My contract with Integrity Digital Solutions ended today. It was originally a six month contract, although it ended up running for just short of a year.
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Not a good start
I watched the first three episodes of Star Trek: Discovery. I had been skeptical after seeing the advertisements for it, as it appeared to be Star Trek in name only, with no thought to continuity. On the other hand, it had Michelle Yeoh as the captain, and she’s certainly a better choice than the last two.
After watching it, my impression that it only gives lip service to being Star Trek was correct (it’s more like the awful recent movies), and Michelle Yeoh’s character was killed off at the end of the second episode. I am not impressed.
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Quote of the Day
You know you’re living some semblance of a free life when you have to stop and look up the spelling of “committee.”
Joel Simon
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Quote of the Day
An election is the act of choosing a new paint job for the tank which is plowing through your house and crushing your children.
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Quote of the Day
…Any adult human — and most children past a certain degree of maturity — ought to carry a knife. Otherwise you’re just a chimp with a haircut.
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Keeping Austin Weird
I just saw a car go by with the Texas license plate “CAR2D2.” It had an R2 domed head stuck on top, and the words “these aren’t the droids you’re looking for” painted on the back.