You Want It? You Got It! Bringing the Audience what it Needs Now
Despite journalistic objectivity, many news outlets have tendencies to focus on the negative. Crimes, controversies, disasters, and crises simply make more pressing stories than most good news in the world. This is all the more prevalent now as climate change, stock market crashes, and a global pandemic dominate the headlines.
With all of the doom and gloom currently dripping from the wounds of the world, people have become famished for something more up-lifting. Luckily, outlets for such good news exist, and they have been witnessing a thermal (viral?) runaway in popularity during the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Sources emphasizing good news were around long before the coronavirus rendered the world thirsty for positivity. Websites like Good Good Good and The Global Positive News Network have been active for years, but have noticed increases in traffic over the past month.
The same goes for social media accounts such as Instagram’s @TanksGoodNews, @GoodNews_Movement, and @The_Happy_Broadcast. All of these pages have seen spikes in followers since March as they continue to seek out and report optimistic content throughout the pandemic.
Perhaps the most uproarious of good news outlets to come about in the past few weeks, however, is actor John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” YouTube broadcast. From the comfort of his home, Krasinski has produced and hosted four videos where he reports all of the good going on in the world. Riddled with humor, acts of charity, guest appearances via Zoom from Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, David Ortiz, Steve Carrel, Chance The Rapper, and Rain Wilson as well as remote performances from The Jonas Brothers and the entire “Hamilton” cast, “Some Good News” is both hilarious and heartfelt, and the videos have all received millions of views.
Once the “Human Interest” Kitten Beat, Now a Focus on Ways to Offset the Worst of Reality Reporting
Even more established newspapers, networks, and trades have tried to appease readers in search of cheerful stories. The Washington Post pumped up its weekly uplifting newsletter The Optimist into a biweekly occurrence, and started The Daily Break section to emphasize a feel-good story everyday. National Geographic also began Your Weekly Escape, a newsletter that is free of any coronavirus related content.
Clearly, these outlets have noticed the amplified demand for good news and are matching it with an increased supply. Of course, the bulk of the headlines remain somewhat gloomy nowadays, but rather than fixate on them, these good news alternatives offer positive twists. This is not to say that readers ignore world’s struggles, but rather that they want to see how people are reacting to the crises in healthy, wholesome, and genuinely helpful ways.
This embrace of good news, especially for the established publications, is an obvious spin to assuage readers. However, while spins in the media are usually traced back to politics, money, or hostility, this one is currently fueled by a desire to see kindness and generosity. Conventional “spins” are getting replaced by cartwheels or joy running up and down whatever good news stories are out there, laser-focusing on the glass half-full.
To make matters all the more soothing, many of these good news outlets are not-for-profit. While The Washington Post or National Geographic are still advertising alongside their uplifting stories, many of the Instagram accounts as well as John Krasinski’s broadcasts, are done entirely for free, making them in and of themselves, examples of good nature and good news.
Amazon’s has free kindle books available for World book day 2020
With now less than two days left to grab these 9 free e-books, the time is now, if you want to capitalize on these digital delights. They would be a great find for those that would like to get some alternative options for the moment when streaming and binge-watching just doesn’t cut it anymore:
Below we have also added some photo-links to our sister site on Bookshop.org, where you can purchase books and at the same time help Lynxotic to publish more great stories. You will also be helping all independent bookstores across the USA.
With the Coronavirus keeping us all at home many are learning to cook and even bake bread from scratch. This is a grouping of some of the best of the best if you want to learn and bake your own right now!
With small ones also at home and needing not only learning options but also entertainment that doesn’t involve a flat screen, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most popular children’s titles that can’t help solve both challenges.
Finally, for those that are on the verge of a claustrophobic episode, there’s always the possibility to use D.I.Y. therapy. This is well known as a great way to calm nerves and you just might get a spiffy sweater out of it too!
Epicenter is 1km South of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA – near Inglewood / Hawthorne
M 3.7 – 1km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
A noticeable, strong tremor for millions of quarantined residents was felt in the west central area of LA at around 12:03 AM on April 22, 2020. Although, at 3.7 magnitude, it was not a serious, dangerous quake the location, being in the urban west side of the city would be concerning if a larger after shock were to follow. Or, if this was a precursor to a larger quake to come.
Earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur on average five times per year in the greater Los Angeles area, according to a three-year data sample.
Naturally with the city still in the grips of a novel coronavirus lockdown, the last thing people need is any additional reason for concerns.
Starting in a Crisis but Representing the New Normal?
In the modern digital age of direct-to-streaming films, studios and production companies have long contemplated the idea of releasing movies straight to home video markets at the same time as their theatrical debuts. Over the past few years, the gap between films’ theatrical runs and their home video releases has only shrunk, and the line has further greyed with rising numbers of nontraditional release platforms, or forgone theatrical runs altogether.
By and large, though, theaters have still maintained their relevancy. However, that has changed over the past couple months. Right now, theaters are shutdown across the globe because of the coronavirus and many recent releases have been expedited to Video-On-Demand markets. The most conspicuous of these expedited releases is that of DreamWorks’ “Trolls: World Tour,” which made history as the first film to get a VOD and theatrical release on the same day.
Releasing “Trolls: World Tour” like this was a bit of a gamble. Like many other movies, “World Tour” simply could have postponed its premiere for a more stable time. Nevertheless, the VOD release it seems to have paid off. The film came out on April 10th and has already earned Universal Studios $50 million. For comparison’s sake, the movie’s 2016 predecessor—simply titled “Trolls”—earned $46.6 million for its opening weekend in the theaters and overall had a $346.9 million Box Office run.
“Trolls: World Tour” will not have an enormous Box Office success given all of the theaters closed right now. However, it will arguably make more off of its VOD rentals than it ever would during a traditional theatrical period.
Granted, this is an unusual time. “World Tour” and its home release are probably benefitting from the isolated audiences practicing social distancing. Likewise, the film costs $19.99 On-Demand, a price that emulates that of a movie ticket, but is noticeably more than that of a regular VOD rental. The movie also garnered some extra attention as the first film to execute this unconventional release platform. Lastly, it is a family comedy appropriate for kids and adults alike to watch on a common screen. All of this considered, the VOD success of “World Tour” might be an anomaly tied to beginner’s luck and the current circumstances.
Virtual “Box office” Cume is nothing to Sneeze at
Nevertheless, the entertainment experiment that is “Trolls: World Tour” has still proven fruitful, raising the question of whether or not other movies will follow in its footsteps. If “World Tour” can get $50 million in its first week On-Demand, maybe the persistent gap between theaters and home markets has become futile. Perhaps moviegoers are content to watch a new picture at home for the same price of seeing it on the big screen.
The nullification of theatrical releases would naturally be bad news for the theater companies, but it would give streaming sites and tech companies a leg up in the entertainment market. It would also completely transform the industry release pipeline that has persisted for the past century. This potential change, however, will not manifest overnight. “Trolls: World Tour” simply demonstrates that a corresponding VOD and theatrical release can be financially effective, and it may spark an evolution in the enduring movie distribution model.
“Trolls: World Tour” is a PG-rated animated comedy-musical. Walt Dohrn directs alongside David P Smith, and the voice cast includes Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Rachel Bloom, James Cordon, and many more. It is available on Amazon’s new Prime Cinema hub alongside other VOD expedited titles such as “The Invisible Man,” “Emma,” “The Way Back,” “Bloodshot,” “Birds Of Prey” and others.
While nothing is a Panacea and Medical Attention is always Advised, at Least Something that could help is being discussed…
A Virus with no cure, no vaccine and no approved drugs available, other than fever reducers such as Tylenol, the novel coronavirus, also known as covid-19 is very scary indeed. One tiny ray of hope has emerged from social media in the form of celebrities that have contracted the disease and either recovered or are recovering as we speak.
Among many in the limelight who have tested positive, some, such as Idris Elba and his wife, were and remain asymptomatic, even as the prescribed quarantine period has elapsed. Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson have now fully recovered. Singer Pink and her 3-year-old son tested positive but have fully recovered and are now negative.
Click to buy “Flour Water Salt Yeast” and at the same time help Lynxotic and all independent local bookstores. Also on Amazon
Writer of the wildly successful Harry Potter book series, author J.K. Rowling frightened millions of fans around the world a few weeks ago when she announced that she had contracted many of the symptoms associated with COVID-19: “For last 2 weeks I’ve had all symptoms of C19 (tho haven’t been tested)”, she said in a tweet.
Luckily, the writer is married to Scottish doctor Neil Murray. He also recommended a home remedy for her symptoms. The remedy is a breathing exercise. It involves taking five deep breaths, holding them in for four full seconds, then exhaling. On the sixth deep breath, you let it out with a forceful cough. After doing this cycle twice, you lie on chest-down on the ground, breathing slightly deeper than regularly. Dr Sarfaraz Munshi, from Queens Hospital in the UK , explains that a larger area of the lungs are in our back rather than front, and by lying on our backs we are closing off more airways. Therefore, he suggests lying face-down when finishing the exercise.
“Here’s the secret to kicking’ this virus. It’s not a pill or a potion. It’s about your will and devotion. The virus wants us to lay down. You’ve got to do things to beat this virus, you’ve got to breathe deep when it hurts. “
– Chris Cuomo
The U.K. doctors who have been sharing this technique advise people feeling sick to spend lots of time lying chest-down, for it places less strain on the lungs than lying on one’s back.
“You have to walk around — it hurts. You don’t want to do it. Everything in your body is telling you not to do it, and it’s lying to you, and I know that now… The more I push myself to do, the better I’m getting, so I’m going to take faith in that for now.“
– Chris Cuomo
Chris Cuomo credits Same Technique and Practices it “5x” per day
From Christina Cuomo’s Instagram post- drinks and fluids to help hydrate during high fever.
On his CNN show, which he continues to broadcast, albeit from his basement, Chris explained that he’s been pushing himself to keep active. “When the fever spikes you just want to curl up in a ball and stay there for the next six, seven hours and you can’t. You’ve got to bundle up your clothes, you’ve got to start drowning yourself in fluid,” he said, sharing the results of his X-ray with CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta. “You have to walk around — it hurts. You don’t want to do it. Everything in your body is telling you not to do it, and it’s lying to you, and I know that now… The more I push myself to do, the better I’m getting, so I’m going to take faith in that for now.”
Thank you for your kind and lovely messages! I really am completely recovered and wanted to share a technique that’s recommended by doctors, costs nothing, has no nasty side effects but could help you/your loved ones a lot, as it did me. Stay safe, everyone x
“When the fever spikes you just want to curl up in a ball and stay there for the next six, seven hours and you can’t. You’ve got to bundle up your clothes, you’ve got to start drowning yourself in fluid”
Chris Cuomo on his struggles with “the Beast” A.K.A. Covid-19
YES. 5x day. And I do stuff on tummy. And I walk a little and take big gasps. Still fighting fever waves. Last night was depressing. Decent day then fever all night. https://t.co/pdMSfIbssm
J.K. Rowling recently Tweeted that she is fully recovered, and she shared the technique that helped her get better via a YouTube link. Chris Cuomo, meanwhile, according to his wife Christina, was experiencing a greatly reduced fever (99º) and appears to be recovering after 121 days+ of fighting “The Beast”. Hearing that Rowling is doing well is a sigh of relief in these trying times. Nevertheless, the case shows that nobody is safe from the coronavirus, and we all must take the proper precautions to eliminate the pandemic’s spread. Of course, such a homemade provision is not a cure or an excuse for seeking legitimate medical help. If you feel sick, you should still go to the doctor.
The reality is sinking in, slowly, that the future is truly unknowable and that big changes and even bigger challenges are looming. Twin shocks of a health emergency and a financial crisis, intertwined and yet with separate trajectories, are still to be resolved in our near future.
Click to buy “The Big Short” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
And then there’s the myriad of other challenges that were already acute, such as global warming and the “other” epidemic; corruption and greed. It’s almost too much to face up to, and no one can be blamed for wanting to just turn away.
Too much has been glossed over. After the 2008 crisis we all just wanted to put that ugly mess behind us and get on with our lives. I suppose the criminals that netted billions as a “reward” for almost destroying the entire global economy were also eager to just move on.
All that as it may be, perhaps, a way to begin the process of regaining our courage and looking into the future with some kind of hope, or at least a deeper understanding of the human dilemma and historical precedents, might be to enjoy films about small moments of triumph before great adversity. Here are a few recent options:
Barely 12 years ago, the financial collapse and ensuing “Great Recession” was a nightmare scenario. The aftermath of that debacle is also a contributor to the economic dangers we see before us in 2020. This film, likely the best based on that era, highlights how outsiders and misfits were able to prosper, even as they witnessed the corruption, failure and systemic injustice that brought the world to the brink of total economic chaos.
Starring: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt.
Click to buy “Antrhopocene” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
For a bird’s-eye overview and scientific perspective – Athropocene is a film for those ready to think deeply on how, once beyond the immediate danger, we would want to emerge into a new era as a species. A positive reaction to the current crisis, worldwide, has been a series of ideas and proposals that show a willingness to confront the challenges from an entirely new perspective. Maybe new leadership can mean starting over and making a pledge to try a new approach to literally everything.
‘The film follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group who, after nearly 10 years of research, argue that the Holocene Epoch gave way to the Anthropocene Epoch in the mid-twentieth century as a result of profound and lasting human changes to the Earth.”
Facing death constantly is a reality in war times. This story is a testament to resilience and survival against all odds.
Angelina Jolie directs this adaptation from Laura Hillenbrand’s popular book, “Unbroken” stars Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Alex Russell, Miyavi and Finn Wittrock
Cinderella Man
This Depression era feel-good story takes on new meaning as we see a “Great Depression II” potentially looming. Looking for strength and courage facing forces that threaten our survival, and coming out at the end in a better place, that’s a synopsis and blueprint we can all benefit from observing, even if it’s packaged as a Hollywood vehicle. Russel Crowe at his best. Maybe worth a second look.
Click to buy “Unbroken” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
Streaming was Growing and Expanding before the Pandemic and now it’s in Overdrive
The last time that a pandemic gripped the planet, the film industry was in its mere infancy. Nickelodeon theaters played silent motion pictures for middle class audiences and studios were hardly the global conglomerates that they are today. Thus, the contemporary COVID-19 outbreak poses an unprecedented threat to the entertainment sphere, as theaters for the first time in history, are being forced to close their doors for the greater good.
This novel situation is causing studios to be creative in how they will persevere without theatrical releases. A number of movies have already been postponed such as MGM’s “No Time To Die,” Paramount’s “A Quiet Place Part II,” Disney’s “Black Widow,” Universal’s “F9” and many, many more.
Likewise, the coronavirus has also brought production to a halt, as work on several shows and movies are being put on pause. Among them are Warner Brothers’ “Fantastic Beasts 3” and “Matrix 4,” Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid,” and Amazon’s “The Lord Of The Rings” series.
Consequentially, there has been a lot of pressure for studios to release movies directly to Video-On-Demand or other home video markets. So far, the companies have been reluctant to do so, due in no small part to the theaters not wanting to sacrifice their piece of the profits. One notable exception, however, has been DreamWorks’ “Trolls World Tour,” which Universal has slated to be released directly to VOD, on the date the theatrical run would have begun.
For the most part, though, studios have responded to the situation by shortening the lapse between theatrical runs and home video releases. Disney, for example, expedited the release of “Frozen II” on Disney+ as a treat/marketing ploy for subscribers practicing safe social distancing. Meanwhile, Disney also announced that it will add the latest Pixar film, “Onward” to its streaming service in early April. “Onward” came out mere weeks ago on March 6th, just before theaters starting closing down and postponing releases became the new norm for 2020.
Additional studios have followed suit and started putting their movies (that would otherwise remain in theaters) straight to VOD. On top of “Trolls World Tour,” Universal recently made “The Invisible Man” and “The Hunt” available on home video markets. Likewise, movies that were on the tail ends of their theatrical runs such as Warner Brothers’ “Birds Of Prey” and Paramount’s “Sonic The Hedgehog” have also sped their way to the VOD market ahead of schedule.
This trend has been so popular in the past couple weeks that Amazon even started a new section of its Prime video streaming service titled “Prime Video Cinema.” The section is dedicated entirely to these new releases taken straight from theaters. Albeit, many of these direct-to-home-video releases are costlier than your average rental—running around $20 to emulate a movie-ticket price.
Other “Early Access” titles that have been added to Amazon’s pay-per-view slate include: “Emma“, “Bloodshot” and “The Way Back“.
Uncertain times for Theaters raises Specter of a Streaming-only Future
Some are still hoping that studios will forgo the theatrical process altogether and start releasing new movies straight to home video in these unconventional times. Particularly, many have solicited the Walt Disney Company to put out its newly-postponed live-action “Mulan” on Disney+. The company, however, has not complied, probably for the same reason that Universal was okay with releasing “Trolls World Tour” on VOD on Amazon and Apple’s iTunes on Friday April 10th, but not “F9.”
Namely, “Mulan” and “F9” are more-or-less guaranteed blockbusters. They will make more money in theaters, presumably, once the lock-down is over, than they ever could on streaming or On-Demand platforms. Therefore, the studios are willing to wait until things blow over to get the biggest bang for their bucks in the cinema.
Theaters already face enough strife in the modern age of ubiquitous streaming, and the current virus is certainly not helping them gain any leverage. While the entertainment industry’s setbacks might seem trivial in comparison to everything going on the world right now, movies and movie theaters in particular operate on the backs of many hardworking, vulnerable people from managers, to ushers, to ticket takers, to projectionists, and more.
While the studios themselves may have enough money and power to remain afloat through these unconventional times, lets hope that they do not lose sight of their foundational workers as they search for alternative solutions.
Rita Wilson calls it Quarantine Stir Crazy – which is far nicer than turning into a Homicidal Maniac… but then she’s a nice and talented lady who happens to be married to Tom Hanks. While Idris Elba is writing his own Sci-fi script, while, along with all the rest of us, concurrently living it –
“Like: ‘Hey, hey, hey – you are kicking me and what you’re doing is not good, so we will get rid of you.’ “As any organism would do, (the world) is trying to get rid of an infection, and maybe this is it for the world.”“As any organism would do, (the world) is trying to get rid of an infection, and maybe this is it for the world.”
– Idris Elba. while face-timing from Quarantine with Oprah
While perhaps slightly less creative and mind-bending – seeing Rita rapping to Naughty by Nature – “hip hop hooray” straight off an Ender’s Game sci-fi reading session could conceivably qualify as BSC or at least stir-crazy:
Enders Game, is a great Sci-fi book and series and, of course film. The choices show a hunger for distraction, diversion, stimulation and overall entertainment. After witnessing the cute yet vaguely disturbing image of the reading / rap hybrid video by this celebrity shut in, somehow our common plight begins to get real.
It’s as if we have all reached, or are reaching, stage two or maybe in this epic yet unwelcome journey and are all trying to search within ourselves for the creativity to turn it positive. Once again, Idris Elba deserves the final word for today with hit thoughtful take on how we might all actually benefit from the bizarre and challenging state of the world in the time of the coronavirus:
“One of the upsides of this whole drama is that we are forced to think together as a race.
“Our world has been taking a kicking. We have damaged our world and it’s no surprise that our world is reacting to the human race.
“One of the upsides of this whole drama is that we are forced to think together as a race. Our world has been taking a kicking. We have damaged our world and it’s no surprise that our world is reacting to the human race. It is no surprise that a virus has been created that is going to slow us down, and ultimately make us think differentlyabout our world and ourselves.
Find Sci-fi, Epidemiology, Fiction Reads, as well as books on many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org
Lines Blurred in Tinsel-town in Must Win Election Year
Variety magazine, the renowned weekly entertainment trade, always sports pictures of familiar Hollywood faces on its covers. From Oscar winners to television tycoons, the trade typically displays stars synonymous with entertainment success. Thus, subscribers were likely surprised to find Nancy Pelosi on the cover of the March 3rd issue, and for the 79-year-old Speaker of the House to be the primary subject of the feature article.
While some might enjoy going to the movies or turning on the TV to forget about complicated, real world matters such as politics, global warming, or high-strung elections, the gap between entertainment and government is narrowing. Mainstream movies and shows are reflecting contemporary ideologies more transparently than ever before, and celebrities are using their influences to voice political thoughts. For evidence, one needs to look no further than this year’s politically fueled acceptance speeches at the Golden Globes and Oscars.
Click to Buy “A Very Stable Genius” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
Granted, politics have always overlapped with entertainment. Ever since the first televised presidential debate took place between Nixon and Kennedy in 1960, political theater has become a swaying source of amusement for many constituents. This became evermore prevalent in 1980, when former movie star Ronald Regan took office and led the nation with an endearing Western-cowboy-like kind of performance. Add in immense marketing campaigns, choreographed speeches, and pre-prepared rallies meant to evoke emotional responses for certain candidates, and elections start looking a lot like movie or TV productions, ongoing serials aired in episodic bursts on morning and nightly news programs.
This took on an entirely new level of truth in the 2016 election, when a literal reality TV star won the republican ticket and eventually took home the general election with an unprecedentedly theatrical campaign. The trend has continued in the media ever since, as Donald Trump now sits in the oval office and has been a goldmine of riveting, controversial stories over the past four years.
American politics are no longer the dry, niche subject that they were pre-Trump, and behaving apolitically is hardly acceptable anymore. This new push of activism has found its way into Hollywood quite palpably. Being that moviemakers and stars have lots of money and influence, several politicians have made friends with powerful members of tinsel town. As Variety outlined in its Pelosi article, the Speaker of the House has strong support and personal relations from the likes of producers Katie McGrath, JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof, David Zaslav, and James L. Brooks.
The “Stay in your Lane” refrain no Longer Applies for Hollywood Stars
Meanwhile, many starts have publically endorsed candidates for the 2020 election. Before Super Tuesday, actor Michael Douglas supported Mayor Michael Bloomberg and actor/producer Seth MacFarlane co-hosted events for Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren has the support of John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Jonathan Van Ness, and Scarlett Johanson amongst others in the industry, while Joe Biden has Tom Hanks, Michelle Kwan, and Alec Baldwin in his corner. Recently, you also may have noticed actor Danny DeVito lending his charisma to ads for Senator Bernie Sanders, who also has support from Ariana Grande, Dick Van Dyke, and Mark Ruffalo.
This is just the surface. Each candidate has an exhaustive list of celebs backing him or her. Each candidate except one, that is—the one currently in the White House.
Click to buy “Dark Towers” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores
While people in Hollywood are taking their picks of which candidate they want to support, the industry as a whole is uniting against Donald Trump. The foremost rhetoric behind each celebrity endorsement implies that this election’s primary objective should be defeating Trump. Thus, the film and television community (a community that has always been left leaning) is likely to rally behind whomever wins the Democratic nomination and vote Blue no matter what come November.
Endorsing Trump has proven to be unwise in Hollywood. The handful of actors, directors, and producers who openly supported Trump in 2016 have had trouble finding work since the election. Agencies and management companies often hesitate to represent Trump supporters, for Producers will rarely hire them. Simply stated, in a Liberal industry, those in charge do not want Trumpish toxicity on their sets or in their offices.
Vote Blue No Matter Who is Standard Stance
Actors who backed Trump in 2016 such as Dean Cain, John Voight, and Antonio Sabato Jr have been all but blacklisted for the past few years. Sabato has even moved to Florida and taken on a construction job, ending his career in Hollywood for lack of work. Meanwhile, steadfast Republican celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Clint Eastwood have retracted their support for Trump despite his political affiliation.
Click to Buy “The Ghost Map” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.
Evidently, the ~3,000 mile distance between Hollywood and Washington DC is shrinking, as candidates are crisscrossing the continent for support from powerful and influential individuals. Historically speaking, this is hardly anything new, as celebrities have played roles in politics for decades. In World War II, the federal government solicited studios to create and distribute wartime propaganda films. During McCarthyism, troves of creative people were put on trial for creating films with Communist sentiments. As recently as the Obama administration, former Disney CEO Bob Iger held close relations and political counsel with the President, giving Mickey Mouse an influential voice of our federal government.
At the same time, political theater is getting all the more theatrical these days. The news feels more like “House Of Cards” everyday. It is entertaining, but unlike drama television, the consequences of real life politics do not end after 58 minutes. They remain authentic and oftentimes quite harsh. Trump proved in 2016 that a melodramatic, highly staged campaign can be triumphant in the modern era. In order to defeat him now, the Left has to hold their own in this sphere, but they are doing their best to uphold truth and dignity while giving the constituents the show they crave.
With recommendations to stay inside and social distance, many people, couples and families in particular have extra time on their hands. What can you do together? Do some online shopping? Read about novel coronavirus or politics? Listen to an Audiobook? Watch TV? Well many have also turned to social media, where there has been an onslaught of creative and funny posts about the real struggles of having to live with other people. Here’s some humorous and relatable content in the form of tweets and videos that have been created while couples/families have been quarantined together.
Many of us have busy lives and couples can sometimes use dinner time as a way to reconnect and “check in” on how each others’ days went. With couples spending much more time together – the feeling of having nothing much to left to say can definitely set in.
Pro-tip for couples suddenly working from home together: Get yourselves an imaginary coworker to blame things on. In our apartment, Cheryl keeps leaving her dirty water cups all over the place and we really don't know what to do about her.
Working remote from home has become an option. When you have a family and young children also at home from school, teleconferences and Skype meetings can get a tad bit messy!
Also the whole blaming coworkers has been a quick and dirty way to pass the buck at work (only half joking) but when you’re at home it’s just you and your partner, so creating an imaginary worker to place blame on is the “perfect” solution!
Usually there is healthy distance between partners. We go to work which is time apart and then normally in the evenings and weekends you spend time together. Having to be together all the time, especially if you live in a one bedroom, frustrations are surely going to kick in. Hopefully ya’ll have healthy communication skills to proactively diffuse any tense scenarios if they will arise. Yet the above are some funny (hopefully very rare and extreme cases!)
The End
divorce lawyers waiting for couples to come out of their house after spending 14 straight days together in quarantine pic.twitter.com/HpyXLFNqMJ
Click to Buy “Love Sense” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
All joking aside, if you are struggling in your intimate relationship and now have some time on your hands and interested in a good read, check out “Love Sense“. Every day, we hear of relationships failing and questions of whether humans are meant to be monogamous.
Love Sense presents new scientific evidence that tells us that humans are meant to mate for life. Dr. Johnson explains that romantic love is an attachment bond, just like that between mother and child, and shows us how to develop our “love sense” — our ability to develop long-lasting relationships. Also Available on Amazon.
Find books on Relationships, as well as many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org
As the preventive measures being implemented to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, many of us are beginning to wonder if, along with the deprivations, there may also be hidden benefits, or at least alternatives to sadness or worry. Movie theaters are closed, gyms are closed, dining in restaurants forbidden, you’ve binged all the latest shows and movies and are looking for something to do other than read news headlines about the novel coronavirus.
What about focusing inward and changing up some of those bad habits/behaviors we’ve been wanting to modify but never seem to have the time? Now seems to be the perfect time to make some personal changes in our lives. And sometimes all is takes is just a little help to be able to implement small changes consistently over time to discover more of your potential.
In case you decide to refresh the ways you think and care about your mind, body or thought process, below we have curated a list of the most popular and time tested titles you can read to make positive changes in your everyday life.
Click to Buy “Get Out of Your Head” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
Are your thoughts holding you captive? I’ll never be good enough. Other people have better lives than I do. God couldn’t really love me. Jennie Allen knows what it’s like to swirl in a spiral of destructive thoughts, but she also knows we don’t have to stay stuck in toxic thinking patterns.
As she discovered in her own life, God built a way for us to escape that downward spiral. Freedom comes when we refuse to be victims to our thoughts and realize we have already been equipped with power from God to fight and win the war for our minds.
In Get Out of Your Head, Jennie inspires and equips us to transform our emotions, our outlook, and even our circumstances by taking control of our thoughts. Our enemy is determined to get in our heads to make us feel helpless, overwhelmed, and incapable of making a difference for the kingdom of God. But when we submit our minds to Christ, the promises and goodness of God flood our lives in remarkable ways.It starts in your head. And from there, the possibilities are endless. Also Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “Atomic Habits” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving–every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you’ll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.
Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Also Available on Amazon.
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be “positive” all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. “F**k positivity,” Mark Manson says. “Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.” In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is–a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited–“not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.” Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.
There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives. Also Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “Make Your Bed” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Based on a Navy SEAL’s inspiring graduation speech, this #1 New York Times bestseller of powerful life lessons “should be read by every leader in America” (Wall Street Journal).
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university’s slogan, “What starts here changes the world,” he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life; and he explained how anyone can use these basic lessons to change themselves-and the world-for the better.
Admiral McRaven’s original speech went viral with over 10 million views. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service who dealt with hardship and made tough decisions with determination, compassion, honor, and courage. Told with great humility and optimism, this timeless book provides simple wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement that will inspire readers to achieve more, even in life’s darkest moments. Available on Amazon and Walmart.
Click to Buy “Daring Greatly” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.“–Theodore Roosevelt.
Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable or to dare greatly. Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Bren Brown PhD, LMSW, dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage.Brown explains how vulnerability is both the core of difficult emotions like fear, grief, and disappointment, and the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, empathy, innovation, and creativity. She writes: “When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It’s about courage. In a world where “never enough” dominates and feeling afraid has become second nature, vulnerability is subversive. Uncomfortable. It’s even a little dangerous at times. And, without question, putting ourselves out there means there’s a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt. But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as standing on the outside of our lives looking in and wondering what it would be like if we had the courage to step into the arena–whether it’s a new relationship, an important meeting, the creative process, or a difficult family conversation. Daring Greatly is a practice and a powerful new vision for letting ourselves be seen. Available on Amazon and Walmart.
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose of-fice she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.
With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is rev-olutionary in its candor, offering a deeply per-sonal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly reveal-ing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them. Available on Amazon and Walmart.
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Check out more of our Book recommendations below. You can also find more books on Self-Help, Personal Transformation and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org
Click to Buy “Little Fires Everywhere” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart
From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned–from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood–and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.
Click to Buy “American Dirt ” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy–two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia–trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?
American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed. It is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page. It is one of the most important books for our times. Also Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “House of Earth and Blood” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night-until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.
With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom-and the power of love. Also Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “Long Range” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
#1 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box returns with a blazing new Joe Pickett novel, in which the Wyoming game warden must investigate a murder that happens on his turf–a murder committed from a confoundingly long distance.
When the wife of a prominent local judge is wounded on Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett’s turf, all signs point to the shot having been taken from an impossible distance. At the same time–just as he’s adjusting to the arrival of his first child–Joe’s best friend, Nate Romanowski, is suspected of being the assassin. All this happens while Joe is attempting to decipher a startling grizzly attack.
Beset by threats both man-made and natural, the two men must go to great lengths to keep their loved ones safe. Also Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “Where the Crawdads Sing” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.
Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.
Click to Buy “The Outsider” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Now an HBO limited series starring Ben Mendelsohn. Evil has many faces…maybe even yours in this #1 New York Times bestseller from master storyteller Stephen King.
An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is discovered in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens–Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon have DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.
As the investigation expands and horrifying details begin to emerge, King’s story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can. Also Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “Ulysses” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
The greatest and most Irish book ever written. Credited with the invention of stream of consciousness prose and widely considered the most important work of the 20th century. “Ulysses will immortalize its author with the same certainty that Gargantuaimmortalized Rabelais, and The Brothers Karamazov James Joyce, the twentieth century’s most influential novelist, was born in Dublin on February 2, 1882. After receiving a rigorous Jesuit education, twenty-year-old Joyce renounced his Catholicism and left Dublin in 1902 to spend most of his life as a writer in exile in Paris, Trieste, Rome, and Zurich. His writings include Chamber Music (1907), Dubliners (1914), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Exiles (1918), Ulysses (1922), Pomes Penyeach (1927), and Finnegan’s Wake (1939). Ulysses required seven years to complete and Finnegan’s Wake, took seventeen. Both works revolutionized the form, structure, and content of the novel. Joyce died in Zurich in 1941.immortalized Dostoyevsky…. It comes nearer to being the perfect revelation of a personality than any book in existence.” –The New York Times
“To my mind one of the most significant and beautiful books of our time.” -Gilbert Seldes, in The Nation
“Talk about understanding “feminine psychology”– I have never read anything to surpass it, and I doubt if I have ever read anything to equal it.” -Arnold Bennett
“In the last pages of the book, Joyce soars to such rhapsodies of beauty as have probably never been equaled in English prose fiction.” -Edmund Wilson, in The New Republic
Oscar Wilde – “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1890)
Click to Buy “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian’s beauty; he believes that Dorian’s beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat’s hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied and amoral experiences; all the while his portrait ages and records every soul-corrupting sin. This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.
C. S. Lewis – “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” (1950)
Four adventurous siblings–Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie–step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice. Journey into the land beyond the wardrobe The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C. S. Lewis’s classic fantasy series, which has been captivating readers of all ages for over sixty years. This is a stand-alone novel, but if you would like journey back to Narnia, read The Horse and His Boy, the third book in The Chronicles of Narnia.
James Joyce – “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” (1916)
His family name is derived from a Greek craftsman who created the Labyrinth and designed wings for himself and his son to fly away from the island they were imprisoned in. But Stephen Dedalus, the young hero of James Joyce’s first novel, is a young man who rises above his baser instincts and seeks a life devoted to the arts. This quintessential coming of age novel describes the early life of Stephen Dedalus. It is set in Ireland during the nineteenth century which was a time of emerging Irish nationalism and conservative Catholicism. Highly autobiographical in nature, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man draws heavily on real events and characters from Joyce’s own life, though he adopts an ironical and often satirical tone. The book is also notable for its being the first one in which Joyce uses innovative “Stream of Consciousness” writing style. A Portrait… follows Stephen Dedalus from his babyhood into early adulthood. One of the most remarkable things about Joyce’s style is that the early chapters are expressed in child like language. For instance, the famous opening lines of the book are, “Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down the road….” These are lines from a story that Stephen’s father tells him as a baby. The final lines “Welcome, O Life I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience…”
After staging his own suicide, a crazed scientist uses his power to become invisible to stalk and terrorize his ex-girlfriend. When the police refuse to believe her story, she decides to take matters into her own hands and fight back. Starring Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Aldis Hodge. Released February 28th, 2020.
Nine-year-old Sophie catches JJ, a hardened CIA operative, spying on her family during a routine surveillance operation. In exchange for not blowing his cover, JJ begrudgingly agrees to show the precocious girl how to become a spy. What at first seems like an easy task soon turns into a battle of wits as Sophie proves you don’t need much experience to outsmart a seasoned agent. Starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman.
Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are — or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted, Crystal, turns the tables on her pursuers. Starring Betty Gilpin, Emma Roberts and Hilary Swank. Released March 13th, 2020.
After he and his wife are murdered, marine Ray Garrison is resurrected by a team of scientists. Enhanced with nanotechnology, he becomes a superhuman, biotech killing machine – Bloodshot. As Ray first trains with fellow super-soldiers, he cannot recall anything from his former life. But when his memories flood back and he remembers the man that killed both him and his wife, he breaks out of the facility to get revenge, only to discover that there’s more to the conspiracy than he thought. Starring Vin Diesel and Sam Heughan. Released March 13th, 2020.
Social Distancing now Impacting World’s Happiest Place
March 12th was a bleak day for Southern California from the beginning. The morning brought in dank temperatures and dark clouds that by midday opened up to a persistent grey rainfall. Amidst the storm, news outlets could only talk about one thing—the coronavirus, which had infected over 150 people in the Golden State at the time. The virus had already led to schools shutting down, movies being delayed, and professional sports leagues such as the MLB, NBA, and NHL suspending their seasons. And as of 1:30 in the afternoon on this tempestuous Thursday, the disease even caused Disneyland, the “Happiest Place On Earth,” to close its doors for the first time in nearly two decades.
In the morning, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a public warning for all Californians to avoid gatherings of 250 people or more. This included urging businesses to temporarily close stores and cancel large events in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At first, the House-Of-Mouse announced that it would be keeping its doors open despite the Governor’s recommendations. In an initial online message, the Walt Disney Company stated that its Anaheim and Orlando parks would stay operational, but implement heightened precautions to ensure everyone’s health and safety. By the early afternoon, however, the entertainment conglomerate changed its mind, and announced that the Anaheim park would shut down from the 14th through the end of the month.
Thousands of people visit Disney each day; they come from all around the world to see it. The last time Disneyland closed was following the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, which speaks volumes to the current situation’s extremity. While it is a shame that so many people must sacrifice their dream vacation due to the unfortunate circumstances, the park’s closure is in the public health’s best interest.
Disney also announced that its hotels surrounding the park will stay in business for guests, that Anaheim’s Downtown Disney will remain open and functioning throughout the hiatus, and that the park will continue to pay its employees despite all interruptions.
Photo / Unsplash
Rival Parks also Decide on Caution
Disneyland was not the only theme park to close its doors on the 12th. Shortly after the company broke the news about its Anaheim park shutting down, it revealed that Walt Disney World Orlando and Walt Disney World Paris would be following suit. Likewise, all Disney cruise lines will be suspended and Universal Studios similarly closed its parks in Los Angeles and Orlando for the rest of the month.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, other Southern California spots such as Six Flags: Magic Mountain, SeaWorld, Legoland, and Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier all chose to remain open. However, each of these attractions’ respective owners made statements ensuring that their businesses are on high alert for guest well-being.
Currently, Governor Newsom, like many politicians across the United States, is trying to coordinate with more business owners and healthcare professionals to make sure the public remains safe. Major parks like Disney and Universal heeding the governor’s advice is a good sign, but other institutions are less keen to comply. Theaters, shopping malls, and casinos in particular have been unwilling to sacrifice their business in light of COVID-19.
Buffalo Games Star Wars – The Mandalorian – The Child – 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle: see on Amazon
The theaters, however, might soon be empty, as more and more movies are pushing back release dates due to the virus. It started with James Bond’s “No Time To Die” getting pushed from April to November a few weeks ago, and now many movies are taking the same precaution. The Fast & Furious franchise’s “F9” has been delayed to 2021; John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place: Part II” was pushed back indefinitely; and Disney shifted its entire cinematic timeline to postpone the releases of “Mulan,” “The New Mutants,” and “Antlers.”
With the exception of the 007 flick that led the charge, all of these movie delays were announced on March 12th, the same dreary, wet day that Disney Parks announced their closure on. All of this corporate obstruction also led to the biggest drop in the stock market since 1987 crash, earning March 12th, 2020 the infamous new nickname: Black Tuesday.
It almost feels like a COVID-19 judgment day for businesses, especially those in the entertainment industry—an industry that managed to thrive through the Great Depression, World War II, and just about every national crisis of America’s past hundred years.
At last, the industry may have met its match. Nevertheless, this is not a true judgment day, but rather an evasion of one. Despite monetary setbacks and temporary closures, March 12th did not demonstrate a downfall. Instead, it demonstrated wise choices on many conglomerates’ behalves to comply with scientific evidence and place public safety above business-as-usual procedures. When the virus eventually passes, these movies, parks, and rides will still be there, and their part-time suspensions for the sustained health of millions will be well worth the wait.
Although these titles are all coming from a perspective that challenges the current resident of the White House, the details are stunning and do matter – great research and reporting can help us to get beneath and beyond the slogans and the rhetoric. With this year being possibly the most important election year in history, staying informed is key. If you are one of the millions of Americans that have suffered during the chaos that President Trump has instigated during his time in office these books might add a deeper level of understanding just how we got to this point and what will be required to change the direction for the better in the next four years.
Click to Buy “Running Against the Devil” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
Donald Trump is exactly the disaster we feared for America. Hated by a majority of Americans, Trump’s administration is rocked by daily scandals, and he’s embarrassed us at home and abroad. Trump can’t win in 2020, right? Wrong.
As 2016 proved, Trump can’t win, but the Democrats can sure as hell lose. Only one thing can save Trump, and that’s a Democratic candidate who runs the race Trump wants them to run instead of the campaign they must run to win in 2020. Wilson combines decades of national political experience and insight in his take-no-prisoners analysis, hammering Trump’s destructive and dangerous first term in a case-by-case takedown of the worst president in history and describing the terrifying prospect of four more years of Trump. Like no one else can, Wilson blows the lid off Trump’s 2020 Republican war machine, showing the exact strategies and tactics they’ll use against the Democratic nominee . . . and how the Democrats can avoid the catastrophe waiting for them if they fall into Trump’s trap. Available on Amazon.
If you’ve asked yourself the question, what more can I do to make sure Donald Trump does not continue to occupy the Oval Office on January 20, 2021?–then this book is for you. A playbook for the common citizen, A Citizen’s Guide to Beating Donald Trump addresses the many things individuals can do in 2020 every day, without having to leave their jobs, move to Iowa, or spend every waking moment on the election. In A Citizen’s Guide to Beating Donald Trump, Plouffe’s message is simple: the only way change happens, especially on scale, is one human being talking to another. It won’t happen magically, it won’t happen because of debates and conventions, it won’t happen because of ads.
It will happen because citizens take action. And Plouffe is here to help, with specific strategies and tailored talking points to make sure your time and energy aren’t wasted. He lays out why different activities the average citizen can take can make a difference to getting to 270 electoral votes, how people can go about doing them and examples of where it’s worked in the past. There are at least 65 million Americans who are likely committed to voting against Trump. It is entirely in our control to grow that number and make sure the support materializes in actual votes. Plouffe arms us with advice on how to defend against misinformation online, how to create and spread content, how to register and get out the vote early, how to make a difference in the battlegrounds and how to stay involved after the big election. Filled with stories from the last sixteen years, both successes and failures, as well as political strategies that have evolved in the wake of the breakthrough campaign that Plouffe masterminded, A Citizen’s Guide to Beating Donald Trump is a pragmatic, specific, and very motivational guide for the path forward. Also Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “Un-Trumping America” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
Dan Pfeiffer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Yes We (Still) Can and cohost of Pod Save America, is back — a sharp political playbook for defeating Trump and saving the nation from Republican-driven disaster.
There is nothing more important than beating Donald Trump in 2020, but defeating Trump is just the start of this timely book. Un-Trumping America offers readers three critical insights: first, Trump is not an aberration, but rather the logical extension of the modern Republican Party; second, how Democrats can defeat Trump in 2020; and third, preventing the likes of Trump from ever happening again with a plan to fix democracy.
“[UN-TRUMPING AMERICA] lays out the path for Democrats to save the day, not by beating Republicans at their own (dirty, he convincingly claims) game but by, like, actually doing democracy.”–Booklist. Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “A Very Stable Genius” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
Washington Post national investigative reporter Carol Leonnig and White House bureau chief Philip Rucker, both Pulitzer Prize winners, provide the definitive insider narrative of Donald Trump’s unique presidency with shocking new reporting and insight into its implications.
“I alone can fix it.” So went Donald J. Trump’s march to the presidency on July 21, 2016, when he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in Cleveland, promising to restore what he described as a fallen nation. Yet over the subsequent years, as he has undertaken the actual work of the commander in chief, it has been hard to see beyond the daily chaos of scandal, investigation, and constant bluster. It would be all too easy to mistake Trump’s first term for one of pure and uninhibited chaos, but there were patterns to his behavior and that of his associates. The universal value of the Trump administration is loyalty – not to the country, but to the president himself – and Trump’s North Star has been the perpetuation of his own power, even when it meant imperiling our shaky and mistrustful democracy. Available on Amazon.
Click to Buy “Everything Trump Touches Dies” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon
In the #1 New York Times bestselling Everything Trump Touches Dies, political campaign strategist and commentator Rick Wilson delivers “a searingly honest, bitingly funny, comprehensive answer to the question we find ourselves asking most mornings: ‘What the hell is going on?’ (Chicago Tribune). The Guardian hails Everything Trump Touches Dies, saying it gives, “more unvarnished truths about Donald Trump than anyone else in the American political establishment has offered. Wilson never holds back.” Rick mercilessly exposes the damage Trump has done to the country, to the Republican Party, and to the conservative movement that has abandoned its principles for the worst President in American history.
Wilson unblinkingly dismantles Trump’s deceptions and the illusions to which his supporters cling, shedding light on the guilty parties who empower and enable Trump in Washington and in the media. He calls out the race-war dead-enders who hitched a ride with Trump, the alt-right basement dwellers who worship him, and the social conservatives who looked the other way. Publishers Weekly calls it, “a scathing, profane, unflinching, and laugh-out-loud funny rebuke of Donald Trump and his presidency.” No left-winger, Wilson is a lifelong conservative who delivers his withering critique of Trump from the right. A leader of the Never Trump movement, he warned from the start that Trump would destroy the lives and reputations of everyone in his orbit, and Everything Trump Touches Dies is a deft chronicle the tragicomic political story of our time. From the early campaign days through the shock of election night, to the inconceivable train-wreck of Trump’s first year. Rick Wilson provides not only an insightful analysis of the Trump administration, but also an optimistic path forward for the GOP, the conservative movement, and the country. Available on Amazon.
In the US and some other nations, bread and wheat products have been cast in the role of villain due to gluten intolerance and related illnesses. In the UK alone, in 2017, there were a reported 10% of the population suffering from some form of intolerance. Such a percentage would translate into tens of millions in the US.
Is bread really the culprit or is there something else going on?
Click to Buy “Tartine Bread” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also on Amazon.
As a disclaimer, let it be stated up-front that there are certainly many people who suffer from conditions such as Celiac Disease who have a very real, hereditary response to gluten which is very serious. Many of the rest of us, however, who are not in that category, may have a situation brought on by a completely different set of circumstances.
Regardless of exact statistics, intolerance to gluten is clearly a “thing”, particularly in the US. Many theories are out there as to the cause, including industrial bread manufacturing methods, suspect ingredients such as emulsifiers used in baking and pesticides on wheat farms. Some have even reported that when intolerant individuals travel to Europe, symptoms disappear, although they eat bread and other gluten containing foods.
An entirely different culture producing a drastically different result: German baking tradition
Click to Buy “Bread on the Table” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also on Amazon.
While American Style bread is also available in Germany, it is rare and not commonly sold in Bakeries but rather only in SuperMarkets. They call it “Toast-Bread” as it’s primary advantage is being square and machine cut, therefore a better fit for a common toaster than the various shapes and sizes of slices cut from what they consider “normal” loaves.
What is considered normal bread is, for example, never sold more than eight hours after baking (except at “day old” scavenger prices). The number of real bakeries, ones that take very seriously the task of making “the daily bread”, per capita is large compared to any US city. This can be dug up in statistics, but is easier to realize by just walking down any street in a German city. Literally every other shop is a small bakery with a dozen different types of bread baked that same morning.
Photo / Adobe Stock
Bakers up at 4am all across every town and city
Another factor is the wide range of fresh ingredients included. A short list of the types of bread and various ingredients is vast, and varies from region to region. Six hundred main bread types are well known and this does not include many specialty breads and rolls.
In addition to wheat, bread is often made with rye, barley, potato, oat, spelt, soy and other lesser known grains. Added seeds, nuts and fruit often include one or more of the following (partial list):
sunflower seeds
pumpkin seeds
poppy seeds
fled seeds
walnuts
raisins
currants
sesame seeds
olives
linseed
hazelnuts
almonds
oat flakes
whole gain groats
whey
In Germany, at any common bakery on the street, most, if not all of the items described above would be available on any given day. No need to go to a special, overpriced “organic” or “gourmet” bakery in some high end neighborhood. Just any average bakery will do.
Oddly, these same ingredients are often touted in online health advice articles – implying that there are health benefits to adding these “special” ingredients to one’s diet, all while other countries have had them as daily menu items for centuries if not thousands of years.
Taking all of the above into account, it should come as little surprise that, in the US, obscure health issues due to the lack or misuse of heretofore standard food items would be on the rise. In the case of gluten intolerance, it rises to practically epidemic proportions. Fixing this for any individual, short of taking residence outside the US, would require extra efforts and involve a possible increase in the cost of nourishment. However, considering the alternatives (suffering with a condition without a cure), it might be well worth it.
Photo Image Courtesy of NASA – Curiosity Mars Rover – Highest resolution available – here –
Curiosity, NASA’s Mars rover first landed on the planet and has been there since 2004 and has taken many images of the Martian surface. None have come close to the details the rover was able to capture and NASA released March 4th, 2020. The largest and highest resolution images ever taken by the Curiosity rover is comprised of over 1,000 individual images from the Mast Camera that spanned four days and six and a half hours of footage between November 24th and December 1st of 2019. To ensure consistent lighting the collection of images were only captured each day between 12-2 p.m. Mars time.
NASA Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada guides this tour of the rover’s view of the Martian surface
The main role of the Mast Camera is to take color images and video footage of surfaces and overall terrain ahead of the rover in Mars. The images are then able to be configured to create panoramas of the landscape. Which can be seen by the image NASA released of the 1.8 billion pixel panorama.
“While many on our team were at home enjoying turkey, Curiosity produced this feast for the eyes.
This is the first time during the mission we’ve dedicated our operations to a stereo 360-degree panorama.”
-Ashwin Vasavada/ Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Panoramas shows “Glen Torridon” a region near Mount Sharp where Curiosity has been exploring. The 360 view the camera was able to obtain gives scientists a little window to another world. Even after seven years on the Red Planet – the mission to exploring Mars has just begun.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover produced this 360-degree panorama of “Glen Torridon,” a region on the side of Mount Sharp.
Mars 2020 Rover has a Name!
The next rover is set to land on Mars, February 18th, 2021 and NASA has just come up with its name…. PERSEVERANCE
Call me Perseverance.
I'm headed for Mars: driven to search for signs of ancient life, test new tech to help future human explorers, and collect the first rock samples for future return to Earth.
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) March 5, 2020
Beautiful Images and Getting Better with Higher Resolution
From NASA: “In 2013, Curiosity produced a 1.3-billion-pixel panorama using both Mastcam cameras; its black-and-white Navigation Cameras, or Navcams, provided images of the rover itself. Imaging specialists carefully assemble Mars panoramas by creating mosaics composed of individual pictures and blending their edges to create a seamless look.”
Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Curiosity’s Mastcam. JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, manages the project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington and built the Navigation Cameras and the rover.
“While many on our team were at home enjoying turkey, Curiosity produced this feast for the eyes,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which leads the Curiosity rover mission. “This is the first time during the mission we’ve dedicated our operations to a stereo 360-degree panorama.”
Listen and Watch below – Lady Gaga’s latest Pop Single from her upcoming album
official music video of “stupid love” by lady gaga
Lady Gaga has just released the full version of her newest song called “Stupid Love” from her upcoming sixth album with an accompanying music video. The music video has also been reported to have been entirely shot on an iPhone (11).
The official music video starts out with the caption that reads:
The world rots in conflict. Many tribes battle for dominance. While the Spiritual ones pray and sleep for peace, the Kindness punks fight for the Chromatica.
Lady Gaga Video Caption
Gaga’s 6th album nicknamed LG6 is also rumored to be titled “Chromatica” – it’s still undetermined whether the new album will follow the same theme as “Stupid Love”.
Lady Gaga is covered from head to toe in hot pink: pink hair in a high pony tail, a pink medallion in the shape of a heart placed on her forehead, as well as pink eye shadow and lipstick no doubt from the artist’s new makeup line Haus Labs.
In an interview for Apple Music, she spoke about the message of the new song, stating “there’s nothing more powerful than love to heal the world”.
The fast paced dance song is very reminiscent of the singer/songwriters past pop songs. The video is a visual treat of vivid pink and many other colors set in an intergalactic / futuristic desert mixed with over the top and catchy choreography with dancers dressed in Mad Max-esque costumes.
Two authors have made headlines as of recent. Passages from Dean Koontz’s book “The Eyes of Darkness” and Sylvia Brown’s book “End of Days” have begun to surface on the web, spooking people out on what many feel is an eerie prediction to what is happening in our world today.
The first book, “The Eyes of Darkness” originally published in 1981 by Koontz is a science fiction novel. The excerpt reads:
They call the stuff ‘Wuhan-400’ because it was developed at their RDNA labs outside of the city of Wuhan, and it was the four-hundredth viable strain of man-made microorganisms created at that research center. ‘Wuhan-400’ is the perfect weapon.
dean koontz “the eyes of darkness” page 333
Although the creep factor is definitely present in Koontz’s book as it specifically names Wuhan which is the city of origin allegedly responsible for the coronavirus. In reality there are no current facts or evidence to suggests that the virus is a lab-made “weapon” and instead most likely transmitted from animals to humans, although World Health Organization (WHO) is still researching the source .
Even more users on social media dug deeper in attempts to decipher potential codes, one being that 400 in the fictional virus name “Wuhan-400” is broken down mathematically when you multiply 20 x 20 that obviously connects to our current year of 2020.
“End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies About the End of the World” by Brown was published in 2008.
In around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.
slyvia brown’s “end of days” page 136
Sylvia Brown's book "End of days" predicted the outbreak as far back as 2006. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ito8rlyJ0I
There are also the same minimal similarities in Brown’s book and reality. The coronavirus which causes the disease now known as COVID-19 has no factual backing that it is resistance of treatment. The human immune system is believed to be able to fight off the disease like that of other cold and flu virus strains, obviously those that have compromised immune systems along with the young and elderly are more at risk. The CDC and WHO have both reported early trials of potential vaccinations and treatments are in clinical trials and are expected to be available soon.
With lots of talk of the coronavirus becoming a pandemic, it is easy for hysteria, panic, and even alarmist behaviors to set in. In general the coronavirus appears to spread from person to person via respiratory (ex: coughing or sneezing) so the best prevention is to maintain and practice good hygiene including washing your hands with soap and hot water and by disinfecting commonly used areas. Also masks don’t do much to prevent infection (only helpful if you are already sick).
Infamous or just Out of Control, New Origin Story Details could Shed light on the Gargantuan Beast
Facebook has been one of the most important enterprises of the twenty-first century so far. With well over a billion users worldwide, few companies have received more coverage and attention than Mark Zuckerberg’s social network, which is only celebrating its sixteenth birthday this month.
Naturally, as the World Wide Web enters its thirties in the 2020s, tech writers and modern scholars in all fields are starting to reference Facebook as a contemporary relic and topic of interest. In the future, we will likely find entire library sections worth of books dedicated to Facebook and its impact on the planet. We have already seen a handful of texts as well as an Oscar nominated David Fincher movie (“The Social Network”) that flesh out the website’s story and societal intricacies.
On February 25th, however, we may finally get an initial, definitive book written about Facebook. Steven Levy’s “Facebook: The Inside Story” is part Zuckerberg biography, part corporate history, part digital humanities study, and part sociological analysis, focusing in intimate detail on the rise, development, impact, and complications that Facebook has undergone since its initial lowly launch out of a 2004 Harvard University dorm room.
Steven Levy is a lead editor at Wired.com and has also written for The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and Esquire amongst other publications. He is one of the world’s foremost technology journalists, covering the latest of industrial achievements (and pitfalls) over the past couple decades. He has published seven books before “Facebook: The Inside Story,” including ones centering on the Macintosh computer and on the iPod. “Facebook” is his first book to focus on a singular website, though, and it is the amalgamation of over ten years worth of research, journalism, and reporting on the topic.
Click to buy “Facebook: The Inside Story” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores
Levy’s relationship with Zuckerberg goes way back to 2006, when the entrepreneur was but a young university student trying to get his inter-collegiate social network site called “TheFacebook” up from the ground. As a devoted reporter, Levy has naturally met with Zuckerberg many times over the years and has religiously followed Facebook since its beginnings.
These years of relationships, interviews, and studious dedication have given Levy a keen insight into Facebook. In addition to unparalleled interpersonal access to Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, the author also incorporates the experiences of other Facebook employees and users into his book, painting a holistic picture of the website from the inside and out.
Levy expertly chronicles the site’s somewhat tragic-hero trajectory, from Facebook’s nefarious beginnings to Zuckerberg’s infamous trial against the Winklevoss twins, from its “golden age” of uncontroversial influence in the early 2010s to its current hot-water situation following the 2016 election Cambridge Analytica scheme and the modern awareness regarding data rights.
Thoroughly Researched with an Attempt at a Definitive Take
Over five-hundred and ninety two pages, the book shares everything in a riveting narrative fashion, but Levy does not spare the reader some thoughtful analysis in the process. Today, we might associate Facebook (not to mention its extensive subsidiaries such as Instagram and Whatsapp) with contentious matters of privacy and ethicality, with grey legal areas and questionable security practices. Mark Zuckerberg’s name alone might evoke feelings of contempt, and one might immediately link him to his blundering appearance before Congress in 2019 or gross examples of an algorithmic dictatorship.
Levy does not shy away from these interpretations and complications surrounding Facebook, but he also reminds us that a time once existed when Zuckerberg was seen as an ingenious hero and Facebook was praised as a platform that could connect the world.
And connect the world it did… but now the consequences of doing so are coming to the foreground. Whether your deleting your account, boycotting the website, or fervently posting updates every hour of the day, Facebook has likely impacted you in someway or another over the past two decades. Thus, Levy’s book is not just an interesting read, but an important one—what is likely to be the first of many exhaustive books written about the network that tethered, shaped, and perhaps shrewdly deformed the modern social world.
The epicenter of the entertainment industry, Hollywood Boulevard has been one of Los Angeles’ biggest tourist attractions for over a hundred years. It’s glamorous Walk of Fame, particularly near the intersection with Vine Street, is iconic and has been the focus of many sensational events and occasions throughout the years.
As dazzling as Hollywood may be to tourists, though, Angelinos have had many complaints about the famed street’s architecture and organization over the years, so much so that the location has undergone several aesthetic transformations during the past few decades.
Now, Los Angeles City Council and specifically Hollywood District representative Mitch O’Farrell has been pushing for a complete overhaul of the area. This renovation would incorporate several changes to the street’s layout, but it would principally offer increased sidewalk space for an improved pedestrian experience.
Hollywood’s Walk of Fame is notoriously crowded. One can hardly appreciate the Stars for all the people walking over them. By widening the sidewalk, people will be able to admire the monuments with comfort, but also walk down the street without having to dodge so many bodies.
Of course, the drawback to a larger sidewalk is decreased road space. Traffic is bad enough in Los Angeles as it is, and some fear that with a wider sidewalk, a narrower street would terribly back up the cars along Hollywood Boulevard. Perhaps this is yet another initiative on LA’s behalf to latently promote public transportation or deincentivize independent driving.
That being said, California (and Los Angeles in particular) enters into 2020 with some bold environmental plans. The Golden State has daring ambitions to go carbon neutral well ahead of the rest of the nation and to drastically decrease its emissions in the coming years. The state has targeted an increased use of electric cars as a paramount means of attaining these goals, but obviously, more action is needed if they truly desire to reach their hefty objectives.
Photo / Gensler / Studio-MLA
Environmental Considerations Should be at the Center of the Planning
Thus, the renovation of Hollywood Boulevard should be seen as an opportunity to make the neighborhood a more eco-friendly urban environment. Unfortunately, not much has been said about this so far. The prospective designs for the updated area—spearheaded by Gensler and Studio-MLA architecture firms—do involve more open air space and trees, though.
This is a good start, but the redesign could also seek ways to incorporate solar panels, increased vegetation, and carbon absorbing surfaces into the landscape. A sleek style certainly does wonders for the street’s aesthetic, but that does not mean that the renovation cannot be functional and progressive at the same time.
Furthermore, there is also a political question as to weather or not refurbishing Hollywood Boulevard at all is the best use of Los Angeles’ taxpayer dollars. Other neighborhoods in the community—South Central, Downtown, or Skid Row for examples—have far worse infrastructure and definitely require more immediate attention.
Likewise, LA’s public transportation system has been highly criticized for decades. If the local government is seeking an urban planning initiative, perhaps it could try refining the city’s metro system for greater accessibility and use.
The obvious argument against all of this is that brushing up the Walk of Fame will increase activity in one of the city’s central commercial hubs. This will help the local economy, eventually earning the city greater funds that it can redistribute to some of LA’s more desperate regions or issues.
It is a strange rewriting of the trickle-down-economics plan that was seldom more than political speech fodder. Nevertheless, Los Angeles already has $4 million in seed money for the project, while some believe that such funds are better placed directly towards more pressing and important causes.
Although the Walk of Fame redevelopment plan has been talked about for months, it is still only in its infancy. It has a long way to go, but hopefully, those in charge of it will not overlook environmental and social justice opportunities when they consider the project’s architectural, political, and ethical implications.
