Impossible Standard of Beauty

 "capitulating to a yet another impossible standard of beauty?" 

They say "impossible" but since we're talking about a type of surgery which is commonly done, I think they don't really know what impossible means.  Things like being in good physical condition are hard.  Hard and impossible don't mean the same thing.  Also, the standard of beauty is not defined or axiomatic, nor is it compulsory.  People should stop falling for the idea that they are slaves being given orders which cannot be carried out.  If you want to look a certain way, accept that the price may be high, monetarily or in the level of effort required.

NYT

Wordle 980

 

I AM BURGER KING, LOOK UPON MY WEBSITE AND DESPAIR

I saw an intriguing video ad on Twitter (X).  It was a $5 your way meal.  There was a link in the tweet.  Look as I might, I not only failed to find any mention of $5 your way meals, I also and as a matter of pure logic, could not find out what options were available.

Lots of other sites had the details:

Includes choice of Whopper® Jr., Bacon Cheeseburger, or Chicken Jr., plus value fries, 4 pc. chicken nuggets, and a value soft drink.

I ultimately found this information on their site, but not by navigation through the link they provided--I googled it and got a URL with the information.

https://www.bk.com/terms

Roasted yellow potato

Roasted yellow potato--easy and tasty! Clean the outside of an unpeeled Yukon Gold potato. Cut in half. Roast with about two tablespoons of olive oil in a 380F oven--I used a small cast iron skillet. Start with the skin side down and then turn every 10-15 minutes for an hour. You can garnish with kosher salt at any point in the process. After they are on the plate, squeeze each potato to create an opening in the top and pour the remaining hot olive oil into the opening you've made.

Wordle 979

 

Patriotic Socialism

I had two illuminating run-ins with fascism, Italian style: My father's side of the family were all off-the-boat from Southern Italy. I was making the rounds with my new wife, 32 years ago and stopped by a 90 year-old uncle's place. My dad was Republican but all of the older, born in Italy relatives were devoutly Democrat and this uncle was no exception. In our chit-chat, he brought up that the US needed a strong Democratic leader, somebody like Mussolini.

Many years later, my wife and I took a trip to Rome and the Amalfi Coast for our 25th anniversary. Part of the tour package was a bus ride through Rome, with a nice long stop at the Colosseum. Here and there, the guide pointed out some things done by Mussolini and/or done during that era. There was no tone or sense that they considered him an unusual leader.

I think the reason is that Italians understand fascism more correctly than Americans. To simplify: It is a variety of socialism, which is also patriotic/nationalistic. Italians are mostly pretty agreeable to socialism and most people in most places are proud of their country.

Italians in general, probably not their leftist showbiz types, but generally, are pretty neutral about fascism, very different from Germans with their form of fascism.

Different Frames

How a thing is framed can, temporarily or permanently, trick a person into thinking a certain way.  Here are two examples.

How come insurance covers Viagra but not birth control?  Setting aside one frame, that most insurance covers only one of these and not the truth, that most insurance covers both, let's take the statement as factual.  The frame is pleasure.  If a man needs Viagra, he cannot enjoy sex without it.  If a woman does not use birth control, the pleasure of sex can have a side-effect of an unwanted pregnancy.  Another frame which could be used is normal biological function.  If a man cannot achieve an erection, this is a disfunction.  Viagra treats this disfunction.  Becoming pregnant is normal for young healthy women who have sex. Birth control isn't treating a medical problem, it's creating a convenient disfunction. In this frame, they're close to opposites.

Another example:

The North defeated the South in the Civil War.  This is true and Northerners, of which I am one, perhaps take some sort of pride in this.  Another frame, is that the Republican side defeated the Democratic side.  This is also true and would tend to cheer up the South and dispirit the North, since the South is mostly Republican now and the North is mostly Democrat.

Wordle 978

 

A short story of decline

Obama was overrated, but still talented. He picked Biden, who was 2nd rate but rounded out the ticket. Biden in turn, picked Harris (who 2nd rate Biden, thought was 2nd rate), to round-out his ticket.

Wordle 977

 

24th loss Wordle 976

 Last loss, here

Wordle 975