Feminists, as well as fans of generally entertaining television, would like to thank Arie Luyendyk Jr. for two more hours of productivity each week. To be frank, his season makes many previously devoted fans cringe, and many of us just can’t watch “The Bachelor” anymore.
Up until this past Friday, the Alachua County Jail was accepting comments and concerns about the way in which it operates and manages. Of the few government officials who submitted letters, each one had nothing but positive things to say.
In preparation for writing this column, I perused the internet for its most famous, most well-liked quotes about patience. Patience, I have heard time and time again, is a virtue; good things come to those who wait, so we must remain strong and persevere as the hands of life’s clock tick onward. Stand resolute, stay hopeful.
On Wednesday, Jacob Copeland signed as UF’s wide receiver, and the video of the process went viral. Like most talented high-school athletes, Copeland had a handful of desirable options to choose from. His mother stood right by his side through the stressful decision until he made his choice. Upset her son didn't pick the University of Tennessee, she stormed away from the table and out of the view of the camera. The video immediately went viral through UF and the rest of the nation. The public cast shade at his mom, calling her selfish and criticizing her motherhood. Viewers believed Copeland didn't deserve to be deserted during such an important time in his life.
In our current system, the rich who are arrested quickly post bail, but those who are poor can spend extended periods of time in jail without a conviction. Our justice system must understand, while the punishment should fit the crime, cash bail disproportionately impacts poorer people, making it inherently unfair. In other words: It’s time for Florida to end cash bail.
In “The Wealth of Nations” from 1776, Adam Smith wrote, “nothing is more useful than water.” As much as the father of modern economics believed in a free market, that invisible hand occasionally reached for a glass of water like any other.
In 2005, YouTube was born into existence and would forever change the digital world as we know it. Even though that was only 13 years ago, the internet was still in its infancy. As the first of its kind, YouTube has transformed from a time-killing rabbit hole, filled with cat videos and people “failing,” to a legitimate medium of creation and a source of entertainment poised to surpass traditional television.
The Amazon Echo, more commonly known as “Alexa,” was the star of the Super Bowl — at least if you’re the kind of person who was in it for the commercials. In the ads featuring the virtual personal assistant, after the automatic voice starts to cough, chaos erupts. While Alexa’s sick, Jeff Bezos and some Amazon employees rush to find a replacement. None of them fit the bill: Gordon Ramsay is too hostile, Cardi B plays Bodak Yellow when asked to play country music, and Leslie Jones and J.B. Smoove can’t agree on what romantic advice to give a lovesick user. The voice of Alexa returns, assuring everyone, “I’ll take it from here.”
Today, we can listen to any song in a never-ending music library, and we have the power to stream nearly any movie ever made. But we always seem to revert to familiar classics in both categories. And there’s a reason why.
I grew up watching Super Bowl commercials that worked within the stereotype of them being created for laughter. They were essentially rodeo clowns.
You may recall a story hitting the news in June 2014 about three girls in the woods in Wisconsin. Two 12-year-old girls lured a third into the woods in Waukesha, Wisconsin, attacked her and left her for dead. This past week, the girl who carried out the attack, Morgan Geyser, was sentenced to 40 years in a mental institution. Her accomplice, Anissa Weier, was sentenced in December to 25 years in a mental institution. To provide a little context, Geyser didn't merely attack the third girl, Payton Leutner. She stabbed her 19 times, all over her body. Why in the world would they do this? Apparently, they were trying to appease a character from a popular online horror game called “Slender Man.”
Between all of the chaos to come from this White House administration, it’s been frighteningly easy for us to miss important news or dismiss seemingly innocuous political moves as insignificant. This is something we need to take note of. At this point, we need to learn to ignore nothing.
Manatees are as much a part of Florida’s identity as oranges and Mickey Mouse. Picture, for a moment, a manatee floating effortlessly beneath the water’s surface, looking for a patch of vegetation to munch on before it innocently moves through a precious Floridian body of water. Pretty majestic, right?
With award season closing in on us, it’s that time of the year when we look back on all of the entertainment that graced our screens in 2017. Nothing very obvious changed this year in cinema; the box office was still dominated by "Star Wars" and whatever new superhero releases there were, and the Oscar nominations for Best Picture still consisted of films which the majority of people didn’t see.
In a year where protest and defiance were highlighted in Hollywood, the Grammys, as always, have played it safe. Although the Time’s Up movement has focused more on actresses and directors, sexual harassment and assault has touched the music industry, too. This year, artists have released numerous songs about politics and activism, but this risk-taking was not recognized.
In today’s ultra-connected world, a friend is no longer just a friend.
A couple of weeks ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will change their focus and algorithms. According to a Facebook post, Zuckerberg has tasked his employees to care less about “helping you find relevant content,” and more about “helping you have more meaningful social interactions.” Consequently, your news feed will soon show you less global content and more local content, less CNN and Nike and more from your friends and family. Zuckerberg understands this change as an overdue revival of sorts; a return to what Facebook originally purported to do. He wrote in his post, “We built Facebook to help people stay connected and bring us closer together with the people that matter to us. That's why we've always put friends and family at the core of the experience.”
“Mattel ought to make toys so that little girls can look at you and say, ‘I want to be her,’” Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said from behind her bench at Larry Nassar’s sentencing last week. She continued, “Thank you so much for being here and for your strength.”
Imagine this: It’s about noon, and you’ve been feeling awful all day. No need to worry though — this happens to you every few weeks. You’re in pain, you’re tired and you’re experiencing inexplicable mood swings paired with irritability. You want so badly to curl up in a ball in your bed and lie there for the rest of the day. But you can’t.
Marijuana wasn’t always prohibited. Due to the 1910 Mexican Revolution, many Mexican refugees migrated to the U.S. With an influx of immigrants of a different culture came the rise of xenophobia along the Mexico-U.S. border. According to Eric Schlosser, author of the article “Reefer Madness,” Texas police officers reported marijuana incited “a lust for blood” in Mexicans who used the drug that gave them “superhuman strength.” To further stir fear, rumors began to spread that Mexicans were giving this “killer weed” to American children.
Solutions by The State News
