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☆ ‘Desperate Housewives’ at 20: Why Bree Van de Kamp’s style still reigns
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Jemal Polson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —With her witty one-liners, meticulous style and comically stoic demeanor, it’s easy to see why “Desperate Housewives” Bree Van de Kamp became a fan favorite among viewers when it debuted 20 years ago today. The housewives: Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt, Marcia Cross as Bree Van De Kamp, Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo and Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer. Not only is Cross playing a character, Bree is arguably playing one, too. Mixing high-end streetwear and luxury fashion, Adair sourced clothes from all over Los Angeles, where “Desperate Housewives” was shot — cutting up existing garments to make new ones. By the show’s end, Bree moves away from the mystery state Wisteria Lane is situated in, taking up residence in Kentucky.

Persons: Bree Van de Kamp, Susan Mayer, Teri Hatcher, Lynette Scavo, Felicity Huffman, Gabrielle Solis, Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross, Bree, Marc Cherry, Lady Nancy Reagan, Charlotte, façade, Nicollette Sheridan, Edie Britt, Bree Van De Kamp, Andrew Eccles, Catherine Adair, Rex, Adair, Cross, fiancé George, Dina Bar, Charlotte York, Moshe Brakha, Danny Feld, “, ”, Renee, Vanessa Williams, ” Adair, Marcia, Gabrielle, Susan, She’s Organizations: CNN, Globes, Disney, Housewives Locations: Wisteria Lane, Charlotte York, Los Angeles, Kentucky

☆ Why Slurs Are Back in Left-Leaning, Liberal Language
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Julia Pugachevsky | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

A few weeks ago, I started asking left-leaning people their thoughts on slurs being peppered into everyday conversations. An inclusive eraKayla Cash, a 31-year-old PR manager, grew up using words she now considers offensive. Some of the language felt ubiquitous; she remembers the 2004 release of "Let's Get It Started," the Grammy-winning Black Eyed Peas hit that was originally released as "Let's Get Retarded." It was billed as discussions between two "bohemian layabouts" who called out performative aspects of progressive politics — while using language more often associated with the right, such as that offensive term for someone with intellectual disabilities. Looser language and new rulesEveryone I talked to for this story had rules for which words they would and wouldn't say.

Persons: It's, I've, Kayla Cash, Cash, Obama, Ari Lightman, Lightman, Seth MacFarlane, Kevin Hart, Robbie Goodwin, would've, Donald Trump, Goodwin, Reagan, who've, Zach Beauchamp, Ezra Klein, Beauchamp, Joe Rogan, Elon Musk Organizations: University of Idaho, Rosa's Law, Twitter, Carnegie Mellon University, New York Times, Yorker, Vox, Democratic Locations: Vietnam, Brooklyn

☆ Very demure, very mindful: How TikTok’s latest catchphrase came to be
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Traditionally, women considered “demure” behave in a way that is modest, reserved and inoffensive to the point that they’re barely visible. “That’s the joke!”The satire is clearest in a clip in which she asserts that she’s going to behave in a demure, mindful way while going out on the Las Vegas Strip. (The Lincoln Project also made its own “demure” video making fun of Vance and his appearance.) “One thing you need to learn about being demurity, about being demure –– being demure is being mindful, and being mindful includes your f**king self,” she says. Be mindful, be demure and don’t ever let no b*tch dull your shine.”

Persons: Lebron, ”, Marge Simpson, Patty, Selma, “, who’s, she’ll, it’s, you’ve, She’s, Kamala Harris ’, Donald Trump, Ohio GOP Sen, JD Vance, Vance, dainty, “ Chase Organizations: CNN, ”, Texas, Las, Taco Bell, CVS Pharmacy, Lebron, Ohio GOP, Lincoln Locations: Ohio

☆ I love Quarter Pounders. But I don’t get why people enjoy chicken
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Saira Mueller | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

I’ve never really understood why people enjoy eating chicken. Like the frenzy of people crowding Chick-fil-A or Popeyes when a limited-edition chicken sandwich goes on sale, as if it were the latest iPhone release. Or the fact that there’s something called the “chicken sandwich wars,” which could return in 2024 — thanks in part to the recent limited release of two new McDonald’s crispy chicken sandwiches. Compared to the aroma of freshly baked bread or the sizzle of bacon — scents that beckon me closer — the fried chicken smell is like an unwelcome intrusion. Why exactly do you enjoy eating chicken?

Persons: CNN —, I’d, ”, Shannon Stapleton, chow, Homer Simpson, I’ve, Michael Nagle, ” I’m, I’m Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: Louisiana, New York City, New York, South Africa

Political preferences are often summarized on two axes. models allows us to see how a model’s political preferences develop. Source: Rozado (2024), The Political Preferences of LLMsWhat determines the political preferences of your A.I. Political preferences learned from those topics may then be broadly applied across the board to many other subjects as well. If one wants to steer this process directionally, Mr. Rozado proves it is straightforward to do.

Persons: Chatbots, Tomi Um, David Rozado, Rozado’s, —, ’, Elon Musk, ” A.I, Google’s Gemini, tinker, Rozado, RightWingGPT, LeftWingGPT, chatbots Organizations: Google, Big Tech, Conservative, Government, Self, Mr, Liberal, Democratic, Yorker, YouTube, Facebook Locations: A.I, —, America

☆ Taylor Swift's bad fashion isn't bad taste. It's strategy.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Savannah Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

AdvertisementIn December, Taylor Swift — Time's Person of the Year — glittered in front of the camera in a black bodysuit, a floor-skimming chenille dress, and a studded bustier gown. Crafting Swift's public imageThe Swiftian brand philosophy revolves around one essential idea: Taylor Swift is everyone's best friend. These choices are attainable, predictable, and unthreatening — purchases made by your best friend during a mall shopping spree. Lauren Sherman , Fashion Correspondent at Puck News , astutely labeled Swift's style as "Anthropologie Gone Wild" — mismatched, outdated, pedestrian, but instinctual. He's been running his own fashion brand for 20 years .

Persons: Taylor Swift, —, inoffensive, Swift, Jean Paul Gaultier, She's, doesn't, J, Lauren Sherman, astutely, Sherman, Swift's, Joseph Cassell Falconer, bedazzled Zuhair Murad bodysuits, Cookie Cohen, Taylor, Cohen, Yves Saint Laurent, they're, Kevin Mazur, Pharrell, Louis Vuitton, Rihanna, He's, Angelina Jolie Organizations: Service, Chiefs, Balmain, Urban Outfitters, Fashion, Puck, Swift, The New York Times, MTV Locations: Zara

☆ Elon Musk blames 'spam/scam bot' for some pictures on X being labeled 'graphic content'
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some images on X were labeled as "graphic content" due to a "scam bot," Elon Musk said. It's the latest technical problem to hit X since Musk took control of the social media site. The social media site said numerous posts were "incorrectly labeled" as "sensitive media" in the latest technical problem, which Elon Musk blamed on a "spam/scam bot." pic.twitter.com/hpvzMBPwxS — Josiah Kennealy (@JosiahKennealy) January 21, 2024Musk acknowledged the issues in an X post , writing that "an X spam/scam bot accidentally flagged many legitimate accounts today. We've fixed the underlying issue and are now working to remove labels from impacted posts," X said.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, —, hpvzMBPwxS, Josiah Kennealy Organizations: Service

☆ I took psyllium husk, a cheap fiber supplement that eases indigestion and constipation. I was amazed by how quickly it helped.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Rachel Hosie | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Psyllium husk is a cheap fiber supplement that can boost gut health and aid digestive issues. I took psyllium husk for three weeks and was shocked by how big an impact it had and how fast it worked. My digestive symptoms settled down in week twoIn my second week of taking psyllium husk, everything settled down a bit. The texture of psyllium husk was too hard to overcomeIt's been a couple of weeks since I stopped taking psyllium husk and my body has returned to its previous state. I definitely think I was benefitting from taking psyllium husk, so I still plan on finding a way to incorporate it into my diet.

Persons: —, Kate Hull, Emily Porter, Porter, Rachel Hosie, constipated, It's, I'm Organizations: Service, Business Locations: South Asia

☆ The noise from pickleball courts is driving everyone crazy. Scientists are trying to come up with a solution.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementNow, scientists are looking into everything from acoustic fabrics to court spacing in a bid to come up with a solution. Why is pickleball noise so annoying? The engineer founded Pickleball Sound Mitigation LLC, a firm that specializes exclusively in the sport, per The Hustle. AdvertisementThe organization hopes the "quiet category" could soon "encompass a wide range of products, including paddles, balls, paddle covers, and noise mitigation screens for pickleball courts," the statement. USA Pickleball is also compiling a list of acoustic experts trained to help dampen the noise of the game, per Axios.

Persons: —, Sue, Ellen Welfonder, she'd, Nicole Laffan, Laffan, RJ Sangosti, Kausik Sarkar, Braxton Boren, WUSA9, Boren, Bob Unetich, Unetich, Pickleball, Carl Schmits Organizations: Service, Washington Post, Fitness Industry Association, New York Times, Northeastern Global, MediaNews, Denver, Getty, George Washington University, University, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Locations: British Columbia, Washington, Denver , Colorado, USA

☆ Opinion: Why Vivek Ramaswamy’s swipe at Nikki Haley was so off base
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Opinion Jeff Vasishta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —In a move surprising even for a mercurial figure like Vivek Ramaswamy, the millionaire businessman this past week took a backhanded swipe at fellow Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. For many Indian Americans and many Anglo Indians like me, Ramaswamy’s line of attack might not seem particularly surprising. With his jab at Haley, Ramaswamy almost certainly was not looking to ingratiate himself with Indian Americans. And on the whole, surveys show that nearly seven in 10 Indian voters in the United States identify as Democrats or lean Democratic. This did Ramaswamy no favors with Indian voters, especially Indian women.

Persons: Jeff Vasishta, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Alex Garcia, Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, Narendra Modi, “, Ramaswamy –, Haley, Ramaswamy, Barack Obama, Haley —, Ramaswamy —, — weaponized, ingratiate, Biden, Kamala Harris, —, Donald Trump, Obama, won’t, We’re Organizations: Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, CNN, Democratic National Convention, Indian, UN, Republican, Trump, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Rolling, South Carolina, British, India, United States, Silicon Valley, Milwaukee, New York, America

☆ Opinion | Winners and Losers of the First Republican Debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +22 min

Welcome to Opinion’s commentary for the first Republican presidential primary candidate debate, held in Milwaukee on Wednesday night. Gail Collins: She seemed generally reasonable and wow, when the debate turned to education and she actually brought up reading. If there’s any life left in the old G.O.P., Haley gave it hope. Perhaps more important, in taking on the glib and callow Ramaswamy on Ukraine, she showed anger and dominance, essential qualities in a Republican debate. Any debate that doesn’t feature Chris Christie at the front of the highlight reel is a bad night for Christie.

Persons: Jamelle, Nikki Haley, Haley, Gail Collins, Matthew Continetti, G.O.P, Michelle Cottle, —, Trump —, Ramaswamy, suburbanites, Ross Douthat, David French, Reagan, Michelle Goldberg, callow Ramaswamy, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Katherine Mangu, Christie, “ Trump, “ Donald Trump, Daniel McCarthy, Vivek, Bret Stephens, Mike Pence’s, Mike Pence, Pence, Mike, Vivek ”, Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump, ”, he’ll, Jesus, Ramaswamy —, ChatGPT —, you’ve, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, He’s, Joe Biden, Martha MacCallum, Ron DeSantis, Hunter Biden, DeSantis, Donald Trump, MAGA, pander, smartly, Sharp, Biden, refighting, Ron, Hutchinson, clearheaded, Still, Scott, Tim Scott, Meh, ” Daniel McCarthy, Pleasant, Donald Trump’s, wasn’t, I’d, Ramaswamy’s, callow, I’m, insufferable, Preening, Doug Burgum, Achilles, Burgum, he’s, Asa Hutchinson, Trump’s, Asa Hutchinson didn’t, didn’t Organizations: Republican, Republican Party, Trump, Ramaswamy, Pence, Pious, Trump Republicans, MSNBC, Fox, Department of Justice, United Nations, Energy, Department of Education, Republicans Locations: Milwaukee, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ukraine, America, Mexico, Florida, Covid, China, MAGA, Arkansas

☆ I'm a college senior. Here's what I recommend all incoming freshmen get for their dorm rooms — and everything they can leave at home.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Arundhati Ghosh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I recommend incoming college freshmen buy steamers and dry-erase boards for their dorms. As a senior at the University of Texas at Austin, I know how stressful dorm shopping can be. The mattress topper is also not likely to transfer to your college apartment once you leave dorm life behind. You probably won't need a bed caddyPretty much anything you would put in a bed caddy just ends up on your desk or on the shelf or drawers you get assigned. A diffuser can annoy your new roommateHaving a diffuser probably won't be allowed in your dorm building, but it's also something that could disturb the peace with your roommate.

Persons: I'm, They're, they're, it's, It's, — Organizations: University of Texas, Service, Privacy Locations: Austin, Wall, Silicon

☆ Cool-girl brand Aritzia made employees rate each other's appearances, discriminated against Black salespeople, and fostered a culture of fear, some ex-staffers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Nichole Jankowski | Isabella Zavarise | Brianna Holt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

They said 54% of Aritzia employees and 60% of retail employees identified as BIPOC but declined to provide a breakdown of those statistics. Insider spoke with 53 current and former Aritzia employees, several of whom said that while the world of fashion is notoriously cutthroat, working at Aritzia was particularly grueling. Aritzia's spokesperson said the company's success was a "direct result of its high-performance culture." (In a statement of defense filed with the court on July 5, the store manager and Aritzia denied all allegations. A former Ontario store manager said that shortly after she was hired, the manager of store operations asked if she had a boyfriend.

Persons: Brian Hill, Hill, Kendall Jenner, Meghan Markle, Jennifer Lopez, Aritzia, Lindsey Adelman, Melina, Isabel Slone, Max Mumby, Aritzia's, Carly Bishop, Brian, Jennifer Wong, who's, Wong, Robson, We're, George Pimentel, Heather McLean, Hill's, Tim Hortons, Kendalls, —, Todd Korol, Jessica Porter, weren't, Candace Jerry, Anyango Juma Miguna, Miguna, Hannah, Kaycelyn Pascual, Pascual, couldn't, Nadia Mahammed, Mahammed, she'd, George Floyd, they'd, Todd Ingledew Organizations: Aritzia, Euromonitor International, Aritzia's, Queen's University, Fashion, Globe, Toronto Star, Getty, SPH, Employees, British Columbia Human, Product, Estate Development, Business Locations: Toronto, Vancouver, Ontario, Aritzia, ascot, Canada, Aritzia's Vancouver, Canadian, New York City, Aritzia's Paramus , New Jersey, Newmarket , Ontario, British, New York

☆ Are We Doomed to Witness the Trump-Biden Rematch Nobody Wants? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

We continue to have a deeply divided Congress and electorate, a good chunk of which is still maniacally in Trump’s corner. A Biden-Trump rematch feels like a concession, as if we couldn’t do any better or have given up trying. The sentiment most Democrats seemed to muster in Biden’s favor while he was running was that he was inoffensive. Democrats and the media seem to have become more vocal in pointing out the hazards of Biden’s advancing age. When asked point blank whether it’s time for him to step aside, Biden said, almost tangentially, “I just want to finish the job.”

Persons: Biden, He’s, Trump, Biden’s mutter, ”, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dianne Feinstein, Biden shouldn’t, Nicolle, Fareed Zakaria, Biden waded, Xi Organizations: Biden, Trump, Blacks, Democrats, MSNBC Locations: Trump’s, China

☆ Let’s Talk About the Bathroom Scene
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Dwight Garner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Alfred Hitchcock once told François Truffaut he wanted to make a film that would examine a city entirely through food and, unusually, waste. He would show the arrival of meat and produce into a metropolis, “its distribution, the selling, how it’s fixed up and absorbed. “Dish and pot, dish and pot, these are the poles,” his narrator says in “Malone Dies.” The dish, we discuss freely: Food, in literature and elsewhere, is part of what we talk about when we talk about culture. They are life, as much as sex is life — maybe more so, because people’s sex lives dwindle but this need does not. There is no defecatory equivalent of the inoffensive, neutral ‘sex.’” But we will do our best.

Persons: Alfred Hitchcock, François Truffaut, ” Samuel Beckett, “ Malone, Milan Kundera, Rose George, ’ Locations: Milan

☆ Oklahoma governor wages war on PBS station after claiming it is indoctrinating children with LGBTQ content
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —America’s most-watched PBS station is on the verge of going dark. The Republican governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, recently vetoed a bill that would have renewed the license and provided millions in funding for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, the statewide PBS network that reaches more than 650,000 viewers a week. The fundamental goal of PBS KIDS remains supporting children as they learn and grow through programming they have come to know and love. While the Oklahoma station receives $6.3 million in funding from donors and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, $2.9 million comes from the state government. It produces and airs the “Oklahoma News Report,” the only state news program that reaches every county in Oklahoma.

☆ Alphabet-backed Anthropic outlines the moral values behind its AI bot
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The moral values guidelines, which Anthropic calls Claude's constitution, draw from several sources, including the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and even Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) data privacy rules. Anthropic was founded by former executives from Microsoft Corp-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI to focus on creating safe AI systems that will not, for example, tell users how to build a weapon or use racially biased language. Co-founder Dario Amodei was one of several AI executives who met with Biden last week to discuss potential dangers of AI. Anthropic takes a different approach, giving its Open AI competitor Claude a set of written moral values to read and learn from as it makes decisions on how to respond to questions. "In a few months, I predict that politicians will be quite focused on what the values are of different AI systems, and approaches like constitutional AI will help with that discussion because we can just write down the values," Clark said.

☆ Disney has a ‘strong case’ against DeSantis over his ‘retaliatory campaign,’ First Amendment experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Disney just cast Ron DeSantis as the villain in a story of good versus evil. DeSantis responded to the lawsuit by issuing a statement through his communications director, Taryn Fenske. “It’s a serious First Amendment case,” Floyd Abrams, the renowned First Amendment attorney of Pentagon Papers fame, told me. The truth is that characterizing Disney as a creepy company that aims to morally bankrupt kids has become a mainstream position in GOP media circles. DeSantis knows this — which is why he was happy to pick this battle with the company.

☆ Wall Street Journal insiders are buzzing about what a leadership shake-up could mean for Murdoch world
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sunday Times editor Emma Tucker is expected to replace Journal editor Matt Murray, Semafor reported. News Corp insiders believe Murdoch might make changes ahead of a possible recombination of News Corp and Fox. Is Rupert Murdoch planning to move his editorial chess pieces ahead of a potential recombination of News Corp and Fox? Last month, Semafor reported that Wall Street Journal editor Matt Murray is expected to be replaced by Emma Tucker, who leads fellow News Corp title The Sunday Times in London. That report followed the October disclosure that Murdoch is considering recombining News Corp with Fox Corp, with both companies convening special committees to review options.

☆ Twitter's clumsy handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story spurred enough bipartisan criticism to risk the existence of the internet as we know it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Twitter's decision to throttle stories about Hunter Biden's laptop prompted bipartisan criticism. Some lawmakers have since called to repeal Section 230, a law "that created the internet." The criticism has since intensified a movement to repeal Section 230, which could change the Internet forever. Much of Taibbi's thread focused on Twitter's handling of the New York Post's October 2020 story about Hunter Biden's laptop, which the Post reported was left in a Delaware repair shop. Representatives for Khanna did not answer questions about the congressman's current position on whether or not to repeal Section 230.

☆ This is the best dish you could serve at Thanksgiving
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Casey Barber | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —As iconic Thanksgiving dishes go, stuffing is likely runner-up only to turkey as the dish most often on the dining table. Classic bread stuffing and variationsA traditional bread and herb stuffing is a fan favorite for many reasons. Think of this basic stuffing recipe as a jumping-off point for bringing more main dish energy to the table (especially if you’re considering a turkey-free or plant-based Thanksgiving this year). In place of meat-based ingredients, nuts, seeds and dried fruit can also bring in flavor and textural interest. Chestnut stuffing was once as popular as oyster stuffing, as the meaty but tender nuts give the dish a subtly earthy and sweet undertone.

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