Well, my friends, the time has come for us to gather together in celebration of the new year. I, for one, am trying something very different this year where I will not be setting any major resolutions to make good on before this time, next year. Now, this is due to my lack of followthrough on previous resolutions from other years, but much more than that, I want to take this year much slower and not try and plan out every last detail. I can assume that each and every one of you has something you’d like to improve with yourself, whether it be mental, physical, or emotional. I fully support you taking the steps necessary to work on these things, but I hope that, as we head into 2019, you take it easy on yourselves when making said changes.
Furthermore, have a happy new year, and here’s what you missed in the news over the weekend.
A Case For Racism
After two days of searching for Gustavo Perez Arriaga, a man responsible for killing a California police officer, he was captured in Bakersfield, California, roughly 200 miles southeast of where the shooting took place. While I am in no way supportive of anyone being killed, the rhetoric used over the weekend to vilify Arriaga has bordered on severe racism. One police officer, Sheriff Adam Christianson, who led the investigation into the shooting, went on record blaming California’s sanctuary law for preventing local police from arresting Arriaga earlier in the year.
A community vigil was held in honor of the police officer who was shot. His department chief commented:
“This is a man that loved his country. This is a man that worked hard for what he believed in. He believed in community.”
–Chief Randy Richardson
What’s In The (Bird) Box?
To those of us who like to keep our fingers on the pulse of pop culture, I’m sure you’ve seen a recent surge in memes referencing Netflix’s (NFLX) new film, “Bird Box,” starring Sandra Bullock. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, you’ve 100% seen a photo of Bullock completely blindfolded. Well, according to the streaming giant, over forty-five million users watched the film over this weekend. Interestingly enough, when Netflix (NFLX) releases statistics like this, they have no way of knowing whether someone watched the entire film, all they know is that 45 million people started watching at least 70 percent of the total running time of the film.
“I’m fairly sure Bird Box is a phenomenon of some sort, but without verifiable data or comparative data for context, a Netflix-Affiliated Twitter feed coming down from on-high with suspiciously specific (and yet entirely vague) data is the epitome of nonsense.”
–Daniel Feinberg, Hollywood Reporter
