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'Pantry porn' makes obsessively organized kitchens a new status symbol

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

(The Conversation) - Neatly aligned glass spice jars tagged with printed white labels. Wicker baskets filled with packages of pasta, crackers and snacks. Rows of flavored seltzer water stacked in double-decker plastic bins.In today’s consumer culture, “a place for everything and everything in its place” isn’t just a mantra; it’s big business. Nowhere is this more evident than the kitchen pantry.Most people can relate to finding half-empty cereal boxes squirreled away in the cupboard or letting produce sit just a bit too long in a refrigerator drawer.But for a subset of social media denizens, such sacrileges would never grace their feeds.As someone who studies digital consumer culture, I’ve noticed an uptick in glamorized, stylized and fully stocked pantries on TikTok and Instagram, giving rise to a content genre I dub “pantry porn.”How did the perfectly organized pantry become so ubiquitous in the digital age? And what does it say about the expectations...

David Brooks: Trump and DeSantis could both lose

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

There are two different narratives running through the Republican Party right now. The first is the Trumpian populist narrative we’re all familiar with: American carnage … the elites have betrayed us … the left is destroying us … I am your retribution.On the other hand, Republican governors from places like Georgia, Virginia and New Hampshire often have a different story to tell. They are running growing, prospering states. (Seven of the 10 fastest growing states have Republican governors while 8 of the 10 fastest shrinking states have Democratic governors.)So their stories are not about the left behind; they can tell stories about the places people are leaving for. Their most appealing narrative is: Jobs and people are coming to us, we’ve got the better model, we’re providing businesslike leadership to keep it going.These different narratives yield different political messages. The bellicose populists put culture war issues front and center. The conservative governors certainly pla...

Real World Economics: A needed primer on bank failures

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

Edward LottermanAll of a sudden, shaky banks are back in the news.For codgers like me, 2008 isn’t all that long ago, but for a significant proportion of the economically active U.S. population, this may all be new and strange.And even many economists may wonder, is this the biblical “cloud no bigger than a man’s hand” suddenly rising out of the sea that turns into a torrent of financial failures? Or are Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic and Credit Suisse just anomalous blips that will be forgotten by Memorial Day?Who knows? As pundits by the score debate whether this is a “bailout” that incentivizes “moral hazard,” or a failure or regulation, it is clear that many intelligent laypersons don’t really understand banking. So let’s step back and review relevant basics.Banks are financial intermediaries. They link people who have money now but want to spend it later with others who want to spend now and are willing and able to pay it back l...

Catholic Central basketball team honors classmate's memory

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Catholic Central boys' basketball is on to the state championship game after a 65-52 victory over Southampton. All along the way of this successful season, they’ve been honoring the memory of a beloved classmate and friend. Get the latest news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The boys have been sporting warmup shirts that read "#4Dani in honor of Danielle Marceline, a Catholic Central senior who tragically drowned and died while on vacation in Florida this past December. "She’s one of the first people I met, actually, coming to Catholic High," said freshman guard Darien Moore, "and she was just a nice person. She played volleyball, she knew everybody, and she was just there for everybody, so we wanted to represent her and keep her in our community, and her name alive.” Family of girl who drowned grateful for local support Danielle’s mom, Christine, came out to support the boys' team Saturday in Glens Falls. She...

Photo Gallery: 2023 Los Angeles Marathon

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

The full field of runners in the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Elite Men prepare to run the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Elite Men prepare to run the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Elite Women runners in the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Elite Women runners at the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Elite Women runners at the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Wheelchair athletes kick off the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Runners in Chinatown in the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Runners in downtown Los Angeles during the 2023 L.A. Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Runners in downtown Los Angeles during the 2023 L.A. Marathon. March 19, 2023. (KTLA)Photos from the 38th running of the Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS. The 26.2-mile course begins at Dodger Stadium and ends at Avenue of the Stars in Century City.

“Coroner to the stars” Ed Winter dies at 73 

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

Ed Winter, the Deputy Los Angeles County Coroner who handled the death investigations into some of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities, has died at the age of 73. Winter handled several high-profile death cases during his tenure, including Whitney Houston, Paul Walker, Tom Petty, Brittany Murphy, and most notably, Michael Jackson. He signed Jackson’s death certificate after Jackson’s doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, who was supposed to sign it, reportedly fled the hospital. He famously said that Jackson had "enough Propofol in him to put down a rhinoceros or an elephant."Winter’s first assignment on his first day on the job was the investigation into the death of Lana Clarkson, who was found to have been murdered by Phil Spector. Winter retired from his position as Deputy L.A. County Coroner in 2019 after nearly 17 years on the job. 

Almaden Valley, Rose Garden students’ artworks reveal ‘Unarmed Truth’

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

Six students from Almaden Valley high schools and one from a Rose Garden area campus are among 83 finalists in the annual ArtNow exhibition at New Museum Los Gatos, aka NUMU.NUMU’s Santa Clara County-wide high school art competition drew entries from more than 800 students from Palo Alto to Gilroy.Leland High School students with artwork in the juried exhibit are Akemi Marcotte and Desiree Vu-de Leon. Pioneer High School is represented by Lynn Choe, Namita Hegde, Eleri Kane and Abigail Kifle. Lincoln High School junior Gillian Birdsong also has a piece in the show.The juried exhibition will be on display from March 31 to June 25 at NUMU, located at 106 E. Main St., Los Gatos.This year’s theme, “Unarmed Truth,” was co-created with the ArtNow Teen Council, and students were encouraged to find inspiration from leaders and social movements that helped them understand, embody or uphold a hidden truth as a community.NUMU created the teen council last August to help the ArtNow program to b...

Three Sunnyvale residents sworn in as Court Appointed Special Advocates

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

CASA volunteers sworn inThree Sunnyvale residents were sworn in March 7 as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) through Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, a Milpitas-based nonprofit.Jeanne Hardeback, Yeoung (Gloria) Kim and Stuart Norton were among 22 volunteers who completed a training process to learn how to serve as the go-between for children in the foster care system and court officials.More than 60% of foster youth currently waiting for a CASA volunteer live outside of Santa Clara County, although their case is with the Santa Clara County Dependency Court.“Our agency is grateful that so many individuals are committed to making an impact on the lives of foster youth, near or far,” said Frederick J. Ferrer, CEO of Child Advocates.Volunteer training consisted of 30 hours of self-paced courses and presentations, both online and in person, that covered topics like child development, the dependency court system and inclusionary practices.Child Advocates is looking for CASA volun...

South Bay town hall offers crash course in distracted driving

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

Distracted driving town hallDistracted driving kills nine people in the U.S. every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, whose district includes Los Gatos, aims to increase awareness about the dangers of distracted driving with a telephone town hall on Sunday, March 26, 11 a.m.-noon.Leaders will discuss current laws and practices meant to reduce the likelihood of crashes caused by distractions. Simitian will be joined by Santa Clara County Sheriff Robert Jonsen and the county’s Deputy Public Health Officer Sarah Rudman. Register for the town hall at https://district5.sccgov.org/signupTTH.Free opera in the parkThe San Francisco Opera is coming to Los Gatos March 24-26 to stage three free, abridged performances of “La Bohème” on the Civic Center lawn. Audience members should bring their own chairs—or blankets—to enjoy the show.Performances are Friday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m.Storm supp...

San Jose battalion chief is fired up about his career

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:54:00 GMT

Patrick Chung was just beginning his senior year of high school in 2001 when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 shaped his career path.Chung, now a battalion chief with the San Jose Fire Department, said he had always been interested in the fire service but started to think harder about it after witnessing the “incredibly stoic and honorable” actions of firefighters after the attacks.“That was a really impactful event that happened during a time period of my life where you’re a little more impressionable,” he added.Chung has made an impression in his 16 years with the San Jose Fire Department, moving from firefighter/EMT to fire captain to his current role as the EMS battalion chief, with responsibility for anything in the department that relates to emergency medical response.Chung’s accomplishments are also significant in light of a statistical analysis by job search website Zippia that shows only 1.8% of the approximately 138,819 firefighters employed in the United States as of last Se...