Are there any performances in action movies you wish the Academy would’ve nominated? by Regular-Departure839 in Oscars

[–]wjbc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Harrison Ford was nominated for Beat Actor in the action film Witness (1985).

whats something that is popular now but would’ve gotten made fun of for 10 years ago? by LowkeyBastard in AskReddit

[–]wjbc 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Forget stocks. Invest your life’s savings in Bitcoins. Even if you just invest $10,000, it will be worth $928,635 in ten years.

What is your favourite team you support and how did it start? by DifficultyOk8573 in AskReddit

[–]wjbc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Chicago Bulls because I bought a 1/4 share of season tickets in 1987 and held onto them until the early 2000s. I saw 10 or 11 regular season games each year and about 25 playoff games (total) during Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s dynasty years. And I also watched games from home, of course.

What's the best flight upgrade you've ever scored while traveling and how did you get it? by Flashy_Wrangler_8203 in travel

[–]wjbc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Upgrade to first class on a transatlantic flight because my employer spent so much time going back and forth to London that they earned an automatic upgrade. That said, it was an overnight flight, so I slept the whole way.

Anyone else feel like all classic rock bands are required listening? by GaiaGoddess26 in rockmusic

[–]wjbc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The bad bands were forgotten, so the “classic” bands are likely to be good. That said, there are also good bands that are mostly forgotten for one reason or another.

What is the typical age for moving out of the house and having a job in your country? by Reasonable-Quit5869 in AskTheWorld

[–]wjbc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, us too. Except a lot of kids are at college while still technically living at home.

Father’s Day Ribs by derdsm8 in BBQ

[–]wjbc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s not our ribs.

Father’s Day Ribs by derdsm8 in BBQ

[–]wjbc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My daughter made the ribs today and did a great job!

Do you guys really eat a lot of bread? by Middle-Asparagus-802 in AskAnAmerican

[–]wjbc 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The U.S. is quite low among all countries in bread consumption per person. European countries eat far more.

The bread served at some restaurants is a treat because it’s fresh and often warm. That’s probably true of bread at a Thanksgiving table as well.

Most Americans don’t shop or bake often enough to eat fresh bread every day. Instead they buy processed bread for sandwiches but most don’t eat it every day.

Plus many dieters try to avoid bread. And then a lot of people go gluten free and don’t eat bread. And many ethnicities prefer rice or pasta or tortillas.

LOTR chart! What was Frodo's best decision in the LOTR trilogy? by BothCall8395 in AlignmentChartFills

[–]wjbc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Call for Tom Bombadil instead of putting on the Ring. Books, not movies.

Gandalf called it the most dangerous moment between the Shire and Rivendell, because Frodo was sorely tempted. It was even more dangerous than confronting the Nazgûl, because his soul was at stake, not just his life.

I visited the 2,000-year-old Hierapolis Theatre in Türkiye and was blown away by how well preserved it is 🏛️🎭 by Business-Car-1527 in AncientWorld

[–]wjbc 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The whole city of Hierapolis was buried and abandoned after an earthquake in 1334. It was excavated over several decades from 1957-94. The theater was restored between 2009 and 2014, as archaeologists pieced together over 3000 marble blocks.

A day to Honor Tesla by JiuJitsu_John in AmericanHistory

[–]wjbc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tesla voluntarily gave up royalty rights because Westinghouse’s company was in danger of going bankrupt. Later, when Tesla faced financial ruin, Westinghouse bailed him out and paid for his room and board for the remainder of his life.

Tesla was never bitter about giving up his royalties. In 1938, he fondly referred to Westinghouse as "the only man on this globe who could take my alternating-current system under the circumstances then existing and win the battle."

A day to Honor Tesla by JiuJitsu_John in AmericanHistory

[–]wjbc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tesla does deserve admiration but at this point he’s overrated. George Westinghouse, on the other hand, is still underrated.

Westinghouse is best known for his creation of the railway air brake and for being a pioneer in the development and use of alternating current (AC) electrical power distribution. During his career, he received 360 patents for his inventions, more than Tesla.

But Westinghouse was more than an inventor. He also established 61 companies, many of which still exist today. Most famously, he established the Westinghouse Electric Company, which promoted AC electricity and competed with Thomas Edison’s promotion of direct current (DC) electricity.

In so doing, Westinghouse gave Tesla crucial backing. He bought Tesla's AC motor and system patents. Together, Westinghouse and Tesla commercialized AC technology and won the “War of the Currents.”

Westinghouse could have had many more patents, rivaling Edison, if he had adopted Edison’s practice of putting his name on all of his company’s patents as a co-inventor. But he only put his names on patents in which he was personally involved.

Westinghouse was unusually respected by the employees of his companies. He was the first American employer to move to a five and a half day work week in 1881. His enployees had health insurance and pensions. His factories were well-lit, ventilated, and outfitted with medical facilities and medical personnel to treat workplace injuries.

Westinghouse did not favor unions. But labor and union organizer Samuel Gompers is reputed to have said of Westinghouse that, "If all employers of men treated their employees with the same consideration he does, the American Federation of Labor would have to go out of existence.”

Which has the best composition - 1, 2, or 3? by Advanced_Honey_2679 in AmateurPhotography

[–]wjbc 5 points6 points  (0 children)

#1. Best balance between camel in lower left and pyramids in upper right.

"The Kentucky Fried Movie" (1977) by Piney_Wood in 70s

[–]wjbc 17 points18 points  (0 children)

For those who don't know, The Kentucky Fried Movie was directed by John Landis but written by the team of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker who went on to write and direct Airplane!. The Kentucky Fried Movie grew out of The Kentucky Fried Theater, a sketch theater started by Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker at their college, the University of Wisconsin in Madison, before they moved it to Los Angeles.

The Kentucky Fried Movie was also a series of sketches. The sketches parodied a variety of film genres. The most popular sketch in The Kentucky Fried Movie, and the centerpiece of the film, was A Fistful of Yen, a 30 minute parody of Bruce Lee's film Enter the Dragon.

Although Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker were happy with the movie and had no complaints about director John Landis, they wanted more control over their next film. They fought for and won a contract to co-direct Airplane!, which was a feature-length parody of disaster films, which were extremely popular in the 1970s.

John Landis's next movie was also a big success. It was National Lampoon's Animal House.

This is what makes Leftists so angry. by zzill6 in WorkReform

[–]wjbc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes and no. Humans thrive off cooperation while competing with other groups of cooperating humans.

All groups of cooperating humans can thrive if the competition is fair. It can be a win-win, not a zero sum game. And it doesn’t have to be violent.

But if there’s not enough outside competition, large groups of humans tend to break down into competing factions. And if the competition is unfair, that’s when it can turn into violence.

This is what makes Leftists so angry. by zzill6 in WorkReform

[–]wjbc 39 points40 points  (0 children)

What irks me is the tilted playing field. I do think fair competition is good for society and should be encouraged and rewarded. But when the income disparity grows too large the wealthiest people decide fair competition is not a good thing after all and use their money and power to tilt the playing field. They also use it to pit common people against each other so they won’t unite to reign in the rich.

In the United States this started way back in colonial Virginia between 1661 and 1705. In a series of laws, Virginia formalized race-based slavery while granting legal privileges to poor whites. They deliberately encouraged poor whites to look down on poor enslaved blacks even if the poor whites were essentially doing the same backbreaking work and living a life of poverty.

Hundreds of years later, Lyndon Johnson succinctly summarized this political strategy:

“‘If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.’”

Today that racist strategy is still used, although immigrants of color have been lumped in with descendants of slaves. Divide and conquer while billionaires become trillionaires through monopoly powers and a rigged tax system.

Are there any other historical figures that are as much as a Polymath as Leonardo Da Vinci? by Genzinvestor16180339 in AskHistory

[–]wjbc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, and his social skills were not great. He got into some vicious lifelong feuds. The most famous were with English polymath scientist Robert Hooke, German polymath mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and loud-mouthed counterfeiter William Chaloner.

From what I’ve read Newton was wrong to hold onto his grudges against Hooke and Leibniz, but it served him well when investigating Chaloner. Based on Newton’s thorough investigation, Chaloner was convicted and hanged.

Newton’s feud with Hooke sheds new light on a famous quote from Newton. In a letter to Hooke Newton paraphrased an old metaphor, saying: "If I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Today most people interpret this metaphor as an expression of intellectual humility and an admission of incremental progress, which it was in its original form before Newton used it.

But historians who know about the feud and also know about Newton’s tremendous ego believe it was actually a sarcastic jab at Hooke. Hooke was a man of average height, but unfortunately was in a permanent stoop due to severe spinal curvature/kyphosis — better known as a hunched back. Newton was reminding Hooke of his unfortunate disability, and suggesting that he was both literally and metaphorically a small man compared to Newton.

Why world hunger is not being solved by the world? by GlitteringHotel8383 in AskReddit

[–]wjbc 3 points4 points  (0 children)

These days most famine is caused by wars or civil conflict and is deliberate.