What to watch tonight.If you’re looking for something new and interesting to put on tonight, check out Errol Morris’s Wormwood tonight on Netflix. It looks fantastic. The Times gave it a positive review, saying:
“Wormwood” is haunted by doubleness. It’s a work of journalism and of imagination, of history and portraiture, of indignation and melancholy. (It’s also, simultaneously, a movie and a mini-series, streaming in six episodes on Netflix.) As such, it takes time to absorb, and invites repeated, obsessive watching. Mr. Olson and Mr. Morris make claims that are vitally important — about the credibility of the United States government during the Cold War and ever since — in a spirit that seems more weary than urgent. Mr. Morris presents a powerful historical argument in the guise of a beguiling work of cinematic art — and vice versa.
What to buy for Christmas for the chef in your life. If you’re behind on Christmas presents like I am and have a chef in your life, you’d be remiss if you didn’t check out Megan McArdle’s 14th Annual Kitchen Gift Guide. Just remember, eventually all non-stick pots go to heaven, so do a little sleuthing and spice up your chef’s winter season with some good gifts. My pedestrian tastes recommend the informercial red copper plates, which live up to their billing if you read the directions.
The Scottish government’s 50p minimum unit price for alcohol, which comes into force on 1 May 2018, will have a dramatic impact on prices, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Some cider products will rise in price by as much as 90%, according to the IFS briefing note, which also found prices would increase across all alcohol types. The price of a 20 x 440ml pack of Strongbow would double, while a bottle of Tesco cream sherry would increase by 20%. The minimum pricing policy, which comes into force after a five-year legal battle between the Scottish government and the Scotch Whisky Association, is intended to stop the sale of cut-price, high-alcohol drinks such as cider.
The dangerous toys of Christmas past. Over at Reason, Lenore Skenazy has a look at some of the fun toys of yesteryear you could never buy today, and the fun police seeking to keep the list growing:
With so many playthings gone, Joan Siff and James Swartz, a duo of personal injury lawyers who produce the annual “10 Worst Toys” list, now have to scrape the bottom of the class-action barrel to find contenders. Last year’s inventory included a stuffed animal. It could, they said, suffocate a child. The lawyers—who call themselves World Against Toys Causing Harm, or W.A.T.C.H.—also warned about a dinosaur toy with a “rigid, pointed tail, which may be held close to a child’s torso or face. There exists a potential for significant puncture wounds during encouraged playtime activity.” Puncture wounds is, of course, litigator-speak for You could poke somebody’s eye out! Sticks and balls of string remain unregulated. Maybe we can put those under the Christmas tree.
Bah humbug!
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