Banter Bites

Does Nominated = Deserving?

Imagine if the Academy Award for Best Picture had over 300 different movies nominated …there were 318 nominees for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Every year when nominees are announced for the Nobel Peace Prize there's inevitably uproar over some questionable nominations. And every year there are a host of articles that appear both in defense and opposition to the nominees. So why should this year be any different? Except that maybe the reaction to the nominees is as polarizing as everything else seems to be these days.

This week Red, for probably the first time, actually paid attention to the press surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize, mostly because it seemed like she couldn't avoid it. And when she asked Black what she thought about the nominations, Black basically referred Red to the Nobel Peace Prize website explaining how there's a fairly long list of people who submit nominations (deadline was February 1) and then commenting,

Being nominated may give you bragging rights … but prestige and honor come from winning.

Red thought that was it, until Black added that she found the 50-year secrecy rule very interesting.

If you’re looking for a reason not to mow, there’s logic behind letting it grow …

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: As is often the case, Red hadn’t heard of the latest trend, “No Mow May,” which is all about lawn maintenance (or the lack of it) until Black started sending her articles about it.

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It’s hard to imagine one holiday celebrates … spring, women’s fertility, workers, and labor rights. But it shouldn’t surprise you that even though it dates back thousands of years, we each “dance around” different aspects of May Day.

If you’ve never thought about May Day, don’t worry, most of us haven’t.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red appreciates that some holidays have historical significance, some have ancient traditions, and some are opportunities for one of Black’s unexpected, but often amusing and clever, comments, but May Day checks all those boxes.

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Spring’s supposed to be full of optimism as it represents a new beginning, with longer days, the trees and flowers blooming, the birds chirping, and a general feeling of rejuvenation. So, whose idea was it to rudely interrupt it with Tax Day? And the fact it’s April 18 this year instead of April 15 (when we ran the article below in 2021, we got two extra days) hardly makes it any less, well, … taxing.

This quote is perfect, except that we don't know who said it, "People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women."

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: It's probably a safe bet (yes, the IRS even has specific rules on how to handle gambling income and losses) that no one looks forward to Tax Day, but it would be easy to make assumptions that how people approach this potentially stressful day would be impacted by how much, or how little, money they make …

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