Conyers resigns, setting up scramble for his seat

Original at Detroit Free Press.

I think John Conyers should retire.  He's had his term as the longest serving Representative.  Let someone else have the honor.  He doesn't deserve it anymore.

That was the opening paragraph of a comment I left in an open thread at We Hunted The Mammoth last month.  Well, I got my wish.  WXYZ reported yesterday Rep. John Conyers officially announces retirement, read resignation letter.

Rep. John Conyers, who has been battling sexual harassment allegations by former female staffers, says he is retiring. Conyers told "The Mildred Gaddis Show" on WPZR-FM Tuesday that this will be his final two-year term. The 88-year-old Democrat says he is endorsing his son to take his seat in Congress. Ian Conyers, the grandson of John Conyers' brother, earlier said his great-uncle would not run for re-election and that he would run for his seat in Washington, D.C. Conyers, who was first elected in 1964, easily won re-election last year in the heavily Democratic 13th District. The House Ethics Committee has been reviewing multiple harassment allegations against Conyers.

The man did a lot of good over the years, but it was time for him to go.  I that is not a new thought of mine, as I stated it in 2015.

Conyers almost didn't qualify for the ballot last year, as too many of his signatures were collected by paid petition circulators, which was illegal at the time (that provision of Michigan's election law was overturned in the process of getting Conyers back on the ballot).  That's a sign that Conyers has been losing control of his operation.  Along with other rumors about his age getting to him, it indicates that it might be time for Conyers to retire.

Now that Conyers has not just retired, but resigned, who will replace him and when will that happen?  WXYZ reported on that as well in Gov. Snyder reviewing dates for special election to replace John Conyers.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is reviewing possible dates for a special election in Michigan's 13th Congressional district to replace John Conyers. Rep. John Conyers officially announces retirement, read resignation letter The 88-year-old congressman announced Tuesday he is retiring amid sexual harassment allegations. Ari Adler, a spokesman for the governor's office, said they received his resignation letter and are reviewing potential dates for the special election. Conyers was scheduled to serve out his two-year term, which ends on Jan. 3, 2019, but because his retirement is effective immediately, there will now be a special election for his seat.

In addition to the two younger Conyers, Coleman Young II, who just lost to Mike Duggan for Detroit mayor, the Detroit News listed a long roster of potential candidates.

Democratic activist Michael Gilmore is running for Conyers’ seat. Other names circulating Tuesday as potential candidates included state Sens. David Knezek of Dearborn Heights and Coleman Young II of Detroit, former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, Westland Mayor Bill Wild, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones and Councilwoman Mary Sheffield.

Counting both Conyers cousins, Young, and Gilmore, four candidates have already declared their intent to run for this now vacant seat in a safe Democratic district.  I fully expect more to throw their hats into the ring.  The one I would root for is Tlaib, who organized protests against Trump last year.  Those got my attention and respect.

I have one last item to note about this entire affair.  While it was past time for Conyers to retire and this scandal got him to do the right thing, I found the catalyst for it to be tainted, as I noted in the rest of my comment at We Hunted The Mammoth.

That written, the Wonkette article noted that a recurring subject of this blog, Mike Cernovich, was the one who broke the story and pointed out that it was reminiscent of how Roger Stone knew that Al Franken was going to be exposed before the news broke.  Josh Marshall noticed this and asked "Why Cernovich?"

This doesn't mean [Cernovich] and Stone are wrong -- even a stopped clock is right twice a day -- it just means that they're motives aren't pure and they are still not friends of women.  As Wonkette wrote, "beware of ratf*cking."

It also raises the question of "Why Conyers?"  Yes, the allegations were backed up by evidence and later accounts by other women and I think that Conyers needed to retire before the scandal, but why Conyers and not some other Representative who misbehaved?  I noted two years ago that "According to Voteview, he's the most liberal member of the Michigan Congressional delegation, as well as one of the oldest."  I suspect that may be part of the answer to Marshall's question, "Why Cernovich?"

Conyers isn't the only member of Michigan's Congressional delegation to announce his retirement.  Stay tuned for news about another U.S. Representative leaving under more ordinary circumstances.

Trump declares the downsizing of two national monuments in Utah

Just this past January, I wrote National monuments, more of Obama's environmental legacy about Former President Obama creating Gold Butte National Monument and Bears Ears National Monument.  While I reported on the controversy surrounding the designation of Bears Ears, I concluded "the monument will be a good thing and that it will last."  I should not have been so sanguine.  I still think it's a good thing, but Bears Ears may mostly go away, surviving in two smaller parts under a different name.  CBS News reports Trump drastically downsizes nationally protected land in Utah.

President Trump announced that he cutting nearly two million acres from the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. National Geographic's environment editor, Brian Howard, joins CBSN to discuss the impact and the expected legal response.

As Howard said, this move is unprecedented and will face stiff legal resistance.  I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up in the Supreme Court, which means that it will take years for this move to take effect, if ever.  I expect to be posting updates on this terrible move for the environment, as well as another attempt to obliterate Obama's legacy, right up to the end of the decade.  It should be fun to watch.

By the way, I had no idea how many paleontological resources there were inside both national monuments until I stumbled across these two images from the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP).  They're out of date, as they were designed to prompt people to use them during the comment period, which expired a while ago, but they're still interesting.

First, Bears Ears, which SVP wrote should be expanded, not reduced.


Next, Escalante-Grand Staircase.


As a paleontologist who worked at Rancho La Brea and gave presentations about Pigmy Mammoths at Channel Island National Park, I'm impressed, as the topic of fossils in National Parks and Monuments is one that is near and dear to my heart.  I wish I had known earlier, but I doubt my input would have made a difference to this administration.  Sigh.  At least I have its space policy, which is cold comfort for all the ill Trump and Zinke have done for the environment.

'Chasing Coral': awards and nominations and looking forward to next year's Emmys 4

I concluded Science, science fiction, and fantasy among the 2017 Grammy nominees with an aside that served as a program note.

Speaking of the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards, "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" earned three nominations, as did "Chasing Coral," the sequel to "Chasing Ice," so I might just write about them in a future entry.  Stay tuned.

My students have been telling me about "Chasing Coral" all semester and I have been telling them they can watch it and write a report for extra credit, so I think it's time I write about it here.

As I wrote above, "Chasing Coral" earned three nominations at last month's Critics' Choice Documentary Awards, Best Documentary, Best Director, and Best Song in a Documentary for "Tell Me How Long."  It was in competition with "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" for Best Documentary and Best Song in a Documentary; neither won.  Another film about science, nature, and the environment, "Jane," an examination of Jane Goodall's early career, won Best Documentary, while "Jump" from the movie "Step" won Best Song in a Documentary.  Jeff Orlowski also did not win Best Director for "Chasing Coral", losing to Evgeny Afineevsky for "Cries from Syria" and Frederick Wiseman for "Ex Libris: New York Public Library."  I'll keep the winners in mind for future entries, as they might be nominated for an Oscar or an Emmy and they are on subjects that are on topic for this blog.*

While the critics like it enough to nominate the film, the audiences seem to love it.  Two of its wins are audience choice awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Boulder International Film Festival.  At the latter, it also won Best Feature Documentary and Call to Action Award.  That gives me added confidence in recommending it to my students.

Enough of the film's critical and popular reception.  It's time to watch its Official Trailer from Netflix.

Beneath the waves, coral reefs are dying on a massive scale. These scientists and filmmakers are fighting to stop it. Chasing Coral is now streaming on Netflix.

That certainly does the job a trailer should do, make one want to watch the movie, but it doesn't say enough about the findings and their significance.  PBS NewsHour has those in ‘Chasing Coral’ documents destruction of coral reefs.

In the new documentary “Chasing Coral,” a team of photographers, divers and scientists analyze more than 650 hours of underwater footage to illustrate the real-time effects warming seas. NewsHour Weekend’s Saskia De Melker talks to Jeff Orlowski, the director of the film, about the challenges of showing these rarely-seen effects of climate change.

I agree with Orlowski; that climate change has become politicized is "massively unfortunate for human civilization" (hi, fellow Crazy Eddie!) and it needs to be depoliticized to solve the problem.  Also, I was pleased to learn that "Chasing Ice" won Outstanding Nature Programming at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards in 2014.  I've been telling my students about its Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song for years.  Now I can tell them it's an Emmy Award winner, too.  I expect I'll be able to tell my students about "Chasing Coral" earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Nature Documentary next summer and its likely win in the fall.  I'm looking forward to that.

Speaking of Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song, here is Tell Me How Long Music Video Feat. Kristen Bell from Netflix.

Kristen Bell performs "Tell Me How Long" from the new film Chasing Coral, now streaming on Netflix.

Music & Lyrics by Dan Romer and Teddy Geiger

That's a very appealing song about an appalling subject.  Because of that, I hope it earns an nomination for an Oscar.  If it's eligible for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, I hope it's nominated for that, too.  After all, Common pulled that off for “The Letter to the Free” from "13th," which was also in a feature film.  And, yes, a work can be nominated for both the Primetime Emmys and the News and Documentary Emmys.  "Wild New Zealand" managed to pull that off, being nominated for both Outstanding Narrator at the Primetime Emmys and Outstanding Nature Documentary the News and Documentary Emmy Awards.  I hope Netflix submits "Chasing Coral" to both awards programs.  It deserves the recognition.

*Much to my surprise, I've never mentioned Jane Goodall before at this blog, even though she's a scientist, and environmentalist, and a celebrity.  That's a combination that should have attracted my attention years ago.

Also, I discovered the Environmental Media Awards, USA during my research.  This is an event I should have known about already as well.  I plan on writing about them, too.  Stay tuned.

Science, science fiction, and fantasy among the 2017 Grammy nominees

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for a more standard Sunday entertainment feature focusing on the Grammy nominees relevant to science, science fiction, and fantasy" at the end of St. Clair wins 2017 WDIV Battle of the Bands plus my other favorites.  Here are the relevant nominated works from the Los Angeles Times with some assistance from File 770 for the science entries and re-ordered to suit my priorities.

Score soundtrack for visual media

"Arrival" - Jóhann Jóhannsson, composer
"Dunkirk" - Hans Zimmer, composer
"Game of Thrones: Season 7" - Ramin Djawadi, composer
"Hidden Figures" - Benjamin Wallfisch, Pharrell Williams & Hans Zimmer, composers
"La La Land" - Justin Hurwitz, composer

This field is a sweep for genre entertainment from top to bottom.  Every nominee is a past or likely future Saturn Award candidate.  "Arrival" was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film and won Best Film Screenplay.  "Dunkirk" is likely to be nominated for Best Action Film early next year.  "Game of Thrones" is a perennial nominee for Best Fantasy TV Show.  "Hidden Figures" won Best Action/Adventure Film.  Finally, "La La Land" won both Best Independent Film and Best Film Music.  It also won Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) at the Academy Awards.  I would say "La La Land" is the favorite, but the Emmy electorate is not the Oscar electorate and can vote differently.  For example, John Williams lost at the Oscars but won the Grammy for "The Force Awakens."  I'm not convinced that will happen next year.

The next category is also a genre sweep from start to finish.

Compilation soundtrack for visual media

"Baby Driver" (Various Artists)
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2" (Various Artists)
"Hidden Figures: The Album" (Various Artists)
"La La Land" (Various Artists)
"Moana: The Songs" (Various Artists)

In addition to "Hidden Figures" and "La La Land," which I mentioned above, all these films are past or present Saturn Award nominees.  "Baby Driver" is likely to join "Dunkirk" as in the Action category.  "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is a lock to be nominated for Best Comic-to-Motion Picture Release and the movie I expect most likely to win, even if it isn't my favorite in the category.  "Moana" was nominated for Best Animated Film Release.

As for which will win, it depends on what the voters want.  If they want all original songs, they pick either "La La Land" or "Moana" with the advantage to "La La Land."  If they want a combination of old and original, they can vote for "Hidden Figures," the songs in which I really enjoyed and would vote for if I were eligible.  If they want all recycled, they can choose between "Baby Driver" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."  Both of the latter had really interesting mixes of classics, but I preferred "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Genre films aren't as well represented in the next category, but are stronger than one might think at first glance.

Song written for visual media

"City of Stars" — Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone)
"How Far I'll Go" — Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter (Auli'i Cravalho)
"I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)" — Jack Antonoff, Sam Dew & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Zayn & Taylor Swift)
"Never Give Up" — Sia Furler & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Sia)
"Stand Up for Something" — Common & Diane Warren, songwriters (Andra Day featuring Common)

"City of Stars" won for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) at the Academy Awards and makes for the third nominee from "La La Land."  Congratulations to Hurwitz for getting nominations in all three visual media categories.  It beat "How Far I'll Go" from "Moana" in that category at the Oscars, so I would say "City of Stars" is favored.  The last song from last year was "Never Give Up" by Sia from "Lion."  That film makes this a surprisingly strong showing for genre, as it was nominated for Best Independent Film at the Saturn Awards, even though it is a biography and thus not really fiction.


As for the nominees from this year's films, I expected "Fifty Shades Darker" to be recognized.

Just like the first installment in the trilogy, it looks like the songs will be the best part of the movie.  Here's to seeing them nominated for Grammys and Oscars along with the movie itself nominated for a Razzie!

One prediction down, two to go.

The song that I think is most likely to give "City of Stars" a run for its money is "Stand Up for Something" by Common & Diane Warren from "Marshall."  Common won both an Oscar and a Grammy for "Glory" from "Selma" and he just won an Emmy for “The Letter to the Free” from "13th."  Even if he doesn't win the Grammy, this is a good sign he'll be nominated for an Oscar in January.  Now he just needs to write a stage musical so he can be eligible for a Tony to earn the EGOT.

That's it for music from movies and television.  Follow over the jump for two categories that include recordings about science plus a category for movies and television about music.

St. Clair wins 2017 WDIV Battle of the Bands plus my other favorites

In the footnote to Michigan marching bands parade in the holiday season over the years, I told my readers "I'll follow up on WDIV's Battle of the Bands in a future post.  Stay tuned."  I thank my readers for their patience; today I report the winner as well as my other favorites.

Unfortunately, Southgate Anderson, which I was rooting for in Rockford marching band in New York for Macy's Parade plus Battle of the Bands for Detroit's Thanksgiving Parade, did not win.  However, I'm not upset about it.  Looking at the clip of their performance in WDIV's Battle of the Bands shows that they didn't take their appearance all that seriously, so I wouldn't have voted for them if I hadn't declared my preference beforehand.  Instead, the St. Clair Marching Saints won.  The WDIV video has the announcers talking over the band, so I'm posting St. Clair Marching Saints - Thanksgiving Parade 2017 by Julie Martel on YouTube instead.


That's a much better performance than Southgate Anderson's or all but two other marching bands in the parade in my opinion as a former marching band judge.  Of those two, it was slightly but definitely better than one and nearly tied with the other.  Besides, St. Clair won the Battle of the Bands the previous time it marched in the parade.  Had I known that, I would have been likely to call it the co-favorite along with Dakota High School from Macomb, Michigan, which I'll show over the jump.

While I complained about WDIV's announcers talking over the band, one of them did say something interesting, that the band did a tribute to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."  Here is a performance of that program, which took place three years ago.

Marching Band Festival at Port Huron High School. October 7, 2014

I'm enough of a Monty Python fan to have mentioned the comedy troupe in the the body of five entries (six including today) and quoted them in the comments to another.  All but one of them have referred to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," so of course I embedded this show.

Follow over the jump for the rest of my top three in America's Thanksgiving Parade.

Michigan marching bands parade in the holiday season over the years

Happy Holidays!  I'm going to celebrate the beginning of December 2017 with marching music, beginning with two videos following up on Rockford marching band in New York for Macy's Parade.*  The first is from WOOD-TV: Rockford High School marching band plays at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Rockford High School's marching band was among about a dozen bands who took part in the Thanksgiving tradition on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017. (NBC)

As is usual for the televised portion of the parade, that was quite a production.

MLive also captured part of the band's performance in Rockford band performs in the 91st Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

More than 300 Rockford High students march in the iconic New York City parade on Nov. 23, 2017. (Courtesy of Barry Klukas)

Congratulations, Rockford H.S.!  You put on a fun and outstanding performance.

Follow over the jump as I recycle two other performances by Michigan high school marching bands at the Macy's Parade from previous years.

Voters Not Politicians explains gerrymandering in Michigan

I've written a lot about gerrymandering on this blog, including some posts that became among the most read of the year.  These posts don't just explain the problem, they offer solutions, such as the one John Oliver mentioned in his segment on gerrymandering, an independent redistricting commission.  That was attempted here in Michigan two years ago, but the proposal went nowhere.  Now, a group calling themselves Voters Not Politicians is trying.  Watch them introduce themselves in Who is Voters Not Politicians?

It's time for fair and transparent elections in Michigan where our votes matter and our voices are heard. Politicians are manipulating our voting maps for their political gain. Join Voters Not Politicians to reform the redistricting process and return the power back to the people!

They explain themselver further in What is Gerrymandering? Borders in Michigan.

Michigan is defined by borders that make our state unique and define who we are. But some of our most important borders have been drawn up by politicians to serve their own political agenda. It's called gerrymandering, and it divides our communities and silences our voices as voters. But here in Michigan, we can fix this and YOU can help. Make your vote count and your voice heard by heading over to http://votersnotpoliticians.com.

The group has gained national attention are currently gathering signatures.  They've been surprisingly successful, considering they're using only volunteers to collect them, and already have 350,000, well over the 315,000 needed.  Their goal is 400,000.  They're almost there.

I have another video from Voters Not Politicians explaining the proposal they plan on putting on next year's ballot.  Stay tuned for that.  In the meantime, I have a holiday video post planned for midnight to start the new month.

Two Utah landscape videos from Smithsonian Channel and MatadorU

I left three comments at Booman Tribune that together form a series on Utah landscapes.  The first was on SPP Vol.639 & Old Time Froggy Bottom Cafe and it's from Smithsonian Channel.

"I have a video for that landscape."

Despite its dry desert landscapes, Utah is a land of endless surprises, and Glen Canyon is one of them, rivaling Arizona's Grand Canyon for sheer majesty.

The second is from Matador University, included in this comment on SPP Vol.640 & Old Time Froggy Botttom Cafe.

"Another video showing Utah's Iconic Landscapes From the Air."

MatadorU alumni and filmmaker Max Seigal shows you a view of Utah that not many have seen before. Take a look at this iconic landscape like never before, in Utah from the Air.

I hope my readers enjoyed the scenery as much as I did.

I included a third video in my comment on SPP Vol.641 & Old Time Froggy Botttom Cafe but it's now unavailable.  I have two reactions, phooey and that didn't take long.

Stay tuned for the final entry of the month tomorrow at 7 P.M. E.S.T.

For Giving Tuesday 2017, I recommend some of my favorite nonprofits

Happy #GivingTuesday 2017!


National Day Calendar has more on National Day of Giving/Giving Tuesday.

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Quite simply, take advantage of all the holiday deals to add to your charitable giving. Combined with your family, friends, local and national organizations and through the power of social media, National Day of Giving can become a tradition worth passing on. Use #GivingTuesday to post on social media.

HISTORY

In 2012, 92nd Street Y in New York City created National Day of Giving to bring focus to the charitable season in the wake of the commercialized Black Friday and Cyber Monday. More commonly referred to as #GivingTuesday, National Day of Giving harnesses the power of social media to give back around the world and throughout the year.

Follow over the jump for the nonprofits I've given to and others I recommend.

Cyber Monday to set record but Black Friday still king in 2017

After Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day and Small Business Saturday 2017 comes Cyber Monday.  After a dozen years, the online shopping day is going stronger than ever, as CBS Evening News reports Record breaking sales expected for Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday is expected to be a record breaker this year. Analysts forecast $6.6 billion in online retail sales Monday. Meg Oliver reports.

Lori Torgerson is right that there is room for a lot of winners, both online and in stores, even though brick-and-mortar stores and shopping malls are having issues.  CBS This Morning makes that point as well in addition to the reasons for it in Why Black Friday isn't as big as it used to be.

More than 164 million people plan to shop between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. The long weekend kicks off the holiday shopping season when shoppers will each spend an average of nearly $1,000. CBS News financial contributor Mellody Hobson joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss the move to online shopping and the strategies brick-and-mortar stores are using to lure shoppers.

In addition to all the other reasons listed in the CBS This Morning report, CBS Los Angeles (KCAL 9) gives another reason why 85-90% of all sales take place in stores in Black Friday Or Cyber Monday? How To Decide.

Many shoppers told KCAL9's Brittney Hopper that they prefer Black Friday to Cyber Monday because they like being able to handle the merchandise before buying.

For many people, there's nothing like the actual physical experience.

For those of us shopping online, WXYZ has Cyber Monday safety tips.


Stay safe online and happy shopping!