A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Crossmen's final run through at Canyon High School.
Sorry if it's a bit shaky here & there, holding my phone up for almost 15 min. while trying not to shake gets a bit challenging after awhile haha, anyways i hope you guys enjoy!
Taco did just fine with their smartphone.
Here's the program's repertoire from DCXMuseum, which is where I also found the left half of the preview image: "The Prophet's Song * She's Too Good For Me * The Sound of Silence * They Don't Care About Us * Some Nights * We Shall Overcome * Goodbye Blue Sky * Find The Cost Of Freedom." It works for this show theme.
Follow over the jump for a retrospective of last year's top posts featuring drum corps, nearly all of which were also top posts on Facebook.
Jon Stewart takes a look at Trump’s first 100 days: from plummeting approval ratings to unfulfilled promises on immigration, health, and the economy, to destroying his reputation as a shrewd negotiator with China and Ukraine[.]
"Suck it, Herbert Hoover!" That's yet another reason for me to call him Hoover Cleveland, although Hoover wasn't unpopular until after the Great Depression hit. That took a year; we're not waiting that long.
Hoover Cleveland claiming things are going great because he's making bank while posting record low poll numbers is enough to repeat what I wrote in George Santos sues Jimmy Kimmel and Trump sells sneakers, "[H]e has long had a very bad case of 'L'État, c'est moi.' As far as he's concerned, he is the country. He's also the worst president..." I may have more opportunities to connect those two thoughts.
I'm letting davidarcherd9868's comment on the video speak for me about what the economy.
Donald Trump promised that if I voted for Kamala Harris, I would experience the worst economy in recent American history. Turns out, he was right. I voted for Kamala Harris and am experiencing the worst economy in recent American History.
I voted for Harris, so I can say it's not my fault. On the other hand, I'm repurposing what I wrote at the end of John Oliver examines RFK Jr. & HHS, "Trump supporters like the Archdruid and his readers actually approve of what he's doing. I have another post planned about them."
John Oliver discusses the budget and staffing cuts being made to public health agencies in the U.S. under RFK Jr.’s new leadership, the many ways those cuts will impact all of us, and how WWII really ended. Trust us, it’s not how you think.
I'm repeating what I wrote earlier this month: "If I have to concentrate on criticizing any of Trump's Cabinet Secretaries, it will be RFK Jr. I'm a scientist and he's the biggest threat to science of anyone actually confirmed by the Senate..." I don't find his statement that "Our purpose is not to reduce any level of scientific research that is important" reassuring. I don't trust his judgment of what's scientifically important, especially in the context of cutting funding to diabetes research at the University of Michigan. That's doublypersonal!
Oliver and his writers also demonstrated how cuts at and by HHS pose short- and long-term threats to health. Bird flu and measles, both of which Oliver addresses later in the video, come to mind on top of the example of lead paint. It's not just in drinking water!
Vox showed its viewers how RFK Jr. could mess things up. Oliver shows how he already is. As Oliver quoted the experts, "This is a disaster. People will die because of the mistakes we're making right now." I'm calling for his impeachment and removal, because I'm sure he won't resign and doubt Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump will fire him because of what he's doing to science and public health.* Hoover Cleveland will only do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Even so, that will take until 2027 because the House won't have a Democratic majority until then. Sigh.
Stay tuned for Wayback Wednesday tomorrow.
*Trump supporters like the Archdruid and his readers actually approve of what he's doing. I have another post planned about them.
Purdue All-American Marching Band halftime performance at Ross–Ade Stadium, vs. Wisconsin, 10/23/2021, all about Superheroes!
That's quite the collection of superhero music from the 1960s to the 2010s! The show included both Spider-Man and Underdog, which have lasted far longer than I would have expected as a kid.
Have you ever been rescued from a risky situation or saved from injury or death? Those who come to our aid are called heroes. Some heroes happen to be in the right place at the right time. Others choose to be a hero as a career (though they wouldn't call themselves heroes.) And others still are fictional creations that inspire us with hope. Each year on April 28th, National Superhero Day honors superheroes, both real and fictional.
I've linked to National Day Calendar on this day before, but I've never embedded one of their videos for today until now. It was about time.
Amy Poehler presents Peter Straughan with the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for 'Conclave' at the 97th Academy Awards.
This was no surprise.
Best Adapted Screenplay:Conclave won the Golden Globe as well as the Critics' Choice Awards and WGA Awards, so it's a prohibitive favorite here; again, all eleven editors voted for it to win.
Just the same, congratulations to Peter Straughan on winning Conclave's only Oscar out of eight nominations.
Once the period of mourning for Pope Francis is done, the centuries-old tradition of selecting a new pope, known as the conclave, gets underway. NBC’s Keir Simmons reports for TODAY about the process that’s shrouded in secrecy.
Saturday’s funeral and burial of Pope Francis mark the beginning of nine days of official mourning at the Vatican, with cardinals leading masses each day. The words of their homilies will be closely examined and analyzed for clues about what’s on their minds as they prepare to elect a new pope. John Yang speaks with John Allen, editor of Crux, for more.
LOL, Spaceballs. That's not a flattering comparison, but it gives me the opportunity to mention the movie on this blog for only the second time.
I expect I'll return to the topic once the real conclave elects a new Pope. In the meanwhile, follow over the jump to see how Gold Derby's Oscar predictionsfared.
The controversial restaurant has recently filed for bankruptcy. This video explores the brand's history while highlighting some of the biggest reasons behind its decline.
Here's Company Man Mike's list.
Red Lobster's and TGI Fridays' bankruptcies were and still are such big deals that they made a joint cameo under "External Factors." Company Man Mike also featured his videos about them in the outro. The pandemic also made an appearance. Check out 2020 in this chart.
That's quite the drop! In retrospect, Hooters did well lasting five years; Chuck E. Cheese, Ruby Tuesday, and Sizzler filed for bankruptcy in the middle of 2020.
Company Man Mike added the "Free Toyota/Free Toy Yoda" lawsuit, which was a bad joke, to controversies, so I'm mentioning the one time I patronized a Hooters. It was in Orlando in 2003. I went with a late friend of mine, who suggested the place. I had a good time, but never went back. I just didn't want to be associated with the brand.
Moving on to competition, Company Man Mike posted this chart.
Even at its 2008 height, Hooters with ~400 locations would have been less than a third of Buffalo Wild Wings and less than a fifth of Wingstop. Now I feel like seeing where the nearest Wingstop is to me.
Why am I not surprised that private equity became one of the changing owners?
What happens when a study goes viral? After the “trillion tree” campaign captured the internet's imagination, YouTube sensation, MrBeast, raised 20 million dollars to plant 20 million trees. But did they survive? We went to check in on them… and were shocked.
In this episode of Weathered, we get into the surprising origins of the viral “trillion tree” campaign, why it nearly ended the careers of the scientists behind it, and what actually works when it comes to storing carbon and fighting climate change. Spoiler: it’s not as simple as planting trees.
Planting trees will definitely make the local environment cooler and relatively soon, but it will take decades for the trees to have a positive effect on global carbon dioxide. As May pointed out, we don't have decades. Conserving forests will have more of an effect now.
NBC News National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss the early state of play in California's gubernatorial race as former Vice President Kamala Harris weighs a run for governor.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris would have a wide lead over the rest of the field if she were to enter the 2026 race for California governor, according to an Inside California Politics/Emerson College poll released Thursday. April 17, 2025.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris is the runaway front-runner in the California governor’s race – but voters are split on whether the failed 2024 Democratic presidential candidate should even enter the fray.
Harris has the support of 31% of Californians who plan to vote in the Golden State’s June 2026 gubernatorial primary election, according to an Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill survey released Thursday,
But half of likely voters, 50%, believe that the former vice president, California senator and state attorney general should not run for the governorship.
Harris’s closest competitors are former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who only mustered 8% support, and Republican Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, who garnered a 4% backing.
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a recent entrant into the race, received 2% support.
That's a really good preview image, but I'm suspicious of the channel itself. I wonder who's behind it.
Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the relevant top post plus the most commented posts between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025 for today.
English has unusual linguistic features most other languages don't! These skills really make English unique compared to other languages around the world.
Other languages have unique features that English just doesn't have access to. So, English, why don't you level up your skills with these linguistic tricks from around the world?
Here's Josh R's partial list.
I expressed my gratitude about something Josh R didn't list.
I'm glad you didn't mention gender for nouns or number for articles and adjectives in addition to nouns and verbs. The former can be arbitrary and not necessarily improving understanding and the latter would be redundant.
On the other hand, I think English could use a standard second person plural. Because I live near Detroit, I use y'all, but there are other ways of saying it. What do you use?
Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the relevant top post for today.
Unlike the Trump administration, The Daily Show acknowledges the existence of climate change. In this collection of segments honoring Earth Day, Ronny Chieng breaks down rising global temperatures, Michael Kosta discovers an environmental safe haven in Duluth, Minnesota, and Troy Iwata investigates solutions to the climate crisis, including a trip to Mars and a woolly mammoth resurrection.
Michael Kosta is complaining about snow? He was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just like my younger daughter! We know snow! On the other hand, he spent long enough to Los Angeles to know about the people there. He may be telling a joke, but he's not kidding! On a more serious note, Duluth is on CNBC's list of safest places in the U.S. from climate change, but so is Detroit, and we already have better weather than Duluth!
Troy Iwata managed an interesting transition from 2024 being the world's hottest year on record to a space ark to mammothde-extinction. Re-establishing the mammoth steppe would help keep methane from permafrost in the ground, but that's an entire biome; bringing back one species would not be enough, which is part of why Colossal Biosciences also revived dire wolves, although those are Game of Thrones dire wolves, not the real ones. George R.R. Martin is even listed as a co-author on the paper!
That's a wrap for Earth Day. Stay tuned for Wayback Wednesday.
