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.
Hurricane Helene and Milton are painful reminders that our oceans are changing. Warmer ocean waters are acting on higher sea levels, causing catastrophic damage to our coastal communities. And what’s scarier is that the sea level rise we’ve witnessed over the past 30 years is nothing compared to what we’ll see in our lifetimes.
In this episode, we take a peek at brand-new flood imagery created by Climate Central’s FloodVision team - imagery that shows just what our coastal communities will look like in 2050, 2100 and beyond. And we’ll uncover detailed maps showing just what our coastlines will look like as the seas rise. So stay tuned to see if your home is on these maps, and what we can do to lessen the impacts in the future.
Weathered is a show hosted by weather expert Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.
These models are going back to the Sangamonian Interglacial, which was warmer than the Holocene with higher sea levels to match, but did not have as much carbon dioxide as today's atmosphere. We have to go back 3.6 million years ago to the Pliocene for carbon dioxide levels like today's. As I wrote in 2021, "That was so long ago, terror birds and hyenas roamed North America." Sea levels were even higher then than during the Sangamonian, so in the long term, Maiya May and the experts she's interviewing may not be pessimistic enough. Worse yet, carbon dioxide levels are on the verge of passing the high estimates for the Pliocene and are heading to Miocene levels. Welcome to the 400 ppm world.
We can track our history of eating just about anything back through the fossil record and see the impact it’s had on our evolution. Throughout time, part of the secret to our success as a species has been our early - and sometimes fatal - experimentation with food.
I couldn't resist revisiting paleo diets, a topic I haven't blogged about in a decade, today. Retrieving this video and the next when searching PBS Eons for "food" made it an easy choice.
These relatives of ours lived in Eurasia for more than 300,000 years. They were expert toolmakers, using materials like stone, wood, and animal bone. They were also skilled hunters and foragers, and may even have created cave art. So what caused the decline and disappearance of their population?
Well, in a way...it could’ve been us. But maybe not in the way you might’ve heard.
Hearing the fates of the Neanderthals from Spain, France, and Belgium reminds me of what I wrote about how Westworld treated evolution.
My wife and I are quite impressed at the depth of the ideas explored in the show. The creators have also done their research. Every time they mention something about evolution in Ford's dialog, they're right. This is especially true about the more disturbing concepts mentioned, like sexual selection contributing to the development of the human mind and what humans did to our nearest relatives. As someone who knows the field, that's both gratifying and unsettling.
"Do you know what happened to the Neanderthals, Bernard? We ate them."
Maybe, but it looks like the Neanderthals were eating each other as much or more than our ancestors were eating them.
As one of the sea's most hideous creatures, the hagfish represents all nature's bizarre little creatures. Seek out the icky and disgusting on Hagfish Day.
This video even mentions a 300 million year old hagfish fossil, so it connects to today's theme, although it didn't mention that people also eat hagfish. Maybe next year.
That's a wrap for today's multi-holiday post. Stay tuned for a drivingupdate tomorrow, as Pearl's odometer will turn over 66,000 miles today.
In this story from Weathered: Earth’s Extremes, Maiya May pours over giant risk maps with NASA scientist Marshall Shephard to learn the most significant impacts of our changing climate on each region of the US. Using some of the most powerful computers in the world, scientists can project how a warmer world will change our weather. She finds an answer to the question: where is the riskiest place to live as the climate warms, and how can we prepare?
The answer is Miami/Dade County/Broward County in Florida, the parishes just east of New Orleans in Louisiana, and Los Angeles County in California. Meanwhile, Oakland County is slightly more vulnerable than I had thought, but much better than Los Angeles. That makes me extra glad I moved from Southern California to Michigan 35 years ago!
How did Native Americans end up on Reservations? We explore the complicated relationship between the Indian Nations and the United States of America. This episode unpacks the legacy of Treaties and their effect on modern legislation. We answer the most important question: why do Native Americans continue to live and grow their families there?
Watch Tai Leclaire breakdown all you need to know about the Reservation system and why “Rez Life” is critical to the Native American experience.
That's a fascinating exploration of the history of reservations and how reality ended up not matching what was promised in the treaties. I can see why so many people have watched it.
What’s the deal with “Pretendians”? Tai Leclare and experts dissect what it really means to be Native—whether it’s blood, initiation, or just a claim. This episode digs deep into the complexities of identity and last names in Indian Country.
I really wanted to put this first, but it didn't feel quite right to begin this entry with the last video posted. Still, excellent question, one that hits close to home, as "My wife, my ex-girlfriend, and my ex-wife all have Native American ancestry. At least two of them would qualify as Native Americans under U.S. government policy, and one of them is enrolled as a Cherokee..."
Why aren’t Native people– and their stories – ever the crux of your favorite films?
From films used as a tool of genocidal propaganda, to award-winning Indigenous stories in Hollywood, how far has Indigenous media representation come and where is it headed?
Tai Leclaire and experts track the past, present and future of Indigenous entertainment– and how the media and bias prevents Native people from telling their own stories.
While I haven't watched Reservation Dogs yet, I did blog about its Golden Globes and Emmy nominations, so it's on my list. The same is true of Prey, which I haven't watched (yet) but whose Emmy and Saturn Award nomination I covered. On the other hand, my wife and I have watched both seasons so far of Dark Winds, which was also nominated for a Saturn Award, and are looking forward to season three.
Today, many Native Americans live in food apartheid and insecurity.
But it wasn't always this way. Once, their lands were abundant with nutritious food sources—corn, bison, potatoes, squash, and more.
So… what happened?
Forced relocation meant that entire Indigenous food systems were ripped away. This triggered a public health crisis and forced a dependence on government rations that just can’t compare.
I blogged about fooddeserts when I began this blog. It's about time I resumed.
This final entry reminds me that Wednesday is both National Fossil Day and World Food Day. PBS Eons videos about the prehistory of food, anyone? Stay tuned.
Host Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson) welcomes key players in the 2024 election, like Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph), Doug Emhoff (Andy Samberg), Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan) and Joe Biden (Dana Carvey), to face off against Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day) and JD Vance (Bowen Yang) in a game of Family Feud.
Also Chloe Fineman as Kaitlan Collins, Dana Carvey as Joe Biden, and no one as Melania Trump. Too bad, it could have been Heidi Gardner, but it was probably funnier that she didn't show. Here's to hoping that the election turns out like the game with the Democrats winning.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Trump confirming he wouldn't agree to a second debate against Kamala Harris.
On the one hand, congratulations to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on raising one billion dollars. On the other, my wife and I are looking forward to no longer receiving fundraising texts and emails from the campaign.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like the Supreme Court declining to hear R. Kelly's appeal in his sex crime case.
The R. Kelly and Diddy news is enough to qualify this as the Sunday entertainment feature, but there will be more over the jump.
In the second of our pre-election series we look at America and... climate change. How could Kamala Harris or Donald Trump shape the global response to the climate crisis?
...
As one of the world’s largest producers of fossil fuels and carbon emissions, the US plays a pivotal role in addressing climate change. The environmental policies of the next president could reshape American industry and the economy, while influencing the global fight against climate change.
Sumi Somaskanda speaks to the BBC’s climate editor Justin Rowlatt and Carl Nasman, who covers US climate issues for the BBC.
Project 2025 is calling for the breaking up of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA). Monica Medina, former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, joins Morning Joe to discuss as Hurricane Milton is set to hit Florida.
That's damage that's already been done and needs to be repaired. I'd rather not imagine the impact of breaking up NOAA, which paid my salary twice. That would make the consequences of extremeweather and other natural disasters worse.
This year’s presidential election will determine the fate of our democracy and, with it, hard-won environmental and climate gains. Project 2025, the conservative playbook for another Trump term, promises to completely eviscerate climate policy and empower Big Oil. Activist and author Bill McKibben and Monica Medina, a former top climate official at the State Department, DoD, and NOAA, join Ali Velshi to discuss what’s at stake this November. 'Biden has done more to support clean energy by far than any president before,' says McKibben. Trump “won’t just politicize the weather – he will weaponize it,” warns Medina.
Not only did McKibben imagine what a U.S. without NOAA would be like, he compared it to convictedcriminalDonald Trump's response to the pandemic, "if we don't know, then we don't have to talk about it." He also brought up Ron DeSantis forbidding mention of climate change in Florida's official documents, all while the Sunshine State was already facing one of the worst hurricane seasons forecast. So far, that dire prediction is coming true. Speaking of which, Trump weaponizing the weather against his enemies isn't a prediction; it already happened during his time as President.
I have three more MSNBC videos about Project 2025 and climate policy to share, but I have papers to correct and dinner to grill, so I'm saving them for part 9. In the meantime, stay tuned for a highlights post of tonight's Saturday Night Live as the Sunday entertainment feature. Ariana Grande and Stevie Nicks!
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program
RuPaul Charles - RuPaul's Drag Race (MTV)
Alan Cumming - The Traitors (Peacock)
Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O'Leary and Robert Herjavec - Shark Tank (ABC)
Kristen Kish - Top Chef (Bravo)
Jeff Probst - Survivor (CBS)
Nine editors voted for RuPaul to return to the stage, while two agree with the Gold Derby TV Awards voters that Alan Cumming will win. The experts are less sure with five picking RuPaul and four choosing Cumming. In contrast, the top 24 users agree with the editors that RuPaul will reign supreme for one more year, while four chose Cumming.
There has been no change since Sunday. I would pick RuPaul to RePeat.
I never did register at Gold Derby, but I would have been wrong anyway, as Cumming won. His win keeps the LGBTQ+ theme of today going, as Cumming is bisexual and an LGBT activist. That partially makes up for RuPaul's Drag Race, Queer Eye, RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked, and We're Here all being shut out, despite two of them being favored to win their categories.
Alan Cumming chats with ET's Nischelle Turner after winning Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program for season 2 of 'The Traitors.'
Cumming should be impressed by beating RuPaul; that's not an insignificant achievement.
Now to revisit the predictions for Cumming's second Emmy.
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
The Amazing Race (CBS)
RuPaul's Drag Race (MTV)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Traitors (Peacock)
The Voice (NBC)
RuPaul's Drag Race has won this category five of the past six years, including earlier this year for 2023 and the forecasters at Gold Derby agree, as ten of eleven editors, eleven of sixteen experts, and fifteen users have chosen it as the winner. One editor, five experts, and six users think The Traitors could walk away with the statuette in an upset (three users haven't made up their minds yet). I would pick RuPaul's Drag Race given the opportunity.
Like me, the remaining top 24 users jumped on the RuPaul's Drag Race bandwagon with one user switching from The Traitors to RuPaul's Drag Race. I bet they regret that decision, as The Traitors won. Watch Reality Competition Program: 76th Emmy Awards from the Television Academy.
The Team from The Traitors accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Program at the 76th Emmy Awards.
Congratulations to Cumming and the rest of The Traitors team!
Follow over the jump for the rest of the reality TV Emmy winners.
John Oliver discusses how Donald Trump has impacted our federal courts, what he could do if reelected, and how Judge Steve Harvey fits into our judiciary branch.
LOL, because it's not a tradition for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, although it is one for 60 Minutes.
As for Stephen's invitation to convictedcriminalDonald Trump to "go fvck himself," I second his emotion.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is honored to be the only late night television show on Vice President Kamala Harris's media blitz, while her Republican opponent is busy undercutting FEMA's efforts to dig out from the devastation of Hurricane Helene, and his friend Elon Musk is once again the internet’s favorite laughing stock.
I'm glad Stephen returned from break for this episode. Doing so was good for his show, Vice President Harris, and the country.
The Democratic nominee for president of the United States returns for her seventh visit to The Late Show and sits down for a four-part interview with Stephen Colbert. Watch as she and Stephen discuss the devastation of Hurricane Helene and the crude cynicism of Donald Trump who is spreading misinformation about FEMA's response as the potentially catastrophic Hurricane Milton approaches landfall in Florida. Stick around for three more segments with Vice President Kamala Harris!
I made Funkadelic's "One Nation under a Groove" my personal theme song for Harris's campaign back in 2019 and revived it once she began running again this summer, as shown by this tweet of mine.
Well known across southern States in America, 99 Cents Only Stores was a growing company, focused on customer service and offering products at a gimmicky, yet very enticing price point... 99 cents. But after corporate takeovers and rising costs, this chain of around 300 locations would begin to struggle and ultimately declare bankruptcy. Join me to find out why.
I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling my reaction from May.
Jake joins Company Man Mike and Erik in that assessment and so do his viewers; the comments on this video nearly unanimously blame the leveraged buyout by private equity for the chain's demise. I'm joining them.
So concludes this tale of the RetailApocalypse. I might just return to this season's big story, the election, tomorrow. That is, if I don't cover hurricane season instead. Stay tuned.
