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.
Josh Johnson dives into the Scottish takeover of Miami for the World Cup, the flock of tourists visiting D.C.'s bright green reflecting pool, Trump’s security escalation to catch possible pool “vandals,” and whether Trump's pool disaster is karma for trashing Biden and Obama’s previous reflecting pool projects. Plus, conservative media can’t stop talking about the pool, while Michael Kosta can’t stop dreaming about drinking it.
Everything Trump touches dies, including the Reflecting Pool. Then he blames someone else.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for a particularly doomy preview of the drum corps season, which begins tomorrow.
In 1952, a terrifying creature was spotted in Flatwoods, West Virginia — a 10-foot-tall creature with glowing eyes, a spade-shaped head, and cloaked in a metal skirt. Was it an alien, a Cold War experiment, or mass hysteria?
Dr. Z doesn't make up her mind to resolve her question, although she certainly leans heavily on cultural context influencing how people interpret what they see.
Universal Pictures is proud to release a new original event film created and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars SAG winner and Oscar® nominee Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown), Oscar® winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman franchise), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple) and two-time Oscar® nominee Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin).
Based on a story by Spielberg, the screenplay is by David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Combined, those films earned more than $3 billion worldwide. Koepp also wrote the script for this 2025’s Jurassic World Rebirth.
Disclosure Day is produced by five-time Academy Award® nominee Kristie Macosko Krieger (The Fabelmans, West Side Story) and by Spielberg for Amblin Entertainment. The executive producers are Adam Somner and Chris Brigham.
Steven Spielberg is one of the industry’s most successful and influential filmmakers. The top-grossing director of all time, Spielberg has helmed such blockbusters as Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones franchise and Jurassic Park.
Among his myriad honors, he is a three-time Academy Award® winner, including Oscars® for Best Director and Best Picture for Schindler’s List, which received a total of seven Oscars®, and for Best Director for Saving Private Ryan. His most recent film, The Fabelmans, was released by Universal in 2022 and received seven Academy Award® nominations, including for Directing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Picture.
While I fully expect to see Disclosure Day earn nominations at the Critics Choice Super Awards next month and the Saturn Awards in January, if they stick to this year's schedule, I also expect it to lose to Project Hail Mary in most of its categories, especially Best Science Fiction Film or equivalent. Its best bets are best actress for Emily Blunt followed by supporting actor for Colman Domingo. That written, will it influence how people see UFOs/UAPs? Yes, but not as much as previous Spielberg movies on the subject.
Is anyone out there? On this episode of the National Day Spotlight (https://nationaldaycalendar.com/), Marlo Anderson (https://marloanderson.com/) and co-host Alice Anderson are diving into the unexplained mysteries of the cosmos for World UFO Day (https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celeb...) . They’ll explore why humanity keeps looking to the skies for answers and celebrate the fun of cosmic curiosity. Tune in for an episode that is truly otherworldly!
That's a wrap for this week's series of holiday entries. I have a musical post planned for tomorrow followed by a particularly doomy preview of the drum corps season, which begins Friday. Stay tuned.
I gave you my verdict on the New York and Chicago style pizzas, now it's time for something in between. Here's my verdict on Michigan's own, Detroit-Style Pizza. But how many Lorenzos did I give it?
I'd give it more than four, but I live in metro Detroit.
Laurence recorded and posted the above video on National Pizza Day 2020, more than a year before the first National Detroit-Style Pizza Day, so can be forgiven for not recording on the right day. It didn't exist yet! As he and his wife Tarah mentioned, he also reviewed New York and Chicago pizza. Here's the first of the two, A Brit's Verdict on Chicago-style Pizza.
After the controversy surrounding Jelly-gate, I thought I'd try an American food item closer to home: a Chicago-style pizza.
Since it's National Pizza Week, it only seems right that I present to the world–with the help of Old Fashioned Af–my verdict on America's New York-style Pizza.
I grew up on New York style pizza in Los Angeles, but people from the East Coast looked down on it. They said it was better cold. Now that I think about it, they were right.
That's a wrap for Lawrence's take on pizza. I have more videos of Brits eating Detroit-Style Pizza that I'm saving for next year. I'm an environmentalist; I conserve my resources. In the meantime, stay tuned for the first of two WorldUFODays, the last of the current string of holidays.
It's considered to be one of only two inland temperate rainforests in the world. This forest contains a diversity of rare species and ancient trees. The Weather Network's Mia Gordon shares five facts about this rare ecosystem.
Take a walk through BC's ancient, globally unique Inland Temperate Rainforest with veteran conservationist Craig Pettitt of the Valhalla Wilderness Society. These forests and the mountain caribou they support are endangered by clearcut logging, which continues despite the urging of a recent provincial commission to protect what remains of our old growth. Pettitt describes Valhalla's thoughtful plan to do just that, through the formation of three new provincial parks which would link up with existing protected areas to create intact wildlife corridors and ecological connectivity. Learn how you can take action now to save the Inland Temperate Rainforest and mountain caribou at VWS.org
This video is about preserving the remnants of the ecosystem in British Columbia. I'm not a resident of that province or of Canada, but those of my readers who are can act as Craig Pettitt requests. Now I feel like I should see what, if anything, is being done to preserve the U.S. portion of the inland rainforest. Next year.
Think dad jokes are just a phase? Well MRI scans show that becoming a father literally alters a man's neurological blueprint. On Father's Day, we explore the incredible biological upgrade that transforms men into caregivers.
Internet sensation April the Giraffe gave birth to her son, Tajiri, live online in front of millions of people this April. The baby giraffe met his father, Oliver, shortly after, but the two have not seen each other since. This week, at the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, the three were reunited. It made for a wonderfully memorable moment and delighted fans all over the world.
Tajiri may be the star, but I'm going to wish Oliver a happy Father's Day and the entire family a happy World Giraffe Day!
Next, the reason both World Giraffe Day and National Seashell Day are today, the Summer Solstice. Watch WMAR-2 News' Science with Stevie: Summer Solstice.
The sun is ready for its big moment in the spotlight! Meteorologist Stevie Daniels talks about the summer solstice in this Science with Stevie segment!
Here's to Stevie becoming a mom next month so her viewers can wish her a happy Mother's Day next year!
It was last year and I normally celebrate it that day to avoid pile-ups like today's, but I wasn't feeling it. I'm also not feeling like turning today into the Sunday entertainment feature. I'll make up for it later in the week, when I plan on sharing a particularly doomy preview of the drum corps season, which begins Friday. In the meantime, stay tuned for World Rainforest Day, Detroit-style Pizza Day, and the first of two WorldUFODays. I love holidays!
The time has finally come to break my silence on America's national bird, the bald eagle.
There is also an AI summary.
Lawrence explores the fascinating reality of North America's endemic Bald Eagles, examining their surprising habitats and unique behavioral traits. This look into the conservation success story uncovers the history behind their near-extinction and remarkable recovery.
I've been slacking on one of my traditions, including a drink video for my holiday entries, so I'm making up for by including National Day Calendar's WORLD MARTINI DAY | JUNE 20.
Shaken, not stirred. Do you enjoy a good martini once in a while? Let us know in the comments.
Detroit isn't having all the fun in the Great Lakes State. WNEM TV5 in Saginaw, Flint, Midland and Bay City reported Juneteenth plans in Flint for 54th year.
Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said Flint was the first city in Michigan to officially recognize Juneteenth in 2020, a year before the federal government.
I didn't know that about Flint, so I learned something new. That makes today a good day.
When you look at Federally declared disasters across the U.S., there’s a surprising blank spot in the Southwest region. What’s up with that? Is the Southwest really a safe haven from natural disasters? Or is there a more sinister explanation for this giant hole in the map? On this episode of Weathered, we talk to the folks who made this map, and some of the world’s leading experts on climate risk to find out what’s really going on.
My wife and I watched this video together on the big-screen TV in our bedroom. I guessed the lack of natural disasters in the American Southwest was because there aren't a lot of people there and that the dark secret was the heat. The first guess wasn't true; the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ MSA has an estimated population of 5,228,938 while the Las Vegas–Henderson–North Las Vegas, NV MSA has an estimated population of 2,407,226.
The second guess was dead on. That's no surprise, as I blogged about Phoenix being the hottest city in the U.S. in 2021 and mentioned its record heat in 2023twice. What is surprising is that heat waves don't count as federal natural disasters covered by FEMA. The commenters found the reason dismaying: "You don't get disaster declarations for mortality. You only do it for economics." Ecurewitz responded "That’s the most American statement ever." RandomAngle9 commented "The fact that heat doesn't 'qualify' as a disaster because it doesn't destroy buildings, only people, says everything about how we value human life in policy." Speaking of policy, Florida banning municipalities from protecting workers from heat shows that DeSantis wasn't only bad on COVID-19. He and the rest of the Republicans on Florida are bad on climate and weather, too.
The trailer alone demonstrated that Underdogs deserved this nomination. Unfortunately, I doubt it will win this award. It's competing against 2000 Meters to Andriivka with six nominations including Best Documentary, Songs from the Hole with four nominations including Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary, and The Stringer, also with four nominations including Outstanding Investigative Documentary. I expect grit will win over wit.
I was wrong; wit beat grit in Outstanding Writing: Documentary.
Secrets of the Penguins deserved this nomination, but I doubt it will win. Instead, I think it's between Turning Point: The Vietnam War with five total nominations and Love + War with four nominations. Both are also nominated for Best Documentary. The sounds of combat would probably impress the journalists and documentarians, possibly even more than the sounds of nature or music. If the entertainment professionals in the Creative Arts Emmys were voting, they might give WE WANT THE FUNK! the advantage. Not here; electorates matter.
I think the same of Underdogs' chances for Outstanding Sound: Documentary. Given the competition in its categories, it has an apt title.
Don't even think about getting a bigger boat! Let us know in the comments the largest fish you ever caught.
When Marlo Anderson mentioned that a Danish scientist had figured out that the "dragon's tongues" were really giant sharks teeth in 1666, I thought "that has to be Nicolaus Steno." It was.
In 1667, Danish naturalist Nicolaus Steno made a discovery that forever changed the way we viewed the oceans forever. The fossils were thought to have been the petrified tongues of dragons or snakes, but what Nicolaus realised was the truth was equally, if not far more terrifying. These strange objects were actually the fossilized teeth of the largest shark to have roamed the oceans, the megalodon.
I plan on lecturing on Steno's contributions to geology on Thursday and I will include this factoid. One of my students is really into sharks and he'll enjoy it.
I have more material, but I feel like being a good environmentalist and conserving my resources for next year. May I remember to celebrate on time then. In the meantime, stay tuned for the News & Doc Emmy Awards won by Underdogs for Wayback Wednesday.
