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.
Jon Stewart examines the limits of Republican allegiance to Trump after his weekend of wooing President Xi with granite, helipads, and an exclusive tour of the White House ballroom. Will MAGA loyalists denounce Trump's offer to sell weapons to China, America's supposed enemy, or is their frustration with the president a Susan Collins-style display of feigned outrage?
When I called for continuing cooperation between the U.S. and China in U.S.-China EcoPartnerships: The CoDominion plans for sustainability 15 years ago, the U.S. selling arms to China was not what I had in mind! Not only does Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump have the worst case of L'Etat, c'est moi I have ever seen, he sees everything that isn't a way to aggrandize himself as a commercial opportunity that could enrich himself. I'm reminded of the quote attributed to Lenin, "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them." Pervert Hoover is certainly living down to that sentence.
Seth takes a closer look at Donald Trump saying he rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as Republicans openly broke with him and called for an end to the war.
Pervert Hoover was being too accomodating to Xi about the ballroom, that is, if it's really about national security and not just his edifice complex. Also, I'm a geologist and I'm not as into granite as Pervert Hoover thinks he and Xi are.
As for Republicans opposing the war and distancing themselves from Pervert Hoover, I think that's as much because of the war's effect on fuel prices as anything else. I lived through the stagflation of the 1970s and today looks a lot like 50 years ago. It reminds me that people get more upset about inflation than unemployment. That's one of the reasons I used to be all over gas prices; they affect people's mood and political choices, as the GOP is figuring out and Pervert Hoover is ignoring. I think he's too focused on the third thing he cares about after self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment, revenge. He can't get over how Iran has frustrated him.
We are back in Brooklyn for a week of shows, Guillermo won’t be with us until Wednesday because he is busy Dancing with the Stars, no quarterback has been sharper after the game than Giants QB Jameis Winston, Jimmy kicks an annoying Red Sox fan (Matt Damon) out of the audience, Trump hosted President Xi of China for a state dinner, and the monologue gets interrupted by a pothole crew and their angry supervisor (Jon Hamm).
Before I go onto to something serious, that's the best "your momma" bit I've ever seen on TV! As for Pervert Hoover being a hypocrite about state dinners, file that under "there is always a tweet" (or clip, in this case).
Enough of last night's monologues. Follow over the jump for the Emmy Awards won by The Daily Show writers and Jimmy Kimmel.
On the 1st of September, Drexel University made the announcement that they plan to permanently close the Academy of Natural Sciences; the oldest natural history museum in all of the Americas. The news came as a shock to everyone from locals to the the staff of the museum themselves who learned about closure on the same day as everyone else. Now the fate of this historic institution and the millions of rare and valuable artifacts within it hang in the balance. Join me as we fight back against this attack on science and help save the Academy.
...
HOW TO SAVE THE ACADEMY:
Step 1: Go to this link https://save-the-academy.org/...
The page at the link urges people to complete five actions, the first of which is sign a petition.
I've signed and so have 108,090 others. The last on the list is "share your story." That's what this blog is about. I'm recycling part of a comment I left on George Morgan Davis (1938 – 2024): The Director’s Cut to kick off my personal story.
On the one hand, may George Davis rest in peace. I have at least one story about the Council of Systematic Malacologists, where I first met George, and the San Diego Natural History Museum that I did not want to commit to paper or pixels while he was alive. On the other, the same instincts that guided George in that tale would be useful. Have you heard that Drexel University, which took over the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and turned it into the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, has decided to shut it down by the end of the month? If George were still with us, he'd be fighting that decision. I located your blog and the PDF you linked to while searching to see if George was still around. He's not, but I'm glad I found your blog.
When I wrote "Sometimes, people with less than pure motives get results, a topic on my to-do list," in 'Mr. Scorsese' and 'The Librarians' both Emmy winners, George Davis, who was curator of malacology at the Academy of Natural Sciences when I knew him in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was one of the people I was thinking about. Now's not the time to tell that story.*
Instead, I'm telling another story, that of Joseph Leidy, who "named the holotype specimen of Hadrosaurus foulkii, which was recovered from the marl pits of Haddonfield, New Jersey" and "also described the holotype specimens of Arctodus (A. pristinus), the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus), and the American lion (Panthera atrox), among many others." I have connections to all these extinct animals, which Leidy described at the Academy of Natural Sciences.
One of the fiberglass dinosaurs at Pre-Historic Forest, where I worked as a tour guide and consultant, was Hadrosaurus foulkii. It was the high point, literally, as its statue stood at the top of the trail, of the walking tour. I could have used more information about the creature as the first dinosaur described from the United States. It would have been been more informative than making a bad joke about New Jersey (If it were described today, it might have been called Sopranosaurus, to which a heckler once responded "What about Hoffasaurus?" My retort was "You know where you can find Jimmy Hoffa? In the Yellow Pages under concrete." That joke has extra resonance now that I live three miles from where he disappeared.)
I've mentioned several times that I did my M.S. research at Rancho La Brea, where Arctodus in the form of A. simus), the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus), and the American lion (Panthera atrox all occur. I haven't mentioned Actodus, known as the giant short-faced bear, on this blog before, but I have written about direwolves and American lions, so both are still relevant to me 40 years later. It would be a huge loss to science that I would feel personally if anything happened to the holotypes of these organisms, especially if it were because the museum closed and the specimens were lost.
I could go on with the stories of Edward Drinker Cope, Thomas Say, and Henry Augustus Pilsbry, all of whom were important scientists who worked in my areas of expertise and all of whom did their research at the Academy of Natural Sciences, but it's time to wrap up this post. Maybe later.
The Academy of Natural Sciences has an offer from the William Penn Foundation to keep its doors open for at least one year, but Drexel University, who owns the museum, said it is still deciding what the historic museum’s future will be, NBC10’s Andrew Rowan has the story.
When I signed the petition, I added the comment that Drexel should accept the William Penn Foundation's offer. I'll tell the university president and head of the board of directors the same thing. I hope my readers do, too.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (Ramy Youssef) gets a visit from President Trump (James Austin Johnson) and Natalie Harp (Ashley Padilla) during a nor’easter.
Ashley Padilla as Ashley Harp stole the scene. Two horror movie references, Weapons and Obsession? Perfect. She made a bigger impression than James Austin Johnson's Trump crushing on Ramy Youssef's Mamdani. Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump loves winners and Mamdani certainly is one of those.
China taking its pandas back messed with a lot of Americans' entertainment and they want new pandas. The media are happy to cater to this desire, which draws clicks and views. Should the Chinese lend pandas back to U.S. zoos, it will make both China, if not Xi, and Biden more popular in the U.S. That's a win-win. Now to see if it actually happens.
It's too late to help Biden, but not too late to help China and Xi. I don't know if it will help Pervert Hoover. His approval ratings are at record lows.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like critics calling out Hanukkah Barbie appearing to have a larger nose.
I'm not surprised 20% of Gen Z hasn't had sex. Even by Wikipedia's definition, Gen Z's last birth year was 2012 (I'd place it later), so they're 14. Age of consent in the U.S. ranges from 16 to 18. That's probably 20% right there.
Follow over the jump for Weekend Update's interviews and more.
Mr. Scorsese and Sean Combs: The Reckoning co-lead with three nominations each, followed by The American Revolution and The Yogurt Shop Murders tied at two and Rafa with one. That's not exactly the order that the prognosticators at Gold Derby handicap this category. The professionals mostly picked Mr. Scorsese to win with 62.5% of experts and 57.1% of editors along with 37.6% of users, while 57.9% of users support The American Revolution with the remaining professionals, 37.5% of experts and 42.9% of editors, agreeing. The rest of the users rank Sean Combs: The Reckoning third with 2.9%, Rafa fourth with 1.3%, and The Yogurt Shop Murders fifth with 0.3%.
By the time of the ceremony, the 64.8% of users fighting for The American Revolution persuaded enough of the professionals that 58.8% of the experts and 50.0% of the editors joined them, leaving 35.3% of the experts, 50.0% of the editors, and 28.9% of the users sticking with Mr. Scorsese. The professionals should have held their ground, as Mr. Scorsese won. Watch Documentary or Nonfiction Series: 78th Emmy Awards.
The team from Mr. Scorsese accepts the Emmy for Documentary or Nonfiction Series at the 78th Emmy Awards.
Between the two, I think The Tale of Silyan is the favorite. First, it has a second Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program, which I'll examine over the jump, while The Librarians has only one. Second, it earned a nomination for Best Documentary at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards in addition to Best Cinematograpy. The Librarians also earned a nomination at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards for Best Political Documentary, but not Best Documentary. Third, The Tale of Silyan earned nominations at the Film Independent Spirit Awards and PGA Awards and wins at the Cinema Eye Honors Awards and Golden Trailer Awards. Yes, the trailer I embedded is a winner in its own right for Best Documentary Subject. Meanwhile, The Librarians earned nominations at the Satellite Awards and Cinema Eye Honors Awards. When the two films earned nominations at the same awards shows, The Tale of Silyan won awards and more and better nominations. Gold Derby hasn't created a predictions page for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards yet, but I don't have to wait until they do; I can tell which nominee is more likely to win, especially since this is a juried award. The experts will prefer the craft and storytelling of The Tale of Silyan over the subject matter of The Librarians.
The experts, editors, and users at Gold Derby all disagree with me; 87.5% of experts, 71.4% of editors, and 91.4% of users are currently voting for The Librarians to win. They must think the Television Academy considers the craft level is even enough that the anti-censorship message of The Librarians will be enough to beat The Tale of Silyan. I'm not convinced yet. It depends on the composition of the jury.
By the Saturday night ceremony, professional opinion consolidated around The Librarians as 94.1% of experts, 87.5% of editors, and 95.1% of users chose it. They were right and I was wrong, but that's O.K. Watch Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking: 78th Emmy Awards.
The team from The Librarians accepts the Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking at the 78th Emmy Awards.
A day after Paramount Skydance and a group of state attorneys general announced a settlement clearing the way for its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, questions remain about whether the deal does enough to protect consumers and competition. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Oliver Darcy of Status.
I've writtenmanytimes that the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with our entertainment. This will mess with our entertainment, just like the Paramount-Skydance merger before, which resulted in Late Night with Stephen Colbert being canceled. Also, there is no new Star Trek being produced for the first time since Star Trek: Discovery debuted in 2017. However, I don't think consumers have yet seen how this merger will mess with their entertainment. It might take a while, like HBO not renewing Last Week Tonight with John Oliver next year, although The Daily Show is still going.
Critics said they feel betrayed and duped by the California leaders.
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass may have urged a settlement to save their political careers. Instead, they created new enemies. As for the protest doing anything useful, I'm recycling what I wrote in 'DTF St. Louis' wins Outstanding Limited Series while 'Beef' is shut out at the Primetime Emmy Awards: "What the shareholders want and what the Hollywood creatives desire are not the same and the shareholders are in charge unless the courts rule otherwise." The most visible actors may be well-paid and influential, but at the end of the day, they're just employees.
OPINION: Lindsey Granger gives her lens on the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, which cleared a major hurdle after reaching a settlement with a dozen states that had sued to stop the merger.
People are freaked out over the Ellisons and their relationship with Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump and the possible effect on CNN, but this is the first I've heard of people being concerned about foreign ownership. I hadn't considered that as being bad for America.
I'm sure I'll write more about the fallout from this deal. In the meantime, stay tuned for more Emmy Awards coverage.
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! and Ocean with David Attenborough co-lead with six nominations each, followed by John Candy: I Like Me with five nominations and Marty, Life Is Short tied with My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay at three. Normally, I'd consider Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! and Ocean with David Attenborough to be co-favorites, but the experts, editors, and users at Gold Derby disagree. They think John Candy: I Like Me and My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay to be the favorites, with 50.0% of experts, 28.6% of editors, and 61.0% of users picking the former, while 50.0% of experts, 57.1% of editors, and 26.3% of users choosing the latter. Normally, I'd favor the editors over the experts except one of the experts picking John Candy: I Like Me is Joyce Eng, whose opinion I trust. The remaining editor(s), 14.3%, are currently voting for Ocean with David Attenborough along with 3.5% of users. The rest of the users are split between Marty, Life Is Short with 6.2% and Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! with 3.0%. I've often written that, all things being equal, the Emmy electorate will vote for a good story about themselves. The corollary is that they will vote for a nominee about a dead celebrity over a living one. The prognosticators at Gold Derby seem to agree. Again, electorates matter.
By the time of the Saturday ceremony, most of the professionals lined up behind My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay with 58.8% of the experts and 50.0% of editors, along with 34.6% of users. The majority of users, 55.9%, joined by 41.2% of experts and 37.5% of editors, stuck with John Candy: I Like Me. The remaining 12.5% of editors held their position with Ocean with David Attenborough. The professionals called it. Watch Documentary Or Nonfiction Special: 78th Emmy Awards.
The team from My Mom Jayne: A Film By Mariska Hargitay accepts the Emmy for Documentary Or Nonfiction Special at the 78th Emmy Awards.
Congratulations!
Outstanding Narrator
Sir David Attenborough – A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (Netflix)
Sir David Attenborough – Ocean with David Attenborough (Nat Geo)
Jodie Foster – Breakdown: 1975 (Netflix)
Werner Herzog – Ghost Elephants (Nat Geo)
Octavia Spencer – Lost Women of Alaska: "The Missing" (Investigation Discovery)
The experts, editors, and users disagree about the odds in this category, too, with 87.5% of experts and 83.0% of users but only 28.6% of editors electing for Sir David in Ocean with David Attenborough, 42.9% of editors along with 12.5% of experts and 9.4% of users choosing Octavia Spencer, and the remaining 28.6% of editors along with 2.9% of users on board with Warner Herzog. The remaining users split between Jodie Foster at 2.6% and Sir David's other nomination at 2.1%. Let's see who switches first, the experts or the editors.
The editors lost their nerve by the time of the ceremony, as 66.7% of them joined 88.9% of the experts and 82.3% of users in selecting Sir David, while only 11.1% of both experts and editors along with 11.3% stuck with Octavia Spencer. More editors, 22.2%, wanted Werner Herzog to win! The editors should have held fast, as Spencer won. Watch Narrator: 78th Emmy Awards.
Octavia Spencer accepts the Emmy for Narrator at the 78th Emmy Awards.
Congratulations to Spencer, who now has an Emmy to go along with her Oscar.
I also listed the other nominations for Ocean with David Attenborough.
The answer seems to be a very English version of "as little as necessary." Too bad we don't live in a world as idyllic, but Middle-Earth in general and The Shire in particular are fantasy lands, as Robert himself points out.
In this edition of IDTIMWYTIM, Hank explains why the common understanding of "equinox" is wrong, what the equinox actually is, and then rages a little against astronomers and their stupid confusing Latin terms.
Science! Also, look how young Hank is.
That's a wrap for today's triple holiday. Stay tuned for continuing Emmy Award winner coverage.
If you’ve heard kids screaming “Six Seven!” in class, online, or even in your nightmares… you're not alone. What started as a random rap lyric morphed into a cursed Gen Alpha meme and has now taken over as a catch-all catch phrase. But what does it mean? In today's strange new video, we unravel the bizarre rise of the 6-7 meme, who is Maverick Trevillian? And why 6-7 has taken over Gen Alpha. Prepare for basketball lore, meme chaos, analog horror, and the terrifying realization that you might just be too old for this.
I don't need this meme to feel old; I am old. I'm planning on retiring at the end of this year. Just the same, I'm looking forward to my younger and goofier students doing this meme to me today for my birthday. It will be less work than liking all the happy birthday wishes on Facebook!
I could write more, but this is the most I've ever written about my birthday on this blog. Musical question for today was shorter. See you tomorrow after I enjoy my meme birthday!
Every expert and editor along with 94.1% of users predicts The Pitt will repeat as Outstanding Drama Series. Pluribus is the pick of 5.2% of users, while the rest of the nominees have 0.4% or fewer users behind each.
The team from The Pitt talks to Albert Lawrence backstage at the 78th Emmy Awards after winning the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.
I believe health care workers would like this show. My ex-wife was a nurse — she's retired now — and the stories The Pitt tells match the most dramatic she'd tell me when she got home from shift.
Every editor, 84.6% of experts, and 84.4% of users agree with me that this is Rhea Seehorn's award to lose and has been since December. Keri Russell has captivated the remaining 15.4% of experts and 13.0% of users, followed by Zendaya with 2.1% of users. Carrie Coon has 0.3% user support while Chase Infiniti brings up the rear with 0.1%.
Rhea Seehorn and Vince Gilligan of Pluribus talk to Albert Lawrence backstage at the 78th Emmy Awards. Rhea Seehorn wins the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and Vince Gilligan wins for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
That was fun and congratulations. I'm looking forward to Season 2, whenever it returns.
Every expert and editor plus 95.3% of users are acclaiming Noah Wyle to repeat. Mark Ruffalo is a distant second with 2.5% of users, followed by Gary Oldman with 1.2%, Sterling K. Brown with 0.9%, and Rufus Sewell with 0.1%.
Noah Wyle accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for The Pitt at the 78th Emmys.
Wyle's winnerview was also The Pitt's, so I'm moving on to the next category, which was a surprise, including to the winner.
Four actresses from The Pitt earning nominations in this category could result in massive vote splitting that could allow a nominee from another series to slip on through. The other outcome is that the voters look at the nominees side-by-side and decide on the best one. That's what Gold Derby thinks will happen, as a fairly consistent 80.8% of both experts and users along with 88.9% of editors expect Katherine LaNasa will return to the stage, followed by 11.5% of experts and 9.4% of users who suspect Sepideh Moafi will upset, then 11.1% of editors and 5.9% of users captivated by Karolina Wydra, then the remaining 7.7% of experts and 1.8% of users who anticipate Allison Janney will be the best TV president. Taylor Dearden has the support of 1.1% of users, followed by Julianne Nicholson with 0.7%, then Fiona Dourif with 0.2%.
It looks like the first possible outcome, "massive vote splitting that could allow a nominee from another series to slip on through," is what happened. Watch Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: 78th Emmys.
Allison Janney accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The Diplomat at the 78th Emmys.
Janney had more to say in .
Allison Janney from The Diplomat talks to Albert Lawrence backstage at the 78th Emmy Awards after winning the Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Congratulations, not only on this Emmy, but all eight over her career so far!
Massive vote splitting was probably a factor in the next category, which was less of a surprise.
Every editor, 57.7% of experts, and 62.7% of users have picked Patrick Ball to win. On the other hand, 34.6% of experts and 27.4% of users think Tom Pelphrey will take home the Emmy, giving Task the best chance for a drama series other than The Pitt or Pluribus to win an Emmy tomorrow. The remaining 7.7% of experts along with 5.6% of users selected Shawn Hatosy to upset. No, he's not better than Ball, although I think he and the night shift deserve their own spinoff series. They look like fun. The rest of the user vote splits among Billy Crudup at 2.1%, Carlos-Manuel Vesga at 1.0%, Jack Lowden at 0.7%, and Gerran Howell at 0.6%.
Tom Pelphrey accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Task at the 78th Emmys.
As I wrote on Twitter/X at the time, "This makes up for him not even being nominated for this category for 'Ozark' (but then nominated for the role the next season as a Guest Actor)." Congratulations!
Tom Pelphrey from Task talks to Albert Lawrence backstage at the 78th Emmy Awards after winning the Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
I don't know who loves each other more, Pelphrey and Kaley Cuoco or Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell. At least Pelphrey thanked Cuoco in his speech.
Now for the biggest surprise of the night, at least as far as Gold Derby is concerned.
Professional opinion is split on the top two in this category with the users breaking a virtual tie in favor of Vince Gilligan and Pluribus, which has the support of 65.4% of experts, 44.4% of editors, and 74.2% of users, while The Pitt's support consists of 34.6% of experts, 55.6% of editors, and 22.6% of users. Task follows with 1.9%, then The Gilded Age and Slow Horses tied at 0.6%, with Paradise bringing up the rear at 0.1%.
Saul Metzstein talks to Albert Lawrence backstage at the 78th Emmy Awards after winning the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for Slow Horses.
Yes, congratulations!
I close the above-the-jump portion with a category that went the way Gold Derby thought it would.
Professional opinion is much more united behind Vince Gilligan and Pluribus for his writing, as every editor and 80.0% of experts along with 80.1% of users expect Gilligan will escape the podium with the statuette. The next choice among experts at 8.0% and users at 10.9% is the "12:00 P.M." of The Pitt. Slow Horses also has 8.0% of experts and 6.7% of users. The "1:00 P.M." episode of The Pitt picked up the remaining 4.0% of experts along with 0.7% of users. The Diplomat and Task split the rest of the user vote at 1.0% and 0.6%, respectively.
Vince Gilligan accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Pluribus at the 78th Emmy Awards.
Well said!
Those were the winners on Monday. Follow over the jump for the winners the Sunday before I didn't already recognize, all of which are science fiction, horror, or fantasy, including fantasy-adjacent, as Bridgerton was retelling a fairy tale, namely Cinderella.
