Coffee Party USA invites you to stream the political TV series on the Golden Coffee Cups shortlist while staying safe at home

Hey, all of you binge-watching your guilty pleasure shows while staying safe at home, relaxing after working from home, returning for work after wearing a mask all day, or just stressed out from the real world! I have another suggestion to make your time in front of the big-screen TV in the living room, the slightly smaller screen in the bedroom, or even holding your tablet or smartphone work to help your appreciation of politics and government on television and then apply your understanding to help Coffee Party USA in one of our projects.

Last month, Coffee Party USA invited you to watch these political movies while staying safe at home, which led to the 2019 Coffee Party Entertainment Awards for movies, AKA the Golden Coffee Cups for Movies. It is now time for the next phase of these awards.

The members will also be voting on the nominees and winners of the Golden Coffee Cups for television programs and their performers that demonstrate the best in politics and government on the small screen. Watch for an announcement of the shortlist of possible nominees from the 2018-2019 television season and an invitation to watch them next week, much like Coffee Party USA invites you to watch these political movies while staying safe at home, followed by the nominees of the 2019-2020 season in the summer.

Follow over the jump to read the shortlists for television shows in five categories along with a two-part activity involving them.

Bed Bath & Beyond, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse from Retail Archaeology and Company Man

I ended the list of chains closing stores in Many stores closing for good even as economy reopens, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and COVID-19 pandemic with "Finally, Bed, Bath & Beyond is closing 44 stores, more than the 40 stores I reported in CNBC warns that Bed Bath & Beyond is 'facing extinction,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse." Two days later, Retail Archaeology uploaded Bed Bath & Beyond: Can They Survive? Take it way, Erik!

In this episode we take a look at Bed Bath & Beyond. They've really been struggling and the future looks uncertain for them.

While the footage is from before the COVID-19 pandemic, I'm still impressed that Erik of Retail Archaeology uploaded the video so soon after the Business Insider article I quoted earlier this week. I'm also impressed that he's taken a look at the corporation's stock price history along with a quick summary of the chain's founding and growth. It reminds me of Company Man, who examines store numbers, sales, and stock prices as part of his company histories.

Speaking of Company Man, he uploaded Bed Bath & Beyond vs. Linens 'n Things earlier this year and provided lots of "store numbers, sales, and stock prices" as part of his comparison and contrast of the two home furnishing chains.

This video compares two strangely similar stores that were once among the top retailers in the U.S. They've both since fallen but at different times and for different reasons. In this video I talk about what happened while highlighting some key differences that have lead to their separate fates.

Company Man's graphs show why CNBC was so concerned last year when Bed Bath & Beyond lost money for the first time since going public. Even then, I was fairly sanguine.

Compared to a lot of chains in trouble, a net loss of 25 stores out of more than 1,000 hardly registers. I'm not terribly worried that the nearest location, just a little more than two miles west of me, is going to close any time soon. I also think that the chain is facing a crisis, but it's not in imminent danger of going out of business. Still, it's a sign that issues with brick-and-mortar are spreading beyond dead malls and the businesses associated with them, including chain restaurants.

I'm not as calm about the fate of the chain now, if only because 100,000 dead and 40 million unemployed in the U.S. has made the economic environment much more precarious for retailers other than daily essentials such as food and medicine, which I shopped for yesterday and picked up without ever entering the store.

I expect I'll write more about the Retail Apocalypse in June. In the meantime, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature as the final post of the month

CNN and WUSA9 ask why Trump is against voting by mail

While I was blogging about 100,000 dead and 40 million unemployed in the U.S., the human toll of the pandemic so far, President Trump was fighting Twitter over being fact-checked. I could write an entire post about the fight itself and I might still do that, but I'd rather concentrate on the reason for the fight, which is Trump's unsupported attack on voting by mail. To that end, I'm sharing two opinion pieces, beginning with CNN's The real reason Donald Trump hates mail-in ballots.

California wants to send mail-in ballots to all registered voters ahead of the 2020 election due to the coronavirus pandemic, a move that President Donald Trump is continuously attacking — saying it will lead to a fraudulent and rigged election. Chris Cillizza explains why the widespread election fraud Trump claims will happen is, well, unlikely.

As Cilizza says, voter fraud by impersonation is so rare that it's almost non-existent, which means it is not at all effective. The safety of the electorate during the COVID-19 pandemic far outweighs that miniscule risk. As for Trump being unable to recognize that can ever lose, I once observed elsewhere about a hornet I swatted (unsuccessfully, unfortunately, but at least I wasn't stung) 'he thinks he's winning because he can't imagine himself doing anything else.' That looks awful familiar.

WUSA9 in Washington, D.C., has another take on Trump's opposition to voting by mail, asking Why is the president against voting by mail? | Reese's Final Thought.

Without a more robust mail-in voting plan, voter turnout will diminish. Maybe that's the point.

Yeah, that, too.

100,000 dead and 40 million unemployed in the U.S., the human toll of the pandemic so far

Yesterday, I described the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail businesses in Many stores closing for good even as economy reopens, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and COVID-19 pandemic. Today, I'm sharing two videos on the human cost from CBS This Morning, beginning with More than 100,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.

As the U.S. observes the sobering milestone of 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, David Begnaud looks at the lives lost, and how cities nationwide are planning to reopen even as cases continue to rise.

I was not one of those who considered that 100,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 was unthinkable in March. While I didn't say so here, I did comment on a friend's Facebook page back then in response to an estimate of 120,000 to 200,000 Americans dead from this pandemic that if we ended up with 120,000 dead, the country would be lucky, although that's no comfort to the friends and relatives of those who died.

What did surprise me was the economic toll. CBS This Morning reported today In the last 10 weeks, over 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment.

More than 2.1 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, bringing the number of jobless claims to more than 40 million over the last 10 weeks. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss which industries are scrambling to hire some of those workers.

Near the end of February, I wrote "This stock market crash is the one reason I am not revising the recession call I made in CNBC explains how the yield curve predicted every recession for the past 50 years. Without the cornovirus outbreak, I might have to. With it, I still think it's likely." Within a month, I posted FiveThirtyEight examines coronavirus and the economy, by which time the recession was on, even if it won't be declared officially until July. I was right for the wrong reasons. Given the human toll, I'd rather have been wrong.

While I was right about the timing, I was wrong about the extent of the recession. As I wrote in The tax bill and the U.S. economy in 2018 and beyond, "I expect the next recession to be somewhere between the 2001 recession or the 1990-1991 recession in its effects, probably closer to 2001." Instead, the U.S. is experiencing the highest unemployment since the Great Depression, all within the first two months. Yikes! Now I know how a pandemic or nation-wide natural disaster affects the U.S. economy. I'm not sure I wanted to find out.

Speaking of being right for the wrong reasons, I wrote "I fully expect Peak Oil, economic decline, and social upheaval to end the national touring model, which has been around since 1971, by 2020" in Christmas in July eight years ago. Well, the 2020 drum corps season has been cancelled, so the national touring model is in a coma, not dead, but Peak Oil had nothing to do with it. Instead, it was the pandemic that drove what passes for economic decline and social upheaval and that caused there to be no competitive drum corps this year. I'll have to see if the pandemic ends next year and the activity can be revived. Stay tuned.

Many stores closing for good even as economy reopens, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and COVID-19 pandemic

In the previous installment of tales of the Retail Apocalypse, which has now been rolled up into the COVID-19 pandemic, I told how JCPenney filed for bankruptcy.* It's not just JCPenney's, along with Neiman Marcus and J. Crew declaring bankruptcy and closing stores as a result of the pandemic. WXYZ uploaded Store closings amid coronavirus pandemic this morning listing many more.


WXYZ got its list from Business Insider's More than 3,300 stores are closing in 2020 as the retail apocalypse drags on. Here's the full list.

Retailers are expected to close more than 3,300 stores this year, following record-high rates of closings last year.

More than 9,300 store closings were announced in the US in 2019, smashing the previous record of roughly 8,000 store closures in 2017, according to an analysis by Business Insider.

The number of store closings this year could be even higher than previous records, according to estimates from the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. The firm estimated last year —prior to the coronavirus pandemic — that as many as 12,000 major chain stores could close in 2020.

The pandemic is now putting even more stores in danger of closing, as retailers grapple with dramatic drops in sales in traffic.

Just to review, here are the chains closing more than 100 stores, along with my comments.

• Pier 1 Imports: 450 stores — I reported this in Pier 1 Imports files for bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.
• GameStop: 320 stores — This chain has been on my radar since Business Insider on stores closing in the Retail Apocalypse with updates in Company Man on GameStop, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and GameStop losing money and closing stores, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.
• Papyrus: 254 stores — "The stationary chain Papyrus filed for bankruptcy in January and said it plans to close its 254 stores in the US and Canada." I missed this news and now the chain will be gone forever.
• Victoria's Secret: 238 stores — oh, my.
• Gap: 230 stores — looks like they fell into the generation gap of shopping.
• Walgreens: 200 stores — I'm not worried about Walgreens going away, although they may suffer from Starbucks's problem, too many stores too close together.
• Chico's: 200 stores — never heard of them.
• Destination Maternity: 183 stores — I reported this alread in Destination Maternity/Motherhood Maternity files for bankruptcy and announces store closings, blaming lower birth rates, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.
• Forever 21: 178 stores — I have been following this story since September, when I posted Forever 21 is facing bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse then Forever 21 files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, followed by an update in CNBC and Business Insider explain the rise and fall of Forever 21, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.
• Modell's: 153 stores — "The sports retailer Modell's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March and said it plans to close all of its 153 stores." I missed this news, too, and now the chain will be gone.
• A.C. Moore: 145 stores — "The craft-store chain A.C. Moore is shutting down all 145 of its stores in 2020. A.C. Moore's parent company, Nicole Crafts, announced the closings in November and said about 40 locations would be converted into Michaels stores." At least I know Michaels.
• Macy's: 125 stores — I reported this in Macy's announces 125 stores closing and 2,000 corporate jobs cut, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.
• Art Van Furniture: 125 stores — reported in Art Van Furniture going out of business, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.
• Bose: 119 stores — "The audio equipment retailer Bose said in January that it planned to close 119 stores globally, including all its stores in the US."

In addition, Sears is closing 51 stores and Kmart 45 stores. I have a long series about Sears and KMart with the latest featuring Sears being Lampert and Mnuchin sued by Sears, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and the latest about KMart Last two Kmarts in metro Detroit will close, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse. Finally, Bed, Bath & Beyond is closing 44 stores, more than the 40 stores I reported in CNBC warns that Bed Bath & Beyond is 'facing extinction,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.

All of this is happening as stores and malls are reopening in Michigan, which WXYZ also reported in Two local malls set to reopen May 28.


I'm not going back to the mall any time soon. My wife and I are doing our shopping online and having it delivered to home or picking it up in the parking lot, something millions of Americans are also doing.

That's it for the Retail Apocalypse for today. With luck, the next entry will be about the first commercial crew mission to the ISS. Cross your fingers and stay tuned!

*I also reported how Kroger and other grocery chains were ending "hero pay" and remarked that deserved a post of its own. I'll get to it.

Coffee Party USA announces the 2019 Golden Coffee Cup Movie Winners!

The members of Coffee Party USA have voted on the nominees for the 2018 Coffee Party Entertainment Awards for movies, also known as the Golden Coffee Cups, so it's time to announce the winners. "Harriet" swept the categories in which it was nominated, winning Best Drama or Comedy about Politics or Government of 2017 AKA the Best Political Scripted Movie, while Cynthia Erivo won two awards for playing Harriet Tubman in "Harriet," Best Portrayal of an Activist or Concerned Citizen in a Film and Best Performance by an Actor in a Political Film, for a total of three awards. Annette Bening won the vote for Best Portrayal of a Government Official in a Film playing Senator Dianne Feinstein in "The Report." "Apollo 11" won two awards, first for Best Documentary about Politics or Government and the second for U.S. President John F. Kennedy as Best Appearance of a Government Official in a Documentary. Congratulations to all the winners for depicting what the members of Coffee Party USA considered to be the best of politics and government in film during 2019!

Movies are not the only type of entertainment Coffee Party USA recognizes. The members will also be voting on the nominees and winners of the Golden Coffee Cups for television programs and their performers that demonstrate the best in politics and government on the small screen. Watch for an announcement of the shortlist of possible nominees from the 2018-2019 television season and an invitation to watch them next week, much like Coffee Party USA invites you to watch these political movies while staying safe at home, followed by the nominees of the 2019-2020 season in the summer.

Coffee Party USA ia a 501c(4) nonprofit social welfare organization dedicated to empowering and connecting communities to reclaim our government for the people. To support its efforts, which include educating the public on our website and on our Facebook page, registering people to vote with our partners TurboVote and National Voter Registration Day, and reminding them to vote through our Voter Buddy program, please consider donating. A donation of $10.00 for ten years of Coffee Party USA is recommended. Ten dollars will also buy our partner stamp with Stamp Stampede to stamp money out of politics. For those who wish to give at a higher level of support and be more involved in the organization, please consider becoming a member, which will allow you to vote for future Golden Coffee Cup nominees and winners. To do the valuable work of the Coffee Party, volunteer. Not only will Coffee Party USA thank you for it, so will the country!

Follow over the jump for the nominees in each category.

Taps Across America for Memorial Day 2020

A somber Memorial Day to my readers. For this year's commemoration, I am sharing CBS Sunday Morning's Taps Across America.

Since parades and gatherings are cancelled this Memorial Day weekend, retired Air Force bugler Jari Villanueva and correspondent Steve Hartman are asking buglers and trumpet players across the country to stand on their porches this Memorial Day, and play the haunting music of “Taps” – and for the rest of us to soak in this 24-note reminder of what Memorial Day is all about.

I'll be listening at 3:00 P.M. local time for anyone playing "Taps." I hope my readers are, too.

Marching music for the Hawaii Democratic Primary

I was so busy writing about Trump threatening Michigan over mailing absentee ballot applications then visiting the Great Lakes State while refusing to wear a mask on camera while Michigan flooded that I missed the 2020 Hawaii Democratic primary on May 22. Oops. I guess I'm not used to voting deadlines that are on Friday. Still, since I promised I would do so in Marching music for the Oregon Primary and extended the voting deadline for the 2019 Golden Coffee Cups until tomorrow night, I'm going to follow through and make this the Sunday entertainment feature. Instead of marching music to watch and listen while waiting for the results, it will be to celebrate the successful completion of a vote-by-mail primary.

First, the news about the vote itself from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Joe Biden wins mail-in Hawaii Democratic presidential primary.

Former Vice President Joe Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in Hawaii in the party’s first mail-in presidential primary in the islands, the Democratic Party of Hawaii announced Saturday.

Biden received 63.2% of the ranked-choice votes, or 21,214 votes, while Sen. Bernie Sanders received 36.8%, or 12,337 ranked-choice votes.

The party decided last year to hold a mail-in ballot to increase participation and also because it fulfilled a Democratic National Committee request that the state move away from a caucus election and toward a primary.

Party members were supposed to have the option of voting in-person on April 4, but that was canceled because of the virus and the mail-in voting period was extended.

Video by Craig T. Kojima

While the description does a good job of reporting the primary results, the video didn't. For that, I turn to KHON2 News' Democratic Party of Hawaii announces presidential primary results.

The Democratic Party of Hawaii released the results for the 2020 presidential primary election. Joe Biden won with 63% of the votes, while Bernie Sanders came in second with 37%.

Those were the results after voters' second and third choices were considered. In the initial round, Biden had 56.0%, Sanders 30.8%, Elizabeth Warren 4.8%, Tulsi Gabbard 3.9%, Michael Bloomberg 1.3%, and Andrew Yang 1.0% with all other candidates receiving less than one percent each. I think that was Gabbard's best showing since winning a delegate in American Samoa, not that it did her any good to come in fourth in her home state.

Enough politics — on to the marching music! Since there are no competitive drum corps in Hawaii, follow over the jump for the Hawaiian marching bands that have marched in the Rose Parade during the past five years and been recorded by Music213.

Michigan flooded while Trump tweeted then refused to wear a mask on camera

While Trump threatened Michigan over voting by absentee ballots then visited the Great Lakes State while refusing to wear a mask on camera, a different disaster hit the state, a double dam break followed by a flood. MLive summarized the story in "A whole town destroyed" Michigan flooding and dam failures leaves path of destruction.

A look at the a week many mid-Michigan residents will not soon forget after heavy rain and dam failures resulted in massive flooding across the region.
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How did the dam fail? What happens next? When the Edenville Dam failed on May 19th, 2020, it started a chain of events that would devastate thousands of lives, homes, and property. So much so that President Donald Trump has approved an emergency declaration throughout mid-Michigan hit with catastrophic flooding.

This is another story about weather meeting neglected infrastructure, although I could make a case of it being climate, something I first hinted at in the title of I know weather isn't climate, but check out these videos! They show that flooding is normal for Michigan this time of year. On the other hand, I observed a trend in Detroit flooding one year later five years ago.

It fit a pattern that's emerged since I began keeping this blog.

[C]limate change...[is] expressing itself as increased precipitation, including 2013 being the wettest year in Michigan history, 2013-2014 being the snowiest year in Detroit's history, or 2011 being the rainiest year in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Toledo.

In addition, this month's flood resulted from the second highest single-day rainfall in Detroit history. Welcome to four precipitation records in four years.

Since then, another precipitation record has been set, as I mentioned in Snowfall of the century for Detroit on Groundhog Day.

The third-biggest snowstorm in metro Detroit's recorded history has plows humming among tall snow piles on roadways across southeastern Michigan this morning.
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With 16.7 inches of snow since the storm arrived early Sunday, it's the most to fall since Dec. 1 and 2 in 1974, when 19.3 inches fell, as recorded at Detroit Metro Airport. The snowiest was April 6, 1886, when 24.5 inches were reported...

Add the snowiest month in Detroit history and that's now six precipitation records in four years. As I wrote in the first entry I wrote about the storm, welcome to weather weirding in the 400 ppm world.

I haven't been keeping as close track of Michigan precipitation records since then, as this blog has become more national and international in its focus, but it wouldn't surprise me if the state has racked up more in the past five years.

All of this is making my wife and I feel like a mini-apocalypse has descended on Michigan with floods and political attacks on top of COVID-19 pandemic and record unemployment with experts predicting worse to come. We're not alone. In her interview on MSNBC, Rep. Debbie Dingell Reacts [To] Devastating MI Flooding And Trump Visit To Ford Plant, Dingell expressed much the same sentiment.

President Trump is heading to Michigan today after threatening the state and making false claims about voter fraud as flooding devastates the state. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell joins Stephanie Ruhle to react.

At least he's not threatening to withhold disaster relief now, as the caption for the MLive video reported.

Speaking of the pandemic, Governor Whitmer extended both the stay at home order and state of emergency. WDIV reported that as part of Michiganders react to extension of stay-at-home order

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended Michigan’s stay-at-home order until June 12 and the state of emergency until June 19.

The pandemic response even overwhelmed what would have been the focus of the clip in normal times, Aquaman and Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa visiting metro Detroit. Even he wore a mask on the way out. Welcome to celebrity in a time of plague.

Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at Trump threatening Michigan then visiting it while not wearing a mask

President Trump can't leave Michigan alone. Yesterday, I posted Trump threatens Michigan and Nevada over mail-in voting, which took a serious look at the story. That same day, he visited the Great Lakes State and toured a Ford plant that is now making ventilators. That became the fodder for three late-night talk-show hosts last night, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel.* I begin with Meyers, who directly addressed Trump's threats about Michigan sending out absentee ballot applications in Trump Attacks Vote-by-Mail, Refuses to Wear a Mask: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at the president and his political allies trying to subvert the 2020 election by using the levers of power to target political opponents and disrupt the voting process.

Colbert also lampooned Trump not wearing a mask in front of the cameras as well as giving a word salad response about his COVID-19 test results in Our Positively Negative President Says "We'll Put Out The Fires" Of Any Second Waves Of Infection.

President Trump dropped another head-scratcher during his Chopper Talk time on Thursday before heading to Michigan when he revealed the results of his latest coronavirus test. The President also downplayed the need for a national plan to avoid future spikes in Covid-19 infections around the country.

Jimmy Kimmel covered the same material with a little more outrage in Jimmy Kimmel’s Quarantine Monologue – Trump is “Man of the Year” & “King of Ventilators”.

In today’s #JimmyKimmelLiveFromHisHouse monologue, Jimmy talks about Donald Trump's latest Hydroxychloroquine update, Trump touring the Ford Motor plant, his unsubstantiated claim that he was once named "Man of the Year" in Michigan, and calling himself the “King of Ventilators.”

Despite his repeated claims, Trump was never "Man of the Year" in Michigan, but his making it is getting to be a running joke.

Speaking of running jokes, or at least common threads among the monologues, Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel all shared that working from home is getting to them. I can relate. I returned to the office last week for the first time in two months and it felt good to do something normal, even if my co-workers and I are all wearing masks, unlike the President. I'm sure all three hosts are looking forward to getting the all-clear so they can return to the studio, even if there is no audience.

There, I feel better about Trump's threats and visit by being able to laugh at him and the stories he's created. It's the best we can until until he's voted out. I hope my readers feel the same, at least about being able to laugh at the news.

*The fourth face in the preview image is Sarah Cooper, who lip-synched Trump's "positively negative" remark to hilarious effect.

Trump threatens Michigan and Nevada over mail-in voting

I just mentioned the advantages of voting by mail during a pandemic in Marching music for the Oregon Primary. Not everyone likes the idea, as WOOD-TV reported Trump threatens funding after Michigan absentee ballot move.


I'll have more from WOOD-TV after I share CNN's Trump lashes out at swing states over vote-by-mail yesterday.

President Donald Trump on [Twitter] lashed out at officials in two swing states, Michigan and Nevada, over their moves to make it easier for more voters to cast their ballots by mail ahead of the November election, highlighting his growing anger over mail-in voting changes that he contends will hurt his chances of reelection. The President's harsh and often baseless criticism of vote-by-mail is significantly ratcheting up as more and more states loosen their vote-by-mail restrictions proactively or on court orders.

CNN describing Trump's comments as "harsh and often baseless criticism of vote-by-mail" is certainly mincing no words. I also happen to agree with it.

Since this is a Michigan-based blog, I think this story needs a local reaction in addition to CNN's national reaction. WOOD-TV returns with one in Benson responds after Trump threatens funding.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is responding to criticism after moving to send absentee applications out to registered voters for the August and November elections.

Good for you, Secretary Benson! Just the same, this looks like a fight that will be fought all the way to the November general election. Sigh.

World Bee Day celebrates the importance of bees

Happy World Bee Day! Take it away, National Day Calendar!

World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20 each year. The purpose of the international day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem.

Every year on this day, the global public will focus on the importance of preserving honey bees and all other pollinators. People will be reminded of the significance of bees in providing for the needs of humanity.

I selected three videos that convey the importance of bees and other pollinators for my readers, beginning with On World Bee Day, Worrying Developments for the World's Pollinators from VOA News.

As the world marks Bee Day this week (May 20), it's a good opportunity to check in on these industrious insects that are responsible for about 80 percent of all pollination worldwide. But something is wrong with the world's bees and our existence might depend on figuring out why. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.

That's very much the same message about bees I've been telling on this blog for years, but it bears repeating.

Speaking of which, I present a video that places the importance of bees in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Bee Day. Unsung heroes from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Food is precious. During times of crisis, we must appreciate even more what it takes to get food to our plates. [J]ust think of bees and beekeepers. Most of the world’s vital food crops depend upon bees and other pollinators, giving us a diversity in our diets of quality fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Without them our gardens would not flourish, plant diversity would decrease, and we would miss the sweetness of honey. Yet, our tiny heroes are under threat from intensive agriculture, habitat loss, improper use of pesticides and climate change. Beekeepers are working to protect them. Contributing to our food and nutrition security, safeguarding biodiversity and providing livelihoods for millions.

To all these unsung heroes, we say…Thank you!

That reiterates the threats to bees I've been listing on my blog for most of the past ten years, but it does it well and updates it for our current situation. That alone makes it worth embedding. It helps that the United Nations established World Bee Day, so including a U.N. video is only proper.

Speaking of proper, I conclude today's post with a video from The Royal Family Channel: Duchess of Cornwall Marks World Bee Day as First President of Bees for Development.

The Duchess of Cornwall has sent a message to mark World Bee Day, in her capacity as newly named president of Bees for Development.

Camilla keeps nine hives herself and “every year sells the honey from her hives for charity,” a statement from Clarence House reads.

Bees For Development is a charity that aims to use beekeeping as a way to transform people’s lives.

Last year Her Royal Highness attended the Bees For Development Garden Party at Marlborough House in London.
...
Report by Gianluca Avagnina.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is not my favorite Royal — that's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex — but her being a beekeeper makes her an appropriate celebrity spokesperson for the cause. It makes me like her a little bit more.

I will do this all over again for World Honey Bee Day in August with updates on threats facing bees, such as "murder hornets," in between. Stay tuned.

Marching music for the Oregon Primary

As I promised yesterday, today's post is marching music for the 2020 Oregon Democratic primary. First, I'm sharing information about the primary from Wikipedia.

The 2020 Oregon Democratic primary will take place on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, and is the only contest on that date in the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election.
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Oregon, a vote-by-mail state, is expected to accept mail-in ballots until 8:00 p.m. local time. In the closed primary, candidates must meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 61 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 61 pledged delegates, between 6 and 12 are allocated to each of the state's 5 congressional districts and another 7 are allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 11 at-large pledged delegates. These delegate totals do not account for pledged delegate bonuses or penalties from timing or clustering.

Unlike the Georgia and Kentucky primaries, which were originally scheduled for May 19, Oregon's primary was not delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Georgia's primary has been rescheduled for June 9, while Kentucky's primary has been postponed to June 23. Welcome to a major advantage of voting by mail during a pandemic!

Enough politics. Follow over the jump for drum corps and marching band!

JCPenney files for bankruptcy while Kroger ends 'hero pay,' tales of the Retail Apocalypse and COVID-19 pandemic

A year ago January, I embedded a video from Retail Archaeology, in which Erik asked "is JCPenney the next Sears?'" Last week, I found out the answer was yes, as JCPenney joined Neiman Marcus and J. Crew in declaring bankruptcy. NBC News reported that story and more in JCPenney Files For Bankruptcy, Other Stores Ending ‘Hero Pay.’

The retailer has struggled with slowing sales for years with the coronavirus pandemic exacerbating its problems. Starting tomorrow, Kroger will end the extra $2 an hour of “hero pay” for essential workers, with other major chains following suit by the end of the month. Kroger will instead offer a new bonus payment of up to $400 for full-time employees and $200 for part-time workers.

It looks like there was a good reason why JCPenney and Macy's also closing stores in 2019, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse was the most read entry of the ninth year of the blog with Company Man on JCPenney's decline updates tales of the Retail Apocalypse for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News not far behind. My readers could smell JCPenney's blood in the water. They weren't alone. CNBC uploaded How J.C. Penney Is Trying To Make A Comeback last month, which begins and ends with the chain's current challenges with its history in between explaining how the company got to where it is today.

As of April 2020, J.C. Penney saw its shares trading well below $1, and it has long been in danger of being delisted by the New York Stock Exchange. The fate of the company now rests in the hands of its new CEO, Jill Soltau, who took the reins in October 2018. Soltau plans to revitalize the retailer and bring it back to its roots by focusing on customer service, apparel, and low prices.

I wish Soltau and her company luck. They will need it.

Looking beyond the pandemic and bankruptcy, CNBC Television asked what both mean for the future of retail.

Scott Crowe, of retail investment firm Centersquare, discusses what he believes will be the future of the retail industry.

When I wrote last month that coronavirus was accelerating existing retail trends, it looks like I was more right than I thought.

The employees of Kroger and other grocery chains losing "hero pay" deserves a post of its own. In the meantime, stay tuned for marching music for the 2020 Oregon Democratic primary.

Justin Amash suspends his campaign for the Libertarian nomination

Less than three weeks ago, I wrote Justin Amash announces candidacy for Libertarian presidential nomination. I concluded it by noting "I will likely analyze his ideology at both Voteview and On The Issues, as I have for the Democrats, but that will only happen after I report on the latest scores for the Democrats at On The Issues, which have changed just since last month. I'll do it along with making drink suggestions, but only after Amash earns the Libertarian Party nomination, which is scheduled for May, but could be delayed." That won't happen, as Wochit Polics reported Saturday Justin Amash Drops Out Of Run For The White House.

During his short-lived run for the US presidency, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan faced an uphill battle.
According to Business Insider, Amash announced Saturday he will not seek the Libertarian nomination for the White House.
Having abandoned the Republican party last year, Amash has heavily criticized President Donald Trump and has supported his impeachment.
During his campaign, Amash said he wanted to represent the millions of Americans who do not feel well represented by either major party.
In a series of tweets, Amash acknowledged the difficulties of campaigning as a third-party candidate amid the coronavirus pandemic.

My response on Twitter was "Good. While the Libertarians will nominate and run a candidate, America does not need a serious third-party contender to split the anti-Trump vote." I wish him luck defending his U.S. House seat. He'll need it.

As for who will win the Libertarian nomination, I'm rooting for Vermin Supreme, who has won the Libertarian Party primaries in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and California.


Looks like my kind of joke candidate.

Coffee Party USA announces the 2019 Golden Coffee Cups movie nominees

The members and volunteers of Coffee Party USA have voted on the best of the shortlist for the 2019 Coffee Party Entertainment Awards for movies, also known as the Golden Coffee Cups, so it's time to announce the nominees for the third annual edition of these honors.

Eight feature films from 2019 earned nominations. In descending order by number of nominations, they are "Bombshell" with six, "The Two Popes" with five, "Harriet" with three, "The Report" with two, and "1917," "Angel Has Fallen," "Jojo Rabbit," and "Just Mercy" with one each. "Bombshell," "The Two Popes," and "Harriet" garnered nominations both for Best Drama or Comedy about Politics or Government of 2019 (Best Scripted Political Movie) and in two or more acting categories, while "1917" and "Jojo Rabbit" earned a nomination for Best Scripted Political Movie and "Angel Has Fallen" and "The Report" collected their nominations in the acting categories.

In addition to Best Actor in a Political Film and Best Portrayal of a Government Official in a Film, Coffee Party USA is instituting a new acting award this year, Best Portrayal of an Activist or Concerned Citizen in a Film. As an activist organization, Coffee Party USA is using this award to recognize outstanding fictional examples of activists in cinema.

Eight political documentaries from 2019 also earned nominations. Three nominees, "American Factory," "Apollo 11," and "Knock Down the House," received two nominations each, both for Best Political Documentary and for Best Appearance of a Government Official in a Documentary, while the rest garnered only one nomination each, "Slay the Dragon" and "The Great Hack" for Best Political Documentary and "Hail Satan?," "St. Louis Superman," and "The Kingmaker" for Best Appearance of a Government Official in a Documentary.

The members of Coffee Party USA will vote on the winners this week. To join them in voting on the winners, become a member of Coffee Party USA by May 23, 2020, which you can do for as little as $30.00 per year. Winners are scheduled to be announced next Sunday, May 24, 2020.

Coffee Party USA ia a 501c(4) nonprofit social welfare organization dedicated to empowering and connecting communities to reclaim our government for the people. To support its efforts, which include educating the public on our website and on our Facebook page, registering people to vote with our partners TurboVote and National Voter Registration Day, and reminding them to vote through our Voter Buddy program, please consider donating. A donation of $10.00 for ten years of Coffee Party USA is recommended. For those who wish to give at a higher level of support and be more involved in the organization, please consider becoming a member, which will allow you to vote for future Golden Coffee Cup nominees and winners. To do the valuable work of the Coffee Party, volunteer. Not only will Coffee Party USA thank you for it, so will the country!

Follow over the jump for the nominees in each category.

Space Force gets a flag for Armed Forces Day

Happy Armed Forces Day!

Armed Forces Day on the third Saturday in May pays tribute to the military personnel serving in the United States Armed Forces. The celebration takes place each year during Armed Forces Week.

The United States Military is composed of six branches, including the Army, Air [Force], Space Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. As of 2019, more than 1.3 million active-duty service members are stationed in the United States and around the world. An additional 800,000 reservists stand ready in the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. The holiday unites the country behind the men and women who currently serve in the United States military.

The listing of Space Force is apropos for today, as Reuters reported Trump unveils U.S. Space Force official flag yesterday while President Trump signed a declaration for Armed Forces Day.

The official flag of the United States Space Force was presented to President Trump at an Oval Office ceremony.

I still think it looks like a United Federation of Planets flag from Star Trek.

Space Force didn't wait for its flag to begin operations and recruiting. Follow over the jump for videos about both.

An update on the Endangered Species Act for Endangered Species Day

Happy National Endangered Species Day!

Each year on the third Friday in May, National Endangered Species Day offers an opportunity for everyone to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species. The observance also encourages learning about wildlife habitats and the actions necessary to protect them. Every year you can participate along with thousands of others at events hosted by wildlife refuges, zoos, parks, community centers, aquariums, botanical gardens, libraries, and schools.

The 40th anniversary of the Federal Endangered Species Act was observed in 2013.

The observance is designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a “consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation.” On December 28, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Federal Endangered Species Act into law.

The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The FWS maintains a list of all the endangered species, which includes birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees. In late 2019, President Trump announced a major overhaul to the law that would reduce regulations. Because of this, it’s more important than ever to support the ESA.

That last sentence reminded me that I last wrote about the Endangered Species Act in Vox uses wolves to explain a shortcoming of the Endangered Species Act, itself an update to Trump administration weakening enforcement of Endangered Species Act. I missed a video when I wrote that, which was more about the act itself than Trump's then-proposed changes to enforcement. Watch CBS Sunday Morning's On the brink: The Endangered Species Act.

Around the world, plant and animal species are going extinct at a rate faster than any time in human history. The Endangered Species Act, signed into law 46 years ago, has succeeded in preventing hundreds of species on the list from going extinct, and has recovered 54 species. But new regulatory changes to the Act are being finalized by the Trump administration, which may weaken its ability to protect wildlife and habitat, and – say wildlife advocates – speed extinctions. Conor Knighton reports.

As a former Ranger Naturalist at Channel Islands National Park, I wasn't surprised that the Island Fox was listed, but I am pleasantly surprised that the species recovered so quickly. As for the effects of the proposed changes, Don Hopey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked What's more endangered: the species or the list?

In the year since an international study first warned that more than 1 million of the Earth’s 8.1 million known animal, plant and insect species face extinction in coming decades, only one species was classified as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

That’s not due to some sort of miraculous biological recovery of the thousands of at-risk species, but because the Trump administration has made it more difficult to list and protect them, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

The sole protection exception was the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale, a 55-foot-long, 90,000-pound mammal that’s hard to overlook and was listed as endangered by NOAA Fisheries on May 15, 2019.

“That no species have been listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the last year is both surprising and shocking given the declines we are seeing,” said Bruce Stein, the federation’s chief scientist.
...
[N]ew federal ESA listings have all but disappeared in the three-plus years since Donald Trump became president. According to a USFWS website, threatened and endangered listings totaled 11 in 2017, five in 2018, and there was no listing for 2019. In 2020, the service listed one new species as threatened, the Hawaiian goose, but the goose had been listed as endangered in 1967, and the 2020 listing was a downlisting of the original listing, not a new listing.
For comparison, the fish and wildlife service listed 74 species as threatened or endangered in 2016, 31 in 2015, 66 in 2014 and 89 in 2013.

That's the bad outcome I was afraid of when these regulations were proposed. I don't expect any better from this administration, as they have been anti-environment since the week Trump was inaugurated, when I wrote Yesterday was a good day for pipelines, a bad one for environmentalists and one of the main reasons why the Doomsday Clock has been moved closer to midnight three times during Trump's presidency.

Since Americans can't count on the federal government to protect the world's endangered species, what can be done, other than voting Trump out this November? A surprising amount, says National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore in CBS Sunday Morning's A wake-up call on saving endangered species.

In order to help stabilize our planet's life support systems and improve our world, National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore says we must step up and solve environmental problems, even small ones, in our communities; by saving other species, we will be saving our own.

This is the kind of advice I give my students and serves as an example of Commoner's Laws, especially the first: "Everything Is Connected to Everything Else. There is one ecosphere for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all." The other relevant laws are "Everything Must Go Somewhere" for reduce, reuse, and recycle, "Nature Knows Best" for protecting natural habitat as the life support system for humans along with the rest of life on Earth, and "There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch" for the costs of our overexploitation of nature. May we all remember these laws and learn how to act on them.

Seth Meyers checks in on small businesses

Since I posted a serious take on the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Unemployment hits 14.7% with experts predicting worse to come, it's time for a comedic one. For that, I turn to Seth Meyers. Watch The Check In: Small Businesses.

Seth takes a break from breaking news to check in on small businesses, which are barely staying afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

While both the pandemic and the economy are crises that demand prompt action, Congress and the executive branch could have been a little more careful about designing and executing the program so larger businesses such as Shake Shack, Ruth's Chris, Potbelly, and the L.A. Lakers wouldn't receive funds that are supposed for small, local, family-owned businesses like the ones I celebrate on Small Business Saturday. I hope the next round of relief funding, which I mentioned in John Oliver describes the plight of the United States Postal Service, shows that Congress and the executive branch, along with the banks who disburse the funds, have learned that lesson.

John Oliver describes the plight of the United States Postal Service

It's only been five days since I posted John Oliver and Vox on coronavirus testing, but it's time for an update already. This time, it's John Oliver's take on why we need to save the Postal Service, including voting by mail during a pandemic. Watch USPS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO).

As the U.S. Postal Service faces financial catastrophe, John Oliver discusses why the service is so important, what brought it to this point, and what we can do to help.

The good news is that the House of Representatives has listened, including aid to the USPS in the HEROES Act. Reuters includes that item in Democrats float $3 trillion U.S. coronavirus bill.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus relief package with funding for states, businesses, food support and families, only to see the measure flatly rejected by Senate Republicans.

The bad news is that Mitch McConnell plans on being the "Grim Reaper" with this bill, just as he has hundreds of others. Sigh. As I wrote in July when I first mentioned McConnell making the Senate a graveyard for the House's legislation, it's enough to drive one to drink. Instead of posting a drink recipe, I'll recycle another thought of mine.

I was wondering what the my mailbox would look like without junk mail. Now I'm finding out. As I've written about lower birth rates, "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it." It's hard to vote by mail without the USPS, along with all the other services it provides.

Marching music for the Nebraska Primary

Yesterday, I told my readers to "stay tuned for marching music for the Nebraska Democratic Primary" today. Here's the introduction to the primary's Wikipedia entry.

The 2020 Nebraska Democratic primary will take place on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, as part of the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Nebraska primary is a semi-closed primary. The state awards 29 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 25 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

As I first wrote in Marching music for the Wyoming Democratic Caucuses, "Other than selecting delegates, this election has little meaning. Just the same, enjoy the music while waiting for the results."

Nebraska is known for one drum and bugle corps, the Union Pacific Railmen from Omaha. The corps' alumni association has videos of most of their best performances, including what is the corps's high point, the 1989 Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps at DCI Quarterfinals, where they placed 25th.


The corps went into a prolonged hiatus after the 1995 season, but they'e competing again in SoundSport. Watch The Railmen - 2019 Sound Sport for their latest championship performance.


I wish the unit luck next year, as no corps is competing this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sigh.

Follow over the jump for the University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band and the Millard West High School Marching Band at the 2010 Rose Parade.

Unemployment hits 14.7% with experts predicting worse to come

It's been more than a month since I last reported on the record unemployment claims resulting from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, although I've mentioned many other the economic effects since then. With the issuing of the April jobs report last week, it's time for an update. I begin with Yahoo! Finance's Unemployment hits 14.7%.

Unemployment rate in the U.S. hit a record high of 14.7% in April. Yahoo Finance’s Jessica Smith breaks down the latest jobless claims.

The one piece of good news was year-over-year wage growth jumping up to 7.9%, although that is a result of most high-wage workers, such as myself, keeping our jobs while working from home while many low-wage workers have lost their jobs, particularly in hospitality, a reason that is decidedly not good news at all.

CNN provided some analysis focusing on manufacturing in Michigan in John King on jobs report: Never before have we seen anything close to that.

CNN's John King takes a look at the job losses in the US due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The raw numbers Yahoo Finance gave looked bad enough, but they're even scarier expressed in percentages. More than half of hospitality employees have lost their jobs in the past two months. I shouldn't be surprised, but wow! Also, I'm glad CNN had Representative Debbie Dingell on to explain how auto manufacturing will reopen and express her thoughts on shortening global supply lines, especially for medicines. As a diabetic, this is important to me. One of my insulin prescriptions comes from Germany and the needles I use to inject it come from Ireland. Those aren't as far away as China and India, but they are across an ocean from here. I would literally die without both of them.

Finally, ABC News elicited a frightening quote yesterday: 'Worst is yet to come on job front' amid coronavirus: Neel Kashkari.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank and Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist for Charles Schwab, appear on "This Week."

I think Kashkari was more comprehensible and straight forward about the economic prospects coming out of this recession than Sonders. The question being asked was "why is market soaring?" I couldn't figure out if she actually answered it, or just spouted out a bunch of investor jargon about how to deal with the market. Honestly, I think I'd get a better answer out of CNBC and long-time readers know I have my issues with that channel's economic reporting, so that's not a compliment.

I'll have more about the pandemic and the economy in the future. Until then, stay tuned for marching music for the Nebraska Democratic Primary tomorrow.

2019's baby names delayed and The Atlantic and New York Magazine on motherhood for Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I had been planning to write about the most popular baby names of 2019, as I had for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, but that's not going to happen. NBC's Today Show has the news.

For the first time in nearly 25 years, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will not be releasing its list of the year's most popular baby names.

Since 1997, the SSA has released an annual list of the previous year's most popular names for boys and girls. Typically, the list is released the Friday before Mother's Day, but this year, the administration announced that the coronavirus pandemic had caused them to shift their plans.

"Out of respect and honor for all people and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement of the 2019 most popular baby names is being rescheduled to a to-be-determined date," said the administration in a statement. "The agency sends its gratitude and heartfelt thanks to everybody fighting the pandemic and providing vital services throughout the country during these difficult times."

Looks like the COVID-19 pandemic has put this holiday tradition into isolation. That's disappointing. Here's to hoping the Social Security Administration will have the list ready by Father's Day.

In the meantime, I present two videos about the reality of motherhood, beginning with The Atlantic's A Poetic Ode to Motherhood.

Becoming a mother changed the way Nanfu Wang saw the world. This is an experience common to new parents, but it’s often ineffable. Wang’s new film, Between Everything, renders the perspective shift of motherhood in cinematic poetry.

YouTube suggested New York Magazine's Motherhood Through the Years, which I watched and enjoyed enough to share with my readers. As I last wrote in PBS Digital's Storied examines pandemics in literature and entertainment, "Behold the power of the YouTube algorithm!"

We asked six moms about what motherhood is like at a month, six months, a year, five years, 15 years, and 30 years. Does the mother of a 30-year-old feel like she knows what she’s doing any more than the mother of a 1-month-old baby? What are the greatest challenges and triumphs of motherhood? What we wanted to define was how mothering changes as children age — what we learned is that through years of challenges, heartache, and joy, once you’re a mother, “Everything changes. Everything.” Call your mom.

Yes, I will call my mom. I'm glad she's still around.

Seth Meyers tells 'murder hornets' 'not now' while LiveScience stresses the threat to bees

Seven years ago, I wrote "here is some scary biodiversity for you all, a potential invasive species I can frighten my students with: Giant hornets killing dozens in China." Asian Giant Hornets are no longer "a potential invasive species," they're an actual invasive species here in the U.S. That prompted a lot of sensational coverage as a change of pace during the COVID-19 pandemic. I engaged in a little of that on Twitter, tweeting "I wondered why there were giant wasps and hornets in the Final Fantasy games. Then I read about these things and understood." Now I will definitely scare my students with them this semester!

Seth Meyers was having none of it. Watch Not Now, Murder Hornets.

Seth takes a moment to ask Asian giant hornets, or "murder hornets," to give us all a break as we’re busy dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

In his monologue, Seth does a good job of placing the threat in the context of the pandemic and official response in addition to the "now what" reaction to one more thing to worry about. Fortunately, as scary as Asian Giant Hornets are, they are mostly a threat to honeybees. LiveScience emphasizes that point in "Murder Hornets" Massacre Honey Bees, Not Humans FYI.

Sightings in Washington state of Asian giant hornets* raise concerns that the enormous insects may be settling in North America. Live Science Senior Writer Mindy Weisberger tells the tale of how "Murder Hornets" got their name and what's going on with our new visitors:
...
* not yellowjackets aka "American Hornets" which are only a 1/2-inch vs 2-inch length, and not European #hornets are also smaller than their giant Asian cousins, and do not attack bees as a group ~The more you know~ about #asiangianthornets

While they are less of a threat to humans than they seem — 50 dead per year out of the approximately three billion people in the countries where it is native does not seem impressive compared to the average of 62 Americans dying every year from bee, wasp, and hornet stings with a population one-tenth that size; Giant Asian Hornets might add an average of 5-10 each year to that total if fatalities are proportional to population — they are a real threat to bees. That makes them an indirect threat to humans because of the importance of honeybees to agriculture. Oh, boy, one more thing to include in this year's World Bee Day on May 20th.

Enough of the potential threat from murder hornets today. Stay tuned for a celebration of Mother's Day.

John Oliver and Vox on coronavirus testing

Only two weeks ago, I posted John Oliver and Washington Post examine coronavirus misinformation. It's time for an update on the COVID-19 pandemic from John Oliver with this week's Coronavirus VI: Testing from "Last Week Tonight."

As experts encourage widespread coronavirus testing, John Oliver discusses exactly how much testing the US has done, the difference between diagnostic and antibody tests, and why we need to do more.

Oliver showed how South Korea is slowly returning to normal, including their high rate of testing and how the country is starting to play baseball, albeit in front of stands empty of actual people. To see how the country got there, watch Vox's The big lesson from South Korea's coronavirus response.

Testing and tracing were the key to slowing the spread of coronavirus.
...
In South Korea, citizens have flattened the curve of the novel coronavirus -- and it's because of lessons they learned from fighting the MERS outbreak in 2015. Through a combination of aggressive and widespread testing measures, along with a system know as “contact tracing,” they’ve been better positioned to spot the path of the virus and curb its spread. While they are still vigilant for a second wave of Covid-19 cases, people in South Korea are slowly returning to public life. Watch the video above to find out how their testing and contact tracing measures work, and how it can be a lesson for countries still in lockdown.

I agree with Oliver that the U.S. needs more testing and that we should follow South Korea's example. Whether we do remains to be seen.

Crazy Eddie's Motie News's year on Pinterest for Flashback Friday

Happy Flashback Friday! As I wrote yesterday, I am concluding this series today with the most saved pins from this blog during the blogging year that concluded March 20, 2020. As I did for Alignment charts from the back catalog for Throwback Thursday with music by the Harp Twins, I'm going to launch directly into the retrospective without even attempting to introduce it with new material. Who among my readers really cares whether Pinterest's stock price goes up or the company earns a profit?

The most saved pin during the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News was A Drum Corps Ides of March for an election year with 358 saves on Pinterest. It ranked in the top five most saved pins every single month.

Star Wars Drinks for Star Wars Day was the second most saved pin during the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News with 274 saves on Pinterest. It also ranked in the top five most saved pins every single month.

Easter drinks from Tipsy Bartender ranked third among pins saved with 134 saves between March 21, 2019 and March 20, 2020.

I mentioned that 'Star Wars' alignment charts had a total of 62 saves during the ninth year of the blog in Alignment charts from the back catalog for Throwback Thursday with music by the Harp Twins, writing that it ranked among the five most saved pins during eight of the past 12 months. I can now say it ranks fourth overall for the posting year.

Final night of 2013 Dream Cruise from WXYZ had 55 total saves to rank fifth.

Driving update for June 2017: Pearl plus Tesla worth more than GM or Ford earned 50 saves to become the sixth most saved pin during the blogging year.

Star Wars drinks, drinking game, and music for The Revenge of the Sixth was the seventh most saved pin during the ninth year of this blog with 37.

I gave an honorable mention to 'Pirates of the Caribbean' alignment chart in Alignment charts from the back catalog for Throwback Thursday with music by the Harp Twins, writing "it was the most active on Pinterest during June 2019 with 18 saves. Along with the rest of its saves, it earned 27 total during the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News." I missed counting a month that time, so it ended up tying More on St. Patrick's Day from Tipsy Bartender for eighth during with 30 saves.

Tipsy Bartender drinks for Cinco De Mayo 2017 rounds out the annual top ten with 27 total saves.

Now for the top three pins from entries posted during the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Higher oil prices because of attack on Saudi facility plus driving update for Pearl on Talk Like A Pirate Day was the most saved pin from this posting year with 20 total.

Kylo catching up to Anakin - Star Wars baby names for Fathers Day 2019 was the most saved pin from this posting year with six.

100th Anniversary of passage of 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote had 3 saves to rank third among pins from this posting year.

Looking over this baker's dozen of posts and pins, the most popular topics are Tipsy Bartender and Star Wars with four each, followed by Pirates of the Caribbean with three as the pin for Driving update for June 2017: Pearl plus Tesla worth more than GM or Ford features The Black Pearl in a bottle. Those take care of eight of the top ten and ten of the 13 listed, including this years' posts. I think I know what my fellow pinners like!

With that, this series is over and in record time, too. Last year, I finished the retrospective series for the eighth year on June 7, 2019. This year, I managed to do it 30 days earlier. When I wrote "May I be this expeditious next year," I had no idea how fast I could be!

Previous posts in this series.

• Happy 9th birthday to the blog and Nowruz Mubarak (Happy Persian New Year) to my readers
• Statistics for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Washington Post on whistleblowing and WHAS11 on Rand Paul testing positive for coronavirus update the top post from the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Michigan to mail ballots and $400 million for elections in coronavirus stimulus bill update the election news and views for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Record unemployment claims and coronavirus accelerating existing retail trends update tales of the Retail Apocalypse for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Explaining the Media Bias Chart, a popular topic of the past two years of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Coronavirus response reducing air pollution updates climate change and the environment for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• CNBC's 'Why Coronavirus May Change How Americans Vote' updates pandemics and outbreaks for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Roll Call and Teen Kids News update statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C., popular topics for the past three years of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Broken Peach sings to update holidays from the back catalog for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Alignment charts from the back catalog for Throwback Thursday with music by the Harp Twins
• Comments from the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News for Flashback Friday
• Brad Parscale calls the Trump digital campaign the 'Death Star' in a tweet

Previous retrospectives about Pinterest.

• Comments and likes for the fifth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Comments and likes for the sixth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Pins, comments, shares, and likes for the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• CNN reports on Trump consulting Twitter for policy advice
• CNN and Business Insider reported on the U.S. Army and politicians using Pinterest