The Brainscoop explains endangered species for Endangered Species Day on Flashback Friday

Happy Endangered Species Day! Since it's Flashback Friday, I'm going back into the archives for The Brainscoop's Endangered Species: an explainer from 2016.

What does it mean to be an endangered species? Are endangered species destined for extinction? We're exploring some of these ideas in celebration of Endangered Species Day...

That was a concise summary of endangered species and the Endangered Species Act, with just enough detail to be useful but not so much that it overwhelms the average viewer. Good job, Emily Graslie! Because I am an expert on mollusks, it should surprise none of my readers that I'm with Emily and #StandWithUnionidBivalves.

Since I have lived in Michigan since 1989 and the Endangered Species Act turned 50 last December, I'm sharing DISCOVERING | Endangered Species Act from Discover the U.P. for an update and local perspective.

Episode 79 - The Endangered Species Act was signed into law 50 years ago and 5 decades later it continues to help conserve species across the country. We talk about some of those species both endangered and recovered since the ESA was passed in 1973, that you can find here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (some controversial). And I talk to the USFWS about the process in which species are listed, and delisted.

I'm not surprised that wolves are the most controversial animal protected by the Endangered Species Act, as I covered dueling ballot measures about protecting wolves and protecting the wolf hunt ten years ago, which I linked to in Vox uses wolves to explain a shortcoming of the Endangered Species Act. Wolves are a real bone of contention between the residents of the Lower Peninsula, who want to protect wolves, and Upper Peninsula, who want to hunt the wolves, who are a success story. On the other hand, long-earned bats are still in trouble because of white nose syndrome, which I've only mentioned once a dozen years ago. It's about time I did so again.

I plan on examining biodiversity again on Monday for World Bee Day when I will examine bumblebees. In the meantime, stay tuned for an undetermined topic tomorrow (Retail Apocalypse, anyone?) and highlights of the season finale of Saturday Night Live as the Sunday entertainment feature.

Meyers, Colbert, and 'The Daily Show' take closer looks at Biden and Trump agreeing to debates

Court was not in session yesterday, so no hush money trial news today. Donald Trump means there is no such thing as a slow news day. Seth Meyers examines the story in Biden Taunts Trump as Trump Accepts Biden's Debate Terms; MAGA Weirdos Flock to Court: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump immediately accepting Biden's proposal for two debates and a bunch of MAGA weirdos and wannabe running mates traveling to New York to appear with Trump at his criminal trial.

Trump thinks he won those debates for the same reason he thinks he won the election four years ago; he can't imagine losing. The Big Lie is something he tells himself, not just everyone else.

Stephen Colbert cracked jokes about the scheduled debates in Trump Accepts Biden’s Debate Conditions | Blinken Disappoints Neil Young Fans | Orcas Attack!

President Biden and Donald Trump will go head to head in two televised debates, Secretary of State Antony Blinken thought Ukrainians would be cheered up by a performance of “Rockin’ in the Free World,” and another yacht was sunk by orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Of course Trump would try to get Biden to accept a third debate on Fox News. It's friendly territory. Right now, Biden isn't biting.

I close with The Daily Show's Biden Challenges Trump To Debate & King Charles’s Controversial Portrait.

Desi Lydic tackles Biden & Trump’s feisty calls for a pre-election debate without worm-ridden opponent RFK Jr., Michael Kosta proposes we use the presidential debate as a geriatric fitness test, and King Charles sees red in his first portrait as king.

I was with Kosta all the way until he suggested the rest of America sneak out of the country. Otherwise, I think using the debates as tests of fitness works for me. I think Biden will win, because he's in better shape than many Americans think. On the other hand, Trump will think he won, regardless of the outcome, because he always thinks he wins. Let's see if he still believes that should he be convicted. Stay tuned.

Closer looks at Michael Cohen's testimony and Wildwood rally from Colbert, 'The Daily Show,' and Meyers

I told my readers to "stay tuned for the late night talk show hosts on Michael Cohen's testimony at Trump's hush money trial" today. I'm following through with Stephen Colbert's monologue from last night, President Mob Boss | Melania Coined “Locker Room Talk” | MAGA Pols Line Up To Defend Trump.

Michael Cohen’s testimony in Trump’s hush money trial reveals a man who likes to act like a mafia boss, Melania Trump suggested her husband brush off the “Access Hollywood” tape as “locker room talk,” and the former president’s congressional allies are giving dumb speeches outside the courthouse.

No, Vivek, you were right the first time. Trump is a "sham politician."

Stephen's writers had even more fun with "the former president’s congressional allies are giving dumb speeches outside the courthouse" in last night's cold open, MAGA Takes Manhattan.

Donald Trump has his MAGA puppets lined up outside the courthouse to defend him.

Naptain America couldn't get his family other than Eric to show up at his trial, nor could he get his base supporters to appear, but he was able to get a lot of Republican politicians to support him. Also, I think he sounds like Crazy Frog when he goes "bing, bing." I'm not alone.


The Daily Show focused on the politicians who showed up to speak on Trump's behalf in Trump's Thirsty VP Contenders Crash Trial & ChatGPT’s Flirty AI Update.

Desi Lydic reports on the latest updates from Trump’s criminal trial, which has turned into a who’s-who of wannabe vice presidents and political ass-kissers. Plus, an art installation connecting New York and Dublin turns into utter chaos, and ChatGPT debuts a flirty new voice to answer users that might just have Ronny Chieng and Josh Johnson sold on AI.

"Whoever this guy is" turns out to be North Dakota Governor Doug Bergum, who might be Trump's running mate now that Kristi Noem may have sabotaged her candidacy by "winning" a race to the bottom. Sorry, Elise Stefanik, you haven't risen to the top of the list. Maybe you should attend the trial, too.

All of that was from last night. Follow over the jump for more on Monday from Colbert and Meyers.

Marching music for the Maryland, Nebraska, and West Virginia Presidential Primaries

Welcome to this election cycle's version of marching music for the Maryland, Nebraska, and West Virginia Presidential Primaries. It seems that I never wrote one of these for the Maryland primary before despite two chances, so I'm starting here. Besides, Maryland used to have a competitive drum corps, the Yankee Rebels, so I'm kicking off the music to watch and listen while waiting for results with 1994 Yankee Rebels Alumni from one of the at least two Drum Corps Fan accounts on YouTube.


Welcome to the corps' greatest hits. Since this is an unofficial upload, it may not last long, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Moving on to the Old Line State's marching bands, I'm sharing Music City Bowl Performance | December 30, 2023 | The Mighty Sound of Maryland from the University of Maryland Marching Band.


That was a fun show, enough to make me want to watch more of "The Mighty Sound of Maryland."

Follow over the jump for drum corps and marching bands from Nebraska and West Virginia.

'Last Week Tonight' examines food delivery apps

I haven't featured John Oliver on this blog since John Oliver examines student loans for Wayback Wednesday. That was more than a month ago, so I'm making up for lost time by sharing the most viewed video from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver this year since the one I embedded in Boeing gets the John Oliver treatment on 'Last Week Tonight', Food Delivery Apps.

John Oliver discusses food delivery apps, how they are both helping and harming restaurants and workers, and why starting an orphanage definitely should not be your side hustle.

Welcome to a lasting effect of the pandemic for good and ill. As I first wrote four years ago, "Note that Stephanie Ruhle segued into retail and the transition from brick-and-mortar job losses into job opportunities in online ordering and delivery. The response to the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating existing trends." Using food delivery apps is one of them. Now we have to adjust to the new normal that includes them, such as making sure we tip adequately.

Stay tuned for this election cycle's version of marching music for the Maryland, Nebraska, and West Virginia Presidential Primaries, followed by the late night talk show hosts on Michael Cohen's testimony at Trump's hush money trial.

'SNL' celebrates Mother's Day with the cast's moms and Maya Rudolph

Happy Mother's Day! As I promised yesterday, I'm posting a Mother's Day edition of highlights from last night's Saturday Night Live beginning with Mother’s Day 2024 Cold Open.

Kenan Thompson, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Punkie Johnson, Mikey Day, Chloe Troast, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, James Austin Johnson, Marcello Hernández, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, John Higgins, Ben Marshall, Martin Herlihy, Bowen Yang, and Colin Jost bring their mothers on the show.

That was funny and sweet, just like three years ago when 'SNL' celebrated Mother's Day with the cast's and guests' moms. I was hoping they would reuse that idea and I got my wish.

This week's host had her own holiday feature in Maya Rudolph Mother’s Day Monologue.

Maya Rudolph talks about celebrating Mother's Day on SNL before performing a song.

Slay!

Follow over the jump for Weekend Update and selected skits.

Social Security's top ten U.S. baby names of 2023 for Mother's Day weekend

Happy Mother's Day weekend! As I promised yesterday, I'm posting this year's edition of 'Social Security’s Top 10 Baby Names of 2022' for Mother's Day. Watch Social Security’s Top 10 Baby Names of 2023.

Just arrived! Find out the top 10 baby names of 2023 from Social Security, the source for the most popular baby names each year!

Oh, look, Martin O'Malley! I don't think I've mentioned him here since Serious and silly about how the Iowa Caucuses work from CBS News, Samantha Bee, and 'The Good Wife', when I remarked that he participated and then dropped out. I'm glad to see him in the federal government. Way to land on his feet!


Last year, I wrote "a name I've been tracking for years, Mateo, the name of Jane's son in 'Jane the Virgin,' continued its rise to eleventh from fifteenth in 2021, twentieth in 2020, 26th in 2019, and 37th in 2018. I wouldn't be surprised if Mateo reached the top ten this year or next." Mateo made the top ten in a big way in 2023, soaring to sixth. I'm not surprised Mateo made it, just that the name got this high this soon. Theodore also made a move from tenth last year to seventh this year. On the other hand, Henry and Lucas both dropped one place, William fell from sixth to tenth, and Benjamin dropped out of the top ten entirely to eleventh!

All ten of last year's girls names remained in the top ten with only Mia leapfrogging over Isabella and Ava to shuffle the order. Even Harper, which fell out in 2022, stayed in eleventh. On the topic of girl's names, Xiomara, another name from Jane the Virgin I've been tracking, continued gaining in popularity, rising to 402 in 2023 from 493 (corrected from 494) in 2022, 551 in 2021, 606 in 2020, and 652 in 2019. Jane itself managed to reverse its long-term slide in popularity, rising nine places to 281 from 290 in 2022 and 265 in 2021 after peaking at 261 in 2020. Whew! Finally!



On the topic of baby names increasing in popularity last year, CBS News examined those in "Chozen" and "Emryn" are rising fast as most popular baby names of the year are revealed.

While some names didn't break into the top 10, they proved to have grown in popularity. The name Emryn for girls jumped 1,287 places, coming it at No. 888 on the list. Fastest-rising boys name Izael burst into the top 1,000 in 2023, landing at No. 806.

Chozen also spiked, becoming the second-fastest rising boys name, coming it at No. 813. In the Netflix show "Cobra Kai," the character Chozen becomes the hero at the end of the fifth and latest season, which aired in September 2022 and could've had an impact on the baby name trend.

The fastest-rising name for girls may have also been influenced by media – social media, that is. Kaeli, the name of YouTuber and TikTok star Kaeili McEwen, rose 1,692 spots. The content creator, who goes by Kaeli Mae, has 14.8 million followers on TikTok and is known for lifestyle videos focused on cleaning and organizing.

Another popular boy name has a connection to social media. Content creator Wyatt Eiden, who has 3.1 million followers on TikTok, is known for quizzing strangers on the street and giving out prizes. His last name, Eiden, is the third-fastest riser on the boy name list.

That's an analysis I couldn't have written myself!

I'm briefly calling attention to the fourth-fastest rising name on the boys list, Cassian. It's the given name of the protagonist of Rogue One and Andor and is thus a Star Wars name. I plan on covering those names for Father's Day weekend. In the meantime, stay tuned for a Mother's Day edition of Saturday Night Live.

Colbert, Meyers, Stewart, and Kimmel take more closer looks at Stormy Daniels testimony

I told my readers "stay tuned for more coverage" today to conclude yesterday's Meyers, Colbert, Kimmel, and 'The Daily Show' take closer looks at Stormy Daniels testimony and Kristi Noem's book appearances. I'm following through, beginning with Stephen Colbert's monologue from last night, Stormy Zings Trump From Witness Stand | Mar-a-Lago ComicCon | Breaking Up Paramount | Brain Worms.

Stormy Daniels landed a few verbal punches during her testimony in Trump’s hush money trial, the former president hosted NFT buyers for a meal at Mar-a-Lago, CBS could be auctioned off if Paramount is sold, and there’s no end to the fascination around the worm that ate a portion of RFK Jr.’s brain.

If anything, the second day of Stormy's testimony was even better than the first, since Naptain America's lawyers gave her plenty of opportunities. I'll get to those later. Right now, I want to write that media consolidation has not been a good thing, but I'm not sure Paramount's likely buyer selling it off for parts is the way to reverse it. It might just result in a different form of consolidation that might just be worse than what we have now. Sigh.

Second, I have never mentioned Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., (RFK Jr.) on this blog before, which even I find surprising because of how much I wrote about minor party candidates for Examiner.com when it was a thing. That's because I was using that to distinguish my coverage or partition the niche, to borrow a concept from ecology, which gave me a unique angle among Michigan election reporters. They didn't care much about minor parties, so I would. It wasn't because I supported minor party candidates; I was a precinct delegate for the Michigan Democratic Party all the years I covered elections for Examiner.com. I no longer have such an interest to promote, so I'll gladly tear down minor party candidates, especially for the Natural Law Party, about whose leader I wrote "I'm annoyed at [Doug Dern] for not cooperating with me as an Examiner.com reporter--but that's another story for another time." "Another time" was in the footnote to Michigan's two smallest parties nominated candidates, too.

I don't much care for the Natural Law Party, and not because of their ideology. It's because of all the minor parties that I covered during my years writing for Examiner.com, they were the least cooperative. I called and asked for dates of conventions and lists of nominees and never got either. It was like they didn't want news coverage or free media. Consequently, I never wrote an article about them.

They finally got free media from news coverage when the Natural Law Party nominated RFK Jr. for President. I was not the least bit surprised that they did. RFK Jr. is their kind of candidate and will almost certainly give the Natural Law Party the most votes ever, which means he's good for the party even if he's bad for the rest of us for no other reason than his anti-vaccine views. Those, at least, make him a bigger threat to Donald Trump than to Joe Biden.

Speaking of Trump, follow over the jump for more late night talk show hosts mocking him in their monologues.

Meyers, Colbert, Kimmel, and 'The Daily Show' take closer looks at Stormy Daniels testimony and Kristi Noem's book appearances

Happy Throwback Thursday! I know I suggested "a serious look back at Trump's hush money trial so far" yesterday, but I couldn't resist examining the proceedings through comedy, just like last week. Laughter helps me digest the news better.

Without any further ado, I begin with Seth Meyers examining Trump Humiliated in Court by Stormy Testimony; Kristi Noem’s Disastrous Book Tour: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Donald Trump coming face to face with Stormy Daniels in his criminal trial while his top VP contender Kristi Noem is grilled about lying in her book.

Seth is right; how will we teach today's events to tomorrow's children as history? Seth isn't the only comedian wondering about that. Stephen Colbert did as well in Trump To Stormy: You Remind Me Of My Daughter | Met Gala Looks | Dogs Dyed To Look Like Pandas.

Stormy Daniels testified about her one-night stand with Donald Trump, Stephen broke down his favorite looks from the Met Gala, and a Chinese zoo got caught trying to pass off dogs as pandas.

Unlike SNL, which made Kristi Noem a running joke in 'SNL' covers protests, Kristi Noem, and hush money trial with Dua Lipa doing double duty, Stephen couldn't bring himself to mention her in the video description, even though he included her media appearances in his monologue. Instead, he closed with two light topics, the Met Gala and the dogs as fake pandas. At least those dogs were cute and made even cuter by dying them like giant pandas.

Jimmy Kimmel remarked that his show was entered as an exhibit for the trial in Stormy Daniels Details Sex with Trump, Jimmy Mentioned AGAIN & Puppy Killer Noem's Disastrous Book.

Today the prosecution called Stormy Daniels to the stand in Trump’s hush money case, Jimmy was mentioned AGAIN in reference to an interview she did on our show, she revealed some details about her sexual encounter with Trump, after hearing the first half of her testimony he took to Truth social begging for a mistrial, after making a huge deal about missing his son Barron’s graduation - Donny is set to headline an event in Minnesota, Governor Kristi Noem is now distancing herself from her own autobiography after admitting to shooting her puppy and lying about meeting Kim Jong Un, the Met Gala took place in New York last night, and the monologue gets interrupted by a man named Von Schitzenpantz, who bares the same name that Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen came up with for him.

All of these clips have mentioned that there would be no description of genitalia, but Kimmel told his viewers where to look for one. This manipulated photo gives a hint.


Too bad it's fake. The real dress was plain royal blue without any orange mushrooms. Darn.

The Daily Show had its own take on Stormy's testimony in Stormy Daniels's NSFW Testimony & Vladimir Putin Wins “Democratic” Election.

Jordan Klepper recaps his favorite Met Gala looks, Putin puts on his own night of dictator opulence at his inauguration, and Troy Iwata weighs in on the disturbingly dirty details of Stormy Daniels's testimony during Trump's criminal hush money trial.

At least The Daily Show didn't talk about Noem, her dog, and Kim Jong Un. That was getting painful.

I close by returning to The Late Show with the relevant cold open, Porn Hub’s New Legal Series.

"Court Hub" is a new series of adult legal films released to celebrate Stormy Daniels testifying in the Trump hush money trial.

*Snork!*

Stay tuned for more coverage tomorrow.

Adam Conover explains 'Why We’re Still Trapped on Twitter' for Wayback Wednesday

Happy Wayback Wednesday! I'm looking back at the year on Twitter with Adam Conover explaining Why We’re Still Trapped on Twitter.

It's no secret that Elon Musk has absolutely tanked Twitter, so why haven't we all left? Despite the site becoming an apocalyptic hellscape, there's a surprising reason that we all still NEED Twitter.

Welcome to network effects.

Adam mentioned Elon Musk Is An Idiot (and so are Zuck and SBF), I'm sharing it as well.



Tech CEOs aren't geniuses, and here's the proof.
Years ago, I was thinking of writing about Elon Musk as a Crazy Eddie, but I never did. Now I'm glad I didn't. That post wouldn't have aged well.

I conclude this part of the post with something positive about Twitter, Black Twitter: A People's History | Official Trailer | Hulu.

Based on Jason Parham’s WIRED article “A People’s History of Black Twitter,” this three-part docuseries charts the rise, the movements, the voices and the memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly every aspect of American political and cultural life.

Steam all episodes Black Twitter: A People's History on May 9, only on Hulu.

ABOUT Black Twitter: A People's History
The rise, movements, voices and memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly every aspect of American political and cultural life.

Based on just this piece of corporate PR, I fully expect to see this nominated at one of the Emmy Awards, whether it's this falls Creative Arts Emmy Awards or next year's News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of Crazy Eddie's Motie News's most active links on Twitter between March 21, 2023 and March 20, 2024.

Marching music for the Indiana Primary — Star United, Manchester University, Avon H.S., and Castle H.S.

Welcome to this year's version of marching music for the Indiana Primary! I kick off the music to watch and listen while waiting for results with 2022 Star United Mini-Corps from Drum Corps Associates.

Presenting clips from the 2022 DCA Star United Mini-Corps Champio[n]ships!

And Star United won the Mini-Corps competition in 2022, as well, for the 14th consecutive year.

The above only featured highlights of the show. For an entire performance in a different venue, I turn to Star United Minicorps @ 2015 DCI Sound Sport - BFDTV.

The Star United Minicorps performs at the 2015 Sound Sport competition at the 2015 DCI World Championships Weekend. Captured 8.8.15

Star United won this contest, too. A belated congratulations and good luck in Sound Sport this summer!

Follow over the jump for the marching bands from the Hoosier State.

'Star Wars at The Oscars' for Revenge of the Sixth

I closed Local news explains and celebrates Cinco de Mayo with "My readers who are Star Wars fans can take another bite of that apple tomorrow for Revenge of the Sixth. Stay tuned." I'm taking advantage of this opportunity to share my plan B for 'Star Wars' political signs for Star Wars Day 2024, Star Wars at The Oscars.

Is the Force strong with you? A look back at @StarWars at the Oscars throughout the years.

What is your favorite Star Wars film?

I'm sharing the awards from IMDB in case my readers missed them, beginning with Episode IV: A New Hope.

1978 Winner Oscar
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
John Barry, Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley, Roger Christian

1978 Winner Oscar
Best Costume Design
John Mollo

1978 Winner Oscar
Best Sound
Don MacDougall, Ray West, Bob Minkler, Derek Ball

1978 Winner Oscar
Best Film Editing
Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas, Richard Chew

1978 Winner Oscar
Best Effects, Visual Effects
John Stears, John Dykstra. Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, Robert Blalack

1978 Winner Oscar
Best Music, Original Score
John Williams

1978 Winner Special Achievement Award
Ben Burtt (as Benjamin Burtt Jr.)
For sound effects. (For the creation of the alien, creature and robot voices.)

Next, The Empire Strikes Back.

1981 Winner Oscar
Best Sound
Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker, Peter Sutton
...
1981 Winner Special Achievement Award
Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Bruce Nicholson
For visual effects (statuette).

I close with the special awards for Alec Guinness...

1980 Winner Honorary Award For advancing the art of screen acting through a host of memorable and distinguished performances.

...and George Lucas.

Winner 1992 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
The crew of the orbiting space shuttle Atlantis (STS-45) participated in the presentation of the Thalberg Award to George Lucas. An Oscar statuette was aboard the shuttle to commemorate the event.

May the Force be with you, always.

Stay tuned for the return of marching music for primaries and caucuses with tomorrow's Indiana Primary.

Local news explains and celebrates Cinco de Mayo

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo! As I wrote earlier today, "I was hoping there would be some Cinco De Mayo content in the episode, but my readers and I were not so lucky, so stay tuned for a brief holiday entry." I'm continuing with the educational content in KTVB in Boise, Idaho explaining Cinco de Mayo: Explaining the history behind the celebrations.

"If we don't keep these stories continually in our minds, the history disappears," said Dr. Dora Ramirez, the director of Ethnic Studies at Boise State University.

That advanced an academic angle. NBC Connecticut shared a more personal perspective as it answered Why Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the U.S.

Cinco de Mayo isn't a big celebration all over Mexico. Instead, it has its roots in the Mexican state of Puebla. A woman in Old Saybrook got the chance to celebrate Cinco de Mayo there and explains the history of this holiday.

Since this is a Michigan-based blog, I couldn't resist closing with ABC 13 in Grand Rapids describing How you can celebrate Star Wars Day, Cinco de Mayo at Condado Tacos.

Condado Tacos will be offering special dishes to recognize Star Wars Day and Cinco de Mayo this weekend.

I also couldn't resist the double celebration of Cinco de Mayo and Star Wars Day. My readers who are Star Wars fans can take another bite of that apple tomorrow for Revenge of the Sixth. Stay tuned.

'SNL' covers protests, Kristi Noem, and hush money trial with Dua Lipa doing double duty

I summarized the last time Saturday Night Live attempted a cold open about protests on college campuses as 'SNL' tries to turn a week of unfunny news into comedy and gets saved by Adam Driver and Olivia Rodrigo. I found the results disappointing, but the post became the most read entry featuring Saturday Night Live content during the 13th year of this blog. Go figure. SNL tried again last night in Community Affairs Cold Open and actually created something funny.

Parents of college students (Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner) are interviewed about student protests and arrests on college campuses.

Israel-Gaza? Not funny. The protests becoming vehicles for antisemitism? Not funny, as I pointed out last December. Cops and counter-protesters breaking up the protests? Still not funny. Parents freaking out about their children protesting? Surprisingly funny. I'm with Kenan Thompson's character on this. It's enough to make me glad my children all graduated from college at least a decade ago.

The protests played third fiddle behind Weekend Update: Kristi Noem Shot Her Dog, Trump Complains About Trial both of which I expected would be top stories.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like President Biden saying Japan is xenophobic.

I anticipated that SNL would open with the Trump's hush money trial. It didn't even make the top story on Weekend Update. Instead, the cast and writers decided that Kristi Noem writing that she shot her dog deserved more attention. As a dog owner I can both see why and be disturbed by both the news and their choice. They continued mining this vein in Weekend Update: Kristi Noem's Other Dog Defends His Owner.

Kristi Noem's other dog (Marcello Hernández) stops by Weekend Update to defend his owner.

The talking dog buttons made a great prop! And, yes, I agree she wrote about the incident because she thought Trump would like it.

Noem, as played by Heidi Gardner, even made a cameo in Dua Lipa Monologue.

First-time host Dua Lipa celebrates her new album Radical Optimism by taking some questions from the audience and introducing her new choreographer.

Even Lipa and her radical optimism couldn't find a bright side for Noem.

Follow over the jump for more highlights from last night's SNL.

'Star Wars' political signs for Star Wars Day 2024

Happy Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you! For today's celebration, I'm returning to the theme of 'Star Wars' political parodies for Star Wars Day in an election year from 2020.

I begin with CTV Toronto reporting 'Darth Vader is the guy for the job': Star Wars themed election signs popping up on Toronto-area lawns.

If your choices in the upcoming federal election have you pining for candidates from a galaxy far, far away, there may be a new hope on the horizon.

Rick Di Lorenzo, a councillor from the town of Milton, is creating cheeky election lawn signs, featuring characters from Star Wars and Harry Potter, as a fundraiser for local charities.

With candidates like Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi, and featuring slogans like “Together we can rule the galaxy” and “Seriously it’s not a trap,” this campaign is meant to be more light-hearted than its federal inspiration...

“It's been very positive and like 99 per cent of people are saying it’s hilarious,” Di Lorenzo told CTV News Toronto. “Some people took the signs, because they're saying in this election they can’t support either candidate, so they’re going to put this sign out instead.”

Read the rest of the story and watch the video, which doesn't embed and which I can't find on YouTube to embed here, but which shows the rest of the signs seen below.


Original at BlogTO.
Both of the above were in Canada. Australia has also seen signs inspired by Star Wars, as Pulse Tasmania reported.

A series of fake election signage has been popping up on street posts and traffic light poles across Tasmania in the lead-up to the March 23 state election.

One Pulse follower reported spotting several ‘parody signs’ alongside legitimate candidate signage in Kingston over the weekend.

“I think they are pretty hilarious given the upcoming election. Someone had a lot of fun making them,’ he said.

A majority of the signs reference various niche cultures and movie characters, including Darth Vader.

A spokesperson for the Tasmanian Electoral Commission said the homemade signs are not considered “official election material”.

No kidding.

I haven't seen any news stories about Star Wars themed lawn signs in the current U.S. election, although there are plenty of them for sale. I'm not feeling like doing any unpaid advertising for them right now, so I'll skip them. Instead, I'm concluding today's entry with Mark Hamill's tweet from November 2020, which The Hollywood Reporter shared.

On Saturday, after the election was called by numerous news outlets for Biden, Hamill shared a few tweets but one, in particular, really made a splash.

Hamill posted a picture featuring three posters with the titles of the original Star Wars trilogy. The New Hope poster featured a picture of Barack Obama, the Empire Strikes Back poster featured Trump and the Return of the Jedi poster featured Biden. Hamill wrote, “#BestEpisode_EVER.”

May The Force awaken and keep The First Order out of office this year.

That's a wrap for today's modern holiday. Stay tuned for Cinco De Mayo and highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live as the Sunday entertainment feature. Depending on tonight's episode, I might be able to combine the two. May my readers and I be so lucky!

Colbert and Kimmel comment with comedy on Trump's hush money trial

Happy Flashback Friday! I'll get to today's look back at the 13th year of this blog over the jump after continuing with the main topic of yesterday's Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at Trump's trial and other news with last night's monologue by Stephen Colbert, Michael Cohen’s Mean Nickname For Trump | Noem Defends Killing Her Puppy | Boeing Sends A Message.

While Donald Trump snoozes in court, his former lawyer Michael Cohen is mocking him on TikTok. Elsewhere, Governor Kristi Noem tried to explain away her puppy murder story, and another Boeing aircraft lost a crucial part mid-flight.

Courtroom drama? In the hands of Colbert and his writers, it's more like courtroom comedy, which makes the news a lot easier to digest. This includes Kristi Noem, who acts like she thinks she's the latest version of Sarah Palin, right down to shooting canines (wolves in the case of Palin) and being the running mate on a Republican presidential ticket. I'll get back to that and Boeing's problems, but I'm moving on to Jimmy Kimmel Made it Into the Trump Trial, Donald "Can't Even Testify" & Crazy Abortion Law Repealed, which didn't bleep out what Michael Cohen called "Naptain America." I guess showing a cable news clip slipped it past the censors.

We are officially part of the record of the People vs Donald Trump, prosecutors entered into evidence a series of text messages between lawyers for Trump and Stormy Daniels about our show, Trump has been encouraging supporters to come to the courthouse and support him and was greeted by a single fan, he is very upset about reports that say he’s been sleeping during the trial, the courtroom sketch artist appears to hate him, today he tried to float the idea that because of the gag order he’s not allowed to testify, he played shows in Wisconsin and Michigan yesterday where he fired up the crowd telling them everything’s a disaster and America is dead, we have a new water pressure edition of Drunk Donald Trump, the state Senate in Arizona finally voted to repeal their antiquated and crazy abortion law from 1864, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem went on Hannity last night to do damage control after she revealed she shot her puppy, and This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.

Kimmel and his writers and editors made up for not bleeping CNN's Jake Tapper with "This Week in Unnecessary Censorship." They should do that to Marjorie Taylor Greene more often.

Speaking of CNN, I'm returning to Stephen's show with his interview of a CNN anchor telling him that “Both Sides Are Framing It Incorrectly” - Laura Coates On Trump’s Hush Money Trial.

CNN Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates breaks down the arguments on both sides of Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York City, and explains why it’s important for the public to know what really happened. Watch “Laura Coates Live” weeknights on CNN.

That's enough for me to pay attention to Coates. She sounds smart and knowledgeable.

I close this portion above the jump with two of The Late Show's cold opens about the trial, beginning with Trump’s Aggressive New Attorney.

Angry that his lawyer wasn’t tough enough, Donald Trump hired someone much more aggressive.

That's only a slight exaggeration. Trump is in the WWE Hall of Fame and a telegenic lawyer who used to be a wrestler would be right up his alley.

Now last night's cold open, which asked Do You Have Trouble Falling Asleep?



Reach for a Magatonin!
This trial is teaching me to appreciate a good fart joke.

Follow over the jump for the Flashback Friday retrospective of the most active shares from the blog on Instagram and Threads during its 13th year.

Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at Trump's trial and other news

It's time to follow through on the promise I made at the conclusion of Vox explains 'The lies that sell fast fashion'.

Stay tuned for the return of more timely topics, like Donald Trump's trial in New York. I've been ignoring that and postponing my retrospective of the most read entries featuring late night talk show hosts. It's time to cover both.

That was supposed to happen Tuesday, but I didn't finish grading final exams until dinner time, so I didn't have time then. Better late than never. I begin with Seth Meyers recapping last week's trial highlights in Pecker Gives Damning Testimony in Trump Trial; Noem Faces Backlash for Killing Dog: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at the prosecution's first witness in Trump's hush money trial confirming in damning testimony that the payments were part of a criminal conspiracy to defraud the electorate and help Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Trump falling asleep in court after years of calling President Biden "Sleepy Joe" and calling news he doesn't like "fake news" after years of suppressing stories he doesn't like isn't just hypocrisy, it's projection. As I first wrote twelve years ago, Projection is the Right's favorite defense mechanism and Trump is demonstrating it over and over again.

Seth returned last night with Sleepy Trump's Lawyers Can't Keep Him Awake in Court; Trump's Chilling Time Interview: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump's lackeys in right-wing media making him seem like a hero for falling asleep during his New York criminal trial.

Fox News is living down to the nickname Faux Noise and Trump is exemplifying why I created the corn pone fascists label. Yikes!

Stephen Colbert emphasized the trial over other news in his monologue Tuesday night, Trump Judge: Jail May Be Necessary | Students Should Be Allowed To Protest | Blankenship For Senate.

The judge in Trump’s hush money trial threatened to jail the former president for violating his gag order, pro-Palestinian protests continue to ramp up on college campuses, and a Senate candidate from West Virginia is running some bizarre campaign ads.

I'm with Stephen; Trump may not require being jailed for contempt to behave, but it would be nice for the rest of us.

Jimmy Kimmel made my point about Trump projecting explicit in Trump Embarrassed He Keeps Sleeping During Trial & Klan Mom Marjorie Taylor Greene vs Mike Johnson.

Today is the first day of May and once again our nation’s news media can’t believe it, according to a new study of American accents the most attractive one is the Southern accent, Marjorie Taylor Greene is furious because her plan to oust Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House has been foiled, Ted Cruz is co-sponsor of a bill that would make it harder for consumers to get a refund from airlines in the event of delay or cancellation, Naptain America got his day started by asking where Sleepy Joe is, Trump touched down in Waukesha this afternoon in his first big rally since being fined for contempt of court, Wisconsin also got a visit from the Pillow Fairy Mike Lindell, we reveal our new product the MAGA Blaster, and stoners try recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

"Naptain America" — snork! I like it! I'm getting tired of The Former Guy, which even Colbert seems to have stopped calling him.

That's it for today's installment of comedy about Trump's trial. Follow over the jump for the top posts during the 13th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News featuring Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel making jokes about politics.

'New Zealand Girl Reacts to BOSTON CRUSADERS 2018 | S.O.S.' for a drum corps 'Mayday!' on Wayback Wednesday

A happy drum corps May Day to my readers! While the prediction I made last year that today's post would not feature drum corps maypoles in motion came true, I'm taking advantage of today being Wayback Wednesday to revisit 2018 Boston Crusaders 'SOS' for a drum corps 'Mayday!' Watch Courtney Coulston's New Zealand Girl Reacts to BOSTON CRUSADERS 2018 | S.O.S..


As I wrote in I begin Spooky Season with the 2016 Academy's 'Drum Corpse Bride' for a drum corps Halloween, "I always find Courtney's naive reactions fun to watch. Besides, she's preserving shows that would otherwise disappear from YouTube."

While I'm still ready to embrace May Day as International Workers' Day and showcase corps with themes that match, I'm glad I was able to postpone doing so one more year, thanks to Courtney.

Follow over the jump for the top performing posts on the Crazy Eddie's Motie News Facebook page (if you're on Facebook, please follow), which all featured drum corps and most also celebrated holidays.

Vox explains 'Why US elections only give you two choices'

Change of plans. Instead of "the return of more timely topics," as I promised yesterday, I'm sharing another evergreen video, Vox explaining Why US elections only give you two choices.

We don’t like the two-party system. So why do we have it?
...
America’s two-party system is widely hated. Very few Americans think the two major parties do an adequate job representing us, and most say more parties are needed. But when it comes time to vote, very few of us actually vote for third-party candidates. Often, this is explained as either a failure of will (we’d have third parties if more people would just vote for them), or a conspiracy (the political and media establishments suppress third-party candidates and ideas).

And it’s not that those things aren’t true. But there’s a much simpler explanation, and it’s the very basic rule governing almost every single one of our elections: Only one person can win. If you’re American, that probably sounds utterly reasonable: what the hell other kinds of elections even are there? But the answer is: lots. Winner-take-all elections (also called plurality voting, or “first past the post”) are actually a practice that most advanced democracies left behind long ago — and they’re what keep us from having more political options.

Even if you’re not sold on the need for more parties in the US, though, scratch the surface of “only one person can win” a little and you start to see how it actually produces perverse results within the two-party system as well. It’s a big part of why the political parties have moved farther apart from each other, and it leaves about half of the country without any political representation at all. Watch the video above to see how.

This ties into two of the most read posts in the history of this blog, Vox explains how proportional representation can solve gerrymandering and help minor parties and Update to 'Vox explains how proportional representation can solve gerrymandering and help minor parties,' the second most read entry for the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News, plus minor parties. It's an attempt to nullify or at least bypass Duverger's Law, which Vox described, but didn't name. Tsk, tsk.

That ends April's blogging. Stay tuned for May Day on Wayback Wednesday to begin a new month's blogging.

Vox explains 'The lies that sell fast fashion'

I've written about fast fashion mostly as a tale of the Retail Apocalypse starring Forever 21, although I have mentioned its environmental costs along the way. Vox gave me an opportunity to revisit fast fashion's externalities earlier this month when the channel uploaded The lies that sell fast fashion.

You deserve better than Shein.
...
There are countless articles and videos breaking down the abysmal labor practices, horrifying environmental toll, and overall mountain of waste produced by the fast fashion industry. Activists and even just large swaths of the general public have been raising the alarm about this for well over a decade, but it hasn’t stopped the rise of some of the worst offenders in the industry. For example, the ultra-fast fashion brand Shein has skyrocketed in value over the past five years largely due to their marketing success on TikTok. A lot of us know that fast fashion is bad, but the only way companies like Shein still thrive is if we convince ourselves otherwise and hit “add to cart” anyway. So why do we do it?

The answer is that e-commerce has completely warped our view of what items should cost and how long they should last (this includes and extends to our obsession with Amazon and two-day shipping). We’re moving through trends at an unprecedented pace and it’s doomed to get worse if we don’t adjust our buying habits and learn to slow down. Consumers are being manipulated, but we can do better.

I made a pessimistic assessment five years ago that "as an environmentalist, I probably should be more opposed to fast fashion than I am" and predicted "until Americans, especially young women, change their fashion tastes, they will just buy fast fashion online..." I have become more opposed to fast fashion and Americans have apparently accelerated their acquisition of cheap clothing, a trend being pushed by new chains I hadn't even heard of then, Shein and Temu, and haven't mentioned until now, through a social media platform, TikTok, I wouldn't mention until 2020. Then, I was concerned about TikTok's capacity to monitor users on behalf of China and its ability to misinform, which are why I don't use it, despite its promotion of dance, a phenomenon I can watch on YouTube shorts, thank you very much. I didn't think enough about it as an advertising medium affecting Americans' shopping habits beyond convincing young people to shop local. Now I am. That's another reason to be suspicious of the platform.

That's it for today's more-or-less evergreen post for Earth Month (if TikTok actually is blocked in the U.S., I expect most of its users will migrate to YouTube shorts, including the shopping influencers, so the issues will just move to a new platform). Stay tuned for the return of more timely topics, like Donald Trump's trial in New York. I've been ignoring that and postponing my retrospective of the most read entries featuring late night talk show hosts. It's time to cover both. A topical Throwback Tuesday tomorrow!

Two Marvel movies win superhero categories at the Critics Choice Super Awards for Superhero Day

Happy National Superhero Day! I closed PBS Terra explains 'How Big Business Broke Recycling (And Blamed You)' with a program note and a question.

Stay tuned for a Sunday entertainment feature for National Superhero Day. Superhero winners at the Critics Choice Super Awards Super Awards, anyone?

Since no one objected or proposed another topic, I'm revisiting what I wrote in 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning' and 'The Last of Us' lead nominees at the fourth Critics Choice Super Awards.

This category sets up a matchup between the winner of Best Animated Film and Best Superhero Film at the Saturn Awards, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3. Since Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse won Best Animated Feature at the main [Critics' Choice] awards, I'm predicting it to win here.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse won Best Superhero Movie. I called it! Also, congratulations to the producers, directors, cast, and crew of the movie. To see the acceptance speech, watch SUPER AWARDS "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" WINS Best Super Hero Movie!


I hedged my bets on the next category.

This is a really talented field, but I think the advantage goes to Ayo Edebiri, who swept Critics' Choice, Golden Globes, and Emmys for her role in The Bear. I think that might count for something, even though I'm rooting for Zoe Saldana or Iman Vellani and wouldn't be surprised if Hailee Steinfeld wins as part of a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sweep.

I'm pleased to see that Iman Vellani won. While The Marvels didn't earn a nomination for Best Superhero Movie, it didn't walk away empty-handed. Congratulations! I'm looking forward to seeing Vellani on my Saturn Awards ballot later this year for Best Younger Performer in a Film and The Marvels for Best Superhero Film.


I expressed both my uncertainty and my annoyance about the last "superhero" movie category.

The parenthetical comment that "Superhero categories also include Comic Book and Video Game Inspired series" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, as Taron Edgerton earned a nomination for Tetris, which is a thriller about the development of Tetris taking place in the real world, not an adventure in the game world, and The Killer is based on a graphic novel, something I didn't know until I looked it up. Both Edgerton and Fassbender are great actors, and Saturn Award winner Xolo Maridueña should be happy to be nominated along with them. My favorite is Bradley Cooper, and I hope he wins, but I wouldn't be surprised by any of the field winning, including Shameik Moore, who might be part of a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sweep.

I'm not surprised to see Fassbender win. As I wrote, he's a great actor. He's also a former Marvel actor, having played young Magneto in the later Fox X-Men movies, so there is still a connection to the two actual Marvel winners.

Follow over the jump for the "superhero" winners on television.

PBS Terra explains 'How Big Business Broke Recycling (And Blamed You)'

I told my readers "I'm sure PBS Terra will upload more in this series for Earth Month. Watch for me to share upcoming episodes here" at the end of For Earth Day, PBS Terra asks 'Stop Saving the Planet?' Change the world instead. As promised, here is the next episode, How Big Business Broke Recycling (And Blamed You).

Recycling has been the gold standard for fighting pollution for decades. But most plastics can’t be recycled and the companies that push for recycling are the ones often generating the most emissions and waste in the first place. Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant looks at how we have been told to “reduce, reuse, recycle” to shift the responsibility from companies to the individual.

This makes up for the unpleasant surprise I wrote about to open 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' returns after winning two Emmy Awards with 'A History of Chuck E. Cheese,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.

I found that the video I wanted to feature today, Plastic Recycling is a Myth – Here’s How We Fix That, had playback on other sites disabled by PBS Terra. Shoot! I was looking forward to revisiting the plastic questions from Treasures of the Earth: Power.

I ended up examining those questions in PBS NewsHour and SciShow explain the difficulties of recycling plastic and plastic pollution.

The ubiquity of plastic is one of the topics I ask my students in the Worksheet for 'Treasures of the Earth: Power', which I'm showing this week. Here are two of the questions:

15. What uses are there for plastic? Name five uses or products.

The video lists cosmetic cases, chairs, phones, clothes, and toilet seats, or if it doesn't, I'll accept them as answers. The video shows lots more, including bottles and bags.

16. Why is plastic a challenge for disposal?

The video says that plastic doesn't break down and burning it creates greenhouse gases. In the way paper decomposes, it doesn't, although it does break down physically. Students also point out that the sheer variety of plastic complicates recycling. That's the point of the second video above, but it's not part of "Treasures of the Earth: Power." Still, it's true.

Students can also use plastic as an example of some of Commoner's Laws, Everything is connected to everything else, everything must go somewhere (there is no away), and there is no free lunch along with climate change.

This concludes today's episode of stories I tell my students.

Since I plan on recommending this series of videos to my students, it also makes this an episode of blogging as professional development. Yay, I finally got to write the post I wanted in February, when PBS Terra disallowing embedding of the Far Out video frustrated me!

Stay tuned for a Sunday entertainment feature for National Superhero Day. Superhero winners at the Critics Choice Super Awards Super Awards Awards, anyone?

Trees vs. climate change for Arbor Day, a Flashback Friday holiday special

Happy Arbor Day and Flashback Friday! I'm celebrating the original environmental holiday during Earth Month with two videos from PBS Digital about the effectiveness of planting trees to fight climate change followed by a retrospective of the most saved posts on Pinterest. Trust me, the two topics connect.

The first PBS Digital video is Be Smart asking If We Plant 1 TRILLION Trees Can We Stop Climate Change?

Can trees really save us from climate change? For eons, nature has relied on photosynthesis as a big way to keep carbon dioxide levels from getting out of control. But as we have put more carbon into the air, we’ve also cut down many of the forests we need to suck that carbon up. So big tree-planting initiatives like #TeamTrees to the rescue, right? Actually, we need to think bigger. Here’s three ways trees really can help us solve climate change, from a guy who wants to plant a TRILLION trees, to how we might save the forests we’ve got, to scientists hacking biology to make trees even better.

The answer to the question is no, it won't stop climate change by itself, but it will certainly help, along with conserving the trees we still have. As for genetically engineering a more efficient pathway to fix carbon, that's a new one on me, but it fits with the theme of yesterday's Be Smart asks 'Can AI Help Us Talk to Whales?' for Throwback Thursday, using technology to advance science.

That was the optimistic outlook. PBS Terra explaining Why Tree Planting Campaigns Don’t Work takes a more pessimistic perspective.

In 2019, a Turkey tree planting campaign set a world record. Three months later, 90% of those saplings were dead. Planting trees to replace old-growth forests is a common solution, but it typically does not solve the problem. With deforestation causing climate-related disasters, it’s time to take a hard look at reforestation and what we can do to save our forests.

The video's opening serves as an update on deforestation of the Amazon rainforest with news both good and bad. The video also pointed out flaws in the most common methods of reforestation and ways to do it correctly. I hope people pay attention to the suggestions.

Searching for previous posts about Amazon deforestation retrieved 'The Territory' leads nominees for Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking at the 2023 Emmy Awards, which reminded me that I'd never mentioned its Emmy Award.


I wrote "I'm confident about 'The Territory' winning this category" and it did. Congratulations! May it keep the cause of preserving the Amazon rainforest in people's minds.

Follow over the jump for Crazy Eddie's Motie News' year on Pinterest.