Colbert, Kimmel, and Lydic look at this week's 'shock and awful'

I'm returning to reality filtered through comedy as the shortest month of the year ends, beginning with Stephen Colbert's monologue from last night, MAGA Gets Buyer's Remorse | Coffee, Eggs, And Potato Chip Prices Spike | Anti-Aging Pill For Dogs.

Some Trump voters regret sending him back to the White House because he's doing nothing to lower prices on everyday items like coffee and potato chips, and there's a new medicine that might extend your dog's lifespan by years.

"Shock and awful" — that's the perfect phrase to describe the circus of tariffs, Musk taking over government computers, mass deportations, Trump's wild idea about Gaza, and his designs on Greenland and Canada, so I'm borrowing it. Add to all those the fallout from bird flu Should Have Killed One Billion People' as well as potentially mishandling seasonal flu and things could get even worse. Ugh, RFK Jr. He got an even bigger boo than the Secretary of Agriculture, who was booed just because she was in Hoover Cleveland's administration. People know who he is!

Jimmy Kimmel examined even more in Team Trump Screws Up Epstein List Release, Donald Hocks Golden Dollars & GOP Complains About Elon.

Elon Musk is still going with his Chainsaw Massacre of our federal workforce, Guillermo lists the five things he did at work this week, a group of Republican Senators met privately with the White House to complain about Elon’s impulsive and haphazard cuts, companies owned by Elon Musk have been the recipients of more than $30 billion from our government, Trump is now hocking dollar bills made of gold, and he is meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine to discuss what is being called a “reconstruction investment fund,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that a list of Epstein clients and his flight logs would be released today (they were not), instead they released a binder full of information everyone already had, people keep forgetting that Trump and Epstein were good friends, and in honor of the Oscars we took to Hollywood Blvd for a new edition of “Breaking the News.”

"Elon Musk's...Chainsaw Massacre of our federal workforce" — that's another phrase worth stealing! Speaking of stealing, I wish I were surprised that the FAA may cancel a contract with Verizon and replace it with Starlink. That's the kind of conflict of interest having Musk involved with DOGE his critics feared. Time to recycle my comment on May 2022 Open Post at Ecosophia.net.

You pointed out four years ago that Elon Musk's fortune and the success of his companies were both built on government subsidies. American liberals may not have liked Musk for being a billionaire, but they generally quietly ignored what you pointed out as long as they thought he was on their side. Now that he is trying to buy Twitter, potentially ruining their venue for activism and entertainment, then announced that he wasn't on their side, they are all over that fact. They've also called into question the purported technological achievements of his companies and realized a lot of their value springs from faith in Musk himself. His companies' stock prices are now collapsing, which was one of the "black swan" events Lathechuck postulated in the comments four years ago. I don't suppose you are surprised by any of this, are you?

He wasn't. In fact, he joked that he was bored by it. Just the same, liberals and progressives were right about his effect on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. It's one of the main reasons we've moved to Bluesky.

Jimmy K's using Lauren Boebert's misspelling and misunderstanding of disdain to call for not eliminating the Department of Education, one of Project 2025's goals, reminds me that I haven't mentioned that Boebert has a GED, not a regular high school diploma before. It shows.

It also reminds me of what I wrote in I ask The Archdruid and his readers 'Can you show us on the doll exactly where the educated professionals hurt you?' A Festivus airing of grievances.

[O]ne of the recurring themes in the comments to No More Mister Nice Blog, particularly from Yastreblyansky at The Rectification of Names, that a lot of the "working class" supporters of Trump based on their educational levels are actually small business owners, the petite bourgeoisie. Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene come to mind. Both were small business owners before being elected to Congress, which adds new meaning to "petty bourgeoisie."

Speaking of Greene, she makes a cameo in Are Democrats Taking the Rizz Out of Resistance in Their Opposition to Trump? | The Daily Show.

Desi Lydic rates the Democratic Party's methods of opposing Trump on the cringe-o-meter: from off-key protest chants to interpretive dance to podcasts. Plus, with so many Dems saying "F**k Trump," Grace Kuhlenschmidt thinks that might just be a great idea.

As silly as it looks, I'm not surprised the most interesting grassroots protest was by dancers at the Kennedy Center; Silly and serious closer looks at Trump taking over the Kennedy Center was the most popular post this month. As I repeated then, "the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent" and "America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­." Speaking of screwed up, or just plain screwed, Grace Kuhlenschmidt might be onto something, except I don't think that will make Hoover Cleveland treat Democrats any better, just keep him busy. Besides, his supporters might get off on it.

That's a wrap for February. Stay tuned for an Oscars post to kick off March.

PBS Storied tells 'The Untold Secrets of Pokémon’s Monster Mythology' for Pokémon Day

I'm in an "I can't be all DOOM all the time mood," so I'm wishing my readers a happy Pokémon Day!

February 27 is officially Pokémon Day on the National Day Calendar. We are taking you on a journey through the world of Pokémon to learn why the Pokémon brand has reached the hearts of millions of kids, adults and fans across the globe.
...
Pokémon Day commemorates the launch of the first Pokémon video games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, in Japan on February 27, 1996, kicking off a global phenomenon that catapulted Pokémon into one of the most popular and successful entertainment properties in the world. Since then, the community of global Pokémon fans — known as Trainers — come together to celebrate their love for the brand on Pokémon Day.

One of those fans is Dr. Emily Zarka, who expressed her love in The Untold Secrets of Pokémon’s Monster Mythology | Monstrum.

Pokémon are inspired by flora and fauna, science, religion, yokai and other supernatural beings. But the series is teeming with not just Japanese folklore, but versions of monsters from across the globe made cute with softened features.

I'm glad I re-watched this episode, as I'd forgotten about the environmental message of the franchise. That alone makes it worth sharing, despite some of the minor errors, which the viewers pointed out in comments. When one makes a video about a property with millions of fans, there are bound to be some who know more than you do!

I close with a dance video the Official Pokémon YouTube channel released last year on Pokémon Day 2024: Time to POKÉDANCE!

To commemorate Pokémon Day today, past generation partner Pokémon have come together to dance! We hope you're dancing too!

That was made to go viral as a dance trend on TikTok. Maybe next year I'll share the YouTube shorts versions of some of those videos.

So concludes today's holiday celebration. Stay tuned for a topical post tomorrow as the month ends. Reality returns!

SciShow explains that 'The Flu May Cause Alzheimer's'

The next video SciShow uploaded after the one I featured in SciShow explains why 'Bird Flu Should Have Killed One Billion People' was also about influenza, The Flu May Cause Alzheimer's.

Scientists are starting to find a strange connection between neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, MS, and dementia. They all seem to follow on the heels of common but severe infections. And that means we might be able to stop them.

Hosted by: Savannah Geary (they/them)

This story looks familiar, because it's similar to the one told in SciShow asks 'Could a Vaccine Prevent Type 1 Diabetes?' for World Diabetes Day; an infection triggers a pathological response by the body, sometimes years later. That's the bad news. The good news is that prevention already exists in the vaccines for flu, shingles, and pneumonia. Unfortunately, a segment of the population turned against the COVID-19 vaccine and there is evidence that vaccine hesitancy has spread beyond SARS-CoV-2 to other viruses. That's a story that deserves its own entry, especially because it's topical and can develop more before I share it next month. That's only three days away, so my readers may not have to wait long. Stay tuned.

John Oliver examines 'Facebook & Content Moderation'

For today's entry I can share next month, I'm embedding Facebook & Content Moderation: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO).

John Oliver discusses Facebook’s controversial new plans for content moderation and which Animorphs he would and would not kill with his car.

I've written a lot about Facebook over the years, going at least as far back as Facebook: There is no such thing as a free lunch during the first year of the blog. The entries that I think connect best to Oliver's segment are U.S. House passes NDAA in defiance of Trump threatening to veto it over renaming bases named after Confederate generals and Section 230 and Samantha Bee, CNBC, and Vox examine tech companies suspending Trump from social media, both of which provide background for Zuckerberg's actions regarding moderation and their connections to Hoover Cleveland. I wrote the following in the former post.

Trump wants to repeal Section 230 so that Twitter and Facebook can't flag his posts, which he considers censorship. Personally, I think that concept of censorship is kooky, but that's not the worst of it. As the Vox video describes, changing that part of the law could cause chaos on the internet, where a lot of commerce happens, to say nothing of free expression like mine. Any change would have to require a lot of thought and care so that companies have protection so long as they exercise responsible and reasonable moderation. Unfortunately, one side of the aisle wants even less moderation. Consequently, I don't think Congress will come up with a solution if the two sides don't agree on the problem. Sigh.

I was more optimistic in the second post.

Yes, Section 230 will likely change as a result of the failed self-coup and more in the way Democrats want than what Trump and other conservatives say they want, although they would likely have been hurt worse than they expected if they had gotten their way.

That didn't happen. Instead, Hoover Cleveland got what he wanted without a change in the law. All he had to do was intimidate convince Zuckerberg. As one of the commenters on the video wrote, "So basically the world's most powerful bully made the world's most powerful nerd give up his lunch money." Sigh.

I close with this cartoon I first shared in 2011.


Stay tuned for another evergreen entry I can share next month.

Company Man asks 'The Decline of Joann...What Happened?' A tale of the Retail Apocalypse

I'm returning to the Retail Apocalypse by sharing Company Man's The Decline of Joann...What Happened?

This video explores what has gone wrong with one of the country's biggest fabric and craft stores.

As I customarily do for Company Man Mike's videos, I'm displaying his complete list.


"Less sewing" is a phrase I've never written here before; the closest I've come is using less and sewing at opposite ends of 'Fahrenheit 11/9' wins three Razzie Awards, two for Donald Trump and one for Kellyanne Conway, but not together, so that's a false positive. Also, while I've been been blogging about women's careers since Mother's Day 2012 and have been writing about how women (and men) shop since 2009 (reproduced in 2011), I don't know if I've connected the effect of women entering the workforce on shopping before. It was about time.

Competition is a common theme, although Joann's story didn't mention the usual suspects of Amazon and Walmart; instead, it was Michael's and Hobby Lobby.* Joann's vanquished their competitors in the fabric business, so their competition is in crafts.

Buyout is another name for private equity, which I last wrote about in Company Man asks 'The Decline of Party City...What Happened?' A tale of the Retail Apocalypse.

I've mentioned the role of private equity in the failure of retail chains many times before, most recently in 'Bankrupt - 99 Cents Only Stores' by Bright Sun Films, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse. It took more than a decade, but the debt from the leveraged buyout finally caught up with Party City.

The same turned out to be true for Joann.

"External factors" were very much the same for Joann as it was for Big Lots! Both thrived during the pandemic because people were at home, then suffered once people returned to work. Ironic.

On the other hand, inventory fits the pandemic narrative of disrupted supply chains compounded by tariffs. At least it's not Big Lots! issues with inventory tracking and billing. I'd never seen that before!

Company Man Mike's video came out nearly a month ago and the story has developed since then. For that, I'm turning to Jen of Sewing Report LIVE for JOANN Bankruptcy Auction...Who Won + What's Next?

Day 2 update of the JOANN bankruptcy sale auction at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. The winning bidder is GA JOANN Retail Partnership, LLC (partnership between Great American Group + term lenders). Next up is the bankruptcy court sale hearing on February 26, where the judge has to approve the sale of assets to the winning bidder. Great American Group CEO Scott Carpenter said during the auction call most JOANN stores will stay open until the end of May and every item in every store will be discounted. They are working on a multi-million dollar retention plan for company employees, with 90% of that budget going to stores. Fresh inventory should soon be rolling out to locations. Disclaimer: I am NOT an attorney, this is obviously not legal expertise.

Looks like all stores will close and the inventory will be liquidated by the end of May. That will be an especially sad day for people who sew clothes and costumes.

That concludes today's installment of tales of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic. Stay tuned for more evergreen entries I can share next month through Friday.

*I'd love to write a "Decline of Hobby Lobby...What Happened?" post, but their customer base may support them as much as they do Walmart, for reasons I like even less. Instead, I might have to settle for Hobby Lobby - The Controversial History. Sigh.

Vox explains 'How de-aging in movies got so good'

Yesterday, I asked "What can I write about awards season that is worth sharing next month?" My answer was revisiting 'Conclave' beat 'Anora' for Best Screenplay, Motion Picture at the Golden Globes for the winners of the Critics Choice and WGA Awards as well as predictions for the Academy Awards, but I decided that was more work than I wanted to put in today. Instead, I'm looking at technology in movies for the Sunday entertainment feature. Watch Vox explain How de-aging in movies got so good.

This tool might just change movies forever.
...
In 2025, Tom Hanks is 67 years old. Yet, in his latest film Here (directed by Robert Zemeckis), he's convincingly transformed to appear as young as 18, and aged even beyond his current years. And the effect actually looks …. good!

But de-aging effects haven’t always looked this good. Attempts at de-aging can be seen as early as 2006 — and since then filmmakers have experimented with tools and had … varying degrees of success. While 2D blurring and enhancement was the first iteration, realistic de-aging in motion required 3D methods — but no matter which way you sliced it, the process remained labor-intensive and results were often somewhere between okay and the uncanny valley.

Here’s VFX supervisor Kevin Baille told me that the current versions of these tools weren’t going to work on Here. There were too many shots, and the results were too inconsistent for the quality level they were striving toward. So the filmmaking team looked elsewhere, to the bleeding edge of AI tools, to see what was possible. By feeding it a wealth of images featuring Tom Hanks and co-stars Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, and Kelly Reilly, they found they could create images that were remarkably realistic, streamlining the once arduous process.

But the true game changer was optimizing the speed of this tool to enable a real-time feed on set. This empowered actors, costume designers, makeup artists, hairstylists, and other crew members to ensure that every version of the characters, at any age, felt authentic and believable.

I wrote "Vox is also uploading videos about A.I. That's even more of a science fiction is now idea, so I might return to it" two years ago. The closest I got to the topic was mentioning A.I. as an issue in Vox explains 'How streaming caused the TV writers strike'. It took me only two years to get to it. Here's to hoping that the special effects people, most of whom were not unionized when SAG-AFTRA and the WGA went on strike, but many of whom are now, are able to keep A.I. as a tool and not have it take over their work.

That's a wrap for today's entertainment feature. I'll definitely post an entry about the Oscars before the ceremony on March 2, 2025. Stay tuned.

SciShow explains why 'Bird Flu Should Have Killed One Billion People'

For today's "entry worth sharing next month," I'm revisiting Vox asks 'Is it time to worry about bird flu?'

Short answer — not yet, but we need to pay attention. All the virus requires to become dangerous to people is the ability to be transmitted from human to human. Should it recombine with a human flu strain, it could acquire that ability. Then it's time to start worrying.

SciShow explains that and more in Bird Flu Should Have Killed One Billion People.

Cows in North America are getting bird flu. What happened? How did we get here? And is this the next pandemic? In this deep dive narrative history of avian influenza, SciShow takes on these questions.

For updates on bird flu from the CDC, go to https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situatio...

Hosted by: Dr. Pardis Sabeti

Correction:
38:50 This video's consultants should be listed as Kelly Hills MPH and Dr. Nicholas Evans

This is a fascinating history of not only bird flu, but other flu pandemics, SARS, and COVID-19. I am a paleontologist, so I appreciate the historical and comparative approach to science this video took. I also learned a lot of new things from this video, so it's a good day. While I won't show this to my students — it's 30 minutes too long — I can definitely incorporate some of its facts into my lecture on flu and other viruses. This includes the following image, which updates one I used to show my students.


Welcome to blogging as professional development.

By the way, listening to Dr. Pardis Sabeti mention leadership, gaining trust, and fighting misinformation as important for fighting pandemics reminds me that Hoover Cleveland shares an Ig Nobel Prize for Medical Education with "Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Narendra Modi of India, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus...Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan, for using the COVID-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can."


While funny and worth pointing out when Hoover Cleveland says he wants a Nobel Peace Prize, these people are not good company and this award is not a good sign for the near future. Who knows, maybe he'll win an Ig Nobel Peace Prize for his designs on Greenland and Canada or an Ig Nobel Economics Prize for tariffs. We'll find out this fall.

Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature. What can I write about awards season that is worth sharing next month?

Ginger Zee asks 'Was Al Gore right?'

For today's evergreen entry, I'm sharing Ginger Zee of ABC News asking Was Al Gore right? Testing the truth behind 'An Inconvenient Truth' 20 years later.

Nearly 20 years after Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee investigates the science from the film to see how much holds up today.

While I replaced An Inconvenient Truth with Chasing Ice during the pandemic five years ago, I think it's worth looking back at its predictions. As Zee said, most of what Gore said either was and still is true or became true since 2006. The rest are still likely to come true, although a bit later than he thought when he was giving the slide show 20 years ago.

If I were still showing the documentary to my students as a required exercise, I'd go over the answers to the questions Zee touched on. I'm not, although my students can still watch it for extra credit. I won't go to that much effort for extra credit. Instead, I will close by noting that An Inconvenient Truth is still the only documentary to win two Oscars, Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song. That will definitely hold true through at least next year, as none of this year's nominated documentaries are also nominated for Original Song.

Stay tuned for another entry worth sharing next month tomorrow.

Company Man asks 'The Decline of Walgreens...What Happened?' A tale of the Retail Apocalypse

Today's post worth sharing next month is a followup to 'Why Walgreens And CVS Are Shutting Down Thousands Of Stores', tales of the Retail Apocalypse, Company Man asking The Decline of Walgreens...What Happened?

One of country's the oldest, biggest, and most iconic drugstores has been declining. This video attempts to identify some of the biggest reasons behind the struggles.

As I customarily do for Company Man Mike's videos, I'm displaying his complete list.

"Too many stores" — I guess being the (second) biggest drugstore chain has its disadvantages, one of them being too big when the retail environment changes. I am a paleontologist, so I am quite familiar with that story; being big becomes a disadvantage when the natural environment changes, too — adapt or die.

I'm recycling what I wrote earlier this month about "Pharmacy Operations"...

I learned a lot about the importance of the pharmacy to Walgreens and CVS — 76% of Walgreens in-store sales and 60% of the company's total revenue! Also, CVS is the leading Pharmacy Benefit Manager with CVS Health/Caremark having 34% market share. Since CVS also owns Aetna Insurance, it looks like they profit both coming and going. Near vertical integration, anyone?

...and "Retail Operations."

I'm a diabetic and asthmatic, so I am in my local Walgreens a lot to pick up my prescriptions. I also go there to pick up other supplies, but no longer my blood glucose test strips. I found out CVS had cheaper test strips, so I bought them there until my wife found them on Amazon for even cheaper. We now have them delivered on a regular schedule — price and convenience! That makes us examples of customers shifting their front-of-store shopping to Amazon.

I got some pushback from a commenter at MeWe, who asked skeptically, "Shopping at Amazon?" My wife and I have decided to cut back on our Amazon purchases and will re-evaluate our Amazon Prime membership when it expires this summer. Jeff Bezos rolling over for Hoover Cleveland pissed us off. That deserves its own post.

"Wider Scope" has worked well for CVS, but not so well for Walgreens, which both CNBC and Erik of Retail Archaeology noted. Too bad. That was a good strategy on paper.

I hadn't seen "Leadership Changes" as a source of Walgreens' problems before, but it's the kind of thing that Company Man Mike, with his eye for company history, has noticed in other troubled companies. One of those was Rite Aid, which he covered in Company Man asks 'The Decline of Rite Aid...What Happened?' A tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day. Leadership leaving the founding family wasn't required for that chain to start failing, just being passed to a bad son!

"Lawsuits" were among the main causes of Rite Aid declaring bankruptcy, so I shouldn't be surprised they are troubling Walgreens. As I wrote in 2023, "The Retail Apocalypse and the opioid crisis finally cross paths. After all the years I've written about both, it was time I saw it happen." Now I'm wondering how CVS is handling this issue.

CNBC listed "shrinkage" as an issue for both Walgreens and CVS earlier this month, but I think this is the first time I recall Company Man Mike putting "Theft" as one of a chain's issues. I mentioned shoplifting as contributing to Big Lots! filing for bankruptcy, but discounted it as employee grumbling on Nextdoor. Big Lots! management didn't give that as a reason for the chain going out of business.

Notice what's missing? Private equity, although that could be in Walgreens' future. I hope not.

This concludes today's tale of the Retail Apocalypse. Stay tuned for another evergreen entry tomorrow.

SciShow explains 'Why Planes Drop Millions of Flies on Panama Every Day'

I'm returning to SciShow for another story I tell my students, Why Planes Drop Millions of Flies on Panama Every Day.

Every day, airplanes fly over the Panama-Colombia border and drop millions of flies from the sky. It's part of an intense effort to control a deadly pest called screwworms, and believe it or not, it works.

Hosted by: Stefan Chin (he/him)

The tale of screwworm eradication from North America is one I tell my environmental science students every semester in a lecture about pest control in agriculture. I currently have a video about screwworms infesting Key deer, "an endangered subspecies of the white-tailed deer that lives only in the Florida Keys." That makes for an interesting connection between agriculture and wildlife, but it's tangential to the main story. I'm planning on replacing that video with this one, which is the main story. The only element missing from the version I tell already is the part about using Florida as proof of concept by eradicating the flies from the Sunshine State first. Instead, it's Curacao, which makes even more sense than Florida.

The video also introduces a new technology to control screwworms, gene drives. While that will be new to my environmental science students, I've been showing a video about the technique to my organismal biology students for years. I embedded the video in For World Mosquito Day, TED-Ed asks 'Ethical dilemma: Should we get rid of mosquitoes?' My readers who haven't seen it yet can watch it there. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

By the way, I was worried that DOGE would mess with this program. So far, it seems it hasn't, as "the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) thanked President Donald J. Trump and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for working swiftly to protect the U.S. cattle herd from the threat of New World screwworm." On the other hand, the USDA accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them, thanks to DOGE. Oops. Not the best time to make that mistake!

Stay tuned for more posts I can share next month, as the blog made its page view goals for February on the evening of the 16th. Evergreen entries until the 28th!

SciShow explains 'How To Solve Game Theory's Unsolvable Problem,' the Tragedy of the Commons

I write a lot about Commoner's Laws, which I use extensively in my environmental science course. There is another concept that is central to environmental science, the Tragedy of the Commons, that I've only mentioned twice before on this blog (although the second is a false positive, as it's an episode title). That's because I find it a bit too much of a bummer. Fortunately, it isn't inevitable. SciShow explains why in How To Solve Game Theory's Unsolvable Problem.

One of game theory's most famous quandaries is the Tragedy of the Commons. But, through her years of research, Nobel Prize winner, Elinor Ostrom, showed us that we're not doomed to tragedy after all.

Communication and regulation are the solutions to the problem. May we learn to apply these lessons more fully.

John Oliver on 'Trump 2.0' for Presidents Day

I ended Silly and serious closer looks at Trump taking over the Kennedy Center by telling my readers "I might have more to say about Hoover Cleveland tomorrow for (Not My) Presidents Day. Stay tuned." Last Week Tonight with John Oliver provided the perfect prompt with last night's season premiere, Trump 2.0.

John Oliver discusses the first four weeks of Donald Trump’s second term as president, the strategy behind some of the choices his administration has made and why it is indeed fuck time. You heard us: It’s fuck time.

I responded to the election of Trump 1.0 by writing Kunstler said Americans would elect maniacs. He is even more of a maniac now and his supporting cast this time is, if anything, more maniacal than he is. The one I was worried about before January 20th was Russell Vought, one of the authors of Project 2025. He's now Director of the Office of Management and Budget, putting him in a position to implement his plans to downsize the federal government. That's bad enough. What I didn't anticipate was Elon Musk taking on more than an advisory role. Nope, he and his minions are carrying out the downsizing of the federal government much more rapidly than Vought could have using legal means. It looks like what Musk did to the site formerly known as Twitter. When Americans wanted government run like a business, I don't think they wanted a government run like one of Trump's businesses or X under Musk.

So, what do we do to slow or stop "a hostile government takeover?" I used to be the director of a nonprofit, so I like the idea of supporting NGOs. Indivisible and MoveOn would be good ones to help. Also, civil society will be under increasing attack and needs all the reinforcement it can get. I also like the rest of Oliver's suggestions. The audience seemed particularly enthusiastic about replacing Democratic lawmakers who aren't up to the moment. More AOCs, anyone?

Before I go, I'm congratulating Oliver and his writers on winning the WGA Award for Comedy/Variety – Talk or Sketch Series. This is on top of winning two Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, in September. Keep up the good work!

Silly and serious closer looks at Trump taking over the Kennedy Center

I changed my mind since I asked "Awards season, anyone?" Instead, I have a story about Hoover Cleveland messing with Americans' entertainment. Watch Seth Meyers in Musk Slammed by Warren at Protest Over DOGE Cuts; Trump's Kennedy Center Takeover: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump shifting his focus from bringing down consumer prices to more pressing issues like arts programming at the Kennedy Center and banning media outlets who won't go along with his geographical name changes.

I'm repeating what I wrote in Stewart, Oliver, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at 'Gulf of America Day' and Musk on the cover of Time: "'Gulf of America Day' — *snort* I don't think it will ever be bigger than National Pizza Day, let alone the Super Bowl!" I followed the AP style manual when I wrote for Examiner.com and sort-of follow it here, so when I refer to the actual body of water, and not Hoover Cleveland making a fuss over the name change, I'm calling it the Gulf of Mexico — no scare quotes around the real name!

Moving from bad geography to bad engineering and science, it seems Hoover Cleveland has something against magnets. People already ridicule his aversion to electric vehicles, sharks, and "windmills" (really wind turbines). Maybe they should make more fun of his feelings about magnets, too.

Seth found the comedy in Hoover Cleveland's takeover of the Kennedy Center board. It's time for some serious news about it, beginning with NBC 4 Washington reporting on Fallout as President Trump takes over Kennedy Center.

President Trump is officially the new chair of the Kennedy Center. News4 has reaction from audience members, performers and the Kennedy family.

As I wrote most recently in 'SNL' recaps the first week of Trump's second term plus Timothée Chalamet, "the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent. As I first wrote in 2011, 'America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­.'" This story is no exception. Watch Tara Hoot reappear in WUSA9's Protests rise over Kennedy Center leadership changes.

Members of the LGBTQ community march from Washington Circle to Kennedy Center in protest of President Trump's new decision.

I doubt Hoover Cleveland will listen to them; he has become even more homophobic thanks in part to following his base. Just the same, I'm glad they're demonstrating and making their voices heard.

I might have more to say about Hoover Cleveland tomorrow for (Not My) Presidents Day. Stay tuned.

Wall Street Journal and CBC examine ending penny production

I'm returning to timely topics by re-examining one Jimmy Kimmel mentioned in Stewart, Oliver, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at 'Gulf of America Day' and Musk on the cover of Time, "Trump was at the Super Bowl and...decided to declare a war on pennies during the game..." The Wall Street Journal examines the proposal in Trump Wants to End Penny Production. Here Are the Pros and Cons.

President Trump wants to ditch the penny, a move that some experts say is long overdue. Advocates of the least-valuable coin say it should stick around. WSJ examines the question of whether or not it makes sense to get rid of the penny.

The cost of minting pennies and the possibility of no longer doing so is a story I tell my students, usually in the context of using pennies as references for hardness of minerals. What makes this problematic is that the penny has changed in composition over time.

The penny has always been assigned a hardness of around 3. But we have conducted tests and found this is not true.

The penny has changed in composition over the years since 1909 when the first Lincoln cent was issued. Its composition was specified as 95 percent copper and 5 percent tin plus zinc, an alloy classified as bronze. Except for the wartime year of 1943, pennies were bronze from 1909 until 1962. Pennies for the following 20 years were copper and zinc, technically brass rather than bronze. And in 1982 the proportions were reversed so that pennies today are 97.5 percent zinc surrounded by a thin, thin copper shell.
...
The Indian head penny had the same nominal composition as the Lincoln penny, with zinc and tin combined making up 5 percent, but we suspect that the older penny had a little more tin. Maybe one penny isn't a fair test.

Each of these changes made pennies cheaper to produce. To make them even cheaper, the U.S. would have to make them out of steel, like we did in 1943. Those became collectors items, but I don't know if most Americans would accept such a different looking coin when we're not in a world war. It might be easier to stop minting them.

The Wall Street Journal mentioned that Canada had abandoned pennies in 2012, so I'm turning to CBC News asking Is Trump right about eliminating the penny? | About That.

President Donald Trump wants the U.S. Mint to stop making new pennies, but is the one-cent coin really more trouble than it's worth? Andrew Chang explains.

Based on the Canadian experience, ceasing to mint pennies might actually be a good idea. Chalk that up to a stuck clock being right twice a day, and Hoover Cleveland is definitely a stuck clock. The other issue he might be right on? Ending Daylight Saving Time, which will be a subject for next month. In the meantime, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature. Awards season, anyone?

Drink to a drum corps Valentine's Day with the Blue Devils performing 'The Romantics'

Happy Valentines Day! I'm celebrating by turning today into one of my trademark drum corps holidays. Watch the Blue Devils perform their 2024 program The Romantics (Multi-Cam).

The official 2024 multi-cam of the Blue Devils 2024 production, The Romantics.
(The Blue Devils 2024 full show)

Show Title: “The Romantics"
Activity: Drum Corps International

No Romeo and Juliet? I already used those for Shakespeare's Birthday. Besides, I'm not in the mood for more tragedy.*

Drum Corps International uploaded their own holiday greetings 13 years ago in Happy Valentine's Day!


I'm surprised I haven't embedded this video until now.

I've been slacking on one of my holiday traditions, finishing my posts with a drink recipe. No slacking today! Watch Tipsy Bartender make Valentine's Day: Love You Berry Much Champagne Punch


Drink responsibly and enjoy the holiday with your special someone!

*As I wrote yesterday, "I've had enough of mass shootings" — at least this year. Maybe next year. I can't be all DOOM all the time!

'Animals Might Be Much Older Than We Thought' for a late Darwin Day

A belated happy Darwin Day!* For today's tale of the scientist credited with formulating the theory of evolution by natural selection, I'm turning once again to PBS Eons mentioning Charles Darwin in Animals Might Be Much Older Than We Thought.

What are animal-like fossils doing in rocks a billion years old, and what does that mean for our understanding of their evolution and geologic time itself? Turns out, there might've been a long, slow-burning fuse that ultimately ignited the Cambrian Explosion.

More than 150 years later, scientists are still answering questions that puzzled Darwin.

Since Kallie Moore mentioned it, here is the video about multicellular Precambrian fossils she recommended, These Fossils Were Supposed To Be Impossible.

Hidden in rocks once thought too old to contain complex life we may have found the animal kingdom’s oldest known predator.

I'm considering showing one of these videos to my Organismal Biology students this summer. If so, welcome to blogging as professional development.

I'm not done with holidays. Stay tuned for Valentines Day. I've had enough of mass shootings. I think I'll turn it into one of my trademark drum corps holidays.

*I got so distracted by the shiny object of bird flu that I forgot about the day until I watched Danny Anduza of Paleontologizing do a Twitch stream about it. Oops!

Vox asks 'Is it time to worry about bird flu?'

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for a post about what could be the pandemic." Watch Vox ask Is it time to worry about bird flu?

A practical guide to your bird flu fears.

In 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, avian flu began aggressively circulating in wildlife. Dead and sick birds began showing up on shorelines. Poultry farms were forced to cull millions of animals, often in horrific ways, to help stop the spread. Egg prices skyrocketed. Farmers lost millions of dollars. The problem doesn’t stop with birds; avian flu has also been found in a wide range of mammals. More than 24,000 sea lions in South America have reportedly died from it. Then, on January 6, 2025, the US reported the first human death. It’s an alarming development, but fortunately an outlier. The truth is avian flu still poses little threat to humans. But if we’re not worried now, when should we be?

Short answer — not yet, but we need to pay attention. All the virus requires to become dangerous to people is the ability to be transmitted from human to human. Should it recombine with a human flu strain, it could acquire that ability. Then it's time to start worrying.

That's pretty much the same message to take home from AsapSCIENCE explaining Everything you need to know about BIRD FLU.

Should we be worried about Bird Flu? Are we on the brink of another pandemic?

Again, not yet, and probably not, but keep a (covered) eye out.

As Kim Mas of Vox pointed out, the main effect of bird flu so far has been on egg prices and availablity. PBS NewsHour covered that in Why a deadly strain of bird flu is making egg prices soar nationwide.

During 2024, the average price of a dozen large, Grade A eggs jumped 65 percent. The USDA predicts prices will go up another 20 percent this year. A big reason for these sky-high prices: the bird flu outbreak that started in 2022. John Yang speaks with livestock economist David Anderson and virologist Angela Rasmussen for more.

Both my wife and I have had trouble even finding the eggs we normally buy on store shelves. I went to Kroger last week and found almost none of the premium egg brands. Kroger had plenty of the store brand eggs, though, and I bought a carton. My wife found no actual eggs at Whole Foods, so she bought store brand liquid eggs. This is an annoyance and inconvenience, but it's not an actual threat.

That completes this outbreak update. Stay tuned for more politics, most likely filtered through comedy. I need to laugh because it hurts too much to cry.

Stewart, Oliver, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at 'Gulf of America Day' and Musk on the cover of Time

I told my readers "stay tuned for comic takes on America's slide into autocracy...The late-night talk-show hosts have a lot of material" at the end of CNBC asks 'Can New Orleans Save Its Homes From Flooding Again?' They lived up to my expectations, beginning with Jon Stewart & John Oliver Welcome America to Its Trump Monarchy Era | The Daily Show.

Jon Stewart tackles Trump's attempt to be the Super Bowl MVP and examines the president's rejection of federal agencies, birthright citizenship, and basic constitutional checks and balances. Plus, John Oliver welcomes America to its monarchy era.

"Gulf of America Day" — *snort* I don't think it will ever be bigger than National Pizza Day, let alone the Super Bowl! Also, John Oliver would know about monarchies and imperialism.

Seth Meyers had more to say about "Gulf of America Day" and America's slide into autocracy in Trump and Musk Lash Out After Judge Blocks DOGE Takeover, Musk Targets CFPB: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at "President" Elon Musk calling for a judge to be impeached after blocking Musk's access to Americans' personal data, while Musk's second in command, New York businessman Donald Trump, claimed Musk has nothing to gain from dismantling the government.

Hoover Cleveland is surprisingly sanguine about Elon Musk. Who does he think Musk is, Vladimir Putin?

I close with Jimmy Kimmel's monologue, Trump Trolls Taylor Swift in Super Bowl Rant, Kanye’s Crazy Posts & Elon Kisses Up to Donald.

Jimmy ate all the food for the Super Bowl, we look back at the crazy conspiracies about the NFL rigging games, Kendrick Lamar was the star of the halftime show, Philly fans went crazy after the win, Kanye is making a serious run at the title for World’s Worst Person after going literally nuts on Twitter this weekend, he bought commercial time during the game in several markets including LA, Trump was at the Super Bowl and posted several times about Taylor Swift, he decided to declare a war on pennies during the game, he took away Joe Biden’s access to daily intelligence briefings, Elon Musk will be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, there was a deer calling competition in Germany, and we ask people their opinions on Super Bowl commercials we made up in a new edition of Lie Witness News.

If anything, Musk is being more deferential to Trump that Trump is to Musk. Putin would never do that.

Stay tuned for a post about what could be the pandemic.

CNBC asks 'Can New Orleans Save Its Homes From Flooding Again?'

I decided to stick around New Orleans after, at least virtually, LegalEagle says Don't call it the 'Super Bowl!' Watch as CNBC asks Can New Orleans Save Its Homes From Flooding Again?

Twenty years ago Hurricane Katrina flooded hundreds of thousands of homes in New Orleans and killed over 1,800 people. In the aftermath, a quarter of the city's housing stock was left vacant or abandoned. The U.S. government has spent billions to rebuild homes, restore infrastructure, and fortify the levee system. But more may be needed to counteract the city’s slow decline into the sea. On top of that, parts of the federal response have been criticized for their complexity and impact on low-income homeowners. Today, the city is facing a housing crisis as homeowner insurance premiums and property taxes rise.

This video calls back to PBS Terra asks 'When Will We Stop Moving to the Riskiest Regions?'

I wrote "I just wish that the economics were such that people would move here instead of into harm's way. That would make a great subject for another post" two years ago in PBS Terra asks 'What is the RISKIEST Region in the US as the Climate Changes?' In the case of Louisiana, which 'Weathered: Earth's Extremes' asks 'What Happens When the Land Runs Out?' covered, the answer is a combination of low income and high cost.

That's what New Orleans is fighting here. I wish it luck reversing its housing crisis and population loss. Maybe they could learn something from Detroit, whose population increased for the first time since 1957 and moved up from 29th last year to 26th in U.S. cities by population. As I wrote 14 years ago, "Whatever Detroit devises as the solutions for North America's problems will be exported to the rest of the continent."

Speaking of callbacks, here's one for The history of Six Flags New Orleans on the 14th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina 'Closed for Storm' — the story of Six Flags New Orleans on the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and The legacy of Hurricane Katrina on the storm's 16th anniversary from 'Closed for Storm' from Inside Edition, Abandoned Six Flags to Be Demolished 20 Years Later.

It's a land of fun that has been forgotten. Six Flags New Orleans has been abandoned for nearly 20 years since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Inside Edition's Steven Fabian toured the theme park back in 2017. "From this view you can really see it's like a wasteland up here," he said from the top of stairs that led to a roller coaster. Now it's finally being demolished and turned into something new. Inside Edition Digital has more.

Here's to the site becoming something more than just a filming location for post-apocalyptic movies and TV shows, although that's still part of its future, as one of the projects will be a movie studio.

I'll probably return to this topic for the actual 20th anniversary of Katrina this August. In the meantime, stay tuned for comic takes on America's slide into autocracy tomorrow. The late-night talk-show hosts have a lot of material for tonight!

LegalEagle says Don't call it the 'Super Bowl!'

I closed 'Why Walgreens And CVS Are Shutting Down Thousands Of Stores', tales of the Retail Apocalypse by asking "Super Bowl commercials and halftime show, anyone?" I woke up this morning and just wasn't feeling it. Instead, I'm embedding LegalEagle telling his viewers Don’t Call It The “Super Bowl!”



Did the Chiefs already win?
The NFL saying it produces "a single entertainment product" alone qualifies this subject for the Sunday entertainment feature, even though that argument didn't convince the Supreme Court that the NFL was not subject to antitrust law. Hey, I've been treating sports as entertainment on this blog since its first year. That written, I learned a lot of new facts about law, business, and sports, which makes today a good day.

I'm closing by reviving a tradition I haven't observed since 2019, Tipsy Bartender preparing Super Bowl Jungle Juice Buckets: Kansas Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles.


"That's a lot of booze." You said it. Also, drink responsibly and enjoy the game, commercials, and halftime show! You will almost certainly see some Emmy nominees and maybe a couple of Emmy winners!

'Why Walgreens And CVS Are Shutting Down Thousands Of Stores', tales of the Retail Apocalypse

I closed Company Man asks 'The Decline of Party City...What Happened?' A tale of the Retail Apocalypse with a program note.

As for who benefits from the departure of Party City from the market, in addition to the usual suspects of Amazon and Walmart, Company Man Mike mentioned Walgreens, which is having its own issues and could use the boost, and Spirit Halloween. CNBC and Company Man have videos about both chains, which I plan on using in future Retail Apocalypse posts.

I'm saving Spirit Halloween for Spooky Season, but now is a good time for CNBC explaining Why Walgreens And CVS Are Shutting Down Thousands Of Stores.

In its fiscal third-quarter report, Walgreens announced its plans to close a ‘significant’ amount of stores, acknowledging only 75% of its 8,600 stores were profitable. While no specific stores were tapped for closure yet, more than 2,000 locations could face the chopping block by 2027. This just the latest sign of trouble for the struggling retail pharmacy sector as CVS and Rite Aid both announced large closures in the past year. Watch the video above to learn why U.S. pharmacy chains are fighting for survival.

I'm a diabetic and asthmatic, so I am in my local Walgreens a lot to pick up my prescriptions. I also go there to pick up other supplies, but no longer my blood glucose test strips. I found out CVS had cheaper test strips, so I bought them there until my wife found them on Amazon for even cheaper. We now have them delivered on a regular schedule — price and convenience! That makes us examples of customers shifting their front-of-store shopping to Amazon. If that's the trend with party supplies and seasonal items, then Amazon and Walmart will benefit more from the closing of Party City than Walgreens or CVS.

As I'm fond of writing, it's always a good day when I learn something new, and I learned a lot about the importance of the pharmacy to Walgreens and CVS — 76% of Walgreens in-store sales and 60% of the company's total revenue! Also, CVS is the leading Pharmacy Benefit Manager with CVS Health/Caremark having 34% market share. Since CVS also owns Aetna Insurance, it looks like they profit both coming and going. Near vertical integration, anyone?

Speaking of learning something new, while I blogged about food deserts when I began this blog, this is the first I've heard about pharmacy deserts. Same story, different market segment. One of the solutions is the return of mom-and-pop pharmacies. Since I support Small Business Saturday, I approve.

CNBC concentrated on Walgreens, so I'm switching to CVS with Retail Archaeology asking What Is Going On At CVS?

In this episode we take a look at two CVS Pharmacy locations.

YouTube has an AI summary of this video.

This video explores the current state of CVS Pharmacy, examining two locations and their changing role in the retail landscape. The creator discusses the decline of traditional drugstore offerings and the impact of CVS's acquisition of Aetna on its overall business.

That's surprisingly accurate.

Erik of Retail Archaeology also asked What Is Going On At Walgreens?

Let's take a look at what's going on at Walgreens.

This video also has an AI summary.

This video explores the current state of Walgreens stores, examining their recent struggles and changes. The creator visits two locations, one updated and one not, highlighting issues like declining sales, high prices, and a shift towards healthcare services. They also discuss the impact of these changes on the overall shopping experience.

I'm glad Erik mentioned Target instead of Walmart. As I wrote most recently in Company Man explains 'Walmart - Why They're Hated' for Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day, "I'm one of those who call Target "Tar-zhay" and shop there regularly, helping contribute the demise of both Sears and KMart. As I wrote once on my Facebook page, 'between Walmart and KMart, I shop at Target.'"

Both CNBC and Erik of Retail Archaeology think that Walgreens is in worse shape than CVS. This contradicts the comments I've been getting on the CVS video at Dreamwidth. A new follower of mine there seems to have it in for CVS.

That concludes today's tale of the Retail Apocalypse. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature. Super Bowl commercials and halftime show, anyone?

A small chance asteroid impacts Earth in 2032

After blogging about tariffs, Musk taking over government computers, mass deportations, Trump's wild idea about Gaza, I'm ready for a different kind of disaster.* The universe provided one in the form of a potential asteroid impact. Watch Global News report Over 1% chance asteroid may hit Earth in 2032, space agency says.

A newly discovered, far-flung asteroid has sparked curiosity and a healthy side of concern among scientists who say the huge rock has the potential to make impact with Earth.

Based on projections, the asteroid, dubbed 2024 YR4, has a little more than one per cent chance of impact with Earth on Dec. 22, 2032.

The asteroid measures between 40 and 90 metres wide (130 and 300 feet) based on estimates from its reflected light.

“An asteroid this size impacts Earth on average every few thousand years and could cause severe damage to a local region,” the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a space safety briefing.

CBS Texas repeated the last sentence in the description of A "city-killer" asteroid has a slim chance to crash into Earth.

"An asteroid this size impacts Earth on average every few thousand years and could cause severe damage to a local region," the European Space Agency said.

The last impact the size of the one that could happen if Asteroid 2024 YR4 enters Earth's atmosphere in seven years was the Tunguska impact on June 30, 1908, which is the event Asteroid Day commemorates. That would be 128 years before a potential impact, not a "few thousand years," but "on average" is doing a lot of work; there is room for a lot of variation.

I close with ABC News (Australia) analyzing the situation in Asteroid with small chance of hitting Earth triggers global defence plan.

Astronomers have spied an asteroid that may be heading for Earth in 2032. While scientists say there is currently no cause for alarm and it will likely pass Earth safely, members of a space mission planning group are meeting this week to work out the next steps. Professor Jonti Horner from the University of Southern Queensland tells The World several factors would come into play, including what the asteroid is made of.

Professor Horner managed to be both scary and reassuring at the same time. Odds are that we'll be O.K. Even if the asteroid impacts the atmosphere, most cases will affect relatively few people. The bad news is that if the asteroid explodes on or above a city, it could kill millions. YIKES!

Oh, and even this story couldn't avoid Elon Musk. Sigh. I was hoping to get away from events on Earth today.

*Disaster literally means "bad star." That's quite on the nose for this story.

Colbert, Meyers, and Lydic take closer looks at Trump's wild idea about Gaza

There are bad ideas, there are really bad ideas, and then there's Trump's idea about the U.S. taking over the Gaza Strip. As Thomas Jefferson famously wrote, "Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions," so off to the late night talk show hosts I go for the ridicule Hoover Cleveland's dangerously stupid idea deserves. Watch Stephen Colbert's monologue on the subject, Trump’s Gaza Plan: Atrocity Or Distraction? | CIA, FBI Purges Underway | A Strange Uncle Returns.

President Trump showed no humanity when suggesting the U.S. should forcibly relocate every resident of Gaza, the CIA and FBI are purging their ranks at the behest of the Trump administration, and a fast food brand is bringing back a problematic mascot that probably should have stayed retired.

I hope it's a distraction. As Stephen pointed out, there's plenty to distract from.

Seth Meyers had even more to say in Trump Shocks World with Plan to "Take Over" and "Own" Gaza, Undercuts "America First": A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump wanting to occupy the Gaza Strip and turn it into the riviera of the Middle East.

I'm recycling my reaction from MSNBC explains 'Trump’s tariffs will cost you. Here’s how'.

Many of the horse loose in the hospital's supporters say he's a "peace president." In reality, he's an imperialist who just has his sights set closer to home.* Vladimir Putin must be pleased. His bad bromance is paying off.

This harebrained scheme, apologies to rabbits and hares, makes me have to modify the "sights set closer to home part." The Gaza Strip is not close to home for Americans. I'm surprised the Israelis are tolerating the idea.

Desi Lydic also took aim at the proposal in Trump Proposes Gaza Takeover as GOP Tries to Defend Palestinian Relocation Plan | The Daily Show.

Desi Lydic tackles Trump's proposal to take over Gaza and push all the Palestinians out to build a resort. Plus, Republicans try to spin the president's plan, and Jordan Klepper gets in on the brainstorming sesh.

Desi is right, this idea is stupid, crazy, and evil. Fortunately, it's probably going nowhere — probably. One never knows with Hoover Cleveland. After all, I thought the idea of Greenland becoming a U.S. territory died during his last administration. Nope. It's back, baby, and bigger than ever!

I close by returning to Late Night with Stephen Colbert's cold open, Resettling The Residents Of Mar-a-Lago.

In the spirit of taking over territory you have no legal right to, Palestinians will be taking over Mar-a-Lago and resettling the current residents.

"Go to Hell!" "Sure, we'll take them!"