Tuesday, April 21, 2026

The Marsh Family sings 'He's Very Unwell'

For today's Tuneful Tuesday, I'm sharing the Marsh Family singing "He's Very Unwell" - Marsh Family parody of Chuck Berry's "Never Can Tell" from Pulp Fiction.

The issue of Christian nationalism and claims to righteousness for US military action has surfaced in a few stories this week, so we decided to merge them together in one song. We had to pick something from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack (1994), because that’s the movie script that’s been in the media spotlight since being bizarrely parroted in a prayer service at the Pentagon led by the US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth. Although we were sorely torn by “Son of a Preacher Man” (a better song), in the end we plumped for the iconic twist track that features the smooth moves of Uma Thurman and John Travolta in a café running a dance contest, and is titled “You Never Can Tell” (though often referred to as “C’est La Vie”). The track was written by Chuck Berry while he was in federal prison and finally released in 1964.

The verses gave us the chance to poke some fun at three circling stories: Pete Hegseth’s language and attempt to render a Samuel L. Jackson monologue, amidst his hawkish attitude and celebration of violence and vengeance in the Iran war; Donald Trump’s posting on his Truth Social account of a ridiculous picture of him in a Christ-like pose, before backtracking and claiming he thought he was a doctor; and the deepening chasm between the White House’s discourse and policies and the Christian ethos explained by the Pope.
Ha! This is exactly what Pete Hegseth, Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump, and JD Vance deserve!

That's a wrap for today's brief entertaining entry. Stay tuned for the next episode of my series on the News & Doc Emmy Awards with the nominees for Outstanding Nature Documentary on Wayback Wednesday, which falls on Earth Day.

Monday, April 20, 2026

Hemp regulation and marijuana legalization updates for 420 Day

Happy 420 Day! I'm returning to the theme of marijuana legalization today with a reversal of the trend. PBS NewsHour explains How a small law change could have a huge impact on the U.S. hemp industry.

Tucked into the legislation that ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history was a provision to change the definition of hemp. It was a small tweak involving minute measurements, but one that could have a huge impact on the booming market for hemp products. Jeffrey Brown reports from Kentucky.
That's a bummer, both for the users and the farmers. I'm going to offer some rare faint praise for Rand Paul, which is that I generally don't agree with his principles, but at least he has some, and this time I actually approve of how he's applying them. May he and others succeed in loosening the regulations on hemp.

Not all developments on legalization are bad. Two states are considering legalizing marijuana, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. I begin with CBS 58 in Milwaukee reporting State Democrats announce new marijuana legalization proposal.

Supporters of legal marijuana in Wisconsin have announced a new effort at the state Capitol.
The racial disparity in enforcement is enough to make me support this bill, although I agree that making medical marijuana legal would be a good first step that might actually pass. Some of the commenters mentioned that the bar and tavern owners opposed legalization. Considering that Wisconsin is the drunkest state in the union and seems proud of it, I'm not surprised.

I close with WJACTV asking When will PA legalize recreational marijuana?

PENNSYLVANIA (WJAC) — Is this the year that Pennsylvania lawmakers legalize the recreational use of marijuana?

Governor Shapiro continues to push for it, but it is still not certain if the legislature will approve it.

State Representative Scott Conklin recently spoke about the fact that all but one of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have already legalized marijuana. So, will it happen here?

Others in the legislature are not supportive of the idea, for various reasons, including one of the most heard about --- marijuana's possible link to harder drugs.

Raising revenue is one of the most cited reasons by Governor Shapiro and other backers to legalize.

Envisioned as a new cash crop in Pennsylvania, farmers paying a fee, growers’ licenses, tax on sales, all bringing in money, with the Department of Agriculture providing oversight.
I think Pennsylvania is a better bet than Wisconsin, but it's not a sure thing.

That's a wrap for today's sort-of holiday. Stay tuned for a Tuneful Tuesday post featuring the Marsh Family tomorrow, followed by the next episode of my series on the News & Doc Emmy Awards with the nominees for Outstanding Nature Documentary on Wayback Wednesday, which falls on Earth Day.

Sunday, April 19, 2026

'Sally' leads Science and Technology Documentaries at the News & Doc Emmy Awards


Instead of exploring fiction for today's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm celebrating the best of nonfiction in television by beginning my examination of this year's 47th News & Documentary Emmy® Awards Nominees with the nominees for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary, as I did last year.
Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary

Critical Condition: Health in Black America
NOVA | GBH [A NOVA Production | Firelight Films]
The Memory of Darkness, Light, and Ice
Metamorph Films, LLC
Operation Space Station
NOVA | GBH [A NOVA Production | Blink Films | France Télévisions]
Sally
Muck Media [Story Syndicate | National Geographic Documentary Films]
Titan: The Oceangate Submersible Disaster
Netflix [Netflix | Diamond Docs | Story Syndicate]
Sally leads this field with three nominations as the preview image shows, Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary, Outstanding Direction: Documentary, and Outstanding Art Direction / Set Decoration / Scenic Design: Documentary. The rest of the nominees for this category have only this one nomination. On this basis, I'm considering Sally to be the favorite for this award. Time to watch the trailers to see if they confirm my impression, staring with SALLY | Official Trailer | National Geographic Documentary Films.

Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure, she carried a secret. Revealing the romance and sacrifices of their 27 years together, Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, tells the full story of this complicated and iconic astronaut for the first time. From National Geographic Documentary Films, SALLY is directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Cristina Costantini.
That was inspiring. I'm looking forward to announcing any Emmy Awards it wins in June, Pride Month.

I'm going through the rest in alphabetical order by title, beginning with NOVA: Critical Condition-Health in Black America from WLRN Public Television and Radio.

Researchers examine the causes of racial health disparities, and why Black Americans are nearly twice as likely to have chronic diseases than whites.
Why? Poverty and racism. Just because it's obvious doesn't mean it's not worth examining. The details matter.

Next, The Memory of Darkness Light and Ice – Official Trailer - February 2025 by Metamorph Films.

If the ice sheet covering Greenland melts, global sea levels would rise 21 feet, profoundly impacting our planet. How, why, and when could this happen? Scientists have recently found lost sediment from a forgotten secret sub-ice Cold War base in the Arctic that holds clues about a time when the Greenland Ice Sheet had receded. THE MEMORY OF DARKNESS, LIGHT, AND ICE is a 60-minute documentary film about the discovery of this precious sediment core, which holds the key to crucial science around the melting Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and the future of sea level rise across the globe.
Watching this trailer reminds me that I showed Chasing Ice to my students last week and this is week is Earth Week, making this a good movie to recommend to my students. Welcome to blogging as professional development. It also makes me think that it's the strongest competitor to Sally. Last year, I thought that the "Hunt for the Oldest DNA" episode of NOVA on PBS had the strongest science of all the nominees, but didn't have the best chance of winning. Surprise, it won! That could happen here.

The second nominated episode of NOVA is "Operation Space Station: High-Risk Build." Watch its official promotional video from NOVA PBS Official, How Astronauts Avoided Disaster Building the International Space Station | NOVA | PBS. The field for this category wouldn't be complete without a NOVA episode, and this year's slate has two. Good showing for NOVA!

A dangerous spacewalk, a toxic leak, and a breathtaking view of Earth.

Astronauts faced a life-threatening challenge during construction of the International Space Station.
Sitting in sunlight to evaporate the ammonia serves as a good example of one of Commoner's Laws, "Nature knows best." Environmental content in space!

Like National Geographic and NOVA on PBS, this field wouldn't be complete without a Netflix documentary. This year's entry is TITAN: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster | Official Trailer | Netflix.

The deeper you look, the darker it gets.

Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster examines CEO Stockton Rush’s quest to become the next billionaire innovator and the doomed underwater endeavor that called into question the price of ambition in the depths of the ocean.

The Titan submersible’s ill-fated journey to the ruins of the Titanic dominated headlines in June 2023, yet the shocking decisions that led to the disaster have never been revealed like this before.
This could just as easily have been nominated for business documentary as for science and technology. It's also Sally's chief competition for its journalistic value and public interest; the trailers for both have more than two million views, with Sally slightly ahead. In contrast, the trailers for the rest of the nominees have several thousand views at most. I still think Sally is the favorite, but now I have a better grasp of its chances.

Follow over the jump for Sally's other two nominations and some of the most read entries about the Emmy Awards last year.

Saturday, April 18, 2026

'Bankrupt - Sbarro' by Bright Sun Films, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

Today's brief evergreen educational entry features the latest episode in Bright Sun Films series Bankrupt - Sbarro.

Since it started in New York in the 1950's, the Sbarro fast food chain had grown to well over 1,000 locations, many of which inside of shopping malls. The chain became a staple in casual, Italian food and was one of the most recognizable shopping mall institutions in America. However, by the 2010's, the brand would ultimately declare bankruptcy... twice. Join me to find out why.
I last examined Sbarro in 2020's Company Man examines the rise and decline of Sbarro, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, the next to last Retail Apocalypse post before COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic. I hadn't gotten into the habit of taking screen captures of Company Man Mike's reasons for the company declining then, so I'm making up for it by sharing his list from six years ago.


Jake Williams of Bright Sun Films concentrated on the 2007 sale of the company to a private equity firm, followed by the Great Recession and the general decline of malls. As I wrote six years ago, "Sbarro's dependence on malls was helpful until the Great Recession but is hurting the chain now, as more than half of their stores have closed since the company's peak." Private equity taking over the company the first time couldn't have come under worse circumstances. On the other hand, the current private equity ownership has been good for the company so far, expanding it out of American malls to other countries and into other locations. Good news.

On the other hand, Jake had very little to say about the rest of Company Man Mike's list, mentioning ingredient costs first and briefly. He had very little bad to say about the food itself, confining his stale remark to the brand, and only briefly citing consumer comments about the product. For critiques of the food, I plan on turning to Weird History Food, which I featured in The rise and fall of Boston Market, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Flashback Friday, but not today. I'm running late because of the field trip I ran, so I'm going to be a good environmentalist by conserving that resource to use later.

Speaking of conserving resources, I missed two Facebook shares about the Retail Apocalypse in Bloomberg Television explains 'How Gen Z Is Bringing Back The Mall,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, so follow over the jump for them.

Friday, April 17, 2026

SciShow on 'Here's Why Personality Tests ALWAYS Work*' for Flashback Friday

Happy Flashback Friday! Today's evergreen educational entry begins with SciShow explaining Here's Why Personality Tests ALWAYS Work*.

If you've ever done a personality test or read a horoscope and thought, it seemed scary accurate, you may have fallen for something called a Barnum Profile. There's a psychological trick that makes us all vulnerable to personality tests, so let's get into the real science behind personality testing.
When I search this blog's back catalog for personality, I found that I discussed personality types using the Big Five or OCEAN — Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism — or personality disorders. Here's what I wrote about my personality type results in We reveal ourselves on Facebook.
My results showed that I was liberal (duh), well organized, reserved, trusting, and calm. About the only one of those findings that surprised me was the reserved one. I generally test out as mildly extraverted on Myers-Briggs, so being labeled as the equivalent of introverted was inconsistent with that. Then I looked at the list of most reliable liked pages for each trait and discovered why. The pages for reserved included RPGs, Anime, Manga, Role Playing Games, and Video Games. I may not like all the pages with those exact names (although I like the suggestions for those pages), but I do like pages about all those topics, so I can see why my results came out that way. Seriously, what these pages tell me is that I am a geek, but not all geeks are reserved.
More than a decade later, I stand by both the personality assessment and my mild criticism of it.

That's a wrap for flashing back to a topic I haven't explored on this blog since the first half of last decade. Follow over the jump for another look back, a retrospective of the most read posts featuring videos from SciShow during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Thursday, April 16, 2026

Howtown explains why 'The Moon's origin story doesn't add up' for Throwback Thursday

Happy Throwback Thursday! Today's evergreen entry is Howtown explaining why The Moon's origin story doesn't add up.

How do we know where the moon came from? In this episode, Howtown dives into the giant impact hypothesis (the least bad theory of lunar origin) and the growing evidence that the story of Theia may be more complicated than the textbook version. We explore how scientists measure the Moon’s distance, mass, and angular momentum, why Earth’s Moon is so unusually large compared with other moons in the solar system, and how Apollo moon rocks transformed the debate over the origin of the Moon. Along the way, we unpack Robin Canup’s simulations, synestia and multiple-impact, evection resonance, and the “isotope crisis”: why Moon rocks are chemically almost identical to Earth despite models suggesting the Moon should be made mostly from an impactor. From lunar eclipses and amateur astronomy to Apollo samples, South Pole missions, Theia, Artemis, Chang’e, and the search for mantle rocks, this is a deep look at moon formation, planetary science, and how scientists reconstruct what happened more than 4 billion years ago.
The video may not be that old, but its subject matter sure is! It's also about a story I tell my students, so I consider this to be blogging as professional development.

I covered the most read entries containing content from Howtown last year in SciShow explains 'Why Geologists Lick Petrified Poop,' a Saturday science special. Follow over the jump for a share of a post featuring a Howtown video that made a splash on social media.

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Shane Campbell-Staton says 'I Visited America's Poison Sea' for Wayback Wednesday

Happy Wayback Wednesday! I'm kicking off today's retrospective with Human Footprint on PBS Terra's I Visited America's Poison Sea.

Why does America have a toxic sea… and how did it get there?

The Salton Sea was once one of California’s most vibrant tourist hotspots, a beach teeming with visitors and wildlife. Today it’s a shrinking, toxic lake at the center of a water crisis impacting 40 million people across the Southwest. What happened?

Shane Campbell-Staton visits the Imperial Valley to examine how a desert transformed into America’s vegetable garden, but at serious environmental and social costs. He meets Alex Jack, a third-generation farmer pioneering water-saving techniques to sustain his family’s farm, and Luis Olmedo, a community advocate fighting for the health and rights of migrant workers who harvest the valley’s crops.

The story of the Salton Sea reveals the harsh realities of scarce water, toxic pollution, and a system that doesn’t protect everyone equally. As new water regulations for the Colorado River loom in 2026, this pivotal moment demands a fresh approach to who controls this precious resource, and how it can be allocated more fairly.
I'm old enough to remember when the Salton Sea was the aquatic playground shown in the video and I find it sad that it is now too polluted to still be that. It's now become a place that fits what I wrote in John Oliver examines the UK elections: "One of my favorite sayings that I tell my students is 'no one, or in this case, no place, is completely useless; it can always be used as a bad example.'" It also serves as an example of three of Commoner's Laws, "Everything must go somewhere (There is no away)" for agricultural runoff, "There is no free lunch" for growing winter vegetables, and "Everything is connected to everything else" for water use. "Nature knows best?" We should be so lucky.

Follow over the jump for most read posts featuring clips from Human Footprint during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Company Man recounts 'FAO Schwarz - The Rise and Fall...And Rise Again,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

Today's brief evergreen educational entry is Company Man recounting FAO Schwarz - The Rise and Fall...And Rise Again.

The iconic toy store has had 11 different owners since the founding family sold it over 60 years ago. This video briefly highlights how each owner impacted the brand.
FAO Schwarz's story intersects with Toys R Us, one of the first Retail Apocalypse stories I covered, but I've only mentioned the store once, in The history of the Times Square Toys R Us and evolution of Geoffrey the Giraffe, tales of the Retail Apocalypse. It's time it got its own post.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for a retrospective on Wayback Wednesday tomorrow.

Monday, April 13, 2026

Moon safe from 2024 YR4 and fireballs for Apophis Day

It's Apophis Day, when I report on the perils of space. Today, I have good news to follow up on 'NASA Expert Answers Your Questions About Asteroid 2024 YR4' for Apophis Day, when there was a significant chance 2024 YR4 would hit the Moon. Space.com reports No Impact! Famous Asteroid Will Not Smash Into Moon (or Earth).

New James Webb Space Telescope imagery of asteroid 2024 YR4 confirmed that it “will safely pass the Moon at a distance of more than 20,000 km. (~12,427 mlles),” according to the European Space Agency.

It also poses no danger to Earth[.]
As I wrote, good news!

That written, smaller objects have been plowing into Earth, or at least its atmosphere. Follow over the jump for those.

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Artemis II for Yuri's Night

Happy Yuri's Night AKA International Day for Human Space Flight! As I have since 2019, I'm sharing updates on the progress of Artemis. Today, I have a successful mission to report. Watch CBC News summarize The Artemis II mission in 3 minutes.

From blastoff, to the first lunar orbit in 53 years, to splashdown, CBC News breaks down the biggest moments of the historic Artemis II mission in three minutes.
I wrote "I'm looking forward to Artemis II next year" in 2025 in space from ESA, KING 5, Business Casual, and the Marsh Family. It's next year and Artemis II happened just in time for Yuri's Night. Perfect timing!

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice examined the contest for the Artemis program in The Missions Bringing Us Back to the Moon.

Why are we going back to the moon with the Artemis Missions? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explore the history of our trips to the moon during the Apollo Missions and why the US is finally going back.
Tyson and Nice were as entertaining as they were informative. They explained why we went to the Moon in the first place, why we're returning now, and how both Apollo and Artemis worked. Good work and funny, too!

Speaking of funny, I'm closing with Artemis II - SNL.

A group of astronauts (Colman Domingo, Mikey Day, Marcello Hernández, Sarah Sherman) give updates on their moon mission.
Snork! I couldn't resist either Saturday Night Live or Emmy winner Colman Domingo, so of course I embedded an SNL segment featuring Domingo, especially about space.

That's a wrap for Yuri's Night, when I celebrate the promise of space. Now stay tuned for Apophis Day, when I report on the perils of space.

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Bloomberg Television explains 'How Gen Z Is Bringing Back The Mall,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

I closed The rise and fall of Boston Market, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Flashback Friday by telling my readers "I will post another entry about the Retail Apocalypse posts that elicited the most comments and were most active on social media. Stay tuned." I begin with today's featured video, Bloomberg Television reporting How Gen Z Is Bringing Back The Mall.

Over the last decade, malls were left for dead, casualties of e-commerce and shifting consumer habits, with the pandemic seemingly sealing their fate. Gen Z, however, is bringing malls back, reviving them as social hubs and retail meccas.

Teens Sick of Their iPhones Are ‘Mallmaxxing’...

The mall is cool again, with stores like Edikted and Princess Polly luring a new generation that is eager to shop in real life and show off hauls online.

Against all odds, the mall is winning over American teens: they’re getting their ears pierced; they’re buying jewelry; they’re trying on outfits that make their parents shudder; they’re even learning to stand in line and hang out IRL.
After all the "Millennials are killing" some institution, cultural activity, food or other product I've been reading since before the pandemic, I shouldn't be surprised that news media and popular culture would discover a contrasting feature about Gen Z to report. Gen Z reversing the trend by saving malls certainly fits.

Since the video mentioned the role of social media in getting today's youth generation to revive malls, I'm sharing the most active links to last year's posts about the Retail Apocalypse on social media. Follow over the jump.

Friday, April 10, 2026

The rise and fall of Boston Market, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Flashback Friday

Happy Flashback Friday! Today's retrospective covers the most read entries about the Retail Apocalypse during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News. Before I recap those, I'm sharing two videos about a restaurant chain I should have covered five or six years ago, Boston Market. I begin with the more recent, The Disastrous Downfall Of Boston Market, which Weird History Food uploaded last month.

Before meal kits, DoorDash, and cheap grocery store rotisserie chickens, Boston Market was a real presence. It promised comfort food classics, like Thanksgiving dinner any day of the week, without the cooking, cleanup, or family drama! At its peak, this fast-casual chain was booming, redefining how Americans ate homestyle meals on the go. But almost as quickly as it rose, Boston Market began to collapse.

So what went wrong? On this episode of Weird History Food, we're taking a look at the strange rise and fall of one of America’s most iconic comfort food chains.

Did you ever eat there? What was your favorite dish? Let Us Know in the comments!
Of course private equity played an important role in this story, especially at the end, but it wasn't what started the chain's decline nearly 30 years ago. Too rapid expansion when the company was publicly traded did. Company Man detailed that when he asked The Decline of Boston Market...What Happened?

In 1997, Boston Market was among the fastest growing fast food chains in the country. By 1998 they filed for bankruptcy and have yet to make much of a comeback from it. This video attempts to find reasons behind what happened.
When my wife and I moved to Royal Oak, there was a recently closed Boston Market within walking distance. We would have brought home meals from there if it had been open. Instead, the nearby pizza place and Coney island got our business. Like Company Man Mike, who missed their cinnamon apples, I missed their food and wondered what had happened to the chain. Now that I've watched both Weird History Food's and Company Man's videos, I know.

Follow over the jump for the most read entries about the Retail Apocalypse last year.

Thursday, April 9, 2026

Peaches and carrots, food history from Vox for Throwback Thursday

I closed PBS Terra warns 'A Hidden Antarctic Tipping Point May Have Just Been Triggered' for Wayback Wednesday by telling my readers, "Stay tuned for two videos about food history on Throwback Thursday..." Both are by Vox and the first is The biggest peach myth in America.

Peaches are one of America’s most recognizable fruits. In the US, hundreds of thousands of tons are produced each year, and the fruit is closely tied to one place in particular: Georgia.

The Georgia peach is on license plates, road signs, and even county names. But today, the state doesn’t grow the most peaches. Not even close.

This video explores how peaches became a state symbol, how that reputation spread through active mythmaking, and why the Georgia peach identity has lasted even as the industry changed.
That was a fascinating video that taught me a lot of new things about peaches, including California being the leading peach-producing state, not Georgia. I doubt California will become the new Peach State; my former home state has better things to brag about.

The second explains How we fell for carrot propaganda.

We all heard the myth while growing up: Carrots are good for your eyesight. Or maybe even: Carrots can make you see in the dark. But where did this myth come from? And is there any basis in science?

It turns out that carrots are chock-full of vitamin A, which is necessary for vision. But most people today get enough vitamin A in their normal diet, and eating an excess of the orange vegetable won’t boost your eyesight or grant you night vision. In fact, consuming more vitamin A than your body can handle (via supplements instead of natural fruits and vegetables) can be detrimental to your health.

The origins of this common myth actually lie in World War II.

During the Blitz (the German Luftwaffe’s bombing campaign against London and other British cities), the British government had several important reasons to persuade both its citizens and the wider world that eating carrots improved eyesight. The Ministry of Information and Ministry of Food worked together to spread some shockingly impactful carrot-based propaganda. And the myth remains prevalent to this day.

Vox producer Nate Krieger spoke to an ophthalmologist and a World War II propaganda historian to get to the bottom of the carrot vision myth. This video explores the impetus behind this strangely targeted propaganda campaign, explains why it was so successful, and reintroduces the world to Dr. Carrot.
LOL, World War II British propaganda. Keep calm and carry on, everyone.

Follow over the jump for the top posts featuring Vox on social media last year.

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

PBS Terra warns 'A Hidden Antarctic Tipping Point May Have Just Been Triggered' for Wayback Wednesday

Happy Wayback Wednesday! Today's retrospective covers the most read entries about climate change and extreme weather, particularly those featuring videos from Weathered on PBS Terra. I begin with the show and channel's latest on these topics, a warning that A Hidden Antarctic Tipping Point May Have Just Been Triggered.

Something unexpected and potentially irreversible is changing Antarctica and scientists finally know why.

Over the past few decades, researchers have tracked the mysterious growth and sharp decline in sea ice in Antarctica. But a few years ago a troubling discovery was made that could upend global ocean circulation, push one species of penguin to extinction, and change our planet’s climate forever.

In this episode of Weathered, Maiya May looks into the role sea ice plays in our global climate, and the threat that its disappearance poses to our natural world.

From emperor penguins, to sea level rise, to the slowing of the AMOC, these seemingly inconsequential chunks of floating ice could hold the key to our survival. And their loss could be a sign that we’ve crossed a tipping point in an already delicate region of our planet.
Climate scientists and oceanographers have been so concerned about the AMOC weakening and collapsing because of the Greenland ice sheet melting that we've ignored the threat to the Global Conveyor Belt current from melting in Antarctica. We can't do that anymore, not once the Antarctic sea ice began to shrink the same way that Arctic sea ice had been for decades. At least Antarctic sea ice growing will no longer be a viable climate change denial talking point. Small favors.

Follow over the jump for the most read and active posts about climate change and extreme weather during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Randy Rainbow sings 'Not What They're Paid For,' a Tuneful Tuesday special

Today's post is Randy Rainbow sings Not What They're Paid For - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody.

Parody of “What Was I Made For?” (Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell)

Parody Lyrics by Randy Rainbow

Song Produced, Orchestrated, Mixed, Mastered by: Michael J Moritz Jr @michaeljmoritz

Vocal Arrangement by Brett Boles @thebrettboles All Vocals: Randy Rainbow
I wrote that "What Was I Made For?" always makes me cry. I was hoping this version would make me laugh instead. Nope. I still cried, this time for the country, not Barbie. If you want to cry for Barbie, I embedded Billie Eilish's video in 'Barbie' leads nominations in music for visual media at the Grammy Awards. Watch it there.

Follow over the jump for the top post featuring Randy Rainbow during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Monday, April 6, 2026

Vox says 'To fight authoritarianism, America should look to Brazil'

Yesterday, I told my readers to "stay tuned for something educational, evergreen, and SHORT!" I have just the video, Vox saying To fight authoritarianism, America should look to Brazil.

On January 8, 2023, thousands of supporters of Brazil’s right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed federal buildings in the country’s capital. Their goal? Overthrow the results of an election they claimed was rigged, despite no credible evidence of fraud.

If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Brazil’s January 8 looked a lot like the January 6 attack on the US capital, just two years earlier: mob violence, an insurrection, and a defeated leader who refused to concede.

But the aftermath could not be more different. Jair Bolsonaro is now serving a 27-year prison sentence, while Donald Trump is president, again.

So how did two democracies, facing similar threats, end up with such different outcomes? This video explains how Brazil’s democratic system worked to hold “the Trump of the Tropics” accountable and what the US could learn from the aftermath.
Laws and constitutions don't enforce themselves; people have to enforce them. That happened in Brazil. It's not happening, not enough yet, here in the U.S. Time to recycle what I wrote in A meme and a song for Trump's sentencing.
Like Donald Trump's whitewashing and inversion of the attack on the Capitol, the new Big Lie, enough people bought it that Trump got re-elected and he avoided any actual punishment. That jammed "the wheels of justice," dashing my hope that I repeated most recently in Colbert and Kimmel examine Jack Smith's filing: "'The wheels of justice are grinding slowly in this case, but I expect they will indeed grind exceedingly fine.' May they also grind exceedingly fine for Trump and his seditious supporters, if not as slowly." Trump escaped before the wheels finished their work. Sigh.
Unless something extraordinary happens, like the 25th Amendment successfully being invoked, our next opportunity will be the midterm elections in November and a new Congress in January. May we and our democracy survive that long.

Sunday, April 5, 2026

'Star Trek' Easter eggs on First Contact Day

Happy Easter and First Contact Day! No one responded at all, let alone no, to my parting question, "Star Trek Easter eggs, anyone?" I'm taking that as a tacit yes for the topic of today's Sunday entertainment feature.

I begin with ScreenRant asking Did You Catch Dr. Kovich's Easter Eggs in Star Trek: Discovery?

Dr. Kovich's office in Star Trek: Discovery is full of Easter eggs referencing the entire franchise of Star Trek. From a vintage bottle of Chateau Picard wine and Geordi's VISOR, Dr. Kovich's office reveals a lot about his mysterious role in Star Trek: Discovery.
Those are the serious Easter eggs in a dramatic series. Now for some funny ones in a comedy, Star Trek: Lower Decks. Watch as Rodenberry BEAM asks Can You Spot These Hidden Star Trek Jokes?

Every episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks is FULL of easter eggs, references, and inside jokes about the franchise... but did you catch them all? It's time to rank some of our favorite inside jokes from STLD, especially from season 4... from the most obvious to the most obscure.
Those are some deep cuts! The writers of Star Trek: Lower Decks were willing to go a long way for a laugh.

I close this section with Every Star Trek: VOYAGER Easter Egg in Starfleet Academy (So Far) Explained by The Sci-Fi Feminist.

In this video, I dive deep into the 32nd-century Academy to find every callback to the Delta Quadrant. From the return of Robert Picardo as the EMH Doctor to the long-awaited promotion of Admiral Harry Kim, Starfleet Academy is full of Star Trek: Voyager lore. We also look at hidden references to Janeway, Neelix’s lung maggots, and the legal legacy of the 'Author, Author' court case.
That was worth watching, even though I'm not optimistic about The Sci-Fi Feminist uploading a part two. My wife and I enjoyed Starfleet Academy, but it was canceled after season two. Darn.

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the most read entries about holidays from the back catalog during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Saturday, April 4, 2026

SciShow explains 'Why Geologists Lick Petrified Poop,' a Saturday science special

I'm revisiting PBS Terra and Howtown lick fossils, demonstrating Ig Nobel Prize winning science with SciShow explaining Why Geologists Lick Petrified Poop.

Fossilized poop might seem gross, but coprolites give us critical information about how animals lived millions of years ago.

Hosted by: Reid Reimers (he/him)
That was a fascinating survey of the information derived from coprolites, once I can recommend to my students, although I'm not going to show it to them. Just the same, welcome to blogging as professional development.

Since the SciShow video overlaps with a Howtown video I featured, follow over the jump for the most read entries containing content from Howtown last year.

Friday, April 3, 2026

The 1969 Cavaliers playing 'The Ten Commandments' for a drum corps Flashback Good Friday/Passover, a holiday special

Happy Flashback Good Friday and second day of Passover! I begin today's retrospective about holidays with a blast from the past, 1969 Cavaliers by corecorps.


I've only celebrated Passover once before on this blog, Shortest lunar eclipse in a century on Passover eleven years ago, so I decided to observe it again by turning it into one of my drum corps holidays by featuring one of the most famous renditions of the theme to The Ten Commandments on a football field.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the most read holiday entries posted during the 15th year of this blog in lieu of my usual drink recipe.

Thursday, April 2, 2026

For Throwback Thursday, Vox asks 'The end of birthright citizenship as we know it?'

Today's Throwback Thursday topic is Vox asking The end of birthright citizenship as we know it?

Is the Supreme Court considering a radical reinterpretation of the 14th amendment?

President Donald Trump has been on a crusade to end birthright citizenship for years. Challenging the long-held legal consensus that anyone born in the United States is granted citizenship, he signed an executive order stripping that right away from the children of undocumented parents and temporary visa holders.

The executive order after returning to the White House set in motion a series of lawsuits challenging Trump’s ability to make sweeping changes to birthright citizenship. And now it’s headed to the Supreme Court in a case called Trump v. Barbara.

The 14th Amendment was passed to guarantee citizenship to freed enslaved people and their children, but was later clarified to apply to anybody born on US soil with a few very specific exceptions. For well over 100 years, birthright citizenship has been enshrined in the Constitution with that understanding.

In Trump v. Barbara, the Trump administration claims that the law applies to those who are not just born in the United States but also “owe allegiance” to it — except…the words “owe allegiance” don’t appear anywhere in the 14th Amendment.

The plaintiffs are representing a group of people affected by Trump’s executive order, and their argument is simple: Leave birthright citizenship alone.
This is a throwback to last year's Vox explains 'Why the US has birthright citizenship', where I wrote the following.
As Vox points out, this is an old debate, one that goes back to the adoption of the 14th Amendment and it always turns out the same way; people born here, other than children of diplomats, residents of American Samoa, and formerly Native Americans — I don't know if we've ever had children of enemy aliens occupying American soil other than Japanese in the Philippines, and I don't know if the Filipinos were American citizens back then — are citizens.
That's what Vox expects will happen again, at least this time.

Vox originally uploaded this video to its Patreon in January and then uploaded it to YouTube yesterday, so it didn't include anything from yesterday's arguments before the Supreme Court. For that, I turn to PBS NewsHour Analyzing the arguments as Supreme Court hears birthright citizenship case.

On his first day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, a cornerstone of immigration policy enshrined in the 14th Amendment and affirmed by the Supreme Court more than 100 years ago. But now the justices are reexamining the policy. Ali Rogin discussed the legal debate with Amy Howe and Amanda Frost.
PBS NewsHour featured five Justices who expressed skepticism of the government's argument, Gorsuch, Cavanaugh, Barrett, Roberts and Jackson, enough to overturn Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump's executive order. Add in Kagen and Sotomayor, and that's seven votes. Alito might go along with Hoover Harding Cleveland, but I don't know about Thomas; he could go either way, not that it will matter. Hoover Harding Cleveland will lose and birthright citizenship will win.

MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, presented information leading to the same conclusion after a livelier discussion in SCOTUS considers limits to birthright citizenship: 'Off the wall theory'.

Some Supreme Cout justices -- including key conservatives -- seem skeptical about the Trump administration's argument for ending birthright citizenship. And in a presidential first, Trump attended the beginning of the proceedings. Afterwards he posted that the U.S. was "stupid" for allowing birthright citizenship. Hayes Brown, Basil Smikle, Ron Insana and Melissa Murray.
That was worth including for the Mean Girls reference alone.

I'm looking forward to the decision later this year. In the meantime, stay tuned for another retrospective about holidays tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

SciShow's '7 Of The Weirdest Fossil Forgeries Ever,' an April Fools holiday special for Wayback Wednesday

Happy Wayback Wednesday on April Fools Day! I promised a retrospective about holidays and I'll get to it, no fooling, but first I'm returning to the theme of PBS Eons and SciShow on Piltdown Man for April Fools Day, a Science Saturday holiday special with SciShow discussing 7 Of The Weirdest Fossil Forgeries Ever.

You've heard of fake purses, and fake food, and fake concert tickets. But fake fossils? Turns out forging evidence of life in the ancient past isn't as uncommon as you might think. From another work by the infamous forger of the Piltdown Man to the carved footprints that fueled a conspiracy theory, here are seven of the weirdest fossil forgeries of all time.

Hosted by: Savannah Geary (they/them)
I knew about Piltdown Man, which is why I blogged about it twice, now a third time, but I had forgotten about Charles Dawson's other fossil forgery, the toad in the hole, which seems lazy in comparison. I hadn't heard about some of the others, particularly the augmented cheetah. Too bad — Acinonyx kurteni was a good name that is now invalid.

That completes the celebration of today's holiday. Follow over the jump for some of the most read holiday posts during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.