Laugh at the news from the last week of May 2026 with Jimmy Kimmel for Flashback Friday

Yesterday, I asked "Jimmy Kimmel, anyone?" Not reading anyone respond "no," that's what I'm doing. I'm working backwards through his monologues this week, beginning with last night's Trump’s Approval Rating Hits New Low, America’s 250th Party is a Mess & Iran War May Be Over Soon?

We are now officially 159 days from the midterm elections, Trump’s approval ratings have sunk to an all-time low even though he has “done more” than any President ever, the DOJ is now going after one of Trump’s victims E. Jean Carroll who accused him of sexually assaulting her, in honor of our country’s 250th anniversary the Treasury Department is looking to print special Trump $250 bills, they’re also lining up entertainment for the “Great American State Fair” and the lineup is shaping up to be a real dud, there will be a mass pardoning ceremony as part of the semi-quincentennial celebration, the US and Iran have reportedly reached another tentative deal to potential[ly] end the war he says we won three months ago, the State Department posted a very upbeat message for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, RFK Jr can’t stop picking up snakes, and another edition of This Week in Florida.

That's a good poll result for participation in this November's midterm elections and a bad one for Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump, whose approval rating is about what I think he deserved all along. Speaking of approval, I don't think a proposed law to allow his face on a new $250 bill would get past the Senate and given how narrow the Republican margin is in the House, it would be a close call there, especially now that Thomas Massie has lost re-nomination. As for "This Week in Florida," "Florida Man" stories usually involve someone doing something criminal, stupid, and outrageous. Not this week — no criminal activity at all and the Florida Man doing something stupid was the cop. Good thing for the woman he pulled over that his body cam was working!

That's the national news. Jimmy K went local the night before at the end of Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Down Spencer Pratt's Run for LA Mayor & Trump Assembles His Cabinet of Clowns.

Trump met with his cabinet amid his war in Iran being a mess and his approval rating being in the toilet, Hegseth got an angry phone call from Trump after he cancelled the deployment of 4,000 troops who were about to leave to be stationed in Poland, Jimmy had a brief back and forth with RFK Jr. online that caught the attention of Fox Business, Senator John Cornyn of Texas lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, he will now face off against Democrat James Talarico, and Spencer Pratt is running for the Mayor of LA.

I've only mentioned Pervert Hoover's narcissism twice, but Jimmy mentioning that one out of every six sentences in his Cabinet meetings is either praise or an attack on his enemies reminds me of one of the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder, need for admiration. He displays that and all the other criteria in abundance!

As for Jillian Michaels and Fox Business calling Kimmel not funny, then why does this video have 2,721,170 views, the one above have 1,936,029 and counting, and the one below 3,086,200? Conservatives hate-watching them? Yeah, right.

The one time I mentioned Ken Paxton here, I looked at his name being floated for Attorney General despite his legal troubles and snarked "Jailbirds of a feather flock together." I'm sure I'll have more to say about the Ken Paxton-James Talerico contest for Senate in Texas between now and November, but I only have until Tuesday to comment on the primary elections for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayor. The former has made Drink, because Tom Steyer is running on National Mojito Day 2019 popular again, although that's probably short-lived; Xavier Becerra is now in first with 23%, quite a jump from 2% a year ago, while Steyer is now in third with 15%, with Steve Hilton second at 20%. The top three in the Los Angeles Mayoral Primary is a lot closer.

The latest UC Berkeley-L.A. Times poll of likely voters has the three candidates at the top almost within the margin of error so anything could happen leading up to Election Day. The top two candidates will move on in the race.

In the poll, Mayor Bass is at 26%. Right behind her is Nithya Raman at 25%. Then Spencer Pratt at 22%.

The margin of error for this poll is 3% so this race is wide open with a clear top three.

After hearing Jimmy describe Pratt's reaction to the fake Mayan Apocalypse of 2012, I hope he comes in third so I won't have to mention him again except in defeat.

This week began with Trump Skips Don Jr’s Wedding, Attacks DUMOCRATS on Memorial Day & Claims His Physical Went PERFECTLY.

The Knicks completed a second consecutive sweep to earn a spot in the NBA Finals, Don Jr and his new bride Bettina were married on Saturday on an island in the Bahamas and Trump did not make it, they have begun construction on the arena for the big UFC fight scheduled for Trump’s 80th birthday next month, we are now on week thirteen of Trump’s “little excursion” in Iran, he posted a message to social media for Memorial Day, he gave himself a glowing report about his health after his physical, RFK Jr. decided to pick up snakes at Dr. Oz’s house, and after months of delays the Trump Mobile phone is finally shipping to customers.

Dumentia — hah! I'm keeping it.

Follow over the jump for top shares of posts about Kimmel on social media during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

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.

'Abandoned - Westminster Mall California' by Bright Sun Films, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

I'm taking a break from awards shows with Bright Sun Films presenting Abandoned - Westminster Mall California.

Like many suburban malls in America, Westminster Mall was the classic indoor shopping experience when it opened in 1974. It lasted through renovations, recessions and major store closures, all continuing to be a local community hub. However, it would ultimately close in 2025 and in just a matter of weeks, it's interiors were completely trashed. After making headlines for it's steep decline, it seems now that the mall will best be known for the destruction that followed its closure. So join me today as we find out what happened to the once local California icon that was, the Westminster Mall.

Jake Williams managed to find an example of the entire rise and fall of the American mall in this one site. That bodes well for his next feature-length project of the same name. May it fare better than Closed for Storm, which showed great promise, but didn't make as much of a splash as Class Action Park. That was fun, but not very thoughtful; Defunctland made a smarter video on a much smaller budget.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for something brief I can share in April, no fooling.

Morgan State at the Rose Parade and Alcorn State at the Macy's Parade for MLK Day

Happy MLK Day! For this year's version of JSU's 'Sonic Boom of the South' at the Rose Parade for MLK Day, I'm featuring the HBCU bands in the 2026 Rose Parade and the 2025 Macy's Parade. I begin with Smash Time Productions' Morgan State University M3 @ Disney Land Parade 2025.


Smash Time knows how to select a preview image, which is why this video came first.

Luis of Music213 recorded the next two videos, beginning with Morgan State University "Magnificent Marching Machine" - 2026 Pasadena Bandfest.

From Baltimore, Maryland
The Magnificent Marching Machine of Morgan State University performing their show at the 45th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Monday, December 29, 2025.

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) bands (and former MEAC bands, like North Carolina A&T, which is now a member of the Coastal Athletic Conference), have more drum corps influence than the bands in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) like Alcorn State, and someone like me can see it in their field shows, although they are still recognizably HBCU showbands.

Next, Morgan State University "Magnificent Marching Machine" - 2026 Pasadena Rose Parade from Music213.

The Magnificent Marching Machine of Morgan State University performing at the 137th Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on a very wet Thursday, January 1, 2026.

It's unusual that it rains on the Rose Parade, but it didn't dampen the performers' spirits!

Now travel back in time to watch Band Central's Alcorn State University Marching Band Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2025, which combines original coverage with broadcast TV clips.

Alcorn State University Marching Band Performing in Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade 2025

NBC cut them off just a little too soon. Darn. Still, what power!

I close with my own video, Alcorn State University Marching Band in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

#shorts Alcorn State University Marching Band in Macy's #Thanksgiving Day Parade 11/27/2025 #MacysParade #NYC
https://www.twitch.tv/alldaynyc

AllDayNYC on Twitch approves and so do I!

That's a wrap for the holiday. Stay tuned for another tale of the Retail Apocalypse followed by one more post recognizing diversity among movie winners, the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes won by KPop Demon Hunters.

Welcome to 2026 with popular bands at the Rose Parade!

Happy New Year! I'm sharing my favorite bands in the Rose Parade for New Year's Day, courtesy of Music Amenities and Music213. I begin with Music Amenities wishing Happy New Year! | 2026 PCC Tournament of Roses Herald Trumpets.

For old times, good times, and everything yet to come.

Welcoming the new year with "Auld Lang Syne", performed by the 2026 Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Herald Trumpets.

That was worth it for the preview image alone. Now the full performance from Music Amenities, 2026 PCC Tournament of Roses Herald Trumpets & Honor Band + FLYOVER! | 2026 Bandfest 3 - FULL SHOW.

The Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Herald Trumpets and Honor Band perform at the 45th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest Show 3, held on Tuesday, December 30, 2025.

Luis at Music213 did his usual great work recording the band in 2026 PCC Tournament of Roses Honor Band & Herald Trumpets (Show 3) - 2026 Pasadena Bandfest, but he missed the flyover. Darn.

Next, a band I feature every Veterans Day, but never before on New Years Day, USMC West Coast Composite Band - 2026 Pasadena Bandfest from Music213.

The United States Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band performing at the 45th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Tuesday, December 30, 2025. Their last performance at Bandfest was in 2014 with the 3D Marine Aircraft Wing Band and 2013 with the full composite band. What a treat to see the composite band back at Bandfest!

I agree, Luis!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the most popular bands at Music213 I'm watching before the Rose Parade proper begins.

Election results from New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Detroit add many firsts

I messed up when I wrote "I plan on re-examining ABC suspending Jimmy Kimmel" today. No, that's tomorrow. Today, I'm looking at election results, beginning with Morning Joe on MSNBC declaring 'As big as it gets': Joe on why it was a massive, massive night for Democrats.

Democrats swept key races on Tuesday night, gaining momentum against President Trump. Zohran Mamdani won the NYC mayoral race, while the party notched victories in Virginia and New Jersey governor's races. The Morning Joe panel discusses.

While I selected this video for the preview image, which made a great visual headline, I'm glad I selected it because the panel told a much bigger story of victories for Democrats, democracy, and diversity. In addition to Democratic wins in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, which added the first female Governor and Muslim Attorney General in Virginia, first female Democratic Governor in New Jersey, and first Muslim Mayor of New York City, former U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill listed victories for Democrats, voting rights, and gun control in Maine and Georgia. Joe Scarborough added that the Pennsylvania voters retained three Democratic State Supreme Court Justices in Pennsylvania. It's not just blue states that voted for Democrats and against Hoover Cleveland and his policies. Speaking of pushing back, Mika mentioned Proposition 50 passing in California, which counteracted Texas's redistricting to gain more Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Fight fire with fire!

One of the notable results in New Jersey was the swing of Latino voters toward Democrats. That reminds me of what I wrote last year.

Latino support for Trump was even more pronounced in Michigan, where exit polling showed 62% of Michigan Latinos voting for Trump. That could be enough to swing the state to him...For Latinos, there is nothing I can do that Trump and his core supporters would do more effectively except be a positive example. Who knows, Trump might actually overcome his bigotry and cater to his new voters. We should be so lucky.

We, including Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump, the rest of the Republican Party, and Latinos themselves, were not that lucky. As Scarborough pointed out, Hoover Cleveland and Stephen Miller couldn't help themselves. This is still a democracy and the voters pushed back.

That was the national picture, what about the local one? For that, I turn to Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV reporting History in Detroit: Voters elect first woman mayor with decisive victory.

Detroit made history Tuesday night by electing its first woman mayor, marking a significant milestone as the city continues its post-bankruptcy revival. The Associated Press called the race at 9:17 p.m., about an hour after polls closed. Mary Sheffield built on her primary success by securing more than 75% of the vote over Solomon Kinloch Jr. Sheffield addressed the city for the first time just minutes after the race was called, celebrating the victory and the opportunity to lead Detroit into its next chapter. But Detroit was not the only community making decisions Tuesday. More than a dozen other cities also voted on new mayors and important proposals that could shape their neighborhoods for years to come.

Congratulations, Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield! Add your victory to those of Mikey Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger to history-making wins by women!

WDIV's anchors mentioned other mayoral contests being decided last night. One that might take longer than the rest is the Hamtramck mayoral race: Why it’s too close to call, how a few rejected votes could change outcome.

The Hamtramck mayoral race remains undecided, with dozens of rejected ballots potentially impacting the outcome in what has become a razor-thin contest. Adam Alharbi currently leads Muhith Mahmood by just 11 votes with all five precincts reporting, but city officials say the final results could change as voters have an opportunity to correct rejected ballots.

File this story under every vote counts.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for Vox and the Marsh Family on free speech tomorrow.

'Human Footprint' on PBS Terra describes 'The Mysterious Mass Extinction Hidden in LA'

Today's "evergreen educational entry" begins with PBS Terra describing The Mysterious Mass Extinction Hidden in LA, an excerpt from Human Footprint.

Beneath the streets of Los Angeles lies one of the most prolific fossil sites in the world. At the La Brea Tar Pits, millions of fossils including giant sloths, dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, and mammoths have surfaced from ancient asphalt, offering a rare glimpse into a vanished world.

In this episode of Human Footprint, Shane Campbell-Staton joins paleontologist Emily Lindsey to investigate the sudden disappearance of North America’s megafauna around 13,000 years ago. Together, they follow the trail of ancient life through radiocarbon dating, fossil excavations, and lake-bottom sediment cores.

For decades, scientists debated whether climate change or human hunters were to blame. But new evidence points to a more complex and unsettling cause: a dangerous combination of warming temperatures, ecological disruption, and the spread of fires… ignited by us.

This isn’t just a story about extinction. It’s a glimpse of how past crises mirror the present, and a warning about where we could be headed next.

I first mentioned that I was a paleontologist at the Tar Pits in Infidel 753 and I talk fossils. I explored my experience again in Kunstler, K-Dog, and I discuss prehistoric mammals for Darwin Day plus paczki on Fat Tuesday, PBS Eons explains 'How Plate Tectonics Transformed Los Angeles', and PBS Digital's Be Smart debunks 'The Biggest Myth About Climate Change', which is the most relevant to this video. There, I wrote "I have mentioned several times that I'm a paleontologist who studies Pleistocene fossils, particularly snails. What I don't mention is that I used data from the snails, clams, and plants of Rancho La Brea to reconstruct the late Pleistocene climate of southern California, so I'm quite familiar with natural climate change." I felt that was important enough that I recycled it in PBS NewsHour reports 'Record-breaking global temperature, raging wildfires highlight effects of climate change' plus Thursday broke another record and PBS Terra explains 'The REAL STORY of Climate Skeptics New Favorite Graph'. That gives me an expert perspective on the findings that the fire regime changed about 13,200 years ago, resulting in a changed ecosystem with humans but lacking the Pleistocene predators whose last fossils Emily Lindsey displayed for the camera.

When I was doing my research at the Tar Pits 40 years ago, I became quite familiar with the competing hypotheses of climate change and human overhunting (Paul Martin's overkill hypothesis) causing the terminal Pleistocene extinctions of New World megafauna. However, I also realized that overkill didn't replicate perfectly around the world. Humans arrived earlier in Australia than in the Americas, but it took thousands of years for the Australian megafauna to go extinct. The same was true in northern Eurasia, which had other humans, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, already living there for hundreds of thousands of years before modern humans arrived. And, of course, where the megafauna had co-evolved with human ancestors in Africa and southern Asia, most of the large animals survived into the present. I resolved these data by synthesizing them; late Pleistocene extinctions happened during the first episodes of major climate change after modern humans were first present. The mechanism I had in mind was that climate change stressed the populations of megafauna, which then couldn't withstand human hunting. That ancient humans could make the effects of climate change worse never occurred to me. As Shane Campbell-Staton said, "That is a plot twist I wasn't expecting."

Just because I wasn't expecting it either doesn't mean I don't accept it. I do. After all, I've been watching the fire season expand in California over the past 15 years. I even ask my students two questions about in the worksheet for Chasing Ice: "1. Chasing Ice opens with a montage of natural disasters. Name three of them." One of them is a wildfire. "How many months has the fire season increased in the American southwest since the 1980s?" The answer is two months, although last year's California fire season extended about four months into January, which I recounted in PBS Terra tells 'The REAL Story of the LA Fires | Full Documentary' for Flashback Friday. As Campbell-Staton said, this is uncomfortably familiar.

It also reminds me of two examples of why studying the past is important for understanding the present and predicting the future. The first comes from Prehistoric lions of Eurasia and North America for World Lion Day 2022: "one of the points of paleontology is to learn from the past and apply the knowledge gained to the present." The other I wrote in NOVA warns of 'The Next Pompeii' for the Ides of March.

[P]rocesses that happened in the past are likely to repeat in the future, so understanding the past is essential for preparation. This is a key takeaway from uniformitarianism, the concept that everything we see in nature is the result of everyday processes occurring over sufficient time, which is boiled down to "the present is the key to the past." It also means that the past is the key to the future.

File all the above under "it's a always a good day when I learn something new."

I also felt a lot of nostalgia seeing where I spent much of four years, but this entry has gone on long enough. Time to wrap it up. Stay tuned for another entry about the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Stewart, Colbert, Meyers, and Tomlinson take closer looks at the protests in Los Angeles

I closed Federalized National Guard mobilized against protests in Los Angeles by telling my readers “I expect I will examine the situation through comedy tomorrow, as the late-night talk-show hosts will chime in, especially Jimmy Kimmel, who records his show only a few miles away from the protests. Stay tuned.” Kimmel wasn’t on last night, which I found disappointing, but all the rest of my usual sources were, so I begin with Jon Stewart on the L.A. ICE Protests and Trump's Escalating Response | The Daily Show.

Jon Stewart examines chaos in the MAGA-verse, as escalating ICE raids in Los Angeles erupt in protests, Stephen Miller hunts for nonviolent immigrants, Elon plays the Epstein card on Trump, and the Trump-Elon alpha male war reveals itself as a sensitive baby feud.

If anyone comes out worse than Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump in this sketch, it’s Stephen Miller. He asked why ICE wasn’t raiding Home Depot and where did this all start? At Home Depot. Hoover Cleveland may be exploiting the situation, but Miller is just as responsible for starting it. Too bad Stewart’s joke about what Miller says during sex ignored that Miller’s wife Katie is now working with Elon Musk. She already self-deported.

By the way, protestors summoning Waymo cars just to set them on fire strikes me as a SciFi is Now moment. Didn’t something like that happen in Total Recall?

Next, Stephen Colbert examined the situation in Trump: Insurrectionists Should Be In Jail | Stephen Miller Targets America's Most Vulnerable.

Los Angeles residents pushed back against President Trump's authoritarian immigration raids this past weekend after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller pushed ICE officials to increase the pace of their deportations.

The tear gas “tasted like Fascism.” Yeah, it’s a line right out of a B movie, but, just like living through the pandemic was like living in a horror movie, the current situation is like living in a bad political thriller. Besides, there is a Smithee Award for that, Best One-Liner. It’s pretty much the only “good” award the Smithees gives out.

It wouldn’t be a closer look post without Seth Meyers, so I’m sharing Trump Sends Troops and Dr. Phil to LA; Kash Patel Squirms on Rogan Over Musk's Claims: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at the Trump administration sending federal troops to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids.

The Trump-Musk feud created another SciFi is Now moment when Hoover Cleveland threatened to cancel Musk’s contracts and Musk threatened to decomission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, stranding astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). Yikes! Seth is right; billionaires should not be in charge of government and critical space missions should not be privatized.

Moving on to the ICE raids and protests they provoked, Dr. Phil embedding himself with ICE reminds me of what I first wrote on this blog in 2019: "Trump isn't staffing an administration; he's casting a reality show." Too bad all the rest of us are in The Trump Show AKA The Worst Wing, too.

In Kimmel’s place, I’m featuring Taylor Tomlinson Talks Protests in Los Angeles.

Taylor Tomlinson talks about this weekend’s protests in Los Angeles.

This is the first I’ve embedded Taylor Tomlinson and After Midnight and it probably will be the last. Tomlinson is leaving the show and CBS canceled it. Sigh.

That’s too much of a bummer even for doomer me, so I’m closing this post with Donald Trump's Chief Enemy: Stairs, last night’s cold open for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

For President Trump, the enemy is everywhere.

HAHAHAHA!

Federalized National Guard mobilized against protests in Los Angeles

When I told my readers to “stay tuned” because “I plan on writing something more topical and less involved” today, I didn’t think it would be about Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump federalizing and mobilizing the California National Guard to quell protests against immigration enforcement, but here I am. Watch MSNBC report Trump wants 'these images, but it's for all the wrong reasons': analyst yesterday.

Members of the California National Guard arrived in Los Angeles Sunday morning in response to Friday and Saturday's protest against federal immigration raids. President Donald Trump moved to deploy the 2,000 members over the opposition of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who called the move inflammatory and unnecessary. Julian Castro, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and now an MSNBC political analyst, along with Don Calloway, host of The Caucus Room Podcast and CEO of Pine Street Strategies, and republican strategist and MSNBC political analyst Susan Del Percio discuss these latest developments, and more.

Hoover Cleveland has not invoked the Insurrection Act, but I’ve been worried it about since last June, when I wrote: “I think the parts of Comstock Act that are currently unconstitutional need to be repealed, restricting the ability of anti-choice advocates to reanimate them. I have the same opinion of the Insurrection Act, which is also being touted as a way for the more extreme right-wing activists, including Hoover Cleveland, to suppress dissent.” I quoted that in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 1, where I added “The Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups have decided to revive zombie laws to consolidate their power given the opportunity.” It’s not as if I and others didn’t warn people!

Hoover Cleveland mentioned the Insurrection Act in the opening to 500 Marines on standby to deploy to Los Angeles amid protests.

Roughly 500 Marines are prepared to deploy if needed to help authorities in Los Angeles amid protests. NBC News' Courtney Kube discusses.

Deploying the Marines would be a major escalation. That fits the theme of the next segment from MSNBC, Trump wants a fight, not trying to calm tensions: Senator slams president's handling of protests.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., joins Morning Joe to discuss the president's handling of Los Angeles protests and why he says Trump is trying to distract the public from the impact of his big bill.

I’m with Mika; “many things can be true at the same time.” Hoover Cleveland is exploiting the situation in my old hometown, but it isn’t just a distraction from the budget bill that Elon Musk called “a disgusting abomination” or the Trump-Musk feud. My wife thinks the latter is a distraction, albeit a very entertaining one. That’s what I was thinking of blogging about today, but I decided that Hoover Cleveland escalating domestic tensions was more important.

I expect I will examine the situation through comedy tomorrow, as the late-night talk-show hosts will chime in, especially Jimmy Kimmel, who records his show only a few miles away from the protests. Stay tuned.

Kamala Harris could run for California Governor on Throwback Thursday

Happy Throwback Thursday! I'm looking forwards and backwards today, beginning with Kornacki: Kamala Harris could face 'hiccups' if she enters California gubernatorial race from NBC News.

NBC News National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss the early state of play in California's gubernatorial race as former Vice President Kamala Harris weighs a run for governor.

Yes, that's a qualified field that could give Kamala Harris a run for her money — on paper. In reality, she's walking away with the contest, as KTLA reported in Kamala Harris enjoys wide lead in hypothetical governor's race.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris would have a wide lead over the rest of the field if she were to enter the 2026 race for California governor, according to an Inside California Politics/Emerson College poll released Thursday. April 17, 2025.

And she hasn't even declared!

NY Pulse, a channel that has only existed for a month, had more in Kamala Harris leads California governor’s race — but 50% say the former VP shouldn’t run: poll.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is the runaway front-runner in the California governor’s race – but voters are split on whether the failed 2024 Democratic presidential candidate should even enter the fray.

Harris has the support of 31% of Californians who plan to vote in the Golden State’s June 2026 gubernatorial primary election, according to an Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill survey released Thursday,

But half of likely voters, 50%, believe that the former vice president, California senator and state attorney general should not run for the governorship.

Harris’s closest competitors are former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who only mustered 8% support, and Republican Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, who garnered a 4% backing.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a recent entrant into the race, received 2% support.

That's a really good preview image, but I'm suspicious of the channel itself. I wonder who's behind it.

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the relevant top post plus the most commented posts between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025 for today.

PBS Terra tells 'The REAL Story of the LA Fires | Full Documentary' for Flashback Friday

Happy Flashback Friday! For today's retrospective, I'm continuing the environmental theme from PBS Terra asks 'Save the Planet? In THIS Economy? Pffft' for an Earth Month Throwback Thursday by revisiting the top entries examining risks from climate change during the 2024-2025 blogging year. I begin with PBS Terra telling The REAL Story of the LA Fires | Full Documentary.

It is WILD how often cities used to burn down. So when fires ripped through LA at the beginning of 2025, we wondered: are urban firestorms BACK?

In 1871, nearly a third of Chicago burned down. In 1889, 25 blocks of Seattle went up in flames. Modern buildings and firefighting solved the problem. So, how is this happening again? And why is it getting worse? To find out, we went to LA while the fires were still burning. Our crew was on the ground from day one. We interviewed top fire officials and leading scientists. And, we learned exactly what went wrong in LA - and the ONE THING that could stop these UNSTOPPABLE fires.

Wow! That's the most in-depth I've seen Maiya May and Weathered get on a topic! Of course, it's also the longest. Here's to hoping my readers watch the whole thing.

I have a personal connection to these fires, which I'm recycling from PBS Terra asks 'When Will We Stop Moving to the Riskiest Regions?'

The disaster in my former home state connects back to two more entries, PBS Terra asks 'Is This Type of Fire IMPOSSIBLE to Stop?' and PBS Terra asks 'Will Climate Change Pop the Housing Bubble?' I'm recycling what I wrote about fire in the first entry.

Fires with high winds were always the most dangerous. They've become even more so since I moved to Michigan 35 years ago, as I wrote in California's Camp and Woolsey fires air pollution seen from space and felt on ground.

I found out last week that the home where I grew up was in a mandatory evacuation zone. In the 25 years I lived there, that never happened. In addition, I don't recall my family ever telling me that had happened during the three decades I've lived in Michigan until this past week.*
...
*I[n] case anyone is wondering, the house is O.K. It was more than a mile from the edge of the fire at its greatest extent.

My old house was under mandatory evacuation orders during these fires as well, but survived again. Whew!

PBS Terra retitled the video in the second post "The Insurance Industry Can't Weather Another Wildfire Season Like This UNLESS..." which I think is more accurate. As the second video points out, the fires have caused between $135 billion and $150 billion in damages so far. Yikes!

Those are just the monetary losses. May and the Weathered crew also showed the human costs. Those can be seen and felt, but are harder to measure.

Follow over the jump for the top posts featuring videos from Weathered, whether on PBS Terra or the main PBS channel, between March 21, 2024 and March 20, 2025. The most read of them was PBS examines 'THE RISKIEST Places to Live in the US as Our Climate Changes', which listed Los Angeles County, California, among the riskiest places in the U.S. because of climate change. That turned out to be true sooner than I expected!

PBS Terra asks 'When Will We Stop Moving to the Riskiest Regions?'

The Cascadia Megaquake and Tsunami isn't the only topic PBS Terra likes to re-examine periodically. Another is THE RISKIEST Places to Live in the US as Our Climate Changes'. Watch as PBS Terra asks When Will We Stop Moving to the Riskiest Regions?

For the last 50 years, Americans have flocked to the warm, sunny South. But, as climate change makes extreme heat, hurricanes, wildfire and flooding worse, will that trend ever STOP? Well, some regions might just be showing signs of a reversal, and they hold lessons for what other areas might expect as the world continues to warm.

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. As long as people are making money, they will continue moving into and living in high-risk states like Florida and Texas, although Miami-Dade County is starting to lose population. That looks like a good story for another day. Instead, I'm shifting to the other coast for Maiya May explaining The Real Reason California Is Burning.

The Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and Kenneth fires in the greater Los Angeles area have already caused catastrophic damage and loss of life. They also figure to be the most expensive in terms of property damage in California, and even US history.

What caused these fires? Why are they happening during what's typically the wettest time of year in Southern California? Is climate change to blame? And how will this affect the insurance industry moving forward? Weathered's Maiya May explains.

The disaster in my former home state connects back to two more entries, PBS Terra asks 'Is This Type of Fire IMPOSSIBLE to Stop?' and PBS Terra asks 'Will Climate Change Pop the Housing Bubble?' I'm recycling what I wrote about fire in the first entry.

Fires with high winds were always the most dangerous. They've become even more so since I moved to Michigan 35 years ago, as I wrote in California's Camp and Woolsey fires air pollution seen from space and felt on ground.

I found out last week that the home where I grew up was in a mandatory evacuation zone. In the 25 years I lived there, that never happened. In addition, I don't recall my family ever telling me that had happened during the three decades I've lived in Michigan until this past week.*
...
*I[n] case anyone is wondering, the house is O.K. It was more than a mile from the edge of the fire at its greatest extent.

My old house was under mandatory evacuation orders during these fires as well, but survived again. Whew!

PBS Terra retitled the video in the second post "The Insurance Industry Can't Weather Another Wildfire Season Like This UNLESS..." which I think is more accurate. As the second video points out, the fires have caused between $135 billion and $150 billion in damages so far. Yikes!

That's about as topical as I care to get today. Stay tuned for more evergreen and holiday entries until the end of the month.

Some of my favorite bands at the 2025 Rose Parade for New Year's Day

Happy New Year! I'm sharing my favorite bands in the Rose Parade for New Year's Day, courtesy of Luis at Music213. I begin, like last year, with the official band of the Rose Parade, 2025 PCC Tournament of Roses Honor Band & Herald Trumpets (Day 1) - 2025 Pasadena Bandfest.

The 2025 Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band & Herald Trumpets performing their musical selections at the 44th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Sunday, December 29, 2024.

That was worth it just to hear the percussion play Espresso, which will probably be the Record of the Year at the GRAMMYs.

Next, a band I may end up recycling for the 2028 version of Marching music for the Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio Presidential Primaries on the Vernal Equinox, Lincoln-Way High School Marching Band - 2025 Pasadena Bandfest.

From Frankfort, Illinois Lincoln-Way High School Marching Band performing their field show at the 44th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Monday, December 30, 2024.

I couldn't resist leaving this comment on the video.

Here is the music for the field show:
0:32 Music from "El Cid"
2:20 "The Death Hunt" from the movie "On Dangerous Ground"
4:00 "The Magnificent Seven"
6:00 "Gone with the Wind"
8:45 Reprise of "El Cid"
8:56 "Hurray for Hollywood"

The song for the pass in review at 13:12 is "Land of Make Believe."

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any time knows that I love movie music, so of course I'd know. Also, drum corps have played every single song in this repertoire, just to reinforce my familiarity with them.

Now, my favorite marching band from Japan, Kyoto Tachibana High School Green Band - 2025 Pasadena Bandfest.

From Kyoto, Japan, the Kyoto Tachibana Senior High School Green Band performing at the 44th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Monday, December 30, 2024. This exceptional group will also be performing in the 136th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Wednesday, January 1, 2024.

As in 2011 and 2018, they were the ONLY band to receive a full standing ovation during the two-day festival. Their performance was truly spectacular! A huge THANK YOU to Kyoto Tachibana!

Field Show:
00:07 - Introduction
04:04 - Johnny B. Goode
05:16 - We Are Your Dream Girls
07:50 - Happy Birthday (Tournament President Ed Morales Birthday)
08:55 - Memory (from Cats)
11:58 - Sing Sing Sing
18:00 - Photos

Pass in Review:
18:41 - Fantasmic!
20:16 - High School Musical (High School Musical 3)

Wow! In case they look familiar, I featured them in Two Rose Parade marching bands playing 'Thriller' for Halloween and Two drum corps and some of my favorite bands marching in the New Year for 2018. Welcome back!

Follow over the jump for more of my favorite bands.

PBS Terra asks 'Is This Type of Fire IMPOSSIBLE to Stop?'

For today's evergreen post, I'm sharing PBS Terra asking Is This Type of Fire IMPOSSIBLE to Stop?

Fires are getting bigger and more homes are burning each year. Firefighters are having to change tactics when it comes to the most destructive fires, but why? Jennifer Blach, Ph.D., just released a new study in the journal, Science, and her findings point to a new type of fire that is the culprit for all this destruction.

In this episode, we dive into this groundbreaking new study to learn why fires are getting more dangerous to humans and what we can do about it. Plus we have never-before-seen animations from NASA that show us exactly how these new fires behave. So tune in to learn about the future of fires and how to protect yourself and your home as fires change.

Having grown up in Southern California and observed lots of fires, I knew the answer was wind before Maiya May mentioned it. Fires with high winds were always the most dangerous. They've become even more so since I moved to Michigan 35 years ago, as I wrote in California's Camp and Woolsey fires air pollution seen from space and felt on ground.

I found out last week that the home where I grew up was in a mandatory evacuation zone. In the 25 years I lived there, that never happened. In addition, I don't recall my family ever telling me that had happened during the three decades I've lived in Michigan until this past week.*
...
*I case anyone is wondering, the house is O.K. It was more than a mile from the edge of the fire at its greatest extent.

I followed up in Massive California fires and two tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico, two climate-fueled weather disasters.

I saw the damage up close in January 2019, when my mom and I drove from her California house to the sea and back. Once we hit the burnt area, we didn't leave it until we got to Malibu; the fire burned all the way to the coast. I was astounded. It's one thing to watch the news reports; it's another to see it up close and in person.

PBS Terra mentioned the Camp Fire being driven by wind. Strong winds also blew the Woolsey Fire all the way to the sea.

I have another PBS Terra video to share, so stay tuned for it tomorrow.

Vox explains 'Why Red 3 is still in your candy' for Halloween

Happy Halloween! I decided to post something serious and scary for today, Vox explaining Why Red 3 is still in your candy.

Red 3 has been banned for use in cosmetics and topical drugs since 1990. Why is it still in our food?
...
In 1990, the FDA banned the use of Red No. 3 in topical drugs and cosmetics. Their cited reasoning was that the color additive was “not shown to be safe,” because when fed to rats, Red No. 3 was found to slightly increase the risk of thyroid cancer. Today, that same dye is still found in candy corn, ring pops, Pez, and nearly 3,000 other foods that we eat, which raises the question: If it’s not safe to put on our skin … is it really safe to ingest? Many researchers, advocates, and now state lawmakers say no.

Last year, California passed a bill formally banning Red Dye No. 3 and several other additives from food in the state. The bill gives the food industry until 2027 to remove the additives from their products. The industry is already responding, with companies like Pediasure quickly removing the dye from their shakes.

The question remains, though: Where is the federal ban on Red No. 3 in food if the FDA deemed it unsafe for topical uses over 30 years ago?

California, which has an economy larger than India, might just get Red Dye No. 3 effectively banned nationwide. Yay for my old home state!

For today's drink, I'm sharing Secret of the Booze's Red Rum: "The Shining" Inspired Cocktail. A red drink for a red dye!

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS
2 oz dark rum
½ oz jack honey
Muddled cherries
Orange zest
Cinnamon zest

INSTRUCTIONS
Muddle cherries in a pint glass.
Add whiskey, rum, cinnamon, and orange zest. Shake vigorously.
Strain over ice.

Drink responsibly and stay tuned as spooky season continues on this blog with Day of the Dead tomorrow. Trick or treat!

PBS Eons explains 'How Plate Tectonics Transformed Los Angeles'

This has been Rancho La Brea week on Twitch, where I have been hanging out lately. First, Joschua Knüppe, who streams on Twitch as Paleostream, digitally painted a recreation of my old stomping grounds during the late Pleistocene, which I watched part of, three days ago. Then RockItSage hosted a Rancho La Brea stream last night. I shared three videos as resources for Sage. She ended up using How Plate Tectonics Transformed Los Angeles.

Despite the profound changes we’ve made here in recent history, the epic saga of Los Angeles' natural history is still visible - and even striking - if you know where and how to look for it.

This video has even more geology than paleontology, which is probably why Sage shared it and reacted to it for her audience. I'm glad I passed this on to her. It also gave me an opportunity to revisit Rancho La Brea, which I haven't done in detail here since Kunstler, K-Dog, and I discuss prehistoric mammals for Darwin Day... That post featured the second video I shared. Watch it there. As for the third, stay tuned. I'm being a good environmentalist and conserving my resources for a future entry.

'Kamala Harris, explained in 7 moments' by Vox

I have a lot of grading to do today, and I have to catch up after my personal health crisis, so I'm just going to share Kamala Harris, explained in 7 moments by Vox.

The rise of Kamala Harris, from San Francisco prosecutor to presidential nominee.
...
Vice President Kamala Harris is potentially on the verge of becoming one of the most powerful people on Earth. At the same time, in part because her rapid ascent to the Democratic presidential nomination didn’t involve the sustained public attention of a long presidential primary, she’s more of a cipher to many Americans than major party presidential nominees typically are. So who is Kamala Harris? In this video, we hand that story over to four reporters who have covered her at different points in her career.

Kamala Harris first entered public life as the elected district attorney of San Francisco. She tried to distinguish herself from her predecessor, known for taking a progressive approach to crime, by calling herself “smart on crime.” She spoke more clinically and quantitatively than ideologically; she talked about numbers, not ideas or politics. That continued in her next role as California’s attorney general, in which she was often hard to pin down ideologically and reluctant to take political stances. But that role also made her a household name in California, and after six years as attorney general, she won the state’s US Senate race.

Harris quickly became a well-known senator, but not for speeches or policy. Instead she found fame as the Democratic Party’s chief cross-examiner in the Senate, grilling Trump administration officials in confrontations that excited Democratic voters and sparked a movement for her to run for president in 2020. However, the Democratic Party had by that point become more ideologically progressive, and her record of being “smart on crime” no longer played as well with those voters. She struggled to find a political lane in the Democratic primary, and her run was short-lived. But when Democrats ultimately chose Joe Biden as their nominee, Biden vowed to pick a woman as his running mate. And after a summer in which the death of George Floyd and the massive ensuing protests sparked a national reckoning around race, Harris rose to the top of his list.

As vice president, Harris struggled to find a role in the administration. Biden tasked her with an unenviable job: solving the “root causes” of undocumented immigration to the US. It was neither her area of expertise nor her ideological strong suit, and after a disastrous TV interview, she retreated from public view. But after the US Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion, things started to change. Harris had an expertise and authority on reproductive rights that Biden lacked, and she became the administration’s spokesperson on the topic, finding her voice and footing in public life again.

In July 2024, an unpopular and visibly aged Joe Biden withdrew from his reelection campaign, endorsing Kamala Harris as his successor. Lively and articulate by comparison, Harris quickly captured the enthusiasm of the Democratic Party, gaining momentum in the race against Donald Trump. Her continued success will depend on whether she can grow into the role of a galvanizing, inspirational political figure that she’s struggled to fill in the past.

I learned more about Kamala Harris from this video, which means today is already a good day. Now, back to work. See you tomorrow!

Vox and PBS ask 'Why do we have grass lawns?'

Today is Prime Day, but I'm not feeling like recounting a tale of the Retail Apocalypse the Retail Apocalypse that involves Amazon.* Instead, I'm continuing with the theme of how humans change the environment I explored in yesterday's PBS Terra on 'the invasive Burmese Pythons of the Everglades' for World Snake Day. That was an accidental introduction that produced an invasive species. Today, I'm examining a deliberate change in the landscape, Vox asking and answering Why do we have grass lawns?

Lawns aren’t natural. Why do so many Americans have them?
...
Grass lawns are so ubiquitous in the US you would assume that they're the most natural and obvious choice for what to put in our yards. But turf grass is not only not native to the US, but it takes a lot of time, money, and resources to maintain.

Today, some cities are offering "cash for grass" programs and giving residents as much as $25,000 to replace their turf grass lawns with more environmentally sustainable options.

But some people still like green grass lawns and enjoy maintaining them, so what should they do? In this video we go through the multitude of options that yard owners have and talk to experts to see what they have to say.

I have a lawn, but I inherited it when I bought the house and I live in Michigan, where I don't have to water it. If I still lived in southern California and owned a house there, I'd have replaced any lawn on the property with something more water-conserving and sustainable, like the landscape Sara Bendrick planted.

Speaking of southern California, PBS returns there to examine turf grass, both on lawns and golf courses, as it explains How Lawns Became the Status Symbol of the United States.

How much do you really know about the grass beneath your feet? It turns out, there's a whole lot more to it than meets the tee. Shane ventures beyond the green lawns and learns about the costly and cultural resources at play when it comes to maintaining this so called "crop."

Hearing about the regulatory environment that promotes lawns reminds me of what I wrote in Oak Park Woman plants vegetable garden; city objects 13 years ago.

If you're interested in sustainability on the local and personal levels, your biggest obstacles will be homeowners associations, zoning boards, and city councils. Those people will be wedded to business as usual long after it becomes apparent to early adopters that BAU just isn't working any more. Watch those local governing entities hang onto the past like adherents of a cargo cult.
...
When it comes to enforcing business as usual (BAU) norms of middle-class respectability as a way of maintaining property values, Oak Park does not play. Oak Park is so afraid of catching what they think Detroit has, which is blight, that they restrict what property owners can do more than neighboring cities and enforce their will with a vengeance. Put your trash cans out too early or leave them out too long and the police will ticket you. Let your grass grow too high and the city will mow your lawn for you and then bill you. You can only hold two yard sales per year and you have to inform the city in advance. If you want to drink wine while dining in the city, you're out of luck; there are no restaurants with liquor licenses. The list goes on and on.

Of course, the people who live there and like it make a point of saying that the police will arrive before you hang up your call to 911, but all the above is the flip side of what the locals praise as "great city services." I hope their property values and middle-class sensibilities are worth it.

Remember, that controversy was about replacing a lawn with a vegetable garden, something more useful and productive.

Also, watching the scenes of suburbia reminds me that this was the week I used to show The End of Suburbia and now show Treasures of the Earth: Power. I no longer require my students to watch James Howard Kunstler and the rest of the Prophets of Doom, but they can still watch The End of Suburbia for extra credit. After all, I conserve my resources.

*I'm also not posting anything involving current events. That's because my blog passed its monthly page view goal just before Noon on Monday, so I'm once again blogging about more evergreen topics that will be good to share in August, like the environmental cost of lawns. This also includes this year's Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which will be announced later this morning. Look for me to write about them, beginning with examining how Gold Derby's predictions for Emmy-nominated shows fared tomorrow. Stay tuned.

PBS Terra on redwoods and moss for World Rainforest Day

Happy World Rainforest Day! Today is the first time I'm celebrating the environmental holiday with a dedicated post during an even-numbered year — progress!

As I have the past two times I observed World Rainforest Day, I'm blogging about the temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest, particularly the Coast Redwood forest of California, beginning with PBS Terra explaining Redwoods Shouldn't Be So Tall. Here's Why They Are.

Beyond its iconic height, the Redwood Forest is sacred to the Yurok Tribe and a scientific frontier for the study of vast biodiversity that exists nowhere else on Earth. This episode of Untold Earth explores the varied relationship between The Redwoods, their forest ecosystems, and the humans who live and work among them. Asking, at every turn, what makes these trees epically singular in nature?

This is a sequel of sorts to the PBS Terra video I embedded in last year's post. Like that video, I've shown it to my students. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Going from the tallest plants in the temperate rainforest to the smallest, I'm sharing PBS Terra telling its viewers You Aren’t Paying Enough Attention to Moss.

Mosses were among the first land plants to evolve out of the ocean roughly 450 million years ago. It grows everywhere, from the world’s harshest landscapes to cracks in the sidewalk. This episode of Untold Earth gets up close and personal with the mosses of the Hoh Rainforest to understand their vital role in this ecosystem and potential to offer a glimpse into our planet’s future.

If I haven't already shown this video to my students, I should and probably will, as I will lecture on mosses on Monday. Again, welcome to blogging as professional development.

Before I leave today, National Day Calendar has updated its photo once again.

June 22 is World Rainforest Day to raise awareness and encourage everyone to set some time aside to join the fight to protect rainforests. Join us today as we encouraging action to protect them.

That's both the message for today and a wrap for today's environmental holiday post. Stay tuned for the final consecutive holiday entry, a double celebration of Souther on Detroit-Style Pizza Day. Wombats eating pizza instead of ice cream!

PBS Terra explains 'Why Bumble Bees Are the Fuzzy Heroes We Need' for World Bee Day

Happy World Bee Day! Since honeybees have their own day, I'm looking at the other well-known group of social bees today, bumblebees. Because of that, I'm sharing PBS Terra explaining Why Bumble Bees Are the Fuzzy Heroes We Need.

If the insect world has a fuzzy, charismatic cutie, it’s surely the humble bumble bee. While insect populations are declining around the globe, bumble bees face unique threats that make them particularly vulnerable. Surveying projects across the U.S. are combining the forces of researchers and community scientists to help protect these critical native pollinators.

Our host and museum curator, Jessica Ware, Ph.D. dives inside the hive to explore why honey bees aren’t the coolest pollinator in town. And Hillary Sardiñas, the pollinator coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife shows us how to net a queen bumble bee and explains how you can get involved in the mission to save imperiled insects! The series is produced for PBS by the American Museum of Natural History.

The opening repeats the point of Vox explains 'What we get wrong about saving the bees' for World Honey Bee Day; we're worrying about the wrong bees. People in North America may not have enough honeybees to do all the things we need them to do, but they're not going to go extinct. Honeybees are not bananas. On the other hand, some species of bumblebees are threatened or endangered, and we need those, too.

That's a wrap for World Bee Day, but I'm not done with biodiversity this week, as Wednesday is International Day for Biological Diversity. Stay tuned for that after tomorrow's marching music for the Kentucky and Oregon primaries.