Part one of marching music for Super Tuesday on Marching Music Day

Happy Marching Music Day! March Forth! As I promised twice, I'm celebrating with a marching music Super Tuesday featuring the corps and bands from Super Tuesday states east of the Mississippi River.

I begin with the same corps I opened the past two Super Tuesday posts with, the Boston Crusaders. Watch Boston Crusaders | #dci2022 | Paradise Lost from Drum Corps International (DCI).

Boston, MA | 2nd Place (tie) | 97.325

Boston, Massachusetts' Boston Crusaders perform a segment from the corps' #DCI2022 production, "Paradise Lost," during the 2022 DCI World Championships hosted August 12-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Don't bite that apple!

Vic Firth Marching uploaded the entire show as Boston Crusaders 2022 | DCI Finals Week Rehearsal | Full Production.

We're going BEYOND the lot to bring you a "pieced together' full production run of the 2022 Boston Crusaders show entitled "Paradise Lost.' Recorded over the course of a 3 hour rehearsal on Thursday, August 11th, this video APPROXIMATES a full production run-through (as best we could, given all the variables)! We hope you enjoy the video!

It's Vic Firth, which makes drum sticks, so of course the video focuses on the percussion.

FloMarching uploaded a clip from last year's show, Boston Crusaders 2023 'White Whale' Prelims Percussion Feature - 2023 DCI World Championships.


That was certainly the most nautical and fun part of the show. Once again, Vic Firth Marching has the complete program in Boston Crusaders 2023 | DCI Finals Week Rehearsal | Full Production.

We're going BEYOND the lot to bring you a full (edited together) production run of the 2023 Boston Crusaders show entitled "White Whale.' Recorded in rehearsal on Thursday, August 10th. We hope you enjoy the video!

I was so looking forward to typing "the whale lives" until I realized that the guard wasn't at this rehearsal. Darn. The show gained so much from their part of the performance.

Returning to DCI, I'm sharing Boston Crusaders | #DCI2021 | "Zoom" , the corps' pandemic program.

Boston Massachusetts' Boston Crusaders performs a segment from the corps' #DCI2021 production, "Zoom," during the DCI Celebration events hosted August 12-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

That was so much fun that, at the risk of overkill, I'm sharing Vic Firth Marching's Boston Crusaders 2021 Full Production | BEYOND THE LOT. Yes, I am a Boston Crusaders fan.

Vic Firth takes you BEYOND the lot with the BOSTON CRUSADERS as they perform their 2021 production "Zoom" during the DCI Celebration week in Indianapolis, IN!

That was a lot more entertaining than I expected from a show named after a video conferencing app!

Since I wrote that this is a marching music Super Tuesday and not a drum corps Super Tuesday, I'm embedding UMASS Minuteman Marching Band - 2018 Pasadena Rose Parade from Music213.

From Amherst, Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts (UMASS) Minuteman Marching Band performing at the 129th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Monday, January 1, 2018

In case they look familiar, the University of Massachusetts (UMASS) Minuteman Marching Band were one of the bands featured in Two drum corps and some of my favorite bands marching in the New Year for 2018.

Time to move on from Massachusetts. Follow over the jump for drum corps and marching bands from the rest of the Super Tuesday states east of the Mississippi.

Should the American Bumblebee be placed on the Endangered Species List for World Bee Day and Endangered Species Day?

Today is both World Bee Day and Endangered Species Day, so I'm focusing on one potentially endangered bee species. Watch Some Want American Bumblebee Added To Endangered Species List from TODAY.

The American bumblebee has declined by nearly 90 percent across the U.S. Now there’s a new push to protect it under the Endangered Species Act. NBC’s Kerry Sanders reports as our series TODAY Climate continues.

While the U.S. hasn't added the American Bumblebee to the national Endangered Species List, at least one state has added it to the state's endangered species list, as WWLP-22News reported in American Bumble Bee was added to the endangered species list nearly three years ago.

The American Bumble Bee was a common sight in Massachusetts more than 50 years ago, but the population's been in steady decline for the last 25 years, and are now found almost exclusively in Franklin and Hampshire counties.

Good for Massachusetts.

The decline of the American Bumblebee is apparently taking another species down with it, as the Center for Biological Diversity described in a press release, Variable Cuckoo Bumblebee Moves One Step Closer to Endangered Species Act Protection.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the variable cuckoo bumblebee, a critically imperiled species that has not been observed since 1999, may warrant Endangered Species Act protection. The announcement kicks off a one-year status assessment of the species.

Today’s positive finding comes in response to a petition filed in 2021 by the Center for Biological Diversity. If the variable cuckoo bumblebee gets protected under the Act, it would be the first cuckoo bumblebee listed and the third listed bumblebee after the rusty patched bumblebee and Franklin’s bumblebee.

“These bumblebees need protection urgently, and if the Biden administration acts quickly, we can safeguard this important species before it’s gone forever,” said Jess Tyler, a Center staff scientist who authored the petition. “I’m hopeful that the variable cuckoo bumblebee is still out there, but we need swift federal action to help this species avoid extinction.”

The variable cuckoo bumblebee was once widely found in open grasslands and meadows. While it has lived mainly in the eastern United States, it has also been observed as far southwest as Arizona and as far northeast as New Hampshire. It was last seen in the 1990s in Nebraska, Missouri and Florida. There have been no confirmed observations of this species since 1999.

Cuckoo bumblebees are social parasites that take over the nests of other bumblebees by subduing the resident queen and tricking the host’s worker bees into feeding and caring for the cuckoo bumblebee’s young. In doing so, cuckoo bumblebees help keep host bumblebee populations diverse and healthy, including by reducing disease virulence.

The variable cuckoo bumblebee is entirely dependent on its host species, the American bumblebee, which has declined by an estimated 89%. The Center has also petitioned to list the American bumblebee under the Act and is fighting to get it protected. The variable cuckoo bumblebee and its host are also threatened by multiple concurrent factors that degrade their habitat, including intensive agriculture and pesticides.

The Service will now initiate a scientific status review and public comment period before deciding whether to protect the variable cuckoo bumblebee.

Background

Wild bees are essential to the pollination of wild flowering plants and many flowering crops. North America is home to 46 species of bumblebees, but an increasing number are in trouble. Nearly 1 in 4 bumblebee species is in decline and threatened with extinction in North America.

The variable cuckoo bumblebee is a generalist pollinator and was once found in a wide range of open habitats, including urban areas. Their host species makes its nests in pre-existing cavities, like rodent burrows and rotten logs, or on the surface of the ground in large grass bunches. The variable cuckoo bumblebee is one of a rare group of parasitic cuckoo bumblebees that play important regulatory roles in bumblebee communities and ecosystems.

I just hope it's not too late, as the Variable Cuckoo Bumblebee has not been seen this century and may already be extinct.

Both videos show footage of honeybees instead of bumblebees, who have their own day. Nature on PBS addresses that and mentions one of the other endangered bumblebees, the Rusty-patched Bumblebee, in The Power of Pollinators.

Everyone has heard of honeybees, but what about the 4,000 species of wild, native bees that live alongside honey bees here in North America? These lesser-known, but equally industrious insects not only pollinate our crops but also support healthy, diverse ecosystems across the continent. Unfortunately, many of these native bee species are in trouble. In The Power of Pollinators, entomologist and insect evangelist Dr. Samuel Ramsey showcases the diversity, beauty, and importance of North America’s wild bees, and shares simple steps that everyone can take to help them. Get engaged at www.plantwildflowers.org.

All of this is good information I plan on passing along to my students.

I'm not done with biodiversity, as Sunday is International Day for Biological Diversity. Maybe I can combine my observance with the Sunday entertainment feature. A survey of currently airing nature series, anyone?

KDKA Pittsburgh and WCVB Boston on the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving

Happy ! This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first American Thanksgiving in 1621.* To observe the quadricentennial of the harvest feast of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag, I'm sharing 400 Years Old, Thanksgiving Was Late Being Recognized As National Holiday from KDKA, CBS Pittsburgh.

This Thursday is a uniquely American national holiday, but Thanksgiving wasn't always celebrated nationwide. How did this holiday become such an American tradition? KDKA's Jon Delano reports.

There's lots more to the story of Thanksgiving, but I'm an environmentalist who conserves his resources, so I'll share those in the future. Right now, I'm going to WCVB Channel 5 Boston for their coverage of the celebration at the site of the first American Thanksgiving, Plymouth Thanksgiving parade celebrates 400th anniversary of holiday.

Many people felt this year's Thanksgiving celebration in "America's Hometown" was special because last year's festivities were canceled.

As I wrote yesterday about the Macy's Parade, this parade is also a sign that things are returning to normal and the pandemic is no longer messing with our entertainment. Speaking of entertainment, the clip showed several drum corps. WCVB featured one of them in Boston Crusaders Senior Drum [Corps] performs at 2021 Plymouth Thanksgiving parade.

America's Hometown Thanksgiving Parade is a chronological look back at America's history through the years, beginning with the Pilgrim era.

I could have made an entire post featuring the drum corps and marching bands that participated in the parade and standstill, but I could use those any year for a drum corps Thanksgiving, while the quadricentennial only comes once. Next year, along with more history videos.

That's it for Thanksgiving proper, although the holiday weekend continues with Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. Stay tuned.

*Canadian Thanksgiving is older than American Thanksgiving, originating in 1578.

TV news reports on Indigenous Peoples Day plus comedy for Canadian Thanksgiving

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving and Indigenous Peoples Day! For today's celebration, I'm flipping the two around to observe Indigenous Peoples Day, which I used to call Native American Day, with TV news reports about the day first.

I begin with WROC in Rochester, New York, which has the best summary of the issues surrounding the day I've found so far: Celebrating Indigenous People's Day.

Monday is Columbus Day but many people are choosing to celebrate Indigenous People's Day which focuses on the contributions of Native Americans in our society.

When I posted I haven't seen this many statues fall since the end of the Cold War, it struck me that many of the statues were of Christopher Columbus in addition to Confederate monuments. WROC quantified it as seven statues defaced, destroyed, or removed. It's not just Black lives who matter, but indigenous ones, too!

ABC 13 in Houston reported Houston recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day today from the former site of Houston's Columbus statue.

The city council voted last month to recognize the holiday today, in addition to Columbus Day, but the decision was highly debated.

That clip shows small-d democratic government in action, including arguments from all sides. The next video, State Officials To Announce Legislation To Change Columbus Day To Indigenous Peoples' Day from CBS Chicago, shows citizen activism for inclusion in a decision by a democratic government in action at a site where a Columbus statue also stood.

Another is underway in in Arrigo Park, a place that has significance for Italian Americans in Chicago. It's where a Columbus statue once stood.

I'm not surprised the Italian-Americans are objecting; it was their day as well as Columbus's and they can claim that the descendants of immigrants who came centuries after Columbus had nothing to do with the dispossession of the natives. That written, I expected that same reaction in Boston, where I spent two summers, and where there is a large and influential Italian-American community, but that didn't show up in CBS Boston's Rally In Boston Calls For Indigenous Peoples' Day To Replace Columbus Day.  Maybe that shows Italian-Americans' opposition is not universal.

A rally in Boston on Saturday called for the Boston City Council and Mayor Marty Walsh to create Indigenous Peoples' Day to replace Columbus Day. WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod has the story.

CBS Boston's report is about the support for the change in observance, not the opposition. So is Indigenous Peoples's Day from KTSM 9 News in El Paso, Texas.



The previous videos were more about the opinions and reactions of non-indigenous people than the people the day celebrates. Not this clip, where the local indigenous people are front and center, as they should be.

Now to celebrate the holiday I traditionally do on this day with Brittlestar's Explaining Canadian Thanksgiving To Americans.


HAHAHAHAHA! That comedy makes for a good palate cleanser after all the serious business of Indigenous Peoples Day.

Once again, Happy Indigenous Peoples Day and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

I missed Bill Weld dropping out in March when Trump clinched the GOP nomination

I expressed my pessimism about the last significant primary opponent to Trump in Joe Walsh walks away from the Republican primary and says he'll support the Democratic nominee.

Now it's up to William Weld to serve as the internal opposition to Trump within the Republican Party.  I wish Weld luck, but I don't know if he'll even get enough delegates to earn a speaking spot at the Republican National Convention — this is, if the party bothers to follow their own rules.  I'm not optimistic about that, either.

I was right to be pessimistic — Weld received only one delegate to Trump's 1,330 so far — but as I observed in Bye, Bye, Bernie, the Sequel, I didn't see the confirmation of my opinion when it happened.

I'm not done with this series, as I missed Bill Weld dropping out on March 18, 2020.  My excuse was that I was busy with Vox explains how its viewers and readers can fight the coronavirus.  I'll get around to it on Saturday after I post retrospectives for Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday.  In the meantime, on to the conventions (no matter how they will be held) and the general election!

Well, at least it wasn't like the last candidate I missed leaving the race, when I wrote I missed Messam dropping out three months ago.  It only took me three weeks.

Enough of the introduction.  Watch Newsy's Bill Weld ends GOP primary campaign.

The announcement comes after  president cleared the number of delegates needed to be the GOP nominee.

Most Americans dislike Trump, but the overwhelming majority of those who remain in the Republican Party appear to be very enthusiatic about supporting him.  Sigh.

Since I never suggested any drinks for him, I don't have to retire any.  Besides, there have been four candidates from Massachusetts, so I've suggested, retired, re-used, and re-retired so many drink suggestions for the Bay State that I don't feel like repeating myself.  Sometimes, even an environmentalist gets tired of recycling.

On the other hand, I will look at what On The Issues says about Weld's ideological position.  It lists Weld as having an economic score of 53 and a social score of 78, which On The Issues considers to be a Progressive Libertarian.  That puts him closer to Tulsi Gabbard than to Trump, who has an economic score of 83 and a social score of 20, a Hard-Core Conservative according to On The Issues.  I guess that's why the Republicans are enthusiastic about Trump and barely gave Weld the time of day.

That's it for this stage of The Hungry for Power Games or Fury Road to the White House, whichever Colbert meme one wants to use, unless I feel like doing something for the Libertarian or Green Party conventions.  Otherwise, I might do it for the general election.  We'll see.

Stay tuned for a drum corps Easter followed by a celebration of Yuri's Night.

A drum corps Super Tuesday 2020

As I've already done for Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, it's time to share some marching music for my readers to watch and listen while they are waiting for the results.  This time, it's a drum corps Super Tuesday as nine of the fifteen states and territories holding primaries and caucuses today have competitive drum and bugle corps.  No marching bands today!

I am proceeding roughly from east to west, moving time zone to time zone as polls close across the country.  In order, the states and their drum corps I am featuring are Massachusetts, North Carolina, Minnesota, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and California.  I begin with the 2019 Boston Crusaders | Goliath representing Massachusetts.



Boston, MA | 6th Place | 94.488
Despite the biblical theme, this show has a patriotic element as it includes selections from "Hamilton."  May the candidates not throw away their shots, either!

Moving down the east coast, the next corps from a state voting today is Carolina Gold from North Carolina.  Watch Carolina Gold 2017.



12th place - 81.00
While Carolina Gold is the first DCA corps I am featuring this cycle, it won't be the last, as two DCA corps represent Minnesota, three if one includes the now inactive Minnesota Brass, Inc., which I am.  In fact, the Minnesota corps are next, as it's time to move to the Central Time Zone.  Follow over the jump.

The 2018-2019 flu season is experiencing a second wave, an update to 'Flu killed 80,000 Americans last year, including 183 children, the CDC reported, so get a a flu shot'

I told my readers at the end of Wonkette reacts to its Media Bias Chart placement, an update to 'A comparison of two measures of media bias shows readers and viewers respond to both ideology and quality' to "stay tuned" as "I plan on continuing this retrospective series tomorrow with an installment on last year's flu epidemic."  That's because Flu killed 80,000 Americans last year, including 183 children, the CDC reported, so get a a flu shot posted October 19, 2018 was the fifth most read entry of the eighth year of the blog, earning 7176 raw page views by March 20, 2019.  It was also the most read entry during October 2018 with 7061 default page views.  That deserves an update about the current flu season, which, while less severe than last year, is hanging on longer.

At first, it looked like flu season was winding down in February, as WXYZ reported in 28 children have died so far in 2018-2019 flu season, CDC reports.

The CDC has released a new estimate concerning flu-related deaths. The numbers range between 9,600 to almost 16,000 deaths for the 2018-2019 flu season. And so far, 28 children have died.

Despite the dire numbers of deaths, I found the statistics for effectiveness of the vaccine to be reassuring.  That written, the indications that the current flu season would be relatively mild turned out to be premature, as the Mayo Clinic reported a month later in Infectious Diseases A-Z: Flu season part two.


The replacement of H1N1 with H3N2, producing more severe symptoms, started showing up in news reports almost immediately.  For example, CBS Los Angeles uploaded Hard Hitting Flu Season Is Peaking the very next day.

If you thought flu season was winding down you better think again. A lot of people are coming down with the bug. A new strain of the flu is hitting people hard. As CBSLA's Jasmine Veil explains, it's peaking now.

At the end of the week, WISN in Wisconsin reported Flu season far from over.

With the flu season far from over, state health officials warn of a spring flu spike. There have been 36 influenza-related deaths in Wisconsin this season.

The wave continued this week with WCVB in Boston reporting Massachusetts health officials report 4th child flu death of season.

Last year, the state saw just one flu-related pediatric death.

The Delaware News Journal updated the flu statistics for Delaware and the country just yesterday in State: Influenza A still raging; 2018-2019 flu season now has 2nd highest number of cases.

The 2018-2019 flu season has tallied the second-highest number of influenza cases in state-recorded history — and likely isn't going to go away for weeks, state officials said Thursday.
...
As of March 23, the state has confirmed 5,854 confirmed cases of influenza, 943 hospitalizations and 20 deaths this season. The actual number of confirmed flu cases is much higher because only a small fraction of cases are officially tested in a lab.

Nationally, there have been about 508,000 flu hospitalizations and 46,800 deaths, CDC officials said.

Am I ever glad I got my vaccination this year.  As for the rest of you, stay healthy.  I need you to stick around to the next post in the series, which would most likely be about the intersection between foreign policy and the economy.  Trade policy, anyone?

Previous posts in this series

• Happy Birthday to the blog and Nowruz Mubarak (Happy Persian New Year)!
• Statistics for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• 'Frontline' updates 'Facebook knows your political affiliation and much more,' the top post of the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• CBC News updates proportional representation, topic of the second most read posts of the seventh and eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News, plus voting machines
• Wonkette reacts to its Media Bias Chart placement, an update to 'A comparison of two measures of media bias shows readers and viewers respond to both ideology and quality'

Previous retrospectives about risk and doom.

• DOOM for the fourth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News
• Vox on U.S. withdrawing from Iran nuclear agreement helps update doom and risk for the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

A Drum corps Super Tuesday

In the spirit of Marching Music for the Iowa Caucuses: Colts and Hawkeyes, which kicked off last month and ended up being the eighth most read entry posted during February, I present a drum corps Super Tuesday featuring the top corps from the states holding primaries and caucuses today and tonight.  The first corps to play while my readers are waiting for the results to come in hails from Massachusetts, the 2015 Boston Crusaders DCI Semi-Finals FULL SHOW | "Conquest" (original video replaced).


In case anyone is wondering, she's singing Gaelic lyrics to the theme from "Game of Thrones" and "Conquest."*  Remember, Trump is coming and he's building a wall.

Follow over the jump for four more corps from the primary and caucus states of Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, and Colorado.

A conversation with Kunstler and his readers on militarized police

In Musical responses to terror, updated, I mentioned that "the surviving Tsarnaev brother is coming to trial."  That reminds me that I mentioned the manhunt for him and the residents' reaction to it in Now Eric Garner.  Kunstler himself brought up the general topic when he wrote in his essay "One issue is whether police forces in the USA are becoming goon squads."  My response was to link to The Hipcrime Vocab.

Militarized police is one of a litany of issues and the one from these scandals that should be of concern for everyone.  The country is going to become more repressive in order to control the people in order to stave off collapse.  That's not a good thing.  As a friend of mine says, we have been 80% Huxley and 20% Orwell for decades, but the proportion of Orwell has been increasing lately.  Speaking of which, the only person indicted in the Garner case was the person who recorded the arrest.  Let that sink in.

A reader named Petro also left a comment on the same topic.

And look at how easily the citizenry acquiesced in the Boston area a couple years ago. Tanks rolled down the streets and officers dressed like they were in battle in Afghanistan yelled at people to get off their porches and into their houses, as this "army" searched for two young suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing. This was over a huge area-whole towns.

Follow over the jump for my response.

Health news from the University of Massachusetts

Not all the health news from the University of Massachusetts has been about the third American doctor infected with Ebola and the the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  There is another minor epidemic sweeping parts of the country that UMass has been reporting on, as the University of Massachusetts Medical Center explains in Pediatrician explains enterovirus D68 illness.

The Centers for Disease Control is warning of a spike in cases of a rare respiratory illness identified as enterovirus D68 that is sickening children in about a dozen states, though none have yet been reported in New England.

More in Expert’s Corner: UMMS pediatrician explains rare respiratory illness outbreak in parts of country By Bryan Goodchild on September 11, 2014.

“Enterovirus D68 is not a new virus,” said pediatrician Christina Hermos, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics. “What is different about this outbreak is that it seems to be larger than previous outbreaks. There are reports out of Denver and Kansas City of several hundred children presenting for care and a good proportion of them needing respiratory support until they are able to fight off the virus.”

This is not as serious a threat as Ebola, but it's much more immediate.  I'll do my best to keep abreast of it.

Follow over the jump for more health news from UMass.

Last primary elections today

According to the Green Papers, the last primaries of the year will be held today in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island.  Here is a story about one of those elections that turns into a pumpkin today from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell: Poll: Coakley leads race for governor.

Survey Also Finds Majority of Voters Do Not Want to Repeal Casino Law

LOWELL, Mass. – With just a week to go before the Democratic primary in Massachusetts, Martha Coakley has a commanding lead over all other candidates in the race for the party’s nomination for governor, according to a new UMass Lowell/7News poll released today.

Coakley, the current Massachusetts attorney general, has a 32 point lead (52 percent to 20 percent) among likely Democratic primary voters over fellow candidate state Treasurer Steve Grossman and an even greater margin over former federal health-care administrator Donald Berwick with 9 percent and 19 percent undecided in the independent, nonpartisan poll. Conducted from Aug. 25 through Aug. 31 for the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion and 7News, the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.55 percent among likely Democratic primary voters.

“Coakley is now a prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination. Her support is still somewhat soft, but Steve Grossman’s campaign has simply not captured the attention of a largely unengaged Democratic primary electorate,” said Prof. Joshua Dyck, co-director of the Center for Public Opinion, who wrote and analyzed the poll, which is the first in a new partnership between UMass Lowell and 7News.

The last time I saw Martha Coakley's name mentioned in connection with an election, she lost to Scott Brown for U.S. Senate.  That turned out O.K., as it led to Elizabeth Warren winning that seat.  I'd much rather have Warren there and Coakley as Governor.   As for pretty boy Brown, he's running for Senate in New Hampshire now.  May that carpetbagger lose to Jeanne Shaheen in November.

Winter storm Nemo coming

I may have jinxed things by pointing out that halfway through winter, WXYZ's winter forecast is holding up.   There's a winter storm coming through metro Detroit overnight.  WXYZ reports.


Note that the biggest threat comes from snow and what it will do to the roads.  Oakland County is prepared, as this second video from WXYZ shows.



Plows ready for snow storm.
I'm not looking forward to this, as I'm supposed to be at a meeting of all full-time faculty tomorrow afternoon.  Personally, I wouldn't mind if it were cancelled.  Just the same, Detroit is getting off lightly.  As The Weather Channel reports, Boston and New York are going to get clobbered with full-blown blizzards.

The Northeast should begin feeling the effects of Winter Storm Nemo by early Friday. The Weather Channel Winter Weather Expert Tom Niziol takes a look at the timing of the storm.

What will be a nuisance here will be a major threat there.  I wouldn't have to worry about work being cancelled in Boston.  The whole coast from New Jersey up to Maine will be almost entirely shut down by tomorrow afternoon.

The Force was with Elizabeth Warren tonight!

Daily Kos: Elizabeth Warren wins Massachusetts Senate race!

MSNBC and CNN are calling the Massachusetts Senate race for Elizabeth Warren. Big grins and huge celebration at Daily Kos headquarters and I'm sure where many of you are as well.

Time to recycle!


Now to see how the presidential contest turns out. Yes, I know that all the networks have called the election for Obama, but Romney hasn't conceded Ohio yet and two other states, Florida and Virginia, that could put Obama over 270 without Ohio haven't been called yet.

May the Force be with Elizabeth Warren tonight!

Time to be a good environmentalist and recycle.

Boston Herald via University of Massachusetts, Lowell: NBC's David Gregory Preps for Fiery UMass/Herald Debate
By Joe Battenfeld
Boston Herald
08/31/2012

TAMPA, Fla. - "Meet the Press" host David Gregory says he plans to hold U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren's "feet to the fire" when he moderates a University of Massachusetts Lowell/Boston Herald debate between the two Senate contenders.

Gregory, in an interview yesterday from his NBC broadcast booth at the Republican National Convention, said the Oct. 1 debate is a chance for Massachusetts voters, especially younger voters, to get a true measure of the candidates.

After watching the opening of the first debate, in which Brown made a racist ass of himself by calling into question Warren's Native American heritage, I hope she clobbers him. I found that attack, along with the tomahawk chops by Brown's staffers and the subsequent ad pressing home the smear, personally offensive. My wife, my ex-girlfriend, and my ex-wife all have Native American ancestry. At least two of them would qualify as Native Americans under U.S. government policy, and one of them is enrolled as a Cherokee, just like Warren. I'm sure Brown wouldn't say she's Native American either, but she is. Screw him.*

Also, Warren has another opportunity to wipe the debate floor with Brown next week.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst: U.S. Senate Debate at Springfield Symphony Hall
September 26, 2012

Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Live Broadcast 7 to 8 p.m.

Candidates: U.S. Senator Scott Brown, Republican, and Elizabeth Warren, Democrat
Moderator: Jim Madigan, WGBY-TV
Springfield Symphony Hall
34 Court Street, Springfield, Mass.
Media Room open 4-10 p.m.
Symphony Hall doors close promptly at 6:30 p.m. for technical checks
Sponsored by the Western Massachusetts U.S. Senate Debate Consortium

As of this morning, Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight blog gives Warren a 64.9% probability of winning her Senate contest. Here's to her capitalizing on her lead.

UPDATE: Nate now gives Warren a 69.1% chance of winning.  The Force is already with Warren!


*How's that for ripping off my mask?

ETA: Crossposted to Daily Kos

Election news from campuses on the campaign trail

In Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (End of primary season edition) last night on Daily Kos, I marked the end of a series.

Between now and the end of the primary/caucus season, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in each of the states having elections and caucuses during the week (or in the upcoming weeks if there is no primary or caucus that week). Tonight's edition highlights the science, space, environment, health, and energy stories from universities in the states of Delaware, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island (list from Politics1.com) and will be the last to do so, as primary season is over.

As for what will replace that series, I plan on replacing it with featuring the research of public universities in swing states, with the additions of states hosting presidential and vice-presidential debates. As of right now, that would mean stories from Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia, along with Kentucky and New York the weeks surrounding the vice-presidential debate in Danville, Kentucky on October 11th and the second presidential debate in at Hofstra University in New York on October 16th. The schedule shows the other two debates are already in swing states, Colorado and Florida. If other states come into play, I might add them. In particular, I'm keeping a close eye on Wisconsin, not only because Paul Ryan might once again make that state close, but because the University of Wisconsin provides good stories.

Enough of my plans for the future. Follow over the jump for the beginning of my celebration of the end of this series with election news for the past month originally included in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Curiosity's first destination edition), Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Labor Day weekend edition), and Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (35th Anniversary of Voyager 1 edition).

Universities studying and promoting civility in politics

It is no secret that I'm a member of the Coffee Party, as I blog about it here. One of the founding principles of the Coffee Party is civility, including having members sign a Civility Pledge. So when I stumbled into what looks like the beginning of a trend for universities to be interested in and promote civility in politics as part of my long-term project on Daily Kos to highlight the research stories from the public universities in each of the states having elections and caucuses during the week, it piqued my interest.

Here's the first story, which I posted in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (AAAS, Arizona, and Michigan edition) week before last.

University of Arizona: Gabrielle Giffords to Join National Institute for Civil Discourse Board
By University Communications
February 21, 2012

The National Institute for Civil Discourse is a nonpartisan center for the research and advocacy of civility in public discourse.

The National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona has announced that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been named to its National Board of Advisors. Fred DuVal, chair of the institute's Working Board, and Eugene G. Sander, president of the UA, made the announcement Tuesday.

"There is truly no greater example of a public servant committed to the idea of increasing civility in politics than Congresswoman Giffords," DuVal said.

"We are honored that Congresswoman Giffords, who is beloved and respected around the world, will partner with the institute on advancing the quality of our nation's public discourse," Sander said.

This past week, I found two more stories in the same vein, which made their way into Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Massive March Storms edition).

University of Massachusetts: Forum on Civility Draws Audience of Hundreds
Pamela Worth
February 28, 2012

What is civility? Does the word indicate etiquette and manners, or a deeper and more fundamental quality in a democracy? Has America ever truly embraced civil discourse in its history? Have incivility and disrespect hindered Americans in recent years from working together?

On Friday, February 17, UMass Boston’s Center for Civil Discourse hosted its inaugural event: a national Forum on Civility and American Democracy that aimed to explore these and other questions with a day of discussion and thought.

The forum was the brainchild of Stephen Crosby, outgoing dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), along with Mass Humanities, Boston’s National Public Radio station 90.9 WBUR, and the McCormack Graduate School helped to sponsor the forum.

University of North Dakota: Conflict Resolution Center to focus on politics and ‘civility in public conversation’ at annual symposium
Former U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan to speak; event delves into the question: Have we lost our ability to talk civilly?
March 2, 2012

The University of North Dakota Conflict Resolution Center (CRC) will explore the current state of political and public discourse at its fifth annual "Symposia on Conflict Transformation" seminar.

The CRC wants to use the occasion to talk about "civility in public conversation" and its impacts on society locally and beyond. The symposium is set for May 21-25, 2012. Most events will take place at in the River Valley Room of the UND Memorial Union.

Former U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, a UND alumnus whose spent more than 30 years in local, state and national politics, will be a guest speaker for the event.

Three stories about promoting political civility from three states in two weeks--must be something in the Zeitgeist. I'm encouraged.