'The Daily Show,' Colbert, and Kimmel on Trump and Hegseth addressing generals and admirals

Happy October! Spooky season! I'll go full Halloween later this month, but I'm opening October by laughing at scary reality, beginning with Hegseth Lectures "Fat Generals" and Trump Threatens War Against U.S. Cities | The Daily Show.

Ronny Chieng recaps Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump's sudden gathering of top military leaders, where the president announced his intention to use Democrat-run cities as training grounds for the National Guard, and where Secretary of War Pete Hegseth fat-shamed troops, hawked his book, and made cringey jokes.

Hegseth's comments about fat troops, admirals, and generals reminds me of what I wrote yesterday about Trump's preferences for his lawyers.

The game of musical chairs Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump has been playing with the lawyers in the Department of Justice reminds me of what I wrote in Noah, Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel mock Trump's lawyers for his second impeachment trial: "Trump doesn't want to listen to his lawyers. He wants lawyers who listen to him. He should be careful what he wishes for. I think he's getting them, and they're not that good." I think he cares more that they're good looking and obedient than if they're competent. That means his lawfare is unlikely to result in convictions.

The same appears to be true about Hoover Cleveland's military leaders; he and Hegseth want them good-looking and obedient. Competence is optional.

So is diversity. Hearing Hegseth call "our diversity is our strength" and calling for the "de-woke-ification" of the military reminds me of 'The New USDOT Is Coming for Your "Woke" Projects'. If Hoover Cleveland and his appointees don't like something, it's "woke" and must be eliminated.

Stephen Colbert had more to say in Shutdown Eve | Hegseth To America’s Enemies: FAFO | Trump To Military Brass: Fight The Enemy Within.

As Republicans prepared to shut down the government, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threw out the rule book in his speech to a gathering of America’s military leadership. At that same event, top officials also heard from President Trump in a low-energy speech where he threatened to use the Armed Forces against U.S. citizens and lamented not being able to use the “n-word.”

So is climate change. I'm disgusted, but not surprised. I wrote Trump does not recognize climate change as a national security threat eight years ago and he hasn't changed his mind. This is despite climate change being a known threat multiplier. Hegseth and Hoover Cleveland don't care. They'd rather go after major U.S. cities.

Stephen mentioned the shutdown. So did Jimmy Kimmel Live's Trump & Hegseth Lecture Generals About Being Fat and a Visit from Gov Gavin Newsom & Seth Meyers!

Stephen Colbert and Jimmy are simultaneously going to be guests on each other’s shows tonight, Guillermo makes his big entrance as a pizza chef, we are moments away from a government shutdown, all the top military leaders were pulled together for a mandatory meeting with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Trump showed up to lecture the generals about getting into shape, he mused about the N word, and we get a visit from California Governor Gavin Newsom (Josh Meyers) and a very special surprise appearance from Seth Meyers.

It was about time I welcomed Jimmy K back to the blog after three posts about his suspension. Also, for those of you missing Seth Meyers, he's here along with his brother. All three of my favorite late night broadcast network talk show hosts were on this episode. Solidarity!

I close with The Hottest Military In The World.

Are you willing to diet for your country?

I doubt Hoover Cleveland is.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned to see if I have something funny to share about the shutdown tomorrow.

Colbert, Meyers, and Stewart take closer looks at sending troops to Portland and medbeds

I promised monologues from my favorite late-night talk show hosts to end September and I'm following through, beginning with Stephen Colbert's Trump Declares War On Portland | Medbeds For All! | The Weak Case Against James Comey.

President Trump sent the military to Oregon after seeing a misleading report on Fox News and indicated that everyone in America will soon have access to futuristic medical technology, while the indictment of James Comey represents a chilling escalation of Trump's efforts to punish his political enemies.

I'm starting with the last story, since the other comedians I'm featuring didn't cover it. The game of musical chairs Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump has been playing with the lawyers in the Department of Justice reminds me of what I wrote in Noah, Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel mock Trump's lawyers for his second impeachment trial: "Trump doesn't want to listen to his lawyers. He wants lawyers who listen to him. He should be careful what he wishes for. I think he's getting them, and they're not that good." I think he cares more that they're good looking and obedient than if they're competent. That means his lawfare is unlikely to result in convictions.

Seth Meyers had more to say in Trump Posts AI "Med Bed" Conspiracy Video, Threatens to Send Troops to Portland: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at the president posting an AI video of himself and threatening to send troops to yet another American city.

I haven't had much to say about QAnon since Meyers, Noah, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at Marjorie Taylor Greene being removed from committee assignments more than four years ago, and I'm relieved not to, so Hoover Cleveland sharing the AI video about medbeds is annoying. Not only are medbeds a conspiracy theory, they're science fiction. They remind me of the autodocs from Larry Niven's Known Space stories. Those would be nice to have, but they're not supposed to show up until 2126, a century from now. Of course I would connect this to Niven. It's on brand.

I finish with Trump Sends Troops to Portland & Shootings Trigger Left-Right Blame Game | The Daily Show.

After a string of mass shootings across the U.S., America swaps out “thoughts and prayers” for a left vs. right blame game, Republicans hypocritically criticize the Democrats' “violent rhetoric,” and Trump escalates a nonexistent problem by deploying troops to Portland.

"Why Portland?" Because Hoover Cleveland was watching Fox News showing clips from 2020, not today. The preview image I had for Seeker explains how television entertainment can shape our political opinions and need to replace showed Hoover Cleveland saying "I learn a lot from television." Yeah, and a lot of it is wrong.

That concludes September's blogging. Stay tuned for the first post of October.

PBS Terra exclaims 'Wait...The Worst Possible US Disaster Just Got EVEN WORSE?!?'

The 4th of July is over and my blog has already passed its monthly page view goal, so it's time to write about topics worth sharing in August. Fortunately, PBS Terra's most recent video fits the bill, Wait...The Worst Possible US Disaster Just Got EVEN WORSE?!? (Cascadia Megaquake).

The Big One is coming and it could be far worse than anyone imagined.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone, just off the Pacific Northwest coast, is building toward a massive earthquake and tsunami. But new research reveals an even more terrifying possibility: widespread toxic spills, infrastructure collapse, wildfires, and deadly gas plumes. All triggered by a single seismic event.

In this episode of Weathered, we dig into the science behind the Cascadia Megaquake, why the Pacific Northwest is especially vulnerable, and how climate change could make it worse. We explore what you can do to stay safe and why your community might be your best line of defense.

This video is the latest in a series that began with PBS examines the risks from a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest and continued with PBS Terra explains 'Here's EXACTLY What to Do When the Next Megaquake Hits: Cascadia Subduction Zone', PBS Terra asks 'What's the ONE THING You Can Do To Survive a Tsunami?', and PBS Terra explains 'How Scientists Solved the Mystery of a 300-Year-Old Megaquake'. It's also inspired a multi-year conversation between Infidel753, who lives in the Pacific Northwest, and myself that's played out in the comments, which then gets recycled in the next post in the series. This post is no exception. Here's the exchange from January.

Infidel753: The Portland metro area has two million people and Seattle is even bigger. Even if 125,000 people were killed on the Oregon coast and a similar number on the Washington coast, I would still expect the death toll from structural collapses and fire in Portland and Seattle to be much larger.

Me: I looked up estimates of deaths, injuries, and homelessness from a magnitude 9 earthquake in the Pacific Northwest and found these from Surviving Cascadia, themselves quoted from Oregon's Cascadia Rising Exercise document (PDF).

Coastal fatalities (Oregon): 4,800 (4,500 from tsumami, 300 from the earthquake itself)
I-5 corridor fatalities (Oregon): 400 (all from earthquake)
Coastal injuries (Oregon): 6,500 (5,000 from earthquake, 1,500 from tsunami)
I-5 corridor injuries (Oregon): 9,000 (all from earthquake)
Homelessness/needing shelter (Oregon): 520,000 (500,000 earthquake, 20,000 tsunami)
Coastal fatalities (Washington): 9,100 (9,000 from tsunami, 100 from earthquake)
I-5 corridor fatalities (Washington): 300-1,600 (300 earthquake, 0-1,300 tsunami)
Coastal injuries (Washington): 5,000 (2,000 earthquake, 3,000 tsunami)
I-5 corridor injuries (Washington): 7,400 (7,000 earthquake, 400 tsunami)
Homelessness/needing shelter (Washington): 415,000 (370,000 earthquake, 45,000 tsunami)

According to these estimates, more people will die from the earthquake along the I-5 corridor than along the coasts in both Oregon and Washington, but far more will die from the tsunami along the coasts alone (13,500) than the total that will die from the shaking throughout both states (1,100). So, no, the official estimates do not support your expectation that "the death toll from structural collapses and fire in Portland and Seattle to be much larger" than tsunami deaths on the Oregon and Washington coasts.

Infidel753: Very interesting links, thank you. I need to think further about this.

Me: Thanks for linking to the sources of these statistics and the blog as a whole in Link round-up for 18 January 2025. I'm glad to have informed you and your readers.

The statistics quoted are from a 2016 document, but the casualty numbers are higher than in the video, 43,800 total deaths and injuries in the document compared to "over 30,000 casualties" (total deaths and injuries) cited by Tina Dura of Virginia Tech. Surviving Cascadia also cites a 2022 study by Patrick Massey for FEMA that projects 1,100 earthquake-related fatalities, 13,000 tsunami-related fatalities, and 24,000 injured. The death count is substantially the same, but the number of injuries is less than the 27,900 predicted in the 2016 estimate, altough the 2022 report was for a February earthquake and tsunami. Casualties could be higher during the peak of tourist season. Cascadia Rising didn't list a dollar amount, but I can believe the video's estimate of $81 billion dollars of damage.

On the other hand, Luke Hanst of Portland State University added up to 2,500 deaths from toxic gas exposure resulting from burning fuel and chemical storage tanks and hundreds of thousands of people affected, adding tens of thousands of injuries. Even adding the 2,500 deaths to the 400 from the earthquake listed above for Oregon's I-5 corridor would not push it above the 4,800 deaths expected along Oregon's coast, but it does make the risk more even as well as much higher along the interior.

The video added two items of scientific interest, the effects of liquefaction and climate change. I make a big deal of the former when I lecture about earthquakes, especially the 1964 Alaska Good Friday earthquake. I might show this video to my geology students just to reinforce the point. Climate change will make the subsidence along the coast, which the video in January's post showed happening in 1700, even worse.

Finally, this isn't the first time Maiya May has described pro-social behavior in the aftermath of disaster. That might have been in PBS Terra's 'Weathered' asks 'Do You Need a Gun to Survive the Next Disaster?'

For what it's worth, I've seen similar, if not the same, findings about lower crime rates and increased cooperation after natural disasters and wrote about them five years ago in Seeker/DNews is optimistic about how people would behave during the apocalypse. As I wrote then, "that's good news, even if it might not be good entertainment."

Still good news.

That concludes the latest installment in this series. Stay tuned for the first Sunday entertainment feature of July. Awards shows!

Local news remembers Mount St. Helens eruption 45 years later

Yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, and the news departments of television stations in the Pacific Northwest observed the occasion by compiling clips from their archives into special reports. I begin with KING 5 Seattle's Mount St. Helens Eruption: 45 Years Later.

A look back at the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980

KATU News in Portland produced its own special report, Past. Present. Future | Mount St. Helens 45th Anniversary.

May 18, 1980, is a day that forever impacted the Pacific Northwest.

After weeks of rumbling, Mount St. Helens unleashed a deadly and explosive eruption that would go down as the most destructive in U.S. history and changed the way we look at volcanoes in the Cascades.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of that monumental event.

Watch as we look back in time through the eyes of the people who lived through the eruption. Past. Present. Future. The 45th anniversary of Mount St. Helens.

I close with Mount St. Helens: Eyewitness to History, a KGW+ Special from KGW News in Portland.

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted with a force that reshaped the Northwest and stunned the world. In this KGW+ special, anchor Christine Pitawanich takes viewers through the days leading up to the eruption, featuring rare archival reports, first-hand accounts from journalists and radio volunteers, and powerful footage of the moment disaster struck. With voices from those who witnessed the destruction — and those who didn't survive — it's a moving look at one of the most significant natural disasters in U.S. history, and how it changed science, policy, and lives forever.

While I'm not teaching geology this summer, I am scheduled to teach three sections of it this fall, two sections next winter, and one section next summer, if it's not canceled for low enrollment. These local documentaries both updated me on the status of Mount St. Helens and will provide opportunities for extra credit to my future students. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Since I'm in the middle of a series on the News & Doc Emmy Awards, I'm wondering if any of these will earn nominations for regional coverage at next year's ceremony. My readers and I will find out next year. In the meantime, stay tuned for World Bee Day tomorrow.

PBS Terra explains 'How Scientists Solved the Mystery of a 300-Year-Old Megaquake'

I closed PBS Terra explains 'The AMOC Might Be WAY More Unstable Than We Thought...Here's Why' with a preview of coming attractions.

I'm not the only one recycling a subject; PBS Terra's previous video is the latest in a series that began with PBS examines the risks from a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest and continued with PBS Terra explains 'Here's EXACTLY What to Do When the Next Megaquake Hits: Cascadia Subduction Zone' and PBS Terra asks 'What's the ONE THING You Can Do To Survive a Tsunami?' I will almost certainly cover that in a future entry...Stay tuned.

Without any further ado, here is that video from PBS Terra explaining How Scientists Solved the Mystery of a 300-Year-Old Megaquake.

The 1700 Cascadia earthquake and tsunami was a massive natural disaster that reshaped the Pacific Northwest. Through tree rings, soil layers, and international collaboration, scientists have pieced together the exact timing of the event. As the region braces for another quake, can we prepare in time? Find out how new models and tsunami evacuation towers are helping coastal communities face the threat.

This video shows that it took the efforts of people in multiple disciplines, geology, biology, and history, to decipher the evidence and connect it all together into a coherent reconstruction of the event in 1700. It also shows, like the previous episodes, how people are preparing for the next event. One of those preparations are escape towers. As I wrote last year, "my first instinct if I can't get away from the shore would be to climb up, so I'm relieved to see people building vertical escape structures. Now to build more than three in the U.S." If they're all as well-stocked as the Shoalwater Tribe's, then the people should be in good shape to survive the tsunami.

Follow over the jump for the comments from last year's post.

'Weathered' on PBS explains 'Why Heat Domes Are SO Deadly'

Today's evergreen video is Weathered: Earth's Extremes explaining Why Heat Domes Are SO Deadly.

In 2021, the Pacific Northwest experienced one of the most extreme and anomalous weather events in history: a devastating heat dome that shattered temperature records across the region. Lytton, BC, reached 121°F, and Portland, OR, hit 116°F. Tragically, more than 1,400 people lost their lives during this event.

Maiya May is revisiting the weather and climate events that formed the background to PBS Terra shows how past redlining leads to heat wave deaths in the present and future and Detroit floods while the Pacific Northwest bakes in record temperatures. Those concentrated on a possible solution to the problem and pointing out how an unhealthy planet is running chills and fever. This video is the mirror image to The connections among climate change, the wobbling jet stream, and the polar vortex explained by PBS Terra and CBS News and PBS Terra's 'Weathered' examines how the wandering jet stream is making extreme weather worse, which concentrated on the wandering jet stream contributing to the polar vortex in the winter. Again, chills and fever.

Tomorrow is World Television Day. Stay tuned to see how I celebrate it.

Marching music for the Kentucky and Oregon primaries — Oregon Crusaders and marching bands

Welcome to this election cycle's version of marching music for the Kentucky and Oregon primaries! Oregon had a competitive drum corps, the Oregon Crusaders, so I'm beginning today's music to listen to while waiting for results with FloMarching's Oregon Crusaders 2018 Highlight // San Antonio.


Those are the visual highlights, but didn't include any of the corps' actual audio. For that, watch and listen to 22nd Oregon Crusaders 2018 from Drum Corps Library.


This show might look familiar to my long-time readers, as I featured it in Drink to 2018 Oregon Crusaders 'Redrum' for a drum corps Halloween five years ago. That post has held up rather well, so I don't mind reusing the idea. Just the same, enjoy this unofficial upload while it lasts.

Next, the first of two college marching band submissions to the Metallica marching band contest, University of Oregon Marching Band - Metallica Show.

Check out the University of Oregon Marching Band's full Metallica Halftime show at the Oregon vs USC game!

Filmed by: Sam Dennis, Micah Laird and Jason Silveira
Duck video by: Sam Dennis and MarQee Maunakea
Photos by: Dawn Harrison
Edited by: Sam Dennis

That was a fun performance. Better luck this fall, should the band enter this year's contest!

Now for a band I have not featured before, Dolly Parton - 9/29/2023 - The Spirit and Sound of OSU.

Today’s halftime is under the direction of center Drum Major Oliver Devereaux and features the music of one of the all time great singer-songwriters of the 20th century. First appearing on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in 1959, her success initially came as a songwriter, until breaking on to the scene with seven top twenty singles in the early 70’s. Sing along as we bring you the music of country music legend Dolly Parton!

// I Will Always Love You - Jolene //

Beaver Nation, please welcome back on to the field your OSU Dance Team!

// Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That //

Let’s hear it once again for the OSU Dance Team!

We close today’s program with undoubtedly Dolly’s biggest hit. It was a triple number one hit, reaching 1st position on the country, pop, and adult contemporary charts, and was nominated for the Oscar for best original song. Ladies and gentlemen, pour yourselves a cup of ambition and tap your toes to Nine To Five!

// Nine To Five //

My readers will hear the melody of "Nine To Five" later this week when I feature Randy Rainbow's latest. In the meantime, follow over the jump for two marching bands from Kentucky.

PBS Terra asks 'What's the ONE THING You Can Do To Survive a Tsunami?'

Weathered on PBS Terra returns to the topic of PBS examines the risks from a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest and PBS Terra explains 'Here's EXACTLY What to Do When the Next Megaquake Hits: Cascadia Subduction Zone' with What's the ONE THING You Can Do To Survive a Tsunami? Cascadia Subduction Zone.

While tsunamis happen all over the world, really big ones are rare. But, they can be truly devastating. And what’s more, the West Coast of North America is overdue for a subduction zone earthquake and tsunami that has the potential to be the biggest disaster the U.S. has ever seen. So, what is the single most important factor determining whether or not YOU survive a tsunami? Watch this episode to find out.

I begin my reaction by recycling the conversation Infidel753 and I and in the comments to PBS Terra explains 'Here's EXACTLY What to Do When the Next Megaquake Hits: Cascadia Subduction Zone'.

Infidel753: Living in Portland, I worry about this a lot. I may actually move, if I can ever afford to. At least the apartment complex I live in is one of those "stick buildings", so it probably wouldn't collapse, but the disruption to water, sewage, transport, and everything else is likely to be horrific, and not quickly fixed.

Me: I can relate. Although they're down the list, earthquakes are one of the things I don't miss about California now that I live in Michigan. As I wrote last year: "the prospect of this quake has dissuaded my wife and me from moving to the Pacific Northwest when I retire." It might make you move out when you retire.

My wife and I just talked about this last week and it reinforced our decision not to move to Seattle or Portland, as lovely as those cities seem in Grey's Anatomy or Grimm — and that's even with the fairy tale monsters in the latter!

As for the answer to the question in the title, it's reaction time and my first instinct if I can't get away from the shore would be to climb up, so I'm relieved to see people building vertical escape structures. Now to build more than three in the U.S.

This concludes January's blogging. Stay tuned for February. Leap year month!

PBS Terra explains 'Here's EXACTLY What to Do When the Next Megaquake Hits: Cascadia Subduction Zone'

PBS Terra's Weathered series just uploaded a sequel to the video I embedded in PBS examines the risks from a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest, Here's EXACTLY What to Do When the Next Megaquake Hits: Cascadia Subduction Zone.

Subduction zone earthquakes are the largest and most destructive on earth. In 2004 a 9.1 megaquake hit Sumatra off the coast of Indonesia, unleashing a massive tsunami and killing 227,898 people. And in 2011, the Tohoku earthquake struck Japan, killing around 20,000 and triggering the infamous Fukushima nuclear disaster. In the Pacific northwest lurks the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which has been dormant for centuries and is overdue for its next “big one.”

In this episode we’re going to tell you what experts think is the best way to survive this inevitable disaster.

I was trained to drop, cover, and hold growing up in Los Angeles and I even tell my students about one time I did that when the Whittier Narrows Earthquake hit. The earthquake shook me awake in bed and I jumped out bed, past an office chair, and under the oak desk that my father had left me when he gave me his home office for my bedroom. I stayed there until the shaking stopped, at which point I got up, got a muffin out of the refrigerator, poured myself a glass of orange juice, and ate breakfast outside until the power came on again. Then I went into the house and watched the news to see what had happened. That's where I stayed, as I certainly wasn't going to work on building L.A.'s subway right after an earthquake. I was sure it would be closed for inspection, and it was.

That was one story I tell my students. Another is the previous PBS Terra video I embedded last year. I don't know if I have time to show this one as well and I'm not sure I should replace last year's video with this one. Stay tuned to see if I do. In the meantime, welcome to blogging as professional development.

FiveThirtyEight on today's primary elections in Pennsylvania and four other states

Five states are holding primary elections today, the most populous of which is Pennsylvania. FiveThirtyEight's coverage of these primaries has focused on the Keystone State, most recently when it asked Who Will Win The GOP's Senate Primary In Pennsylvania?*

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses the races to watch in Tuesday's primaries in Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania. They also introduce a new FiveThirtyEight collaboration with Ipsos in which we ask Americans about the issues they care most about in the run-up to the midterm elections. The first poll, coming out this week, is all about inflation.

The supposed front runner for the GOP nomination is Mehmet Oz, but both Kathy Barnette and David McCormick (shown in the preview image) could beat him today. They're likely to face off against John Fetterman, who is leading Conor Lamb for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. FiveThirtyEight has more on him in How John Fetterman Became A Democratic Favorite In Pennsylvania.

John Fetterman is the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. He's a Democrat, he's covered in tattoos, he's running for Senate and he's polling really well in his party's primary. But he's trending these days because of resurfaced reports that he chased an unarmed Black jogger with a shotgun in 2013.

Not a great look for a Democratic candidate, but it hasn't seemed to hurt him much, if at all.

Beyond the U.S. Senate contest, FiveThirtyEight examined the Republican candidates, asking Which May 17 Candidates Believe The 2020 Election Was Stolen?

Voters in Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania are heading to the polls this week to vote in their states’ primary elections. Here are the Republican candidates running for Congress, as well as state-level positions like secretary of state, who support former President Donald Trump’s “Big Lie.”

Kaleigh Rogers has more in the article accompanying the video, pointing out Pennsylvania.

Of this week’s primaries, we’ve found Pennsylvania has the greatest share of Big Lie candidates running: We’ve identified 15 of 41 Republican candidates there who have backed Trump’s claims of a stolen election. In particular, the race to become the GOP nominee for governor has attracted multiple election deniers. One of the frontrunners in that race — Doug Mastriano — has repeatedly questioned the results of the 2020 election, including in Pennsylvania and he supported Trump’s efforts to try to overturn results there. He has said there was “cheating and fraud” in Pennsylvania and “rampant voting problems,” though his evidence relies on anecdotes and misinformation.

I'm recycling my reaction from Jane Mayer describes 'The Big Money Behind the Big Lie' on MSNBC.

All of this reminds me why I think calling the idea that the election was stolen the Big Lie doesn't go far enough.

Personally, I'd rather call it Trump's dangerous delusion, his fixed belief that the election was stolen from him despite all evidence, which I see as related to his vulnerability to conspiracy theories, but "the Big Lie" is the established phrase used by CNBC and others, so I'm calling it that instead. It's a lie, too.

Mayer's reporting shows that Trump's delusion is not just dangerous but contagious. It's bad enough that there is one pandemic running around; we don't need another.

The delusion has continued to spread, infecting a lot of candidates in today's elections. Ugh.

*The video also covered one of the "litany of unpleasant realities" that were "also a list of future blogging topics" from Weekend Update compares this week's headlines to 'Mad Max' on last night's 'SNL', inflation. FiveThirtyEight published the results of that survey in We Asked 2,000 Americans About Their Biggest Concern. The Resounding Answer: Inflation. In response to my challenge to myself "to see how many of them I tackle this week," that's two down. Stay tuned for more as the week progresses.

Invasive species riding plastic debris from Fukushima 11 years later

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the Fukushima triple disaster, an earthquake followed by a tsunami and nuclear meltdown. Instead of concentrating on the effects of the nuclear plant disaster in Japan, I'm examining the aftereffects of the the tsunami in the United States and Canada by sharing the VICE News report Invasive Species Are Riding Plastics Across Oceans.

When debris from the 2011 tsunami in Japan started washing up in North America, scientists knew they had a mystery—and a potential environmental disaster—on their hands.
In this episode of Weathered, we explore a “mass rafting event” that carried colonies of invasive species across the Pacific, revealing ominous new changes in how our oceans function.

On of my students gave a presentation on this subject years ago and showed photos of the fishing dock, motorcycle, and other debris to the class. I thought this story served as a good example of "Everything is connected to everything else," one of Commoner's Laws, as well as an unexpected consequence of the triple disaster. Radiation isn't the only threat traveling across the Pacific because of what happened 11 years ago.

That's it for this year's observance of the anniversary. Stay tuned as Daylight Saving Time begins tomorrow, a practice Colbert says "is not helpful and has no upside."

PBS examines the risks from a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest

I foreshadowed today's topic in the footnote to Drought, fire, and mudslides in California, a story I tell my students.

All that is before I lecture about earthquakes, which really freak my students out. I have a video from PBS NOVA to share about that risk, too. Stay tuned.

Without any further ado, I present that video, The Pacific Northwest is due for a Major Earthquake.

An 8.0-magnitude-plus earthquake hasn't rumbled beneath the Pacific Northwest since the 1700s. Now, the region is due for the next "big one" and a subsequent tsunami. Coastal Indigenous communities could be severely affected. (Already, the Shoalwater Bay Tribe is constructing a tsunami tower to give their residents a better shot at survival in the face of this kind of natural disaster.)

Clues from the past—paired with modern-day science—can help us better understand why this area is at risk and how to best mitigate an earthquake and tsunami's effects.

Note the use of "contiguous United States." That excludes Alaska's Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, which had a magnitude of 9.2. That will probably remain the most powerful earthquake to stike the United States as a whole for the foreseeable future. Also, strictly speaking, the area affected by the 1700 earthquake wasn't part of the United States yet or territories of any colonial power, which is why I mention both the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 to my students as the largest temblors to strike the Lower 48. Still, I might add this quake to my lecture. If I did, I would more likely show PBS Terra asking Will the Cascadia Earthquake be the Worst Disaster North America’s Ever Seen?

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a sleeping monster lurking just off the Northwest coast of the United States. It extends 600 miles between Northern California and Vancouver B.C. and experiences a massive megathrust earthquake every 250 years on average. The last one happened 321 years ago and scientists say there is a 30% chance we’ll see another in the next 50 years. It’s expected to rival the 9.0 quake that shook Japan for 6 minutes, which was the most destructive natural disaster in human history. It unleashed a tsunami that reached 100 feet in some areas, caused an estimated $360 billion in damages and claimed some 16,000 lives.

If this sounds ominous, that’s because it is. As catastrophic as the Tohoku quake was, Japan is light years ahead of the United States when it comes to earthquake preparedness. This grim reality has many experts very worried. And in this episode of Weathered we spoke with some of them about what we can expect when the “Big One” does hit, the kinds of work that need to be done to make our communities more resilient, and what you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

In addition to showing the destruction from the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami for comparison, PBS Terra's video depicts the kind of damage the projected quake would inflict on the Pacific Northwest, which will impress my students. It also explains what can be done to prepare for the quake. Maybe that will scare my students less. Just the same, the prospect of this quake has dissuaded my wife and me from moving to the Pacific Northwest when I retire. So has the area no longer being immune to extreme heat.

I'm not done with natural disasters this week. NOAA predicted another active Atlantic hurricane season with "13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 6 to 10 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 5 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher)." So far, that's coming true with the fifth named storm and first hurricane, Elsa, which Accuweather forecasts will make landfall north of Tampa, Florida tomorrow morning before moving up the Atlantic coast of the U.S. and Canada the rest of the week. That will cause a lot of damage and news coverage, which I plan on reporting here. Stay tuned.

'Good Morning America' reports on the results of state ballot initiatives while the presidential contest is still being decided

The presidential contest is still being decided as I write this, so I'm going to concentrate on the issues that have been. ABC's Good Morning America has a video about some of them in Ballot initiatives make history to state and local laws.

"GMA" takes a look at the legislation that will change things in states across the U.S., from Mississippi approving a new state flag to Oregon decriminalizing possession of hard drugs.

I'm glad to see Mississippi replace variants of the Confederate Battle Flag and the Stars and Bars with the state flower and motto from the state seal. Consider it another Confederate monument removed.

Marijuana legalization passing in five states (recreational in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota and medicinal in Mississippi), it fits a trend I first identified ten years ago and reported here two years later in 2012's Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ballot: "Two years ago, I told one of my students that there would be two changes in his lifetime propelled by his generation--marijuana legalization and marriage equality." When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality five years ago (three years later), I commented "One down, one to go." It's getting there. I didn't have to wait another year from this year's 4/20 post to report more encouraging news about marijuana legalization.

I am not as sanguine about Oregon decriminalizing hard drugs, although Portugal did something similar and drug addiction dropped afterwards. I hope that's what happens in Oregon.

California showed the limits of the progressive agenda by not overturning the ban on affirmative action and reclassifying drivers for Uber and Lyft as independent contractors instead of employees. My wife was surprised by that second result. I wasn't. Not only was the polling not in its favor, but as an expatriate Californian, I remember what Golden Staters are like. They love convenience, efficiency, and technology and are starting to hate driving, so they might think classifying ride-share drivers as employees might threaten that. Besides, California is an expensive state for political advertising; Uber and Lyft, who supported this ballot initiative, have the money for it, while the other side does not. Color me disappointed, but not surprised.

I am also disappointed but not surprised by the next result from CBS Boston (WBZ-TV) in Boston: Mass. Voters Approve Right To Repair Question, Reject Ranked Choice Voting.


I think this is a good idea that needs more time. I suspect the voters in Massachusetts may be waiting to see how ranked-choice voting works out in Maine. I'll report on that if it makes a difference in the U.S. Senate contest and Maine's Second Congressional District.

For the final video, I can't resist a report on the current state of the presidential contest. Watch Inside Edition explaining Why a Presidential Winner Has Not Yet Been Determined.*

A winner has not yet been determined in the presidential election. The numbers currently stand too close to call in several battleground states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Pennsylvania. Incumbent President Donald Trump or his challenger, democratic Vice President Joe Biden need 270 electoral college votes to be declared a winner. Inside Edition Digital’s Leigh Scheps explains.

While all the states still have not been called, the trends look good for Biden. Stay tuned.

*I opened with a news division's idea of an entertainment program and I closed with an entertainment company's idea of a news program. Consider it a closing of a circle. As an environmentalist, I like that.

Marching music for the Oregon Primary

As I promised yesterday, today's post is marching music for the 2020 Oregon Democratic primary. First, I'm sharing information about the primary from Wikipedia.

The 2020 Oregon Democratic primary will take place on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, and is the only contest on that date in the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election.
...
Oregon, a vote-by-mail state, is expected to accept mail-in ballots until 8:00 p.m. local time. In the closed primary, candidates must meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 61 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 61 pledged delegates, between 6 and 12 are allocated to each of the state's 5 congressional districts and another 7 are allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 11 at-large pledged delegates. These delegate totals do not account for pledged delegate bonuses or penalties from timing or clustering.

Unlike the Georgia and Kentucky primaries, which were originally scheduled for May 19, Oregon's primary was not delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Georgia's primary has been rescheduled for June 9, while Kentucky's primary has been postponed to June 23. Welcome to a major advantage of voting by mail during a pandemic!

Enough politics. Follow over the jump for drum corps and marching band!

Many states considering bills ending or keeping Daylight Saving Time permanently

Last year I told my readers to spring ahead for Daylight Saving Time even if you hate it.  It turned out that a lot of my readers dislike changing their clocks back and forth, making Daylight Saving Time (sucks) one of the themes for the most read entries during this blog's seventh year.  They're not alone.  Last fall, I wrote that four states were considering ending or keeping Daylight Saving Time permanently.  One of those states was California, where voters passed a proposition to remain in Daylight Saving Time year-round.  CBS 47/KSEE 24 in Fresno reported the results on its YouTube channel, the text of which I'm quoting here.

In November, California voters passed Proposition 7 by a 60-40 percent margin, paving the way for year-round daylight saving time in the nation's most populated state.

The proposition still needs a change in federal law and a two-thirds vote from the state legislature to go into effect, CBS Sacramento reports. Assembly Bill 7, proposed in December, has not yet been voted on by lawmakers, it has been referred to a committee.

Supporters pointed to a study showing an increased risk of car accidents and heart attacks following the spring change, due to the loss of an hour's sleep.

Opponents of the proposition argued that even if California voters and the legislature approve of year-round daylight saving, the hurdle of getting the federal government to approve is too high, considering the state's tense relationship with Washington.

They also say the switch will cause its own headaches. If California goes to year-round daylight saving, the sun wouldn't rise until 8 a.m. during some winter months, forcing children to walk to school or buses in darkness and likely leading to an increase in car and pedestrian accidents.

California isn't the only state that wishes to remain in Daylight Saving Time.  I also wrote about Florida's Sunshine Protection Act, which requires Congressional action to be implemented.  That hasn't happened yet, so Fox 4 in Naples/Ft. Myers reported Florida legislators push to make daylight savings time year-round.


CBS Miami has a better description.

A group of Florida lawmakers are tired of the Sunshine state springing forward and falling back every year. Senators Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and Representative Vern Buchanan have introduced legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent, not only in Florida, but also across the country.

I normally don't support Republican-sponsored legislation, but in this case, I'm on Rubio's side.  After all, even a stuck clock is right twice a day, pun fully intended.

Those are the states that have taken a vote of one kind or another to stop changing clocks twice a year.  According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, twenty-six other states are considering joining them, either by staying on standard time year-round or changing to Daylight Saving Time year-round.  Follow over the jump for news clips and quotes from articles about those states.

Drum corps for the Oregon primary

The campaign continues today with the Oregon Primary for both parties and the Kentucky Primary for Democrats.  With Trump unopposed, all the attention is now on Clinton and Sanders.  FiveThirtyEight does not have a forecast for either of today's contests, instead skipping ahead to California and New Jersey in June.  That's because polling has been very sparse.  Real Clear Politics lists only one poll for Oregon, which shows Clinton ahead 48% to 33%, and no polls for Kentucky.  I doubt that poll for Oregon, as do the reporters for the San Diego Union-Tribune, all of whom venturing an opinion predict Sanders will win it.  Three of four of them think Clinton will win Kentucky, but that state is a lot like West Virginia, which Sanders won.  I wouldn't be surprised if he wins Kentucky, too.

Enough of the political analysis.  Time to do what I suggested in the footnote to Solar Impulse 2 lands in Phoenix, post some marching music for my readers to enjoy while they await the election returns.  Today, I feature the Oregon Crusaders, beginning with 2014's Nevermore show.


Now, the finale of 2015's show.

Oregon Crusaders 2015
Semifinals run of "The Midnight Garden" on August 7, 2015
Featuring "Pumpkin Pursuit" by Patrick Doyle from Disney's 2015 version of "Cinderella"

That's it for this installment of the series.  The big finale will come on June 7, when I feature corps from California and New Jersey, two great drum corps states.