USA Today warns 'The Atlantic current is weakening and possibly headed for collapse'

Today's short educational entry consists of USA Today warning The Atlantic current is weakening and possibly headed for collapse.

A large-scale and delicate system of ocean currents that has been active for millions of years and that’s responsible for our warm climate is in danger of collapse due to climate change. This is according to a new study published in April in the journal Science Advances. Shane Elipot, a physical oceanographer at the University of Miami and one of the authors of the study, joins The Excerpt to share his findings.

Very little of this should be news to my readers. I've been warning about the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) collapsing since 2022 and asking about the effects of the Greenland ice sheet melting on ocean circulation and global climate since 2013. What is news is USA Today producing a video about it. The sixth largest newspaper in the U.S. by subscribers is paying attention to climate change!

It turns out that's not as new as I first thought. It's that the YouTube algorithm finally began presenting me with USA Today's videos on the topic. Actually looking for the climate change on USA Today's channel retrieved Climate change: How US cities are already feeling the effects | JUST THE FAQS from 2022.

Wildfires, hurricanes and floods: Climate change already hitting US, according to new UN study... A new United Nations study shows climate change is no longer a hypothetical of the future. Here's how it's already affecting regions across the country and what you can do to prepare.

I'm lecturing on climate change today, and I might just replace one of my videos with this one. If so, welcome to blogging as professional development.

That's a wrap for today's entry. I have some music planned for Tuneful Tuesday, so stay tuned to see if I follow through.

HBO declines to renew contract with 'Sesame Street'

It's Sunday, so it's time for an entertainment feature. I know I wrote that I would stay away from topical posts for the rest of January, but seeing "Defund PBS" trend on X reminded me that HBO has decided not to renew its deal with Sesame Workshop, formerly Children's Television Workshop, to fund new episodes of Sesame Street and show them first on HBO and now Max before moving to PBS. Take it away CNBC!



HBO ends deal with Sesame Street: Here's why
I embedded that because it's CNBC and has an informative preview image, but it didn't have an informative description. For that, I'm turning to USA Today reporting HBO says goodbye to 'Sesame Street'.

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit behind "Sesame Street," is looking for a new distributor after HBO decided against renewing the series.

CNBC's video wasn't as informative, as it was mostly anchor banter that devolved into Joe Kernan sniping at Becky Quick's husband, making me wonder if he is a bit jealous/envious of him. I don't have to wonder if he's a bit of a jerk; he is. Add this to his views having annoyed me twice before and that's three strikes against him.

However, this isn't the immediate end of Sesame Street. Collider reported that "Max's license for episodes continues through 2027, and this month you can still see new episodes from Season 55 on Max." There is still hope beyond then, as Collider also reported "it is expected that major streamers like Netflix, Prime Video, and Apple TV+ will all want it." I'll do my best to follow through on the eventual distributor.

On the other hand, it does portend the end of the relationship I first described in CNN defends Big Bird after Ted Cruz calls one of the character's tweets 'Propaganda,' a pandemic update: "It's not just news value that's driving it." I expect CNN will no longer be defending Sesame Street after 2027. That will be up to us, along with its new distributor.

Reuters, USA Today, and Vox explain Juneteenth

A joyous Juneteenth! I'm celebrating the newest federal holiday with three videos beginning with Reuters asking and answering What is Juneteenth, America's newest federal holiday?

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, is observed on June 19 each year. It became a U.S. federal holiday in 2021, following the signing of a bill by President Joe Biden[.]

This video serves as an update to USA Today asking and answering What is Juneteenth? The holiday's history and significance, explained.

President Joe Biden signed legislation marking Juneteenth, a day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, as a federal holiday.

The president signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act at 3:30 p.m. on June 17 in the East Room of the White House. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also gave remarks on the passage of the bill and the significance of the holiday.

That's a good overview of the holiday as of 2021 with an even better preview image, one so colorful that I originally placed it first.

For more depth, I'm sharing Vox explaining Why all Americans should honor Juneteenth.

An historian explains the history and significance of the holiday.
...
Note: This video was previously titled, "Juneteenth, explained." The title has been changed to better reflect the video's content.

When American schoolchildren learn about chattel slavery in the US, we’re often told it ended with Abraham Lincoln’s signature on the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.

But, as late as June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas were still held in bondage. On that date, the Federal troops entered the state and began to punish slave holders and former confederates who refused to obey the law.

“Juneteenth is a deeply emotional moment for enslaved people,” says historian Karlos K. Hill, of the University of Oklahoma.

In Texas and across the country, emancipated African Americans began celebrating annually, with parades, concerts, and picnics. “Being able to go wherever they want and being able to wander about; for enslaved people, it was an expression of their freedom,” says Hill. “Formerly enslaved people celebrating, in public, their newfound freedom, was an act of resistance.”

However, by 1877, the Federal government had largely abandoned the South. The lynching era— when hundreds of African Americans were killed by white mobs each year across the North and the South— began soon after.

Today, Dr. Hill says, commemorating Juneteenth is important for all Americans because it helps us see all the ways that slavery still shapes this country, including, as he says, “the desire to master and dominate black bodies.”

As much as I like Vox's videos, I'm surprised I haven't embedded this one in one of my previous posts. It was about time I did.

That's a wrap for today's holiday. Stay tuned for more celebrations of American Eagle Day, National Seashell Day, the Summer Solstice, World Giraffe Day, World Rainforest Day, Detroit-Style Pizza Day, and Souther. As I wrote yesterday, I have the rest of my blogging week already cut out for me!

A holiday pile-up today with Indigenous Peoples' Day, Canadian Thanksgiving, Leif Erikson Day, and, oh yeah, Columbus Day

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day, Canadian Thanksgiving, Leif Erikson Day, and Columbus Day! I begin today's celebration of multiple holidays with ABC 13/13 On Your Side declaring It's Indigenous Peoples' Day in Michigan.

Monday, Oct. 9 is a national holiday called Columbus Day. But in Michigan, it's also Indigenous Peoples' Day. There are 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan.

This is a Michigan-based blog, so I'm going to feature Michigan content when I can. I also occasionally feature U.S. government content when appropriate, like Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland wishing Americans Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day!

At Interior, we work hard to honor our promises to Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Island communities. Today, we celebrate the rich traditions, diverse cultures, and resilience of Indigenous communities. We honor the first stewards of this land, the Indigenous people who survived through periods of brutal colonization and forced assimilation policies.

Thank you, Secretary Haaland.

USA Today's Recognizing Native Americans on Indigenous Peoples' Day across the US | USA TODAY explains why Indigenous Peoples' Day is supplanting Columbus Day and lists when various states celebrate their own versions of the day.

A growing number of cities, states and universities are replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, also known as Native Americans Day.
...
The second Monday of October has been a national holiday for close to a century, but this will be only the second year that Indigenous Peoples Day has held that designation.

Last October, President Joe Biden signed the first presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples Day, a commemoration-turned-holiday that began in 1977 to honor Native American history and culture. That presidential stamp of approval was the most significant boost to date of efforts refocusing a federal holiday that for decades celebrated Christopher Columbus' discovery of America.

Although few Americans are arguing with the notion of being off work come Monday, Columbus Day and Indigenous People's Day have prompted political debate in states, cities and municipalities around the U.S., especially in the past decade, with some pushing against change and others favoring Indigenous Peoples Day instead.

This is a good explanation of why I generally stopped celebrating Columbus Day on this blog years ago and replaced it with Canadian Thanksgiving. I'm still observing Canadian Thanksgiving as well. Watch Canadian Thanksgiving Explained from Squirreled History, an updated version of the video I embedded last year.

We remade and updated our video on Canadian Thanksgiving, where it came from and how it's different from the American version.

I subscribed to Squirreled History after last year, but haven't used one of the channel's videos again until now. I should rectify that omission.

I close with Enchanted Insights, formerly 8SA, asking Leif Erikson Day (October 9), Why do we not celebrate Leif Erikson Day?

Leif Erikson Day (October 9) - Why do we not celebrate Leif Erikson Day?

On October 9, Nordic communities worldwide will celebrate Leif Erikson Day – remembering the explorer credited with bringing the first Nordic people to America around the year 1000.

Good question. Too bad the woman behind the account is no longer making holiday videos.

Whichever holiday you celebrate, have a good one!

WGA strike ends, actors still on strike, talk shows to return

I'm in the mood for some good news, so I'm following up on Writers Guild reaches tentative agreement with studios with two videos beginning with Yahoo Finance reporting WGA strike ends with tentative deal while actors' strike continues.

The Hollywood writers' strike has come to an end after over 140 days. The tentative deal between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has still yet to be ratified with a vote, but writers have been given the green light to return to production. Despite this monumental deal, major productions are still halted by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors strike. Yahoo Finance's Akiko Fujita joins the Live show to break down the details of the new contract between the writers and studio executives, as well as the current status of the actors' strike.

I'm recycling my reaction from Monday: "As I wrote, this is good news, but I'm not posting Professor Farnsworth until both the writers and actors have ratified their contracts and the studios and actors still aren't talking." Speaking of which, The Hollywood Reporter uploaded SAG-AFTRA Strike Continues After WGA and AMPTP Reach Tentative Deal | THR News on Tuesday.

While the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached a tentative deal on a new contract, SAG-AFTRA is still on strike. WGA members returned to the picket lines today in support of striking SAG-AFTRA members on Tuesday and spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how they're feeling following the news that the more than 140-day writers' strike could be coming to an end.

The actors are feeling optimistic, which echoes what I wrote on Monday.

I'm sure they will resume talking once the WGA gets back to work, but that won't be until October at the earliest. While that means that scripted series for the new fall network TV season will be delayed until January, which is one of the reasons why the Primetime Emmy Awards have been postponed until MLK Day, I'm hoping that talk shows will return as soon as the WGA strike is over. I've missed Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and especially John Oliver. Randy Rainbow just doesn't put out enough videos to fill that void. I'm hoping to welcome their return in time for National TV Talk Show Host Day on October 23rd.

I'm getting my wish granted earlier than I expected, as USA Today reported in WGA strike ends, late night shows resume as actors continue picketing | Entertain This!

The Writers Guild of America reached a new deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Here's what's next for Hollywood.
...
The Hollywood screenwriters' strike, one of two strikes that have stalled movie and TV productions for nearly five months, will officially end Wednesday.

The Writers Guild of America board unanimously voted Tuesday to affirm the strike-ending deal, announced Sunday, with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations.

That's right, Bill Maher returns Friday, John Oliver resumes on Sunday, and everyone else follows on Monday. I can hardly wait!

USA Today and 'Good Morning America' explain Women's History Month

Happy Women's History Month! I'm sharing two history lessons to kick off the month, beginning with USA Today's Women’s History Month: How it was born and why it's observed in March | JUST THE FAQS, uploaded last year.

A breakdown of the complicated backstory of Women’s History Month and why we celebrate in March.
...
Now that Black History Month has ended and March has begun, we have the privilege of celebrating another vital month in the calendar year: Women's History Month. What was once Women's Day, expanded to a week, then to an entire month, over decades of celebration.

With roots dating back to 1857, when women in New York City factories protested poor working conditions, this month has the opportunity to highlight the many accomplishments that women have made. And to spotlight how women's accomplishments will continue to inspire many future generations.

I should not be surprised that International Women's Day came first, similar to how International Tiger Day is derived from the Year of the Tiger; one helped inspire the others.

"Good Morning America" posted its own video two years ago, The history behind Women’s History Month, focusing more on the accomplishments of famous American women.

ABC News correspondent Juju Chang gives us a history lesson on how it grew into the celebration we know today.

While the two videos were similar, they were just different enough to be worth sharing. I hope my readers found both worth watching.

I'll return to women in the news for International Women's Day, if not earlier. In the meantime, March is a month full of holidays with World Wildlife Day, Marching Music Day, Purim, and Holi all happening in the next week. Stay tuned.

Delete Spotify trends after music streaming service chooses Joe Rogan over Neil Young

Man plans and G-d laughs: "Now I'm done posting about the pandemic this week, simply because the week is over, and for the month, as tomorrow is Sunday, when I usually write the weekly entertainment feature..." Hahahaha! I failed to account for an entertainment story about the pandemic that I found worth blogging about despite my declaration yesterday.* Watch MSNBC reporting Spotify agrees to take Neil Young's music off the platform on Wednesday.

Spotify said Wednesday that it has agreed to remove Neil Young's music after the singer-songwriter said he wouldn't share the platform with podcaster Joe Rogan, who has been criticized for spreading vaccine misinformation. The panel discusses.

I agree with Dr. Katrine Wallace; Joe Rogan is spreading misinformation that reinforces vaccine resistance, leading to the unvaccinated dying. Unfortunately, I also agree with Rolling Stone writer Andy Green and Ari Melber that Spotify chose Rogan over Neil Young because of the money. That may have turned out to be short-sighted, as CNN reported Friday '#DeleteSpotify' goes viral after Joe Rogan's podcast draws criticism.

Joe Rogan's podcast is under fire for peddling misinformation, as guest Jordan Peterson's comments on race, climate, gender, and Covid-19 drew controversy...CNN's Paula Newton has the story.

My wife and I were among those who canceled our Spotify subscriptions Friday. After listening to Peterson's comments about climate, I'm doubly glad that we did. We don't want our money supporting that.

The Hollywood Reporter uploaded Joni Mitchell Says She Will Stand With Neil Young & Remove Her Music From Spotify yesterday, showing Young is getting support from other artists.

Joni Mitchell said she will remove her music catalogue from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young, according to a message posted to her official website on Friday evening.“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue,” Mitchell wrote in the brief note on her website.

I conclude by noting that Nils Lofgren has also had his music removed from Spotify and Spotify stocks have lost $2 billion, about 6% of their market capitalization since this controversy started. As I wrote, choosing Rogan over Young for the money may have been short-sighted.

*The other choices were awards show nominations, a bunch of which came out last week, and school districts banning books. I decided the first was too much work — this blog is a hobby after all — and the second too depressing. I'd rather blog about something that catches my interest. Here's to it not being the pandemic again tomorrow.

Fry's Electronics closes all its stores, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic

The Retail Apocalypse claimed another victim this week, as Fry's Electronics announced they would be closing all its stores and going out of business. NBC Bay Area reported the news on Wednesday.

Fry’s Electronics, the go-to chain for tech tinkerers looking for an obscure part, is closing for good. Bob Redell reports.

Fry's Electronics was a regional chain, but it was a big player in its service area. I first became aware of it reading anime magazines during the early 2000s, as a lot of anime distributors advertised that the store sold their DVDs. That didn't show up in any of the videos about the chain's history. I suppose that's because the people commenting are watching anime and other shows on streaming services even though one of the videos below the fold shows that Fry's was still selling DVDs and Blu-ray discs as recently as 2019.

Company Man Mike wasted no time in examining the causes of the failure, as he asked yesterday The Decline of Fry's Electronics...What Happened?

To the disappointment of many, Fry's Electronics has announced that they will be permanently shutting down all their stores. This video talks about the decline of the chain of electronics stores and theorizes where things went wrong.

A lot of Company Man Mike's facts come from corporate filings of publicly traded companies, so he had to speculate about the reasons for Fry's Electronics' demise because the company is privately owned by the Fry family.* He still produced a good history and analysis.

As Company Man Mike described, the problems with Fry's Electronics had been building for years, well before the pandemic. Follow over the jump for two videos from Erik of Retail Archaeology documenting the state of the stores in the metropolitan Phoenix area.

U.S. passes 500,000 deaths from COVID-19, a pandemic update

I closed Life expectancy fell 1 year for all Americans, 3 years for African-Americans, during 2020 because of the pandemic by telling my readers "The next milestone for the pandemic will be 500,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19, which is likely to happen by the end of this month. When that happens, and it will, I will have an update." It took only four days to reach that grim milestone. Reuters reported U.S. coronavirus deaths top 500,000 this afternoon.

The U.S. crossed the staggering milestone of 500,000 COVID-19 deaths, nearly a year since the pandemic upended the nation.

That's the news. Good Morning America had the commentary in advance of the official announcement of the event in Dr. Fauci remarks on grim milestone of 500,000 dead from COVID-19.

Biden’s chief medical adviser discusses the staggering number of lives lost due to the pandemic and how the country will get its vaccine distribution back on track after weather delays.

I agree with Dr. Fauci. I would be very pleasantly surprised if the U.S. achieves herd immunity by April. I think we'll need to keep the rate of vaccinations up until everyone who wants the vaccine gets both doses. As I wrote last week, I expect that will take until the end of July.

USA Today has one more reaction, Pres. Joe Biden delivers remarks in memory of 500k lost to COVID-19.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony for the 500,000 Americans dead from COVID-19.
...
The U.S. once again crossed a somber COVID threshold much faster than any country in the world.

Less than a year after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic, the U.S. recorded its 500,000th death Monday, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. That’s more than twice the COVID-19 fatalities registered in Brazil, which ranks second on the list.

President Joe Biden will hold a moment of silence and a candle-lighting service Monday evening at the White House to mark the enormous loss of life.

The endless hours of toiling amid death and suffering have taken a heavy toll on health care workers, who are exhausted and frustrated with those who won’t follow public health guidelines aimed at curbing transmission of the virus.

I conclude with the moment of silence itself.

Why every day feels like 'Groundhog Day' and other tricks the pandemic has played on our sense of time

Happy Groundhog Day! The master of ceremonies at this morning's ceremony at Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania remarked that people all around the world have said the past year felt like "Groundhog Day" with the same day repeating itself over and over. That inspired me to examine the science of why people's perception of time has been distorted that way.* I begin with WDIV in Detroit asking Has the [perception] of time changed due to COVID-19? Study show it's possible.

A study shows the COVID-19 pandemic may change people's [perception] of time based on certain factors.

So, yes, it happens and this clip describes who is most likely to experience it, but it's a little weak on why. For that, watch WUSA9 ask How is COVID-19 affecting our perception of time?

March was so long ago and April barely lasted a week. Professor Peter Tse talks about how our perception of time has changed because of the pandemic.

The sped-up montage by itself does a good job of depicting the sameness of days during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Professor Peter Tse's explanation is good as far as it goes. PBS Digital's It's Okay To Be Smart goes farther and explains more in Why Time Moves Fast...and Slow.

Time passes for all of at the [same] rate of one second per second. But why does it sometimes feel like time is passing so fast, or so slowly? Especially during COVID? Let’s learn about how our brains keep track of and try to make sense of time, and how they get fooled.

That's enough science about how people perceive time for now. May it have made my readers understand why they feel the way they do about the passage of time and that they're not alone.

*USA Today included those remarks in 135th Groundhog Day celebration from 3:00 to 4:00.

Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow? Watch Groundhog Day live from Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania.

Yes, there's hope; the cycle will be broken and the monotony will end.

All the above makes Punxsutawney Phil's prediction that there will be six more weeks of winter, a forecast echoed by Michigan's own Woody the Woodchuck, secondary. Stay warm and stay safe, everyone!

A pandemic update from Michigan as vaccinations ramp up while U.S. death toll passes 400,000

It's been only two weeks since I posted More than 20 million COVID-19 cases and 350,000 deaths in U.S., the first pandemic update of 2021, but both the efforts to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the deaths from it are accelerating. CBS This Morning reported on both in U.S. works to speed up vaccinations as coronavirus deaths near 400,000, focusing on how health services in Michigan are working to speed up vaccinations.*

New vaccination centers are popping up as states try to get the COVID-19 vaccine to underserved communities. One Michigan doctor is doing what he can to help. Lead national correspondent David Begnaud is driving hundreds of miles twice a week to personally deliver COVID-19 vaccines to clinics.

Using a Sears automotive department to administer vaccines is not the intersection between the pandemic and the Retail Apocalypse, I was expecting, but I'm glad to see the space being used, especially for a good purpose like this. Speaking of good purposes, watching Dr. Richard Bates deliver vaccine to Alpena warmed my heart even has he was keeping the vaccine cold.

What's also warming my heart is how Wayne County is responding to adversity, such as a shortage of the Pfizer vaccine, which is produced in Michigan. WDIV reported Wayne County transitioning to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine last night.

Wayne County is transitioning to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Those who received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine will still receive the second dose.

WXYZ also reported Wayne County switching to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine after rescheduling appointments this morning.

Wayne County is expected to receive 5,500 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday as the county will no longer receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Both stations reported from Schoolcraft College, where I used to teach. I'm glad to see my former employer pitching in with the vaccination effort.

Finally, CBS Detroit excerpted a segment from Dr. Oz in Why Getting Vaccinated Isn’t Just About Covid-19 – The Other Pandemic Left By Unemployment, Addiction.

Dr. Oz and Surgeon General Jerome Adams discuss how this pandemic is impacting people who aren’t even at the risk of dying or ending up in the hospital from the virus.

Between the coronavirus pandemic and other causes of excess death, More than 3 million people died in 2020 – the deadliest year in US history as USA Today reported last month.

This is the deadliest year in U.S. history, with deaths expected to top 3 million for the first time – due mainly to the coronavirus pandemic.

Final mortality data for this year will not be available for months. But preliminary numbers suggest that the United States is on track to see more than 3.2 million deaths this year, or at least 400,000 more than in 2019.

U.S. deaths increase most years, so some annual rise in fatalities is expected. But the 2020 numbers amount to a jump of about 15%, and could go higher once all the deaths from this month are counted.

That would mark the largest single-year percentage leap since 1918, when tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers died in World War I and hundreds of thousands of Americans died in a flu pandemic. Deaths rose 46% that year, compared with 1917.

The result is that the pandemic has reversed the good news about life expectancy I discussed on World Population Day last year, when I reported that U.S. life expectancy increased for 1st time since 2014. For 2020, USA Today predicted that "life expectancy for 2020 could end up dropping as much as three full years, said Robert Anderson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yikes! When the CDC releases the final numbers, I'll be sure to cover them. Stay tuned.

*Just a few hours ago after CBS News broadcast that segment, NBC News reported U.S. surpasses 400,000 Covid deaths nearly one year after nation's first confirmed case, adding "24 million people have been infected in the U.S., the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. California on Monday became the first state to reach 3 million cases, and Los Angeles county crossed the 1 million case mark over the weekend, according to the NBC News tally." Yowza, that's grim news!  Stay safe, everyone!

Stephen Colbert is 'ha, ha, only serious' about President Trump and Postmaster DeJoy messing with the Post Office to suppress the mail-in vote

While I've mentioned voting by mail in my marching music for a primary election series, I haven't focused specifically on the problems of the Post Office since I wrote Business Insider on the rise and fall of the USPS two months ago. Since I usually alternate between serious and silly takes on a subject, it's time to examine the issue through comedy. Fortunately, Stephen Colbert examined the topic in two segments last night, beginning with his monologue, Michael Cohen Teases A Bombshell Book While Trump Admits He's Slowing USPS To Tilt The Election.

Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen dropped details of a new tell-all book today, which he promises will be full of things the President doesn't want you to read. That same President today openly talked about his effort to interfere with the USPS and swing the election in his favor.

In addition to Stephen showing two clips of Trump stating his opposition to funding the USPS to support mail-in voting, he mentioned Postmaster Louis DeJoy's investments in USPS competitors. USA Today examined a claim about DeJoy's investments being a conflict of interest and rated it as "Missing Context," but did confirm the investments.

Louis DeJoy and his wife Aldona Wos reported between at least $30 million to just over $75 million in assets from XPO Logistics, J.B. Hunt and UPS. All are competitors with U.S. Postal Service operations. While government records confirm their ownership of the assets, the exact value of the holdings is not clear from the records.

Only the best people.

Colbert and his bandleader Jon Batiste continued the discussion of the USPS to open the next segment, Quarantinewhile... The Space Force Tweet That Inspires And Confuses.

Quarantinewhile... The newest branch of the U.S. military is on a mission to inspire Americans to aim high.

I think the fictional F. Tony Scarapiducci from "Space Force" would have written a better tweet and he's a walking joke.

Voting by mail even made a cameo at the end of the next segment, "The Circus" Hosts Ask: Will Donald Trump Gain Voters In 2020?

Mark McKinnon and Alex Wagner, who are living on the campaign trail until Election Day, share some insights about the loyalty of President Trump's base in advance of the Season 5 premiere of their show "The Circus" on Showtime.

I hope Alex Wagner is right about Democratic turnout.

By the way, these clips demonstrate why "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" earned three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Variety Talk Series, Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series. I don't think it will win any of those, but the show certainly deserved its nominations.

I conclude this post with a meme.

Chuck E. Cheese, GNC, and Tuesday Morning all file for bankruptcy, tales of the Retail Apocalypse during the pandemic

Two weeks ago, I had two tales of the Retail Apocalypse to share about J. Crew and JCPenney. Today, I have three, beginning with CNBC reporting yesterday Chuck E. Cheese parent company files for bankruptcy.

CNBC's Kate Rogers reports on Chuck E. Cheese amid the pandemic.

This did not come as a complete surprise. Erik of Retail Archaeology read the handwriting on the wall more than a year ago, when he asked What's Going On With Chuck E. Cheese's?

In this episode we take a look at Chuck E. Cheese's and discuss the current status of the company.

I was not thinking of Chuck E. Cheese when I wrote Goodbye Ruby Tuesday, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, but it's a restaurant chain that was already in trouble and declared bankruptcy because of the pandemic and resulting recession, so I'm covering it, especially since it's the first major restaurant chain to declare bankruptcy during the pandemic. At least it's planning on reopening most of its locations and staying in business as it reorganizes its debt, so it's not likely to go away soon, even as the chain announced it will be closing 45 stores permanently, including 34 that were open at the start of the pandemic.

The second story is about GNC, which announced it would close 900 stores last year. It also declared bankruptcy yesterday as CBS Detroit reported.

GNC has filed for bankruptcy citing the coronavirus pandemic had a dramatic impact on its business.

Even though this is a very brief clip, it is from a local source, so I used it. Also, the video didn't cut off before the reporter started talking about Chuck E. Cheese, so that connects the two stories.

The final story is the oldest. Erik of Retail Archaeology brought it to my attention last week when he asked Is The Sun Setting On Tuesday Morning? BANKRUPT!

In this episode we take a look at Tuesday Morning. They just recently announced they have filed for bankruptcy and will be closing hundreds of stores.

The company filed for bankruptcy a month ago, so I'm a bit slow in reporting it. Still, Erik's video shows that the company had likely had issues even before the crisis hit, just like Chuck E. Cheese and GNC. As I wrote in April, the pandemic is just accelerating existing retail trends. Companies that were already in trouble are the ones to succumb first.*

That's it for today's Retail Apocalypse news. Stay tuned for entries about the latest on D.C. statehood and a driving update.

*I could also have written about Hertz declaring bankruptcy, but that fits under travel, not retail. Maybe in a future post.

Brad Parscale calls the Trump digital campaign the 'Death Star' in a tweet

When I told my readers to "Stay tuned for the retrospective about this blog on Twitter I promised three times to observe Throwback Thursday," I had just seen that "Death Star" was trending on Twitter. I thought I was done with Star Wars after Star Wars Day and Star Wars drinks and music for the Revenge of the Sixth. Guess not.

The Guardian has one of the articles explaining why "Death Star" trended today on Twitter: Trump's 'juggernaut' re-election bid like the Death Star, campaign boss boasts.

• Brad Parscale raises eyebrows with Star Wars comparison
• ‘In a few days we start pressing FIRE for the first time’

Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign manager raised eyebrows on Thursday by comparing Trump’s re-election efforts to a massive space weapon designed to obliterate peaceful planets.

Brad Parscale, a digital marketing expert turned Trump champion, used Twitter to declare that the Trump re-election campaign had constructed a “Death Star”, a reference to the fictional Star Wars space station capable of destroying planets with a big laser.

“For nearly three years we have been building a juggernaut campaign (Death Star). It is firing on all cylinders. Data, Digital, TV, Political, Surrogates, Coalitions, etc,” Parscale said.

He added, ominously: “In a few days we start pressing FIRE for the first time.”As USA Today reported, "Biden team notes it gets blown up" and "The Star Wars political battle lit up Twitter."

Parscale, who also spent Thursday tweeting out anti-Biden ads, said reporters gave him the idea, and he is happy to oblige.

"I didn’t give our campaign the name, Death Star, the media did," he tweeted in a follow-up. "However, I am happy to use the analogy. The fact is, we haven’t used it yet. Laugh all you want, we will take the win!"

Andrew Feinberg, a reporter for Newsweek responded that Parscale got the source of the name wrong.

No, “the media” did not come up with the “Death Star” name for the Trump 2020 campaign. A “Republican strategist” used it while speaking to @mckaycoppins on background for a story in which @parscale appears prominently.

More tweets corrected Parscale's. Gary Whitta, who co-wrote "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," also tweeted a response: "You do understand that the people who built the Death Star were the bad guys, right? Also they lost." Whitta should know.

Journalist Judd Legum included the following comment in his retweet: "Nicknaming your presidential reelection campaign 'Death Star' in the middle of a pandemic that has already killed 70K+ people is an interesting choice." First, no kidding. Second, the COVID-19 pandemic once again sweeps up all issues into itself.

Finally, Tommy Vietor, a national security spokesman for President Barack Obama, thought there might be a method to Parscale's madness: "Hey maybe Brad Parscale knows how Star Wars ends and he knows that a million WELL ACTUALLY tweets drives up engagement and virality of content." Maybe. That would be the smartest interpretation, which rarely happens with this Adminstration, but it's possible. Either way, I now have a new nickname for Parscale — Grand Moff Brad. It makes for a good match with Darth Trump.

Follow over the jump for the top tweets featuring links to this blog from the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Tax Day postponed to July 15 because of pandemic

Happy Tax Day!  I mean that sincerely this year because the deadline for filing federal and most state income taxes, including here in Michigan, has been delayed until July 15 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  CBS News has the story in What the 2020 Tax Day deadline extension means for you.

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the IRS and Treasury Department extended the tax filing and payment deadline from April 15 to July 15.  Tax attorney Sahang-Hee Hahn joins CBSN to discuss the implications of the delay and how it could also impact the anticipated stimulus check.

No tax marches, at least in person.  Instead, Tax March is hosting a petition-signing campaign on their website.  Clicktivism while staying safe at home — that's better than marching in person right now.  Maybe conditions will be safer for public assemblies in July, the new tax filing and payment deadline.  Either way, that's when I plan on returning to my usual topics for Tax Day of highlighting inequitable taxation and demanding President Trump release his tax returns.  There are more immediate concerns today.

Stay tuned for retrospectives for Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday.  The subjects will be adding states to the Union and stars to the flag, followed by holidays.  I've managed to tie the two together on this blog, thanks to Flag Day and Pina Colada Day.

Destination Maternity/Motherhood Maternity files for bankruptcy and announces store closings, blaming lower birth rates, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

While my tales of the Retail Apocalypse usually intersect with online shopping, particularly Amazon, I found one that has more in common with lower birth and fertility rates, the bankruptcy of Destination Maternity, which is also the parent company of Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in a Pod.  Watch Destination Maternity to close 183 stores in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Destination Maternity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday [October 21] as the apparel company hopes to avoid the graveyard of fashion retailers.

Nice Hand took the text of the slideshow video from a USA Today article, Destination Maternity to close 183 stores in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The retailer operates stores under several brands, including Destination Maternity, Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod.

The company had 446 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico as of Aug. 3. It also operated 491 shops-within-a-shop at various department stores and baby specialty retailers.

The company plans to close 183 stores after already shuttering 27 recently, according to a court filing. Bankruptcy allows companies to escape unprofitable leases.

...the company, in a court document, blamed the retail industry's turmoil, declining birth rates, high rents and leadership turnover for faltering. The company has had five CEOs in the last five years.

Yes, declining birth rates.  Business Insider featured that angle in Bankrupt Destination Maternity is on the brink of collapse — and declining birthrates may be to blame.

The declining national birthrate isn't just a sociological concern — it also holds perilous economic implications for several industries, including, most recently, maternity apparel.

US birthrates hit a record 32-year low in 2018 after dropping 2% from 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over the past two years, the dip has negatively impacted a variety of companies, from Toys R Us and Babies R Us to consumer-packaged-goods companies like Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble that sell diapers and other products for babies.

Now it's coming for Destination Maternity, the largest global maternity company.
...
On Thursday, analysts at Demographic Intelligence — a forecasting firm specializing in national marriage and birthrates — said decreasing birthrates have played a direct role in the Destination Maternity bankruptcy.

"While competition from online retailers and other widely discussed factors may have had some role to play, Destination Maternity's declining net sales in recent years have tracked fairly closely with the sharp decline in births in the United States," Lyman Stone, an advisor at Demographic Intelligence advisor, said in a statement.

Once again, I'm being a good environmentalist and recycling.

On the one hand, the U.S. is doing its part to slow down population growth.  On the other hand, [this means] a possible shrinking economy in the future, which is bad for business as usual.  It's time to be a good environmentalist and recycle what I wrote last year.

I have been in favor of zero population growth for as long as I can remember.  However, I'm not sure the U.S. economy is set up for a stable or slowly declining population, a point I made in the Hipcrime Vocab: Why Slowing Population Growth is a Problem.  We are going to have to figure how to do so.  Otherwise, I might live long enough to experience the wisdom of the saying "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it."

Here's to hoping the U.S. learns how to thread that needle.

'What is Day of the Dead?' National Geographic and USA Today answer

I may have finished October, but I'm not through with Halloween-related posts, as I wrote yesterday.

That's it for October.  I'll see all my readers again tomorrow when it's All Soul's Day AKA the Day of the Dead.

I've decided to lean into today (and tomorrow) by sharing National Geographic's What is Day of the Dead?*

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration of life and death. While the holiday originated in Mexico, it is celebrated all over Latin America with colorful calaveras (skulls) and calacas (skeletons). Learn how the Day of the Dead started and the traditions that make it unique.

USA Today has more in its own What is Day of the Dead?

The Mexican holiday surrounds death, but it’s a time to celebrate life with loved ones. Learn more about the holiday that’s gaining traction in the U.S.

Both of the videos are accurate as far as they go.  I have my own personal experience with the celebration, which I recounted five years ago.

I spent the week of Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico during October and November, 2011.  It was an eye-opening experience.  I'll just concentrate on the public celebrations I observed.

First, I toured a cemetary during the night of Halloween.  In the U.S., only the thrillseekers and vandals would be there.  In Oaxaca, entire families were having picnics on the family plots.  The atmosphere was festive with the local orchestra playing, fireworks, and vendors just outside the gates of the cemetary.  Kids were trick-or-treating inside the cemetary, just as mentioned in the article.  While they were wearing costumes, like American kids, they weren't going door to door asking for candy.  Instead, they were begging strangers for coins.  That's certainly an adaptation of an American tradition that makes it distinct.

The next night, I joined a grownup version of trick-or-treating.  My hostess and her friend invited me to a parade of sorts.  A bunch of revelers, most in costume, lined up in an alley behind a brass band.  We then strolled down the street, stopped at a house, and asked for treats.  We got tortas, Mexican sandwiches, which were passed out on a platter the size of a small door.  I managed to get one of them.  It was delicious.  Also, plastic shot glasses of mezcal were being passed around.  That made for a very entertaining evening, and is the reason I often describe the holiday as a combination of Halloween and Mardi Gras.

While waiting for that parade to form up, I watched another pass by.  It was led by three young men in costume, a devil, a grim reaper, and a Mesoamerican death god.  That image perfectly summed up the Mexican heritage of being a fusion of European and native elements.  I wish Americans could be as comfortable with our hybrid origins.

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!

*Yes, I know the holiday is officially tomorrow, but as the USA Today video notes and I experienced, it's celebrated over three days, including yesterday and today.  Also tomorrow is time to fall back as Daylight Saving Time ends.  I have my own priorities and traditions to keep!

GNC to close 900 stores, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

I began the month warning my readers that Bed Bath & Beyond is facing extinction.  That got people's attention, but CNBC's characterization was a bit extreme, as the chain only failed to make a profit for the first time since 1992 and is planning on closing only 40 stores.  At the same time, another chain announced it was closing far more stores.  WPXI-TV News Pittsburgh reported last month GNC to close up to 900 stores, up to half of mall locations.

The Pittsburgh headquartered vitamin and supplement store GNC has announced it will close up to 900 stores in mall locations.

I think the video description needs some clarification, which I'm getting from USA Today.

“I think it could be likely that we'll reduce our mall count by a nearly half,” said Tricia Tolivar, GNC chief financial officer. “So we've got a little over 800 malls today and over the long-term, we could bring that closer to 400 to 500.”

It's not only half of the mall locations closing, but also half of the announced closings are in malls.  WPXI's description could have meant two different things, but it actually meant both.

In addition, GNC has already lost locations from an earlier wave of closings.

In the first six months of 2019, company records show 192 company-owned and franchise locations have already closed.

It turns out this wave of closings has been in the works for a while.

GNC officials had announced in November 2018 that they would close up to 900 stores over the next three years in the U.S. and Canada as leases expire. Now, looking at the current foot-traffic trends in malls,  "it's likely that we will end up closer to the top end of our original optimization estimate," GNC Chairman and CEO Ken Martindale said.

So it seems that the loss of foot traffic in dead malls, which is hurting Ruby Tuesday and other restaurant chains in malls, is hitting GNC, also a staple of dead malls.  It was only a matter of time.

It strikes me that GNC issued this latest announcement one day before I posted 12,000 stores are likely to close this year, including at least 313 Fred's, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse.  The USA Today article has something to say about that, too.

Overall across the retail sector, more than 7,400 store closings are already in the works or completed so far in 2019, which is 27% more than all of 2018, according to Coresight Research's latest store closings report.

7,400 down, 4,600 to go, and there are five months left.  The Retail Apocalypse rolls on.

CNBC warns that Bed Bath & Beyond is 'facing extinction,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

Charming Charlie declaring bankruptcy and announcing it will close all its stores was a tale of the Retail Apocalypse that surprised me last week.  So did the following news from CNBC that the channel uploaded less than an hour ago: Why Bed Bath And Beyond Is Facing Extinction.

Bed Bath and Beyond became a massive homegoods retailer with a decentralized structure and a focus on keeping customers happy. In popular imagination, Bed Bath and Beyond is best known for its generous coupon policy. But critics say the once ubiquitous chain ignored the threat from newer, nimbler online rivals like Amazon.

Yikes!  Bed Bath & Beyond wasn't even on my radar as a chain that was facing trouble from Amazon and other online retailers as well as its own internal issues.  Thanks to CNBC, now I know.

The CNBC video talked a lot about the chain's losses and lower same-store sales, but didn't mention store closings.  It turns out that, as USA Today reported in April, Bed Bath & Beyond plans to close at least 40 stores this year but open 15 new locations.

The New Jersey-based home goods retailer, which also operates Buy Buy Baby, Harmon Face Values and World Market, announced mixed results during its fourth-quarter call with financial analysts this week.

"We expect to open approximately 15 new stores in fiscal 2019. This will be offset by a minimum of approximately 40 stores we expect to close," Robyn D'Elia, chief financial officer and treasurer, said during Wednesday's earnings call. "This number will grow unless we are able to negotiate more favorable lease terms with our landlords."

D'Elia said most of the "planned closures are for Bed Bath & Beyond stores."

Compared to a lot of chains in trouble, a net loss of 25 stores out of more than 1,000 hardly registers.  I'm not terribly worried that the nearest location, just a little more than two miles west of me, is going to close any time soon.  I also think that the chain is facing a crisis, but it's not in imminent danger of going out of business.  Still, it's a sign that issues with brick-and-mortar are spreading beyond dead malls and the businesses associated with them, including chain restaurants. 

That reminds me; remember the list of stores by category that are likely to close by 2026 in 12,000 stores are likely to close this year, including at least 313 Fred's, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse?  The USA Today article reported the total could be even worse.

The brick-and-mortar downturn is expected to continue, according to a report released this week from UBS Securities. Investment bank analysts said 75,000 more stores would need to be shuttered by 2026 if e-commerce “penetration rises from 16% currently to 25%.”

Wow!  As I wrote last month, "Looks like I'll be busy covering the Retail Apocalypse for quite a while."

NASA's plans to deflect an asteroid plus what happens if one hits NYC

Happy Monday the 13th!  Because it's exactly one month after Apophis Day, I decided to return to the subject of asteroids and planetary defense instead of posting another Garfield cartoon.  I begin with 7 Ways to Save Earth from a Killer Asteroid from Space.com.

Gravity tractors, rocket engines, lasers, nukes and more could be used to deflect a potentially hazardous asteroid.

One the one hand, as one of the commenters to the video wrote, it's good to have a plan, actually seven of them.  On the other, if none of those work, USA Today describes what could happen in Asteroid simulation sparks scary outcome for New York City

In a NASA simulation of a fictional scenario, New York City was hit with an asteroid packing 1,000 times the destruction of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The "1,000 times the destruction of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima" is no exaggeration. The meteor that exploded over Russia six years ago was twenty times more powerful than Hiroshima and that space rock broke up miles up in the atmosphere.  On the other hand, this hypothetical event would be comparable to the impact that created Barringer Crater AKA Meteor Crater in Arizona, which yielded ten megatons when it blew up.

Just the same, it's good to know that NASA is working on a plan to protect Earth from asteroid impact.  That makes for a good opportunity to recycle this meme.