International water crises for World Water Day from CNA, VOA, and PBS

Happy World Water Day! I begin today's observance of the day with Singapore's CNA reporting World Water Day: Water can be a tool for peace when communities, countries cooperate, says UN.

World Water Day falls on Mar 22. It is marked every year by the United Nations (UN) and the world to inspire positive ripple effects to tackle the global water crisis. The theme this year, amid growing concerns over wars, is “Water for Peace”. The UN says water can create peace or spark conflict, playing a critical role in stability and prosperity. CNA's Julie Yoo has the details.

The statistics Julie Yoo cites for the distribution and availability of fresh water are the same ones I tell my students using a graphic similar to this one from PBS.


It certainly puts things in perspective and I hope it makes an impression on my students.

Yoo's report for CNA emphasized international conflict and cooperation in Asia. Voice of America took a more global view and included private actors indirectly moving water in World Water Day: Corporations Accused of ‘Grabbing’ Water From Global South | VOANews.

There is a growing risk of conflict over water as climate change takes hold, according to the United Nations, which marks World Water Day on Friday. Meanwhile, aid agency Oxfam accuses global corporations of grabbing water from poorer countries to boost profits. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

Seeing South Africa's water shortage reminds me that the second post I wrote for this day was Cape Town's Day Zero for World Water Day 2018. Same country, different city.

Also, the transfer of water from the global south to the global north reminds me of another story I tell my students, I=P*A*T, "where I is impact, P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology." Affluence increases environmental impact both through the ability to demand resources and the waste that resource use creates. While technology is the only way to reduce the impact from population and affluence through efficiency, it can also make the impact worse. The technologies allowing the international transfer of water through food and other products might just fall into that latter category.

Some water shortages have mostly local causes other than climate change, as PBS News Weekend reported two weeks ago in Mexico City is running out of water. Here’s why and how millions of residents are affected.

Mexico City, one of the world's most populous cities, could be just months away from running out of water. It’s a crisis brought on by geography, growth and leaky infrastructure, all compounded by the effects of climate change. Journalist Emily Green joins John Yang to discuss the situation.

The irony of this is that Mexico City was built on a lake and much of that water is still under the city. That's another story I tell my students, but I'm saving it for another time.

Tomorrow features a traffic jam of topics, with Purim, blog stats, and Louisiana primary all on the agenda. I've skipped Purim before so I might do it again. Stay tuned.

2023 is the hottest year on record and other climate and weather stories

Change of plans. Instead of this year's version of the year in space today, I'm doing this year's version of 2022 in climate and weather from NBC News, DW News, and ABC News. NASA hasn't uploaded this year at NASA yet. I think they'll do it Friday, so I'm holding off until then. On the other hand, there are lots of year in climate videos available. I'm beginning with Joe Hanson of PBS Digital's Be Smart saying I Don’t Know How to Feel About 2023.

2023 was a wild year with everything from scorching temperatures to massive wildfires. Even with more renewable energy than ever, 2023’s climate data still seems really bad. So how should we think about climate change today? And what can we do about it? Learn what climate scientists think about 2023’s climate milestones, what the models tell us about the future of Earth’s climate, and how we can tackle climate doomerism.

That's a good overview of the situation with great guests, Katharine Hayhoe and Michael Mann, to explain the problem and give us hope, especially the progress in electric vehicles and renewable energy. As a Crazy Eddie, I approve.

Follow over the jump for summaries of the year in extreme weather related to climate change.

Actors strike postponed while negotiations continue while writers still striking

I've had a change of plans since I wrote PBS Voices asks 'Why Is the Government Taking UFOs Seriously Now?' for World UFO Day.

I'm planning on posting a postponed entertainment feature tomorrow, so stay tuned. Television Critics Association Awards nominations, anyone?

I'm still writing an entertainment feature, but a post about the TCA Awards would take more time than I have this morning. Instead, I'm updating More Perfect Union explains 'Why Actors Are Shutting Down Hollywood' with ALC Entertainment's Filmmaker, actress, Ashley Cusato speaks to KUSI News about the pending actors strike.


That's a very clear, comprehensive, and concise description of what the actors want, so thank you, Ashley Cusato.

ALC Entertainment also uploaded Ashley Cusato discusses the writers strike and pending actors strike on Good Morning San Diego.


The good news is that the SAG-AFTRA strike deadline has been extended to July 12, which is next Wednesday. The bad news is that there is no progress on the WGA strike. Voice of America reported California Screenwriters Continue Strike Costing Hollywood Millions Daily.

A screenwriters' strike in Hollywood has been going on for two months,  grinding scripted TV production basically to a halt and costing California millions in losses each day. Angelina Bagdasaryan has more in this story, narrated by Anna Rice.

I close by repeating what I wrote last month.

Here's to SAG-AFTRA, the WGA, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reaching agreements that all of them can live with. Otherwise, there will be two strikes in Hollywood next month. As I wrote in Vox explains 'How streaming caused the TV writers strike', "We viewers should care more about the people who create what we watch...We don't want the executives to accidentally kill the geese that lay the golden eggs."

I'll have more on the strike and negotiations. In the meantime, stay tuned for 4th of July.

National Seashell Day and World Giraffe Day on the Summer Solstice

Happy World Giraffe Day, National Seashell Day, and Summer Solstice! I'm shuffling the order this year because National Day Calendar just uploaded National Seashell Day | First Day of Summer.

On the first day of summer, National Seashell Day reminds us to put our toes in the sand and admire the beauty of seashells.

#NationalSeashellDay
Shellers get ready to shellebrate and start shelling! To those not in the know, shellers are beachcombers who collect seashells by scouring the beaches for the gems left behind by snails and mollusks. National Seashell Day is here to tell you all about it and make sure you check out your local beaches during the prime shelling season.

I have been hoping that National Day Calendar makes this video for years, so I'm putting it first to celebrate getting my wish.

Next, 8SA described World Giraffe Day (June 21) - Activities and How to Celebrate World Giraffe Day two years ago, but I'm finally uploading it now.

JUNE 21ST is quickly approaching. It a very important day. Not only is it Father’s Day, it is also the 2nd Annual World Giraffe Day. World Giraffe Day was started by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to celebrate and raise awareness about giraffes in the wild.

The woman behind the 8SA account was off by a couple of years; Father's Day, the Summer Solstice, and World Giraffe Day fell on the same day in 2020. She normally does great research, but she occasionally makes mistakes like this, which causes them to stand out among the otherwise great attention to detail. Even so, I recommend the video.

I'm skipping the science of the solstice today to concentrate on the day's social meaning with Voice of America reporting Seattle Marks Summer Solstice With Whimsical Parade.

June 21 marks the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere – in Seattle, Washington, the summer solstice was celebrated this past weekend with the annual Fremont Solstice Parade. Natasha Mozgovaya has more.

I couldn't resist a parade, especially one that reminds me of the Marche du Nain Rouge. I told myself that I should start writing about it again last year, but forgot to this year. Maybe next year.

Stay tuned for World Rainforest Day and Detroit-style Pizza Day as I continue my holiday posts.

U.S. traffic deaths reached nearly 43,000 in 2021, the most in 16 years, a driving update

Today's driving update about traffic deaths begins with a grim statistic from NewsNation: Traffic deaths hit 16-year high in U.S. | Rush Hour.

Nearly 43,000 people died on U.S. roads in 2021, the country's highest total in 16 years. Dylan Rivera, of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, joined NewsNation "Rush Hour" to talk about what they've seen in Portland and how traffic deaths could be reduced.

Rivera is right about the usual pattern during recessions; people drive less, so there are fewer traffic deaths. Not during the pandemic. People drove less, but they drove more recklessly, so deaths actually went up. Voice of America explained this phenomenon and connected it to drug overdoses in Why US Traffic Deaths, Drug Overdoses Skyrocketed During the Pandemic.

US traffic deaths and drug overdoses skyrocketed in 2021. VOA’s Dora Mekouar examines how the pandemic might be prompting Americans to behave more recklessly.

As I tell my students, I think both the pandemic and the responses to it drove a lot of Americans crazy. They generally agree.

The bad news is that the trend is continuing this year, as 13 News Now (WVEC in Hampton Roads, Virginia) reported Traffic deaths continue to rise in 2022.

Compared to 2021, traffic deaths are up 7%. This comes as more people get back to travel in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The second sentence of this video description hints at what passes for good news. As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported, "the fatality rate for 2021 was 1.33 fatalities per 100 million VMT, marginally down from 1.34 fatalities in 2020. While the fatality rate continued to rise in the first quarter, it declined in the other three quarters of 2021, compared to 2020." In other words, bad driving didn't get any worse last year, so the increase in deaths comes from increased driving. That's small, cold comfort given the "estimated 42,915 people [who] died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year, a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020. The projection is the highest number of fatalities since 2005 and the largest annual percentage increase in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s history. Behind each of these numbers is a life tragically lost, and a family left behind."

That's the general driving update. Follow over the jump for my personal driving report.

VOA explains Indigenous Peoples' Day plus Canadian Thanksgiving and Leif Erikson Day

Happy Indigenous People's Day, Canadian Thanksgiving, and a late Leif Erikson Day! I begin today's celebration of multiple holidays with Voice of America's Understanding Indigenous Peoples' Day.


That's a good explanation of both the history and the ideology behind the observation, which is still not a federal holiday in the same way Columbus Day is. Let's see how long that lasts.

For an explanation of another holiday's history with a lighter tone, I'm turning to Squirreled History asking and answering What Is Canadian Thanksgiving?

Today we're looking at Canadian Thanksgiving, how did it start, how is it celebrated and how is if different from its American counterpart, that's what we're here to talk about.

I might just return to Squirreled History for Wester, which I plan on celebrating this coming Sunday.

I close with National Day Calendar's National Leif Erickson Day | October 9.

National Leif Erickson Day honors the Icelandic-born explorer, Leif Erikson. The Norse explorer earns credit for bringing the first Europeans known to have set foot in North America. Leif Erikson left the European continent in 999 and landed in North America around the year 1,000.

#LeifEriksonDay

Tour a Norwegian heritage museum. Learn about Norse heritage, their exploration, and more. Dive into the story of this exploration in books, too. We suggest Who was Leif Erikson by Nico Medina or Before Columbus: The Leif Eriksson Expedition by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. Share your Norse heritage.

Hinga, dinga, durgen!

Stay tuned for National Coming Out Day tomorrow.

U.S. birth and fertility rates and life expectancy all fell in 2020 for a late World Population Day

A belated World Population Day to my readers! When I decided "Doom in the form of falling birth rates can wait" on Father's Day weekend, I thought today would be a more appropriate occasion to tackle the subject, as I did last year. On that note, I begin by sharing Bill McBride, who wrote U.S. Births decreased in 2020, "Lowest number of births since 1979" in Calculated Risk two months ago.

From the National Center for Health Statistics: Births: Provisional Data for 2020. The NCHS reports:

The provisional number of births for the United States in 2020 was 3,605,201, down 4% from the number in 2019 (3,747,540). This is the sixth consecutive year that the number of births has declined after an increase in 2014, down an average of 2% per year, and the lowest number of births since 1979.

The provisional general fertility rate (GFR) for the United States in 2020 was 55.8 births per 1,000 women aged 15–44, down 4% from the rate in 2019 (58.3), another record low for the nation. From 2014 to 2020, the GFR declined by an average of 2% per year
…
The provisional birth rate for teenagers in 2020 was 15.3 births per 1,000 females aged 15–19, down 8% from 2019 (16.7), reaching another record low for this age group. The rate has declined by 63% since 2007 (41.5), the most recent period of continued decline, and 75% since 1991, the most recent peak.

Here is a long term graph of annual U.S. births through 2020.

VOA News picked up the story two weeks later when it asked COVID Baby Bust? US Birth Rates See Biggest Drop in Nearly 50 Years.

New data show that the birth rate in the United States dropped significantly for every major race and age group during the past year. Experts not only blame uncertainty over coronavirus for part of the decline but also say the U.S. “COVID baby bust” reflects long-running trends in other developed nations. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has that story.

As I wrote about retail, the pandemic has accelerated existing trends in fertility, not caused them.

While McBride and VOA News reported the above in May, the story has continued to make news. Follow over the jump for two more video reports from local TV stations, including Detroit's own WXYZ, plus an update on falling life expectancy.

Life expectancy fell 1 year for all Americans, 3 years for African-Americans, during 2020 because of the pandemic

I opened CNBC asks 'Is The U.S. Running Out Of People?' with grim statistics and projections.

At the end of A pandemic update from Michigan as vaccinations ramp up while U.S. death toll passes 400,000, I quoted USA Today reporting "more than 3 million people died in 2020 — the deadliest year in US history" and "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."

The CDC released their preliminary figures today showing that it was that bad for African-Americans, whose life expectancy dropped nearly 3 years last year. For Hispanics, it fell almost 2 years, for whites, just under 1 year, and for all Americans combined, it declined 1 full year, as the graph below from Voice of America shows.


That's the worst single-year decline in U.S. life expectancy since I started tracking it in 2016.

Good Morning America has some of the details in US life expectancy declined sharply due to COVID-19.

Life expectancy dropped a full year as the coronavirus spread during the first half of 2020 with Black Americans suffering the most, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control.

"The greatest drop in life expectancy since World War II" — wow! That definitely places the impact of the pandemic in perspective. As for the experts being surprised, well, not all of them. The estimated drop was actually less than what Robert Anderson predicted, so I bet he wasn't. Because I paid attention to him, neither was I. I'm also not surprised that it will take until the end of July for everyone who wants a vaccination to get one — disappointed, maybe, but not surprised.

ABC News included more precise statistics in US life expectancy suffers historic drop due to COVID-19; audiences matter, since it's the same news organization as Good Morning America.

Experts are sounding the alarm about a new “hybrid” variant of the coronavirus. ABC’s Alex Presha reports.

This report tied the vaccination effort into both new varieties of the coronavirus and into how the severe cold weather is delaying distribution. The former is a longer-term threat, while the latter is a disaster in its own right.

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. Until then, stay tuned.

The effect of the pandemic on the environment for World Environment Day

Happy World Environment Day!*

June 5, every year is celebrated as World Environment Day or WED. The day is set aside to encourage awareness and action to protect the natural environment. It draws attention to environmental issues such as marine pollution, air pollution, deforestation, and wildlife crime such as poaching.

Each year, WED has a new theme that major corporations, communities, governments, and celebrities adopt to advocate environmental causes.

DW opened its video report on today with this year's theme, biodiversity, and the tag line, "time for nature." Watch and listen as the clip asks and answers What effect does the coronavirus pandemic have on pollution and climate change?

The UN has designated today 'World Environment Day' as part of efforts to encourage awareness of global heating and the need to stop climate change. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a huge reduction in pollution and greenhouse gases in some regions as economic activity is suspended to prevent the spread of the disease. But not all environmentalists are optimistic about what this could mean for the future of our planet.
Even though CO2 emissions have slowed worldwide due to coronavirus restrictions, environmentalists fear a spike in waste from protective equipment - which often ends up in the world's oceans and seas.

This video reiterates much of what I covered in Coronavirus response reducing air pollution updates climate change and the environment for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News and Pandemic effects from and on space, an April asteroid flyby, and NASA at Home for Apophis Day on Monday the 13th, but the environmental hazard from discarded PPE is a new topic. VOA News covers that in Discarded COVID Gear is a Problem for NYC.

How New York is dealing with health and environmental hazard

Here's something everyone can do to help the environment today — discard your used PPE properly. Don't litter!

Since biodiversity is today's theme and I like to close circles, I return to the original topic in Reuters The race to protect Earth's biodiversity.

Earth risks losing up to a million species due to human activities, scientists have warned, adding that saving biodiversity needs as much focus as climate change.

I agree with this sentiment. While climate change has become the predominant environmental issue of our time, my original environmental cause was biodiversity, especially protecting endangered species, so I think both are equally important. The scientists Reuters cites and I are not alone. We Don't Have Time tweeted a poll asking which crisis was most acute, climate change or biodiversity. As I am writing this, 47.2% responded both are equally acute, 27.4% responded the climate crisis, and 10.3% responded the biodiversity crisis, while 15.1% responded none of them are acute. I wondered what the people who picked that last choice thought and found out they were a bunch of climate change deniers. Why am I not surprised?

*Normally, I'd be celebrating National Donut Day today, but as much as I love food holidays, I think the times require something more serious. Besides, this is a day I should have been celebrating all along.

World Bee Day celebrates the importance of bees

Happy World Bee Day! Take it away, National Day Calendar!

World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20 each year. The purpose of the international day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem.

Every year on this day, the global public will focus on the importance of preserving honey bees and all other pollinators. People will be reminded of the significance of bees in providing for the needs of humanity.

I selected three videos that convey the importance of bees and other pollinators for my readers, beginning with On World Bee Day, Worrying Developments for the World's Pollinators from VOA News.

As the world marks Bee Day this week (May 20), it's a good opportunity to check in on these industrious insects that are responsible for about 80 percent of all pollination worldwide. But something is wrong with the world's bees and our existence might depend on figuring out why. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.

That's very much the same message about bees I've been telling on this blog for years, but it bears repeating.

Speaking of which, I present a video that places the importance of bees in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Bee Day. Unsung heroes from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Food is precious. During times of crisis, we must appreciate even more what it takes to get food to our plates. [J]ust think of bees and beekeepers. Most of the world’s vital food crops depend upon bees and other pollinators, giving us a diversity in our diets of quality fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Without them our gardens would not flourish, plant diversity would decrease, and we would miss the sweetness of honey. Yet, our tiny heroes are under threat from intensive agriculture, habitat loss, improper use of pesticides and climate change. Beekeepers are working to protect them. Contributing to our food and nutrition security, safeguarding biodiversity and providing livelihoods for millions.

To all these unsung heroes, we say…Thank you!

That reiterates the threats to bees I've been listing on my blog for most of the past ten years, but it does it well and updates it for our current situation. That alone makes it worth embedding. It helps that the United Nations established World Bee Day, so including a U.N. video is only proper.

Speaking of proper, I conclude today's post with a video from The Royal Family Channel: Duchess of Cornwall Marks World Bee Day as First President of Bees for Development.

The Duchess of Cornwall has sent a message to mark World Bee Day, in her capacity as newly named president of Bees for Development.

Camilla keeps nine hives herself and “every year sells the honey from her hives for charity,” a statement from Clarence House reads.

Bees For Development is a charity that aims to use beekeeping as a way to transform people’s lives.

Last year Her Royal Highness attended the Bees For Development Garden Party at Marlborough House in London.
...
Report by Gianluca Avagnina.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is not my favorite Royal — that's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex — but her being a beekeeper makes her an appropriate celebrity spokesperson for the cause. It makes me like her a little bit more.

I will do this all over again for World Honey Bee Day in August with updates on threats facing bees, such as "murder hornets," in between. Stay tuned.

Italian military providing inspiration during coronavirus lockdown for The Ides of March

Beware The Ides of March!  To mark today, I was going to combine my usual theme of dread in the Med(iterranean) with my traditional Sunday entertainment feature by showing Italians singing to cheer themselves during their country's lockdown, but Paul W. at You Might Notice A Tread beat me to it.  No need for me to do that now when I can just refer my readers to his blog.

Instead, I will show something else inspiring, the Italian military putting on displays to bolster the morale of Italy's citizens.  I begin with VOA News showing Italian Paratrooper Supports Italy's COVID-19 Fight With Skydive.

An Italian army paratrooper dropped into Rome trailing a giant Italian flag, Friday, March 13, to express solidarity with the country as it is in lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Next, Mark 1333 uploaded a clip from BBC News showing Coronavirus (Covid-19) Italian air force display for Italy's people.

The Italian air force put on this display for Italy's people in unity and solidarity, as the country is in lock down.

I'd prefer to embed an official clip from BBC News, but there doesn't seem to be one.  Darn.  I hope this clip survives.  Even more important, I hope Italy gets out of lockdown soon and that the rest of the world, including the U.S., takes the example of Italy as a cautionary tale.

Michael Bloomberg just officially entered nomination contest and is already second in media spending

Michael Bloomberg has officially entered the Democratic presidential nomination contest.  VOA News reports in Billionaire Investor Joins Democratic Presidential Race.

The crowded field of U.S. Democratic presidential hopefuls added a new name this week, when former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially joined the race on Sunday. VOA's Ardita Dunellari reports the 77-year old billionaire investor and philanthropist has name recognition and millions of dollars of his own fortune for campaign spending.

As Larry Sabato mentioned, Bloomberg has already spent $37 million on media buys within days of declaring his candidacy.  That figure places him second in campaign media spending behind only Tom Steyer.  CBS News pointed that out in Billionaires lead presidential candidates in ad spending.

2020 Democratic presidential candidates Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg, both multi-billionaires, are leading all of their competitors in ad spending with a combined total of nearly $90 million. President Trump is in third place for his reelection bid. Axios media reporter Sara Fischer joined CBSN to break down the data and explain what it means for the race to the White House.

Steyer was able to convince enough people in Iowa and New Hampshire to contribute money and pick him in polls to make the October and November Democratic debates, so maybe Bloomberg can raise his poll numbers up high enough to qualify.  However, as I noted in SNL has fun with impeachment hearings and Democratic debate, he's not taking any donations, which means he won't qualify for debates as long as that's a criterion.  Let's see how well that works out for him.

VOA News and WFTX-TV report on World Giraffe Day for the Summer Solstice

Happy World Giraffe Day!  I begin this year's observance by noting that the day has finally appeared at National Day Calendar.

World Giraffe Day is an annual event initiated by Giraffe Conservation Federation to celebrate the longest-necked animal on the longest day of the year.

It’s estimated there are 111,000 giraffes in the world. In some areas, traditionally regarded as prime giraffe habitat, numbers have dropped by 95%.

Giraffe facts:

• Giraffes are typically 14 to 20 feet tall.
• Giraffes weigh between 1,600 and 3,000 pounds
• A full-grown giraffe eats more than 100 lb of leaves and twigs a day.
• Giraffes feed from the tops of trees, using their tongues and lips to pull off leaves.
• Giraffe tongues are long, reaching around 20–21 in
• Giraffes sleep less than two hours a day. In general, they sleep with their feet tucked under them and their head resting on their hindquarters, but they can also sleep for short periods standing up
• Giraffe horns are not horns. They are ossicones.No one seems to know what they are for. The horns may help males intimidate one another during mating season, or they may be a sexually selected characteristic (that is, males with more impressive ossicones may be more attractive to females). It’s possible the ossicones may even help to dissipate heat in the blazing African sun.

Enough facts and text.  Voice of America AKA VOA News uploaded a video last year showing efforts to save the giraffe in World Giraffe Day Brings Attention to Their Declining Numbers.

June 21st is World Giraffe Day, celebrating the iconic long-necked African animal. But giraffe populations have been decreasing at a rapid pace, and researchers warn they could become extinct in the near future. In northern Kenya, a conservation program is working to protect the native reticulated giraffe, known for its distinctive striped patterns. VOA's Deborah Block has more.

That's an example of what's going in in Africa to save the animals.  Follow over the jump for another example of how the one to four species of giraffes (yes, there is some controversy over the diversity of extant giraffes) are being preserved here in the U.S.

Food for Juneteenth and a drink for National Martini Day

Last year, I wished "Happy Juneteenth to the cast and crew of 'Black Panther'" on National Martini Day.  This year, instead of being an aside, I wish to make Juneteenth the main event.  To that end, I'm sharing Juneteenth – A Day to Reflect on the History and Legacy of Slavery in the US from VOA News.

On June 19, 1865, enslaved men and women in Texas finally learned that they were free — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in rebelling states. Every June 19th since, African Americans across the nation have held celebrations commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. VOA’s Jesusemen Oni has more.

Yes, the U.S. House of Representatives is holding a hearing on reparations today.  That should be interesting and I plan on following up on it later this week or early next week.

Enough serious business.  How about a celebration?  Thrillist Celebrates Juneteenth by sharing The Best Foods To Celebrate Juneteenth With.

July 4 isn't the only Independence Day worth celebrating in America. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, is celebrated all over America for the emancipation from slavery in the United States that occurred on June 19, 1865. Families across the country celebrate by breaking out their barbecues and cooking up some of their favorite bites. Here at Thrillist, we take a look at all the foods that are dished out and how you can celebrate as well.

Yum.  Too bad I'm a diabetic and can't eat most of it.  That written, all of you who can eat these foods, enjoy!


Since it's also National Martini Day, I'm sharing the most recent martini recipe from Tipsy Bartender, the Pink Starburst Martini.

This drink tastes just like a pink starburst. Watch as Kendra helps me make this one!

Cheers and drink responsibly!

By the way, this is the first of a string of holidays.  Tomorrow is American Eagle Day and National Seashell Day and the day after tomorrow is World Giraffe Day and the Summer Solstice.  Stay tuned for more holiday celebrations on this blog!

Trump Administration designating Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization updates 'U.S. leaving Iran nuclear agreement pushes U.S. oil price above $70 plus driving update for May 2018: Pearl,' a top post of the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

When I wrote "I need you to stick around to the next post in the series, which would most likely be about the intersection between foreign policy and the economy.  Trade policy, anyone?" to close The 2018-2019 flu season is experiencing a second wave, an update to 'Flu killed 80,000 Americans last year, including 183 children, the CDC reported, so get a a flu shot', I though I would be embedding a John Oliver video.  Instead, the intervening week provided me a story even more on topic for updating U.S. leaving Iran nuclear agreement pushes U.S. oil price above $70 plus driving update for May 2018: Pearl, the sixth most read entry of the eighth year of this blog.  Watch VOA News report Iran's Revolutionary Guard Joins Hezbollah, IS, al-Qaida On US Terror List.

The Trump administration announced Monday that it is designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Quds Force as a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran's military is joining the list of terrorist groups it has been sponsoring. Labeling the IRGC a terrorist organization will allow the United States to impose further sanctions on Iran and cripple the businesses that finance the military. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports.

Treat this as an official news release from the U.S. Government, as VOA stands for Voice of America, a government funded news service intended for foreign consumption.

As someone who praised the Iran nuclear deal and thought (and still thinks) leaving it was a bad decision, I looked for a critical response and found it in CBS News' "Unprecedented" move to label Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group.

The Trump administration is ramping up its maximum pressure campaign against Tehran as it has moved to designate the elite Iranian military force as a terrorist group. CBS News State Department reporter Christina Ruffini joins CBSN with more.

This could increase the risk for U.S. troops in an already dangerous region, especially after Iran retaliated by labeling U.S. Central Command a terrorist organization.  It could also increase tensions enough to start a war, something I started worrying about on this blog back in 2011.  I don't think that will happen, but as I wrote eight years ago, stranger things have happened.

It turns out that this story has an angle about Trump's corruption and hypocrisy.  The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC revisted that in Iran Military Unit's New Terror Label Ignores Past Donald Trump Business.

Rachel Maddow revisits the past reporting by the New Yorker's Adam Davidson on Donald Trump's recent business relationship with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and the irony of the Trump administration's new declaration that doing business with the Revolutionary Guard is "bankrolling terrorism."

"Orchid-shaped" — now that's a good euphemism.  At least the building didn't have rose-colored glass.  That would have been too much.

Follow over the jump for how this entry and another on the U.S. leaving the Iran Nuclear Agreement got their page views.

Happy Year of the Earth Pig!

Happy Lunar New Year!  So long Year of the Earth Dog.  Welcome the Year of the Earth Pig!  I begin the festivities with Syracuse.com explaining Chinese New Year: The Year of the Pig.

Chinese New Year is February 5, 2019. It's the first year of the earth pig since 1959.

What is the Year of the Pig? What sign are you?

Learn more about the 12 animals and the five elements that make up the Chinese Zodiac, as well as what type of personality you have based on astrology.

Video by Christa Lemczak. Music: "Under Oriental Skies" by Geoff Harvey

This is a special year for me, as I wrote in Earth Signs six years ago.

I was born in the year of the Earth Pig. I joke about this by calling myself an aardvark, which is Afrikaans for "earth pig."

It's cool that I've returned to the same exact sign that I was born under.  However, neither my readers nor I should take the astrology seriously as "I consider all of this harmless but fun nonsense that I'm presenting for entertainment purposes only."

Speaking of entertainment, the Voice of America uploaded Lunar New Year Celebrated in the US yesterday.  I found it both fun and educational.  I hope my readers do, too.


It's time to conclude this post with the generic greetings I've recycled many times over.

Mandarin: Gong Xi Fa Cai/Xin Nian Kuai Le

Cantonese: Kung Hei Fat Choi

Hokkien (Fujian/Taiwanese): Kiong Hee Huat Tsai/Sin Ni khòai lok

Source

Simplified Chinese: 恭喜发财 新年快乐

Traditional Chinese: 恭喜發財 新年快樂

Source

Ten years ago, we were partying like it was 1929. Are we about to do it again?

I concluded Diversity and fantasy in comedy nominees at the 2018 Primetime Emmy Awards by telling my readers that I would "observe the 10th anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, when we were partying like it was 1929."

I begin with an examination of the collapse of Lehmann Brothers a decade ago from VOA News reporting Ten Years After the Financial Crisis: What Happened, What We've Learned.

It will be 10 years this week since the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers, one of the casualties of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. The ripple effects sent the global economy into a tailspin and brought on the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo takes a look at the impact of that turbulent economic period and the lessons learned a decade later.

That's actually a pretty good summary of the crisis from an elite perspective.  For what it looked like at ground level, I recommend US: Pains of the financial crisis still felt 10 years on by Al Jazeera English.

Saturday will have been a decade since the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank triggered a global recession. While the crisis played out on Wall Street and in government ministries, its roots lay in small towns and cities across the US, where families pursuing the so-called "American Dream" of home ownership fell victim to unscrupulous banks and predatory lending schemes. While Wall Street and the banks may have recovered, many Americans are finding their road to recovery longer and more difficult. Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Perris, California.

Thirty years ago, I lived just over the county line to the west of Perris, so this story literally hits close to home.  Speaking of which, I was fortunate to have gotten out of the housing market just in time, as I wrote in 2014.

The news on the radio in June 2005 trumpeted record home sales and prices.  I took it as a sign of the market top I'd been looking for since 2001 and immediately drove to the nearest real estate office to my home in the Irish Hills of Michigan and listed my house for sale.  The house sold in April 2006 and closed in May 2006, just as the bottom was about to fall out.
...
The result was that I got out of the market just in time...then rented from 2006 until now, eight years of riding the real estate market down by staying out of it.

It wasn't all luck.  I knew the housing bubble would pop, but I had no idea how big the explosion would be.  It ended up being far worse than I expected.

Both of the above looked back at the start of the Great Recession and how it led up to today.  What about the future?  MSNBC did that in 10 Years After The Lehman Brothers Collapse, Here’s Where We Stand | Velshi & Ruhle.

10 years ago this week, Lehman Brothers collapsed, marking the largest domino to fall leading to the financial disaster of 2008. Stephanie Ruhle discusses whether or not anything has changed and if we could end up making the same mistake. Weighing in: Axios Chief Financial Correspondent Felix Salmon, Princeton Professor Eddie Glaude and the Editor-and-Chief of American Consequences, PJ O’Rourke.

Student loan debt is indeed a problem, one that I've mentioned only once on this blog thanks to Benie Sanders campaigning on the issue in Ann Arbor two years ago.  However, I doubt it will send the economy into recession the way the housing bust did in 2007-2008, as the value of housing declining contributed to reduced consumption then caused a financial crisis, which made the recession worse.  That's because the value of a college education will not decline before a recession, so that won't drag down the valuation of the debt as an asset, putting strain on the financial system and causing a panic to start a recession.  Instead, the causality will go the other way; the recession will hit first, causing people to lose their jobs and make them unable to pay.  That will cause a debt crisis in the financial system.  At least banks can't foreclose on and repossess people's educations, so the students will still have them, unlike all the people who lost their homes, although that's small consolation to the graduate whose increased earnings from their education have gone to paying off the debt to get their education.  That alone is reducing consumption and home ownership, slowing down the economy.

I conclude by observing that this is a good time to update the recession call I made in The tax bill and the U.S. economy in 2018 and beyond.  I thought then that the U.S. would go into recession by the end of this year.  That's not going to happen.  It looks like the tax bill has stimulated the economy enough that it will continue expanding into next year.  However, the next recession is still coming.  Based on New Deal Democrat's analysis at Seeking Alpha, that should happen in the second half of next year, so I'm moving my recession call to between July and December 2019.  The bad news is that my readers and I may not know until the middle of 2020.  The good news is that it would be perfectly timed to screw up Trump's re-election, should he last that long, or Pence's should he not.  I can live with that.

March for Science 2018

Today is the March for Science 2.0.  I won't be participating because I have a field trip for my geology class scheduled today.  The field trip will include a lot of walking, so I'll be marching for science in a different way.*

I have three videos on the demonstration with the first and most general from Wochit Politics: March For Science Returns Saturday In 200 Cities.

Saturday marks the second annual March for Science in 200-plus locations around the world. The March for Science began last year in response to the Trump administration's handling of science.
“Given that last year it was the early months of the Trump administration, there was more anxiety there. But the ultimate goals of building a community of science advocates and influencing policy with science are still the driving forces” [said] David Kanter, organizer of the New York City march.
Last year, thousands marched in hundreds of cities.
“Scientists have always been politically active, even when they don’t recognize it as such. Science has a grassroots movement that most of us recognize now." Aaron Huertas, a leader of the March.

Voice of America News has a more focused report in Rough Year in Science Policy Brings Researchers Back to March.

On Saturday, researchers who say they are fed up with politicians ignoring science will once again take to the streets in Washington and hundreds of cities around the world. The second March for Science takes place after a turbulent year in science policy under the Trump administration. VOA's Steve Baragona has more.

That's surprisingly optimistic, although it is from an information organ of the U.S. Government; they might have reason to be more positive than is warranted.

To balance it out, here is a video from The Nature Conservancy promoting the March for Science.

March with The Nature Conservancy at one of the many marches happening across the world.
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From rivers that give us water to lands that nourish our bodies. And when we are guided by science, we have the tools to ensure that people and nature don’t just survive together, they thrive.

I'd love to, but I have a previous engagement.  May at least some of my readers march in my place.

This won't be the only protest this weekend.  Tomorrow is the day of the Tax March.  Resist!

*That trip may be cancelled because of a winter storm (Xanto, according to The Weather Channel), that is likely to bring freezing rain over much of the state, which means I still won't march.

Butterflies: Student Sustainability Video Festival 68

I'm concluding this installment of the series with some natural beauty in captivity, Exhibit Highlights Butterfly's Beauty, Diversity, Value to Ecosystem from Voice of America (VOA) News.

As spring makes its slow return to the hemisphere, the Smithsonian Institution's Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C., is marking the occasion with one of its most popular exhibits - the Live Butterfly Pavilion. Now in its fifth year, the Pavilion is a warm, lush enclosure filled with beautiful flowering plants, in which visitors interact with hundreds of live butterflies, representing species from around the world. As VOA's Julie Taboh discovered, it's an exhilarating experience.

I write a lot about bees, but Monarch butterflies are in trouble, too, as I've mentioned once.  Perhaps I should write more about their plight.

The Student Sustainability Video Festival will return in May or August.  Until then, Crazy Eddie's Motie News will resume its regular programming, which will likely be about entertainment awards shows and coping with the election of Donald Trump.  Stay tuned.

Drink to Chernobyl 30 years later

I introduced Drink to nuclear reactors on the anniversary of Three Mile Island by noting the proximity on the calendar of the three most famous nuclear disasters.

March is a good month for this drink.  Fukushima happened on March 11, 2011, and Three Mile Island happened on March 28, 1979.  As for Chernobyl, that has to wait until next month, when April 26 will be the 30th anniversary of the disaster.

That was yesterday.  I then concluded with this program note.

I already have an appropriate drink selected for the 30th anniversary of Chernobyl...

With that introduction, I'll leave the serious observations of yesterday's anniversary over the jump and begin with the drink humor from Tipsy Bartender: How to make the Nuclear Rainbow.

It's a beautiful drink and it's very potent....THE NUCLEAR RAINBOW! This is a layered cocktail with a gorgeous array of colors. This drink is all about presentation and perfect for impressing your friends with your awesome bartending skills! The layering effect takes some practice so watch and learn how to do it successfully. Layering is a great skill to have in your repertoire and if you can master it you'll be able to make all kinds of badass cocktails like this one!
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NUCLEAR RAINBOW
1oz Melon Liqueur
1oz Sweet & Sour
1oz Grenadine
1oz Blue Curacao
1oz Bacardi 151

I picked this drink because of the colors seen from the open reactor core.

A shimmering plume of rainbow-colored light shot straight up, lighting the sky for miles. According to our guide, some residents rushed closer to watch the exploding reactor — unaware of the danger — later claiming it was the most beautiful thing they’d ever seen.

On that note, follow over the jump for more serious videos about the disaster.