A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
"Patches" with its soaring vocals and soulful energy, and its sad and empathetic storyline about a farmboy from Alabama being given a mission by his dying father, has always been a favourite for us. Sung by the late Clarence Carter - who sadly died just last month, aged 90 - it was written by lead singer of "Chairmen of the Board" General Johnson along with Ron Dunbar in 1970, before Carter turned it in to a blues hit.
We are using it for a much more mundane topic than the affliction of southern rural poverty on a family, which is to reflect on Trump's disastrous ($14m and counting) renovation attempts of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC, which will now not be complete in time for the anniversary celebrations. The story has travelled around the world and prompted lots of hilarious online memes and commentaries, being such an accessible and colourful microcosm of his presidency and its impact.
One of my favorite versions of "Kodachrome" is from Simon and Garfunkle concert in Central Park, where they mashed it up with "Maybellene". This song parody turns it into "Algae Foam" to continue making fun of Donald Trump's Reflecting Pool debacle.
The Reflecting Pool hasn't made Patrick Fitzgerald forget about the EpsteinFiles.
That's a wrap for today's musical parody post. Stay tuned for InternationalAsteroidDay, the younger but paradoxically more established version of Apophis Day, to close June, and Canada Day to begin July.
Josh Johnson dives into the Scottish takeover of Miami for the World Cup, the flock of tourists visiting D.C.'s bright green reflecting pool, Trump’s security escalation to catch possible pool “vandals,” and whether Trump's pool disaster is karma for trashing Biden and Obama’s previous reflecting pool projects. Plus, conservative media can’t stop talking about the pool, while Michael Kosta can’t stop dreaming about drinking it.
Everything Trump touches dies, including the Reflecting Pool. Then he blames someone else.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for a particularly doomy preview of the drum corps season, which begins tomorrow.
A federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump from officially renaming the Kennedy Center. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper found the board did not have the authority to rename the facility on its own.
Rep. Joyce Beatty told WUSA9 that she believes monuments are for the people.
I agree with the first woman interviewed; Pervert Hoover wants to leave his mark on Washington, D.C. like he has on New York City, any way he can. I've never written it here before, but I've been saying for decades that he has an edifice complex. That the term was originally invented to describe Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos makes it even more authoritarian.
A weekly Kennedy Center protest turned into a celebration after a judge ruled the president can’t name the institution after himself and close it for two years. News4’s Jackie Bensen reports.
HappyFlagDay! I'm taking a break from the stateofDC statehood, the theme of the past six years, to examine the history of the U.S. flag, beginning with The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered's Old Glory.*
On September 14th, 1814, Francis Scott Key was awake in the early morning when the sun began rising, revealing clearly the still-flying American flag above Fort McHenry. It was that morning that he began writing the poem that is now so well-known throughout the United States, "The Star Spangled Banner". The story of the Flag of the United States of America is history that deserves to be remembered.
Yes, it is, and, thanks to The History Guy, I'm glad I got around to remembering it.
In honor of the 245th anniversary of the Continental Congress adopting the Stars and Stripes as the national flag, "The Commandant's Own" presents John Philips Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever!
Join us in this thought-provoking video as we delve into the crucial question of whether Washington, D.C. should become a state. Advocates for statehood put forth compelling arguments, and we explore the reasons behind their call for change.
Discover how the residents of Washington, D.C. lack voting representation in the U.S. Congress, despite paying federal taxes and serving in the military. Explore the concept of "taxation without representation" and its historical significance, as we delve into the core democratic principles that underpin this issue.
Explore the population size of Washington, D.C., which surpasses certain existing states, and the implications of granting statehood based on its population. Dive into the potential benefits that statehood could bring, such as full congressional representation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, ensuring that the citizens of Washington, D.C. have a voice and equal participation in the democratic process.
Uncover the current challenges faced by Washington, D.C., including limited autonomy and dependence on congressional approval for local decisions. Learn how statehood would empower Washington, D.C. with greater self-governance, allowing its residents to shape their own destiny without undue interference from the federal government.
Furthermore, we explore the constitutional aspects surrounding statehood, analyzing the language of the Constitution and the potential interpretations that support the notion of Washington, D.C. becoming a state.
I've become familiar with Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s Delegate to the House of Representatives, since I've been covering this issue, but this is the first I've heard of D.C.'s shadow Senator Paul Strauss. I count that as learning something new, and it's always a good day when I learn something new.
On Friday, Rep. Andy Ogles, (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill to repeal the D.C. Home Rule Act. Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) are co-sponsoring the bill.
The Home Rule Act was signed into law in 1973 by President Richard Nixon and went into effect in 1975.
Sigh. Fortunately, repealing home rule would be just as difficult under the current Senate and President as D.C. statehood would be given the current Congress. That might not be the case if Republicans retake the Senate and Hoover Cleveland returns to the White House. That's all the more reason to prevent both from happening.
I plan on revisiting the related issue of statehood for Puerto Rico on National Piña Colada Day next month. Stay tuned.
Camden County, New Jersey's Jersey Surf perform a segment from the corps' #DCI2023 production, "Express Yourself," during the 2023 DCI World Championships hosted August 10-12 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Camden County, NJ | 23rd Place | 75.488
By coincidence, this happened to be a great selection for Pride Month.
Normally, I'd continue with the Garden State's other DCI corps, the Raiders, but New Jersey is such a great state for all-age corps that I'm embedding 2022 DCA World Championships | Hawthorne Caballeros (World Class) - Timeless from Drum Corps Associates (DCA) next. Don't worry, I'll get to the Raiders.
Presenting selected clips from their 2022 Production "Timeless" in partnership with Box5 Media.
The Caballeros perform at the 2023 Plymouth Show part of the Americas Hometown Thanksgiving Celebrations in Plymouth Ma.
I count this as a semi-official upload. Also, the sound of late 20th Century drum corps lives on!
I wrote above that I would get to the Raiders, so here is 31st Raiders 2023 from Drum Corps Library.
I enjoyed this show concept and found the performance fun!
Since this is an unofficial upload, it may not last long, so enjoy it while it lasts. I just hope the account persists until Canada Day so that I can use the videos of Les Stentors for this year's drum corps Canada Day to begin July.
Follow over the jump for the marching bands from the District of Columbia and the rest of today's primary states, including an encore from the Rutgers band.
By March 11, 2020, there were more than 118,000 cases and 4,291 worldwide deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Four years later, 7News is reflecting on how the pandemic impacted local communities.
That's a graphic and terrifying retrospective of how fast the disease spread, how much it disrupted everyday life, and how that felt to everyone affected. I had half-forgotten all of that, but realized how important it was to be reminded. The last time I felt like that was watching the opening of season 2 of The Morning Show, when my reaction was "You poor people. You have no idea what you're in for."
NYC's health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan shares the progress we have made since COVID hit our nation four years ago.
That's good news and bad news. The good news is that we are better able to protect ourselves against COVID-19. The bad news is that people have become more vaccine-skeptical, not only about the COVID-19 vaccines, but about the MMR vaccine as well. That's led to a measles outbreak. WDIV talks about all of the above in 4 years of COVID: Michigan's top doctor on COVID today, measles & more.
I live in Metro Detroit, so of course I'd include a local report when I can find a good one, even if it was about bad news.
Polls show a big difference between what Americans think of President Biden’s economy compared to what we had under Donald Trump. Now the GOP is reminding everyone what life was like four years ago - when the COVID pandemic transformed our country. Molly Jong-Fast, Maya Wiley, Christine Romans, and Mary Harris discuss with Stephanie Ruhle on this week’s Nightcap.
Are you better off now than you were four years ago? No? Really? Feelings are not facts!
Senator Tom Carper announced he's introducing a bill to grant statehood to the nation's capital.
The circumstances are even less favorable than during the previous two sessions of Congress, when Democrats controlled the House and D.C. Statehood passed that chamber only to be filibustered in the Senate. Still, as Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton pointed out, that doesn't make the effort impossible or less worthy.
“We’ve got to keep democracy growing, otherwise we’re constantly going to be lapsing back into these authoritarianism impulses that Donald Trump and his Party have unleashed upon us,” says Rep. Jamie Raskin on giving statehood to Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. as an "offensive" response to Jan. 6.
Well said, Congressman. That's both a reason I agree with and a good foreshadowing for a related topic, Puerto Rican statehood, on Piña Colada Day next month. Stay tuned.
Elliot Williams, CNN legal commentator and baker extraordinaire, argues that if any ingredient in a cake is underrepresented, the whole thing might literally fall apart. With all of Washington, DC, residents lacking representation, what does that mean for American democracy?
Mmm, cake!
The ACLU of the District of Columbia put together a more serious debunking of arguments against D.C. statehood and a defense of the proposal before Congress in D.C. Statehood IS Constitutional...Here's Why.
Opponents may try to tell you that it is unconstitutional to grant statehood to D.C. This is a myth. This short video walks you through it.
Who am I to argue with the smart lawyers of the ACLU?
Statehood, which has long been the dream of many residents in Washington, is once again being debated for the nation’s capital, and another Flag Day is upon us.
If it turns out statehood is in the cards, the new U.S. flag could look like the banner Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled two years ago, when she planted 140 of them on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the U.S. Capitol ahead of a congressional hearing on statehood.
It has three horizontal rows with nine stars, three horizontal rows with eight stars and the blessing of Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., who has — as she has done every year since she took office in 1991 — introduced a D.C. statehood measure.
“I defy you to find a flag that looks all that different from the flag we had when there were 48 states,” Norton said. “Simply adding a star will not have a cosmic change on the flag.”
What did she think of Bowser’s flag?
“I loved it,” Norton said, laughing. “But it was not because the flag stood out in any way.”
“People are going to have to buy new flags,” said D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, describing an alternate version of the American flag that has 51 stars.
The extra star, symbolizing her decades-long quest to make the District of Columbia a U.S. state, is hard to notice.
“If you look at it you won’t see much difference,” the Democrat told CQ Roll Call during an interview back in February. “I think I like that, even as I extol, and look forward to, having that extra star.”
In other words, we'd hardly even notice the new flags.
Follow over the jump for two videos describing the cases for and against D.C. statehood.
Seth takes a closer look at House Democrats voting to admit Washington D.C. as the 51st state while Republicans freak out about everything from voting rights to the Green New Deal.
Not only does this clip feature D.C. statehood, which has been a popular topic of mine for four years running, but it begins with AOC facing off against Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG), who has her own top entry that I'll examine over the jump.
Washington, DC is closer than ever to becoming a state. Could it actually happen?
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On June 26, 2020, the US House of Representatives voted to make America’s capital city, Washington, DC, the country’s 51st state. It was a historic vote, and the closest the country has come to adding a new state in over 60 years. But it was also, for the time being, completely symbolic. Because at least in 2020, DC has no chance of actually becoming a state.
That June 26 vote was almost entirely along party lines; Democrats mostly voted in favor of DC statehood, and Republicans against it. That’s because making DC a state would give the Democrats additional seats in Congress, potentially affecting the balance of power between the parties. It’s why President Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate have both promised to strike down any bid for DC statehood. And in fact, statehood in the US has always been a political issue. In the past, the US has often added states in pairs to preserve the political balance. Admitting a new state on its own has happened, but it’s unusual.
But the case for DC statehood is strong: The city has a similar population to several states, its hundreds of thousands of residents lack any say in national lawmaking, and its local government is uniquely vulnerable to being strong-armed by Congress and the federal government. Simply put, the laws that created the district did not anticipate that it would one day be a major city. And while in 1993, the last time Congress voted on DC statehood, the Democratic-controlled House failed to pass it, today’s Democratic Party is increasingly on board with it. If 2020’s election puts the Democrats in full control of the federal government, America might actually get its 51st state.
The situation has changed since last year, as Democrats have control, however slim, over both houses of Congress and the Presidency, but that still may not be enough for Washington D.C. to become Douglass Commonwealth. Mitch McConnell and the other Republicans in the U.S. Senate are still opposed. Without filibusterreform, it still won't pass. Sigh.
Follow over the jump for two top posts from last year about D.C. statehood and MTG.
Yes, Broken Peach: Singing Spanish goths and witches for Halloween earned the second most raw page views last year of any post I have ever written for this blog with ~3,330. It rated lower according to default page views, earning ~1,660 during the tenth year of this blog to rank eighth by this measure. The entry also broke into the all-time top 20 according to raw page views with ~7,720 to rank 12th that way, but didn't rate according to the default page views. Maybe next year.
I am going into more detail about how the post climbed up the rankings over the jump, but I celebrating the occassion first by embedding two of Broken Peach's Halloween videos. The first is a live reprise of the second video in the original post, Broken Peach - I Put A Spell On You (TV Peachformance).
It looks like there's another series of Halloween TV Peachformances waiting to be posted. If they are by this Halloween, I'll post them. If not, I'll be recycling the above videos along with some of their other new videos of their old songs to share along with whatever the band's Halloween special is this year. As I'm fond of writing, I'm a good environmentalist so I conserve my resources.
Follow over the jump for details of how this post and other holiday entries earned their page views.
When the NFL season resumes, I might return to this well, as "Last Week Tonight" has a clip about the Washington pro football franchise, which will no longer go by their offensive name. Stay tuned.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife donating $4 billion to pandemic relief organizations.
I thought there was something missing from "Weekend Update" when I put together Sunday's entry. Now I know what it was.
Sunday, The New York Times reported that the Cleveland Indians would be changing their nickname, six months after that had already been known.
...
The NYT story said the baseball team would make a formal announcement this week about changing its name, but for the 2021 season it would still use it and current uniforms, while deciding on a new moniker.
Based on the NYT story, many other news organizations, in print, television and social media, also reported for the first time that the Indians were changing their name.
In fact, that had been known since July 2020. Shortly after the Washington Football Team announced it would no longer be using the name “Redskins”, that same month, the Indians announced they were considering dropping their controversial name, just as they had already dropped their even more controversial mascot logo “Chief Wahoo” the year before.
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Prompted by the NYT story, the Cleveland Indians officially released a statement Monday that they would be selecting a new name, and significantly, that it would have no Native American connections. Which rules out “Tribe.”
Unfortunately, "Tribe" is the first choice with fans, as seen in the graphic below from WKBN, which conducted a poll of its readers.
CGTN America presented a good narrated summary. The Associated Press went with a different approaching, letting the participants in the debate speak for themselves in House approves DC statehood, Senate opposed.
The Democratic-controlled House approved a bill Friday to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, but the bill faces insurmountable opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate.
This is encouraging, as this is the first time the House of Representatives voted in favor of D.C. statehood. However, Mitch McConnell calls statehood for both Puerto Rico and D.C. "socialism" and vows not to even bring it up for a vote. Even if he did, it would almost certainly lose in the Senate. Sigh. Still, progress. Until then, I'm repeating what I wrote last week.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, weighs in on the White House's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Germany and why she says D.C. deserves its statehood.
Historically, territorial status has been granted as a precursor to statehood, yet 1959 was the last time any stars were added to Old Glory.
The United States controls five inhabited territories. While their citizens are American, their homes are not considered states — but someday they could be. Watch as CQ Roll Call explains the statehood process.
In what seems like a lifetime ago — February — D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton attended trivia night at a crowded local brewery, celebrating the House Oversight Committee’s approval of a bill to make the District of Columbia the 51st state.
Just a few long weeks later, that brewery is selling beer only online for delivery or pickup. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, non-essential D.C. businesses have shut down, the Metro is running reduced service, and nine district residents have died as of Sunday night.
Late last week Congress passed a coronavirus relief package that provides millions less in funding to D.C. than states, because the district was grouped with federal territories rather than states.
“This is why you’ve seen me pressing so hard for statehood for the District of Columbia,” Holmes Norton told CQ Roll Call in a video interview Thursday.
“Hear me, I’m going to get it fixed in the next bill, and mind you, there is going to be a next coronavirus bill,” Holmes Norton said.
With D.C.’s non-statehood status affecting its access to emergency funding, CQ Roll Call took a look at where Holmes Norton’s decades-long push for statehood lies, including Republicans’ myriad Constitutional objections to making the nation’s capital a state.
Yes, every issue has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, Mitch McConnell calling statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico "socialism" made a cameo in this video, tying the two together and connecting the video to the reason I'm writing this post today.
Nicole tells us about Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that could become America's 51 state. She travels to Washington D.C. where she meets Pedro Pierluisi, the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico. Mr. Pierluisi serves in the U.S. House of Representatives. It's his job to make sure Puerto Rico's interests are represented in our government.
I wish both Eleanor Holmes Norton and Pedro Pierluisi luck in obtaining statehood for their home jurisdictions. It looks like they'll need it.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that statehood for Washington DC and Puerto Rico is "socialism".
I might call McConnell a turtle, but I wouldn't call him "mush-brained." The man knows exactly what he's doing and why.
It's not just statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. that McConnell is obstructing in the name of stopping "socialism." It's a whole host of bills passed by the House, some with bipartisan support that would likely pass. CNN examined some of them in This is why Mitch McConnell calls himself the 'Grim Reaper'.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calls himself the "Grim Reaper," vowing to kill whichever bill that he labels as socialist legislation, including a bill that pushes for election security. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reports.
Ugh. It's enough to drive one to drink. Fortunately, Tipsy Bartender posted a video just a few weeks ago that has the perfect drink for today, Piña Colada Pineapple Keg.
It's the Pineapple Keg filled with a potent Pina Colada.
I'm not through with national days celebrating cocktails from Caribbean island nations, as tomorrow is National Mojito Day. Stay tuned and stay tipsy!
That's good news for the residents of the nation's capital. However, it may not come to pass because of opposition in the Senate and the possibility that it might take a constitutional amendment to allow it to become a state. WUSA had a debate of sorts about those very issues earlier this month, beginning with Rep. Jamie Raskin: Puerto Rico could be key to DC getting statehood.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) says including DC and Puerto Rico should both become states.
House Majority Leader and Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer joined DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton in the fight for DC Statehood today. He officially signed on as a co-sponsor for HR-51 which would make DC the 51st state and give residents a vote in Congress. Delegate Norton and Roger Pilon of the Cato Institute go Off Script on the chances of statehood becoming a reality.
I'm on the side of Raskin, Hoyer, and Norton, as I think the residents of Washington, D.C. deserve equal self-government. I'm sure that Pilon is right about how the federal district is governed and am afraid that he might also be right about the majority of Americans or at least their elected representatives may not be in favor of shrinking the district to make a state possible. Sigh.
Follow over the jump for more on Raskin's proposal that Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico be admitted together.
Happy Flashback Friday! As I suggested yesterday, today's retrospective is about posts considering the possibility of statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. That's because the fourth most read entry of the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News was Vox on Puerto Rico statehood and John Oliver on territories, posted February 3, 2018, with 8343 raw page views, 8273 according to the raw counter. It was also the fourth most read entry of all time as of March 20, 2018, the third most read entry actually posted during the seventh year of this blog, and the most read entry of February 2018.
Puerto Rico's current relationship to the United States is as complicated as its past relationship with the United States. Produced by Paul Myers with Adam Howard.
Bee at least managed to make the debate among all the positions entertaining even more than it was informative.
Puerto Ricans are leaving for mainland America, but they're also leaving their voting habits behind. If only there were a celebrity to inject a little fun into the election... Produced by Tyler Hall with Adam Howard. Caravana footage provided by Ovidio Duran.
Florida politics may never be the same.
For the rest of the videos, watch The Great American Puerto Rico playlist to see all twelve, sixteen if one counts the promos. It's worth it.
Washington DC experiences taxation without representation. It's also missing from rhyming state songs. John Oliver and a group of singing children fix one of these problems.
If one is in favor of A 51st star for Puerto Rico, then one can also support a 52nd star for Washington, D.C. It will take more work than statehood for Puerto Rico, as it might require amending the U.S. Constitution if a voting rights bill can't be worked out, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't try.
