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.
You've heard of fake purses, and fake food, and fake concert tickets. But fake fossils? Turns out forging evidence of life in the ancient past isn't as uncommon as you might think. From another work by the infamous forger of the Piltdown Man to the carved footprints that fueled a conspiracy theory, here are seven of the weirdest fossil forgeries of all time.
Hosted by: Savannah Geary (they/them)
I knew about Piltdown Man, which is why I blogged about it twice, now a third time, but I had forgotten about Charles Dawson's other fossil forgery, the toad in the hole, which seems lazy in comparison. I hadn't heard about some of the others, particularly the augmented cheetah. Too bad — Acinonyx kurteni was a good name that is now invalid.
That completes the celebration of today's holiday. Follow over the jump for some of the most read holiday posts during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Car brain is insidious, and it seeps into seemingly everything. Let's explore.
I watched this yesterday, then experienced car brain as I drove to work. A man in a Mercedes tailgated me, then gave the "come on" gesture. I sped up to get away from him, then briefly tapped my brakes to tell him to back off. Dude, I'm already driving five miles over the speed limit along a stretch of road that the police patrol. Do you want me to break the law more so you can, too? He then passed me and had to wait for someone else to turn right to get to his destination. Hurry up and wait.
CityNerd Ray reminded me of a video I watched in school more than 50 years ago, Goofy - Motor Mania.
A classic Goofy episode from the 50's!
In fact, from 1950. Car brain has been around that long.
That's the general situation. Follow over the jump for my personal update.
This is the pirate history you were never told. Join host and maritime archaeologist and historian, Joel Cook, as he shakes the barnacles of this wildly popular storytelling cannon. Rogue History will take you through an irreverent and enlightening voyage that unravels historical myths, unearths lost narratives, and reveal fresh perspectives.
We all love pirate tales but what do we really know about the history of piracy? In this episode of Rogue History, we examine the common assumptions we make about pirates. Explore the origin of these myths and figure out which are true and which aren't.
PBS Origins has seven more videos about pirates in the Rogue History series. I'm saving them for future celebrations of this fake holiday. I'm an environmentalist; I don't just recycle, I conserve my resources.
Instead of a Wayback Wednesday look back at the previous blogging year's top posts, I have a driving update today. Before I look at PearlthePrius's latest mileage report, I'm sharing something more general about driving, SciShow asking Why Do So Many More Pedestrians Die in America?
A huge number of vehicular fatalities are people who aren't in cars at all. Pedestrians are dying more than they used to and more in America than other comparable parts of the world. Here's why.
This should look familiar to long-time readers of my blog, as I covered this very topic in PBS NewsHour reports 'Pedestrian deaths in U.S. reach highest level in 40 years,' a driving update, where I wrote, "I think a lot of it is reckless behavior by people, especially drivers, not infrastructure," and "when Secretary Buttigieg talked about looking at car safety from the perspective of other people besides the occupants of cars, the features of SUVs Cheddar described are likely among them." I revisted this topic in Vox and CNBC explain 'Why Americans love' and 'are obsessed with big cars,' a driving update, when I remarked, "safety is an important value to drivers, but it's only the safety of the occupants of the vehicle itself. The safety of drivers of smaller cars and especially pedestrians suffers as a result." As for the infrastructure changes, I'll look for a suitable video from CityNerd to address them in a future update.
Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.
Pearl passed 69,000 miles yesterday, Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 78 days since she passed 68,000 miles on Monday, March 10, 2025. That translates to 12.82 miles per day, 391.03 miles per standard month, and 4,679.49 miles per standard year, which are more than the 11.11 miles per day, 338.89 miles per standard month, and 4,055.56 miles per standard year between her odometer rolling over 67,000 miles on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 and March 10, 2025. Then, I wrote, "I won't be taking that many breaks or driving the Tiguan that much before Pearl's next driving update, but I will be driving to only one work location beginning in May. I'll see then which was more important in the miles I drove." Fewer and shorter breaks and less driving my wife's Tiguan had more of an effect than driving to only one work location during the reporting period.
I skipped the year-over-year comparisons last time to focus on the first retrospective about the 2024-2025 blogging year, so I'm bringing them back with data from CityNerd names '10 Cities Where Driving Consumes the Most of Your Life,' a driving update. First, it took 74 days to drive Pearl 1000 miles, resulting in averages of 13.51 miles per day, 412.16 miles per standard month, 4,932.43 miles per standard year, and 4,945.95 miles per leap year. That's more than this year, so I'm driving less for the season. Second, it's been 358 days since Pearl passed 64,000 miles on June 3, 2024, which results in averages of 13.97 miles per day, 425.98 miles per standard month, and 5,097.77 miles per standard year. That's slightly more than the averages of 13.77 miles per day, 420.11 miles per standard month, 5,027.55 miles per standard year, and 5,041.32 per leap year I last reported for the period ending Tuesday, December 10, 2024. No wonder I decided to not drive to a third work location in the fall!
I expect even lower mileage at the next driving update because I'm driving to work only two days per week. That should be very late in August or early in September. In the meantime, stay tuned for one final retrospective about the 2024-2025 blogging year on Throwback Thursday.
I closed 'Strange Darling' leads Best Thriller Film nominees with seven nominations by noting "I have a driving update to write, since Pearl's odometer rolled over another 1,000 miles yesterday." That was on the 10th, so it's been nearly a week. Since I'm not going to write an entry about the home entertainment nominees at the Saturn Awards, I'm going to post that driving update.
Today we're looking at high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes -- all the permutations (occupancy restrictions, time of day restrictions, lanes vs. facilities, and HOT lanes, which allow single-occupant vehicles to buy their way into a less congested facility).
We'll go on some tangents, as usual, like how different metropolitan regions view HOV lanes differently, and how these kinds of facilities represent the dynamics of Anthony Downs' concept of "triple convergence."
[I]t does have something worth celebrating, a car lane. WOOD-TV mentioned it in MDOT begins 14 year project on I-75 near Detroit [dead link]: "The $90.8 million project, which stretches 18 miles, will add a carpool lane (the first in the state), resurface the highway and replace bridges among other things." That's a small thing, but it is an improvement over the current situation, which does not encourage carpooling.
I've driven on I-75 since, but haven't seen an HOV lane yet. I guess it will be in the segments that haven't been worked on yet. By that time, I might not see them, because I plan on being retired by that time, so I'll be driving less.
That's the big picture. Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.
We talk plenty about the presidential race on the 538 Politics podcast, but of course, that is not the only thing on the ballot this November. Americans will cast their votes in races for the U.S. Senate and House, as well as dozens of ballot initiatives.
In this installment of the podcast, we’re going on a road trip across the country to cover as many noteworthy downballot races as possible. We start in the 538 podcast studio in New York state, where House Democrats are hoping for a better outcome than their lackluster 2022 performance, and we end in Alaska. Grab your favorite snacks and get in!
Hearing Nathaniel Rakich and the rest of the panel discuss how Republicans overperformed in New York Congressional contests reminds me of how much differently those elections turned out than expected when I wrote FiveThirtyEight and Sabato's Crystal Ball examine Congressional redistricting in New York State. Two years ago, I quoted Sabato's Crystal Ball, which wrote "If the Democratic plan pans out as intended, the number of Republicans in the New York delegation will shrink from 8 of 27 to 4 of 26." It didn't work out as intended. That map got overturned and replaced with a court-drawn map that eliminated Democratic advantages. Add in a local red wave, and the Republicans won almost enough seats in the Empire State to flip the House of Representatives all by themselves. If the original map had been maintained, then the chamber likely wouldn't have flipped; all else being equal, Democrats would have retained control.
The court-ordered map has since been replaced by one that was created by the redistricting commission and approved by the state's legislature and modestly favors Democrats. That might help return the U.S. House to the Democrats. Then again, maybe not, as three seats in North Carolina are likely to flip back to the Republicans, while one seat each in Alabama, Mississippi, and New York will elect Democrats, while Georgia shows no change. That will be a wash. Democrats will have to count on California to regain their House majority and hope Alaska doesn't flip. Even so, the House looks better than the Senate for Democrats.
Marijuanalegalization is a cause I've been following since at least 2012, when I posted Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ballot. I wrote then "I told one of my students that there would be two changes in his lifetime propelled by his generation--marijuana legalization and marriage equality." The past dozen plus years have proved that prediction correct. Here's to that coming true in Florida and carrying re-legalizing abortion along with it.
I'm encouraged that ElissaSlotkin to replace Debbie Stabenow and Ruben Gallego to replace Kyrsten Sinema are favored to win their Senate contests in Michigan and Arizona, respectively, but I wish Kamala Harris was running even with both of them. Sigh.
That's my reaction to FiveThirtyEight's virtual road trip. Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.
OooOOooOooOOOoo Pirates is very hands off in it's storytelling method OooOOOooOOOooo spooky. And to be honest, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. What are the best ways this ride TELLS you a story without TELLING you a story?
Since he appeared in the video, I'm closing with a meme for the holiday featuring Jack Sparrow.
That's a wrap for today's post celebrating pirates in entertainment. Stay tuned for an entry that will be good to share in October, like Emmy Award winners. More entertainment!
Cars are collectively a ‘privacy nightmare’ that has gone unaddressed for far too long, according to the Mozilla Foundation. A 2023 report from the group says privacy policies give automakers like GM, Nissan, Tesla and Toyota far too much access to personal data and latitude in what they do with it. Some high profile lawsuits highlight how car companies can and in some cases have collected data on drivers without their consent and passed it on to third parties, including insurance companies. Regulators and elected officials have taken notice and are planning legislation and other measures.
I just gave my first lecture in environmental science Thursday, just before my wife and I checked into a hotel so we could have electricity, and I opened it with a statement about values relevant to manufacturing and purchasing cars, such as profit, comfort, efficiency, and sustainability, the last of which was the subject of the lecture.* It looks like I might have to add privacy to that list, which put together in the run-up to GM's bankruptcy, before technology had reached its current level of sophistication and connectedness.
Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler cracked opened up a Chevrolet to find hundreds of sensors, an always-on internet connection and data from his smartphone — but few controls over his data.
Yikes, and that level of surveillance came from a 2017 car, which would now be seven years old, possibly eight if it had been made at the beginning of the 2017 model year! As the video pointed out, newer cars collect even more data. It's time to repeat what I last wrote in CNBC, The Hill, and Forbes report on the impact of cryptocurrency on the midterms, "this is another example of our living in science-fiction times or, as my friend Nebris says, 'SciFi is now.'"
That's the overall driving picture. Follow over the jump for my family's driving update.
HappyArborDay and Flashback Friday! I'm celebrating the original environmental holiday during Earth Month with two videos from PBS Digital about the effectiveness of planting trees to fight climatechange followed by a retrospective of the most saved posts on Pinterest. Trust me, the two topics connect.
Can trees really save us from climate change? For eons, nature has relied on photosynthesis as a big way to keep carbon dioxide levels from getting out of control. But as we have put more carbon into the air, we’ve also cut down many of the forests we need to suck that carbon up. So big tree-planting initiatives like #TeamTrees to the rescue, right? Actually, we need to think bigger. Here’s three ways trees really can help us solve climate change, from a guy who wants to plant a TRILLION trees, to how we might save the forests we’ve got, to scientists hacking biology to make trees even better.
The answer to the question is no, it won't stop climate change by itself, but it will certainly help, along with conserving the trees we still have. As for genetically engineering a more efficient pathway to fix carbon, that's a new one on me, but it fits with the theme of yesterday's Be Smart asks 'Can AI Help Us Talk to Whales?' for Throwback Thursday, using technology to advance science.
In 2019, a Turkey tree planting campaign set a world record. Three months later, 90% of those saplings were dead. Planting trees to replace old-growth forests is a common solution, but it typically does not solve the problem. With deforestation causing climate-related disasters, it’s time to take a hard look at reforestation and what we can do to save our forests.
The video's opening serves as an update on deforestation of the Amazonrainforest with news both good and bad. The video also pointed out flaws in the most common methods of reforestation and ways to do it correctly. I hope people pay attention to the suggestions.
I wrote "I'm confident about 'The Territory' winning this category" and it did. Congratulations! May it keep the cause of preserving the Amazon rainforest in people's minds.
Follow over the jump for Crazy Eddie's Motie News' year on Pinterest.
Botched rhymes, buried puns and a staged accent that sounds more Victorian than Elizabethan. No more! Use linguistic sleuthing to dig up the surprisingly different sound of the bard's Early Modern English.
I always thought OP (original pronunciation) sounded like a pirate. What do you think?
Stay tuned for this year's version of marching music for the Pennsylvaniaprimary.
"Super commuting": when your job is in one metropolitan area and you live in a completely different metro area. With the intensifying housing affordability crisis and the increase in hybrid work schedules, there are more long work trips than ever...but are they really "super"?
Ray "CityNerd" Delahanty has interesting things to say about super commuting, but that's not what prompted me to leave a comment on this video. Instead, I focused on something more personal.
The preview image looked eerily familiar, so I zoomed in the sign listing the exits and read "Yorba Linda Blvd. Weir Canyon Road" then CA 241. That's heading east on CA 91 just past the intersection with CA 90 in Anaheim Hills. Hey, I used to live within a mile of where that picture was taken! Appropriately for the video, I commuted to downtown LA from there.
I elaborated on this at my Dreamwidth, adding "That was about the background, which probably came from a drone carrying a telephoto lens, because the mountains would otherwise be much smaller. The foreground has been added from a traffic jam in Arizona." Check out the Arizona license plate and U of A sticker to see why I think so.
That's my personal reaction to the general driving update. Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.
Tesla (TSLA) is recalling over 2 million of its EVs to correct a defect in its self-driving Autopilot system and address overall safety concerns. An over-the-air software update will be deployed.
Yahoo Finance's Brad Smith and Seana Smith monitor Tesla's stock in pre-market trading, outlining previous crashes tied to Tesla's Autopilot feature and how these events may weigh on the electric vehicle maker's US strategy.
Tesla has issued a recall for more than 2 million of its vehicles after an investigation into autopilot safety system concerns. NBC News' Tom Costello has details on the vehicles recalled and the necessary update Tesla is pushing for the software.
Tesla has recalled 2 million cars, nearly all of its vehicles sold in the U.S. since 2012, because of issues with its self-driving features. Safety regulators have investigated nearly a thousand crashes involving Tesla's autopilot system, which can fully take over steering, braking and acceleration. William Brangham discussed the recall with Faiz Siddiqui of The Washington Post.
I hope that the software update improves the issue, but this looks like a case of being unable to make something foolproof because people can always be bigger fools. Sigh. At least the stat at the end of Americans buying a record one million EVs is both good news and an answer to the question I asked last summer: "Are High Gas Prices Pushing People To Electric Vehicles?" Looks like yes to me!
Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.
Seth takes a closer look at Trump's former election lawyer Sidney Powell pleading guilty to election interference while Jim Jordan still lacks the votes to become House speaker.
Powell shows that Trump's delusion is not just dangerous but contagious and when its believers said the suits were "releasing the Kraken," they were really releasing the Krak(pot)en(ing). I liked the Kraken better in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
I think the sanctions and referrals for discipline look like being ground exceedingly fine, don't you?
Two years later, Powell's guilty plea shows that the wheels of justice continue to grind slowly, but they are indeed grinding exceedingly fine, pun intended.
The fire department stopped by after the show to respond to smoke pouring out of our edit bays, Congress has now gone 16 days without a Speaker, Jim Jordan still claims to be in it after losing twice, Republicans are infighting, Fox News is trying to bully the holdouts into voting for Jim Jordan, Mitt Romney talks about trying to form a unity ticket with Ted Cruz in 2016 in his new book, Donald Trump’s former lawyer Sidney Powell pled guilty to six charges in Georgia, Joe Biden’s campaign now has more followers on Truth Social than the Trump campaign, we check in with the “Bachelor in Paradise” contestant who is the new face of American constipation Sam Jeffries, and This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.
On the one hand, "'Coach Gym' Jordan as Speaker...[a]s I've written before, things can always get worse." On the other, it looks like that won't happen. Jordan keeps losing votes, both the ballots and the number of Republicans voting for him. Instead, as I predicted in Closer looks at Steve Scalise running for Speaker and George Santos indicted again from Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel, "If I were betting, I'd put my money on Hakeem Jeffries to have the most votes on the first ballot, although he's not going to be Speaker - this time." That's happened twice already.
So who would I pick next? Well, I already have a label for Elise Stefanik, so I'm prepared for her as I was for Kevin "Pickled Tongue" McCarthy to become Speaker. It would make it easier for me. Also, it's not an entirely original idea. Just as this situation began to unfold, Pablo ManrÃquez of The New Republic asked Could We Really Be Headed Toward—Gulp—Speaker Stefanik? Earlier this week, Chris Churchill wondered in The Albany Times-Union Elise Stefanik, a candidate of compromise in House mess? Neither of them think this is actually a good idea, but Stefanik makes a certain amount of sense. She's a policy moderate who supports Trump, she's already in leadership, and her main competition after Jordan, who she nominated for Speaker, while mentioning his wrestling past, is Majority Whip Tom Emmer. He's not an effective whip and is so bland I've never heard of him before. That might make him an acceptable compromise candidate to Republicans after they give up on Jordan, but I'm not sure the House GOP is ready for compromise. Besides, I think he would make for boring blogging. Stefanik would be more interesting. Too bad she doesn't appear interested in being Speaker. Here's to hoping appearances are deceiving.
I close with a song dedicated to Powell, The Kraken.
Ford chairman Bill Ford sent a warning to the United Auto Workers Monday and its President Shawn Fain. He said unless the company and the union get together on a contract, the industry could suffer and its future put in doubt.
Ford is preaching (domestic) industry solidarity, Fain is preaching class solidarity. Those could potentially be working in parallel, but right now they are at right angles to each other.
The UAW has yet to reach a deal with any of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, though contract talks that started in July have continued since the historic strike was initiated one month ago.
I tell my students how computerized cars are every semester and the auto companies going to the Computer Electronics Show (CES) serves as an example of that. That Stellantis is not going next year is a sign of how severe the effects of the strike have become. Speaking of which, Fox 2 Detroit mentioned that the auto industry has already lost $8 billion from the strike in As UAW strike marches on, smaller auto suppliers may be left behind.
Marick Masters, a Wayne State University business professor, says the small suppliers make the plastic and metal parts that go into the cars we love. And right now, they risk running out of money.
A partial but escalating strike has cost the big three U.S. automakers $8 billion in just one month, while two complete strikes cost the entertainment industry nearly $6 billion over five-and-one-half months. The comparison shows that manufacturing is more important to the economy, even though entertainment is more fun to write about.
That's the current snapshot of the big picture involving cars. Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.
Free Yourselves. Take to the Seas. The Journey to find the ONE PIECE begins August 31. Only on Netflix.
...
With his straw hat and ragtag crew, young pirate Monkey D. Luffy goes on an epic voyage for treasure in this live-action adaptation of the popular manga.
That looks like a lot of fun. It also reminds me that when I was reading the "One Piece" manga 20 years ago, I didn't feel like I was reading a comic for pre-teen boys until I got to the end of each chapter, when the author would put in a bit of history about pirates. Those felt like he was talking to a younger audience. The story itself was fast-paced, engrossing, and enjoyable for all ages. It looks like the live-action adaptation is succeeding in adapting it to the TV screen.
That's all I feel like sharing today. Stay tuned as I return to my regular programming tomorrow, whatever that is.
Every year thousands of Americans crowd intro their favorite bars and restaurants for Cinco de Mayo. Many use it as the prefect excuse to go out for a drink or favorite Mexican meal, but the majority don’t know the real history behind Cinco de Mayo.
“It’s not Cinco de drinko, that’s off the table and it’s also not Mexican Independence Day," said Gerardo Rios, a professor of Mexican American studies and history at Southwestern College.
Rios explains why the fifth of May is an important date in Mexican history.
“What Cinco de Mayo celebrates is the Mexican liberal victory over the French forces that had invaded Mexico," said Rios.
In 1862, a powerful French army led by Napoleon III was sent to invade the country, and even though they outnumbered the Mexican army, they were met with a strong resistance in the Mexican state of Puebla.
"Cinco de drinko" — on the one hand, ha! On the other, I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling what I wrote last year.
Alex Bozarjian, who I first featured on Fat Tuesday, opened by sharing the sentiment that "everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day, everyone's Polish on Paczki Day, and today everyone's Mexican." That's both good and bad — good because of the melting pot/salad bowl nature of being American, so we can celebrate our diverse but now shared heritage, and bad because people are treating Cinco De Mayo like they treat St. Patrick's Day, as adrinkingholiday. That shouldn't be a surprise, as the importers of Mexican beer and spirits helped promote it during the past several decades.
Many people celebrate Cinco de Mayo by drinking or eating Mexican-inspired dishes, however, some may not know its historical origins. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated on May 5, after the Mexican Army defeated the invading French Army in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Self-determination — that's something I'd never heard before as a reason for the celebration, but I like it.
Southwest Detroit's rich culture and cuisine will be on display this weekend as the country celebrates Cinco de Mayo. Alma Cruz, a proud Mexican-American, said Cinco de Mayo represents the day the Mexican Army defeated the French in the Battle of Puebla, showing perseverance.
I feel lucky to be able to embed this video, as WXYZ blocks that feature on most of its uploads. Let's see if they catch it on this video.
Pedestrian deaths in the U.S. have reached their highest level in 40 years. Using funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is spearheading the allocation of $5 billion to state and local governments through a federal grant known as Safe Streets and Roads for All to try and prevent roadway deaths. Buttigieg joined Geoff Bennett to discuss the program.
As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated in a press release last year, "Behind each of these numbers is a life tragically lost, and a family left behind." PBS shared just a few of those stories. Imagine the rest of them. Here's to Pete Buttigieg leading the effort to decrease trafficdeaths, although I think a lot of it is reckless behavior by people, especially drivers, not infrastructure. Cheddar disagrees, pointing to structural causes in The Real Reason Pedestrian Deaths Are Rising - Cheddar Explains.
6,283 pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles in the United States in 2018 - the highest number of fatalities since 1990. But what's causing this spike in pedestrian deaths, when driver deaths continue to decline? Cheddar explains the real reason why the numbers keep climbing.
Pedestrian deaths were increasing pre-pandemic, so while I think the pandemic and the responses to it drove a lot of Americans crazy, that isn't the reason for the long-term trend before 2020. Also, when Secretary Buttigieg talked about looking at car safety from the perspective of other people besides the occupants of cars, the features of SUVs Cheddar described are likely among them.
That's the general driving update for today. Follow over the jump for my personal driving report.
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.
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.
The unique new comedy is loosely based on the true adventures of 18th century would-be pirate, Stede Bonnet, played by Rhys Darby. After trading in his comfortable life for one of a buccaneer, Stede becomes captain of a pirate ship, but struggles to earn the respect of his potentially mutinous crew. Stede’s fortunes change after a fateful run-in with the infamous Captain Blackbeard, played by Taika Waititi.
Stede Bonnet sounds like Stephen Bonnet, a pirate villain in Outlander. This is not a coincidence: "While Stephen Bonnet of the Outlander series is fictional, Diana Gabaldon has said that it is possible he is illegitimately descended from the real historical figure, Stede Bonnet." I'll add the fictional Bonnet and Blackbeard to Anne Bonny as future subjects of Talk Like A Pirate Day.
I conclude with a meme.
It helps that today actually is Monday.
That's it for today's look at pirates, both real and fictionalized. I plan on having more awards show coverage tomorrow. Stay tuned.
The national gas average dipped below $4 for the first time since March on Thursday, signaling record inflation could be cooling off. NBC’s Tom Costello reports for TODAY.
That was good news for the consumer on gas prices, but bad news about other goods, indicating continuing high inflation. That's a topic I'm very likely to return to.*
OPIS chief oil analyst Denton Cinquegrana discusses the move in retail gas prices below $4 a gallon for the first time in months, and what risks lie ahead for the energy market.
I'll be sure to keep an eye on the weather for this reason and others.
Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.
