Native Americans on America's 250th for Indigenous Peoples' Day

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day! For this year's celebration, I'm taking the Native American perspective on the United States' 250th birthday, beginning with PBS Origins explaining How America's Foundation was Built on Propaganda.

What is the true meaning of the 4th of July and American independence? This special episode of A People's History of Native America argues that the 4th of July’s roots are further from patriotism and closer to propaganda. Rather than independence, this day represents the centuries-long seizure and ethnic cleansing of Native American land. By looking at the history surrounding the American Revolution, we will uncover that Native Americans were an unexpected threat to the founders’ vision for their future country and plans for Westward expansion.

After watching this video, I feel even more strongly that Americans who worry about genocide and ethnic cleansing should focus on its survivors here before displacing their guilt elsewhere. Of course, I would feel this way, because, as I wrote 14 years ago, "My wife, my ex-girlfriend, and my ex-wife all have Native American ancestry. At least two of them would qualify as Native Americans under U.S. government policy, and one of them is enrolled as a Cherokee..." My wife and I put our money where our mouths are by donating to a charity in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It's the least we can do.

I continue with Reuters asking What does America's 250th anniversary mean to Native Americans?

As dozens of Native Americans braved the heat and wind in Northern Arizona to uphold a beloved tradition that falls days before the 250th anniversary of the US this year, some reflected on what the milestone means to them.

Again, the high proportion of Native Americans who served shows up again in this video.

Since this is a Michigan-based blog, I conclude with a local clip from 13 On Your Side, ABC 13 in Grand Rapids, Reflecting on Native history amid America's 250th anniversary.

As America turns 250 years old, we took a look back at the history of the people who were here long before the United States.

Yes, there has been progress, but there is room for more.

That's a wrap for today's holiday. Stay tuned for a short post tomorrow.

'My Mom Jayne' wins the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special

As I promised yesterday, I'm resuming my coverage of the winners of this year's Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Todays installment re-examines the predictions for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, beginning with the ones in 'Ocean with David Attenborough' tied with 'Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!' for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.

Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! and Ocean with David Attenborough co-lead with six nominations each, followed by John Candy: I Like Me with five nominations and Marty, Life Is Short tied with My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay at three. Normally, I'd consider Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! and Ocean with David Attenborough to be co-favorites, but the experts, editors, and users at Gold Derby disagree. They think John Candy: I Like Me and My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay to be the favorites, with 50.0% of experts, 28.6% of editors, and 61.0% of users picking the former, while 50.0% of experts, 57.1% of editors, and 26.3% of users choosing the latter. Normally, I'd favor the editors over the experts except one of the experts picking John Candy: I Like Me is Joyce Eng, whose opinion I trust. The remaining editor(s), 14.3%, are currently voting for Ocean with David Attenborough along with 3.5% of users. The rest of the users are split between Marty, Life Is Short with 6.2% and Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! with 3.0%. I've often written that, all things being equal, the Emmy electorate will vote for a good story about themselves. The corollary is that they will vote for a nominee about a dead celebrity over a living one. The prognosticators at Gold Derby seem to agree. Again, electorates matter.

By the time of the Saturday ceremony, most of the professionals lined up behind My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay with 58.8% of the experts and 50.0% of editors, along with 34.6% of users. The majority of users, 55.9%, joined by 41.2% of experts and 37.5% of editors, stuck with John Candy: I Like Me. The remaining 12.5% of editors held their position with Ocean with David Attenborough. The professionals called it. Watch Documentary Or Nonfiction Special: 78th Emmy Awards.

The team from My Mom Jayne: A Film By Mariska Hargitay accepts the Emmy for Documentary Or Nonfiction Special at the 78th Emmy Awards.

Congratulations!

Outstanding Narrator

• Sir David Attenborough – A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (Netflix)
• Sir David Attenborough – Ocean with David Attenborough (Nat Geo)
• Jodie Foster – Breakdown: 1975 (Netflix)
• Werner Herzog – Ghost Elephants (Nat Geo)
• Octavia Spencer – Lost Women of Alaska: "The Missing" (Investigation Discovery)

The experts, editors, and users disagree about the odds in this category, too, with 87.5% of experts and 83.0% of users but only 28.6% of editors electing for Sir David in Ocean with David Attenborough, 42.9% of editors along with 12.5% of experts and 9.4% of users choosing Octavia Spencer, and the remaining 28.6% of editors along with 2.9% of users on board with Warner Herzog. The remaining users split between Jodie Foster at 2.6% and Sir David's other nomination at 2.1%. Let's see who switches first, the experts or the editors.

The editors lost their nerve by the time of the ceremony, as 66.7% of them joined 88.9% of the experts and 82.3% of users in selecting Sir David, while only 11.1% of both experts and editors along with 11.3% stuck with Octavia Spencer. More editors, 22.2%, wanted Werner Herzog to win! The editors should have held fast, as Spencer won. Watch Narrator: 78th Emmy Awards.

Octavia Spencer accepts the Emmy for Narrator at the 78th Emmy Awards.

Congratulations to Spencer, who now has an Emmy to go along with her Oscar.

I also listed the other nominations for Ocean with David Attenborough.

The remaining four categories in which Ocean with David Attenborough earned nominations are Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program (covered in 'The Tale of Silyan' vs 'The Librarians' for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking at the Emmy Awards), Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary/Nonfiction or Reality Program (Original Dramatic Score) (sort of covered in 'Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age' earned two Emmy nominations for its VFX and music), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program (covered in 'Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Give the Man a Prize' plus the Emmy nominees for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special).

Follow over the jump for the categories either Ocean with David Attenborough or My Mom Jayne: A Film By Mariska Hargitay won.

CNBC's 'Inside The Rise And Fall Of Kohl's,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

It's time for another tale of the Retail Apocalypse as CNBC takes its viewers Inside The Rise And Fall Of Kohl's.

Kohl's rose to its peak as a department store in the 2000s, with a focus on a strong in-store experience, coupons and rewards. Now, after years of stagnant sales and a rough patch on Wall Street, Kohl's is trying to get back to what made it a household name.

In 2022, Retail Archaeology asked Kohl's: Who Would Want To Buy This? In that same post, I embedded a CNBC video from 2020 asking "Can Kohl's survive?" Last year, Company Man asked Kohl's - The Rise and Fall? Now CNBC has answered that question in the affirmative. If nothing else, Kohl's stock price, which is what CNBC really cares about, has fallen. The chain is also shrinking, as evidenced by my wife going to the closest store and finding that it has closed, apparently one of 27 stores that closed last year. Kohl's also has no plans to expand.

In addition to the identity and management issues both CNBC and Company Man reported, The Street article I linked to above cited competition.

Like many traditional department stores, Kohl’s is navigating intensifying competition from both digital and value-focused retailers. E-commerce rivals such as Amazon, Temu, and Shein continue to capture online shopping demand, while off-price chains including Ross Stores and TJMaxx attract budget-conscious consumers with lower pricing.

At the same time, macroeconomic uncertainty has reshaped consumer behavior, with shoppers increasingly prioritizing value and limiting discretionary spending.

If private equity doesn't appear in the story, Amazon probably will.

We probably won't be Kohl's shoppers in the future, as the nearest store is now nearly seven miles away instead of two. We'll go that far for Costco, but not for a department store. If so, there are better stores that distance, like a Macy's, and a Target closer.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for a climate post tomorrow.

PBS Terra asks 'Is This the ABSOLUTE Worst Case Tipping Point?'

I had other plans for today's post, but then my wife and I watched Weathered on PBS Terra asking Is This the ABSOLUTE Worst Case Tipping Point?*

What happens when a planet crosses a climate tipping point it can’t recover from? Venus may hold the answer.

Scientists think Venus once had oceans, water, and a climate that may have resembled early Earth. But something pushed the planet past a threshold. Water evaporated, greenhouse warming spiraled, and Venus became the hottest planet in our solar system.

So what was that tipping point? And could anything like it happen on Earth?

In this episode of Weathered, Maiya May explores the science behind runaway greenhouse effects, ancient volcanic carbon releases, and one of the most surprising climate wildcards scientists have discovered: the potential collapse of stratocumulus clouds.

From crocodiles in the Arctic during past hothouse climates to cutting-edge models of cloud loss under extreme CO2 levels, this episode investigates what keeps Earth’s climate stable and what could push it toward irreversible change.

Earth isn’t turning into Venus anytime soon. But Venus reveals something more important: what happens when a planet loses its brakes.

My wife and I found this fascinating because we're both scientists who are concerned about climate change and interested in space. While my wife is a psychologist who uses the experimental method, I'm a paleontologist who uses the comparative method and modeling. That was enough to get me to blog about this video today, since it ticked off so many of my boxes.

One of those boxes is that it referred back to PBS Terra warns 'There's Something MUCH Bigger Than Yellowstone. And It Will Happen Again.' I enjoyed it except the way Maiya May presented it seemed to imply that the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was associated with the eruption of the Columbia River Basalts. That happened during the Miocene, not the terminal Paleocene and earliest Eocene. The original video made it clear that the PETM is contemporaneous with the North Atlantic Igneous Province, just in case my readers were as confused as I was.

That was something I learned back in November. The new fact I learned today was about how stratocumulus clouds, which form at the top of the marine layer, work and what the model predicts would happen when carbon dioxide levels go about 1200 ppm. That makes today a good day, as any day I learn something new is a good day.

This wraps up today's evergreen educational entry. Stay tuned for an entertainment entry I will share next month. Randy Rainbow just uploaded a new song!

*I was planning on writing this week's version of Lydic, Meyers, Kimmel, and Colbert take closer looks at the 'Melania' documentary and other news, but the comedians didn't have a common theme to their monologues and my wife found a shinier object. Besides, Saturday Night Live will cover the week's news tomorrow night, so I'm not worried about missing anything.

CNBC explains 'How America Got Hooked On Cars,' a driving update

I promised a driving update for today, so I begin with CNBC explaining How America Got Hooked On Cars.

Americans drive much more than in any other country – twice as much as the average German, for example. And the actual experience of driving isn’t quite as romantic as the image. Drivers are often stuck in traffic. Cars pump out pollution. Less walking means less exercise. Cars also can kill people. Some skeptics say, indeed–cars are awesome. But they got a lot of help from favorable policies and strong lobbies. CNBC spoke with some researchers and looked at numbers to get the full picture of why Americans became so dependent on cars.

This video reminds me of both CityNerd explains 'All the Ways Car Dependency Is Wrecking Us' and CityNerd explains 'Why Traffic Is Worse Than Ever (and can NYC fix it?)', both of which I used as regular posts and not as driving updates. It also reminds me of the history of suburbia in The End of Suburbia, which I last wrote about in depth in CNBC explains the problems of suburbia and their possible solutions. I don't miss the movie — "Treasures of the Earth: Power" is much more up-to-date, accessible, and positive — but I still want to explore its issues about transportation and land use. At least CNBC explored solutions in an encouraging way.

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

The History Guy remembers Charles Darwin and chocolate for Valentines Day

A late happy Darwin Day on Valentines Day — two holidays at once! I begin today's double celebration with The History Guy remembering Almost Not History: Darwin and HMS Beagle.

February 12 represents the 214th birthday of Charles Darwin, a scientist whose ideas transformed human understanding of the natural world, and undoubtedly one of the most influential scientists in history. But that history may have been different, as Da[rw]in’s career altering voyage aboard HMS Beagle almost didn’t happen.

First, The History Guy uploaded this video three years ago, so last Thursday was Darwin's 217th birthday. Second, I had no idea Robert Fitzroy, captain of the Beagle, was himself an accomplished scientist. Third, I knew that Fitzroy wanted a gentleman scientist companion, but I didn't know Darwin was essentially his third choice; I certainly didn't know the names of the two men who could have gone in Darwin's place. Still, Darwin turned out to be the best person available. Fourth, the video reminded me that Darwin was the grandson of Josiah Wedgwood, the founder of Wedgwood & Sons; I had heard that before, but couldn't have remembered that off the top of my head. I think I'd heard, but had forgotten, that his uncle Josiah II had finally allowed him to go. While not mentioned in the video, I did know that he married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood, daughter of Josiah II. Talk about a close family!

By the way, I recall being a member of the Paleontological Research Institute back in the late 1980s. I've long since let my membership lapse, along with the rest of my professional association memberships. I've been concentrating on teaching instead of research the past 30 years and didn't have the time, and sometimes the money, for meetings and membership dues.

The History Guy has several videos about Valentines Day. Today's is Chocolate: A History.

From The History Guy archive for Valentine's Day, a brief history of the food of the Gods.

That was fascinating, from cacao's prehistory in Mesoamerica to today, including mentions of almost all of today's big names in chocolate, including Cadbury, Lindt, Nestle, Hershey, Reese, and Mars — sorry, no Godiva. I learned a lot from both videos, making today a good day. The second video also made me hungry. Lunchtime!

That's a wrap for today's educational holiday post. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature with the nominees for Best Action/Adventure Film at the Saturn Awards — Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning vs. One Battle After Another!

Welcome to 2026 with popular bands at the Rose Parade!

Happy New Year! I'm sharing my favorite bands in the Rose Parade for New Year's Day, courtesy of Music Amenities and Music213. I begin with Music Amenities wishing Happy New Year! | 2026 PCC Tournament of Roses Herald Trumpets.

For old times, good times, and everything yet to come.

Welcoming the new year with "Auld Lang Syne", performed by the 2026 Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Herald Trumpets.

That was worth it for the preview image alone. Now the full performance from Music Amenities, 2026 PCC Tournament of Roses Herald Trumpets & Honor Band + FLYOVER! | 2026 Bandfest 3 - FULL SHOW.

The Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Herald Trumpets and Honor Band perform at the 45th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest Show 3, held on Tuesday, December 30, 2025.

Luis at Music213 did his usual great work recording the band in 2026 PCC Tournament of Roses Honor Band & Herald Trumpets (Show 3) - 2026 Pasadena Bandfest, but he missed the flyover. Darn.

Next, a band I feature every Veterans Day, but never before on New Years Day, USMC West Coast Composite Band - 2026 Pasadena Bandfest from Music213.

The United States Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band performing at the 45th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Tuesday, December 30, 2025. Their last performance at Bandfest was in 2014 with the 3D Marine Aircraft Wing Band and 2013 with the full composite band. What a treat to see the composite band back at Bandfest!

I agree, Luis!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the most popular bands at Music213 I'm watching before the Rose Parade proper begins.

'Welcome to Wrexham' vs. 'Love on the Spectrum' for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program at the Emmy Awards

I'm resuming my coverage of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards with the nominees for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.

• America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (Netflix)
• Love on the Spectrum (Netflix)
• RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked (MTV)
• The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (Hulu)
• Welcome to Wrexham (FX)

2022 winner Love on the Spectrum leads with five nominations, followed by defending winner Welcome to Wrexham with three, 2021 winner RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked with two, and newcomers America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives with just this one. That's pretty much the order that Gold Derby predicts for the nominees. Half of the experts, 85.7% of the editors, and 77.4% of the users have chosen Love on the Spectrum to walk off the stage with the statuette. The other half of the experts, including Joyce Eng, 14.3% of the editors, and 12.8% of the users expect two-time winner Welcome to Wrexham will repeat. RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked has the support of 6.8% of users, while long shots The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders currently have the votes of 2.2% and 0.8% of users, respectively.

I'm watching the trailers to see which would be my pick, beginning with Love on the Spectrum U.S. | Season 3 Official Trailer | Netflix.

The search for true love continues as newcomers and returning favorites navigate the ups and downs of dating on the autism spectrum.

This is sweet. It is also shot, edited, and scored more like a documentary than a reality show, which shows the fine line between nonfiction and unstructured reality, a line crossed by United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell in 2023, where Bell found the competition stiffer.

Next, Welcome to Wrexham | Season 4 Official Trailer, which is also shot like a documentary.

I wish the whole world could visit Wrexham.

Watch the official Welcome to Wrexham trailer now.

That looks like fun, especially with the added star power of Tom Brady and Channing Tatum. Will it be enough to win? Maybe.

I'm not sure RuPaul’s Drag Race Live Untucked | Season 2 Trailer | WOW Presents Plus is the trailer for the nominated series, but it looks close enough.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Live Untucked captures what really happens behind the curtain of the hottest show on the Las Vegas Strip. Premieres April 16 on WOW Presents Plus: https://hubs.la/Q03dBxBM0

Welcome to Vegas, baby! Set at the iconic Flamingo Las Vegas, Season 2 of the outrageous, 6-part docu-series stars Drag Race legends: Bosco, Derrick Barry, Kennedy Davenport, Latrice Royale, Lawrence Chaney, Mirage, and Nymphia Wind[.]

I used to be a moderator of a web forum about Survivor and other reality TV shows, and this looks like the kind of reality TV I remember from those days. So does The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives | Official Trailer | Hulu.

Starring Taylor Frankie Paul, Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Mathews and Whitney Leavitt.

The scandalous world of a group of Mormon mom influencers implodes when they get caught in the midst of a swinging sex scandal that makes international headlines. Now, their sisterhood is shaken to its core. Faith, friendships, and reputations are all on the line. Will #MomTok be able to survive and continue to give the rulebook a run for its money, or will this group fall from grace?

I have opinions, both about the culture and about the technology that catalyzed the situation. I'm recycling what I wrote in PBS NewsHour on Great Salt Lake shrinking during the current drought for context on the former.

I have family connections to Utah and particularly the Salt Lake City area as My father went to Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City, which was the only Catholic High School in Utah at the time. That led my parents and middle sister to buy houses in and around Park City for investments and retirement. My middle sister and my nephew moved to Park City permanently and my mother summers there.

I'll sum up our reaction by quoting what I wrote in 2016, "My family roots for the U, not the Y!" My nephew even attends the University of Utah. Also, this show gives me another reason to be suspicious of TikTok.

The final trailer today is AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders | Official Trailer | Netflix.

Perfection isn't always perfect. With unfiltered access to the auditions, training camp and full NFL season, this is the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders like you've never seen them before. AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders premieres June 20th only on Netflix.

I was wondering if this is connected to Cheer and it is. That's a good sign, although it won't be enough for the show to win this year.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations these shows earned.

'The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation' plus the Emmy nominees for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special

I dropped a program note in the middle of 'Pee-wee as Himself' vs. 'Will & Harper' for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special on Tequila Day, "my personal favorite so far is The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation. It's hilarious and deserves a post of its own." Here it is.

Has Trump converted these Gen Zers into MAGA true believers, or is this just a rebellious phase? In this half-hour special, Jordan Klepper is ditching the rallies and heading to Texas A&M, a UFC fight, and spring break in Florida to ask young right-wingers why they've turned toward Trump, Charlie Kirk, and even Andrew Tate.

My wife and I watched this and were simultaneously amused at how much Klepper was trolling the college students and their not realizing it and appalled at how they liked Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump and other right-wing influencers because they think they're "cool." It reminds me of a prediction Archdruid John Michael Greer made in Conversation as Commons four years ago.

But what about those ideas that most people consider Bad? Ahem. You can’t get rid of those by censoring them. That’s been tried, over and over again, and it always fails. What’s more, it quite often guarantees that the censored ideas become the cool new notions of the next fashionable counterculture. Decades of Victorian censorship of sex, for example, simply made the Decadent movement and the Sexual Revolution inevitable. If today’s woke ideologues want to make racism, sexism, and posthumous reverence for Donald Trump the foundation of the hot new avant-garde youth culture of the 2040s and 2050s, in other words, they’re going about it the right way.

We didn't have to wait twenty years for Greer's prediction to come true. As the young people Klepper interviewed demonstrate, it's happening right now, while Hoover Cleveland is still alive. Sigh.

Follow over the jump to watch the trailers and other Emmy nominations for the nominees in Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.

'Blink,' 'Brats,' and 'Patrice,' nominees for Outstanding Promotional Announcement Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for the remaining nominees in Outstanding Promotional Announcement - Documentary" at the end of 'Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy' leads Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary nominees at the News & Doc Emmy Awards, but I forecast today's post in 'The Grab' leads both Outstanding Investigative Documentary and Best Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards.

Tsunami: Race Against Time is up against very stiff competition in this category, particularly Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story with six nominations, The Grab with four including Best Documentary, and Blink with two. The rest have just this one nomination. I plan on examining this category at least three more times, so I'm holding off on handicapping the nominees until I see all of them.

I think Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story has an edge over Tsunami: Race Against Time, but that's not enough. I'll pick my favorite when I look at all the nominees.

I found the trailer for The Grab gripping, but I don't know if it's more urgent than Tsunami: Race Against Time's trailer. That doesn't put it ahead of Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story in my book. I expect I'll write a post featuring Blink, Brats, and Patrice: The Movie treating this and its news equivalent as show categories.

I'm passing on the news equivalent today, and beginning the trailers with Blink - Official Trailer (2024) Edith Lemay, Sébastien Pelletier, Mia Pelletier.

Blink is a documentary film distributed by National Geographic Documentary Films in partnership with The Walt Disney Studios.

The documentary follows the Pelletier family, who set out on an epic journey to see the beauty of the world when three of their four children are diagnosed with an incurable eye condition. The film follows the family over the course of a year as they traverse 24 countries, filling their visual memories with breathtaking locations and once-in-a-lifetime encounters. Their destinations included Botswana, Cambodia, Canada (Montreal and Kuujjuaq), China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Laos, Namibia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, South Korea, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States (New York City), Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Blink stars Edith Lemay, Sébastien Pelletier, Mia Pelletier, Léo Pelletier, Colin Pelletier, Laurent Pelletier, François Lemay and Pauline Sirois. The film is directed by Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher and produced by Melanie Miller (p.g.a) and Diane Becker (p.g.a).

This beats Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story for being moving, and that's saying something.

Next in alphabetical order is ‘BRATS’ | Official Trailer | June 13 on Hulu.

In the 1980s, everybody wanted to be in the Brat Pack. Except them. Director Andrew McCarthy reunites with Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, and more for the original documentary “BRATS” streaming June 13, only on Hulu.

Oh, that's funny! It also makes me want to watch it, which means it's effective, too. Is it good enough to win? Not with this electorate. Speaking of which, I think the documentary itself would work better at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards; it looks like their kind of show. My readers and I will see if it's eligible and earns nominations next month.

I close the trailers for this category with Official Trailer | ‘Patrice: The Movie’ | Hulu.

‘Patrice: The Movie’ – a documentary rom-com about the next phase of marriage equality – disability. Streaming Sept 30th only on Hulu.

This is right up there with Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story for being moving, and it's about an issue that affects my family, so I care a bit more. Is it enough to beat Blink? I don't know, but this trailer has 3,153,880 views! People are watching and they care! Speaking of which, if the U.S. is "pro-family," should we support disabled Americans in marriage through maintaining their benefits the way we support able-bodied married Americans through the tax code? I say yes.

I'm returning to Outstanding Editing - Documentary, the other category in which Blink earned a nomination, which I last examined in 'We Will Dance Again' leads Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary nominees at the News & Doc Emmy Awards.

Apollo 13: Survival has the most nominations for Outstanding Editing - Documentary with four, followed by Death without Mercy, Blink, and We Will Dance Again, all with two, and Citizen Nation with just this one. It also has an editing nomination at the BAFTA Film Awards, so it definitely has a strong case to win. Besides, it's an archival documentary, so editing is going to be its strong suit.

I expect to return to this category twice before I make a call, once for We Will Dance Again and the other Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary and again for Blink and Citizen Nation when I finish this category and Outstanding Promotional Announcement - Documentary.

I can see how editing of all the survivors' videos made We Will Dance Again what it is. That written, I suspect Blink's editing might be even stronger.

Blink's editing is indeed strong and it's of original photography by the directors instead of "found footage," but I'm watching Citizen Nation (Trailer) | Retro Report before making a call.

Our new series for PBS, "Citizen Nation," is an inspiring coming-of-age story that follows teens from across the U.S. as they compete in the nation’s premier civics competition, “We the People.”

I'm getting strong Boys State, Girls State, and Science Fair vibes from this trailer. That's a good thing, but I don't know if it's enough to beat Blink, which is my choice to win this category.

I plan on resuming this series with the4for the next Sunday entertainment feature. In the meantime, stay tuned for five holidays over three days, Juneteenth, American Eagle Day and Seashell Day on the Summer Solstice, and World Giraffe Day. I have my blogging cut out for me!

Previous posts about the 46th News & Doc Emmy Awards

• 'Apollo 13: Survival' leads nominees for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for Wayback Wednesday
• 'Tsunami: Race Against Time' leads nominees for Outstanding Historical Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for Throwback Thursday
• 'Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story' leads nominees for Outstanding Nature Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards
• 'King Coal' vs. 'Hollywood Black' and 'Madu' for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards
• 'The Grab' leads both Outstanding Investigative Documentary and Best Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards
• 'Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal' and 'The Truth vs. Alex Jones' lead nominees for Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary
• 'The Sixth' leads nominees for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards
• 'Mammals' and the remaining nominees for Best Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards
• 'Daughters' and 'Death Without Mercy' lead nominees for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards
• 'We Will Dance Again' leads Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary nominees at the News & Doc Emmy Awards
• 'Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy' leads Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary nominees at the News & Doc Emmy Awards

'Star Wars' baby names for Father's Day 2025

Happy Father's Day! I closed 2024's most popular baby names for Mother's Day Monday by telling my readers "I plan on revisiting baby names for Father's Day, so stay tuned." As I did last year and the year before, I'm looking at names from Star Wars to celebrate the holiday and qualify this as the Sunday entertainment feature.


Kylo continues to rise, reaching a record 373rd place with 869 American boys named after Leia and Han's son, Luke's nephew, and Anakin and Padme's grandson last year. On the other hand, after reaching a peak of popularity in 2023, Anakin slipped from 544th to 592nd with 482 American boys given the name in 2024, still its second most popular year ever. That's a pattern the rest of the names follow, as seen below.


Leia and Luke both dropped last year, Leia from 211th to 290th with 1,094 American girls given the name in 2024, and Luke slipping slightly from 31st to 34th last year with 7,039 American boys named after either the Star Wars character, the apostle, or a friend or relative. Luke is a very old name that has been popular for a long time.


The final name I'm tracking today is Cassian. As I wrote in Social Security's top ten U.S. baby names of 2023 for Mother's Day weekend, "I'm briefly calling attention to the fourth-fastest rising name on the boys list, Cassian. It's the given name of the protagonist of Rogue One and Andor and is thus a Star Wars name." Cassian reached a peak in 2023 at 531st, beating Anakin's 544th, but fell to 616th with 462 American boys given the name in 2024. I suspect Andor's popularity, critical success, and likely awards chances — the second season of the series has already earned three nominations at the Critics Choice Super Awards — will buoy the name this year and next, so I doubt it will fall out of the top 1000 names.

The most popular father figure among current Star Wars characters is probably Din Djarin the Mandolorian, who appears with his adopted son Grogu in Am Your Father's Day | Unboxing with Pedro Pascal.

Join Pedro Pascal, AKA Din Djarin himself, as he unboxes gift ideas for Father’s Day from across the Star Wars galaxy!

Yes, it's advertising, but it fits the theme.

That's a wrap for today's holiday celebration. Stay tuned as I return to the News & Doc Emmy Awards for the next three entries.

‘Daughters’ and ‘Death Without Mercy’ lead nominees for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards

As I promised in 'Mammals' and the remaining nominees for Best Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards, I'm examining the nominees for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary, where Daughters and Death Without Mercy lead with two nominations apiece. The remaining nominees, "Name Me Lawand" on POV, "One With the Whale" on Independent Lens, and "Two American Families: 1991-2024" on FRONTLINE, all on PBS, each have just this one nomination. I'm embedding their trailers in the order above beginning with Daughters | Official Trailer | Netflix.

Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C. jail.

After watching this trailer, I want to wish my readers a happy early Father's Day. The title is Daughters, but it's also about fatherhood.

Shifting gears to its likelihood of winning, Daughters has quite the awards track record heading into the News & Doc Emmy Awards, winning seven awards including Best New Documentary Filmmaker(s) at the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards, Documentary Award for Black Cinema & Television at the Critics Choice Awards Celebration of Cinema and Television, Best Documentary from the African-American Film Critics Association, Best Documentary from the Indiana Film Journalists Association, and three film festival awards including two at Sundance. It also has 45 nominations, including BAFTA, Directors Guild of America, NAACP Image Awards, Black Reel Awards, Cinema for Peace Awards, Cinema Eye Honors Awards, five more from the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards, the Astra Awards, and more critics associations and film festivals than I have the time and energy to list. That's much more than the next nominee, Death Without Mercy | Official Trailer from Red Carpet Trailers.

MTV Documentary Films has announced a May 3 theatrical release for Death Without Mercy (working title), a riveting account of the massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria a year ago this week, killing more than 50,000 people.

Like Tsunami: Race Against Time, this is a movie I can recommend to my future geology students. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

IMDB lists only three nominations for Death Without Mercy, including its two nominations at the News & Doc Emmy Awards, which the site doesn't list yet for Daughters. Its director having an Oscar nomination helps it, but I don't know if that's enough to push it ahead of Daughters, which is my pick to win this category. Just the same, its an MTV Documentary Film, and I've learned not to underestimate one of those.

Now for the PBS nominees, starting with Name Me Lawand | Official Trailer | POV | PBS.

Lawand, deaf from birth, seeks a fresh start with his family in the UK after a traumatic year in a refugee camp. At Derby's Royal School for the Deaf, he learns sign language and discovers a way to communicate with the world. As he thrives, his family faces deportation, challenging their stability. Name Me Lawand is a love letter to the power of friendship and community.

That looks touching, inspring, and uplifting. I don't know if it's enough to win.

Next, One With the Whale | Official Trailer | Independent Lens | PBS.

Hunting whales is a matter of life or death for the residents of St. Lawrence. When a shy Alaska Native teen becomes the youngest person ever to harpoon a whale for his village, his family is blindsided by thousands of keyboard activists brutally attacking him online—without full perspective on the importance of the hunt to his community's well-being.

I can recommend this documentary to my current and future environmental science students about the proper place of hunting. Again, welcome to blogging as professional development.

Finally, Two American Families: 1991-2024 (trailer) | FRONTLINE.

Filmed over 34 years, two families struggle to survive in a changing American economy. Through hard times, falling wages, and loss of manufacturing jobs, the continuation of Bill Moyers’ chronicle of perseverance as the American dream slips away.

My students would probably appreciate this documentary as well, although I don't know if I would accept it as extra credit. It does fit the blog's theme of surviving collapse and decline, so it's definitely on-topic here.

Follow over the jump for the second nominations Daughters and Death Without Mercy earned.

'SNL' celebrates Mother's Day 2025

Happy Mother's Day! I'm celebrating with highlights of last night's Saturday Night Live, beginning with Trump Mother's Day Cold Open.

A mother's day message from Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang and Marcello Hernández gets interrupted by President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson).

Of course Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump would make it about himself. At least the viewers got the return of Cecily Strong to play Jeanine Pirro. As I wrote two days ago, "Break out the w(h)ine!"

The Mother's Day celebration continued with Walton Goggins Monologue.

First-time host Walton Goggins talks about his character in The White Lotus and becoming a sex symbol in his 50s before dancing with his mom for Mother's Day.

That was fun, sweet, and short. I like all three!

Follow over the jump for Weekend Update and selected skits.

Randy Rainbow sings 'Incompetent!'

Change of plans — instead of Revenge of the Sixth, I'm featuring Randy Rainbow singing Incompetent!

Parody of “Impossible” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein)

"Let me just get this gay: Are you telling me sir, that you looked for these loose lipped leakers? After your lapse leaked the logs that launched a liability? And now you and your loyalists are loudly labeling these leakers legally liable for leaking libelous leaks?" LOL! Randy likes alliteration even more than I do! Also, what Randy was mocking serves as yet another example of Projection is the Right's favorite defense mechanism. As I wrote in Colbert, Meyers, Kosta, and Kimmel take closer looks at Mike Waltz being fired on Flashback Friday, "Once a leaker, always a leaker, often a leaker.' Yeah, Kegseth, you'd know."

Randy turned his satirical sights on more than Pete Hegseth, targeting RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, JD Vance, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and the rest of Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump's cabinet, as well as Hoover Cleveland himself. Good, they all deserve it.

I wanted to see if the Marsh Family had anything to say about Whiskeyleaks and they did. Watch and listen to "You Were Not Supposed to Message It Through" - Marsh Family parody of the Bee Gees on #Signalgate.

Here’s a song about #Signalgate – the flamboyant US security breach – adapted from one of our all-time favourite Bee Gees tracks, titled “You Were Not Supposed to Message it Through!” A quick parody turnaround, but only five of us singing as Alfie (actually our hands-down best fake Bee Gee) is currently away, and will be annoyed. One day we’ll have a proper go with instruments live, but for now this will have to suffice as a post-work / post-school knockup.

The fantastic original, "Gotta Get a Message to You", with its uplifting modulations and incredible layered harmonies, was released in 1968 and got to number one in the UK and the top ten in the US. Apparently it’s actually about someone on death row, though we never realised this until today. Nor that there are some other lower harmonies in later verses that are a bit raspy, which we had fun with.

Looking forward to the promised remake, if not more from Kegseth.

I can't completely ignore today's Star Wars special day, so I'm closing with Nerdist's ALL ABOUT THAT BASE (Star Wars Parody - Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass).

Nerdist Presents Team Unicorn's Star Wars parody of Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass. No Rebels.

May the Farce be with you!

Stay tuned for Wayback Wednesday tomorrow.

CNBC describes 'How Bluesky Grew From A Twitter Side Project To An X Competitor'

Today's content worth sharing next month is CNBC describing How Bluesky Grew From A Twitter Side Project To An X Competitor.

Not many people had heard of Bluesky when the Twitter side project made its debut as a separate company in 2021. The decentralized social media platform initially flew under the radar, but user numbers skyrocketed after the U.S. election in November. This was largely because many of X’s users fled to Bluesky, as they were unhappy with some of the changes that Elon Musk made to Twitter after he acquired it in 2022 and later renamed it X. Bluesky now has over 27 million users, but whether it can continue its rapid growth and compete with the likes of Musk’s X and Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads remains to be seen.

I'm one of Bluesky's new users since the election, although Katharine Hayhoe recommended that I join her on the service when it no longer required an invite code. That happened when my wife created an account on November 16, 2024 and I created mine later that same day. The first person I followed was my wife. The second was Dr. Hayhoe, who followed me back, which I don't think she ever did on Twitter/X.

Speaking of following me back, I've grown my followers faster on Bluesky than I ever did on any other platform. It took me 13 years to get to 1,000 followers on Twitter/X. It took me one month on Bluesky. I now have nearly 3,000 followers two-and-one-half months after I joined. That's almost triple the 1,075 friends and 174 followers I have on Facebook, the next largest audience I have on social media, and that took 17 years to achieve. I'm also getting more engagement in the form of likes, reposts, and replies on Bluesky than X, although Facebook still beats both, but not enough link clicks from Bluesky to register, while X ranks in the top five. I'm not deactivating my X account for just that reason; it's still useful.

That's it for today's post worth sharing in February. Stay tuned for another evergreen entry tomorrow.

Meyers, The Daily Show, and Kimmel take closer looks at Trump's designs on Greenland and Canada

Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Jimmy Kimmel all returned Monday night and Seth Meyers returned last night, so I'm kicking off today's post with Trump's Insane Press Conference About Greenland, Jack Smith, Gulf of Mexico: A Closer Look, the first of the new year.

Seth takes a closer look at President-elect Trump starting off the new year by threatening to take over a bunch of foreign countries right before getting sentenced for a felony conviction and holding an insane press conference to complain about it.

Yes, Hoover Cleveland is still a convicted criminal, but I doubt Trump will receive any of what I expected last year.

I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling what I wrote fourteen months ago when Colbert's studio audience gave a standing ovation when told about Trump's indictment; Kimmel's was just as loud.

"[J]ail to the chief" is a great line, but it's going to be a while. I expect he'll be sentenced to house arrest in Trump Tower with the Secret Service as his guards, at least for this set of crimes.

I stand by that prediction with the possible addition of $170,000 in fines, $5,000 for each conviction, although Jimmy K's desire for community service to be part of the sentence would work for me, too.

Maybe Judge Merchan will sentence Hoover Cleveland to community service and consider his serving as President to be community service. That would be creative. Unfortunately, Hoover Cleveland is more likely to receive an unconditional release. Sigh.

As for Trump's obsession with Greenland, I turn to The Daily Show, which had more to say about Trump's expansionist ambitions in Trump Ratchets Up Call to Annex Canada & Greenland as Trudeau Says He'll Resign.

Desi Lydic discusses Trump's imperialist push ahead of his inauguration, including making Canada the 51st state, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and possibly invading Greenland. Plus, Jordan Klepper is hyped about colonialism's apparent comeback.

At least he no longer seems interested in trading Puerto Rico for Greenland. I described that idea as a stupid move unworthy of a board game four years ago.

On paper, admitting Puerto Rico as a counterweight to Washington, D.C. looks like it might work. The problem is that the Republican Party has become Trump's party and the former guy dislikes Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans enough that he reportedly wanted to swap the island commonwealth for Greenland.* As long as he's the party leader, his prejudices and those of his followers will stand in the way of statehood.
...
*This reminds me of a stunt I pulled in a games of Pax Britannica 30-35 years ago when I played the United Kingdom/Great Britain. I called it "Aristotle is not a Belgian." When Belgium, a minor power that runs by automatic rules, made a move that resulted in a Casus Belli, I would call for a Congress of Europe and propose a deal that would give Belgium the U.K's possessions in Newfoundland and Guiana (if I could convince the French player, France's possession in Guiana as well) along with a codominion in whichever territory Belgium had established a protectorate or possession, usually the Congo. That would get get rid of two low-value colonies for the U.K. and one for France, freeing those counters to be deployed in more high-value territories, and use up all of Belgium's counters for protectorates and possessions, eliminating it as a obstacle to the players who had plans for Africa.

What TFG is alleged to have proposed would not have been possible in Pax Brittanica and would have been a stupid deal even if it were. First, Denmark was not one of the minor powers in the game (Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal were) and Greenland was not one of the available territories, so there would be nothing to swap for. Even if it had, I expect Greenland would have had an economic value of 1 or 2, while Puerto Rico, which is in the game, has a value of 5. This would have been a bad economic deal. Then again, if he actually did want to do this, it would have been for irrational reasons. That doesn't surprise me.

And now he's adding Canada to his expansionary "concepts of plans" as the 51st state. I'd only be in favor of that if each Canadian province were admitted as the 53rd through 62nd states after Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. That's only slightly more likely than "a new constitution that replaces the republic with a constitutional monarchy and invite[s] Meghan Mountbatten-Windsor to be Queen." Monkeys will fly out of my butt first.

I conclude with Jimmy Kimmel, who asked Trump Wants to Buy Greenland!?, Bromance with Elon on the Rocks & Zuckerberg Kisses the Ring.

It is very windy and smoky here in Los Angeles, Jimmy got an on the scene weather report from Guillermo this morning, Cher is here on the show with us tonight, Trump gave a double-doozy of a press conference today from Mar-a-Lago where he covered all the big issues from rebranding the ocean to windmills to water pressure, he suggested that he might buy Greenland and sent his son Don Jr to check it out, Lara Trump is busy ruining Tom Petty songs, Hunter Biden and Flavor Flav hung out at a White House gathering for digital creators, the bromance between Trump and Elon Musk appears to be precarious, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a suspiciously Trump-friendly announcement today, Pornhub is no longer available in Florida, and we shine a light on all the craziness with 2025’s first edition of “This Week in Florida.”

Yikes! If he's sending Don Jr. there, then he's serious about Greenland. As I wrote yesterday, "Here's to the comedians keeping us sane in the new year. We need it!"

'From' and 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' lead horror series nominations at the Saturn Awards

I concluded 'Alien: Romulus' leads Best Horror Film nominees at the Saturn Awards for Friday the 13th with the topic of today's post: "I'm not done with horror, as I plan on covering the horror television series and other relevant TV categories, plus an acting category I didn't include in 'Fallout' leads TV nominees plus 'Star Trek' vs. 'Star Wars' at the Saturn Awards tomorrow," so here are the nominees for Best Horror Television Series."

Best Horror Television Series:
Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire
Creepshow
Evil
From
Grotesquerie
Teacup
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

From and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon are tied for first with four nominations apiece, followed by Evil and Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire with two each, then Creepshow, Grotesquerie, and Teacup with just this one. Before the nominations were announced, I was leaning towards Evil, which just finished its final season, but I'm taking a cue from the total nominations as well as what I wrote last year, "I'd have voted for From" in the absence of The Last of Us. Even so, I expect The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will win. Electorates matter.

Best Action / Thriller Television Series:
Bosch: Legacy
Cobra Kai
Found
High Potential
Presumed Innocent
True Detective: Night Country
Tulsa King

I'm including this category in today's post because of True Detective: Night Country, which has two nominations, but Cobra Kai, which my younger daughter made publicity art for when it was on YouTube, leads with three nominations. The rest of the nominees have only this one nomination. I'm voting for True Detective: Night Country, regardless of the number of nominations and my family connection to Cobra Kai.

Before I go on to the next category, I'm pleasantly surprised that High Potential earned a nomination. There were a lot of good to great action, adventure, and thriller series on television last year and I thought Elsbeth and Will Trent were better bets to be nominated, but High Potential is a lot of fun to watch. Besides, it takes place in Los Angeles, where the Saturn Awards are based, while Elsbeth and Will Trent take place and are filmed in New York City and Atlanta, respectively. Again, electorates matter.

Best Television Presentation:
Apartment 7A
Don't Move
The Fall of the House of Usher
Fargo
Ripley
Salem's Lot
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live leads this category with five nominations, tying it with Fallout, which the Deadline report that the Saturn Awards excerpted missed — yet another omission! Fargo follows with four nominations, then The Fall of the House of Usher with three, and Apartment 7A, Don't Move, Ripley, and Salem's Lot with just this one category. IMDB lists five of these nominees as horror, while two, Fargo and Ripley, are thrillers, so this category definitely deserves to be examined today. I'm sure The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live will win, but I'm voting for Fargo.

Now for a new category that includes horror nominees.

Best Genre Comedy Television Series:
Chucky
Ghosts
Only Murders in the Building
Resident Alien
Ted
What We Do in the Shadows

Ghosts leads this category with three nominations, followed by Chucky and What We Do in the Shadows with two each, then Only Murders in the Building, Resident Alien, and Ted with only this one. The Saturn Awards nominated Chucky and What We Do in the Shadows under horror last year, while it categorized Ghosts as fantasy. That written, the Critics Choice Super Awards considered it horror, even though there's very little scary about the show. As for the rest, Only Murders in the Building is a thriller, Resident Alien is science fiction, and Ted is fantasy. As much as my wife and I love Ghosts, we love Emmy winner Only Murders in the Building more, so I'm voting for the show, which I've been hoping would earn a Saturn Awards nomination since 2021. I'm glad the Saturn Awards created this category so I could vote for it.

Follow over the jump for two television acting categories.

Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow react to the Hunter Biden pardon

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for topical non-holiday programming..." I'm following through with Jon Stewart's monologue from Monday, Trump Nominates Kash Patel for Head of FBI & Hunter Biden’s Last Minute Pardon, on The Daily Show.

Jon Stewart on Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Biden’s last-minute pardon for his son Hunter, and how Democrats can't seem to hold the high ground no matter how low Republicans sink.

While Stewart succeeded in finding the comedy in this news, I don't completely agree with him about the hypocrisy in it. I also think that the announcement of Kash Patel's nomination for a position that isn't open yet — Christopher Wray's term doesn't expire for another three years — and Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter are more closely connected than he lets on. Patel might just have gone after Hunter even after he had gone to prison just to please convicted criminal Donald Trump. I have more to say, but Rachel Maddow said it better in Trump's shameless abuse of pardons, nepotism disqualifies him from criticizing Biden pardon on MSNBC.

Rachel Maddow looks at Donald Trump's shameless abuse of the presidential pardon power and the disgraceful level of nepotism in the early staffing of his second administration, in comparison to President Biden's pardoning of his son, Hunter, to spare him further politically motivated prosecution by Trump's acolytes.

Looking at the list of people Trump has pardoned reminds me of what I first wrote in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 1: "Jailbirds of a feather flock together."

SciShow asks 'Could a Vaccine Prevent Type 1 Diabetes?' for World Diabetes Day

Happy World Diabetes Day! SciShow invites you to 'Actually Understand Type 2 Diabetes' inspired me to see if SciShow had other videos to share about my disease. The channel did (and still does), so I'm sharing one of them, Could a Vaccine Prevent Type 1 Diabetes?

Measles, mumps, and polio are things we can prevent with vaccines, but scientists are looking to add a surprising entry to that list: Type 1 diabetes.

When I first developed diabetes, I attributed it to stress over the election of convicted criminal Donald Trump, including attending protests. I went to the Women's March, then the March for Science, and People's Climate March. Those were fun and I felt like I was doing something useful, but they wore on me. That, along with my condition, are why I'm not planning on attending any protests this time. It turns out I was blaming the wrong trigger; I probably had an infection that I didn't notice by a virus I hadn't even heard of.

Speaking of which, CVB stands for Group B Coxsackieviruses, which I found out from Vaccines against Group B Coxsackieviruses and Their Importance at the National Library of Medicine. It was published last year, so the research into human vaccines SciShow described is still ongoing. I'm not up to examining the paper in detail, but the abstract mentions that CVB has been implicated in the development of not only type I diabetes, the disease I have, but also myocarditis, which I don't have but which runs in my family. It may be too late for a vaccine to prevent me from developing diabetes, but it could save me from myocarditis.

That's it for today's health holiday. Stay tuned for America Recycles Day. I love holidays!

Colbert, Klepper, and Kimmel come to comedic terms with Hunter Biden's conviction

Today is Loving Day, but since I don't know if I can top what I wrote two years ago, I'm not going to try. Instead, I'm looking for the silver lining of familial love in the very black cloud of the first story in Stephen Colbert's monologue last night, Pres. Biden Won't Pardon Hunter | Trump Goes After Taylor Swift | Martha-Ann Alito's Flag Fetish.

President Biden pledged to respect the judicial process after his son Hunter was convicted, the former president made creepy remarks about Taylor Swift's appearance, and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has a thing for flags.

Yes, President Biden both loves his son and recognizes his constitutional responsibility to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Those are more than I have seen out of "Hoover Cleveland," my new nickname for Trump. Speaking of laws being faithfully executed, since I'm pro-gun-control, I can't be too upset about Hunter's conviction. There is at least one wrong way to buy a gun in America. I just wish it wasn't exploited for a partisan political purpose by people who are generally opposed to gun control. Hypocrisy!

Jordan Klepper covered some of the same ground on The Daily Show last night in Hunter Biden Convicted & Alito’s Wife Caught on Tape Talking Flags.

Jordan Klepper tackles the Hunter Biden guilty verdict, as well as Justice Samuel Alito's wife, Martha-Ann Alito, caught on tape planning to fight Pride flags with more flags. Plus, Michael Kosta reveals how Governor Kathy Hochul's decision to scrap New York congestion pricing might have had something to do with the "Diner Effect."

It's been nearly three weeks since I posted 'The Daily Show' and Stephen Colbert examine Justice Alito's flags and the controversy is still raging. People are still upset about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, January 6th, and the Supreme Court hearing Hoover Cleveland's immunity appeal and are taking it out on Alito and other Supreme Court Justices for them. My advice to Justice and Mrs. Alito is that they are in a hole and should stop digging, not that they will take it.

In place of Hoover Cleveland talking smack about Taylor Swift, to which I say good luck messing with Americans' entertainment, Klepper and Kosta are covering Governor Hochul's stopping congestion pricing. That's a subject that deserves another post. Maybe if or when CityNerd uploads a video about it.

My wife and I watched both of the above videos last night, but we didn't watch Jimmy Kimmel's monologue, Trump Rants About Shark Attacks, Jimmy Upsets Fox News & Hunter Biden Found Guilty on Three Counts, so I'm viewing it with fresh eyes.

The high profile trial of Hunter Biden ended badly for him as he was found guilty on all three counts, the Biden’s hosted a party at the White House in honor of Juneteenth, Donald Trump had a virtual meeting with the New York City Department of Probation, the Fox News crowd is upset that Jimmy is hosting an interview with Presidents Biden and Obama during a fundraiser here in LA, Dr. Phil interviewed Trump and mentioned a very familiar name, Fiberace was in Vegas this weekend where he said many incomprehensible things, including a diatribe about sharks, which made us think why not give the little ones a treat with an all Trump rendition of “Baby Shark.”

Kimmel now has Mondays off, which is why I featured Jimmy Fallon yesterday instead and why Kimmel is covering Hoover Cleveland's probation meeting, Dr. Phil's interview, and Las Vegas rally. That last deserved a "Baby Shark" parody, although I still think Hoover Cleveland sounds like Crazy Frog when he goes "bing, bing."

I close by returning to a subject Stephen mentioned in his monologue relating to Hoover Cleveland's conviction, Trump's Golf Courses Offer Alcohol Alternatives, last night's cold open.



Because nobody wants to golf sober.
Ugh, nightmare fuel! Also, this clip reminds me that tomorrow is National Golf Cart Day, but I'm not blogging about it. Instead, I've seen three references to Olive Garden this week, which I'm taking as a suggestion from the universe to showcase Company Man Mike's video explaining why Red Lobster's former sister restaurant, Olive Garden, is still a success. Stay tuned to see if I do.