Coffee Party USA announces the 2019 Golden Coffee Cups movie nominees

The members and volunteers of Coffee Party USA have voted on the best of the shortlist for the 2019 Coffee Party Entertainment Awards for movies, also known as the Golden Coffee Cups, so it's time to announce the nominees for the third annual edition of these honors.

Eight feature films from 2019 earned nominations. In descending order by number of nominations, they are "Bombshell" with six, "The Two Popes" with five, "Harriet" with three, "The Report" with two, and "1917," "Angel Has Fallen," "Jojo Rabbit," and "Just Mercy" with one each. "Bombshell," "The Two Popes," and "Harriet" garnered nominations both for Best Drama or Comedy about Politics or Government of 2019 (Best Scripted Political Movie) and in two or more acting categories, while "1917" and "Jojo Rabbit" earned a nomination for Best Scripted Political Movie and "Angel Has Fallen" and "The Report" collected their nominations in the acting categories.

In addition to Best Actor in a Political Film and Best Portrayal of a Government Official in a Film, Coffee Party USA is instituting a new acting award this year, Best Portrayal of an Activist or Concerned Citizen in a Film. As an activist organization, Coffee Party USA is using this award to recognize outstanding fictional examples of activists in cinema.

Eight political documentaries from 2019 also earned nominations. Three nominees, "American Factory," "Apollo 11," and "Knock Down the House," received two nominations each, both for Best Political Documentary and for Best Appearance of a Government Official in a Documentary, while the rest garnered only one nomination each, "Slay the Dragon" and "The Great Hack" for Best Political Documentary and "Hail Satan?," "St. Louis Superman," and "The Kingmaker" for Best Appearance of a Government Official in a Documentary.

The members of Coffee Party USA will vote on the winners this week. To join them in voting on the winners, become a member of Coffee Party USA by May 23, 2020, which you can do for as little as $30.00 per year. Winners are scheduled to be announced next Sunday, May 24, 2020.

Coffee Party USA ia a 501c(4) nonprofit social welfare organization dedicated to empowering and connecting communities to reclaim our government for the people. To support its efforts, which include educating the public on our website and on our Facebook page, registering people to vote with our partners TurboVote and National Voter Registration Day, and reminding them to vote through our Voter Buddy program, please consider donating. A donation of $10.00 for ten years of Coffee Party USA is recommended. For those who wish to give at a higher level of support and be more involved in the organization, please consider becoming a member, which will allow you to vote for future Golden Coffee Cup nominees and winners. To do the valuable work of the Coffee Party, volunteer. Not only will Coffee Party USA thank you for it, so will the country!

Follow over the jump for the nominees in each category.

Space Force gets a flag for Armed Forces Day

Happy Armed Forces Day!

Armed Forces Day on the third Saturday in May pays tribute to the military personnel serving in the United States Armed Forces. The celebration takes place each year during Armed Forces Week.

The United States Military is composed of six branches, including the Army, Air [Force], Space Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. As of 2019, more than 1.3 million active-duty service members are stationed in the United States and around the world. An additional 800,000 reservists stand ready in the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. The holiday unites the country behind the men and women who currently serve in the United States military.

The listing of Space Force is apropos for today, as Reuters reported Trump unveils U.S. Space Force official flag yesterday while President Trump signed a declaration for Armed Forces Day.

The official flag of the United States Space Force was presented to President Trump at an Oval Office ceremony.

I still think it looks like a United Federation of Planets flag from Star Trek.

Space Force didn't wait for its flag to begin operations and recruiting. Follow over the jump for videos about both.

An update on the Endangered Species Act for Endangered Species Day

Happy National Endangered Species Day!

Each year on the third Friday in May, National Endangered Species Day offers an opportunity for everyone to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species. The observance also encourages learning about wildlife habitats and the actions necessary to protect them. Every year you can participate along with thousands of others at events hosted by wildlife refuges, zoos, parks, community centers, aquariums, botanical gardens, libraries, and schools.

The 40th anniversary of the Federal Endangered Species Act was observed in 2013.

The observance is designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a “consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation.” On December 28, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Federal Endangered Species Act into law.

The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The FWS maintains a list of all the endangered species, which includes birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees. In late 2019, President Trump announced a major overhaul to the law that would reduce regulations. Because of this, it’s more important than ever to support the ESA.

That last sentence reminded me that I last wrote about the Endangered Species Act in Vox uses wolves to explain a shortcoming of the Endangered Species Act, itself an update to Trump administration weakening enforcement of Endangered Species Act. I missed a video when I wrote that, which was more about the act itself than Trump's then-proposed changes to enforcement. Watch CBS Sunday Morning's On the brink: The Endangered Species Act.

Around the world, plant and animal species are going extinct at a rate faster than any time in human history. The Endangered Species Act, signed into law 46 years ago, has succeeded in preventing hundreds of species on the list from going extinct, and has recovered 54 species. But new regulatory changes to the Act are being finalized by the Trump administration, which may weaken its ability to protect wildlife and habitat, and – say wildlife advocates – speed extinctions. Conor Knighton reports.

As a former Ranger Naturalist at Channel Islands National Park, I wasn't surprised that the Island Fox was listed, but I am pleasantly surprised that the species recovered so quickly. As for the effects of the proposed changes, Don Hopey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked What's more endangered: the species or the list?

In the year since an international study first warned that more than 1 million of the Earth’s 8.1 million known animal, plant and insect species face extinction in coming decades, only one species was classified as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

That’s not due to some sort of miraculous biological recovery of the thousands of at-risk species, but because the Trump administration has made it more difficult to list and protect them, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

The sole protection exception was the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale, a 55-foot-long, 90,000-pound mammal that’s hard to overlook and was listed as endangered by NOAA Fisheries on May 15, 2019.

“That no species have been listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the last year is both surprising and shocking given the declines we are seeing,” said Bruce Stein, the federation’s chief scientist.
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[N]ew federal ESA listings have all but disappeared in the three-plus years since Donald Trump became president. According to a USFWS website, threatened and endangered listings totaled 11 in 2017, five in 2018, and there was no listing for 2019. In 2020, the service listed one new species as threatened, the Hawaiian goose, but the goose had been listed as endangered in 1967, and the 2020 listing was a downlisting of the original listing, not a new listing.
For comparison, the fish and wildlife service listed 74 species as threatened or endangered in 2016, 31 in 2015, 66 in 2014 and 89 in 2013.

That's the bad outcome I was afraid of when these regulations were proposed. I don't expect any better from this administration, as they have been anti-environment since the week Trump was inaugurated, when I wrote Yesterday was a good day for pipelines, a bad one for environmentalists and one of the main reasons why the Doomsday Clock has been moved closer to midnight three times during Trump's presidency.

Since Americans can't count on the federal government to protect the world's endangered species, what can be done, other than voting Trump out this November? A surprising amount, says National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore in CBS Sunday Morning's A wake-up call on saving endangered species.

In order to help stabilize our planet's life support systems and improve our world, National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore says we must step up and solve environmental problems, even small ones, in our communities; by saving other species, we will be saving our own.

This is the kind of advice I give my students and serves as an example of Commoner's Laws, especially the first: "Everything Is Connected to Everything Else. There is one ecosphere for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all." The other relevant laws are "Everything Must Go Somewhere" for reduce, reuse, and recycle, "Nature Knows Best" for protecting natural habitat as the life support system for humans along with the rest of life on Earth, and "There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch" for the costs of our overexploitation of nature. May we all remember these laws and learn how to act on them.

Seth Meyers checks in on small businesses

Since I posted a serious take on the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Unemployment hits 14.7% with experts predicting worse to come, it's time for a comedic one. For that, I turn to Seth Meyers. Watch The Check In: Small Businesses.

Seth takes a break from breaking news to check in on small businesses, which are barely staying afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

While both the pandemic and the economy are crises that demand prompt action, Congress and the executive branch could have been a little more careful about designing and executing the program so larger businesses such as Shake Shack, Ruth's Chris, Potbelly, and the L.A. Lakers wouldn't receive funds that are supposed for small, local, family-owned businesses like the ones I celebrate on Small Business Saturday. I hope the next round of relief funding, which I mentioned in John Oliver describes the plight of the United States Postal Service, shows that Congress and the executive branch, along with the banks who disburse the funds, have learned that lesson.

John Oliver describes the plight of the United States Postal Service

It's only been five days since I posted John Oliver and Vox on coronavirus testing, but it's time for an update already. This time, it's John Oliver's take on why we need to save the Postal Service, including voting by mail during a pandemic. Watch USPS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO).

As the U.S. Postal Service faces financial catastrophe, John Oliver discusses why the service is so important, what brought it to this point, and what we can do to help.

The good news is that the House of Representatives has listened, including aid to the USPS in the HEROES Act. Reuters includes that item in Democrats float $3 trillion U.S. coronavirus bill.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus relief package with funding for states, businesses, food support and families, only to see the measure flatly rejected by Senate Republicans.

The bad news is that Mitch McConnell plans on being the "Grim Reaper" with this bill, just as he has hundreds of others. Sigh. As I wrote in July when I first mentioned McConnell making the Senate a graveyard for the House's legislation, it's enough to drive one to drink. Instead of posting a drink recipe, I'll recycle another thought of mine.

I was wondering what the my mailbox would look like without junk mail. Now I'm finding out. As I've written about lower birth rates, "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it." It's hard to vote by mail without the USPS, along with all the other services it provides.

Marching music for the Nebraska Primary

Yesterday, I told my readers to "stay tuned for marching music for the Nebraska Democratic Primary" today. Here's the introduction to the primary's Wikipedia entry.

The 2020 Nebraska Democratic primary will take place on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, as part of the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Nebraska primary is a semi-closed primary. The state awards 29 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 25 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

As I first wrote in Marching music for the Wyoming Democratic Caucuses, "Other than selecting delegates, this election has little meaning. Just the same, enjoy the music while waiting for the results."

Nebraska is known for one drum and bugle corps, the Union Pacific Railmen from Omaha. The corps' alumni association has videos of most of their best performances, including what is the corps's high point, the 1989 Railmen Drum and Bugle Corps at DCI Quarterfinals, where they placed 25th.


The corps went into a prolonged hiatus after the 1995 season, but they'e competing again in SoundSport. Watch The Railmen - 2019 Sound Sport for their latest championship performance.


I wish the unit luck next year, as no corps is competing this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sigh.

Follow over the jump for the University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band and the Millard West High School Marching Band at the 2010 Rose Parade.

Unemployment hits 14.7% with experts predicting worse to come

It's been more than a month since I last reported on the record unemployment claims resulting from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, although I've mentioned many other the economic effects since then. With the issuing of the April jobs report last week, it's time for an update. I begin with Yahoo! Finance's Unemployment hits 14.7%.

Unemployment rate in the U.S. hit a record high of 14.7% in April. Yahoo Finance’s Jessica Smith breaks down the latest jobless claims.

The one piece of good news was year-over-year wage growth jumping up to 7.9%, although that is a result of most high-wage workers, such as myself, keeping our jobs while working from home while many low-wage workers have lost their jobs, particularly in hospitality, a reason that is decidedly not good news at all.

CNN provided some analysis focusing on manufacturing in Michigan in John King on jobs report: Never before have we seen anything close to that.

CNN's John King takes a look at the job losses in the US due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The raw numbers Yahoo Finance gave looked bad enough, but they're even scarier expressed in percentages. More than half of hospitality employees have lost their jobs in the past two months. I shouldn't be surprised, but wow! Also, I'm glad CNN had Representative Debbie Dingell on to explain how auto manufacturing will reopen and express her thoughts on shortening global supply lines, especially for medicines. As a diabetic, this is important to me. One of my insulin prescriptions comes from Germany and the needles I use to inject it come from Ireland. Those aren't as far away as China and India, but they are across an ocean from here. I would literally die without both of them.

Finally, ABC News elicited a frightening quote yesterday: 'Worst is yet to come on job front' amid coronavirus: Neel Kashkari.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank and Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist for Charles Schwab, appear on "This Week."

I think Kashkari was more comprehensible and straight forward about the economic prospects coming out of this recession than Sonders. The question being asked was "why is market soaring?" I couldn't figure out if she actually answered it, or just spouted out a bunch of investor jargon about how to deal with the market. Honestly, I think I'd get a better answer out of CNBC and long-time readers know I have my issues with that channel's economic reporting, so that's not a compliment.

I'll have more about the pandemic and the economy in the future. Until then, stay tuned for marching music for the Nebraska Democratic Primary tomorrow.

2019's baby names delayed and The Atlantic and New York Magazine on motherhood for Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I had been planning to write about the most popular baby names of 2019, as I had for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, but that's not going to happen. NBC's Today Show has the news.

For the first time in nearly 25 years, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will not be releasing its list of the year's most popular baby names.

Since 1997, the SSA has released an annual list of the previous year's most popular names for boys and girls. Typically, the list is released the Friday before Mother's Day, but this year, the administration announced that the coronavirus pandemic had caused them to shift their plans.

"Out of respect and honor for all people and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement of the 2019 most popular baby names is being rescheduled to a to-be-determined date," said the administration in a statement. "The agency sends its gratitude and heartfelt thanks to everybody fighting the pandemic and providing vital services throughout the country during these difficult times."

Looks like the COVID-19 pandemic has put this holiday tradition into isolation. That's disappointing. Here's to hoping the Social Security Administration will have the list ready by Father's Day.

In the meantime, I present two videos about the reality of motherhood, beginning with The Atlantic's A Poetic Ode to Motherhood.

Becoming a mother changed the way Nanfu Wang saw the world. This is an experience common to new parents, but it’s often ineffable. Wang’s new film, Between Everything, renders the perspective shift of motherhood in cinematic poetry.

YouTube suggested New York Magazine's Motherhood Through the Years, which I watched and enjoyed enough to share with my readers. As I last wrote in PBS Digital's Storied examines pandemics in literature and entertainment, "Behold the power of the YouTube algorithm!"

We asked six moms about what motherhood is like at a month, six months, a year, five years, 15 years, and 30 years. Does the mother of a 30-year-old feel like she knows what she’s doing any more than the mother of a 1-month-old baby? What are the greatest challenges and triumphs of motherhood? What we wanted to define was how mothering changes as children age — what we learned is that through years of challenges, heartache, and joy, once you’re a mother, “Everything changes. Everything.” Call your mom.

Yes, I will call my mom. I'm glad she's still around.

Seth Meyers tells 'murder hornets' 'not now' while LiveScience stresses the threat to bees

Seven years ago, I wrote "here is some scary biodiversity for you all, a potential invasive species I can frighten my students with: Giant hornets killing dozens in China." Asian Giant Hornets are no longer "a potential invasive species," they're an actual invasive species here in the U.S. That prompted a lot of sensational coverage as a change of pace during the COVID-19 pandemic. I engaged in a little of that on Twitter, tweeting "I wondered why there were giant wasps and hornets in the Final Fantasy games. Then I read about these things and understood." Now I will definitely scare my students with them this semester!

Seth Meyers was having none of it. Watch Not Now, Murder Hornets.

Seth takes a moment to ask Asian giant hornets, or "murder hornets," to give us all a break as we’re busy dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

In his monologue, Seth does a good job of placing the threat in the context of the pandemic and official response in addition to the "now what" reaction to one more thing to worry about. Fortunately, as scary as Asian Giant Hornets are, they are mostly a threat to honeybees. LiveScience emphasizes that point in "Murder Hornets" Massacre Honey Bees, Not Humans FYI.

Sightings in Washington state of Asian giant hornets* raise concerns that the enormous insects may be settling in North America. Live Science Senior Writer Mindy Weisberger tells the tale of how "Murder Hornets" got their name and what's going on with our new visitors:
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* not yellowjackets aka "American Hornets" which are only a 1/2-inch vs 2-inch length, and not European #hornets are also smaller than their giant Asian cousins, and do not attack bees as a group ~The more you know~ about #asiangianthornets

While they are less of a threat to humans than they seem — 50 dead per year out of the approximately three billion people in the countries where it is native does not seem impressive compared to the average of 62 Americans dying every year from bee, wasp, and hornet stings with a population one-tenth that size; Giant Asian Hornets might add an average of 5-10 each year to that total if fatalities are proportional to population — they are a real threat to bees. That makes them an indirect threat to humans because of the importance of honeybees to agriculture. Oh, boy, one more thing to include in this year's World Bee Day on May 20th.

Enough of the potential threat from murder hornets today. Stay tuned for a celebration of Mother's Day.

John Oliver and Vox on coronavirus testing

Only two weeks ago, I posted John Oliver and Washington Post examine coronavirus misinformation. It's time for an update on the COVID-19 pandemic from John Oliver with this week's Coronavirus VI: Testing from "Last Week Tonight."

As experts encourage widespread coronavirus testing, John Oliver discusses exactly how much testing the US has done, the difference between diagnostic and antibody tests, and why we need to do more.

Oliver showed how South Korea is slowly returning to normal, including their high rate of testing and how the country is starting to play baseball, albeit in front of stands empty of actual people. To see how the country got there, watch Vox's The big lesson from South Korea's coronavirus response.

Testing and tracing were the key to slowing the spread of coronavirus.
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In South Korea, citizens have flattened the curve of the novel coronavirus -- and it's because of lessons they learned from fighting the MERS outbreak in 2015. Through a combination of aggressive and widespread testing measures, along with a system know as “contact tracing,” they’ve been better positioned to spot the path of the virus and curb its spread. While they are still vigilant for a second wave of Covid-19 cases, people in South Korea are slowly returning to public life. Watch the video above to find out how their testing and contact tracing measures work, and how it can be a lesson for countries still in lockdown.

I agree with Oliver that the U.S. needs more testing and that we should follow South Korea's example. Whether we do remains to be seen.