A late celebration of RuPaul's birthday with the Emmy nominations for 'Drag Race'

In addition to yesterday being Life Day, it was also RuPaul Charles' birthday, which I learned when my wife told me about all the celebrities she shared her birthday with.* Because it was her birthday, I had better things to do than use the day to write a tribute post, opting instead for George Santos not running for re-election after ethics report, closer looks from Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel, which was much quicker. However, I still want to celebrate by picking up where I left off in Pete Davidson hosts as 'Saturday Night Live' returns, which I ended by telling my readers to "stay tuned" as "The next installment will be about the competition shows, but that might be a while." Now that the actors strike is over, it's time.

I begin with RuPaul's Drag Race's sole nomination at the Primetime Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Reality Competition Program
The Amazing Race (CBS)
RuPaul's Drag Race (MTV)
Survivor (CBS)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)

With last year's winner Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls not competing, I expect RuPaul's Drag Race will win easily. So do the experts at Gold Derby, eight of whom have picked it to win. Only one disagrees, choosing Top Chef instead. The site's fans agree, voting RuPaul's Drag Race the winner for Competition Program at the Gold Derby Awards. I'm in good company.

Speaking of Gold Derby, the site hosted Making of ‘RuPaul's Drag Race’: Fun roundtable with producer and 3 crafts artisans in June.

Making of ‘RuPaul's Drag Race’: Fun roundtable with producer and 3 crafts artisans. Guests are executive producer Tom Campbell, production designer Gianna Costa, composer Leland and choreographer Miguel Zarate. Gold Derby editor Rob Licuria hosts this special behind-the-scenes panel for 2023 Emmy contenders.

Tom Campbell repeated what I quoted last year: "I make a political statement every time I bat my false eyelashes" — well-said and a perfect quote to explain why I cover this show.

Follow over the jump for the categories nominated at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

George Santos not running for re-election after ethics report, closer looks from Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel

I found a shinier object than Life Day to blog about today, George Santos. The House Ethics Committee released its report on him, after which he announced that he is not running for re-election. The late-night talk show hosts all made that news the subjects of their monologues, beginning with Stephen Colbert's George Santos Used Donor Funds For Botox & OnlyFans | Our Do-Nothing Congress | Does Biden Trust Xi?

An ethics probe into Rep. George Santos reported that he committed fraud, but he won’t be expelled from Congress. Elsewhere, the GOP-led House is the least productive in a century and President Biden explained his cautious approach to trusting China’s leader.

One of my best and easiest predictions was that Santos will be a great inspiration for comedy as long as he stays in the news. That's continuing to come true.

Seth Meyers covered that story and more in Damning Video Evidence Emerges in Trump Trial, Shocking Santos Report Released: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at the House Ethics Committee releasing a devastating report about alleged lawbreaking by Republican Rep. George Santos and damning new evidence coming out in the Georgia criminal case against Trump.

LOL, "tiddlywinks." And Trump's supporters think Biden sounds old.

I close with Jimmy Kimmel's George Santos Hit with Scathing Ethics Report & Trump Media Group DEMANDS an Apology from Jimmy.

Seth takes a closer look at the House Ethics Committee releasing a devastating report about alleged lawbreaking by Republican Rep. George Santos and damning new evidence coming out in the Georgia criminal case against Trump.

"Where we're going, we don't need ethics." Yeah, George, keep telling yourself that.

Closer looks at 'Congressional Fight Club' from Colbert, Meyers, and 'The Daily Show'

Wild things have been going on while I've been busy celebrating holidays. Stephen Colbert talked about some of them in Congressional Fight Club | Biden and Xi Play It Cool | Dems Hand Mike Johnson a Victory.

GOP infighting has turned the halls of Congress into a fight club, the U.S. and China set low expectations for the Biden-Xi meeting, and the new House Speaker took heat from his own party after passing a government spending bill with help from Democrats.

"He said, Xi said" — that joke wrote itself. That's O.K., it's still funny. Less funny but even more ridiculous is what Republicans in Congress are doing to each other, which was the subject of GOP Senator Challenges Teamsters Head to Fight, McCarthy Accused of Sucker Punch: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Republicans turning the U.S. Capitol into the UFC Octagon after former House speaker Kevin McCarthy allegedly assaulted a congressman and a senator challenged a witness to a physical fight during a hearing.

Seth and his writers echoed my sentiments about the confrontation between Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters president Sean O'Brien, which I expressed in a comment on LONG BEFORE TRUMP, WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE NORMALIZED FOX NEWS at No More Mister Nice Blog.

My wife used to work for the Teamsters and we live three miles away from the last place Jimmy Hoffa was seen alive, so we know anyone asking to fight that union's president is asking for trouble. I wonder if Senator Mullin has a clue about that.

Based on the way we bragged about it on right-wing televison outlets, I'd say Mullin either doesn't know or doesn't care. I'm glad he's not my senator!

Leslie Jones and Desi Lydic tackled "Congressional Fight Club" and more in Congress Erupts in Fights & San Francisco "Cleans Up” for the President of China | The Daily Show.

Leslie Jones covers San Francisco's problematic cleaning spree,...USPS's [$]6.5 billion loss, and Desi Lydic weighs in on the many fights erupting in Congress.

I'm glad California Governor Gavin Newsom is owning what's going on, even if it doesn't make him look good outside of San Francisco. Inside the city, it probably make him look great. I just wish it didn't take a meeting of heads of state to get it to happen. And, yes, it would be cheaper to house the homeless instead of leaving them on the streets. Too bad our screwed-up priorities don't allow that.

I'm sorry to read about the problems the USPS is having. It is still a government agency, even if it operates a lot like a government-owned corporation such as Amtrak, though it lost its status as a cabinet-level department more than 50 years ago.

While I'm looking forward to Mike Johnson losing his Speakership because of doing the wrong thing, I'm relieved that he hasn't lost it for doing the right thing, as Kevin McCarthy was. Speaking of whom, he's living down to my nickname for him as he got back into the news.

Finally, I'm not as sure as Jones that Lydic would lose to Cruz, punch line or not — pun intended.

I'm wondering what to write about tomorrow, as it's the real date of Life Day, which falls on November 17th and was originally a stand-in for Thanksgiving, but over the years, it has turned into Star Wars Christmas, so many fans celebrate it then. Stay tuned.

Recycling smarter and 'Plastic Time Bomb' wins an Emmy for America Recycles Day

Happy America Recycles Day! It's been a while since I wrote about the history of the day, so I'm sharing Enchanted Insights America Recycles Day (November 15), Activities and How to Celebrate America Recycles Day.

On America Recycles Day (November 15), EPA recognizes the importance and impact of recycling, which has contributed to American prosperity ...

Speaking of recycling, I'm repeating what I wrote on World Kindness Day: "Videos like this are why I subscribed to the channel and why I'm disappointed that the woman behind the channel no longer makes them. Sigh."

I'm sharing two videos so that my readers and I can recycle smarter, beginning with Daybreak learns all things recycling on America Recycles Day from WGRZ-TV in Buffalo.

What can and cannot be recycled discussed on Daybreak for America Recycles Day.

I enjoyed watching this hands-on demonstration and learned something from it. I learned more in 6abc Philadelphia's Sustainability ambassador talks about the importance of recycling and shows us some best practices.

A poll released found that 25% of Americans say they do not do a good job at recycling, partly because they do not know what can be recycled.

As I last wrote in Franz Nopcsa, 'The Gay Palaeontologist Spy Who Discovered Transylvanian Dwarf Dinosaurs', "It's always a good day when I learn something new. I hope my readers agree." I also hope my readers and I recycle smarter after watching these videos.

Follow over the jump for an Emmy winner about what happens when people don't recycle smarter.

Today is World Diabetes Day and November is National Diabetes Month

Happy World Diabetes Day! I begin with Enchanted Insights explaining World Diabetes Day (14 November) - Why do We Celebrate and How to Celebrate - History and Purpose.

World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225. It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.

That's a good description of the history of the holiday and why it's observed today. For a brief summary of the disease and its effects, I turn to CNA's World Diabetes Day: The lowdown on the chronic disease.

On average, a person who has diabetes thinks about their disease every 20 minutes every day of their life. On World Diabetes Day which falls on Nov 14, CNA's Teresa Tang explains what the different types of diabetes are and what they mean.

I'm a diabetic and I can attest that I think about my condition an average of every 20 minutes throughout the day.* I consider it to be a central organizing fact of my life. Oddly enough, I think it has focused me and improved my mental health. I now have a real threat to concentrate my attention on and consider every day a small victory over death.

Not only is today World Diabetes Day, it's NATIONAL DIABETES MONTH | November - National Day Calendar.


Here's the description of National Diabetes Month from the National Day Calendar website.

In November, National Diabetes Month focuses attention on the growing cost of diabetes on American's health. From the physical, emotional, and social effects to the financial and damaging health consequences, diabetes impacts more than 30 million people in the United States. Also known as American Diabetes Month, the month focus on making healthy changes and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
...
Help prevent type 2 diabetes. Learn about the causes of type 1 diabetes and how to control it. Find out how new medications are making it easier to control blood sugar and insulin levels. Learn about a healthy diet, exercise, and how to control diabetes. Known your number and get involved. If you have questions about your diabetes, be sure to speak with your doctor. They are your best resource for staying in control. Use #NationalDiabetesMonth to post on social media.

All good advice. Trust me, I'm a diabetic, so I know.

That's it for a day devoted to a cause important to me. Stay tuned for America Recycles Day, another day about a cause important to me.

*Night is another matter. I don't recall ever dreaming about diabetes. Instead, I dream about driving. That's not an improvement; all those dreams involve loss of control and they scare me. Then I wake up and realize it was just a dream. None of it happened outside my head. Whew!

World Kindness Day 2023 from Enchanted Insights and Beast Philanthropy

Happy World Kindness Day! I begin today's celebration with Enchanted Insights, formerly 8SA, asking and answering What is World Kindness Day (November 13) - What is the purpose of World Kindness Day?

What is World Kindness Day (November 13) - What is the purpose of World Kindness Day?

World Kindness Day is to highlight good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness which binds us. Kindness is a fundamental part of the human condition which bridges the divides of race, religion, politics, gender and zip codes.

World Kindness Day is an international observance on 13 November. It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement, a coalition of nations' kindness NGOs. It is observed in many countries, including Canada, Australia, Nigeria and United Arab Emirates.

Again, videos like this are why I subscribed to the channel and why I'm disappointed that the woman behind the channel no longer makes them. Sigh.

Next, I'm sharing Beast Philanthropy's We Did 10,000 Random Acts of Kindness.

It’s World Kindness Day today, and KIND Snacks provided us 100,000 KIND products to share with our community. This inspired us to do 10,000 acts of kindness in 48 hours. See how we did, and see how you can help us spread some kindness.

No, Beast Philanthropy didn't do 10,000 acts of kindness in 48 hours, but that wasn't for lack of trying. That was enough to get me to watch Beast Philanthropy's video for this year's World Kindness Day, We're Giving Away $30 Million in Free Food.


Mr. Beast is not only involved in tree planting and beach cleanup, but also in combating food waste and hunger. These are all important environmental causes for me and why I'm glad that, after three years of saying I would, I finally embedded his videos here.

Speaking of causes important to me, tomorrow is World Diabetes Day. Stay tuned.

'Trump' crashes the Republican debate on 'SNL'

I wrote "looking forward to the show already" about last night's Saturday Night Live. The opening lived up to my expectations. Watch Republican Debate Cold Open - SNL.

Lester Holt (Kenan Thompson) moderates the Republican candidates (Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, Molly Kearney, Devon Walker, John Higgins) during a debate before Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) interrupts.

This sketch recycles the same gimmick as James Austin Johnson's 'Trump' hijacks the Last Supper on 'SNL' for Easter, but it worked then and it worked again, so this environmentalist approves. In fact, I think it was more effective this time, because Trump's absence from the stage really was the elephant in the room, so having him crash the debate was an appropriate comic choice. It gave James Austin Johnson the opportunity to tell a lot of uncomfortable truths about Trump and his supporters through comedy. One of them was something Seth Meyers, Sarah Silverman, and I missed; The Former Guy already has an insulting nickname for Nikki Haley, "Birdbrain." I'm not using it, as I already have one for her. Besides, TFG has a lot of nerve calling someone stupid, which is something I wouldn't call Haley. As I first wrote eleven years ago, "Projection is the Right's favorite defense mechanism. Trump projects, so he fits right in."

Weekend Update continued lampooning last week's debate in Ramaswamy Calls GOP Party of Losers, Ivanka Testifies in Fraud Trial.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Vivek Ramaswamy calling the GOP a "party of losers" and Ohio becoming the 24th state to legalize marijuana.

After Tuesday's election results, Vivek Ramaswamy might be right. Welcome to a stuck clock being right twice a day, even if it's for the wrong reasons. Speaking of which, I guess SNL's writers couldn't figure out a way to include Haley calling Ramaswamy "scum" in their jokes. Darn.

Follow over the jump for more of the highlights from last night's episode, plus a bonus flashback to Timothée Chalamet's first appearance on SNL.

'The Commandant's Own' for a drum corps Veterans Day 2023

Happy Veterans Day! As I have done since 2014, I'm celebrating today as one of my marching music holidays. I begin with U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps | 2023 | DCI World Championship Finals, uploaded by Drum Corps International (DCI) yesterday, the Marine Corps Birthday.

"The Commandant's Own," United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps performs during the DCI World Championship Finals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, August 12, 2023.

This is only the finale, national anthem, and pass in review. BFDTV - Broadcasting For Drum Corps uploaded the entire show in "The Commandant's Own" 2023 United States Marines Drum & Bugle Corps @ The East Coast Showcase BFDTV.

The United States Marines Corps Drum and Bugle Corps play in exhibition at the 2023 East Coast Showcase show in Quincy MA. Performing many drum corps classics - BFDTV thanks you for your service and that cool contra (ok tuba) section jam...

I conclude with a musical greeting for the holiday, “The Commandant’s Own” 2022 Veterans Day - America The Beautiful uploaded by "The Commandant's Own," The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps itself.

Happy Veterans Day from the Marines of “The Commandant’s Own” United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps.

To all of our brothers and sisters in who serve or have served in any branch in our US military, thank you so much for your service!

That concludes this year's celebration. Stay tuned for the highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live as the Sunday entertainment feature.

Actors strike over as SAG-AFTRA reaches a tentative deal with the Hollywood studios

I decided to blog again today about the end of the actors strike. Watch PBS NewsHour report on this and interview Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, in Why the Screen Actors Guild agreed to end a strike that crippled Hollywood.

The actors' union SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative deal with the Hollywood studios, ending the longest strike for TV and film actors in history. The deal worth more than $1 billion includes new levels of minimum compensation, bonuses tied to streaming and the first protections against artificial intelligence. Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, joins Geoff Bennett to discuss.

It sounds like the union got the deal its members needed. Good. I was rooting for them.

Seth Meyers expressed his relief in Seth Addresses the SAG Strike Ending.

Seth remarks on SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood studios coming to an agreement to end the historic strike.

Guests being able to promote their upcoming movies and TV shows is making it easier and more fun for everyone on variety shows. That's true for Saturday Night Live, too. Watch Timothée Chalamet and boygenius are Living, Laughing and Loving - SNL.

Timothée Chalamet hosts Saturday Night Live on November 11, 2023, with musical guest boygenius.

LOL, looking forward to the show already.

In the meantime, stay tuned for Veterans Day.

Seth Meyers, 'The Daily Show,' and FiveThirtyEight take silly and serious closer looks at the third GOP debate

I closed Meyers and Kimmel take closer looks at Ivanka Trump testifying, election results, and the third GOP debate for World Freedom Day with an observation and a tease.

Apparently, the highlight of last night's debate was Nikki Haley calling Vivek Ramaswamy "scum," Between that and her telling him "Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber from what you say" in the second Republican debate, it's obvious that she doesn't like him.

I might have more on the debate tomorrow, but then the actors strike ended today. Stay tuned to see which shiny object I write about Friday.

I decided to blog about the debate, but I'm keeping my options open to write about the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike later, just like I did on Wednesday, posting both CityNerd asks 'Urbanism: Insidious Globalist Conspiracy or Self-Evident Common Sense?' for World Urbanism Day and CityNerd asks 'Urbanism: Insidious Globalist Conspiracy or Self-Evident Common Sense?' for World Urbanism Day. What can I say? It's been a busy news week.

I begin with Seth Meyers in Haley Calls Ramaswamy "Scum," Ramaswamy Calls GOP "Losers," DeSantis Flails: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Ivanka trying to distance herself from Trump as he remains the GOP frontrunner after a fiery and pointless debate last night.

Yes, Ambassador Haley, tell us how you really feel about Ramaswamy.

Sarah Silverman, Dulcé Sloan, and Desi Lydic had more to say on The Daily Show in Haley, Ramaswamy Throw Down at GOP Debate.

Desi Lydic and Dulcé Sloan join Sarah Silverman to recap Trump's rally, and the latest GOP debate, including Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy's on-stage feud, the candidates' shared love of warmongering, and Tim Scott's girlfriend reveal.

I don't need TFG to give Haley an insulting nickname; I already have one for her. Too bad TFG probably doesn't know enough about the late artist formerly known as Prince to get the reference. Speaking of TFG, any time he tells a story about someone crying and calling him "Sir," it's bullshit. Don't believe a word of it.

I close this post with a mostly serious look at the debate, Haley takes on Ramaswamy and DeSantis in third GOP debate | FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast.

The crew reacts to the third Republican primary debate in this late-night edition of the 538 Politics podcast.

I'm glad they found the substance under all the smoke, not that it would convince me to vote for any of them. I left the GOP in 2000 and never looked back.

Stay tuned to see if I blog about the end of the actors strike or skip ahead to Veterans Day.