Bill Maher recognizes Henry Waxman's long career of public service with the first Baldy Award

Last week, Bill Maher and his crew at "Real Time" recognized former Representative Henry Waxman in New Rule: The Baldy Awards.

Bill's "bringing unsexy back" with a new award honoring dull, dedicated civil servants who know how to make actual progress, as opposed to doing progressive theater.

For my reaction, I'm sharing my comment to Infidel753's Video of the day -- tantrums vs achievement, which features this video: "I'm proud to say that Henry Waxman was my mom's representative in Congress for at least a decade. That's why I recognized him immediately." Infidel753 replied "Waxman's been an achiever for a long time. I remember reading about his efforts on the early AIDS epidemic, when there was still widespread resistance to real action." This Crazy Eddie approves, both of Waxman's long career of public service and of "Real Time" recognizing it. Here's to this award being continued and a new member of Congress being honored next year.

Meyers, Noah, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at Marjorie Taylor Greene being removed from committee assignments

I predicted a topic of future blogging in the middle of Noah, Colbert, Kimmel, and Corden explain GameStop, a funny tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse.

The opening of this monologue harks back to the failed self-coup and the kind of people who supported it. Consider that a preview of coming attractions on this blog as I make fun of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and other members of the "QAnon Caucus" in the coming months.

Today is the first of my promised "coming attractions" as I share the reactions of late night talk show hosts to Greene being removed from her committee assignments. I begin with Seth Meyers: House Votes to Remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from Committees: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Republicans standing by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as her committee assignments were stripped from her after making a series of deranged, bigoted statements.

I'm glad Seth tied Greene and the Republican Party's QAnon problem to an undemocratic system that gives the Republican Party no incentive to get the support of a majority of Americans. That hearkens back to the actions listed in John Oliver examines the Supreme Court after 'Last Week Tonight' wins four Emmy Awards.

Oliver explained how the U.S. got here with an anti-democratic but pro-republican (double meaning intended) governing structure and what can be done to fix it. I'm in favor of all of them except maybe reforming the Senate. I don't think that's a bad idea in the abstract, but actually trying to do it will get the reformers stuck in the concrete (pun intended). It's difficult to the point of being almost impossible and will suck energy away from other reforms that are more attainable. On the other hand, eliminating the filibuster is worth doing, even if it's a double-edged sword. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is a work-around that will make the Electoral College more democratic, both upper- and lower-case d, without a constitutional amendment. I'd like that, too, but I consider it extremely difficult, while not impossible. That's a long-term effort that I may not live to see accomplished. Expanding the Supreme Court has its risks, but I'm not against it. Finally, anyone who has read my blog for any time knows I'm in favor of admitting Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., as states.

That's a long-term agenda and not one I want to address further in today's post. Later.

Back to Greene. Trevor Noah got more personal in Marjorie Taylor Greene Gets Punished By House & Disavows QAnon.

Despite publicly disavowing QAnon, the House votes to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committees while GOP lawmakers continue to stand by her.

Trevor focused on Greene's dodging responsibility for her words instead of how the system enables her. If the people who voted for Greene wanted someone who was "not a typical politician," this is one way that she might disappoint them. On the other hand, it shows that the Republican branding of the GOP as "the party of personal responsibility" is just that, branding, not reality.

Stephen Colbert lampooned both the system and the people running it in Kevin McCarthy Is Playing Both Sides Of The GOP's Civil War.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tried to distance herself from "words of the past" today, but she need not have bothered as House minority leader Kevin McCarthy declined to take action against her, effectively adopting her conspiracy theories as mainstream GOP values.

Stephen's roasting of Kevin McCarthy was my favorite part of his monologue. It demonstrates why my nickname for McCarthy is "Pickled Tongue" after a menu item at the Wool Growers Basque restaurant in Bakersfield, California. How do I know about the place? I lived in Bakersfield nearly 40 years ago and my then-girlfriend's family ate there.* Local knowledge is a good thing.

I conclude with Jimmy Kimmel's Nutso Marjorie Taylor Greene Booted From Committees After Years of Lies & Conspiracies.

Guillermo made an appearance on ESPN Deportes to talk about the Super Bowl, the CDC is saying no to parties for the big game, the White House is working on a plan to send masks to every American, the House voted to remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from the education and budget committees after years of spreading misinformation and crazy conspiracies, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sean Hannity pretended to not know what QAnon was, the QAnon Shaman from the Capitol Riots claims he didn’t eat for nine straight days because they wouldn’t provide him with organic food, Donald Trump resigned from SAG-AFTRA, and in honor of Tom Brady making it to his 10th Super Bowl, an all-Tom Brady edition of #MeanTweets.

I'm going to take a break from writing about Greene to react to Trump resigning from SAG-AFTRA: "You can't fire me. I quit!" LOL, loser.

That's it for today's news about Representative Greene. I'm sure I'll have more to write about her and Representative Boebert in future entries. In the meantime, stay tuned for my reaction to the Golden Globe nominations.

*Different ex-girlfriend from the one I usually write about here, in case you were wondering. She wasn't from Bakersfield.

Samantha Bee, Trevor Noah, and Legal Eagle have more funny things to say about GameStop, a tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse

It's time to update GameStop with another funny tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse. I begin with Samantha Bee asking The Stonk Market: 2008 All Over Again?

GameStop, Reddit, and hedge funds, oh my! It's the upper middle class vs. the rich and we just can't wait to see who wins this class war! Maybe it'll be ordinary Americans if the SEC can actually start regulating the market?

As always, Bee and her writers have the most distinctive takes on an issue of all the late night comedians. I'm glad she examined the good government angle of regulating the markets instead of just laughing at both Wall Street and Reddit. Speaking of which, I'll get to Elizabeth Warren's comment about the SEC not knowing if what the stock market traders on Reddit did was legal later. Right now, I'm sharing Trevor Noah explaining Here’s How Wall Street Has Always Manipulated the Markets.

Day traders took down a massive hedge fund by artificially inflating GameStop stock, and now, Wall Street is whining about it. But Wall Street manipulating the market is nothing new.

Good lord, JP Morgan's manipulation of electricity prices reminds me of Enron. That's a name I haven't mentioned here for 10 years. Back then, I recommended "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" as a documentary for my students to watch. Since then, I've moved on to other suggestions, but I'd still accept a review of the Enron documentary for extra credit if they submitted it. Also, manipulating aluminum prices (hey, Trevor, there is no "ium" in the name of that element on this side of the Atlantic, so I'm pleased that you got with the program), is a new one on me, but I'm not the least bit surprised. Anything to make a buck.

Both Bee and Noah concentrated on Wall Street's bad behavior in their monologues, while Legal Eagle looked at the actions of the traders on Reddit as well in Illegal Trading on GameStop? or WallStreetBets: The Stonkening.

Did the hedge funds illegally manipulate the market? Did the redditors of Wallstreet Bets? STONKS

As Elizabeth Warren said in the clip Bee included in her monologue, the SEC doesn't know if what went on with GameStop was illegal, so as Legal Eagle says, "it depends." I bet the traders on Reddit hope it isn't. Otherwise, the SEC will say to them what Legal Eagle says to his viewers to close his videos: "I'll see you in court."

Doomsday Clock remains at 100 seconds to midnight for 2021

When I wrote "Since I'm in an 'I can't be all DOOM all the time mood,' 'tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!' suits me just fine" in Emmy-winning comedy series feature diversity in front of and especially behind the camera for Black History Month, I was thinking ahead to my telling my readers to "stay tuned for The Doomsday Clock." NBC News has that story in Scientists Keep Doomsday Clock At 100 Seconds To Midnight, Same As 2020.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the Doomsday Clock will remain at 100 seconds to midnight, the same time it was set to in 2020. The group cited the coronavirus pandemic and the rejection of science coupled with climate change and threats of nuclear warfare.

The good news is that The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists didn't move the clock any closer to midnight. The bad news is that its editors didn't move it any farther away.

For reporter commentary, a more complete video description and an additional portion of President and CEO of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Rachel Bronson's address that NBC News didn't include, watch Global News Doomsday clock remains at 100 seconds to midnight, scientists warn.

The symbolic Doomsday Clock remained at 100 seconds to midnight on Wednesday, as University of Chicago-based scientists from Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists warned the world is dangerously close to devastation.

The time was unchanged from 2020, when scientists from the organization cited concerns over nuclear proliferation and climate change as factors in setting the clock to its most dire time since the Cold War.

President and CEO of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Rachel Bronson, said last year's statement anticipated the denial of COVID-19 and refusal of political leaders to work together, which has led to 2.16 million coronavirus deaths worldwide.

Here's to people listening to scientists and other experts instead of to those who spread conspiracy theories and other dangerous nonsense. Until then, as the catchphrase in "Watchmen" goes, "tick, tock."

Why every day feels like 'Groundhog Day' and other tricks the pandemic has played on our sense of time

Happy Groundhog Day! The master of ceremonies at this morning's ceremony at Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania remarked that people all around the world have said the past year felt like "Groundhog Day" with the same day repeating itself over and over. That inspired me to examine the science of why people's perception of time has been distorted that way.* I begin with WDIV in Detroit asking Has the [perception] of time changed due to COVID-19? Study show it's possible.

A study shows the COVID-19 pandemic may change people's [perception] of time based on certain factors.

So, yes, it happens and this clip describes who is most likely to experience it, but it's a little weak on why. For that, watch WUSA9 ask How is COVID-19 affecting our perception of time?

March was so long ago and April barely lasted a week. Professor Peter Tse talks about how our perception of time has changed because of the pandemic.

The sped-up montage by itself does a good job of depicting the sameness of days during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Professor Peter Tse's explanation is good as far as it goes. PBS Digital's It's Okay To Be Smart goes farther and explains more in Why Time Moves Fast...and Slow.

Time passes for all of at the [same] rate of one second per second. But why does it sometimes feel like time is passing so fast, or so slowly? Especially during COVID? Let’s learn about how our brains keep track of and try to make sense of time, and how they get fooled.

That's enough science about how people perceive time for now. May it have made my readers understand why they feel the way they do about the passage of time and that they're not alone.

*USA Today included those remarks in 135th Groundhog Day celebration from 3:00 to 4:00.

Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow? Watch Groundhog Day live from Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania.

Yes, there's hope; the cycle will be broken and the monotony will end.

All the above makes Punxsutawney Phil's prediction that there will be six more weeks of winter, a forecast echoed by Michigan's own Woody the Woodchuck, secondary. Stay warm and stay safe, everyone!

Emmy-winning comedy series feature diversity in front of and especially behind the camera for Black History Month

I concluded Zendaya and other Emmy winners of color in drama series for Black History Month by telling my readers to "Stay tuned for comedy!" Since I'm in an "I can't be all DOOM all the time mood, "tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!" suits me just fine.

While I've already recognized Eddie Murphy winning Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series and Maya Rudolph winning Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in 'SNL' lampoons the debate, Trump's COVID diagnosis, and Supreme Court nomination in season premiere after winning six Emmy Awards, It won't hurt to repeat what I placed below the fold in October above the fold today. Just to mix things up, I'm featuring the two wins by Maya Rudolph before the one win by Eddie Murphy. Ladies first!

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Angela Bassett as Mo on A Black Lady Sketch Show (Episode: "Angela Bassett Is the Baddest B***h") (HBO)
Bette Midler as Hadassah Gold on The Politician (Episode: "Vienna") (Netflix)
Maya Rudolph as The Judge on The Good Place (Episode: "You've Changed, Man") (NBC)
Maya Rudolph as Senator Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Eddie Murphy") (NBC)
Wanda Sykes as Moms Mabley on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode: "A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo...") (Prime Video)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Host on Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Phoebe Waller-Bridge") (NBC)

On the one hand, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" won this category last year. On the other, the Emmy went to a different actress in a different role, so I'm not considering Wanda Sykes as Moms Mabley to be the nominal favorite, as talented as Sykes is. That means that someone else actually has a good shot at winning. My personal favorite is Maya Rudolph as The Judge on "The Good Place," but she also earned a nomination for playing Kamala Harris crashing the December Democratic debate. I'd prefer her winning as The Judge, but I'll take her carrying home an Emmy for either performance. I just hope vote-splitting doesn't hurt her chances.

I got my wish, as Rudolph won. ET Canada interviewed her in Maya Rudolph Reacts To ‘SNL’ Emmy Win.

It’s been an exciting week for actress Maya Rudolph, who took home two Emmys, including Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy for her portrayal of Senator Kamala Harris on “SNL”. The former "SNL" cast member says she feels lucky to still be a part of the show and reveals which other characters she may play in the upcoming season.

Congratulations on Rudolph for both of her Emmy Awards!

Now for Eddie Murphy's Emmy.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Adam Driver as Host on Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Adam Driver") (NBC)
Luke Kirby as Lenny Bruce on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode: "It's Comedy or Cabbage") (Prime Video)
Eddie Murphy as Host on Saturday Night Live (Episode: "Host: Eddie Murphy") (NBC)
Dev Patel as Joshua on Modern Love (Episode: "When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist") (Prime Video)
Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday Night Live (Episode: "SNL at Home #2") (NBC)
Fred Willard as Frank Dunphy on Modern Family (Episode: "Legacy") (ABC)

SNL has three nominees in this category, Adam Driver, Eddie Murphy, and Brad Pitt. The two strongest are Murphy and Pitt, whose nominated performance I used to open SNL at Home on last week's coronavirus news. That alone is enough to get me to root for him. However, he has tough competition. Luke Kirby won for playing Lenny Bruce on "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" last year, so he's the nominal favorite. Also, Fred Willard passed away, so he might earn a sympathy vote in tribute. Dev Patel is also a talented actor, so I have to mention him.

I was rooting for the wrong SNL guest actor, as ET Canada reported Eddie Murphy Wins First Emmy For 'SNL' Appearance and interviewed the winner.

Eddie Murphy reacts to winning his first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy for hosting “Saturday Night Live”, 36 years to the day he made his "SNL" debut. During a virtual Q&A session following the award show, the legendary comedian called the win "special" and opens up about his plans to return to the standup comedy stage.

Congratulations to Murphy on his first Emmy!

Now that I'm done being a good environment by recycling, it's time to follow over the jump to recognize the winning people of color on comedies behind the camera.

Zendaya and other Emmy winners of color in drama series for Black History Month

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for the next installment about Emmy winners of color that I promised in 'Watchmen' leads diversity in 2019-2020 Emmy winners for MLK Day" at the end of CNBC, The Economist, CBS This Morning, and Retail Archaeology explain GameStop, a serious tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse. For the last day and final Sunday of January 2021 (Yay, we've made it through the first month!), I'm following through with winners from drama series, including short form, beginning with Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Time to revisit my predictions.

The nominees for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series are Jennifer Aniston, Olivia Colman, Jodie Comer, Laura Linney, Sandra Oh, and Zendaya.

For the last time this post, I recycle to begin my analysis.

"Euphoria" is the least overtly political of the nominees, but the setting is East Highland High School, a public institution, so a government facility is the setting. Remember, public education, like law enforcement and the military, is part of government.

Jodie Comer won this award last year, much to my surprise, so she's the nominal favorite. Her strongest competition appears to be Laura Linney from "Ozark," who won the equivalent category at the Gold Derby Awards, and Oscar winner Olivia Colman. Of the three of them, I'm hoping for Linney.

I thoroughly discounted Zendaya and I was wrong to do so. Watch 72nd Emmy Awards: Zendaya Wins for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series from the Television Academy.

Zendaya wins the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

I think she was as surprised as I was. Just the same, I enjoyed her acceptance speech and the other nominated actresses appeared to be equal parts good sports and genuinely happy for her. Congratulations!

By the way, this isn't the first time Zendaya surprised me at an awards show. The first was the 2019 Saturn Awards when she won Best Supporting Actress in a Film for her role in "Spider-Man: Far from Home." I came close, as I wrote "If someone can persuade me of the merits of Zendaya, I might change my vote, but they only have a week." No one did and I wish they had.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the drama winners.

CNBC, The Economist, CBS This Morning, and Retail Archaeology explain GameStop, a serious tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse

I concluded Noah, Colbert, Kimmel, and Corden explain GameStop, a funny tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse with "That's it for today's funny takes on GameStop. I plan on posting serious ones tomorrow. Stay tuned." I begin with CBNC's GameStop Mania: How Reddit Traders Took On Wall Street, which the financial channel just uploaded to YouTube this morning — perfect timing!

GameStop has captivated Wall Street’s attention. The stock’s rise has been otherworldly. But the obsession isn’t just with the rally, it’s with who’s making money off of it. Legions of individual investors -- regular, everyday people -- gathered on social platforms like Reddit and decided to send GameStop stock, as they would say, to the moon. This week, GameStop shares soared 400%, a hedge fund had to get bailed out, and online trading platforms had to restricting trading on GameStop and other hot stocks. Here’s how the GameStop saga played out, and what’s next as lawmakers turn their sights on the story that took over Wall Street this week.

That's a good explanation, although favors the long-time and institutional investors over the Redditors, who may not have been regular investors and watchers of CNBC before the COVID-19 pandemic; as New York Magazine points out, they were probably sports bettors who had to find a new way to satisfy their gambling fix while sports were on hold. Still, it's up to the high journalistic standards and production values I expect out of CNBC. The network may have a perma-bull attitude and prioritize entertainment as much as information, but they do have to give their viewers good advice or they'll leave for Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal. Also, I'm glad they interviewed Senator Elizabeth Warren, who, along with Kourtney Gibson, warned that this may not be the "David versus Goliath" story most people are making it out to be. In the later stages, big investors may have joined the Redditors in the short squeeze.

The Economist also uploaded GameStop: what it reveals about the US stockmarket this morning — again, perfect timing!

The frenzied rise of GameStop’s share price baffled Wall Street and panicked the US Treasury. What does the GameStop story reveal about American stockmarkets? Our experts answer your questions.

Chapter titles:

00:00 - GameStop surge explained
00:55 - Was Robinhood right to restrict trade?
01:56 - Short selling and short squeezes
03:05 - Is the stockmarket fair?
06:03 - Will it lead to more regulation?
06:51 - Is the US stockmarket overheated?
10:09 - Is this a trend?

Instead of letting the experts guide the discussion, The Economists let their readers ask the questions and had their experts respond. I find that democratic approach fitting given the populist nature of the interest in GameStop, AMC, Nokia, Blackberry, and, as Trevor Noah mentioned in yesterday's entry, Tootsie Rolls. About the only gatekeeping was by the editors in selecting the questions and editing the video. I don't begrudge them that; they were only doing their jobs to maintain quality and pacing.

CBS This Morning got into the act Thursday by following the prevailing narrative, Small investors turn GameStop into a Wall Street "David and Goliath" story.

Small investors using a Reddit forum appear to have driven the stock of the struggling retail chain GameStop up nearly 800% and it's causing some major financial losses for seasoned Wall Street investors. Vladimir Duthiers has the details. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger also joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss.

I found this valuable because, in addition to providing a third perspective to the story, I learned something new about CBS News anchor Vladimir Duthiers; he used to be a Wall Street executive. That means that I will pay more attention to his takes on investing and the economy from nowon, just as I do to Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC and NBC News.

Follow over the jump for more from CNBC and Retail Archaeology about GameStop.

Noah, Colbert, Kimmel, and Corden explain GameStop, a funny tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse

I haven't written a story about the Retail Apocalypse since Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day and the stock market since September, so I was due. Well, do I have a story about both with a comedic twist, GameStop, which was the subject of four monologues last night, beginning with The Daily Show with Trevor Noah's Reddit’s GameStop Stock Boost & MLB’s Hall of Fame Drought.

Redditors boost the stock price of GameStop to insane numbers, the pandemic possibly creates a baby bust, and the Baseball Hall of Fame inducts no new players this year.

Good use of "The Big Short" to explain the situation. Other comedians will reference that scene later.

Before I move on the rest of the monologues last night, I'm thanking Trevor and his writers for including a perfect callback to yesterday's CNBC asks 'Is The U.S. Running Out Of People?' I like good transitions and I couldn't have imagined a better one between yesterday's post about population and today's about stocks.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert had a less on-topic preview image but a better monologue in How Reddit Traders Used GameStop To Totally Spank The Wall Street Big Boys.

Stephen has the perfect explainer video for anyone trying to figure out what the heck is happening on Wall Street, as giant hedge funds get brutally punished by swarms of Reddit users harnessing their collective power to boost GameStop's stock price.

The opening of this monologue harks back to the failed self-coup and the kind of people who supported it. Consider that a preview of coming attractions on this blog as I make fun of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and other members of the "QAnon Caucus" in the coming months.

Stephen mentioned the Margot Robbie scene from "The Big Short," but created his own version. I like the visual explanation in it better. Beanie Babies, which we'll see again as well, make for a good concrete example. Robbie was too distracting in the original and seeing Trevor's head on her was even more distracting.

Follow over the jump for two more monologues that featured GameStop and its stock.

CNBC asks 'Is The U.S. Running Out Of People?'

At the end of A pandemic update from Michigan as vaccinations ramp up while U.S. death toll passes 400,000, I quoted USA Today reporting "more than 3 million people died in 2020 — the deadliest year in US history" and "life expectancy for 2020 could end up dropping as much as three full years, said Robert Anderson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." Those are scary statistics, but they tell only half the story about U.S. population. Birth rates tell the other half, as I last wrote about on World Population Day 2020. For that tale, watch and listen as CNBC asks Is The U.S. Running Out Of People?

The US is facing an aging population, falling birth rate and economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. These issues will have huge implications on the size of the workforce and the consumer base. Watch the video to find out why America could be confronting an underpopulation problem and what business leaders and policymakers can do about it.

This video does a stellar job of describing and explaining most of the issues I cover when I lecture about population in my environmental science course, which is why I plan on showing it to my students. The first CNBC mentions is a trend I've covered on this blog for years: U.S. birth rates have been dropping for more than a decade and fertility rates have been dropping for even longer than that. In fact, U.S. fertility rates have been at or below replacement rate since 1973, when Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion. Economic uncertainty and other factors have contributed to the trend.

Second, increased population is bad for the environment, as expressed by the variable P in I=P*A*T "where I is impact, P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology." Impact increases as both population and affluence increases; both drive up demand for resources and create more waste and pollution. Therefore, keeping population down will help the environment. By keeping human population below the carrying capacity for our species, it helps people as well.

Third, increasing educational and economic opportunities for women is the number one way to decrease birth rates and keep them down, although increasing economic security might put a floor under the declining birth rates. Women's education and a stronger economy will also increase affluence, which will increase impact if more efficient technologies don't counteract both affluence and population.

Fourth, I use the example of Japan's use of robots as a strategy to counteract a declining population. As the video points out, robots are not consumers, so they don't contribute to the economy through consumption, only through investment.

Fifth, while more males are born than women, women outlive men. I show that to my students when I lecture about age structure. That means the U.S. economy will increasingly rely on the consumption of older women.

Sixth, if not enough babies are born in the U.S. to meet our job demand, the country can allow more immigration. I'm O.K. with that, but Donald Trump became president in large part because many Americans weren't and still aren't. That's why, when one of my students asked in 2015 if the U.S. would ever adopt Chinese population policies, I responded no, that's not the American way. If the U.S. thinks it has an overpopulation issue, it would restrict immigration. The next week, Trump rode down the escalator and denounced immigrants. This is one of those cases where I hate being proved right.

The seventh and final point returns to the idea of carrying capacity and environmental footprint, a concept I cover on Earth Overshoot Day. The bad news is that if all 7.8 billion of us consumed like Americans currently do, humans would need five Earths to support the species sustainably. As much as I like science fiction ideas, there aren't four other planets and large moons to terraform, not that we have the technology to do so and not that it would solve our immediate consumption issues. The good news is that the experts interviewed think that population will peak in 40-50 years and start declining. If the planet and the societies and economies that depend on it can support the peak population then, it should be able to support the declining human population on the way down. This depends on more efficient technologies, the T in I=P*A*T, extracting resources and reducing waste more sustainably. The Crazy Eddie in me approves, although I'm worried it may not happen.

On the other hand, watching this video has made me only a little less worried about something I've repeated before.

I have been in favor of zero population growth for as long as I can remember. However, I'm not sure the U.S. economy is set up for a stable or slowly declining population, a point I made in the Hipcrime Vocab: Why Slowing Population Growth is a Problem. We are going to have to figure how to do so. Otherwise, I might live long enough to experience the wisdom of the saying "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it."

Maybe we'll be able to thread that needle after all. Here's to us helping to make that happen.