MSNBC's Steve Kornacki examines today's Senate runoff election in Georgia

Because my readers seem to really like 'SNL' parodies prepping Herschel Walker for Tuesday's Senate runoff in its cold open, I'm sharing MSNBC's Steve Kornacki: 'Good Judgment' Question Could Factor Into Georgia Runoff as a follow-up.

Steve Kornacki joins Morning Joe to discuss early voting in the Georgia Senate runoff between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock.

Trevor Noah asked 'Who Is Herschel Walker?' The answer may turn out to be someone enough Georgia Republicans won't vote for that Raphael Warnock gets re-elected. Here's to that happening tonight. Stay tuned.

'Top Gun: Maverick' vs. 'Nope' at the People's Choice Awards

I made a prediction in the middle of 'Top Gun: Maverick' vs. 'RRR – Rise Roar Revolt' for Best Action/Adventure Film at the Saturn Awards.

On the one hand, I'm pleased to see that "Top Gun: Maverick" has a Twitter image promoting its nominations. I wish more films did that, like some of the TV nominees have. I'd be surprised, but not shocked, if the campaign worked well enough to convince a plurality of Saturn Awards voters to pick Tom Cruise. He is far and away the biggest star, but he's not the best actor. On the other hand, I expect him to get a couple of People's Choice Awards and his movie to get one or two as well.

My prediction came true, as Tom Cruise earned nominations for The Male Movie Star of 2022 along with his co-star Miles Teller and The Action Movie Star of 2022, "Top Gun: Maverick" earned nominations for The Movie of 2022 and The Action Movie of 2022. Wikipedia's article on the 48th People's Choice Awards stopped its tally of nominations there, but I consider the nomination of Lady Gaga's "Hold My Hand from the soundtrack for the movie, to be a sixth nomination. That ties it in my book with "Nope," which also has six nominations, The Movie of 2022, The Drama Movie of 2022, Daniel Kaluuya for The Male Movie Star of 2022 and The Drama Movie Star of 2022, where he's competing against his co-star Keke Palmer, who is also nominated for The Female Movie Star of 2022. I like this matchup because it combines two of my interests in entertainment, portrayals of government and politics (remember that the military is part of government) in movies and television and speculative fiction, in this case, science fiction and horror.

I begin with the categories in which the two movies are competing directly against each other along with a comment on the Saturn Awards.


Since this is a popularity contest, I expect the results would at least partly reflect the box office, where, at least among the movies released before October 26, 2022, when the nominations came out, the rankings are "Top Gun: Maverick" first, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" second, "Jurassic World: Dominion" fourth (the current third place movie, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," came out after the nominations did; I expect it will end its run in second), "The Batman" sixth ("Minions: Rise of Gru" is in fifth but wasn't nominated; neither were any other animated movies, so I think the People's Choice Awards should add an animated movie category), "Thor: Love and Thunder" seventh, "Elvis" tenth, "Nope" twelfth, and "Bullet Train" sixteenth. Given this field, I fully expect "Top Gun: Maverick" to win, adding to its three Saturn Awards, two of which, Best Action/Adventure Film and Best Editing, I put on my ballot.


The third Saturn Award "Top Gun: Maverick" won was Tom Cruise for Best Actor.* As I wrote above, I was surprised but not shocked. I expect Cruise to win The Male Movie Star of 2022, so I will be neither surprised nor shocked. Now to see if Cruise earns nominations at the awards shows the entertainment professionals vote in, not just the fans.

Follow over the jump for the categories in which "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Nope" are competing separately.

'SNL' parodies prepping Herschel Walker for Tuesday's Senate runoff in its cold open

As I promised twice, I'm posting the highlight's of last night's "Saturday Night Live" episode beginning where the show did, with the Herschel Walker Cold Open.

Republican senators Mitch McConnell (James Austin Johnson), John Cornyn (Mikey Day) and Marsha Blackburn (Cecily Strong) help prepare Herschel Walker (Kenan Thompson) for the Georgia Senate runoff.

Locking Walker in a panic room might just be the best action for helping him win Tuesday's runoff election. However, that isn't going to happen, which is good news for Raphael Warnock. As several commenters at YouTube remarked, as silly as Kenan Thompson's version of Walker was, he still made more sense than the actual Walker. That's because Thompson has writers and, I hope, editors. Walker has neither.

Weekend Update: Kanye West Praises Hitler, Biden Averts Rail Strike covered more headlines from last week's news.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like the Senate passing the Respect for Marriage Act.

Ugh, now I have to add the Alex Jones label to this post. Damn you, Kanye!

Weekend Update continued with Thriller's 40th Anniversary, Police Bust Super Cartel.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a giving birth to a baby in a McDonalds.

Observing the 40th anniversary of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" alone made today's entry worthy of being the Sunday entertainment feature. So does Keke Palmer Monologue, which I decided was more my style than the next two segments of Weekend Update.

First-time host Keke Palmer talks about the lessons she's learned from being an actor for 20 years and addresses pregnancy rumors.

Palmer is not an Oscar winner or even a nominee, but she is an Emmy winner and a Saturn Awards and People's Choice Awards nominee for "Nope," which might earn her an Oscar nomination yet. Even if that doesn't happen, don't count her out for future roles. I think Palmer has as bright a future ahead of her as behind her.

Speaking of Palmer and the People's Choice Awards, both will be the subject of tomorrow's planned post about awards shows, so stay tuned.

'Bankrupt - JCPenney' by Bright Sun Films, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

Instead of covering more awards shows, as I promised yesterday, I'm posting another tale of the Retail Apocalypse.* Watch Jake Williams of Bright Sun Films present Bankrupt - JCPenney.

With over 1,500 stores across the country and over 200,000 employees, the J.C. Penney Company was a mega retailer in the United States. It grew from humble beginnings with its founder James Penney and grew into an iconic retail institution in America. However those golden years only lasted until the early 2000's, when the retailer experienced a violent downturn until its eventual bankruptcy in 2020. Join me as I find out how this company went from billions to nothing.

I had mentioned that executives at JCPenney scored bonuses before declaring bankruptcy, but I hadn't followed the story beyond JCPenney having been saved two years ago. I also hadn't realized that the companies who rescued JCPenney were also among those interested in buying Kohl's. It's a good day when I learn something new.

*I have the outline of the first awards show entry already written and I plan on posting it Monday. In the meantime, stay tuned for a recap of tonight's "Saturday Night Live" episode.

Desi Lydic examines 'How Harassed Election Officials Impact Elections'

It's time for another examination of the 2022 midterm elections through comedy, beginning with Desi Lydic examining How Harassed Election Officials Impact Elections on "The Daily Show."*

Desi Lydic takes a look at the decline in election officials due to the harassment they face.

The bad news is the high level of harassment incited by The Former Guy continued into 2022 even though he was not on the ballot. The good news is that volunteers stepped up to staff the polling places so the poll worker shortage that Desi examined in the previous installment didn't materialize. Watch How Poll Worker Shortages Impact Elections.

Is being a poll worker a thankless job or an incredibly thankless job? Desi Lydic investigates the reasons behind the poll worker shortage and how it's affecting the integrity of elections.

The possibility of not enough poll workers wasn't the only potential shortage threatening the elections. Desi began the series with Desi Lydic Investigates Paper Shortages Affecting Upcoming Elections.

The most pressing issue leading up to the midterm elections is…a paper shortage? Desi Lydic investigates.

Supply chain issues affected the election, too.  As I've written many times before, everything is connected to everything else.

Watching these segments reminds me that I should view segments by Jordan Klepper, the other Emmy-nominated cast member of "The Daily Show." If I do so, it will be after I cover more awards shows and recap tomorrow night's "Saturday Night Live" episode. Stay tuned.

*It won't be "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" after the end of this month, as Trevor is leaving the show. I'll miss him, but I'm looking forward to whoever replaces him. I hope they'll be just as insightful and funny.

World AIDS Day 2022 from France 24 English and CBS New York

I told my readers that "health coverage will continue [today] on World AIDS Day." I begin with France 24 English on World AIDS Day: Global inequalities pause years of progress on fighting epidemic.*

World AIDS Day is dedicated to raising awareness and remembering those who lost their lives to the illness. Although the world has come a long way in terms of both destigmatising and treating HIV/AIDS, much remains to be done. The United Nations says different forms of inequality are still preventing progress in ending the epidemic. For more, Nathan Lachowsky, assistant public health professor at the University of Victoria, joined us for Perspective.

This video is a reminder that COVID-19 isn't the only pandemic raging; HIV/AIDS has been going for 40+ years. It may serve as an example of how to live with a disease instead of being able to cure and eliminate it. That's part of the message of CBS New York's World AIDS Day honors lost lives and uplifts survivors.

World AIDS Day is an opportunity to uplift the lives of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, CBS2's John Dias reports.

On the one hand, Alejandro Santiago's story fulfills my wish: "Here's to World AIDS Day 2022 bringing more good news." On the other, it demonstrates that both COVID-19 and monkeypox have made living with HIV more complicated and diverted both attention and resources to more urgent, if not any more serious, health threats.

I close by hoping that World AIDS Day 2023 brings more good news.

*Once again, France provided the most readers to my blog last month with 15,625 page views to 9,319 from the United States during the past 30 days, so I'm honoring my French readers by leading off with a French news story. Thank you, and keep reading!

Michigan COVID-19 deaths pass 40,000, a pandemic update

I wrote "I'm sure I'll return to the 'tripledemic'" at the end of CNBC explains 'Why Everyone Is Getting Sick' during this year's flu season and WXYZ uploaded two videos that helped me keep my promise. Both reported "Michigan COVID-19 deaths surpass 40,000." Here is the earlier one from last night.

On Tuesday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced 8,831 new cases of COVID-19 and 113 additional deaths from the last week. That brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the state to 40,085 since the pandemic began.

The second segment from this morning had the same prerecorded interviews, but different commentary and a more comprehensive description.

With Thanksgiving in the rearview and Christmas around the corner, Michigan is juggling a trifecta when it comes to winter viruses. Right now the flu, RSV, and COVID are circulating around the country. According to the CDC map, Michigan is still in the green with low cases but these numbers were taken before the Thanksgiving holiday. Nonetheless, just this week, the state hit a grim milestone when it comes to COVID. According to the state, 40,000 Michiganders have lost their lives to the virus. “It makes me very sad because 40,000 is a huge, huge number," Natasha Ristovski of metro Detroit said. Ristovski lost her father to COVID two years today. “It all happened so very fast and not just to my family, but all the other families because I know how much it hurts losing someone so close to you,” she said.

That's the local picture here in Michigan. ABC News reported on the national situation, with an emphasis on the New York City area, in Health officials fear holiday 'tripledemic' surge l GMA.

Experts fear the holidays may worsen the surge of COVID, flu and RSV, with some hospitals and urgent cares already facing a crush of patients.

As I wrote in February, "the virus isn't done with us even though a lot [of people] are acting as if they're done with it."

That concludes November's blogging, but the health coverage will continue tomorrow on World AIDS Day. In the meantime, may my readers stay safe and healthy!

Avoiding scams and finding good charities on Giving Tuesday

Happy Giving Tuesday! I begin today's post with a note of caution from WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids telling its viewers Avoid scams this Giving Tuesday with tips from BBB.

On the eve of Giving Tuesday, you may want to take into consideration some tips to make sure your donation is going to a legitimate place. (Nov. 28, 2022)

All good advice.

NBC 10 Philadelphia (WCAU) gave more positive counsel in Tips on Finding Legit Charities on Giving Tuesday.

Donations can make a great impact on someone’s life this Giving Tuesday. NBC10 Responds reporter Valeria Aponte Feliciano has a few tips to help you be sure your money is being used for good during the holiday.

I'm a big fan of Charity Navigator and I'm pleased to see others recommend it. This includes WDIV/Click On Detroit, who posted Giving Tuesday 2022: 60+ Michigan charities who deserve your donation to its website.

Giving Tuesday is upon us and the season of charitable giving is in full swing.

Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.

Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources.

So, if you're looking to donate to a local charity, here are some options:

I like this list, which includes food banks like Forgotten Harvest, animal welfare organizations like the Michigan Humane Society, and political advocacy groups like the ACLU of Michigan. As I wrote nine years ago, Detroit has great charities.

After a week of holiday posts, it's time to return to current events. Stay tuned.

Bill Maher says 'Make the Mall Great Again' for Cyber Monday

Happy Cyber Monday! This year, I'm posting a contrary view, in more ways than one, from "Real Time with Bill Maher" — New Rule: Make the Mall Great Again.

It's time to get back out into the world because online shopping is killing us, psychologically and environmentally.

In the middle of all the "Get off my lawn" sentiment and resentment over reactions to the pandemic, Maher makes some good environmental points, particularly about fast fashion; Americans are buying way too many clothes and throwing them in the trash after a few wearings. On the other hand, a lot of the hidden costs behind the goods we buy would be the same if we bought them in person. It's only we might be buying more online because of the convenience that the environmental costs pile up, just like the shipping boxes for recycling and disposal.

Speaking of which, it's trash and recycling pickup day and I have to take mine to the side of the road. Off to do that chore, then return to work after being at home for Thanksgiving. See you tomorrow for Giving Tuesday!

The 2022 Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards winners

I concluded Emmy and EMA Awards for 'Abbott Elementary' on World Television Day by telling my readers "I plan on examining the rest of my picks [at the EMA Awards] for the next Sunday entertainment feature." Read as I compare my picks to win among the 2022 EMA Awards nominees with the actual winners.

I'm glad to see two science fiction movies nominated in this category, "Don't Look Up" and "Jurassic World: Dominion." I also think these are better choices than last year's nominees. "Don't Look Up" got snubbed at the Saturn Awards while "Jurassic World: Dominion" earned two nominations, but I think "Don't Look Up" will win tonight.

And "Don't Look Up" won. Congratulations!

On the other hand, I had not heard of any of the Documentary Film nominees before. "Eating Our Way to Extinction" has the kind of star power that might sway the EMA voters. "Fin" has a more focused subject. I like the subjects of "Youth Unstoppable," but IMDB has a 2018 date for it, so what's it doing being nominated this year? Speaking of IMDB, I can't find an entry there for "Burning." I think it's a good field, but other than all the celebrities involved with "Eating Our Way to Extinction" and the two festival awards for "Youth Unstoppable," I have no good way to handicap their prospects. Any of them could win tonight.

"Eating Our Way to Extinction" indeed had the star power to sway the EMA voters, so it won. Congratulations!

Follow over the jump for the television nominees.