Stewart, Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at Venezuela

I telegraphed today's topic yesterday: "I expect Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel will return tonight. If they do, I'm sure they'll have plenty of things to say about what Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and the rest of Hoover Cleveland's maladministration are doing to and about Venezuela." They did, starting with Trump Kidnaps President Maduro, Targets Venezuelan Oil & Ditches "America First" | The Daily Show.

Jon Stewart dives into the Trump administration’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump's collusion with oil companies to exploit Venezuela’s resources, and the emergence of the “Donroe Doctrine" as Trump threatens more international takeovers.

Calling Hegseth "Homelander" is an insult to the role that won Antony Starr both Best Actor in a Superhero Series and Best Villain in a Series. Homelander is more competent. As for calling the justification for the raid on Venezuela "the Donroe Doctrine," that was mockery that Hoover Cleveland thought was catchy, which reminds me of a post of mine on Bluesky.

It also reads like how the U.S. Right appropriated American Exceptionalism because it sounded cool while completely misunderstanding it.

[image or embed]

— Vince Lamb (@vincelamb.bsky.social) January 3, 2026 at 10:55 PM

While I'm on it, here's another.

This looks like a stupid version of Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia from "1984." Yet another example of Republicans learning the wrong lessons fom Orwell.

[image or embed]

— Vince Lamb (@vincelamb.bsky.social) January 3, 2026 at 10:46 PM

Stephen had more to say when he asked Did Maduro's Dancing Prompt Trump To Attack Venezuela? | No Regime Change | Another War For Oil.

President Trump may have decided to snatch Venezuela's leader after being enraged by Nicholás Maduro's defiant public dancing, Maduro's VP is currently running the country, and there's no question that the U.S. is seeking to control Venezuela's oil riches.

Like Stephen, I'm old enough to remember the previous times events like these happened. I agree with his sentiment: "Now, invading a country with a mustachioed dictator and saying, 'Don't worry, their oil will pay for this war,' is kind of where I got on this train 20 plus years ago. It didn't work then, and I doubt it's going to work now. And I hope the American people don't fall for this a second time." Same here.

It wouldn't be a closer look without Seth, so here's Trump Says U.S. Will "Run" Venezuela & Take Its Oil, Threatens Colombia, Mexico, Cuba: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump making history by becoming the first-ever winner of the FIFA Peace Prize to bomb another country and kidnap its leader.

Yeah, Maduro's singing and dancing is bad and ridiculous, but he has better moves than Hoover Cleveland. Is he that petty? Yes. Witness what he and the people around him are saying about the Nobel Peace Prize winner; she'd be invited to run the country if she had declined it and given it to Hoover Cleveland. He's also that transparent, although not in the way usually meant by transparency. Speaking of which, he's not even bothering to hide that it's about oil. Principles? Hah! What are those to Hoover Cleveland?

I turn to Jimmy Kimmel Recaps the Crazy Stuff Trump Did Over the Holidays & Takes Cognitive Test Donny “ACED”, for today's final monologue.

Donald Trump did so much crazy stuff over the last two weeks that it would take a nine part Ken Burns documentary series to cover it, he hosted the lowest rated Kennedy Center Honors telecast ever, he finally broke his silence about the First Lady’s underpants, he posted on Truth social 556 times, he spoke to kids calling into the Santa Tracker Hotline on Christmas, he enlisted Vanilla Ice to perform at his Mar-A-Lago New Years Eve party, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured by Delta Force at their home in Caracas and brought to New York, Trump has his eyes set on Greenland, and Jimmy takes a cognitive test that is just like the tests that Trump says he “aced.”

Hoover Cleveland was ridiculously busy over the holidays. At least last year he had the excuse that he was putting together his second administration, but even then his designs on Greenland and Canada made news. He hasn't given up on them.

As for his posting 556 times to Truth Social, including more than 200 on Christmas Eve, I had the following to say on Bluesky:

I used to give out awards for stupid net tricks like this. Google "Wollmann Rubber Turkey."

— Vince Lamb (@vincelamb.bsky.social) December 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM

These are the same awards that included the Kenny McCormick Memorial Medal for losing at least five accounts because of abuse.

I close by returning to The Late Show with A New Dance Craze Sweeps Across The Americas.

This guy will do anything to distract attention from the Epstein Files.

Stephen mentioned the Epstein Files, but you know what no one mentioned? The fifth anniversary of January 6th. I might do that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

'Last Week Tonight' on Venezuela, a blast from the past

I was wondering what to write about what's happening in Venezuela when YouTube recommended Venezuela: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) from seven years ago. Time for a blast from the past!

John Oliver discusses the devastating economic crisis in Venezuela and enlists the help of a large bird who bears a striking resemblance to Wilmer Valderrama.

I took a serious look at the situation in Vox on the collapse of Venezuela six years ago. It was about time I examined the country and its plight through comedy. Speaking of which, I expect Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel will return tonight. If they do, I'm sure they'll have plenty of things to say about what Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and the rest of Hoover Cleveland's maladministration are doing to and about Venezuela. If not, I already have serious videos to share. I'll be ready.

While I'm indulging in better late than never today, I'm celebrating Norther, a fake holiday created by Archdruid John Michael Greer, one day late. I should have celebrated it yesterday, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Winter Solstice, but I was too busy observing National Screenwriters Day one day early. Holiday swap! Watch the animal mascots for Norther, 5+ Minutes of CHAOS from Grizzy and the Lemmings | Netflix Family.

Join Grizzy and the Lemmings on wild misadventures! From racing through ancient tombs to escaping giant parrots, these critters never stop causing chaos! Grizzy and the Lemmings is now playing on Netflix!

A belated happy Norther! Now stay tuned for more about Venezuela.

Vox on the collapse of Venezuela

I mentioned another collapsing country in Vox explains how Saudi Arabia became the largest buyer of U.S. arms and is using them in Yemen.

Another country whose collapse I should write about is Venezuela.  I have not written enough about its situation, either.  I also plan on correcting that.  Stay tuned.

On that note, I present The collapse of Venezuela, explained.

The country is in chaos, but its leaders aren't going anywhere.

Correction at 1:58: It's been brought to our notice that the Supreme Court tried to strip the country's National Assembly of its powers in March 2017 and not 2016. We regret the error.

The collapse of Venezuela and President Maduro's rise to dictatorship.

Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America. It has the largest known oil reserves in the world. And its democratic government was once praised world wide.
But today, Venezuela's democratic institutions and its economy are in shambles. The country has the highest inflation in the world, making food and medicine inaccessible to most Venezuelans. Over the last four years, its GDP has fallen 35%, which is a sharper drop than the one seen during the Great Depression in the US. The country's murder rate has surpassed that of the most dangerous cities in the world. These conditions have sparked months of protests against the president, Nicolas Maduro. And it's easy to see why: the country has become measurably worse since his election in 2013.

Colbert and Kimmel observe the fifth anniversary of January 6th

I closed Stewart, Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at Venezuela with this program note.

Stephen mentioned the Epstein Files, but you know what no one mentioned? The fifth anniversary of January 6th. I might do that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert provided two clips to the cause, beginning with the cold open asking Celebrating January 6th?



Then come on into Pardon City!

Party City may be gone, but the comedy value of the brand lives on.

Stephen continued with last night's monologue, Jan 6 Is A Permanent Stain On Trump's Legacy | The Pokémon President | Colbert Out-Rates The Don.

It's been five years since Donald Trump's failed coup at the U.S. Capitol, the assault on Venezuela might be just the beginning of the president's territorial aggression, and Stephen Colbert's audience size was three times bigger than Trump's when hosting The Kennedy Center Honors.

Yesterday was Eric Trump's birthday? Now I can't forget it! Thanks, Stephen — not!

Returning to Venezuela, I wrote the following yesterday.

Is he that petty? Yes. Witness what he and the people around him are saying about the Nobel Peace Prize winner; she'd be invited to run the country if she had declined it and given it to Hoover Cleveland.

As Stephen pointed out, sharing probably wouldn't be enough for Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump. Besides, even if María Corina Machado gave the medal to Hoover Cleveland and split the money, the Nobel Prize committee would never recognize it; Machado would be the official winner and Hoover Cleveland would not.

Even before Hoover Cleveland's maladministration has digested Venezuela, they are moving on to Greenland. I'm glad Stephen Colbert schooled Stephen Miller on the basis of Denmark's claim to Greenland. This is a profoundly stupid idea, and not just for the reasons I outlined five year's ago.

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

Moving on to the low ratings for this year's Kennedy Center Honors, it's another example of what I repeated in Silly and serious closer looks at Trump taking over the Kennedy Center, "the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent. As I first wrote in 2011, 'America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­.'" In this case, the action was to boycott the Kennedy Center Honors and watch Stephen and Jimmy Kimmel, whose show also beat the Kennedy Center Honors in the ratings, instead.

Speaking of Jimmy K., it's time for his monologue, Trump Delivers Scatterbrained Speech to GOP, He Guns for Greenland & 5th Anniversary of Insurrection.

Today is the fifth anniversary of the events of January 6th when Donald Trump tried to overthrow the government in a pathetic and illegal attempt to stay in power, Speaker Mike Johnson refused to hang the official plaque to honor the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol, Trump took the time to post his TikTok stats instead of wishing his son Eric a happy birthday, he spent 84 minutes delivering a pep talk to Republicans in the House which we whittled down for tonight’s edition of "Real Moments in Presidementia," Congress is back in session and looking to avoid another government shutdown, Trump continues to make it up as he goes along when it comes to Venezuela, sources close to the White House say that the reason Trump doesn’t support Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado is because she didn’t give him her Nobel Peace Price, his Legion of Dumb is gunning for Greenland again, Trump continues to claim he is in perfect health, the CDC is reducing the number of vaccines recommended for kids thanks to RFK Jr, and Trump has a brand new set of products right in time for the fifth anniversary of the Insurrection.

The "Real Moments in Presidementia" reminded me that I think he sounds like Crazy Frog when he goes "bing, bing."

Jimmy K. mentioned the flu epidemic, which is happening while RFK Jr. and his CDC is recommending fewer childhood vaccinations. Covering that is now on my to-do list. In the meantime, I'm closing with Critics Choice's Jimmy Kimmel WINS Best Talk Show for "Jimmy Kimmel Live".


Congratulations to Jimmy, Guillermo, and the writers and crew of Jimmy Kimmel Live! This is now an awards show post, so here is the linkspam to the rest of the previous posts about the 2025 Critics Choice Awards.

• 'Severance,' 'The Diplomat,' and 'The Pitt' tie with four nominations at the Critics Choice Awards
• 'Nobody Wants This' leads comedy nominees at the Critics Choice Awards, but could lose to 'The Studio'
• 'Adolescence' leads TV nominees at the Critics Choice Awards
• Science fiction movie nominees at the Critics Choice Awards for Science Fiction Day
• Critics Choice and Golden Globes screenplay nominees for an early National Screenwriters Day

'The Grab' leads both Outstanding Investigative Documentary and Best Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards

I told my readers to "Stay tuned as I resume my coverage of the News & Doc Emmy Awards" at the end of PBS NewsHour explains 'How Meta's blockbuster antitrust trial could have major implications for big tech' — a Throwback Thursday special, and I'm following through with the nominees for Outstanding Investigative Documentary, which include two of the nominees for Best Documentary. From most to least nominated, they are The Grab with four nominations, American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders with three, Fault Lines episode "The Night Won't End" with two, and two Frontline episodes, "A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela" and "South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning," both with one. I'm sharing their trailers in that order, beginning with The Grab - Official Trailer | Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite | Opening June 14 by Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing.

Quietly and seemingly out of sight, governments, private investors and mercenaries are working to seize food and water resources at the expense of entire populations. These groups are establishing themselves as the new OPEC, where the future world powers will be those who control not oil, but food. And it's all beginning to bubble to the surface in real time. Global food prices have hit an all-time high, threatening chaos and violence. Meanwhile China, Russia, the UAE and Wall Street are just a few of the players strategizing within this shocking, shifting geopolitical landscape.

THE GRAB is a global thriller combining hard-hitting journalism from The Center for Investigative Reporting with the compelling character-driven storytelling of director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, taking you around the globe to reveal one of the world’s biggest and least known threats.

Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite

This documentary fits the overall theme of this blog and is one I can recommend to my students. Welcome to blogging as professional development. It's also a chance for Gabriela Cowperthwaite to earn the recognition she deserved but didn't get for Blackfish. I hope she, along with the film's producers, researchers, and trailer creators, get it.

I did not see the "share" icon for American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders | Official Trailer | Netflix, so I'm embedding American Conspiracy: Il caso Octopus | Trailer ufficiale | Netflix Italia.


 Here's the English translation of the Italian video description.

Investigators have no doubts about the death of Danny Casolaro: for them, the journalist found in the bathtub of a hotel room committed suicide. But the reporter's family and colleagues believe it could have been murder. The motive? The investigation he was conducting into a conspiracy he called "Octopus," a secret organization linked to the theft of government spy software, a series of unsolved murders and some of the biggest political scandals of the 20th century. Years later, researcher Christian Hansen tries to reveal the secrets of Casolaro's death, along with the story that cost him his life. Stardust Frames, Duplass Brothers Productions and director Zachary Treitz present this four-part docuseries that tells the mystery that has lasted for decades.

This film shares producers with Wild Wild Country, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series as well as four other nominations at the 2018 Creative Arts Emmy Awards and four nominations at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. That's a good sign for its award chances, although I'm still rooting for Cowperthwaite and The Grab.

Al Jazeera English uploaded the entire episode for "The Night Won't End," which I'm not sharing here, so I'm embedding Excerpts from 'The Night Won't End: Biden's War on Gaza' in lieu of an actual trailer.

Israel’s bombing campaign continues in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis deepens to catastrophic levels, the Biden administration has not wavered in its support for Israel. United States weapons transfers - from 2,000-pound bombs to artillery shells and tanks - have been a crucial part of the Israeli military campaign. Fault Lines worked with journalists in Gaza to profile three families as they try to survive the war. Together with Airwars, Fault Lines also investigated an air strike on December 11 in north Gaza in which more than 100 people from the same family were killed. Numerous attacks on civilians - including that on Hind Rajab and her relatives in late January - have raised international concern and questions over continuing US support. Fault Lines partnered with Forensic Architecture and Earshot to investigate that attack. From air strikes to field executions, Fault Lines investigates the killings of civilians by the Israeli military in Gaza and the role of the United States in the war.

"Biden's war on Gaza" — Al Jazeera certainly has an opinion. John Oliver had an opposing message and I had a reaction. Oliver warned that Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump would be worse on Gaza and that turned out to be true. As my readers can probably tell, I'm not rooting for Al Jazeera English's nominee to win either this award or Outstanding Writing – Documentary. Good thing there are better nominees in both categories.

Now for the two nominated Frontline episodes, beginning with A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro's Venezuela (trailer) | FRONTLINE.

With the Venezuelan news outlet Armando.info, FRONTLINE investigates the shadowy figure at the heart of a corruption scandal spanning from Venezuela to the U.S. "A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela" premieres Tues., May 14, 2024.

...and concluding the trailers with South Korea's Adoption Reckoning (trailer) | FRONTLINE + @AssociatedPress.

FRONTLINE and The Associated Press investigate allegations of fraud and abuse in South Korea’s historic foreign adoption boom.

In a normal year, a Frontline episode would have a better chance of winning; 2024 wasn't a normal year. Also, most of these nominees show that the line between investigative documentaries and crime and justice documentaries is very fine, just like between science and nature documentaries.

Now to re-examine the nominees for Best Documentary, which I first covered in 'King Coal' vs. 'Hollywood Black' and 'Madu' for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards.

For the first time in this series, I'm examining the nominees for Best Documentary. I've been holding off because the category has nine nominees this year. The Grab leads with four nominations, followed by American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders and Mammals with three each, Hollywood Black, The Sixth, and The Truth vs. Alex Jones, all with two, and The Commandant's Shadow, Queendom, and The Sing Sing Chronicles with just this one. The Grab and American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders are facing off for Outstanding Investigative Documentary, The Sixth leads the nominees for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary, The Truth vs. Alex Jones is contending with Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal for Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary, and Mammals leads the rest of the field without a subject area nomination. That's four more opportunities to examine the nominees, after which I'll make my call.

Right now, I have The Grab in first, but I'm not making a final call until I write about the rest of the nominees. I'm planning on examining Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary in the next installment because I have personal and professional interests in both The Truth vs. Alex Jones and Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal, the latter of which I can also recommend to my students. Again, welcome to blogging as professional development.

Follow over the jump for the craft categories in which the nominees for Outstanding Investigative Documentary earned nominations.

Food prices and unrest, a story I tell my students

Yesterday, I showed my students the most important graphic from Vice's The Math That Predicted the Revolutions Sweeping the Globe Right Now, which I linked to in Third American doctor infected and other Ebola news.

It's happening in Ukraine, Venezuela, Thailand, Bosnia, Syria, and beyond. Revolutions, unrest, and riots are sweeping the globe. The near-simultaneous eruption of violent protest can seem random and chaotic; inevitable symptoms of an unstable world. But there's at least one common thread between the disparate nations, cultures, and people in conflict, one element that has demonstrably proven to make these uprisings more likely: high global food prices.

Just over a year ago, complex systems theorists at the New England Complex Systems Institute warned us that if food prices continued to climb, so too would the likelihood that there would be riots across the globe. Sure enough, we're seeing them now. The paper's author, Yaneer Bar-Yam, charted the rise in the FAO food price index—a measure the UN uses to map the cost of food over time—and found that whenever it rose above 210, riots broke out worldwide. It happened in 2008 after the economic collapse, and again in 2011, when a Tunisian street vendor who could no longer feed his family set himself on fire in protest.

Bar-Yam built a model with the data, which then predicted that something like the Arab Spring would ensue just weeks before it did. Four days before Mohammed Bouazizi's self-immolation helped ignite the revolution that would spread across the region, NECSI submitted a government report that highlighted the risk that rising food prices posed to global stability. Now, the model has once again proven prescient—2013 saw the third-highest food prices on record, and that's when the seeds for the conflicts across the world were sown.

"I have a long list of the countries that have had major social unrest in the past 18 months consistent with our projections," Bar-Yam tells me. "The food prices are surely a major contributor---our analysis says that 210 on the FAO index is the boiling point and we have been hovering there for the past 18 months."

None of this should be news.  Food riots have been the start of revolutions in the modern world going at least as far back as the French Revolution, as I pointed out in Today is the anniversary of the Women's March on Versailles.  Still, it's a lesson that bears repeating--starving poor people under a repressive regime is a recipe for disaster.

Follow over the jump for more, including an update on the graphs.

Marsh Family sings 'Battle Hymn of the Empire' and other parodies

Today's short, evergreen entry is a musical interlude featuring the Marsh Family beginning with "Battle Hymn of the Empire" - Marsh Family adaptation of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" about Trump.

The “Battle Hymn of the Republic” is an iconic American song, drawing on lots of roots and precursors, but pulled into its most famous shape by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe. During the American Civil War it became a signature marching song for the Union Army, linked to patriotism and faith, and has since become part of the canon of American national music. We do not attempt or treat it lightly, but our version reflects on how the first week of 2026 has already seen Trump's troops advancing his domestic and foreign policy agendas. Every marching step is another step away from the principles and traditions embedded in the song: we have seen the transgression of international law in Venezuela, the murder of unarmed Americans in Minneapolis (and its defence by the administration), the US's withdrawal from multiple international organisations, and explicit threats issued to other sovereign powers and polities, including Greenland.

It didn't take the Marsh Family long to respond to Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump's raid and coup in Venezuela and threats to Greenland.*

That was dark, so I'm including two funnier parodies for an encore. First, "MTG Has Broken Cover" - Marsh Family parody of "Billie Jean" by MJ about Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The song Billy Jean was a fictional narrative about a woman who makes false claims and goes from desirable to undesirable. Released in 1983, it was the second single from the fantastic album “Thriller” and became Jackson’s best selling solo single. Lots of his lyrics address paranoia and distrust, but it was the fit of the protagonist’s name in the chorus that really clinched an idea for us to take on this classic pop-disco track.

We’ve twisted the words around the story of Marjorie Taylor Greene, and how one of the vocal “Big Beasts” of Trump’s support base has now rancorously broken with him.

*Snork* MTG as a xenomorph. Just the same, may she be the first of many rats abandoning Hoover Harding Cleveland's sinking ship.

I conclude with "Trump'll Nail Ya" - Marsh Family parody adaptation of sea shanty "Drunken Sailor" about BBC crisis.

It’s been a while since we revisited a sea shanty – you may recall, mother doesn’t approve of these – but we’ve dug deep and repurposed “Drunken Sailor” to talk about the news this week of the BBC cocking up their edit of a speech on a Panorama programme over a year ago (making it appear more vehement than it was). As a consequence of this hitting the headlines in a targeted attack on the UK’s flagship broadcaster, which has been caught up in culture wars, post-truth, and its own self-generated problems, Donald Trump has now issued a threat of legal action. Obviously this is a model he’s used to good effect (for his purposes) in the USA, having taken on ABC, CNN, and CBS and won big settlements there and elsewhere.

The first recorded description of “Drunken Sailor” is from a Pacific Ocean whaling voyage in 1839 that departed from New London, Connecticut. So very appropriate for Trump’s latest giant lumbering trans-oceanic phishing foray.

So much has gone on since this was recorded that I'd forgotten about the story.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for another brief evergreen entry tomorrow.

My friend from drum corps Kevin G. added the middle name on Bluesky. My response was "For the former record holder for dumbest U.S. president and also one of the most corrupt. Let's see how long it takes me to get used to the sound of Hoover Harding Cleveland." It took less than a week.

Science, peace, economics, and literature winners for Nobel Prize Day 2025

Happy Nobel Prize Day! I begin today's celebration with BBC News reporting Physics Nobel Prize awarded to three scientists for work on quantum computing.

The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for their work on quantum mechanics that is paving the way for a new generation of very powerful computers.

"There is no advanced technology used today that does not rely on quantum mechanics, including mobile phones, cameras... and fibre optic cables," said the Nobel committee.

The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences at a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

The three winners will share prize money of 11 million Swedish kronor (£872,000).

Yay, three physicists from the University of California, even if they aren't from my undergraduate alma mater, UCLA!

Next, DW News reporting Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded "for the development of metal–organic frameworks".

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi "for the development of metal–organic frameworks." The new type of molecular architecture developed by the group allows for "large cavities in which molecules can flow in and out. Researchers have used them to harvest water from desert air, extract pollutants from water, capture carbon dioxide and store hydrogen," according to the award-giving body. Their research could provide solutions for combatting climate change.

"A small amount of such material can be almost like Hermione's handbag in Harry Potter. It can store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume," Heiner Linke, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said during a press conference.

This looks like a very useful discovery. So does the next prize, Nobel Prize for medicine awarded to immune system researchers, as Al Jazeera English reported.

The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Mary E Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their work on the functioning of the human immune system.
The award, announced by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute on Monday, will be presented to the trio in December for “their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body”.
The research “relates to how we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease”, said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, a rheumatology professor at the Karolinska Institute.
The prize of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.17m) is to be shared equally between Brunkow and Ramsdell, both 64, of the United States and Japan’s Sakaguchi, 74.
The king of Sweden will also present them with gold medals.

Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys reports from Stockholm.

This advancement could help me personally, as I am a cancer survivor and Type I diabetic, an autoimmune disease. May I live long enough for the science to advance enough to improve my condition.

Follow over the jump for the non-science prizes.

New guidelines flip the food pyramid on its head

I'm switching from topical posts to evergreen and holiday entries today. PBS NewsHour explaining Why experts are divided over the new federal dietary guidelines is both topical and evergreen, so it makes for the perfect transition.

The Trump administration released new dietary guidelines that will shape everything from school lunches to medical advice. The guidance puts a bigger emphasis on eating more protein and dairy, something Health Secretary Kennedy has long sought. William Brangham discussed the recommendations with Lindsey Smith Taillie, a nutrition epidemiologist and co-director of the Global Food Research Program.

Hearing Lindsey Smith Taillie talk about ultraprocessed food reminds me that I have two questions about the topic in 'Food, Inc. 2' worksheet for National Food Day.

16. What in ultraprocessed foods drives appetites/overeating?
...
19. How much of U.S. calorie intake comes from ultraprocessed food? France? Brazil? Italy?

I haven't shown Food, Inc. 2 either enough times or that recently to have the answers to both questions memorized in detail, but generally the response to the first involves additives to make ultraprocessed food more appetizing while that for the second is that Americans get the majority of our calories from ultrprocessed food while citizens of the other countries eat much less, generally around a quarter. Americans should eat less ultraprocessed food and more whole foods. Yes, I'm agreeing with RFK Jr. on this issue. File that under a stuck clock being right twice a day, and RFK Jr. is definitely a stuck clock.

That's the good news about the food guidelines. The bad news is the recommendation to eat more meat and dairy. That's not good for either health or the environment. Here are the questions I ask my students about the effects of meat and dairy on the environment.

9. Why are dairy farms moving from Wisconsin to California and Arizona and what are the environmental costs, especially on water? Answer both parts of the question.
...
24. Which food contributes most to climate change?

Dairy production requires a lot of water, which is in short supply in California and Arizona, where dairy farmers are moving to because those states have lower non-water costs. As Smith Taillie mentioned, beef has very high environmental costs, including being the food that contributes most to climate change.

William Brangham mentioned that FDA loosened its guidence on alcohol consumption. That got the attention of Stephen Colbert and his writers in Rubio: U.S. Wants To Buy Greenland | Stealing Venezuela's Oil | Dr. Oz: Booze Brings People Together. Skip to 9:04.

The Secretary of State says America's goal is not to invade Greenland but to purchase it from Denmark, President Trump said he will sell 50 million barrels of Venezuela's oil and that he will determine where the profits go, and the FDA removed its own guidance on how much alcohol is safe to drink on a daily basis.

Ultraprocessed food, meat, and dairy may be more important, but booze is funnier. Why do my readers think I post so many cocktail recipes? Because they're fun; I actually drink very little, as I lost interest in alcohol once I developed diabetes. Priorities.

Speaking of priorities, I have to do some maintainence then go to work to prepare for the new semester. See you all tomorrow!

Next Media Animation on Canada leaving the Kyoto Protocol, plus a Rick Perry joke

Over at Daily Kos, I posted the following on December 10th as the headline and top story for my diary that night.

Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Climate deal reached in Durban! edition)

This week's featured story, which is breaking news, comes from Reuters.

U.N. climate talks seal legal pact on global warming
...

U.N. climate change talks agreed on a pact on Sunday that for the first time would force all the biggest polluters to take action to slow the pace of global changing.

The deal follows years of failed attempts to impose legally-binding, international cuts on emerging giants, such as China and India.

The developed world had already accepted formal targets under a first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out at the end of next year, although the United States had never ratified its commitment.

After days of emotional debate, the chairwoman of the United Nations climate talks urged delegates to approve four packages, which have legal force.

Now, that's a great Holiday present for the environment!

Looks like my celebration was premature, as a couple days later, Canada pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol. I'll let Next Media Animation tell the story.

Canada is withdrawing from the Kyoto Protoco on climate change, Environment Minister Peter Kent said Monday, abandoning its 1997 commitment to cut emissions 6% below 1990 levels by 2102 and cementing the transformation of the country's image as a global leader in the fight against climate change into what critics are calling a "climate renegade."

By 2009 Canada's emissions were 17 percent above 1990 levels. Canada faced nearly $14 billion in penalties for failing to reduce greenhouse emissions if it had remained a signatory to the Kyoto accord.

The Kyoto Protocol was signed by the Liberal Party, and Canada's current Conservative government has made it clear since 2006 that it had no intention of honoring the Kyoto pact, in part because it does not cover major emitters of greenhouse gases such as the US and China.

Remember what I wrote in Next Media Animation on the Keystone XL pipeline?

I've decided that protesting the concept of the Keystone XL pipeline is futile to the point of being less than useless, as the Canadians would just sell the oil to the Chinese, something the video points out. Therefore, opposing the pipeline as a way of slowing down the exploitation of one of the most carbon dioxide emitting ways of getting oil out of the ground is a waste of time. It's going to be extracted one way or another and opposing the pipeline means that China will benefit from it instead of the U.S. Meanwhile, the global commons will still suffer.

I wrote that before the Canadian decision to abandon Kyoto, which means I shouldn't have been surprised with the decision. What Canada did was perfectly consistent with what I wrote back in November. They're bound and determined to extract the oil out of the Alberta tar sands and to Hell with the rest of the planet.

Speaking of "to Hell with the rest of the planet," Rick Perry chimed in on Keystone XL.

He was at it again Wednesday, talking about the need to build the Keystone Xl pipeline that would link Canada’s oil sands development in Alberta with the U.S. Gulf Coast.

“Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil we don’t have to buy from a foreign source,” Perry told a campaign stop in Clarinda, Iowa.

Does he not know that Canada is a sovereign country?

A friend of mine posted that quote on his Facebook wall as evidence that Rick Perry is that stupid. I agreed.

Not only is Perry dumb, but he's trying to use "foreign" as a dog whistle. Canada may be another country, but it's not "foreign" in the same way that Venezuela, Russia, Nigeria, Indonesia, or Saudi Arabia are.

My friend thought that I was giving Perry too much credit. I decided to agree, and left the conversation with a joke, which I later tweeted.

Yeah, Perry really is Bush without the brains.
...
A zombie is walking along the street in Austin, moaning "Brains." It sees Rick Perry and turns around.

It turns out that's not a completely original joke.




However, it is the first time it's been applied to Rick Perry, or the other GOP candidates, as far as Google and I can tell. Hey, I'm an environmentalist, I recycle.

Oil prices going up again because of Iran sanctions, highest gas prices since 2014, and driving update for August 2018: Pearl

Pearl's odometer rolled over 42,000 miles yesterday, so it's time for another driving update.  Before I do, I'm repeating what I did in May, examining the effect of the U.S. leaving Iran nuclear agreement pushes on oil prices.  For that, I turn to Reuters, which reported yesterday Oil rises on Iran sanctions, lower U.S. fuel inventories.

Oil prices rose on Thursday, extending gains on growing evidence of disruptions to crude supply from Iran and Venezuela and after a fall in U.S. crude inventories.

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 was up 50 cents a barrel at $77.64 by 1130 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was 40 cents higher at $69.91.

Brent has risen by almost 10 percent over the past two weeks on widespread perceptions that the global oil market is tightening and could run short in the next few months as U.S. sanctions restrict crude exports from Iran.

Iranian crude exports are likely to drop to a little more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, against a peak of 3.1 million bpd in April, as importers bow to American pressure to cut orders.

U.S. light crude, also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), has been around $70/barrel since May.  The bad news is that is high; the good news is that it hasn't gone higher — yet.  Just the same the result has been the highest gas prices in four years, as USA Today reported this morning in Gas prices: After most expensive summer since 2014, expect some relief at the pump.

Gasoline prices could tick higher heading into the Labor Day weekend, but motorists are expected to get a reprieve this fall.

The coming relief would be welcomed by travelers and commuters, who endured the most expensive summer at the pump since 2014, according to AAA.

As the final busy travel weekend of the summer approaches, Americans are paying about $2.84 a gallon, 46 cents more than a year ago. That amounts to $6.90 extra per 15-gallon tank.

But barring a disruptive hurricane or international incident that could push up energy prices, drivers are likely to pay less at the pump this fall.

AAA is forecasting that prices this autumn could average $2.70, down from a 2018 high of $2.97 around Memorial Day.

As I wrote six years ago, Eye spy the gas price rollercoaster about to coast down like a parachute.  Of course, it does that every autumn, so USA Today and I can predict lower gas prices with confidence.  Doing so won't take away that gas prices this fall will still be higher than during the same season over the past four years.

Now for the driving update.  From July 17th to August 29th spanned 43 days, so I drove Pearl an average of 23.26 miles per day, 709.3 miles per standard month, and 8,488.4 miles per year over that time.  That's a lot more than the 15.15 miles per day, 462.12 miles per standard month, and 5530.3 miles per year I drove her between May and July.  It's also more than the  16.39 miles per day, exactly 500 miles per standard month, and 6905.4 miles per year I drove Pearl during the comparable period last year.  That's because, instead of flying to the Coffee Party USA's annual board retreat, I drove across the state.  In the grand scheme of things, that probably made my carbon footprint lower than if I had flown to Colorado, our usual location for these meetings, but that's just a justification.  Still, that trip did not push my actual miles driven per year above 7,000, as it took 398 days since Pearl passed 35,000 miles on July 27, 2017 until she rolled over 42,000 miles yesterday for averages of 17.59 miles per day, 535.0 miles per month, and 6,419.6 miles per year.  Hah, despite my driving to the other side of Michigan and back, I'm still below my goal of driving an average of 6,500 miles per year.  Success!

Stay tuned for the last post of the month, which will continue the series about this year's Emmy nominees.

The annual gas price rise has begun

Two weeks ago, I called a bottom for the gas price in my old neighborhood at $1.39.  Last week, I reported that the stations in my old neighborhood had reached that level and could go lower.  They most likely didn't, as GasBuddy shows that the Detroit average for regular hit a low of $1.44/gallon a week ago on the 11th and promptly started rising.  Looks like I got the low exactly right.  Lucky me.

The Detroit average is now $1.66, which is exactly the price that I saw when I passed by the stations in my old neighborhood yesterday.  Unlike the past two weeks, I didn't top off Pearl's tank, as I thought the price was higher than it needed to be.  Given that the stations are usually a dime below the metro area average, so they should be at $1.56, and some nearby stations are selling regular for $1.49, I'm probably right.  I'll wait until next week, when I will need gas, and hope that the cheaper gas elsewhere hasn't disappeared.

Crude futures have also gone up, as Oil-Price.Net lists yesterday's closes for WTI at $30.77 and Brent at $34.28, three and four dollars higher, respectively, than the $27.94 and $30.32 the two futures were at last week.  Even more importantly for retail gas prices, RBOB has jumped 18 cents from last week's $0.90 to yesterday's $1.08.  Falling gas prices are over for the season.

Follow over the jump for one reason the price environment has changed.

NASA, NBC News, and WESH look back at 2025 and ahead to 2026 in space

I closed Science fiction movie nominees at the Critics Choice Awards for Science Fiction Day by telling my readers, "Stay tuned for NASA's look back at 2025 and ahead to 2026." Watch NASA: 2025 Review and 2026 Preview.

In 2025, we stacked the Artemis II rocket, certified next-generation lunar spacesuits, celebrated 25 years on the International Space Station, and snapped the closest pictures ever taken of the Sun.

We’re not just going back to the Moon in 2026 – we’re paving the way to Mars, exploring the stars, and dominating the skies, setting the stage for a historic year ahead.

That makes up for not having a video ready in time for 2025 in space from ESA, KING 5, Business Casual, and the Marsh Family. As I wrote in 2025 in review from NBC News, Vox, GMA, Time, and Google for New Year's Eve, "I can at least continue one of my New Year's traditions!"*

NBC News updated the story last night in The New Space Race.

It’s going to be a busy year for space exploration with American Astronauts scheduled to make a return visit around the moon, traveling further than any human ever. NBC News’ Tom Costello spoke to the crew.

I wrote "I expected a space race between the U.S. and China over the U.S. returning to the Moon before the Chinese get there" five years ago, and that's exactly what's happening. This time, I'm glad I'm right, because it will get humans back on the Moon and working to get to Mars.

WESH 2 News in Orlando added more detail in Historic launches set for the new year.


Starship is running behind schedule and holding up a lunar landing, so I'm rooting for Blue Origin to either win the contract or inspire SpaceX to get its act together in time.

None of the above sources mentioned a major NASA story taking place on the ground. WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore covered that in Future of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center appears to be in jeopardy.

The future of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center appears to be in jeopardy, according to a letter penned by a United States representative on Monday. In the letter, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, a ranking member on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, brought forth concerns about "disturbing reports" of a potential imminent closure at the Greenbelt campus. The letter, written to Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary and acting administrator of NASA, said the possible closure of labs and facilities at the campus "put essential hardware and capabilities at great risk."

This is not good news for space science, including research that would help with exploring the Moon and Mars. Add this to the examples of one of 2025's science breakdowns, "Trump roils U.S. science." Ugh.

*I almost didn't because of what's happening in Venezuela. I decided to go ahead and let the late-night talk show hosts do the work for me tomorrow. Stay tuned.

U.S. leaving Iran nuclear agreement pushes U.S. oil price above $70 plus driving update for May 2018: Pearl

"I'm not done with the effects of Trump pulling the U.S. out of the agreement.  Look for news about the high price of oil when I post my next driving update for Pearl."  That's what I wrote to conclude Vox on U.S. withdrawing from Iran nuclear agreement helps update doom and risk for the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.  Since Pearl just passed another thousand miles yesterday, it's time for me to follow through.

Even before the announcement, oil prices were going up.  CNNMoney explains Why oil prices are rising from May 7, 2018.

Oil prices have been climbing, reaching the highest level since 2014. CNN's John Defterios explains what's driving the rise.

That was the environment in which the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Iran nuclear agreement was made. CNNMoney didn't even consider the possible effects of the announcment.  On the other hand, CNBC did in Oil Surges But President Donald Trump’s Iran Deal Announcement Looms.

Jeff Kilburg of KKM Financial and Brenda Shaffer of Atlantic Council discuss the rise in the price of oil how President Trump's announcement on the Iran deal may effect the price which crossed $70 a barrel for the first time since 2014.

After the announcement, WXYZ looked at the effects on consumers at greater detail in US pulling out of Iran nuclear deal raises concerns about rising gas prices.

By pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, many are worried about rising gas prices.

As predicted, oil prices shot up.  On Thursday, Reuters reported that West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main U.S. oil future, reached $71.89 and Brent Crude, the main European oil future, hit the $78 level.  Both were three-and-one-half-year highs.  On Friday, Bloomberg reported slightly lower prices.

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery fell 66 cents to settle at $70.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 2.3 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for July settlement slipped 35 cents to $77.12 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices gained 3 percent this week. The global benchmark crude traded at a $6.44 premium to July WTI.

Despite the prices settling lower on Friday, the long-term perspective looks grim, as Bloomberg reported Oil at $100 Is a Possibility Next Year, Bank of America Says.

Oil prices could rally to $100 a barrel next year, a level not seen since 2014, as supply risks in Venezuela and Iran strain global markets, according to Bank of America Corp.

Brent futures, trading near $77 on Thursday, are set to reach $90 in the second quarter of 2019 as world inventories shrink, the bank said. As that view hinges on OPEC reviving output and a limited impact on Iran from U.S. sanctions, prices could go even higher, it said, becoming the first Wall Street bank to suggest a return to $100.

Eep.  Remember what I wrote about oil prices in The tax bill and the U.S. economy in 2018 and beyond?  "Three things could trigger the next recession...The second is a rapid rise in oil prices, which has occurred either slightly in advance or concurrently with every recession since 1973."  Here's how I thought that would play out.

[T]he extra disposable income runs the risk of overheating an already booming economy, never mind that the fruits of that economy are very inequitably distributed.  That will increase demand for oil and other energy sources, making their prices go up.  That will cause inflation to rise again as energy costs become distributed throughout the economy.  Higher inflation will prompt the Federal Reserve to raise short term rates, eventually inverting the yield curve.  Viola, recession!

I didn't consider a supply shock caused by Trump's action, but that has now been added to the mix, causing the price of oil to rise above a critical threshold.  The U.S. withdrawal from the agreement has now made a recession more likely, as it has pulled one of the triggers of the next economic downturn.  Therefore, I am not ready to delay my call for a recession beginning by this coming December.  Conditions look riper for it all the time.

Follow over the jump for the driving update that prompted today's entry.

Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah respond to Alex Jones removal from social media

Just as Late night comedians on Space Force for Presidential Joke Day followed Pence on Space Force, late night comedians responded to Alex Jones removed from Facebook, Apple, YouTube, and Spotify.  The one who played it the straightest was Trevor Noah, who reported on Venezuela’s Assassination Scare & Alex Jones’s Media Exile for "The Daily Show."

A drone attack targets the Venezuelan president, Osama bin Laden’s son marries the daughter of a 9/11 hijacker, and major tech companies ban Alex Jones from their platforms.

"Media exile" — that's a good way to put it.

Noah is hardly Jones' biggest nemesis among late night comedians.  That title belongs to Stephen Colbert, who has mocked Alex Jones repeatedly as "Tuck Buckford."  Of course Colbert returned as the character, proclaiming Tuck Buckford Will Not Be Silenced.

Conspiracy radio broadcaster Tuck Buckford expresses outrage over Silicon Valley's decision to remove his show 'Brain Fight' from mainstream platforms.

Yes, Jones has been removed from Pinterest.  According to Tech Crunch, he's also been removed from Stitcher (a podcast app), YouPorn (hahahaha, he's banned from a porn site), LinkedIn (so much for professional networking), MailChimp (so much for his email), and Vimeo (what passes for a rival to YouTube tossed him, too) in addition to Facebook, Apple, YouTube, and Spotify.  That's ten platforms and even more accounts.

That would qualify Jones for an award that I gave out sparingly when I was trolling the men's rights movement and Art Bell fans on Usenet, Kenny McCormick Memorial Medal, named after the "South Park" character who dies over and over, only to return the next episode.  To qualify for that award, a candidate had to lose five accounts for abuse.  That almost never happened; I think I ran elections for that maybe twice over a three year period, when I ran elections every month.  In one week, Jones has qualified for the award twice over.  I may no longer be the Friendly Neighborhood Vote Wrangler, but I still think Jones deserves the medal, so here is an image to honor Jones' dubious achievement.


Congratulations!  May Jones' accounts not be like Kenny, returning from the dead at the start of the next episode.

Doomsday Clock now at 85 seconds to midnight, least time ever — again!

I closed The Marsh Family sings 'Donald's Sewage Stream' with a program note and question: "Stay tuned for this year's unveiling of the Doomsday Clock. How many seconds to midnight are we now?" The answer is 85 seconds to midnight. Reuters has the video with the preview image, description, and soundbite, Atomic 'Doomsday Clock' ticks closer than ever to midnight.

Atomic scientists set their 'Doomsday Clock' closer than ever to midnight, citing aggressive behavior by nuclear powers Russia, China and the US, fraying nuclear arms control, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and AI worries among factors driving risks for global disaster.

Reuters forgot climate change among the "factors driving risks for global disaster." That written, I'm not surprised we're four seconds closer to doomsday. Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump's raid and coup in Venezuela and threats to Greenland alone justify advancing the clock.

Now for the 2026 Doomsday Clock Announcement from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists themselves.

Since 2012, the Doomsday Clock time has either shifted closer to midnight or stayed the same.

In 2012, the Clock was moved to 5 minutes to midnight.

In 2015, it was moved to 3 minutes.

In 2017, it was moved to 2 ½ minutes.

In 2018, it was moved to 2 minutes.

In 2020, it was moved to 100 seconds.

In 2023, it was moved to 90 seconds.

Last year, it was moved to 89 seconds.

Today, it was moved to 85 seconds to midnight.

Leading experts who study existential risks believe humanity is the closest it has ever been to global catastrophe.

In the Doomsday Clock statement, the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board (SASB) releases side bars on each of the threats the Clock reflects—nuclear risk, climate change, disruptive technologies, and biological threats.

Across the board, excerpts from the SASB’s statement reflect a world that is failing to combat the most consequential threats humanity faces.

From the acceleration of a renewed nuclear arms race to the rise of nationalistic autocracies around the world, 2025 was an exceedingly dangerous year.

But what many don’t realize is that the Doomsday Clock can turn—and has turned—backwards. Eight times, to be exact.

Whether it does so again is up to humanity’s ability to learn from the past and to dedicate our time, effort, and resources to building a future where people can live free from the danger of existential threats.

In the Clock statement, the SASB notes that “national leaders–particularly those in the United States, Russia, and China–must take the lead in finding a path away from the brink” and that “citizens must insist they do so.”

Until that happens…

IT IS 85 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT.

Those are all the time changes since I began writing this blog in 2011. On the one hand, yay, we've survived this long! On the other, the steady movement of the hands of the clock to midnight since 2012 is depressing and alarming. It's certainly not scaring the people now in power into behaving better.

That's a wrap for today's post. Stay tuned for another brief entry worth sharing next month, which begins Sunday.

PBS Eons on Toxodon, 'The Creature That Stumped Darwin,' for Darwin Day 2022

Happy Darwin Day! To celebrate, I'm continuing the tradition of sharing videos about evolution from PBS I started in 2016. Like the past four years, this one is from PBS Eons, The Creature That Stumped Darwin.

Toxodon was one of the last members of a lineage that vanished 11,000 years ago after thriving in isolation for millions of years. And its fossils would inspire a revolutionary thinker to tackle a bigger mystery than Toxodon itself: evolution.

Over at my Dreamwidth journal, I embedded this video and wrote "I show enough videos to my classes...so I won't show this. It's still good."

I'm not the only blogger I follow who has written about Toxodon and its co-star in this video, Macrauchenia. Follow over the jump for what J.K. Revell wrote about both in his blog Synapsida.

Vox explains how Saudi Arabia became the largest buyer of U.S. arms and is using them in Yemen

Much to my surprise, I have written nothing about Saudi Arabia's involvement in Yemen.  The closest was Gas prices move up on Yemen fear premium more than three years ago, which didn't mention Saudi Arabia at all.  I have also written nothing about Jamal Khashoggi.  Considering that I'm interested in collapse and have worked as a journalist, those are both oversights on my part.*  Fortunately for me, Vox has just provided me two opportunties to correct them.

First, Vox uploaded how the Saudis ended up with so many American weapons yesterday.

And why they want more.
...
Saudi Arabia and the US have a partnership that's been in the making for over seven decades. It started after World War II and survived the Iranian Revolution, the Cold War, the Gulf War, September 11, and the proliferation of conflicts across the Middle East. This whole time, the US has been selling weapons to Saudi Arabia -- now its number one customer. Saudis bought bombs, tanks, guns, and planes over the years to defend themselves from various threats. The US supplied those weapons because the Saudi’s threats have usually been a threat to the US as well.

Today, there's a shift in the relationship. Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen has created the worst humanitarian disaster in the world - and thrown the Middle East into chaos. The problem is, the Saudis are using US bombs to do it.

This is not new.  Vox uploaded The US may be aiding war crimes in Yemen two years ago.

The U.S. is helping Saudi Arabia bomb Yemen and it's a disaster.

Nothing came of efforts to disentangle the U.S. from Saudi Arabia's involvement in Yemen then.  That changed this week, as Vox reported The Senate just passed a resolution to end US support for the Saudi war in Yemen, writing "It’s a bipartisan rebuke of the Trump administration in the wake of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder."

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) co-sponsored the resolution to stop US involvement in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The nearly four-year conflict has killed an estimated 50,000 people and put nearly 12 million on the brink of famine.

The war in Yemen — and US support for the Saudi-led effort — actually began during the Obama administration. But President Trump has moved the US even closer to Saudi Arabia as part of his administration’s broader Middle East policy, which largely focuses on countering Iran.

The horrific assassination of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has put the US-Saudi relationship under a microscope, particularly after the CIA concluded that the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), ordered Khashoggi’s murder.

The Senate resolution is a major step toward holding the administration accountable and wresting back some control of war powers from the executive branch. Yet it’s still a long way away from actually ending US support for the Saudis in Yemen, or finding a resolution to the conflict altogether.

The White House in particular has pushed back against the Senate’s measure, and if it were to end up on Trump’s desk, it would almost certainly face a presidential veto. Additionally, the House approved a rule on Wednesday that blocks the chamber from taking up any Yemen resolutions before the end of the year, meaning the Senate resolution won’t advance.

Well, phooey.  With any luck, it will be reintroduced next year, when the House rule expires and the Democrats take over control of the body.  If so, I'll re-examine the issue.

Stats for the 14th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News on Wayback Wednesday

I closed 23andMe files for bankruptcy, fueling privacy concerns by telling my readers "stay tuned for the first retrospective of the 14th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News, stats." Here goes!

As of 11:59 PM EDT March 20, 2025, this blog had a lifetime total of 5,222,122 page views, 6,168 total posts, and 4180 comments. Minus the 4,463,208 page views, 5,798 total posts, and 4,057 comments as of just before March 21, 2024, that means this blog earned 758,914 page views and 123 published comments on 370 posts during the 365 days of the 14th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News. My calculated page views are close to the ~757,000 page views and 133 comments Blogger's counter showed during the past twelve months. That was closer than last year, but not exact. I think that's because Blogger counts whole days, which started at 8:00 P.M. March 21, 2024, but my count starts 20 hours earlier. Blogger lost all of those ~1,900 page views from those 20 hours. I tested this hypothesis by multiplying the next day's 2,290 page views by 0.833 (20/24) and got 1,908. Close enough. I can't completely account for the ten extra comments. I deleted six and there were eight comments during the first three weeks of March 2024 that Blogger might have counted, but neither add up, literally. Maybe I'll figure it out next year.

Last year's trend of increasing page views continued. Not only did this past year's 758,914 page views on 370 posts during 365 days beat the year before's 641,234 page views on 380 posts during 366 days, it beat the year before that's 419,300 page views on 379 posts during 365 days. That means I'm working less hard for more page views, as the blog earned 2,051.12 page views per post and 2,079.22 page views per day during the blog year just ended. Both are more than the 1,687.46 page views per post and 1,752.01 page views per day the blog earned between March 21, 2023 and March 20, 2024 and a lot more than the 1,106.33 page views per post and 1,148.77 page views per day between March 21, 2022 and March 20, 2023. May the trend continue during this year just started.

While the published comments increased from 78 to 123, the raw number, including never released spam decreased from 199 to either 154 or 133. Still, the number of published comments increased to 123, just edging out the 122 of two years ago. Just the same, I'm getting less spam and more published comments. Since I don't have comment goals, I'm not concerned. I'd prefer fewer quality comments than a lot of spam.

As for my commenters who aren't spammers, I'd like to thank them, beginning with continuing commenters Infidel753, Nebris, the first commenter on my blog, Friend of the Court, and Steve in Manhattan. I also want to welcome back Paul W., who didn't comment last year. Keep up the good work! I also want to thank John R. Christiansen, E.A. Blair, and Steven C. Di Pietro for making their first posts here. Stick around! Unfortunately, I seem to have lost longtime commenter Narb Xorbian, the best man at my first wedding. In addition, last year's first-time commenters H-bob, tronvillain, August Johnson, Noah, Marc McKenzie, Realityhold, and my student Ecogranite didn't return. Come back, I miss you!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the analysis.

Stats for the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News on Flashback Friday

Happy Flashback Friday! I closed For Wayback Wednesday, PBS Eons asks 'What Killed All These Pterosaurs?' by telling my readers "I'll get to the stats for the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News on Flashback Friday..." Without any further ado, here is the first retrospective of the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

As of 11:59 PM EDT March 20, 2026, this blog had a lifetime total of 10,896,134 page views, 6,536 posts, and 4,274 comments. Minus the 5,222,122 page views, 6,168 total posts, and 4,180 comments as of just before March 21, 2025, that means this blog earned 5,674,012 page views and 94 published comments on 368 posts during the 365 days of the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News. My calculated page views round to the ~5,670,000 page views Blogger's counter showed during the past twelve months. I can't ask for any better given the level of precision available, so not only closer than last year, but as exact as I could measure. On the other hand, the 94 published comments are not at all close to the 125 comments Blogger showed on my dashboard. On the other hand, I can account for the 31 comment difference; all of them are spam that was never published or retroactively unpublished. The stats worked out this year!

Last year's trend of increasing page views continued. Not only did this past year's 5,674,012 page views on 368 posts during 365 days beat the year before's 758,914 page views on 370 posts during 365 days, it beat the year before that's 419,300 page views on 641,234 page views on 380 posts during 366 days. It also exceeded the page views during the entire preceding 14 years. Wow! I had written "May the trend" of "working less hard for more page views" continue, but this was beyond any of my expectations. The blog averaged 15,418.51 page views per post and 15,545.24 page views per day. That's nearly eight times as much as the 2,051.12 page views per post and 2,079.22 page views per day during the 14th year of the blog, the 1,687.46 page views per post and 1,752.01 page views per day the blog earned between March 21, 2023 and March 20, 2024 and the 1,106.33 page views per post and 1,148.77 page views per day between March 21, 2022 and March 20, 2023. I'm not expecting the trend of increasing page views per post and day to continue. I'd just be happy if the 16th year exceeds the 14th.

Both the published and total comments decreased from 123 to 94 and either 154 or 133 to 125, respectively. The published number is still above the 78 of two years ago, but the raw number has decreased from 199 through either 154 or 133 to 125. Since I don't have comment goals, I'm not concerned.

As for my commenters who aren't spammers, I'd like to thank them, beginning with continuing commenters Infidel753, Paul W., and Steve in Manhattan. I also want to welcome back K-dog and Degringolade, who didn't comment last year. Keep up the good work! I also want to thank Richard, Glen Tomkins, and fry1laurie for making their first posts here. Stick around! The exception is Riverboat Grambler, who pissed me off. Don't come back, Grumbler! Unfortunately, I seem to have lost longtime commenters Nebris, the first commenter on my blog, and Friend of the Court. In addition, last year's first-time commenters John R. Christiansen, E.A. Blair, and Steven C. Di Pietro didn't return. Come back, I miss you!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the analysis.