Thursday, October 06, 2022

Fat Bear Week




Fat bear week starts today, that glorious autumn tradition when anyone with an internet connection can vote for the plumpest brown bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park. Last year, more than 800,000 people weighed in during Fat Bear Week, crowning Otis, an enormous, dimpled ursine, Fat Bear champion for the third time.

But for many scientists, the true fascination of Fat Bear Week involves what happens next, when the now beachball-shaped bruins, carrying about 40 percent body fat, lumber into their dens and start hibernating. During hibernation, they remain healthy under conditions that would weaken and sicken mere humans. The bears emerge months later, lean, strong and barely affected by their months of starvation and inactivity.

Until recently, researchers could not explain how. But several fascinating new molecular studies suggest hibernation remodels bear metabolisms and gene activity in unique and dramatic ways that could have relevance for people. The fat bears can advance our understanding of diabetes, muscle atrophy, inactivity and the ingenuity of evolution.




Fascinating article. And it offers so many potential real world applications -- especially for diabetics and/or people with weight issues.  

Was not aware of Fat Bear Week until tonight.  Here are some videos.






"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, October 6, 2022.  We're part two on BROS today and we also note a new event in Iraq and an anniversary.

   


This week, the late Cass Elliot got her star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame thanks to the very hard work of her daughter Owen Kunkle.  Cass was a one-of-a-kind vocalist.  With The Mamas and the Papas (Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and John Phillips), she sang on such classics as "Dream A Little Dream Of Me," "Safe In My Garden," "California Dreamin'," "Creeque Alley," "Dancing Bear," "Midnight Voyage," "Got A Feeling," "Monday, Monday," "I Saw Her Again Last Night," "Sing For Your Supper," "12:30 (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon)," "Dedicated To The One I Love," "Too Late," "Words of Love" and many more.  As a solo artist, her classics included "California Earthquake," "Make Your Own Kind Of Music," "It's Getting Better," "New World Coming," "Move In A Little Closer Baby," etc.  "Different" (video above) is a song she performs in the film PUFNSTUF.   There are so many classics waiting to be rediscovered.  I'd include Cass' version of Judee Sill's "Jesus Was A Crossmaker" . . . 




. . . and of Laura Nyro's "He's A Runner."



Owen's done a great job honoring her mother.  Cass is remembered to this day.  And her music pops up everywhere -- yes, LOST, but I'm thinking of Hettie MacDonald's BEAUTIFUL THING.  That 1996 film is an important one.  


We're back to BROS and we're back to my marveling over how some people are so uninformed and some are taking part in the backlash without even grasping it.









BROS is the best comedy of 2022. Billy Eichner co-wrote the screenplay and he stars in the film with Luke Macfarlane.  People are continuing to see it and maybe if theaters were running it it would be making even more money.  I've already detailed how homophobia on the part of theater owners led to less showings on the Friday it debuted.  But what's going on now, especially with AMC theaters, is it's only been shown once or twice a day.  Even so, it made $1.4 million on Monday and Tuesday -- Wednesday's numbers will come out later today.


It's an important film and let's address that because people don't seem to understand what an important film is.


Some are carping and blaming Billy -- on that, I haven't seen anything like that since MOMENT BY MOMENT -- when, as Academy Award winning film editor Verna Fields (JAWS, WHAT'S UP DOC?, PAPER MOON, AMERICAN GRAFFITI . . .) observed they refused to let the film die.  They being the industry.  They slammed and they ripped apart long after it had faded away.  The film starred Lily Tomlin and John Travolta.  It was directed by Jane Wagner.  And it was attacked because the director was a lesbian.


Now MOMENT BY MOMENT is not a great film.  It's not an awful film.  There were awful films released at that time and they were allowed to fade away.  But there was a concentrated effort to go after the film.  As Verna pointed out, many, many films bomb and they're allowed to die but with Jane Wagner's film, they wouldn't let it.  They kept after it, kept insulting and destroying it inflating it into the all time worst movie.


If MOMENT BY MOMENT were widely available today -- TCM can show the crap that is WHO'S THAT GIRL? but they can't show Jane Wagner's film -- it might be re-evaluated.  It might seem better than it did in its own time.


But let's teach the lesbian her place -- that was the industry's goal.  Everyone knew Lily was gay and that she and Jane were in a relationship -- everyone in the industry knew.  And no studio wanted Lily out of the closet and they didn't want her working with Jane.  Which is why Lily and Jane would find their success on Broadway.  


The industry doesn't honor coming out.  It never has.  Ellen came out and ABC pissed all over her show -- adding that warning before every episode, for example, refusing to promote it, acting as though it was a flop when it was still doing better than SPIN CITY or the awful show that replaced it.


Ellen got another shot at sitcoms.  But CBS refused to back it.  It didn't belong on Friday nights -- something they realized when the show landed Mary Tyler Moore and Ed Asner as guest stars on one episode.  CBS suddenly moved the show to Monday nights for one episode.  Oh, wow, look at the high ratings, look at the difference a time slot can make.  Then it was immediately shove it back to Fridays.


CBS didn't want to support it -- like they didn't want to support PARTNERS.  


Sometimes, the industry is more interested in laying down the law than they are in making a profit.


And some of the garbage being published in the trades reads like an effort to destroy Billy.  Even sadder, the trashing is finding an audience gleeful to join in.


(As noted  before, I know Luke Macfarlane and consider him a friend.  I don't know Billy, I've never even met him.)


Billy has made an amazing film and egged on by the trades, some of the garbage is mutlyping online.

 

And some supposedly saw the movie.


They blame Billy, for example, because BROKEBACK was a hit!!!!  If BROKEBACK is a hit then BROS would be too -- it must not be any good!


Did they not see BROS?  The dead cowboy?


I believe Billy makes that point in the film -- sadness and death straight audiences are more than fine with now.  That's where we've progressed as a society.  We can applaud BROKEBACK and even the hideous LOVE SIMON and its after birth LOVE VICTOR.


Ava and I wrote the following in June of 2020:

Original content? Sometimes about the only thing nice you can say is: Well it's new content.

We thought about that as we suffered through LOVE, VICTOR. HULU decided to do a TV series out of the film LOVE, SIMON. And they brought along all the baggage from the film.

You may remember Jennifer Garner and other stars of the film tried to pimp the movie. BLACK PANTHER had done incredible at the box office for many reasons, The people behind LOVE, SIMON suspected one reason for the film's success was that BLACK PANTHER was being pushed as a film with a person of color playing an admired comic book hero. Outside of Wesley Snipes in the BLADE films, that had not happened.

In the crazy world where Jennifer Garner has some sort of career despite so-so talents, it seemed logical to tell people that they should see LOVE SIMON because it was about a gay person.

Here's the thing, and we objected in real time, Chadwik Boseman played Black Panther (and did so with an amazing performance). Boseman is a person of color.

LOVE, SIMON? It starred boxy Nick Robinson as a gay man. But, here's the problem (pay attention, Jennifer), Nick Robinson is not gay (or, if he is gay, he's in the closet).

The idiots didn't get it. They still don't.

LOVE, VICTOR is supposed to instill gay pride. How?

Michael Cimino stars as high schooler Victor who, yes, is gay.

And, if this were 1992, that might be something. But it's not 1992, it's 2020.

How can a series preach gay pride or even just tolerance (we've never been fans of tolerance) when the gay character is played by a straight actor (judging by his INSTAGRAM)?

If being gay is okay (and we agree that it is), why are you casting straight actors in the role?

Anybody remember IN AND OUT? One of the jokes in the movie is that Matt Dillon's straight character plays -- and wins an Oscar for playing -- a gay character. That was funny in 1997. In 2020, it's just sad. 


What a great message for the world, for the youth, for us all -- It's okay to play gay.


Not to be gay, understand, but it's okay for a straight person to play gay.


Both LOVEs refused to cast an out gay actor -- as either Simon or Victor.  


I'm sorry, love Scarlet Johansson to tears, but, no, when trans actors are getting cast so little it is not right for a non-trans person to play a trans character.


This was our beef with Cleveland of FAMILY GUY and THE CLEVELAND SHOW -- Ava and I tackled that repeatedly at THIRD -- why is a White actor voicing Cleveland on FAMILY GUY and it only got worse on TCS when other non-African-Americans were brought on to voice Black characters.


Can a straight actor play a gay character?  Sure.  They might even be able to play it well.  But when out actors are still trying for something more than a bit part, casting gay leads with straight actors is offensive.


And don't pretend that Billy and Luke both being out wasn't an issue.  Don't pretend for one moment.  


Billy could have cast a straight actor as his love interest.  We would've gotten a crappy movie -- because after that concession, he would have had to make many more -- and some ass would be posting online about how it was a hit that made $65 million for the studio.  No, it didn't -- we really need to educate on markets and on theaters and on the issue of who makes the most upfront -- I'm tired of idiots trying to handicap the box office when they don't know what the f**k they're talking about.  They're usually quoting crapapedia -- that's where they get garbage about how LOVE SIMON is the X on the all time list of top grossing teen romance movies per BOX OFFICE MOJO!  That link doesn't work because it never did work because that's not a truth.  And if you want to make a list, you better grasp that SIXTEEN CANDLES had $80 million in ticket sales because you can't take that 80s movie and put it on the list without putting it into today's dollars. 


Billy made a movie that mattered.


When we've talked about this to groups this week someone will raise a hand or clear their throat and I know before they open their mouth where they are about to go . . . "No offense, but I think the pushback in society is to a degree because of trans people."


Do you think that?

You may be right.


And I think: Good.  


There's always going to be a backlash, the pendulum is always going to swing one way and then the next.

It is important that people press for progress.  That's the only way it ever happens.


The trans community shouldn't be silent and they shouldn't have to wait for their rights.  We should all be pushing for equality.  


You don't win anything by being silent.  You don't win anything by saying, "I'll fight in a few years."


Did the trans community make some people uncomfortable?  Again, if they did, good.  That's how we grow.  


And Billy's made a great movie in terms of entertainment.  But he's also made a historic movie by being so true to himself.  


He and Luke are the first gay (out) actors to play a same-sex couple that a film's focused on where they fall in love, where they have sex and neither dies.


Your crappy LOVE SIMON, if you've forgotten, makes the climatic moment of the film Simon finding out who his admirer was.  Yeah, that's all they could handle in the 90s and LOVE SIMON is not going to push for anything better than what we could have seen decades ago.


ABC let Ellen come out but they didn't know how to deal with her once she was out.  It was one thing for her to have a non-romantic kiss with Laura Dern on the coming out episode (idiots continue to refer to it as a romantic kiss -- no, Laura's character is already involved and in a relationship) but when Ellen found Lori, the next season, ABC had such a huge problem with it.


LOVE SIMON takes you to the first gloricous sunset and that's all some can handle.  Billy went beyond that and his film is transformative.


Back when he was president, Barack Obama got really pissed at Joe Biden when Joe went on MEET THE PRESS because Barack was going to do a slow-roll on marriage equality and Joe forced everyone's hand.  Joe also noted, in that appearance, that attitudes had changed towards gay people because of WILL & GRACE.  Joe was right.  


Without representation, people don't exist.  That's true in a democracy and it's true in the arts.  

Billy's put some truth onto the screen.  He's changed the country as a result.


I am very limited on what criticism I will take right now on Billy because he has not gotten any where near the credit he deserves for what he's done.  


Or for the crap he's had to put up with over the last days.


He insulted us!!!! Get a damn grip.  He said straight people didn't turn out for the movie.  He's right.  as a group, we did not turn out.  It's a fact.  


He's blaming!!!! It's a fact and I didn't hear blaming in it, I heard shock and surprise.  And he has every right to have that (or any other) response.  The film achieved.  Where's the audience?


I don't think they were steered to it.  When you have the kind of reviews BROS got?  That's one of your trailers.  Not "Such and such on Rotten Tomatoes" -- a small segment of the audience cares about RT.  That's about it.  What you do is you pull quote from reviews and make that a trailer.  


But UNIVERSAL didn't want to do that.  The attitude was, "We've spent enough promoting the film."  And that was before it opened.  Before.  


A film with those of reviews?  A studio goes all out -- drama or comedy.  They go all out promoting. Studios live for those kind of reviews.


Even now, UNIVERSAL's not doing a good job.  There should have been multiple trailers.  There should be clips on YOUTUBE that you can stream -- multiple clips.  There are not.  


And where is the romance in the trailer?


We do get a kiss . . . after some pushing and shoving that others mistake as a physical fight and think they have to break up -- cue laughter.  As a scene in the movie, it more than works.  In the trailer?  Looks a lot like the reaction to 1982's PARTNERS (the comedy starring Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt).  


Why was UNIVERSAL more scared of romance being shown in the trailer?  


Time and again, you look at everything that went down and you see institutionalized homophobia.


Billy was up against all of that.  And he made an incredible film.


Repeatedly, I see people posting that the trailer turned them off because it mocked straight people.  A number of people are insisting that they are butt hurt over that.


Then they 'quote' the line and get it wrong.  But more to the point, that same trailer - the only trailer -- had Billy and Luke speaking and saying gay people were so stupid.


That happened before the joke about straight people.  


It's interesting to watch this conversation and see what gets emphasized and what goes unspoken.


Alice Walker has always said she writes the world she wants to see.  


And that's what you have to do.  Most of us will never see the possibilities unless someone gives us a glimpse. 


With BROS, Billy goes beyond the climatic coming out moment after which Hollywood wants the gay characters to go away or to drop deep into the background and be supporting characters.  He goes beyond the it's-okay-for-them-to-be-in-love-because-one-is-going-to-die nonsense.  


BROS shatters everything that Hollywood has created over many, many decades.


He didn't settle, he pushed the conversation along.  He took us, in one film, further than Hollywood's done in three decades.


And that's what you do if you're an artist, it's what you do if you're an activist.


No one is ever going to be happy to let go of their prejudice and their entitlement.


Dave Chappelle (who I know and like) has too much fun mocking the transgender community.  He's too vested in it.  And, in his mind, you're an awful person if you're asking him to stop and think for a moment.  I said when the criticism mounted against Dave that he needed to listen and that people were right to press him on this issue.  That's not censorship, that's a dialogue, that's an exchange in the public square.


The trans community pushed their issues and that's what they needed to do.  


They have every right to participate in this democracy, they have every right to raise their issues and to say "Here I am."


And only by doing that are they going to be heard and are they going to be appreciated.  That's how it is for every minority group.  You have to fight.  


But you have to fight smartly.  That's not a slam on the trans community, I think they've done a wonderful job.  That is a slam on some of the people posting carps online about BROS.  Billy delivered.  It's not his fault that the studio didn't.  It's not his fault.


UNIVERSAL did the bare minimum ahead of the film and now they're willing to let the film die.  They're not trying to fix their mistakes.  They're not rushing out a trailer that is nothing but pull quotes.  They're not rushing a trailer that's showing romance.  They're not even flooding the internet with clips.


They want the credit and their egos stroked.  They haven't done anything wonderful.  Billy worked his ass off.  UNIVERSAL's basically copying Aaron Spelling in the 90s, copying him in 2022.  That's not bravery and it's nothing that should earn them any credit.

 

As certain elements within the industry gleefully sharpen their knives for Billy, I wish there was a real pushback leading us to all acknowledge what he has achieved.


 Billy is not Orson Welles and BROS is not CITIZEN KANE.  But we're seeing Billy getting that treatment, the post-CITIZEN KANE treatment where the industry turned on Orson.  


Let's turn to Iraq before I start swearing (as always, the snapshot is dictated).


Stephen Zunes (TRUTH OUT) notes:


As we approach the 20th anniversary of the fateful congressional vote authorizing the invasion of Iraq, many are questioning what would have happened had Congress refused to go along. There was widespread public opposition to going to war at the time. The Catholic Church and every mainline Protestant denomination came out against the war, as did virtually every major labor union and other left-of-center organization that took a stand. The vast majority of the U.S. Middle East scholars opposed an invasion, being aware of the likely disastrous consequences. The vast majority of the world’s nations, including most of the United States’s closest allies, were also in opposition to the war.

Unlike the near-unanimous vote (save for Rep. Barbara Lee) the previous year authorizing military force in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq war resolution was far more controversial. A sizable majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against the resolution authorizing the invasion, which came to a vote on October 10, 2002. The Republicans then controlled the House, however, and it passed easily.

This left the determination as to whether the United States would go to war up to the Democratic-controlled Senate the following day. To the astonishment of many, several leading Democratic senators crossed the aisle to support the war authorization, including Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Assistant Majority Leader Harry Reid and Foreign Relations Committee Chair Joe Biden, as well as such prominent senators as John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, John Edwards and Dianne Feinstein.

All this was well-known at the time. Since then, however, a number of these Democrats, particularly those with presidential ambitions, have lied about their votes — and much of the mainstream media have allowed them to get away with it.

The primary excuse they have subsequently put forward has been that the “Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution,” as it was formally known, was not actually an authorization for use of military force against Iraq. Instead, these Democrats claim they did not actually support George W. Bush’s decision to invade in March 2003 but simply wanted to provide the administration with leverage to pressure Iraq to allow a return of UN inspectors, which President Clinton had ordered removed in 1998 prior to a four-day bombing campaign, and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had, quite predictably, not yet allowed to return.

Despite wording in the congressional resolution providing Bush with an open-ended authority to invade, John Kerry claimed in 2013 that he “opposed the president’s decision to go into Iraq.” While running for president in 2016, Hillary Clinton insisted that she voted for the resolution simply because “we needed to put inspectors in, that was the underlying reason why I at least voted to give President Bush the authority,” and that she did not want to “wage a preemptive war.” Similarly, during his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden insisted he supported Bush’s war resolution not because he actually wanted to invade Iraq, but because “he needed the vote to be able to get inspectors into Iraq to determine whether or not Saddam Hussein was engaged in dealing with a nuclear program,” and further claiming that, “Immediately, the moment it started, I came out against the war at that moment.”

In reality, at the time of the vote on the war resolution, the Iraqi government had already agreed in principle to a return of the weapons inspectors and were negotiating with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission on the details which were formally institutionalized a few weeks later. (Indeed, it would have likely been resolved earlier had the Bush administration not repeatedly postponed the UN Security Council resolution in the hopes of inserting language that would have allowed the United States to unilaterally interpret the level of compliance.) In addition, all three of these senators voted against the substitute amendment by Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, which would have also granted President Bush authority to use force, but only if Iraq defied subsequent UN demands regarding the inspections process. Instead, they voted for the Republican-sponsored resolution to give President Bush the authority to invade Iraq at the time and circumstances of his own choosing, regardless of whether inspectors returned.

More critically, when Bush launched the March 2003 invasion a full four months after large-scale weapons inspections had begun with no signs of any proscribed weapons or weapons facilities, Clinton, Biden and Kerry still argued that the invasion was necessary and lawful.

Biden defended the imminent launch of the invasion by saying, “I support the president. Diplomacy over avoiding war is dead. … I do not see any alternative. It is not as if we can back away now.” He added, “Let loose the dogs of war. I’m confident we will win.”


Meanwhile, when last we saw Moqtada and his massive man boobs (MOOBS), he was retreating from the political process in a huff, pulling a Greta Garbo, he just wanted to be alone.  Look who's back.  MEMO reports:


On Tuesday, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, agreed "to dialogue, if it is public, and in order to exclude all participants in the previous political and electoral processes."

Commenting on the briefing given by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Jeanine Plasschaert, he said in a tweet, "With regard to the briefing by the UN representative, what she said caught my attention as she said the main reason for what is happening in Iraq is the corruption that everyone agrees exists."

"Indeed, this is very true and accurate, and the first step for gradual reform is the exclusion of the old faces, their parties and people from the next government in accordance with the aspirations of the rebellious people," noted Al-Sadr.


Moqtada ignores his own corruption, of course.  And he wants newbies because he's still hopeful that he could dominate the process.  He thought he could do that back in November as well.  That's what led to months and months of the political stalemate.  In case anyone forgot, the government should have been formed after the elections and the elections were October 10, 2021 -- we're four days short of a year since the elections and there is still no new prime minister, still no new president, still no cabinet.


Let's note this tweet:




On the day of the protests, we noted this was not Moqtada's protest.  This was The October Revolution which began in 2019.  But if you're still confused -- and a few e-mails are coming from confused people -- a protest that Moqtada was responsible for would not have slogans against Moqtada.  

It's a media failure because the US media largely ignored The October Revolution and only covers protests if Moqtada's involved.  But after a year or two, if you're still weighing in and getting wrong, I think you have to take some responsibility and not pin it all on the media.  Exactly how many times are you going to trust the US media on the topic of Iraq considering their well known history of lying the country into war?  Or are we still pretending it was all just Judith Miller?

Let's close with this from Margaret Kimberley's latest at BLACK AGENDA REPORT:


You know me, and I know you.”

Those words were spoken by president Joe Biden at the recent Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference. No doubt he was purposefully evoking Congressman James Clyburn’s 2020 endorsement. Clyburn famously said , “I know Joe. We know Joe. But most importantly, Joe knows us.” The identity of the other party in the first person plural was never stated, but was widely assumed to mean Black people. The oligarchs of the democratic party had chosen Biden and that meant Clyburn went along as well. He is not the king maker he is made out to be. Of course the importance of his endorsement extended beyond the South Carolina primary and was considered to be a stamp of approval for all of Black America.

The CBC hasn’t improved any since that time. The annual conference host is the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which this year secured a sponsorship from Amazon, the corporation whose warehouse workers suffer injuries at double the rates of counterparts at other companies. Amazon’s low pay and working conditions churn out low income workers so rapidly that in many places their warehouses have run out of people to hire. The behemoth corporation fought tooth and nail against a successful Black led unionizing drive at one of their warehouses in New York.

As always the CBC conference was sponsored by corporate giants such as Amazon, Coca Cola, Pepsico, Delta airlines, Bank of America, fossil fuel corporations Dominion Energy, BP, Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips, and big pharma corporations such as Genentech, Johnson & Johnson, Ferring, and Bristol Meyers Squibb. It is no coincidence that Congressman Clyburn receives more campaign money from big pharma than any other member of the House of Representatives. As the House Whip he is unlikely to allow any legislation that his funders would not want to see realized.

Biden acted like the good white boss in his appearance, telling jokes about attending Howard University, bragging about appointing Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court and supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities, “With the CBC, we invested an historic $5.8 billion dollars — that’s “B” with a — “B” — billion dollars…” He even told a story about the Voting Rights Act being passed when neither he nor CBC members seemed to be concerned about protecting it after SCOTUS made its most important provisions null and void. Biden bragged about Medicare negotiating drug prices but left out the fact that this won’t happen until 2026 and will apply to only ten drugs. Kingmaker Clyburn surely played a role in securing that outcome.

The Black political class is doing what it always does, serving as a prominent buffer class, and giving a pass to the democratic party. That is their most important function, not fighting for their constituents, but keeping their constituents in line by propping up Obama or Biden or any other democratic president while mouthing fake condemnation when republicans are in office.

If Biden is the good white boss who can tell jokes and get reliable laughs in return, he won’t be taken to task for giving Ukraine and the military industrial complex $80 billion. He won’t be asked about the failure of Build Back Better or why the majority Black city of Jackson, Mississippi has a failing infrastructure that doesn’t provide clean water.

The following sites updated:





Wednesday, October 05, 2022

Snoopy in space

 


So NASA and Snoopy?  They need to do more things like that to keep kids eyes on science.  


Here's the press release from NASA:

Nov 12, 2021

Snoopy to Fly on NASA's Artemis I Moon Mission

For more than 50 years, Snoopy has contributed to the excitement for NASA human spaceflight missions, helping inspire generations to dream big. NASA has shared an association with Charles M. Schulz and Snoopy since Apollo missions and continues under Artemis with new educational activities. Up next -- Snoopy will ride along as the zero gravity indicator on Artemis I. 

Snoopy as a zero gravity indicator
Snoopy as a zero gravity indicator
Credits: 2021 Peanuts Worldwide LLC

Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon launching in early 2022 before missions with astronauts. Zero gravity indicators are small items carried aboard spacecraft that provide a visual indicator when a spacecraft has reached the weightlessness of microgravity. Without astronauts aboard Orion, Snoopy will help share the journey with the world as he rides along in the cabin with a manikin and two other “passengers.”

Apollo Era

Already a well-known household character, Snoopy was used to encourage NASA’s spaceflight safety initiative during the time of Apollo. Schulz created comic strips of Snoopy on the Moon, capturing public excitement about America’s achievements in space.

In May 1969, Apollo 10 astronauts Gene Cernan, John Young and Thomas Stafford traveled all the way to the Moon for one final checkout before the lunar landing attempt. The mission required the lunar module to skim the Moon's surface to within 50,000 feet and "snoop around" scouting the Apollo 11 landing site, leading the crew to name the lunar module "Snoopy." The Apollo command module was labeled "Charlie Brown," after Snoopy’s loyal owner. Snoopy’s first flight to space was in 1990 when he was able to catch a ride on the space shuttle Columbia during the STS-32 mission.

The agency’s Silver Snoopy award was created during the Apollo era and remains to this day. It is a high honor awarded to NASA employees and contractors by astronauts, celebrating achievements related to mission success and human flight safety. Each silver pin given with this award, depicting astronaut Snoopy, was flown in space. Continuing the tradition, Artemis I will also carry a package of silver snoopy pins for future recognitions.

Apollo 50th Anniversary

In 2019, NASA and Peanuts Worldwide celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the launch of Apollo 10 and the history of their partnership in NASA’s safety and human space flight awareness program. Leading up to the anniversary, NASA and Peanuts collaborated on STEM activities, a mini-documentary and other new products that share the excitement of science, technology, engineering and math with the next generation of explorers. The collaboration, formalized though a Space Act Agreement, provided an opportunity to update Snoopy’s spacesuit and introduce new space-themed programming with content about NASA’s deep space exploration missions, 50 years after the initial collaboration began during the Apollo era. 

Under the anniversary collaboration, NASA provided support for a number of new Peanuts programs that focused on modern-day astronaut Snoopy and space themes, including a STEM-based curriculum for students in kindergarten through 5th grade about America’s deep space exploration objectives. NASA centers across the nation joined the celebration as well with local exhibits or STEM activities capitalizing on the Apollo 10 mission’s unique call sign for the Lunar Lander of Snoopy. Snoopy also participated in the celebration on the National Mall in Washington to celebrate the 50th Apollo 11 Moon landing, which also took place in 1969.

NASA participated in other Apollo anniversary collaborations with Peanuts and its partners. Peanuts partnered with McDonalds for a "Discover Space with Snoopy" Happy Meal featuring Snoopy in his persona as the "world famous astronaut" and "the first beagle on the Moon," as well as STEM-focused books, activities, and toys. Peanuts and its partner company WildBrain also premiered the first season of “Snoopy in Space,” on Apple TV+ in 2019. NASA supported Peanuts and its partners with reviews of STEM content and NASA mission information.

Astronaut Snoopy was featured as a balloon in the 2019 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and as a plush doll floating aboard the International Space Station. During coverage of the holiday celebration, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch delivered a message alongside Snoopy from aboard the space station, highlighting the partnership along with the 20th anniversary of continuous human presence on station, which is helping prepare future exploration with Artemis.

Astronaut Snoopy launched to the station aboard a Cygnus spacecraft on Northrop Grumman’s 12th cargo resupply mission. In the parade and on the space station, Snoopy sported a spacesuit modeled after NASA's Orion Crew Survival System, which is worn by astronauts while inside the Orion spacecraft on Artemis missions to the Moon. The Astronaut Snoopy balloon will appear again in the 2021 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Snoopy, Artemis Generation

Today, the partnership continues. For Snoopy’s flight on the Artemis I mission, he will be outfitted in a custom orange flight suit complete with gloves, boots, and a NASA patch. Peanuts is releasing a new suite of curriculum and short videos with its partner, GoNoodle, to encourage kids to learn about gravity, teamwork, and space exploration while they follow Snoopy along on his Artemis I journey. In addition to the doll and Sliver Snoopy pins, a pen nib from Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts studio will make the trek on Artemis I wrapped in a space themed comic strip as part of a collection of mementos selected by NASA to fly aboard the Orion spacecraft. A new season of “Snoopy in Space” will also be released on Apple TV+ that explores the planets and what conditions are necessary to find life in the universe. NASA supported Peanuts with the series through reviews of STEM content and NASA mission information.

Under Artemis, NASA is working to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon and lead the next steps of human exploration for future missions to Mars. Artemis I will pave the way for a series of increasingly complex missions to establish a long-term presence at the Moon.

Learn more about Artemishttps://www.nasa.gov/artemis

cernon and snoopy at press conference
NASA astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot of the Apollo 10 prime crew, is seen at a press conference held on April 26, 1969, at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now NASA's Johnson Space Center) in Houston.
Credits: NASA


I always liked Snoopy.  When I went to college, I was so nervous.  I didn't speak to anyone my first day.  My second day, I got done with class, walked by the union hall and saw a display -- posters, t-shirts, you name it.  And I walked over because they had a Snoopy t-shirt -- him as Joe Cool.  I bought that and ended up making my best friend in college moments later when a woman walked over and said, "Oh, Joe Cool!  Where did you get that?"  I showed her and she got one too and we were friends immediately and we still are to this day.


Please read Trina's "Not feeling it tonight" -- I felt exactly the same.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

 Tuesday, October 4, 2022.  The 'answer' to inflation is to up unemployment according to 'experts,' Iraq sees more protests and the US State Dept screws up again.


Jake Johnson (COMMON DREAMS) reports:


An analysis published Tuesday shows that the top executives of the largest corporations in the United States have seen their pay soar by nearly 1,500% over the past 43 years, helping to fuel a massive surge in inequality as workers' wages lag.

Between 1978 and 2021, according to new research from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), CEO compensation at the 350 largest publicly traded U.S. companies rose by an inflation-adjusted 1,460%, far outstripping the 18.1% pay increase that the nation's typical worker saw during that period.

The trend of soaring CEO pay has continued during the coronavirus pandemic, which caused mass economic chaos and job loss among ordinary workers. EPI found that "while millions lost jobs in the first year of the pandemic and suffered real wage declines due to inflation in the second year, CEOs' realized compensation jumped 30.3% between 2019 and 2021."

"Typical worker compensation among those who remained employed rose 3.9% over the same time span," note EPI's Josh Bivens and Jori Kandra, the authors of the new report.

The findings come amid mounting fears of a global recession triggered by central banks' attempts to fight inflation via increasingly aggressive interest rate hikes, a strategy aimed at crushing economic demand.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the world's most powerful central banker, has been forthright about the primary goals of rate hikes: A weaker labor market and lower wages. According to the Fed's own projections, rate increases could throw around 1.5 million people in the U.S. out of work by the end of next year.


And where's Joe Biden.  He's president and this all happened under his watch.  Now there's a good chance he doesn't know what's going on.  That's always a risk for a man of his age.  

 

And right on queue, you have The Brookings Institute offering a podcast this morning calling for higher unemployment:

While President Biden has officially declared the COVID-19 pandemic “over,” America now faces a new challenge in the form of an overheating economy and high inflation, and the prospect of a Federal Reserve-induced recession is looming. In the latest Brookings Podcast on Economic Activity, David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, spoke with Laurence Ball of Johns Hopkins University about his new paper, “Understanding U.S. inflation during the COVID era.” In the study, Ball and his co-authors find that the Fed may need to push unemployment higher than its 4.1% projection to return inflation to the 2% target.

In a world like this, when unemployment is seen as the 'answer,' you need real leaders.  Will Lehman is running to become president of the United Auto Workers union.  WSWS reports:


On Saturday, Will Lehman, socialist candidate for president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), held an online meeting to bring his campaign to graduate student workers and other university employees in the UAW. The meeting was attended by grad students and tenured faculty, as well as workers and supporters of Lehman’s campaign from around the US.

The meeting took place amid ongoing struggles of university workers in both California and New York. As of September 30, 48,000 UAW members across the University of California (UC) system—including graduate student workers, academic researchers, tutors, postdoctoral scholars (postdocs) and other academic employees—are working either without a contract or under a contract that had been extended. There is also an ongoing strike authorization vote of adjuncts at New York University (NYU), where the UAW extended the previous contract by two months, with the new expiration set for October 30.

At the start of the meeting, Lehman—who is a second-tier worker at Mack Trucks in Macungie, Pennsylvania, and the only socialist candidate in the UAW election—summed up his campaign’s call to abolish the corrupt UAW apparatus and put power in the hands of workers.

The UAW is comprised of two distinct layers, he explained: The rank-and-file workers within the factories and other workplaces who pay dues, versus a bureaucracy sitting on $1.1 billion in assets that enforces sellout contracts and keeps workers divided. The UAW bureaucracy accepts capitalism and is deeply tied to the companies it claims to be fighting against. Two of the last four UAW presidents were jailed as part of a far-reaching corruption scandal, in which large sections of the union’s leadership were shown to be accepting bribes or embezzling dues.

The bureaucrats, Lehman said, “operate within the framework of capitalism and believe they can win that way. They are absolutely wrong. That is why we need to force our own way forward, and that comes with linking up, and it might not be a traditional way.”

As part of the fight to unify and empower workers, Lehman advocated the formation of rank-and-file committees as a means of staying informed and coordinating actions with other workers, whether they are UAW members or not. Workers need a means to share information and unify their struggles, he said, and break out of the isolation imposed by the UAW apparatus.

“I’ll give the example of the HarperCollins workers earlier this year,” Lehman stated. “Their CEO is billionaire Rupert Murdoch. Nobody was informed of the HarperCollins one-day strike by the UAW, and they should have been, we all should have been. They should have been on strike until their needs were met. They’re making $30 an hour, but living in New York City. And I’m sure that workers from the University of California could relate to that, with one of the highest cost of living in the country.”

Responding to a comment from a UC student worker that UAW Local 5810 (which includes postdocs and academic researchers) had reportedly again extended its previous contract with the university for another month to October 31, Lehman said, “They’re being strung out on contract extensions. And this is a typical UAW play. When a contract runs out, they keep workers on the job, while they’re also appealing to the Democratic Party, which has absolutely no interest in advancing anything for the working class. The Democratic and Republican parties both are not representative of the working class.”

He added, “The way forward won’t be found in an appeal to any Democratic Party politician or any politician from either of the two parties of the ruling class. It’s going to be through struggle.”

A graduate student at New York University (NYU), Karsten, spoke during the meeting about the UAW’s betrayal of the NYU grad workers’ strike in 2021.

“Last year, we struck for three weeks,” Karsten said. “And we were not only in a struggle up against the university, but the UAW as well, which isolated the strike and forced through a completely rotten contract, which has been promoted widely as this ‘historic agreement.’ But really, this is an agreement that did not meet any of the demands of graduate student workers. It’s a six-year agreement with a no strike clause.

“There was a big hullabaloo made over the fact that the wage increases for hourly workers went from $20 per hour to $26 per hour for the 2020 to 2021 year. But this is $20 or more under what is a living wage in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world, and a wage cut essentially, with inflation at over 8 percent.

“Most significantly, the union dropped the demand for ‘unit erosion,’ which would have essentially prevented the university from cutting positions. So any raises in wages that the university made won’t have an impact on the university’s coffers, because they’ll be able to cut positions. And the same was true at Columbia University, which graduate students struck at the same time, but our struggles were isolated from one another by the UAW.”


Worthless Joe does nothing but send the country's tax dollars to Ukraine.  He loves supporting racist regimes because it reminds him of the good old days when he'd pull a chain on Cock Roach.  While he does nothing but stare into space and drool, people might want to look to see what California is doing.  



Kaitlyn Koterbski (FORTUNE) reports:

Qualifying Californians will begin receiving relief payments of up to $1,050 this week to soften the blow of inflation. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a $308 billion state budget in June to deliver direct tax refunds to 23 million Californians as they struggle with inflation, which jumped 8.3% year over year. 

“California’s budget addresses the state’s most pressing needs and prioritizes getting dollars back into the pockets of millions of Californians who are grappling with global inflation and rising prices of everything from gas to groceries,” said Gov. Newsom, Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in a joint statement


It's a one time payment which, honestly, isn't enough.  But it's still more than Joe Biden's managed to do for any US citizen -- unless he's thinking Ukraine is the 51st state of America.  CNN notes:


Several states are sending taxpayers money to help them cope with inflation, but some economists warn that the payments will do little to alleviate the pain of rising costs and could further fuel inflation.

In California, for example, about 23 million qualifying taxpayers are expected to receive up to $1,500, with smaller payments going to higher earners. The payments, which are technically tax refunds, will start going out October 7 and are meant "to help address rising costs," according to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's office.

In Georgia, taxpayers received up to $500 in one-time tax refunds over the summer.

"As hardworking Georgians face rising inflation caused by failed federal government policies, we are doing what we can to provide relief by returning their money back into their pockets," said Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in a May statement.

In other places, like Colorado, states are required by law to return excess state revenue to taxpayers. Tax rebates that went out this summer are worth $750 for individual tax filers and $1,500 for joint filers. Labeled as a "Cash Back" program, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said the state moved up sending the refunds out by about a year "because they need it now," according to an interview with Colorado Public Radio in August.


Yet Joe Biden does nothing.


Emma Kinery (CNBC) notes:

Economic issues like inflation are of top mind for midterm voters a month out from Election Day, giving Republicans a slight edge over Democrats in a new poll released Monday by Monmouth University.

For the first time since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision overturned the constitutional right to abortion, a majority of voters polled by Monmouth say they think Republicans should take back control of Congress.

The poll found 47% of voters want or prefer Republicans to control Congress compared with 44% who want or prefer Democrats. It’s a 4 percentage point gain for Republicans, up from 43% in August, and a 6 percentage point loss for Democrats, down from 50%.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 21 to 25 and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

While Democrats care about a variety of issues from climate change to abortion and Republicans home in on inflation and immigration, the poll found independent voters are primarily concerned with rising prices.

Overall, 82% of Americans ranked inflation as an extremely or very important issue, compared with 56% who ranked abortion as a top worry and 32% who said the coronavirus pandemic was a big concern. More broadly, anxiety about the economy and cost of living supersede concerns about losing fundamental rights or threats to democracy 54% to 38% among all Americans.


Yet Joe Biden does nothing.


Mid-term elections are next month, yet Joe Biden does nothing.


Is there a strategy or do they just thinking having a Brit go around endorsing in US elections is a plan.  Someone tell pop king Harry that membership in One Direction does not qualify for political expertise and that this country fought revolution to ensure that the British didn't tell us what to do.  And no one was waiting for you to release your political opinions.  No one thinks you're smart enough -- or that anyone is -- to become an insta-expert on another country's voting system and on various candidates running for election.

If people are kind enough to enjoy the art you produce, you shouldn't abuse the relationship by attempting to tell them how to vote -- especially when you can't vote in this country, you do not this country's system and you're just a visitor.  


I will endorse and have -- but only in races I can vote in.  


I'm very happy with my non-C.I. fan base and I don't abuse them by telling them to do this or to do that.  I don't mistake our relationship for master-servant.  Clearly, Harry's under the belief that the British empire continues and that we are his subjects.  


If he wants to do his civic duty, he can take his ass back to England which is dealing with a number of issues and problems.


At CNN, Linda Stewart writes:


       One year into the pandemic lockdown, I retired from my job of 14 years as program coordinator and academic adviser at the University of New Mexico’s School of Engineering. I loved the work I did, but it was time to move on. I was in my early 60s, and being old enough to retire suddenly made that option more appealing. Finances would be a little tight for a while, but some outside projects would supplement my income, so I felt confident I would be able to handle it.

But by the end of the second year of lockdown, inflation started taking a toll and money was getting uncomfortably tight. Soon I was in the red each month, just trying to keep up. The usual suspects were groceries and gas, which meant cutting back on some of the more expensive food items and cooking meals at home.

I stopped driving for anything other than essentials. And with the continuing drought here in the Southwest, utility bills went through the ceiling. I cut back on watering my garden and turned the furnace down a few degrees in the winter and the air conditioning up a few in the summer. I switched to washing clothes mostly in cold water and only running the dishwasher once a week.      

       I also take care of my elderly mother, who lives alone, and we are both on fixed incomes. My freelance projects slowed down during lockdown, so my income did, too. The COLA (cost of living adjustment) for our Social Security benefits was very welcome, but it certainly didn’t cover price increases elsewhere.

Everything medical jumped at the beginning of the year. Co-pays went from $35 to $45. Prescription prices rose from $10 for a 90-day supply of medicine to $20 for a 90-day supply. Meanwhile, insurance benefits dropped from covering 90% of surgery costs to 80%.

My mother now hesitates to go to a doctor until it’s really necessary due to her higher co-pays, and I’ve switched all of my medications to generic brands that my insurance fully covers. They only cover the name brand of my asthma medicine.    


And Joe does nothing.


When his administration does manage to get around to action, they still manage to screw it up.


Yesterday, the US State Dept issued the following:

On behalf of the Government of the United States of America, I offer Prime Minister Kadhimi and the Iraqi people congratulations on their National Day, October 3.

This is a day to reflect on and be proud of Iraq’s achievements and the perseverance of its people. For 90 years, Iraq has endeavored through adversity to foster a more inclusive and equitable society for its citizens and for future generations of Iraqis.

The United States remains firmly committed to its strategic partnership with Iraq and to deepening and strengthening our relations under the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement. I look forward to continuing our work together on our shared priorities and enhancing the bond between our peoples.

I wish the people of Iraq best wishes and prosperity in the coming year.


They issued it at 1:00 pm EST.  Which means it was nine p.m. in Baghdad with the workday over.  Has there been a more incompetent Secretary of State than Tony Blinken? 


You kinda picture Tony's 16-year-old child all excited all day looking around.  Then, after dinner, the child gets less excited.  Eventually, it's 8:30 and the child turns in.  About 20 minutes later, Tony turns to his wife and asks, "Is today a birthday?"  They rush to the kitchen, slap a candle on a Twinkie and wake up the kid while singing "Happy Birthday" and insisting, "We didn't forget!"


"Late or never" -- the two speeds he works in.


Meanwhile Haydar Karaalp (ANADOLU AGENCEY) reports:

Protesters set fire to a government building Monday in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, according to security sources.

A group of masked men took to the streets of the city center of Nasiriyah to stage demonstrations, the sources said.

The demonstrators then set fire to the governor's office with Molotov cocktails, they added.

A curfew was declared in the city over the incident.

Nasiriyah, located 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of the capital Baghdad, is mired in poverty and plagued by poor infrastructure and joblessness, especially among young people.


Daniel Stewart (360 NEWS) adds:


Shortly after, the governor of Di Qar, Muhamad Hadi al Gazi, announced a curfew and stressed that "the situation is under control", as reported by the INA news agency.

On the other hand, during the last hours armed clashes have been reported in Basra (south), with no information so far on possible casualties. Witnesses quoted by the Kurdish television channel Rudaw have indicated that hostilities have broken out due to the arrest of several people by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a coalition of pro-Iranian militias.

The arrests took place on Monday as part of protests in the province, during which security forces used tear gas. The governor of Basra, Asaad al-Eidani, then tried to meet with the protesters, who refused and criticized the intervention of the officers to suppress the demonstrations.

Iraq has been the scene in recent days of new mobilizations, coinciding with the third anniversary of the October 2019 protests, which resulted in at least 600 deaths across the country due to the reaction of the Iraqi Police and pro-Iranian militias. The protests were active for several months to demand an end to the system of government in place since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, an end to corruption, better basic services and employment.

The protests led to the resignation of the then prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, who was replaced - after the rejection of several nominees - by Mostafa al-Kazemi, who initiated a series of reforms and called for early elections, held on October 10, 2021.



The following sites updated: