The Muppets

There's a bit of a long story about how the Walt Disney company wanted the talents of Jim Henson, and were willing to buy the Muppets just to get him.  Unfortunately, he died before the deal was ever finalized, and the company lost interest in the property, and it was sold to a German company.

But Disney had a license to use the muppets in some situations, including as a part of Muppet Vision 3D at the studios.  So that remained open, but couldn't be expanded beyond that.

Then, the German company went bankrupt, and Disney wound up acquiring them - at a fraction of the original price.  But they had no idea what to do with them, and the Muppets mostly just sat idle.

And with park expansion, Muppet Vision finally closed.  The Muppets will appear as a replacement for Rock'N'Rollercoaster, but that really doesn't do them justice.

In the meantime, the Disney company has been considering other ideas. One of them was a resurrection of the Muppet Show.  They produced one episode and released it in January.  It followed the  formula of the original 70s era show - and I have to say that I enjoyed it.

There is some discussion of producing more episodes, and I sure hope that they do.... and don't just continue to let them languish and ultimately be forgotten.

Trump donor who criticized offshoring to close Ohio plant and move work to China | Business | The Guardian

America first!

Good paying jobs are coming!

Manufacturing will return to murica!

Except when it doesn't of course. 

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/16/john-paulson-conn-selmer-ohio-factory-china-trump

This is another case where the simpsons got it right…

https://youtu.be/cyJfOPSS2Uc?si=l1q6N-O3C-x5ab7k

Monty Burns is any/every billionaire.

Watch "The Never-Ending Exploitation of Olympians" on YouTube

This is a pretty well done piece about Olympic athletes and what they make against the backdrop of the Olympics and its huge revenue stream (which athletes get none of!)

 

https://youtu.be/Q4kZTfHuM-I?si=GquU2x18ldYlc8XM

Kunal Nayyar Anonymously Pays Families’ Medical Bills via GoFundMe

There is good in the world, and I have so much respect for these actions. And the comments they include are pretty spot-on.

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/alex-ocho/kunal-nayyar-gofundme-medical-bills-anonymous

You can read the whole interview here:

https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/big-bang-theory-kunal-nayyar-pay-families-medical-bills-4067786

"Right now people are not happy, because we are all expecting someone else to be kind. We are expecting a president or a politician, some leader, to come and bring us world peace. But there is no world peace if your neighbour comes to your door wanting some sugar for their tea, and you lock it against them and say 'get away'….. no one is going to come and change the world for you. You have to do it for yourself."

The Walt Disney Company Hit with Record Fine by California DOJ - WDW News Today

This news item caught my attention at least in part because the state of California is doing what the federal government is derelict in doing: holding large companies responsible for acting as they should. 

Disney said that consumers could opt out of marketing, but then proceeded to sell information anyway. 

So Disney must pay a fine and change that practice. 

I'll take any small wins. 

And Disney -maybe- will do more to treat customers "right" and -again maybe- be a leader in the industry. 

https://wdwnt.com/2026/02/the-walt-disney-company-hit-with-record-fine-by-california-doj/

Why Scientists Are Rethinking 60 Years of Arctic Snow Data

Science is kind of awesome in that we keep updating what we know and adjusting theories accordingly. 

And while this might be hard to fit in to what (we think) we know, it's interesting to see that we probably need to look at the data we collected a little differently. 

Remember that the method for data collection was suspect until fairly recently. 

And I remain confident that at some point, we'll understand just what the data is telling us. I mean, really telling us. 

https://scitechdaily.com/why-scientists-are-rethinking-60-years-of-arctic-snow-data/

EPA revokes a key legal underpinning in fighting climate change | AP News

I am extremely bothered by this outcome. Years ago, under Obama, they EPA made clear that there was climate change and that we needed to protect against that. 

Now some of the same members who voted that way are playing some stupid political game that is - and will be more so in the future - harmful. 

Just ignore the science and side with whatever nonsense T-rump says. Great. Just great. 

And it goes on from there. Our water is in danger. Our air in in danger. Our environment overall is in danger. 

And there's an underlying thought that cars don't need to have emissions standards, or to have higher gas mileage. We want to go back to the polluting days of 50+ years ago. Because Murica!

While the rest of the world is looking at efficiency and standards. 

We have lost our way. 

 

https://apnews.com/article/trump-climate-change-epa-clean-air-act-c149d5ea6ec71c862e6c4b578adf92cd