NOVEMBER 4, 2025

Messed up yesterday, which was nostalgic Tuesday.  Did a science posting, which is what I do on Wednesdays.  So I'll skip nostalgia this week and provide instead the latest news of today.  

Blowout wins for Democrats yesterday in the national out-year elections.

• Said the morning New York Times.

Zohran Mamdani, 34, will be the next mayor of New York City, the youngest in more than a century. The democratic socialist will also be the city’s first Muslim mayor. Abigail Spanberger will be Virginia’s first female governor. In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill cruised to victory in a governor’s race that polls had projected would be neck and neck.  And in California, voters passed a ballot measure to redraw the state’s maps in Democrats’ favor, which is likely to yield as many as five House seats for the party next year.

• 
  And that was not all.

• In Maine, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have added voting restrictions, and they approved a measure that enables families to try to get a troubled relative’s guns taken away.
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  In Pennsylvania, voters granted new 10-year terms to three Democratic justices on the state’s supreme court.

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  In Detroit, Mary Sheffield became the city’s first female mayor and the first new mayor in a dozen years.

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  The big night for Democrats extended beyond the highlight races: In an upset, Democrats ousted two Republican members of Georgia’s utility board, a statewide commission that hasn’t had a Democratic member since 2007.  Peter Hubbard and Keisha Waites won.

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  So the California Republican party sued over passage of Proposition 50.  Watch out, for if they win, then all the other gerrymandering Republicans have orchestrated in a bunch of other states, might also be overturned.
• Said the UK The Guardian:  America gave Donald Trump a bloody nose.

• 
  Said Trump:

Last night it was, you know, not expected to be a victory, I don't think it was good for Republicans – I'm not sure it was good for anybody.

So what about the government shutdown, which today broke the record of 35 days with Day 36?

• President Donald Trump keeps telling the U.S. Senate to abandon the filibuster rule.
• According to Google AI:

The Senate has never entirely abandoned the filibuster rule for general legislation, which still nominally requires 60 votes to end debate. However, it has modified the rule and created significant exceptions multiple times throughout its history. 

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  1917: The Senate adopted Rule 22, creating the first procedure for "cloture" to end a filibuster, initially requiring a two-thirds majority vote of those present and voting. Before this, no rule existed to stop a filibuster.
• 1974: The budget reconciliation process was established by the Congressional Budget Act, which exempted budget bills meeting certain requirements from the filibuster, requiring only a simple majority vote.
• 1975: The threshold for invoking cloture on most matters was lowered from two-thirds of senators voting to three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn (60 votes in a full 100-seat Senate).
• 
  2013: Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid, used the "nuclear option" (a controversial parliamentary procedure) to change the precedent for executive branch and non-Supreme Court judicial nominees, allowing them to be confirmed by a simple majority vote.
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  2017: Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, also used the "nuclear option" to expand the simple majority threshold to include Supreme Court nominations, a change precipitated by the Democratic filibuster of Neil Gorsuch's nomination.
• Other Exceptions: Over 160 additional, often narrow, exceptions to the 60-vote requirement have been created by statute or Senate precedent since 1969 for specific types of measures, such as trade agreements under "fast-track" rules or military base closures. 

While the legislative filibuster remains a key part of Senate practice, these numerous changes and exceptions mean the rule is much weaker and more limited in scope than it was historically.

• 
  However, according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the votes aren't there to change the filibuster rule.
• My sense is that the resounding series of victories last night will convince Democrats to now find a workable way to end the shutdown some this week.

To close, the USA "celebrates" two days today.  The first, you never heard.

• National Chicken Lady Day is observed annually today to honor Dr. Marthenia Tina Dupree.
• For 12 years she worked for Church's Chicken, and was asked to meet with President George W. Bush in 2001 in his Oval Office.
• Not much more about why we celebrate this day.  Watch this video.
• 
  Here are the top 12 chicken restaurant chains in the country from Food Republic:  #1 is Chicken Guy (owned by Guy Fieri), #5 Popeye's, #4 Chik-fil-A, #8 Raising Cane's, #7 Buffalo Wild Wings and #12 is Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Never heard of the others in this this list.
• Ranking by annual sales:  #1 Chick-fil-A ($22.7 billion), Popeye's ($5.7 billion), Raising Cane's ($5.0 billion) and #4 KFC ($4.9 billion)

• 
  National Candy Day.
• Candy begins in India around the 5th century BC.

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  Honey was candy in ancient China, the Middle East and Europe.  And, incidentally, fermented honey, known as mead, was first produced China around 7000 BC, making it the world's oldest alcoholic beverage.

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  Before the Industrial Revolution candy was used as medicine.
• In the Middle Ages, candy was only consumed by the wealthy.
• The ancient Aztecs believed that chocolate was an aphrodisiac.

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  Butterscotch was invented by Samuel Parkinson in England in 1817.  To make it, used butter and treacle, the sweet syrup from cane sugar.

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  Candy came to America in the 18th century, from Europe.  
• In time penny candy stores opened.
• Daniel and Henri Nestle chocolates in 1875.

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  There is that Atlantic City story about taffy soaked in salty sea foam from an ocean swell, and sold as saltwater taffy in 1883.

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  M&Ms in 1941.  Stands for creators Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie.  Forrest's father founded Mars Company and Bruce was the son of the President of Hershey Chocolate Company.
• Starburst in 1960
• The most popular candies are M&Ms and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

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  Cotton candy was originally known as fairy floss.
• Snickers was named after Frank Mars' family horse.
• 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate consumed in the USA/year for $7 billion, or around 11 pounds/person/year.

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  But the Swiss consume the most/person/year, 22.
• 22 pounds of candy/American/year.
• 2 ounces of milk chocolate would be poisonous for a 10 pound puppy.
• Most candies are cholesterol free.  

• 
  But from Google AI:

Candy is not generally considered good for health, but certain types of candy, like dark chocolate and peppermint, can offer specific benefits when consumed in moderation, such as providing a quick energy boost, improving mood through neurotransmitter release, reducing stress, and potentially improving cardiovascular health. However, excessive sugar intake can have negative health consequences, so these benefits should be balanced with a healthy overall diet. 

• 
  About the that graphic to the above right.  The truth is that candy ages you.  Just the opposite.
• Halloween has the most candy sales over any other holiday.
• You can make you own candy just by boiling sugar in water or milk until it starts to caramelize, then add whatever you want.
• This business has influence:  there is also a Nation Candy Month, June.

Typhoon Kalmaegi just devastated portions of central Philippines, particularly Cebu, and is next headed for Vietnam.

• First named on October 30.
• Intensified into a Category 2 and made landfall over southern Leyte today.
• Not only once, but made seven more landfalls over the Philippines.
• Affected 133,554 people, killing at least 116.
• Will strengthen into a Category 3 tomorrow, than make landfall between Quang Ngai and Quy Nhon on Thursday.

That's not all, for Depression 32 has formed, will become a typhoon on Friday, strengthen into at least a Category 3, than make landfall in the north part of the Philippines, north of Manila, then head towards Hong Kong.

My concern is that typhoon season sometimes extends into December, and I'll be on the Diamond Princess from November 25, heading for Hong Kong and Vietnam.

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RED SPRITES OVER NEW ZEALAND

Before getting into my science topic of the day, here is an item I received this morning from the New York Times.  There are fewer international students coming to the U.S.

Why?

The decline is occurring as the Trump administration has delayed visa processing, instituted travel bans or restrictions for 19 countries, threatened to deport international students for pro-Palestinian speech, and heightened the vetting of student visa applicants.

The New York Times also reported:

The civil war in Sudan has displaced 12 million people and may have killed about 400,000. It is, as Declan Walsh, our chief Africa correspondent, called it, “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” Experts call it a genocide. Read more about the escapees from El Fasher.

And finally a third story:

Baby Shark: In news from the world of apex predation, a pod of killer whales in the Gulf of California hunts juvenile great white sharks, flipping them onto their backs to stun them and then eating their nutrient-rich livers — and only their livers. “It’s sort of like they’re going for the cheeseburger surrounded by a bunch of celery,” a marine biologist told The Times.

• Orcas, or killer whales, are famous bullies.
• However, for the first time as observed, they were seen targeting young great white sharks.

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  But they only ate each shark's liver.  Budding Hannibal Lecters.
• First seen in 2020, two years later, the same Moctezuma pod, repeated these attack.
• When a great white shark is born, the baby is abandoned by the mother.  They find each other and form their own nursery with no guards.
• Watch this video.

About this off-year election today, I provided some details yesterday, where I said indications were that Democrats should be victorious in all four key states, Virginia, New York, California and New Jersey, with this fourth one maybe being close.  For the most recent developments:

• Read Steve Kornacki's assessment about the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races.  And the reason why you don't see him anymore on MSNBC is that he segued into NBC News.  More more, too, you will see him in NBC sports shows.

• 
  Even though President Donald Trump has barged into this New York City mayor's battle, Mamdani is favored to win.
• California's Proposition 50 is a Democratic move to neutralize Republican gerrymandering.

So on to my topic of the day, Red Sprites over New Zealand.

That photo was taken on 11October2025 about 150 miles from Christchurch.  Occurred during thunderstorm.

What is a sprite, and why are they red?

• Sprites are large-scale electric discharges that occur in the mesosphere, high above thunderstorm clouds, at altitudes between 31 and 56 miles, and can be as large as 50 miles long or wide.
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  They are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.
• They are usually red, but can be reddish orange or purple.  The tendril can be bluish, as in a jellyfish sprite.  This one was photographed by NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers in July of this year.
• First reported by Toynbee and Mackenzie in 1886.
• 
  The first photo was accidentally taken by scientists from the University of Minnesota on 4July1959.  
• Acronym for Stratospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.

• NASA has a citizen science Project Spritacular, challenging anyone to take sprite photos.  They are very difficult to see from ground level.
• Here is an excellent tutorial.

Some of those Great White baby sharks are having a bad time, but from South Korea is Baby Shark Dance.  Surely, you're familiar with this 2016 music video which went viral and in November of 2020 by Pinkfong became the most-viewed You Tube video, gaining more than 7 billion views.  

First video to reach 10 billion, in 2022, then 16 billion in late 2024.  Except if you go to the official site, it say 16.389 billion 9 years ago.  And if you were wondering, Baby Shark Dance has been viewed around three times more than Psy's Gangnam Style.  Here are the 10 most viewed music videos of all time on YouTube, with Pinkfong's BSD at #1.  Uptown Funk with Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars is #10.

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LIFE AT 15 CRAIGSIDE

If I had to pick the one spot on Planet Earth I wished to live for the rest of my life, it would be 15 Craigside in Honolulu.  So much so that I'd rather stay home than go on trips anymore, although our next adventure which starts tomorrow, should be spectacular.

So for today, I just show the meals I have in my apartment, and other places, plus some activities at 15 Craigside.  Unagi, sashimi and beer.

To watch the World Series.

Another bento of sashimi, kalbi, sashimi and beer.

From our dining room, beff stew and hamachi sashimi, with hot sake.

Another from our dining room with sashimi and macaroni salad, plus beer.

Chicken katsu, beer and sake.

Fish and chips and beer.

Went to Marugame Udon in town for, yes, udon, beer and trimmings.

15 Craigside has frequent teas, wine downs and cocktail hours.

Karaoke with Doug Oshiro, master KDJ.

My drink of the night was a Kirin whisky, Fuji-Sanroku, Oloroso Cask finish, which costs about $1000/bottle.

This 18 year old Kirin FUJI-Sanroku, limited to 3000 bottles worldwide , is matured in Oloroso Sherry casks and was distilled in the Kirin Fuji Gotemba distillery. It is located directly on Mount Fuji in the town of Gotemba and was founded in 1972.

The taste is unique, a characterful and complex whisky, with a hint of harmonious and fruity aromas. The storage in Oloroso sherry casks gives it a beautiful sherry scent and a smooth, round and long finish. The bottom of the bottle is modeled on Mount Fuji.

Due to its location near Mount Fuji, you can feel the freshness of the clear spring water and the altitude in this top-quality whisky.

One of the advantages of living here is that a pharmacy comes to our building handle vaccinations.

Then, our clinic check our vitals that day and the next.

Double rainbow at 15 Craigside.

Goodbye from 15 Craigside.

We are poised to leave Honolulu for the Orient, and will be away for two months.  More details tomorrow.

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