Pigs In Space, Swedish Chefs, And Green Frogs; USAF Helicopters; And More -- Februray 22, 2021

Tone deaf? I always thought The Muppets were tone deaf when it came to depicting Swedish chefs, swine, and Ranidae. It turns out I was not the only one. Disney has finally gotten the memo. In response, before airing certain episode of The Muppets, Disney+ will flash a warning to the audience that "some of the scenes are inappropriate but because the company makes so much money on the episodes and it cost them a lot of money to acquire the franchise, the episodes will be shown, anyway."

TCM does the same. If not, TCM would probably have to drop 90% of its programming. It is amazing that, for example, organized crime has been so maligned, particularly by Robert Stack. It goes without saying the French cops were maligned in Casablanca.

For Disney, the depiction of the common green frog and swine was bad enough but apparently what took the cake was the depiction of the Swedish chef, who in fact, was Norwegian. The Swedes have apparently only recently gotten in on the joke. IKEA is rumored to add lutefisk to its menu to offset criticism that its meatballs are getting more credit than they deserve.

I would assume it's only a matter of time before similar warnings will have to be placed before airing of Shrek (depiction of ogres is just the tip of the iceberg), Star Wars (depiction of extra-terrestrials as scary), ET (depiction of extra-terrestrials as infantile), and CHiPs (depicting cops as friendly). Shrek 2 was particularly harmful, with the pigs in a blanket reference being singled out as notably offensive. 

For more:

• google: Disney+ gives "The Muppet Show" an "offensive content" disclaimer before select episodes;
• what do Swedes think of the Swedish chef?
• the Swedish chef was really Norwegian;

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US AIR FORCE
(Memo to self: insert USAF song here)

New helicopters: Minot AFB will transition from the Huey to the Grey Wolf in 2023. Links:

• the heliopter
  
• Boeing's MH-139A Grey Wolf;
• AgustaWestland AW 139, VIP transport;
• announcement by the USAF;
• will be deployed in packs (thus the name, Grey Wolf); 
• there is some question whether it is insensitive to mention that grey wolves hunt in packs;
• nuclear sites to each get eleven of the new helicopter include:
• Minot AFB, ND
• Malmstrom AFB, MT
• F.E. Warren AFB, WY
• additional a/c to
• JB Andrews, MD
• Yokota AB, Japan
• Fairchild AFB, WA
• Kirtland AFB, NM (training school)
• the announcement was made at Duke Field, FL, aka Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #3
• Detachment 7 at Duke Field will work with Air Force Materiel Command’s 413th Flight Test Squadron—the service’s only dedicated rotary test unit to bring the new helicopter into the USAF stable
• Special Ops

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Miscellaneous

Neanderthals: died out due to climate change, due to flipping of the "magnetic switch"

• why it matters
• before: Neanderthals simply morphed into Homo sapiens
• after: killed off by climate change (got way too cold in the Alps)
• only 42,000 years ago
• other notable events on that date
• Cher recorded Is Their Life After Love?
• okay, that was the only other notable event on that date

From PowerLine:

And, of course, the musical interlude, absolutely the best song ever:

If There Life After Love? Cher