Most Recent Posts

It might seem like the only TV serious viewers are paying attention to right now is Breaking Bad, but on Sunday night, just as Walter White's penultimate episode is unfolding on AMC, we'll be finding out over on CBS whether his show, his portrayer Bryan Cranston, or other personnel will be taking home Primetime Emmy Awards.

An awful lot of familiar faces seem likely to win, as 2012-13 wasn't a big season for new breakout shows. You could easily see Breaking Bad take Outstanding Drama Series (which would be a first), or last year's winner, Homeland, or Mad Men, which had a four-year streak going before Homeland crashed the party in 2012.

It will almost certainly be a big year for the HBO film Behind The Candelabra, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and for Michael Douglas' performance as Liberace. And it's the last shot for 30 Rock, which has several shots at adding to what has been a very rich Emmy haul.

But the biggest curiosity on Sunday night will be the presence of Netflix, which has nominations in major categories for both House Of Cards, the political thriller that starred Kevin Spacey, and Arrested Development, the new and unconventionally structured season of a comedy that spent its three on-air years being celebrated but little-watched on Fox. Both series face stiff competition where they're nominated, but if Netflix were to win anything big in the very first year it was even trying, that would be a fairly authoritative arrival. (It will likely be back next year with Orange Is The New Black, which wasn't eligible this year.)

Hosted again by Neil Patrick Harris, a past Emmy host as well as everything-else host, the Emmys are likely to be — what else? — a long evening of celebrity speeches and corny montages. But in there somewhere, they're likely to be recognizing some pretty terrific television. Because there is, in fact, an awful lot of terrific television.

In the quirky little college town of Yellow Springs, Ohio, home to many unconventional ideas over the years, there's now a small insect factory.

It's an unassuming operation, a generic boxy building in a small industrial park. It took me a while even to find a sign with the company's name: EnviroFlight. But its goal is grand: The people at EnviroFlight are hoping that their insects will help our planet grow more food while conserving land and water.

They don't expect you to eat insects. (Sure, Asians and Africans do it, but Americans are finicky.) The idea is, farmed insects will become food for fish or pigs.

The Salt

Maybe It's Time To Swap Burgers For Bugs, Says U.N.

The Republican-controlled House is set to vote Friday on a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open for business through the middle of December. And the White House has already said if it makes it to the president's desk, he'll veto it. That's because the bill also would defund the Affordable Care Act.

Congress has 10 days to get this worked out. If not, there will be a government shutdown. Passing what's known as a continuing resolution — a temporary bill to keep the lights on — should be routine. But this is turning into a huge fight that's likely to go right down to the wire.

And it's all because of Obamacare. Or more accurately, the determination of congressional Republicans to destroy President Obama's signature legislative achievement.

At the insistence of the most conservative wing of the House GOP conference, Speaker John Boehner is moving forward with a must-pass spending bill that includes the defunding.

Of course, the Senate is controlled by Democrats, and Majority Leader Harry Reid says any measure to defund Obamacare is "dead" and a "waste of time."

So the most likely scenario is that the Senate will take up the spending bill, restore the Obamacare funding and send it back to the House. Tag, you're it.

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz says he's willing to try and filibuster the Senate's action, but because of Senate procedure, he may not get the chance.

Cruz and Utah Sen. Mike Lee have been pushing all summer to defund the health care law, but Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain warns that a government shutdown over the issue could hurt the GOP.

"It is not going to succeed because the American people do not want government shut down," said McCain. "And they'll blame Congress. It's not as if we haven't seen this movie before."

Congress was blamed for the last government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996. It didn't turn out well for Republicans. So, the question is, will they blink? What happens when the Senate inevitably sends a stopgap spending bill back to the House that doesn't defund Obamacare?

If Boehner has a plan, he's not revealing it. "I'm not going to speculate on what the Senate's going to do or not do, and where the votes are," said the Ohio Republican. "We'll have plenty of time next weekend to discuss that."

Yes, he said next weekend. Boehner already is planning for this to go into the 11th hour.

Jeff Garlin is a Chicago-born comedian who became well-known playing Larry David's manager on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He's got a new sitcom on ABC called The Goldbergs and a new film, Dealin' with Idiots, which he wrote, directed and stars in.

Every year, the Journal of Improbable Research gives out its IgNobel Prizes, for groundbreaking scientific research into important but neglected (and sometimes ridiculous) areas of knowledge. It just held its 2013 ceremony in Cambridge, Mass., so today we'll ask Garlin three questions about IgNobel prize winners.