Ramblin' with Roger

Presidents Day: White House alligator

THAT’S CONSTITUTIONAL

When an alligator lived in the White House—and nine more presidential pets

Check out Every U.S. President as a Puppet? Funny History Through Muppet-Like Images! Some are more on-point than others.

An online quiz: How many U.S. presidents, if any, had a double “o” (“oo”) in either their first or last name?

Here are some JEOPARDY clues from 20251106 to 20260102

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND WITH YOUR OLD PAL GROVER $200: (Grover presents the clue.) You can say I am cute & very fuzzy, just like this rival who both beat Cleveland & lost to him; he was the last president to sport a full beard

… $400: (Grover presents the clue.) The star of Grover Cleveland’s 1892 campaign, the first successful one by an ex-president, was not the candidate or even his wife, but their cute & adorable one-year-old daughter, called “Baby” this name

… $600: (Grover presents the clue.) Aw, imagine being there on October 28, 1896, when President Cleveland spoke to dedicate the Statue of Liberty; first, the president had to wait until this, in red, white & blue, was pulled from Lady Liberty’s face

…$800: (Grover presents the clue.) Grover Cleveland is the only president born in the great state of New Jersey; his birthplace used to be a manse, which means that his father had this job in the lovely town of Caldwell

… $1000: (Grover presents the clue.) Grover Cleveland did not enter politics in Cleveland, but in this other Lake Erie city, and in one of his most quoted letters, he longs for a plate of herring & Swiss cheese from a favorite restaurant there

GO FOR “GOLD” $800: He’s the Phoenix native who ran for president against LBJ in 1964

I FEEL GOOD $1600: Era of Good Feelings, when this president sought to eliminate political parties

Former POTUS

THE EX-PRESIDENTS $200: In 1875, he became the 1st ex-prez to serve in the Senate, but unlike another pres. of the same name, didn’t become “master of” it

… $400: He served as a guest announcer for the first inning of the 1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

… $600: He wrote the opinion for Myers v. U.S., saying a president could fire executive officers with or without Congress’ OK

… $800: At a 1965 ceremony, Harry Truman became the first beneficiary of this new federal program & applied for Part B

… $1000: He suffered a stroke on the floor of the House of Reps., where he’d been serving, & passed away in the Capitol 2 days later

NONFICTION $1200: This classic by Woodward & Bernstein was published shortly before Richard Nixon resigned from office

ICONIC EYEWEAR $800: Wearing specs may have saved this ex-president’s life: in 1912, his metal eyeglass case slowed a would-be assassin’s bullet

AMERICANA $1600: Born more than 60 years after his grandfather’s death, the last grandchild of this 10th president passed away in 2025 at 96

The first

PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS $200: Reaching the mark in 2024, he was the first president to live to be 100

… $400: James Madison was the first president to ask Congress for a declaration of war, for this conflict

… $600 (Daily Double): Calvin Coolidge was the first & so far only president born on this date; 3 have died on it

… $800: For helping end the Russo-Japanese War, he was the first president & the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize

… $1000: He was the first president who had never been elected president or vice president

FROM THEIR NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY $1600: 1964: “Only one other president lived to be 90–John Adams, the second president”

I’M THINKING OF A JAMES… $800: Who was ranked as the worst president in U.S. history by U.S. News & World Report

WINNING IS DIFFICULT! $1200: …Even if you win the popular vote! But Samuel Tilden ended up 1 Electoral College vote short & this guy from Ohio became president

HISTORY “P”s & “Q”s $400: A boycott & strike in one, the 1894 strike of this company’s railroad workers got President Cleveland involved

CIVIL WAR ERA GEOGRAPHY $2000: Lincoln was nominated for president in 1860 in the Wigwam, a wooden structure at what’s now Lake & Wacker in this city

___ OF ____ $800: Whether prince or president, but often more permanent than prime minister, it’s a nation’s titular ruler

FIRESIDE CHATS $1600: After FDR, he was the only president to copy the informal chat approach of sitting by an actual fireplace–& in a cardigan, no less

THAT’S CONSTITUTIONAL $200: “The President… shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high” this duo

A SALUTE TO VETERANS DAY $400: Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day until this president & veteran officially changed it in 1954

ANSWERS

QUIZ: four or five. Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt, all from the first half of the 20th century. HOWEVER, as some pedantic fellow noted, Wilson’s given first name was Thomas.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND WITH YOUR OLD PAL GROVER: Benjamin Harrison; Ruth; the French flag; minister; Buffalo, NY

GO FOR “GOLD”: Barry Goldwater, a/k/a AuH20

I FEEL GOOD: James Monroe

AMERICANA: John Tyler

THE EX-PRESIDENTS: Andrew Johnson; Ronald Reagan; William Howard Taft; Medicare; John Quincy Adams

NONFICTION: All The President’s Men

ICONIC EYEWEAR: Theodore Roosevelt

PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS: Jimmy Carter; The War of 1812; July 4; Theodore Roosevelt; Gerald Ford

FROM THEIR NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY: Herbert Hoover

I’M THINKING OF A JAMES…: Buchanan

WINNING IS DIFFICULT!: Rutherford B. Hayes

HISTORY “P”s & “Q”s: Pullman

CIVIL WAR ERA GEOGRAPHY: Chicago

___ OF ____: Head of state

FIRESIDE CHATS: Jimmy Carter

THAT’S CONSTITUTIONAL: crimes and misdemeanors

A SALUTE TO VETERANS DAY: Dwight Eisenhower

JEC was the first President born in a hospital — an event that occurred on October 1, 1924. All five presidents born after Carter — Joe Biden (1942), FOTUS (1946), George W. Bush (1946), Bill Clinton (1946), and Barack Obama (1961) — were likewise born in hospitals. George H. W. Bush, who was born less than four months before Carter and assumed the presidency 12 years after Carter, was born at home in Milton, Massachusetts.

Sunday Stealing: Beginning with S

Star Trek v. Star Wars

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

At The Zeus Excuse, participating bloggers were assigned a letter and asked to list things they love beginning with that letter. Since at Sunday Stealing we love Sunday Stealing, here is –

Things I Love Beginning with S

1. Soul music, particularly the sounds of Soulsville, USA, i.e., Stax Records out of Memphis, TN. I wrote about Stax here (2007). I have pushing for Stax co-founder Estelle Axton to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2015. Steve Cropper, the STAX guitar virtuoso who died in 2025, got an obit.

2. The Statue of Liberty, which I’ve seen while riding the Staten Island ferry. The meaning needs to be amplified regularly. “Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” I used to have a little statuette in a previous office.

3. I was going to say Soup. Then I came into this debate about the difference between soup versus stew, chowder, and bisque. Gumbo, e.g., I consider a stew. That said, cream of mushroom and New England clam chowder are my favorite soups. BTW, I had forgotten that Campbell’s has dropped the word Soup from its corporate name.

Dueling universes

4. The Star Trek v. Star Wars debate. I haven’t come into contact with it recently, but these two tribes used to fuss about which universe was more “authentic,” whatever THAT meant. For the record, I’ve seen far more Star Trek.

I’ve only seen Star Wars movies (renumbered) 4, 5, 6, 1, and 7. No, I’ve never seen any of the small-screen stuff. I did collect the Marvel Comics Star Wars series back in the day.

But I’ve seen Star Trek: TOS, and the 1st five films; most of the Animated Series; all of The Next Generation, though no movies; most episodes of DS9; many episodes of Voyager; the 2009 reboot movie; and random other episodes.

5. Sleep. Sometimes, I stay up too late, because my brain needs to offload NOW. So, increasingly, I take that joyous thing called the afternoon nap, usually for about an hour. I never use an alarm clock, because it is evil.

6. Sunday Stealing, of course!

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

My favorite love songs

Can’t Nothing Be Love But Love

I suggested that these are my favorite love songs. More correctly, there’s something that intrigues me about them.

Love Can Be Anything (Can’t Nothing Be Love But Love) – the Temptations. This is a Norman Whitfield-Barrett Strong tune in the ‘wah-wah” period, after Dennis Edwards replaced David Ruffin. It’s repetitive and a bit silly: love can be X, but X can’t be love. But I’m a big fan of the five lead singer period.

Lady Marmalade – Labelle. This song was co-written by Bob Crewe, who I associate with the Four Seasons. You don’t think it’s a love song?

Love Machine – Miracles. This is the post-Smokey Robinson group.

Lover – Ella Fitzgerald. The best version of the oft-covered standard.

Love and Happiness – Al Green. I would joke that this was my cousin Al, but in fact, his name was originally Albert Greene, with that unnecessary extra e.

Just The Two Of Us – Grover Washington and Bill Withers. Long after his three big hits in 1971-72 comes this unexpected comeback in 1981.

Love and Affection – Joan Armatrading. It has one of my favorite first lines: “I am not in love, but I’m open to persuasion.”

Love Is Strange – Mickey and Sylvia. Seeing the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing for the first time in 2025 reminded me of what a hoot this song is.

The Love You Save – The Jackson Five. When I used to sing along with this when it came out, I could match Jermaine’s second lead pretty well, but I couldn’t come close to Michael’s vocals.

Who wrote this?

Let’s Make More Love – Nat King Cole. It’s from the Billy May Sessions, recorded in the 1950s but not released until 1993. Oddly, the composer is listed as Unknown.

There’s Love In Them There Hills – the Pointer Sisters. As I noted last fall, “Play in the dark, as loud as you can; it’ll be clear why after the first 2:30.”

Strawberry Letter #23 – the Brothers Johnson. I wrote a whole post about this song, written and first recorded by Shuggie Otis, in 2015—a Q production.

Anyone Who Had A Heart – Dionne Warwick. A sad song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David; I am a sucker for almost every version, by Cilla Black, Linda Ronstadt, and Dusty Springfield, for three, but this is the first version I heard.

Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor. Prince wrote the song, and recorded the song at least twice. But this version is ethereal.

It’s Love – The [Young] Rascals. This is the final song on the group’s great third album, Groovin’, with flute by Hubert Laws. I have the album on vinyl. In the 1990s, I bought a fancy new turntable and played the LP. The runoff on Side 2 was minimal, so that the arm returned about 12 seconds before the song finished! I ended up buying Groovin’ on CD, essentially for this song.

I Only Have Eyes For You – the Flamingoes. This IS my favorite love song, and it hooks me with the instrumentation that builds before the vocal comes in.

Feb. rambling: Complicity?

Catherine O’Hara

second-rate democracy

Non-Cooperation: When does cooperation become complicity? And what other choice is there?

Everything Is for Sale: Exploiting the 250th Anniversary of US Independence for Yet Another Grift

The EPA repealed the bedrock scientific finding that says greenhouse gases threaten human life and well-being. It means the agency can no longer regulate them.

The White House regularly circulates imagery that has been manipulated by A.I. But the photo of Nekima Levy Armstrong was different.

The Hardest Part of Fighting Fascism Comes After the Fascists Have Fallen

Dying in Broad Daylight. ‘This Is a Wake-Up Call’: Critics Disgusted as Billionaire Bezos Guts Washington Post. “Oligarchs are not the benevolent saviors media have long depicted them to be.”

Was Jeffrey Epstein running a kompromat operation for Russia?

Grid reliability projected to decline as data centers drive demand, watchdog says

A drop in CDC health alerts leaves doctors flying blind.

On Tilt. America’s new gambling epidemic

The World Factbook has sunset. It served the Intelligence Community and the general public as a longstanding, one-stop basic reference about countries and communities around the globe. [As a librarian, I used this source all of the time for info about other countries.]

Wordsmith: read especially the email of the week and limericks

The United States of consumption – Our trash and our lives, here and abroad

U.S. Employee Engagement Declines From 2020 Peak

Once called the “disease of kings,” gout is on the rise

These College Students Ditched Their Phones for a Week. Could You?

My Survivor’s Guilt

These Were the Most Popular Baby Names in 1926

Clowns + Firefighters = Police? and The Video Game System That Ran Up a $500,000 Bill, and Why is Mark Zuckerberg Suing Facebook?and The San Francisco Egg War

O’Hara

Catherine O’Hara, “Home Alone” and “Schitt’s Creek” actress, died at age 71 after a brief illness. . I especially loved her in SCTV and the mockumentaries such as Best In Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). Top 10 Greatest Moments. Monologue: Musical Improvisation – Saturday Night Live.

She had previously revealed a diagnosis of dextrocardia with situs inversus, a rare congenital condition characterized by an abnormal positioning of the heart, which is mostly benign but highly peculiar. Her cause of death was pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer as the underlying cause.

Good news

Complexly, the media company that produces Crash Course, SciShow, Eons, Bizarre Beasts, Study Hall, and more has always been privately owned by Hank and John Green. It is now a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit! “It’s never been easier to find information, but it’s also never been harder to know what to trust”. In addition to accessing more support from foundations and grants, this change means we can accept tax-deductible donations from you! You can donate to support our work at any time at complexly.org.

Doctor Driving Behind Man Saves Him After Heart Attack – Tamron Hall Show

Opportunity of a lifetime’: couple who wed at Bad Bunny Super Bowl half-time show included a registered nurse

The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming

ICE. Cold

ICE Is Watching You. Democracy dies by database.

The day before DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s termination of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation, U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes stopped that termination until a pending court case worked its way through the courts. TPS holders participate in the workforce at an exceptionally high rate of 94.6%. Haitian TPS holders pay $1.3 billion a year in taxes, and through their work in sectors that are desperate for laborers, they add about $3.4 billion to the U.S. economy annually.

Open Letter to Tech Companies: Protect Your Users From Lawless DHS Subpoenas

ICE plans to build mega warehouses for immigration detention spark growing concern

Illness Is Rampant Among Children Trapped in ICE’s Massive Jail in Texas

House speaker says ICE is allowed to break down your door

Bannon Calls for ICE to Engage in Voter Intimidation During the Midterms

ICE Tactics Disgrace Us — And Resemble Abuses Closer To Home Than ‘The Gestapo’

MUSIC

Gershwin First Friday Concert -First Presbyterian Church of Albany, February 6, 2026 (music starts c 9:30)

City of Heroes – Billy Bragg

Lyin’ and Spinnin’ (and Cheatin’ and Hidin’) – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Sinfonia concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra, K. 364 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Never Enough – Turnstile

Main theme for the movie The Long Goodbye by John Williams

A Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams

The Memo – Joker’s Flight

Ancient Light – I’m With Her ( Sarah Jarosz · Aoife O’Donovan · Sara Watkins)

Young Americans – St. Vincent (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert)

Alone – The Cure

Water Concerto by Tan Dun

Overqualified -Durand Bernarr

In The Clear – Billy Strings

Medley of Abba songs – Gavin Creel

Bitin’ List – Tyler Childers

Coverville 1567: The Phil Collins Cover Story III and 1568: The Chuck Negron Tribute and Three Dog Night Cover Story

Name that tune! TV theme songs (CBS Sunday Mornings)

These Musical Theatre Songs Made the Billboard Charts

Genre Delve #11: Hardcore vs. Post-Punk J. Eric Smith

“Weird Al” Yankovic Takes The Colbert Questionert

5th Massachusetts (Colored) Cavalry

Let me see your passes!

I was looking for information about my great-great-grandfather, James Archer, who fought in the Civil War in the 26th New York (colored). Or perhaps his brother-in-law, Henry Bell, who fought in the 54th Massachusetts (colored).

But I came across this document from the 5th Massachusetts (Colored) Cavalry:

“THE Fifth Cavalry Regiment, composed of colored men, was organized during the autumn of 1863 and the following winter; but the first company, A, was not ready for muster until the 9th of January, 1864; three other companies were mustered on the 29th, E on the 10th of February, F on the 23d; three companies were filled during March, and two in April, but it was not till the 5th of May that Company M was ready for the mustering officer.

“On that day, the First Battalion of four companies under Major Weld left camp en route to Washington; the Second Battalion followed next day under the command of Major Adams, and the Third Battalion, under Major Bowditch, on the 8th. The organization at this time numbered 930 officers and men, the commissions issued being as follows:”

Officers

There’s a recitation of the colonel, Henry S. Russell of Boston; three majors; a surgeon and two assistant surgeons; an adjutant; a quartermaster, a sergeant major, Alfred Froman, all of Boston; quartermaster sergeant; commissary sergeant; a hospital steward; and, to my joy, a principal musician. Most of them were from the Boston area.

Then there was a listing of the captains, first lieutenants, and second lieutenants for Companies A-I and K-M. Most were from the Boston metro, though one captain and three lieutenants were from San Francisco.

“The various battalions as they reached Washington reported at Camp Casey, near Fort Albany, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, some two miles from Long Bridge, Colonel Russell being placed in command of a provisional brigade of colored troops assembling there for instruction and discipline.” I’ve read elsewhere that black soldiers captured in Confederate territory were more likely to be executed than captured.

“The Third Battalion had been in camp only two days, however, when the regiment was ordered to report to General Butler at Fortress Monroe, reaching City Point on the 16th of May, where the regiment formed part of the Third Division, Eighteenth Corps. Being armed as infantry, the command was industriously drilled in that branch of tactics, performing guard and picket duty meanwhile, and taking part in various expeditions.

Casualities

“These were without serious engagement or loss till the 15th of June, when the division, under the command of General E. W. Hincks, moved toward Petersburg and the battle of Baylor’s Farm was fought. This was the only conflict in which the Fifth took an active part, and its loss was not severe: three killed and 19 wounded. Among the latter were Colonel Russell and Major Adams, leaving the regiment under the command of Major Bowditch.

“During the latter portion of the 15th, the command was in support of a battery, and the following day was held in reserve… Most of the remainder of the month was passed in picket duty on the north side of the Appomattox, where Hincks’s Division relieved troops of the Tenth Corps, but toward the close of the month, the regiment was assigned to duty at Point Lookout, Md., as garrison for the camp of Confederate prisoners of war at that place. Arriving there on the 1st of July, the regiment remained during the balance of the year, being at first under the command of Major Weld…

After a realignment of officers, “the regiment took the field for the closing campaign of the war, and was on duty in front of Petersburg till the fall of that stronghold.”From here: ” One of the most significant contributions of the Regiment… was its participation in the Appomattox Campaign in Virginia. The regiment played a vital role in the final days of the Civil War, engaging Confederate forces and contributing to the ultimate victory of the Union Army. The bravery and skill of the regiment’s soldiers were instrumental in securing this crucial triumph.”

Richmond

From here:” The Fifth participated in the occupation of Richmond after the surrender of Lee. The all-white electorate chose former Mayor Joseph Mayo as the new mayor. Incredibly, Mayo reinstated the pass system that had been used under slavery, under which blacks on the streets had to have passes signed by their white employers. When the men of the 5th demanded that whites also produce passes, they provoked outrage among the city’s white residents! Col. Charles F. Adams was placed under arrest for allowing his men to straggle and ‘maraud.’ The charges were dismissed after two weeks.”

[They were] subsequently encamped in the vicinity till sometime in June, when they were ordered to Texas. [Recently promoted] “Colonel Chamberlain at once joined his new command, which had been heavily taxed in the construction of fortifications, and like work, and was suffering severely in health. He warmly interested himself in the welfare of his men, and an improvement in their sanitary condition was soon apparent.

“The prospect of complications with the French troops in Mexico having disappeared, the regiment was finally mustered out of the United States service on the 31st of October, 1865, and set out for Massachusetts, making most of the journey by steamer; on reaching Boston it went into camp at Gallop’s Island where it remained till late in November, when the men were paid and discharged.”

Here’s a book on the topic.