July 2022 - Page 5 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Has “The American Experiment” failed?

SECESSION

Uthaclena is asking:

Do you think that “The American Experiment” has failed? How likely do you think it is that the United States is headed for a breakup?

I am increasingly concerned about this. The single item that most triggered this worry is the 2022 Texas GOP Platform. It runs about 40 pages, with 275 paragraphs of positions. It also includes two resolutions, one against the gun bill brokered in part by their own Republican senator John Cornyn. I thought the bill was weak tea, though better than nothing. But they have discerned that gun control is a violation of their “God-given rights.”

The other resolution indicates that Joe Biden isn’t actually president. If we can’t agree on the manner in which we operate and oversee our elections, the whole process falls apart. I mean, I DESPISED Biden’s predecessor, but I never believed he wasn’t president, no matter I wanted it to be otherwise. And this isn’t some blowhard commentator saying this, it’s a major political party in our second-most-populous state.

Among the other positions taken by the TX GOP:

The repealing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which had already been gutted by the Supreme Court back in 2012.
Leaving the U.N.; check out paragraph 273
Banning income tax (repealing the 16th amendment) and ending the direct election of US Senators (repealing the 17th Amendment, return to the appointment of Senators by the state legislatures).
Disallowing same-sex marriage
Banning sex education – search the document for the word sex
SECESSION (paragraph 33)

BTW, Kelly covers some of this same territory.

SCOTUS

I’m of the generation where the Supreme Court EXPANDED the rights of those who were minorities and/or less powerful, less fortunate. This court has decided that the state’s right to control guns within its own borders (10th Amendment) is superseded by the right to have guns (2nd Amendment).

Some commentators suggested that we ought not to worry that other rights might be abrogated, as Clarence Thomas suggested in his concurring opinion striking down Roe. The votes in SCOTUS aren’t there, presently. But several others pointed out, including the SCOTUS guy for ABC News, Terry Moran, an opposing view that makes more sense to me. Thomas’ opinion questioning same-gender marriage and contraception, et al. is actually more consistent with Alito’s flawed argument that there is no Constitutional right to abortion.

I came across this Neil Gaiman tweet of an NPR piece, Throughline’ Traces Evangelicals’ History On The Abortion Issue by By Rund Abdelfatah. You should read the whole thing; it’s not long. It totally surprised me.

“The Southern Baptist Convention… actually passed resolutions in 1971, 1974, and 1976 – after Roe v. Wade – affirming the idea that women should have access to abortion for a variety of reasons and that the government should play a limited role in that matter… The experts we talked to said white evangelicals at that time saw abortion as largely a Catholic issue.” It was desegregation that started the sea change.

What a country!

Look at maternal mortality rates by country (per 100,000 live births). The US stands at 17.3, worse, FAR worse than any industrialized country. Or child poverty, where the US is well above average. Rare among industrialized nations: no paid maternity leave.

The notion that the US is saving lives by overturning Roe is laughable. Quoting the late George Carlin: “No neonatal care, no daycare, no head start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing. If you’re preborn you’re fine; if you’re preschool you’re f###ed… And then they turn around and say, ‘we’re pro-life.'”

How does each of the states’ anti-abortion laws apply, anyway? As I heard or read from multiple sources, ambiguity is a design, not a flaw. How do interstate companies respond?

Vanity Fair states the decision was “a result that was born not of careful decision-making and analytic rigor, but of power.” Despite the majority of Americans feeling otherwise.

My buddy Greg Burgas thinks the Republicans have overplayed their hand; that’d be nice, but I remain unconvinced.

Thus

We have Americans who believe the President who was elected in 2020 wasn’t elected. Many others now find the Supreme Court to be an illegitimate entity. And of course, everyone hates the do-nothing… OK, do very little… Congress. It’s not as though these issues will be resolved if we just vote in November.

Alan Singer, who I have met, incidentally, writes about fascism in Russia, the US, and elsewhere. “The United States now has a significant bitter Ethno-nationalist white Christian movement that considers itself aggrieved by Jews, Blacks, Latinos, and immigrants who they claim to want to replace them as the dominant group. It has a political party and cult-like figures who manipulate this group to hold onto power and block any attempts to address major social and economic issues…

“Corporate interests support the cult figures and their efforts to stir up mass support because it is in the interests of these wealthy capitalists to cut taxes and eliminate government regulations… It includes armed groups that threaten military action in the name of 2nd Amendment rights.”

Book bans in K-12 schools have escalated recently. Many “of the books on the list were written by Black or LGBTQ authors.”

So a breakup isn’t inevitable. But I think it’s way more likely now than I did in 2019. Jeff Sharlet, a contributing editor of Vanity Fair, who I’ve known for years, has had his journey into “the far-right world of January 6 insurrectionists, QAnon-ers, and Trump cultists—who they are, what they’re saying, what they believe, and what their still-growing movement might portend (including the specter of civil war in America). Such a prospect, says Sharlet, is ‘scarier than it’s ever been.'”

Add inflation, crime, and global warming influenced extreme weather, and who knows? Of course, it would be an ugly, difficult breakup. The 1947 partition of India and Pakistan along religious lines was extremely costly, monetarily and in terms of about two million lives lost. Since we’re the USA, it’d be even worse.

Would you Rather? Sunday Stealing

Barenaked Ladies

For this Sunday Stealing, Would you Rather?

1. Would you rather eat pizza every day or never eat pizza again?

Pizza, and pie generally, is so variable that I could have pizza daily. White broccoli today, sausage and mushrooms tomorrow. Heck, I’ll even try pineapple!

In fact, this New York Times article recommends you get a good plain pie. “You might dress a green salad and arrange it over the pie, or fry a bunch of eggs and slide them on top. You could examine your refrigerator as you might in advance of making a charcuterie board, and use what cured meats and interesting cheeses you have to adorn the sauce. Sautéed spinach on your pizza? Chinese sausage? Pickled jalapeños? Honey and red-pepper flakes? Sure. Whatever you like. “

2. Would you rather stay forever at your current age or be 10 years younger?

I could stand being my current age forever because Science will be able to fix my various ailments, if not now then in the future.

3. Would you rather have too many friends or too few?

Too many, clearly, though the word “friend” can be pretty fuzzy. I have 2000 “friends” on Facebook. A few of them who interact with me I consider friends, even if I have never met them. A LOT of them were friends in the past, and. absent some major blowout, they still matter to me.

Vlogbrothers

4. Would you rather have no taste buds or be blind?

No taste buds. Maybe then I can eat canned beets without gagging. In fact, you should watch “Sad COVID Boy Hank Green Eats Foods He Hates but Can’t Taste,” because there are things he generally hates, such as black licorice, that he likes because he can’t smell them, which, of course, is a huge part of taste.

5. Would you rather never hear music again or lose the ability to read?

Now we have a tough one. Lose the ability to read because I would listen to audiobooks. Not listening to music, OTOH, would not be a life worth living.

6. Would you rather speak “whale” or read babies’ minds?

I don’t know that anyone should want to read babies’ minds. Where is the joy and frustration of parenting in THAT?

7. Would you rather be the richest person or the smartest?

Clearly, the smartest, because I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know more stuff.

8. Would you rather create history or delete it?

People spend way too much time trying to delete history, to our collective detriment; I’m agin it. So make history, for sure.

A Picasso or a Garfunkel

9. Would you rather create a great piece of art and not get credit or get credit for a piece of art you didn’t create?

The moral choice is obvious to me. I could stand to be uncredited. I could NOT bear to take credit for something I didn’t create.

10. Would you rather age from the neck up, or from the neck down?

The neck up. There’s more below the neck that hurts.

11. Would you rather see the world but live in poverty or stay in one place and live rich?

See the world; that’s an enriching experience.

12. Would you rather become famous or powerful?

Powerful. I think being famous would kind of suck.

13. Would you rather be a creative person or a technical person?

Hmm. I’m mildly creative, more than a technical person, so creative.

14. Would you rather get a paper cut whenever you touch paper or bit your tongue whenever you eat something?

Easy. Paper cuts. I can avoid paper but not eating.

15. Would you rather wake up in the morning looking like a giraffe or a kangaroo?

Kangaroo. I’m reminded of the Randy Newman song Political Science. “We’ll save Australia. Don’t want to hurt no kangaroos.”

Obsessed with cover songs

Walk Away Renee

OK, I admit it: I’m obsessed with cover songs. And it goes back decades. I discovered that the source of most of the US album Meet The Beatles was the UK collection With The Beatles. What was cut? Why five of the six cover songs, all but Til There Was You from The Music Man. The five covers were all soul-related and showed up on The Beatles’ Second Album.

Motown was always putting songs from one artist as album cuts for another. A tune written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland might show up on both a Supremes and Four Tops album. Several songs written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, and produced by Whitfield, were recorded by both the Temptations and Gladys Knight and the Pips. The Temps recorded War, but Motown, fearing it might be too controversial, allowed the lesser-profiled Edwin Starr to release the single and get the hit.

I’ve listened to every episode of Coverville, which recently hit the 1400th episode milestone. The tracks here are, to the best of my knowledge, NOT on those OTHER cover songs posts I’ve created.

Hound Dog: Big Mama Thorton; Elvis Presley

Proud Mary: Creedence Clearwater Revival; Ike and Tina Turner

Me And Bobby McGee: Roger Miller; Janis Joplin

Try A Little Tenderness: New Mayfield Dance Orchestra; Otis Redding

I Fought The Law: The Crickets; The Bobby Fuller Four; The Clash

I’m Not Your Stepping Stone: Paul Revere and the Raiders; The Monkees – not all that different

See this post about Walk Away Renee.

More toonz

I Can’t Get Next To You: The Temptations; Al Green

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?: The Shirelles; Carole King with the Mitchell-Taylor Boy and Girl Choir, co-written by CK

Alison: Elvis Costello; Linda Ronstadt. Elvis HATED Linda’s covers of his songs.

Fire: Bruce Springsteen; The Pointer Sisters

Wrecking Ball: Neil Young; Emmylou Harris

Tainted Love: Gloria Jones; Soft Cell

MacArthur Park: Richard Harris; Donna Summer

I Am Waiting: The Rolling Stones; Ollabelle

Everytime You Go Away: Hall and Oates; Paul Young

Sail Away: Randy Newman; Etta James

Stand By Me: Ben E. King; John Lennon

Bye Bye Love: The Everly Brothers; George Harrison – a rewrite inspired by his breakup with Pattie Boyd

Not a grammar nazi

You know like, so, um

I looked it up: “A grammar nazi is a pedant who compulsively criticizes or corrects people’s grammar mistakes, typos, misspellings, and other errors in speech or writing.” And that never was me, although I have been accused of the same.

Either in this blog or my old Times-Union site, I openly surrendered the fight over its and it’s. I’ve discovered that even people who are otherwise good writers simply can’t get it. It reminds me of a Paul Simon interview about how, when working with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, they just didn’t understand things in minor keys.

The only people I correct over typos are a handful of my fellow bloggers, and then always by email or text. The number of typos I have made on Facebook is enormous, ironically often made worse by autocorrect.
.
I can NEVER spell tintinnabulation, which means “a ringing or tinkling sound,” without looking it up. For years, I misspelled Pete Townshend’s last name as Townsend.

Basically, if I understand what is intended, I’m good. This is why the new definition of literally so utterly confounds me.

In part, that’s why I’ve adopted the singular they, because, ultimately its, I mean it’s, less confusing.

Filler

I’ve come around to accepting the use of the filler in informal speech. What is that? “In linguistics, a filler, filled pause, hesitation marker, or planner is a sound or word that participants in a conversation use to signal that they are pausing to think but are not finished speaking…

“In American English, the most common filler sounds are ah or uh and um … Among younger speakers, the fillers ‘like’, ‘you know’, ‘I mean’, ‘okay’, ‘so’, ‘actually’, ‘basically’, and ‘right?’ are among the more prevalent.”

It’s not as though I like, you know, “like”, especially in its Valley Girl intonation. However, I’ve been watching JEOPARDY – no surprise. During the interview section, Mayim or Ken will ask about something on the contestant card that they fill out. Mayim in particular will ask a question as a statement. “You hung out in the South Pacific with sharks. Tell us about that.” So many contestants will reply with “So” before launching into the story that I’ve given them a pass.

And if you’ve been on enough ZOOM meetings, you know it’s difficult to ascertain when a person is finished talking. A “you know” or “um” is actually a useful cue to keep me from interrupting someone.

Verbify

Finally, I’ve never been that fussy when the culture tries to verbify a word from another part of speech. I remember that a columnist – I don’t recall who – was fretting about the word “party” becoming a verb! PARTY is a NOUN, they grumbled. Somewhere between Sam Cooke’s “We’re having a party” and Prince’s “We’re gonna party like it’s 1999,” that fight was SO lost.

A tree branch falls in Albany

greenery

If a tree branch falls in Albany, NY, and I don’t hear it, did it really come down? Apparently, if I am to believe my eyes. And now YOU can believe it because I have PICTURES. And as we all know, pictures never lie.

I’ve been really tired the past three weeks. This is a function of staying up until 3:30 a.m. the night of the daughter’s prom the second Saturday in June, then essentially pulling an all-nighter a couple of nights later, for reasons I will share eventually.

After a couple more weeks chock full of events, including the Albany High School graduation on June 26, I went to bed and slept until about 8:30 a.m. Apparently, I missed a severe morning thunderstorm, an event that would usually awaken me.

“I wonder if the tree branch that fell hit the shed.” my wife wondered. What tree branch? There was a storm? Oh, THAT tree branch. And, no, the shed is fine.

The branch is about 3.6 meters tall, a little less than twice my height. For such a relatively small piece, it’s a bit heavy. I offered my daughter money to trim off the greenery and throw it onto the compost, but she declined. So I did it myself.

We’ll have to call a tree service. That tree was trimmed maybe a decade ago. My wife called them again five years later, but they never showed up.

Hey, does anyone in Albany want a nice piece of wood? One could use it for jousting, or some other medieval sport.

Unrelated

The things I do to maintain peace and quiet. I was at the CVS register, picking up a package. There was a young woman and a teen female trying to make a purchase from the autopay, though I neither knew nor cared what they were buying. It appeared they put in every cent they had. But it was $6.07 short. The machine told everyone within 30 feet: PAYMENT INSUFFICIENT or some such. Three times.

Finally, I asked if I could pay the balance. They said yes. And the damn loud machine stopped talking. BTW, 607 is the area code of Binghamton, NY, my hometown.