January rambling: dn ǝpᴉs ʇɥƃᴉɹ

Ameristan

The UN Security Council’s Counterterrorism Committee says there’s been a 320 percent increase in right-wing terrorism globally in the five years prior to 2020.

Confronting Two Crises: The COVID-19 Pandemic, the Opioid Epidemic, and the IH by Jonathan Rosen and Peter Harnett.

Martin Luther King Jr. Defended Democracy Against Racism and So Must We.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali’s Surprising Secret Friendship.

The Quest to Unearth One of America’s Oldest Black Churches. First Baptist Church was founded in secret in 1776. It’s been hidden under a parking lot in Colonial Williamsburg for decades—a metaphor for the failures of archaeology and American history.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom draws a direct line from the Bible to the blues.

Why Do People Keep Going to Church? — Even during a pandemic, it’s important to realize why worship is essential.

Lost touch: how a year without hugs affects our mental health

The Sycamore Tree – John Green.

There’s a right and wrong way to be bored.

The Happiness Project: Finding Joy in Tough Times.

NOVA  – Secrets in our DNA.

parts-of-the-skeleton-in-the-closet
From https://wronghands1.com/2021/01/08/parts-of-the-skeleton-in-the-closet/

Wikipedia at 20: last gasp of an internet vision, or a beacon to a better future?

The Orwellian Misuse of Orwellian.

JEOPARDY!: Ken Jennings Get Trolled by a Recent Contestant and the Guest Hosts Scheduled in 2021 So Far.

The Hollywood Con Queen Who Scammed Aspiring Stars Out of Hundreds of Thousands.

The best Gibson guitars were made by the ‘Kalamazoo Gals’.

Now I Know: The Imagination Library and The Blessing of Overpriced  Orange Juice and A Bridge With Some Firepower and The Bridge That’ll Flip You and Why Harriet and Duncan Weren’t Allowed in Iceland and The Internet Scammer Who Won.

What makes for a good flag!

dn ǝpᴉs ʇɥƃᴉɹ, created by the upsidedown text site.

ON THE WAY OUT

One Last Trump Dump, all of the folks he insulted on Twitter; why it’s clear Biden won; his campaign promise tally; the full list of the last-minute pardons; and more

Chomsky: Coup Attempt Hit Closer to Centers of Power Than Hitler’s 1923 Putsch.

Ameristan: Did He Bring the War Home?

Republican House members who voted for impeachment: Liz Cheney (WY), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA), John Katko (NY), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Peter Meijer (MI), Dan Newhouse (WA), Tom Rice (SC), Fred Upton (MI), David Valadao (CA)

US Reaches Grim Milestone of 400K COVID Deaths.

Never Happens Here – Lincoln Project.

Jaquandor: Dear 45.

Cartoon: The end of an error.

Yes, He Can Be Convicted by the Senate After January 20.

Music

Seasons of Trump – Randy Rainbow.

With a Song in Her Heart – Laura Benanti as Melania.

One Day More  – James Corden.

Bye Bye Bloatus – Rufus Wainwright.

K-Chuck Radio: Some 45s  for 45

Right side up!

Transcript of Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem

Joe Biden: “We Must End This Uncivil War”

Executive Order on Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census

Executive Order: 1776 commission rescinded.

I watched this year for Nigel.  

Enjoy the world’s greatest palindrome: 1 20 2021

MORE MUSIC

I Need You – Jon Batiste.

Fanfare on Amazing Grace composed by Adolphus Hailstork.

A Musical  from Something’s Rotten.

I Say A Little Prayer – H.E.R.

Coverville 1342: The Madness Cover Story II and 1343: The Motels and Sam Cooke Cover Stories.

Close To You – MonaLisa Twins.

Seasons of Love – Broadway stars.

January rambling: Bad Wolves

Sedition seems to be a running theme.

steepen_the_curve
Permanent link to this comic: https://xkcd.com/2409/

Love has everywhere to go.

If you claim to value education, vaccinate teachers.

Penn Station’s Beautiful New Moynihan Train Hall Is Now Open.

‘They just sort of showed up’: The Amish find a home in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

How the Muppets Helped Me Contemplate My Mortality This Christmas (ht to fillyjonk -also for the Bowie, below).

The 100 Sequences That Shaped Animation

In Conversation: Francis Ford Coppola

The Hidden Depths of Alex Trebek’s Banter with “Jeopardy!” Contestants.

Good Advice About Bad Advice – as someone who was on JEOPARDY, I relate to this a LOT.

RIP Tommy Lasorda, who had one of the most memorable performances ever seen on a Capital Region baseball diamond.

RIP Bill Lambdin, a fixture in Capital Region news for decades.

1970 episode of the game show To Tell the Truth that featured William M. Gaines, the publisher of MAD.

RIP Dawn Wells.

Pet peeve – people who are always late.

A family of 12 siblings now holds the Guinness World Record for highest combined age.  

“Show me the receipts” and other modern idioms.

12 Amazing U.S. Company Towns You Can Still Visit.

Now I Know: The Life-Saving Power of Television and The Rain Storm That Bugged Out and How Postage May Have Saved the Panama Canal and But Can a Ghost Be President?

Arthur’s dreams and Not missing American products.  

Polly ticks

The Dark Reality of Betting Against QAnon

Psychology Today, 2016 (and still true): The Psychology Behind Trump’s Unwavering Support.

Facing Legal and Political Peril, Trump Is Turning On Even His Most Devoted Allies.

Weekly Sift: Sedition and Free Speech and The Capitol Invasion is Both an End and a Beginning.

They’ve Showed Us Who They Are.

The Daily Social Distancing Show- Fox Your Feelings: Then and Now. 

Democracy is a threat to white supremacy—and that is the cause of America’s crisis.

It’s Time For The Republican Party To Split.

2020

The Yearly Sift: Themes of the Year.

Politico: The Worst Predictions.

Record Year for Far-Right Violence in the US.

Google’s Year in Search

20 things that went strangely, wonderfully right

Words of the Year, including anti-masker, asymptomatic, asynchronous, coronavirus pandemic, doomscrolling, fraud, mostly peaceful, mute, QAnon, remote, social distancing, superspreader event, the Great Equalizer, unprecedented, well, Zoom.

The Streaming Wars Could Finally End in 2021.

100 best movies on AMAZON PRIME (DECEMBER 2020).

MUSIC

Bad Wolves – Rebecca Jade  featuring Jason Mraz, Miki Vale and Veronica May.

Sedition – Randy Rainbow.

Their music will not ‘be forgot’: RIP 2020

Coverville 1339 and 1340: The 2020 Coverville Countdown Part 1 and Part 2

Coverville 1341: Gerry and The Pacemakers Tribute.

Movin’ Right Along – Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear.

Changes by David Bowie piano cover/lesson.

Beethoven

Symphony No. 7 in A Major, op. 92.

Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor.

Choral Fantasy

Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos, in G major and E-flat Major, respectively.

Moonlight Sonata; also Symphony No. 1 and the Triple Concerto.

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor.

Dec rambling: Year in the Wilderness

“What in God’s Name are You Doing?”

Tales of the Unelected
Courtesy of Rich Ragsdale – https://www.instagram.com/richragsdale/

For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet by  Joy Harjo (1951- ).

Beware of Bad Faith.

The untold story of how the Golden State Killer was found: A covert operation and private DNA.

Ken Levine, who used to write for CHEERS: I no longer find Cliff Clavin funny.

Race Car Crash From Hell—and the Science That Saved Its Drive.

R.I.P., Ann Reinking.

She’s from Schenectady. Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer  Becomes Winningest Coach in Women’s Basketball History.

What If You Could Do It All Over?

President Obama – Inspiring Future Leaders and “A Promised Land” | The Daily Social Distancing Show.

America’s Capital of Dead Vice-Presidents.

My Name Is Roscoe: The Life and Legacy of “Fatty” Arbuckle.

On Jeff Smith, problematic people, food, and memory.

Lethologica: When a word’s on the tip of your tongue.

Forgive Me, For I Have Sinned … Against the English Language.

Toledo Zoo’s Tasmanian Devils are biofluorescent.

Of Breakfast Cereals and Cults.

Texas Wedding Photographers Have Seen Some $#!+”

Now I Know: The Strange Brick Circles of San Francisco and The Programmer That Couldn’t Quit and The Man Who Was Dying to Be an Actor and The Hair-Raising Stunt That Scored a Secret Touchdown and Why Your Ice Cubes are White.

Ask Arthur Anything (I did): Surgery as a teenager and Same as it never was.

2020

The Year in the Wilderness. Despair too is contagious. We share it as we shed a spore.

Pew Research: 20 striking findings.

The 50 Most Popular Names for Dogs.

What the U.S. searched for.

J Eric Smith: Best of My Web. And [blushes] I’m on his list.

Race in America

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pregnancy-Related Deaths.

Dr. Camara Jones Explains the  Cliff of Good Health.

Sheet from the American Psychological Association exploring the compounding impact of socioeconomic status and race on health.

Hear the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cells have been used to test the effects of radiation and poisons, to study the human genome, to learn more about how viruses work, and played a crucial role in the development of the polio vaccine.

IMPOTUS – three more weeks!

A Christian asks Christian Trumpers: “What in God’s Name are You Doing?”

Executions Will Be Most of Any President in Over a Century.

Spends Final Days Plotting Revenge Against His Enemies and Pardons for Everyone Else

A Shockingly Long List of His Controversial Pardons. Maybe He ‘Could Be Prosecuted for Bribery’?

Shares Video Suggesting COVID Pandemic Created to Make Him Look Bad, Lose Election.

He Leaves the U.S. Severely Compromised By Massive Russian Hack.

Mar-a-Lago Neighbors Are Trying to Block His Return.

The real reason he is so upset

Pence Blurts Out The Real Reason Why Republicans Hate Democrats.

The loathsome  Stephen Miller, The Frankenstein of Santa Monica.

MUSIC

Rudolph the Leaky Lawyer – Randy Rainbow

WE ARE · Jon Batiste · St. Augustine High School Marching 100 · David Gauthier · Gospel Soul Children Choir · Craig Adams · Braedon Gautier · Brennan Gautier · Autumn Rowe

Joel Ross’ Being a Young Black Man, Live @ The Jazz Gallery.

Johnathan Blake’s My Life Matters, Live @ The Jazz Gallery.

Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’ – Charlie Pride.

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto no. 1 – Maestro Mehta’s 80th birthday – Khatia Buniatishvili.

Coverville 1337: Paul Westerberg and The Replacements Cover Story.

The theme song from The Flintstones – Jacob Collier.

K-Chuck Radio: It’s all in Whodini’s wand

2020 music mashups here and here

Come Together -The Beatles.

Alec Baldwin interviews  Paul McCartney on John Lennon’s 80th birthday.

Beethoven

 Cello Sonata no. 5

Music for the play The Ruins of Athens

The Piano Concertos 1 and 2

Wellington’s Victory

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67.

This Night – Billy Joel.

Dec. rambling: Overture of Overtures

Beethoven (b. December 1770)

the-wrong-side-of-history
From https://wronghands1.com/2020/11/27/the-wrong-side-of-history/ Wrong Hands.

They Fought for the Country that Detained Their Families:  Japanese American Soldiers in WWII.

The biology of dads.

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome.

In The Age Of  Zoom Dysmorphia, Experts Offer Tips To Improve Self-Image.

Interview with Swamp Thing Comic Artist Stephen Bissette.

David Lander, R.I.P. (Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley, and much more).

A New Study About Color Tries to Decode The Brain’s Pantone.

The first Golden Age Panel at Comic-Con in 1993.

Greg Hatcher: Grail Quests – Planet of the Apes, Logan’s Run, and especially Airplane!

The King Features Syndicate animated cartoon shows of the 1960s.

Now I Know: When Kids Didn’t Trust Santa and Return Doo Sender and The First Female Senator (For a Day) and The Ultimate Toys R Us Kid?

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Pringles update.

Drink away  2020.

IMPOTUS

He Rewards Kellyanne Conway, 2 Dozen Others With Prestigious Government Appointments.

Weekly Sift: Pardons and Their Limits.

Lincoln Project: Whispers III.

Comedians Bought DonaldJTrump2024.com Just so They Could Mock Him.

COVID

One traveler’s experience. For Andrew Evans, who had traveled to South Korea for a job, entering the country involved a  mandatory, 14-day quarantine locked alone in a room at a government isolation facility.

“Checking in at New York’s nearly empty JFK included signing legal documents acknowledging that he was voluntarily placing himself in government custody and that he would have to pay for it — a fixed cost of 1.68 million KRW (equivalent to $1,459.99).”

COVID vaccines: calling the shots.

“What better lesson can we learn from the COVID vaccine experience than that the multi-national pharma companies should be publicly owned so that research and development can be directed to meet the health and medical needs of people not the profits of these companies.

“And moreover, then the necessary vaccines can get to the billions in the poorest countries and circumstances rather than to just those countries and people who can afford to pay the prices set by these companies.”

Margaret Keenan, soon to be 91, became the first person to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Rudy Giuliani potentially exposed hundreds to the virus.

A Nice Holiday Story About A  Killer Virus.

How Your Brain Tricks You Into Taking Risks During the Pandemic.

Having Chemotherapy During COVID-19 Has Given Me So Many Things to Be Grateful For.

MUSIC

Jaquandor’s Daily Dose of Christmas.

Santa Baby – Marzia Plichta and Christoph Drösser.

Bohemian Chanukah – Six13.

Musicians from London’s West End performing Overture of Overtures.

The Revelation – Roosevelt Wardell Trio (album) within a discussion on stuck at home and depression.

Pop Psalms: Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.

Paul McCartney: Who Cares and We All Stand Together and Come On To Me.

What the World Needs Now -Tom Clay, which I wrote about way back in  2006.

Coverville 1336: The Christina Aguilera Cover Story.

Mean Green Mother from Outer Space – Cavin Cornwall.

Concerto in One Movement by Florence Price.

Don’t Fool Around with My Heart – William Roberts, a/k/a Michigan J Frog, from the 1942 movie, The Yanks Are Coming. Plus It Hopped One Night: A Look at One Froggy Evening.

John Lennon: The Last Interview

Roll Over, Beethoven (b. December 1770)

Fidelio, his only opera.

Symphony No. 4  in B-flat major.

Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, more familiarly called Für Elise.

Symphony No. 6  in F Major, the Pastoral.

The October Surprise in 2020

“autocratic malarkey”

hydrochloroquineI woke up in the morning, and suddenly, it made sense, in a Bizarro world sort of way. Many pundits said there was no October surprise in 2020. I would disagree. The surprise was djt getting COVID.

He flies on Marine One to the hospital on a Friday. By Sunday, he’s riding around in a limo, waving to supporters. And on Monday evening, he’s back at the White House, defiantly ripping off his mask, saying “Screw you, COVID.” A week or so later, he’s off doing dozens of his rallies before tens of thousands of his adoring acolytes, including five events in four states in one day.

Now, you and I may see this as grossly irresponsible behavior, creating a bunch of possible super-spreader events. But to his fans, he is portraying Strength and Resilience.

It’s like in that old Saturday Night Live skit. He is the Arnold clones, Hans and Franz. He’s going to “Pump you up.” Meanwhile, the other guy, he says, is hiding in his basement like a “girly man.”

Never underestimate the appeal of toxic masculinity, especially mixed with half-truths. My gut says that the big blue wave didn’t come because those mysterious undecided voters leaned red. And possibly because his supporters lie to pollsters.

“The unhinged, dangerous, Democracy-destabilizing thing”

He gave a speech at the White House around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday in which he prematurely declared victory. This despite the fact that “millions upon millions of legitimate votes were still being counted. As Vanity Fair noted: “The goal, in all of its authoritarian bluster, was to get out in front of a result that might not land in his favor.”

Now, “the networks quickly and aggressively called bulls**t on Trump’s remarks, either breaking away from the speech or butting in with fact-checks. ‘We are reluctant to step in but duty-bound to point out when he says, ‘We did win this election, we’ve already won,’ that’s not based in the facts at all,’ said MSNBC’s Brian Williams.

His colleague Nicolle Wallace put it this way: ‘It’s straight-up autocratic malarkey, and what we have to keep in mind is that he’s not the boss of the counting…”

“CBS threw up a graphic stating, ‘CBS NEWS IS NOT PROJECTING A WINNER IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE,’ and Norah O’Donnell described Trump as ‘castrating the facts…’

“But perhaps the most noteworthy analysis was that seen on Trump’s frenemy network, Fox News… At a historic and uncharted moment like this, it was crucial to have a respected veteran newsman like anchor Chris Wallace telling the viewers what they needed to hear.

“‘This is an extremely flammable situation, and the president just threw a match on it,’ Wallace said. ‘He hasn’t won these states. Nobody is saying he’s won the states. The states haven’t said that he’s won.’

“The question is, did the viewers believe him?”

Where he leads, they will follow

Apparently not. Because the media, he keeps telling them, is fake. This despite the fact the shift in vote count was predictable.

“Dozens of [his] angry supporters… converged on vote-counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix as the returns went against him Wednesday in the two key states. The folks pounding on the Plexiglass in Detroit chanting “Stop the Count” made the NBC News on Wednesday. I feared for the wellbeing of the election workers inside.

Demonstrators, some armed, gathered at the government office in Maricopa County, AZ yelling, “Kill Fox,” and “Count the Vote.” Reportedly, the group became so threatening that the work of counting the vote had to be ended for the evening.

What does one want in a president? I found this four-minute video from John Green (no relation) about the decency of Joe Biden rather touching. And this 20-minute piece of John Oliver on the incompetence of the coronavirus response infuriating.

But djt apparently overcame the COVID. So he must be America Strong, even if he leaves it to his idiot son-in-law to “Let the Markets Decide America’s COVID-19 Fate.”

His fans appreciate his disdain for “political correctness.” He orchestrates his rallies as places to express their anger: “Fire Fauci,” “Lock Her Up.” Yet they’re OK with him lying to them about the seriousness of the pandemic, pushing conspiracy theories, dismissing climate change, pandering to racists, using the government for personal gain, and ruining our international reputation.

Yes, he suggests he’s for individual liberty, but it’s for those who agree with him. Lower taxes but really for the rich. Smaller government when it involves human services or the environment, but not the military. 

My rational brain says his fans are crazy. But I also have to admit I’m just not experiencing his persona the same way as they do. And it’s not just the one person but Trumpism I just don’t grok.

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