Coverville Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

July rambling: Kalshification of news

How Kalshi infects the news (Kalshification)

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of centrists who bemoan “political polarization” and call for a politics that abandons the “tribalism of left and right.”

Incarcerated People Lose Treasured Media When Prisons Change Tablet Contracts

Why most Black Americans say they never fly the American flag, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

Charlie Chaplin – Final Speech from The Great Dictator

Capitalism vs. Socialism? Get Serious.

Texas Public School Students Will Be Required to Read the Bible. The state passed what may be the first state-mandated book list for public school students. It focuses on classic literature and includes Bible excerpts.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called for a ban on data centers in rural areas.

Might as well

A list of resources for people and organizations involved in, or interested in, one or more operations for the 2030 Census.

May as Well Get COVID and Flu Shots on the Same Day, Study Says — Coadministration was not associated with an increased risk of side effects

The A.I.-Design Aesthetic That’s Taking Over the Internet. How Anthropic’s new tool, Claude Design, is creating overnight web-design clichés.

Street photographer Ray Di Pietro focuses his work sharply on his adopted hometown of Nashville. With little fanfare, he has attracted tens of thousands of devotees. His images are artfully composed, spontaneous, honest, and, well, kind.

George E. Johnson, Who Built a Black Hair-Care Empire, Dies at 99

What I Learned About Masculinity at Thai Kickboxing School

‘Navigating the unknown together’: me and my idiot AI boyfriend

‘Separate in name and power’: How America reinvented English

Every John Oliver Scene on General Hospital and his debut

The Empire State Plaza Fireworks show for 2026

David Brickman’s show of color photographs at McGreevy ProLab and ProPress

Witch Way to Victory? and The 18 Month Soccer Bet and Baseball’s Brady Bunch

The return of King George III

Forget Project 2025 — he is following the royal’s playbook

Declaring War on The Declaration

Justice Department subpoenas New York Times reporters over Air Force One reporting

From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American People Out of Their 250th Birthday and Fireworks Fiasco Descends Into Chaos

Arsonist in chief

Plans for racist renovations to the Smithsonian

Propaganda history trucks may soon visit your neighborhood

“Islamic Republic of Japan”?

DJT airport could spell doom for Palm Beach. Via Heather Delaney Reese: The agreement gives the Trump Organization control over which vendors can manufacture and sell merchandise at the airport. It gives Trump veto power over any biographical material displayed inside the building. A non-disparagement clause bars the airport from publishing anything that could tarnish his reputation. His own staff writes the version of his story that travelers see. And the trademark applications cover watches, jewelry, collectible coins, cufflinks, purses, backpacks, suitcases, umbrellas, tote bags, clothing, robes, neckties, belts, and plastic slippers designed for use at security checkpoints. They trademarked slippers at a public airport.

Air Force officer arrested at Capitol after calling for FOTUS impeachment, a civil-disobedience story

He Bought Hundreds of Stocks the Day Before He Paused Tariffs and Sparked a Historic Rally

His Dubious Promise to End Birthright Citizenship

Caught by gangland-style squeeze play/ Damned if they do, damned if they betray. (poem)

JD Vance appears most agitated because he believes America is engaged in a civilizational struggle — and it is losing.

MUSIC

The Washington National Cathedral marked the 250th anniversary of the United States with an interfaith service on July 3. Lifting themes of pluralism and the common good, We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident celebrates the nation’s ideals alongside an honest reckoning of its history and unfinished work.

250

Total Eclipse of the Heart (Turn Around) – Bonnie Tyler, described as a “husky-voiced powerhouse vocalist” who died this month.

Ballad of Orin score by Toru Takemitsu

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #8: Eric Dolphy

Overture to Pique Dame by Franz von Suppé

The New Christy Minstrels: The folk group that lasted for centuries

Coverville 1584: The Tears For Fears Cover Story III

My Life -Billy Joel (From the 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY-March 28, 2024)

Burn The Other End – Billy Strings

Feller From Fortune, set for chorus by Harry Somers

A sizzling mix for summer listening

May rambling: the Great Society

No one wants a permanent gerontocracy

Heather Cox Richardson: “On May 22, 1964, in a graduation speech at the University of Michigan, President Lyndon Johnson put a name to a new vision for the United States. He called it ‘the Great Society’ and laid out the vision of a country that did not confine itself to making money, but rather used its post–World War II prosperity to ‘enrich and elevate our national life.’ That Great Society would demand an end to poverty and racial injustice.”

Pope Leo Warns of Risks From A.I. in 42,300-Word Encyclical

Structured Settlements & Factoring Companies: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

FOTUS claims Congress said yes to his big dumb arch—102 years ago

No one wants a permanent gerontocracy

Newark’s Mayor Arrested at Protest Outside ICE Detention Center; Gov. Sherrill denied access to facility; migrant jail detainees launch hunger, labor strike over conditions behind bars

Elon Musk is mad that mythological movie characters aren’t white

Tennessee Man Jailed for Sharing Charlie Kirk Meme Receives $835K Settlement. Larry Bushart missed the birth of his granddaughter and lost his job as a result of his 37 days in jail.

Anderson Cooper’s emotional farewell to 60 Minutes after 20 years

Veteran 60 Minutes Journalist Sharyn Alfonsi Says ‘Wall Has Come Down Between Editorial Independence and Corporate Interests’

Mark Evanier’s Trip Back East, mostly to see Jack Kirby’s name on a street sign, and a story about his Uncle Nathan

Kobe Bryant + Kyle Busch =/= Abraham Lincoln + John F. Kennedy

“He Breathes, He Writes”: The Voluminous Memory and Deep Empathy of Ironweed Author William Kennedy

Is Kingston The New ART CAPITAL of Upstate NY?

Only In Monroe with Stephen Colbert

The Most Valuable Background Actor in History? and Don’t Let the Moose Lick Your Car and The Day America Locked Canada Out of Its Garages

I’ve been away

I’ll likely write about it in dribs and drabs. But this was oddly relevant.

Wordle 1,800 3/6

AROSE 94

CLIME 4

NIECE

Wordle 1,801 3/6

AROSE 97

TULIP 1

VISIT

MUSIC

Paul McCartney’s Joyous Performance in the Finale of ‘The Late Show’

Orion and Pleiades by Toru Takemitsu

Laurie Anderson: Tiny Desk Concert, May 22, 2026

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #4: This Heat (And Related Artists) and #5: Jonathan Richman

Top Of The World – Greenvines Duo

I Can’t Stand The Rain – Ann Peebles (1974)

Coverville 1581: The Janet Jackson Cover Story and 1582: The Bob Dylan Cover Story IX

Come On – The Rolling Stones

West End Girls – Pet Shop Boys

K-Chuck Radio: S-S-S-S-S-Saigon…

Nik Durga: New Zealand Music Month and the songs I didn’t grow up with

Greatest Love Of All – Whitney Houston

WHERE THE HELL IS OUR CONGRESS? | A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

May rambling: Not Wisdom

RJ wins another SDMA

What I Can’t Show You (John Green visits Koidu Government Hospital and sees the Maternal Center of Excellence for the first time), and Despair is Not Wisdom (Hank Green).

The FDA withdrew studies showing that the Covid and shingles vaccines were safe.

Gas Station Drugs: a world of questionable supplements and boner pills, and The Hadow Docket: a shortcut to the Supreme Court – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

I Was Told I Had 6 Months to Live. That Was 20 Years Ago. — Here’s what two brain surgeries taught me about public health and care access.

I caught myself thinking: “Some of these research papers are awfully good for what might be a student’s first effort.”

Some white nationalists swoop in after natural disasters, trying to soften their image while offering help (Lesley Stahl/60 Minutes)

8647

Demand destruction vs fuel-superseding infrastructure: Will FOTUS Hormuz us into the full Gretacene?

AI

Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass. AI is pushing millions of employees to the edge of a cliff as most sectors are racing to replace jobs with AI. As a wise friend of mine noted, “We need programs and plans to ensure everyone is active, connected, engaged with society when millions have no work. Some countries will get this right, while others will slide into a dystopian abyss of depression, isolation, and anger toward technology that will not bode well for a peaceful, productive humanity.”

I got punished for paying off my car loan two years early

A rare archaeological site in the Sonoran Desert was bulldozed by a DHS contractor involved in building the latest sections of the border wall.

Free Phone Calls Saved Incarcerated People and Their Loved Ones $622.5 Million

Young Boy Finds the First Ancient Greek Artifact Discovered in Berlin

New Musicals ‘Schmigadoon!’ and ‘Lost Boys’ Lead List of Tony Nominees

The Song That Puts You to Sleep (On Purpose) and The Cartoon That Shut Down Boston and Operation Mincemeat and The Part of Canada That Doesn’t Want You

MUSIC

Not Me No Way – Rebecca Jade, who won Best R&B, Funk or Soul Song at the 35th Annual San Diego Music Awards

This Is How We Walk on the Moon – Arthur Russell

Rounds by Jessie Montgomery, for piano and strings, inspired by poet TS Eliot

Moonage Daydream – David Bowie

Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) – Bobby Womack

Peg – Steely Dan

At The Ballet – Audra McDonald, Megan Hilty & Kelli O’Hara

All You Need Is Love – Peter Sprague, featuring Rebecca Jade

Suffolk Suite by Doreen Carwithen

If You Don’t Know Me by Now -Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

Man On The Moon – R.E.M.

Coverville 1579: Cover Stories for Lesley Gore and Christopher Cross

Horses and Divorces – Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert

This Year – the Mountain Goats

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #2: The Bonzo Dog Band and #3: Midnight Oil and

Bastards of Young – the Replacements

Moonshadow – Yusef/ Cat Stevens

Dream Walkin’ Mashup – Peter Sprague and Leonard Patton

Theme from The Love Boat – WDR Funkhausorchester

Everyone’s Gone to the Moon – Nina Simone

Common – Maren Morris featuring Brandi Carlile

Time – Tom Waits

I Wish I Was the Moon – Neko Case

Addicted To Love – Robert Palmer

Man On The Moon – Megan Moroney

Aloha Bossa Nova – Peter Sprague, featuring Allison Adams Tucker

Eclipse – Pink Floyd

April rambling; alternative world order

Sid Krofft

Amnesty International’s annual report on human rights around the globe described a push for a “predatory alternative world order.”

His Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate

The Most Ludicrous, Morally Obscene, and Dangerous Man in the World

The deaf, dumb, and blind cult is still dazzled by the nastiest, most naked ‘emperor’ ever, and Jordan Klepper Gets MAGA’s Take on the Iran War & the War with the Pope | The Daily Show

‘Anytime you engage the Border Patrol in interior enforcement, the wheels are going to fall off.’

Google Broke Its Promise to Me. Now ICE Has My Data.

The insider trading suspicions looming over this regime

Flu vaccine no longer mandated for US troops, Hegseth says, citing “medical autonomy” and religious freedom.

When Ezekiel 25:17 Meets Psalms 3:16

The Pentagon doesn’t want you to hear about threats to the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes. They fired their ombudsperson.

He Wrote an Op-Ed. Then the police tracked him. A legal case in Kansas shows how surveillance technology can distort policing priorities. When authorities can monitor anyone cheaply, the temptation to target critics increases.

Jimmy Kimmel Provides an Alternative White House Correspondents’ Dinner Roast

AfA

Astronauts for America is a nonpartisan organization of former NASA astronauts who have sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States, committed to science, evidence-based decision-making, public service, and the rule of law.

Measles Took My Daughter. This Is What I Want Everyone to Know.

The Death of a Superman. How clothing donation bins quietly kill homeless people across North America.

988 Launch Tied to Drop in Youth Suicides

The Short and Ridiculous Trial of a Protester Arrested in an Inflatable Penis Costume. An Alabama cop who confronted the No Kings protester claimed she posed a risk to public safety.

The product liability legal case of the century arrives this summer: Coyote vs. Acme, the movie

Gerry Conway, Former Marvel EIC, Dies at 73. The first Spider-Man comic I read was the Death of Gwen Stacy, which he wrote, among MANY other pieces for Marvel and DC. He also wrote for television, including Diagnosis: Murder and, my favorite of his, Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Sid Krofft: About and Memories, and H.R. Pufnstuf, Witchiepoo, Joy the Bugaloo, and me

Marvel Confirms 2019 ‘Avengers: Endgame’ To Be Replaced Before ‘Doomsday’ Released- a good reason to give up on the MCU, IMO

William Shatner is selling Kellogg’s Raisin Bran

“Your settlement payment of $9 for the In re EpiPen Marketing, Sales Practices and Antitrust Litigation, Civil Case No. 2:17-md-02785-DDC-TJJ is now available.” I’m rich!

Crease and Desist and The Cat Phone Came Back and The Crime of Borrowing a Teenage Witch? and The Good Advice That The DMV Rejected

MUSIC

Antichrist Superstar from Colbert

Aeolian Beauty by RZA · Colorado Symphony · Christopher Dragon

Goodbye Henry – RAYE, feat. Al Green

Solsbury Hill -MonaLisa Twins

Gladys Knight’s title tune for 1989’s Bond movie Licence To Kill

Meaning Business – Wendy Eisenberg

Musician Dave Mason, who was a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Traffic, died at the age of 79

Coverville 1577: 50th Anniversary of Ramones and 1578: Dave Mason Tribute and Paul Carrack Cover Story

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #1: HOUSE Of ALL

Angel Of The Morning – Merrilee Rush

Kiss – Prince

April rambling: tolerance of evil

prediction markets

Does not our ongoing, epic failure to obstruct immorality confirm America as an immoral nation? What morally deficient country tolerates blatant wickedness without rising up to avert the next outrage? His re-election was bad enough; tolerance of evil is worse.

How FOTUS Took the U.S. to War with Iran. In a series of Situation Room meetings, he weighed his instincts against the deep concerns of his vice president and a pessimistic intelligence assessment.FOTUS declares victory after making Iran more powerful than ever

From Popular Information: In an unprecedented move, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had filed lawsuits against several states to block their efforts to rein in prediction markets. Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois have variously sought to prevent Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Robinhood from running what they claim are “unlicensed gambling sites that circumvent state laws.” Several of these companies are business partners of FOTUS and his family members.

The regime’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion has rolled back decades of progress for women, who now face a widening gender pay gap and narrowing employment protections.

Top Pentagon Official Confronted Vatican Ambassador With Menacing ‘Lecture’. Pope Leo XIV chronicler Christopher Hale says he has confirmed that Trump’s Pentagon threatened to declare war on the Vatican.

2.5 Million Poor Americans Have Lost Food Aid Since GOP’s Big Ugly Bill Signed Into Law

Scientists invented a fake disease. Bixonimania doesn’t exist except in a clutch of obviously bogus academic papers. So why did AI chatbots warn people about this fictional illness?

Undervalued

‘Product of USA’ becomes a real standard enforced by USDA

Process knowledge,the most undervalued part of our society. We also serve who stand and wash.

How the Tougaloo Nine Helped Push for Desegregation in Jim Crow Mississippi

You aren’t genetically related to all your ancestors.

See the Awe-Inspiring New Photos of the Moon and Earth Sent Back From the Artemis 2 Mission

Teenager Invents a Water Filter That Eliminates Most Microplastics

Jim Whittaker, who in 1963 became the first American to reach the top of Mount Everest, has died at 97

The Danish Warship “Dannebroge” Exploded in Battle 225 Years Ago. Now, Archaeologists Are Racing to Recover Its Artifacts

How? Minor League team scores 10 runs on 1 hit — 8 before the hit! — in one inning. No defensive errors.

5 New Words That Should Exist. Especially bibliothekpanik, though I prefer büchersehnsuchtangst. Words of the Day: Apostrophize and alliterate.

The Bizarre History of The Waffle Iron – Cornelius Swartwout’s invention, patented more than 150 years ago, helped feed America’s passion for waffles.

Now I Know: Why The Irish Did Not See Casablanca and How a Lost Donkey Became Wild Again

MUSIC

The Things That Dreams Are Made Of – The Human League

Two Little Fishes, Five Loaves of Bread – Sister Rosetta Tharpe

The Promise -When In Rome

Dry Bones – The Delta Rhythm Boys

COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?)-U2

Matza Mia – Six13

Love Theme (from Havana) and River Quay– Peter Sprague

Love Is A Stranger – Eurythmics

The Jolly Robbers by Franz von Suppe

Sleepyhead – Young & Sick

K-Chuck Radio: The Evolution of a Groovy Situation

Smalltown Boy – Bronski Beat

Rock Me Amadeus -Falco. Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes: The Musical | The Simpsons

Coverville 1575: The Lady Gaga Cover Story II and 1576: The Al Green Cover Story II, Plus More!

Smile – Matt Forbes

if Stephen Sondheim had written Greased Lightning from the musical, Grease? – Jared Goldsmith

September – Third Space

I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow – The Soggy Bottom Boys, feat.· Dan Tyminski

Midnight Train To Georgia – Gladys Knight and the Pips

Enola Gay – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark –

One Of Our Submarines – Thomas Dolby

September – Jared Halley

The incredibly complicated legacy of Afrika Mambaataa