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The EPA repealed the bedrock scientific finding that says greenhouse gases threaten human life and well-being.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

Young Americans – St. Vincent (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert)
Water Concerto by Tan Dun

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

The BIG DATA on me

Financially Support Community Causes: Donate to Charitable Causes, Animal Welfare, Environment or Wildlife, Health, Political – Liberal, Religious (all true)

I noted in another blog that companies have a lot of data on you, at least in the US, and that some are willing to share with you what they think they know.

Plugging in my name, address, date of birth, and the last four digits of my Social Security number:

Male
Ethnicity Based on Surname: American (well, I suppose)
Education: Completed Graduate School (true)
Marital Status: Married (true)
Presence of Children: No Children Present (false)
Political Party: Voter – Democratic (true)
Occupation: Professional/Technical (true)

HOME DATA
Home Owner / Renter: Home Owner (true)
Dwelling Type: Single Family Dwelling Unit (true)
Length of Residence by Year: 13 Years (true)
Year Home Built: 1900 – 1940 (true)
Estimated Home Market Value: $100,000 – $149,999 (true)
Home Purchase Date: 05/2000 (I was there at the closing, true)
Primary Home Loan Type: Conventional (true)

Household Vehicle
Primary Vehicle Make: Toyota (got the year and model right, too)
Intent to Purchase a Vehicle: True (I suppose so)

Household Economic Data

Estimated Household Income Ranges (a little low)
Presence of Credit Card: Bank Card Holder (true) , Gas/Department/Retail Card Holder (false), Credit Card Holder (true)
Credit Card Use – Discover (true)

Value-Priced General Merchandise
Apparently, I buy as Mail Order Responder (true)

Books
Magazines
Children’s Toys
Home Furnishings Accessories
Other Merchandise/Services
Total Dollars Spent: 200 (I imagine it’s more)
Total Number of Purchases: 2 (definitely more)

Average Dollars Spent Per Offline Purchase: 77 (I have no idea – seems high)
Total Offline Dollars Spent: 77 (seems very low)

Average Dollars Spent Per Online Purchase: 100 (definitely seems high)
Total Online Dollars Spent: 200 (definitely low)

Household Interests Data

Parenting: Interested
Children’s Items: Interested
Financially Support Community Causes: Donate to Charitable Causes, Animal Welfare, Environment or Wildlife, Health, Political – Liberal, Religious (all true)
Community / Charities: Interested
Environmental Concerns: Interested
Wireless Product Buyer: Interested
Computers: Interested
PC Internet / Online Service User: Interested
Wireless – Cellular Phone Owner: Interested
Consumer Electronics: Interested
PC DSL/High-Speed User: PC Broadband User
PC Software Buyer (not so much)
Text Messaging: Interested (no)
Home Stereo: Interested
Avid Music Listener: Interested (now THAT’S right)
Movie Collector: Interested
Movies at Home: Interested
Sweepstakes / Contests: Interested (I was at one point, but haven’t done those in years)
Cooking: Interested (not particularly)
Low-Fat Cooking: Interested (ditto)
Natural Foods: Interested
Cholesterol-Related Products: Interested
Health/Medical: Interested
Dieting / Weight-loss: Interested
Celebrities: Interested (not so much anymore, but that probably was true at some point)
Current Affairs / Politics: Interested (absolutely)
Music Players: Interested
Home Furnishings / Decorating: I don’t much care, but I probably bought some stuff
Religious / Inspirational: Interested
Self Improvement: Interested
Personal Investment: Interested (not really)
Real Estate Investment: Interested (no, I’m not)
Education Online: Interested
Reading: Interested
Reading Religious / Inspirational: Interested
Reading Magazines: Interested
Reading Financial Newsletters: Interested (but my eyes glaze over)
Spectator Football: Interested
Spectator Baseball: Interested
Spectator Basketball: Interested (not in years)

Then I checked my wife’s record. She is clerical/white collar(?) – she’s a teacher – with similar interests. Ah, it’s the unit’s interests.

But the real kicker is that while the profile got HER age correctly, they had me born in 1978! Since I entered my age in the first place, I found that hysterically funny. Finally younger than my wife…

Ramblin' with Roger
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