Tag: Randy Rainbow

September rambling: ‘Subsidizing Suicide’

Rebecca Jade in London


CDC Issues Emergency Response for Florida Dengue Outbreak.

Ahead of Biodiversity Summit, UN Chief Warns Countries Are ‘Subsidizing Suicide’ by Backing Fossil Fuels. “I urge governments everywhere to end these handouts once and for all, and to use the savings for people and planet instead,” said António Guterres.

Voters in Oil-Rich Alberta Strongly Reject Leaving Canada.

In Virginia, Racism and Redlining Are Fueling a Flock Camera Backlash.

Expedia amazoned hotel rooms. 

Smart Answers to Stupid Comments About Slavery – Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie.
Dolores Huerta, Labor Leader and Force for Civil Rights, Has Died. She co- founded the United Farm Workers.

Tom Skerritt has died at age 93. I watched him in many movies and TV shows, but my favorite was his run on Picket Fences.

Walter Koenig, Chekov From ‘Star Trek,’ Has Died. As the Russian navigator of the U.S.S. Enterprise, he was a mainstay of the original television series and seven films. He was 90.

Christiane Amanpour Says She Is Leaving CNN After 43 Years.

The Dominican Baseball Factory – A teenage prospect’s family was promised $1.8 million, and most of it was gone within a few years thanks to the moneylenders who circle young players.

A Final Scream at the End of the Movie. Not quite an end credits scene, but worth the wait. 

Churn and Burn

140 Horror Scripts to Download and Study – Share.

What does it mean when someone says, “Roger that”? Incidentally, as of this writing, ROGER is still available for Wordle. 

LOWER AND LOWER

‘I don’t ramble,’ as he sinks to new levels of delusion.

Ohio’s Republican Governor Calls on Vivek Ramaswamy to Take Down Attack Ad. It features the estranged mother of Ramaswamy’s Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, and has drawn widespread criticism, though FOTUS strongly defended it.
Could House Republicans refuse to seat Democrats? FOTUS might try
FOTUS Signs Order Exempting Russia From Sanctionss Law. The sanctions were part of a measure that was named after Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died in July.
“I’d Like to Report a Theft”: Bernie Mocks FOTUS’s  Anti-Fraud Tipline. “A man inside our government illegally spent nearly $22 million in taxpayer dollars on bogus campaign ads praising himself. He now resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

902 pregnancy-related prosecutions in three years after Dobbs. Pregnancy Justice found that most cases involved child neglect or endangerment charges

FEMA tells states to handle disasters on their own

Women are disappearing from top roles in the regime

CMS rescinds nursing home voting guidance

Musk chose to restrict Ukraine’s access to SpaceX satellite network
Most of Ken Paxton’s Money Can Be Traced to Elon Musk. The world’s richest person, who has become the biggest known midterm donor, gave $158 million to a group that quickly spent that much to help Mr. Paxton’s Senate bid in Texas.
MUSIC

The Smooth Jazz Show on The Soul Of London Radio– Thursday 15th October 2026. The “Album Of The Week” is the latest from vocalist Rebecca Jade. Released in 2022 and entitled “A Shade Of Jade”, Paul Russell features several tracks from the Album on the show. The interview came ahead of her LIVE performance at The Indigo @ The O2 on Friday, 16th October.

The RFK Jr. Lament – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Symphony No.10 in F minor “In Autumn” by Joachim Raff

Coverville 1597: The Chuck Berry 100th Birthday Cover Story and 1598: The Hall & Oates Cover Story IV

Favorite Songs by Favorite Artists (Series Four) #12: The Smiths and  #13: Moxy Früvous 

expectations – Olivia Rodrigo (feat. Chappell Roan); video appearance by David Byrne

Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes

Show Me– Pretenders

Ingrid Bergman – Billy Bragg and Wilco

It Never Entered My Mind – Dawn Upshaw

Cinnamon Girl – Los Lobos

Nicole Kidman – ADÉLA

Burning House – Cam 

When I Think Of You – Janet Jackson

From Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot – the title song and If Ever I Would Leave You

Fiddler: A Miracle Of Miracles | Documentary, which I saw at the Spectrum Theatre in 2019; recommended. 

K-Chuck Radio: When it was more than tainted love

How Bernie Taupin and Elton John Became The Greatest Songwriting Duo – Rick Beato interviews Taupin

May rambling: the Great Society

No one wants a permanent gerontocracy

LibrariansHeather 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

December rambling: hiatus

an “alcoholic’s personality”

The Daily Show is on hiatus until Monday, January 5, 2026. But here are its hosts (minus Jon Stewart) discussing the year gone by…
Silence, as if by Sharp Little Pencil

Happy Public Domain Day 2026!

Democracy’s Library and 1 Trillion Web Pages Archived

The Oscars Will Be Streamed on YouTube Starting in 2029

Kars4Kids and Oorah Face New Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging Donor Deception

What brought Sears down? 10 mistakes from giant companies

Dear Santa: A Genealogist’s Christmas Wish List (Including That One Elusive Death Certificate We’ve Been Hunting for Three Years)

Best Television and Books of 2025 (J. Eric Smith)

A small fraction of U.S. history (old paper money)

‘Jeopardy!’: Four-Time Champion Eric Berman Dies at 60

Is this the Gumby & Pokey / Davey & Goliath crossover episode?

The Opposite of the Drive-Thru Window? You’re in your car. You get your burger without leaving your car. So maybe it’s the same, but… not? and The Accidental Igloo That Saved a Life and A Planely Bad Way to Quit

Orange

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles: he has an “alcoholic’s personality,” drawing a comparison to her father, legendary NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall, who struggled with alcoholism before getting sober.

Three days in the life of a pathetic man.

Wait, some of the redacted Epstein files can be UNREDACTED??

He’s still obsessed with Greenland.

In March 2023, reporter Hugo Lowell revealed exclusively in the Guardian that a federal criminal investigation was examining TMedia – the company that owns the his social media platform, Truth Social – in connection with its acceptance of $8m in loans with suspected Russian ties. Those loans helped keep the company afloat long enough for him to take it public last year, when he netted an additional paper fortune of about $4.6bn. TM sued the Guardian for defamation and $250m in damages. In late November, the judge threw out the case, pointing out that the plaintiff was required to show that “the [Guardian] either knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth” – but he found no such evidence. This was a victory not only for the Guardian but for journalists everywhere.

Reflections of a Census Bureau Employee: MAGA Callers Share a Common Delusion.

3600 Seconds

CBS News’ new editor in chief, Bari Weiss, abruptly postponed a segment of “60 Minutes” about Venezuelan men who the regime deported to the notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo prison, known as CECOT, in El Salvador.

Several veteran correspondents questioned Weiss’ decision. In an email to her colleagues, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi said the team “requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story,” she said.

Was Weiss’ decision by design? Or was she merely derelict in her job? CBS News’ censorship spectacularly backfires. Terry Moran: She skipped five different screenings of the 60 Minutes story as it was being written and cut…. Finally, on Thursday, Weiss watched a video of the segment and offered a few suggestions, which were integrated into the script.

Postponing the segment did not prevent it from trickling into public view. Internet sleuths discovered that a Canadian network had briefly published the segment, and a bootleg version of the video began circulating on social media.

Someone thought that, for cBS, the c is now silent.

MUSIC

Randy Rainbow’s new parody: It’s beginning to look a lot like f**k this

Obituaries: Remembering The Mavericks Frontman Raul Malo; O What A Thrill; Dance The Night Away

Singer Chris Rea Dies at 74; Steel River; Let’s Dance

Jerry Kasenetz, a King of Bubblegum Pop Music, Dies at 82. With his producing partner, Jeffry Katz, he made lightweight ditties that soared up the charts in the late 1960s by the 1910 Fruitgum Company, the Ohio Express, and others. (Music links within.)

Go Gentle: Max Eider, R.I.P.

The Musicians We Lost in 2025

Message of Love – Pretenders

Arthur’s Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 27 – The Finale

Coverville 1562 and 1563: The 2025 Coverville Countdown, Parts 1 and 2

Best Albums of 2025 (J. Eric Smith)

10 Songs That Explain My Year from the NYT Amplifier

Time In A Bottle – MonaLisa Twins

Air New Zealand commercial featuring the traditional song “Pōkarekare Ana.”

The Girl With The Flaxen Hair by Claude Debussy

Say You, Say Me – Lionel Richie

Rick Beato’s Top 10 of 2025

Primrose Hill  – James McCartney

Mr. Tambourine Man – The Byrds

Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder

Extended interview: Sean Ono Lennon on CBS Sunday Morning. Film: WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko – The Academy Award® winning Animated Short

Dec. rambling: empathy

Peter Spraugue and Rebecca Jade

Empathy is the new Christian battleground (I’m pro-empathy)

The casino-fication of news: New partnerships between the prediction market Kalshi and cable TV networks will transform every news event into a betting opportunity.

Why Pregnant Black Women Are Routinely Ignored in American Hospitals

Polypharmacy Is a Real Issue. Dismantling Public Health Won’t Fix It. — A healthy society needs more than just “quick fixes.”

As California Limits Water Use, People in Prison Face Punishment for Showering

Australia just enacted the world’s first social media ban for children under 16 years old.

African leaders convene to recognize and seek reparations for colonial-era crimes

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. ADOPTED 10 December 1984 BY  UN General Assembly resolution 39/46

Black History Has the Power to Ignite Movements. That’s Why the Right Fears It.

Remembering the heroes and the villains of World AIDS Day

A teenager redrew the Alabama voting map – and it’s now state law

Legendary Architect Frank Gehry Has Passed Away—These Are His 10 Most Iconic Designs

This Stunning Image Shows a Skydiver Falling Across the Face of the Sun. “The Fall of Icarus” –  Andrew McCarthy, Cosmic Background

The Unlikely Story of an E-mail Time Machine

Drop-Off Day for A Shooting Star

At least 31 languages have a word very similar to ‘huh?’

Archaeologists Find Evidence of a Bronze City in Kazakhstan

Now I Know: The Cost of Being a Simpsons Superfan and A Free Race Ticket, With Ups and Downs, and The Book That Got Americans Hanged  and The Worst of the Best is Still Pretty Amazing, and Let’s Have a Book Burning? and The Country of Cookie Dough

“Underinclusive”

A MAGA National Security Strategy; the document, which you should try to read if you can stomach it

Boat strikes: War crime or “fake news” hoax?

How he flipped America’s race conversation

Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation For Children Changed By CDC As Academy Of Pediatrics Opposes Decision

U.S. Wants to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists’ Social Media History. Even visitors from countries like Britain and France, whose citizens don’t need visas, would have to share five years’ worth of social media.
Get ready to consume more forever chemicals.
Daily Show: Immigration Double Standard and Jordan Klepper’s Give the Man a Prize 

Is sleepy Donald the new ‘Sleepy Joe’?

New poll paints a grim picture of a nation under financial strain

MUSIC

Nowhere Man – Peter Sprague,  featuring Rebecca Jade

Song For Bob Dylan – David Bowie

Song to Woody – Bob Dylan
Girl From the North Country – Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
Beautiful Strangers – Mavis Staples 

The Gadabout, Part II – Bryce Dessner from the Train Dreams soundtrack from the Netflix film

It’s Beginning To Look Like F This and RFK! -Randy Rainbow Song Parodies

Alex Chilton  – The Replacements 

La Mer by Claude Debussy

David Byrne: Tiny Desk Concert, 1 Dec 2025

Bees by Jerskin Fendrix from the motion picture Bugonia

Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way – Waylon Jennings

The Fountains of Rome by Ottorino Respighi.

Peg – Steely Dan

New Directive – Nine Inch Nails from the movie TRON: Ares

Coverville 1559: The 22nd Annual Beatles Thanksgiving Cover Story and 1560: The Alex Chilton Cover Story

From the soundtrack to One Battle After Another by Jonny Greenwood

Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile) – Van Morrison

By the River, the second movement of the ‘Florida Suite’ by Frederick Delius (1862-1934)

J. Eric Smith’s Best Albums and Best Music Videos of 2025

One of my favorite companies,  Joel Whitburn’s Record Research, has a future.

Seattle-based musician and chocolatier Aaron Lindstrom wanted to create a space that combined his two passions: chocolate and music. Cocoa Legato is a unique bean-to-bar chocolate factory and café that hosts live music performances and focuses on producing naturally vegan dark chocolate.  12/01/2025

November rambling: voter turnout

Thanksgiving pie

Found on the A Way With Words FB site

A Finnish study found that voters had a lower risk for all-cause death over 21 years of follow-up compared with non-voters. (Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health)

Voter Turnout Highest in Half Century as Mamdani Phenomenon Galvanizes Electorate; More than 2 million New York voters cast ballots, the most in a mayoral race since 1969.

Why do the French eat healthier? The government helps.

Nancy Pelosi Plans to Retire in 2027 After 39 Years in Congress

What would a Republican healthcare plan look like

NTSB agents arrive in Louisville, KY, to investigate what caused the engine to fall off the UPS cargo plane and the left wing to catch fire

Charity Scandals of 2025

YouTube Quietly Erased More Than 700 Videos Documenting Israeli Human Rights Violations

Police Chases and Felony Murder: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Amazon Ring’s upcoming facial recognition tool could violate the privacy rights of millions of people and result in Amazon breaking state biometric privacy laws.

Dick Cheney is dead 

How AI and Wikipedia have sent vulnerable languages into a doom spiral (MIT Technology Review)

The Casinoification of America: Gambling Is Killing Sports and Consuming the Country 

This year’s anti-DST rant

The Man Who Held His Breath for 24 Minutes (not recommended)

10 Cities With the World’s Oldest Subway Systems

Crocs– Josh Johnson (thru 10:21)

Now I Know: Basketball’s Digital Problem and The Time Travel Trap and Prison Food You’ll Want to Eat and How the Civil War Decided What Pie You Eat on Thanksgiving

Metamucilini

His actions have raised a chilling question: Are We Losing Our Democracy?

Why He Can Do No Wrong

$230 Million: The Biggest, Most Blatantly Corrupt Political Thievery in U.S. History

His many lies on 60 Minutes; Jon Stewart takes him on

Could a Third Term Happen?

Violent innocence

Banquet of Greed: Ballroom Donors Feast on Federal Funds and Favors

A Two-Headed Coin That Always Comes Up FOTUS

Border czar admits ICE sees all immigrants as criminals

Listeria outbreak surfaces after CDC cuts key program

MUSIC

Big Phony Schmuck! – Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Losing My Mind – Imelda Staunton from Follies

My Cologne – Howl Owl Howl 

I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3) – The Beatles (Anthology 4)

Lawyers, Guns, and Money – Warren Zevon

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life – Monty Python with orchestra

Water Music by George Frideric Handel on original instruments

The Rainbow Connection -Kermit the Frog with the Lincoln Center choir 

The Isle of the Dead, Op.29 by Rachmaninoff, plus some spooky/moody/scary movie music

Danse Macabre, Op. 40 by Saint-Saëns – Leopold Stokowski

Superman March by John Williams, performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra

Goodnight Moon by Eric Whitacre

 Riders on the Storm – The Doors

The Passenger – Iggy Pop 

Short-Term Memory Loss Blues – Ray Jessel

Bohemian Rhapsody – Pentatonix

With A Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker

Building the Barn by Maurice Jarre, from the movie Witness 

September – EW&F; Leonid & friends

Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper

Old Friends – Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez from Merrily We Roll Along

Where I Wanna Be – Jasmine Amy Rogers from BOOP! The Musical

Bad Company – Bad Company

One Short Day – Voctave from the musical Wicked

Beyond The Sea -Jonathan Groff and the Broadway company of Just In Time from the musical based on the career of Bobby Darin

The Twist – Chubber Checker

Sidestep – Charles Durning from the 1982 movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Omaha, Nebraska – Groucho Marx

The Lively Ones – Vic Damone

More music

J. Eric Smith’s Genre Delve: Americana and Prog 

Slapstick Slops – the Slop Sisters, for Kelly, as is The James Bond Theme – Harvard Undergraduate Drummers playing on boonwhackers 

Lord Vinheteiro plays familiar tunes whose names we don’t know while he stares accusingly at us.

So Rare & Flippin’ – The Haircuts   (CAESAR’S HOUR, Apr 25 1955)

Coverville 1555: The Ellie Greenwich Cover Story, 1556: The David Ball Tribute and Soft Cell Cover Story, and 1557: The America Cover Story II

The Doobie Brothers: Tiny Desk Concert (NPR), Nov 5, 2025

Paul McCartney on the lost years after the Beatles

Grateful Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay dies at 78; I saw her perform in the late 1970s 

Is it ever acceptable for musicians to collectively refuse to perform a piece of music?