Tag: Venezuela

January rambling: sneaky new strain

State TV

Doctors still recommend flu shot despite sneaky new strain

AI bubble

Writing versus AI and A World Without People

Older Americans Quit Weight-Loss Drugs in Droves — Side effects and cost continue to be significant obstacles

Just Before Publishing, a Reporter Receives a Crucial Tip. We were nearly finished with our narrative on a Cold War mystery. Then juicy new info suddenly emerged. Now what?
The U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to hold a prerelease webinar about the 2020-2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 1 p.m. ET. All datasets will be available to the public Thursday, Jan. 29, by 10 a.m. ET.

Frank S. Robinson’s blog suspension as a result of the comments on a 2017 blog post. BTW, I had replied to his post.

Starring Dick Van Dyke, streaming only until 1/31/2026

Claudette Colvin, who challenged Alabama’s segregation laws, dies at 86. As a 15-year-old, Colvin refused to give her seat to a white passenger. Her challenge presaged Rosa Parks’ and helped integrate Montgomery’s buses.

‘Dilbert’ Creator Scott Adams Dies at 68 After Cancer Battle. On one hand, his politics sucked. On the other hand, he died of the same thing my father died of, prostate cancer, a disease that “nobody” dies of except when they do

Frank Capra at Comic-Con 1974

Go, Bills!! Go, Bears! Go, 49ers. Go, Texans?

Wait, there’s an Australian version of Ghosts?

Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang

FOTUS and fiends

Lies, and more lies

Abandonment of Global Treaties, Including Landmark Climate Deal, ‘Threatens All Life on Earth’

Renee Good and Our Epistemological Crisis, and Who was Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by ICE? 

He asked Fulton County, GA, for a $6.2 million payout in attorneys’ fees and costs after the criminal charges against him were dismissed. He had been indicted for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia by pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger to “find” 11,780 votes to give him a victory in the state of Georgia.

The Venezuela attack is a constitutional crisis for the United States, and the euphoria period and Imperialism  Is Very Expensive

EPA could limit its own ability to use new science to strengthen air pollution rules

CDC sharply narrows routine childhood vaccine guidance

What Morbidity Hath Secretary Kennedy Wrought? — A choice is not a choice when swamped with vaccine disinformation

Cuts Billions in Federal Childcare Funds for Democrat-Led States

Hegseth starts proceedings against Mark Kelly over video remarks; Kelly is not backing down

America’s third consecutive K-shaped recovery (an economic rally where the rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer)

Rogues’ gallery

Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Talk of Athens

Jan. 6 never ended: ‘Filled With Lies’: WH Releases False History and All that the rioters want is everything, and GOP hides the memorial

Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, 1/5/2026

Jordan Klepper on djt’s Tylenol Tirade and Elon’s DOGE-baggery | The Daily Show

Imperial Aggression in Venezuela: Corporate Media Fall in Line

Tony Dokoupil’s ‘embarrassing’ first days at CBS Evening News savaged by staff: ‘It’s state TV.’

MUSIC

Battle Hymn of the Empire – Marsh Family adaptation of Battle Hymn of the Republic 

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, first by Beethoven (op. 112) and then by Mendelssohn (op. 27).

Ameriican Requiem – Beyoncé

Dance to the music – Sly & The Family Stone –

The Sondheim Concert

Move On Up (Extended Version – Curtis Mayfield

Hang On Sloopy -The McCoys 

You’ll Be Back – Lesli Margherita

Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) – Nina Simone

Your Friendly Liberal Neighborhood KKK – Mitchell Trio feat. John Denver (1966)

The River by John Williams

The Red Bucket Follies’ opening number, December 2025

An der schönen blauen Donau, Walzer, Op. 314

Year-end pop music mashups 2025

New Year’s Eve edition of The Dinah Shore Show, which aired 12/29/61, featuring  George Burns, Ginger Rogers, and my mom’s favorite, Nat King Cole

Decline of American democracy: Chavez, si; Hitler, nein

“Sharif’s daughter – who also has political ambitions – gave investigators an ’06 document she says proves she doesn’t own these properties.”

When I saw the Vox piece, The decline of American democracy won’t be televised, it made a lot of sense to me. Arthur has conveniently explained the premise further.

What I was really happy about in this piece, though, is what it does NOT contain: a reference to Adolf Hitler. It’s not that one cannot make parallels between what’s going on now in the United States and that prewar period “in which the Nazi party rose from obscurity to stand on the brink of complete power over Germany.” It’s that it has been used so often, in references to both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, among others, that it has lost almost all meaning.

The example used by Vox in the “democratic backsliding” is Hugo Chavez, the late leader of Venezuela, in his attacks on the courts, free press and other institutions designed to create checks and balances.

Not incidentally, his successor, Nicolas Maduro has thrown opponents in jail and now he’s pushing to rewrite the constitution, which will further consolidate his power. This week, his opponents organized an unofficial protest vote against the constitution change. Millions of Venezuelans showed up. Gunmen fired on crowd of protesters in Caracas, killing a woman and injuring others.

Another international story that’s caught my attention: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could lose his job. From, of all things, the Daily Skimm:

“Last year, the Panama Papers were leaked. They’re the millions of docs that outed some high-profile people for being shady with their finances to avoid the Tax Man. On the list: Sharif’s three adult kids. They allegedly used offshore companies to buy expensive London real estate. Pakistanis want to know where the money came from. So, the country’s Supreme Court asked a group of investigators to look into it.

“Last week, the investigators accused the Sharifs of forgery and hiding their financials, but the Sharifs say ‘not true.’ Sharif’s daughter – who also has political ambitions – gave investigators an ’06 document she says proves she doesn’t own these properties. But turns out, the doc was typed out in Calibri font…which didn’t come out until ’07. Oops.”

Of course, there are no parallels between these three children of a politician and any other three adult children of a public official. I just thought it was… interesting.

Ramblin' with Roger
Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial