These are the Hot Black singles of 1986. The category term was usually some variation of soul or rhythm and blues until 1982, when it became Black Singles and then, in 1984, Hot Black Singles.
As before, I’m not going to list the songs I’ve already linked to on the singles charts, although I will list them.
KISS- Prince and the Revolution, four weeks at #1; #1 pop
On My Own – Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald, four weeks at #1; #1 pop
Say You Say Me – Lionel Richie, two weeks at #1, #1 pop
The youngest Jackson sibling
What Have You Done For Me Lately – Janet Jackson, two weeks at #1. From uDiscoverMusic: “To say that, back in 1985, Janet Jackson lived in her brother Michael’s shadow was something of an understatement. At that time Michael was at the height of his reign as the undisputed “King Of Pop” and was still basking in the success of his 1982 blockbuster album, Thriller. But that was before Control, the album that proved Janet Jackson had what it took to launch a formidable attack on the charts.” I bought this album, oddly, on cassette.
Close-up of the Constitution of the United States of America with quill feather pen
Lots of stuff that’s happened this past year has me, and plenty of others, moaning, “But the Constitution..!” It’s made me plenty anxious. BTW, here are the Amendments.
ITEM: From Liz Dye’s Public Notice: The important thing to know here is that this is all John Roberts’s fault.
“On March 31, Trump signed an executive order instructing the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and the Postal Service to effectively seize control of state voter rolls.
“The Constitution vests exactly zero authority in the executive branch to police local elections, explicitly reserving that power for Congress and the states. But Trump vaguely gestured in the direction of his “unavoidable duty under Article II of the Constitution of the United States to enforce Federal law, which includes preventing violations of Federal criminal law and maintaining public confidence in election outcomes” and forged ahead.”
New York Times: “The Supreme Court had allowed the [regime] to move ahead with Mr. Trump’s mail ballot executive order, reasoning that a lawsuit challenging the order was premature because the administration had not started carrying out its plans.”
Thank you, whistleblower
A lot of legal back-and-forth took place, most opposing the procedures. But the key is, from US Senator Richard Blumenthal: “Anonymous whistleblower details ‘rushed,’ ‘risky and haphazard’ effort by USPS to implement EO restricting mail-in voting; USPS planned for September 1 launch date for brand new, untested online system to screen ballots submitted by state election officials .”
In the complaint: “As presently designed, if even one bar code on one single ballot in a bulk-mailing of 10,000 ballots fails to properly scan during the verification process, the entire batch is rejected and sent back to the state — effectively stopping the ballots from being mailed to voters. Even under ordinary circumstances, this would be problematic because of predictable errors in any barcode scanning process.”
Even though the regime’s plan was ultimately thrown out, it required hundreds of hours of litigation to prevent what should not have been an issue.
And of course, because this entire system has been rushed and subject to court orders halting work, these are not “ordinary circumstances.”
Free press?
ITEM: From Daily Kos: Siccing the FCC on reporters. “After ‘Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker said—completely accurately!—that his endorsements in recent primary elections got ‘mixed results,’ he hopped on Truth Social to say he was going to sic the Federal Communications Commission on her….
He “thinks that the public airwaves belong to him, not us, and he’s entitled to turn them into state media by using the FCC and the ever-present threat of lawsuits as a cudgel.” Ah, the idea of a free press – see Amendment 1 -isn’t free if it’s not agreeing with him.
“The Department of Justice subpoenaed New York Times reporters for accurately reporting on [his] bribe plane follies, when he swapped out his little gift from Qatar for the actual Air Force One.
“FCC chair and hatchet man Brendan Carr has been whining about accurate coverage of the war in Iran. Carr also not-so-subtly threatened networks that didn’t ‘voluntarily’ (yeah, right) agree to air ‘patriotic, pro-America content that celebrates the American journey and inspires its citizens by highlighting the historic accomplishments of this great nation from our founding through the [regime] today.’ Yes, if you’re not celebrating the deeds of Dear Leader, you’re not a real American.”
What IS that thing we’re doing in Iran?
ITEM: Is the Iran war, er, incursion, a war? Is Congress obliged to pay for a conflict it did not authorize? When do they engage in oversight? Aram Roston of the Guardian reported that the incursion has “driven the US military into a severe financial crisis.” Roston reports that the U.S. Navy, which is bearing the brunt of the operation, is transferring money from payroll to combat operations, creating shortfalls. Officials are covering that shortfall by raiding other accounts.
Slate: “A remarkable story in the Washington Post dramatizes how deeply the Iran war has degraded the U.S. military’s ability to fend off attacks by adversaries elsewhere in the world…
“The leaked document reveals that the three four-star commanders in charge of U.S. military operations in Europe, the Pacific, and South America, as well as the Navy’s top admiral, all informed Hegseth that because so many of their planes, ships, and other weapons systems have been diverted to the war in Iran, they could no longer perform their tasks if a war broke out in their part of the world.”
Voting rights?
ITEM: From Common Dreams – John Roberts Is the Biggest Con Man in US Politics. In his confirmation hearing, Roberts told the Senate he would call only “balls and strikes, and not to pitch or bat.” He then proceeded to dismantle the Voting Rights Act.
“Flash back to 2005, and it is apparent that, at best, Roberts misled the judiciary committee. [Or he lied.] In response to a question from Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy about the VRA’s constitutionality, Roberts replied, ‘[T]he existing Voting Rights Act—the constitutionality has been upheld. And I don’t have any issue with that.'”
That was clearly untrue. His desire to crush precedent was available to those who looked. If you read the speech of John Lewis at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, it’s clear why the VRA was necessary. And, based on the series of recent redistricting, it still is. This is why “thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28 for the ‘March on Washington 2026: Defend the Vote.’” Check out Amendment 15.
Crony statism
ITEM: When the Wall Street Journal says access to some 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan crude oil is the deal as anything but conventional, calling it an example of “crony statism,” I listen.
Among the Journal’s biggest concerns: what is the Pentagon’s role? Newsmax: “Rather than committing taxpayer cash, the Pentagon reportedly would structure the investment through warrants, giving the government its equity interest.
“The legal authority for this is far from clear,” the Journal said. Why is the Department of Defense involved in a foreign oil venture at all “when it already faces enormous challenges modernizing weapons systems and fixing procurement.”
Weekly Sift: “Phillips O’Brien points out that there are all kinds of problems with this arrangement. For one thing,
it is not clear what element of the US government (if any) either can or will hold the equity stake in any new company
“The American stake would have to be controlled and overseen by some particular department or agency, and without any congressional action it’s not clear who could do that. And without Senate ratification, this isn’t an official treaty…
“There are also problems on the Venezuelan side…” And it goes on from there. Congressional oversight would be the NORMAL path.
Graft
ITEM: He is bought and sold. New York Times: The GEO Group has profited from the administration’s mass deportation campaign to the tune of $165 million a year in contracts. A subsidiary donated more than $1.4 million to FOTUS’s super PAC in July.
But there’s so much I can’t be bothered to keep track of. Fortunately, the oversight Democrats have provided the Trump Family Digital Grift Wealth Tracker. And here are the regime’s most corrupt transactions.
Today is Constitution Day. “How better to commemorate and honor the signing of the Constitution than by reading it? Through civics education, we can make America what the framers dreamed it would become: a more perfect union.” Aspirational, to be sure.
Here’s yet more Hot Country Hits of 1986, for July through mid-December, one week each at the top of the charts. There are many repeats of artists from the first half of the year.
The thing I like about country tunes is how one could take the titles and make a variety of stories. Feel free to share your combinations!
“Murdering 60 Minutes” is what it would look like if “60 Minutes” covered what happened to itself after Bari Weiss took over. The film is available to watch for free on YouTube and at www.murdering60minutes.com.
It’s Not Just Flock. Police Can’t Be Trusted With Our Data
Gloria Steinem Dies at 92. She challenged sexist assumptions, helping women develop self-worth and gain a measure of equality at work, at home, and in society at large. Somewhere in the attic is my copy of the premiere issue of Ms. magazine.
Americans Agree on Almost Nothing. Except Data Centers. Three-fourths of Americans oppose them.
As A Teen, I Wrote A Famous Musician A Fan Letter. 23 Years After His Death, I Finally Got A Response.
Bob Mackie, Designer Who Bedazzled Carol Burnett and Cher, Dies at 87
It’s One of Our Greatest and Most Controversial Novels. How Should “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Be Taught?
He Was a Top Lawn Care Influencer on YouTube. Then Everything Went Haywire.
Why did FOTUS order up 660 million pounds of mystery meat?
Russian Businessman Paid for DT Jr.’s Lavish Wedding After-Party
U.N. approves Equal Earth map in 164-1 vote as U.S. slams it as ideological
Lonnie G. Bunch III has announced his decision to depart as Smithsonian’s Secretary after 38 years of service to the institution. With a storied career dating back to the 1970s, Bunch leaves a remarkable legacy, most notably the founding of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which we visited in 2024. I heard him speak in 2019 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Joan Osborne issued an album of 12 Bob Dylan covers circa 2017; she performed some of them live. Full Session – 8/31/2017 – Paste Studios – New York, NY
When I tracked my mail delivery in early September, I noted that we would be receiving a package from State Farm Insurance; we have no policy with the company. When it arrived, it said it was for a gentleman who has never lived here, at least not in the last forty years.
My wife and I find it odd that we receive mail for people who do not live at our address. We’ve been here for a quarter of a century, and the previous owners, now deceased, dwelled here for about 15 years. It’s happened a fair amount over the years, but it’s become more frequent over the past half-decade.
It’s often from insurance companies. A couple of months ago, I called one insurance company that had sent us three pieces of mail that arrived for the same woman. They were appreciative, and we had not gotten anything for that particular party since.
But not only was the package from State Farm for a person a stranger to us, but, and this happens fairly often, an Apartment #1 is added to our address; we live in a one-family house.
Drive Safe & Save
We’d just toss most of the other misdirected mail into the shred bag. But the package sent from Bloomington, IL required a different response. After it sat around for a few days, I decided to open the package. It’s a Drive Safe & Save beacon, “technology by Cambridge Mobile Telematics.”
“Using your smartphone’s camera, scan the QR code, and then log in to the State Farm app to pair your beacon… “Select my vehicle and complete the setup today!”
I called a State Farm main number. But its touted AI technology couldn’t help someone like me who wasn’t a customer with a claim, a tech problem, or the like.
So what does one do with this? Does State Farm want to send these doodads around the country?
Then a subsequent standard mailing arrived, which I opened. I called the agent, who said that the online application came from the 347 area code. A few minutes later, he verified that the client was actually from Brooklyn, where auto insurance rates are much higher, as I understand it.
But how did he get OUR address? I theorize that he somehow got it from a voter registration roll. The designation of Apt 1 was carried over from my wife’s former address, which she has had corrected.
These are the Hot Black singles of 1986. The category term was usually some variation of soul or rhythm and blues until 1982, when it became Black Singles and then, in 1984, Hot Black Singles.
Here’s yet more Hot Country Hits of 1986, for July through mid-December, one week each at the top of the charts. There are many repeats of artists from the first half of the year.
When I tracked my mail delivery in early September, I noted that we would be receiving a package from State Farm Insurance; we have no policy with the company. When it arrived, it said it was for a gentleman who has never lived here, at least not in the last forty years.