October 2016 - Page 4 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Cutting Gary Johnson some slack

Zimbabwe: President – Robert Mugabe. “The world’s oldest and one of the longest serving Head of State.”

Recently, Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for President of the US, was having trouble selecting the name of a current world leader he respects. I’ve noticed The Weekly Sift has decided to cut Gary Johnson some slack, and so have I.

“I was ready to ridicule him over this, when I noticed that I can’t list a lot of world leaders either. What’s the name of the British woman who came into office after Brexit? Who’s leading France? Spain? Italy? India? China? Iran? Iraq? Anywhere in Africa? Who’s heads the junta that took over Egypt a few years ago? I’d have to look all that up.”

Or for that matter, even if you were looking at the list of heads of government, how many would you say you wanted to emulate?

Here’s the ones I recognized well enough to form an opinion.

Australia: Prime Minister – Malcolm Turnbull. Arthur@AmeriNZ seemed lukewarm about him, so I’m going by that

Bolivia: President – Evo Morales. His leftist government is becoming more authoritarian

Chile: President – Michelle Bachelet. Corruption scandal in the current term.
China: General Secretary of the Communist Party – Xi Jinping. It’s China; Johnson can’t name him.
Cuba: First Secretary of the Communist Party – Raúl Castro. Despite the recent opening of the island, would YOU want to say him?

Egypt: President – Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The experiment in democracy is about over.

France -François Hollande. I have no feel about what I think of him yet.

Israel: Prime Minister – Benjamin Netanyahu. I’ve had differing opinions. Subsequent to the Johnson incident, a new Israeli settlement plan, for instance.
New Zealand: Prime Minister – John Key. Arthur dislikes him, which is good enough for me.
Nicaragua: President – Daniel Ortega. He’s back, and problematic.
North Korea: Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea – Kim Jong-un. Nuff said.

Pakistan: Prime Minister – Nawaz Sharif. Our sometimes ally.

Russia: President – Vladimir Putin. If Trump admires him, Johnson could hardly echo that.

South Africa: President – Jacob Zuma. Increasingly more opulent spending.
Syria: President – Bashar al-Assad. Hundreds of thousands killed in a civil war.

Turkey: President – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Another “ally,” who survived a coup.

United Kingdom: Prime Minister – Theresa May. Too new to tell

Zimbabwe: President – Robert Mugabe. “The world’s oldest and one of the longest-serving Head of State. His 36-year rule has been characterized by gross human rights violations; resulting in him joining the world list of dictators.”

So who to pick?

Myanmar: State Counsellor – Aung San Suu Kyi. Not exactly the head of state, but one is hopeful about her influence in making the country a bit more democratic.

Canada: Justin Trudeau. An easy choice, I thought, but he’s pretty new too.

Vatican City: Sovereign – Pope Francis. This would have been an inspired pick.

Liberia: President – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (pictured). She’s another Nobel Prize winner, trying to stabilize her oft-war-torn country.

Germany: Chancellor – Angela Merkel. The obvious choice, picked by Clinton when she was asked. Last year’s TIME Person of the Year.

Jordan: King – Abdullah II – saw him on 60 Minutes. We should be spending him oodles more money to help with the thousands of refugees he’s taken in. He understands the geopolitical situation better than anyone in the Middle East, in my view.

But that’s a mere half dozen out of a couple hundred unless you wanted to throw in a few figureheads such as Queen Elizabeth II. Who’d be YOUR pick?

I should note that, for the record, I have no intention of voting for Gary Johnson.

October rambling #1: Thoughts and Prayers App

Ronald McDonald Is Laying Low

Explaining Progressive Christianity (Otherwise Known as “Christianity”)

He was tortured by the U.S. and held without charge. Suleiman Abdullah Salim is still haunted by the prison he calls “The Darkness”

Misogyny defied: Michelle Obama’s New Hampshire speech (start at 25:00) and Dear Men from Amy Biancolli

Time to Own the Legacies of Others

Five myths about Russia

John Oliver: Police Accountability

Racist Social Media Users Have A New Code To Avoid Censorship

Yes, Preschool Teachers Really Do Treat Black And White Children Totally Differently

Confessions of a former neo-Confederate – Who believes slavery wasn’t really that bad? I did

6 million citizens blocked from voting because of felonies

The ‘Green Book’ Was a Travel Guide Just for Black Motorists, which I wrote about here, plus a PDF of the 1949 iteration

How Evan McMullin Could Win Utah And The Presidency – It’s unlikely, but far from impossible

Robin Williams’ Widow Writes A Devastating Account Of His Final Year

The Ross Perot myth

Thoughts and Prayers App

Elena Ferrante published her books anonymously, but recently, the NY Review of Books published a piece that exposed her true identity. As friend Dan notes: “None of it was relevant; I would go so far as to say it was unnecessary.” One of many critics of the unmasking

950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings

Bill Warren, R.I.P.

NOT a parody: Ronald McDonald Is Laying Low Until the Clown Craze Is Over

Racer disqualified for using ChapStick?

Professor and student interaction

All Of America’s Science Nobel Prizes This Year Were Won By Immigrants

PBS’ American Experience: Tesla premieres October 18

THE FANTASTIC URSULA K. LE GUIN – The literary mainstream once relegated her work to the margins. Then she transformed the mainstream.

How to memorize scripts, part 1 and part 2

Learning YouTube tricks

Now I Know: Baby, Not Bored

Audrey Munson, the first supermodel

Tank top

Why I Stopped Wanting to Make Serious Art Films and Came to Believe Movies Should Be Fun

Extra Gum ad: The Story of Sarah & Juan

Would you pull a Coke can off the head of a skunk?

Arthur, about me asking about his blogging, or somesuch

Music

Sir Neville Marriner obit and music

Sviatoslav Richter plays Handel keyboard suite in G minor, no.9

1812 Overture

Coverville 1142: 20 fantastic Sting and Police covers

No Man’s Land -Glass Hammer

Sara Rose Wheeler: Soundtrack of my life

K-Chuck Radio: More forgotten 60’s pop music

It’s Too Late To Apologize – New Republic with lyrics

Coverville 1144: 20 Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Simon solo covers for Rhymin’ Simon’s 75th

Duke Ellington – East St. Louis Toodle-Oo

Let’s Have A Party Albany (1986)

Robert Morse sings “I Believe In You”

“Fan” Star Trek Original Series Clip to “Common People” by William Shatner

The World Map of Nobel Prize in Literature, including Bob Dylan

Reggie Harris music

Music throwback Saturday: Black is Black

Black is Black is one of the few songs on the collection I didn’t already own

Due to having only partial memory, I’m trying to recall the name of a compilation album that included the song Black is Black by Los Bravos. Los Bravos was “a Spanish beat group, formed in 1965 and based in Madrid. Their single “Black Is Black” reached no. 2 in the United Kingdom in July 1966 and no. 4 in the United States (the first Spanish group to do so), selling over a million records.

What I remember is the male announcer on the TV ad nearly yelling, as he named the artists. “LOS BRAVOS!” But I have zero further recollection except that one had to purchase it by mail order. “Not sold in stores!” Or so I believe.

I figured it might be K-Tel, who were always putting out albums like these. But the only album I could find in a cursory Google search was Get It Together by the folks at Sessions. “A collection of the best rock music by the best performers that comprise the heart of the New Rock Movement.”

CREAM Sunshine Of Your Love, White Room / FOUR JACKS AND A JILL Master Jack / JOHN FRED AND HIS PLAYBOY BAND Judy In Disguise / THE GRASS ROOTS Midnight Confessions / THE GUESS WHO American Woman, Share The Land, These Eyes / Broadway Cast of HAIR Aquarius / IRON BUTTERFLY In A Gadda Da Vida / JEFFERSON AIRPLANE Somebody To Love, White Rabbit / THE KINKS All Day And All Of The Night / LOS BRAVOS Black Is Black / BUDDY MILES Them Changes / THE MONKEES Daydream Believer / MUSIC EXPLOSION Little Bit O Soul / GENE PITNEY She’s A Heartbreaker / THE RASCALS People Got To Be Free / SHOCKING BLUE Venus / STEPPENWOLF Born To Be Wild / VANILLA FUDGE You Keep Me Hangin’ On / THE WHO Baba O’Riley / YOUNGBLOODS Get Together / ZAGER & EVANS In The Year 2525.

This is possibly it because Black is Black is one of the few songs on the collection I didn’t already own, which is why I never purchased it.

Listen to Black is Black by Los Bravos:
UK mono
version
version
1986 Dance Mix

I’ll never grow up

I go through periods of wanting to sit around drinking fruity alcoholic beverages,

For this installment of Ask Roger Anything, Chris asked:

Do you feel like a grownup yet?

Sometimes. I still talk with my stuffed animals, especially Oscar, the monkey who Uthaclena found in a movie theater nearly 20 years ago and gave to me. He’s sort of a replacement for Ersie, a very cute monkey who I lost in a romantic breakup. (Notice “who” rather “that.”)

Oscar is very wise. He tells me things I tend not to tell myself.

Clearly, there are things I do and I say that gives people the sense that I still have a boyish enthusiasm about many topics, but you’d have to ask them.

But certain things make me feel like a grownup. Owning a house, which is nothing I dreamed of, or particularly wanted, involves having to DO things for the home, the property, even though I don’t wanna. “TOUGH, that’s what the responsible adult does.” Who says I’m a responsible adult? “You bought it, you keep it up.” That was 2000, when I turned 47.

When does that happen?

Here’s probably a couple of stories, at least one of them TMI.

When I was trying to woo back The Now-Wife, I went on a train trip to Detroit and Cleveland in 1998, and then another trip to Washington, DC a week later. She later revealed that it was my ability to go on these trips that I wasn’t too dependent on her. (I thought at the time WTH; in retrospect, I STILL think that.)

The Wife and I got married in 1999 and were “trying” to get her pregnant since the beginning of 2000. We did the testing, and nothing was biologically wrong. But one of her friends wondered if she wondered if I was ready to be a father. (The answer: is ANYONE?) But once she decided I was, it happened.

I know there are people who have kids who don’t grow up despite having children. But it was probably significant in my “growing up.” That it was also tied to aging – when I hit 55, I was pretty sure I won’t live ANOTHER 55 years – plays into that.

So the underlying question, I suppose, is about yourself. The answer, of course, is “It depends.”

The musical maven Dustbury pipes in:

At what point did you conclude that having a “mid-life crisis” was out of the question, and what led you to that conclusion?

I think having a child at 51 really puts a kibosh on a bunch of patterns, not the least of which is the fiscal competition among tending for her present needs, planning for her college, and planning for my retirement. Every financial planner says that I must do the latter, and of course, I MUST do the former, so the college fund is feeling less robust than we would like.

Of course, it’ll be free by the time she gets there – won’t it? – so hakuna matata.

Still, I go through periods of wanting to chuck most of it, certainly work, and every committee I’m on, turn off the news and especially Facebook, and sit around drinking fruity alcoholic beverages, reading books I have stacked up, partially read, and then write about them here. And go to more movies and write about THOSE here.

Then I get all “you need to be a good citizen” on myself, Protestant ethic not just of work but of being “useful”, and I do the things I do.

The penultimate pre-election Trump link dump

Trump says he insulted women ‘for the purpose of entertainment’

I haven’t written about Donald Trump lately. It isn’t that he hasn’t ticked me off. In fact, after about a week of not saying too many irritating things a while back, he has returned to form, and that was before the 2005 tape was revealed.

But I haven’t the energy to rant on him. Other sources are doing that for me. So I’ve cleaned out my email with this link dump.

There are basically two narratives about why the mainstream media is finally spending more time analyzing The Donald:

1) He is the nominee of a major party, not just one of 17 candidates for the GOP nomination. The media were counting on someone who was a grownup would defeat him in the primaries – surely they won’t nominate HIM – and they could pretty much go with the entertainment/ratings of the sideshow. But when that didn’t happen – and it’s been at least likely since March 15, when Marco Rubio lost Florida. – they were then obliged to do their jobs.

2) The media is out to get him because they’re all Hillary Clinton supporters.

I think 1) is true, but I also believe Donald ticked off the media when he called them together for “a major” address on the birther issue, spent 30 minutes doing an infomercial about his properties, spent 30 seconds saying that Barack Obama WAS an American after all and that it was Hillary who created the birther movement. The press corps felt they had been played, and they did not like it.

Did this bring on The Death of ‘He Said, She Said’ Journalism? “The New York Times responds to a candidate who breaks all the rules by discarding some of its own.” In other words, trashing the false equivalence argument?

So here is a load of links about DJT. This is hardly an exhaustive list, just a number I’ve come across since the last link dump. Feel free to add your favorite links in the comment section, or on my Facebook feed to this article.

If you read nothing else, read the first one, because it links to other stories.

Investigative Reporters and Donald Trump: the 9 Best Articles

The Many Scandals of Donald Trump: A Cheat Sheet

The question of what Donald Trump “really believes” has no answer

Lies

Powerful New Clinton Ad Nails The Impact Of Trump’s Vile Behavior

USA Today’s non-endorsement. Plus Newspaper endorsements in the United States presidential election, 2016

UN Rights Chief Blasts Trump as ‘Dangerous’ for Global Community

30 GOP Ex-Pols: Trump a ‘Disgraceful’ and ‘Unacceptable Danger’

Trump budget would boost debt more than HRC’s

The Trump supporter

The ‘Trump Effect’ is contaminating our kids — and could resonate for years

‘Finally. Someone who thinks like me.’

Christians Must Stop Pretending About Donald Trump – Stop pretending that you know what God’s thinking.

How to Talk to Trump Supporters (Robert Reich)

On Your Way to the Camps, I Just Want You to Know…

Video of Trump explaining his dangerous theory that people like him have superior genes

The Post-Trump Problem

Bill of Rights

Trumpism Is the Symptom of a Gravely Ill Constitution; No matter what happens in November, the sickness may be terminal.

Donald Trump Tells Non-Christians At Rally To Identify Themselves

Donald Trump Suggests ‘Freedom Of Expression’ Is Hurting Fight Against Terrorism

On the right to counsel for Ahmad Khan Rahami

Women

I had finished this blog post BEFORE the recent revelations. Shows you what I know. I was appalled by the “all guys do it” defense, and the sometimes vociferous attacks by the Trump defenders against men (including myself) who found Trump’s comments abnormal.

The Most Disturbing Aspect Of The Trump Video Is One That Many Men Won’t Appreciate. And a report that in 2010, that it was his M.O.

Trump says he insulted women ‘for the purpose of entertainment’

Trump Called Her A “Cnt” And “Sht For Brains” For Writing A Story He Didn’t Like

50 Ways Donald Trump Is Every Obnoxious Man You’ve Ever Met – He’s THAT guy.

Porn Trump

“The Blacks”

Donald Trump Says Central Park Five Are Guilty, Despite DNA Evidence

Trump Calls For Intimidation At Polling Places In Black Neighborhoods

Trump barred from civil rights museum after his cronies made demands and bullied the staff

Comedy

Carly Simon allows the use of ‘You’re So Vain’ in an anti-Trump video—with one tiny tweak

Trump Lies about His Birther Past – Late Night with Seth Meyers

Doonesbury on Trump

JORDAN KLEPPER FINGERS THE PULSE – CONSPIRACY THEORIES THRIVE AT A DONALD TRUMP RALLY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

Cartoon: Donald Trump’s tremendous charities

Mr Brunelle Explains It All – read many of them

Joss Whedon returns with star-studded, anti-Trump video to get out the vote

Satire: Evidence That Trump Is a Genius – CHRISTIE CALLS TRUMP GENIUS FOR PLAN TO BURN DOWN WHITE HOUSE AND COLLECT INSURANCE and Putin cancels campaign event with Trump

In conclusion

Did the movie A Face in the Crowd predict Trump’s rise?

Both Keith Olbermann and Dan Rather point to Trump’s debate threat against H. Clinton as worthy of a despot, tyrant, or monarch – not a president

STEVE SCHMIDT, Republican strategist, on Meet the Press, October 9, 2016:
What [the Trump candidacy] exposes, though, is much deeper and it goes to the Republican Party as an institution. This, this candidacy, the magnitude of its disgrace to the country is almost impossible, I think, to articulate. But it has exposed the intellectual rot in the Republican Party. It has exposed at a massive level the hypocrisy, the modern-day money changers in the temple like Jerry Falwell Jr. And so, this party, to go forward and to represent a conservative vision for America, has great soul searching to do. And what we’ve seen and the danger for all of these candidates is over the course of the last year, these, these candidates who have repeatedly put their party ahead of their country, denying what is so obviously clear to anybody who’s watching about his complete and total manifest unfitness for this office.