August 2024 - Ramblin' with Roger

August rambling: Corporate Bullsh*t

Alice Green

Cory Doctorow reviews Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power, and Wealth in America, Nick Hanauer, Joan Walsh, and Donald Cohen’s 2023 book on the history of corporate apologetics. “The authors’ thesis is that the business world has a well-worn playbook that they roll out whenever anything that might cause industry to behave even slightly less destructively is proposed. What’s more, we keep falling for it.” Oh, the last stage in their playbook is ‘this is socialism.'” Or communism.

‘A different level than 2020’: djt’s plan to steal the 2024 election is taking shape

djt made $300k from selling Bibles – but owes $100m

Republican group cites notorious Dred Scott ruling as reason Kamala Harris can’t be president

The Convention That Ate Republicans’ Lunch

Harris, djt, and Our Broken News Media

I Put Him on Death Row. He Shouldn’t Die.

Hospice: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Hollywood’s 20 Best Political Movies, Ranked

Very demure is very trendy.

Why Schools Are Racing to Ban Student Phones

How to Escape From the Russian Army

Everyone Is Judging AI by These Tests. But Experts Say They’re Close to Meaningless

Pew (2023): 32% of Americans have a tattoo, including 22% who have more than one

Everything You Need To Know About Saturday Night Live, season by season

My favorite Progressive ad is the first 30 seconds-“Practicing gratitude, manifesting abundance.”

The Flagstones and The Flintstones

Tulsa dog starts house fire after chewing on lithium-ion battery

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes ad (Huck and Yogi)

Duff, another meaning

Mark Evanier: My Ten Favorite Cartoon Show Openings From My Youth and Ten More

How to Mug Yourself?

OBITS

Local civil rights activist Alice Green would describe a formative episode from her teenage years when she and a white friend were hired to work at a small summer resort. I heard her tell this story in one of her books, We Who Believe In Freedom. She was a 2018 FFAPL literary Legend. Some of her work shone a light on the struggles of Black Adirondackers.

Phil Donahue, Who Died at 88, Transformed Daytime Television

Peter Marshall, Host of ‘The Hollywood Squares,’ Dies at 98

Wally Amos, R.I.P. He was “Famous”

Alain Delon, Seductive Star of European Cinema, Dies at 88

MUSIC

How Will I Know – Peter Sprague, featuring Rebecca Jade

Yo Me Estreso – The Linda Lindas, feat. “Weird Al” Yankovic

Look Through My Window – The Mamas & The Papas

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists: The Black Angels

Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture

Coverville 1498: The Counting Crows Cover Story III and 1499: The Phoebe Bridgers Cover Story

Die With A Smile – Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars

The Cedar and the Palm by Vasily Kalinnikov

Ghostbusters – Ray Parker, Jr.

Kellogg’s Rice Krispies ad – I LOVED this song as a kid

Million Dollar Baby – Tommy Richman. “It holds the record for most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s new TikTok Top 50 chart.” I did not know that existed.

The main theme for Once Upon A Time In The West by Ennio Morricone

The Love You Save – Jackson Five

Big Man On Mulberry Street – Billy Joel; Bruce Willis in Moonlighting, Maddie´s Dream episode.

I Had Some Help – Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen

Badge – Peter Sprague featuring Leonard Patton

I Can Do It With A Broken Heart– Taylor Swift

Apple – Charli xcx. I understand my iPhone cover is BRAT; Bill Maher is confused by the term.

Stay – Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs; Maurice recently died at 86

Greg Kihn, Pop Star Who Had a Big Hit With “Jeopardy,” Dies at 75 (the song and the parody included)

A Mel-dey — a medley of songs from all the musicals written by Mel Brooks — both of them…

MUSIC (political section)

KAMALA!– A Randy Rainbow Song Parody (2020)

The Lawyer or the Conman and JD, JD… . (Married Lady) – Randy Rainbow Song Parodies (2024)

Childless Cat Ladies – Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer

DNC 2024 roll call and playlist, including:

Arizona — Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks, a native of Phoenix.

Arkansas — Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac, the 1992 campaign song for Bill Clinton, the former governor of Arkansas. (I remember that well.)

Colorado — September by Earth, Wind & Fire. Philip Bailey, one of the band’s two lead singers, hails from Denver.

Connecticut — Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder. Connecticut is known as the Constitution State.

Democrats Abroad — Love Train by the O’Jays. (“People around the world, join hands,” the lyrics say.)

Delaware — Higher Love by Kygo and Whitney Houston. President Biden, Delaware’s favorite son, has played this song regularly at his events, including after his acceptance speech in 2020.

(I’ll probably do this again. This is fun!)

What Kamala Harris and djt’s Music Choices Reveal About Each Campaign

Used by Kamala: All American – Mickey Guyton; Something More Than Free – Jason Isbell

The songs below were among those used by the djt campaign, to the disdain, and sometimes threat of legal action, by the artist and/or songwriter family:

Freedom – Beyoncé

Hold On, I’m Coming – Sam & Dave

My Heart Will Go On -Celine Dion

#1 hits of 1974: Beatles-adjacent

MSG

Of the #1 hits of 1974 on this half of the charts, quite a few are Beatles-adjacent. All of these songs were all #1 pop for a single week. All went gold except the ones by Stevie Wonder and John Lennon.

You Haven’t Done Nothin’ -Stevie Wonder (Tamla), featuring the Jackson Five. His Beatles connection, besides his great cover of We Can Work It Out, is his appearance on the 1982 Paul McCartney album Tug Of War, performing on What’s That You’re Doing? and Ebony and Ivory.

Nothing From Nothing – Billy Preston (A&M). His Beatles connection was heavy, especially the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. He also played on Abbey Road, several Harrison albums, including the Concert for Bangladesh, and albums for Lennon and Starr. Harrison produced one of his albums and co-produced another. Billy appeared in the Sgt. Pepper movie and sang Get Back.

Hooked On A Feeling – Blue Swede (EMI). The TV show Ally McBeal may have ruined this song for me with the dancing baby.

Sunshine On My Shoulders – John Denver (RCA Victor). Beatles connection: Here are his Beatles covers on Spotify.

Macca

Band On The Run – Paul McCartney and Wings (Apple). Beatles connection: Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine in Nigeria created Paul’s best-reviewed post-Fab album; this is the title track.

You’re Sixteen – Ringo Starr (Apple). Beatles connection: all three other Beatles appeared on the Ringo album, writing songs for the drummer. On this track, Paul sings a kazoo-like solo. Ringo performed on Lennon and Harrison’s solo tracks.

Sundown – Gordon Lightfoot (Reprise).

Rock Me Gently – Andy Kim (Capitol). Beatles connection: on the Stars on 45 song from 1981, Sugar Sugar, the Archies hit written by Kim and Jeff Barry, segues into eight Beatles songs.

Angie Baby– Helen Reddy (Capitol). “All This and World War II is a 1976 musical documentary directed by Susan Winslow. It juxtaposes Beatles songs covered by a variety of musicians with World War II newsreel footage and 20th Century Fox films.” Reddy, who was on Capitol, the Beatles’ label during Beatlemania, covered Fool on the Hill.

Feel Like Makin’ Love – Roberta Flack (Atlantic). Beatles connection: she lived in the Dakota in NYC across the hall from John and Yoko. She recorded a Beatles cover album in 2012.

Cat’s In The Cradle – Harry Chapin (Elektra)

Dark Lady – Cher (MCA). Beatles connection: as Bonnie Jo Mason, Cher released a song called Ringo, I Love You in 1964.

The Night Chicago Died – Paper Lace (Mercury) in 1964.

BTO

You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Mercury), Beatles connection: Google Randy Bachman and you’ll find out about his knowledge of and appreciation for the Beatles, such as here, here, and here. He was a member of Ringo’s All-Starr Band.

Rock The Boat – The Hues Corporation (RCA Victor)

I Shot The Sheriff – Eric Clapton (RSO). The cover of the Bob Marley song introduced reggae to the American masses. His Beatles connections: his guitar solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, his playing on early Lennon recordings such as Live Peace in Toronto, and his long friendship with George despite him falling in love with George’s wife Patti Boyd and eventually marrying her. Eric was the musical director for the Concert for George in 2002.

Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe – Barry White (20th Century)

Whatever Gets You Through The Night – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (Apple). This features Elton John on vocals and keyboards. Beatles connection: Elton famously got Lennon to agree to a wager. If the single reached #1 on the charts, JL had to promise to appear with EJ at one of his shows. John showed up at Elton’s 11/28/74 Thanksgiving show at Madison Square Garden. They sang this song, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (soon a #1 hit for EJ, featuring JL), and I Saw Her Standing There. Lennon’s only #1 after this was the posthumous (Just Like) Starting Over.

Vanilla ice cream and watermelon

Except on July Fourth.

Vanilla ice cream and watermelon are often associated with the summer. There’s a piece in Medium – which you may or may not be able to access – titled How The Ice Cream Song Exposes Absurdity of American Racism: An essay about ice cream, racism, and stereotypes by Allison Wiltz, M.S.

She notes a song, “released in March 1916 by the Columbia Graphophone Company, entitled ‘N—— Love a Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha!’… written by Harry C. Browne, a White banjo player and actor who regularly performed the song wearing blackface… This portrayal undermined Black Americans’ use of the watermelon as a symbol of resistance during the Reconstruction Era. In the song, Browne referred to watermelon as ‘colored man’s ice cream.’

“The ice cream song began with a shockingly racist line, ‘You n — — quit throwin’ them bones and come down and get your ice cream.’ Originally, ‘Turkey in a Straw’ was a folk song with British and Irish roots, with no racial connotations. Nevertheless, in minstrel shows throughout America, Browne popularized a racist remix.”

Not my preference

This intrigued me because, as my family knows, I do not like watermelon. I never have, which predates my understanding of the fruit’s implication. Over the years, people have asked me if my disdain for the fruit was based on the stereotype. Nope.

I’m not too fond of cantaloupe either; I’m not a melon guy. When my daughter offered us some gum on a recent car trip, she knew I’d decline when I learned what flavor of gum she had.

When I was in charge of the NY/PA Olin reunion in the 2010s, one job was picking up the watermelon from the grocery store. I always felt ill-equipped to pick out a “good” one by tapping it or whatever scientific method one uses.

However, if they were washed off, I loved propelling watermelon seeds with my tongue and was not bad at it.

Dairy

Wiltz wrote this, something I already knew: “Folklore in the black community suggested that, in some areas, White people were so racist during Jim Crow that they would deprive Black people of vanilla ice cream… In Maya Angelou’s autobiography, ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,’ she shared such a narrative. ‘People in Stamps [Arkansas] used to say the whites in our town were so prejudiced that a Negro couldn’t buy vanilla ice cream. Except on July Fourth. Other days, he had to be satisfied with chocolate.'”

When I was in sixth grade at Daniel S. Dickinson in Binghamton, NY, we were to get ice cream; I don’t remember the occasion, but I remember the little cups of Sealtest (I think) ice cream with these odd wooden spoons.

I was briefly out of the room when our flavor choices were being determined. When I returned, I was asked for my pick. I said, “Vanilla.” The whole class moaned. They had all picked chocolate.

It would be easy to create some racialization of this: the only black kid in the class picks vanilla. But I knew my classmates, about half of them – 7 of 15 – since kindergarten. They were disappointed that we didn’t achieve unanimity. If I HAD been in the room earlier, I probably would have also picked chocolate. Unlike watermelon, I like chocolate ice cream just fine.

Book review: The Undertow

Ashli

Jeff Sharlet is an explorer. The Dartmouth professor shows sides of the United States that most of us don’t fully understand in his 2023 book The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, one of The New York Times 100 Books of the Year. I picked up the book at the Telling The Truth 2023: THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE event sponsored by The New York State Writers Institute on Friday, November 17, 2023, at Page Hall on the Downtown UAlbany campus.

He was paired with Juliet Hooker, a noted political scientist, who had a then-brand new book Black Grief/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss, in a discussion of The American Backlash: “A conversation about the politics of revenge, and the impulse to punish ‘out groups’ who have made political gains — particularly racial, sexual, and cultural minorities, and women. ” Jeff’s book was about that, of a sort, but it didn’t mesh with the moderator’s questions.

Jeff delves into the religious dimensions of American politics as he did in The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, the 2009 book that inspired the Netflix documentary series. He does so by talking to people whom most reporters do not speak to, sometimes in perilous situations.

Asking the questions

As the Amazon review notes: “Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies―sometimes realities―of violence.”

The book is a series of essays, and the first chapter, Voice and Hammer, threw me off a bit. He wrote about Harry Belafonte and his participation in the American Civil Rights struggle. Belafonte told Jeff the tale of getting cash for the movement in the South involving a car chase. I heard Donald Hyman tell the same story when he reviewed Belafonte’s 2012 autobiography My Song for the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library on November 7, 2023.

The second chapter, On The Side Of Possibilities, describes his time embedded in Occupy Wall Street encampments. I understand that he “remembers and celebrates the courage of those who sing a different song of community and an America long dreamt of and yet to be fully born, dedicated to justice and freedom for all.”

djt

But the next section of the book, in the Heavy With Gold chapter, starts with seeing the 45th president land in his large plane and one or more of his devotees hoping to punch a protester in the face. And little wonder, given the gory, painted as patriotic ramblings of djt.

In the chapter Ministry of Fun, men, presumably “of God,” glorify materialism, attracting Kanye West, Kardashians, and pro athletes with a theology mostly devoid of a Matthew 25 directive to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Instead, “lies, greed, and glorification of war boom through microphones at hipster megachurches that once upon a time might have preached peace and understanding.”

In Whole Bottle of Red Pills, there is “a conference for lonely single men [who] come together to rage against women.” From incels (involuntary celibate) to Paul Elam’s A Voice for Men, the manosphere loathes “women ‘leaning in,’ women in combat, women who have the gall to think that they too can be funny, or president.”

MRA, Men’s Right Advocate, is a “gluttony of the soul, while citing Scripture and preparing for civil war―a firestorm they long for as an absolution and exaltation. Political rallies are as aflame with need and giddy expectation as religious revivals.

“On the Far Right, everything is heightened―love into adulation, fear into vengeance, anger into white-hot rage.

The Trumpocene shows that “here, in the undertow, our forty-fifth president, a vessel of conspiratorial fears and fantasies, continues to rise to sainthood.” And he has mastered the “kidding/not kidding” motif.

Saint Ashli

In section 3, Goodnight Irene On Survival, the title essay is about the insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt, killed on January 6 at the Capitol, who is beatified as a martyr of white womanhood. Yes, a martyr, not unlike the White virgin in the 1915 movie Birth Of A Nation who leaps to her death rather than submit to the wanton desires of a Black man.

Jeff Sharlet then continues traveling east, analyzing the Ashli movement, even as he deals with the grief of the passing of his stepmother, the widow of his late father Robert, the father he started to live with after his mother Nancy died too young, at 45 on January 1, 1989.

Surprisingly, the last chapter was about the musical group The Weavers, Fred Hellerman, Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, and Pete Seeger, the Peekskill riot in 1949, and their career ups and downs.

It is arguable whether the first two and last chapters “belong” here, as he tries to add some hope to the narrative, but the book’s core was extraordinary.

2024

Here’s an addendum from Jeff’s Substack page, Scenes From A Slow Civil War. In the July 15, 2024 post, One Nation Under Fist: “Consider Trump v. United States, the powers of a king now granted to the presidency, in anticipation of Trump’s return. Consider the sermons preached in Christian nationalist churches across the country on Sunday, declaring Trump spared by God for a higher purpose. Consider the widespread contemplation of the millimeters between life and death for Trump on Saturday, the public pondering of a breeze that might have ever so slightly altered the bullet’s course, or a tremor that might have troubled the assassin’s hand. ‘It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening’” Trump ‘truthed,’ and—” Expletive deleted.

“Those who claim calling Trump a threat to democracy is violent rhetoric are doing a kind of rhetorical violence to democracy, screeching it to a halt, making an ever-moving idea a static one, writing a banal and brutal ending onto a story that’s meant to keep going. The historian David Waldstreicher comments that for fascism and its enablers, ‘democracy is not a process, it’s just another word for the nation’—and the fist, under which it trembles.”

I should note that I’ve known Jeff Sharlet since he was six and a half years old. He lived in Scotia, NY, with his mom and sister Jocelyn. The morning after the Telling The Truth event, we went out for breakfast – he paid – and we talked for three hours.

[This is an edited version of the content of my book review at the Albany Public Library on July 30, 2024.]

CHQ: More people talking

Shadid Aziz, MD and Geraldine Brooks

The hardest thing about writing about our week at Chautauqua was figuring out how to order it. After the weekend there, I ended up with categories. More people talking could have been labeled miscellany, but that seems dismissive.

Monday July 22nd 3:30 PM

I tried to go to Islam 101: Koran and what it says about other faiths at the Hurlburt church, the Methodist Church. Alas, a group of us realized it had been inaccurately posted on the calendar. It had taken place earlier in the season but no longer. So, I had to look to see what else I might do. At that very same time, there was a discussion on the courageous conversations on death and dying by Shadid Aziz, MD, not to be confused with the New Jersey dentist or the Pakistani military leader. Oddly enough, it was in the Presbyterian House Chapel, where I just came from.

Some of the discussion concerned advanced care planning for the end of life in the inpatient setting and a similar item for outpatient. The three questions are: to establish minimum living goals for supporting life by artificial means. For example, what is the minimum level of mental functioning that is acceptable to you with the help of life-prolonging treatments? What is the minimum level of physical functioning acceptable to you with similar treatments? What life-prolonging treatments are you willing to use or not indefinitely or for a trial period if they can get you to your minimum acceptable level of functioning? Dr. Aziz says as a physician, you always work off the patient’s baseline function. If you do not know the baseline, you do not know the possible goals.

The gift of palliative care

I liked the talk so much that I bought his 2018 book Courageous Conversations on Dying. Here are some chapter titles: Basic Rules for Having Courageous Conversations and Giving Bad News; The Power of Touch; The Power of Prayer; Creating a Document of ACP Advanced Directives; Preparing for dementia – the slow downward spiral; Helping Surrogates Make Decisions; managing cross-cultural issues; the hard talks with parents and children; words, words, words.

I have long been interested in this topic, so I’ve been participating in those Death Cafes I mentioned previously.

Tuesday, July 23, 12:30

Chautauqua Dialogues. Presbyterian House

Several times a day, there were discussion groups about how people felt about what they were experiencing at CHQ. It was mildly interesting.

Weekly speaker reception

Tuesday July 23nd, 3:30 PM

Pierce Freelon, Grammy-nominated artist; author, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: Daddy and Me; Side by Side; and Daddy-Daughter Day African American Heritage House, 40 Scott.

This was an actual house, with several chairs available and hors d’oeuvres, wine, and other beverages at a table.

Pierce’s family, both his ancestors and his children, are very important to him, particularly his grandmother. He would run with his brother, Deen, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, once a week when they could.

He mentioned that his father appeared in a PBS documentary Matter of Mind: My ALS, which the family appreciated. “In Durham, North Carolina, renowned African-American architect Phil Freelon receives his diagnosis of ALS on the eve of completing his life’s work: The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. As he inches toward paralysis and loss of speech, he and his family grapple with the illness’ erosion of control, reflect on what it means to live and die with dignity, and lean on one another for support and strength.”

(By happenstance, my wife brought to CHQ a book we were gifted, A Fool’s Errand by Lonnie Bunch. In it, Bunch describes the challenges of getting the museum built. Phil Freelon is mentioned, of course, and his photo is included.)

At the talk, someone asked Pierce what his father’s name was. Pierce replied, “My father’s name IS Phil Freelon,” noting the present tense. He also helped his mother, Nnenna Freelon, assemble her album, AnceStars, which he said “She needed.” See this video.

Here’s Pierce Freelon’s YouTube channel, featuring hits such as Tooth Bruh and No Is A Love Word.

Hall of Philosophy

Thursday, July 25th, 3:30 PM

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Author Presentation. Geraldine Brooks, author, Horse, Hall of Philosophy and CHQ Assembly

The Hall of Philosophy, with its pillars and open-air access, reminds one of the Greek Parthenon. It was SRO, big time.

Geraldine Brooks grew up in a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Her father, Lawrie Brooks, was an American big-band singer stuck in Adelaide when his manager ripped him off. He stayed in Australia and became a newspaper sub-editor. Her mother, Gloria, from New South Wales, did PR for a Sydney radio station.

After graduating from the University of Sydney, Geraldine became a rookie reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. After asking for an assignment based on her interests and expertise, she was tasked with reporting on horse racing. This involved providing great detail regarding the wagering and the position of the horses at every turn. When she left the paper, she knew she didn’t want to have anything to do with horses ever again.

Living in the USA

After receiving a scholarship, she moved to the United States and received a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1983. The next year, she married American journalist Tony Horwitz.

The couple were award-winning foreign correspondents. She covered crises in Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East for The Wall Street Journal. After writing one non-fiction book, she wrote five novels, mostly historical fiction, often relying on deep research.

After spending three days in an African jail, she decided it was time for motherhood. Her son Nathaniel was in the audience.

She overheard a story about a once-nationally famous racehorse named Lexington at an event. Eventually, though, his skeleton became the example of a generic horse at a museum. This led to her next book, Horse. She learned that the groom was the most important person in a racehorse’s life and that many grooms were enslaved black men. A mysterious painting of the horse figures into the narrative.

And now Geraldine Brooks owns horses.

Her next book is called Memorial Days, about grief tied to the death of her husband at the age of 60 of cardiac arrest in 2019. She was a great storyteller in her remarks and in answering audience questions.