Tag: Jordan Klepper

May rambling: medical bill

the Kremlin’s most useful idiots

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I’m a Former Surgeon General and I Couldn’t Believe My $10k Medical Bill — Everyone must be able to access necessary care without fear of financial ruin by Jerome Adams, MD, MPH (well, of course)

FTC chair: AI models could violate antitrust laws

Opioid Settlements and Corn: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Moscow Tools. As Vladimir Putin continues his gritty reboot of the Soviet Union, he’s getting a surprising amount of help from the party once led by Reagan. In this new special, Klepper speaks to foreign affairs experts, possible Russian assets, and the Prime Minister of Russia’s neighbor, Estonia, to find out whether Republicans have become the Kremlin’s most useful idiots.

Ron DeSantis rings in ‘Freedom Summer’ by banning rainbows

Dabney Coleman, Who Built a Career Out of Playing Jerks, Dies at 92. I was a fan of 9 to 5; Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman;  Tootsie; and especially Buffalo Bill

Richard Sherman, Oscar-winning songwriter of ‘Mary Poppins,’ Dies at 95

Bill Walton, UCLA and Hall of Fame NBA Player, and self-described Luckiest Guy in the World,  Who Became a Star Broadcaster, Dies at 71 from cancer

Morgan Spurlock, Director of ‘Super Size Me,’ Dies at 53 from cancer

America’s Most Trusted News Anchors Are…

Mayday: The race to find four children who survived a plane crash deep in the Amazon

Me, My Wife, and 3 Amigos, who happen to be former Presidents

Italian teenage computer wizard set to become the first saint of the Millennial generation

Definition: mamihlapinatapai, Yahgan for “a look that without words is shared by two people who want to initiate something, but that neither will start”

Now I Know

How One of America’s Largest Malls Avoids Scary Utility Bills and When the Coca-Cola Company Failed Math and History and Another Brick In (?) The Road and The Mystery of Pia Farrenkopf and Why it May Be Okay to Drop Beavers from Airplanes and Gone in Sixty Seconds and Stars And Stripes and Run For Your Lives

Telephonic irritation

Beverwyck is an independent living facility in a suburb of Albany, NY. Several folks from my church live there, as does my MIL. It’s a nice enough place.

When I receive a phone call from there, the caller ID usually says Trinity Health. That’s a little weird, though they are related.

What’s problematic, however,  is when I telephone a Beverwyck unit, as often as not, I reach the automated switchboard, with no way to reach who I was trying to call. This has been going on for months, at least.

This became an issue when one of my MIL’s relatives tried to call her, got the recording, and feared something was wrong. They texted me and I assured them that, yes, it’s just their stupid phone system.

If I HAD to reach my MIL, I could call the Beverwyck security office. That seems a drastic response just to say hi. Beverwyck, PLEASE fix the damn phone system.

MUSIC

FORTY-FIVE!– A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Coverville 1488: Going Black and Blue with The Black Keys and Weezer’s First Album and 1489: Cover Stories for Jewel and The Smiths

Black Coffee – Peggy Lee

Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II

Shark-Shark – John Cale

For What It’s Worth – Hootie & The Blowfish (2024)

Delphinium Blue – Cassandra Jenkins

Willow soundtrack suite by James Horner

Dreadlock Holiday – 10CC

Pull the Rope – Ibibio Sound Machine
Just The Way You Are –  Billy Joel and Marlee Matlin visit Oscar on Sesame Street…

I Want To Hold Your Hand –  MonaLisa Twins

Wildflowers– Tom Petty

Get Smart – Melbourne Ska Orchestra

Java Jive – the Ink Spots

Little Green – Peter Sprague featuring Aubrey Johnson

Dancing Queen – ABBA

Tighten Up – Archie Bell & The Drells. Its placement here concerns our choir director tightening up a music stand. 

‘My songs spread like herpes’: why did satirical genius Tom Lehrer swap worldwide fame for obscurity?

The news distresses me

turning America into an idiocracy

distressesThe news distresses me. It has been true for a long while, yet even in a barrage of bad news, these trends got under my skin.

ITEM: “A North Carolina Republican congressional candidate floated a proposal to create a community review process that would determine whether survivors of rape and incest can get abortions.

“Bo Hines, the GOP candidate for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District, wants to outlaw all abortions unless the mother’s life is at risk.

“‘He wants victims of rape and incest to be allowed to get an abortion on a case-by-case basis through a community-level review process outside the jurisdiction of the federal government,’ local news outlet WRAL reported.”

If you think a serious attempt at national legislation to ban abortion is impossible, that sounds like the conversation that Roe v. Wade would never be overturned before it was.

Anne Frank

ITEM: “Johnny Teague, who is running for Congress in a district that represents Houston, Texas, actually wrote a book in 2020 entitled ‘The Lost Diary of Anne Frank.’ In this book, which Teague claims is based on extensive and verifiable research, Anne Frank continues her diaries while under capture in Auschwitz, and her words now claim that she had accepted Jesus as her lord and savior – before eventually dying in the gas chambers.

“Let’s get one thing straight. This whole concept is pure, unadulterated horse…”

The number of antisemitic comments surged in 2021, and this is another banner year. It’s not just Kanye West or whatever he’s calling himself. Newsmax notes that ‘Antisemitism’ shot to the top of Google searches ahead of the midterms.

Alan Singer, a Long Island professor I’ve met, and a confirmed atheist, wrote I Am A Jew to take on the bigots.

ITEM: Herschel Walker and the Character Issue

“It’s this no-matter-what vote that’s really turning America into idiocracy. But it may be even worse than that. Whereas bad character and behavior used to be a political handicap, today it actually seems an asset.”

I watched Jordan Klepper Fingers the Midterms – America Unfollows Democracy last week. A scary half hour. Probably the weirdest bit was someone who insisted to Klepper that actor James Woods had replaced Joe Biden. What?

Crime

ITEM: Bail Reform: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (watch this!)

If you’ve seen Republican National Committee attack ads this political season, bail reform has been touted as the reason for increased criminality. This is despite the fact in almost all of the cases of violent crime cited, the alleged perpetrator was not out on bail.

The Republican candidate for governor, Lee Zeldin, falls squarely in that category. Frank Robinson noted why one ought not to vote for him. And my already-cast vote was definitely an anti-Zeldin ballot.

I’ve even seen it online, but also on the network news spewed by folks such as  Congressman Michael McCaul that Paul Pelosi’s assault is a sign that bail reform is terrible, even though the alleged assailant hadn’t even been arrested.

ITEM: This brings me to the item that triggered the post, the attack on Mr. Pelosi, which has garnered all sorts of BS conspiracy theories. One guy, djt, asserted that the window in the Pelosi home was broken from the inside, which he knows because… IDK.

A lot of the noise is on Twitter. I understand there has been a recent change in ownership. These are just some of the reasons why the news distresses me. Finally, a poem: A ‘plague on both houses’—still ends up a plague.

Aug. rambling: BS asymmetry principle

RIP, Don Everly, Nanci Griffith, Charlie Watts

asymetry principle
Also known as Brandolini’s Law, this is the simple observation that it’s far easier to produce and spread BS, misinformation, and nonsense than it is to refute it. https://sketchplanations.com/the-bs-asymmetry-principle. The original images and associated explanatory text on this website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil?

Amid calls to #TaxTheChurches – what and how much do US religious organizations not pay the taxman?

A Harvard professor predicted COVID disinformation on the web. Here’s what may be coming next

FDA grants full approval to Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer, BioNTech

Jordan Klepper  debates anti-vaxxers and Recounts His Wild Experiences at Trump Rallies

This Physicist Discovered an Escape From Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox and Hubble captures an ‘Einstein Ring’

Malware Camouflaged As Code

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – Ransomware and Opioids III:
The Sacklers

Kids Who Die by Langston Hughes (1902–1967)

For the First Time on Record, Rainfall Observed at Peak of Greenland Ice Sheet

How We Fix the Climate

The Southwest’s most important river is drying up

Census growth data for every city, county, district, and  state

Crime and other topics

That afternoon in 1978.

The Dresden Job jewel heist

White Ohio woman gets probation for $250K theft, while Black woman jailed for stealing $40K

A history of the Segway

My Physicalmental Illness – John Green

 Why People Who Brush Still Get Cavities

Gene Roddenberry would have been 100 years old

Not me:  Colleagues remember Professor Emeritus Roger Green

Strange towers and diverted disasters (Route 20A) 

Marvel and DC face backlash over pay: ‘They sent a thank you note and $5,000 – the movie made $1bn

How Extortion Scams and Review Bombing Trolls Turned Goodreads Into Many Authors’ Worst Nightmare

 Stealing Books Before Release

America’s Best Convenience Stores, Ranked (Stewart’s is 3rd)

How to reheat and re-crisp French fries

Eight. Missouri and Tennessee Share the Most Borders With Other States

FULL 9TH INNING from Field of Dreams’ CRAZY final inning between White Sox and Yankees

Final Jeopardy! Season Finale 08/13/2021 | Matt Amodio Wins His 18th Game The JEOPARDY season returns on Sept 13

The Solution to Jeopardy’s Hosting Crisis

18 UNEARTHED TV INTROS TO SHORT-LIVED 70s SITCOMS

How to beat the “milk crate challenge” -The first time I’d heard about this. Since then, saw some kids doing this in ALB’s Washington Park.

 Last Week Tonight’s Masterpiece Gallery Tour

Uncopyrightable is the longest word we have that doesn’t contain any repeated letters.

Now I Know: A Back-Alley Way To Create a Successful Board Game and  You Actually Win Friends With Dirty Salad? and Maybe Adults Shouldn’t Play Kickball and Why Spaceships Need a Foot Bath and  When The Robber Hits the Road and How Horses Created Firehouse Poles

MUSIC

Bad Wolves: Rebecca Jade featuring Jason Mraz, Miki Vale and Veronica May, which won a San Diego Music Award

Mighty Quinn – Manfred Mann

RIP, Charlie Watts:  Paint It, Black – Rolling Stones; Honky Tonk Women – Rolling Stones; Slow Turning – John Hiatt (namecheck)

The Hymn of Jesus by Gustav Holst

RIP, Nancy Griffith: From A Distance; Drive-In Movies and Dashboard Lights; Heaven 

Coverville 1369: Cover Stories for The The and Tears For Fears and 1370: Tributes to The Everly Brothers and Nanci Griffith

Human -The Killers

Er Huang by Qigang Chen.

Novorossiysk Chimes (Flame of Eternal Glory) by Dimitri Shostakovich

Amy Biancolli writes about  The Tale of the Bow

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