Now I Know Archives - Page 4 of 36

August rambling: unchallenged

new Red Cross guidelines

Voters in Ohio reject GOP-backed proposal that would have made it tougher to protect abortion rights. Poor Mike Huckabee complains that “the secular progressive left.. got one step closer to bypassing the legislative process and overturning pro-life, pro-family, and pro-God policies passed by duly elected representatives of the people.”

The Evidence Against djt is Unchallenged. Here are the latest indictments (well latest before Georgia…)

The Heritage Foundation’s scary Mandate for Leadership 2025 will likely be a handbook for the next Republican administration.

Barbados, American Slavery, and Racism

How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S

The Black History of the Montgomery Brawl Folding Chair

Fishing While Black

White Mom Accused of Trafficking Biracial Daughter Sues Southwest: Based on a ‘Racist Assumption’

Global child sexual abuse probe that was launched after two FBI agents were killed led to almost 100 arrests

A Hollywood Insurrectionist’s Path to Extremism

A Pathogen Too Far: How the 1918 Pandemic Revolutionized Virology

On August 7, 2023, the American Red Cross implemented the FDA’s updated final guidance regarding an individual donor assessment for all blood donors regardless of gender or sexual orientation. This change eliminated previous FDA eligibility criteria based on sexual orientation. Here’s a Blood Donation Map.

New Buffalo Bills stadium cost overruns approaching $300M, AP sources say

The Biggest Weirdest Telescope We’ve Ever Built – Hank Green

I Would Rather See My Books Get Pirated Than This (Or: Why Goodreads and Amazon Are Becoming Dumpster Fires)

There Will Never Be Another Second Life

Library staff closes the book on the missing money mystery after a patron leaves $1,200 in a novel she returned.

William Friedkin, Acclaimed Director of ‘The French Connection’ and ‘The Exorcist,’ Dies at 87. I’m pretty sure I saw The French Connection in Poughkeepsie.

Arthur Schmidt Oscar-Winning Film Editor on ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ and ‘Forrest Gump,’ [and a bunch of other noted films], Dies at 86

Paul Reubens, Comic Behind the Madcap Pee-wee Herman, Dies at 70

Robbie Robertson, 80, Dies; Canadian Songwriter Captured American Spirit

Rodriguez, Musician, and Subject of ‘Searching for Sugar Man,’ Dies at 81

A review of emo songs

Now I Know: The Woman Who Found Herself and An Odd Way to Celebrate Valentine’s Day and Christmas in August, Wisconsin Edition and How Atomic Bombs Blew Up the Counterfeit Art World and How Photography Stopped Disney’s Rollercoaster In Its Tracks and The Triple-X Law Firm

The blog was down

My blog was down for a couple of hours on the evening of August 3. I have this program called Jetpack that lets me know. This wasn’t very pleasant, but whatever. What made me someone crazy is that it went down at least four more times in the next three hours, anywhere between three and twenty minutes.

Then it was down for seven hours on the morning of August 12. Though I have the info backed up, it made me cranky. Should I be looking at other companies, and if so, which ones?

MUSIC

Somewhere Down The Crazy River – Robbie Robertson

The Weight – Featuring Ringo Starr and Robbie Robertson | Playing For Change

Gambia – Sona Jobarteh

Rock N Roll Heart – Lucinda Williams

In Your Love – Tyler Childers

Coverville 1452: Cover Stories for Robert Cray, Rush and A Flock of Seagulls and 1453: The Gamble & Huff Cover Story

Overture to a suite of incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Mendelssohn

The Wizard and I – Ariana DeBose

Overture to The Magic Flute by Mozart

She Loves You – MonaLisa Twins

June rambling: quoting Hitler?

100 years of the Albany Public Library

Moms for Liberty’s Hamilton County (IN) chapter apologizes for quoting Hitler in newsletter

Southern Baptists say no to women pastors

Terrible news about the submersible. Still, but Behan Communications noted “the disparity in how the news covered that search vs. the attention given to the sinking of a packed migrant boat that one European official said may be ‘the worst tragedy ever’ in the Mediterranean.”

Sam Alito: yet another corrupt conservative justice

Global network of sadistic monkey torture exposed by BBC

The Story We’ve Been Told About Juneteenth Is Wrong. The real history is much messier—and more inspiring

SCOTUS Rejects Theory That Would Have Transformed American Elections. The 6-3 majority dismissed the “independent state legislature” theory, which would have given state lawmakers nearly unchecked power over federal elections.

Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower, dies at 92

Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who wrote ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ dies at 99

Glenda Jackson: Oscar-winning actress and former Member of Parliament dies aged 87

The Federal Trade Commission filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit challenging a district court ruling that invalidated a key anti-discrimination rule in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

A montage of clips from The Dick Van Dyke Show

Kelly does a quiz and closes tabs

Now I Know: A Tree* Grows* in Brooklyn* and The Invisible Eyelash Bugs That Can Trace Family Histories and The Language Designed to Protect the Nuts and The Norwegian With The Magical Beer Tap? and The Digital Version of Throwing Out the Baby with the Bathwater?

Albany Public Library

Join the Friends and Foundation of APL in celebrating 100 years of the Albany Public Library at the Centennial Celebration, which will take place on Saturday, October 21, 2023.” Honorary Committee Tickets can be purchased here. Regular Tickets can be purchased here.

Tuesday book talks at noon at the Washington Avenue branch:

July 11 | Book Review | Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity by David Paterson. Reviewer: Hon. Corey L. Ellis, president, Albany Common Council.

July 18 | Book Review | Engaging Students With Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen. Reviewer: Carol Green, MS-TESOL, retired teacher of English as a new language, and program director, The Wizard’s Wardrobe.

July 25 | Book Review | Hickstown from the Heart: A Family Memoir edited by Antoinette Joyner. Reviewer: Reverend Antonio Booth, MATS, co-pastor, Riverview Baptist Church, Coeymans and member, UHLS board.

Getting geeky

The U.S. Census Bureau: Data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), a survey that measures business conditions on an ongoing basis. Also, the United States’ median age increased by 0.2 years to 38.9 years between 2021 and 2022, according to Vintage 2022 Population Estimates. Median age is the age at which half of the population is older and half of the population is younger.

NYS population is declining, down by 2% from 2020 to 2022. The percent of the population age 65 or over increased from 16.9% in 2020 to 18.1% in 2022, and the median age increased from 39.2 in 2020 to 39.9 in 2022.

Math and reading test scores among US 13-year-olds declined significantly since 2019, according to figures released from the National Assessment of Education Progress, also known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” Observers claim pandemic school closures likely accelerated what was already a decade-long downward trend in basic academic benchmarks.

The Global Liveability Index 2023. The Top 10 metros: Vienna, Austria; Copenhagen, Denmark; Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Vancouver, BC, Canada; Zurich, Switzerland; Calgary, AB, Canada; Geneva, Switzerland; Toronto, ON, Canada; Osaka, Japan; Auckland, New Zealand

Citizen Archivist Missions. Click on a topic that interests you, and it will bring you right to those historical records in our Catalog.

djt

When I read the guy is screwed, I am wary. Sure, as indictments pile up, Senate GOP skeptics multiply as the man blows a gasket, even complaing that FOX News is “prejudiced” against him. Check out the YouTube channel MeidasTouch.

But he still could win the Republican nomination and even the election. Half as Many Republicans Call Jan. 6 an ‘Insurrection’ Compared to 2021. Garland’s Inaction on January 6 Gave Him Breathing Room. The RNC is stipulating that any one candidate who wants to be on the debate stage this summer must vow to support the eventual 2024 nominee—which could mean backing a convicted felon.

Moreover, 12 million Americans believe violence is justified to restore him to power (The Guardian), with folks such as as Kari Lake leading the charge. Stefanik and MTG want to expunge his impeachments as though they never happened.

Andrew Coyne of the Toronto Globe and Mail, indicating that djt can’t win the federal case against him, worries that it makes him more dangerous. djt’s “response is not to cop a plea… It is to bring the whole U.S. justice system down around him… It is the reaction not of a criminal but of a revolutionary nihilist, someone who is not interested merely in breaking the law but dismantling it.”

seriously?

Some folks running for President believe that djt deserves a pardon in order to “heal the country”. Since I expect that he will never acknowledge even a modicum of responsibility for his crimes, that’s a non-starter with me.

Matt Gaetz accused John Durham of being “part of the cover-up” when Durham’s 300-page final report that he submitted to the House Judiciary Committee acknowledged that Russian election interference in 2016 was real. Durham failed to validate the conspiracy theories exonerating djt or to “prove” the absurd fantasies of a Deep State conspiracy against 45. The facts just don’t matter.

Ultimately, what hit me is a video that Plastic Mancunian posted. It was James O’Brien’s evisceration of Boris Johnson; you don’t need to know the particulars of British government. Compare it with how djt not only survives but thrives, with the mainstream media’s inability to respond effectively to the lies of either bdj or djt.

Music

Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? by composer John Adams

Randy Rainbow for President; Donald In The John with Boxes – Randy Rainbow

Do You Love Me? from Fiddler on the Roof

Coverville 1446: The Todd Rundgren Cover Story II

Hey Bulldog – Fanny

Green Tambourine– the Lemon Pipers

Ladies of the Canyon – Annie Lennox

Faninitza by Franz von Suppe

Wheels of a Dream – Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell from Ragtime

Fly – Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

Note: the photo is one I took in Paris in May 2023 on my cellphone, sticking my arm between an iron gate, and fearful that the device would slip from my hand.

22 gallons, and bad air

SCOTUS surprises

blood Here’s a day in the life, in this case, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Among other things, it was the second day of bad air.

My computer has been wonky. I would click on Google Chrome. Then, unexpectedly, it would shut down. I used Microsoft Bing; the same thing. My computer’s too full. I have no photos or music. I don’t know what to change, except I could offload some downloads. So I did, a tedious process that I attacked throughout the day.

I had signed up to donate blood at Albany High School. According to the American Red Cross, this would be my 176th donation, making it 22 gallons.

I walked to the school. Donations are now collected in the new library, which is much better than getting lost leaving the gymnasium. Something I don’t think I admitted to in this blog: I’m a competitive donor.

When it took me 14 minutes to donate the time before last, I was unsurprised because I had a relatively novice phlebotomist who likely hit the scar tissue. The last time, it was about seven minutes. This time, five minutes and thirteen seconds, which was in my usual range, was a sign of a quality technician. I beat a teacher and a high school student who started before I did.

The opposite of buenos aires

While the 1.2 km walk to the school was fine, the return trip was arduous. I heard the air quality would be better than the previous day; not so. It was bad enough for the New York Yankees to postpone a game, some Broadway shows to be affected, and Governor Hochul recommended school children avoid outdoor activities. Orange skies at noon, indeed.

The air quality index in much of the Northeast surpassed official “hazardous” levels on that date; New York City’s reached 413, the highest in the world. This is nasty stuff for the human body.

If it’s this bad now, what will it be like after we breach 1.5°C?

We received a lovely thank-you note from newlyweds Deborah and Cyrille, not an email but an interactive message on their magical website.

That night on the news, NBC was plugging their coverage of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Later, on a Law and Order: SVU rerun, which my daughter was watching, the villain escapes to Paris. We’ve been there!

Some links

Supreme Court unexpectedly upheld the provision prohibiting racial gerrymandering and voted not to make federal Medicaid law virtually unenforceable. Miraculous.

2022 edition of The Year in Hate and Extremism

Neglected political issues: Life expectancy

If the Police Can Decide Who Qualifies as a Journalist, There Is No Free Press

The sportswashing of professional golf

Construction of US manufacturing plants is undergoing an immense boom

djt Has Been Indicted Again

Nearly a Third Reporting Two or More Races Were Under 18 in 2020

State-to-State Migration Flows

‘Burn It Down’ Explores SNL and Its “Culture of Impunity”

Tony Awards: A Victory for Theater in America; Winners

TV Ratings 2022-23: Final Seven-Day Averages for Every Network Series

Amid Writers Strike, Hollywood’s Next Big Question May Be: Is SAG-AFTRA Next?

Treat Williams, Star of ‘Everwood’ and ‘Prince of the City,’ Dies in Motorcycle Accident in Southern Vermont at 71. He was airlifted to Albany Medical Center before passing away.

John Romita Sr., Legendary Marvel Artist, Dies at 93. He was the Marvel art director when I first started reading comics in 1972.

Pat Cooper, Stand-Up Comedian, Dies at 93

Barry Newman, Star of ‘Petrocelli,’ Dies at 92

The Artichoke Parm, the Most Mysterious Sandwich in Brooklyn

14-year-old got to animate a scene in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Now I Know: Why a Pair of British Officials Watched Paint Dry and Why Bermuda’s Roofs All Look The Same and Cookie Monster and The Hand with the Mind of Its Own

MUSIC

Hekla by Jón Leifs

Coverville 1445: Prince Cover Story VI

Capriccio Italien by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Better Together Song Around The World, featuring Jack Johnson, Paula Fuga, Lee Oskar

In The Steppes of Central Asia by Borodin

Loan Me A Dime – Boz Scaggs

Pique Dame by Franz Von Suppe.

The Angel City Choir medley of memorable TV theme songs

Better – Shannon Dooks

Paul McCartney says AI tools helped rescue John Lennon vocals for ‘last Beatles record’

May rambling: potential dangers

Demographic Profiles for the New York Counties

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on the potential dangers of social media for children, highlighting its negative impact on mental health and overall well-being.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has been fined a record $1.3B by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission for violating EU privacy regulations and was ordered to stop transferring user data to US servers.

The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”

Imagine a Renters’ Utopia. It Might Look Like Vienna

Demographic Profiles for the New York Counties from the Cornell Program on Applied Demographics. Highlights: The median age in New York State was 39.0 in 2020, up 1 year from 2010 (38.0). Between 2010 and 2020, the median age in New York State rose 1.3 years for men (36.3 to 37.6) and 1.0 years for women (39.4 to 40.4).

Visualized: The Decline of Affordable Housing in the U.S.

Andy Warhol Ruling Limits Fair Use for Copyrighted Images, With Far-Reaching Hollywood Implications

These words made it into the African American English Dictionary

At 81, Martha Stewart is the oldest person to be featured in Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue

Unprepared Republicans Are Flooding Into the Presidential Race

Life and Death

Wait But Why: 10 Thoughts From the Fourth Trimester

Re: Hank Green’s Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Diagnosis: his announcement; his brother John’s response, Hank’s Press Tier List

Tina Turner by THR, the New York Times, Gloria Reuben, Variety, CBS Sunday Morning profile (2018)

Kareem: Jim Brown and me.

JC Glindmyer of Earthworld Comics in Albany died on May 8 at 65. I had just seen him at Free Comic Book Day on May 6. He was always good to me. Here’s a 2004 profile by Alan David Doane

You can preorder J. Eric Smith’s new book Ubulembu and Other Stories

Ed Ames, Singer and ‘Daniel Boone’ Sidekick, Dies at 95

CBS and Fox Share 2022-23 Ratings Title as On-Air Viewing Continues to Slip

The State of Video Streaming in 2023:

Notes from North of the Border: A Travelogue

Badge #1305, from a . Ford Motor Company radiator manufacturing plant

Thoughts on Grease at 45

Behold the Ritual Clearing of the Tabs

Now I Know: The Convict Who Pulled an Inside Job and Mr. Never Shower and The Cleaner Who Accidentally Became a Russian Mayor and The Fake Town That Became Real (Briefly) and The Worst Way to Target a Lower Stock Price?

MUSIC

Coverville 1442: Adele Cover Story and Coverville 1443: The Paul Weller (The Jam & Style Council) Cover Story and Coverville 1444: The Tina Turner Tribute

We Don’t Need Another HeroWe Don’t Need Another Hero – Tina Turner

Sentimental Me – Ames Brothers

Try To Remember (from “The Fantasticks”) – Ed Ames

The Stable Song by Gregory Alan Isakoff.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban, and the current casts of Hamilton and Sweeney Todd get together outside the Richard Rodgers Theater on W. 46th Street in New York to merge their musicals

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2

The Best TV Theme Songs of the Past 25 Years

Mtzyri – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov,

DISNEY PRINCESS CELL BLOCK TANGO, a Disney princess parody

The Music Man excerpt in Japanese

Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna – Franz von Suppe

May rambling: the future

Rock ’n’ roll is a spirit

From https://readtheplaque.com/plaque/the-toronto-recursive-history-project

Clarence Thomas has been bought by the worst people. Harlan Crow is Thomas’ minder. Keep track here.

The Great Simplification: What HS Leaders Need to Know About the Future of Energy with Nate Hagens

Does the US have a spending problem? And Members of Congress, legal scholars, and even the union representing federal workers are calling on the White House to answer the GOP’s economic hostage-taking with unilateral action to prevent a default, citing the 14th Amendment.

Laboratories of Autocracy

Tucker Carlson’s Text That Alarmed Fox Leaders: ‘It’s Not How White Men Fight’

January 6 was an insurrection.

Male supremacy is at the core of the hard right’s agenda

Iowa lawmakers pass legislation to roll back child labor protections

The already poor health care outcomes in the United States and how maternal mortality rates have been made worse by abortion bans. SCOTUS’s abortion ruling disproportionately affects Black people with low incomes in the Deep South

Hospitals Close While Execs Made Millions

Biden & The Border and Cryptocurrencies II: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Guns. For the love of guns.

Florida GOP legislators agree to shield DeSantis travel records

djt wrecks himself in the E. Jean Carroll video deposition – this helps explain the verdict

MUSIC

From the New York Times, something I truly believe about Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: “Purists can debate whether or not any of these artists can be classified as ‘rock,’ but I prefer the more exciting definition Ice Cube put forth in his speech when he was inducted with the rap group N.W.A. in 2016. ‘Rock ’n’ roll is not an instrument; rock ’n’ roll is not even a style of music,’ he said. ‘Rock ’n’ roll is a spirit. Rock ’n’ roll is not conforming to the people who came before you, but creating your own path in music and in life.’”

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor.

Gordon Lightfoot, the troubadour of Canada, is gone.

Coverville 1441: Tributes to Harry Belafonte and Gordon Lightfoot

Behind Harry Belafonte’s Artistry and Activism Was a Lonely Kid Longing for Connection

Variations on a Theme of Chopin by Rachmaninoff

4 Chord Song – Axis Of Aweesome and the Ed Sheeran verdictt

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by George Szell.

Rachmaninoff: the many lives of Vocalise

Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell

The May 7 Sunday Stealing of Songs has a lot of eclectic choices by the dozen participants.

May the 4th

Greedy (1994) kid doing Jimmy Durante

If you called me today, I would come back tomorrow – Áine Deane

Hobbit Drinking Song – Peter Hollens featuring Hank Green

Never Gonna Fall In Love Again – Eric Carmen

Tag: Now I Know

August rambling: unchallenged

The blog was down

MUSIC

June rambling: quoting Hitler?

Albany Public Library

Getting geeky

djt

seriously?

Music

22 gallons, and bad air

The opposite of buenos aires

Some links

MUSIC

May rambling: potential dangers

Life and Death

MUSIC

May rambling: the future

More Stories

MUSIC