Garrison Keillor: Another fine week here in the republic
The smiling Vice President Pence
Must be thinking about his defense.
Was his iPhone lost?
Were his fingers crossed?
Was he deaf or blind?
Was he out of his mind
Or just what we used to call "dense"?
Paul Waldman: The 2020 Democrats are raising boatloads. Here's another way you can contribute. (Washington Post)
In Virginia, where Republicans narrowly control both houses of the state legislature, Democrats have a good shot to seize total control of state government in this November's elections. That would mean they'll not only be able to pass all kinds of progressive legislation that could positively affect people's lives, it also means they'll control redistricting after the 2020 Census. This is also true of many of the state legislative contests that will be unfolding across the country in 2020, which could impact voting rights, redistricting and local legislative battles in all kinds of ways. Just ask Republicans - who swept state races in 2010 and used their new power to gerrymander and pass voter suppression laws to lock that power in for the years that followed - how important those races are. And those races can turn on a relatively small amount of money.
Alexandra Petri: Other senators beg to see the nothingburger Lindsey Graham sees (Washington Post Satire)
The senators knew too well that they dared not look at the whistleblower complaint. Not yet. The horror of it was the knowledge that their minds were not yet perfect. It would be awful to look at it and see something. No, they could not look at it. They must not.
So they breezed past the reporters asking whether they had read it. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said he had been too busy running around. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he was left with "more questions than answers."
Alexandra Petri: Donald Trump might get impeached? Donald Trump? (Washington Post Satire)
I thought all consequences had floated out to sea on a pyre made entirely of copies of the Mueller report, on the same day that the last petal fell from the impeachment rose, the Republican Party turned into footstools forever, and the Democrats became a series of clocks counting down to the next election. They have revived, resumed their original forms and are bringing an impeachment inquiry? Against Donald Trump? Well, it's always the last people you expect.
The last song that Warren Zevon ever performed in front of an audience, on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2003, is about a Norwegian mercenary who is betrayed, eventually gets his revenge, and then continues "wandering through the night". What is the title of this song?
"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" is a song composed by Warren Zevon and David Lindell and performed by Zevon. It was first released on Zevon's 1978 album Excitable Boy. It was the last song that he ever performed in front of an audience, on The Late Show with David Letterman, before his death in 2003.
Zevon met co-writer Lindell in Spain, where the latter was running a bar after a stint working as a mercenary in Africa. Always interested in the darker side of life, Zevon decided to collaborate with Lindell on a song about a mercenary.
The fictional character Roland is a Norwegian who becomes embroiled in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War and Congo Crisis of the 1960s-the lyrics mention the years 1966 and 1967, which correspond to the mercenary-led Kisangani Mutinies after the Congo Crisis. He earns a reputation as the greatest Thompson gunner, a reputation that attracts the attention of the CIA. Roland is betrayed and murdered by a fellow mercenary, Van Owen, who blows off his head. Roland becomes the phantom "headless Thompson gunner" and eventually has his revenge, when he catches Van Owen in a Mombasa bar and guns him down. Afterward, he continues "wandering through the night". Other violent conflicts of the succeeding decade are said to be haunted by Roland, including Ireland, Lebanon, Palestine, and Berkeley, California.
Source
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner.
Randall wrote:
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Dave said:
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner. A cut off of Zevon's 1978 album "Excitable Boy." During the summer of 1975, a down on his luck Warren Zevon was in Spain playing in a bar owned by former mercenary, David Lindell, and they wrote the lyrics together. I suppose Zevon chose that obscure song in 2003 because of the disastrous Iraq invasion/occupation? Zevon was a successful songwriter, Linda Ronstadt had a big hit with "Hasten Down the Wind." Zevon's well known songs off "Excitable Boy" were the title track, "Werewolves of London," and "Lawyers Guns and Money." Zevon was a favorite of David Letterman and appeared on both his NBC and CBS late night shows many times. Warren Zevon apparently had a lot of friends in the music industry. His most successful album was produced by Jackson Browne and Mick Fleetwood and John McVie played on his only Billboard Top 100 chart hit, "Werewolves of London."
Alan J answered:
Roland the Thompson Gunner.
Mac Mac replied:
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
mj responded:
One of my Favorites
And the B side of Werewolves of London. Roland the Headless Thompson
Gunner. Patty Hearst heard Roland's burst and bought it.
zorch said:
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.
Kevin K. in Washington, DC, wrote:
Not even gonna look it up (so I may be wrong); "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". I saw Zevon at the Bayou in Georgetown, DC, in the 90's (I think) with just him alone on stage switching between guitar and piano. It was transcendent.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, answered:
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Dave in Tucson replied:
Roland, The Headless Thompson Gunner. A great song that David Letterman
confessed to begging Warren Zevon to play.
Daniel in The City responded:
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
John I from Hawai`i says,
"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner."
Deborah wrote:
I'm a big fan of Warren Zevon's music. His last song performed before an audience was "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner." Arrrooo! Werewolves of London, arrrooo!
Cal in Vermont said:
The name of this terrific song is "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner". Like his other stuff, he got right to the point and dug in and made it stick in a different way than other people like Joan Baez and Buffy Ste. Marie and Pete Seeger and Phil Ochs and a multitude of others who made their work stick just as fast. Good times!
David of Moon Valley took the day off.
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BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
BANDCAMP MUSIC YOU WILL PROBABLY NEVER HEAR ON THE RADIO
Song: "The Last Song is for You"
Artist: Manda Marble
Artist Location: Columbus, Ohio
Sample Lyrics:
I stood looking upon the blue
I called your name, I didn't know
the wind would carry it away
Far above the sky
Then you answered back to me
From the old forest tree
singing as a bird in spring
the last song is for you!
If you are OK with paying for it, you can use PAYPAL or CREDIT CARD
• Both punk and riot grrrl music believe in Do-It-Yourself (DIY) when it comes to creating music and other art. In 1994, a drunk and enthusiastic 16-year-old girl named Lauren Goften approached Rachel Holborow, who worked for the English record label Slampt. Lauren told Rachel about her riot grrrl band Kenickie, which she said she had formed with some schoolmates. Rachel was so intrigued by what she heard that she asked for a demo tape. Actually, the band existed only in Lauren's head. Also, Lauren and her schoolmate Marie du Santiago did not know how to play musical instruments. No problem. They learned how to play two chords and started writing songs and recorded their first tape: Uglification. They then learned to play a third chord and started playing in public. Lauren, whose band name was Lauren Laverne, remembers that she forgot how to play her guitar solo while on stage, so she sang it instead. Basically, the band learned how to play by playing on stage and they learned how to write songs by writing them. So what happened? Alan McGee, head of Creation Records, took a plane to see them. He liked what he heard and offered to sign them to a record deal. They turned him down. Kenickie was active from 1994 to 1998, recorded for Fierce Panda and EMI, and when they broke up, lots of female fans mourning the breakup sent letters for months to the music magazines NME (New Musical Express) and Melody Maker.
• Frequently, the question "Stones or Beatles?" comes up in discussions about music. Someone asked that question to record producer Guy Picciotto. He replied, "The Smiths." Beth Ditto, lead singer of Gossip and a supporter of riot grrrl music, has two good answers to the question "Ramones or Sex Pistols?" One answer is this: "The Slits." Another answer is to ask this question in reply: "Heavens to Betsy or Bratmobile?"
Songwriters
• Country songwriter Harlan Howard knew that the young Hal Ketchum was planning to come to Nashville, Tennessee, and so he invited him to stay at his house: "I know you're coming up. You're trying to get a publishing deal or a record deal. So just stay at my house." Staying at Mr. Howard's house had some major benefits, such as hearing people such as Mr. Howard, Waylon Jennings, Allen Reynolds, and Jim Rooney talk and play music. Mr. Howard told the young Mr. Ketchum, "Listen twice and talk once; maybe you'll learn something." Mr. Ketchum played a couple of songs that were clever rather than honest, and then he played a folk song titled "Someplace Far Away." Mr. Howard listened to the song and then told Mr. Ketchum, "That's it - that's where you need to go." He added, "One thing you need to bear in mind as a songwriter is that it's all been said before. If you can just learn to say it from your own perspective in some kind of honest fashion, people will gravitate toward it. […] we're all telling the same story, but if you do it from your own heart and your own perspective, people will get it."
• So where did the title of John Lee Hooker's song "Boom Boom" come from? He got the title from a bartender named Luilla at the Apex Bar in Detroit. Mr. Hooker was playing with a band, and he always arrived late. Whenever that happened, and it always happened, Luilla pointed at him and said, "Boom boom, you're late again." Mr. Hooker recognized a good song title when he heard it, so he created a song, and it was a hit first for him and later for the Animals. What about Luilla? Mr. Hooker says, "She went around telling everyone 'I got John Lee to write that song.' I gave her some bread for it, too, so she was pretty happy."
• Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is a hard-working man. For a while, he and the band spent so much time on the road that even when he was home he would wake up and automatically telephone for room service. By the way, he wrote all the lyrics to the songs on the Aerosmith ROCKS album, but accidentally left them in a manila envelope in a taxi. Mr. Tyler says, "I lost the whole thing - all the words to the songs. I had to go back to the Ramada Inn on 8th Avenue and sit with the headphones and bring it all back. I got about 50 percent of it. Can you imagine what was in that cab that went into the wastebasket?"
Gas still $3.99/gal at the no-name cash-only station.
Tonight, Thursday:
CBS opens the night with a FRESH'Young Sheldon', followed by a FRESH'The Unicorn', then a FRESH'Mom', followed by a FRESH'Carol's Second Act', then a FRESH'Evil'.
Scheduled on a FRESHStephen Colbert are Carrie Underwood, Kevin Smith, and Jason Mewes.
Scheduled on a FRESHJames Corden, OBE, are Cobie Smulders and Kristin Chenoweth.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'Superstore', followed by a FRESH'Perfect Harmony', then a FRESH'The Good Place', followed by a FRESH'Sunnyside', then a FRESH'L&O: SVU'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Taylor Swift, Chris O'Dowd, and Angel Olsen.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Billy Bob Thornton, Beth Ditto, Lauv featuring Anne-Marie, and Roy Mayorga.
Scheduled on a FRESHLilly Singh is America Ferrera.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'Grey's Anatomy', followed by a FRESH'A Million Little Things', then a FRESH'How To Get Away With Murder'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Danny DeVito, Robert Iger, and Anderson .Paak featuring Smokey Robinson.
The CW offers the FRESH'iHeartRadio Music Festival Night 2'.
Faux fills the night with LIVE'Thursday Night Football', then pads the left coast with local crap.
MY recycles an old 'L&O: CI', followed by another old 'L&O: CI'.
A&E has all old 'Live PD Presents: PD Cam' all night.
AMC offers the movie 'US Marshals', followed by the movie 'Hancock', then the movie 'The Last Witch Hunter'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 16-Learning Curve
[7:00AM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 1-The 37's
[8:00AM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 2-Initiations
[9:00AM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 3-Projections
[10:00AM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 4-Elogium
[11:00AM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 5-Non Sequitur
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 6-Twisted
[1:00PM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 7-Parturition
[2:00PM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 8-Persistence of Vision
[3:00PM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 9-Tattoo
[4:00PM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 10-Cold Fire
[5:00PM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 11-Maneuvers
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 12-Resistance
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: VOYAGER - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 13-Prototype
[8:00PM] BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1982) -
[10:30PM] PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES (2016)
[1:00AM] BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1982)
[3:30AM] PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES (2016) (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Below Deck Mediterranean', another 'Below Deck Mediterranean', followed by a FRESH'Million Dollar Listing NY', another 'Million Dollar Listing NY', then a FRESH'Watch What Happens Live'.
FX has the movie 'X-Men: Apocalypse', followed by a FRESH'Mr. Inbetween', and another 'Mr. Inbetween'.
History has 'UFOs: Top Secret Alien Files', followed by the FRESH'UFO Cover Ups: Secrets Revealed: Special Edition', then the FRESH'UFOs: Dangerous Encounters Exposed: Special Edition'.
IFC -
[6:00A] The Three Stooges - All the World's a Stooge
[6:25A] The Three Stooges - An Ache in Every Stake
[6:50A] The Three Stooges - A-Plumbing We Will Go
[7:15A] Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
[9:15A] The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
[11:30A] Drillbit Taylor
[2:00P] Galaxy Quest
[4:30P] The 'Burbs
[6:45P] National Lampoon's Vacation
[9:00P] Tommy Boy
[11:15P] Planes, Trains and Automobiles
[1:15A] The 'Burbs
[3:30A] The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
[5:45A] The Three Stooges - Back to the Woods (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[6:05am] The Andy Griffith Show
[6:40am] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:15am] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:50am] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:25am] The Andy Griffith Show
[9:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[9:30am] The Andy Griffith Show
[10:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[10:30am] The Andy Griffith Show
[11:00am] The Net
[1:30pm] Almost Famous
[4:00pm] Law & Order
[5:00pm] Law & Order
[6:00pm] Law & Order
[7:00pm] Law & Order
[8:00pm] Law & Order
[9:00pm] Law & Order
[10:00pm] Law & Order
[11:00pm] Law & Order
[12:00am] Law & Order
[1:00am] Law & Order
[2:00am] The Wedding Planner
[4:30am] The Mary Tyler Moore Show
[5:05am] The Mary Tyler Moore Show
[5:40am] The Mary Tyler Moore Show (ALL TIMES EDT)
SyFy has the movie 'Jason X', followed by the movie 'RIPD'.
TBS:
On a RERUNConan (from 8/22/19) are Flula Borg and Mohanad Elshieky.
She's an impossibly strong pirate heir with a bag of gold and no desire to take crap from anyone. Pippi Longstocking, the red-haired heroine created by classic children's author Astrid Lindgren, is getting a new film from the folks behind one of the best children's book adaptations of our time: Paddington.
In a press release, Studiocanal and Heyday Films announced they were teaming up with the Astrid Lindgren Company to develop a film adaptation of Pippi Longstocking, based on the children's series that ran from 1945 to 1948. The stories have been translated into dozens of languages, and Pippi's adventures have been adapted into several shows and films. Hayao Miyazaki even tried to make an anime version, but couldn't secure the rights.
Taking inspiration from a series of stories she told her daughter, Lindgren created a strong and independent role model for young folks-the fun-loving daughter of a pirate king who lived on her own and regaled her neighbors with tales of her amazing adventures. The stories contained their share of scary and mature subject material, and Lindgren wasn't afraid to challenge the audience. Pippi is considered to be a 20th-century feminist icon, a young girl who forged her own path...and also had super-strength. She could lift a horse with one arm!
That said, Pippi Longstocking does have its share of problems. The original stories have faced criticism over the years for their use of colonial racist stereotypes and other outdated racist language, something that has been addressed more recently. In 2014, the Swedish national broadcaster edited two scenes from the 1960s Pippi Longstocking show that were deemed offensive, with the approval of Lindgren's heirs. It stands to reason that the new film would likewise avoid including those moments.
More than 132,000 Jews have applied for Spanish citizenship since the government offered residence to relatives of those expelled during the Inquisition more than 500 years ago.
The deadline has now passed for Sephardi Jews - hailing from the Iberian peninsula - to claim rights to citizenship after the window for applications closed.
Most have applied from South America. But in Britain the rules have created an unexpected opportunity for some members of the Jewish community to avoid the impact of Brexit by gaining a European passport.
The total number of Jews applying to return is not far off the estimated 200,000 who are thought to have fled in the 1490 after facing the option of converting to Catholicism or being burned at the stake.
The initiative in Spain has been coupled by a similar offer by the Portuguese government to atone for the persecution of Jews. Meanwhile in Austria last month the parliament ratified a law extending citizenship to descendants of Nazi victims who fled during and after Hitler's Third Reich.
The Museum of the Holocaust in Argentina's capital on Wednesday took custody of the largest collection of Nazi artifacts discovered in the country's history.
Federal police and Interpol agents found the more than 70 Nazi objects hidden behind a bookcase in a collector's home north of Buenos Aires in 2017 as part of an investigation into artworks of illicit origins. The Nazi items include busts of Adolf Hitler, an instrument to measure people's heads to supposedly determine their racial purity and statues of the Nazi eagle with a swastika under its talons.
Owning Nazi objects in Argentina can be illegal if it is determined that the items incite racial or religious hate in public, although they can be allowed in private. It has not been determined if the collector violated the anti-discrimination law, although he has been charged with owning pieces of illegal origin.
Argentine and German experts say most of the objects are original. They also include toys that authorities have said would have been used to indoctrinate children, a Nazi hourglass and a box of swastika-emblazoned harmonicas. The collection also includes a photo negative of Hitler holding a magnifying glass similar to those found in the boxes.
The main hypothesis among investigators and members of Argentina's Jewish community is that the items were brought in by Nazis after World War II, when the South American country became a refuge for some of the most infamous war criminals.
The Trump administration's message to small farmers: Go big or go home. Sonny Perdue, President Don-Old Trump (R-Unhinged)'s agriculture secretary, said Tuesday during a stop in Wisconsin that he doesn't know if the family dairy farm can survive as the industry moves toward a factory farm model.
"In America, the big get bigger and the small go out," Perdue said after an appearance at the World Dairy Expo in Madison. "I don't think in America we, for any small business, we have a guaranteed income or guaranteed profitability."
Perdue's visit comes as Wisconsin dairy farmers are wrestling with a host of problems, including declining milk prices, rising suicide rates, the transition to larger farms with hundreds or thousands of animals and Mr. Trump's international trade wars.
Wisconsin, whose license plates call it "America's Dairyland," has lost 551 dairy farms in 2019, 638 in 2018 and 465 in 2017, according to data from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The Legislature's finance committee voted unanimously last month to spend an additional $200,000 to help struggling farmers deal with depression and mental health problems.
Jerry Volenec, a fifth-generation Wisconsin dairy farmer with 330 cows, left the Perdue event feeling discouraged about his future.
Pennsylvania state Rep. Tom Murt slid into a pew at his childhood church, seeking a break from politics and the stress of work. Instead, Murt got an earful.
In his sermon, the priest talked about a bill pending in the state Legislature that would give survivors of child sexual abuse more time to sue their abusers - and the institutions that hid abuse.
The Catholic Church was being mistreated, the priest said. Legislators were being particularly harsh toward the church while leaving public school teachers who commit crimes off the hook. Then the priest singled out Murt.
Tom Murt, the priest said, wasn't defending the church in its time of need. In fact, the Republican and lifelong Catholic was supporting the legislation.
Similar scenes played out across Pennsylvania that week in 2016. One Catholic lawmaker learned she was disinvited from an event because she had voted for the bill. Another felt targeted when his parish pointed out his support for the legislation in a church bulletin.
The US intelligence service watchdog has shot down a conspiracy theory promoted by Donald Trump in his attacks on the credibility of the Ukraine whistleblower.
In a rare public intervention, the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community rejected suggestions that a complaint that has left the president facing an impeachment probe was based on second-hand information.
It also debunked false claims - also made by other Republicans - that whistleblowing rules were loosened shortly before the complaint was filed to remove a requirement of direct evidence of wrongdoing.
The inspector general's statement was issued on Monday after Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: "WHO CHANGED THE LONG STANDING WHISTLEBLOWER RULES JUST BEFORE SUBMITTAL OF THE FAKE WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT?"
The president's tweet appeared to refer to a conspiracy theory first propagated by an article on right-wing website The Federalist. The piece claimed the intelligence community last month "secretly eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings"
Scientists have cast new light on the extreme survival abilities of the tiny tardigrade-one of the most resilient animals on the planet.
A team from the University of California San Diego revealed the workings of a protein found in the creatures-also known as "water bears" or "moss piglets"-which helps to protect them against extreme conditions, according to a study published in the journal eLife.
Measuring between just 0.1 and 1 millimeter in size, the microscopic tardigrades are found in a wide range of water environments around the world, including the deep sea and the Arctic.
Due to their incredible toughness they are considered extremophiles-organisms that thrive in extreme environments.
In fact, tardigrades have been documented surviving in everything from dangerously high radiation to extremely low temperatures. Experiments have even shown that they can survive exposure to toxic chemicals and even outer space.
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