Archive for January, 2022
Song of the Day 1/24: Smith, “Baby It’s You”
“Baby It’s You” was released as a single by first-ballot Hall of Fame groups the Shirelles and the Beatles. But the band who scored the biggest hit with the Burt Bacharach composition (with lyrics by Mack David, Hal’s older brother) was a now-forgotten group called Smith. The band was playing in a Los Angeles bar […]
DL Open Thread Monday January 24th 2022
I listened to football this Sunday. A good radio play by play announcer is an artist. These games didn’t need a good play by play announcer to be interesting. Bills/Chiefs was probably the best football game I have ever listened to. But a playoff game shouldn’t be decided by a coin flip. Allow both teams […]
We can’t fix shit
When I was in my 20’s the United States of America was still widely admired around the world. Sure the CIA got involved in some bad shit, but the country’s heart was always in the right place, and when it decided to do something (like defeat Nazi Germany, go to the moon, or eradicate polio) by God that shit got done. Now we suck. Can’t get anything done, AND our heart is in the wrong place.
…The endless cycles of one step forward, two steps back, on numerous issues takes its toll. Brief windows open up and then the powerful backlash forces step in.
Fanatical devotion to the status quo is, sadly, considered to be the height of seriousness in The Discourse. I’d even be more accepting of this if it was merely, “the status quo, but a bit more convenient,” but often it is impossible to stare down even the trivial forces that impose large burdens on the rest of us.I mean, “we” can’t even fix spam calls. There are also the related cycles of, “YOUNG PEOPLE AND PEOPLE OF COLOR WILL SAVE US,” followed immediately by, “oh no, not like that.”
Song of the Day 1/23: Laura Nyro, “And When I Die”
Readers following the thread spawned by Wednesday’s Song of the Day know that El Somnambulo has no love for the second Blood, Sweat and Tears LP, which spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and spawned three No. 2 singles, including this tune, written by a 17-year-old Laura Nyro. Nyro wasn’t […]
DL Open Thread: Sunday, January 23, 2022
Eff You, Aaron Rodgers! Cue Peaches And Herb: Schadenfreude And it feels so good. Vocal anti-vaxxer (and Green Bay QB) took time out from his prep for the playoff game with SF to blister Biden for his vaccine mandates. Played one of the worst games of his career. Social media was–not kind: ‘Aaron Rodgers thwarted […]
Slow Motion General Strike Continues Apace in The UK
Workers pushing back against the abuses of late stage capitalism is officially a thing. Which means it is only a matter of time until capital organizes its assholes and lackeys (like Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) for example) to introduce some sort of bipartisan bills making it illegal to quit your suck-ass job.
Brits are quitting their jobs at a rate not seen in over a decade, new data shows, highlighting the struggles companies are facing when it comes to staff.Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank, said analysis of official data suggests people are resigning at the highest rate since 2009 with “historically elevated levels of workers leaving the labour market entirely”.
The data shows that the so-called “Great Resignation” happening around the world in the wake of the pandemic is not just anecdotal. In the US, where the government produces official data on the so-called ‘quit rate’, a record 4.5 million people resigned in November.
Employers across the UK complain of struggling to both hang on to and recruit staff. Redundancies in the UK are at their lowest level since the mid-1990s, while the level of open vacancies is the highest on record.
Song of the Day 1/22: Naked Eyes, “Always Something There to Remind Me”
Burt Bacharach has written hundreds of songs, most from the 1950s through the 1980s. Of those, 73 have made the US Top 40. This one took the longest to get there. Bacharach wrote it in 1963, when he recorded a demo of it with Dionne Warwick. Two different singles were released in 1964, by two […]
DL Open Thread: Saturday, January 22, 2022
Ginni Thomas: Court Influencer Without The Title. This article leaves little doubt that the RWNJ wife of Clarence Thomas, and the Supreme Court Justice himself, have consistently violated the purported neutrality of court deliberations. A must-read: Last fall, Justice Clarence Thomas, in an address at Notre Dame, accused the media of spreading the false notion […]
The Loser’s Plan to Win
After losing to Joe Biden, all of Trump’s moves were designed to create enough discord and chaos to allow Pence to stall the electoral college certification. Read the never-issued Trump order that would have seized voting machines The Jan. 6 select panel has obtained the draft order and a document titled “Remarks on National Healing.” […]
Darius Brown Verdict – The Highlands Bunker Take
Here is a pod for your ears brain and soul. I haven’t listened yet, but will return to the comments to give it a 1 to 5 rating. (1 being equal to a Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Pizza and 5 being equal something so transcendently luminescent it is nigh on impossible to discuss with any heretofore devised human language.)
The Jerkyville Soviet is back in session as Tye Grier joins Rob in the virtual bunker to talk about the Darius Brown verdict and controversy, the role of leadership in dealing with ethics issues, and some upcoming collaboration between local groups.
BREAKING: Gerald Brady Resigns
Effective February 4. Special election to fill out the rest of his term to take place in late Feb./early March. I’m sorry, but anyone who knew Gerald knew that he was messed up. His brains were scrambled. I was his legislative assistant in 2007-2008, and it was obvious to all. I salute his military service […]
Delaware Political Weekly: January 14-20, 2022
1. Matt Meyer Raised A Shit-Ton Of Money. We’re talking ‘trying to clear the field’ money. Over $188K raised, over $418K cash on hand. Bethany Hall-Long also has a large war chest, around $159K cash on hand. Strong, but less than half of what Meyer has raised. I know that some politicians are complaining how […]
DL Open Thread: Friday, January 21, 2022
Carney Does Something Right. Endorses paid family leave. A skeptic would question how much of that endorsement is/was a recognition that Sarah McBride is fast becoming the most popular politician in Delaware. Did I say Sarah McBride? You must read the article to which this is linked. It defies belief: Carney offered his support to […]
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