Open Thread - Thurs 02 May 2024 - Sleeping in the Headlines and 'Bad' Songs

Sleeping in the Headlines

I came across this headline the other day, ''Such low energy': Trump relentlessly mocked for once again falling asleep during trial'. It made me laugh. I can think of several reasons for him to fall asleep: the trial is boring, he's old, he's on the campaign trail and is tired, he's old, boring, old, tired... Ohh wait, that describes his arch enemy, Biden, as well.

For example, 'Joe Biden Appears To Fall Asleep On The First Day Of COP26' (from 2021). Biden gets excuses from the press, which Trump basically doesn't get, because the press likes Biden; here's an example about the COP26 meeting, a video that the BBC ran with this headline 'COP26: Was US President Biden asleep or just resting his eyes?' To me, it looks like he's falling asleep and an aide woke him. But what do I know? Maybe he was just resting his eyes.


Like this? Image from here on pinterest.es.

Of course, there have been actually false claims that Biden has slept during meetings, like the one about his meeting with the PM of Israel where footage was edited to make him seem asleep.

So who knows? Both candidates are too old, too nuts, and too disgusting. And me, I'm too old to pay much attention and I'm falling asleep (like in the pic above)! Smile .

Music that is 'BAD'
The National Coalition Against Censorship has an article listing 40 banned and censored songs. I'm sure they picked songs for which censorship would be surprising to people in the 2020's. The songs were very good to listen to and so I'm giving a link to the page and urging you to have a listen 'Turn that Down: 40 Banned and Censored Songs' .

And because I can't help it, here's a couple direct links to some of those songs!

Brown Eyed Girl: this version contains the lyrics that got it banned - 'making love in the green grass'. Of course, none of the versions have the original title, which was 'Brown Skinned Girl', not 'Brown Eyed Girl'. Van Morrison apparently changed the words because he knew it would not get radio play and the song got banned by some stations anyway because of the making love in the green grass lyrics.

Radio, Radio: So, this song was supposed to be unfriendly to media, according to Saturday Night Live. So they told Elvis Costello not to sing it when he was on the show, and... he sang it anyway. So they banned him. Go, Elvis!

Louie Louie: Really? Heh. here's a good article about this song and its supposedly dirty lyrics as recorded by the Kingsmen. I can't hear them. But, I was just a baby when the song was recorded, doubt I heard much of anything then.

God Save the Queen: by the Sex Pistols. It shouldn't have been censored and banned in my opinion but at least there was an actual reason for it, since the lyrics are very anti-British, or anti-upper class. After all, the Pistols do call Britain a 'fascist regime' and more...

Thanks for listening... err, reading! Here's the open thread - and remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!

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Sima's picture

I want to apologize for not being around to reply to last week's OT. My visit to Urgent Care turned out to be a bit more tiring than I thought it would be. The doc recommended a couple of drugs which stopped the itching enough to let me sleep. And I slept for a couple days, (actually was out of it for like 4 days) just getting up to drink water, eat yogurt, and take more of the meds... But, it worked, and I'm starting to feel 'normal', whatever that is, now.

So, hope you all are having a great Thursday. I WILL be around this time to comment and reply, please post what's up with you, what you are learning, reading, and whatever!

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

The pills I took to stop my itching did nothing for the itching, but severely interfered with my breathing. I took 2, then tossed the rest. I had to be awake and command my body to inhale. Inhaling as the normal bodily function ceased. I was afraid I would die in my sleep.
Amazing the hypocrisy in music censorship, while movies were featuring sex themes and scenes, war themes that both praised and condemned war, etc...
Meanwhile, we are in an area that is flooded, mandatory evacuations, interstate highway closures, and cancelled court. It is forecast to rain all day, and for the next three. Fire trucks and ambulances have been racing by my home to a creek a mile away. No doubt, someone didn't observe the conventional wisdom rule: If there is water over the road, turn around and find another route.
Thanks for the health update and the OT.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Sima's picture

@on the cusp
My allergic reaction, thank all the gods, wasn't that bad. At least I could still breath. I think the anti-itching stuff 'worked' in that it lessened the itching. So I was only dripping blood from my legs and arms every time I got up, and not from my belly.

Dang, flooding! Dang. My husband follows the tornado and storm chasers religiously on the youtubes. I watch along with him. I knew areas were being hit bad with flooding too, didn't know you were in one. I'm so sorry. I hope whatever made the emergency vehicles go to the creek turned out to be just the result of stupidity and not fatal stupidity.

Anyway, have a great weekend, and hopefully the weather will moderate some. We had a great sunny day today. Of course, it is supposed to rain tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next da...

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

@Sima pharmacy. There was page after page of possible side effects of the medicine, and on the last page, the very last one listed, the one in 10 million thingie, was interference with breathing.
I could breathe if I said to my body, Inhale, please. If I didn't, I would experience a strange darkening of my view through my eyesight, a bodily weakening. First pill, didn't notice it so much. Second pill, I figured I would die if I kept this shit up. A 3rd pill would have stopped the itching the hard way. I swabbed Vaseline on the baddest of the bad spots, and I got relief, and I am not dead.
I am not a bot.
SRSLY.
I am not a bot.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Sima's picture

@on the cusp
provider, whatever, she said to use vaseline or nivea for the itching. She sort of said it in a whisper, I guess she didn't want the drug companies to know what she was doing, or something. So I tried the anti-itch drug/lotion for a bit, but honestly, it seemed to make it worse (much drier, tighter, more painful and itchier skin). So I went to Nivea cream. And that made it MUCH better. It's like the 8 hour long drug only worked for 2 hours and then the 6 hours after were total, worse, hell. So, Go Vaseline and Nivea!!!

It's funny how allergic reactions aren't supposed to be very common for amoxicillin and yet, every one of my friends knows at least one person who has had a reaction, or they themselves have had one. I think it's more like 1 in 4, not 1 in 10 have reactions. And the bad reactions like you had with your drug? I think those are more common than the experts will admit, even if they do put them at the end of the 10 page long warning sheet you get when you are prescribed the drug. I was cautious before, I am over-cautious now. Like you said, I am not a bot!

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

usefewersyllables's picture

Dead Kennedys songs on that list. I'd have figured that "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now", "California Uber Alles", "Too Drunk To Fuck", and "Religious Vomit" would be on there for sure...

Last call for alcohol
Last call for your freedom of speech
Drink up, happy hour is now enforced by law
Don't forget our house special
It's called a Trickie Dickie Screwdriver
It's got one part Jack Daniels
Two parts purple Kool-Aid and a jigger of formaldehyde
From the jar with Hitler's brain in it we got in the back storeroom

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Sima's picture

@usefewersyllables
I think that the list on that webpage was curated, so they only picked really popular songs to feature. Because I'm pretty sure the Dead Kennedys (I was/am a fan) were banned from time to time. They were played on some of the local stations near me. Of course, I was near San Fran, and went to the night clubs, saw them there once or twice. And there was a hard core punk station locally. Heh. Thanks for bringing up the memories and the great music Smile .

Have a great weekend! And thanks for stopping by!

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

janis b's picture

@usefewersyllables

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enhydra lutris's picture

censorship as a result of constant, intense pressure led by the "Parents Music Resource Center, formed and led by the infamous Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson (Tipper) Gore, shown here dancing with her hubby Al
1997 Clinton Inaugural Ball: Vice President and Mrs. Gore Dancing

.

They were assisted by such worthies as Mike Love of the Beach Boys and Joseph Coors.

This engendered a ton of pushback from everybody from John Denver to Frank Zappa. and, a classic from Ice T:

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Sima's picture

@enhydra lutris
I despised her. Despised. The music industry was bought out by then, I think, and the Tipper stuff was one of the first indications of how bought out it was, how much it had become owned. Maybe the Tipper crap is why this is happening... Useful Idiots point out that a professor is saying that there's genocide because young people aren't having enough sex. I could see a connection between the Tipper crap and this genocide? Right? Right? Smile Smile Smile Which is worse, raunchy songs or genocide?

Good Ice-T song. Haven't heard that in a while!

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

lotlizard's picture

@Sima  
and Joe Lieberman as V.P. — to that extent, at least, doing the American people a favor when they installed Bush the Younger as prez in 2000 … ?

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janis b's picture

@enhydra lutris

On the way home I caught a film review on the radio. It mentioned how poor the new film about Amy Winehouse is. The reviewer thought the quality was primarily sacrificed by the makers so they could ensure that her music could be used in the film. They had to satisfy the trustees who are primarily concerned with their own reputation, for example the father.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@janis b

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

soryang's picture

건강하세요, literally be healthy, is a common exhortation in South Korea that I always liked to say.

Just to keep myself occupied, I listened to a couple of older HSK one and two lectures, and probably a dozen or more short videos on conversational expressions in Mandarin. This kept me diverted from the troubles of the world for hours and hours over the past few weeks. Coincidently, I was reminded of the eastern practice among some believers of memorizing sutras as way to induce peace of mind. Don't think it matters too much what you study. I'm neither here nor there when I'm trying to learn. For laughs, I took a thirty question vocab test (which was probably promotional in nature on Yimin Chinese channel) and failed miserably. LOL.

I remember hearing Louie, louie, when I was about 14, at some school dance. I remember thinking what does that mean?

I saw the reference to Dave Marsh at the bottom of the article. He was roughly my contemporary. I know he's a rock and roll expert. He had a show on Sirius Left. He felt his expertise in the history of popular music qualified him as an expert on everything. He was insufferable. Like many radio personalities he couldn't stomach any sort of disagreement with his views. On the other hand, I liked his weekly guest Kevin Gray, a civil rights activist from SC. Gray sometimes contributed to Black Agenda Report. If Gray wasn't on Marsh's program I would shut it off. Preferred BB King's Bluesville Channel. Brought back my memories of all these XM hosts.

Mark Thomson
Lynn Samuels
Mike Feder
Glen Ford (BAR)
Bruce Dixon (BAR)
Ed Shultz

Enjoyed listening to Glen Ford, Bruce Dixon, and Mike Feder during my later years on the road.

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語必忠信 行必正直

enhydra lutris's picture

@soryang
recorder, 17 when it really took off (June birthday).

Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go
Fine little girl waits for me
Catch a ship across the sea
Sail that ship about, all alone
Never know if I make it home
Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go
Three nights and days I sail the sea
Think of girl, constantly
On that ship, I dream she's there
I smell the rose in her hair.
Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go
Okay, let's give it to 'em, right now!
See Jamaica, the moon above
It won't be long, me see me love
Take her in my arms again
Tell her I'll never leave again
Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go
Let's take it on outta here now
Let's go!

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Dawn's Meta's picture

@soryang @enhydra lutris @soryang to thank you for your excellent contributions especially in an area of the world I am woefully undereducated/informed about. Truly helpful and eye-opening lessons.

Mon mari and I saw Ed Schultz live not long before the end of his TV work and found him a passionate fighter for justice. What a guy. RIP ED.

When I was a sophomore at St. Mary's Academy in Portland, Oregon, The Kingsmen played a dance which was ok with the Sisters of The Holy Names. Don't know how it happened but it was so much fun. And we all sang Louis Louis.

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A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.

Sima's picture

@soryang
And that you for the well wishes. I have started to do the same with languages that you are doing. Learning, just because. It's a good thing to do to take one's mind away from the current crap happening, and from troubles in one's own life too. I'm about to start... gulp... Finnish. It might be almost as challenging as Chinese.

I never paid much attention to Dave Marsh, I have to admit. or XM, etc. So this is all new to me and good info to know.

Thanks for stopping by, and the comment and the music!

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

There are many who disagree with that balderdash.

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Sima's picture

@humphrey
What the heck are TPTB giving to the media to push this? Ok, money, yea. But certainly drugs too? Something like that? Blackmail? I think they just like to push the headline that Biden is close to FDR in some ways. Maybe he is 'pro-union', he stood with them for a bit before shuffling off, after all Smile .

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4 users have voted.

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

sarcastically) forces that have been trained in Israel and their tactics are obvious as they treat peaceful protesters like the Israelis treat Palestinians.

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@humphrey went to Israel, became an expert in their control tactics, and was invited by many states, and foreign countries, to spread the crowd control techniques.
Can't wait until the new sheriff swears in come January.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Sima's picture

@humphrey
Law enforcement, military, other countries' military, police... All one big thing. Maybe it always has been? I don't think so, but I don't know. I've only gotten that aware as I have gotten older.

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5 users have voted.

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

QMS's picture

-
techniques down for at least 50 years that I know of
maybe they taught the IDF originally?
Brutality is nothing new.

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usefewersyllables's picture

@QMS

everything they know from the Pinkertons...

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@QMS with a prosecutor yesterday. He has worked in at least 4 counties of varying size from Houston to Ft. Worth, and he told me our cops were the most vicious and aggressive he had ever seen. He also had some gut feeling that county officials were very intimidated by the sheriff. He said being in this county made him nervous, and he is making plans to retire early.
The cops terrorize locals. Even the mayor of the county seat has been swat teamed 3 times shortly after he told the sheriff that if the inmates kept flushing down clothing and plastics in jail commodes, the city would sent the $4,000 bill to unclog the city sewer facility to the sheriff.
People living here have a tiny taste of what Palestinians in Gaza go through.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

QMS's picture

@on the cusp
-
-
dear old dad was a district judge who didn't play well
with the prosecutors. The cops hated him and took it out
on us kids. Full court harassment. Even the local sheriff
was in on the act. So I split. Have had the radar up and
running ever since, can see the brutal enforcers coming
a country mile away. "To serve and protect" whom exactly?

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@QMS prison or dead. And so would your Dad.
Around the country, there is a lot of racial profiling, and minorities take the worst ass kickings. Here, it is everyone of every color and every age. A white grandma with a broken tail light just might get bruised up and arrested for resisting arrest. Oh, that is incorrect. That white grandma DID get bruised and arrested and charged just last week.
Serve and protect is no longer what Texas cops are sworn to do or trained to do. They are law enforcers by whatever means. They are not called peace officers. They serve their own interests, and protect themselves and other cops. Their job is to get home alive at the end of the day, and that is what they were taught at academy, and how they describe their work.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Sima's picture

@QMS
Damn. I have so much respect for your father and for you and your siblings.

up
6 users have voted.

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Sima's picture

@on the cusp
Sad because it/our country isn't supposed to be like this, and yet it is. And scary because all of us are just a step away from being ruined by cops 'doing their job'. And the corruption is everywhere and... bleh.

up
6 users have voted.

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

@Sima the potential enemy in the eyes of the cops. Call them for help, it's your fault there is a need for them.
Not the country my Dad fought for in WWII. And it noticeably started back in the 60s for us here.
I watched my Dad, 5'10" beat the shit out of a 6'4" cop who had a teenager down on the ground, pounding him, and my Dad intervened, hee hee, disarmed the cop and threw his pistol into the woods.
Hilariously, 40 years later, I attended the cop's funeral, mostly to verify he was dead, and his widow hired me to probate his will.
The circle of life.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Sima's picture

@on the cusp
n/t

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5 users have voted.

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

janis b's picture

@on the cusp

Tragically, the increasing violence noted only promotes more violence. How can it not, since it definitely works in the opposite way. In my experience choosing love only seems to multiply itself.

Thank you for your dedication to promoting the love. You too Sima, and all here who share that desire. It's wonderfully present here in this little corner of the world.

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Sima's picture

@janis b
Not War, and not violence either! I think that is definitely the way to go. Love thy neighbor, tolerate and accept thy enemy. Love the sky, the birds, the plants, the animals and the people... Something to live by, for sure.

up
6 users have voted.

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

janis b's picture

@Sima

one pill with no opposing side effects could do it ...

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janis b's picture

I'm glad you are recovering well, and your curiosity and contribution is well intact.

I thought we would have solved the tyranny of puritanical thinking by now, but apparently not.

Stay well and strong all

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Sima's picture

@janis b
Or strict group thinking, is coming back, not that it ever left, but it sure is coming back in some ways. Scary, so scary.

Have a good weekend and thank you for the good wishes!

up
6 users have voted.

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

enhydra lutris's picture

@Sima

1)

“You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men.”
― Max Beerbohm

2)

“A crowd, proportionately to its size, magnifies all that in its units pertains to the emotions, and diminishes all that in them pertains to thought.”
― Max Beerbohm

just sayin'

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Sima's picture

@enhydra lutris
Say a lot about group thinking, if there is any thinking in a large group...

up
3 users have voted.

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so