I have been blogging online since before there were blogs. I continue blogging from time to time on various subjects here and as much of my past blogging as I've been able to recover is found here as well.
Alabama and Idaho want to prosecute women who obtain abortions in other states. I explain how that sounds a bit like the case of Dred Scott, the Black man who escaped his enslavement and moved to a free state, only to be returned by a Supreme Court that declared him property.
We hear a lot from Republicans about Making America Great Again, but never in comparison to what? I take a look at a few key statistics of greatness—life expectancy, infant mortality, suicide, income inequality, and poverty—as measured by the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) for 37 first-world capitalist democracies.
Of course! It’s all the gubmint’s fault for handing out free formula and diapers to those poor single moms! Yeah, WIC checks and food stamps, that’s why those men are sticking their unprotected baby maker in those young fertile wombs and then abandoning their parental responsibility.
Summer’s almost over and this week the Reaper has brings us some oldies, some soul, and some metal from America; pop music from Canada, Belgium, and Slovakia; and traditional music from Italy, Argentina, and Iran.
This week the Reaper has chosen an eclectic lineup from Australia, Belgium, India, Greece, Italy, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden, and France, sandwiched between American artists to open and close the show.
This week, the leader of The Band has passed, the keyboardist for The Kinks has crossed over, and the DJ behind the Cha Cha Slide has up and died. We’ve also got a pioneer in psychedelic rock, a forgotten singer/songwriter with a miraculous second act, and musicians from around the world.
This week we go on a Big Adventure, with musicians from Belgium, Italy, Greece, Kenya, Brazil, Sudan, France, and Romania. We also feature Americans who span the genres of soul, jazz, and death metal. And this week, the Reaper took a little piece of our childhood in our Headliner, actor Paul Reubens, [“I know you are but what am I”], who played the adorable Pee-wee Herman.
On today’s Main Stage, we feature three artists from the United States, including the bass player from Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, and American dance DJ, and one of the founding members of the rock band Journey. Then on the Festival Stage, we bring you a trio of bossa nova and jazz performers from Brazil. Coming up on the International Stage, two singers from England and a Punjabi singer from India. And of course our Headliner today is Irish pop superstar Sinéad O’Connor.
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, July 21st, 2023, and this week the Grim Reaper has taken from us one of the all-time greats, twenty-time Grammy winner, the last of the great pre-Rock’n’Roll crooners, Mr. Anthony Dominick Benedetto, known to billions worldwide as Tony Bennett. This week’s show is dedicated exclusively to Mr. Bennett, as the Reaper and I take you through the highlights of the career of a singer who has been on the charts in every one of the last eight decades.