Social Media Disinformation Really Good At Putting Us On Road To Authoritarianism

So many ways Trump and the GOP are using social media to
create an authoritarian/oligarchial regime for the United States

Last fall, journalist McKay Coppins of The Atlantic, decided to try a little experiment.

He created a Facebook page, not for himself, but for an alter ego. He picked a forgettable name, and posted a profile photo that obscured his face.  He clicked "Like" on the official pages of Donald Trump and his re-election campaign.

Almost immediately the Facebook algorithms prompted him to follow Ann Coulter, Fox and fan pages with titles like "In Trump We Trust." He dutifully followed these groups.

Coppins also wrote, "I also gave my cellphone number to the Trump campaign, and joined a handful of private Facebook groups for MAGA diehards, one of which required an application that seemed designed to screen out interlopers." 

The Facebook feed that Coppins' alter ego established created a new reality of sorts. Coppins watched live, on TV, the impeachment hearings, but on the Facebook page, edited video made the same televised testimony look like an exoneration of Trump.

Pro-Trump propaganda filled the Facebook feed, "Democrats are doing Putin's bidding," "The only message these radical socialists and extremists will understand is a crushing." and so on.

The resulting Atlantic article by Coppins had this startling paragraph:

"I was surprised by the effect it had on me. I'd assumed that my skepticism and media literacy would inoculate me against such distortions. But I soon found myself reflexively questioning every headline. I wasn't that I believed Trump and his boosters were telling the truth. It was that, in this state of heightened suspicion, truth itself - about Ukraine, impeachment, or anything else - felt more and more difficult to locate. With each swipe, the notion of observable reality drifted further out of reach."

If a seasoned, savvy journalist like Coppins felt disoriented, imagine how everybody else feels against this social media onslaught.   His article opens a window on how easy social media, especially bad actors like Facebook, can much more easily allow us to slide into authoritarianism.  Ifyou think it can't happen here, think again.

To an extent, it's already happened, and the apparatus is set up to take us down the road to this evil transition.

Coppins' Atlantic article, "The Billion Dollar Disinformation Campaign To Re-Elect The President," is a long read, but something you should read, scary as it is.

This Facebook full-court press by the Trumpsters is a way of using a megaphone to drown out real truth, or as Coppins puts it, "jamming the signals, sowing confusion." Coppins said scholars call all this "censorship through noise."

Pretty much all political campaigns have their share of spin, half-truths, dog whistles and such.

Trump and his campaign take this to a whole, extremely scary new level.

A important part of this strategy is to first discredit the news media, you know, all the good, but imperfect journalists of the world who actually try to expose the truth, the real truth about everything.   Trump operatives have gone through the social media accounts belonging to hundreds of political journalists, compiling all their posts into dossiers.

Definitely sounds Putinesque, doesn't it?

When a particular news story the Trumps don't like is written by a particular journalist, they and their surrogates flood Facebook and other places with any past social media post the journalist wrote that could be spun as problematic or worse.

This isn't to combat a supposed or real liberal slant in the news media. This effort is to destroy mainstream media altogether.

We're not just talking about the tedious talking heads and columnists at national outfits like the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC and others.

They're after your local newscaster and newspaper. Coppins writes that the Trump campaign will train a "swarm of surrogates  to undermine local TV stations and newspapers. Polls have long fouond that Americans across the political spectrum trust local news more than the national media. If the campaign has its way, that trust will be eroded by November."

Meanwhile, these operatives are creating innocuous looking "news" sites like the Arizona Monitor or The Kalamazoo Times that look like traditional local publications, right down to community notices and school news and events schedules. Only very knowledgeable people, taking a close look at these "newspapers" will find no bylines and no addresses for local offices. And these "newspapers" will have plenty of sophisticated propaganda that sort of looks like news.

The Coppins article goes on about these details, and again, you really should read every word.

For Trump and his fascists minions, it's all about destroying all the the institutions that have held our democracy together for more than two centuries. They really do want to get rid of all the ideals about what makes America America.

That's why Trump is also seemingly pardoning every crooked person he can find, while at the same time punishing good citiziens and patriots.

He and his Republican toadies want to destroy the fact the United States, for all its faults, has been a beacon of freedom for the world.

This is particularly dangerous now as we seem to be at the begining of the Corornavirus pandemic. It's not officially a pandemic, but it's getting worse by the minute.  The whole world needs accurate and timely information to stay healthy, weather the economic crisis this will could bring on, and squash out rumors that could lead to civil unrest.

A lot of the citizenry of this nation seem like they think Trump and the Republicans are boffo for doing lying and trying to establish some sort of weird oligarchy.   They want to punish "the right people," i.e. anyone who is nonwhite and even remotely  liberal.

Sounds great to them.  Just wait until this new autocracy turns their powerand anger on them, for whatever reason.

A New Miracle On Ice Story

Dave Ayers, 42, helped the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Toronto
Mapleleafs during an NHL game over the weekend

This past weekend, hockey fans are celebrated the 40th anniversary of the "Miracle On Ice."

That was the moment during the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York when the United States defeated the supposedly unstoppable Soviet Union in their hockey match.

On Saturday, there was a second miracle on ice that maybe wasn't quite as dramatic as 1980, but still lots of fun.

In case you haven't heard, Saturday's moment came during a regular season NHL matchup between the Toronto Mapleleafs and Carolina Hurricanes in Toronto.

During the game, the Hurricanes' goalie was injured.  A second Hurricanes goalie entered the game, but then, he, too was injured. From there, the game wasn't finished and Hurricanes were out of goalies.

Or were they? As ESPN describes it: "Enter Dave Ayres, 42, a Zamboni driver and arena maintenanc worker for the Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies."

Ayres is also a kidney transplant recipient who has now suddenly become the oldest goalie to win his regular season debut.

Yep, that's right, the Hurricanes defeated Toronto 6-3.  The score was 3-1 in favor of Carolina when Ayers took over, so he definitely helped the team.  He stopped 8 of 10 shots during his portion of the game. Ayers was so good that Toronto fans loudly cheered him on.

Per NHL rules, Ayers will be paid $500.00 and be allowed to keep the jersey he wore. Of course, that modest payday pales in comparison to the experience.

I picture Snoopy on his Zamboni doing a little victory dance for Ayers.

So did his teammates. Ayers got a hero's welcome in the locker room after the game, as he was greeted by loud cheers and a torrent of Champagne.

By the way, t-shirts bearing Ayers' name are on demand. The Hurricanes are looking for a good kidney transplant organization to give them the proceeds.

The whole episode demonstrates how unexpected things can happen to a person. I think we all fret about disasters that might strike us, and that, unfortunately is a well-founded fear. You never know when you're going to get hit by a terrible illness, your house will burn down, you become a victim of a violent crime.

We don't think about how the opposite can happen. Lightning strikes in a fun, beautiful way. Maybe it doesn't happen as often as we like because we resist the good fortune that hits us.  After all, what if you screw it up?

Ayers had that fear.  He gave up two shots on goal when he first went out on that ice. Then a teammate told him the obvious: Don't worry about it. Just have fun. Everybody knew Ayers was not the best goalie in the world. So just go with the flow. And he did.

He relaxed, and blocked all those shots.  I guess this is a lesson to us all. When "threatened" with a shot of good fortune, or just fun, just go with the flow. Who cares if you mess up a couple shots on goal?   We all do, after all, and nobody condemns us for that.

Here's a video, which is an NHL highlight clip of Ayers' winning performance on the ice:

Monkeys Lurking To Attack Trump During Trump India Visit

HuffPost won the headline war last week with this header for a story they ran:

Who will survive Trump's trip to India? Trump himself, or hostile
rhesus monkeys. Stay tuned!

"India Doesn't Want Monkeys Attacking Trump During Taj Mahal Visit."

President Trump is indeed in India this week on a state visit, and he is scheduled to visit Taj Majal.

Officials in India naturally want the visit to go smoothly, but rhesus macaques might ruin the plan.  There's probably 600 or so monkeys living near Taj Mahal.

As HuffPost reports, "The rhesus macaques have a reputation for being very aggressive toward the 25,000 tourists who visit the Taj on a typical day."

The monkeys aren't the usual terrorist threat.  Apparently, the best way to ward them off is with slingshots. Says HuffPost:

"'We found that monkeys get scared by just seeing us brandishing these slingshots,' Brij Bhushan, head of the Taj Mahal security force, told Reuters last year.'"

Here's the problem:  Slingshots are pretty effective at discouraging lone monkeys or small groups of them. But if there's a big pack of them, slingshots don't work.

I'm quite sure there are at least a few people in the United States who would say that India should just leave the monkeys alone and let them have their way with Trump.  It probably would be fun to see how the macaques react to Trump's, um, colorful orange hair and makeup.

Social media, of course, reacted predictably and humorously to this situation.

"But why? @POTUS @realDonaldTrump surrounds himself with monkeys everyday. Why would he object to a few more," wonderedr Mike Murdock (@theMagicalMrE).

Other people made remarks like "Get him monkeys!" or "I'm Team Monkey."

Anyway, let's hope peace continues between the mercurial Trump and his equally mercurial contestants, those damn monkeys.  Trump is headed home today. I guess crisis averted?

Is An Alabama Garbage Man America's Next Big Thing In Pop Music?

Inexperienced singer Doug Kiker impressed the judges on the episode
"American Idol" that aired last week. Let's hope this
underdog does well! 

As anyone who looks at this here blog thingy knows, I'm a sucker for those talent "reality" shows in which stars are allegedly made.

I just like those surprises when people really just surprise everyone.

I got hopelessly hooked way back in 2009 at the iconic moment when Susan Boyle, an awkward appearing middle aged woman, blew everybody away with her version of "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables

I don't watch "American Idol" as much as other shows of this genre, like "The Voice" and "America's Got Talent."  But one moment in the season premier of this year's "American Idol" got my attention, and that of a lot of other people. I guess I'm attracted to these "come from nowhere" stories.

Doug Kiker of Grand Bay, Alabama is a garbage man.  Apparently, he likes to sing on the back of the truck as he's working.

"I loved music all my life, but all I could ever do was just listen to the radio. I grew up, we had little to no means, you know," he told television station WEAR in Pensacola, Florida.

He auditioned last year for "American Idol" and by his telling, he failed miserably. “I couldn't even figure out what I was gonna do, I kept trying to remember the words to the song I was gonna sing, and when it came out, it came out horribly,” he explained.

But he wanted to teach his daughter, age 2, to not give up, so he tried again. "I'm trying to show her if you put your mind to it, there's nothing you can't do."

His efforts aired on "American Idol" Sunday evening. 

So there he was, echoes of Susan Boyle. In this case, Kiker appeared on TV, a little overweight, a few teeth missing, wearing a cheap baseball cap on backwards. Star struck at judges Lionel Ritchie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, mumbled something about the three judges being beautiful. 

Kiker confessed to having no performing experience, though Bryan was impressed with the calluses on Kiker's hands.

Ritchie was horrified, in a friendly way, that Kiker didn't even know to warm up his voice before performing for the judges. So American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, he of the perfect hair and perfect teeth, led him out to show him how to warm up. 

Fifteen minutes later, Kiker was in front of the judges again.  This time, he sang briefly. It was good.  Perry was unconvinced just yet.  "Show us your range," she said. 

"I don't know what that is," Kiker said. 

So, Bryan ran over to the piano to help.  Trouble is, Bryan tried to set Kiker up with the proper key to a song.  Kiker didn't know what that was, either. 

Which made the ever-helpful Bryan start singing a line in different ranges and getting Kiker to try to do the same.  Let's just say Kiker might not have had any training as a singer, but he's apparently a quick learner. 

Bryan said, "There's so much in there," and the other two judges seemed impressed.  Ritchie told Kiker he's a hell of a man, and I can't argue that.  Perry was in tears as they passed him on to Hollywood, the next stage of the competition 

"You just stay who you are and you're going to go so far," Perry told him.

Of course, it's too soon to know what will happen to Kiker.  He's in for a wild ride. Will be continue to learn and grow?  Will the pressure crush him or energize him?  I guess we'll have to find out.

These rags to riches stories are always more complicated than the reality shows make them out to be. But like almost all viewers, I wish him the best of luck.  

Meanwhile, The Voice in the United States has its season premier next week.  Like I said, I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. I'll be watching. 

Here's the video:

Trump's Border Wall Is Easy To Climb Over, But Of Course

Screenshot from a video showing people easily climbing up and
over Trump's vaunted  Border Wall

There's a viral video out from earlier this year of a couple guys from Mexico easily scaling and hopping over Trump's border wall.

As we all know, he's been harping on this border wall since he announced his candidacy for president.

He said he'd build an inpenetrable wall to keep those horrible Mexicans out and Mexico would pay for it, and we'd all live in his white supremacists nirvana in which we wouldn't have to see all those icky brown and black and people of color types.

Or something like that.

Trump's a showman, of course. You know, Barnum and Bailey.  He's cult followers swallow everything he says hook, line and sinker, but nothing he does is rooted in reality.

Like the product of most shysters, the finished product isn't as spectacular as advertised.  Predictably, we're learning that it's easy as pie to climb over the wall and crawl under it.  And little more than a puff of wind can bring it down.

Remember how Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall? I haven't heard that talking point in awhile. Seems the people who run Mexico aren't stupid, and they'll just let Trump dig his own hole with that one. Plus, I imagine Mexicans don't want to be involved with anything this flimsy and worthless.

Early reviews are not good at all.

Prototypes of this wall have popped up in the media.

Mother Jones, and a lot of other media outlets, quoted Trump a few months ago saying the following:

"That's why, he said, he'd hired a team of 20 'world-class mountain climbers' to test the various wall prototypes. 'Some of them were champions. And we gave them different prototypes of walls, ad this was one that was hardest to climb. And we've all seen the pictures of young people climbing walls with drugs on their back - a lot of drugs. I mean, they're unbelievable climbers.This wall can't be climbed This is very, very hard.'""

The first hint that the wall was pretty lame was the viral videos that went out showing people climbing right over the damn wall. For instance, there's this one. Below the video in this post, I'll get into more. It gets worse, as you might imagine.

Almost looks like I could handle going over the wall and I'm an out of shape middle aged guy, so there's that:



People who aren't in terrific shape might need help getting over the wall. A ladder might help. Would a ladder help people get over this supposedly inpenetrabe barrier?

Well, of course!

As Raw Story and numerous other media outlets tell us, a cheap $5.00 ladder will get you over this barrier. Plus, this inexpensive ladders made of rebar  kind of blends in with the wall, so you don't easily see it.

Here's reporting from the Independent:

"The rebar ladders began appearing in large numbers once construction of a replacement wall in El Paso was finished last May. According to Border Patrol, illegal crossings have increased ever since.

'We're starting to see a lot of evading activity,' said Agent Ramiro Cordero. 'We're starting to see criminal organizations working hand-to-hand on either side to avoid detetion. More and more we are seeing failure to yields - they are utilizing ladders to go over the fence and diversionary tactics."

Still can't get past the wall even with that cheap $5 ladder? Well, we'll let either Mother Nature or the Border Patrol itself open up passageways for you.

Last month, wind gusts of just 37 mph pushed over a section of the wall in California.  To be fair, the concrete footing holding it up hadn't set yet, but still.

Also, it turns out the Border Patrol will let you right in, if you try to cross at the right time of year. In the late summer in the Desert Southwest, where the wall is, monsoon season comes annually.  This weather pattern causes short-lived but intense thunderstorms that cause flash flooding. Each local flash flood lasts no more than a few hours. At most.

According to the Washington Post and other news outlets, debris from the flash floods would stack up against the wall, eventually knocking sections of it over.  So gates in the lower portions of the wall need to be raised at the onset of monsoon season so that the debris can pass through, leaving the wall undamaged.

It's too big an area to monitor, so these gates are unmanned and are left open through the monsoon season.  Since the flash floods last only a fraction of the time, people can just march right on through those raised gates, as long as it's not raining enough to cause a flash flood. Which is basically most of the time in late summer.

I dunno. Maybe Trump would have been better off if he just planted a big row of cactus along the border or something.

Televangelist Didn't Think This Scammy Money Beg Through

Rich scammer Paula White wants you to not pay your electric bills, and
instead give that money to her.  

Paula White, one of the most prominent scamevantelists televangelists recently had a money beg that I'm sure she didn't quite think through.

According to Alternet.org quoting Mother Jones, White, leader of her Florida-based (of course!) Supernatural Ministry School (Yes! That's the name!) said her followers could secure God's favor by sending her church as much money as possible.

That includes not bothering to pay their electric bills and send money earmarked for the utilities to her instead.  

She especially urged her followers who pay their monthly electric bills to Florida Power and Light (FPL, as it's known in the Sunshine State) to give it to her church instead. Why? Because if they don't, they're treating the utility better than they treat God, reports Alternet.org.

"Instead of writing (that check) to the house of God as I'm instructed to, then what I'm saying spiritually is, 'FPL, I hae now established a spiritual law that put ou first,' White explained to her flock. 'So, FPL, save my family, FPL, deliver my drug addicted son. FPL, kill this cancer that doctors say is in my body.'"

There is a lot of things to unpack here. First of all, I'm unaware of Florida Power and Light ever promising to eradicate drug addiction or cure cancer. I checked their press releases and didn't find any of those claims.

Like most utilities in America, all FPL promises is they'll keep providing electrical service to your house as long as you pay your monthly bill. It's pretty simple, really.

I'm also going to put my often-used Captain Obvious hat on here. A lot of White's followers keep up with her by watching TV or listening to her online.  That becomes a lot more difficult for people whose electricity is cut off because they didn't pay their bills.

White is one of the leading scammers in a very scammy "faith" called the "Prosperity Gospel."

According to Dictionary.com, Prosperity Gospel is "a modern version or according to some, perversion of the gospel according to which the full blessings of God available to those who approach Him in faith and obedience include wealth, health and power."

The more blunt and obvious definition of this is, Prosperity Gospel is a scam in which charismatic shysters tell you to give them boatloads of cash and if you do, God will shower you with money, tacky swag and an ugly McMansion somewhere in suburban Birmingham, Alabama,  Or something like that.

Yes, yes, I know that's a perversion of real Christianity. But people fall for it. There's a sucker born every minute.  Including Donald Trump, who's probably in on the scam, since he's in on a lot of scams. I say this because Trump has declared Paula White one of his spiritual advisors.

As Mother Jones points out, both Trump and White are "twice-divorced, with a history of marital infidelities and bankruptcy, but possessing remarkable TV savvy."

Paula White is a piece of work, anyway, as I'm sure you've gathered. You have to hand it to her, she does hustle to make some good income from the gullible.

As Christian Post reported nearly four years ago, White began selling "Resurrection Seeds" that would give you eternal life for the low, low price of $1,144.

But wait! There's more!

Back in 2019, White demanded that her followers give her their January salary, reports Newsweek.  I imagine that most of her gullible followers aren't rich.  That's why they follow the "Prosperity Gospel."  They're sick of being poor and out of desperation they see this as their ticket.

It does seem White is getting very rich off her scams. She's been the subject of two Congressional investigations into her doings, but so far, there's been no action.

Of course, everything and everybody Trump touches dies, so we'll see what her future brings. While her most ardent followers sit in the dark and wait, having not paid their electric bill.

Like Clockwork, Randy Rainbow Gives Us A New Video Today: "No Rules"

To brighen your Tuesday, Randy Rainbow has dropped
another great video.  Dance to "No Rules For Donald"

Any week is good when Randy Rainbow drops a new video, which I always report here. And we got a hot new one today called "No Rules For Donald."  

As usual, he starts with a news interview this time with U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr. Rainbow and Barr must be on a first name basis, since Rainbow calls him "Roseanne."

But anway, once we get into the song, which is based on Dua Lipa's hit "New Rules," we get into all of Trump's GOP enablers.

Other than the fact that I will never unsee that brief glimpse of Devin Nunes in ruby red lipstick, this is another video to brighten hour dystopian, gloomy February day. Watch and enjoy!

The Perfect Valentine's Day Gift For Your Ex

The San Antonio Zoo has a perfect antidote to Valentine's Day,
especially you have a particularly loathesome ex.

There's two holidays on the yearly calendar that I'm so, SO not into.

One of them is Christmas, the other is Valentine's Day.

Since Valentine's Day is coming up tomorrow we'll focus on that.

It's a stupid holiday.  If you love somebody, you don't need a specific date on the calendar to tell somebody that fact.

I tell my husband every day that I love him. And I will inform him on Valentine's Day that I love him, but I'm sure he won't be especially surprised by that news.

Valentine's Day also sucks for people who are unlucky in love.  It's the marketing, advertising campaigns again that is really meant to make you feel terrible, and thus buy something to soothe your sad soul.

At Christmas, you're supposed to be insanely cheerful, according to society, even though societal pressure also makes you miserable during that holiday.

On Valentine's Day, you're supposed to be in a perfect relationship, and if you're not, you're a scumbag. Obviously, if you are not in a big romantic relationship at the moment, there are tons of likely reasons why.  Probably none of those reasons are your fault.

But  the evil perveyors of Valentine's Day struggle mightily to guilt you because you don't happen to be in a blissful romance on a random date, namely February 14.  But there's one lovely antidote for people who hate Valentine's Day and hate a particular ex.

According to People magazine and numerous other media outlets, the San Antonio, Texas zoo is doing this:

"For those interested in embracing the less romantic side of the holiday, the zoo is hosting a special event in which spurned lovers can name cockroaches or rats after their exes, and watch them get fed to zoo animals."

The San Antonio Zoo event is called "Cry Me A Cockroach" and will be livestreamed for all to watch on Valentine's Day.  In that livestream, we can watch cockroaches and pre-frozen rats get fed to the zoo's reptiles.

Gosh, watching that livestream sounds like such a romantic way to spend Valentine's Day with your honey, doesn't it?

People magazine tells us that cockroaches would cost you $5 to name, and the rats, $25.   You must really hate your ex if you're willing to spend $25 on a rat named after said ex so it can be fed to another animal.  In that case, you really need to get over it.

By the way, only first names are allowed. You can't fully identify your bad ex with first and last names in this "Cry Me A Cockroach" promotion.

If you're interested, click on this link to get more info and sign up for Cry Me A Cockroach.

Somewhat unrelated, but if you were just dumped by your honey, you feel crappy.  But to me, the folowing song and video is a salve you can tune into any time you feel especially bad about the breakup.  Guaranteed you'll feel better:

"Bad" Songs Actually Being Great In Right Hands. Examples Abound

This uniquely styled French woman named Nathalia performed
the campy song "YMCA" the France's version of "The Voice"
and turned the song into a sexy tour de force. 

Sometimes, over the years, a song becomes a big radio hit and I wonder why.

The tune in question often seems, at least to me,  lame, annoying, unoriginal.  The song gets inexplicably stuck in my head, and my mood sours for the entire day.

I've learned, though, that some of these "awful" hit records are hits because they are actually well-crafted songs. It's just that the rock or pop star that recorded the song didn't get it quite right. At least in my opinion.

That could be why these songs get stuck in my head - the classic earworm.  At some level, the public gets that these songs are somehow good, and they latch on. These songs become big hits. And earworms. For a reason.

I'm a big fan of those talent shows like "The Voice" that's broadcast all over the world and "(Insert Nation Here)'s Got Talent." Contestants often play around with these popular songs. They change the tempo, or the pitch or they strip the tune down to the bare essentials.

That's when I understand these "terrible" pop songs are actually quite good. Which is why I encourage people to give these music reality shows, and these different versions of "bad" songs a chance.  I've got a few examples that you should watch and listen to.

In 2016, Jasmine Elcock, then 14, went on Britain's Got Talent and performed the Cher song "Believe."

Elcock was smart enough to slow the song way down, strip away the Auto-Tune. the dance track and all the bells and whistles and reveal "Believe" for what it is: A beautiful, introspective and heartbreaking song. Elcock even had the judges and stage hands in tears. Watch and listen:



Then we have that Britney Spears song, "Oops, I Did It Again," another lightweight, fluffy song

In Germany's version of "The Voice," back in 2016, Vera Tevares turns what felt to me in Spears' version like a cold, manufactured pop song into something truly sexy. She also ditched the Auto-Tune in Spears' rendition. What is it with this awful Auto-Tune anyway?  It doesn't improve things. Watch and listen to this much better version.



Speaking of sexing things up, we should turn to a woman named Nathalia, who appeared on the French version of The Voice back in 2017.

She sang, of all things, the Village People classic, "YMCA."

Yeah, the Village People song is fun and campy, a staple of every bad wedding reception you've ever attended.

Nathalie combined a jazzy vibe, that sexiness and a wonderful vocal range to wow the judges and the audience with this song. This is my favorite video in this post. By far.  Watch and listen:



I kind of like, but don't love this next song, "Highway To Hell," originally done by AC DC.  The song has become kind of a cliche, frankly. And the performer who sang this on 2018's Britain's Got Talent didn't really change it up all that much, as in the performances above.

But considering it came from Jennie Darren, a nice, demure 68-year old Britsh retiree, it makes it totally fun and new and refreshing. Be patient at the beginning of the video, and you will be rewareded. It turns into proof that as I advance into old age, there's hope for a rock and roll life yet:



I'll conclude with a song I actually truly, really, love, pretty much whoever performs it.  "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen has been done many, many times by contestents on talent shows around the world.

Most of the contestants use the song to showcase their range, their pipes, their belting out songs, like this stunning performance by Emmanuel Smith on Britain's The Voice 2019.

In 2018, Mennel Ibtisse took a completely different tack with the song.  She remained seated, and did a subdued, but absolutely gorgeous version of "Hallelujah." It will move you to tears:



So yeah, go on line and look for versions of songs you don't really like.  You'll be surprised and rewarded.

A Goat And A Dog Are Mayoral Candidates In Vermont, But Not As Strange As It Seems

Sammy the dog is campaigning to unseat Lincoln the
goat as mayor of Fair Haven, Vermont

The Town Meeting ballot in Fair Haven, Vermont has a really hot issue on its hands.

Should residents re-elect the incumbent mayor, a Nubian goat named Lincoln, or should they oust the mayor in favor of Lincoln's opponent Sammy, a town police dog.  

Yeah, everybody across the nation is laughing at this news. After all, as a lifelong resident (so far!) of Vermont, I know it's a quirky place. We even have lots of bumper stickers that say "Keep Vermont Weird."

The whole thing is fun, but it's a lot more wholesome and meaningful than it seems.

Fair Haven doesn't have a real mayor, like many cities do. In Vermont, the town of Fair Haven has a panel called a Selectboard, which makes the decisions for the community. Selectboards are basically City Councils in communities that are too small to be actual cities.

The closest thing Fair Haven has to a real mayor is a town manager. Again, many Vermont towns, including Fair Haven, have town managers that carry out the policies that the selectboard puts forth.

By the way, I referred to a Town Meeting is Vermont's version of an annual election. Residents gather to discuss the issue. Then they either do voice votes from the meeting room, or they go to the ballot box to vote.

I just needed to give those of you who are not familiar with Vermont this Green Mountain State civics lesson so you understand the background as to what's going on.

All this isn't to say the Lincoln the Goat vs. Sammy the dog mayoral race in Fair Haven isn't important. It definitely is.

That town manager I referred to, in Fair Haven named Joe Gunter said this about Mayor Lincoln who was first elected to a one-year term last year:

"Originally, we did it as a fundraiser to replace the playground behind the school, but it really turned into a small civic lesson for children. 'Come out and vote. Get involved in the town.'"

This year, children, and everybody else in Fair Haven now have a model political fight on their hands. It's a continued civics lesson for the community.  Without the pain of the usual partisan idiocy and pain.   This idea should spread.

That's not to say there's no political salesmanship involved in the Lincoln Vs. Sammy election.

Sammy's political spokesman, Fair Haven Police Chief Bill Humphries, offered this defense of his candidate, as the Burlington Free Press reports:

"Sammy has promised to release her tax returns and recuse herself from all police business that might come before the town to avoid any conflicts of interest....Humphries has also tried to soothe the concerns of Fair Haven's feline population, which has a long history of hostile relations with canine police officers."

The Burlington Free Press continues:

"Sammy touted her achievements, such as tracking down missing persons, uncovering thousands of dollars of ill-gotten cash during a suspected drug trafficking stop, and serving as the school resourse officer for a time."

Lincoln the incumbent goat mayor has her own record of accomplishments. She did raise the $3,200 needed or the playground equipment, after all.  Lincoln's campaign manager, Chris Stanton wants Fair Haven voters to ask themselves, 'Under Mayor Lincoln, am I better off today than I was a year ago.?"

It will be fun to see the outcome of this election. More fun than the usual political drudgery we're used to.