Covers: Oh What a Thrill

“Oh What a Thrill” is an obscure 1979 Chuck Berry song lovingly covered by Rockpile in 1980. I’d much rather hear a song like this than another version of “Johnny B Goode” or “Roll Over Beethoven”.

Rocking in Finland

Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers

Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers was a four-song EP originally released with The 1980 Rockpile album Seconds of Pleasure. These are four fine songs performed with affection. I am especially fond of “Poor Jenny”.

Biden agenda is popular

President Biden proposed a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure plan to be spent on roads, bridges and trains, internet access, power grid improvements, and clean energy projects …

Support 65%
Oppose 31%

(Monmouth U. Poll, 11/4-8/21)

1/2
— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) November 10, 2021

New Poll: Americans Approve of Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill By 23 Points https://t.co/Tny6HPagLV via @mediaite
— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) November 10, 2021

.@MaddowBlog: Americans support President Biden's Build Back Better agenda. Democrats will not benefit from abandoning their own popular plans. https://t.co/WV5XDts4o4
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 10, 2021

Republican perception of crime is way up since Biden became president

They’te not into facts.

This is not a graph of "crime perceptions differ by party"; it's a graph of "Republican perceptions change overnight based on party of president while Dem perceptions stay the same." https://t.co/sDwLA57N8Y
— Jonathan Bernstein (@jbview) November 10, 2021

Kareen Abdul-Jabbar criticizes Aaron Rodgers on TV

Abdul-Jabbar is brilliant and correct.

"What Colin Kaepernick did was make a peaceful protest at the beginning of an NFL game. He did not endanger anyone's life," Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says.

"What Aaron Rodgers has done is totally beyond the pale … It's shameful what he did." pic.twitter.com/vzaYn3Sf9p
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 9, 2021

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says there’s “a double standard” when it comes to Aaron Rodgers and Colin Kaepernick:

“His lack of responsibility … shows a lack of moral character that can’t be ignored.” pic.twitter.com/DBWD60iSFx
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2021

Aaron Rodgers didn’t just lie he also damaged professional sports https://t.co/dcqdEPIpDo
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) November 8, 2021

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s college record at UCLA:

National Championships: 3

Losses: 2 pic.twitter.com/zyDzsJzjlX
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) November 27, 2022

Right-wing Covid misinformation

The only conspiracy theory for which more Republicans knew the claim to be false than said it was true or were unsure: the idea that the vaccines include microchips.

False: 40%
True: 7%
Have heard, but unsure: 21%
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 8, 2021

The info landscape about Covid-19 is bewildering, with factual and fictional claims competing for attention. And most American adults have heard at least a couple of the fictions, according to new data from @KFF https://t.co/uvuhUAr27r
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 9, 2021

NEW: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy releases a step-by-step toolkit to help people combat misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines in their own close circles. https://t.co/nUk916cNb2
— ABC News (@ABC) November 9, 2021

COVID-19 Misinformation is Ubiquitous: 78% of the Public Believes or is Unsure About At Least One False Statement, and Nearly a Third Believe At Least Four of Eight False Statements Tested https://t.co/kD9tWI8GKZ
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) November 9, 2021

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla calls out people who spread vaccine misinformation:

“Those people are criminals … they literally costed millions of lives.” pic.twitter.com/4i4QJ847Le
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2021

With the approval of the Pfizer Covid vaccine for children, @Kavitapmd debunks widespread myths about the vaccine. https://t.co/pEzEGZRJ0H
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 8, 2021

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, in an interview with the Atlantic Council, said a “very small” group has been responsible for spreading coronavirus vaccine disinformation to the millions who remain hesitant about vaccination https://t.co/Qc1GfO5tEa
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 9, 2021

The researchers found that "between a fifth and a quarter of the public believe or are unsure whether the vaccines can give you COVID-19 (25%), contain a microchip (24%), or can change your DNA (21%)."https://t.co/tyVaNIus54
— CNN (@CNN) November 9, 2021

Donors support Republicans who voted for the insurrection

Good news for the GOP. Its donors aren’t bothered by its complicity in sedition, insurrection, and authoritarianism. Bad news for the country though. https://t.co/Kd8rfO9Gau
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) November 10, 2021

A few old ones I forgot to post. Legum does a great job.

UPDATE: After 1/6, the Koch political network said: "Lawmakers’ actions leading up to and during last week’s insurrection will weigh heavy in our evaluation of future support"
@KochIndustries, run by the same person, Charles Koch, donated 10K to @SenJohnKennedy on 4/9
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 20, 2021

BREAKING

After 1/6, @Ford said it would review its political contribution criteria in light of the violence

On 4/28, @Ford donated $2500 to @kevinomccarthy, who voted to overturn the election on January 6
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 19, 2021

Gerymandering in Utah

Voters wanted a non-partisan commission. The Republicans ignored their wishes.

Utah’s @GovCox says he won’t veto aggressive GOP gerrymander bc if voters want to stop this they can vote accordingly.

Utahns voted for redistricting reform in a referendum!

that lawmakers then gutted before gerrymandering!

lawmakers who’re gerrymandering their own districts! https://t.co/pugpZ7RInK
— Taniel (@Taniel) November 10, 2021

Takes a lot of chutzpah to tell voters upset about gerrymandering to vote their way out of it when Utahns voted for an independent redistricting commission in 2018 and then the state legislature just junked it via statue a year later. https://t.co/g89nQqmV0M
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) November 10, 2021

🚨ALERT: Utah Republicans approve gerrymandered congressional map that further cements Republican power in the state and cracks Salt Lake County into 4 different districts, ignoring the recommendations of the new independent redistricting commission. https://t.co/AJIjXdfh9Z
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) November 10, 2021

A campaign for a voter ballot measure to repeal gerrymandered maps forming in Utah. #fairmaps https://t.co/mZHIeCtLWU
— Michael Li 李之樸 (@mcpli) November 10, 2021

POLITICIANS CHOOSING VOTERS—Look at this crap… Utah has now cut its biggest city into 4 different congressional districts—for no reason other than to maintain 100% GOP power with 4Republican-0Democrat seats in Congress. Gerrymandering is so corrupt. #gerrymandering pic.twitter.com/gyMY7neMTZ
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 7, 2021

I'm highly disappointed by the Utah legislature's decision today to gerrymander our congressional districts to prevent fair competition in our state. Gerrymandering destroys government accountability and fuels extremism. I urge Gov @SpencerJCox to veto. https://t.co/uAJtlnBcpN
— Evan McMullin 🇺🇸 (@EvanMcMullin) November 10, 2021

More on Big Bird and vaccinations

In the tradition of right-wing conspiracy theories on Mr. Potato Head and Dr. Seuss.

Satire: Big Bird getting a vaccine (he’s a 6-year-old! He ought to get a vaccine now!) is not communism or government propaganda. This is what it would look like if Big Bird were government propaganda: https://t.co/eAuL9znkIE
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 9, 2021

BREAKING: Big Bird is taken into custody after beating the living shit out of Aarron Rodgers for spreading misinformation about Ivermectin and COVID vaccinations. pic.twitter.com/M4f3kjAVG3
— Paul Lee Teeks (@PaulLeeTeeks) November 7, 2021

Big Bird — who is, apparently, just six years old, was one — was persuaded to get vaccinated after listening to Hill and Dr. Gupta. The experts explained to Big Bird how the vaccine helps build up your body’s defenses, should it ever meet any “COVID germs” https://t.co/rR1xrUGQ7h
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) November 8, 2021

More Than 2 Million People Have Watched This Video Clip of Big Bird Getting Vaccinated…From 1972 https://t.co/iebgjF5ksp
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) November 8, 2021

Biden replies to Big Bird. pic.twitter.com/EpqAtGolLN
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) November 8, 2021

They’re mad at big bird lol pic.twitter.com/S1ToEN5oEc
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) November 6, 2021

BIG BIRD – BIG THREAD pic.twitter.com/cJ77adtIb5
— Francesco Francavilla (@f_francavilla) November 9, 2021

Big Bird got his Pfizer shot, and conservatives are calling it vaccine "propaganda" https://t.co/84dfVx3B58
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 9, 2021

Jimmy Kimmel: “It’s interesting because not only is @TedCruz vaccinated himself—Ted Cruz was born with an immunity that protects him from contracting any friends.” https://t.co/1BPpTh0Kjs
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) November 9, 2021

Big Bird is kind, compassionate, empathetic, loving, adored, and vaccinated. Ted Cruz is . . . vaccinated.
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) November 8, 2021

Not really sure why Big Bird is always getting attacked for being a communist. Republicans went after him in the 1990s and again in 2012. No one ever seems to notice that Elmo is actually … red.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) November 9, 2021

This is a movement. Join us and let's fly Ted Cruz out of Texas. pic.twitter.com/Mrdebb6f6y
— Big Bird for Senate (Parody) (@SenatorBigBird) November 9, 2021

Milos Forman’s Taking Off

Taking Off (1971) was Milos Forman’s first American film. It has never been released on a US DVD or Blu-ray. I saw it almost 50 years ago and recommend it.

From Milosforman.com

you must see Taking Off, if only for the appearance by Kathy Bates when she was still billing herself as "Bobo" https://t.co/64YwYsXF7Z
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) November 9, 2021

On Miloš Forman’s birthday, read how the late Czechoslovak New Wave master crafted films mixed with deep compassion and an antiauthoritarian spirit. 🎥 🖤 https://t.co/1uK2LeGgIb

On @criterionchannl, you can watch Forman's LOVES OF A BLONDE, THE FIREMAN'S BALL, and more!
— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) February 18, 2022