Chamblee54

Is Annette Kesting her own promoter?
Ms. Kesting is the first African American elected to the Cobb County Board of Commissioners. She came into the news recently as reports emerged about a speech she gave in a church. I suspect she was the one bringing this speech to the attention of the press.
In her February 17 speech at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, she said some things.

“I love my enemies. I pray every day with my enemies because I have to go up on the third floor and work with white women,” “”You would be amazed seeing the people I work with at the county. They are not Christian people”

A few years ago, my representative in the State Legislature was a lady named Cathy Steinberg. During a heated moment on the floor, one of the other legislators described her as

“An acknowledged non christian”

I don’t think it as intended as a compliment in either case.
Back to Ms. Kesting. After the speech got some attention, some comments were made about Ms. Kesting’s problems with taxes and her performance as a landlady. For the most part, after her fifteen minutes were over, most observers went back to the death and taxes realities of everyday life, and forgot about the commission lady.
At this point, Ms. Kesting had a press conference. Why, you might ask, did she hold a press conference when most people had forgotten about her? That may be a question which provides its own answer.
The press conference is a hoot. Neal Boortz put a link to the video at his website, and crashed the server that was carrying the link.
The MDJ link requires a flash player, which not everybody has on his or her computer. Not to worry, there is now the Annette Kesting you tube channel.
Yes, the same press conference is available on youtube, apparently placed there by Annette Kesting. This is a different video from the MDJ, and the camera operator apparently did not use a tripod. Do not watch this with a full stomach.
The video is not complimentary to Ms.Kesting. She gives the impression of being a poorly educated woman. One wonders why she is going to this much trouble to let people see her behaving in a foolish manner.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Kesting- Keating, Questing, Jesting, Besting, Testing, Casting, Resting, Nesting, Vesting, Kissing

The APWBWGTTD website is back. YAYYYY!
The unwieldy acronym is Atlanta People with Blogs who get together to Drink.
This refers to the eponymous event, where the Bloggers (and anyone else who cares to join) meet at a local facility and contribute to the prosperity of a server.
I have only been to one of these. It was last September, in a Barbeque jernt near little five points. The crowd is a good bit younger and more hetero than this reporter, but they didn’t seem to mind my hanging in the shadows and listening.
There was a gathering at the Rusty Nail on Buford Hiway, but I had a headache that night I didn’t feel up to it.
There are lots of people who added to the old site, who I suspect never made it to an in person get together. I think that is common for these computer groups that attempt meeting in public. A lot of people just get along better with a keyboard/mouse than a real human being. The technology that was supposed to connect is frequently having the opposite effect.
The old site was a delight, and the new site shows every sign of being the same. The latest post from a collection of (mostly) local blogs is added to the brew, in the order that the feed arrives. This can cause some amusing arrangements. My first post of 2008 was about a college in North Michigan who annually presents a list of words that are overused and tacky. I was stumped for something to say, and printed this unbearably trivial item to break the block. The next post was a lady modeling a ring, as a way of announcing her engagement.
APWB…as the shortcut is abbreviated…allows me to follow a collection of local blogs with one click. MP3 downloads, political rants, the adventures of a mother with very young children were regular features. It was a daily stop before, and probably will be again.
I hope this is a technicality, but I am a retired drunk. I try not to be obnoxious about it (this post notwithstanding), but I have found that life without alcohol is a lot simpler. I would hope that this is not a serious issue, but if it is then so be it.

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothings replaced them…And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.
“And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Unless you live under Iraq a rock, or have right wing ideas on permanent brain block, you have heard about that comment from BHO. Quite possibly, you have heard more than you appreciate, unless you are looking for a reason not to like BHO, unless you haven’t heard enough. Well, if you are in the first category, just scroll through the text and enjoy the pictures. If you are in the second group, you might not like what I am going to say. You can still like the pictures.
1- This was a secretly recorded speech made at a fundraiser. The fatcat party was in San Francisco, a factoid that delights the hate-O crowd. What sort of person donates to a campaign ( using possibly another person’s money), so he can go to the pig party and secretly record his comments? And then take the “snippet” and release it to the shocked internet.
2- My first reaction when I read this was that the smalltown folk have felt that way for a long long time. They loved guns and Jesus back when the factories and steelmills were wide open.
3- It is not just small town Pennsylvania that is “bitter”. ( Folks seem to have a special problem with the word bitter. One “consultant” was quoted as saying it would have been better if BHO had said frustrated.) ( I write this in Georgia, where the tea is sweet and the people are bitter) What about the guys that did a high five behind Jeremiah Wright when he screamed “G-d Damn America”? If anyone has a right to be bitter, it is the folks on the south side of Chicago, or any ghetto in America. And yes, they do cling to Jesus and Guns, as well as other nasty things.
4- It is not just America that is bitter and turning to religion. The people of Palestine and Iraq are in the same boat. They feel like forces are working against them, and they just might be right. They are turning to religion and violence as an answer to their anguish. They are being led down that wretched path by cynical clerics who exploit their unhappiness, and offer a solution through G-d. Of course these clerics seldom strap on a suicide vest, just like Jeremiah Wright does not live in a housing project.
5- This is not going to hurt BHO that much. The people who are upset are not going to support him anyway. A lot of people see the truth in what he says, and just might appreciate the fact that he was unslick enough to say something with a rough edge. He just might have known that Judas with a tape recorder was in the house.
6- Batter Better Bitter Botter Butter. The only vowel that doesn’t work in that progression is O.

Once again, when I don’t have anything to say, there is an online quiz. Today, the subject is “What year do you belong in”?
Thanks to Homo Sweet Alabama and Shirley Heezgay for steering me onto this. When there is a contest for best blog name… the current titleholder is “Glitter for Brains“… you will both be considered.
HSA belongs in 1950, and SH should stay in 1988.
Since I have the time and inclination, I am going to repeat the quiz here, with my comments following.

 
 


What TV show are you most likely to veg out to? Family Ties, I Love Lucy, Mork & Mindy, The Brady Bunch, 90210

The only one of the five I have ever seen is I Love Lucy.

When you think of a classically beautiful woman, you would have to choose: Marilyn Monroe, Cheryl Tiegs, Cindy Crawford, Twiggy, Christy Brinkley

The only one I can see in my mind is Marilyn. On the blogthings home page, there is a picture of Albert Einstein. Mr. E was a boyfriend of Miss Monroe, according to Shelly Winters.

And the coolest guy: Dennis Hopper, John Travolta, Cary Grant, Brad Pitt, David Hasselhoff

You wind up going for the least offensive selection a lot in this quiz. I picked Dennis Hopper, and try to ignore “Blue Velvet”.

What is your pet cause? Fair Trade, Women’s rights, the environment, Peace, Hygiene

Hygiene? I once took a friend to a party, and was reprimanded by the host about his body odor.
As someone who came of age during Vietnam I would say Peace, even though I was late for that party.

Favorite Movie: The Godfather, Casablanca, Say Anything, The Graduate, Forrest Gump

I picked Casablanca. I am shocked, simply shocked, that a manipulative piece of drivel like Forrest Gump is on the list. I only saw part of The Godfather and The Graduate, although Dustin and Mrs. Robinson is on my yardsale video shelf, and I have every intention of seeing it. I have no idea what Say Anything is about.

What type of music do you prefer?: Swing, Alternative, Pop, Oldies, Classic Rock

This is another fuzzy choice. I am not sure what Alternative is, so I picked it. It sounds like something that Fundies would not like.

What’s your ideal first date?: Hanging out at the lastest dance club, all dressed up, skipping the date and going straight to the hookup, dinner and a movie-dutch, taking off to a rock festival, sharing a milkshake and fries at a diner.

I think that is a typo in the first choice. As out of it as I am, lastest may be the hip compliment of choice.
I opt for going DIRECTLY to the hook up.

You’re cruising down the coastal highway…what car are you driving? A bitchin’ Camaro, A classic Caddy, A convertible BMW, A new model VW Beetle, A sweet cherry red Mustang

Good Grief. Just as long as it doesn’t break down on the south side of town. I chose the Camaro, but pass on “bitchin'” as a modifier. It is rather unfair to mama dogs.

What is your favorite comfort food? Meatloaf, Pop Tarts, Mac N Cheese, Red Bull and Vodka, Fondue

I go through phases of missing mom. Bad. She made the best Meatloaf, and it has been 1988 since I ate any. I had knee surgery, and spent a couple of days at the house recovering. She made this meatloaf, which used dried onion soup.

Finally, how was this quiz? All that and a bag of chips, what a trip!, awesome, far out, a total blast.

I sure am glad that is the last question. All of those phrases are tiresome, with the exception of awesome. The use of awesome should be punishable by death.
I don’t remember which one I chose.
Spellcheck suggestions for this feature:
zcbyrnes- byrne, soberness, clearness, barnes
heezgay- wheezy, wheezily, wheeze
mork- cork, dork, pork, fork, work, bork, york, mark, monk, more, mort
Tiegs- ties, tings, tiers
blogthings- playthings, somethings,underclothings, nothings, underthings
Travolta- Voltaire, gigavolt, megavolt, voltage, votaic
Hasselhoff- Tallahassee
Gump- ump, sump, rump, lump. dump, pump hump, dump,grump, gum, gimp, gulp,
Fundies- undies, funnies
camaro- calamari, amrgo, camacho, cameron,

You Belong in 1955

You’re fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold . Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands. When you pump in the afternoon or in the evening….your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline plays an important role.

When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you’re getting less fuel for your money.

Fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The more gas you have in your tank the less air is occupying the empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you might imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

If there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop , DO NOT fill up–most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered. You might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia . Just buy from gas companies that don’t import their oil from the Saudis.

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.

I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies import Middle Eastern oil.

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell…………………….. . 205,742,000 barrels

Chevron/Texaco……… 144,332,000 barrels

Exxon/Mobil…………… 130,082,000 barrels

Marathon/Speedway… 117,740,000 barrels

Amoco……………………….62,231,000 barrels

Citgo gas is from Venezuela.

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco………………0 barrels

Conoco………………0 barrels

Sinclair………………0 barrels ;

BP/Phillips………….0 barrels

Hess………………….0 barrels

ARC0…………………0 barrels

Here is a video of “Mookie” Sadr discussing events on Al Jazeera. The chat is in Arabic, and I don’t understand a word of it. Gestures and body “English” ( what a chauvinistic phrase) only tell so much.
But then, the more I read about Babylon, the less I know.
Abbas, formerly Iraqi Konfused Kid, supplied the link to the video. He is not impressed by Mr. Sadr.
Abbas is a source of much information about Babylon. Nor is he impressed by Mr. Maliki, the purported president of Iraq.
Mr. Maliki ordered an attack on various militias in South Iraq recently. Apparently he did not achieve the results he wanted. After the militias ignored his suggestion to surrender, someone…possibly Mr. Sadr…proposed another ceasefire. The fog of war has spread across eight time zones and has engulfed America.
The view of Babylon from the Iraqi Blogs is very different from the view from the radio whiners. The phrase “IslamoFascism” is not heard. The idea that we are in Iraq to kill Al Queda before they come to Mayberry to kill Aunt Bee and Opie seems very silly.
Spell Check Suggestions for this feature:
mookie– rookie, cookie, bookie
Jazeera- Gazetteer, peerage, Jeralee, Azerbaijan, steerage
Abbas- abba, abbeys, adabas.
Maliki- Malice, Malibu, malign
blogs- logs, slogs, clogs, flogs, bogs, blobs, blots, blows,
Opie-pie, odie, obie, opine,
sadr- sad

There is power involved in returning letters.
I wrote a bit yesterday about military service, the draft, and the War in Babylon. I sent Mike Gallagher an email about it, since it was a comment on his radio show that inspired the feature.
This morning I got to work a bit early, and checked my email before I got started. There was a message from Mr. Gallagher, which gently corrected me on something I said. (The man was born in 1960, not 1961). This is still too young to worry about Selective Service, but facts are facts.
And I felt a bit better as I started the day.
I have written four radio talkers over the past two years: Gallagher, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, and Michael Medved. Gallagher is the only one to send a reply.
What is puzzling about this is the software that will send an automated answer to an email. It is not always necessary to send a detailed reply, but letting you know that the message was received and that someone will read it would be appreciated.

Before the War in Babylon started, I thought it was important to go on record in opposition. Once the fighting started, it would be a matter of supporting the troops, and I am going to do this. I will support the fighting men and women no matter how ill conceived and executed the battle plan is.

As an aside, I am happy to see these braves folks referred to as men and women. During the Vietnam disaster, there was a lot of “Back our Boys” talk, and that always annoyed me. If you go overseas and face death, you are a man (or woman).

Back to the letter I sent before the invasion. I sent a letter to my representatives in Washington to the effect that the impending invasion of Iraq was not a very good idea.
Zell Miller never sent a reply. Of course, my letter said, ” you were elected to represent me”, and Zig Zag Zell was appointed to fill the term of a Senator who died in office. The Senator…I believe his name was Tysinger…was a Republican, and yet the Democratic Governor of Georgia appointed the Democratic Zell Miller to finish his term. Mr. Miller showed his gratitude by giving the keynote address at the Republican Convention.
Saxby Chambliss sent a reply a few months later. He talked about how important the war was, and what wonderful progress was being made by the troops. I wonder if his staffer even read my letter.
Denise Majette was my representative in the House. She defeated the notorious Cynthia McKinney in November of 2002.
I got a three page letter from Ms. Majette. She said that she essentially agreed with me about the war, but that there was little that could be done about it at that time. She also said that it was important to support the troops once the fighting started.
For some reason, Ms. Majette ran for the Senate, and got badly beaten. Ms. McKinney regained her seat in Congress, to the embarrassment of many.
Cynthia McKinney is another person who does not answer my letters. The fact that I have never written her is not important.