Chamblee54

The first part of this feature is a rerun of a post from November 5, 2008. BHO had just been elected POTUS. (An anagram of POTUS BHO is boot push.) After some pictures from The Library of Congress , part two will be a thumbsucker piece on how things look on November 9, 2011.
The comparison PG makes is to 1932.The nation was in economic tumult. The repubs had been in power too long, and were ready for a vacation. Franklin Roosevelt was the man chosen to lead America. FDR was crippled, and he smoked cigarettes. The cigarette holder was one of his trademarks. The public was well aware of the cigarette holder, but was clueless about the leg braces. Such were the times…smoking was profitable to the advertisers, but polio was not talked about.
At a point in the fifties, a vaccine for polio was discovered. The disease became something for the medical textbooks, instead of a horror for families. At roughly the same time…very roughly… reports started to come out about the health hazards of smoking. Bit by bit, smoking came to be seen as a bad thing. The print media paid lip service to this, while accepting advertising from the tobacco mongers.
By the time BHO became a national figure, politicians were careful not to be photographed smoking. The tobacco habit of BHO was whispered about, but the visual confirmation will not be seen. Not even the scandal magazines have pictures of BHO lighting up. And yes, BHO plays basketball, and is not remotely crippled. If he hobbled on a cane, while wearing braces, the media would have been all over it. Is this right or wrong, or just different?
There are lots of postmortems today, and PG might as well join the fun. He is not overjoyed at the election of BHO. The man has a lot of flaws. PG questions his commitment to the basic constitutional rights. Mr.Bush has done damage to many of our rights in his “War on Terror”. PG is concerned that BHO is going to use this opening to create a police state.
BHO faces a lot of challenges. PG remembers the reception given Bill Clinton in 1993. The wingnut media fought him tooth and nail for eight years. Finally, in his second term, they caught Slick Willie in an improper situation. America wasted a year trying to impeach the President. None of this fighting helped to achieve energy independence. This business of buying oil from hostile foreign powers is at the root of the tumult in the middle east, and today’s financial crisis. America has known this was a problem since Richard Nixon was President. The media spent more time fussing about Bill Clinton’s zipper problem.
PG has two hopes for the new administration. One is that the opposition maintains the watchdog status, but gives BHO the chance to perform. This simply did not happen with Bill Clinton. The second is that BHO doesn’t get caught in any scandal, but remains focused on solving the problems of this age.
It might help if BHO were to quit smoking.

Picking up where we left off, the question is, does BHO still smoke? If you go to google, and type in “does Barack Obam”, the suggested answers are smoke, have a facebook, have a law license, and smoke cigarettes. According to the Huffington Post , as of February 28, 2010 he was puffing on the coffin nails. He is reputed to be a Marlboro man.
As for the concerns about our rights, many of us are worried sick. BHO says that the government has the right to kill an American citizen abroad, if this person is a “terrorist”. It is probably a matter of time before this is extended into our borders, and the qualifications are expanded.
The much needed health care reform, aka Obamacare, is a work in progress. The Republican party made a political football out of this issue, putting their lust for power over the health of the American people. We are probably not much better off than we were before, even if what we have now is better than what we can expect from a Republican government.
As some have noted, the economy is terrible. BHO started out in a deep hole. It is tough to see how John McCain would have done any better. (Unless the stress of the job killed him, and Sarah Palin became POTUS.) The economy probably won’t be much better in another year. It remains to be seen if the mental midgets of the GOP can exploit this, and get elected.
In foreign policy, BHO has killed hundreds of women and children with drone strikes. He has given Israel every thing she wants, only to be accused of throwing Israel under the bus. The situation in Afghanistan is worse. The situation in Iraq is about the same, with the Status of Forces agreement reluctantly being followed. The air slaughter of women and children has been extended to Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, and no telling where else.
In energy, the carbon based tipping points are probably tumbling down. (We will not know for sure until it is too late.) The gulf of Mexico was poisoned. There is talk about building an oil sands pipeline through the aquifers of the midwest. We are sending billions of dollars a day to foreign oil producers. Renewable energy sources are not getting enough support to make a difference. We are hopelessly addicted to petroleum as an energy source. The people who donated megabucks to the BHO election campaign are smiling.
As far as the show business part of office goes, BHO is fair. He is not as good a showman as Ronald Reagan. BHO, great campaigner, is not an inspiring leader. The only thing that might save him is the total putridity of the Republicans.
As far as sex scandals go, BHO has not gotten caught.

Big Daddy Cain says the liberal media is paying too much attention to the dog stories. He may have a point. Where he gets his bread is more important than where he stores his meat.
Democracy Now has a report on his siblings, the Koch brothers. It seems as though his buddy Mark Block has been working for the Kochs for a while now. A complaint has been filed with the IRS, alleging that Koch money has been funnelled into the Cain campaign. With the Supreme Court ruling that corporations can contribute to campaigns, Big Daddy Cain should be able to upgrade lots of hotel rooms into suites.
The same edition of Democracy Now had a lengthy report on a Gaza aid flotilla. The Israeli government intercepted it, and took the people on board into custody. The Democracy Now reporter, Jihan Hafiz, was strip searched, had her equipment stolen, and generally was not treated very well.
Two quotes stand out in the transcript. The first is a statement by Israeli army spokesperson Ari Shalikar. “ARI SHALIKAR: A short while ago, the Israeli navy boarded the two vessels which were on their way to break the maritime security blockade which was imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip. We are talking about a very clear case of provocation, and we maintain our right to defend our borders. ” Is he saying that Gaza is a part of Israel? If this is the case, then Israel has annexed land which it does not own. In addition, they are treating the people that live in this territory very poorly.
The other quote was about the reaction of the American government. Remember, these are American citizens being held by a foreign government.
AMY GOODMAN: What was the U.S. response as you were in jail for the three days you were there?
JIHAN HAFIZ: I was very shocked by the U.S. response, by their involvement in—in our case. Kit Kittredge and I are both Americans. We were—
AMY GOODMAN: Kit Kittredge was the American activist.
JIHAN HAFIZ: Yes, she was actually the only American activist on the trip. And we were shocked that it took—it took a while for them to come to our—to come to our aid. And while the Irish delegations and the Australian and Canadian delegations had their representatives and the Irish ambassador come three days of the three days we were detained, the Americans came twice. And they came at the very end of the day, with barely any kind of helpful information, other than what the Israelis were telling us to do, which was sign away that you entered illegally. And I found it somewhat astonishing that the U.S. representative from the U.S. embassy said to us—he admitted that they are powerless in Israel. They’re powerless over our cases, that they’re in a foreign country, and that they can’t do anything, and that they’re being given the runaround.
And I just—I was wondering why they came the second day so late. Kit and I said to them, “Where the hell have you guys been? We’ve been rotting away in this detention facility. No information. We keep watching the Irish and the Canadians go out speaking to their people, coming back with substantial information that pertains to their release. And meanwhile, we’re rotting away, wondering what happened to our government and wondering how they will—why they can’t get us out, given the close connection and the close relationship, financially, militarily, between Israel and the United States.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

There is a lot of chatter about privilege these days. Where people used to talk about racism, today the buzzword is privilege. Chamblee54 has tried to contribute to the dialog (polylog) with recent posts about black privilege and white privilege.
One day recently, PG was exercising his vehicular privilege. The thought occured to him about another form of privilege. This privilege is stronger than race based privilege. In fact, many of the people, who whine about white privilege, benefit from this privilege. The president of privilege in America is Christian Privilege. (CP)
If you ask Mr. Google about CP, you get 3.6 million results. The first few give us plenty of text for this feature. A report about CP from About.com Agnosticism / Atheism has the traditional list of examples. The last few paragraphs tell more about the story.
A nonconscious ideology is analogous to the water fish swim in: fish don’t think of the water as wet because this environment is all they know — it structures their experience of life itself. Water simply is. Members of privileged groups don’t have to think about their environment because, for them, that environment simply is. They don’t have to be concerned about others’ opinions because it’s safe to assume that most think like them.
Those who don’t benefit from such an environment do have to think about it all the time because they are so susceptible to being harmed by it. For members of less privileged groups, what others think matters a great deal because their opinions and actions control access to the larger benefits of society. Fish don’t have to think about the water; mammals must remain conscious of it at all times lest they drown.
In most of the examples here, we can replace Christian/religion with male/gender or white/race and come up with the same results: examples of how our social, political, and cultural environment reinforce the dominance of one group over others. Male privilege and white privilege are closely related to Christian privilege because they have all been undermined by modernity and have all become part of America’s Culture Wars.
Christians realize that many of the above privileges are in decline. They interpret this as persecution because privilege is all they have ever known. The same is true when men complain about the decline of male privilege and whites complain about the decline of white privilege. The defense of privilege is a defense of dominance and discrimination, but for those who benefit it’s a defense of their traditional way of life. They need to become conscious of their privileges and realize that in a free society, such privileges are inappropriate.
A blog called Shakesville weighs in with On “Real” Christians and Christian Privilege . It tells the story of being asked not to identify Ann Coulter as a Christian. PG totally understands being embarassed by Ms. Coulter. There was a radio show once, with Ann Coulter promoting a book and PG listening. Some famous person was mentioned, and Ms. Coulter started to make jokes about what would happen to this famous person when he died. The line was that when he gets to heaven, he is going to wish he had been a Christian. This assumption that your ideas about life after death are correct, and universally practiced, is one especially vile example of CP.
The feature at Shakesville (which is easier to pronounce than Shakespearessister) is about how many people deflect complaints about bad behavior by saying “He is not really a Christian”. This is unsatisfactory on a number of levels. Many of the “good” Christians support “bad” Christians in their evil work. This excuse is one reason why PG prefers to say Jesus Worshiper to describe the members of this tribe. Shakes addresses this issue: “Frankly, it’s hurtful to me when Christians address what happened to me by saying, “Those aren’t real Christians,” expecting me to salve their discomfort about the baggage of privilege by not disagreeing. People who would never in a million years think to try to console a victim of a hate crime with “All [white/straight/cis/abled] people aren’t like that!” nonetheless responded that way to me when I was targeted and threatened by droves of self-identified Christians.”
Shakes is a good writer. She says things much better than this slack blogger. Maybe we should just let her explain a few things.
Christianity has a 2,000-year history that has seen countless iterations of the religion based on countless interpretation of the text and shaped to fit countless times and spaces and needs in disparate cultures all around the world. Christians have done great things, and not-so-great things—and anyone who makes the personal choice to carry the Christian mantle associates themselves with a history that includes all the good stuff and all the shitty stuff, too. One can’t say, “I only associate with the good Christianity—not the inquisitions and the genocides and the warmongering and the colonialism and the institutional misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, anti-Semitism…”
That’s all part of Christianity’s legacy, too—and it just isn’t intellectually honest to say, “Well, those weren’t real Christians.” Yes, they were. And so are the Christians who do shitty stuff today. They might not be the same kind of Christian as you are, but they are nonetheless Christians.
Christianity, at least (and especially) in America, is a privilege—and, like any privilege, it can be uncomfortable to face the ugly reality of what other members of a privileged class can do to non-privileged folks, even if you don’t do it yourself. I’m white, I’m straight, I’m cisgender: I understand the impulse to distance oneself. But as a white person, I am obliged to acknowledge that the history of white supremacy in America is one of slavery, of lynchings, of segregation, of sundown towns, of internment camps, of genocide, and of all manner of institutionalized racism. I don’t get to say (nor do I want to) that the KKK aren’t “real” white people. They sure as hell are. (The spell check suggestion for cisgender is transgender.)
That Christianity is a chosen privilege does not mean its members can claim a lower standard of rigorous self-examination. And it doesn’t mean that less privileged Christians, i.e. progressive Christians, can claim a lower standard, either, just because the more privileged Christians marginalize them. Poor whites don’t get to disclaim their white privilege just because they are further marginalized by their lack of wealth.
In fact, chosen privileges demand, if anything, a higher standard of self-examination, because one has a choice whether to participate in the privilege. But so often, the fact that Christianity is a choice is instead used to deny the effects of that privilege altogether—”I’m not one of those Christians; I’m one of the good ones!”

Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy did not know that the microphones were still on. “The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy declared: “I cannot stand him. He is a liar.” According to the report, Obama replied: “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!” Translation of the French original is by Israeli site Ynet. HT to Redstate.
In other news, Toyko Moe has something nice to say about someone. “I was feeling a little down with the inevitable discovery of Moammar Gadhafi in the drainage pipe, with the surprise extra of an online snuff film. I have a certain hankering for anti-US despots with long careers and flamboyant outfits. No one, absolutely no one, better embodied the mix of African, Arab and Easy Rider fashion. Moammar, you’ll be missed. RIP!”
Toyko Moe , is not related to Moammar, Curly, or Larry. There is another story there, about a fan club for a nymphet singing group. For 1480 yen a month, a fan can send a picture in. The club will generate a picture of what a baby by one of the little girl singers, impregnated by the fan, would look like. Not everyone thinks this is a good idea. “I would have been interested, but the only pop idol I was ever interested in impregnating was David Bowie circa 1972”
Videos by wtf Japan Seriously.
Pictures are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”

Democracy Now has a story today about American techno murder. The short version: “Late last month, a group of Pakistanis met in Islamabad to discuss the impact of U.S. drone strikes in their communities. One of the attendees was a boy named Tariq Aziz, who had volunteered to learn photography to begin documenting drone strikes near his home. Within 72 hours of the meeting, Tariq Aziz himself was killed in a U.S. drone strike. He was 16 years old. His 12-year-old cousin was also killed.” (The late Mr. Aziz is probably no relation to the former Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, who is also named Tariq Aziz.)
The undeclared war against neutral Pakistan has gone on for some time now. Since we are technically not at war with Pakistan, we cannot deploy ground troops. The chore of murdering those who have been labeled “terrorists” has been assigned to unmanned vehicles, known as “drones”. No American pilot is at risk in these planes. Given the state of anti aircraft defenses in Pakistan, it is arguable that a manned aircraft would face very little risk.
There is something … unfair … about the wealthiest, most technically advanced nation on the planet killing illiterate peasants on the other side of the planet by remote control. It makes dumping napalm out of a B52 look dignified. It is not an even contest. The fact is that many of the admitted militants are leftovers from the American struggle against the Soviet Union. We created these armies, and now that they no longer suit our purposes, we try to kill them.
Drone strikes are also extremely expensive. The jet fuel, the high tech “smart bombs”, and the spare parts for the drones cost a bunch of money. At a time when the USA is broke, and politicians are clamoring to cut spending, it just does not make sense to spend megabucks murdering Muslims.
A few comments were made about drones on June 29, 2011. The story is : JOHN BRENNAN, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER FOR COUNTERTERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY, DELIVERS REMARKS AT THE SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ON AL QAIDA. Mr. Brennan’s lips were moving when he said “In fact, I can say that the types of operations that the U.S. has been involved in, and within the counterterrorism realm, that nearly, for the past year, there hasn’t been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities we’ve been able to develop.”
Others disagree. There is also the matter of people snitching on people they have a dispute with. Once the US “intelligence” gets the word that someone is a “militant”, there is no way to confirm this. The word of the snitch is taken without question. Which brings us back to the case of Tariq Aziz. Was he targeted for death? He had volunteered to work on documenting the damage from drone strikes. Could he have been labeled a militant, and murdered on purpose? Or was it a “terrible mistake”? Or, maybe his twelve year old cousin, Waheed Khan, was the target of the raid.
PRATAP CHATTERJEE: Exactly, Juan. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism , where I work, has created a database of everybody that has been killed since these drone strikes began a number of years ago under Bush. Eighty-five percent of them have taken place under Barack Obama. And we have used the most conservative counting methodology that we can. We only record a death if it is confirmed by multiple sources. So if it’s reported by AP and then re-reported by the New York Times, we don’t count it. It has to be reported by multiple sources. And using that methodology, we have counted over 2,300 people that have been killed, and as many as 3,000. And when we have found an individual below the age of 18—a child, in other words—we have identified them separately. And we have documented at least 175 children, together with the number of women that have been killed in these strikes, that have been casualties of this secret war in Afghanistan. So, Waheed Khan, age 12, and Tariq Aziz, age 16, were the 174th and 175th documented child casualties in this war.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

This is a repost of a repost . It is about life after death and belief. Originally, the comment was going to be about gaining life after death through belief in Jesus, but the comment was over the 22 word limit. To get to the limit, the reference to Jesus was taken out. Did this substantially alter the meaning of the statement? Is it the matter of belief that counts, or does it have to be a specific belief about Jesus? And why should this matter to living people ?
PG feels the pain that Jesus has caused him on a daily basis. He is not likely to change his mind about this religion, no matter how many people talk about it. It is unlikely that very many Jesus worshipers have changed their mind either…questioning your beliefs is the opposite of “faith”, and many are scared of going to hell if they have the wrong opinions. Somehow, this is not how PG wants to live.
PG left a comment at TwentyTwoWords in August, and thought about it later. Today, after he got back from the river, he set out to find the thread. Looking for a comment at a popular blog can be an act of faith, with no guarantee of results. PG was lucky, and found his comment fairly quickly.
Twenty Two Words is a regular stop for PG. The idea is to say what you need to say in 22 words or less. The owner of the blog does not enforce this rule, and few commenters practice it.
The opening serve of this thread was “Do difficult times make you more or less empathetic? For me the answer is both. Some struggles I’ve faced make me more understanding of others. But sometimes I feel like: “I got over it; why can’t you?” (36 words). The comments took on the colors of Jesus Worship, which is to be expected at TwentyTwoWords.
The first Chamblee54 entry was comment number 7. “I feel that way about life after death obsessed Jesus Worshipers. Is there an etymological link between arrogant and air head?”
Christen replied “Speaking of life after death, I’m just starting Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven and very convinced on the importance of being much more focused on our life after death. What did you mean by that, Chamblee?”
chamblee54 says: “I feel the emphasis placed on life after death is mistaken. I disagree with the Jesus worship beliefs on life after death.”
christen says: “Thanks for the reply, chamblee. I think I’m either inexperienced in “the emphasis placed on life after death” debate/issue (?) and “Jesus worship beliefs” or just don’t understand what you’re saying. Either way, I know I can’t wait to be in that place with that person !”
At this point, PG saw the dialog spinning off topic. This was his fault, to a degree, and he felt a responsibility to bring it back into line. The suspicion was that Christen was a Jesus Worshiper, who had never questioned a set of beliefs handed to her. A key portion of this was the life after death issue, which to PG is a fundamental flaw with Jesus Worship Religion. ( PG disagrees with the concept of attaining life after death through holding certain beliefs about Jesus. PG also disagrees with the emphasis place on life after death in Jesus Worship. People need to get a life.)
The answer PG came up with was “This is starting to get off topic. I suspect you have never questioned the concept of acquiring life after death through beliefs.” That clocks in at precisely 22 words. The original comment was about acquiring life after death through belief in Jesus.
To bring the comment under the 22 word limit, PG decided to eliminate the reference to Jesus. And there was a realization that the fundamental meaning of the comment was not changed. If the status of one’s soul, post mortem, can be changed by a belief during life…a highly suspect concept to PG…does it really matter what the belief is?

This is a repost This is too funny – I still have tears in my eyes! Finally, a chain letter that I don’t mind forwarding. It’s funny (don’t break chain)
A new priest at his first mass was so nervous he could hardly speak. After mass he asked the monsignor how he had done. The monsignor replied, ‘When I am worried about getting nervous on the pulpit, I put a glass of vodka next to the water glass. If I start to get nervous, I take a sip.’
So next Sunday he took the monsignor’s advice. At the beginning of the sermon, he got nervous and took a drink. He proceeded to talk up a storm. Upon his return to his office after the mass, he found the following note on the door:
1) Sip the vodka, don’t gulp. 2) There are 10 commandments, not 12. 3) There are 12 disciples, not 10. 4) Jesus was consecrated, not constipated. 5) Jacob wagered his donkey, he did not bet his ass. 6) We do not refer to Jesus Christ as the late J.C. 7) The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not referred to as Daddy, Junior and the spook. 8 ) David slew Goliath; he did not kick the shit out of him. 9) When David was hit by a rock and was knocked off his donkey, don’t say he was stoned off his ass. 10)We do not refer to the cross as the ‘Big T.’ 11)When Jesus broke the bread at the last supper he said, ‘Take this and eat it for it is my body.’He did not say ‘Eat me’. 12)The Virgin Mary is not called ‘Mary with the Cherry. 13)The recommended grace before a meal is not: Rub-A-Dub-Dub thanks for the grub, Yeah God.. 14) There will be a taffy pulling contest at St. Peter’s, not a peter pulling contest at St. Taffy’s.
The Origination of this letter is unknown, but it brings good luck to everyone who passes it on. The one who breaks the chain will have bad luck. Do not keep this letter. Do not send money just forward it to five of your friends to whom you wish good luck and a great laugh..You will see that something good happens to you four days from now if the chain is not broken….

This is a repost . These quotes about journalism are courtesy of Wikipedia . Pictures are from The Library of Congress // ” Journalism largely consists in saying “Lord Jones Dead” to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.— G. K. Chesterton, The Wisdom of Father Brown // It’s all storytelling, you know. That’s what journalism is all about.— Tom Brokaw // Rock journalism is people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read.— Frank Zappa, in Linda Botts, Loose Talk// Journalism is literature in a hurry.— Matthew Arnold // Knowing what goes on in the world by reading a newspaper is like telling time using the second hand of a watch.– Unknown //Journalism consists in buying white paper at two cents a pound and selling it at ten cents a pound.— Charles Anderson Dana // Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war; you go into battle not when you are ready but when action offers itself.— Norman Mailer, The Presidential Papers // War correspondents … see a great deal of the world. Our obligation is to pass it on to others.— Margaret Bourke-White // Journalism allows its readers to witness history; fiction gives its readers an opportunity to live it.— John Hersey // Life is bad fiction — Unknown // A journalist is stimulated by a deadline; he writes worse when he has time.— Karl Kraus // News is what a chap who doesn’t care much about anything wants to read. And it’s only news until he’s read it. After that it’s dead. — Evelyn Waugh, 1938 // When journalese was at its rifest the Ministry of Health was established – possibly a coincidence. — John Galsworthy, 1924 // Never forget that if you don’t hit a newspaper reader between the eyes with your first sentence, there is no need of writing a second one. — Arthur Brisbane, c. 1900 // A reporter is always concerned with tomorrow. There’s nothing tangible of yesterday. All I can say I’ve done is agitate the air ten or fifteen minutes and then boom – it’s gone. — Edward R. Murrow, December 31, 1955 // Journalists say a thing that they know isn’t true, in the hope that if they keep saying it long enough it will be true. — Arnold Bennett, 1918//A newspaper is known by the columnists it keeps. — Irvin S. Cobb // In the real world, the right thing never happens at the right place and at the right time. It is the job of journalists and historians to make it appear that it has. — Mark Twain // Exaggeration of every kind is as essential to journalism as it is to dramatic art, for the object of journalism is to make events go as far as possible. Thus it is that all journalists are, in the very nature of their calling, alarmists; and this is their way if giving interest to what they write. Herein they are like little dogs, if anything stirs, they immediately set up a shrill bark.— Arthur Schopenhauer // Editor: a person employed by a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed. — Elbert Hubbard, The Roycroft Dictionary of Epigrams (1914) // For most of the history of American journalism, the independence and high quality of the American press have been tied … to the commercial spirit and the need to offer his money’s worth to a purchaser in the open market. — Daniel J. Boorstin // So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here—not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms. — Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 // Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe. — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Charles Yancey, January 6, 1816 // In Czechoslovakia there is no such thing as freedom of the press. In the United States there is no such thing as freedom from the press. — Martina Navratilova // The freedom of the press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments. — George Mason, principal author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) // Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact, – very momentous to us in these times. — Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-worship, and the Heroic in History (1859) // There is simply no telling in advance which of us will stumble upon true news and valuable thought. The dirty secret of our business is that we are not, after all, journalists, only scavengers. — The New York Times, Editorial (1981) // If somebody came from Mars to America and went around for months or years, and then you asked them who has the best jobs, they would say the journalists, because the journalists get to make momentary entries into people’s lives when they are interesting, and get out when they cease to be interesting. — Bob Woodward, 2003 // In America the president reigns for four years, and journalism governs forever and ever.— Oscar Wilde // Journalists are unable, seemingly, to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilization. — George Bernard Shaw // Provided I do not write about the government, religion, politics, morals, people in power, official institutions, the Opera, the other theatres, or about anybody attached to anything, I am free to print anything, subject to the inspection of two or three censors. — Pierre Beaumarchais // They kill good trees to put out bad newspapers. — James G. Watt // I look forward to these confrontations with the press to kind of balance up the nice and pleasant things that come to me as President. — Jimmy Carter // To tell the truth you have to write fiction. — Unknown // Journalists do not live by words alone, although sometimes they have to eat them. — Adlai Stevenson III // If a newspaper prints a sex crime, it’s smut, but when the New York Times prints it, it’s a sociological study. — Adolph S. Ochs // If Christ came back to earth now he would not attack the high priests, but the low journalists. — Søren Kierkegaard // I don’t so much mind that newspapers are dying — it’s watching them commit suicide that pisses me off. — Molly Ivins // In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled. — Paul Eldridge // selah

PG wanted to read up on the Herman Cain scandal. Redstate quotes an NRA official as saying that “nearly all of them had heard rumors about “Herman’s got women issues”. They go into great detail, which should be cause for merriment for the BHO reelection campaign. But that is not why this post is going up. Chamblee54 just puts up text to go between the pictures anyway. These pictures today are from The Library of Congress .
The Field Negro is a Jamaican attorney in Killadelphia. Sometimes he is amusing, and sometimes he makes you mad. PG thought he would have some insights into Mr. Cain. Field says that if it was a “sister”, then this would be no big deal, but that it is probably white women, which is another ballgame. That is not the reason for this post.
These dog stories keep getting in the way. It seems like somebody , somewhere, said that Herman hit on a lady at a radio station. The talent at this Iowa station is Steve Deace, whose slogan is “Fear God. Tell the Truth. Make Money.” Mr. Deace issued a statement.
“No one affiliated with our radio program has anything else to say about Herman Cain’s awkward and inappropriate comments made to our staff referenced in a recent Politico story beyond what we have already said. Sadly, those comments are no more inappropriate and awkward than Mr. Cain’s multiple positions on the sanctity of human life, his support of the TARP, his not knowing China already has nuclear weapons, and his refusal to defend marriage. The fact that someone so uninformed and morally inconsistent has made it this far in a crucial Republican presidential primary, only to finally be vetted by his personal life, is an example of why so many Americans have lost faith in the system. Instead of debating issues we debate cults of personality. This sort of personality-driven politics helped Obama get elected four years ago, and look how well that turned out”
The featured story today is something Field talks about. It seems as though some people like to have an obese person sit on them, until they cannot breathe. This custom is known as “squashing”. This is what most of these videos are about. Field has a link, to the same video with a movie ad.
The second half of today’s feature is comments about squashing. /// u so nasty field negro thats where ur mind is most of the time which is why u let buceta breaf banks post on ur ite muah muah muah muah muah muah muah this is the funniest shyt ever mane! that fat chick is a sicko she prolly sits on baby chicks too jess like those other nasty animal squashing videos u into some kinky shyt nucka! /// she prolly likes sitting on weak ultra pale wite guy nerds who have a power fetish what a disgusting sow! /// Field, didn’t you post about a fat lady who murdered her boyfriend by sitting on him in bed and got off without a sentence? It seems her black boyfriend was messing around on her and it really pissed her off. For the life of me, I don’t know why any man would want a big fat women who weighs so much she could kill him by sitting on him. These fat women are dangerous. These women ought to be registered as lethal weapons. /// you’re a garbage human being and there is no reason you need to be on this planet /// I want to be in that guy’s place ))) /// i have the wierdest boner…. /// Is he died? XD /// This is huge in England. what is she talking about /// When she sat on him it reminded me of the house falling on the Witch in Wizard of Oz /// “That damn woman is to damn big for her not to have some damn clothes on”!! “Uhhhhh”!!! “Just nasty looking all of that fat I know she stank”!! “Keep your damn clothes on”!! “DISGUSSING”!! :(( /// I know the Jersey Shore cast likes to “smush” but I don’t think this is what they had in mind. They should send Massive Mocha to Zuccotti Park.
Before we return to the pictures, there is another dog story. This one is from * pajamas media *. Adding to the ongoing Herman Cain sexual harassment controversy, two sources have now confirmed to PJ Media that a female employee of the National Restaurant Association told associates she had been brought by Mr. Cain to his Crystal City, Virginia residence where she alleged “he had taken advantage of me.” Both sources claim to be politically conservative. … The name of the woman — who was in her early twenties at the time of the alleged incident — has been confirmed by PJ Media. We have chosen not to reveal her identity for reasons of discretion. … According to the female source, Mr. Cain and the woman had been with a large group for a long evening of food and drink at the Ciao Baby Cucina, a restaurant near NRA headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. This was a normal routine, as the trade association worked with the food and beverage industry. Afterwards, Mr. Cain allegedly took the woman by taxi to his apartment, where she spent the night and woke up.

PG was not inclined to discuss the sexual harassment claims against Herman Cain. But then he read a report from Fox News. There was a typo in the piece that simply cannot be ignored.
“Sullivan also noted that backers of Mitt Romney’s campaign are coonected to the National Restaurant Association, though the Romney campaign responded simply that any suggestion it pushed the Cain story is “not true.”
Coon is sometimes used to describe African Americans. It is not a compliment.
Pictures are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”

The legend is that Ernest Hemingway started the fad for six word stories. “For sale, baby shoes, never worn”. After he shotgunned his way to eternity, the idea kicked around for a while. Then twitter emerged in it’s 141 character glory, and someone started #6wordstory. Maybe one of them uses 141 characters. Here is a selection of these 6ws. PG may write one, or even five, just so he can say he is a trendy kind of guy. After copying and formatting these selections, we realize that Hemingway did it better than 98% of the tweeters. Pictures for this waste of bandwidth are from The Library of Congress // poetry doze you stick to prose // his name is rumplestiltskin! THE END // Austin is Gorgeous. End of Story. // time to bang out this // She was lost, looking for light. // You See What Had Happend Was… // and this weave saved my life // RTD finally leaves, fandom finally rejoices. // Right here could be the key, // spilt drink, bag hooked, hit face // Regina, you’re wearing sweatpants. It’s Monday. // once apon a time the end // I died. He lived. She smiled. // uhh , see what had happened was … // Jordan Witzigreuter is perfect go away // walk a mile in my shoes … // love begins and ends with you….” // Love hurts. Choose Vodka or Henny // I came. I saw. I conquered. // they met, they married, they died. // I just got some great head! // I try, I hurt, I need! // she foolishly fell for the “player” // The haters will always hate, jealous. // my life is gonna be legendary. // Six chambers. One bullet. Favorable odds. // There was a frog, it died // Kameron has one nice trumpet. Bye. // Belly fat killed the cats owner // But you are never wrong, Sherlock. // Darth Vader murió siendo Anakin Skywalker. :) // I Got So Drunk Last Night // He tried his best. Failed anyway. // The cow jumped over the moon. // “She doesn’t remember me. Yet.” // They lived happily ever after. Not. // Music runs rampant through my veins // Together, Forever, Through whatever, Whenever”” // “Then Buffy staked Edward. The End.” // Remember the American dream of possiblities // I’ve never been to Mount Vesuvius // “Who’re you?” “I used to know.” // Hockey’s half mental, half being mental. // “Common Sense, is not Common tho” // Affection. Erection. No protection. Inspection. Infection. // ugly girls are addicted to photoshop. // well, see what happened was i…. // Kameron has one nice trumpet. Bye. // cow, lives on moon, dies tragically. // she licked.i cummed.the end. // tried, failed, tried something else, succeeded.” // Head and shoulders saved my life. // drop the panties and bend over. // i couldnt think of anything else! // he inserted it, then she farted // Remember clean air and clean water // One Day You Disappeared The End // There was this onetime in bandcamp” // they hated eachother, now their friends. // i like food more than you. // dear homework, nobody likes you. Thankyou. // Guess our mascot, win a prize! // Hakuna Matata,what a wonderful phrase // And then @RomeoMiller proposed to me. // Old classmates. One night stand. Strangers. // She was ugly. She became Beautiful. // i kiss straight guys always, always // Political unity ends in international disaster. // Niall James Horan is simply beautiful. // best friend is a male // And they lived happily ever after! // i banged harry, it was hottttttttt // You are smarter than a chimp // Yes I’ve changed. Pain changes people! // get knocked down, get back up // The rain made hearts into livers. // Ghosts broke mom’s crystal bud vase // Hearts hear truth better than ears // you know i got the burner. // This was more entertaining than Twilight. // You wanna be high for this. // That Baby Don’t Look Like Me!! // They kissed, died, woke up, killed // The gun smoldered. He walked away. // I’m more popular than you are // when i have food, I’m happy. // I’m done. you can have him. // took a dump, no paper, nightmare. //  Mariah Yeater’s a hoe…..The end. // I hate trending topics about Bieber. // cool story bro, tell it again // “He lied + she believed = trust issues . // Got To Get Back To Hogwarts. // real friends turn into fake friends // i discovered Nutella. best day ever. // bring me food, then i’m happy // Cool Story Bro, I Don’t Care. // soo , you giving head or what ? // Then Bella killed herself. The end. // Your mother should have swallowed you // I came, I smashed, I left…. // You’re Born…You Die…The End // “A BIRD was once THE WORD” // I was married for 72 days. // Oh my God! You killed Kenny! // that baby dont look like me // give me head not a headache // While editing these 6wss, PG decided to move the mouse to his left hand. While doing this, he knocked over a cup of coffee.This is a message to keep the mouse on the right side of the desk. // Carl Hiassen says that selling a story to the movies is like sending a child to the Charles Manson day care center. // Two brothers, ties, and a whale // Chicago Is So Two Years Ago. // The Black Person Always Dies First // Nineteen years later, all was well. // the cat went swimming but drowned. // I smoked a joint, I’m stoned // drop out of school, train pokemon. // is that wart or rice crispie // Wow seriously please go kill yourself. // Exposition, conflict, action, climax, dénouement… // One. direction. bed. now. forever. happy. // I wish I could count – // My brother killed all my clan. // and he ate the entire penguin // HistoryNeedsYou Sir James Pennyman // “Would you like fries with that?”-// Never too early to be drunk // WHY MUST I CHASE THE CAT!???! // Failed a test. Having a drink. // He smashed raw, then pissed flames.. // Named my pipe “Lucky.” It broke. // Two tickets, to the gun show! // Alex sold lemonade to beat cancer. // I blacked out at Arbys again. // You do you, I do me // selah.

There idea of a holiday party is coke and lots of cupcakes…..somebody’s gonna puke and colorful it will be! (fb) /// It has come to my attention that everyone except for me hates candy corn. If you encounter any candy corn, please send it to me. SEND ME YOUR CANDY CORN. (fb) /// A Jewish sailor was shipwrecked on a desert island and the first thing he did was build two synagogues. Years later when he was rescued people were bewildered and asked him why he built two synagogues, to which he replied: “Oh that other one… I would NEVER go there!” /// “Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now fight in a proper way against the barbarians.” – Urban II /// My “Week Of Not Checking Into OK Cupid So I Don’t Hook Up With Another Fat Chick” lasted four hours. On the plus side, she was the smallest one yet. (tln) /// So he was supposed to be helping me with my math but instead we ended up drinking coconut rum in his basement and having sex. I think my mom was right, getting a tutor will be good for me. Relieves the stress. (tln) /// He threw up, and left his credit card next to the puddle. He kept on saying he wanted to pay for the damages. (tln) /// REASONS YOURE SINGLE : You can’t date food (tw) /// REASONS YOURE SINGLE your female friend who told you your bf was no good is with him now (tw) /// REASONS YOURE SINGLE: Yue b3 textn lik diz :( (tw) /// REASONS YOURE SINGLE – Nobody likes you. (tw) /// REASONS YOURE SINGLE ; These No Good Niqqa’s ! (tw) /// REASONS YOURE SINGLE: Earth Men are Boring and you’re waiting for the right tentacle monster to sweep you off your feet and simultaneously (tw) /// Reasons youre single – cuz your such a hoe that when you die they gonna have to burry you in a’ Y’ shaped coffin. R-T if you get it. (tw) /// Lindsay Lohan’s line of coke #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage (tw) /// I use to fight everyday to prove I wasn’t a stereotype. Now I just think you’re a douchenozzle if you see me as one. #dowhatIwant (fb) /// One never truly finishes an essay, but yet we publish them anyway. (Aph) /// Ambition is the cancer of happiness. (Aph) /// We’re all victims of someone’s beliefs, namely our own. (Aph) /// I don’t want to be associated with any academic discipline that allows people like me to be members of it. (Aph) /// Man is the only beast that tries to deny his beastliness. (Aph) /// Marketing: it gets people to buy new things that look used and used things that look new. (Aph) ///this bartender needs to lay off the meth but damn thats a strong drink (fb) /// I think some people wasted to much money on Philosophy classes. (fb) /// “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”-John Milton, Paradise Lost (fb) /// “I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.” – Richard Feynman (fb) /// Trick or treaters just rang our doorbell Give them the moldy beer cans, we need to get rid of those (tln) /// Blow job bear ended up in my bed last night. She didn’t live up to her costume. (tln) /// He gave up on mugging us when Dave wouldn’t stop laughing. He was wiggling his finger at the knife and making baby noises and giggling. The guy just walked away. (tln) /// I feel like I just tasted lung cancer. (tln) /// Automated bus service announcement, in loud cheerful voice: Thank you for riding the MTA! Bus driver, grumbling: They don’t really mean it… (ony) /// Administrative assistant: I just wanted to touch bases with you before I touch base with you later. (ony) /// Boss: We used to have this character come over to clean out our septic tank and he would be eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the same time. Coworker, pushing lunch plate away: I guess I’m through with this. (ony) /// who was wearing the fake mustache? I just found one in my cleavage (tln) /// You tried to initiate “Occupy McDonald’s” when the cashier didn’t give you enough ketchup. (tln) /// “If you think you understand it, that is surely a sign that you don’t” (fb) /// #thingslongerthankimsmarriage The time a black person gets to live in a horror film. (tw) /// #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage The line of trick or treaters outside Casey Anthony’s house. (tw) /// #thingslongerthankimsmarriage ………. Do you want me tweet about that?? (tw) /// #thingslongerthankimsmarriage needs to stop trending… only thing shes done for society is let a mediocre sextape get leeked.. (tw) /// #thingslongerthankimsmarriage LeBron’s lonely ring finger! (tw) /// My first ride without training wheels on my bike #thingslongerthankimsmarriage (tw) /// Passwords must be at least ten characters long, contain both upper- and lower-case letters, contain at least one numeral, and must contain non-alphanumeric characters. Passwords must be changed every sixty days. TRANSLATION: We’d really just rather you forget your password each time you try to log in. (fb) /// “The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life.” – George Carlin fb Procrastination is underrated. (fb) /// my goal was to make out with as many people dressed as batman as possible. I have my priorities. (tln) /// I thought of you this morning when I woke up in a bed with a girl wrapped in duct tape dressed as a coors light can. (tln) /// halloween is the only time that anne boleyn, the joker, a cowgirl, and a mexican man complete with sombrero and poncho can all hit the same blunt (tln) /// My goal tonight is to get arrested because what cop can say they have ever arrested a giant sperm before. God I love halloween (tln) /// WARNING!!!! some photos will be offensive. If you do not have a sense of political correctness or silliness, or lack the potential to poke fun at the USA, gender or cultural icons, these photos are not for you!! (fb) /// “A good conscience is a continual Christmas.” — Ben Franklin (fucl) /// Newton was born the year that Galileo died. (fucl) /// Cole Porter’s summer home was called No Trespassing. (fucl) /// The #thingsonmymind could probably get me locked up. (tw) /// I often thought of killing myself but then I wanted lunch. – Paula Fox (tw) /// All my thoughts are second thoughts. – Aldous Huxley (tw) /// REASONS YOURE SINGLE GOD HATES YOU (tw) /// if women also participated in #NoShaveNovember there would be a huge drop in November pregnancies. (tw) /// The cheapest is rarely the least expensive. (Aph) /// Amassing an easy fortune often becomes a great misfortune. (Aph) /// Reality wears many different masks. (Aph) /// The trouble with reality is that it doesn’t seem all that real. (Aph)/// When all else fails, wax epistemic. (Aph) ///“The popular mind often pictures gigantic flying machines speeding across the Atlantic and carrying innumerable passengers. … It seems safe to say that such ideas are wholly visionary.” — Harvard College Observatory astronomer William Henry Pickering, 1908 (fucl) /// Not everyone agrees with me. I don’t know why but not everyone agrees with me. Eventually they will.” –Michele Bachmann /// I think there’s a fine line between being a slut and being classy. I walk in between that line. /// Yikes! Should I alert our neighbors? (fb) /// Men are like the letter Q, and they are all zeros with a small tail to it ! (fb) /// “You are lame and having sex with you is like going to the dentist, sit back, relax, and you won’t feel a thing” (fb) /// NOTE: The incorrect spelling was done intentionally as a means of better expressing the message. (fb) when someone’s talking too much, ask them, “is my pants zipper down?” when they say no, tell them, “then why is your mouth open?” (fb) /// Man: Hey baby, what’s your sign? Woman: Do not enter. (fb) /// “I long ago realized that if everybody likes you, you’re really not even close to maximizing your true Heartless Bitch potential.” (fb) /// “The law makes the silliest damned fuss about death. People die by the thousands every day; but simply because someone has had the energy and enterprise to assist old D’Courtney to his demise, the law insists upon turning him into an enemy of the people. I think it’s idiotic, but please don’t quote me.” Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man (fb) /// These visits to alternative reality are from a variety of sources. Included are Facebook (fb), twitter (tw), Futility Closet (fucl), All Aphorisms, All The Time  (Aph), Texts From Last Night (tln) , and Overheard in New York, (ony). /// selah.