Chamblee54

A week ago, a story *came out*. The title was A Teen’s Brave Response to “I’m Christian, Unless You’re Gay”. It told the story of a Christian, homophobic mom, who decided that she loves her queer son after all. It was passed around, tweeted and retweeted, liked thousands of times, and got 3700 comments at the seminal blog. Friday, The Daily Beast took a look at the man behind the curtain. TDB suspects that this inspiring story is a hoax.
“My first instinct: bullshit. The whole thing just read too clean, too easy. Are we really to believe that a woman with deeply-held ultra-conservative Christian beliefs (she wanted the gays shipped off to their own private island!) found out her son was gay, read a single blog post by a tolerant author, and voila? It took her less time to see the light than it would’ve to watch a couple reruns of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”
Plus, the writing is rejected-Hollywood-script cheesy—“a change is starting to happen around here and it’s because one teenage boy finally had the courage to stand against what he felt was wrong.” And OPM often comes across more as a caricature of a religious conservative than as a real one. “I got madder and madder as I read it as I felt like it was a direct attack against our beliefs and our Christian religion and that it was promoting homosexuality, a practice that around here is a huge ‘sin,’” she wrote, before explaining that she gave her son “an earful about homosexuality and G-d.”
Dan Pearce, aka Single Dad Laughing, published Teen’s Brave Response. Daily Beast writer Jesse Singal contacted him. “I called Pearce and asked him to put me in touch with OPM and her son (on the blog, the son is represented by a stock photo of a blue-eyed, shaggy-haired teen). Pearce told me that would be impossible: The note was sent anonymously to his blog’s contact page, and he said his contact-form software doesn’t capture IP addresses.”
Mr. Singal thinks it doesn’t matter if the story is technically factual. “In the course of reporting last week on the many conflicting stories swirling around the Trayvon Martin shooting, , I received an email from Princeton psychologist Danny Oppenheimer, who wrote, “When it comes to deciding what we believe is true, whether or not it’s actually true isn’t nearly as important as whether we want to believe it.”
The original title of the piece linked in the quote above was “How Psychology Explains the Slander of Trayvon Martin”. How we frame a story is often more important than those pesky facts. Many people think that Trayvon Martin looked like an adorable 14 year old when he was shot. Does the “stock photo of a blue-eyed, shaggy-haired teen” look like the actual kid in the story? What if that kid had thick glasses, messy hair, and a look on his face that “projects negativity”? Would we have the same warm fuzzy feelings for him, in his brave stand against homophobe for Jesus mommy?
We get a story that makes us feel good, we want to believe it, and we do. What happens the next time someone comes peddling a feel good story? Do we believe it? And when do people learn how to think, and not believe everything they read on the internet? From the look of things, not anytime soon. The boy who cried wolf wails on.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The Cartoon is from Jesus and Mo

There was a letter. It had a modern looking cartoon shape in the corner, which resembles an elephant. The return address was REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE Reince Priebus, Chairman * 310 First Street, S.E.* Washington DC 2003. There was a personalized message above the main address: This might be the shortest letter I’ve ever written. PG, when you read it, you’ll understand why. In the corner where a stamp would go, there was a square box, with a message. Non-profit Org. US Postage PAID Republican National Committee. That could have been Non-Prophet. There were three items in the envelope. The first was the shortest letter. “Dear PG, If defeating Barack Obama and repealing his socialist-leaning agenda is your top goal in this years election… then use the reply form and postage paid envelope I have enclosed to rush a special emergency gift of $1,000, $500, $250, $50, $35, or $25 to the Republican National Committee. The RNC is the only committee legally allowed to provide direct financial support to our nominee for President. And just like you, defeating Barack Obama is our top priority. Consider the monumental consequences of this election. Then, let your value of freedom be your guide to giving. Thank you. Yours truly, Reince Priebus Chairman, Republican National Committee. P.S. PG, if you make only one political contribution this year, make it count. Give it to the RNC.”A PERSONAL REPLY TO REINCE PRIEBUS was thoughtfully included. Dear Reince, You are absolutely correct. I agree defeating Barack Obama and ending his socialist policies is our top priority in this year’s election. The Republican National Committee is the only committee legally allowed to provide direct financial support to our nominee and win back the White House, and you can count on my gift to get the job done. The PR form was coded 541286993 N12PH018B. Contributions to the Republican National Committee are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. The back of the PR form allows contributions using credit cards. (Note: credit card MUST be personal – not corporate.) Below this is a space for information required by federal election law. The required information is marked with an asterisk, and includes Occupation, Employer, and a tasteful box for the self employed to check. Below this is a space for a Telephone Number, (H) E-Mail Address, and (W) E-Mail Address. The last three items do not have an asterisk. The last item in the package was an envelope. There was a message: By using you own first class stamps to return this envelope, you will be helping us save much needed funds. — Thank You. Below that is another tasteful box, with the message BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST-CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 10169 WASHINGTON DC. The package went to P34 ATTN: CHAIRMAN REINCE PRIEBUS REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE PO BOX 96994 WASHINGTON DC 20077-7556. In the stamp corner was another tasteful box. NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES. The back of the envelope was blank. PG thought how much defeating Barack Obama meant to him. He sent his best personal contribution payable to the RNC. PG put a penny in the envelope, and did not use his own first class stamp. Pictures are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library” The spell check suggestion for Reince Priebus is Sincere Priests.

As her publisher wants you to know, Susan Cain has a book out, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. She is making the rounds of book promotion.. Selling books is the chore of the extrovert, while introverts write them. There is conflict between the two types.
Ms. Cain comments on this conflict in her TED talk. “So I just published a book about introversion, and it took me about seven years to write. And for me, that seven years was like total bliss, because I was reading, I was writing, I was thinking, I was researching. It was my version of my grandfather’s hours of the day alone in his library. But now all of a sudden my job is very different, and my job is to be out here talking about it, talking about introversion.”
Introversion is not for purists. “Carl Jung, the psychologist who first popularized these terms, said that there’s no such thing as a pure introvert or a pure extrovert. He said that such a man would be in a lunatic asylum, if he existed at all. And some people fall smack in the middle of the introvert/extrovert spectrum, and we call these people ambiverts. And I often think that they have the best of all worlds. But many of us do recognize ourselves as one type or the other.”
Many extroverts tag introverts with the dreaded label, negative attitude. Some introverts learn to deal with it. If you ask Mr. Google if introversion is negative attitude, you will be shown many results. A lot of these are incomprehensible to anyone without a graduate degree in psychology.
One of these papers has the catchy title Introverts and Extroverts: Close Encounters with Communicators of a Different Kind. It has an introduction, in a shaded headerbox. “The paper is paper is written with the primary intent of enhancing my communication knowledge. The comments and ideas expressed in this informational paper should not be perceived as authoritative. I have extremely limited knowledge in the area of communication theory. As an extreme introvert, I’m simply trying gain greater understanding of the complexities associated with human interactions.” Boy Howdy.
Another web piece, Introversion, was written in 1996, and posted on a tasteful background of turquoise dolphins. The author says that Carl Jung originated the concept of dividing humanity into introverts and extroverts. The duality goes much further back in history. “Many people throughout that long stretch of history have remarked on the fact that certain types of people liked Plato, and other types Aristotle. While my own theory involves masochism (at least in the case of Aristotle), Jung saw this as the difference between the introverted and extroverted personalities. The introvert’s flow of vitality is inward, while the extrovert’s is outward. For Plato, a horse’s existence flowed inwardly from the external ideal Horse Form. For Aristotle, a horse’s existence flowed outwardly from its internal causes and purposes.”
The A word is prominent in another quote. . “We usually think of introversion and extroversion in terms of personality types, but both are also attitudes. To illustrate: there is a temple with an idol in which, and to which, people perform religious services. An extroverted attitude would be that this is idol worship (and probably idle worship as well); an introverted attitude would be that the idol is symbolic of the inner aspect (meaning, or possibly divinity itself) that each person brings.”
This can be seen through from a different perspective. Some people feel that the Christian attitude towards the bible is idol worship. Many of these people are highly extroverted, with the focus of their religion (and often their entire lives) being convincing others to share their ideas. This is a religion which is dominated by loud extroverts, to the dismay of those who enjoy quiet contemplation.
Getting back to the TED talk. , we hear “And in fact, we have known for centuries about the transcendent power of solitude. It’s only recently that we’ve strangely begun to forget it. If you look at most of the world’s major religions, you will find seekers — Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad — seekers who are going off by themselves alone to the wilderness where they then have profound epiphanies and revelations that they then bring back to the rest of the community. So no wilderness, no revelations.” This is probably true, but you heard about this “fab four” because an extrovert told you. (Or pointed a sword in your face, and told you to convert or die.)
Ms. Cain sees this extrovert uber alles as being a product of modern society. “One answer lies deep in our cultural history. Western societies, and in particular the U.S., have always favored the man of action over the man of contemplation and “man” of contemplation. But in America’s early days, we lived in what historians call a culture of character, where we still, at that point, valued people for their inner selves and their moral rectitude. And if you look at the self-help books from this era, they all had titles with things like “Character, the Grandest Thing in the World.” And they featured role models like Abraham Lincoln who was praised for being modest and unassuming. Ralph Waldo Emerson called him “A man who does not offend by superiority.”
But then we hit the 20th century and we entered a new culture that historians call the culture of personality. What happened is we had evolved an agricultural economy to a world of big business. And so suddenly people are moving from small towns to the cities. And instead of working alongside people they’ve known all their lives, now they are having to prove themselves in a crowd of strangers. So, quite understandably, qualities like magnetism and charisma suddenly come to seem really important. And sure enough, the self-help books change to meet these new needs and they start to have names like “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” And they feature as their role models really great salesmen. So that’s the world we’re living in today. That’s our cultural inheritance.”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Rowing is a team sport.

Gary Johnson is the former Governor of New Mexico. He is running for POTUS, as the Libertarian candidate. He is not going to win. However, with the electoral college STILL IN USE, Mr. Johnson could jimmy the results in a key state. Whether this would benefit Mr. Obama or Mr. Romney is not knowable before November 6. Before he was a Libertarian, Mr. Johnson was a Republican candidate for POTUS. He had the best one liner in a Republican debate. When discussing the effects of BHO economic policy, Mr. Johnson said: “My next door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.”A remarkable interview with Mr. Johnson was produced by The Daily Caller. HT to Matt Lewis. Here are a few highlights from that interview. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Guns “I bought my first gun ever this summer, .38, 2 1/2 inch Smith and Wesson revolver,” Johnson said. “Forever I’ve always thought of finding myself in a situation where I needed a gun and not had it.” When asked whether he is packing heat on the campaign trail, Johnson said no. But that doesn’t mean he is necessarily opposed to it. “I’m not the guy to restrict anything about private firearms,” he said. “Caliber, number of bullets in the chamber, I’m not your guy,” Religion Johnson, who said he doesn’t go to church, made it clear he doesn’t think “religion should play a role in government.” “I don’t seek the counsel of G-d,” Johnson said. “G-d doesn’t speak to me on what I should or shouldn’t do.” Asked about his religious beliefs, Johnson said,“I haven’t gone to church since I finished my confirmation as a Lutheran.”Roswell NM “Okay, you’ve hit on the one thing I really can’t talk about,” Johnson said, straight-faced, when pressed on the mystery surrounding Roswell. “I was whisked off into a basement and told exactly what happened.” But he then added, “I will tell you that the alien-to-work program in my office really worked well. They’re hard-working. There’s no stop and they don’t take potty breaks.” “I’ve said too much already.”Drugs “Marijuana was really my favorite,” said Johnson, who supports legalizing the drug, but said in a previous interview that he hasn’t used it since 2008. He’s also tried coke at one point in his life. “I’ve used cocaine on a handful of occasions and that was one of those drugs where — holy cow — I understand why cocaine is what it is.” He says he has no desire to touch the drug again. “To me, there’s something wrong with feeling this good, and come to find out, I mean, cocaine literally puts holes in your heart,” he said. “People my age who have used cocaine have died because of heart failure, and Whitney Houston [is] our latest example of what it is to use cocaine your whole life.” Johnson doesn’t support full legalization of drugs yet. “Would the world be a better place if all drugs were legalized tomorrow? Absolutely,” he said. “But pragmatically speaking, you’re not going to go from the criminalization of all drugs to the legalization of drugs overnight. I think you start with marijuana and those giant steps happen very quickly after we do marijuana.” Marriage Asked if he has a libertarian view on consenting adults having more than one spouse, Johnson made clear he didn’t want to discuss the topic, replying that “if you talk about those kinds of issues” you will be “labeled as kooky.” “And I would hate to have come out of this meeting that Johnson supports polygamy,” he said. “I would hate to have that happen.” When one questioner suggested that it’s difficult to support gay marriage philosophically and not support polygamy between consenting adults, Johnson replied: “I agree with that philosophically.” He then quickly added, “If the headlines out of this meeting is that Johnson supports polygamy, that’ll be the end of my campaign.”

GIVE IT A TRY, LETS SEE WHAT HAPPENS!
The last time I did this it worked for me too. I wished for a baby.
You all know what happened (approx. 2 months later).
I had to give this a shot..
Don’t laugh at this! Just do it!
My best friend just did this morning.
She wished for her promotion and just got a call. She got it.
I’m SO sorry about this, but I had to keep it going.
The last time I sent this exact e-mail out,
I got a new job and now I’m superstitious.
Start thinking something you really really want, cause this is astounding..
The person that sent this to me said their wish came true !
10 mins after they read the mail so I thought what the heck.
You have just been visited by Dr. Suess’s Cat in the Hat.
He will grant you one wish.
Make your wish when the count down is over..
Ten Nine Eight Seven Six
Five Four Three Two One
MAKE A WISH !!!!!!
Send this to 10 people within the hour you read this.
If you do, your wish will come true.
If you don’t, it will become the opposite.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress

There was a picture posted on facebook today. The title, in an archaic font, was “Rules of a Gentleman”. PG knew immediately that these suggestions, no matter how helpful, could not be pasted into this blog. It was time to ask Mr. Google for help.
Before we get started, the initials for this concept are ROAG. This might be pronounced the same as Rogue. A gentleman appreciates irony.
The top result is a tumblr, The Rules of a Gentleman. (Does a gentleman pay google for better rankings?) The line here is “Get promoted Submit your rules here Ask Twitter Archive Ladies?” This is a series of typeset images, that cannot be reproduced in this format. A gentleman uses copy and paste, and does not retype a clever saying. Unless it is so clever that he has no other choice, which is not the case here.
A few results down is another tumblr, Rules of a Gentleman. The jewels of wisdom here can be pasted here. Rule #234: If she’ll cheat WITH you, she’ll cheat ON you. Rule # 233: Everyone makes mistakes, but sorry will never do anything. Find a way to make up for your mistake. Rule #232: She is not going to magically read your mind and meet unspoken expectations. Rule #231: Listen. Rule #230: Dont change yourself to fit her needs. A comment on the google page says a lot: this blog is pretty much what it says. it’s four girls giving advice, or “rules” to the gentlemen out there that are apparently clueless as to what we want. This facility started on March 25, 2011. Rule # one: Never wear your hat indoors. You’ll look a lot more smooth if you take it off when you walk through the door.
The “urban” KING-mag offers 50 Rules To Being A Gentleman. The short version is “For dudes who split bills on fast-food dates, KING offers a template for sophistication. Relax and take notes.” “44. Wear a belt. It’s called underwear for a reason. 36. Being open-minded and aware of the world around you shows class and sophistication, but avoid seeming pretentious by being modest instead of showing off what you know. 34. Go easy on the slang, especially among those who are already judging you based on race and age. 19. Avoid unnecessary use of expletives in public, especially in the presence of a woman you’re trying to impress. 1. “Young guys should pump their brakes. Don’t have kids until you’re 30, and look at her family and background to know what you’re getting into.”—C. Mathis “
There is a facebook page, The Rules Of A Gentleman. It has 4206 likes. There is a twitter, @Rulesforgents. “This is the official twitter for TheRulesOfAGentleman! follow us and retweet as much as you want.” “Rule #245 : There are so many fishes in the sea. Do not settle until you have found your mermaid.” “Rule #229 : Just because she has dated douche bags,doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance for a nice guy.” There is a pinterest pinboard, Rules Of A Gentleman.
The next to last result on page one is a forum, FanFiction.Net. There is a story here, “The rules of a gentleman”. It is about a young man, Zachary Goode, who has a few things to learn. A friend dropped off a list of suggestions. “The No. 1 Rule of A Gentleman -Kindness goes a long way- Zach sighed. This was going to be one long list. “
Last, and probably least, are design you trust, Jay Mug, and geek-fill. These people reposted the image that started this adventure.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.

This is one of those internet memes. When you have too much spare time, you do these things. The idea is, you open your browser… in this case, Firefox … and you type in A. The device will suggest things for you. You do this for all 26 letters. The 10 digits and 8 punctuation marks are optional. The credit, or blame, for this adventure goes to Adam Avitable. This is not done under oath, and you are free to change any result that is embarrassing. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. These are Union soldiers from the War Between The States. If you get tired of the text, you are encouraged to skip ahead to the pictures.
A- AJC The Atlanta Journal Constitution has been *covering Dixie like the dew* since Celestine Sibley was a blushing bride. It is affectionately known as the fishwrapper. While the dead tree version is shrinking away to nothingness, the digital face of Cox Enterprises is… uh … up on the internet, the last time we checked.
B- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia The check is in the mail.
C- Captains Dead Captains Dead is a music download site. They have all sorts of neat stuff. It is run by Gregor, who used to live in Druglessville. Or maybe not. This site used to be on Atlanta People With Blogs Who Get Together to Drink , a now defunct collection of Atlanta blogs. The social director had a baby, and doesn’t have time to organize get togethers.
D- Democracy Now This is a fine use of bandwidth. They have an hour long newscast Monday through Friday, which is usually up by 11 am EDT. If you think corporate media is too conservative, this is the place for you. You don’t have to believe everything you hear, but thinking is encouraged.
E- ESPN If you want to know the score, but don’t want to watch the game.
F- Facebook The older generation remembers a book, Nineteen Eighty-Four . It was written by George Orwell, about a dystopic future ruled by Big Brother. Mark Zuckerberg was born in 1984.
G- Gartalker’s Blog Gary owns a used car lot in Mississippi. He sometimes leaves comments on this blog. His last post was Bubba’s Car Emporium and fine Pre-owned Cars and Trucks.
H- Radiolab H is a funny letter. It is always silent in Spanish, which makes you wonder why it used in print. On the browser, there is no site that really belongs in H. For the sake of completing the meme, we will use home-Radiolab. This is a fine, fine site. It is a radio show from somewhere in New York. The old shows are all available as podcasts, and are a great background sound for multi tasking. They will sometimes ask for money. Public broadcasting is like that.
I- Informed Comment This is a jewel. Dr. Juan Cole works at the University of Michigan, and produces a dandy site when it is too cold to go outside. “Welcome to Informed Comment, where I do my best to provide an independent and informed perspective on Middle Eastern and American politics.” He does not believe everything that Israel says. The latest post here is Rafsanjani: Iran does not Want Nukes, Should improve relations with US, Saudi. How many people know that Iran and Saudi Arabia are not BFF?
J- Joe.My.G-d. , Jesus and Mo This is a double feature. Joe Jervis is the best blogger in the United States, and possibly the world. He started out by telling heart warming stories (check the “readers favorites”), and has progressed into journalism of gay politics, Broadway, dance music, and cats. Joe is good enough to overlook his use of three periods in the name of his blog. (This story is not on the sidebar, but it will make you cry. Be sure to read it to the end.) Jesus and Mo are good buddies who have philosophical differences. They hang out at a bar, where the barmaid eats their intellectual lunch. We never see the barmaid, as it is forbidden to draw her image. “Jesus & Mo is licensed under a Creative Commons License:Feel free to copy for noncommercial purposes, under the same license. Please provide a link back to jesusandmo.net ”
K- Kiko’s House Shaun Mullen used to be an ink stained wretch. Now he writes a blog. Kiko’s has commentary on current events, and appreciations of performers that Mr. Mullen appreciates. PG found Kiko’s on his lunch hour five years ago, when it posted an appreciation of the 3000 th American soldier to die in Iraq. (That number might be off by a bit.) To his credit, Mr. Mullen is still producing posts. So many bloggers burn out and get cable tv.
L- The Chronicle Tales of the Neo_Prodigy Denny Upkins is a hard working young man, who has published his first novel, Hollowstone. Mr. Upkins has banned PG from leaving comments, which means that PG is required to read The Chronicle. In the aftermath of the 2008, Mr. Upkins was offended by the reaction, of some pundits, to the passage of Proposition 8. There were some angry posts written. In the comments to one, PG called BS on something that Mr. Upkins wrote. These things happen.
M- Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub Ed Darrell is a science teacher in Texas. He thinks global warming is real. MFB is an entertaining stop, and receives the occasional comment from Chamblee54.
N- The Fiction Podcast @ The New Yorker This is another friend of the multi tasker. Someone (usually another writer) reads a short story from the New Yorker archive. Afterwards, the reader discusses the story with Deborah Treisman, the New Yorker’s fiction editor. You can listen on an embedded player, or download an MP3 for later use. The tone is a bit too NPR for PG’s taste, but it is what it is.
O- Obsidian Wings You will find intelligent postings, and a lively comment section here. They don’t like it when you promote your blog in the comments. “This is the Voice of Moderation. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we’ve actually SEIZED the radio station . . . ”
P- Pyromaniacs This is a bunch of Jesus worshipers. PG is banned from commenting here. The pyrobois love to argue about correct doctrine. It is fun to look in the twitter feed, and see what they really think. Many of the things that are repulsive about christianity will be found at this site.
Q- cvs near Norcross, GA Q is a quaint letter. Queer, quiet, quote, Quasimodo. When you type q in the address bar, the top result is a google map for cvs pharmacies. For some bizarre reason, Mr. Google seems to think that PG lives in Norcross, which is a fine town if you like traffic jams.
R- Return To Atlanta This is a recently discovered favorite. It is recently discovered because it started publication in January of 2012. Somebody had too much free time in the nineties, and took a lot of pictures in Atlanta’s urban underbelly. Twenty years later, this same somebody (who probably does not live in Snellville) is posting these pictures, along with shots of the present day condos. Many of the posts are centered on the Atlanta Beltline.
S- Shorpy This is a photo blog. It has lots of historic pictures. This is where PG learned about the collections at The Library of Congress. Shorpy is named for Shorpy Higginbotham, “a ‘greaser’ on the tipple at Bessie Mine, of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Co. in Alabama. Said he was 14 years old, but it is doubtful. Carries two heavy pails of grease, and is often in danger of being run over by the coal cars.” The picture was taken in 1910.
T- The Field Negro This site is written by a Philadelphia lawyer. He takes an African American perspective on events. PG does not always agree with Field, but finds what he says to be worthwhile.
U- Funny Paperz U is an under appreciated letter. The best link we can offer today is the blogspot home of Joe King. His fifteen minutes of fame were in December, 2011. He does not post often. On February 2, Mr. King posted a fan letter. “Your comics suck. I would recommend suicide, but that would still leave your terrible comics around, poisoning the planet like spent Uranium 235 rods. No, I want you to go back in time and kill your mother while you’re in utero. I know this would create a time paradox and possibly unravel reality as we know it, but it is a risk I am willing to take.”
V- Bloggingheads TV PG listens to, and comments at, Bloggingheads often. It is a fine institution which deserves your support. This is another place where you can download an MP3, which is a good idea because their server has frequent hissy fits. The link today is for a video of Rick Santorum moving his lips.
W- World Class Stupid Roman Hans is six foot eight inches tall, and lives in Brooklyn. WCS has stories about his life. There is a sidebar, “my blog list”, which links to the latest post from Chamblee54. It also links to WTF Japan Seriously.
X- xkcd “A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.” Just two more to go.
Y- Beehive Candy Yes, yahoo and youtube came up first, but they are not as much fun as Beehive Candy. This is a music download site. BC is not as much fun as it used to be. There have been some changes in the world of file uploading servers, and a lot of material is not available anymore. We may already have de facto SOPA, with or without a law.
Z- Transcript of George Zimmerman’s 911 call There is a good reason for Z being in last place.
One more paragraph is needed to make this come out evenly. Ninety nigh thithea. Nurea cow. Ize a cry giya thinking buddy. In the depth, the last rotting corpse of the slimy thoroughfare lifted an inch. Mutant dogs came down on the hunger city. All I wanted was a pepsi. Meet me in the back of the blue bus. Someone left a pie out in the snow. Hope Change. We will be greeted as liberators. Franken furter, its all over, your mission is a failure, your lifestyles too extreme. Furthermore, less is more, the lawn needs mowing. Tip your waitress.

PG collects bits and pieces of “stuff” from the bargain bin of the internet. When these documents begin to clutter his desktop, it is time to combine a few into a post. The first two stories were a spam deposit on a yahoo group. Those hackers in Belarus are doing outstanding work. Numbers three, four, five, and six are  from the joke page  of a Jesus worship  forum,  Rapture Ready. Any copyrights will expire when the rapture happens. The pictures are from The Library of Congress
Last weekend I had a bad experience in a wine bar my wife and I had been going to for 2 months now. The owner is gay and was always extremely pleasant. Last Saturday night my wife and I walked in around 8PM and we were the only ones there. The owner was pleasant as usual. We ordered our wine and bopped around on the dance floor to a few tunes. after we sat down he started chatting with us on how he was was going to improve his business to bring in more people, at the same time he was drinking his beer with us. He though we were married or a couple and we confirmed that for him. He starting badgering my wife and I saying that she needs a real man in her life, that our marriage was over, just look at him, a guy in a dress, he can’t give you what you want! I should let her go and we should both move on. He amused a guy in a dress was looking for other action and suggested I tell her the truth and let her go. This made us both feel very uncomfortable. I know he was drinking and he may have had one to many but I could also see the hate in his eyes. I’m really good at judging people, so when my wife left the go to the ladies room he got in my face and said “I need to tell she the truth,” I told him “We loved each other” he kept shouting “STOP! STOP! we were nose to nose. Being in fem and having someone pick a fight with me was very unsettling. As a male I never backed down from a fight and I’m sure if push came to shove Joe would have emerged. When my wife came back we looked at one another and said lets go. I was calm, collected and talked softly trying to neutralize the situation. Dressed the was I was I felt this was the best approach. Thank God I was able to leave there with my dignity as a woman.
Thanks Amber, I can so understand your situation more than I can explain in detail through one email. My story starts off similarly, where I had gone to a gay dance bar that I had been going to for several years.The bar was unusually empty for a Friday night, long story short, the bar manager, Ray Collins, assaulted me, only I was arrested and seen as the perpetrator after he attacked me. This all occurred within a 5 minute timetable of my arrival. Needless to say, it changed my life a lot, in that, I have not looked at the gay community as a safe, inclusive place for me since. You never know who is going to turn on you for “no reason at all”. But when alcohol or drugs are involved, peoples’ true personalities come out in a big way. You can’t change a person’s hate of you, but you can stay away from those personality types which need psychiatric/therapeutic intervention. Some gay drinkers show their internalized conflicted selves when they have had too much to drink! Bless their hearts!…-& now just go away!
George Phillips , an elderly man, from Meridian, Mississippi, was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window.. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.
He phoned the police, who asked “Is someone in your house?” He said “No,” but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me. Then the police dispatcher said “All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available”
George said, “Okay.” He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again. “Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don’t have to worry about them now because I just shot and killed them both, the dogs are eating them right now.” and he hung up.
Within five minutes, six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two Fire Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Phillips’ residence, and caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said to George, “I thought you said that you’d shot them!” George said, “I thought you said there was nobody available!”
There once was a powerful Japanese emperor who needed a new chief samurai. So he sent out a declaration throughout the entire known world that he was searching for a chief. A year passed, and only three people applied for the very demanding position: a Japanese samurai, a Chinese samurai, and a Jewish samurai.
The emperor asked the Japanese samurai to come in and demonstrate why he should be the chief samurai. The Japanese samurai opened a matchbox, and out popped a bumblebee. Whoosh! went his sword. The bumblebee dropped dead, chopped in half. “That is very impressive!”
The emperor then issued the same challenge to the Chinese samurai, to come in and demonstrate why he should be chosen. The Chinese samurai also opened a matchbox and out buzzed a fly. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The fly dropped dead, chopped into four small pieces. The emperor exclaimed, “That is very impressive!”
Now the emperor turned to the Jewish samurai, and asked him to demonstrate why he should be the chief samurai. The Jewish Samurai opened a matchbox, and out flew a gnat. His flashing sword went Whoosh! But the gnat was still alive and flying around. The emperor, obviously disappointed, said, “Very ambitious, but why is that gnat not dead?” The Jewish Samurai just smiled and said, “Circumcision is not meant to kill.”
A census taker went up to a house and knocked. When a woman came to the door, he asked her how many children she had and their ages. She said, “There’s Sally and Billy, they’re eighteen. They’re twins. And there’s Seth & Beth, they’re fourteen. They’re twins. And then there’s, Penny and Jenny, they’re ten. They’re twins. And then there’s the babies, Leo and Leah. They’re two. Theyre twins…”– “Hold on!” said the census taker, “Did you get twins every time?” The woman looked at him as if he was crazy and answered, “Heck no, there were hundreds of times we didn’t get nothin’!”
Following the death of Quasimodo, the Bishop of the Cathedral Church of Notre Dame sent word throughout the streets of Paris that a new bellringer would need to be appointed. The Bishop decided that he would himself conduct the interviews, and went up into the belfry to interview the candidates. After observing several applicants demonstrate their skills, he decided to call it a day, when an armless man approached him announcing that he was there to apply for the post. The Bishop declared, ” My Son, you have no arms!” ” No matter” replied the man. “I play the bells with my face”. He then proceeded to strike the bells with his face, producing the most beautiful melody on the carillon. The Bishop was astonished, believing he had indeed found a suitable replacement for Quasimodo. But in rushing forward to strike a bell, the armless man tripped, and plunged headlong out of the belfry to his death in the street below. The Bishop, stunned rushed to his side. When he reached the street, a crowd had gathered around the fallen figure, drawn by the beauty of the music they had heard a moment before. As they parted in silence to allow the Bishop through, one in the crowd asked ” Bishop, who was this man?” ” I don’t know his name” replied the Bishop sadly, ” But his face sure rings a bell.” SO THE NEXT DAY……despite the sadness that weighed heavily on his heart, the Bishop continued his interviews for a bell ringer. The first man to approach addressed him, “Your Grace, I am the twin brother of the poor armless man who fell to his death from this belfry yesterday. I pray that you will allow me to play a dirge to honour my dear brother.” The Bishop agreed but asked “You don’t play with your face, do you?” “No, no, replied the man. I play in the traditional way”. With this he proceeded to play a deeply moving dirge, but as he finished he groaned, clutched at his chest, collapsed, and died on the spot. Two monks, hearing the cries of grief from the Bishop at the tragedy, rushed up the stairs…… “What has happened? Who is this man? ” they cried. ” I don’t know his name” exclaimed the distraught Bishop, “but he’s a dead ringer for his brother.”

No, this is not Pensacola vs. New Orleans, although that is an interesting concept. It is the acronymization of Political Correctness vs. Non-Oppressive Language. It was written March 28, but is only now washing up on the shores of facebook. Here is how it goes:
Political correctness is a term which denotes language seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts, and, as purported by the term, doing so to an excessive extent.
Non-oppressive language is a tactic that encourages us to reflect thoughtfully and critically about the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which language furthers social stigma and oppression. It is an attempt to practice non-hierarchical language for the purpose of building safer spaces and an inclusive society. However, nonoppressive language may sometimes not be PC, as telling our experiences sometimes means pointing out the ugly aspects of our oppressors.
In less lofty language: Being ‘PC’ means caring more about the language used than the general idea. Non-oppressive language is trying to get to the root of our thought. Do not be proud of being PC! If you are trying to be ~radical~, then you should know that the PC ideal of not discussing the reality of oppression maintains the erasive status quo.
PC vs NOL is a dodgy subject, given to half witted thinking, preening proverbs, and petty petulance. It is a profusion of confusion, a protest about a contest. One of the contrarian corollaries is the matter of *inclusive language*.
Someone put this note up on facebook recently. “hey y’all, need a few fae who want to be on camera for a brief (less than 3 mins) interview about language use and the importance of inclusive language to them. Need to try and do it this weekend, open Fri-Sun, lemme know if your interested! “ This was puzzling to PG, who had no clue what inclusive language was, or why it was important. (He thought it was about using the correct gender pronoun, which can be tricky in modern America.) This exchange followed. What about an opposing view from someone who disagrees? // Bleeding lambs , Luther. // Liberals do the same thing, but the media doesn’t report it. // To everyone else, who is probably thinking, “huh?” I am referencing language that bothers Luther, to make the point that we all have things that bother us, and “inclusive language” to me means being considerate and respectful of that, not because we want to be politically correct, but because we care about each other. PG did not go on camera to discuss the importance of inclusive language to him. (If you follow this link, you will learn about why the term “bleeding lambs” is so touchy. It is a cautionary tale about the need for gentle language in religion.)
In the seminal telling of this tale, there are 215 notes. Here are a few of the comments.
The next person who excuses their hurtful use of language with something along the lines of, “I don’t believe in being PC” gets a copy of this and a kick in the pants.
I disagree; Political Correctness is a red herring. It is a term which has since its inception in the 18th Century as an object of derision and slander. Political Correctness – to be Politically Correct – is a red herring because it implies that the only reason to be non-oppressive, the only reason to make any kind of compromise in your language choice, the only reason to make any kind of change in your thinking, is for personal gain, political gain. Who uses the term Political Correctness? People who are opposed to the idea of non-oppression. People who refuse to compromise their language choice despite it being oppressive, despite it being hostile. People who choose personal gain by being seen as a rebel as those Government Nig… Uh, Governmentniks.
Political Correctness is nothing to be proud of because it is a term coined by those who wish to trivialise the idea that it is both possible and preferable to make language – particularly official, legal, professional language – as non-oppressive as possible.
‘Political Correctness’ is what the Daily Mail uses to describe anything it doesn’t like, which means anyone who falls into the categories of POC, all other women who do not read and enjoy Femail, poor people, queer people, people with disabilities &c. ‘PERLIDICKAL CORRICKNESS GORN MAID’ is the white middle class roar of indignation when anything that supports and furthers the causes of these groups occurs.
This is also why when some buttface leers like “I’m sorry you’re ~offended~” (making it all about me & my supposed demands for PC-ness & implying oversensitivity) whenever possible I like to look them in the face & calmly say “I’m more disappointed & grossed out than offended.” (ie, it’s all about YOU BEING AN ASSHOLE, not proper language and feefees.) It might not do anything but I refuse to let it rest at “it’s your problem for being hurt”
YES! I’m getting tired of having to explain that correcting someone on their language isn’t about being PC but about being respectful and acknowledging that language has the power to hurt. Now i can send them this.
This typing business is getting old fashioned. Here are a few random thoughts on the *matter*. If you get tired of this, and want to go look at the rest of the pictures, you are excused. The pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”
1 – Whoever hands out the labels controls the discussion. Obamacare sounds much worse than the affordable care act. Pro life is better than anti abortion. Don’t worry about the children killed in the wars that pro life people support The spell check suggestion for Obamacare is Macabre .
2 – Semantic discussions are so tiresome. Too much food for thought leads to moral indigestion. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Stream of consciousness is more fun to write than it is to read. The delete key is not just for breakfast.
3 – Languages are the creation of man. They are always going to have shortcomings. Words and phrases mean different things to different people.
4 – When self styled conservatives make fun non oppressive language, in the way they ridicule political correctness, the concept has arrived.
5 – People are proud of their ignorance and prejudices. When someone uses a term that offends/angers you, it says more about the sayer than it does the object.
6 – When you punish the use of a term, you make it’s use more appealing.
7 – There is more to respecting a person than refraining from the use of forbidden words.
8 – Often, the oppressors think they are the victims.
9 – If you are a sloppy typer, non oppressive can come out ono oppressive. John is rocking and rolling in his grave.
10 – It is not what you say, it is how you say it.
11 – If you are confused, it only means you are paying attention.
12 – The dominant religion of our culture has, as a cornerstone belief, the notion that “the bible is the word of G-d”. When you use this belief as a foundation for your culture, it should not be surprising when the basement leaks.

As you may have noticed, the price of gasoline is going up. The intermediates are full of opinions. Today we will focus on two reports. Informed Comment has a bit today, Why Romney is Lying about the Causes of high Prices at the Pump. A few weeks ago, Tom Dispatch published Tomgram: Michael Klare, Why High Gas Prices Are Here to Stay. As with all stories, you can learn a few things by reading the original, and following the links. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress .
It looks like either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama is going to be the next President. Yuck. One of the issues is the price of gasoline. Lips will be moving, and the etch a sketch turned over. The smiling Mormon said recently “In thrall to the environmentalist lobby and its dogmas, the President and the regulatory bodies under his control have taken measures to limit energy exploration and restrict development in ways that sap economic performance, curtail growth, and kill jobs,”
It is copy and paste time. Other people say things better than your slack blogger. “Oil prices are a matter of supply and demand, and Romney only wants to talk about supply. The US imports 8.7 million barrels of petroleum per day (the world produces roughly 87 million barrels a day). If you wanted to put down its price, you could begin by slashing imports by not wasting so much gasoline. If we moved more things by train instead of by trucks; if we gave more tax breaks for buying hybrids and electric vehicles; if we did more to encourage wind and solar energy and integrated it with electric vehicles; if we lowered the speed limits; if we held Detroit’s feet to the fire and required much higher gasoline efficiency much sooner, if we set policies that encouraged people to live in cities near their work– if we did all that we’d put down the price of petroleum. We only have 4% of the world’s population and we use about a fifth of the world’s petroleum, and that is one of the problems….We can’t affect the supply part of the equation. The United States just doesn’t have many petroleum reserves by world standards, and drilling in nature reserves and off pristine beaches is not going to produce enough fuel to lower world prices. We’ve already increased our production of petroleum and liquid fuels by about a million barrels a day since Obama has been president, and Obama isn’t doing anything to stand in the way of that kind of thing.
And, there are currently some international issues affecting supply: 1. the boycotts on Iran (which Romney supports, in fact he wants more! The more you boycott Iran’s oil, the more you put up the price of petroleum; hint: you’ve reduced supply). Talk of war also raises gasoline prices because the futures markets get nervous. 2. Declining production from old fields. China’s domestic production is down 200,000 barrels a day this spring because an old field is being worked out. China’s good economy is also roaring along, so that Chinese demand was up about 18% in February. 3. Political instability and quarrels. The Kurds in northern Iraq say they will stop pumping oil until the central Iraqi government gives them the share of profits it had promised. Syria used to produce 400,000 barrels a day and is now not doing much because of the upheaval there. South Sudan has shut down production as part of its quarrel with Sudan, through which it pipes its oil, over how much Khartoum skims off.” (Does this pipeline run through Darfur?)
The truth is that the earth is running out of oil. There is oil left to be extracted, but it is going to be much tougher to get. The days of Jed Clampett discovering oil with his shotgun are over, if they ever existed in the first place. Many of the remaining oil deposits are in deep water. “Brazil’s offshore fields, considered by some experts the most promising new oil discovery of this century, will prove especially pricey, because they lie beneath one and a half miles of water and two and a half miles of sand, rock, and salt. The world’s most advanced, costly drilling equipment — some of it still being developed — will be needed. Petrobras, the state-controlled energy firm, has already committed $53 billion to the project for 2011-2015, and most analysts believe that will be only a modest down payment on a staggering final price tag.”
The Arctic has lots of oil. Getting it out is going to be tough. “The Arctic physical environment presents special challenges not experienced elsewhere in the world. Several oil and natural gas fields have been discovered on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula but have not been developed because of the daunting physical challenges. As noted in a Cambridge Energy Research Associates report on this matter: “Intermittent permafrost becomes continuous, winds rise to a steady 40 m per second, wind-driven water up to 10 m deep covers the low-lying land several months of the year, and solid ground gives way to friable sand that offers little support to drill pads or to pipelines and other infrastructure. In winter, instead of soil there is a frozen mixture of one part sand to four parts of ice, shot through with salt. At greater depths one encounters cryopegs—liquid saltwater lenses that slide under pressure, further weakening the load-bearing capacity of the soil…. The most difficult part is getting gas and liquids to market as well as getting equipment and materiel in.”
Other sources of oil are the tar sands of Canada, and the “heavy oil” of Venezuela. The tar sands will probably be exploited, with or without a pipeline through the Nebraska aquifer. The oil produced is full of contaminants, and will be environmentally and economically costly.
“Until now, Canada’s tar sands have been obtained through a process akin to strip mining, utilizing monster shovels to pry a mixture of sand and bitumen out of the ground. But most of the near-surface bitumen in the tar-sands-rich province of Alberta has now been exhausted, which means all future extraction will require a far more complex and costly process. Steam will have to be injected into deeper concentrations to melt the bitumen and allow its recovery by massive pumps. This requires a colossal investment of infrastructure and energy, as well as the construction of treatment facilities for all the resulting toxic wastes. According to the Canadian Energy Research Institute, the full development of Alberta’s oil sands would require a minimum investment of $218 billion over the next 25 years, not including the cost of building pipelines to the United States (such as the proposed Keystone XL) for processing in U.S. refineries.
The development of Venezuela’s heavy oil will require investment on a comparable scale. The Orinoco belt, an especially dense concentration of heavy oil adjoining the Orinoco River, is believed to contain recoverable reserves of 513 billion barrels of oil — perhaps the largest source of untapped petroleum on the planet. But converting this molasses-like form of bitumen into a useable liquid fuel far exceeds the technical capacity or financial resources of the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. Accordingly, it is now seeking foreign partners willing to invest the $10-$20 billion needed just to build the necessary facilities.”
These issues do not consider the impact of carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels. Nor does this report factor in the cost of wars to protect the flow of petroleum. It is estimated that the cost of gasoline does not cover much of the true cost of extracting and using oil. This is the future.

The email was explicit. If you forward this to your friends, then you can expect money. If you would rather skip over this and look at the pictures, you may, or may not, gets lots of money.
This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays.This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags. So, forward this to your friends and money will arrive within 4 days. Based on Chinese Feng Shui. The one who does not forward…..will be without money
Pictures tonight are from The Library of Congress.