Did Joseph Think It Was His Kid?
As you may have heard, SCOTUS is hearing oral, and possibly anal, arguments about gay marriage today. In a stroke of irony, this is day after March 25, nine months before Christmas. In other words, a crucial day, in the most famous unconsummated marriage in history.
PG began to ponder the traditional marriage of Joseph and Mary. Apparently, Joseph’s last name is lost to history. The question of the day is “when did Joseph and Mary get married?”. There are brain damage inducing answers at facilities such as Liberty Gospel Tracts and Fish Eaters Traditional Catholic Forum.
LGT (the B got kicked out for some reason) contributes a bible passage, Matthew 1:18-19. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
Put her away in the privy? That is some kinky business there. Maybe the Christians and Jews have it all wrong. The thirds Abrahamic religion, Islam, might have the answer. A site, TurnToIslam, has another point of view about the traditional definition of marriage.
What about Mary, Jesus’ Mother peace be upon both of them? How old was she when she got pregnant? Not only was it a custom in the Arab society to Engage/Marry a young girl it was also common in the Jewish society. The case of Mary the mother of Jesus comes to mind, in non biblical sources she was between 11-14 years old when she conceived Jesus. Mary had already been “BETROTHED” to Joseph before conceiving Jesus. Joseph was a much older man. therefore Mary was younger than 11-14 years of age when she was “BETHROED” to Joseph. We Muslims would never call Joseph a Child Molester, nor would we refer to the “Holy Ghost” of the Bible, that “Impregnated” Mary as a “Rapist” or “Adulterer”.
“….it is possible that Mary gave birth to her Son when she was about thirteen or fourteen years of age….”Mary was approximately 14 years old when she got pregnant with Jesus. Joseph, Mary’s Husband is believed to be around 36. Mary was only 13 when she married Joseph. When she first was arranged with Joseph she was between 7 to 9 years old.”
According to the “Oxford Dictionary Bible” commentary, Mary (peace be upon her) was was 12 years old when she became impregnated. So if I want to be as silly and ridiculous as many of the Christians, I would respond to them by saying that Mary was psychologically and emotionally devastated for getting pregnant at a very young age. And speaking of “child molesting”, since most Christians believe that Jesus is the Creator of this universe, then why did G-D allow himself to enter life through a 12-year old young girl’s vagina? Please note that we Muslims love and respect Allah Almighty, Mary, Jesus and Allah’s Message to the People of the Book (The Jews and Christians). In other words, we Muslims would never make fun of Christianity through such childish topic like this one as many ridiculous Christians do make fun of Islam through our Prophet’s (peace be upon him) marriage.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Lucky Accident
March 25 is Waffle Day. This is a good day to tell about a lucky accident. The first Waffle House opened on East College Avenue, in Avondale Estates GA, in 1955. One of the partners in the venture was Albert House. The original plan was for the restaurant to be called “House Waffles.”
The person who made the first bright yellow sign was a bit hard of hearing. When the sign arrived at the site, it said Waffle House, instead of House Waffles. The restaurant was opening the next day, and it was too late to change. It opened as Waffle House, and was so successful they kept the name.
This story is a whimsical account of what might have been, and is not based on actual history. The pictures, from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”, are real.
Anita Aretha and Elton
In the early nineties, PG had too much free time. On March 25 of one year, he looked in the fishwrapper, and found a list of famous people with birthdays.
There was an unlikely trio celebrating that day. This would be (in order of appearance) Anita Bryant (1940), Aretha Franklin (1942), and Elton John (1947). All three have been paid for singing. The three have a total of five husbands, with Miss Bryant and Mr. John currently attached (Not to each other). Miss Franklin has good taste in hats.
Several other people have arrived on planet earth on March 25. They include , in 1911, Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (d. 1967) (They don’t say alleged when it was on live TV). 1918 produced Howard Cosell, American sports reporter (d. 1995). Flannery O’Connor (d. 1964) arrived in 1925. 1934 gave us Gloria Steinem. In 1937 Tom Monaghan, founder of Dominos pizza, arrived. (The delivery was nine months, and twenty nine minutes, after the order was placed.) To make room for all this talent, Buck Owens died March 25, 2006.
March 25 is after the spring equinox, and has been Easter. A few noteworthy events have gone down on this day. In 1894, Coxey’s Army departed Massillon, Ohio for Washington D.C. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 146 garment workers in New York City. In 1939 Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli becomes Pope Pius XII, to the delight of Adolph Hitler. 1955 saw the United States Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” as obscene. In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.
HT and applause to wikipedia. This is a repost. Pictures, without Ms. Steinem, are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
More Skepticism About Facebook Graphics
A facebook entity called Skeptics; Atheists; Realists; Agnostics; Humanists recently blessed the digital world with a graphic. The image features a purported quote from Henry Louis Mencken, to the effect that “Morality is doing right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right?” A group with skeptic in it’s name shouldn’t object to a bit of fact checking.
Mr. Mencken was not a religious person. The Baltimore scribe was famous for his cynical sayings. He made up the story of Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, and watched in horror as people refused to believe that it was a hoax. (Those who enjoy stories about bathtubs might enjoy this radio show, The Bathtubs or the Boiler Room.)
Mr. Mencken may indeed have said it. Wikiquotes does not have the quote, but they are not the last word. It would seem that as much of his written work survives, that, if the quote is genuine, there is a paper trail. PG does not have the inclination to search for this quote.
There is the sense that the poster quote may be a bit on the trite side, for the learned Mr. Mencken. It is a common rhetorical device, which some english teacher has a name for. The writing of Mr. Mencken that this reporter has seen has a bit more subtlety. As the Saturday Evening Post. wrote once, “Too many present-day Americans know Mencken solely through the occasional printed sound-bite which political writers pilfer in an attempt to appear erudite.”
One of the quotes that Wikiquotes turned up was “We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.” This is credited to “Minority Report : H.L. Mencken’s Notebooks (1956)” This says much the same thing as the poster, but with more style.
Mr. Mencken continues to be controversial, years after his death in 1956. Some of his letters have unflattering things to say about Jews, Blacks, Southerners, and a few other groups. On the one hand he said very rude things about Jews; on the other, he denounced the Nazi persecution of Jews years before it was fashionable. Perhaps this “premature anti fascism” was the reason for the FBI keeping a file on him. While he might not have said the poster quote in so many words, many of his writings showed the thought in action. Mr. Mencken might also look down at the vulgarity of facebook graphics, and bumper sticker wisdom. He might not want to be blamed for the words appearing on that poster. UPDATE QuoteFail says they can find no evidence that this is a valid quote.
The Correct Spelling Of Friedrich Nietzsche
In late 1968, Georgia Governor Lester Maddox faced a question about prison reform. He gave what many feel is a common sense answer. “We’re doing the best we can, and before we do much better, we’re going to have to get a better grade of prisoners.”
Before we break down that gubernatorial wisdom, a note on google is appropriate. The only source on the front result page, with the verbatim quote, was Art Buchwald. He is a humor columnist. The piece was in the Toledo Blade, December 2, 1968. The column above is from Drew Pearson, and employs the phrase President Johnson and President elect Nixon. Those were scary times.
Moving along on this wet sunday, someone made an all caps comment on facebook: “NOW HOW REAL IS THAT!!!!” The quote displyed a graphic, based on an alleged saying of Friedrich Nietzsche. “People don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” Readers of this blog should know what comes next. Posting a quote, and saying it is real, is begging for an investigation.
Wikiquotes does not show that quote. The search words used were truth, and illusions. Mr. Nietzsche wrote in German, which PG does not read. He did write some things similar to the poster.
Are designations congruent with things? Is language the adequate expression of all realities? It is only by means of forgetfulness that man can ever reach the point of fancying himself to possess a “truth” of the grade just indicated. If he will not be satisfied with truth in the form of tautology, that is to say, if he will not be content with empty husks, then he will always exchange truths for illusions.
Truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions — they are metaphors that have become worn out and have been drained of sensuous force, coins which have lost their embossing and are now considered as metal and no longer as coins.
It should be noted that the wikis sometimes contain mistakes. Since Mr. Nietzsche wrote books, it would seem that a source could be found for this quote, if it is indeed accurate. When you type the phrase “Did Friedrich Nietzsche…” into google, the automated search possibilities are believe in G-d, have children, how did Friedrich Nietzsche die, what did Friedrich Nietzsche believe.
Quote Fail says “This quote appears to have been created within the Tumblr-verse.” They don’t think it is genuine. QF has a coupon for endless enchiladas at a restaurant called on the border.
If you are not too picky, quote factory has posters, available for sale, in eleven different designs. This is a responsible site. “Add corrections to the Quote – Is the Quote wrong? Or the author? Help us making this the most accurate and complete Quote site on the planet!
Today’s exercise is the story of a quote about truth. The quote was presented, with the phrase “NOW HOW REAL IS THAT!!!!” The quote, about truth and illusion, is essentially the truth. However, it is credited to Friedrich Nietzsche, without any more information. There is no comment about context, the original language used, or where this quote is to be found. As it turns out, Mr. Nietzsche probably did not include this quote in his books. This does not make the quote less accurate. The concept of mythos over logos is “real”. However, this does give a twist to this pretzel…if a quote about truth is erroneously credited, is the quote less “real”? Whether the reality of the question is affected by the use of all caps is a question for mighty minds to ponder. Pictures are courtesy of Gwinnett County.
The White House Dog
Michele Bachmann gave a speech at CPAC recently. Among other things, she talked about the care given to Bo Obama, @FDOTUS. Mrs. Bachmann, who is sometimes compared to a female dog, is taking a severe political risk in criticizing the Presidential dog.
In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt was trying to win a war, and running for a fourth term as POTUS. His most trusted advisor was a Scottish Terrier named Fala. The Republicans made a mistake.
“On September 23, 1944, Roosevelt gave his famous “Fala speech” while campaigning in the 1944 presidential election. … . Late in the speech, Roosevelt addressed Republican charges that he had accidentally left Fala behind on the Aleutian Islands while on tour there and had sent a U.S. Navy destroyer to retrieve him at an exorbitant cost to the taxpayers:”
“These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, and my family don’t resent attacks, but Fala does resent them. You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I’d left him behind on an Aleutian island and had sent a destroyer back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or twenty million dollars — his Scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself … But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog!”
Mr. Roosevelt won the election, and the war, but lost his life. Fala was in Warm Springs with him, and reportedly knew, before the doctors, that Mr. Roosevelt was not going to make it. Fala went to stay with Eleanor, and lived until 1952.
That was the year the Republicans finally won a Presidential election. This victory was put in doubt by reports of financial chicanery by Vice Presidential candidate Richard Nixon. There was a tv speech given to address these concerns.
“One other thing I probably should tell you because if we don’t they’ll probably be saying this about me too, we did get something-a gift-after the election. A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog. And, believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was. It was a little cocker spaniel dog in a crate that he’d sent all the way from Texas. Black and white spotted. And our little girl-Tricia, the 6-year old-named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re gonna keep it.”
Mr. Nixon won that election, and moved into the White House, as POTUS, in 1969. After Mr. Nixon died in 1994, PG saw a huge flag at half mast. It was a hamburger stand called Checkers.
Meanwhile, Bo Obama takes his four legged duty very seriously. @FDOTUS. No, I didn’t know that was Abe Lincoln’s bible and yes, I’m sorry I chewed it. Can we moved on?
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Racism
when you are a hammer
everything looks like a nail
look for something
you are going to find it
except when
you look in the mirror
the hot air
coming from your mouth
creates a cloud
that prevents you
from seeing yourself
Swat Squad Saturday
I stand in the cold rain
Medicate the pain
And try to remember
To shout out timber
What the rebellion was all about
Liberty cabbage or sauerkraut
As I think about the loss
Of the loudmouth on the cross
And who did what first
And when and where and worst
I wonder if it really matters anymore
When it all seems like a chore
An abyss
Hit or miss
Thank you Lumdog
Pictures are from The Library of Congress
BVD
Spencer Tracy’s rule for acting, number two, is don’t trip over the props. This might be a problem for Jon Hamm. In a bit of slow news day genius, his show leaked the information that the actor has been requested to wear underwear on the set. A rep for Mr. Hamm said: “It is ridiculous and not really funny at all. I’d appreciate you taking the high road and not resorting to something childish like this that’s been blogged about 1,000 times.”
This was an issue when Tallulah Bankhead was making “Lifeboat”. Other performers complained about the thespian not wearing panties. Director Alfred Hitchcock wondered if this was a matter for wardrobe, or a matter for hairdressing.
This concern about foundation garments, conveniently arising during the pre-easter shopping season, made PG wonder when men started to wear drawers. Could this be the result of manufacturers inventing demand for a product? Wikipedia says the loincloth is thousands of years old. A footnote, about the invention of the jockstrap, led to an English article, A brief history of pants: Why men’s smalls have always been a subject of concern.
“In 1935, the first Jockey briefs went on sale in Chicago. Designed by an “apparel engineer” called Arthur Kneibler (working at the time for Coopers Inc), the arrival of the first underpants denuded of any legs and featuring a Y-shaped opening has been compared with the 1913 invention of the bra, or the 1959 debut of tights. In three months, 30,000 were sold. Coopers, now known as Jockey International, sent its “Mascul-line” plane to make special deliveries of “masculine support” briefs to retailers across the United States. When the Jockeys arrived in Britain in 1938, they sold at the rate of 3,000 per week.”
One popular brand of underwear is the BVD. This was originally made by Bradley, Voorhees & Day, hence the name. They are not named for Bovine Viral Diarrhea. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Don’t Have To Call Me Darlin’
Ten Questions For Phoblography
The Daily Post is a WordPress facility, dedicated to “The Art and Craft of Blogging.” Recently they had a feature, Ten Questions (plus one!) for Phoblography. I decided to copy the feature, delete the published answers, and supply my own. Someone might be interested in reading this. If nothing else, this is a good excuse write some text to go between a collection of pictures. That is what text does at Chamblee54.
The extra question is about telephones with built in cameras, which PG thinks is a cool idea. When the current stupid phone wears out, a camera enabled phone might be a good idea. For the time being, the 12 button wonder phone works just fine. It was purchased at a yard sale for four dollars, and has been worth every penny. As for phoblography, it sounds like a Vietnamese Soup Magazine.
1. What’s your typical process for developing, creating, and publishing a post? There is no typical process. Text ideas come from everywhere… twitter, facebook, dead tree books, the real world. Often, I will hear something, and start thinking about it, and before long a post is on the way. I also keep a list of what I posted at this time each of the last five years, and have frequent reruns. Some posts just need to be repeated. At other times, a repost is the answer for writer’s tackle.
The pictures usually have nothing to do with the text. There are three groups of pictures. There are color photographs that I take, and edit. There are historic pictures from The Library of Congress, and “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. I am usually working on editing pictures from one of these groups, and often the most recently edited pictures are chosen for the post.
So I write the text, and include links for the sources and quotes. The first draft is written in a separate wordpad document. The text is marked up with HTML. I like to use colored fonts, typically alternating shades of green for each paragraph. The pictures are selected, and moved into a folder for that date. A new post is started, and given a title. The pictures, and text, are moved into the window. The post is saved, and a preview is opened in a separate window. The text is reviewed for typos, misspelled words, and what are known as widows. A widow is a single word, in a line by itself, at the end of a paragraph. These are ugly, and can almost always be corrected. Often there is a useless phrase in the last sentence, which can be painlessly deleted. The writing is usually improved.
When the post is up to the standards of Chamblee54, it is published. The code is copied, and pasted into the word document. The link is posted on facebook, and anywhere else that is appropriate.
2. What does your blogging setup look like? What do you need to be comfortable publishing? The setup is an old desktop, on top of a butcher block table. The computer is a storebought desktop. The desk is in front of a window, overlooking the street. There is a mirror behind the monitor, so I can see the TV set on the other side of the room. I usually have a beverage, usually coffee, tea, or water. Sometimes there is background music playing. If I am writing text, the music needs to be instrumental, with no vocals.
3. Do you do much processing to your photos? Are there photo tools, apps, or software you’d recommend? I edit the hell out of pictures. I use a program called GIMP. Even if I use a self taken picture, without cropping or adjustments, I need to reduce it to 720 pixels wide. This reduces the file size. I started out with a dial up, and learned the value of having small file sizes.
4. What are your top three tips for new/amateur photobloggers? Link to your sources, don’t spill your beverage, have fun.
5. What photo equipment do you use? What would you recommend for someone who’s ready to move on from a cameraphone or a point-and-shoot camera? On the historic pictures, I have a solid internet connection. For my own pictures, I use a Nikon coolpix L24. It was on sale at Walmart.
6. How many photos do you think you take for each photo you decide to feature on the site? What’s your process for trying to capture the “perfect” shot? I take as many pictures as the occasion demands. I edit them, and put them away. There is a list of folders to be used, and I go through that list folder by folder. I also repeat good collections of pictures, often when I repeat the post.
I really don’t go for the perfect shot. The pictures I take are just fodder for the desktop. Often at events, I just shoot, shoot, shoot, and take as much garbage as I do usuable images.
7. Why did you choose WordPress.com for your site? I used blogspot until google wouldn’t let me into my account. I registered with WordPress to make a comment at a blog, and decided to try writing there. I have been very happy with WordPress .
8. Tell us five of your daily reads / favorite photography blogs. The Fishwrapper, Peach Pundit, Bloggingheads, Trifecta, Yo is this racist, and Facebook. Podcasts include 99 percent invisible, backstory, radiolab. I would rather listen to something, while I work on pictures, than read.
9. Which of your posts has had the most influence on your readers, and why? I wrote Shock And Awe Day 2013 on Monday, and it is getting a good response. None of the posts really influences anyone. A few people enjoy them, which is all I have a right to expect.
10. What are your favorite things/locations/people to photograph? Is there something you’d never feature on your blog? I like dogs, graffiti, mannequins, and ethnic diversity. In history, I like group photographs broken into individuals. Public domain is a magic phrase. I would never print the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. G-d is too busy to help me.
Sin Salvation Send Money
Dear Patriot, We just returned from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and we’ve got so much to report! Each year, the most influential conservatives in America gather at CPAC to lay out the next steps in our movement. And this year, Tea Party Patriots was instrumental in charting a course for the future! Our chief goal was to target young activists – the essential ingredient for our movement’s long-term success.
We unveiled a new video entitled “A Movement on Fire,” which presented our struggle for freedom to younger audiences through the lens of the popular Hunger Games movie. Salon.com dubbed our short film CPAC’s “first viral hit”! We followed that up with a Hunger Games-themed party that attracted hundreds of young conservatives to our organization! We provided 30 hours of grassroots training to scores of new activists over the course of the three-day event, and we met with thousands more.
And Jenny Beth Martin, our National Coordinator, topped it all off with a rousing keynote address denouncing the nanny-state oppression of ObamaCare. In short, in three days at CPAC, our profile grew exponentially, the ranks of young Tea Party conservatives multiplied, and the number of trained Tea Party activists continued to increase!
And this fabulous conference was only the beginning! With CPAC now behind us, our movement is rejuvenated. Our ranks have grown. The younger generation is ready to join us. But now, we must resource and coordinate them. Will you make a generous contribution to Tea Party Patriots today to support the next chapter in our citizen-led movement?
All of this outreach will mean nothing if we are unable to provide materials, direction and guidance to the hundreds of newly activated Tea Party conservatives that have just joined us. We need to provide manuals, advanced grassroots training, and hands-on guidance to these new, young activists looking to make a difference in their communities and states. Tea Party Patriots relies on the generosity of conservatives like you to propel this citizen-led revolution forward.
Please make a much-needed contribution today to help us resource and coordinate these patriots. Thank you so much for your dedication to the cause of freedom! Tea Party Patriots, Inc. operates as a social welfare organization organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Tea Party Patriots, Inc. are not deductible as charitable contributions for income tax purposes.
Chamblee54 
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