Bill Cosby
As you may have heard, Bill Cosby is back in the news. If you want details, they won’t be tough to find. If you want to hear what people think about it all, that will be even easier to find.
PG quit watching TV about the time the Maytag repairman got his last service call. Allegedly, Mr. Cosby had a warm and fuzzy TV show a few years ago. A lot of people have trouble accepting that the wonderful man, on the boob tube, is a rapist. It was a performance by an actor.
When PG hears the name Bill Cosby, he goes back 49 years. It would be a summer afternoon like this one. A couple of doors down, a Bill Cosby comedy album would be playing on a monaural record player. We would have heard it a few dozen times already. Childhood would not have been the same without Bill Cosby comedy albums.
There was another incident. In 1981, PG was riding a bus to points west. In Reno NV, he left his bags at the station. Bill Cosby was performing in a casino. There was a ten dollar cover charge. The door man said that PG’s clothes were compliant with the dress code. And yet, PG did not feel like sitting down long enough to see the show. The opportunity passed by.
So, it is a July afternoon, just like one in 1966. With youtube, you can search for a Bill Cosby album. When you play one, Youtube/google superimposes an ad, telling you how to self publish poetry.
The first one to play was Wonderfulness. It has a picture of Mr. Cosby on an non motorized downhill device. PG remembers seeing the album on sale at K-mart. Listening to the first part of the album, the material was not familiar. And, truth be told, not very funny.
Comedy albums on vinyl are dinosaurs. Today, if you want to see a comedian, you can see something on cable tv, or a dvd, or a youtube. The concept of white boys sitting around listening to a black comic, on vinyl, is archaic. If Norman Rockwell had been relevant in the sixties he might have captured the moment. (Mr. Rockwell died in 1978, so it was possible. Saturday Evening Post was only bi-weekly by 1966, and might not have wanted to publish such a thing.)
The next album on the playlist was Why Is There Air? There were a few punch lines that PG could remember from 1966. If you are driving in San Francisco, and your VW bug rolls into the bay and you die, you go to hell. Its a lot funnier when Bill Cosby says it.
There was one routine, about pregnancy, that stands out. The possibility of a Polaroid baby… you kiss your wife, sixty seconds later the kid pops out, you did him in lacquer to keep him from fading. Today’s listener under forty will not have a clue what he is talking about.
The pregnancy routine talks about how tough it is for the mother, and the baby. One can only wonder if Mr. Cosby had begun the chemical seduction routine in 1966. The idea that Bill was out druggin and buggin, while Camille was at home having his babies, is not funny.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Only The Dead
@EdDarrell “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” Who said that? Contrary to what Black Hawk Down says, this quote is not in any of Plato’s writings. The student of Socrates may have said it, and it may sound like something he would have said. However, nobody has been able to find it in his work.
George Santayana was a writer, philosopher, and sayer of smart things. “Only the dead…” appears in Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies, number 25 (1922). The signature quote from Mr. Santayana is “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is found in The Life of Reason, vol. 1: Reason in Common Sense.
“Only the dead have seen the end of war” is an aphorism that sounds good until you think about it a bit. It was written by a living person. It has never been confirmed by conversation with a dead person. For all we know, the dead see plenty of war.
A google search inspired by the original tweet turned up a dandy post, Quotes Behaving Badly: 9 Quotes That Are Wrong, Dishonest, Mis-attributed or Idiotic. As the reader(s) of this blog know, quote debunkers are much needed on the internet. The first of the Four Principles of Quotation puts it another way. “Whenever you see a quotation given with an author but no source assume that it is probably bogus.” It doesn’t matter if the inspiring words are calligraphied in front of a breathtaking mountain backdrop, or if credit is given to a dead white man.
The Four Principles page cited discusses an old warhorse quote, “Whenever you see a quotation given with an author but no source assume that it is probably bogus.” Thomas Jefferson is one of those accused of saying that. Quotes Behaving Badly also mentions this chestnut.
To begin with, no one seems to know who originally said it, and what the exact words were. Worse is the way this quote is used by demagogues. So called leaders use this quote to manipulate others. Often, these people do not know what they are talking about. Their actions make the situation worse, rather than better. But they are doing something.
Quotes Behaving Badly takes on more versions of the misused quote. There is the quote from a character in a novel, which is strawmanned into representing the thoughts of the author. There is also the quote taken out of context.
“Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst.” This is in Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. PG has never read ST, and does not know the context of the quote.
Quotes Behaving Badly implies that the quote is from a villain in the story. “The problem is that an author cannot take ownership for the dialogue of the characters he creates. If two characters debate, does the author then believe both sides of a debate? And would the author have to support the views and opinions super villains, serial killers, dictators, and even child molesters.”
There is a humongous archive dedicated to Mohanda Gandhi. If he said it, then there should be a written record. That does not mean that people will use the quote properly.
“I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence… I would rather have India resort to arms in order to defend her honour than that she should, in a cowardly manner, become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonor.” The next line contradicts the first part. “But I believe that non-violence is infinitely superior to violence…”
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Coercively Assigned Male At Birth
I sense that this is greatly exaggerated. Hank Aaron is simply not a big deal anymore. ~ If he is like most of the professional Jesus worshipers I have known, Mr. Hagee routinely violates the third commandment. ~ Hairy Krishna Hairy Krishna Hairy Hairy Krishna Krishna Hairy Rammer Hairy Rammer Hairy Hairy Rammer Rammer ~ don’t you have blog/facebook acct? Your twitter monolog would be much easier to read in order instead of scrolling backwards – In comment orgies like this, and the recent SFQP bash, there seems to be a few people who do the bulk of the talking. I wonder how many people actually wade through the comments, but never participate. I do know that ” social ridicule and ostracism” are very real parts of these discussions. Then there is this: “I’m willing to sacrifice the comfort of white folks in order to work towards the incredibly radical idea of a space with less white supremacy.” ~ if man is not liberal @ 20, he has no heart if man is not conservative @ 40 he has no brain does this describe you at 40? ~ BHO is a good mimic ~ @TooMessedUp My fat friend forgave me for laughing at his weight problem… I guess he really is the bigger person. ~ I don’t think a shart circle is a good idea. ~ Nothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion. John Adams ~ Crazy — a nonscientific term meaning that the person to whom one applies that label has a world picture differing from the accepted one. Robert Heinlein ~ If lawyers don’t make money on something it doesn’t happen. ~ Maybe some anti spam action is appropriate. ~ I saw a tweet saying “we should start treating all white supremacist groups as the domestic terrorists they are #WhoIsBurningBlackChurches” While it is highly probable that ws are responsible, it is also possible for something else to be going on. Rival church groups. Insurance. A gay person alienated by the anti gay rhetoric of the jesus worship church. ~ They got a one pointer. ~ @whittmman He puts today out of himself with plasticity and love, ~ @nihilist_arbys Draw the blinds. shut out the sun. Cry. The pile of meat has been on the table for weeks. Just eat it & go back to bed. Arbys: edible. ~ @ChrchCurmudgeon Today is Canadian Fourth of July on the metric calendar. Celebrate politely. ~ When the CVS burned, some media perps commented on sports fan rioting involving PWOC. ~ Why would a sign about stealing and lying be in a government building? ~ The verbal abuse culture of the Jesus worship church, both black and white, needs to end. ~ They are the ones who can afford to fly. ~ 35741 ~ Donald Trump is an idiot. ~ Most of them are jokes about LaToya Jackson. She has a similar last name to Maynard Jackson, the former mayor of Atlanta and the co-namesake of the facility. I suspect LaToya Jackson moved out of the ghetto a long time ago. ~ The Hartsfield part of Hartsfield-Jackson is former Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield. He is the namesake of “Willie B.” the gorilla at Zoo Atlanta. ~ It might not be racist, but it is not very funny. This joke is worn out. ~ Was it gift wrapped? ~ Truman Capote was on the couch when Lester Maddox was a guest on the Dick Cavett show. After the Governor walked off, Mr. Capote talked about the time he went to the Pickrick. (The fried chicken restaurant owned by Lester Maddox.) “All I’m going to say is, it was not finger licking good.” ~ smiles work better in lower case letters ~ How do jokes about Hartsfield Jackson airport contribute to systemic oppression? If they do not then they are not racist, according to some people. Or maybe it is time to put the expression racist on the shelf, and think of a new insult for people you don’t like ~ Can you, or will you, odd? ~ Did the founding fathers foresee the day when the descendents of their slaves would have easy access to handguns? ~ Is it racist to complain about watermelon oreos? ~ This is a graven image, installed in a facility where stealing and bearing false witness are routine. ~ @nihilist_arbys Today, celebrate a crumbling empire by shoveling fistfuls of Arbys meat into your bloated face and then drunkenly blowing off your toe ~ “CAMAB is an acronym. It stands for Coercively Assigned Male At Birth. ~ The past few years, I have been picking up flags that have fallen to the ground. Today, I put my rescue flags on display. ~ @whitman632 I’ve never encountered a leprechaun who I didn’t want to kick in the nuts. ~ government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob ~ The quote is legitimate. Mr. Roosevelt made the comment in a speech during his 1936 reelection campaign. A certain amount of hypocrisy can be expected in an election speech. It should also be noted that this was a few years before World War Two. ~ I hope this person was visible. Riding a bicycle on Hiway 92 is risky. ~ Mr. Roosevelt was a good performer. In this speech, he denounces war profiteering. (2:25) A few years later, he wanted America to get into World War Two. We played hard ball with Japan, who took the bait and attacked. Germany declared war on the United States after Pearl Harbor, which insured our entry into the European conflict. Mr. Roosevelt saw that World War Two would mean the end of the depression. As for BS, it is too early to know what to make of him. I suspect he is playing the role of an alternative to Hillary. If Hillary is elected, she will probably reward BS with a position in her administration. ~ That is a Brookhaven lawn. Whatever was planted sixty years ago is still there, along with whatever weeds have taken root. Just keep it cut short, and it is all green. ~ @falwellinhell How can you tell if it is false doctrine? Are the preacher’s lips moving? ~ pictures for this inappropriate use of bandwidth are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ selah
Rescue Flags
A few years ago, a well meaning real estate lady put American flags on lawns. Her business card was attached. This is a violation of the flag code. “The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever.”
Many of these flags stayed 24/7/365. The sun and rain took what toll they could on the synthetic fibers. Many of the staffs began to tumble over, leaving the flag in the dirt.
One day, PG was riding his bike. He stopped to look through some boxes. In one of these landfill bound containers was an American flag. PG decided to save this flag from the indignity of being buried under coffee grounds.
PG saw more flags laying in the dirt. He began to stop, and pick them up. A collection of rescue flags began to accumulate.
Meanwhile, the real estate lady saw the error of her ways. The unwanted flags no longer arrived the first week of July. Sometimes there is change.
The rescue flags were displayed July 4, 2015. It rained the first part of the day. The sun soon came out, and dried the rescue flags. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Bad Patriotic Jokes
What did one flag say to the other flag? Nothing. It just waved!
What’s red, white, black and blue? Uncle Sam falling down the steps!
What would you get if you crossed Washington’s home with nasty insects? Mt. Vermin!
What did a patriot put on his dry skin? Revo-lotion!
Which colonists told the most jokes? Punsylvanians!
What was General Washington’s favorite tree? The infantry!
Where did George Washington buy his hatchet? At the chopping mall!
What quacks, has webbed feet, and betrays his country? Beneduck Arnold!
Did you hear the one about the Liberty Bell? Yeah, it cracked me up!
What would you get if you crossed a patriot with a small curly-haired dog? Yankee Poodle!
Why did Paul Revere ride his horse from Boston to Lexington? The horse was too heavy to carry!
What happened as a result of the Stamp Act? The Americans licked the British!
This is a repost. Picture are from The Library of Congress.
July 3, 1981
July 3, 1981, was another day before a holiday. The new President, Ronald Reagan, was recovering from gunshot wounds. There was talk of an era of conservatism, with possibly severe repression.
There was an article in the New York Times. RARE CANCER SEEN IN 41 HOMOSEXUALS. “Doctors in New York and California have diagnosed among homosexual men 41 cases of a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer. Eight of the victims died less than 24 months after the diagnosis…”
This was the media debut of AIDS. It would not have that name for a while. Almost nobody thought, on that summer day, just how bad AIDS would be. In five years it was obvious how serious AIDS was.
PG was on another trip to the west coast. It was becoming obvious that this would be a vacation, rather than a relocation. He was riding a bicycle, with a milk carton overloaded with camping gear. Some kids told him to get saddle bags, and carry the weight lower. If you have the weight on top, you would lose control coming down a big hill. PG did not listen to the kids.
On July 4, PG left Patrick’s Point state park, about 300 miles north of San Francisco. Coming down the first hill on highway 101, the bike shook, shook harder, and flipped on its side. PG was thrown off. The front wheel was bent beyond repair. PG gathered his gear, left the bike behind, and got a ride into the nearest town.
PG got a bus ticket to Seattle. That city was in an economic downturn, with less than half a page of help wanted ads. PG found a auto delivery service, and got a VW bug going to Oak Ridge, TN. In a few days he was in Atlanta. A few days later, a temp agency came up with a job as a driver for a blueprint company. PG worked for that company, in one form or another, for the next 24 years.
As for the gay men with Kaposi’s Sarcoma … in all probability, the patients mentioned in that article were all dead within a year. AIDS has become a dominating story in our time. At its worst, it was claiming 50,000 lives a year. With the advent of wonder drugs, the death toll has been greatly reduced. The impact of AIDS on American life cannot be adequately described. This is a repost.
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Founding Babydaddies
People often try to justify their opinions by saying that the “founding fathers” agree with them. They often are guilty of selective use of history. A good place to start would be to define what we mean by the phrase founding fathers. This is a repost
The FF word was not used before 1916. A senator from Ohio named Warren Harding used the phrase in the keynote address of the 1916 Republican convention. Mr. Harding was elected President in 1920, and is regarded as perhaps the most corrupt man to ever hold the office.
There are two groups of men who could be considered the founding fathers. (The fathers part is correct. Both groups are 100% white male.) The Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, which cut the ties to England. Eleven years later, the Constitutional Convention wrote the Constitution that governs America today. While the Continental Congress was braver, the Constitution is the document that tells our government how to function. For the purposes of this feature, the men of the Constitutional Convention are the founding fathers.
Before moving on, we should remember eight men who signed the Declaration of Independence, and later attended the Constitutional Convention. Both documents were signed by George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read, Roger Sherman, and James Wilson. George Wythe left the Convention without signing the new document. Elbridge Gerry (the namesake of gerrymandering) refused to sign the Constitution because it did not have a Bill of Rights.
The original topic of this discussion was about whether the founding fathers owned slaves. Many people wonder about this. If you go to google, and type in “did the founding fathers”, the first four answers are owned slaves, believed in G-d, have a death wish, and smoke weed.
The answer, to the obvious question, is an obvious answer. Yes, many of the founding fathers owned slaves. A name by name rundown of the 39 signatories of the Constitution was not done for this blogpost. There is this revealing comment at wiki answers about the prevalence of slave ownership. “John Adams, his second cousin Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine were the only men who are traditionally known as founding fathers who did not own slaves.
Benjamin Franklin was indeed a founder of the Abolitionist Society, but he owned two slaves, named King and George. Franklin’s newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette routinely ran ads for sale or purchase of slaves.
Patrick Henry is another founding father who owned slaves, although his speeches would make one think otherwise. Despite his “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, he had up to 70 slaves at a time. He did apologize from time to time. He knew it was wrong, he was accountable to his God, and bemoaned the “general inconvenience of living without them.”
Patrick Henry was a star of the Revolution, but not present at the Constitutional Convention. The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was in Europe during the convention. Mr. Jefferson not only owned slaves, he took one to be his mistress, and kidsmama.
One of the more controversial features of the Constitution is the 3/5 rule. Here are the original words “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.” In other words, a slave was only considered to be 60% of a person.
This is offensive to people today. It was a compromise. The agricultural southern states did not want to give up their slaves. The northern states did not want to give up Congressional representation. This was the first of many compromises made about slavery, ending with the War between the States. This webpage goes into more detail about the nature of slavery.
The research for this feature turned up a rather cynical document called The myth of the “Founding Fathers” . It is written by Adolph Nixon. He asks : “most rational persons realize that such political mythology is sheer nonsense, but it begs the question, who were the Founding Fathers and what makes them so great that they’re wiser than you are?” (The link for this information keeps changing. Here is the latest source. This is not a totally reliable source.)
Mr. Nixon reviews the 39 white men who signed the Constitution. He does not follow the rule, if you can’t say anything nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all. Of the 39, 12 were specified as slave owners, with many tagged as “slave breeders”.
The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, have served America well. However it was intended, it was written so that it could be amended, and to grow with the young republic. It has on occasion been ignored (when was the last time Congress declared war?). However fine a document it is, it was created by men. These were men of their time, who could not have foreseen the changes that America has gone through. Those who talk the most about the founding fathers know the least about them.
Internal Genitalia
The current episode of the Bret Easton Ellis podcast features Jonathan Ames, who probably writes entertaining word product. Maybe the Chamblee library will have one of his books some time. Until then, this hour of conversation will suffice.
BEE likes to talk about political correctness. There was discussion of a newspaper article, What Makes a Woman? The acronym terf (Trans exclusionary radical feminists) devolved into comments about turf battles. Some men have an instinct for making tacky jokes.
“In January 2014, the actress Martha Plimpton, an abortion-rights advocate, sent out a tweet about a benefit for Texas abortion funding called “A Night of a Thousand Vaginas.” Suddenly, she was swamped by criticism for using the word “vagina.” “Given the constant genital policing, you can’t expect trans folks to feel included by an event title focused on a policed, binary genital,”…
Let me get this right: The word “vagina” is exclusionary and offers an extremely narrow perspective on womanhood … should describe ours with the politically correct terminology trans activists are pushing on us: “front hole” or “internal genitalia”? …
“Abortion rights and reproductive justice is not a women’s issue,” wrote Emmett Stoffer, one of many self-described transgender persons to blog on the topic. It is “a uterus owner’s issue.” Mr. Stoffer was referring to the possibility that a woman who is taking hormones or undergoing surgery to become a man, or who does not identify as a woman, can still have a uterus, become pregnant…”
PG has a knack for trouble with SJW. He is a person of interest for the Pronoun Police. Just yesterday, there was a facebook thread for a heart circle. PG noted that a shart circle was not a good idea. Within minutes, the comment was taken down, by request.
Whitehall Street was a 42 word poem for a writing contest. It stated that MTF transpeople do not get pregnant. There was soon an e-mail from the contest.
“Your submission this week is unsuitable for publication and has been removed from the grid. Our editorial standards respect the diversity and dignity of our audience. I know it seems desirable to appear “edgy” but _____ does not accept posts which insult or demean any person based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits. Based on the nature of your post this week, your entries will no longer be welcome at yeah write.”
Few people like to be persona non grata. PG was really more puzzled than hurt. A letter to the contest was ignored. A couple of weeks later, another letter was sent to the contest. This one got a reply.
Whenever we receive a submission that pushes the boundaries or is of questionable taste or quality, the editors all weigh in. In this case, our submissions editor brought your post to the attention of the editors as soon as it was submitted. We discussed the content, and all agreed that it was hurtful and demeaning and did not represent _______ well. What you said, essentially, is that a trans woman is a fake woman.
Frankly, we have never felt the need to specifically articulate that hate speech is unwelcome in our community. It seemed obvious to us and, indeed, to nearly everyone who submits posts.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. These men served as Confederate soldiers.
Racism Education
A link keeps turning up on facebook. It is for an item, 18 Things White People Should Know/Do Before Discussing Racism. It was posted at The Frisky | Celebrity Gossip, Relationship Advice, Beauty and Fashion Tips. The facility has a series of suggested posts at the top of the page. The first one you see is BLOWJOB TECHNIQUES YOU NEED TO TRY.
18 Things is supposed to be educational. PG was encouraged to read the piece two weeks ago, and found it lacking. The link today was from a combination facebook friend/ facebook unfriend. Maybe 18 Things deserves another look.
18 Things is garbage. Take a look at number one. “1. It is uncomfortable to talk about racism. It is more uncomfortable to live it.” You would never know this from the number of people who seem to enjoy talking about racism. The louder you talk, and the more passion you display, the more truth your words have. Maybe what is uncomfortable is to quit talking, and listen.
But then, maybe the idea is for everyone to talk at once. Here is item 16: “16. Silence does nothing. Blank stares and silence do not further this difficult but necessary conversation.” If you are going to listen to someone, it is very helpful to keep your mouth shut.
“2. “Colorblindness” is a cop-out. The statements “but I don’t see color” or “I never care about color” do not help to build a case against systemic racism. Try being the only White person in an environment. You will notice color then.” This is a curious paragraph. Sentence one has little to do with sentences two, three, and four.
Sentences three and four are connected. The author assumes that the PWOC reading this piece has never been the only pale face in an enviornment. Actually, it is probably more common to be the only white person in the room, than to be the only black person in a room full of whites.
“3. Oprah’s success does not mean the end of racism. The singular success of a Black man or woman (i.e. Oprah, or Tiger Woods, or President Obama) is never a valid argument against the existence of racism. By this logic, the success of Frederick Douglass or Amanda America Dickson during the 19th century would be grounds for disproving slavery.”
Has anyone ever said that the success of Oprah Winfrey is the end of racism? Do you have a link for that? Ok, and even if they did say that, it would be wildly untrue. But it gets better. If you agree with this statement that very few people have made, that is like saying that the success of Frederick Douglass disproves slavery. This is ridiculous.
The rest of the piece is not much better. Items 4, 5, 9, 14, and 15, can be summed up with the five words … there is racism in America. You are encouraged to use google to educate yourself. This can go in different directions. Maybe you could google “logical fallacy,” or “critical thinking.”
This feature should not be taken as denying the existence of a race problem in America. (The words racism/racist are problematic.) People should be treated with kindness and respect. Opportunities should be available to all people. The police should not target racially defined populations. Celebrities should not say tacky things.
The question arises, though. What value do articles like 18 Things have? Do they inform people who need to learn? Are they preaching to the choir? (Frisky has a header ad for Red Bull. Do articles like this sell power energy drinks?)
There are other possibilities. Do articles like 18 Things trivialize racial problems? Maybe the constant promotion of nonsense like 18 Things will lead people to believe that there really isn’t a race problem in America. People who uncritically praise articles like this are doing more harm than good. Those who claim to educate should be held to some sort of standard. Posting nonsense on the internet is not the same thing as working for equality and justice.
This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Chamblee54 
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