The Pursuit Of Truth
This content was published October 4, 2014. … There is a Radiolab episode called The Fact of the Matter. It is about a man who likes to separate fact from fiction. “The pursuit of truth properly considered shouldn’t stop short of insanity.” After an hour or so plumbing the digital depths, I began to appreciate the truth of that comment. Does anyone have a recipe that uses a can of worms?
The show is about a photograph from the Crimean War. “The valley of the shadow of death” was taken by Roger Fenton. on April 23, 1855. TVOTSOD was taken near a place called Balaclava. (Балаклавский) Today, this is in Ukraine. (Update below) Balaclava was the site of a nasty battle in the Crimean War. Today, a Balaclava is a colorful ski mask. It is the fashion statement of Pussy Riot.
I cannot understand why this picture is a big deal. The Library of Congress has a collection of the Fenton Crimean War Photographs. The Fenton pictures were one of the first collections in the LOC that I worked with. The picture of a road, with cannonballs, did not catch my eye.
The podcast is a detective story. It seems that there are two versions of the photograph. One has the cannonballs in the road, the other doesn’t. Were the cannonballs tossed on the road to make the picture more dramatic, or were they removed? They could have been removed to clear the road for wagon traffic, or to recycle the balls. In 1855, people picked up used cannonballs.
A very good question is why anyone would care? A man named Erroll Morris cares. The link is to a very long article at the New York Times about the picture. Mr. Morris went to Ukraine to investigate the pictures. It is possible that his pursuit of truth did not stop at the boundary of insanity.
The podcast mentions this famous picture, with a second shot that casts doubts. I went to the LOC, and found the famous picture right away. The second shot proved elusive. I viewed all 263 pictures in the Fenton collection in a slide show, and could not find the second picture. I began to think that maybe the second picture was the fake. The New York Times article by Erroll Morris has a copy of the second picture. The possibility remains that the second picture is a fabrication.
The podcast says that the location of some rocks changes in the two pictures. In the picture without the cannonballs on the road, the rocks are higher up on a hill, than they are in the famous picture. To Mr. Morris, this is evidence that the famous picture is a fake. I have examined the two images. Perhaps this search for truth will be called off before the onset of dementia.
The show has an amusing exchange between producer Jad Abumrad (جاد نيكولاس أبومراد) and Errol Morris. JAD: Hi. Is this Errol Morris? EM: I think it’s me. JAD: Hello, this is Jad from—from Radiolab. EM: Hi. Thank you for your very, very nice but somewhat disturbing email. JAD: What disturbed you in the email? EM: The term “truth fascist.”
Controversies about famous images are not new. Many people think the flag raising on Iwo Jima was posed. Just today on facebook, there was a link to a feature, The Kissing Sailor, or “The Selective Blindness of Rape Culture”. The idea is that the nurse did not want the sailor to kiss her on VJ day.
This feature was originally published in 2012, with LOC photographs of the Crimean War. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, including Balaklava. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. John Vachon took the social media picture in February 1942. “Meeker County, Minnesota. Farmers’ dance in crossroads store” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Free Bacon
This content was published October 23, 2015. … There was a tweet. Perspicacious One @JessSmith_TPC LOLOLOL Can’t make this stuff up @EWErickson President’s Speech Defending Obamacare Nearly Kills Innocent Woman. The medium is something called The Washington Free Beacon. Free Bacon is a typo.
TWFB has some interesting stories. One entertaining example is “Pro-Iranian Regime Journalist Defends Controversial Tweet. Former translator for Ahmadinejad called WSJ editor ‘Iranian House Negro’.” The offending tweeter owns a fashion blog, the house of majd. Rumors that Mr. Ahmadinejad is a model cannot be confirmed.
A more believable story is Netanyahu’s Mission: To Head Off Iran Sanctions Relief. The thought of a deal between Iran and the West is very troubling to Israel. An important distraction to the Palestinian tragedy would be removed by the rehabilitation of Iran. One interesting section of the story mentions 9/11 labor supplier Saudi Arabia. “Saudi Arabia, another key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is also deeply worried about any sign of a deal between Washington and the kingdom’s arch-rival, Iran.” … Free Bacon is the order of the day in the last story we will look at. USDA Celebrates Forcing Kids to Try Kale, Chard, Collard Greens. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) extolled a local elementary school in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for making its students try broccoli gratin, Tuscan kale, and beet hummus, as an example of the department’s efforts to fight obesity.”
This content was published October 8, 2008. … During the debates, John Sidney McCain III has repeatedly touted Nuclear Power as a solution to our energy needs. Perhaps this talk needs a second look. … There is a lot of money involved in Nuclear Energy. The plants are very expensive to build. There is a lot of potential for profit, and opportunities for moneylenders to earn interest. With this much at stake, it is not unreasonable to think that someone is paying JSM to promote Nukes.
With billions of dollars invested, the banks are going to make sure they get a return on their investment. With this much money involved, Big Government is going to get involved. This is also a factor in the safety issue. … Yes, Nuclear Power is safe. However, there is a need for constant oversight. The potential for disaster is immense. The process needs to be heavily regulated. With the companies trying to show a profit, the temptation to cut corners, and bribe the regulators, is going to be there. With global … and potentially domestic … terrorism a fact of life, the nuclear fuel needs to be constantly watched. Again, this is a job for Big Government. Nuclear Power=Big Government
While Nukes are nominally safe if handled properly, the potential for disaster is huge. There are stories of materials so toxic, that a mass the size of a softball could give the world cancer. While the systems can work well, the potential for corruption, corner cutting, and old fashioned human error cannot be forgotten. … Money is not the only scarce commodity required in bulk by Nukes. Water is also required in vast quantities for a Nuclear Power Plant to operate. The energy from a nuclear reaction is converted into electricity by boiling water to power steam turbines.
This is the same steam technology that has been used since the start of the industrial revolution. The nuclear reaction produces vast amounts of heat, which water is used to cool. With water an increasingly scarce commodity, the allocation of vast amounts for a Nuclear Power plant must be questioned. … It should be noted at this point that I am not a scientist. I am just a slacker with internet access. It is also true that coal fired power plants have horrendous environmental issues, and pump millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. I honestly don’t know what the answer is.
I recently spent a week at a community with solar power. There were constant reminders to use the juice sparingly. I tried to recharge my cell phone, and the system was not strong enough to do so. While solar can reduce the dependence on “the grid”, it is not going to completely replace it. We could do well to use less energy. We have gotten spoiled, like the man who wants an emerald green lawn in October. Part of the answer would be to live simply, so that others can simply live. … Pictures today are from Georgia State University Library The social media picture was taken February 22, 1955. Standard Oil service station in Buckhead ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Oscar Wilde
October 16 is Oscar Fingal O’Fflahertie Wills Wilde’s birthday. On that day in 1854, he appeared in Dublin, Ireland. Oscar is one of the most widely quoted people in the english language. Some of those quotes are real. Since Oscar was a published author, it should be easy to verify what he really said.
One night in 1974, I was talking to someone, and did not know who Oscar Wilde was. The man was horrified. I quickly got educated, and learned about a misunderstanding with the Marquess of Queensberry. Soon the “Avenge Oscar Wilde” signs made sense.
Mr. Wilde once made a speaking tour in the United States. One afternoon the playwright met Walt Whitman. Thee and thou reportedly did the “Wilde Thing.”
The tour then went to Georgia. A young black man had been hired as a valet for Mr. Wilde on this tour. On the train ride from Atlanta to Columbus, some people told Mr. Wilde that he could not ride in the same car as the valet. This was very confusing.
After his various legal difficulties, Oscar Wilde moved to Paris. He took ill, while staying in a tacky hotel. Oscar looked up, and said “There is a duel to the death between me and my wallpaper. One of us must die. It will be him or me.” (« — Voyez-vous, ma chère enfant, me disait-il, il y a un duel à mort entre moi et mon papier de tenture. L’un de nous deux doit y rester. Ce sera lui ou ce sera moi. ») Soon, Oscar Wilde passed away.
This birthday celebration is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress. Marion Post Wolcott took the social media picture in September 1938. Coal miner (Polish). Capels, West Virginia.” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
The Velvet Warlocks
This content was published October 20, 2024. … I was listening to disgraceland episode#64, about the grateful dead. I was at a stopping point with multi tasking, and decided to look something up. The show mentioned the first show by the Warlocks, later known as the Grateful Dead. This was 50 years before “dead name” was a dirty word.
“On May 5, 1965 ‘The Warlocks’ … played their first show, at Magoo’s Pizza Parlor in Menlo Park, California.” This was the day before I turned 11. Lyndon Johnson was settling in for his elected term as President. The Braves were playing their lame duck season in Milwaukee. Combat troops had been in Vietnam for a little over two months. This was the start of the escalation. “By the end of 1965, more than 184,000 American troops were in Vietnam.”
At 27:44, dg-gd dropped an item that could not be ignored. The Warlocks had to find a new name. Someone else was called the Warlocks, and there were complications. It seems as though the warlocks … a pretty obvious name … was also an early name of the Velvet Underground. Other early vu names included the primitives and the falling spikes.
”When they (vu) finally did come across a name which stuck, it was thanks to a contemporary paperback novel about the secret sexual underworld of the 1960s that Tony Conrad, a friend of John Cale, happened across and showed to the group. The novel, written by Michael Leigh, remains in print. This is probably because a band appropriated its title. “Had Lou Reed and John Cale not seen a copy of this book in a New York City gutter (fittingly) and decided to use its name for their group, this little volume would have been justly forgotten. Written in a style which titilates while decrying the scene it describes, it’s a piece of blue-nosed junk.”
The rest of the show rolled on. Jerry stuck his finger in a dictionary at random, and found Grateful Dead. It was the name of a story. The band played at the acid tests, which mostly went well, until they did not. Pigpen drank rotgut to excess, until it killed him.
This is a repost from 2020. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. John Vachon took the social media picture in January 1941. “Card Games in corner beer parlor. Ambridge, Pennsylvania.” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 selah
Tasteful Stories
This content was posted October 30, 2012. … The Memory Palace is a source of entertainment. The stories are based on history, and are likely to be true. Maybe they are plugged into The Akashic Record, the eternal archive of everything ever said and done. According to Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of radio, everything ever said still exists.
In 1915, after the Titanic, laws were passed requiring sufficient lifeboats. A boat on Lake Michigan was retrofitted with these life saving facilities. The only problem was, the boat was not designed to have the extra weight on the top deck. It capsized, and over eight hundred people drowned.
Jenny Lind was the vocal superstar of her era. Today, she is lost to history. None of her performances were recorded, because records had not been invented. Another forgotten star is Sarah Bernhardt. Tom Waits tells a story about her. Late in her career, she had a leg amputated. P.T. Barnum got the leg, put it in formaldehyde, and displayed it. The leg made more money than Sarah Bernhardt did.
Perhaps the most tasteful of the stories is about Lewis Keseberg. By all accounts, he was a drunk with a nasty temper. This does not mean that he was a cannibal.
Mr. Keseberg was going to California in 1847. The wagon train got stuck in the mountains. When Mr. Keseberg was rescued, the story spread that he had killed, and then eaten, Tamsen Donner. This reputation made the rest of his life difficult.
While I was listening to these stories, a remarkable collection was coming to life. The pictures were from the Farm Security Administration collection, at The Library of Congress. The photographs were taken in October, 1941, by John Collier. A typical caption is French-Canadian stevedores. Oswego, New York. These men unloaded cargo at a port on Lake Ontario.
The term stevedore is seldom heard today. I read it in Mad magazine as a kid, and have not seen it since. Container ships have made the job all but obsolete. The always tasteful Urban Dictionary adds:
“Literally “one who stuffs”. Originally referred to longshoremen or cargo workers in the maritime industry since before the industrial revolution. Nowadays in common usage it describes someone who swears profusely or who garners a lot of poon tang.”
Getting Bari Weiss
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10/7 · microsoft 365 basic · in custody · potp fuentes · zack
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xNicolasJx is a bot. His sales pitch line: Authenticity is rare..let’s be real together. · This is another monday morning reader. As usual, the best thing here is the pictures. Jack Delano took the picture below in August 1942. “Nashville, Tennessee. Lunch time in the tail assembly section. Vultee Aircraft Corporation plant” · @RepHankJohnson I am gratified that Hamas has agreed to release the hostages. Hamas is responsible for the ongoing genocide being undertaken by the State of Israel, and I call on the Trump administration to force a stop to that atrocity, and to prevent Israel from annexing the West Bank. Progress can then be made towards a peace agreement that includes the establishment of a homeland for the Palestinians. · I quit listening to your show with @coldxman at 56:00, when you discussed this. He said dentists gave more money to congress than the “Israel lobby”. Therefore, Israel did not influence us to invade Iraq. I had enough of his sophistry, and turned off the show · I just drove down Ponce De Leon avenue. There is a trendy looking apartment on the site of that hustler bar you used to go to, whose name escapes me. The Ponce de leon hotel has been renovated, and is now “Wylie Hotel Atlanta, Tapestry Collection by Hilton” There is a chichi restuarant there called Mrs. P’s. You can’t make this up · A couple of days ago, Coleman Hughes and Dave Smith discussed the Israel-Palestine conflict. I quit listening when Mr. Hughes said that Dentists spent more on lobbyists than Israel did · i am usually not up at 2am, but here i am … i went to a poetry reading in L5P, and bought a large cup of coffee to be polite. Partying isn’t what it used to be … I did get a blog post of original content up · There are reports that Israel created, and supported, Hamas. The idea was to create divisions among her enemies, in the same way that a bloody war between Iran and Iraq was facilitated 45 years ago. · This is a story from 1976. The pictures are better than the text · @ZaidJilani There’s always an exception for Israel, like it’s the 51st state or something. But would they really want that? Then they’d only have 2 Senators · If the Confederates had won the war between the states, then North America would be like Historic Europe … a collection of small countries who were constantly at war · This is a collection of posts from 2008. The original title of one piece was “David Crosby Lives.” There was some editing involved · the anagram for diahhrea is dear hair · Maybe the SJW is trying to reassure themself that they are not racist. They are like the homophobe who badmouths gays to cover up for their own repressed homosexual desires. Is the SJW a closet racist? · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Marjory Collins took the social media picture in August 1942. “ New York, New York. O’Reilly’s bar on Third Avenue in the “Fifties” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
One More Chat About Racism
It was a typical morning. Work on pictures, and listen to audio product. I was tired of youtube suggestions, and chose to listen to RISK. The first story is a South Asian lady, Nimisha, going to have lunch with her Jewish mother in law, Elaine. The two ladies have an uneasy relationship. Before the wedding, Elaine asked David, her son, if Nimisha was black. (Did David have a black girlfriend before this?) Nimisha was upset when she heard about this. Now Nimisha was going to have lunch with a RAY-SISST. It is not known if Nimisha ever called Elaine a racist to her face.
I am tired of hearing people referred to as racist. Since there were plenty of other shows to listen to, I turned off the story. A few minutes later, I wondered what I was missing, and turned on the story again. Soon enough, Nimisha complained about going to lunch with a RAY-SISST again. I pushed forward, and listened to the next story. It was about an experience at an AA meeting in Los Angeles. I wanted to share the story with a friend in the AA program. Here is the email I sent with the link.
This is a link to a story. It is an AA war story. It starts at 20 minutes. There is another story here. The first story in this show is about an Indian lady, who does not like her Jewish mother in law. At ten minutes into the show, the bride says “I am going to have to spend the day with a racist.” At this point, I turned off the show in anger. I am sensitive to the term racist, for perfectly obvious reasons. I did not want to listen to the rest of the show. When I decided to send you the link, I had to listen to the part of the show around the 20 minute mark, so I could know when the war story started. I set the timer for 18 minutes, and listened to the end of the mother in law story. There is a twist in the story, and everyone is friends now. The bride says “I am ashamed of reducing her to her racism.”
David, Elaine, and Nimisha went to a deli in New York. Nimisha (who seems to have other entitlement issues) is militantly vegetarian, and not pleased with the deli. At one point, Elaine orders a sandwich “bigger than her fist,” and starts to, accidentally, spit bits of meat in Nimisha’s face. Next, Nimisha looks at Elaine, who has tears in her eyes. Elaine thanks Nimisha for coming to lunch. Nimisha looks at her hand, which has an engagement ring once owned by Elaine. Nimisha realizes that Elaine is more than her comment about race, and is actually a pretty good lady. End of story. Elaine is much more than a racist, she is the mother of David.
The real fun starts when I post the email to RISK! Podcast Fans Discussion Group on facebook. People are proud of calling *others* racist. When you suggest that this is not a good idea, they get angry. WAAAAA!!! He said I can’t say wassist!!! WAAAA!!! I have heard the r-word many times. I was not in the mood to hear a vegetarian princess repeat that slur about her mother in law.
As you may imagine, the facebook conversation got ugly. The 2018 post has TLDR quotes from this discussion. When people want to be seen as fighting racism, they behave badly. “The behavior described in the story was racist. I don’t know you or your circumstances, but your words so far seem to imply that you’re more offended by the word “racist” than actual racism.”
“you’re more offended by the word “racist” than actual racism.” This is a common comment in social justice discussions. “Imagine it happening all the time, simply because of the color of your skin. What you’re experiencing right now is *nothing* compared to what people of color experience daily.” The simple truth is that two wrongs do not make a right. Insulting a white person, by calling them racist, will have little impact on creating economic opportunity, or curtailing police brutality. Saying racist is merely a couple of kids on the playground swapping insults. To pretend otherwise, to confuse name calling for effective social justice action, is an exercise in self delusion.
People in discussions about racist/racism often feel the need to demonstrate their distaste for racism. Usually it is without being asked. People just assume they need to signal virtue, and are offended if someone abstains. “Being racist is wrong. Full stop. I’m not sure if we’re on the same page about that, but in case my thoughts weren’t clear, there they are.”
When you challenge the performative nature of racist citing, you can expect feedback. “I don’t understand this post. But i fully support the continued and loud-mouthed calling out and labeling of racists wherever they be, regardless of some feathers getting ruffled. Had the protagonist of this story been correct in her assumption, i wouldn’t be holding it against her. In this case she made an assumption and was corrected by facts, but i certainly don’t hold the using of that term against her.” ” “ritual condemnation of racism” is a funny way to put it, as if condemning such is a kind of bigotry. It’s not a “performance” when I condemn it. Um… I MEAN it.”
Why are people, mostly white, so eager to demonstrate their distaste for what they perceive as racism? This virtue signalling is to be loud, and must be seen and heard by others. Maybe this virtue signalling is not done for the benefit of others. Maybe the white savior is trying to reassure themself that they are not racist. They are like the homophobe who badmouths gays to cover up for his own repressed homosexual desires. Is the white savior a closet racist?
The problem with anti-racism was published by chamblee54 a few years ago, when a dark skinned man was POTUS. It discusses the closet racist concept, and other ways in which anti-racism is detrimental to society. After a 2014 repost, chamblee54 received a remarkable bit of confirmation. An anonymous commenter, speaking from an .edu address, said “why don’t you get your white sheets and come out.” Since this comment was made by a white cis male (the last time I had contact with them), it might not be appropriate to respond “I am so sorry that you felt racially targeted by me. Can you please help me understand what I did to make you feel that way?”
I made one last comment in the facebook thread. It is unlikely that he changed any minds. The concept that the word racist is offensive to human beings, and should be used with caution, is alien to many people. It might be compared to telling a person sixty years ago that saying the n-word is a bad idea. Here is the closing comment. “There is going to be a blog post about this discussion, which will answer a few of those questions. Or, and this is more likely, merely raise more. I have known many, many POC. Friends, enemies, good people, terrible people, and a thousand levels in between. In the end, it is my experience. I don’t even understand it myself. I cannot expect someone who reads a facebook thread to understand my life. I just get tired of the promiscuous, boastful, performative use of the r word. Nothing good comes of it.”
In typical blogger fashion, I gave two links. “This post Are my attitudes about race any of your business, might help explain a bit of this.” “Here is another post that might help, James Baldwin and the six letter word. (This post makes an amusing connection between the n-word, and the r-word. The words of James Baldwin were used, perhaps in a way the author would not have intended.) … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Esther Bubley took the social media picture in September 1943. “A Greyhound bus that has been stopped while the driver fills the water tank at a gas station on the road between Gettysburg and Pennsylvania” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Our Bohemian Lifestyle
This content was published October 31, 2008. … Ten Clues you are too old to Trick or Treat: 1 – You get winded from knocking on the door. 2 – You have to have another kid chew the candy for you. 3 – You ask for high fiber candy only. 4 – You keep having to go home to pee. 5 – People say: “Great Boris Karloff Mask,”And you’re not wearing a mask. 6 – When the door opens you yell, “Trick or…”And can’t remember the rest. 7 – By the end of the night,you have a bag full of restraining orders. 8 – You have to carefully choose a costume that won’t dislodge your hairpiece. 9 – You’re the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker. 10 – When someone drops a candy bar in your bag,you lose your balance and fall over.
This content was published October 19, 2008. … The answering machine was flashing when I got out of the shower. Even though the internal caller id told me it was Uzi, I listened to the messages before calling. The scheduled entertainment for the afternoon was a walk through little five points. … After a while, the honda was parked behind Manuel’s, and the walk to ElfivePee began. Is the Halloween Festival over, and could we tell the difference? Coming down Seminole Avenue, into the closed off street by the pizza places, the thought came to go to the Vortex. No, that is a bad idea, they may be enforcing the no idiot policy.
The artist was urging the sunday visitors to Buy Art, and help support our bohemian lifestyle. I needed to use a restroom, and thought the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club would be atmospheric enough. Past that was the former Bass High School, now a loft community. When WRFG went on the air, their transmitter was so weak that they could not be heard north of the high school. … Crossing Euclid Avenue required waiting for the cars to pass by. The former Sevananda/A&P/Piggly Wiggly of Miss Daisy fame is now a Rag store. They have stenciled parking spots, across from the mural infested wall of the Variety Playhouse. Uzi was once going to pay to park for a concert there. The parking attendant recognized his friend and gave them a prime spot for free. He does not remember who was playing.
The parade of the hairstyle enhanced trendoids continued down the well trod sidewalks. Uzi was in the mood for a chocolate ice cream from Zestos. I waited outside, and took pictures of ivy falling down in front of a brick wall. We crossed Moreland, and found a bench to sit on. It was across from the former fountain, which now has cactus growing inside. A dog got loose, and scampered down Moreland Avenue, while the traffic screeched to a halt. The pet went down Euclid into oblivion, as Uzi finished his ice cream. Deciding that they had enough hipness for the day, we went back to Manuels, and to the S&S cafeteria in the relative safety of Embry Hills.
This content was published October 28, 2009. … I finished part two of the David Crosby autobiography, “Since Then“. This book is evidence that truth is stranger than fiction. For those who just tuned in, David Crosby was one of the Byrds, and is the Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash and (sometimes) Young. … David Crosby (no relation to Bing Crosby) is a part of the counterculture. The hair, the fringe jacket, the drugs, the sex, these are the surface parts of the puzzle. The man has been described as a complex bottle of red wine, taking a long time to mature. The hair is still there, he is in love with his wife (and probably would be dead without her), and smokes the occasional doobie. With any luck at all, the fringe jacket is in a landfill, and not reproducing.
The book has three fonts. The primary one is the voice of Crosby. Comments from third parties are indented, and the co author, Carl Gottlieb, speaks in italics. The story moves in more or less chronological fashion, although there is a bit of cutting back and forth between scenes. … At the start of the book, LA is hit by a major earthquake. This destroys a house Crosby has. If the earthquake doesn’t get the house, the IRS will. An accountant has not done his job, and Crosby owes major bucks to Uncle Sam. If its not one thing, its another.
Moving along, a son given up for adoption finds Crosby, and winds up playing guitar in a band called CPR. Crosby wrecks his motorcycle and nearly croaks. Crosby’s liver goes haywire, and he almost croaks. Ditto heart attack, and arrest for felony gun possession. … One of the last visitors before the liver transplant was Graham Nash. As he is leaving, Nash tells Crosby ”If you leave me alone with Stills, I’ll f***ing kill you”. For all the pretty music in CSN, there are some strong personalities. Stephen Stills is renowned for his attitude. David Crosby is known to have an opinion or two.
Getting back to the David Crosby story…there is just too much to sum up here. At the end of the story, Crosby is still going. He stopped at two artificially inseminated babies, to go with four (at least) kids produced the old fashioned way. The opinions have not stopped coming out. Crosby likes World War W as much as I do. Crosby has always held doomsday views about the American experiment. … David Van Cortlandt Crosby met his maker January 18, 2023. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. John Vachon took the social media picture in February 1942. “Meeker County, Minnesota. Farmers’ dance in crossroads store” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Tulsi And Joe
This content was posted October 16, 2022. … @BrandonLBradfor “The larger your platform the more I think you have a moral obligation to the people that listen to you. I give Rogan criticism but he’s just an idiot that’s willing to talk to people, Kanye is a vindictive, desperate, dumbass, and don’t blame this on his mental health.” @chamblee54 “Actually, Joe R**** is an i**** who is willing to listen to people. Twitter questioned my first reply. I censored the two words that were possibly offensive. If listen is offensive, then I am in trouble.”
Joe Rogan Experience continues to be a popular feature, except with #selfrighteoustwitter. This week saw two guests that stood out. On Tuesday, JRE featured Tulsi Gabbard. On Wednesday, the guest was Rick Rubin. I listened to all three hours of the Rubin show.
Rick Rubin is a music producer, and around cool dude. He played a huge role in the rise of hip-hop, from Bronx parties to a worldwide phenomenon. His podcast, Broken Records, utilizes the long interview format, with music stars of all persuasion. Mr. Rubin is also well spoken, with a pleasant voice. Just turn on the microphone, and get out of the way
Tulsi Gabbard is a bit more complicated. Early in the show, Joe repeated an urban legend about teachers putting litter boxes in bathrooms, for students who identify as cats. The tale has been repeatedly discredited. Joe and Tulsi began talking about trans excesses. This is a legitimate subject for discussion, but had a rude tone here. Soon, I turned off the show in anger.
Tulsi was on JRE during the 2020 Presidential campaign. She did not seem to be electable, but made a lot of good points. Her primary issue was the damage done by wars of choice, and the military industrial complex. This is an issue that Democrats and Republicans, aka the Uniparty, seem to agree on. One gets the sense that the “culture war” issues are a distraction, taking attention away from the massive influx of borrowed warbucks.
Soon after this appearance, I went to a get together at Manuel’s Tavern. I mentioned that I liked Tulsi Gabbard, and her anti-war position. A voice at the other end of the table started to angrily shout. Tulsi Gabbard was a Russian asset, and a terrible, terrible person. This seems to be a popular opinion in Democratic circles. Genuine dissent must not be tolerated.
At some point in the conversation, Tulsi got onto the military industrial complex, and the War in Ukraine. Tulsi thinks we are headed for a nuclear conflict. A NYC psa was shown, about instructions for a nuclear disaster. The instructions were like the “duck and cover” drills from second grade. Hiding under your desk was going to protect you from radiation. Today’s non-planning for a potential nuclear war may mean the end of civilization as we know it.
Chamblee54 has written about Joe Rogan. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Marion Post Wolcott took the social media picture in March 1940. “Hired help resting after day’s work in Upwey horse farm. South Woodstock, Vermont.” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
We’re All God’s Children
This content was posted October 11, 2023. … It was September, 1976, in Athens, Georgia. Someone decided to open a disco downtown. On opening night, there was a crowd. People wanted to know, would men be able to dance with men?
The owner was said to be a redneck, who would not allow such things. Finally, the party got started. At some point, same sex couples started to dance together. The owner shut down the music, and stood in front of the crowd with a microphone. He said a few words that did not please anyone, and there was an uneasy silence. Then, out of the back, came one voice.
We’re all God’s children.
49 years later, we are still struggling. People try to solve problems, big and small, with name calling. If you don’t have the correct opinion about this or that, then you are a terrible person. We seem to forget the one basic truth: We’re all God’s children.
We don’t know who said WAGC that night, 49 years ago. If I had to guess, I would say that it was an African-American. Much of the name-calling today is about skin color. If you do not say what people want to hear, you will get called racist. You are deemed worthy of hatred and abuse. Your humanity is taken away from you. You are no longer one of God’s children.
This is a repost. Pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library The social media photograph was taken May 16, 1960. Georgia State Council of Machinists leaders. ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Strategy Of Causing Atrocities
This content was published October 27, 2023. … As you may have heard, there is a very nasty conflict between Israel and Gaza. What follows are a few thoughts on this dreadful affair. I possibly do not know what I am talking about. If you like, you can skip over the text, and look at the pictures.
Around 1987, I was working with Steve. He was the son of holocaust survivors, and an ardent supporter of Israel. We were discussing the war between Iran and Iraq. The I-I war was a long bloody affair. The United States supported Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein. The United States, with help from Israel, was also selling weapons to Iran. It was a confusing time.
I mentioned to Steve the notion that the US wanted to keep the I-I war going, because it would keep those two countries from fighting Israel. Steve started to get angry. “Yes, and it’s for your benefit. We have to fight terrorism.”
The I-I war continued for a while. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, partially in a dispute over war debt from the I-I war. Saddam Hussein went from being an American ally to the next Hitler.
Today is October 8, 2025, 38 years after my conversation with Steve. The world is a different place. The last 38 years have been full of wars, and rumors of war. The Internet is a routine part of life. Unfortunately, Steve is not with us. Cancer claimed him in 2001, 9 days after 9-11.
A few days ago, Bob Wright had a conversation with Eli Lake. Mr. Lake is an ardent supporter of Israel. After 69 minutes, Mr. Lake said this: “because the Palestinians continue to think that a strategy of causing atrocities will eventually convince Jews to leave a country.”
Lets focus on this comment. It is unique, in part because it dispenses with the niceties that one normally sees. Most Israel supporters say “Hamas,” when they probably mean “Palestinians” (or Muslims.) Likewise, others say “Israel,” when they mean “Jews.” If you were to put blanks in the statement … “because the ______ continue to think that a strategy of causing atrocities will eventually convince _____ to leave a country” … you could create a statement said by either side. On a certain level, both sides would be telling the truth.
There are reports that Israel created, and supported, Hamas. The idea was to create divisions among her enemies, in the same way that a bloody war between Iran and Iraq was facilitated 38 years ago. When Hamas is fighting Fatah/PLO, neither side is fighting Israel. Some say this strategy motivated Israel’s involvement in Syria. Thousands of unarmed women and children die as a result.
Pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. The social media picture was taken July 18, 1947. “African-American couples playing cards outdoors, at the new Lincoln Club (Atlanta, Georgia), at a July 18th party sponsored by the Davison-Paxon Company, 1947.” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
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