Famous Last Words
This content was published August 16, 2024. … The elephant in the room is a popular internet cliche. In this picture, the elephant looks like the ghastly wallpaper, both of which are best ignored. I wanted to make a comment. The only appropriate thing to do, in a situation involving wallpaper and an elephant, is to quote Oscar Wilde, on his deathbed. “This wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. Either it goes or I do.”
When discussing Oscar Wilde, elephants, and wallpaper, it is important to get the correct quote. Mr. Google has a great deal to say, on the subject of last words. Peggy Lee sang about it. Unfortunately, the chanteuse was in very bad health at the end of her life. Peggy Lee probably did not say “Is that all there is?” on her deathbed.
On October 14, 1977, Bing Crosby “… finished 18 holes of golf carding an 85 … After his final putt Bing … remarked “It was a great game.” As he was walking to the clubhouse … he collapsed from a massive heart attack. … “We thought he had just slipped,” said one of his golfing companions.”
Adelaide Eugenia Bankhead “… first child, daughter Ada Eugenia, was born on January 24, 1901. The following year, Tallulah was born on their anniversary. Ada died tragically of blood poisoning just three weeks following Tallulah’s birth. On her deathbed, she told her sister-in-law to “take care of Eugenia, Tallulah will always be able to take care of herself”. This, like many other legendary last words, may too good to be true.
The Atlantic had a tasteful feature, “What Are the Best Last Words Ever?” Here are a few.
John Adams July 4, 1826 “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
Unbeknownst to Mr. Adams, Mr. Jefferson had died about five hours earlier.
Richard Feynman “I’d hate to die twice—it’s so boring”
O. Henry appeared to have stopped breathing, but was he really dead? Touch his feet, suggested one of the mourners clustered around his bed: Nobody ever died with warm feet. Whereupon, the short-story writer raised his head from the pillow, mumbled “Joan of Arc did,” and fell back dead.
Dylan Thomas “I’ve had 18 straight whiskeys. I think that’s the record.”
Union Major General John Sedgwick “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” Said while reprimanding his men for ducking for cover, just before he was killed at the Battle of Spotsylvania.
Ludwig Von Beethoven “I shall hear in heaven.”
An unverified tumblr contributes a few more zingers.
Edgar Allan Poe “Lord help my poor soul.”
Thomas Hobbes “I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap into the dark.”
Alfred Jarry “I am dying…please, bring me a toothpick.”
Washington Irving “I have to set my pillows one more night, when will this end already?”
Leo Tolstoy “But the peasants…how do the peasants die?”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “More light.”
Karl Marx “Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!”
Voltaire “Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.”
François-Marie Arouet was asked by a priest to renounce Satan.
James Joyce “Does nobody understand?”
A certain popup crazy website has a few more last words. Some of these were really said.
James Dean “That guy’s gotta stop… He’ll see us.”
Henry James “So here it is at last, the expected thing.”
Marie Antoinette “Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose.”
George Appel “Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.” Mr. Appel was executed by electric chair in 1928; these were his last words. Here’s two more: “Gents, this is an educational project. You are about to witness the damaging effect electricity has on Wood.” Said by Fredrick Charles Wood before he was electrocuted in 1951. “Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? ‘French Fries!’” James French, 1966.
The pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. The social media picture was taken December 5, 1949. Highland Avenue; #1033 Moe’s & Joe’s restaurant and bar; Siegel’s Kosher Delicatessen; Virginia – Highland Pharmacy; Reynolds Plumbing and Heating Company ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Is Football Worth The Cost?
This content was published August 8, 2009. … The United States has killed Baitullah Mehsud. He was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. He is blamed for a lot of things, including the murder of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Mr. Mehsud held together the factions of the TTP. … Mr. Mehsud was at the home of his father in law. He had an iv in his arm, for what is reported as a kidney ailment. He was also known to be diabetic. His wife and others were killed in the raid. The missile that killed Mr. Mehsud was from an unmanned US aircraft.
The Pakistan government is playing both ends against the middle here. On the one hand they denounce the US raids on their soil, but seem certain to be cooperating with America in these actions. The Pakistan government has issues with the Taliban. This is ironic, since the Taliban was the creation of Pakistani intelligence. This was when the Soviet Union was fighting in Afghanistan. … The raid has gotten little press in the United States. A conservative website was more concerned about a report that BHO (wisely) does not want to use the phrase “war on terrorism”.
I have a few questions. How many raids have been launched in the search for Baitullah Mehsud? How many people have died in these raids? How many of those were women and children? Are these raids legal, both either American law and International law? The United States has not declared war on Pakistan. For that matter, unless I missed something, the USA has not declared war on anybody in the region. This question does not cover the morality of killing women and children from unmanned aircraft, but rather asks if it is legal. … Is killing women and children with unmanned aircraft terrorism? What are our goals in the ‘Stan country wars? … We have long ago punished Afghanistan for 911. We are stuck in Iraq. We are playing with nuclear fire in Pakistan. What do we hope to achieve from all this killing? How long will it take, and how much will it cost?
This content was published August 24, 2009. … Football is just around the corner. The teams are busy with the pre season, and soon weekends will be full of hitting and drinking. Perhaps this is a good time to wonder whether football is worth the human cost. Especially now, with a national debate raging about the future of our health care. … This is a recycled post. There is a helping of hypocrisy here, as I enjoy watching the hits. … Football injuries keep hospitals hopping during the autumn. While the games are fun to watch, the players are paying the price. Football is a contact sport. On every play, the linemen block other lineman to keep them from tackling a back.
Someone gets hit on every play. Most of these hits are “clean” and cause only bruises. Some are “dirty”, and cause injuries. Even the clean hits can hurt someone. It is estimated that 378,000 emergency room visits every year are due to football. What if an illegal drug sent 378k to the ER annually? There would be a hue and cry to kill the pushers. However, football is different. … Note The 378k figure is a very, very rough estimate. It is based on a 2019 report from the US Government. The story says there are 2.7m ER visits annually, with 14% attributed to football.
Knee injuries are especially prevalent. Thousands of knee operations are performed each year due to football injuries. With all those helmets slamming into each other, head injuries occur. “The researchers found that there is approximately one catastrophic head injury per every 150,000 athletes playing, or 7 catastrophic injuries yearly. There were 0.67 injuries per 100,000 players at the high school level and 0.21 injuries per 100,000 for college level football players.” Often, the coaches get caught up in the do or die spirit of a big game, and don’t get the player the medical attention that he needs. “Football is a very macho sport. Athletes are taught to play through pain.”
“But concussions range in severity and symptoms, so all a player may experience is a headache several hours after impact. High school players need to be educated in these symptoms and encouraged to self report.” Even cheerleading squads are reporting more injuries, due to botched stunts. … When you see the players in their youthful glory, you don’t think what they will look like after they quit playing. Many players know this, but the lure of today’s glory justifies the pain of tomorrow. The heroes of yesterday often walk with pain today.
On a more personal note, the Falcons had a winning season last year, and made the playoffs. In 44 years of NFL competition, the Falcons have never had back to back winning seasons. It does not look good for Rankin Blank this fall. … A few years ago, the Falcons had the top pick in the draft, and got Micheal Vick. Number Seven was the most exciting player in recent memory, and led the Falcons to the Conference championship. Before long, he was in prison for dogfighting. This is consistent with the history of the Falcons. … Not only is football dangerous to human knees, it is also puts man’s best friend in mortal danger. When you give millions of dollars to a young man from Bad News, Virginia, who plays for the Falcons, you should not be surprised at the results. It is Philadelphia’s problem now. … The pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The social media picture is Dick Gossett, New York AL, 1913. ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Yossarian Part Five
This content was published August 31, 2012. … This is part five of an appreciation of Catch 22. Parts one, two, three, four, six, and seven are available. … XXV The Chaplain This is another existential quandary chapter. There is not a lot of action. The saving grace is that it makes fun of religion. … Chaplain Tappman is seen as a pathetic source of ridicule. The other men do not think he is wonderful, which always makes professional Jesus worshipers uncomfortable. Chaplain T is also having weird ideas. He sees a naked Yossarian in a tree during the memorial service for Snowdon, and thinks it is a vision. This is sort of like that lady in Rockdale county who kept having the Virgin Mary visit her. However, no one is under the impression that Yossarian is a virgin, or that he is the mother of Jesus. … So the Chaplain mopes about his uselessness, and decides to go see Major Major, who never sees anyone. The Chaplain takes a sneaky route back to his tent. He finds a man living in the woods. Flume is there because he thinks his tentmate is going to kill him.
After another humiliating encounter with tentmate Whitcomb, whose rank keeps changing, the Chaplain goes to see Colonel Cathcart. The Colonel is in no mood to talk to the Chaplain, and says the flyers are going to go to Avignon again so they can get some casualties. … One of the online cheat sheets has a good quote. “Complex questions of ontology perplex him, but “they never [seem] nearly as crucial to him as the question of kindness and good manners.” I had never encountered “ontology” before. It seems to have something to do with existential questions about the nature of God and man. If you change the t to a c, you get oncology. This is the branch of medicine dealing with the treatment of cancer. As one practitioner said, it is the branch of medicine that no one makes jokes about.
With c, you get oncology. This is the war against runaway cell growth, where the treatment is often treacherous and debilitating. The treatment is often as bad as the disease, which is saying something for a fatal malady. With t, you get ontology. This is where you ask questions that no one really knows the answer to, although many make the claim. Instead of runaway cell growth, you have runaway rhetoric. One chemotherapeutic protocol for ontology is substantial applications of alcohol, which can make the disease worse, can make you puke, but will usually not make your hair fall out.
XXVI Aarfy Aarfy is really named aardvark, although it is unlikely that is on his driver’s license. He should be first on any list of characters, except that the online cheat sheets don’t list the characters alphabetically. In a story like this, there are a lot of characters. It is tough for a simple minded southerner to keep up, and tools are needed. … In this chapter, Dunbar plays a key role. I seem to remember good things about him, but could not be sure. The first list of characters does not mention him. This is frustrating, since it is not alphabetized, and you have to go through the entire thing to see that Dunbar is not there.
Another character list does show something: Dunbar – A friend of Yossarian and the only other person who seems to understand that there is a war going on. Dunbar has decided to live as long as possible by making time pass as slowly as possible, so he treasures boredom and discomfort.” … There is some action in this chapter, and Aarfy is a key player. In the first part, Aarfy, Nately, and Yossarian are in a building in Rome. Nately confesses his love for a whore, and is ridiculed by Aarfy. Later, there is a mission, where Aarfy’s incompetence leads the plane into enemy fire. Yossarian is hit in the leg by flak, and winds up in the hospital. … When Yossarian tries to get out of bed, Nurse Cramer asks if he wants to lose his leg. “It’s my leg” ”It’s certainly not your leg. That leg belongs to the U.S. Government. It’s no different than a gear or a bedpan. The army has invested a lot of money to make you an airplane pilot, and you’ve no right to disobey the doctor’s orders.”
XXVII Nurse Duckett Sometimes you have to stop dilly dallying and finish the job at hand. This series on Catch 22 has gone on since June, and has three more parts to go. … When I decided to do a series on Yossarian, it was using two good eyes. A couple of weeks into July, there was an extra sensitivity to bright white light. When the right eye was covered, the left eye was a mass of blurred vision. Action needed to be taken. Research was done about ophthalmologists, insurance coverage was secured, and an appointment was made with a nearby eye doctor. …
The first appointment revealed a broken blood vessel in the eye. The fancy name is branch retinal vein occlusion. The doctor lectured me on the need for a medical exam, to determine the cause of this spillage. On the way home, I made an appointment for a physical. … When the nurse takes your blood pressure, makes a face, and decides to take a reading from your other arm, that is not a good sign. Yes, the blood work came out fine, and hypertension is a less severe problem than diabetes or hiv. Clearly, some lifestyle changes were in order.
The second visit to the eye clinic was horrible. The nurse said that the dilation drops were going to be strong, and that his eyes would be dilated the next day when he woke up. Then, the retina specialist had to deal with an emergency, and I had to wait, with compromised eyes, for what seemed like forever. … When I got to see the retina specialist, there was a new name for the condition. Cystoid Macular Edema is not an improvement. The doctor said that she could not start treatment with the blood pressure as high as it was. The treatment she proposed was an intraocular injection of a cancer drug. An appointment was made for four weeks in the future.
On the way home from the eye clinic, I stopped at the office of the other primary care dude. He was out of the office for two more days. I sent an email explaining his situation, and the primary called in a prescription for amlodipine. … I had started to decipher the proposed diet, and made an effort to follow it. When you are skinny growing up, you get into the habit of trying to gain weight. Then you get older, and develop a pot belly. The concept of thinking about what to eat is new to me.
The blood pressure readings began to improve. Better yet, the blurring in the left eye is improving. The next appointment at the eye clinic is the day after labor day. I am hoping that an intraocular injection of a cancer drug will not be needed. … Ok, back to Yossarian. This chapter starts out with him in the hospital, taking liberties with a nurse. There is trouble, and a shrink is called in. The head doctor is crazier than Yossarian. … There is a tradition on english tests. You are given a quote, and you have to explain it. There are two wiki worthy quotes for chapter XXVII.
“Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that in your promiscuous pursuit of women you are merely trying to assuage your subconscious fears of sexual impotence?” “Yes, sir, it has.” “Then why do you do it?” “To assuage my fears of sexual impotence.” This is an exchange between the shrink and Yossarian. … BTW, not all therapists, or other rapists, appreciate being called shrink. One such person said “I am not a shrinker, I am a grower”. He did not charge for that. … The last paragraph has a fun bit of wordplay. It has long been known that if you put a space three letters into therapist that you get the rapist. I tried to make a joke about this, and said or other rapist. When he saw those letters on the screen, he realized that “the” and “or” is an anagram for other.
Therapist spelled backwards is tsipareht. This will inhibit palindromic applications of this word. … “You have no respect for excessive authority or obsolete traditions. You’re dangerous and depraved, and you ought to be taken outside and shot!” Major Sanderson, the shrink, says this to Yossarian. This is another example of the satire in this book. It is not as heavy handed here as elsewhere, and consequently is more enjoyable. Satire can tire is applied without fire.
XXVIII Dobbs When PG was in sixth grade, a popular insult was Dob. Since it was a verbal insult, no one knew whether it had one bee or two. … It turns out the special education teacher at Cross Keys was named Beatrice Dobbins. She was morbidly obese. The special ed students were called dobs. This tidbit of knowledge made its way to the sixth grade at Ashford Park. … The character Dobbs wants Yossarian to help him kill Colonel Cathcart. In this chapter, Yossarian agrees to help. Dobbs is now unwilling to kill the Colonel. Opportunity is a funny thing, as are most things with tuna in the middle. This chapter is really about Orr, who is Yossarian’s tentmate. Orr is a tinkerer, which upsets Yossarian while it is going on. In later chapters, Yossarian will reap the benefits of Orr’s tinkering.
This is the last chapter that Orr appears in. He is flying a mission, and his plane goes into water. All the other men are in one lifeboat, and it is rescued. Somehow, the boat with Orr is never rescued. … There is a curious bit of cultural anthropology here. The life jackets the men carried were called Mae Wests. There was a movie star at that time who used that name. She had big boobs, which were probably real. There were rumors that Mae West was was a man in drag. Miss West made a movie with W.C. Fields, where he was drunk all the time, and they had to shoot the movie around him. … There was a plane crash, and when the men tried to use the Mae Wests, they did not work. The MWs had a CO2 canister, which made them inflate. Milo Minderbinder borrowed these canisters to make whipped cream. There were no other comments about the syndicate in this chapter.
The Orr who perishes in this chapter had a double r last name. There was a football player named Jimmy Orr. He caught passes from Johnny Unitas. Mr. Orr, with a double r, had a nightclub in the Peachtree Battle shopping center called “Jimmy Orr’s End Zone”. In Super Bowl III, the Baltimore Colts tried a trick play called a flea flicker, The quarterback gives the ball to a running back, who tosses it back to the quarterback. Jimmy Orr was by himself in the end zone, and the quarterback threw an interception. This was the year Joe Namath, and the New York Jets, won the Super Bowl. They had no business winning, but they did. People who suspect that the Super Bowl is rigged point to this game as the first obvious example.
XXIX Peckum There is not much action in this chapter. Just of bunch of self important officers trying to impress each other. They all think they are succeeding, and that the others are failing. There is a synchronicity of stupidity. … When I was at Redo Blue, I heard someone, named George, say “Frank thinks Phil is a fuckup”. The names have been changed to protect the guilty and the sensitive, even though it is unlikely that any of the three men involved will ever read this. It is not even certain that all three can read. So, I got to thinking. You could take that statement, and insert blanks where the names are. _____ said that ____ thinks that ____ is a fuckup. You could take any of those three names, and insert it into any spot in the formula. All combinations of names would be true.
XXX Dunbar This chapter was made for the movies. There is a pilot named McWatt. He likes to fly low over people and scare them. At first, it is a harmless little habit. Then it annoys Yossarian so much that murder is contemplated. … Yossarian, it turns out, would rather make love than war. He starts to spend afternoons on the beach with Nurse Duckett. They both enjoy the company of the other. While Yossarian and Nurse Duckett are making whoopee, the other men are swimming. One afternoon, McWatt decides to buzz the swimmers. Kid Sampson waves at him. For some reason, this distracts McWatt just enough to dip the plane a bit lower. Kid Sampson is cut in half. After McWatt sees what he has done, McWatt flies into a mountain. … <a href=”” target=”_blank”>Bookrags has an interesting take: McWatt dips his wings in one final salute and flies into … (paywall).
Another facebooker contributes a bit of commodity wisdom: “Work isn’t to make money; you work to justify life.” Marc Chagall “I think Chagall’s words speak to those who find passion in their work–or that their work sustains their passion. I am privileged to be in that class of folks, but on this labor day I am mindful of those who work to survive and in doing so often find themselves endangered by the exploitation and greed of others.” …
There is a little bit of sophistry/commodity wisdom that usually annoys me. It sounds so good, is a clever turn of words, but is totally without meaning when you think about it. The platitude is “I work to live, I don’t live to work.” Does your heart stop beating when you go to work? We all know people whose brain ceases to function on the clock, but they continue to breathe. Often, when they exhale, these people make obnoxious noise, which is also part of being alive.
Work is a part of life. When you are a living human critter, you are going to do things that you don’t enjoy. But you do them because you have to. When I am editing this, I will try to think of a good analogy for this silly saying. But don’t bet on it. This has gone on too long, and part five is finally, mercifully, finished. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the social media picture in September 1940. “Jack Whinery and his family, homesteaders, Pie Town, New Mexico” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Harlem Georgia
This content was published August 11, 2oo9. … There is an article posted at The Economist about Sex Offender Registries. (HT to Andrew Sullivan) The feature has a dateline of Harlem, Georgia. The Columbia county town was the home of Oliver Hardy. It is also the home of Wendy Faye Whitaker, who is 5’3″ and weighs 350 pounds. When she was 17, they turned out the classroom lights to watch a video. A 15 yo student said he would like a blow job. Mrs. Whitaker got caught, and now is on the Sex Offender Registry. She had to move from her house, and her husband lost his job as a dog catcher. …
… The article in the Economist had some delightful statistics. Over 647k americans are registered sex offenders. 17k are in Georgia. In 1994, congress required all states to have such a registry, or lose some federal funds. 13 states require registration for urinating in public. … Politicians love to be seen as tough on crime. RSO are a popular target, and the legislators compete to enact tougher laws. …
… The concept of the Sex Offender Registry is sound. There are, however, questions about the effectiveness and expense. The effect on offenders, many of whom have finished jail time and probation, is considerable. After reading the article, I decided to take a look at the Georgia Registry. Before you go, make sure you have plenty of time to spend. The GSOR has a strong search engine, and will give you all the RSO in your zip code. It will also show all offenders by county or by last name. …
… In my zipcode is a hotel with 19 RSO. Evidently, the hotel is far enough from schools and churches to allow RSO to live there. It is across the street from a major IRS office. A breakdown for this zipcode (which is not typical of the overall state) shows 21 white, 16 black, 2 hispanic and 1 asian. All were males…while the story of Wendy Whitaker got the attention of the Economist, the overwhelming majority of the RSO are males. …
… In 1994, I was living in a duplex, with verbally abusive people downstairs. One night, I heard a knock at the door, saw no one at my apartment, and looked at the front of the house. There was a Dekalb county welcome wagon in the driveway. Very soon, the husband was being taken off in handcuffs. … When I looked at the SOR, he found his former neighbor quickly. The conviction listed on the SOR was 1998, or four years after the incident I knew about. The Georgia SOR requires all offenders after July 1, 1996, to register.
This content was published August 14, 2009. … I was resisting the urge to say something profound about Mike Vick. There is something about Philadelphia that seems like a good fit for number 7. There should be dogfights in New Jersey. In the midst of vicktalk, I saw this email. There is a comment. … “Hey there, you’ve blogged about The Jesus Storybook Bible in the past and we want to give you the exciting opportunity to help us celebrate the release of the Deluxe Edition this October! All throughout September we’ll be sending updates about ways you can win copies of the Deluxe Edition (which features the entire Jesus Storybook Bible read by award-winning British actor, David Suchet) and free resources you can share with others! To register for these updates and exclusive information, visit here and sign up! Sincerely, Zonderkidz Marketing” …
… Wow, spam for Jesus. Dogfights in New Jersey seem ethical suddenly. The rest of the internet is kinda sketchy, except for Margaret and Helen. They always make sense. Well, almost always. A few weeks ago, they wouldn’t quit talking about how sexy Walter Cronkite was. I don’t get the Cronkite cult. In my family, we always saw Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. If some old lady blogger starts to get the hots for Chet Huntley, I am giving up the internet. …
… Margaret is it just me or did combing your hair become optional when going out in public? I’ve been watching news clips of these town hall free-for-alls and we have definitely become a nation of tired, poor, and huddled masses clearly tempest-tossed, but without access to a good beauty salon. Universal Hygiene – now that is something I could get behind. … And what’s all this crap about killing your grandmother? Are you people honestly that stupid? This has become less an argument about healthcare reform and more a statement about our failed education system. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the social media picture in March 1942. “Boys at carnival attraction. Imperial County Fair, California” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Home Runs
This content was published July 29, 2021. … Barry Bonds was about to break the lifetime record for home runs. Folks said the record was tainted because of steroid use, and because Mr. Bonds was not a nice man. There were calls for an asterisk in the record book. This was odd to me. I was in Georgia when Hank Aaron broke the home run record in 1974. Back then, the line was that Babe Ruth had fewer at bats than Mr. Aaron. …
… A lot of hateful things were said about Mr. Aaron before home run 714. I decided to take a look at the metrics. This post is the result. As a bonus to the reader(s), Joe Torre and Hank Aaron gets a summer rerun. JTAHA is based on a column by Furman Bisher. …
This post was published June 30, 2007… There is a certain controversy these days about the eminent breaking of the lifetime home run record. Currently held by Hank Aaron, the record is threatened by Barry Bonds. Before Mr. Aaron held the title, Babe Ruth was the owner. Controversy about the lifetime home run record is nothing new. In 1974, when Hank Aaron was about to break the record, the admirers of Babe Ruth said that Mr. Ruth had fewer at bats than Mr. Aaron did. Many attributed these comments to racism, with a black man beating a white man’s record. …
… The current controversy is two fold. There are allegations that Mr. Bonds took steroids to make him stronger, and that he “cheated”. There are also concerns about the personality of Mr. Bonds. … I do not think steroid use is a big deal. Ballplayers are abusing their bodies to perform, and if they take the risk of using steroids, that is their business. Many people disagree. A better question might be, would Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron have used steroids if they had the chance? Mr. Ruth was a wildman, who drank during prohibition, and was known for undisciplined behavior. …
… Mr. Aaron played in an era where steroid use was not as common as it is today. The answer to the first question is (Mr. Ruth) probably, and (Mr. Aaron) who knows. … While you are keeping hypocrisy statistics, Mr. Aaron and Mr. Bonds played on television, where beer commercials were constant. While alcohol is *now* legal, it is a very damaging drug. Any ballplayer who plays on television promotes its use. This is both steroid users, and non users. As for personalities, there is the widely circulated story about the college team that Mr. Bonds played on voting 22-3 to kick him off the team. At the very least, he does not charm sportswriters. …
… In 1917, Babe Ruth was suspended for hitting an umpire. He was known for his outlandish behavior throughout his career. It should also be noted that he played in an era when the press did not scrutinize the behavior of players. How would today’s media treat Babe Ruth? … I once heard a radio show caller say that Hank Aaron was a mean racist, who would just as soon cut your throat as look at you. I had never heard this said out loud, but had heard hints about Mr. Aaron’s personality over the years. People who achieve great things are not always friendly. …
… Mr. Aaron is the only one of the three that I met, however briefly. In July of 1965, the Milwaukee Braves came to Atlanta to play an exhibition game in Atlanta Stadium. After the game, I was allowed to wait outside the clubhouse, to get autographs from the players as they left. Joe Torre saw the crowd, hid behind a truck, and made a quick getaway. Hank Aaron came out, patiently signing every autograph, while smoking a cigarette. … The fact is, all three men played in different eras. Babe Ruth never played at night, never flew to California, and only played against white players … many of the most talented players of his era were in the Negro Leagues. …
… Hank Aaron played before free agency, interleague play, the DH, and widespread use of steroids. The only way to determine who is the home run champion is to count how many homers are hit, and award the prize to the man who hits the most. … Which of the three made the most money? Barry Bonds, by a wide margin. He played in the free agent era. Babe Ruth had the best line about his salary. In 1930 Ruth was asked by a reporter what he thought of his yearly salary of $80,000 being more than President Hoover’s $75,000. He replied “yea, but I had a better year than he did.” …
… Who played on the most teams to win a World Series? Babe Ruth 7, Hank Aaron 1, Barry Bonds 0. … The career of Babe Ruth was a long time ago. He made a greater impact on America than the other two combined. He was one of the first sports superstars, as America emerged from the carnage of World War One. Mr. Ruth broke the single season home run record, he hit 29 homers. The next year, he hit 54. There is a possibility of a livelier baseball. …
… Babe Ruth captured the imagination of America like few personalities ever have. Playing in New York (which dominated the press) did not hurt. He was a man of his times…it is unlikely than anyone could have that kind of impact on today’s superstar saturated America. While his record has been broken, his place in the history of baseball is the same. UPDATE: As of August 23, 2025, the <a href=”” target=”_blank”>lifetime home run leaders were: Barry Bonds – 762, Hank Aaron – 755, Babe Ruth – 714, Albert Pujols – 703, Alex Rodriguez – 696. …
This post was published August 15, 2009. … Furman Bisher has a piece at the fishwrapper site about Joe Torre. The punch line is that Mr. Torre “grew up” when the Braves traded him to St. Louis. I was a kid when this was going on, and did not hear a lot of what went on. … In 1965, the Braves played a lame duck year in Milwaukee before moving to Atlanta. One night, there was an exhibition game at Atlanta Stadium, the Braves against the Yankees. I got his oh so patient dad to take me to the clubhouse after the game, to get autographs. …
… In 1965, you could go into the bowels of the stadium and wait outside the clubhouse. Hank Aaron signed many autographs while smoking a cigarette. Joe Torre came out, hid behind a truck, and took off running. … Mr. Torre was a raccoon eyed catcher for the Braves. In the first regular season game in 1966, he hit two home runs, in a thirteen inning loss. Soon, the novelty of big league baseball in a toilet shaped stadium wore off. Mr. Torre got at least one DUI, and a reputation as a barroom brawler. He was traded to St. Louis in 1968. Mr. Torre hit .373, and won the national league MVP in 1971. …
… The comments were interesting. Cecil 34 “The reason that Torre was traded is because on the team’s charter flight back to Atlanta back in 68, a drunken Torre got into a fistfight with Aaron. Aaron popped off to Torre, and thus the fight was on, broken up by the other players. Since Aaron was the face of the franchise at the time, Torre was traded. There had been bad blood between them for years before this incident anyway. Reasons vary. But the final nail in the coffin was this fistfight. I was told Torre could pack a punch and Aaron came out on the worse end of it.” …
… There has been whispering for years about Hank Aaron and his attitude. Furman Bisher made hints once or twice, but there was never anything of substance. It seems that Mr. Aaron does not lack for self confidence. Mr. Aaron was the subject of much racially based abuse while chasing the home run record in 1973, and some anger is justified. … Mr. Aaron was known to not get along with Rico Carty. Mr. Carty is a dark skinned man from the Dominican Republic, who was popular with fans. Mr. Carty was eventually traded. Rico Carty had a barbecue restaurant on Peachtree Road in Chamblee, next door to the Park and Shop. …
… Joe Torre was the manager of the Braves in the early eighties. The team won a divisional title in 1982, but lost the NLCS. This was after Ted Turner bought the team. Mr. Turner fired Mr. Torre in 1984. Getting back to the comment thread, Misterwax contributes “Turner cut Joe Torre loose because Ted was in love with Henry Aaron and Aaron thought Joe Torre was a white supremacist….A hangover from the clubhouse days when they were teammates…still does today. And THAT is the only reason he was cut…because Hank Aaron said so.” …
Hank Aaron passed away January 22, 2021. Joe Torre retired as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010. He won four World Series as manager of the New York Yankees. Furman Bisher outlived Bear Bryant by 26 years, passing away March 18, 2012. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The social media picture was taken April 15, 1915. “Hans Lobert of the New York Giants (left) and Joe Schultz, Sr. of the Brooklyn Dodgers. ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Fani’s Fifteen Minutes
This content was published August 17, 2023. … There was a bit of unpleasantness on my facebook page yesterday. “i wonder how many court cases in fulton county are being put on hold while the DA is prosecuting whatshisname” … “If it’s a crime in Georgia to claim that an election was “stolen”, when exactly is Stacy Abrams getting indicted?” … “never, because she was correct and had the facts to prove it, as this court case shows. Not hard to understand. Also because your whole premise is wrong. It is not a crime to claim an election was stolen. It is a crime to attempt to steal an election while claiming an election was stolen and trying to use illegal means to change the outcome. Try watching something other than FOX so you have a clue what the case is about.”
As you may have heard, Fulton County indicted Donald Trump, and 18 other people, on charges related to the 2020 election. The indictment was expected. The Fulton County DA, Fani Willis, seems to be enjoying her moment of glory.
Shortly before the charges were announced, a story was leaked to the press about some crooked business in Coffee County. This is a rural county below the gnat line, east of I-75 in pre-Florida. While seeing the story get more attention than it deserved, I got a vague sense of overkill. It seems entirely possible that Fulton County is going too far with the Trump case, and is going to blow it. It is time to move on with my own IANAL existence, and let the courts deal with this disaster.
Fulton County is devoting a lot of resources to this case. Many less glamorous cases are possibly being put on hold as a result. I am not smart enough to know whether this is best or not, but I have an IANAL instinct that it is not.
Which brings me to the second comment in the thread above. I have written about Miss Stacey too many times. (01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14) Suffice to say that I am not a fan. Miss Stacey deserves little credit for the increased Democratic votes in 2020. OTOH, two wrongs don’t make a right. Stacey’s big mouth does not justify the foolishness of Donald J. Trump, Fani Willis, or Coffee County. The best response to a comment like this is to like/don’t-like/ignore, and move on.
Unfortunately, the person who made comment three felt obligated to join in. Before going any further, we should note my relationship to commenter two and commenter three. Two is someone I have known for 30 years. While I don’t agree with him all the time, I have considerable respect for his intelligence, integrity, and willingness to think for himself. Three is someone I have never met in person. He participates in an online poetry event that I visit. He accepted my friend request three days ago. If this turns into a playground quarrel, it is obvious who I am going to favor. UPDATE: Commenter three chose to unfriend me on facebook.
“Try watching something other than FOX so you have a clue what the case is about.” The concept about finding a clue on cable tv brings to mind a comment by Ben Hecht: “Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Edward H. Hart took the social media picture in 1898. “U.S.S. Nahant, church service” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Living With The Dead
This content was published August 12, 2009. … I am reading “Living With The Dead” about a band formerly known as The Warlocks. The *ghost writer* is a man named David Dalton, who channels the lysergic nuttiness. … The man behind the curtain might tell you that the GD name was about the death of the ego. Once the band became popular, the skeletons came out of the closet, and suddenly every day was the day of the dead. Jerry never cared for the skull paraphernalia, but got over it. …
… The person the ghost writer channeled was Rock Sculley. He was doing something in San Francisco in 1965, when Owsley Stanley invited him to the Trips Festival. Soon, the walls of the auditorium were breathing, and the band was playing. This was their first gig as the Grateful Dead, and Bill Graham was horrified by the new name. The posters had the phrase “formerly known as the Warlocks”. … The next night, Mr. Scully went to an acid test in Palo Alto, where Neal Cassidy was juggling hammers and talking endless amphetimated nonsense. If Neal had just stayed off those railroads tracks he could have been the first white rapper. …
… Owsley thought Rock Scully would be a good manager for the band. Maybe because his name sounded like skull. And so it goes. … Did Kurt Vonnegut ever see the Dead? They would have been a good match, especially with all the cigarettes mr v smoked. He could have been dosed, and time tripped back into that meat locker in Dresden. … Did you know there is a Dresden Drive that connects Brookhaven to Doraville? Dresden Drive is a popular road for police cars, and I learned a long time ago to watch the rearview carefully there. In the early seventies, Dekalb County drove gold Plymouth Satellites. I drove a gold Plymouth Satellite in the eighties, after the girl in Planet Claire made everyone forget the Dekalb gestapo. …
… Back to the book. The ghost writer and Kurt Vonnegut have a similar effect … when you read a book by mr v, you starts to think like the book reads. LWTD is having the same impact, which can be intimidating to the readers of this blog who dare to go this far. … The sixties were like that in California, or so I heard … in 1967, I was in the eighth grade, and a long way away from California dreamin’. Neal Cassidy said he got more out of breakfast than he got out of the eighth grade. …
… LWTD is chock full of trivia. Did you know that St. Stephen was written about Stephen Gaskin? Or that Grace Slick would never sunbathe nude on David Crosby’s boat, because David’s girlfriends were all so pretty. Grace just couldn’t compete. Oops, that last bit was from David Crosby’s book, which was another perversion excursion. Does anyone else find the concept of Mr. Walrus being the turkey baster daddy for Julie Cypher … just a touch bizarre? … I am on page 213 of LWTD at this point. This is a mathematical wonder, using all prime numbers and a superstition into a sum of six. The story of the dead is at a turning point, but then almost any inning of this ballgame was a turning point. It is early 1972. Pigpen has been replaced, but doesn’t know it yet. …
… The dead just played the Armistice day show at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium, which is fondly remembered by many who were not there. In a bit of irony, this is one of the last shows with the old sound system. There is a quote from a someone who saw them in NY a few weeks later, and said it was the worst he had heard the band sound. … This is also turning point in america, with the rise of george mcgovern leading to a landslide for tricky dick. The sixties were slowing coming to a multi colored end. They were too painful to live and too profitable to die. …
… The band rode the wave for the next thirty seven years, even after uberdeadhead Jerry became the real thing on Hiroshima day in 1995. The book has about 144 pages to go (a gross), but I suspect that it won’t be as much fun as the first 213. … The pictures for this post are from a farm in Tennessee. As I edit the pics, I listens to a tape of the auditorium show, and the band plays “Tennessee Jed”. Once, I was playing a tape of “Tennessee Jed”, and a neighbor asked me “Do you like that?” “Yes” “then you are a hick”. … Pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. The social media picture was taken January 17, 1947. “McDonough Boulevard”
Troy Davis
This content was published August 18, 2009. … The one thing I am sure of in the Troy Davis case is the abundance of material on the internet. This is true of all death penalty cases. When you have celebrities calling for clemency, the data crush gets heavier. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a district court needs to have a hearing on the Troy Davis case. The Supremes were convinced that there is enough evidence to doubt the conviction of Troy Davis for the murder of Mark MacPhail. Justices Scalia and Thomas dissented. …
… The dissenting opinion, written by Justice Scalia, is a doozy. “This court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent.” It should be noted that I am not a lawyer, and some of the arguments I am reading make my head swim. Some say that Justice Scalia was correct in his opinion. Others think he is crazy. …
The one thing I have not been able to find is a picture of Sylvester “Red” Coles. Mr. Coles is known to have been present at the murder site. Mr. Coles owns a .38 pistol with a chrome finish, similar to the pistol that shot Mr. MacPhail. On the morning after the murder, Mr. Coles and an attorney showed up at the Police Headquarters. Soon, a decision was made that Troy Davis was the killer. The reason I want to see a picture of Sylvester Coles is to know, for sure, if he is black or white. Mr. Coles is described as a “a fearsome neighborhood thug” and a drug dealer. …
… If Troy Davis (black) takes the blame for killing Mark MacPhail (white) and allows Sylvester Coles (?) to go free, is this racism? Perhaps it is sloppy policework, or a bribe from the Coles attorney. While we are talking race, please note that Clarence Thomas concurred with Antonin Scalia in his dissent. … There are some who don’t think the ruling yesterday will change much. The MacPhail family and the Chatham County police are convinced of the guilt of Mr. Davis. This case has been bouncing around the courts for twenty years. Several courts have upheld the original guilty verdict. …
This content was published August 22, 2009. … There is a lot of hot air about health care. It is an intensely personal subject. Almost everyone has a story to tell. Hidden agendas, payoffs, straw men, and misleading rhetoric are the order of the day. I decided to try and make a bit of sense out of the mess, and share what I found. There was a google search, under the phrase “what is the health care proposal?” I found a pdf on the BHO website. It is not known when this pdf was written, or if other plan summaries are available. …
… It is not known how closely this summary corresponds to the bill before congress. I tried to break down the BHO plan summary, with key parts set off in bold type (the ob health plan-c54). … There are three parts to the plan. The summary this is based on did not mention “death panels”, abortion, or illegal aliens. I feel these are red herrings, designed to divert attention away from the plan. The current debate is a huckster’s paradise. … The first part of the plan involves lowering costs. There are three major parts to this. The first part is to modernize and digitize our health records. …
… The second part is better maintenance of chronic disease. This part of the plan calls for health insurance for all Americans. The two big steps here are the elimination of the pre existing conditions issue, and the establishment of the “National Health Insurance Exchange”. This part is in trouble, and may be compromised away. … The third part is an overall reform of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. This part of the plan is a call for prevention and public health. There are a few big brother like calls for “interventions”. …
… I suspect there is a great deal more to the debate than this pdf, but that it is a place to start. 12 pages can only scratch the surface. The phrase “God is in the details” comes to mind. … Clearly, the system we have is not working for large numbers of people. Employer based insurance requirements are a leading factor in the outplacement of jobs overseas. While I have doubts about what I read today, I do not see the talk radio crowd offering a better solution. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Arthur Rothstein took the social media picture in October 1939. “Unloading shelled corn for ever-normal granary storage. Grundy County, Iowa” · selah ©Luther Mckinnon 2025
Powered By Yahoo
August 30, 2014. … As facebook memes remind us, Jon Stewart recently delivered a speech about racism. The closing line is “And that shit happens all the time. All the time. Race is there, and it is a constant. You’re tired of hearing about it? Imagine how fucking exhausting it is living it.” The crowd went into hysterics. … Our media culture is strange. On the “conservative” side, buffoons like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly present news as entertainment. On the “liberal” side, comedians like Jon Stewart and Bill Maher present comedy routines as political commentary. On the other side of the screen, America becomes more cynical every day. …
… In another video, the former Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz says something critical about Israel. He is gleefully shouted down. Eventually, he gives up. This video could have been made about race relations. If a white person says anything except the party line, he can expect to be called racist, and shouted down. Two wrongs become one right. So the choice becomes not wanting to be yelled at, or not wanting to live a black life. You can yell at white people as long as you like about racism. This yelling will accomplish little, except giving the dubious feeling of moral superiority.
August 25, 2009. … The news came out that the coroner ruled Michael Jackson’s death to be a homicide. The name of his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, was mentioned. In these race obsessed times, the first question many ask is about skin color. In the case of The Entertainer, it changed over time. I found pictures from two times for Dr. Murray, and he looked the same. The older image was a booking photograph from 1994. Dr. Murray was in trouble after a domestic violence incident with his girlfriend. The Doctor was acquitted of the charges. …
… There was more trouble for Dr. Murray in the years to come. (The search warrant for his office is here). At the time of his Jackson employment, Dr. Murray was in deep financial trouble. “In the last three years, Murray has faced lawsuits for unpaid business bills totaling over $700,000, including rent on his medical offices. He also owes more than $13,000 in child support, $70,000 to a business partner with whom he launched an energy drink called Pitbull, and he failed to pay more than $71,000 worth of student loans from medical school.” …
… Ten days before Michael Jackson got high for the last time, Dr. Murray sent a letter out. “Because of a once in a lifetime opportunity, I had to make a most difficult decision to cease practice of medicine indefinitely”. He reportedly was paid $150k a month to serve as a private physician to Micheal Jackson. … Dr. Murray was not the only Doctor to work with Michael. “Best-selling author Deepak Chopra, a licensed medical doctor, said he first became concerned about the pop star’s prescription drug use in 2005, when Jackson visited him shortly after his trial on sex abuse allegations. …
… Chopra said Jackson asked him to prescribe painkillers and already had a bottle of OxyContin. “I was kind of a bit alarmed. I said, ‘Why are you taking that. You don’t need that,‘ and then I started to probe a little further, and after I grilled him a little bit, he admitted he was getting them from a bunch of doctors,” … On June 25, things went too far. Dr. Conrad Murray told cops he had been treating Jackson for 6 weeks for insomnia — giving him 50 milligrams of Propofol every night through an IV. Murray told cops he feared Jackson was getting addicted so he reduced the dosage to 25 mg. …
… The morning Jackson died, Dr. Murray gave Jackson valium at 1:30 AM. Murray said the valium didn’t work so he gave the singer an IV injection of lorazepam — an anti-anxiety drug. Murray told cops Jackson was still awake, so he then gave him midazolam — a sedative. Murray gave Jackson more drugs. He says at 10:40 AM, he administered 25 mg of Propofol. Dr. Murray told cops Jackson repeatedly demanded the drug. As we first reported, cops found 8 bottles of Propofol in Jackson’s house after he died, but they do not know where it was purchased. …
… Cops also found Valium, Tamsulosin, Lorazepam, Temazepam, Clonazepam, Trazodone and Tizanidine, along with the Propofol. The various drugs were prescribed by Dr. Murray, Dr. Arnold Klein and Dr. Allan Metzger. … Dr. Murray reportedly told cops 10 minutes after administering Propofol … he “left Jackson’s side to go to the restroom and relieve himself. Murray stated he was out of the room for about 2 minutes maximum. Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing.” Dr. Murray says he began CPR and at some point ran downstairs and asked the chef to send up Prince Jackson, the eldest son, then Murray continued performing CPR. …
… Dr. Murray says he noticed that Jackson wasn’t breathing at around 11 AM. He was then on the cell phone for 47 minutes with 3 separate calls, from 11:18 to 12:05. The 911 call came in at 12:21 PM …. a much longer delay than originally reported… Interestingly, according to the warrant, Dr. Murray refused to sign the death certificate at the UCLA Medical Center. … Dr. Murray was released from prison October 28, 2013. In 2023, Dr. Murray opened a medical institute in El Socorro, San Juan.
August 25, 2009. … I have had internet service with BellSouth since I bought a computer. They add the charge to my phone bill. It worked very well. At some point, AT&T bought BellSouth. At some point after that, AT&T made a deal with Yahoo to “Power” AT&T. I got emails warning about the change. These messages did not mean much to me. I would take what action needed to be taken, at the proper time. This afternoon, I got to a stopping point on a picture project, and tried to check email. The outlook express did not work. It was the start of a nightmare. …
… I am over call centers. The other night, I called Tracfone, and talked to a young man over a horrible connection. The man did not understand english very well. This is how companies save money, and increase unemployment in the United States. I was still connected to the internet, and went to the site where I check email away from home. I was directed to a new “powered by yahoo” site. I was required to register for a new system, amidst popup screens asking me to take a tour of the new AT&T. …
… Finally, I got through to my email, and found a one word comment to a blog post. Somebody thought the BHO health care plan was cool. Meanwhile, the yahoo site…which I use to check my yahoo account …was now logged in under a new account. Instead of logging in and out all the time, I decide to use one browser for yahoo and one browser for AT&T. It has been a while since I used the secondary browser. The AT&T page has a place where you can troubleshoot your email. I go there. …
… It tells you to go to an options tab on outlook, and enter a lot of numbers and settings. It did not make the outlook express work. There is a phone number for AT&T. I have spent quality time on this, talking to people in India, The Philippines, and Dothan, Alabama. I never thought I would be happy to get Alabama, but I was. To be fair, the people in these call centers are polite and hard working. They just have big problems to deal with, especially with this AT&T “powered by Yahoo” fiasco. …
… The number is busy, busy, busy. On the one time in twenty that I get through, I get chased off due to heavy call volume. I tried yet another time, and got through to an agent, with a good sounding connection. I am going to try to reconfigure the connection to outlook express. The last try did work. It took over an hour, and the old accounts had to be destroyed and new accounts set up. By the time it was over, I was ready to start as a tech rep and talk someone else through the process. I might even move to Alabama. … The pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. The social media picture was taken November 9, 1949. “Ford Motor Company display of 1950 models, Atlanta City Auditorium” · selah ©Luther Mckinnon 2025
Ted Kennedy
This content was published September 29, 2023. … One thing that I like to do is investigate “things I have always heard”. With google, you can often find the source, and a few things more. This is a repost. … The myth I was chasing was the notion that government officials said our army “will be greeted as liberators” in Iraq. On March 16, 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney was on Meet the Press. MR. RUSSERT: If your analysis is not correct, and we’re not treated as liberators, but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties? …
… VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators. I’ve talked with a lot of Iraqis in the last several months myself, had them to the White House. The president and I have met with them, various groups and individuals, people who have devoted their lives from the outside to trying to change things inside Iraq. And like Kanan Makiya who’s a professor at Brandeis, but an Iraqi, he’s written great books about the subject, knows the country intimately. The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but what they want to the get rid of Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that.” …
… There are a few things to say 22 years later. Why did the Vice President have this much power? The VP is supposed to dedicate buildings and go to funerals. Dick Cheney was clearly a very powerful man, and he was not elected to that job. … Mr. Russert, rest his soul, seems to have gotten one detail wrong. The conquest of Baghdad went smoothly, with relatively few American casualties. It was the occupation that would be “long, costly, and bloody… with significant American casualties.” There probably were many Iraqis who welcomed the change, Clearly, Mr. Hussein had some enemies, and there were some who saw the invasion as liberation. There were others who did not. Players in other countries saw an opportunity to come to Iraq and make trouble. The regime that was changed had many employees, who were bumped out of jobs. “The people of Iraq” were no more a monolithic force, all acting the same way, as the people of America would be if they were invaded. …
… Even if the Americans were “greeted as liberators”, there would be many challenges. The country had no experience in dealing with democracy. The different ethnic groups did not like each other. Sunnis were seen as having been privileged, and many were looking to settle the score. It seems obvious that these problems were not anticipated. There is a debate in The United States about the use of torture. It seems apparent that “enhanced interrogation” was used extensively in Iraq and elsewhere. The use of torture would seem to be an admission that we were not greeted as liberators.
This content was published August 26, 2009. Ted Kennedy died August 25, 2009. … I was not going to talk about Ted Kennedy. The man served for many years in the Senate. There were some unfortunate incidents in his personal life. I am not a moral statistician, and shudder at the thought of judging someone with that many positives and negatives. Ted Kennedy has been in the public eye as long as I have been old enough to pay attention. For years, he was the boogey man of the right wing. If a strawman was ever needed, Ted Kennedy was trotted out. …
… I suspect that many people who were offended by John and Robert Kennedy (especially regarding their support of civil rights for African Americans) took out their anger on Ted Kennedy. The shortcomings in his personal life did not help. Peach Pundit was respectful today. There was a story about an act of kindness by Senator Kennedy to a young law student. The comments had the predictable nasty players, but most showed respect. In an interesting move, rude comments were hidden behind a link. This allows the reader to see what followup comments are talking about. …
… Another blog, JoemyGod, was admiring Senator Kennedy. In the comments, there was the anonymous “Guest” who felt the need to talk about Chappaquiddick. Numerous people took “Guest” to task for this. There were some who felt that negative comments should be deleted. I do not like having comments deleted. Of course, this is the right of a blog owner. Some have an itchy trigger finger, and will delete most of what they don’t like. When you do this, you take away the diversity needed for a lively discussion. The following is a dialog between chamblee54 and “Guest”. Thank you JoemyGod for hosting this discussion. …
… chamblee54- Joe, thank you for allowing the troll comments to remain up. You have the right to delete comments. However, your readers are capable of putting the trolls in their place. Deleting comments is like war and abortion. We should keep the option open, but only use it when absolutely necessary. As for Senator Kennedy, he has been raked over the coals for Chappaquiddick. The right wing has used that incident to great advantage. At the time of the Senators passing, we should speak well of the man.Today, 12:03:55 PM …
… “Guest”- can you speak well of someone like OJ Simpson? Right wing – left wing doesn’t matter. Ted Kennedy killed a young lady with the rest of her life a head of her so he didn’t have to take responsility for his actions. Drinking and Driving is a crime, leaving the scene of an accident is a crime, killing someone while behind the wheel of a vehicle is a crime. How much time did Ted Kennedy spend in jail for his crimes? How much time would a regular American spend in prison for these crimes? Today, 12:31:40 PM …
… chamblee54- If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. This is especially true when a person dies, and his fingernails are still growing. When OJ goes to the Hertz office in the sky, I will have nothing to say. · Today, 12:51:43 PM “Guest”- chamblee54 kennedy has been rightfully raked of the coals for his actions at chapppaquidick, it has nothing to do with right wing or your socialist attitude it has to do with what he did, how he let her die and who was bribed. We should never speak well of any of the kennedy family; bootlegger and other RICO enterprises that allowed the money to flow. Today, 12:56:21 PM … The pictures today are from Georgia State University Library. The social media picture: “Paramount Pictures War Bond Appeal” · selah ©Luther Mckinnon 2025
The Glory Of O
This content was published August 28, 2009. … Wendy Whitaker is back in the news. At least some of the news … the fishwrapper has not reported the latest chapter in her story. Thank you Creative Loafing, which is physically printed by the fishwrapper. (Ever notice how skinny the paper is on Tuesday? That is when they take in outside jobs.) A HT goes to the unlikely team of Griftdrift and Peach Pundit. There is a recent post at chamblee54 on this subject. …
… Mrs. Whitaker is the lady who gave a high school classmate a blow job, and became a registered sex offender (RSO). She is now in jail. It seems like her husbands name was on a lease, and they moved into a residence that was previously out of bounds. The authorities locked her up because she did not inform them that she had moved. … The laws on RSO have a lot of provisions. They are not allowed to live within a certain distance of schools, parks, and churches. (Across the street from an IRS office is permitted.) An RSO is not allowed to volunteer at a church. And, as Mrs. Whitaker learned, they must register every time they move. …
… There are stories of people getting locked up because of confusion over how often they should register, or big brother not getting the note. Many Florida communities have tough laws, establishing boundaries for places that RSO are forbidden to live. A bridge under a causeway is one place where RSO are permitted. Many feel that driving RSO out of established communities makes it difficult to monitor their activities. Politicians always want to be seen as being tougher on crime than anyone else. Some of the laws they create cause more problems than they solve. It will take genuine courage to undo the damage. … A recent search at Sex Offender Registry for Wendy Whitaker showed “No offenders found for the search criteria selected.”
This content was published August 27, 2009. … “Wild Ducks Flying Backwards” is due today at the Chamblee Library. As much as I enjoy Tom Robbins, his output is not worth an overdue fine. Towards the end of the book, there are a series of questions. As a loyal reader, I have a sense of entitlement , and license to borrow. … Why do you live where you do? The house is paid for. Besides, Atlanta, with all her flaws, is a good place to use as a return address. The weather is reasonable. The Falcons had a winning season last year, so there is no need to worry about them going over .500 this year. …
… I feel the same about Atlanta as I do about The United States. Both are very fine places, with very serious problems. The wolf criers have been making noise as long as I could hear, and the bottom has not fallen out. The one difference is that no one is expected to “Love it or leave it” with regard to your zip code. And, if someone asked whether you would die for Atlanta, he would be rightfully laughed out of the house. … What is your favorite letter of the alphabet? O. This has nothing to do with the POTUS. O is a well shaped letter. It is a vowel, which means consonants are begging for its company. It is a circle, a wheel, a pie and a hockey puck. Three out of four isn’t bad. …
… O is the first letter of om, which is the combination of all sounds, and a good mantra. O is the twin brother of zero, the one great innovation of arabic numbers. When you spell the word Dog, O is the glue holding the quarreling consonants into canine cooperation. When you spell Dog backwards, you get the name of Mary’s babydaddy. THAT name gets said way too often, and I try not to hold that against O. … I cannot remember any other questions. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. John Vachon took the social media picture in July 1942. “Hoffman Island, merchant marine training center off Staten Island, New York. Instructor with group of trainees in the engine room of the training ship New York”©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
One History Of Religion
This content was published August 25, 2023. … I was a southern baptist all my life. Arguably, I became a baptist when my mother converted in 1938, but really didn’t get with the program until I was born in 1954. The story is that Daddy called the choir director at six in the morning to sign me up. … First Baptist in Atlanta was a big church on Peachtree street, about a mile north of downtown. (FBC sold the land to a developer, and moved to Dunwoody. I was working a block away, when they tore down the building. I got some chips of brick as a souvenir.) …
… I sang in the “cherub” choir. This was quite an experience when we performed in front of a full house. I have good memories of Sunday school, vacation bible school, and the choir program. … One thing I did not like, even at that young age, was the preacher. He was a greasy haired man who shouted a lot. Years later, I heard persistent rumors that he was gay. One Sunday, we were watching him preach, and he shouted, “this is the word of God”. He then waved a Bible in the air, and slammed it into the pulpit. I thought, if that is the word of God, maybe he shouldn’t slam it down like that. …
… In 1962, mom and dad decided to move to a church closer to home. I liked Briarcliff Baptist. About this time, I first heard about being “saved from sin”, and thought it was a pretty cool idea. I was also in the cub scouts. Their meetings were the same day as choir practice, so I quit the choir. I attended church regularly the next few years, but never did join the church, and get baptized. The custom of pressuring children to make a “commitment of faith” reflects poorly on Jesus.
This content was published August 28, 2009. … There is a email going around, that you are supposed to send to your friends. The email is a personality test. Allegedly it is endorsed by the Dalai Lama. I think Tenzin Gyato has more sense than that, and has looked for an endorsement. In fact, a google search for “personality test” at DalaiLama dotcom yields no answer. … Official or not, the test is harmless enough. There are four questions. Make a wish before you start, which will be known only to you. Write down your answers on paper, and then look at the results. If you want a fancier version of the test, you can go here, there, or wait until you get the email. …
… 1- Put the following 5 animals in the order of your preference: Cow, Tiger, Sheep, Horse, Pig · 2- Write one word that describes each one of the following: Dog, Cat, Rat, Coffee, Sea · 3- Think of someone, who also knows you and is important to you, which you can relate them to the following colors. Do not repeat your answer twice. Name just one person for each color: Yellow, Orange, Red, White, Green · 4- Finally, write down your favorite number, and your favorite day of the week. · Ok, are you through with your answers? Remember, no looking ahead! …
… 1-This will define your priorities in your life. Cow Signifies CAREER, Tiger Signifies PRIDE, Sheep Signifies LOVE, Horse Signifies FAMILY, Pig Signifies MONEY · 2-Your description of dog implies your own personality. Your description of cat implies the personality of your partner. Your description of rat implies the personality of your enemies. Your description of coffee is how you interpret sex. Your description of the sea implies your own life. · 3-Yellow: Someone you will never forget– · Orange: Someone you consider your true friend · Red: Someone that you really love · White: Your twin soul · Green: Someone that you will remember for the rest of your life · 4-You have to send this message to as many persons as your favorite number and your wish will come true on the day that you recorded. … Photographs today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library and Digital Library of Georgia. The social media picture was taken between 1910 and 1929. “African American woman is baptized“. ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
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