Chamblee54

PG was recently reading a list of rules for writing. He began to think of a few. A wordpad was opened, and before long 18 suggestions appeared. When you publish a list like this, you are placing a target on your back, with the word hypocrite written above. PG does not claim to take all these suggestions all the time. What follows is a goal to work for, not a script for a situation comedy.
When in doubt, shut up. … A halo is best worn over one ear.
You have two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you talk.
If you want to be forgiven, forgive. If you want to be understood, understand.
There are few situations that cannot be made worse with anger and loud talk.
A douche is a hygiene appliance. The verb form refers to using this device, for cleaning purposes. Neither the noun nor the verb is appropriate for use as an insult.
A sentence has one period, placed at the end. Do not place a period after every word to make a point. You should find another way to show emphasis.
Before you “call out” somebody for “racism”, drape a towel over your mirror.
Not everyone enjoys the sound of your voice as much as you do.
Do not place “ass” between and adjective and the object. “Ass” is a noun that refers to either a donkey or a butt. An adverb is used to modify an adjective, and is placed before the adjective. Using “ass” as a misplaced adverb is improper.
The third commandment says to not use the word G-d “in vain”. The G-word should only be used for worship and respectful discussion. Improper uses include expressing anger, swearing to, selling life insurance, and pledging allegiance to a nationalist symbol.

This is a repost from 2011 and 2020. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library” … PG was reading facebook, minding his own business, when he saw something that made his head explode. It started with a post with the splashy title White Liberals Have White Privilege Too! . There is something about online discussions about white privilege that make well meaning people want to type a lot of words. PG usually avoids such a conversation, as if it were an amway pitch, but made an exception this fateful afternoon.
The seminal article was written in 2007, and mentioned the media controversy of the day. It seemed as though Joe Biden said “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy … I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” 2011 UPDATE: Mr. Biden is currently the Vice President, serving under the FMAA. 2020 UPDATE: Biden the Elder is currently serving as President of the United States.
There was a link to a bit of archaic html called ” Black People Love Us!, which tells the story of Sally and Johnny… “We are well-liked by Black people so we’re psyched (since lots of Black people don’t like lots of White people)!! We thought it’d be cool to honor our exceptional status with a ROCKIN’ domain name and a killer website!!” The fun starts when a facebook paster quoted a letter to BPLU.
“I swear, if one more white person says that they want to touch my hair, I am gonna puck a f*ckin mousetrap in it so their f*ckin hand gets caught in it. anyways… GET WITH THE PROGRAM! Have any of you ever heard of sarcasm? Irony? Satires? Canterbury Tales? Shakespeare’s “As You Like it” and “Much Ado About Nothing?” If some of you would actually get your heads out of your asses for one second and read a f*cking book or get educated, you will see that this website is NOT trying to break down PEOPLE, but break down BARRIERS and erase STEREOTYPES…With much love for Sally and Johnny… A Black University of Michigan Student with nappy-ass hair”.
The resulting visual ruined the day for PG. BUMS should keep their pants on, and not burden the world with the sight of nappy hair on their posterior. The same thing goes for any asian, latino, caucasian, native american, or zorlack with this problem.

This is a repost from 2015. … Last Wednesday, a sensationalized video was released. Planned Parenthood was said to traffic is baby parts obtained through abortion.
On Thursday, Radiolab released a show, Gray’s Donation. Sarah Gray was pregnant with twins. The sonogram said that one baby would probably die, and that the sick baby was endangering the healthy baby. A decision was made to abort the sick baby. On the day of the procedure, something had changed. The abortion could not be safely performed. Both babies would be carried to term.
Thomas, the sick baby, lived for six days. Callum, the healthy baby, is doing fine. A decision was made to donate organs, from Thomas, to researchers. In the radiolab story, the mother goes to some of the labs, and learns what happened to the organs.
These quotes are from a story, Thomas Gray lived six days, but his life has lasting impact. “The next day, Gray met James Zieske, the institute’s senior scientist, who told her “infant eyes are worth their weight in gold,” because, being so young, they have great regenerative properties. Thomas’ corneas were used in a study that could one day help cure corneal blindness. … the Duke Center for Human Genetics in Durham, N.C., where even though the twins were identical, scientists found epigenetic differences in their cord blood, research that could one day help prevent Thomas’ fatal defect, anencephaly. … the researcher at the University of Pennsylvania who used the donation in her efforts to cure retinoblastoma, the most common form of eye cancer in children. … It is almost impossible to obtain normal retina from a child, The sample from Thomas is extremely precious for us.”
This is a unique case, as are almost all life or death situations. Things are seldom black or white, They are, pardon the pun, shades of gray. There are serious moral dilemmas involved in the use of some tissues for research. Nuance is not often communicated in 140 characters.
This does not stop the internet comment moralizers. “she a ghoul and a shyster dealer of death parts… praying on those mourning to accomplish ridiculous research” “Great story, but there is no way one of the priests should have claimed that it was OK to abort the sick baby in order to save the healthy one or the mother. The example used was completely wrong. … In Gray’s Donation there was absolutely an intention to kill the sick fetus. It would not have been an accident or unintended, and therefore there is no double effect, and is morally indefensible.”
In the Planned Parenthood video, much is made about pricing for the infant parts. Prices range from $30 to $100. In this study, we hear a researcher say “infant eyes are worth their weight in gold.” This might not be the best way to phrase this, since the tiny eyes probably don’t weigh that much. In a competitive free market, such an item would have a much, much higher price than $100.
One of the worst players in muddying the waters is the Catholic Church. A website called Life News has a misleading article, He Only Lived Six Days Outside the Womb, But Baby Thomas is Helping Cure Cancer. It ignores the fact that the mother opted for abortion, but was forced by medical circumstances to carry the twins to term. The post linked here has a header ad for Faith Focused Dating at “CatholicMatch.” Another ad promotes Affordable Biblical Healthcare.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.

Some people just like to argue. The topic of discussion is irrelevant…they just enjoy the thrill of verbal combat. There is little to be gained by engaging these people. You should never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level, and win by experience. If you wrestle with a hog, you get dirty, and the pig enjoys it. This is a repost
The idea that you should speak up, and call out, is popular these days. A popular quote, credited by some to Thomas Jefferson, says ” “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Unfortunately, many people take sides without understanding the conflict. When you are goaded into foolish action, by irresponsible rhetoric, you choose the side of the oppressor. Often, the one claiming to be the victim is, in fact, the oppressor.
There are a lot of logical fallacies today. Two wrongs making a right. False equivalence. Whining about media coverage. Opinions are like elbows… everyone has two. Don’t talk about religion or politics. Don’t talk with your mouth full. If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all. If everybody shouts, then nobody is heard.
Are you trying to create change, or are you like a dog that wants to bark? If you are going to influence a person, you have to earn that person’s trust. If this person hears you repeating things that are not true, then they are not going to trust you. Once lost, trust is very difficult to regain.
You should think about things like cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias, and mythos over logos. People are hit over the head with a lot of rhetoric and polemic these days. Sorting out the conflicting claims can be tough. You can get into narcotizing dysfunction. This is where you hear so much about something that you tune out new information. When you call out someone, are you pouring water into a barrel that is already overflowing?
This text between the pictures (“The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”) has focused on foolish talk. The word listen has not been used. We don’t need to talk more. We need to listen more. You have two ears, and one mouth, for a reason.

@RuPaul Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results~Einstein ‏@chamblee54 @RuPaul Everything I have seen on the internet is a lie, but maybe this one is the truth
It is a favorite of English speaking rhetoric mongers. The “definition of insanity” is usually blamed on Albert Einstein. There never seems to be a source, or context. Another possibility is the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous.
DOI is one of those sayings that sound good, until you think about it. Thinking is not a problem for the pontificating masses who trot the phrase out at every opportunity. The fact that Bill and Hillary Clinton quote DOI should tell you something. America is about to elect a Clinton President, and is expecting different results. (See update at end.)
Perhaps the best place to look is the comments. alberto-a-stone: The definition of ignorance is quoting the same thing over and over even though it is not factual. Dollarhide: the definition of insanity is quoting Einstein over and over and expecting to be thought to be clever each time Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
This is a repost from 2016. America did not elect a Clinton President, but got different results anyway. The apparent source of the DOI quote is a Tennessee newspaper article. “Al-Anon Helps Family, Friends to Orderly Lives The Knoxville News-Sentinel Betsy Pickle, October 11, 1981.”