Ventriloquism for Dummies
We had to have the garage door repaired. The &%&%&% repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a ‘large’ enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one &%&%&% made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, ‘Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.’ I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, ‘NO, it’s not.’ Four is larger than two..’.
My daughter and I went through the #$#$#$’s take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, ‘you gave me too much money.’ I said, ‘Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back.’ She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said “We’re sorry but they could not do that kind of thing.’ The clerk then proceeded to give me back$1 and 75 cents in change.
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it’s safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, ‘What on earth are blind people doing driving?
My daughter went to a local @#@#@#@ and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for ‘minimal lettuce.’ He said he was sorry, but they only had iceburg lettuce.
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, ‘Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?’ To which I replied, ‘If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?’ He smiled knowingly and nodded, ‘That’s why we ask.’
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn’t understand why her system would not turn on.
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker. She was leaving the company due to ‘downsizing.’ Our manager commented cheerfully, ‘This is fun. We should do this more often.’ Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealer ship to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. ‘Hey,’ I announced to the technician, ‘its open!’ His reply, ‘I know. I already got that side.’
I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road. The reason: ‘Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don’t think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.’ This repost, has pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Bernienomics
@BernieSanders “I got into politics not to figure out how to become President. I got into politics because I give a damn.” The old tweeter sent this message December 11, 2015, at 4:42 pm Sanders Standard Time. At last glance, it was retweeted 25,901 times, and liked 44,263 times.
What exactly is a damn? When you give one, do you gift wrap it? The dictionary says that damn is a verb, meaning “condemn to a punishment or fate; especially : to condemn to hell.” Giving a verb is not good grammar. Damn is considered a mild profanity, which adds polemic punch.
History gives us a second opinion. “In 1665, Aurangzeb, or Abul Muzaffar Muhi-ud-Din Mohammad Aurangzeb. (A real mouthful of a name!) was the emperor of the Mughal empire. He ruled from 1658 until his death in 1707. Aurangzeb had coins minted in precious metals as well as copper. The copper denominations were one Dam and one half Dam.”
At some point after the invention of the copper dam, Great Britain conquered the Mughal empire. By this time, the dam was not worth twice as much as a half dam, but not much otherwise. According to some unverified sources, British soldiers would say that something was not worth a dam. Or maybe, they said they would not give a dam. Somehow, the profaning n was added, and a saying for apathy entered the english language.
How much is a dam/damn worth? To people living downhill from the lake, a dam is valuable. As for the numismatic value of an ancient copper coin:“By looking at both catalog values for copper Dams minted in the Mughal calendar year of 1075 (Western date 1665) … we can provide the following very approximate values for copper half-Dams and Dams minted in the name of Aurangzeb: worn: $4, average circulated: $7, well preserved: $30.”
Getting back to BS, he probably used the conventional meaning of GAD, which is that he cares. Or maybe, he meant that he gives a dollar. If current economic trends hold up, the dollar might not be worth a dam. The welfare state proposals of BS, according to the admittedly biased Wall Street Journal, would cost $18 Trillion. This would effectively double the national debt. If we get mixed up in another war, or if a nuclear power plant blows up, another few trillion might go down the tubes.
Only the most deluded Bernoids expect college tuition to be free in 2018. BS is talking a good game, but most people know his pants are on fire. One person who is offended because BS won’t step up the lies is Ta-Nehisi Coates. If reparations are added onto free college tuition, then the value of the dollar might go below a half dam. Pictures for snowstorm Saturday are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The Narco State Rag
This feature was written July 13, 2010. The situation in Afghanistan is little better. If we leave, the country falls into chaos. If we stay, we spend money we don’t have. It is a bitch.
Some people euphemize bitch by saying that something is a bear. Across the frontier from Afghanistan, the Russian bear is dealing with a heroin epidemic. Some say the United States suckered the Soviet Union into invading Afghanistan in 1979. The disastrous war that followed led to the fall of the Soviet Union. We are still dealing with the karma.
Tom Dispatch has an audio feature about Afghanistan, and the many unanswered questions about our war there. We invaded Afghanistan to get revenge for 911, and looked for a reason later.
At the 3:06 mark on the tape, when Tom makes a comment Afghanistan being a narco state. PG had a flash of understanding about the reason behind this war. This may even have been powerful enough to ignore the reports about a terror strike in September 2001, and let 911 happen.
The rumors of CIA involvement in drug trafficking are wide spread and long term. When planes went to Central America in the eighties to bring arms to the contras, they came back to the United States loaded with cocaine. There are stories of collusion with the government in Cuba. There are many, many more stories about connections between the US government and the drug trade.
When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they cracked down on the poppy farmers. Much of the raw opium for heroin/morphine/opium is grown in Afghanistan. This was not a pleasing for the CIA.
Could it be that the real reason for our involvement in Afghanistan is to ensure the flow of narcotics into the hungry world? This would be a big cash cow for the CIA, although not enough to justify the amounts of money being spent on the conflict.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
One Diamond Two Believers Four Monkees
JoemyG-d has been running videos of number one hits lately. Today, the numero uno is from 1966. It is by the Monkees, called “I’m a Believer”.
PG always liked the Monkees. They were the twelve year old’s band when he was twelve years old. There was an article in the Saturday Evening Post about the “Pre Fab Four”, and a classmate of PG said that he was disillusioned. Certainly no one was confused about the made for tv nature of the band. The rumors…which turned out to be true…said that the Monkees did not play the instruments on their debut album. Still, a seventh grader is easily amused, and the show was fun to watch.
“I’m a Believer” was written by Neil Diamond, aka the Jewish Elvis. Mr. Diamond played guitar on the Monkees version of IAB. (Michael Nesmith does a convincing imitation in the video. It is not known if he was wearing the green hat.)
IAB is part of the rock tradition of misunderstood lyrics. PG thought that Mickey said he “needed sunshine on my brain”. PG did not learn the truth for many years. One afternoon, he heard a band on the radio do IAB, and the lyrics were understood. What the song really said was, “when I needed sunshine I got rain. “
This is a repost, with pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The video in the original post is no longer on youtube, but there was no shortage of replacements. The video used today is one PG remembers from the TV show.
The other video, with unfortunate sound, is from the second year of “The Monkees”. PG did not like Mickey Dolenz with frizzy hair, and quit watching the show. 13 is a year older than 12. The fall of 1967 found PG as an eighth grader, or “subbie”, at a grungy high school. This was the first year after Lynwood Park High School closed. A few people were not happy about integration.
The other video has the word believer in the title. (The middle of the word believer is LIE.) One afternoon, the disc jockey at WQXI said he was tired of playing that stupid song by the Monkees. Before long, the Monkees were replaced by the Partridge Family.
Football Without A Helmet
@chamblee54 @marcmaron heard the #davidbowie ad at start of podcast~dude is greatest marketer ever even beyond the grave ~ I don’t know about that football-without-a-helmet business. That hair could stop a few tacklers. ~ shelly from da block @OhItsShell_ @MTVNews it’s a shame bc its 2016 and y’all are still racist lol. Haven’t learned shit. ~ Even bloggers have to pay the bills! Monthly subscriptions- no matter how small- help give me the security to devote time to this place and keep a roof over my head. If you like what you read, please do help out: ~ If you start to feel too happy, know that the world is between 6000 and 4,543,345,678 year old, and you are living at the same time as Donald Trump. ~ Maybe the time to “call out” someone is when they are alive. ~ @red3blog Dangerous Fat Activist. Humorless feminist. Pedantic liberal. Artisanal blocker. Not all blocks are personal. ~ Pro Tip #2: If you share a story, add a picture of your own . This way, your picture will show, instead of the headline from the story. Often, the headline of the story does not accurately reflect the story. If you add a picture, all people will see is the web address. You can add a comment if you like. ~ The red in my neck spread up. ~ there is always something to clean up at my house ~ there is a mcmansion in progress across the street, and they are loading the old driveway in a dumpster it sounds like a bomb going off every few minutes ~ The post about david bowie had 661 words. The best place to add five words was at the end of the paragraph about the contradictions in his personality. A youtube video was found, of a live performance of “Cracked Actor.” Some text was written. The word count was now 667. To get it down to 666, singular they will be used. Subject/vowel agreement will have to wait for another day. Singular they is so tacky. ~ @cool_as_heck Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Nothing’s wrong, I just become more powerful when I feast on the cognition of others. ~ @WernerTwertzog It is important for academics to use social media, so they can compile the evidence for their own job termination. ~ Is David Bowie 20th Century? ~ An arab proverb loosely translated: He who tells the truth must keep one foot in the saddle. ~ Doc Ock @OckyJ83 Behold, the astounding racial bias of modern feminism– a tale of 2 predators (R. Kelly vs David Bowie) ~ Can I suggest unfollowing, as opposed to unfriend. If you do not follow someone, you will not be subjected to the well intentioned memes that pave their road to hell. When you unfriend someone, you slap them in the face, and they will always wonder why you did this too them. Maybe Joe Blow is a marginal person to you, but you might not be to him. Hurting people carelessly is not good karma. Just because it has been done to you, this is not a good reason to do it to someone else. ~ How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy. Marcus Aurelius ~ @TransGriot #oscarssowhite that pointed hoods will be included in the swag bags this year ~ The posers are happy to be seen, or obscene. Many of them need to leave their clothes on. ~ @WernerTwertzog It is important for poor children to be exposed to lead to maintain the fiction of cognitive meritocracy. ~ They are pouring the driveway for the McMansion across the street. The left rear wheel of the concrete truck sank into the driveway mud. ~ I want to be the eyes that function comfortably after being lubricated by tears of joy. ~ I was thinking how this would be with contemporary pronouns. “A friend of mine was wearing one when they was shot by their spouse” It can be confusing. ~ sunday morning is too good to waste in church ~ those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war ~ Do only people living in “swing states” have a chance of winning the lottery? They are the only ones with a vote in the electoral college system of choosing POTUS. ~ One person said that singular they might pave the way for singular ya’ll. ~ bowie stuff ~ mental health `~ language ~ first person ~ we african americans are an extremely privileged group of people ~ Bowie Won’t Face A Rape Indictment ~ So You Aren’t Racist. Good, but It’s Not Enough ~ Marcus Aurelius ~ White Privilege arguments that sound good to speaker ~ flyer talk ~ introvert ~ so called truth ~ pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ selah
Lurid Digs
There is a site called Lurid Digs. It can be very, very funny. It is also filthy. Fifty years ago. publishing pictures like this would get you sent to jail. If you want to find it, you can do so on your own.
PG was trolling the internet one night, and he landed at Lurid Digs. He saw a picture that might be fun to use, to illustrate a post about NASCAR.(spell check suggestions: MASCARA) However, at the bottom of the LD page was some troubling language about copyrights. PG decided to write LD and get permission, before he used any of their pictures.
The very next day, this message was in the inbox (spell check suggestions: inbreed ) :Hi Luther…Sure, you can use the credited pics. Also I’m available for ‘interview’ should you have any questions you like to ask…Cheers, David K Publisher Lurid Digs
An interview with the publisher of Lurid Digs! What a coup! PG opened up a wordpad and started to think of questions. He edited them to a numerically proper twenty. The questions were sent to Lurid Digs. The reply arrived a few days later.
Oy, too convoluted for me. But thanks anyway. (I was thinking of something much more simpler.) Cheers, David K luriddigs.com
PG was disappointed. As Scarlet might say, tomorrow is another day. The questions will make a fun post by themselves. This is a repost, with pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Lurid Digs is still published, in all it’s NSFW glory.
01- Are the models and decorators for Lurid Digs certified to be drug free? 02- What kind of strings do you use on your guitar? 03- Why do birds fly up in the sky, every time you walk by? 04- What can the argyle community do to fight racism? 05- If Jesus were to pose for you, would you put makeup over the holes in his hands? 06- Who asked Sarah Palin what she thought? 07- What impact does Lurid Digs have on global warming? 08- How much was the model’s bail? 09- Have residences been inspected by the fashion police? 10- Does Chenille ever go out of style? 11- Do the neighbors in the trailer park get suspicious when you do a photo shoot? 12- Why don’t we just go ahead and make murder legal? 13- Are humans as smart as dogs? 14- What do the youth of today want? 15- Why do people include the office disclaimer when sending out joke emails? 16- Is NASCAR rigged? 17- Who wrote the book of love? 18- If a model dies during a photo shoot, is he greeted in heaven by 72 virgins? 19- What do you put on pizza you order for photo shoots? 20- Do you ever play 20 questions?
The Great Speckled Bird
One day in the eighth grade, PG had a sore spot in his eye. They called it a stye. One afternoon, he got out of school, walked to Lenox Square, saw a doctor, and got some eye drops.
When he left the doctor’s office, there was a man, standing in front of Rich’s on the sidewalk, selling a newspaper. He had blond hair down past his shoulders. PG asked what the newspaper was. Mostly politics, he said. PG gave him fifteen cents for a copy of “The Great Speckled Bird”.
The Bird was an underground newspaper. It was so bad, it needed to be buried. If you are under fifty, you have probably never seen one. These papers flourished for a while. The Bird was published from 1968 to 1976. The April 26, 1968 edition was volume one, number four. This was what PG bought that day.
The Georgia State University Library has a digital collection. Included in it are copies of The Great Speckled Bird. Included in this collection is edition Number Four. PG went looking for that first copy. He needed to be patient, for the GSU server took it’s time. Finally, the copy he asked for came up. It was mostly politics.
When PG saw page four, he knew it was the edition from forty eight years ago. “Sergeant Pepper’s Vietnam Report” was the story of a young man sent to Nam. It had a paragraph that impressed young PG, and is reproduced here. The rest of the article is not that great, which is typical of most underground newspaper writing.
A couple of years later, PG spent the summer working at the Lenox Square Theater. The number two screen was a long skinny room. If you stood in the right place, you could hear the electric door openers of the Colonial Grocery store upstairs. The Bird salesmen were a feature at the mall that summer, which not everyone appreciated. This was the year of the second, and last, Atlanta Pop Festival. PG was not quite hip enough to make it. He was back in the city, taking tickets for “Fellini Satyricon”. The Bird was printing 26 pages an issue, with lots of ads, pictures, and the distinctive graphics of the era.
Stories about hippies, and the Bird, can be found at The Strip Project. This repost has pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The Last David Bowie Show
It has been a strange week for a David Bowie fan. On Friday, I was looking for a rerun to post, and was reminded that January 8 was his birthday. (Along with Elvis and Shirley Bassey) I put up a piece about Mr. Bowie, and fashioned a poem out of his song titles. Aquarian Drunkard reissued a collection of the “best and most interesting Bowie oddities”. A new album was released, with a lot of comments about how strange it was. Strange is something Bowie fans turn to face.
On Monday, I woke up. Go on the internet. MSN news says that David Bowie has died. This is surprising. I know what people are going to talk about for a few days.
I typically download the new wtf podcast on Monday. The show is “supported” by Columbia records, presenting David Bowie’s new album “Blackstar.” Marc Maron gushes on about how ” DAVID BOWIE I LOVE DAVID BOWIE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” The single is called “Lazarus.”
The timing of the whole thing is bizarre. Was this planned? To release a puzzling new work on your sixty ninth birthday, and then die two days later. With the master media manipulator involved, prior planning cannot be ruled out. Or was it just a parting shot of synchronicity? We will never know.
In what might be a new move for celebrity deaths, sex scandal rumors emerged. A lady named Lori Maddox claims that Mr. Bowie “devirginized” her. Miss Maddox was underage at the time. Some people think that this incident makes Mr. Bowie a terrible person, whose artistic output should be ignored. One made the inevitable comment “As someone who sees White stars get a pass for things that celebrities of color get crucified for.”
I learned a long time ago to separate the performer from the performance. I also apply this rule to David Robert Jones. (David Bowie was a stage name. The legal name was never changed.) In 1976, there was an interview, where the artist said “Don’t believe anything you hear me say.” While the creative/marketing genius can be enjoyed, there was always a bit of coldness behind the mask. Some press reports say that this softened as the years went by. In the end David Bowie was human. Ziggy Stardust was a character played by an actor. Does it matter that they were a Cracked Actor?
It is ironic that David Bowie played Andy Warhol in Basquiat. Both combined creation of art, and the marketing of art product, into a seamless unit. The two did not have a good first meeting. “Remember, David Bowie was not a big star. He was just some guy off the street as far as Andy Warhol was concerned. They found a common ground in David’s shoes. David was wearing yellow Mary Janes and Andy had been a shoe illustrator, which David knew so they began talking about shoes.”
This would have been in 1971. Mr. Bowie discusses his adventures in between songs of this show. There is another story from that first tour: “I think that must’ve been part of the Mercury Records publicity tour in early 1971, Gus. Ted Vigodsky, if I remember correctly, brought Bowie by The Great Speckled Bird’s offices on North Avenue where Moe Slotin and I met him. Bowie was dressed in an ill-fitting gingham dress and looked something like a gaunt, poverty-stricken woman in one of those Walker Evans photos from the Depression. He informed Moe and me that he was gonna be the next big star in rock-n-roll. It took all of our will power not to laugh in his face. This was before anyone in America had heard of him and he had no records out yet (“Space Oddity,” a hit in England in 1969, was not released in the USA until 1973). Six months later Moe and I realised we had completely underestimated him. I had forgotten Charlie had called you about interviewing him.” Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
A Question And A Joke
You can listen to hours of talk, and then hear everything you need to hear in one sentence. This happened to PG twice recently. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Dr. Glenn Loury is a frequent flyer at Bloggingheads.tv. He hosted a recent discussion with the eyeball grabbing headline Are school suspension policies racist? The guest, Robert Cherry, was going-on-and-on about black household percentages, when Dr. Loury asked “What’s the source of those data?” The guest never did answer the question.
In many internet incidents, statistics are accepted without question. Weasel words like average and prove are not challenged. Simple questions, like “who paid for the study” are not asked. Is this an authority issue? Do rhetoric spouting bullies use statistics as weapons, never to be challenged?
The war on drugs is another playground for authoritarianism. A recent episode of radiolab, The Fix, explores developments in chemical solutions to the remorseless desire to get fucked up. Some say we are headed to a “prozac moment,” to a sea change in the way we view addiction. Others hold onto the AA method, and say that it is the only thing that works for some. Since everyone approaches substances in their own unique way, there probably will never be a one-size-fits-all answer.
The radiolab show links to a panel discussion with “top addiction researchers.” Despite the charming European accents, the show is suicidally boring. At the 13:24 mark, Eric Nestler says “Dr. Volkoff gives me a lot of grant money I cannot disagree with her.” It was intended as a joke.
Google It
It was a good try. The grammar mistakes could give an english teacher nightmares. The all caps, hashtag heavy, rhetoric rampage was obnoxious even by Bernie Sanders standards. When you follow the gentle suggestion to “GOOGLE IT” you see some things that make BS look like a loudmouth fool.
For those people who are yet asking how #BernieSanders will pay for all the things he is campaigning for… LISTEN GOOD!!! You maybe heard the things #BernieSanders wants to do. But you didn’t pay attention.. 1) I don’t going to do it easy for you.. if you are really interested in how he going to pay for. .. GOOGLE IT!!! I’M. F*#&@ING TIRED OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU TRYING TO DEMORALIZED PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY ARE DOING SOMETHING TO CHANGE THE WORLD. SO MOVE YOUR FINGERS AND LOOK FOR YOURSELF. 2) OPEN YOUR MIND TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HIS MESSAGE, HE CAN’T DO IT BY HIMSELF. 3) OPEN YOUR HEART IF YOU STILL HAVE ONE.. if you are doing this just to waste our time or our energy…JUST BACK OFF… #BERNIESANDERS #FEELTHEBERN #MYCITYCONNECTED #SEETHEBERN #BreakEmUp #TheRealDeal #LetsGetToWork http://www.berniesanders.com
The lady said to “GOOGLE IT.” PG highlighted how #BernieSanders will pay for all the things he is campaigning for, right click, “Search Google for”…
If you look at the turmoil BHO went through to get badly needed health care reform through congress, you might be wondering how BS is going to get free college tuition approved. The answer is that he will not. BS is making a lot of promises that nobody could come close to fulfilling. Lets put that aside, and consider how these promises will be paid for.
The Huffington Post is the top result, and is fairly sympathetic. Bernie Sanders Explains How Taxing The Rich Will Pay For His Policies “But he admits it could take more than higher contributions from the top 1 percent alone.”
The Free Thought Project notes the cost of the proposals. BS does not plan to cut back on military spending, but will go full spending speed ahead. Drone warfare would continue, although BS says he would be more careful. The unquestioning support of Israel would continue, with Palestinians blamed for the slaughter in Gaza. At no time does anyone say #GazaLivesMatter.
The Wall Street Journal does not #feeltheBern. Price Tag of Bernie Sanders’s Proposals: $18 Trillion claims that the BS proposals could double the national debt. The WSJ article does not say how the proposals would be paid for.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
December Gun Violence
The fun loving Parents Against Gun Violence likes to post a graphic image every month. It is a list of sketchy incidents involving firearms. In addition to the graphic, PAGV posts a list of links. This enables the reader to learn more about the incidents. This custom is rare on facebook. More meme mongers should provide backup for their graphic rhetoric. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The graphic has a brief description of the incident. The text is usually, though not always, accurate. This textbite is written in first person. In the case of Josmel Herrera, this adds a touch of irony. Mr. Herrera was cleaning a gun on a skype chat, and shot himself. The injury was fatal. Maybe he wrote the text on the way to the hospital.
In most of the twenty one cases, the ethnic identity of the actor is not indicated in the report. Several of the shooters had Hispanic names. In six cases, the race of the perp was obvious. Out of these six, three were white, and three were black. Another irresponsible gun user was named Si Phu.
In one Missouri incident, a man was hearing music that nobody else heard. “On Saturday afternoon he heard annoying bass noise again, coming from an adjoining apartment in the 12500 block of Ardwick Lane. Police say he put on a bullet-resistant vest, took a handgun and confronted the neighbor, ordering Yi-Ping “Peter” Chang to “turn the bass down.” … He shot and killed Chang during the confrontation about 3:30 p.m., then waited outside for police to arrive, saying the shooting was in self-defense, according to police.”… neighbors said James C. Blanton complained about non existing noise often, and that he is mentally ill. “
Mental illness is possibly involved in an Arizona story. “Police responded to the apartment at 1515 W. Missouri Avenue after receiving reports of a dead African-American woman covered in a towel laying on the sofa. When officers arrived to the apartment, Anitra Braxton told police that no one was inside her apartment and that she lived alone. … However, noticed what appeared to be a body laying on the sofa. Braxton was then arrested and taken to police headquarters. Once police obtained a search warrant for the apartment, they found the body of Crystal Hillman wrapped in a towel and laying on the couch. She had sustained a gunshot wound to the head. … While being questioned, Braxton told police Hillman’s body was a “shrine from God” and was actually her own body. She later told police that the victim had been shot in the eye for not believing in God.”
A Detroit family had a Christmas to forget. “The alleged shooter, Sharonda Benson, left the family outing after a dispute over an ex-boyfriend and came back to the home firing 5-10 shots into the home striking the two girls, aged 7 and 8 were playing on the ground floor of the home with newly received Christmas gifts. … the 7-year-old has died, the 8-year-old is hospitalized in critical condition.”
Several of the shootouts were in Florida. “Officials say “Case Closed” after a woman accidentally shot her fiancé in the wrist … their two Pit Bulls, “Ruby” and “Blueberry” were fighting in master bedroom. Charles Jones says, while he was holding the two dogs apart, he asked Cindy Kittelson to grab their .38 revolver and shoot “Ruby” in the head. Kettelson retrieved the revolver, pointed it at “Ruby’s” head and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, the bullet passed through the dog’s ear and struck Jones in the wrist. … At the conclusion of their investigation, deputies confirmed that the incident was completely accidental and no charges were filed against Cindy Kettelson. Animal Control was called to investigate the animal’s well-being.”
Georgia Statehood Day
@EdDarrell “Hey, Georgia! Fly your flags on January 2, 2016 , to honor Georgia Statehood Day!” PG has lived in Georgia all his life, and never knew that this was statehood day. Today in Georgia History has this to say: “Georgia elected six delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. Only four went. And only two—Abraham Baldwin and William Few—signed the final document. … Georgia called a special convention in Augusta to consider the proposed charter. The delegates voted unanimously to ratify the new U.S. Constitution, on January 2, 1788.”
The Constitutional Convention was called to revise the Articles of Confederation. They wound up scrapping the old document, and creating the Constitution from scratch. The “Founding Fathers” created the system of Government that we use today, along with a way to amend the Constitution. (PG has served on bylaw revision committees. The one thing you must have is a way to amend the bylaws.) The new document would not take effect until nine of the thirteen colonies ratified it.
Delaware was the first state to approve the Constitution, on December 7, 1787. It’s neighbors Pennsylvania (December 12) and New Jersey (December 18) soon followed. Georgia was the fourth state, and the first southern state.
Slavery was still legal in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in 1787. One famous citizen of Pennsylvania, Ben Franklin, owned two slaves, named King and George. Franklin’s newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, routinely ran ads for sale or purchase of slaves.
The concept of flying the state flag has an ironic twist in Georgia. The design of the flag has changed twice in the last fifteen years. In 1956, the legislature voted to incorporate the St. Andrews cross, aka the Confederate flag, into the Georgia state flag. (If you want to debate their motive for doing so, please go somewhere else.) After much controversy, the flag was changed in 2001, and again in 2003. It probably will not be changed again.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
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