60 Words
Radiolab recently presented a show, 60 Words. It is based on a Buzzfeed article, 60 Words And A War Without End: The Untold Story Of The Most Dangerous Sentence In U.S. History. It is about the Authorization for the Use of Military Force. This resolution was passed by Congress after Nine Eleven. It has been twisted into a never ending war, against enemies on a secret list.
A part of the audio report stands out. In the aftermath of nine eleven, there was a sense among Democrats that the President needed to be supported. This was a few months after the controversial 2000 election. Even then, the opposition party saw the country as being under attack. They saw a need for a unified response.
Compare this to the ongoing health care quagmire. There was not a spectacular one day event to call attention to the problem. Instead, the health care disaster has been ongoing for years. Like military action, it is bleeding the nation’s resources dry.
The Republicans have made trouble for the Democrats at every step of the way on health care reform. There has been almost no cooperation. Instead of trying to work together to solve the problem, the opposition has engaged in name calling. The candidates for this year’s elections are denouncing health care reform in the strongest terms, without any alternative plan.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The Poetry He Invented
In the past year, PG has learned that two poems he enjoyed were “borrowed.” One was in Mad Magazine. It was a poem about baseball. “Tigers Tigers, burning bright, in the ballparks, of the night, your pitching’s fair, your fields adroit, so why no pennant for Detroit.” Not only was this a memorable rhyme, but it has the word adroit. While this is a wonderful addition to a vocabulary, in forty eight years PG has never used it. Maybe the only thing it is good for is rhyming with Detroit.
PG is not terribly well educated when it comes to poetry. A lot of things slip by him. He did develop an admiration for Allen Ginsberg, which led to William Blake. One night, with the World Series in the background, PG found a poem by Mr. Blake, The Tyger.
“Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” Could it be that Mad was more fun to read? A more adroit turn of phrase? Or less prophetic… The Tigers won the World Series before the sixties were over.
In a few years, PG moved byond Mad Magazine. He read about these albums being sold by Warner Brothers. They were collections of songs from different artists, designed to make you want to buy more. “The Big Ball” cost two dollars by mail order. Side four was devoted to weird stuff. Captain Beefheart, The Mothers of Invention, The GTO’s, and Pearls Before Swine. The last band had a song, “Footnote,” which is embedded with this post.
“Footnote” is a quiet song, with easy to remember words. PG listened many, many times, and thought he had it figured out. It was about an arms dealer. Of course, most think the Pearls Before Swine is something in the Bible. Another version is when Clare Boothe Luce went into a room ahead of Dorothy Parker. “Age before beauty” “Pearls before swine”.
So anyway, there was an article about something, somewhere. It was quoting Wyston Hugh Auden, known mercifully by his initials W.H. This is another famous person that PG knew little about, other than his friendship with Christopher Isherwood. The quote was familiar. Then it hit… this was that song by Pearls Before Swine. It seems like the performer borrowed the lyrics from a copyrighted poem, Epitaph on a Tyrant.
Pictures for this entertainment are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The second embedded video is from side four of “The Big Ball.” PG does not know if a famous poet was copied, or if this piece is original.
Adding Text With GIMP
This tutorial is about using gimp to put borders around text. If you are making graphic images, this step allows you to use almost any image as a background. This tutorial is based on the embedded video. There are a few things different in the version in this post. The video has some jivvy music, which some of you will enjoy. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
This process does not always make sense. It is not always logical. Just follow the instructions. If you make a mistake, and something does not work, just close out the window and start over. Keep these instructions handy the first few times you do this. After a while it will be easy.
This tutorial uses GIMP. If you use photoshop, you probably already know how to do this, or how to find someone to show you. If you need to download GIMP, use the link. PG learned how to do this on GIMP 2.6. The latest version is GIMP 2.8. There are a few differences between the two versions. This tutorial will provide instructions for both versions.
01 Open the picture you intend to use as a background. Make sure it is the correct size. On some versions of GIMP, you need to open the Toolbox, and the Tool Options. This is in the Windows menu. You also need to open the Layers dialog window (ctrl+L).
02 Compose the text in a word document. Copy the text.
03 Select Text (t). Draw a rectangle on the picture. Try to start the rectangle as close to the left edge as possible, and go all the way to the right edge. Make sure it is tall enough for the letters. Paste the text into the rectangle. Before pasting in the text, hit the space bar one time. When you make this image larger, it will need room to grow.
04 Choose a font. Choose foreground and background colors. See how big you can make the text before it starts another line. If you have a specific font size, enter that size in the tool options.
05 Before performing the next few steps, click on the status bar of the background picture. You want this to be the selected window. Click on this window before every step. This is important. If you choose a command, and apply it to the wrong window, it will mess things up.
06 Select text from path. In GIMP 2.6, there is a tab on the tool options window, “Path from Text.”. In GIMP 2.8, you choose “Text to Path” from the Layer menu. (alt+L, p).
07 Select “From Path” from Select menu. For GIMP 2.6 use (shift + v). For GIMP 2.8 use (alt + s, o). The two versions use most of the same shortcuts from now on. The text is now coated in flashing dash marks. This has something to do with being selected.
08 Select “Duplicate Layer” from Layer menu. (ctrl + shift + d)
09 Select “Grow” from Select menu. (alt + s, g) The “Grow Selection” window will appear. Type 3 in the highlighted field. If you want to have a bigger border, put a larger number in. Click OK.
10 Select “Fill with BG Color” from Edit menu. (ctrl + .) The Text Editor window should go away now. If the Text Editor window does not go away, something is wrong.
11 Select “None” from Select menu. (ctrl + shift + A) As we mentioned earlier, some of these steps don’t make sense. This is one of those steps.
12 Click anywhere on text. The “Confirm Text Editing” window will appear. Select “Create New Layer”. (alt + n) A layer will be created. It will be a duplicate of the original text. In GIMP 2.6, you will need to manually center the new layer of text. To do this, you will want to enlarge the text 400%. (alt + v, z, click on 400%) (On PG’s machine, the keyboard shortcut 3 will give you a 400% enlargement.) To center this layer of text, select “Move.” (m). Under Tool Toggle, you need to select “Move the active layer.” Choose the drawing option on the left, next to the word “Move.” This is the “Layer” option, as opposed to “Selection” or “Path.” If the Move tool does not work, make sure the right option is selected. This can be confusing.
12a In GIMP 2.8, the new layer of text is automatically centered on the enlarged layer of text.
13 Once the new layer of text is centered, you need to “Merge Down” the layer. Select “Merge Down” from the Layer menu. (d) You will need to do this twice. Where you once had four layers, you will now have two. With GIMP 2.8, you need to select the toolbox. before you hit d twice. (cntrl + b)
14 Move the finished text into place. If it goes at the bottom of the picture, move it to the bottom right hand corner. Place it a few pixels off the bottom. (Most of PG’s images are 720×447 pixels. The bottom of the text is resting on 431 pixels.) Enlarge the view to 400%. Position the right edge of the text flush against the right edge of the picture. Scroll to the left side of the text. Place the cursor over the left edge of the text, and see what the pixel counter says. The first number will be width, the second number is height. Note the position of the left edge of the text. See the location in pixels. Divide the first number in half. Move the edge of the text to this number. Scroll to the right side of the text, and confirm that the distance to the edge of the picture is the same on both sides.
15 Go back to 100% (1). Are you happy with the way this text works with this picture? If you are happy with this look, anchor the text by clicking d. For GIMP 2.6, “Save” the picture. (ctrl + shift + s, type new name) For GIMP 2.8, you will want to “Export” the picture. (cntrl + shift + e, type new name) Note the folder you are saving/exporting the picture to.
15a If you are not happy with the results, you can try another picture. Go to the Layers dialog box. Select Background. Click on the garbage can in the bottom right of the window. Find another picture. Drag the file into the picture. Go to the Layers dialog window. Highlight the layer with the text. Click on the arrow pointing up. If you are happy with this look, “Merge Down” the text (d) and “Save”/”Export” the picture. (ctrl + shift + s, type new name) (ctrl + shift + e, type new name.)
Responsible For Jesus
It was a sunday evening, and there was nothing good to say. Rather than not saying anything at all, PG decided to go into his archives. This post is from May of 2007. It is about responsible behavior, and a religion that does not encourage it. This repost might be hypocritical, but no one forced you to read it. Part two is another rerun. It is written in first person. The pictures, from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”, need text between them.
It all started when a girl went to a back room with a former boyfriend. Her current bf stormed out of the party, and flipped his car when it went off the road. Being a star quarterback did not prevent the fatal consequences. The local radio whiner had a few things to say. Since alcohol was a suspected factor, the question became, “how do we teach teenagers to drink responsibly?”
PG is a retired drunk, and has a few dozen opinions on this issue. His wandering mind settled on a related subject…Jesus. G-d’s love baby is similar to alcohol. Both are legal, both have potential for good and ill, and neither works for PG. The thought occurred “How do we teach Teenagers to Worship Jesus Responsibly?” Now, this may be the first time those two concepts have been paired like that…Jesus and Responsibility…but it should not be the last.
A central concept in the world of Jesus Worship is the avoidance of responsibility…”Jesus paid the price for my sins on the cross”. While you may feel better to think you are forgiven, that does not help the person who was hurt by your actions. If star the quarterback had run into someone, G-d might forgive him, but this does not help with the medical bills.
Today’s seminar is about the Worshiping Responsibly. It is about having respect for your neighbors who do not agree with you, and do not want to hear about your “salvation”. It is about not creating ill will for Jesus with obnoxious behavior in his name. It is about not dragging Jesus into your personal quarrels, using his name in anger to hurt your neighbor. It is about Responsibility. Your actions have consequences, and just because you are doing it for Jesus does not eliminate that reality.
There are two big reasons why PG is not a Jesus Worshiper. The first one is, he simply doesn’t agree with the teachings. The Bible is not the word of G-d, Jesus was killed because he was a troublemaker. The death, and reputed resurrection, of Jesus has nothing to do with what happens to people when they die. If you don’t agree with the dogma regarding life after death, the Jesus worship church has little to offer you. Christianity is more a scheme for life after death than a religion.
The Second reason is the sorry behavior of Jesus Worshipers. This prevents PG from having a cosmetic, social oriented membership in a church. He does not want to pretend to worship a spirit which causes him misery.
Responsibility is not valued in the Jesus Worship community. Respect for non believers is seen as a sign of weakness. And, while not all Jesus Worshipers are fanatics, many admire and support the loudmouths who give their faith a bad name.
When it comes to belief, moderation is not valued. Fanaticism is admired. There is little responsibility taken. It is just the Jesus talking.
Christopher Isherwood once said, in a magazine interview, that the doctrine of a religion is not as important as the person who tells you that doctrine. (If anyone can find this quote on the internet, please leave a comment with a link.) It is a common belief that religions are about beliefs, but many find that it is the person who draws you into the community. A corollary of this is when you have a bad experience with a person who represents a religion. This person can drive you far away from wanting to have any participation in a religion. The idea that G-d would send a person to hell because he knew an offensive Jesus worshiper is tough to believe.
So much for world affairs. It is time to tell a story, with no moral and no redeeming social value.
In 1980, I was staying at a place called the Sea Haven Hostel, affectionately known as Sleaze Haven. This was in Seattle WA, as far as you can get from Atlanta, and still be in the lower 48. I was working through Manpower, and staying in a semi private room for $68 a month.
There was a Christian group that met in the basement on Sunday Night. Now, as some of you may know, I am a recovering baptist, who hasn’t been to church since 1971. However, the lure of a free meal was hard to resist, so I went to a few meetings.
One night, after doing quality control work on the local beer supply, I cheerfully joined in the discussion. This was the night when I realized that the Bible is not the Word of G-d, a concept that has been very handy in dealing with the clumsy efforts of our Jesus-mad culture to convert me.
They seemed to like me, though, and welcomed me back. Maybe it was the southern accent.
One Sunday, after the dinner was finished , it was time to have a prayer to begin the meeting. I raised my hand. Now, Jesus Worshipers enjoy prayer as entertainment. When they bow their heads, you see them stretching and deep breathing, in anticipation of a good, lengthy, message to G-d.
My message was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of a long winded lecture about Jesus and the magic book, I said what was on my mind. Lord, thank you for letting us be here today.
Jack City Is Number Three
Every year, at roughly the same time as the National Day of Prayer, an internet facility known as Neighborhood Scout publishes a list of bad hoods. This year is no different. NeighborhoodScout’s ® Top 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in America is now available for your enjoyment.
1 East St. Louis, IL (City Center)
2 Jackson, TN (James Buchanan Dr / 1st St)
3 Atlanta, GA (Mcdaniel St SW / Mary St SW)
4 Saginaw, MI (E Holland Ave / E Genesee Ave)
5 Rockford, IL (7th St / E Jefferson St)
6 Memphis, TN (Chelsea Ave / N Claybrook St)
7 Rochester, NY (Orange St / W Broad St)
8 Detroit, MI (Wyoming St / Orangelawn St)
9 Detroit, MI (Broadstreet Ave / Cortland St)
10 Camden, NJ (Whitman Park)
11 Detroit, Mi (W Jeffries Fwy / Seebaldt St)
12 New Orleans, LA (Conti St / Marais St)
13 East St. Louis, IL (Caseyville Ave / N Park Dr)
14 Oklahoma City, OK (NE 36th St / N Martin Luther King Ave)
15 Baltimore, MD (E Oliver St / N Broadway)
16 Cincinnati, OH (Central Pky / Central Ave)
17 Omaha, NE (N 24th St / Ames Ave)
18 Rockford, IL (N Rockton Ave / W State St)
19 West Memphis, AR (E Jackson Ave / Autumn Ave)
20 Chicago, IL (S Indiana Ave / E 60th St)
21 Saginaw, MI (Lapeer Ave / E Genesee Ave)
22 Washington, DC (Atlantic St SE / 4th St SE)
23 St. Louis, MO (Clara Ave / Saint Louis Ave)
24 Chicago, IL (S Pulaski Rd / W Lexington St)
25 Baton Rouge, LA (N Lobdell Ave / Harry Dr)
The protection money paid by New York, Florida, and Texas kept them off the list. If you want to see who is what, the list is there. The site has more information, especially if you subscribe to Neighborhood Scout. Put fresh batteries in your BS detector.
The only Atlanta winner is McDaniel Street & Mary Street. It comes in at number three. This is the site of a popular video. In the film, a young man is beaten by three other young men. The person filming the scene shouts “no faggots in jack city.”
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
A Rainbow Prayer
The National Day of Prayer was last week. This is a repost.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Good Morning G-d. Please give me the slack I need to make it through this busy life. I have a birthday today, and am getting older. Please give me less pain, both above and below the neck. Thank you for letting me get this far. Thank you for the gift of sobriety, and the memory of inebrience. The gift of moderation would have been appreciated. Help me to overcome body chemistry telling me to be unhappy. If this doesn’t work, help me hide it better.
Please tell the Jesus Worshipers to shut up. They make too much noise. Help me to forgive them. Give Jesus Worshipers a bit more humility. Help Jesus Worshipers to get over their confusion, and quit hating gay people. Let people know that G-d does not write books. Let men know that A REAL MAN KEEPS CONTROL OF HIS TEMPER. Please tell the proud people praying today that it is better to listen than to talk, and that louder does not mean more true.
Please find a happy medium for Atlanta water. Let us have neither drought nor flood. It would help if the developers would move to North Carolina, and the politicians would grow a conscience.
G-d, please try to get along better with Allah. This is important. Maybe if you and her got along better, then all those religious crazies would hate each other less. Help white people and black people get along better. Please be good to the people who have already lived, and are now deceased. Please understand that I am not in a hurry to join them.
Help Mr. Obama with the mess this country is in. Help Israel get along with her neighbors, and live within her borders. Help the world solve the carbon dioxide problem.
Thank you for the birds that sing. Thank you for dogs, and dog owners who clean up. Thank you for earth, air, fire, and water. Thank you for the people who enjoy this prayer. Help those who are offended to get over it. Namaste, amen, all my relations, Good Bye.
04-30-92
Doug Richards is an Atlanta tv news reporter. He writes a blog, live apartment fire. He was on the scene twenty years ago today. There was a riot downtown. Mr. Richards had a bad night.
PG was working in the Healey building that day. He ran an RMS, or reprographic management service, in an architects office. He had a blueline machine, ran jobs for the customer, and had free time. PG did a lot of exploring, and enjoyed the various events downtown. On April 30, 1992, there was an event he did not enjoy.
The day before, a jury in California issued a verdict. Four policemen were acquitted of wrongdoing in an incident involving Rodney King. The incident had been videotaped, and received widespread attention. The verdict of the jury was not popular. The dissatisfaction spread to Atlanta.
Sometimes, PG thinks he has a guardian angel looking over him. If so, then this thursday afternoon was one of those times. PG went walking out into the gathering storm. He was a block south of the train station at five points, when he saw someone throw a rock into a store front. The sheet metal drapes were rolled down on the outside of the store. PG realized that he was not in a good place, and quickly made his way back to the Healey building.
A group of policeman were lined up in the lobby of the building, wearing flack jackets. One of the police was a white man, who was familiar to workers in the neighborhood. A few weeks before the incident, he had been walking around the neighborhood showing off his newborn baby.
There was very little work done that afternoon in the architect’s office. Someone said not to stand close to the windows, which seemed like a good idea. Fourteen floors below, on Broad Street, the window at Rosa’s Pizza had a brick thrown threw it. There were helicopters hovering over downtown, making an ominous noise.
There was a lot of soul searching about race relations that day. The Olympics were coming to town in four years, and the potential for international disaster was apparent. As it turned out, the disturbance was limited to a few hundred people. It could have been much, much worse. If one percent of the anger in Atlanta had been unleashed that day, instead of .001 percent, the Olympics would have been looking for a new host.
After a while, the people in the office were called into the lobby. The Principal of the firm, the partner in charge of production, walked out to his vehicle with PG and a lady in operations. The principal drove an inconspicuous vehicle, which made PG feel a bit better. PG took his pocketknife, opened the blade, and put it in his back pocket. It probably would not have done him much good.
PG usually took the train downtown. As fate would have it, there was a big project at the main office of redo blue on West Peachtree Street. That is where PG’s vehicle was, in anticipation of working overtime that night. The principal drove PG to this building. PG called his mother, to let her know that he was ok. The Atlanta manager of Redo Blue talked to him, to make sure that he was not hurt.
If PG had not gone back downtown the next day, he might not have ever gone back. He was back at the West Peachtree Street office, and was assured that it was safe to ride the train into town. The Macy’s at 180 Peachtree had plywood nailed over the display windows. A gift shop in the Healey building had a sign in the window, “Black owned business”. Friday May 1, 1992, was a quiet day.
This is a repost. The events of twenty two years ago are mostly forgotten today. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”
Atlanta Rising
Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City 1946-1996 is on the shelf at the Chamblee library. This book is a history of Atlanta in the modern era, written by former fishwrapper scribe Frederick Allen. This is a repost.
The story begins in 1948. AR is weighted more to the older part of the story. The main text is 248 pages. On page 124, Ivan Allen has just built a controversial roadblock on Peyton Road, which would be in 1962. The further along in the story, the fewer details are included. The first big story is when Georgia had two governors. This is one of the best descriptions of the two Governors controversy around, and does not mention Ben Fortson’s wheelchair cushion.
The mayor at the start of the story is William B. Hartsfield. “Willie B” was a leader in creating the Atlanta Airport, and in building it into the powerhouse it is today. He was mayor until 1961, when Ivan Allen Jr. moved into the office.
AR has many moments of unintentional irony. When you read a book 18 years after it was written, and fifty years after the events in the book, you see things that could not have been imagined before. In 1960, many of the political-business elite thought it was time for Mr. Hartsfield to retire. Among his shortcomings was an indifference to sports. Mr. Hartsfield thought that a new stadium would be too great a drain on the city’s taxpayers. Fifty four years, and three stadiums, later, the power elite is going to build another stadium. Atlanta Stadium cost eighteen million dollars. The Blank bowl will cost over a billion. (In the past year, a plan to move the Braves to Smyrna was announced.)
One of the big stories here is civil rights. Atlanta came out of that struggle looking pretty good. It was a combination of image conscious businessmen, enlightened black leadership, and a huge helping of dumb luck. In 1961, the city was under federal pressure to integrate the schools. The state was firm in opposition, and the city wasn’t crazy about the idea anyway. Then, another federal court ordered the integration of the University of Georgia. Since the people would not stand for messing with their beloved University, the state laws forbidding integration were quietly repealed. The city schools were integrated with a minimum of fuss. (The book tells this story much better than a slack blogger.)
The controversy about the 1956 model state flag was going full steam when AR was written. The book has some legislative records, which for some reason never made it into the fishwrapper. There is no clear cut answer as to why the legislature changed the state flag. It was mentioned that at the national political conventions, you could not have a written sign, but you could wave a state flag. This controversy provided a diversion from gold dome crookedness, and hopefully has been laid to rest.
A man named Lester Maddox sold fried chicken, and ran for public office. AR describes Lester as looking a bit like an angry chicken. Through a series of constitutional convulsions, Lester was elected Governor in 1966. The state survived his tenure. In the seventies, when Jimmy Carter was running for President, Lester said a lot of rude things about Jimmy, helping the smiling peanut farmer get elected. In another turn of fate, Lester Maddox died June 25, 2003. This was two days after the eternal departure of Maynard Jackson, the first black Mayor of Atlanta.
The book ends with the 1996 Olympics looming over the city. Billy Payne led a smart campaign to secure the games for Atlanta. One of his moves was to keep Jimmy Carter and Ted Turner out of the action. After the 1980 boycott, and the Goodwill Games, neither person was popular with the I.O.C. The book was published before 1996. The Olympics were a blast.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Unusual Personality Test
Internet tests are not as inevitable as death and taxes. They don’t have as many deductions, yet. Jesus did not take a buzzfeed quiz for you. The latest to wash up on this shore is “Unusual Personality Test That Will Reveal Much about Your Perception of Life.” Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
This one is self graded. You write a reaction to eight statements. One through four is how you feel about something. Five through eight are what you would do.
SPOILER ALERT If you want to take this quiz, do not read the rest of this post. Go ahead, take the test, and come back to compare notes.
This report will have one persons report card. The prompt question will be green. The answer will be blue. The INTERPRETATION will be in purple. If you look in the internet comments, you will see that others had the same answer to number three.
1. You are peering into the sea, what do you feel? 1. I want to go in and swim in the foaming waters. 1. Your attitude to life, emotions, sensations.
2. You are walking through the woods and look at the ground. 2. I feel the air going through my lungs, my heart beating, and energy wafting out from the trees. 2. The way you feel in your own family.
3. What do you feel when looking at flying seagulls? 3. I hope they crap somewhere other than on me. 3. Your attitude towards women.
4. What about a herd of horses? 4. I have never seen a heard of horses. 4. Your attitude to men.
5. You are in the desert, standing by the wall with a small hole, behind which you see the oasis. What are your actions? 5. I would make sure i have my credit card handy. 5. Your basic life strategy and goal. The way you solve your problems.
6. You are still in the desert, completely exhausted, and suddenly see a water jug. 6. I would be leery of that mysterious jug. I like to think that i take care of myself. That will not happen, as is the case with number five. 6. How selective you are in sexual life. Choice of a partner.
7. You are lost in the woods in the evening and see a house with lights on. 7. Stay away from the house. If it is winter, and the leaves are off, the house could be a long way away. I will turn the flashlight back on. 7. Your readiness for marriage.
8. You’re in the fog. 8. I like fog. The out of doors reminds me of the inside of my head. I would make sure I am warm, and glory in the fogginess. 8. Your attitude to death.
Medical Waste
There is a story going around, Aborted babies are being incinerated to provide electricity in the United States. Supposedly, medical waste is produced in British Columbia, shipped into Oregon, and used for fuel to generate electricity.
“‘Medical waste,’ in this brave new world of ours, includes amputated limbs, cancerous tissue, and the bodies of murdered children. I don’t have any long tirade for you. I just need you to understand what’s happening here in your one nation under God. We are incinerating slaughtered babies so that we can charge our iPhones and power our televisions.”
The local BS detector runs on batteries, Ding, ding, ding. To start, this product was shipped across an international border. Does US customs allow medical waste to come in?
The picture, on top of the blog post, shows a red plastic bag labelled biohazard. If you look in the dumpster behind the hospital, you will see a lot of plastic bags. When you burn plastic, toxic fumes are released into the atmosphere. If you are using recycled matter as fuel, it cannot be contained in plastic. Is there someone at the power plant that unties the bags, and dumps the fuel into the fire?
Power plants use a large volume of fuel. Making electricity requires a lot of heat, to boil the water, to push the turbines. The medical waste from the participating hospitals in British Columbia probably would not generate a whole lot of power. Since this matter is wet, it probably does not burn well.
You shouldn’t believe everything you hear. Of course, when you are a religious enthusiast, you enjoy believing things that others find preposterous. When you denounce abortion, no rhetoric is too extreme. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Execution Friday
This is a double repost, from april of 2009. It deals with the dominant religion of our culture, Jesus Worship. This is a religion of beliefs, not practices. There is a love of argument, and attempts at conversion. Jesus Worshipers believe that their ideas about life after death justify this abuse. Sometimes, the death part starts a bit sooner than necessary. Pictures today are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”
The other day Father Tony posted a video at Bilerico (ba LAIR i co) about how to argue. He acknowledged that he is a venomous person. FT used to be employed by the Catholic church. That is how he got his handle. PG thought on this for a while, and saw a connection. A little more thinking, and PG pondered that crowd pleaser, the religious argument.
Jesus Worship is a religion of beliefs, rather than practices. One of their key beliefs is the notion that you should convert those who disagree with you. If these people don’t agree with you about certain things, they go to hell. This lust to “evangelize” leads to a lot of arguments.
One of the rules for living/arguing that Father Tony expresses is that, yes, you are going to argue. This is especially true for romantic partnerships, but includes all sorts of human relating. How does this relate to religion? If you believe in a religion, does this mean you are compelled to argue with those who you disagree with?
Religious belief can be a source of strength and comfort to those lucky enough to be in the loop. For many of the rest of us, Religion (especially the Jesus Worship variety) is a source of venom. The endless arguments that believers loudly put forth spoil whatever benefits these beliefs can have. It is enough to make you wish you would never hear the word Jesus again.
PG got wound up today about a report involving super glue eight time zones away. Meanwhile, an 11 year old man, who stayed a few exits down the perimeter, hung himself.
The story was that the other kids at school gave him a tough time. “They called him gay and a snitch,” his stepfather said. Jaheem Herrera was from St. Croix in the American Virgin Islands. The picture shows that he had light skin. Dunaire Elementary School is on South Indian Creek Road in Stone Mountain. The area is predominantly African American.
PG does not know any of the kids who bullied Mr. Herrera. He suspects that many are Jesus Worshipers. The Jesus Worship Church has preachers that verbally abuse the congregation. The Jesus Worship Church has a book which teaches the hatred of homosexuals. They call it “The Word of G-d”.
The Jesus Worship Church has a phrase…”shame the devil”. PG wonders if “devil” was one of the things Mr. Herrera was called, along with gay and snitch. He looked different than his abusers, and was from a different place.
PG worked for seven years with an abusive professional Jesus Worshiper. He clearly remembers the time that “Pastor” streaked in front of him.
“Pastor” shouted down and humiliated PG one day, in the name of Jesus. After the mugging was over, “Pastor” got a phone call. He picked up the phone and screamed ” I never felt better in my life”.
Jesus Worship is an aggressive, angry business. Sometimes the results are fatal.
Hawaiian Good Luck Sign
Dear Grand-daughter, The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a ‘Honk if you love Jesus’ bumper sticker . I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting.
So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper. Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed. I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn’t notice that the light had changed. It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn’t honked, I’d never have noticed. I found that lots of people love Jesus!
While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, ‘For the love of God!’ ‘Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!’ What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus! Everyone started honking! I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people. I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!
There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach. I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air. I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant. He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something. Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii , so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back. My grandson burst out laughing. Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!! Praise the Lord!!!
A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed. So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection. I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared.
So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!! Will write again soon, Love, Grandma. This repost is written like J. D. Salinger. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
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