Echoes Of The Pasta
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This is your monday morning reader for Melania week. As a youtube commenter noted, “Abraham Lincoln went to see the movie, and said it was the worst theatre experience of his life.” · Holocaust Denial is a fringe belief, with severe social consequences for supporting. OTOH, Genocide Denial is the official position of many powerful and influential people. In many communities and venues, Genocide Acknowledgement is more dangerous than Denial. · @sharghzadeh شرقزده Protests in Western societies are a way for the system to allow you to expend any energy you had that could be useful into a totally fruitless exercise · For the first part of my life, I went by Cam, which is short for Campbell. I finally got tired of explaining my name, and started to use my first name · This whole lap board thing is taking a new twist. 3o” is too much, so I am trying 24″ it seems to be a bit more agreeable, so we will see · There are many stories that could be told about Billie Holliday. Some of them are even true, The stories in this post are mostly fiction · Advice From An Old Junkie · William Seward Burroughs was born February 5, 1914. He went to the gun range in the sky August 2, 1997. Keith Richards thought he was an amateur · One of the magic moments of the first Trump regime was when Donnie asked VPOTUS Mike Pence to help overturn the election. VP Pence asked Dan Quayle for advice · Our wonderful President posted a video last night on truthsocial. I heard all about the controversy, but wanted to see the video for myself. It is difficult to find by itself. Here is a show, which does present the complete video. · there is this teenage boy who works at the korean rice bowl place. he has multiple earrings, is very sweet and sets my gaydar off. tonight, there was a tall blond boy hanging out with him. i am delighted to think it is his bf · @grok This apology from Gavin Ashenden (Catholic commentator, ex-chaplain to the Queen) to Calvin Robinson (conservative cleric and broadcaster) follows a deleted tweet that was seen as unkind. Both are vocal in UK religious and cultural debates. If those topics interest you, it’s a glimpse into ongoing tensions; if not, it’s likely just passing online drama. · The trivialization of the r-word has been going on for a long time · Rumi inspired these three graphic poems: if in doubt you drink water from a vase, leave behind all the sour and bitter, drain your desire till the cup carries grace, move outside the perpetual glitter · “Pity there wasn’t this much engagement BEFORE the election, when it could have made a difference.” Actually, we might have been better off with less engagement. Before the 2016 election from hell, Democrats kept piling on. Many of their attacks on Trump turned out to be lies (Russiagate) Other attacks were about Trump’s racial attitudes, with the side comment “if you vote for Trump then you are a RACIST. It turns out that lying to people, and calling them RACIST, is going to help you lose the election. · the past is always connected to the present, just like the bill is connected to the purchase of the present. on the super bowl front, seattle is leading 6-0, and i should remind myself to keep my mike muted and the tv in the other room. the video camera did not come on until i unplugged the wire to the computer and plugged it back in again. changing browsers did not work, not did tweaking the buttons in the attributes. you all know i am the side show, i am immediately going to switch to my graphic poem, which inshallah will work. should you say god willing on a zoom experience, or should you tell satan to go do her dirty work elsewhere . satan should be busy making sure the patriots lose, or maybe that is yahweh’s job, it just gets tougher and tougher to tell those two apart. · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress Edwin Rosskam took the social media picture in April 1941. “Lily vendors on Easter Sunday, Black Belt, Chicago, Illinois” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
All Caps Comic Sans
This content was published February 19, 2015. … The story starts on twitter. @chescaleigh #Oscars2015 voter finds Selma cast wearing #ICantBreathe shirts to their film premiere “offensive” #OscarsSoWhite @chescaleigh Apparently protesting police brutality is offensive? But this same #Oscars2015 voter loved American Sniper soooo that says it all @ShaunKing I said it when Lebron wore it & I’ll say it re: the SELMA cast, if this shirt offends you, you are probably racist.
Evidently, the cast of the movie “Selma” wanted to make a statement, or get publicity for the movie, or both. They wore t shirts to an event. The shirts say “I CANT BREATHE,” in all caps comic sans letters, with no apostrophe. This refers to something said by Eric Garner.
The t-shirt clad cast is posing in the “hands up don’t shoot” pose. This gesture became popular after Micheal Brown was killed. Many people find it unlikely that Mr. Brown made this gesture.
The Hollywood Reporter posted a story, Oscar Voter Reveals Brutally Honest Ballot: “There’s No Art to ‘Selma,'” ‘Boyhood’ “Uneven.” An oscar voter went into great detail about the different categories she was voting on. She liked “American Sniper” because it made a lot of money. This is important to the movie industry. If you want to send a message, call Western Union.
Daily Kos, condensed the story to three juicy sentences. “But if the movie isn’t that good, am I supposed to vote for it just because it has black people in it? I’ve got to tell you, having the cast show up in T-shirts saying “I can’t breathe” [at their New York premiere] — I thought that stuff was offensive. Did they want to be known for making the best movie of the year or for stirring up shit?”
I am tough to offend, and easy to annoy. To have a grandstanding movie cast exploit a human tragedy is annoying. To have an internet facility call this pose “coming together in solidarity,” and call those who disagree racist, is distasteful. At what point does the word racist cease to have any meaning?
While researching this story, I found this. “Unfortunately, students were not given the opportunity to hear any of Dr. King’s … speeches in the film. That is because the film doesn’t include any direct quotes from the brilliant orator. … Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches are copyrighted, and filmmakers could not use his words in the movie without fear of being sued. Dr. King’s family owns the rights … and are famously litigious.” … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Edwin Rosskam took the social media picture in April 1941. “Children in front of moving picture theater, Easter Sunday matinee, Black Belt, Chicago, Illinois” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Dan Quayle
This content was originally published February 2, 2022. … “It is part of my existence to be the insect of metaphors” I was listening to a story, while editing photographs from The Library of Congress. I was starting to get bored with the story. I made the conscious decision to turn the story off. This was the last line that I heard before I turned the story off.
I finished a folder of pictures. With the Internet there’s plenty of temptation, and rabbit holes to go down. I found this delightful tweet by Andy Sullivan. It was a link to a a story about how Donald Trump was still trying to steal the election. Here is the first money quote: “Trump was busier attempting to undo the election than he had ever been as president.”
The YouTube video I was listening to was an excerpt from a Dan Carlin show. He was talking about Douglas MacArthur, and the great man theory of history. I have the opinion that history is going to happen the way it happens, and the celebrity gets too much credit. This is the thing about Gen. MacArthur and President Trump. I consider Mr. Trump to be a speedfreak, who, in a combination of luck, and pluck, got himself elected. If he had been moderately competent, and half as evil as the Democrats claim, America would have been in a world of trouble. And now, he is allegedly working harder to reverse an election, than he did when he was in office.
“And though Mike Pence, pressed hard by Trump for the last full measure of devotion, wavered (he phoned Dan Quayle for advice), in the end, he did what he knew was right.” Lord, you can’t make this stuff up. James Danforth Quayle is a major idiot, though probably not a dumb as many suspect. OTOH, Mike Pence … aka “Lester Maddox — without the spine” … is as worthless as people think.
The Bulwark article was written by Mona Charen. The scribe was a speech writer for Nancy Reagan, and was rumored to have been fired from that position. In the early nineties, Ms. Charen had a regular column in the fishwrapper. Once she said, regarding gay marriage, It is not marriage which civilizes people, but women. (Full disclosure: That quote is from memory, not a verified source.)
In 1992, when Ms. Charen had that column, I was working downtown. One afternoon, the Vice-Presidential debate was in Atlanta. I stepped out of the office to buy a bag of Fritos at a neighborhood store. I looked down the street to see the Vice President vehicle going down Forsyth Street. I waved at Dan Quayle. I only used one finger. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. John Vachon took the social media picture in August 1941. “Men in beer parlor at Finnish settlement of Bruce Crossing, Michigan” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Happy Birthday Bill Burroughs
This content was originally published February 5, 2015. … February 5, 1914, was the birth day of William Seward Burroughs Jr. For the rest of this piece, he will be known as WSB. This is both a handy abbreviation, as well as a touch of irony for Atlanta readers. WSB radio is a 50k watt clear channel am station, owned by the same media oligarchs that own the fishwrapper and channel two. The radio tv clusterfuck has long been the symbol of Peachtree Street white column respectability. Just to be clear/queer, from here on out in this feature WSB will mean a certain junkie writer, not welcome south brother/we’re so boring .
This is a good day for birthdays. Hank Aaron in 1934. Adlai Stevenson in 1900. Peg Entwhistle in 1908. The last one lived until 1932, when she jumped off the Hollywoodland sign.
A well thought of radio institution called “This American Life” has a show this week, Burroughs101. Actually, there is a class by that name, and there will be an exam at the end of the semester. The show is narrated by Iggy Pop. It begins with a warning. “A warning. The following program contains references to homosexuality, drug use, sex with aliens, violence, and kitty cats. What did you expect?” The show was originally cobbled together by the BBC, which might explain things a bit.
Iggy Pop did a show at the 688 club. I was in the audience. A man named Ivan Kral was in the band. When Mr. Kral came on stage, he blew his nose, and a white powder booger came out. The performance was not so much a concert as it was an endurance test.
TML has the lazy bloggers friend, the transcript. There are some lovely quotes. This show is not going to candy coat the bastard. This is a man who shot his wife while playing William Tell, and got away with it. As one non admirer says “I don’t just take the Burroughs myth with a pinch of salt. I view it as a unpleasant slug crawling across the lawn of literature. And I like to pour salt on it.”
Or this one. “Having used heroin yourself– I think used is a bit of an understatement. I was a heroin addict on and off for pushing a quarter of a century. For myself, I find the whole Burroughs myth pretty repulsive, actually. Because I understand what happened to me. I was an addict in waiting. I got my form prize or my English prize at The Naked Lunch. And a year and a half later, I was sticking needles in my arm. … You could be lying in some pestilential piss-soaked squat in the bowels of the city listening to some moron totaled on drugs drooling on and talking about Burroughs, because Burroughs was their Leon Trotsky. He was their Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the Pope. “
One of the questions of the early eighties was whether or not WSB was shooting up. Forget the nonsense about there not being any old junkies. Supposedly Ray Charles never really quit using heroin. So, in 1981, WSB was living somewhere in Manhattan, and it was a right of passage to go to the bunker and take heroin to him. Since he was the star, he used the needle first, which was an important distinction in those days … hiv did not have a name but was running wild through the junkie veins and queer buttholes of Reaganite America.
Howard Eric Brookner was a filmmaker, with wealthy Jewish parents. HEB worked on a movie about William S. Burroughs. When you hang out with Mr. Burroughs, it is considered good manners to take heroin. This became a problem for HEB. April 27, 1989, was HEB’s last day on the planet.
We don’t know if WSB got hiv or not. He made it until August 2, 1997, when a heart attack sent him to meet his maker. Contemporary Allen Ginsberg cashed in his chips earlier that year. In Washington, silly billy POTUS was getting knob jobs from Monica Lewinsky, who now gives TED talks by calling herself a social activist. WSB was a social activist, at a time when few would admit it.
The answer to your question is, yes, WSB was shooting dope in 1981. Somebody saw this as being an unhealthy situation, and arranged for him to move to Lawrence KS. This was his home until WSB went to live with Jesus, who was pissed because WSB didn’t bring him any smack.
So WSB was living the beat life, shooting dope, fucking boys, and just being a general mess. In his spare time he was writing books. Naked Lunch was busted for obscenity, and became his best known work. It is the first thing by WSB that I tried to read, making it to page twenty six before declaring the endeavor a hopeless waste of brain cells.
It is not known how much of Naked Lunch Dorothy Kilgallen read. She was called as a witness during an obscenity trial for Lenny Bruce. ” …There’s another book called The Naked Lunch which I couldn’t even finish reading, but it’s published, and I think the author should be in jail and he used– Q. Unfortunately we can’t do everything at once, Miss Kilgallen. Are you judging the non-obscene quality and the artistic quality of Bruce by the fact that The Naked Lunch is a book which, as of this date, is sold in the community? A. No, I’m not. I just mentioned it because you asked me for some books. Q. And The Naked Lunch is a book you found impossible to read, is that correct? A. Yes, I found it revolting. Q. What was revolting about it? A. Just the way it was written.”
Another expert witness to testify … to a BBC reporter, not a New York courtroom … is Marcus Ewert. A Dunwoody native, Mr. Ewert took literary groupiedom to ridiculous lengths with Allen Ginsberg and WSB. “We’re getting into bed, and I’m sticking my legs down under the covers. There’s this bump that my legs feel. And I’m like, “Oh, what’s this hard thing my legs are bumping against, William?” And he said, “Oh, that’s the gun.” I said, “Is it a loaded gun?” He said, “Of course it’s loaded.” You’d sleep with a lover with a loaded gun in your bed. That’s kind of a metaphor waiting to happen.”
Mr. Marcus is now a children’s book author. An Amazon reader says this about 10,000 Dresses. “I returned mine today and was appalled as I read the story to my son before reading it to myself. Kids need to feel safe at home, especially when dealing with gender non-conformity. I wish the author would have reconcilled the reactions of the family members. It is great to have stories out there addressing gender non-conformity in kids, but we have a huge responsibility to make sure they are sending the right message.”
The death of Joan Vollmer is discussed. This is the lady who was playing William Tell one night, with fatal consequences. Some say accident, some say intentional. The word uxoricide is used, meaning the act of killing one’s wife.
The cut up technique is discussed, as was how much WSB liked cats. WSB died, and people said nice things about him. — In 2010, I published Advice From An Old Junkie. In 2015, I found an audiobook of Junky, read by WSB. A two part post, Junky, and Junky Part Two, followed. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Timothy H. O’Sullivan took the social media picture in August 1863. “Bealeton, Virginia. Officers of 93d New York Infantry” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Billie Holiday Stories
This content was published
Februray 4, 2022. … How ‘Strange Fruit’ Killed Billie Holiday turned up in a facebook feed yesterday. The article states that Harry Jacob Anslinger “the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics,” ordered Billie Holiday to quit performing “Strange Fruit.”
When the chanteuse declined, Mr. Anslinger had her arrested for heroin possession. Later, Mr. Anslinger was allegedly responsible for busting Miss Holiday on her deathbed.
The Hunting of Billie Holiday was the source given for the claim about Mr. Anslinger and “Strange Fruit.” The Politico article does not say that Mr. Anslinger ordered Miss Holiday to quit singing “Strange Fruit .” It does say that Louis McKay, one of the many no-good men in Miss Holiday’s life, narked her out. The bust was in 1947, after she had been performing “Strange Fruit” for several years. (Lady Sings The Blues says that Louis McKay was not in Miss Holiday’s life in 1947.)
Politico had one comment that set off the bs detector. “One day, Harry Anslinger was told that there were also white women, just as famous as Billie, who had drug problems—but he responded to them rather differently. He called Judy Garland, another heroin addict, in to see him.” Frances Gumm was well known for having substance abuse issues. The heroin business was news to a lot of people.
Johann Hari was the author of the politico article. At the time, he was promoting a book, Chasing the Scream, about the war on drugs. Johann Hari has a spotted reputation. “The author used to be the Independent’s star columnist, a prolific polemicist and darling of the left, until his career imploded in disgrace when it emerged in 2011 that many of his articles contained quotes apparently said to him but in fact lifted from his interviewees’ books, or from previous interviews by other journalists.”
The final bust, as Miss Holiday lay dying in the hospital, is part of the legend. A google search does not show what agency was responsible. Harry Anslinger may have been involved, and it may have been someone else. By this time, Elanora Fagan was in bad, bad shape. Years of drinking, and hard drugs, had worn her out. While the hospital bust may have hastened her demise, it is a bit of a stretch to say the Harry Anslinger killed Billie Holiday, because she sang “Strange Fruit.”
Lady Sings The Blues is the autobiography of Billie Holiday. I read it in 1978, and pulled it off the shelf recently. The copy I have is a 1972 paperback, issued in conjunction with the movie. A picture of Diana Ross is on the cover, as well as a price sticker from Woolco. The book sold for $1.25.
William Dufty was the ghost writer. His prose is easy to read, with the story flowing out like a Lester Young solo. The 1956 copyright is assigned to “Eleanora Fagan and William Dufty,” using the birth name of the singer. Mr. Dufty was a newspaper writer. “Dufty had one son, Bevan Dufty, with first wife Maely Bartholomew, who had arrived in New York City during World War II after losing most of her family in the Nazi concentration camps. She settled near Harlem where she met her best friend and Bevan’s godmother, Billie Holiday.”
“Bevan Dufty would agree. He’s one of the childless singer’s two godchildren. … “Holiday said motherf***** all the time, in her gravelly elegant way,” recalled Dufty, sitting in his City Hall office. His mother, Maely, a Czech Jewish immigrant who loved jazz, was close to many musicians and even managed the unmanageable Charlie Parker for a spell, learned to curse from Holiday. But with a European accent. Much of what Dufty knows of Holiday comes from his late mother, who was married to actor Freddie Bartholomew before her brief marriage to William Dufty, one of her seven husbands. Maely, who took her infant son by train to Philadelphia every day to attend yet another of Holiday’s drug trials, was so distraught by the singer’s death that she dedicated herself to helping recovering addicts. A number of musicians lived at the Duftys’ place while kicking the habit (William and Maely Dufty divorced not long after Holiday’s death, and he later married actress Gloria Swanson, who inspired him to write the book “Sugar Blues” about the dangers of processed sugar).”
“Billie Holiday’s bio ‘Lady Sings the Blues,’ may be full of lies, but it gets at jazz great’s core.” Autobiographies are, by their nature, self serving. This one has a great opening line … ” Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen, and I was three.” (“Her parents were never married. When she was born, her mother was 19, her father was 17 and they never lived under the same roof.”) Another source adds: “Some of the material in the book, however, must be taken with a grain of salt. Holiday was in rough shape when she worked with Dufty on the project, and she claimed to have never read the book after it was finished. Around this time, Holiday became involved with Louis McKay. The two were arrested for narcotics in 1956, and they married in Mexico the following year. (March 28, 1957) Like many other men in her life, McKay used Holiday’s name and money to advance himself.”
Louis McKay is at the center of another misunderstanding of facts. “The Hunting of Billie Holiday” claimed that Mr. McKay narked out Miss Holiday in 1947, and set up her first drug bust. LSTB tells a different story. Here, Miss Holiday meets Mr. McKay very briefly in 1931. Someone was trying to rob Mr. McKay. Miss Holiday said “He’s my old man,” and chased off the robber.
Fast forward twenty five years,, and Miss Holiday connects with Mr. McKay. “I hadn’t seen him since I was sixteen and he wasn’t much older and I was singing at the Hotcha in Harlem.” The two were married in 1957. They got busted as LSTB ends. Either Politico is wrong about the 1947 bust, or Miss Holiday did not tell the whole story. Either way, Harry Anslinger is not mentioned in LSTB.
Tallulah Bankhead is another missing piece of the puzzle. Reportedly, Miss Bankhead and Miss Holiday were close friends, and possibly lovers. That was over by the time LSTB was written. “When “Lady Sings the Blues” was being prepared, Miss Bankhead got an advance copy, and was horrified by what she saw. A fierce note was sent to the book’s publisher, and scenes were edited out. Miss Holiday was outraged. The letter that resulted is a poison pen classic. “My maid who was with me at the Strand isn’t dead either. There are plenty of others around who remember how you carried on so you almost got me fired out of the place. And if you want to get shitty, we can make it a big shitty party. We can all get funky together!”
Miss Bankhead does make an appearance in LSTB. On page 117, Miss Holiday is describing playing a maid, in a movie. She was not pleased at the typecasting. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing against maids – or whores – whether they’re black or white. My mother was a maid, a good one, one of the greatest. My stepmother is Tallulah Bankhead’s maid right now, and that’s a part I’d even consider when they do her life story.” (Miss Bankhead had her own domestic help problems. In 1951, Evyleen Cronin, Tallulah’s maid and secretary, was accused of stealing $10,000-30,000 from Tallulah during her employment. … The case went to trial (much to Tallulah’s embarrassment) and Cronin was convicted.” Many embarrassing details about Miss Bankhead’s life came to light during this trial. Fanny Holiday, the stepmother, is probably a different person than Evyleen Cronin.)
Whatever it’s factual challenges, Lady Sings the Blues is a powerful book. Miss Holiday had a tough life, to say the least. As the singer for Artie Shaw’s big band, Miss Holiday was an integration pioneer, and every two bit cracker wanted to make trouble. Later, she was addicted to heroin, got busted, served time in prison, only to get out and suffer some more.
Three years after LSTB came out , things went from bad to horrible. “In early 1959 she found out that she had cirrhosis of the liver. The doctor told her to stop drinking, which she did for a short time, but soon returned to heavy drinking. … On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York. … She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying, and her hospital room was raided by authorities. Police officers were stationed at the door to her room. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver on July 17, 1959.” … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the social media picture in December 1940. “Lineup of workmen at union headquarters, San Diego, California, after the first batch of men are dispatched in the morning. Those remaining stand in line awaiting subsequent calls during the day” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Having An Unusual Name
I would rather work on my computer than watch the oscars. This is a choice. It is made less dangerous by facebook, which can alert me to every twitch of the ism police. It seems like some racist, sexist, misogynist, and ableist things were said Sunday night. I would be a terrible person if I were not offended by this behavior. Some people think that way.
One of the players is Quvenzhané Wallis, who is getting scads of career boost at the moment. Some speakers did not want to pronounce her name, and got in trouble as a result.
An observer throws this opinion out there: “Give your daughters difficult names. Give your daughters names that command the full use of tongue. My name makes you want to tell me the truth. My name doesn’t allow me to trust anyone that cannot pronounce it right … Give your children difficult names, so the world may learn how to unfurl its tongue in the direction of our stolen languages.”
I was known for most of his life as Cam. This is short for Campbell, my middle name. Whenever I was introduced to someone, I had to explain this name. Yes, it is just like a car cam, whatever that is. No, it is not Cal or Kim. It is Cam, C A M. After a while, it became a giant pain in the ass.
The parents responsible for this are kind, loving people. People make mistakes. Who knows what they were thinking when they decided to name their firstborn after an automotive part.
So, go ahead and give your baby an “unusual” name. They might like it. It may also be a source of embarrassment. Being a human being is tough business. Giving a kid a weird name just might make it a bit tougher. It might be a very selfish thing to do.
UPDATE This piece was originally posted in 2013. Two messages were received…. Luther, do not post your blog on my page ever again. Many of your viewpoints are racist, sexist, and marginalizing, and I do not want to be associated with them. … Ive already deleted you as a friend months and months ago over the ridiculous racist and sexist twaddle that spills from your mouth and onto Facebook and in person. Do not post on my wall. Do not like anything post of mine and, in fact, do not interact with me in any possible capacity. Thanks. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Samuel H. Gottscho took the social media picture September 18, 1961. “Helena Rubinstein, 655 5th Ave. Hair dryers” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Moral Responsibility Transcript
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The New Holocaust Deniers Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and the antisemitic Right.
ginsberg brautigan · g003 0103g · g004 0104g · blind willie mctell · bee
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anonymous 136.55.1.132 I appreciate your poem and also find some of these signs kitschy. But it feels like a logic conclusion of your preference is a rejection of all signs, slogans, and headlines. “ITHYS presents bumper sticker arguments, not a respectful discussion of complex issues.” I am always game for getting into the weeds on an issue. But some venues don’t afford that. When I make a sign and march in protest, I don’t have space to make citations. I have to make my motivation and message clear and concise if a phrase is a substitute for a more comprehensive explanation or understanding, I’m with you. But I don’t assume those who put these up have nothing more to say if asked. · At the start of this podcast, Jesse Singal is driving cross country. Katie Herzog asks “Are you going to Paducah? Paducah is the most real American place you can go.” · On March 5, 1937, Tallulah Bankhead a luncheon at the Atlanta Woman’s Club for retiring president W.F. Milton. Billie Holiday was not invited · From a one star review of “Ham on Rye” by Charles Bukowski: “I can handle depressing books. I actually steer away from anything too frothy. This one, I am afraid, would depress a circus clown after his best stage performance · @grok The video appears legitimate based on reports from CBS News and The Telegraph. It shows Alex Pretti confronting federal agents, spitting, kicking a vehicle’s taillight, and being tackled. Posted by The News Movement on YouTube, it was verified by BBC as filmed in Minneapolis on Jan. 13, 2026. Family and DHS confirm awareness. · Lady Gaga performed at halftime of Super Bowl LI. In the second half, The Atlanta Falcons lead 28-3 with 20 minutes left in the game, only to lose to the New England Patriots. There is something strange about Lady Gaga. · is this keyboard working? I tried to use the typing instruction program and it gets stuck after one or two letters. Maybe the program is the problem. I need to set up this typing board, and determine a single location for the keyboard, for this thing to work. · In 2009, Sarah Palin was a superstar. In 2026, her fifteen minutes have been over for a long time · One of the quirks of our language is the way we express apathy. Saying “I don’t give a ___” makes very little sense · The idea here is that God is angry at the way man is running planet earth, and is using climate change to teach us a lesson · big chicken diagnostic punctuation , constipational chihuahua hypocrisy, david bowie k mart nostalgia, donald trump communist hairdo, keeping kkk out of the linen closet , listen 3 hours perform 90 seconds , mannequin charisma affirmation, melania trump real hair color, public domain redneck privilege, rainy day monday obsolescence, retroactive birth control institute, all is possible in world without g-d · In 2018, Ta-Nehisi Coates appeared on the WTF podcast. For 53 minutes, he talked about fatherhood, living in Paris, and struggling to make it as a writer. Marc Maron had to bring up racism · The idea here is that God is angry at the way man is running planet earth, and is using climate change to teach us a lesson. · Comment on the Melania trailer: “Abraham Lincoln went to see the movie, said it was the worst theatre experience of his entire life.” · i am a mosaic of generations, there is regeneration, or the revival of a generation that has fallen flat, there is degeneration, which needs no explaination, there is my generation, which roger daltry likes to talk about , he didn’t get his wish to die before he gets old, there is generation x and generation z, I have never understood these birth year mandated generational categories, i only knew i was a boomer when it became an insult, one anagram for generation is no rat genie, once you let the rat genie out of the bottle it is never going back in, generation has lots of words that rhyme with it, rhyme zone disagrees, and has a popup ad over many of the almost rhymes, ok, we are through collecting generations, and time to collate them into a mosaic that will resemble yours truly, degeneration can fit in the space between generation z and nuclear power generation, regeneration is too big to fit, and will need to be cut down to size, My ge generation can go in one corner, behind generation station · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress John Vachon took the social media picture in February 1942 . “Burlington, Iowa. Sunnyside unit, FSA (Farm Security Administration) camp. In a trailer for workers at Burlington ordnance plant” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Frankly My Dear
An English language expression for caring goes give a ___. An unverified internet source tells one story: “(don’t) give a damn -The above phrase was originally I don’t give a dam (yes, the n is missing on purpose) and seems to have been brought back to England by military men traveling to India in the mid 18th century. A dam was an Indian coin of little value. After spreading to civilian usage, the phrase changed to I don’t give a damn and was first recorded in America in the 1890’s”
DGA__ went in two directions. Less offensive words like hoot, toss, and rip were inserted into the blank space. Others chose use more offensive items, like shit and fuck, in the formula.
No one seems to know what a damn is. It is hard to say what exactly is meant by not giving a shit, or a fuck. Fuck refers to a highly prized animal activity. Shit is a vile, smelly substance that is used for fertilizer. When you give a shit, do you gift wrap it?
A link to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck recently turned up on facebook. Out of 2496 words, 113 are fuck, or incorporate fuck. The f-word is used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, and interjection. The f-word is not used as a conjunction. This is a curious omission. The literal meaning of the f-word refers to the act of conjunction.
It may seem judgmental to say so, but this attitude is selfish, arrogant, and irresponsible. If you stick around for the fine print, you see that it is not enough to merely not give a hoot. According to “Author. Thinker. Life Enthusiast.” Mark Manson, it is a matter of deciding what you want to hoot about. (The period is used at the end of a complete sentence. You should use one period per sentence.)
Here is a brief biography. “Mark Manson is from Austin, Texas, USA and graduated from Boston University in 2007. He began coaching men informally that same year, taking them out to local bars and helping them approach attractive women. Mark founded Practical Pick Up in 2008 and has since worked with hundreds of men in 12 different countries and four different continents. He’s given over 40 public presentations worldwide and has been interviewed for news shows and magazines. In 2011, he changed his business to PostMasculine.com to change his focus away from simply meeting and attracting women and to help with life’s issues at large.”
In other words, he got started coaching men on how to get women to give them a fuck. Mr. Manson has “evolved” into coaching everyone on fuck-not-giving. What a guy. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the social media picture in August 1938. “Farmers conversing, Caruthersville, Missouri ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Ham On Rye
This content was published January 29, 2019. … Ham On Rye is due back at the library today. I could not renew it, because someone else had made a request. This was going to be a snow jam day, but it did not even deliver a good drizzle. Going bonkers over an inch of snow is an Atlanta tradition, and I would not have it any other way. Which does not write this book report.
HOR is about the childhood of Hank Chinaski, who is really Charles Bukowski. It seems like a dreary affair. Hank Sr. is a sadistic asshole. He gets off on beating his son. Mother sits back and does nothing. The story is set in depression Los Angeles, which adds to the morbid ambience of the tale.
A discerning reader can see the roots of the acorn that grew into Charles Bukowski. One of his few childhood friends had a basement full of home made wine. Charles went down there, and made a life long friend. Before long, daddy put a padlock on the basement.
Someone who will write Notes of a Dirty Old Man needs to get out of grammar school first. At some point, a near fatal case of acne hit. Hank was going to the hospital, and receiving acne cures that made daddy seem warm and fuzzy. Eventually, Hank went on to getting drunk whenever possible, and then fighting the person who supplied the hootch.
For all the horny talk, there is little sex in HOR. Hank goes to get drunk with some kid who had a hot mother. The kid passed out, and mama came home. Hank hits on mama. She pulls her skirt up. Her pussy hair is half gray, and not pretty like her head hair. Hank decides to go home instead.
Hank graduates from High School, gets a job in a department store, and gets fired within a week. Hank bounces around, wins a pile of money in a drinking contest, gets kicked out of the family house, and gets kicked out of a Filipino boarding house. Hank starts talking the pre-Pearl Harbor pro German talk, only to discover that the Nazis he meets are idiots. The story ends with the announcement of Pearl Harbor. Hank does not enlist.
A story like this needs a one star review. “I can handle depressing books. I actually steer away from anything too frothy. This one, I am afraid, would depress a circus clown after his best stage performance. Dark. Sad. No uplifting moments. I finished it, hoping it would have some redemption at the end. Wrong. Went from depressing to clinically depressing.” … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the social media picture in August 1938.“Group of Negro women at revival meeting, La Forge, Missouri ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
That Needles Edge
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This morning, some Gandhi motivational product appeared. Being the obnoxious pedant that I am, I quickly found that it was from a movie. This post is about the dangers of quoting MK Gandhi · This is your monday morning reader for King day. Last week saw the rise and fall of another attempt to get USA into a war with Iran. I wonder where the Trumpwar will be this week? · @JamesMelville James Melville 🚜 I’m rather fond of quirky old fashioned words. Here are some of my favourites: Skedaddle, Nincompoop, Highfalutin, Malarkey, Gobbledegook, Comeuppance, Skullduggery, Kerfuffle, Flummoxed, Thingamajig, Tomfoolery, Shenanigans, Hoodwink, Blethering, Hullabaloo, Curmudgeon, Bamboozled, Numpty, Cattywampus · I read a post about conversations someone was tired of having, and decided to make a list of my own. It is ready for an update, but that would require working on it. · The light is always so bright when I take the mask off. With my cataracted right eye, this is not a terribly pleasant thing. This meditation was a delight. It is the first time I have “sat” in my desk chair, and it worked well. The sound of the furnace fan was a fun distraction. If we lose the power this weekend, the furnace will not be operating, and it will get chilly in here. I don’t really know any way to prevent this. Many people say to pray, but that always seems a bit selfish. Maybe listening to God is more productive than tallking. Interesting that using the pro/con paradigm, and productive becomes conductive. Maybe talking to God is productive, and listening to her is conductive. If we want God to tone down the raining ICE, then conductivity may be preferable to productivity. Another way to see this is to accept whatever happens, and not be attached to the comforts of heat and electricity, but learn to accept whatever comes along … as long as I can get this damn eye fixed on monday. · when I despair I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won · When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it—always… When you are in doubt that that is God’s way, the way the world is meant to be… think of that · This appears to have been originally written by John Briley in the screenplay for the movie, Gandhi (1982), spoken by Ben Kingsley, playing Gandhi. The earliest [partial] misattribution to Gandhi appears to be by Ronald Reagan in an address to the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September 1984 (also a misquotation, substituting the word fail for fall). John S. Dunne misattributes the first sentence in The Peace of the Present (1991) on p. 50, just after misattributing the same first two sentences that Reagan did. Dunne also misattributes the final part of the quotation in the same book on p. 34. · The Urban Dictionary once said that 23 was the greatest number. Reason 23 was POTUS 23, Benjamin Harrison, who served between the two terms of Grover Cleveland. If only this was still the only POTUS to serve nonconsecutive terms · · people cling to religion not because it is true, but because it gives them permission to feel righteous while being cruel · The quote in the meme is real. It is found on page 135 of Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Vol. 33. It was in an article found in Young India on October 22, 1925. · “SEVEN SOCIAL SIN The same fair friend wants readers of Young India to know, if they do not already, the following seven social sins: Politics without principles, Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice. Naturally, the friend does not want the readers to know these things merely through the intellect but to know them through the heart so as to avoid them.” · The next entry in the collected works is interesting. “79. THAT ETERNAL QUESTION However much I may wish to avoid it, the Hindu-Muslim question will not avoid me. Muslim friends insist upon my intervention to solve it. The Hindu friends would have me discuss it with them and some of them say I have sown the wind and must reap the whirlwind.” · @chamblee54 @grok who said “people cling to religion not because it is true, but because it gives them permission to feel righteous while being cruel” What is the source? · @grok The quote is often attributed to James Baldwin, appearing in social media and blogs, but I couldn’t find it in verified sources like his books or Wikiquote. Similar sentiments are in his “The Fire Next Time” (1963), critiquing religion’s role in justifying cruelty. Attributions to Baruch Spinoza seem like misattributions, as no primary sources confirm it. · “euphemism treadmill is going in my next poem · “mammon-grabbing click bait” is going in my next poem · @SHARON_NEEDLES How did the 70’s exist without me ? @chamblee54 @grok how did the 70’s exist without @SHARON_NEEDLES ? @grok The 70s managed with a mix of disco fever, punk rebellion, and questionable fashion—think polyester and pet rocks. But honestly, they were just warming up for your iconic spooky vibe in the 80s. The decade survived, but it was missing that Needles edge! · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
In This McMansion
This content was posted January 17, 2024. … A popular yard sign begins with “IN THIS HOUSE WE BELIEVE:” There are some opinions expressed in this piece. It should be noted that what follows is merely one person’s opinions. You are free to agree, or disagree, as you see fit.
The ITH yard sign (ITHYS) states: “in this house, we believe: black lives matter, women’s rights are human rights, no human is illegal, science is real, love is love, kindness is everything” The sign is an aesthetic nightmare. You have seven lines of all-caps text. Every sans-serif line is a different size and color. There appear to be multiple fonts used.
ITHYS is annoying. People are too proud of their opinions, and too eager to share them. It does not matter whether you agree or not. Somebody is confronting you with their beliefs. Sometimes, it is worse when you do agree, or partially agree. ITHYS presents bumper sticker arguments, not a respectful discussion of complex issues.
ITHYS is a reminder that we live in a Christian society. This is more than just the widespread acceptance of the Christian doctrines. Christianity is a religion of beliefs and persuation, not practices and contemplation. Even if you move away from the specific doctrines of Christianism, you still accept the primacy of beliefs. It is important to persuade others to accept your beliefs. You see others as a collection of beliefs, rather than a person.
ITHYS begs for satire. Sacred cows need to be ground into hamburgers. I started to write down ideas. Soon, I had In This House Poem. (ITHP) “In this house we are all God’s children, It is not what you say but how you say it, Don’t need to talk more need to listen more, Clever arguments are not always the truth, Science is the questioning not the trust, Beliefs are your thoughts with an attitude, Hate wins when you fight hate with hate, You are entitled to your opinion.”
The first four words are the same. ITHYS starts off “In this house we believe:”, followed by six beliefs. ITHP says “In this house we are all God’s children.” One is rhetoric, one is acceptance. It doesn’t matter how you read the fine print, you are still one of us. The ITHYS beliefs are presented in all-caps. (One of the rejected lines for ITHP was “Writing in all-caps is shouting.”) In ITHP, the doctrine is less important than your basic humanity. “Beliefs are your thoughts with an attitude.”
On May 1, 1992, Rodney King had seen the policeman who beat him acquitted. Cities coast to coast were in violent upheaval. Despite this, at 7:01 pm, Mr. King stood in front of a camera. “People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids? . . . Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it.”
Part of the religion of beliefs is persuading other people to agree with you. You get into semantics, rhetoric, and using logic as a weapon. People confuse presenting a clever argument with speaking the truth. Ideas become more important than people. Not everyone feels this is the best way to live. “You are entitled to your opinion.”
ITHP is just eight ideas. We do not mention many important issues. Black lives matter. People disagree about the existence of God. And much, much more. Many of those issues are complicated. An alternative yard sign says: “simplistic platitudes, trite tautologies, and semantically overloaded aphorisms are poor substitutes for respectful and rational discussions about complex issues”
An amazon review has the final word today. juleskywalker “Don’t buy! So CHEAP it didn’t last 3 weeks! This sign is so cheap, that after only 3 weeks outside, one side has almost entirely peeled off, and the other side isn’t much better. … For comparison, we’ve had a BLM sign next to it for the same time period, and that one looks brand new.” … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Jack Delano took the social media picture in September 1941. “At the cattle judging at the Rutland Fair. Vermont” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Ta-Nehisi Coates On WTF Podcast
This content was postedJanuary 18, 2024. … Episode 878 of Marc David Maron’s WTF podcast features Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates. Chamblee54 once wrote about a video featuring Mr. Coates. This seems like a good day to listen to the show, and take notes.
The show starts with TPC and MDM (Is Ta-Nehisi two words?) discussing the business of writing books. The word black is not heard until 28:33 of the show. At 31 minutes in, TPC is talking about when he moved to New York, and struggled. He mentions that when you lie to other people, you begin to accept yourself as a liar.
At 53 minutes, TPC is talking about sexual harassment, and how he… a man … could never know what a woman experiences. MDM says that he … a white man … could never know what a black man feels, and how books by TPC made MDM realize this. You get the sense that this is what MDM wanted to talk about all along, and that TPC is tired of talking about race. MDM had the prominent black intellectual on the show, and MDM was going to talk about race, whether PBI wanted to, or not.
At 1:02 pm est, the show is over. I have more respect for TPC now. Most of the show was about fatherhood, writing, and the struggle to succeed. The expressions whiteness, and white supremacy, were not heard. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the social media picture in November 1937. “Children of John Harshenberger [i.e. Harshbarger], Mennonite farmer. Sheridan County, Montana” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
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