Should Always Be In Quotes
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Georgia Primary
Amidst the Presidential circus, there are other elections going on in 2016. The local, county, state, and congressional elections will determine who actually does the dirty work of governance. Like the old song goes, we were blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche, in the runners of the night.
It wasn’t until he began to research this post that PG knew that Georgia was electing a US Senator this year. Incumbent Johnny Isakson survived being outed as a KKK member by anonymous, and is running for a third term in Washington. He faces nominal opposition in the Republican primary, and will face the winner of the Democratic primary. Unless some old bedsheet pictures are released, Mr. Isakson is almost certain to win in November. Whether or not there is a struggle, Mr. Isakson has a $5.6 million war chest. Being certain to win does not eliminate the need to accept gratuities.
PG is in the 6th Congressional district. (Metro Atlanta Congressional districts are a marvel of gerrymandering.) The incumbent is a Conservative Republican turkey named Tom Price. He won the last election with 66.6% of the vote. (actually 66.04%) To do this, Dr. Price took in $2.4 million in bribes campaign contributions. “Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee: Health Professionals ($441,898,) Insurance ($178,0500,) Securities & Investment ($107,400,) Retired ($106,300,) Pharmaceuticals/Health Products ($104,600,)”
Moving into the state legislature, the districts to watch here are State House District 81 and State Senate District 40. In the house race, Incumbent Scott Holcomb is unopposed in the Democrat primary. Scott is a fine man, and would serve the District well if he is re-elected.
The Republican primary has the most (only) interesting race this Tuesday. The players are Alexa Mendez, Jim Duffie, and Lane Flynn. Mr. Flynn is the most traditional candidate, with the pictures of his babies, and talk of “conservative, small government legislation.” Mr. Duffie, the eldest of the three, sends out oversized mailers talking up the fair tax.
Alexa Mendez is the youngest, prettiest, and most Latina of the candidates. She thinks the fair tax is a good idea. She also wants to do away with the hotel motel tax. While this sounds like a good idea on one level, the revenue generated by that tax is spoken for. A substantial percentage will go for construction of Mercedes Benz Stadium, the new home of the Atlanta Falcons. While many of us don’t like the idea of tax money going to pay for a football stadium, the state is committed to pay. If the hotel motel tax is taken away, the money will have to be found somewhere else.
In the District 40 State Senate race, incumbent Fran Millar faces Paul Maner in the primary, with Tamara Johnson-Shealey unopposed in the Democratic race. Mr. Millar is a Republican turkey, with mailers from Rosetta Stone Communications. Mr. Millar got some bad press by opposing early voting on Sunday. MSNBC says: GOPer opposes early voting because it will boost black turnout “I’m sitting here as a Republican who actually has an award from the NAACP, the Thurgood Marshall Award. Trying to place the race card on me is ludicrous.”
Dekalb County is electing a CEO, District Attorney, Tax Commissioner, and a few other offices. The County website does not cooperate, and most other information is behind the AJC paywall. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Becky Wars
Henry Kissinger never used personal email for classified documents when he was Secretary of State. ~ There are many reasons to not like Hillary. Having an idiot like @shaunking opposing her is a reason to support her ~ @Pocky @ShaunKing @freehorrorfree ~ Twitter has a little box with “what to follow” or WTF the suggestions now are @Pocky @ShaunKing @freehorrorfree @pocky is “CHOCOLATE CREAM COVERED BISCUIT STICKS” Is it a coincidence that this is promoted along with @shaunking? ~ BlackPussySupreme @Virtuous_Queen_ my hands rated E for everybody. today is not a good day to be a trash ass nigga. i use double negatives when i double mean shit #Twerktivist #DickWhisperer ~ Like what you’re reading? Consider subscribing to our newsletters so you won’t miss any of your favorite writers! Atheist Newsletter, Pan Patheos Newsletter, Friendly Atheist Digest ~ i like theory that alt right is a bunch of 14yo in mommy’s basement ~ I think this is a good idea. I have only seen a little bit of this. That said, are the “innocent victims of war” in this *game* white europeans? Most IVOW these days are Arab or African. ~ facebook & twitter are enemies to productivity I try… not always successfully … to manage my energies ~Tooth-grinding horror, sonically repellant, Meretricious persiflage, viscerally repellent. ~ that had me until the line about white supremacy this is republican politics ~ @feministripper It’s a beautiful day to not pick fights on the internet! ~ @kat_blaque 1- anyone with an internet connection & too much free time (lots of that) can put content on the internet Why do they want you… ~ Caution: You are about to approve the following comment: ~ You are blocked from following @kat_blaque and viewing @kat_blaque’s Tweets. Learn more ~ I sent you a tweet agreeing with you. When it is so easy for people to make their own content, why would they want to have you do it for them. You laughed at me, and then blocked me. ~ Perhaps “the other” is a better phrase than “minorities.” ~ Comments are disabled for this video. ~ If you spend more time worrying about other people’s racism rather than the homeless #YouMightBeAnSJW ~ @WernerTwertzog This tweet expresses my deep concern for your important cause. Please retweet if you agree. ~ You can lead a whore to culture but you can’t make her think. ~ becky ~ fiction contest ~ tweet study ~ Three Warning Signs That Village Atheism Is Your New Religion ~ Waitress refused tip by Oxford student who made her cry ‘typical white tears’ receives donations of over £4,000 ~ bernie takes action ~ Everyday Words That Make You Go ‘Ew’ ~ word aversion study ~ We Know You Hate ‘Moist.’ What Other Words Repel You? ~ Ten Things White People Need To Quit Saying ~ World’s oldest person, Susannah Jones, dies at 116 ~ kat blaque goes off ~ Battling Depression: A 12-Step Alternative ~ The Real Story Behind Facebook Moderation and Your Petty Reports ~ ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
Jesus And Mr. Gandhi
One day, PG is going to learn not to read facebook first thing in the morning. He was scrolling along, minding his own business, when he found this comment: “Are you kidding me. Judge NOT least you are JUDGE. You have NO right nor do I as a Christain to interpet one man’s thought or opinion or idea of whom our CHRIST is to HIM (Ghandi) or to you or myself. Self judging of other people or life styles was one the things that really ticked Christ off. Til we accept that and stop be so judgmental we are no better than the Devil himself.” PG had a reply: “1-When you have religion shoved in your face, you need to make a judgement… do I agree with this, or not agree? If the religion was not forced upon us, we would not have to make this judgement. 2- When you say I am the devil, you say more about yourself than you do about me.”
The first comment was made by a former supervisor of PG. “Wildman” was the store manager when PG was tormented by the Professional Jesus Worshiper (PJW). During this crucible, PG was forced to re-examine his opinions about Jesus. This was not easy for PG, as Jesus had long been a painful presence in his life.
PG decided that there were two forces known as Jesus. One was the historic figure, whose life was partially recorded in the bible. The second Jesus was a spirit, living in the hearts of those who believe in him. The present day spirit Jesus has little in common with the historic Jesus, other than the name. The best way to know Jesus is through the words and deeds of his believers.
The initial comment was made to a post at Christianity.com. Apparently, the comment was automatically posted to facebook. The post, Gandhi Doesn’t Like Us, was written by Tim Challies. He is a popular Jesus worship blogger, and is much admired at blogs where PG is banned from commenting. The page is sponsored by Christians United For Israel. They are distributing a free ebook, Israel 101, with the slogan “Defend the land Jesus walked.”
Mr. Challies is a competent writer. He crafts an opening to the post which states the points he is going to make. “How many times have you come across this quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi? “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” I must have read it a hundred times in books, magazines, articles, tweets. It is used by believers and unbelievers to point to the hypocrisy of Christians and to call us to more and to better. Our inability to live what we preach is driving the multitudes away. Or so we are told. After all, that’s what Gandhi said.
We need to stop using this quote and I’m going to give you two good reasons to do so. In the first place, Gandhi was hardly an authority on Jesus. When he says, “I like your Christ” he is referring to a Jesus of his own making, a Jesus plucked haphazardly from the pages of Scripture, a Jeffersonian kind of Jesus, picked and chosen from the accounts of his life. “
PG agrees with Mr. Challies, but for different reasons. To begin with, no one seems to have a source for this quote. What was the context? What language was it said in? This quote is the best answer Mr. Google can supply:
“A 1926 review by the Reverend W.P. King (then pastor of the First Methodist Church of Gainesville, Georgia) of E. Stanley Jones’s The Christ of the Indian Road (published in 1925 by The Abington Press, New York City) includes the following: Dr. Jones says that the greatest hindrance to the Christian gospel in India is a dislike for western domination, western snobbery, the western theological system, western militarism and western race prejudice. Gandhi, the great prophet of India, said, “I love your Christ, but I dislike your Christianity.” The embarrassing fact is that India judges us by our own professed standard. In reply to a question of Dr. Jones as to how it would be possible to bring India to Christ, Gandhi replied: First, I would suggest that all of you Christians live more like Jesus Christ. Second, I would suggest that you practice your Christianity without adulterating it. The anomalous situation is that most of us would be equally shocked to see Christianity doubted or put into practice. Third, I would suggest that you put more emphasis on love, for love is the soul and center of Christianity. Fourth, I would suggest that you study the non-Christian religions more sympathetically in order to find the good that is in them.”
The quote is less than 100 years old, and it is disputed. The reputed words of Jesus were said in Aramaic. They were quoted, after his death, by scribes who never met Jesus, in Greek. These texts were copied by hand and compiled into a canon for the Catholic church. This canon was translated into contemporary languages. And yet, this record of the teachings of Jesus is regarded as the verbatim, inerrant truth.
Another problem with the quote is the use of the word “Christ”. This was an honorific title, and not the name of Jesus. (Some say that the name was closer to Joshua. It was probably an Aramaic name that we would find difficult to pronounce.) There are many people who say that Jesus might not be the Christ.The two names are not synonymous, nor is Christ the last name of Jesus.
Mr. Gandhi had some name issues as well. His birth name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Many today refer to him as Mahatma Gandhi. “The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi’s given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha (meaning Great) and atma (meaning Soul). Rabindranath Tagore is said to have accorded the title to Gandhi. In his autobiography, Gandhi nevertheless explains that he never valued the title, and was often pained by it.”
Mr. Gandhi went to school in England, and worked as a barrister in South Africa. He was a smart man. If you want to put a quote from Mr. Gandhi on your vehicle, here are a few options:
“G-d has no religion”
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
“Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.”
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
“One who has any faith in G-d should be ashamed to worry about anything ”
As we said earlier, Gandhi Doesn’t Like Us offers two reasons to not use the quote by Mr. Gandhi. Lets take a look. “Whatever Jesus Gandhi liked was certainly not the Jesus of the Bible. Why then should we care if we do not attain to this falsified version of Jesus? I would be ashamed to have any appearance to the kind of Jesus that Gandhi would deem good and acceptable and worthy of emulation. That Jesus would, of course, have to look an awful lot like Gandhi. So there is one good reason to stop using this quote: because Gandhi fabricated a Jesus of his own making and declared his affection only for this fictional character. He never liked the real thing”.
Arguably, this is what the contemporary church does. The light skinned Jesus of velvet paintings looks little like the real thing. Even critics of the church, who like to talk about what “Jesus really taught”, are relying on the product of a Catholic committee. The truth is, we don’t know very much about the historic Jesus. We fill in the blanks to suit whatever the current agenda is. What you think about Jesus says more about you than it does about Jesus.
Here’s a second reason. Gandhi had a fundamental misunderstanding of himself and of the rest of humanity. Gandhi no doubt loved the way that Jesus related to the downtrodden and disadvantages and assumed that he himself was a leper or Samaritan, when really he was a Pharisee. … Perhaps he might even have deigned to put himself in the place of the Prodigal Son, a man who had gone astray but then found hope and redemption. Whatever the case, the Jesus he liked must have been a Jesus who would love and accept him just as he was and not a Jesus who declared that even a man as good as he was an enemy of G-d.
Jesus spoke kind words and did great deeds; he comforted and healed and gave hope and a future. But not to everyone. Jesus reserved the harshest of words for the religious elite, those who declared that they were holy, that they understood the nature of G-d, that they had achieved some kind of enlightenment. Jesus had no love for such people. It was such people who received the sharpest of his rebukes and the most brutal of his “Woes!” They were the whitewashed tombs, the broods of vipers, the blind guides. Such men did not love Jesus. They may have loved Gandhi’s fabricated Christ but they hated the real one.
And who is the “religious elite” elite of today? Perhaps it is someone who publishes on a slick website, with an ad supporting the abuse of the Palestinian people. Perhaps it is the preacher in Lithonia who uses Jesus to lure teenage boys into his bedroom. Perhaps it is the PJW who conducted a vulgar ministry while working on the clock for redo blue. This PJW ended a tirade with the words, What you see is Jesus changing my life. Perhaps it is those who use Jesus to hurt people.
This Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, would have rebuked Gandhi as he rebuked the Jewish leaders of his day, the people who led people walking behind them on the road to hell. Like them, he was convinced of his own goodness, his own worthiness. There are two good reasons to stop using this quote: Gandhi liked only the Christ of his own making and he believed that he was worthy of the favor of this Christ. On both accounts he was wrong; dead wrong.
This is a repost. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. They are Union soldiers, from the War Between the States. Both sides in this conflict believed that Jesus supported them.
Winston Churchill Said What
Another ghastly meme has surfaced on facebook. It has a large fuchsia quote mark for illustration. There is a quote from a famous man. The left side has a quote mark. The right side has a question mark, but no quote mark. The margins are much larger on the top, and left side, than on the right side, and the bottom. That this visual atrocity supports funding for the arts is a cruel irony.
Perhaps instead of the arts, the government funding should go for fact checking. The quote is generally considered to be bogus. For the record, here is the quote. “When Winston Churchill was asked to cut arts funding in favour of the war effort, he simply replied, “then what are we fighting for?” The quote is not in the Churchill archive, which is either fifteen million documents, or fifteen million words. The authorities use the figures interchangeably.
The Telegraph has an article debunking the meme. It has a splendid sentence: “But that anecdote does not so easily play into the screeching rhetoric of today’s 140-character political ding-dongs.” There are also some lovely quotes from Mr. Churchill.
In 1937, Mr. Churchill spoke before the Peel Commission It was discussing “partitioning British mandated Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.” At the time, Mr. Churchill was a minor figure in British politics, disgraced by his blundering in the Great War. The quote: “I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place.”
Winston Churchill is quite the quote magnet. This is somehow fitting for a man whose most famous speech was read, on the radio, by an actor. There is a page on the internet devoted to times when he was falsely accused of saying something inspiring.
One of these stories is notable. “The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy and the lash… Churchill’s assistant, Anthony Montague-Browne said that although Churchill had not uttered these words, he wished he had.” This is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress.
Sixty Two Years Eleven Presidents
This is a repost from 2010. It is about the eleven Presidents, one fourth of the total, who have helped themselves served over the last sixty two years. Barack Obama got re-elected, and killed lots of people. The United States survived, and will elect another President on November 8.
Every four years, someone will say this is the worst choice ever. Every four years, someone will say this is the most important election ever. They are always correct. This year the choice will be between Donald John Trump and Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton. Choosing between those two idiots will be challenging. The good news is that most people live in states where the electoral votes are conceded to one of the duopoly parties. These voters can focus on local elections.
Listening to the news shows that came on before the cartoons, PG heard the phrase “President Eisenhower”. As a friends explained to him, G-d made everything, but the President is Eisenhower.
When he was six, PG moved to a new house, and started first grade. There was an election that fall, and someone named Kennedy became President. PG wasn’t old enough to pay attention to the news yet, except when it looked like the Russians were going to kill us all in 1962.
The first news story that PG clearly remembers was the day when his fourth grade teacher, Miss McKenzie, told the class that President Kennedy had been shot. One of the worst moments that weekend was the moment when a plane landed in Washington, and the new President spoke on television. THAT was the new President? Yuck.
Lyndon Johnson was a larger than life figure, and was ultimately hated by millions of Amuricuns. While there was some good done by LBJ, it was overshadowed by the War in Vietnam.When he left office in 1968, the voters had possibly the worst choice ever…Hubert Humphrey or Richard Nixon.
Tricky Dick Nixon is another larger than life figure, with millions of Americans screaming for his impeachment. For some reason, there were others who passionately admired the man.
In 1973, the oil companies tried to say there was an oil shortage. Later that year, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan attacked Israel, and the Arab oil producers cut oil to the USA. After this embargo, OPEC was in charge of the oil supply, and the price of gasoline increased 200%. The era of big money oil was on. What a convenient war.
After the ethical shortcomings of Mr. Nixon became too obnoxious to ignore, Gerald Ford became President. On a policy level, Ford was like all the other Presidents…some things he got right, some things he got wrong. On a personality level…the show business part…Ford excelled. His family provided harmless fodder for the gossipmongers. He was a likable man, a welcome break from the meanness of Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
When PG was a kid at Ashford Park School, there had never been a President from Georgia. It seemed impossible. When Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter announced he was running, it seemed like another ego tripper running for President. The funny thing is, he won. It still seems a bit unreal, like having the Olympics in Atlanta.
Jimmy was a Democrat, with attack Republicans fighting him every step of the way. This is a problem later Democrats in the Oval Office will have. On the policy level, he did better than many realize. Many of his achievements only bore fruit after he left office. On the show biz front, his down home Georgia routine did not appeal to many Yankees. In 1980, he was defeated by an actor.
PG was worried when Ronald Reagan took office. With America’s nuclear arsenal, and the Soviet Union wheezing it’s threat, many thought that Ronnie would start the war to kill us all. The good news is, this war never happened. Whatever tough talk came out of Washington was not matched by military adventurism abroad.
Reagan was the master of show business. He was an actor, playing the greatest role of his career. It was said that if America had a figure head monarch, Reagan would have been terrific. On the policy front, taxes were cut, and the budget increased. The national debt went over a trillion dollars, which was seen as a horrible moment. (The annual budget deficit is now over a trillion dollars.)
When Mr. Reagan’s two terms were over, George H.W. Bush took over. This was an era where the Democrats could not do anything right on a national level. Bush presided over a war, and brought the troops home when the mission was over. His image never appealed, and the whiners were not pleased. A computer salesman named Ross Perot decided to run as a third party candidate.
In the winter of 1992, PG had a little job downtown. One day, there was a rally at the CNN center for a little known Presidential candidate. PG went, and said to a friend, If this guy gets elected, you are going to regret not going to see him. At the time, War Winner Bush seemed unbeatable, and PG said that with high sarcasm.
When he got to CNN center, it was obvious that a big money event was unfolding. The place was packed, with school children bussed in to fill all the seats. Finally, the speakers blared “Twist and Shout” at top volume, and Bill Clinton walked on the stage. PG was not especially impressed.
Clinton inspired toxic hatred, but managed to keep the boat floating. He won reelection, with the Republicans seeming to self destruct. The economy was going good, the budget was balanced, and the haters went wild. After a entertaining sex scandal, the Clinton years were over.
A couple of weeks before the 2000 election, PG liked neither candidate, and did not think it made much difference. (With Georgia’s electoral votes certain to go Republican, PG did not have a vote.) He listened to someone talking, who thought that it was important that Gore won. PG remembered that conversation often during the next eight years.
George W. Bush was a disaster. It is possible that 911 was a personal vendetta against the Bush family, and would not have happened if Gore was President. The reaction of Bush to this tragedy was to start two wars that we have not been able to finish.
Finally, we have Barack Obama, the first dark skinned President. He has continued the war happy ways of the Bush regime. BHO will probably be reelected in 2012, and given four more years to wage war. Pictures for this feature are from the The Library of Congress.
Another Roadside Attraction Part One
The idea was to read the book, sit down at the machine, and have the text flow effortlessly out. That was five weeks ago, when the library copy of Another Roadside Attraction arrived. Now the book is due back in six days. The bookmark … a library handout about taking the GED … is in front of page 163. Marx Marvelous is having his job interview with Amanda Ziller. The body of Jesus has not appeared, although second time readers know it will.
One place to start is with an internet comment. “… For you see, I have discovered something terrible: Tom Robbins has almost no re-read value. Seriously. It is almost nonexistent. … The man really does have a gift. But that gift is a one term president. It just doesnt have what it takes to be re-elected.”
The fine print page in ARA says “Copyright © by Thomas E. Robbins.” It was written during the Richard Nixon administration. Tricky Dick won a thumping re-election in 1972, but resigned under pressure in 1974. PG first read ARA in 1978, or maybe 1977, when Jimmy Carter was POTUS. Smiling Jimmy did not play the game well, and was sent back to the peanut farm by Ronald Reagan. This led to Daddy Bush, Slick Willie, Idiot son Bush, and the current occupant.
TER novels hold up well to second helpings. PG has redone Cowgirls and Woodpecker, the books that made TER a star. (Bad rhyme alert) There is the fun of seeing bits of verbal derring do that you remember from the first go round. If you are looking for plot subtleties to show up, good luck.
ARA has a different feel from the novels that followed. It was the first TER book that PG read, not knowing what would happen in the next 38 years. There is an optimism to ARA… Marx Marvelous is currently predicting the rise of a new religion, to replace obsolete Christianism. Oh, if only. Christianism is, at the core, a marketing scheme. It has adapted to the changing realities of the past four decayed decades. Jesus worship is a day glo mall of ideologies, with something for everyone. The salvation centerpiece at the heart of the bonanza reamains eternal and unchanging. If the product sells, then trust the marketplace.
Another fun idea is to fact check. TER likes to throw “facts” out at rapid speed. One such incident is on page 82. Amanda is discussing some of her ideas for the roadside zoo. (Baby Thor is nowhere to be seen, and is possibly being raised by Mon Cul the baboon.) JPZ is barely listening, being occupied by rubbing his pecker against her belly. Amanda will not quit talking insect trivia. JPZ counters her by saying that bald eagles have bad breath. Before long, JPZ is one twelth of a fathom into Amanda.
With the internet, and too much free time, we can fact check this claim. The first result for “Do bald eagles have bad breath” is a facebook event, “Ranger Talk – Do Bald Eagles Really Have Bad Breath? · Hosted by The San Gorgonio Wilderness Association.” The next result is a 1997 style web page full of Bald Eagle Characteristics. While the halitosis issue is not settled for sure, it sure does sound likely. Since few of us are going to be within range of a bald eagle mouth, this will have to do.
“Q. Do bald eagles have the same digestive system as humans? A. Now there’s an interesting question! The answer is, no. … part of their stomach has turned into a gizzard, which we don’t have, in which food is ground down to a fine consistency to permit rapid digestion. In eagles, this is also the place where pellets are formed. These are masses of material from prey that cannot be digested, such as fur, feathers, and occasionally bone, that then travel backwards from the gizzard up to the mouth and are cast (like vomited) out the mouth. … Another major difference is that eagles (and other birds) have something called a crop, in the upper alimentary track (esophagus) where food can be stored for days.This is extremely beneficial to eagles…”
The first chapter of ARA has relatively little action. The verbal wizardry that TER is known for is not on display. The first chapter is where we meet Amanda, and see her wedding to JPZ. Plucky Purcell, who is possibly the real life stand in for TER, makes an appearance. Amanda says a lot of things, which are either charming or irritating, depending on the reader.
One way to crunch the verbiage is taking notes. Whenever the reader sees something noteworthy, he writes down the page. (The reader here is PG. Masculine pronouns will be used. There is enough confusion already without gender neutral designations for third person humanity.) The book serving this project is “Bantam trade paperback reissue / May 2003 … ISBN 0-553-34948-1.”
Plucky Purcell made his living selling dope and facilitating abortions. In 1971, this was a dodgy enterprise. Baby killing was not yet legal, and the political squalling not yet begun. (College freshman PG attended a lecture about abortion.) On page 66, it is said “His fees are more than fair: he seeks to make a living, not a killing.” Get your irony fix on page 66.
Page 67 has a spelling mistake…Babylonain is not a real word. Both page 70, and page 98 feature the n-word, in all its six letter glory. On page 79, Amanda is said to smell like the leftovers at an eskimo picnic. TER evolves, and some say matures, as his novels progress. It is fun to go back to the start.
Page 114 is a quote that PG remembers from 1977. It struck PG as being very profound, a thought that would confound the cynical fuddy duddy of 2016. Here, through the miracle of internet quote copy paste is the passage. Profound, or confound? Let the reader decide. “The principal difference between the husbandryman and the historian is that the former breeds sheep or cows or such and the latter breeds (assumed) facts. The husbandryman uses his skills to enrich the future, the historian uses his to enrich the past. Both are usually up to their ankles in bullshit.”
Page 141 … the square root of two with, a similar digital inventory to page 114 … is where the synchronicity sweepstakes announces a winner. Marx Marvelous overhears Amanda Ziller ask if Roland Kirk is indeed the Count Basie orchestra in drag? Little did the fictional Lady Ziller know that PG would see a concert by Rahsaan Roland Kirk on August 9, 1974. This was the night Richard Nixon announced his resignation. Mr. Kirk, aka the modern miracle of the tenor saxophone, passed away December 5, 1977, which is roughly when PG was reading ARA for the first time. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Part two of this book report is now available.
The Lemonade Recipe
As you may have heard, Beyoncé released a new album/video collection. People are talking. Some say it is a work of genius. Piers Morgan liked the less political Beyoncé. Others say that Mr. Morgan’s caucasian opinion is not welcome.
Lemonade is seen by many as an expression of life, and death, in 2016 African America. This is reinforced by opinion pieces like Dear White People Who Write Things: Here’s How To Write About Beyonce’s Lemonade. Some wonder if Lemonade is not an attempt to cash in on some powerful emotions in African America. It is obvious that the work is corporate product, designed to make money. You can express important thoughts, and make money at the same time.
According to Beyoncé’s “creative director,” a white man named Todd Tourso, the performer took an active role in the creation of the product. “Beyoncé’ was really just the fearless leader the entire time. Throughout this process, daily she would shoot for 10 hours, then do a 2 hour show, then go to the studio until 4 or 5 in the morning, then wake up at 7am and do it again. And on top of this schedule she’s completely involved in every creative decision along the way and completely happy and excited and fun the entire time. It was just a really inspiring and contagious energy to be around.”
“According to docs obtained from Louisiana Entertainment, the estimated budget for Lemonade was $1.35 million.” That figure seems a bit low. In any event, that money had to come from somewhere. Beyoncé did not rob her piggy bank to get the production capital. Whoever put that money up is expecting a return on investment.
Another detail that comes up is the number of writers. “According to the liner notes released in the digital booklet, 72 writers collaborated to write Lemonade.” That is a bit misleading. John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin who died in 1980, got a credit for some sampled material.
72 writers is a lot of paid talent collaborating on a project. It gives support to those who say that Lemonade is corporate product. And, in keeping with the tenor of the times, Vanity Fair chimes in: “To criticize Beyoncé for collaborating in the production of her art is ignorant. It’s probably racist, too, but I’ll let the haters look into their own hearts to determine whether that’s true.”
Maybe the best thing to do is just enjoy, or ignore, Lemonade. Either way, Beyoncé is dancing all the way to the bank. Picture today are from The Library of Congress.
The Peanut Butter Meme
A facebook friend posted a meme this morning. There is a picture of a piece of bread, covered in peanut butter. There is forty point, sans serif, text pasted on the condiment. “If someone ever tells you that you’re putting too much peanut-butter on your bread, stop talking to them. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.” This is a helpful hint repost.
PG dabbles in graphics. When he saw the meme, the first thing he saw were the words “your life” at the bottom. Six longer lines of text were stacked on top of “your life.” This creates a top heavy look. PG made a comment: “A meme is different from a peanut butter sandwich. There are too many words in this meme. If they had stopped after “negativity”, there would not be two words at the bottom by themselves. The result is a top heavy graphic. The words “in your life” do not add anything to the overall message. This is not negativity, this is editing.”
There are more issues with the peanut butter meme. This is a sacred saturday, after a long week at work. If PG wants to write snarky commentaries about a facebook picture, that should be his right. No one is making you read this. If you want to skip the text, and look at the pictures (from The Library of Congress,) go ahead. The images are from the FSA depression era collection.
We live in a selfish society. It is all about “your life.” The concept of scarce goods is not considered. What if there is only enough peanut butter (without the dash) for two regular sandwiches, or one super duper helping? Is it negativity to ask someone to share?
“If someone ever tells you … stop talking to them.” Are two people talking at the same time? Or, is one person talking, and the other listening? Maybe the meme should say stop listening to them. But, we are a self oriented culture. Listening is seen as weakness. Talking is seen as confident action. If someone says something you don’t like, don’t talk to them.
You probably weren’t listening anyway. It is all about you, and your desire to pile on the peanut butter. Maybe that is why it was important to add the words “in your life” to the text. The fact that there was not enough room does not matter. It is all about your life. If this throws the overall picture out of balance, that is too bad.
Confederate Memorial Day
Today is Confederate Memorial Day in Georgia. It is an ancient question…how to honor the soldiers from the side that lost. They were just as valiant as the Union Soldiers. Considering the shortages of the Confederate Armies, the Rebels may have been just a bit braver.
The issue of Federalism is a defining conflict of the American experience. What powers do we give the Federal Government, and what powers do we cede to the States? The Confederacy was the product of this conflict. The Confederate States were a collection of individual states, with separate armies. This is one reason why the war turned out the way it did.
This is not a defense for slavery. The “Peculiar institution” was a moral horror. The after effects of slavery affect us today. Any remembrance of the Confederacy should know that. This does not make the men who fought any less brave.
It is tough to see the War Between the States through the modern eye. It was a different time, before many of the modern conveniences that are now considered necessities. Many say that the United States were divided from the start, and the fact the union lasted as long as it did was remarkable. When a conflict becomes us against them, the “causes” become unimportant.
The War was a horror, with no pain medicine, and little that could be done for the wounded. It took the south many, many years to recover. The healing continues in many ways today. Remembering the sacrifices made by our ancestors helps.
This is a repost from CMD 2010. Pictures are from the The Library of Congress.
Watch Your Mouth
Watch your mouth! The words “f–k”, “f—–g” and “f—-n” are not allowed here. ~ “This has been going on for forty years since Jimmy Carter’s shift to the right abandoned labor unions as the core of the Democratic party.” You are 35 years old, I believe. How can you comment on things that happened when you were minus five? As for Smiling Jimmy’s “shift to the right”… I don’t remember that. ~ Asbestos anagrams into to bet ass and O best ass ~ Is this worth one of my four free visits behind the NYT paywall? ~ I once read a 10 page magazine article about tennis, written by D. F. Wallace,who studied competitive paint drying before he died ~ There is a name misspelled in the blurb. If anyone deserves an extra i in his name, it is Mr. Netanyahu ~ @Nettaaaaaaaa I am the stone that the builder refused…the promise of what’s to come. And I’mma remain a soldier till the war is won. netta@thisisthemovement.org ~ Dave wants Buster to get back to work. ~ does anyone else see a connection between @wsj and #sjw? ~ The Bernie Sanders proposal to fund free college and heatlthcare by taxing wealthy people is faulty math. ~ “I personally would love to see him as a catalyst to keep her veering left.” Donald Trump agrees with you. ~ @awwwchris “these racist Whites” might be prejudiced What if someone said “these thieving blacks”? ~ Google Derpious definition: Did you mean: DERPIEST definition DUBIOUS definition DEVIOUS definition ~ On David Bowie’s birthday this year, I ripped all his cd’s into a playlist. I was thinking about doing the same for Bob Dylan on his birthday. ~ best homeless, park ped, post office, ~ @luckybastard77 @AngryBlackLady I don’t know if people realize the racism he had to endure. First big tour opening for Rolling Stones, crowds threw shit @chamblee54 @luckybastard77 @AngryBlackLady I’m calling BS on that. Do you have any evidence of this? ~ @AmyVansant They should put Hillary on the twenty dollar bill. She hasn’t been on a Bill in years. ~ The only vote that counts is electoral votes. The Georgia electoral votes will probably go to the Republican. There is a chance of an anti-Trump backlash that would tip the state towards Hillary, but I would not bet on it. What I would bet on is that BS will not win Georgia, even if he ran on the free beer party. ~ Maybe that is how the college proposal should work. You pay for tuition and books, and the government gives you all the beer you can drink, as long as you maintain a certain GPA. ~ The President is elected by electoral votes. Georgia is all but guaranteed to go republican. You can carry on about privilege all you want, but, unless you live in a swing state, you do not have a vote. And the electoral college enables the two party duopoly to stay in power. NONE of the current candidates are calling for abolition of the electoral college. ~ You are blocked from following @luckybastard77 and viewing @luckybastard77’s Tweets. ~ Roseanne Rosannadanna was my second favorite Gilda Radner character. My favorite, Emily LaTella, had one word she liked to say, and I feel this is a good time to say it. BITCH ~ @WernerTwertzog The gap between patriotic rhetoric and reality in the U.S. is so great that it is the nation’s greatest source of alternative energy. ~ why you don’t look at your smart phone on camera. Of course, this is the show where the Vietnam war was compared to the “great recesssion.” There were 58k American deaths, and uncounted millions Vietnamese deaths. To compare this tragedy to the Bush recession is a sick joke. ~ Contrary to rumors, it appears that BS does have upper teeth. ~ B vowel T is a great formula. All five vowels can be inserted into that spot, and make usable words. bat, bet, bit, bot, but ~ scurrilous, opprobrious, obscene, or profane language; given to abusive or filthy speech.” ~ The structural, energetic and electronic properties of chiral (n, m) (3⩽n⩽6, n/2⩽m⩽n) single-wall copper nanotubes (CuNTs) have been investigated by using projector-augmented wave method based on density-functional theory. ~ when your idea of #socialjustice is to call your neighbor #racist then you choose the side of the oppressor ~ Your Candidate in a Word ~ Science proves that people who correct typos and grammar are usually jerks ~ emoji science ~ Admitting that white privilege helps you is really just congratulating yourself ~ stay woke ~ woke badge ~ Only 3% Of Americans Can Pass This American History Test ~ The word “cisgender” is anti-trans ~ am i a racist quiz ~ stupid ~ nonsense ~ The smug style in American liberalism ~ “Beautiful Losers” ~ Just for fun, take a photo of whatever is in front of you right now and post it in the comments: ~ Violent protests shut down Stone Mountain attractions ~ ‘Pro-white’ rally prompts protests and arrests at Confederate monument ~ The ~ Wordnik’s Most Favorited Words (So Far) ~ Pictures this week are from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
Anesthetic Sensibility
@MrChurchGuy Today is National Sibling Day. No it isn’t Yes it is No it isn’t Yes it is No it isn’t Dad! Tell him it’s Sibling Day! Sure, whatever dear. ~ I do that for my blog, and publish the list every monday. ~ @sesquiotic I’m not an anti-authoritarian, though I may seem like one. I’m just anti anyone’s authority other than my own. @chamblee54 authoritarianism is a poorly understood personality factor many who think they are anti a merely use a different authority @sesquiotic I remember years ago there was a slogan, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” I just didn’t want to do any of those things. @chamblee54 that sort of Independence is a luxury that many cannot afford @sesquiotic Indeed. I sweat privilege. @chamblee54 maybe instead of check your privilege, you should dry it off ~ Millard Fillmore 1- Best initials of US Presidents. MF had no middle name. 2- Namesake of Rock and Roll Palace. 3- Only Vice President to ascend to Presidency without the zero factor. 4- Signed Fugitive Slave Act, which was going to offend people either way. 5- Punchline for Johnny Carson jokes. 6- Queen Victoria said MF was most handsome man she ever saw. 7- Last Whig Party person to be President. 8- Started first library in White House. 9- First President, former or serving, to visit Atlanta GA ~ @WernerTwertzog When a tree falls in the forest, it does, of course, make a sound, because, you need to realize, it is not all about you. @chamblee54 If a tree falls in an empty forest, does the chain saw make a sound? ~ @nihilist_arbys Every 8 ball is a magic 8 ball if you have keys and you’re in the stall in an Arbys restroom. Enjoy Arbys. Your appetite is probably gone. @querulus Spaghetti. It’s kind of like bread but kind of like worms and the sauce is made from the fruit of a poisonous plant. ~ @WernerTwertzog I stopped shouting “FUBAR” at my actors in late 70s, when someone explained what it meant in American. I thought it meant “excellent!” ~ He says to talk more. There is plenty of talk already. People need to listen more. ~ @cher TRUMP’S SO DISGUSTING,NO WORDS DESCRIBE HIM ‼️MAYBE VISUALS‼️Hair In Soup,Gum Disease,kkk, Maggots,SeaWorld,Pus,Fraking,Vomit,Child Hunger ~ The title does not fit the product. The “scientific way to train” is crowded into the last three paragraphs, and basically comes down to “be an ally”. Most of the article was regurgitation of every race piece written by a self loathing sjw. ~ @byyourlogic ~ There is very little practical methods for “training white people how not to be racist.” Instead, you have nonsense like this: “As the longtime racial majority in the US, white people experience little, if any, race-based stress. When it is experienced, it’s usually only temporary, superficial, and/or by choice.” ~ KimKierkegaardashian @KimKierkegaard Bronze is so pretty & def one of my favorite tones. Its dull gleam reminds us to rejoice even while we suffer. ~ @DailyRobbins …An aesthetic sensibility is both more authentic and more commendable than a political or religious one. @chamblee54 an anesthetic sensibility. artificially induced and temporary, is an antidote to politic, religion, scalpel happy surgeons ~ This reminds me of that internet group “Never had sex with a goat” I once joined. It was really dull but I thought that quitting would seem suspicious. ~ Politicians have been accurately referred to as whores for a long time. They accept legal bribes, under the guise of campaign contributions, in exchange for services rendered. Sex workers have good reason to be offended by the comparison. ~ User opted out of platform: The action attempted is disallowed, because the user has opted out of Facebook platform. ~ Facebook has suggested, “based on posts you commented on,” that I search for Anderson Cooper. The last comment I made was in a discussion of Presidential candidate penis size. “Hillary’s is the biggest of all.” ~ This is from a current TED talk. The speaker is the copy editor, aka comma queen at the New Yorker. She was talking about singular their. Finally, there was a sticky grammar and usage issue in which the pronoun has to have the same grammatical number as its antecedent. “Their” is plural and “everyone,” its antecedent, is singular. You would never say, “Everyone were there.” Everyone was there. Everyone is here. But people say things like, “Everyone held their breath” all the time. To give it legitimacy, copy editors call it “the singular ‘their,'” as if calling it singular makes it no longer plural. It is my job when I see it in print to do my best to eliminate it. I couldn’t make it, “Everyone held her breath,” or “Everyone held his breath,” or “Everyone held his or her breath.” Whatever I suggested had to blend in. I asked, through the editor, if the author would consider changing it to “All in the vicinity held their breath,” because “all” is plural. Nope. I tried again: “All those present held their breath?” I thought this sounded vaguely judicial. But the editor pointed out that we could not have “present” and “presence” in the same sentence. When the final proof came back, the author had accepted “as” for “like,” and “miked” for “mic’ed.” But on “Everyone held their breath,” he stood his ground. Two out of three isn’t bad. ~ Bitch Ass Bullshit @foofoofag Mexican Intersectional Feminist. Dadi/Papi. Gendervoid Cyborgkin Demiqueer. ~ Ling Ling quit playing with your food ~ 1- @InNogodWeTrust @chescaleigh can dish it out but she cannot take it This is the last tweet I sent her before I got blocked. 2 – @InNogodWeTrust when you say the n-word you demean yourself it is in your best interest not to use it ~ @joshuafoust I dunno. I think Bernie Sanders would come off better if he smiled more and wasn’t so shrill. And didn’t seem to ruthless and ambitious. @chamblee54 BS comes across as a 66.6% jerk of course, this is compared to HRC , DJT, REC, who are off the scale ~ I got 90. This means I am good at guessing the correct multiple choice option. ~ Lilburn Wal-Mart worker killed trying to stop suspected shoplifter ~ Walmart Security Officer Shot and Killed in Lilburn ~ The scientific way to train white people to stop being racist ~ America has locked up so many black people it has warped our sense of reality ~ your objection is duly noted ~ THE WORST PART OF BUZZFEED’S SHOCKINGLY SELF-LOATHING “27 QUESTIONS BLACK PEOPLE HAVE FOR BLACK PEOPLE” ~ Answer 27 questions ~ tennis ~ sjw list ~ QUIZ: Can You Pass Literature 101? ~ Adolph Reed: Identity Politics Is Neoliberalism ~ From Jenner to Dolezal: One Trans Good, the Other Not So Much ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
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