The White Privilege Of Cows
Episode 37708 of Bloggingheads.tv features those fun loving POC professors, Glenn Loury and John McWhorter. PG enjoys their shows, even knowing that he will have to interrupt his multi tasking to make a video clip. Sure enough, at 21:29, Dr. McWhorter says the N-word. Eight and one half minutes later, Dr. Loury was talking about a column, the racial privilege of cows.
The published title was Maier ’17: The white privilege of cows. It appeared in the Brown Daily Herald, which has something to do with Brown University. The column was, to put it mildly, poorly written. It is tough to discern exactly what the young lady was trying to say. As best this slack blogger can figure out, PWOC were better at agriculture than POC. If the column didn’t have a catchy title, it might have been ignored. The world would not be affected either way.
The column seems to say that there are some differences between PWOC and POC. This goes against the prevailing orthodoxy-that-must-not-be-questioned. If you type the phrase “race is a construct” into google, you get 87.1 million results. The top choice, from the New York Times, says Race and Racial Identity Are Social Constructs. “Race is not biological. It is a social construct. There is no gene or cluster of genes common to all blacks or all whites.” This piece was written by “Angela Onwuachi-Willig, a professor of law at the University of Iowa College of Law.” AO-W is a law professor, not a geneticist.
The real fun starts in the comments. You get people with more education than intelligence, too much free time, and a capacity for rhetoric. They start posting comments, replies to these comments, and replies to the replies. The reader waits for someone to scream “JANE YOU IGNORANT SLUT!!!”
Actually, that does happen here. Albert Wesker, who will be quoted in a minute, makes at least two comments on the level of JYIS. “Your ignorance is profound, though typical of the standard brainwashed college graduate in the United States today…. I like to throw Libtard terminology right back in their faces.” Libtard is a contraction of liberal retard, and is considered politically incorrect. The spell check suggestion for Libtard is Billiard.
Albert Wesker Speaking as a biologist, it pains me to read the absurdities that ignoramuses write as if it were scientific truth. Let’s ignore whether this article said anything “offensive,” and instead focus on this: (From the editors note that precedes the column) “The column relied on the repeatedly disproven premise that race is a biological category.” First of all, any scientist will tell you that “proof” is a “no-no” word in science. There is no proof, only increasing degrees of confidence in particular ideas. Second, both of the articles in the links do not provide even ONE reference for their statements of “fact.” That’s a big red flag for any scientist. Even more importantly, neither article provides a definition of the word they claim does not exist. …
Race-deniers are very fond of stating that all people, regardless of “race” are 99.9% identical. Sounds impressive, but that figure is simply a reflection of how young the human species is. …..We know evolution can occur rapidly by observing Man’s best friend. It is not widely reported but all breeds of dog are also 99.9% identical, but I doubt even the most delusional egalitarian would claim there is no significant difference between a Chihuahua and a Great Dane.
Pictures from The Library of Congress.
World Toilet Day
World Toilet Day is celebrated November 19 this year. A billion people, mostly in third world countries, do not have access to commodes. They are forced to defecate in the open. This does not help people lead healthy lives.
An article about commodes was found in the chamblee54 archive. It is presented today for your enjoyment. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
This is a two part post. The first part is a list of 15. It is fun facts about the commode. These are borrowed from a site called Listserve. LS has lots of lists. The Chamblee 54 addendum is part two.
01 The film “Psycho” was the first movie to show a toilet flushing – the scene caused an inpouring of complaints about indecency.
02 Pomegranates studded with cloves were used as the first attempt at making toilet air-freshner.
03 Hermann Goering refused to use regulation toilet paper – instead he bought soft white handkerchiefs in bulk and used them.
04 Over $100,000 was spent on a study to determine whether most people put their toilet paper on the holder with the flap in front or behind. Three out of four people have the flap in the front.
05 King George II of Great Britain died falling off a toilet on the 25th of October 1760.
06 The average person spends three whole years of their life sitting on the toilet
07 The first toilet cubicle in a row is the least used (and consequently cleanest.)
08 An estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide do not have access to proper toilet facilities, particularly in rural areas of China and India.
09 The Roman army didn’t have toilet paper. They used a water soaked sponge on the end of a stick.
10 The toilet is flushed more times during the super bowl halftime than at any time during the year.
11 90% of pharmaceuticals taken by people are excreted through urination. Therefore our sewer systems contain heavy doses of drugs. A recent study by the EPA has found fish containing trace amounts of estrogen, cholesterol-lowering drugs, pain relievers, antibiotics, caffeine and even anti-depressants. Modern urine is expensive.
12 Lack of suitable sanitation kills approximately 1.8 million people a year, many of them children.
13 The toilet handle in a public restroom can have up to 40,000 germs per square inch.
14 While he didn’t invent the toilet, Thomas Crapper perfected the siphon flush system we use today. He was born in the village of Thorne – which is an anagram of throne.
15 In a 1992 survey, British public toilets were voted the worst in the world. Following quickly behind were Thailand, Greece, and France.
Add.1 An amusing feature of the water closet is the tendency of people to die there. Elvis comes to mind immediately. Some say he was stricken on the throne, fell off, and perished on the floor. Judy Garland is also known to have met her maker while doing number two.
Add.2 It seems that this is a real problem with older people that have constipation issues. When you are in delivery mode, and you push too hard, you can cause something called Valsalva’s maneuver. To make a long story short, all that squeezing can pinch the arteries going into the heart. This is not good for you. According to a commenter here, it is .06% of all deaths.
Seven Score And A Dozen Years Ago
A vicious battle had been fought near Gettysburg, PA. It is widely considered the turning point of “Mr. Lincoln”s War,” the moment when the Union took the upper hand. It came at a horrible price, and a cemetery was built to hold this price.
The ceremony to dedicate the cemetery was held November 19, 1863. The headline speaker was Senator Edward Everett. The President was an afterthought. After it was over, Mr. Everett reportedly told the President that he said more in two minutes than he did in two hours.
The speech by Mr. Lincoln is an American classic. Schoolchildren are forced to memorize it. There are a few legends, many of which are not true. According to The Lincoln Museum , the speech was written on White House stationary, not the back of an envelope. The train ride would have been too bumpy to write. There is also confusion about what happened to the original text that the President read from.
HT to Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Measured in pixels, the picture of George Custer is 720×666. This is a repost.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Tibetan Peach Pie Part One
There is a quote on page sixty nine of Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life, by Tom Robbins. Yes, that magic number, representing mutual oral gratification when it is not the product of twenty three skiddoo times three. The line is from a poem, “Fruits and Vegetables,” by Erica Jong. Before we get much further, maybe we should hear the line. If a woman wants to be a poet, she must dwell in the house of the tomato.
This is synchronicity in living color. Tom Robbins and Erica Jong have been two of PG’s favorite authors for thirty seven plus years. They gave readings in a converted auto dealership on Pharr Road in the early nineties. PG was at both, even if all he saw of Mr. Robbins was the author sitting down autographing books. The thought that these two confirmed heterosexuals might have performed reproductive acts sends literary gossipmongers into zipless fits. And to have this quote dropping on page 69, about a red juicy fruit/vegetable/berry… it just takes the pizza pie prize.
The humble tomato is a much written about food product . A disagreement over pronunciation provides lyrics for a hit song. It is dandy for throwing. Some say it is easy to grow. (PG has tall trees surrounding his backyard, and no luck at all with ‘maters.)
The structure of the word… to, as in direction, ma, as in mother, another two letter to… tomato has a symmetry unknown to chocolate or pineapple. The oh sound at the end makes tomato easy to rhyme. Tomato spelled backwards is otamot, which is total nonsense. Whatever it’s other virtues, tomato is neither a palindrome nor a weapon of mass destruction.
When PG saw the tomato quote, he asked Mr. Google for more information. One of the results was a page by Jason Webley. This is a musician, who used to write about oddities on his web page. Mr. Webley is currently on tour in Europe, which might not be the comfortable thing to do at this very moment. His commentary was instructional.
“The tomato does have a funny history. It, like many of the vegetables we eat is a New World plant. Somehow the Itallians made do without tomato paste until realtively recently (likewise with the Irish and their potatos.) When the plant was first discovered by Europeans in South America is was believed to be deadly (a member of the Nightshade family) but pretty. Rumor has it, the tomato was believed to be the apple of forbidden knowledge from the Garden of Eden. It was brought back to Europe purely as a decorative plant and actually made it all the way around the Mediteranean and back across the Atlantic to North America before people got up the courage to eat the thing.”
Mr. Webley is full of arcane knowledge, From him we learn: Lahnaphobia: Fear of vegetables. (spell check suggestion:Islamophobia) ~ The difference between a fruit and a vegetable: In accordance with a US Supreme Court ruling in 1893, the difference between a fruit and a vegetable is as follows: ‘Any plant or part thereof eaten during the main dish is a vegetable. If it is eaten at any other part of the meal, it is a fruit.’ ~ Have you ever noticed that the Bible is full of references to corn? Doesn’t this seem a bit unusual, considering that corn is a new world grain developed in the region now known as Guatemala and was completely unknown to Europe and the Middle East until at least 500 years ago? Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Reverse Sting
The most recent edition of Criminal podcast is Episode 30: The Agreement (11.13.2015). The show is about DANIEL EGIPCIACO # 57385054.
Danny got a call at work one day. Someone wanted to meet him in a pizza joint. The plan was to rob a drug “stash house.” A few days later, the Confidential Informant (CI) called again, and said for Danny to meet him right away. When Danny showed up for the meeting, he was arrested. The whole thing was a set up.The drugs, and the stash house, never existed. When the case came to trial, Danny was charged with conspiracy to possess 10 kilos of cocaine. This figure was the imaginary figure quoted by the CI, and had a mandatory sentence.
USA Today had a feature about this scheme, ATF uses fake drugs, big bucks to snare suspects. There are hidden camera videos from Dayton OH, Woodridge IL, and Las Vegas NV. Another story is Reverse Drug Stings: The Latest Tool For Creating Criminals In The War On Drugs. Danny Egipciaco has set up a website, RvrsStng, with “testimonials” from people caught by reverse stings.
The authorities probably have a defense for this behavior. It is hard to imagine what it is. Reverse stings do not stop the flow of drugs into the country, nor the flow of money out of the country. Reverse stings create crimes, and find use the police to find criminals to commit these crimes. Often, the CI is a convicted criminal, trying to get part of his sentence reduced by entrapping others. Most of the people imprisoned by these fake crimes are people of color.
The story of Danny Egipciaco is similar to the story of Fred Thomas. One difference was that Mr. Thomas was an old white man living in North Georgia. In the Thomas case, some old men got to talking about forming a “well regulated militia.” A CI heard about it, and got into their plans. The CI had money, and contacts. One day, the old men went to a parking lot to meet an “arms dealer”.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. They were taken in Pie Town NM, in October 1940. The photographer was Russell Lee.
Multisyllable Words
apparently BS did honeymoon in the USSR. I would mark it up to strange taste. Of course, to a fuquad like E.W. Erickson, this is a great opportunity to trash BS. It is going to be a long election. I am already tired of BS, and his obnoxious admirers, the Bernoids. He is still marginally better than Hitlery, and in a different class altogether than the repub clown car ~ Is there really a person named “Teresa Amabile”? ~ @EdDarrell American Druid priests complain about Starbucks’ removal of trees from holiday coffee cups. “Christian bigotry wins again,” they said. ~ @Smooth_Orator Every couple months the fake smart find a new multisyllable word to repeat. For a while, it was “intersectionality.” ~ @rickdee27 @Smooth_Orator @deray victim blaming has a good run. Black on black crime reigns supreme though @chamblee54 BOBC is a four word, four syllable phrase not the same as a single multisyllable word ~ @WernerTwertzog First, they came for the Nihilists, and I did nothing. That is all. ~ original story had the words that were always true_these things too shall pass away_is LOL the modern version? ~ @Smooth_Orator Fake smart = ppl ignorantly using words in an effort to make themselves look smart. Aka pseudointellectuals. E.g. “hotep niggas. ” ~ The Terre Haute Tribune-Star invites you to take a local shopping survey to help local businesses and be entered to win a $2000 cash prize ! ~ “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.” “Beyond Good and Evil”, Aphorism 146 (1886) Frederich Nietzsche ~ The twitter version: @RuPaul “Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.” Nietzsche ~ and makes lots of money for the perpetraitors. The last word was intentionally misspelled. ~ ghost mom @radtoria People who are offended when I breastfeed in public need to STFU. What I’m doing is natural and strengthens the bond between me and my dog. ~ You say that an Asian themed Katy Perry video, and one reaction to it, “crushes the idea that appropriation is harmless.” You are taking a complex issue and trying to break it down into a five minute video. This video is cultural appropriation of critical thought. ~ @FrankTheDoorman Bob Dole endorses Jeb Bush, starting rumors that Dole is still alive. ~ in NATO phonetic alphabet November is the N-word ~ to abolish war it is necessary to abolish patriotism and to abolish patriotism it is necessary first to understand that it is evil ~ @Charleeea’s Tweets are protected. Only confirmed followers have access to @Charleeea’s Tweets and complete profile. Click the “Follow” button to send a follow request. ~ This is strictly for classroom supplementary use only. The author, author’s representatives, and the publishers of this literary piece hold the individual copyright ~ SHARON_NEEDLES I’ve come to realize that anytime I’ve been critical of Lady Gaga, is because I am so very jealous of the woman. What a creator. ~ “Billy Holliday signing the blues now” I didn’t know that she knew sign language. ~ She does. It was closed caption radio silly Luther ~ What kind of doctor is this, to have closed caption radio in his waiting room? ~ btw, Miss Holliday was a JAZZ singer. She considered the blues to be old fashioned. ~ thats because vaginas come in a box ~ Nihilist Arby’s don’t you love pretending that love is anything more than a random hormonal chemical reaction & ascribing that feeling to Arbys curly fries? ~ PG thought that comic wasn’t that bad as he wore socks with sandals ~ @WernerTwertzog Nostalgia is aging without wisdom. ~ KimKierkegaardashian Retweeted @dick_nixon The idea isn’t to kill Bill and Sally. It’s doing it so you put the screws to Muslims, in hopes they’ll join the dark side. ~ “We self-corrected after the first Great Depression with better wages and unions and government spending to create jobs.” The catalyst for those things was World War II. ~ @nihilist_arbys He died doing what he loved. Struggling against a very aggressive and untreatable cancer. Please enjoy arbys ~ @WernerTwertzog I know nothing about Miley Cyrus, But one thing I do know, All of us, regardless of station, Must #twerk with death. ~ I don’t know if Woody Guthrie would appreciate that. ~ I Am NOT Black, ~ You are NOT White. ~ Meet The Mizzou Media Professor Who’s Trying To Ban Media Coverage ~ Most Christians don’t actually care about Starbucks cups. Here’s what we do know. ~ Suspect in Mizzou threats identified as Lake St. Louis teen ~ #Blackoncampus ~ OuterBoroughPrincess ~ Andrew Sullivan ~ Black Students at Cornell Protest a Pro-Black Protest Led by White Students ~ @natsecHeather @dandrezner ~ pictures are from The Library of Congress. They were originally in color, but look better in black and white. The fine print says: Scene at square dance in rural home in McIntosh County, Oklahoma, 1939 or 1940, Photographer Russell Lee ~ selah
The Burning Of Atlanta Part Two
About this time every year, there is a post about the burning of Atlanta. One of the sources is a lecture by Marc Wortman. If you have an hour to spare, this talk is worth your time. One of the stories told is the tale of Mr. Luckie.
“According to folklore, two stories abound as to how Luckie Street was named. The first is that its moniker came from one of Atlanta’s oldest families, and the other, probably closer to the truth, regales the life of Solomon “Sam” Luckie. Luckie, as it turns out, wasn’t so lucky after all. When General William Tecumseh Sherman first came marching through Atlanta in 1864, Luckie, a free Black man who made his living as a barber, was leaning against a gas lamp post in downtown talking to a group of businessmen. A burst from a cannon shell wounded him; he survived, but later died from his injuries. Folklore suggests that he may have been one of the first casualties of the assault on Atlanta during Sherman’s March to the Sea, and Luckie Street, an extension of the city’s famed Sweet Auburn Avenue, was later named in his memory.”
Marc Wortman wrote a book, The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta. The one star review, and comments to that review, are unusually detailed. Here is a selection.
“…People forget – or were never taught in school – that most Confederate soldiers descended from Revolutionary War patriots or were up-country poor sons of farmers. Many Confederate soldiers were relatively recent new arrivals to the U.S., semi-literate dirt poor immigrants from Ireland and Scotland who’d never had the chance to own even an acre of their own land in Europe. In the mix were well-educated, elite merchant business owning French Huguenot refugees of the Catholic Bourbon genocide of Protestants. These immigrants had nowhere else to go, 9 times out of 10 never owned a slave, and fought for the CSA to keep what little they’d hardscrabble carved out over a decade of arrival into the U.S.”
The War Between The States continues to be a source of controversy. After the Charleston church killings, many comments were made about the Confederate battle flag. (If you can’t talk about gun control or mental health, you talk about a symbol.) This led to discussions about the war itself. There were ritual denunciations of slavery, which was assumed to be the sole cause of the conflict. The fact that the vast majority of white southerners did not own slaves was dismissed.
The notion of autonomous states in a federal union was novel when the United States Constitution was written. The debate over federalism versus states rights continues to this day. States that want to legalize marijuana may be the next battleground. (Few are expecting secession over bong rights.) Many in the CSA saw the Union as being a conquering army, and fought to defend their homes. While slavery was certainly a factor in the creation of the CSA, it was not the only Casus belli. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The Burning Of Atlanta
Around this time 151 years ago, Atlanta was on fire. General Sherman was preparing for his March to the sea, and wanted to destroy anything of value in the city. The fire is reported as being on 11-15 of November, depending on what source you use.
The November fire was the second great fire in Atlanta that year. On September 2, the city was conquered by the Union Army. The fleeing Confederates blew up a munitions depot, and set a large part of the city on fire. This is the fire Scarlet O’Hara flees in “Gone With The Wind”.
After a series of bloody battles, the city was shelled by Yankee forces for forty days. There were many civilian casualties. General Sherman was tired of the war, angry at Atlanta, and ready for action. This is despite the fact that many in Atlanta were opposed to secession.
Click here to hear a lecture by Marc Wortman at the Atlanta History Center. Mr Wortman is the author of “The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta”. The hour of talk is fascinating. This is a repost. The pictures are from The Library of Congress
Things Go Better
PG was downloading files, and playing in the internet. He began to wonder what had happened to someone he knew thirty plus years ago. PG does this a lot. Often, the search is impeded by the inconvenience of not knowing the person’s “real” name. In this case, he had a name. The problem here was the fact that there are a lot men named Tom Thompson. PG remembered that the man used to work for Coca Cola, so that was added to the search. This is what PG found.
“On Sept. 14, 1981, farm workers in a rural area of Irvine, in Orange County, discovered in a shallow grave the body of Ginger Lorraine Fleischli … Ginger had been raped and stabbed with a knife five times in and around one ear. … Investigators linked offender Thomas Martin Thompson and crime partner David William Leitch to the murder…. Three days after her murder, Ginger’s wrapped body was found. A single-edged knife, later determined to belong to the crime partner, had been thrust at least two inches into her ear. It had severed the carotid artery, causing massive bleeding and ultimately her death. Ligature marks on her wrists and ankles indicated that she had been bound or handcuffed during the night of the murder. Ginger’s shirt and bra were cut in the front and pulled down to her elbows, completely exposing her breasts. She was not wearing any shoes, socks, or underwear. Her jeans were fully zipped but unbuttoned. A vaginal swab revealed semen consistent with Thompson’s blood type…. She (the roommate of the deceased) told investigators that “No one really knew Tom but everyone thought he was strange and weird.”…
At 11:48 p.m. July 13, 1998 – sixteen years and ten months after he raped and murdered Ginger Fleischi, Thomas Thompson was taken into San Quentin’s execution chamber. The catheter to deliver the lethal injection was inserted into his arm, and the chamber door was shut at 11:54 p.m. Media witness entered at 11:58 p.m.; the curtains were opened one minute later. The execution by lethal injection began at 12:01 a.m. July 14. Thompson was pronounced dead at 12:06 a.m.
Thompson’s last meal included: Alaskan king crab with melted butter, spinach salad, pork fried rice, Mandarin-style spare ribs, hot fudge sundae and a six-pack of Coca Cola. Warden Art Calderon read Thompson’s last statement: “For 17 years the AG has been pursuing the wrong man. In time he will come to know this. I don’t want anyone to avenge my death. Instead I want you to stop killing people. God bless.”” Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
November 11
Veteran’s Day is a bad day for a cynic. On the one hand, I do appreciate living in The United States. With all its flaws, I have had a good life here. The role that Veterans have played is to be honored. On the other hand, those who profit from wars often exploit Veterans for political mojo. Many of these people did not serve.
Veterans are often not treated well after they are through with their service. It is estimated that a quarter of the homeless are veterans. The services offered to wounded veterans returning from War are often lacking. These wounds are both physical and mental.
When I typed the second sentence, I thought of my great grandfather. He served with the Georgia State Troops in the War Between the States. I do prefer the USA to the CSA (or whatever would have happened). Yet, the Union army had to prevail over the various Confederate Armies for this to happen. Do I dishonor my great grandfather by saying I am happy the other side won?
Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day. This was the day, 90 years ago, when the War to End All Wars ended. World War I was a ghastly bloodbath, in which millions died. It created many of the problems that plague us today. And I would be willing to bet that not one person in ten thousand today knows what it was about. And yet, the men who fought in that conflict (I don’t think they had women soldiers then) deserve the same gratitude as those who fought in any other conflict.
The soldier…many of whom were drafted…doesn’t get to choose which war to fight in. The sacrifice of the World War II soldier was just as great as the Vietnam fighter, but the appreciation given was much greater. I grew up during Vietnam, and saw the national mood go from patriotic fight to dismayed resistance. By the time I was old enough to get drafted, the Paris accords had been signed. For better or worse, there went my chance.
Veterans day was originally Armistice Day. On November 11, 1918, at 11 am (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) a cease fire went into effect for “The great war”. Officials of the major armies agreed to the ceasefire at 5 am (European time). There were an estimated 11,000 casualties in the last six hours of the war.
At 11:59 am, U.S. army private Henry Gunther became the last soldier to die in World War I. “According to the Globe and Mail this is the story of the last soldier killed in WW1: On Nov.11, 1918, U.S. army private Henry Gunther stood up during a lull in the machine gun fire and charged the enemy. “The Germans stared in disbelief,” says the Daily Express. “They had been told that morning that the fighting was about to stop; in a few minutes they would stop firing and go home. So why was this American charging at them with his bayonet drawn? They shouted at him to stop and frantically tried to wave him back but… he hadn’t heard anything of the ceasefire.” A German gunner released a five-round burst and the soldier lay dead, at 10:59 a.m. In his recently published Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour, U.S. Military Historian Joseph Persico notes that Private Gunther had previously been a sergeant but was demoted after an Army censor read his letter to a friend back home, urging him to steer clear of the war at all costs. Gunther, who was in no-man’s land when the ceasefire news arrived, had been trying to prove himself worthy of his original rank.”
This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
The “Desiderata” Story
There was a poem , of unknown origin, found in a Baltimore church in 1692. It was revived by a Lawyer, who lived in Terre Haute, IN. He liked to read it his friends, and his lips were moving. The attorney , Max Ehrmann, copyrighted this poem in 1927. Another persistent rumor has it that the manuscript was in an ambulance Mr. Ehrmann was following. How the accident victim came to possess this document is a mystery.
Mr. Ehrmann ( the poet laureate of Terre Haute ) wrote in his diary “I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift — a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods”. The poem is “Desiderata”, and is a favorite of gift shops the world over.
In 1956, Rev. Frederick Kates became the rector of Old St. Paul’s Church in Baltimore, MD. He had found a copy of “Desiderata”, without the copyright notice. He printed a handout for his congregation on church stationary. At the top of the page was the notation “Old St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore A.C. 1692”. As the sixties devolved, the poem became famous.
“Desiderata” was the text of a recording made by Les Crane, who found the poem on a poster. He thought the text was in the public domain, when in fact it is copyrighted. Mr. Crane was taken to court, and forced to pay the owners of the copyright . The matter has been in court on other occasions. It seems that Mr. Ehrmann used “Desiderata” in a Christmas greeting, without citing the copyright. Later,during World War II, Ehrmann allowed a friend – Army psychiatrist Dr. Merrill Moore – to hand out more than 1,000 copies of the poem to his soldier-patients, without the copyright.
PG admits to confusion on this issue. Don’t copyrights expire, get renewed, and then expire again? If a work was written in 1927, doesn’t it go into the public domain 83 years later. The wikipedia article about copyrights is long and confusing. Remember, we are dealing with a legal concept as it relates to a poem written by a lawyer.
A site called fleurdelis says the matter depends on your point of view and place of residence. ( Shcredo says flatly that “Desiderata” is public domain. The link is no longer available. The url advises “Beware your Beliefs – They could bring Great Happiness”) ( Robinsweb tells of being forced to remove “Desiderata” from her site because of a complaint by the copyright owner.) If you want to be inspired, click on the videos embedded in this post.
In 1972, the National Lampoon produced a new translation, Deteriorata. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. These are Union Soldiers, from the War Between the States.
Ball Is Not Spelled Bwall
Don’t listen to the way people talk in that movie. Ball is not spelled bwall. ~ David Burge @iowahawkblog Karma’s janitor ~ Why does anyone care about rednecks who wear bedsheets? ~ @miragonz experimenting with drugs is a family tradition ~ Queer kitten has a nice ring. ~ @SlavojTweezek Philosophy is the only profession in which one gets paid more to make less sense. ~ I believe in you my soul, the other I am must not abase itself to you, And you must not be abased to the other. ~ KimKierkegaardashian @KimKierkegaard The heart icon seems to squirt blood when I click it. Is everyone else’s doing that? @twitter ~ My theory is that after a thousand likes, it “runs out blood” and stops squirting. ~ And your tweet goes to heaven. ~ That is 24 words. You will do good if your attacker stays quiet for 10. Bullies are not known for being good listeners. ~ ICYMI: The Fraternal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are located in Woodbury TN ~ 6 Obnoxious Phrases Everyone Says Without Realizing It Literally, It’s Like Crack!, I Would Totally Hit/Tap That, Man, That’s Gay, No Offense, Haters Gonna Hate, Addicted ~ Am I required to give a shit about where someone takes a shit? ~ There is a moment when one of the people waves a broom, and says “I’ve got the talking stick.” A lot of the comments think this was very funny. I strongly suspect that whoever wrote this sketch has never been in a heart circle. ~ The trouble is, the perimeter is the best way to get to many places. For example, to get from your house to the party tomorrow night ~ @vishnevetsky ugh tentacle porn is so gross why can’t the island nation of japan just eroticize wolves, bulls, goat-men, witches, and slavery, like europe ~ @byGeorgeJohnson @Horganism ~ The old fashion secular x-mas was fun. If you want to be religious, fine. If you want to shop, fine. If you want to eat and drink, fine. The jesus worshipers want everything to be about jeezie pooh ~ @daveblend Boycott packaged shredded cheese. Make America grate again. ~ What Will This Abstract Image Test Reveal About Your True Self? ~ war college ~ something ~ faulty quotes ~ Left but Really Right ~ The Distressed Communities Index ~ @Operation_KKK’s #OpKKK Exposed: ‘Anonymous’ was Geraldo the Whole Time! ~ What you need to know about Anonymous’s big anti-KKK operation ~ release ~ alleged ~ kkk ~ names ~ An Open Letter to the Neighbor Who Filed a Complaint against my Black Lives Matter Sign ~ MAJOR Difference Between Radical Muslims and Radical Christians Exposed… ~ don’t pay attention to that other person ~ pictures from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
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