The Deadliest Interstate In America
Someone has put together an internet feature, The 10 deadliest interstates in America, mapped. To the surprise of nobody, either ITP or OTP, the winner is I-285. “Stretching a little under 75 miles in Georgia, I-285 had 26 fatal accidents in 2013.” Actually, the Perimeter Highway runs 62 miles, so the margin of victory may be even greater.
The study was based on fatal accidents in 2013. 32,719 people met their maker in automobile accidents that year. The majority was on surface roads. For the sake of handy analysis, Interstates were chosen for this study. The rankings were based on the number of accidents per mile. Most of the roads in the top ten were “beltways” and spur roads. I-4 in Florida is the only state wide freeway to make the honor roll. The report is based on information from Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS.) Statistic geeks should exercise caution when accessing this site.
Here is the top ten. 1. I-285, Georgia, 2. I-710, California, 3. I-240, Oklahoma, 4. I-495, Delaware, 5. I-240, Tennessee, 6. I-295, Florida, 7. I-410, Texas, 8. I-610, Texas, 9. I-4, Florida, 10. I-215, California. Texas, California, and Florida were the three bloodiest states.
There is a graphic, showing where the I-285 accidents occurred. Some hot spots include the areas around I-20 west, Hwy 400, and Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Despite the bad reputation of Cobb County drivers, relatively few fatal Perimeter accidents occurred in the Big Chicken county.
The award winning performance by I-285 comes as little surprise to many in the metro area. It was originally intended to be a low traffic bypass for people going to Florida. As the metro area has grown, the Perimeter highway has become a heavily used thoroughfare. Interstate trucks are required to use the Perimeter when they go through the area. Several of the interchanges have been upgraded, with the infamous Spaghetti Junction taking a prize. You are known to be taking your life in your hands when you travel on I-285. However, it is essentially the only way to navigate many journeys.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
#OP_KKK Part Two
The “official” data dump on the KKK has hit the ether. Anonymous promised the material at 10 am CST Thursday. It was five and one half hours late, which led to speculation that @Operation_KKK’s #OpKKK Exposed: ‘Anonymous’ was Geraldo the Whole Time!.
In any event, it is here, and less sensational than the widely discredited politician breakdown earlier this week. There are some who still believe that the earlier data dump was real. Some people are very gullible when it comes to fighting racism. Anonymous does not help by including a famous grand dragon, Calvin Craig, who died in 1998. Louisiana celebrity David Duke is also on the list.
The information on the list seems to have been collected through common sense browsing. Many of the facebook peeps shown seem to be proud of being idiots. Others outed themselves in chat rooms and forums. As the report says, “You never know who you are talking to on the internet”.
PG has been clicking on some of the facebook pages. Some of them are amusing. Here are a few highlights. This digest will continue until it gets too long, which probably won’t take too long. (One hour later) This is not that much fun. The names are in alphabetical first name order. After going through the J names, these are the only text items. There are dozens of memes, many of which feature stars and bars, Jesus, Obama, expressions of white pride, and paranoia. It can be discouraging. If you want to look for yourself, there is a link above to the report.
woman Baby I love this picture of you you’re so sexy… man Lmwao woman Not funny!! And before you ask… No baby I have not smoked crack today! Lmmfao *wink emoticon* man Crack head. woman I am not!! man Lmwao
Arianna Wolfe I try to give some ppl the benefit of a doubt when I accept friend requests….. but when I look at what your about I see a lot of men are not true aryan but just womanizing druggies or drunks that act so much like our enemy’s that all that separates you from them is skin color
Chase N Graceland (from report) Buford Forest AKA Don Hall AKA Chase N Graceland East Coast Knights Elvis Impersonator (lulz) Says he does not have enough money to pay his klan dues so he is not a member (In the klan, you pay up or youre not a member) However, he may be a member of Confederate White Knights (out of Maryland) Interesting Fact: 3 or 4 different Elvis impersonators have tried to join the klan. Creepy.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Are My Attitudes About Race Any Of Your Business?
PG was living his life when see saw something on facebook: “And another thing: if you are going to claim NOT to be racist, I feel like you should familiarize yourself with some contemporary writings and definitions of racism, not just what Mirriam Webster says.” The first reaction was to ignore this. If you reply to a comment about racism on facebook, you are asking for trouble. Life is too short to be wasting time on such unpleasantness.
But the thought engine had been kickstarted, and continued to idle in the background. When PG pulled into the Kroger parking lot, the idea hit full force. Maybe whether you are, or are not, a racist, is no one else’s business.
Some people say that a PWOC is not affected by racism. If this is the case, then why should the racial attitudes of a PWOC affect another PWOC? If a person treats you fairly, do you really need to know this person’s attitudes about race?
The fbf ex-fbf does not say what the context of this claim is. Did anyone ask you whether or not you were a racist? If not, are you assuming that they are interested? Maybe someone assumed the listener was interested. Maybe the proper response to look bored, and say TMI.
PG was filling out a profile once, and was using some questioned borrowed from another blog profile. One of the questions was, are you a racist? “It depends on who is doing the judging”.
The comment mentioned “contemporary writings and definitions of racism”. Who are the people who set themselves up as arbiters about what we should think about race? What are the qualifications? Who asked them what they thought? How do we know that these people are dependable?.
Maybe the answer is to show compassion and kindness to your neighbor, and don’t judge them about their racial attitudes. If you are proud of your racial attitudes, please refrain from boasting. Not everyone is interested. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
#OPKKK
PG was minding his business when he stumbled onto a tweet. @neonflag This number on Anonymous’ KKK data dump jumped out at me: 770-499-4633. That’s the Cobb County Sheriff. #gapol. While the Cobb County Sheriff is not beyond suspicion, it seemed odd to think of a government office as being a KKK member.
There had been rumors. Anonymous was going to release the names of KKK members. The people wearing Guy Fawkes masks were going to expose the people wearing bedsheet hoods. Twitter nation was abuzz with excitement…lets expose the racists. PG was concerned about collateral damage, about innocent people being dragged into the mess. And now it was happening.
They’re publishing their data there. In addition to the phone numbers, there were email addresses, many with .ru addresses. There was also a list of politicians. There were lurid articles, like Racists Panic As Anonymous Starts Releasing Details Of KKK Members.
Included on this list was Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson. A conservative Republican that many would not want to defend, Sen. Isakson had been in real estate before he ran for election. This is an image conscious business, that would not lend itself to bedsheet wearing. Nonetheless, facebook was soon crowded with people calling for the resignation of Senator Isakson.
Before long, common sense began to creep in. If You Really Think Four Republican Senators Are in the KKK, You’re a Fool. Relax: #OpKKK Did Not Release Info Linking Elected Officials To The KKK. One division of the hydra headed anonymous tried to back away from another. @Operation_KKK
This account has NOT YET released any information. We believe in due diligence and will NOT recklessly involve innocent individuals #OpKKK .
Several questions remain. How will we know who to believe? Was the preliminary *data dump* a false flag operation, designed to damage anonymous credibility? Why are they worried about the KKK? Is genuine evil flourishing while America chases bedsheets?
Despite it’s fierce reputation as a “racist terrorist” organization, the KKK is in bad shape. It has less credibility than the Westboro Baptist Church. The custom of wearing bedsheets makes them the easy target for jokes. The Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center say the membership of the KKK is dwindling.
A good argument could be made that anonymous publicity is helping the KKK. It makes bedsheets look dangerous. While the three digital stooges of anonymous/facebook/twitter are focused on bedsheets, more dangerous white (and other color) hate groups are operating in darkness. With people fascinated with who is under the bedsheets, people that can do damage are buying ammunition, and buying elections. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Frank Zappa Says
Recently, the world of flaky internet quotes has discovered Frank Zappa. The “sexually incontinent rock innovator” died December 4, 1993. (His wife Gail passed away October 7, 2025.) Recently, some alleged quotes have hit the ether. Some people need to get out more.
This item was recently featured in chamblee54. @SlavojTweezek “”Communism doesn’t work,” Frank Zappa said, “because people like to own stuff.” Idiot. What do people’s likes have to do with communism?” This quote is plausible. Frank Zappa was a capitalist. He liked owning stuff, especially his own music. It should be easy to find a source. However, the best google can come up with is a compilation, “Quotes of Zappa,” in W. C. Privy’s Original Bathroom Companion.”
This morning, facebook had a meme. It had a picture of FZ, with the quote “Politics is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.” In the time that it takes to say Camarillo Brillo, Mr. Google turned up a reddit commentary.
“While the quote is frequently listed as, ““Government is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex,” I could find no primary source. It appears to contradict the actual quote from a 1987 interview with Keyboard magazine where he is decidedly pro-government but anti-bullshit politics.” (FZ did say “art in the service of politics usually makes for boring art.” Why do people make up quotes for memes, when the real thing is better?)
Speculating what a dead man would say is a tricky business. FZ was known for strong opinions, and a finely tuned BS detector. (That is bovine excrement, not Bernie Sanders.) FZ died while the internet was just getting started, and years before some of today’s permutations and perversions. It is easy to imagine FZ making rude comments about people misquoting dead guitar heros.
Speaking of politics and cynical guitar cadavers, the current poster boi for trendy privilege is Bernie Sanders. If you “feel the Bern,” you might want to skip over the rest of this post, and look at the pictures. (These pictures are from The Library of Congress.) While BS is arguably less evil than Hitlery, he still leaves a great deal to be desired. BS is making extravagant promises that he will be totally unable to keep. BS is taking the concept of telling people what they want to hear to new depths. Yes, this is part of what FZ meant when saying rude things about politicians.
Today, PG saw a fundraising appeal for BS. Against his better judgment, PG made the comment “Bernie $anders.” The fun started almost immediately.
This campaign is for monthly recurring contributions. And Luther, campaigning requires money. The alternative to grassroots support is a country run by wealthy interests. Which would you prefer? ~ I realize that campaigning for political office requires money. My comment was a bit of recreational $nark. B$ can take a joke. … “The alternative to grassroots support is a country run by wealthy interests.” I am not sure about that comparison. Hitlery can make more in one corporate blowjob than BS can in a month of grass roots support. BHO did not get a billion dollars for his reelection from five dollar contributions. While the concept of grassroots support is uplifting, the sordid reality is that we live in a bribe-ocracy. ~ Your cynicism is less than accurate and certainly less than appealing. ~ Luther, just don’t vote and stay out of discussions about voting. OK?
Brookhaven Mayoral Election
Once upon a time, Brookhaven was a neighborhood, just east of the Atlanta city limits on Peachtree Road. There was a man named Bobby, who would stand at the corner of Peachtree and Dresden watching the traffic. Bobby didn’t say very much. Some say Bobby was “challenged’, while others said he was a dinged out Nam vet. Bobby, a big, big man, was called “the Mayor of Brookhaven.” No one seems to know what happened to Bobby.
Years later, the City of Brookhaven was created. The first Mayor was J. Max Davis, another big, big man. After a while in office, Mr. Davis resigned so he could run for the state legislature. There were some amusing rumors about sexual misconduct, involving a can of Lysol.
In a few days, Brookhaven voters will elect a new Mayor. PG took a telephone poll about the election, which mentioned two candidates. PG had been under the impression that three people were running for the office. The thought of a runoff was appalling. PG asked Mr. Google for help.
The confirming article said Williams drops out of Brookhaven Mayor’s race. Acting Mayor Rebecca Chase Williams had dropped out of the race. It seems as though her husband, former fishwrapper columnist Dick Williams, had taken a bad fall. He was facing a lengthy recuperation, and his wife decided to get out of politics to help. The remaining candidates were “attorney John Ernst and competitive eater Dale Boone.”
Competitive eater? For someone to replace Bobby and J. Max, a professional eater might work. Mr. Boone clarifies the matter a bit. “I’m not a competitive eater. I’m the defending world champion. There’s a huge difference. I’m the top one,” the 49-year-old Boone said. (For you aficionados, Boone says his top ranking comes through the World League of Competitive Eating, not the International Federation of Competitive Eating.) ”
PG first heard of Dale Boone when he saw campaign signs on Briarcliff Road. This is south of I 85, and outside the Brookhaven city limits. According to a recent financial report, Mr. Boone has spent $624.68, after raising $3,880. “Boone had a handful of donors, including some restaurant ownership groups. His campaign also reports more than $5,000 in debt.”
John Ernst, who will probably win, is running a conventional campaign. There are the glossy mailouts, with pictures of adorable children. Mr. Ernst promises to clean up Brookhaven city government. presumably without using Lysol. Taxes will be cut, and trust in government restored created. The acheive this goal. Mr. Ernst has raised $55,918.28, and spent $22,616.64. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
A Trillion Dollars
This is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress. The full text of one section is available, and has amusing stories about Richard Nixon and Antonin Scalia. This feature is about the national debt. When BHO took office, the annual federal budget deficit was over a trillion dollars. According to this source, the annual deficit is now $439 billion. This is more than the total national debt that the late Everett Dirkson was losing sleep over in the sixties. Nonetheless, it is considerably less than the deficit when BHO took office. BHO, bless his drone firing heart, is given credit for reducing the deficit more than any POTUS in history.
… The last quote is from another POTUS who is no longer with us, Ronald Reagan. “I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.” Mr. Reagan was a professional actor, and he knew the value of a good script.
This slogan is another one that Mr. Obama may find handy. It should be noted that it was a big deal when the national debt (the grand total of the deficits) went over a trillion dollars. This was during the first term of Mr. Reagan. Today, under Mr. Obama, the annual deficit is over a trillion dollars. Sooner or later, you are talking about real money.
PG suffered brain damage trying to find out more about the quote from Mr. Reagan. He went through six pages of google. There must be 25 sites which have lists of quotes from Mr. Reagan, and all of them feature this quote. None have an actual source.
What was the context? When did he first say it? One site says it was “(during the latter years of his administration)”. Another site says it was “Said often during his presidency, 1981-1989”. Maybe this is an urban legend. As Mr. Reagan said, don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
Those of a certain age remember Everett Dirksen. A Republican Senator from Illinois, he was blessed with an operatic voice, and cursed with a face that could stop a clock. He is credited (or blamed) for the quote ” A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.” The Dirksen Congressional Center can neither confirm nor deny if he really said that. The discussion of this reputed quote does turn up a passage, that is germane to today’s conversation.
“One time in the House of Representatives [a colleague] told me a story about a proposition that a teacher put to a boy. He said, ‘Johnny, a cat fell in a well 100 feet deep. Suppose that cat climbed up 1 foot and then fell back 2 feet. How long would it take the cat to get out of the well?’
“Johnny worked assiduously with his slate and slate pencil for quite a while, and then when the teacher came down and said, ‘How are you getting along?’ Johnny said, ‘Teacher, if you give me another slate and a couple of slate pencils, I am pretty sure that in the next 30 minutes I can land that cat in hell. If some people get any cheer out of a $328 billion debt ceiling, I do not find much to cheer about concerning it.” [Congressional Record, June 16, 1965, p. 13884].
Senator Dirksen went to the fundraising dinner in the sky September 7, 1969. Twelve years later, the Reagan revolution was getting started. Taxes were cut, and spending increased. In a couple of years, the national debt went over a trillion dollars. (The annual budget deficit is now over a trillion dollars.) For those new to the game, a trillion is a billion, multiplied by a thousand. For all the numbers above, multiply by a thousand, to get a trillion.
In 1965, Senator Dirksen was losing sleep, over raising the national debt to $328 billion. The current national debt is estimated at $16,964,687,666,420. This is 5171% of 328 billion.
In 1965, the national debt was $328 billion, and we were losing 100 men every week in Vietnam. One of the more expensive things the government does is fight wars. Currently we are officially killing people in Afghanistan, and several more countries that no one knows about (nudge wink).
On September 11, 2001, The United States was attacked. Revenge was the order of the day. There are now indications that this was one of the goals of Al Queda. The Soviet Union imploded, in large part, because of the strain of fighting a war in Afghanistan. Now, the United States is waist deep in the same big muddy. Whoever is elected in 2016 will have to deal with this matter.
Afghanistan has a gross national product of $27 billion. The Congressional Research Service estimates the cost of American operations in Afghanistan for 2011 to be $119 billion. This is over four times the gross national product of Afghanistan. Pretty soon, you are talking about real money.
G-d Is In The Details
As the reader(s) of this blog might know, PG listens to “stuff” on the internet while working on pictures. One of the favorites is 99% Invisible, or 99pi. It is a quirky little show. The content is mostly about design, which is supposed to be 99 percent invisible.
The quote is allegedly by Buckminister Fuller, but google does not show a source. PG sent this tweet. “@romanmars When/where did B. Fuller say that design was 99% invisible? I am looking for a source, and google is not helping.” Mr. Mars is the voice of 99pi, and the father of their star advertising voice over. (The notoriously unreliable brainyquote quotes RBF thusly: “Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invisible and untouchable.” G-d is in the details.)
99pi comes out roughly once a week, and PG faithfully downloads every one. With all the other listening options, some shows pile up. Today, while putting the final touches on a poem, PG listened to episodes 181, 182, 183, and 184.
Milk Carton Kids is about the custom of posting pictures of missing children on milk cartons. The meme much more successful at raising conciousness than it was at finding children.
Bonnie Lohman was an exception. Her stepfather took her shopping, and Bonnie saw her picture on a milk carton. The stepfather bought the milk, cut out the picture, and gave it to Bonnie. Somehow, a neighbor saw it, and the jig was up.
A Sweet Surprise Awaits You is about fortune cookies. This was a minor Japanese custom, which became a fixture at American style Chinese restaurants. The story starts off March 30, 2005. (On April 1, 2005, PG was laid off by Redo Blue after 24 years of service.) Fortune cookies had a number on them that day. The number was the second prize winner in the Powerball lottery.
Dead Letter Office is about the Mail Recovery Center, where long lost packages at the Post Office are auctioned off. The MRC is out by Six Flags, also known to local listeners as Da Hood. One lady bought a box of dishes, with a fine white powder on them. An urn in the box was broken. The ashes of the previous owner were scattered on the plates and saucers.
Rajneeshpuram is about a desert valley in Oregon. It became the home of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and a few hundred of his friends. BSR intended to create a profitable utopia. It did not work out well. The ranch is now owned by a Christian youth group, Young Life.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Gender Is A Flimsy Construct
An SJW heard the first line of the joke, and had a temper tantrum. ~ It sounds like such an obvious line that thousands have said it over the years, each one thinking it is original. ~ Compared to the glamor challeged Bernie and Hillary, MO’M is a greek g-d. ~ Learn the art business, know your number do the math, cross t dot i now ~ I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being. Albert Einstein Letter to Guy H. Raner Jr. (28 September 1949), from article by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1997) ~ @ApprovedNews6 Concerned Parents Claim Teenager Died of Political Correctness ~ @FilmVerity @MooseAllain So close to ‘bookkeeper’ – the only word in Eng Language with three doubles in a row. Free fact! Free fact! ~ Thousands of Facebook Profiles Went Black This Past Weekend, Here’s Why. ~ There was a memorial stone made. The stone said “Faygele Baker of Bread Giver of Head.” ~ Is this for the meaningless overall popular vote, or for the handful of swing states who will decide the election? ~ This show has three stories. The first is a gross out sex worker story, by Atlanta resident TS Madison. The third is about a failed suicide attempt. It gets TMI about the effect of taking a hundred hits of tylenol. Risk is doing a live show in Atlanta November 4. ~ The chief business of the nation, as a nation, is the setting up of heroes, mainly bogus. H.L. Mencken ~ I heard Depak Chopra on a book tour radio appearance. The host said something tacky. Mr. Chopra “That says more about you than it does me.” ~ Mr. Chopra’s response was much shorter. In a spoken context, it is less likely to be interrupted. Also, there was a station break coming up. ~ Opiates are the religion of the masses. ~ @postcrunk gender is such a flimsy construct that it needs constant defense ~ 7 Ways To Identify A Member of Hotep Twitter ~ Hari Ziyad ~ facebook ~ Letter from Billie Holiday to Tallulah Bankhead ~ Here’s What LGBT Organizations Need to Tackle Next: White Privilege ~ pictures from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
Martin O’Malley
There was a lovely comment on facebook. “Ok, I used to think it was just that I was biased, but I have since confirmed that this is an objective statement (don’t ask how, just trust me): these white boys y’all be swearing are fine are just not. It’s like the criteria for fineness in the white demographic is “does not look like a coked out naked mole rat post-mortem.” I mean, seriously. Martin O’Malley???” If you have popcorn handy, the rest of the thread is entertaining.
Since the Democratic debate, Martin O’Malley has surged ahead as the glamour dude of the current campaign. The Democratic Party, in the days of John Kennedy and Bill Clinton, used to stand for sexual performance. Now the front runners are Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. It does not take much for Mr. O’Malley to stand out.
On the Republican side, things are not much better, The Mod Squad of Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina are a plastic surgeon’s fantasy. Ted Cruz looks like a refugee from Archie comic books. Jeb Bush inspires nostalgia for his handsome brother. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio have a bit of charm, and may come out ahead in the all important looks department.
Political races are supposed to be about issues, but really they are about image and fundraising. Do they have naked pictures of Hillary in the inner sanctum of the one percent? Have the former long haired hippies gone establishment for Donald Trump? Maybe it is the standards of political grooviness that have caused the country to go off the rails. If a fuddy duddy like Martin O’Malley is seen as a hot daddy, we may be in worse shape than imagined. Pictures from The Library of Congress.
Cougar
@SlavojTweezek Philosophy aims at explicating the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence through the application of logic and bullshit. ~ “the most popular leftist pastime” is saying racist. The louder the better. Finger pointing and pearl clutching are optional. ~ The celebrity remains beautiful, while the phone turns to crap. ~ jesus wants me for a sunbeam ~ That goes for Fox News as well. The sound off/closed caption tv’s are tough to ignore if it is in you line of sight. Football is like moving wallpaper, and easier to ignore. ~ In the first chapter of “Plays Well with Others” by Allan Gurganus, someone cleans out the apartment of a man about to die. He takes the dildo collection, and puts them in a paper bag. The paper bag breaks open on the subway. ~ @MarkHarrisNYC @AlysiaAbbott Monstrous Asshole Racist Xenophobe= MARX ~ @rgay IDGAF. I like the Kardashians. – I don’t watch their shows but I will read any glossy article about them. ~ @WernerTwertzog The truth will set set you free. Just like the other forms of delusional madness. ~ Is she saying there is one chemical in that can? ~ I like BS less after seeing this video. Right now, I am thinking over a blog post, where I will go into this in more detail. BS is good at rheotoric, and telling his followers what they want to hear. The question was electability. Is BS electable? In the electoral college nightmare that is American presidential elections, does electability matter. Al Gore can tell you how much the popular vote counts. ~ Every cougar that ever lived on the planet earth @natsecHeather @dandrezner ~ It was a debate not a football game nobody won, except for viewers that saw a movie instead ~ procrastination, fear in five short syllables, good day tomorrow ~ haiku happening, equal sign five syllables, make it so easy ~ Man charged in slaying of transgender woman ~ don’t look at this ~ Can you name the 5,000 most common English words grouped by frequency? ~ full rush transcript ~ Can We Sum Up Your Life Story In Just Six Words? ~ What to Do When Someone Tells a Racist Joke ~ ‘You Talk White:’ Being Black and Articulate ~ 33 Questions White People Have For White People ~ cougar ~ come on all you big strong peeps uncle sam has got in deep she got herself in a terrible jam out there in afghanistan put down your phones and give us your loot there’s women and children to shoot ~ #Bernie supports the murder of women and children in Afghanistan “I voted to make sure that Osama bin Laden was held accountable in Afghanistan” ~ @VeryShortStory I cooked a special meal for our date, but Adele screamed when I put the fish on her plate. Apparently mermaids don’t eat their friends.~ @WernerTwertzog “It is not a significant apocalypse.” ~ @NightlyForecast We don’t understand the problem. We put all your organs back. Now they’re in even more interesting locations. Trust us. We’re professionals. ~ An SJW heard the first few words of this joke and started shouting. ~ Pictures are from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
Bernie
The facebook comment was “Get to know Bernie Sanders.” There was a video attached. It was from the debate, held on Tuesday the 13th. With the help of the rush transcript, lets see what was said.
(Moderator Anderson) COOPER: … How can any kind of socialist win a general election in the United States? (Senator Bernie) SANDERS: Well, we’re going to win because first, we’re going to explain what democratic socialism is. … I think we should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people.
AC asked BS a question. The response was to make a speech, which did not answer the question. Or maybe he did. Apparently, a democratic socialist is someone who makes nonsense speeches that fire up the base, but do nothing to solve the problem. Or maybe the plan is to compare the United States to a Scandinavian Country with as many people as Metro Atlanta. A country that does not have a 1989 mile border with a poor country.
COOPER: Denmark is a country that has a population — Denmark is a country that has a population of 5.6 million people. The question is really about electability here, and that’s what I’m trying to get at. … SANDERS: Well, first of all, let’s look at the facts. The facts that are very simple. Republicans win when there is a low voter turnout, and that is what happened last November. Sixty-three percent of the American people didn’t vote, Anderson. Eighty percent of young people didn’t vote. We are bringing out huge turnouts, and creating excitement all over this country. Democrats at the White House on down will win, when there is excitement and a large voter turnout, and that is what this campaign is doing.
Typically, the November election comes down to a handful of “swing states.” This is because the electoral college has stolen the presidential vote from the majority of Americans. If you have any questions, ask Al Gore how important it is to win the popular vote.
This was the first time PG had seen BS in a debate. It did not look good. To begin with, BS is an elderly man, who was probably ugly when he was younger. The years have not been kind to BS, or HDRC. There were three other men on the stage, but they don’t count.
BS comes across as a rather unpleasant person. He shouts a lot. BS comes across as a crusty old relative who is always right. After a while, you just want to ignore the old coot.
There were a few gems that are not getting attention. Like this, from a rant about gun control: “I believe that everybody in this country who has a mental crisis has got to get mental health counseling immediately.” Who will assign this counselor? What if the help makes the problem worse? Mental health is not an exact science. Is this going to be part of the overall government health care program, paid for “through a tax on Wall Street speculation.” This TOWSS is also going to provide tuition free college, and whatever wars the military industrial complex thinks are important.
SANDERS: “I am not a pacifist, Anderson. I supported the war in Afghanistan. I supported President Clinton’s effort to deal with ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. I support air strikes in Syria and what the president is trying to do.”
The military industrial complex is spending America into oblivion. The war in Afghanistan has helped nobody except the heroin dealers. The air war in Syria has the potential to drag America into a confrontation with Russia, while Israel sits next door eating popcorn. Is this what a “Democrat Socialist” does? Especially one know to be a supporter of Israel.
Bernie has a vision about how these utopian programs are going to happen. “…But the only way we can get things done is by having millions of people coming together. If we want free tuition at public colleges and universities, millions of young people are going to have to demand it, and give the Republicans an offer they can’t refuse. If we want to raise the minimum wage to $15 bucks an hour, workers are going to have to come together and look the Republicans in the eye, and say, “We know what’s going on. You vote against us, you are out of your job.”
Semantics were central to the entertainment. BS was going to “explain what democratic socialism is.” And a facebookker had a question about the dueling hashtags.. “do black lives matter, or do all lives matter?” Does it have to be an either-or choice? Is the hashtag employed really that important? BS was quick to say that “black lives matter,” and had a wonderful speech memorized for “the reason those words matter.” Maybe this is another matter for the Tax on Wall Street Speculation. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
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