Is Dennis Prager Dennis The Menace?
Why Are So Many Good Things Being Destroyed? is a recent offering from public nuisance Dennis Prager. It is a doozy. If you want to see the video, you can follow the link. Prager University (PU) has a transcript, and a study guide. The original concept of this post was to work with the study guide, and answer questions like “Why do you think that the Left destroyed the Boy Scouts?” Before we could get to those questions, there is an internet rumor to consider.
Did Dennis the Menace grow older, and become Dennis Prager? As some of you know, cartoonist Hank Ketcham really did have a son named Dennis. “The comic-strip Dennis was conceived … in 1950 … Alice Ketcham stormed into his studio, fuming “Your son is a menace!”
“But the years have not been as kind to Dennis, the cowlicked kid who innocently launched a cartoon empire. Now 46 (in 1993), he works as a tire retreader, living with his second wife, Janet, a part-time office cleaner, in a trailer park in Grove City, Ohio, just south of Columbus.
It is more than just geography and lifestyle, though, that distance father and son. For the past 28 years, they have barely seen each other and spoken only occasionally by phone. “I hear from Dennis about once a year, mostly when he needs money,” says Hank tersely. “I don’t want a closer relationship—nor do I want a confrontation.” “Dad can be like a stranger,” counters Dennis, who has never met his two half-siblings. …
” … Alice meanwhile … became an alcoholic. In 1959 she filed for divorce, and as her condition deteriorated, Dennis, then 12, was sent to a boarding school near Carmel. “I didn’t know what was going on,” says Dennis, “except that I felt Dad wanted me out of the way.” A few months after he left for school, his mother died from an accidental overdose of alcohol and barbiturates at the age of 41.”
“Shaken by his wife’s sudden death, Hank could not bring himself to break the news to Dennis over the phone. Nor could he even tell him in person—until shortly after Alice had been buried. “Mom had always been there when I needed her,” says Dennis. “I would have dealt with losing her a lot better had I been able to attend her funeral. …”
“…In 1966 he joined the Marines; during his subsequent year-long tour of duty in Vietnam, he says, “my grandmother and aunt sent me letters. But never Dad.” … Discharged in 1970, Dennis underwent three months of counseling for post-traumatic stress syndrome at a VA hospital and drifted through a succession of jobs—ranch hand, poultry-farm worker, prison guard.”
Meanwhile, Dennis Prager was born August 2, 1948 into an Orthodox Jewish family in New York City. Through various twists and turns, he became a radio star. Mr. Prager, known for hawkish military opinions, apparently did not serve in the United States military. This contrasts to Dennis Ketcham’s service in Vietnam. In all probability, Dennis Prager is not Dennis the Menace.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the pictures in April, 1941. Russell Lee took the facebook photograph in April 1941. “Wife of railroad worker feeding her children. Chicago, Illinois” This is a repost.
Uncle Slaughter Is Offended
It’s amazing today. Things picked up steam after my morning walk, when I stumbled on to the Houthi PC special group, aka HPCSG. They were discussing plans for the attack on Yemen. This attack on Yemen is incredibly foolish. Saudi Arabia/UAE, With American support, had a horrific war against Yemen for many years. We threw everything we could at Yemen. The thing is, their bomb launching facilities, and storage areas, are underground. The Yemeni war machine was not impacted by the slaughter going on aboveground. Yemen supports the Palestinians in their current struggle with Israel. Uncle Slaughter is offended.
Sally Struthers is on the Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast. SAS describes the experience of being in a Stage production of The Odd Couple. Her costar, who SAS referred to as whoseburger, was a famous actress that SAS hated, and refused to say her name. GGMCP was playing on my ride home one afternoon. While I was waiting on my falafel plate to be ready, I googled SAS. Whoseburger turned out to be Rita Moreno, who had her fifteen minutes in “West Side Story,” back in the black and white tv days. SAS survived both TOC and Archie Bunker.
nyc.gov has a page, health-topics/safe-bris. If you go there, you learn about Metzitzah B’peh (Direct Oral Suctioning). “When a baby is circumcised, some ritual Jewish circumcisers (mohelim) do a practice called metzitzah b’peh. Metzitzah b’peh is when the mohel uses their mouth to suck blood away from the baby’s circumcision wound as part of the circumcision ritual. After metzitzah b’peh, some babies can get an infection. … To protect the health of New York City’s infants, the Commissioner of Health has ordered mohelim identified as having infected a baby with HSV-1 through metzitzah b’peh to not perform this …”
I finally went to the gym. Once there, I did my usual routine and moved onto the cardio machine. The entertainment today is Conspiracy, the new Contrapoints entertainment. CP is basically Natalie Wynn talking about what ever comes into her estrogenated mind. NW … no middle name, this is a trans identity, with her dead name an ungoogleable mystery … CP/NW is that unique youtuber makes use of the visual elements that are available. Most youtubewhiners are mere talking heads. Natalie is the exception, with fabulous sets and costumes. CP needs to be seen, which can be …
I copied the link to Conspiracy, and the seconds count in the code said 6383s. The entertainment had been going on for 6383s, or 1:46:23. I decided it would be fun to set the counter to 6666s, or 1:51:06. This will be followed by 6 seconds of action, from a tv crime show. Four people … three of whom are alive … are in a medical setting. The nurse shows a model of a human body part. Natalie comments “The framing of a police procedural provides a legitimate context that gives us permission to indulge”
It is the end of the day. I meditate until the alarm goes off, pull my mask off, turn the music off, and get ready to call it a day. It has been a good day. I didn’t get hit over the head or arrested. I saw some of the video with Contrapoints and made a video clip … it was about some conspiratorial bilge saying that the Democrats tried to kill Donald Trump. Natalie’s comment: “Imagine the Democrats attempting something as proactive as an assassination.” Or as organized as getting Thomas Crooks an unguarded roof, 400 yards … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Marion Post Wolcott took the facebook photograph in January 1941. “Old buildings in New Orleans, Louisiana”
Conspiracist
I was listening to a show, and the host quoted Dolly Rebecca Parton. “Figure out who you are. Then do it on purpose.” I made a note on my phone, and went on with my walk. Later, I went to google for “Dolly Parton the meaning of life” Predictably, the bot said “The meaning of life lies in God, family, and music, in that order.” DRP knows her audience. She also knows a good line, and remembers it for later use. It would probably be easier to find out when she did not say a quote, than when she did.
It can be so discouraging. I see a beautiful meme, expressing a great thought, from someone that I admire. When I try to find a source, I find problems. … This meme is a miracle. It is real. In 1885, Vincent Willem van Gogh sent a letter to painter Anthon van Rappard, while he was caught up in creating “The Potato Eaters”. “A somewhat different translation of the key sentence appeared in volume three of “The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh” … “I am always doing what I can’t do yet in order to learn how to do it.”
Quote Sourcing might be the handle I have been looking for. When I see a quote … typically in a technicolor facebook meme … my instinct is to check it out. Unfortunately, memes do not lend themselves to copy/pasting text, So I have to type out the good words. I paste them into a google search, and see what happens. Quote debunking, investigation, authentication, and research have style issues. When I look into a quote, the core activity is finding a source. When you find the source, you can move on to attribution, authenticity, context and proper use.
“this place was you know founded as good trouble so you could call it the First Existentialist Congregation of good trouble ” This congregation is housed in a granite building on Candler Park Drive. As you may know, that house was built by Black people, before they were forced to move. I doubt very seriously that the original worshipers at that house would refer to their eviction as “good trouble.” What is GT to the good troublemaker is often seen by others as just plain trouble. While GT can have a positive effect, we should be careful that often GT only makes things worse.
Various high level actors in the Trump Administration were discussing military action against Yemen. The discussion was in an online venue, “Houthi PC small group.” Included in HPCSG was Jeffrey Goldberg, a journalist at “The Atlantic.” … “the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.” … NSC spokesman Brian Hughes: “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to troops or national security.”
The HPCSG story keeps getting better. On X, @michaelgwaltz is following @slim_sexy_trey aka Big Dick Bottom. A fair minded person might say, maybe this is another Michael Waltz. So you go to his site, and see his pinned post. ” @michaelgwaltz I am deeply honored President Trump is placing his trust in me to serve in his Cabinet as National Security Advisor. There is no higher calling than defending our nation’s values …” Meanwhile, @slim_sexy_trey ( Sexual Entertainment & Recreation _ Georgia USA) has not tweeted since January 6, 2025, and before that May 15, 2024. We do not know when @michaelgwaltz followed him.
In her video ”Conspiracy,” Contrapoints puts large font words on the screen. To a compulsive anagrammer like myself, this is an irresistible temptation. One is Conspiracism, anagramming into racism_cop_sin. This may be the perfect anagram for talk about conspiracies, and the authoritarianism at the heart of it. Racism_cop_sin brings three powerful elements of our culture into play: racial dysfunction, religion, police. All three are forms of authority, although few recognize the authoritarian control function that racial dysfunction serves. Police play into most conspiracy/authority scenarios, as does the Christian church. The Illuminati could not improve on this. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Marjory Collins took the facebook picture in February 1943. “New York NY Importer of Oriental and Italian foods on First Avenue at Tenth Street”
Anita Aretha and Elton
In the early nineties, I had too much free time. On March 25 of one year, he looked in the fishwrapper, and found a list of famous people with birthdays.
There was an unlikely trio celebrating that day. This would be (in order of appearance) Anita Bryant (1940), Aretha Franklin (1942), and Elton John (1947). All three have been paid for singing. The three have a total of five husbands.
Several other people have arrived on planet earth on March 25. They include, in 1911, Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (d. 1967) (They don’t say alleged when it was on live TV). 1918 produced Howard Cosell, American sports reporter (d. 1995). 1925 produced Flannery O’Connor (d. 1964). 1934 gave us Gloria Steinem. To make room for all this talent, Buck Owens died March 25, 2006. On August 16, 2018, Aretha Franklin was heaven bound, with Anita Bryant following December 16, 2024.
March 25 is after the spring equinox, and has been Easter. A few noteworthy events have gone down on this day. In 1894, Coxey’s Army departed Massillon, Ohio for Washington D.C. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 146 garment workers in New York City. In 1939 Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli becomes Pope Pius XII, to the delight of Adolph Hitler. 1955 saw the United States Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” as obscene. In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.
HT and applause to wikipedia. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Marjory Collins took the linked photograph in February 1943. “New York NY Band in an Irish-American restaurant O’Reilly’s at Third Avenue and Fifty-Fourth Street, on Saturday night.”
Brigitte Macron
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Quote Origin: Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time
I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it
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We only need to be lucky once. You need to be lucky every time. · “Today, we were unlucky. But remember, we only have to be lucky once — you have to be lucky always,” · @cianmaher0 In honour of all the jubilee stuff this week, allow me to remind you of the time old people on Facebook somehow managed to think the IRA’s warning to Margaret Thatcher after failing to assassinate her in 1984 was actually an inspirational quote attributable to Thatcher herself · I listened to your podcast. It is good to hear someone read it, while I do other things. You have a pleasant voice, and the sound quality is good. That said, the content … while true … is disheartening. We are in a world of s***. Sometimes all I can do is cry. · “how are you uh pretty good i can’t complain”@connorechols.bsky.social is following the script. · @teikokumatchco · Arthur Rothstein took the featured photograph in June 1942. “Queens NY Nursery school at the Queensbridge housing project. Drinking tomato juice” · @martyrmade Happy to be proven wrong by events, but the problem with bombing Yemen is that it’s just killing people to make ourselves feel good. KSA & UAE wrecked and starved Yemen for years, killed 100s of 1000s, to no strategic effect. We’re not going to change things with a few Tomahawks · This is frustrating. When I see an online figure being vilified, my first instinct is to see some of their content, so I can decide for myself. I had to go to some trouble to find out who @teikokumatchco was. They is just another idiot. Ignore them and they will go away · Mark 6:4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. · I haven’t seen any of the posts you refer to. I do know that there is a lot of high octane rhetoric surrounding this issue. The military industrial complex is doing very well with this conflict, no matter which side wins. Some say that all wars are about money, and that is an important factor here. What happened before the Russian invasion of 2022 cannot be changed. The second-best we can hope for know is an end to the killing. The best thing to hope for is that nuclear weapons do not get involved. · “Sorry, this user has been suspended.” Idk about you, but I am happy when they kick another bot off this site · The featured photograph was taken April 21, 1969. “Mendel College for Fabric Knowledge” Fashion show (“Mendel College for Fabric Knowledge”) · Someone made a movie about an American plastic bag that winds up in the Pacific trash vortex. The Atlanta trash vortex has locations in Midtown and L5P · There are trans rumors floating around about Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron, the wife of French president Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron . I decided to find a picture of her. One google result was an article in WWD “Brigitte Macron Favors Utilitarian Styling With Statement Belt During Uzbekistan President’s Paris Visit.” The face is inconclusive. However, the hands tell a different story. · Russell Lee took the featured photograph in October 1938. “Refreshment stand at state fair, Donaldsonville, Louisiana” · October, 1938. Princesses at the National Rice Festival, Crowley, Louisiana. There were thirty of these chosen from different communities throughout the rice section, the Queen being chosen from them. · We have no record of John Lennon saying “Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.” Today’s featured picture: “Princesses at the National Rice Festival, Crowley LA. There were thirty of these chosen from different communities throughout the rice section.” · @MaxBlumenthal · Tulsi in 2018: “It is absolutely outrageous that the United States has continued its support for years now for Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen” · Tulsi in 2025: “Trump has taken decisive action [against Yemen] for our own safety, security and prosperity” · I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it · It can be so discouraging. I see a beautiful meme, expressing a great thought, from someone that I admire. When I try to find a source, I find problems. This meme is a miracle. It is real. In 1885, Vincent Willem van Gogh sent a letter to painter Anthon van Rappard, while he was caught up in creating “The Potato Eaters”. “A somewhat different translation of the key sentence appeared in volume three of “The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh” … “I am always doing what I can’t do yet in order to learn how to do it.” He went on to say “Madness is salutary in that one becomes less exclusive.” · I saw this graphic on facebook, and investigated. The first result was from @QuoteResearch The quote is real. Vinnie said it in a letter to painter Anthon van Rappard in 1885. It can be so discouraging to find fake after fake with memes. It is wonderful to find a real one. · Quote Sourcing might be the handle I need. When I see a quote, my instinct is to check it out. Quote debunking, investigation, authentication, and research have style issues. Finding the source is the core activity. Attribution, context and proper use can follow. @QuoteResearch · This is a repost from 2023. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the featured photograph in February 1940. “Son of Pomp Hall, Negro tenant farmer, feeding his father’s mule. Creek County, Oklahoma.” · FWIW, Tema Okun, the author of the second thoughts has had second thoughts about the way her work is used. The article at The Intercept is hidden behind the message “This is not a paywall.” There is no discussion on whether paywalls are a part of WSC. · This feature begins with a tweet about NYT reporting on youth gender medicine, and quickly degenerates into a chat about White Supremacy Culture®. · White Supremacy Culture Resources · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress The featured photograph was taken July 1864, during the War Between the States. “Broadway Landing, Va. Surgeons of 4th Division, 9th Corps” · n03-046_01 031723 · Pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. Tracy O’Neal took the featured photograph in January 1951. “Peachtree Street, looking north from the Candler Building. · “this place was you know founded as good trouble so you could call it the first existentialist Congregation of good trouble” This congregation is housed in a granite building on Candler Park Drive. As you may know, that building was built by Black people, before they were forced to move. I doubt very seriously that the original worshipers at that house would refer to their eviction as “good trouble.” What is GT to the good troublemaker is often seen by others as just plain trouble. While GT can have positive effect, we should be careful that often GT only makes things worse. · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress Arthur Rothstein took the featured photograph in June 1942. “Brooklyn NY Red Hook housing project. Boys in the woodcraft class at the community center” · selah
Sin
The post below went up thirteen years ago. It deals with a publicity stunt from the Catholic church, an updated seven deadly sins. The statute of limitations may have run out on this message. The traditional “seven deadly sins” were anger, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
The site linked above has a page, the seven deadly sins of Mohandas Gandhi. The subcontinental fashion icon lists Wealth without Work, Pleasure without Conscience, Science without Humanity, Knowledge without Character, Politics without Principle, Commerce without Morality, and Worship without Sacrifice. FWIW, the word Sin means without in Spanish.
After 1,500 years the Vatican has brought the seven deadly sins up to date by adding seven new ones for the age of globalization. The list, published yesterday in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, came as the Pope deplored the “decreasing sense of sin” in today’s “secularized world” and the falling numbers of Roman Catholics going to confession. The new deadly sins include polluting, genetic engineering, being obscenely rich, drug dealing, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice. HT to Fox News. (aka the eighth deadly sin.)
One reaction is to wonder, what language was used for the list? Phrases like “obscenely rich” and “causing social injustice” can mean different things, and one wonders about the nuance behind the original expression. Now, just about all of these “sins” can merit comments. Maybe the Catholic church is thinking of moving its headquarters to hell.
polluting We can talk about something where all have sinned, or who should throw the first stone. If you ride in a car, wear synthetic fibers, through away anything, use a less than perfect sewer system (or a functioning one on a rainy day with overflows), then you have polluted.
genetic engineering Here again, there are semantics galore. Much of the food we eat is tweaked by genetic breeding. This is something Euros get twitchy about, that doesn’t concern most Americans.
being obscenely rich This is one to wonder what the original Italian said. Compared to much of the world, a 900sf house is a palace. However, compared to many of the neighbors, it is lower middle class. Perhaps the emphasis should be on greed, selfishness, and how you gain this wealth. The tenth commandment says something about coveting. It is the forgotten commandment.
drug dealing Is there a distinction between legal and illegal drugs here? If you go by the damage that substances cause, then this rule will speak to bartenders and the clerk who sells cigarettes. Not to mention the media outlets who advertise cigarettes and beer, the legislators who condone these substances while prosecuting potheads, and a whole host of others. The legally based war on drugs is a disaster in this country. Do we really need to drag the Catholic church into it?
abortion If Mary had gotten an abortion, would Christians worship a vacuum cleaner? Seriously, the Catholic Corporation has flogged this donkey, to great profit, for years. If you don’t want abortions, promote contraception and adoption. Catholics should find another gimmick.
pedophilia When you up pedophile in the dictionary, you see a picture of a Catholic priest.
causing social injustice Can we have a better translation of this? Pictures today are from The Library of Congress The featured photograph was taken July 1864, during the War Between the States. “Broadway Landing, Va. Surgeons of 4th Division, 9th Corps”
White Supremacy Culture
This is a repost from 2023. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the featured photograph in February 1940. “Son of Pomp Hall, Negro tenant farmer, feeding his father’s mule. Creek County OK.” “Really intense accusations” against journalists continue.
@jessesingal “2/ It is genuinely bizarre. In the case of journalists, they are making these really intense accusations against other journalists and they get super pissed when you ask them for specific examples.” @chamblee54 “Asking for specific examples is white supremacy culture.”@NotaNeoLiberal1 “And most certainly a trait from someone imbued with colonizer ideology.” The @chamblee54 comment got 115 likes. @dcherring “lol.”
“White Supremacy Culture is a form of racism centered upon the belief that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds and that whites should politically, economically, and socially dominate non-whites. While often associated with violence perpetrated by the KKK and other white supremacist groups, it also describes a political ideology and systemic oppression that perpetuates and maintains the social, political, historical and/or industrial white domination.” This is a typical description of WSC. It does not make a lot of sense. WSC is connected to WS, which is essentially anything that you say it is.
Most WSC talk centers this list of characteristics. It is from “Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups, by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, 2001.” There is a list of items that WSC embodies. “the belief that there is such a thing as being objective” “equating individual acts of unfairness against white people with systemic racism which daily targets people of color.”
@chamblee54 first became aware of WSC by reading about the PRX Racism Scandal. PRX is a foundation-funded organization that assists public radio endeavors. A young lady of color, Palace Shaw, quit her job at PRX, and issued a viral letter about her experience. PRX CEO Kerri Hoffman touching Palace Shaw’s hair was the first issue addressed in the viral letter. FWIW, this list of WSC characteristics does not include hair-touching.
“Everyone at PRX should know that each characteristic on the list of White Supremacy Culture Characteristics is fully expressed in the workplace … For current donors/financial supporters: How much would you be willing to increase your current pledge if PRX makes necessary changes to address its white supremacy culture?”
FWIW, Tema Okun, the author of White Supremacy Culture Resources, has second thoughts about the way her work is used. One article is hidden behind a message: “This is not a paywall.” There is no discussion on whether paywalls are a part of WSC.
Wasted
This is a repost from 2013. Over the last few years, quote debunking has become a hobby of mine. This particular item is cited by Quote Investigator®. … There is a tasteful graphic going around. It features a quote, “Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.” John Lennon is blamed for this thought. Wikiquotes does not have this quote, at least by Mr. Ono.
An obvious comment is that being wasted is something Mr. Lennon knew. Keith Richards says this is not quite the case. On pages 261-262 of “Life”, Mr. Richards describes how Mr. Lennon would try to keep up on the drug intake, but wound up in the loo, studying the porcelain.
There was a facebook exchange about this quote. “Wikiquotes does not show this quote. I searched using wasted, wasting, and time.” ~ “Luther,the way I look at these quotes is : I like the idea they express, rather than being overly concerned with the veracity of the attribution.” … This is one of the kinder things a quote debunker will hear. People do not like to be told that Santa Claus does not exist.
If the idea is so cool, why do the quotemongers need to attribute them to a famous person? You can find some pastoral image for the background, throw the quote up, and be inspired. Is it an authoritarian impulse to find a wise man to give credit for the cleverness? Can’t it stand on it’s on?
John Lennon spoke about being more popular than Jesus, and caught some flack as a result. Would John really want to be used as justification for someone else’s clever thought? The sense here is that all he wanted to do was play rock and roll. Let someone else be the spokesman for a generation.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the featured photograph in October 1938. “Princesses at the National Rice Festival, Crowley, Louisiana. There were thirty of these chosen from different communities throughout the rice section, the Queen being chosen from them.”
Egyptian Sphinx
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this is what I did last week. This post has 928 words, and 6 pictures. The picture/word value count is -5,072. The featured picture is from 1942. “Brooklyn NY Red Hook housing project. Boys playing chess at the community center.” · This report says that the death toll in Syria is over 7k. Many of the deceased are Greek Orthodox Christians. This report says that the militias are backed by Türkiye. This could get interesting · “Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.” Ben Hecht – A Child of the Century · ” But there is plenty of anger from the left as well. For example, any post supportive of Israel is immediately attacked by nasty pro-Hamas accounts.” Israel is a monkey wrench into the entire left-or-right paradigm · Arthur Rothstein took the featured picture in June 1942. “Brooklyn NY Red Hook housing project. Boys playing chess at the community center.” · @marcorubio We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported · Steps to pair a Bluetooth device, Press the Home button on your Roku remote, Select Settings, Select Remotes & devices, Select Pair Bluetooth device, On your Bluetooth device, turn on Bluetooth and put it in pairing mode, Wait for your Roku device to scan for Bluetooth devices, Select your Bluetooth device from the list of available devices · Jack Delano took the featured photograph in June 1941.“Mr. John Gentry, an old resident of Greene County, Georgia.” · “THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC Politics & Culture from a Catholic Perspective.” · I was repeating a post about CS Lewis, who I still may get around to reading some day. It was about a screed Ayn Rand … who I am much less likely to read … wrote in the margins of a CSL book. The original post was lost to digital antiquity, so I googled the phrase “Ayn Rand Really, Really Hated C.S. Lewis.” One result was from “THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC Politics & Culture from a Catholic Perspective.” On top of the page was a youtube intermission, “C.S. Lewis vs The New Atheists” by Peter S. Williams (Book Promo 1)” Cartoon images of CSL and Richard Dawkins have a jolly good debate about the existence of God. · Ayn Rand Rants Against CS Lewis · C. S. Lewis died November 22, 1963, the same day as President Kennedy and Aldous Huxley. Mr. Lewis probably never imagined there would a cartoon video of CSL debating the existence of God with Richard Dawkins. · Right now on twitter, “boycotting” is a trending topic. People are expressing their displeasure with Elon Musk by boycotting Tesla. Now, I wonder how many of these boycotters were actually going to buy an expensive electric vehicle. You don’t know, bro simp. Is simp short for simpson, and what does Bart have to do with any of this? Will those kids ever grow up, or are they frozen in time like all cartoon characters? Maybe Lisa Simpson is a tit fluctuating dyke by now, along with Bari Weiss and Rachel Madcow. A new spokesperson for some big government agency … · using haiku reductions as writing prompts seemed like a good idea. · “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.” Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, June 11, 1807 · To your request of my opinion of the manner in which a newspaper should be conducted, so as to be most useful, I should answer, “by restraining it to true facts & sound principles only.” Yet I fear such a paper would find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more compleatly deprive the nation of it’s benefits, than is done by it’s abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day. I really look with commiseration over the great body of my fellow citizens, who, reading newspapers, live & die in the belief, that they have known something of what has been passing in the world in their time; whereas the accounts they have read in newspapers are just as true a history of any other period of the world as of the present, except that the real names of the day are affixed to their fables. General facts may indeed be collected from them, such as that Europe is now at war, that Bonaparte has been a successful warrior, that he has subjected a great portion of Europe to his will, &c., &c.; but no details can be relied on. I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. He who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false. · Russell Lee took the featured photograph in February 1940. “Pomp Hall, Negro tenant farmer. Creek County, Oklahoma.” · In 2019 Fordham University hosted a symposium on Flannery O’Connor, supported by a grant from The Flannery O’Connor Trust. FU looked at her work, using “techniques from whiteness studies and critical race theory.” · Designed in 1996 by Matthew Carter. Georgia is the serif companion to the first Microsoft sans serif screen font, Verdana. It was designed specifically to address the challenges of on-screen display and hand-instructed by leading hinting expert, Monotype’s Tom Rickner. Georgia was jokingly named after a tabloid headline ‘Alien heads found in Georgia.’ · It has been a great day so far. I have had this thing with my feet, and I learned the best thing for it is to go walking. This has evolved into a half hour every morning, usually on a path across from the house. Recently this has been going well, with no problems on most days, including today. I first noticed this issue on March 13 of last year, so today is a milestone. · On the left, the old Village Voice culture has faded. But the so-called anti-woke side can’t be said to be much better. Israel, again, is the instructive example. If critics of Israel are guilty of rhetorical excess, Israel’s supporters are prepared to match or even exceed them. In fact, it’s those who are most supportive of Israel who have adopted many of the same pathologies as the woke, treating debate and ideas themselves as mortal threats and defaulting, whenever possible, to their identity concerns. Standpoint epistemology dominates everywhere. · I knew 2 things on October 7. Israel would exponentially over-retaliate. I also knew there was going to be an incredibly toxic debate. This has been true beyond my worst nightmare. · alex_Cole855 is located in Washington – Spokane County – Cheney. · I can’t wait to find a nice, secluded walking path somewhere nearby. I hate walking on pavement/sidewalks. Prefer woods. · yes i am very very fortunate, in that there is a school a block away, and a cut through path between two streets is across the street from the house … There is a nature preserve .44 miles away also … the idea of driving somewhere to walk is sort of silly, although it is the only option for a lot of people … in my case, my feet prefer uneven dirt or gravel walkways over concrete or asphalt … there is also the danger and inconvenience of sharing the road with automobiles · i used to walk up peachtree to LA fitness, and I almost get hit several times by crossing side streets in front of stopped drivers making right turns · one side of peachtree is a wall beside the marta line, and I cleared out a path behind some trees planted there, which was cool … it cut down hostile road crossings 5 times to only one · Jack Kerouac was staying with Neal Cassady. Neal thought that Jack was smoking too much marijuana. The featured picture today: “Band in an Irish-American restaurant O’Reilly’s at Third Avenue and Fifty-Fourth Street.” · The featured photograph was taken August 3, 1954. “Fred Hand family” · gsu · @RichardHanania @tracewoodgrains Instead of arguing about who the “real racists” are, we should consider whether the concept of “being a racist” is real. · I have one about the roof but its over your head. There’s nothing like a good joke… and that was nothing like a good joke. A rabbi, nun, lawyer, mime, and horse all walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this, some kind of joke?” · @existentialcomics.com What Hegel failed to grasp is that the world ideological spirit of the age would eventually be controlled by a YouTube algorithm designed to sell ads.The feature photograph was taken May 27, 1958. “Proud Rebel premiere” · Several movies had their World Premiere in Atlanta. Some are not seen kindly today, while others are not seen at all. The featured photograph was taken May 27, 1958. · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress Arthur Rothstein took the featured photograph in June 1942. “Queens NY Nursery school at the Queensbridge housing project. Drinking tomato juice” · selah
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac
This is a repost from 2008, inspired by Jack Kerouac: An Appreciation. JKAA appeared in KIKO’S HOUSE, a blog I read in 2008. Kiko’s was the retirement project of Shaun Mullen, an journalist who was “born to blog.” People said things like that when W was president. Kikos published its last post 12/11/2019, the day before Shaun Mullen died. Chamblee54 is still going, which makes writing about Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac much easier.
Over the years, I keep lists of posts. While writing this feature, I learned that I never compiled one for JLLK. I knew there was an extended book report covering “On The Road,” and vaguely remembered doing one for “The Dharma Bums.” The next step was to use Google Advanced Search, which does not work for “Dharma site: chamblee54.wordpress.com.” If you substitute bums for dharma, you are referred to something about Charles Bukowski. I did a GAS search for Kerouac, and found a series about “Satori in Paris” which I had totally forgotten. I also found a story about starting work on “The Dharma Bums” and used it to track down the posts.
From “The Dharma Bums Part Four” … This chapter by chapter thing is not working. The idea is to use this as a springboard for improvisation, to say whatever comes up. This does not seem to be happening. Tdb is a worthwhile read, the first time. Reading it twice, while taking notes, is not a good idea. … While in Corte Madera, there are a lot of wild parties. It is the sort of boho thing the rest of America tittered about…. Dwight Eisenhower got reelected. He is not mentioned in tdb, but his buddy Richard Nixon is. We know how that story turned out.
JLLK published BELIEF & TECHNIQUE FOR MODERN PROSE in the Summer 1958 edition of Evergreen Review. … 6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind 7. Blow as deep as you want to blow 8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind 9. The unspeakable visions of the individual 10. No time for poetry but exactly what is 11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest 12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you 13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition 14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time 15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
From Kerouac … I read OTR, and found it entertaining but not life changing. I get the sense that Kerouac and Cassidy could be real jerks. … OTR was published in 1957, when I was three years old and living on a street of always pregnant stay at home moms. … I suspect that if Jack Kerouac had not written his books that someone else would have, and maybe survived fame in better shape. … At one time, Kerouac was staying with Neal Cassidy (his uncredited co author) and his family. Mr. Cassidy thought that Mr. Keruac was smoking too much marijuana.
I saw Allan Gurganus (no middle name) at the Dickhater Book Festival in 2014. I knew AG was from Rocky Mount NC, and that JLLK once spent a winter there. This was described in “The Dharma Bums.” AG would have been about seven years old. I wanted to ask AG about it in the Q&A, but I did not get called on. After the talk was over, I managed to talk to AG in a hallway. “Yes, it really did happen. The place where he used to go meditate was my grandfather’s property.”
The pictures today are from The Library of Congress Marjory Collins took the featured photograph in February 1943. “New York, New York. Band in an Irish-American restaurant O’Reilly’s at Third Avenue and Fifty-Fourth Street, on Saturday night.” Chamblee54 has published expanded book reports about “Satori in Paris” 031211 032211 032911 040711 · “The Dharma Bums” 111713 113013 122213 011314 · “On The Road” 060119 061119 062519 062719 071019 071419 073019 · selah
Was Flannery O’Connor Racist?
How Racist Was Flannery O’Connor? appeared in The New Yorker on June 22, 2020. (Note the date) I had long been a fan of Mary Flannery O’Connor, and knew I could not un-read those stories. While researching a book report about a story collection, Everything That Rises Must Converge, I took another look at the cancellation.
The article begins by telling the Flannery story. Soon, a description of a movie, Flannery, yields a false note: “Erik Langkjær, a publishing sales rep O’Connor fell in love with, describes their drives in the country.” According to Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor by Brad Gooch, Mr. Langkjær was far from a boyfriend. It is another piece of the puzzle.
“I was not really in love; I simply enjoyed the company of women during my lonely travels in the South. Although Flannery was both conventional and religious, we eventually became so close that she, while the car was parked, allowed me to kiss her. At that moment, her disease revealed itself in a new way: there was no strength in her lips. I hit her teeth with my kiss, and since then I’ve thought of it as a kiss of death. … When I later read one of Flannery’s short stories, ‘Good Country People,’ I noticed that the main character was a travelling Bible salesman. I didn’t sell bibles, but I used to call my binder with the records of the publishing firm ‘my bible.’ Also, the salesman in the story is named Manley Pointer, which has an obvious erotic connotation.”
Right after this paragraph, there is a break. “FEATURED VIDEO Protests of George Floyd’s Killing Transform Into a Global Movement” The article soon gets down with cancellation.
“Everything That Rises Must Converge was published in “Best American Short Stories” … O’Connor declared that it was all she had to say on “That Issue.” It wasn’t. In May, 1964, she wrote to her friend Maryat Lee, a playwright who … was ardent for civil rights.”
“About the Negroes, the kind I don’t like is the philosophizing prophesying pontificating kind, the James Baldwin kind. Very ignorant but never silent. Baldwin can tell us what it feels like to be a Negro in Harlem but he tries to tell us everything else too. M. L. King I dont think is the ages great saint but he’s at least doing what he can do & has to do. Don’t know anything about Ossie Davis except that you like him but you probably like them all. My question is usually would this person be endurable if white. If Baldwin were white nobody would stand him a minute. I prefer Cassius Clay. “If a tiger move into the room with you,” says Cassius, “and you leave, that dont mean you hate the tiger. Just means you know you and him can’t make out. Too much talk about hate.” Cassius is too good for the Moslems.” (James Baldwin probably agreed with MFO about “the Moslems.”)
“That passage, published in “The Habit of Being,” echoed a remark in a 1959 letter, also to Maryat Lee, who had suggested that Baldwin … could pay O’Connor a visit while on a subsequent reporting trip. O’Connor demurred: “No I can’t see James Baldwin in Georgia. It would cause the greatest trouble and disturbance and disunion. In New York it would be nice to meet him; here it would not. I observe the traditions of the society I feed on—it’s only fair. Might as well expect a mule to fly as me to see James Baldwin in Georgia. I have read one of his stories and it was a good one.” …
“After revising “Revelation” in early 1964, O’Connor wrote several letters to Maryat Lee. Many scholars maintain that their letters (often signed with nicknames) are a comic performance, with Lee playing the over-the-top liberal and O’Connor the dug-in gradualist, but O’Connor’s most significant remarks on race in her letters to Lee are plainly sincere. … May 3, 1964: “You know, I’m an integrationist by principle & a segregationist by taste anyway. I don’t like negroes. They all give me a pain and the more of them I see, the less and less I like them. Particularly the new kind.” Two weeks after that, she told Lee of her aversion to the “philosophizing prophesying pontificating kind.” Ravaged by lupus, she wrote Lee a note to say that she was checking in to the hospital, signing it “Mrs. Turpin.” She died at home ten weeks later.”
“Fordham University hosted a symposium on O’Connor and race, supported with a grant from the author’s estate.” (The panel discussion included Karin Coonrod.) “The organizer, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell” … (who wrote) “Radical Ambivalence: Race in Flannery O’Connor.” … takes up Flannery and That Issue. Proposing that O’Connor’s work is “race-haunted,” she applies techniques from whiteness studies and critical race theory …” In other words, The Flannery O’Connor Trust gave money to Fordham University, so they could examine MFO, using “techniques from whiteness studies and critical race theory.” There is something deeply rotten about this.
Perhaps this cancellation business is what MFO foresaw in a 1963 letter to Betty Hester. MFO mentions her disdain for Eudora Welty’s “Where is the Voice Coming From?” … “What I hate most is its being in the New Yorker and all of the stupid Yankee liberals smacking their lips over typical life in the dear old dirty Southland.”
Eudora Welty is not the only author MFO did not like. MFO wrote to Maryat Lee on 31 May 60. “I hope you don’t have friends who recommend Ayn Rand to you. The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail. She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoyevsky.”
“On July 28, 1964, Flannery wrote her last letter. This note to Maryat Lee, written in a “shaky, nearly illegible hand” … is in response to an anonymous crank call Lee received and reveals O’Connor’s deep concern for her friend’s well being: “Cowards can be just as vicious as those who declare themselves – more so. Dont take any romantic attitude toward that call. Be properly scared and go on doing what you have to do, but take the necessary precautions. And call the police. That might be a lead for them. Dont know when I’ll send those stories. I’ve felt too bad to type them. Cheers, Tarfunk” MFO died August 3, 1964 at Baldwin County Hospital.
We don’t know what MFO read by James Baldwin. It might include a 1962 piece in The New Yorker, Letter from a Region in My Mind. Included in those 22,147 words is this gem: “But white Americans do not believe in death, and this is why the darkness of my skin so intimidates them.” This might be a good time to remember the words of Alice Walker: “Take what you can use and let the rest rot.”
Ms. Walker is included in Flannery. “Alice Walker tells of living “across the way” from the farmhouse during her teens, not knowing that a writer lived there: “It was one of my brothers who took milk from her place to the creamery in town. When we drove into Milledgeville, the cows that we saw on the hillside going into town would have been the cows of the O’Connors.” Ms. Walker, who was well aware of MFO’s racial attitudes, adds “She also cast spells and worked magic with the written word. The magic, the wit, and the mystery of Flannery O’Connor I know I will always love.”
A lot of what is said here is taking MFO seriously, in spite of her racial attitudes. This is where I differ with The New Yorker. I am a cracker who likes to enjoy stories, not take them seriously. As a Georgia native, I am well aware of the many “shades of gray” produced by a black and white society. Racism is not a yes/no binary. MFO wrote great stories, in spite of, or maybe because of, her racial attitudes. To paraphrase Alice Walker, take what you need, and let whiteness studies and critical race theory rot.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the featured photograph in February 1940. “Pomp Hall, Negro tenant farmer. Creek County, Oklahoma.”
C.S. Lewis
There was a facebook link to a feature, Ayn Rand Rants Against CS Lewis. It turns out to be verbatim droppings from Ayn Rand’s Marginalia : Her Critical Comments on the Writings of over Twenty Authors. If you are interested in details, there are the links. 55% of the comments were one-star.
Miss Rand has read more C.S. Lewis than I. There was a copy of a CSL work at a yard sale once, which I invested a quarter in. I read as far as the appearance of a pig named trufflehunter. Maybe it was a bad day for books, but I put CSL down, never to make another attempt.
There was a sixth grade english teacher at Ashford Park named Mrs. Ruff. Lots of people talked about how sweet she was, but I was not impressed. One day, between handing out mimeographed copies of poems to be memorized, Mrs. Ruff started to talk about Narnia. It was a fantastic and amazing story. With a hint of primness, she told the class that Narnia was really about Jesus.
This is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress. Jack Delano took the featured photograph in June 1941.“Mr. John Gentry, an old resident of Greene County, Georgia.”
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