Al-Aqsa Flood
I knew two things after Al-Aqsa Flood. One, Israel would exponentially retaliate, and alienate much of the world. Two, there were going to some some incredibly toxic discussions about the matter. This feature is going to focus on number two.
If you listen to the conversations about the war, you will hear a lot of misused logic. Distraction, derailment, false equivalence, two-wrongs-that-make-a-right, forgotten details, and outright lies. You are either on one side or another, and proceed accordingly. FWIW, I am on team Palestine.
There is an easy test. Do they say Hamas, or do they say Palestinian? Hamas is the boogeyman of today’s rhetoric, and anything less than total demonization is considered support. The fact that thousands of unarmed Palestinians have died is a pesky detail.
One thing I did not know on October 7 was the role the IDF played. Many of the Israelis who died were killed by their own army. This fact is often overlooked in angry sermons about AAF.
I also did not know that Israel created, and supported Hamas. Before AAF, Hamas was seen as a way to degrade the Palestinian Authority, and keep Palestinians divided. The ultimate goal was to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. This is part of Israel’s longtime strategy of interfering in the internal affairs of her neighbors, for Israel’s benefit.
In 1987, I had a workplace frenemy. Steve was the son of Holocaust survivors, and a staunch supporter of Israel. I mentioned that the Iran-Iraq war was being kept going, to distract the combatants from fighting Israel. Steve got very angry. “Yes, and it’s for your benefit. We need to fight terrorism.” This policy was also seen in the Syrian civil war.
This feature will be brief. There will be few links. If the reader wants to know more, Google is at your service. A question could be raised about how neutral Google is in this conflict. There are numerous other commentaries. Let the buyer beware. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Professor Denounces Romance
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Why Are Israel and the West Unravelling in Tandem? By Alastair Crooke
Republican efforts to sabotage GA prosecution of Trump hit brick wall with Fani Willis
Democrats Beware: A Progressive DA Fights for His Job — in Hipster Portland
“An Old White … Professor Denounces Romance as a Creation of White Supremacy
Latino and Hispanic men up to 66% more likely to be convicted of DUI, according to study
MARRIAGE ENEMIES PROBLEM SIN DEPRESSION NUMB HO AVAILABLE
Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox (BBC Documentary)
How Racial Preferences, Supposedly Outlawed in California, Have Persisted at UCLA
The White House to the left: We told you so on crime ‘Well-meaning ideas have …
GA man shoots himself in the foot trying to get rid of copperhead snake
“AN INTERNET BARD AT LAST!!!”: The Precarious Power of Alt-Lit Poet Steve Roggenbuck
Takeaways from examination of how 2 debunked accounts of sexual violence originated
Never trust a person who says never trust a person who.
mean conservatives stupid ally obvious undeniable
yeah write ~ blake ~ elmore leonard ~ shelby foote ~ honda gear shift
honda gear shift ~ beltline ~ hasbara ~ Marcionism ~ israel
numbers 23 ~ eurovision ~ kenklippenstein ~ hodge twins ~ israel
dave smith ~ ballot ~ willie nelson ~ The War Prayer ~ sim
brookhaven docs ~ sand ~ lizzo ~ hodge twins ~ alpharetta ~ shelby foote
honda gear shift ~ honda gear shift ~ chappelle ~ trump ~ susan kirby ~ maidan
Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine ~ I did not hear the show until today, so my comment may get lost. I feel this is an important issue. Episode 216 mentions a 2019 tweet by Katie, where she says that people in therapy should do “community service” instead. The tweet set off a controversy. We now know that Katie was a drunk in 2019. Did her fondness for alcohol play a role in sending this tweet? @emmettrensin ~ the rules on the Eurovision website says: “All songs shall be performed live on the stage in the host city at the selected venue with recorded backing tracks. No on-stage contestant (whether lead singer(s), or dancers) shall be allowed to lip-sync in such a way as to give the impression that they are singing when they actually are not. “No pitch-correction (e.g. auto-tuning) for live vocals shall be allowed in any case for the live act performances on stage. Plugging instruments to play live on stage shall not be allowed. The host Bboadcaster and the ESC executive supervisor shall verify respect for this rule.” There’s also a rule that only six people are allowed on stage at one time and no live animals are allowed either. ~ Happy Birthday Queen Victoria, Bob Dylan, Patti LaBelle, Priscilla Presley, and Theresa Davis ~ “This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” Quoted in The Algonquin Wits (1968) edited by Robert E. Drennan, and The Dispatch (October 1962). As noted at Snopes, Drennan’s source seems to be a Parker review which does not seem to contain this quote. If Parker wrote this statement anywhere the primary source seems to have gone missing. ~ This is a repost from 2014. Between 2014 and today, the Hwy 400/I-285 cauldron has been torn down and built upon, again. The experience is different today. ~ The reason we know so much about Yahweh: The council of Nicea chose those texts for inclusion in the Bible. After the reformation, and the invention of the printing press, Protestants declared the Bible to be the word of God. This text has been tirelessly promoted ever since. ~ Avoid trusting a person who says to never trust a person who ____ ~ “I don’t think it requires as much understanding southern writers no long seem to me be all that southern they’re just whole bunch of hippies as far as I’m concerned” Shelby Foote ~ “Faulkner has a great advantage of appealing enormously to the intellectuals college professors and the rest of them they keep him alive” … “analyzing line after line trying to figure out what do you think about all this critical analysis that goes on” … “I don’t think it does any harm and it entertains a lot of people” ~ be careful what you wish for palestine, satanyahu always has an excuse, living just one more day is fine, hasbara mongers say there is no use, it is time for bill maher to retire, go home and smoke a lot of pot, then we set rachel maddow on fire, her credibility is going to rot, anywat be careful what you wish for, might not finish this last stanza, genocide joe is nothing but a stinking whore, democratic extravaganza ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress ~ selah
The Ride
This is a repost from 2014. Between 2014 and today, the Highway 400/I-285 cauldron was torn down and built up, again. The driving experience is different today. … In the modern workplace, there are subjects you don’t want to talk about. Discussions of religion, politics, race, and celebrity footwear can spark unwanted controversy. The question then arises, what can you talk to people about? What do you have in common with a diverse group of people?
One subject, usually safe for conversation, is your ride in to work. In an freeway crazy place like Atlanta, everyone has a story. Last week, I took notes on my ride. What follows is the journey one day, from a Brookhaven house to the Vinings office complex. The day is April 30. The next day is May Day. The parade has been cancelled, due to lack of communists.
7:41 am Leave the house. The idea is to report at 8:30 am. You want to allow a few extra minutes for unforeseen problems. The good news is that, in the morning, going west on I-285 is against traffic. East bound, or the inner loop, is a traffic nightmare.
7:43 am /0.3 miles Turn the corner on Eighth Street, and the start of New Peachtree Road. In the pre-marta days, Eighth Street went over the tracks to Peachtree Road. When I was a kid, there was a sign for the railroad crossing. There was no red flashing light.
7:44 am The Southern Crescent passes on the Norfolk Southern line, next to New Peachtree. The train is going to New Orleans. The people on that train are probably having more fun than you.
7:45 am/1.1 miles This is the first red light. You turn left onto Clairmont Road. Peachtree Dekalb Airport is down the hill, across the street. At certain times of the year, you can see the sun rising over the airport on your morning run.
7:47 am/1.4 miles You have gone over the wonderful bridge. In the pre-marta era, to get from the end of Clairmont, to Peachtree Industrial, you had to make a left turn, cross the railroad tracks on a bridge made from telephone poles, and cut through the Krystal parking lot. Now, a bridge takes you over all this. At the end of the bridge, you take a left turn onto Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.
7:48 am/1.7 miles Turn right onto Johnson Ferry. You will probably need to slow down for the traffic ahead of you. Welcome to Atlanta.
7:53 am/2.4 miles This is the confluence of Johnson Ferry Road and Ashford Dunwoody Road. When these roads were built, they took farmer Jones to church once a week. Now, they are lined with subdivisions. For some reason, these two busy thoroughfares merge, go forward on two lanes for about a hundred yards, and then split up. There are lots of angry soccer moms making left turns.
7:54 am/2.6 miles When you get to the fork in the road, take it. If you lean left here, you head towards Cobb County. This stretch of road is a long downhill run, a bridge over Nancy Creek, (7:56 am/3.7 miles,) and a long uphill climb. This is all on two lanes, with double yellow lines in the middle. The speed limit is 35 mph. At least once a week, there will be an SUV behind you that wants to go faster. This is bad for the composure of everyone involved.
7:58 am/4.5 miles There is a red light at Peachtree Dunwoody Road. You are in Fulton County now. This is the area known as pill hill. There are three major hospitals, and enough medical office buildings to cause insurance apoplexy. The traffic creeps ahead at a stealthy pace.
8:00 am/ 5.0 miles A bridge takes you over Highway 400. You are not the only person who is over Highway 400. At least you are not on it.
8:00 am/ 5.1 miles Turn right onto Glenridge. If you had gone forward at the light, Johnson Ferry would have turned into Glenridge. This can get complicated.
8:01 am/5.3 miles Turn left, and get onto I-285. This is exit 26 of the Perimeter. This is a seminal moment of the Atlanta experience. You are no longer ITP, or OTP, but OnTP.
8:03 am/6.2 miles You go under Roswell Road, exit 25. This is the first disappearing lane. The far right lane is exit only. If you are to continue, you must go over one lane.
8:06 am/10.4 miles You cross the Chattahoochee River, and enter Cobb County.
8:07 am/11.1 miles I-75 is approaching. I-285 splits in two, with one part dedicated to the exchange of vehicles, and the other half going merrily forward. You need to get in one of the two lanes to the left. This is scary for people who like to drive the speed limit. As someone said once, “you gotta be as crazy as they are.”
8:08 am/12.1 miles This is the reunification of I-285. Since you get off at the next exit, you need to go from the far left side, to the far right side. You have 1.4 miles to do this. This competitive lane changing is complicated by the appearance of uphill entry ramps. You settle into a lane, and discover a speeding pickup truck making a surprise appearance on your bumper. However tempting alcohol might be at this time, it is not recommended.
8:10 am/13.5 miles You get off I-285. Paces Ferry Road is exit 18.
8:15 am/14.7 miles You get through the concrete obstacle course, find a parking spot, and turn the car off. The work day is about to begin.
Why The War Between The States Was Fought
This was a repost from 2017. … Recently, Mr. Trump said something stupid about the War Between the States. After his comments began to filter into the marketplace of ideas, people began to react. There was a good bit of self righteous talk about how bad the Confederacy was. Maybe it is time for another point of view. This feature will have minimal research. Mistakes will be made. The reader is encouraged to do their own research.
When the colonies declared independence in 1776, nobody knew how things would turn out. First, Great Britain needed to be defeated. After that, the Articles of Confederation went into effect. “Under these articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. Congress was also given the authority to make treaties and alliances, maintain armed forces and coin money. However, the central government lacked the ability to levy taxes and regulate commerce…”
This arrangement was not working, and the Constitutional Convention was called. Originally, the CC was going to revise the Articles of Confederation, but wound up throwing the whole thing out, and creating the Constitution. This document called for greater federal authority. The issue of what powers to give to the states, and what powers to give to the central government, was contentious. It remains controversial to this day.
Had any group of autonomous states formed a federal union before? Usually, such a union is the result of a conquest, with one of the states ruling the others. It is unclear whether such a union had been attempted before, or how successful it was. When the “founding fathers” created the constitution, they probably did not foresee how it would play out. The current system, with a massive central government cat-herding the 50 states, would have been laughed off as a dangerous fantasy.
So the states start to have disagreements. One of the things they disagreed over was slavery. Yes, this was an important factor in the unpleasantness to come. Slavery also influenced a lot of the economic conflicts. The North wanted high tariffs to protect industry. The South wanted low tariffs, so they could sell cotton to Europe. There were many other ways for the states to not get along.
Finally, in 1861, the disagreements became too big to ignore. The south seceded, and the War Between The States began. The Confederate States of America was a looser union than the United States. The thought was that the states were more important than the federal union. Mr. Lincoln disagreed. (One popular name for the conflict was Mr. Lincoln’s war.) Many people say that Mr. Lincoln was not especially concerned about the slaves, but wanted to keep the union together.
How does slavery enter into this? Imagine the conflict over states rights vs federalism to be an open tank of gasoline. The lit match that was thrown into that tank was slavery. When the winners wrote the war history, it sounded better to say that the war was fought to free the slaves. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Mark Twain Double Feature
One hundred and twenty five years ago, the United States was involved in a war, that did not want to end. This conflict was in the Philippines. Although there had been an official end to the war, guerrillas continued to fight the Americans. The war was a nasty affair, with many atrocities.
The War against the Philippine people was a souvenir of the Spanish American War. There had been a rebellion against Spanish rule in the islands. After the American forces routed the Spanish, the rebellion shifted to the American occupiers. It was a war stumbled into, and difficult to end.
Mark Twain was horrified. He wrote a story, The War Prayer. As Lew Rockwell tells the tale: “Twain wrote The War Prayer during the US war on the Philippines. It was submitted for publication, but on March 22, 1905, Harper’s Bazaar rejected it as “not quite suited to a woman’s magazine.” Eight days later, Twain wrote to his friend Dan Beard, to whom he had read the story, “I don’t think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth.” Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, Mark Twain could not publish “The War Prayer” elsewhere and it remained unpublished until 1923.”
The story starts in a church. A war has started, and is popular. The troops leave for glory the next day. The preacher has an emotional prayer to send them on their way. Unknown to the minister, there is a visitor. “An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher’s side and stood there, waiting.
With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal,” Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!”
The stranger motioned to the preacher to step aside. The stranger stepped into the pulpit, and claimed to have a message for the worshipers, sent directly from God. The preacher’s message was for support in time of war, and implied that God and the preacher support the same side in this conflict. There is an unspoken part to a prayer like this. This unspoken part was what the stranger was going to put into words.
“”O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe.
O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-
for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!
We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.”
This is a double repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Mark Twain wrote a lot during the American Genocide in the Philippines. Many of his words could apply today. War has gotten more high tech…for our side…, but the bottom line is the same. No matter how fancy the weapons get, the casualties are just as dead. And the investors make money.
Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword;
He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger’s wealth is stored;
He hath loosed his fateful lightnings, and with woe and death has scored;
His lust is marching on.
I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded him an altar in the Eastern dews and damps;
I have read his doomful mission by the dim and flaring lamps —
His night is marching on.
I have read his bandit gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
“As ye deal with my pretensions, so with you my wrath shall deal;
Let the faithless son of Freedom crush the patriot with his heel;
Lo, Greed is marching on!”
We have legalized the strumpet and are guarding her retreat;
Greed is seeking out commercial souls before his judgement seat;
O, be swift, ye clods, to answer him! be jubilant my feet!
Our g-d is marching on!
In a sordid slime harmonious Greed was born in yonder ditch,
With a longing in his bosom — and for others’ goods an itch.
As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich —
Our g-d is marching on.
Academics Dislike Cops
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Mayor Sam Adams’ ex-lover takes his Star Turn. How it compares to those of Monica …
This quote is real, and comes from an essay, “In Search of a Majority.”
America’s dime-store Nietzscheans What unmasking of an anonymous publisher …
Bill Simon Embarrasses Himself, Should Correct the Record, and Apologize
At 70, Ron Howard FINALLY Admits How Much He Truly Hated Him
maturity rat eat artist much to gain from sullied vision child
Glenn Loury: an intellectual force of nature Late Admissions is an unflinching …
Congestion Pricing Making sense of the huge change about to come to Manhattan’s streets
Why Do Academics Dislike Cops? Police officers represent what many on campuses …
Gaza Solidarity Encampment defies UNM’s ultimatum for 12 hours before Police arrive
hedonism thing scientific not social healthy doctrines try
All Hell Breaks Loose When Marjorie Taylor Greene Directly Insults Jasmine Crockett
Jasmine Crockett Fires Back At Marjorie Taylor Greene And Chaos Erupts
medical stud hum other species comprising sex mad creation
Anti-Israel uprisings hit dangerous new extreme in Michigan Brad Polumbo
I’m the new Oppenheimer!’: soul-destroying day at Palantir’s first-ever AI warfare conference
slaughter glorify family rat vanity Robert Kennedy
‘Mask-off’: Max Blumenthal discusses nationwide protests …history of Israel-Gaza war …
butker ~ glenn & john ~ jim goad ~ potus ~ dekalb
eli lake ~ trump ~ baldwin ~ son of bukowski ~ son of bukowski
grumpy old gay ~ emmet rensin ~ alice stewart ~ fund me ~ tom smothers
jim goad ~ Earthjustice, ~ jamie mortara ~ @michael_bezalel ~ jamie mortara
adroit journal ~ john mortara ~ babylon ~ repost ~ escaping flatland
trace ~ quoteporn ~ quote ~ afghanistan ~ dzgrizzle
atl night market ~ clearview ai ~ brenda ~ comedy ~ southern baptist sissies
brenda’s beaver ~ hey hamad ~ congestion pricing ~ rick barnes ~ reflector
reflector ~ reflector ~ c54 ~ israel eurovision ~ comedy
@wildethingy Me: Do you like it when I put my penis in your ear? Her: What? Me: oh sorry *takes my penis out of her ear* ~ Remarkably, Tom Dispatch is still publishing content. ~ this post was originally published in 2010. The last line is more true today than ever. “When Israel makes noise about Iran, it takes attention away from the Palestinian tragedy. ~ Gandhi’s Wikiquote has this quote: “Quoted by Pyarelal Nayyar in Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase (Volume 10), page 552 (1958)” We do not know the source. In Mr. Gandhi’s writing, there is usually context. He will often contradict himself. This quote should be used with caution. ~ I went to the doctor and he said I have to stop masturbating ~ I said why ~ He said I’m trying to examine you ~ “I don’t think these protests are antiwar these protests are anti-Israel it’s a different thing they’re for the war as long as Hamas is doing it ” ~ This is a repost from 2019. In 2021, Donald J. Trump gave election denial a bad reputation. Stacey pioneered the concept after the 2018 election. In 2022, Stacey was defeated in her second run for Governor. She did concede defeat. … ~ this post is a rerun from 2019, when Stacey Abrams was in her glory. She mentions “eligible voters who exercised their First Amendment right to abstain from voting.” The Democratic candidate for Governor is defending the right of people to not vote. ~ I regret having violating your boundaries to the point that you felt the need to block me on X. When you engage in commentary on touchy issues, one can cross a boundary without realizing it. I enjoyed seeing your posts and drawings, and would like to see them again. However, this is your choice. If you feel that you would be better off without my seeing your product, then by all means block me. In any event, it has been nice “knowing” you. Luther Mckinnon/@chamblee54 ~ Did you see my response about people changing my art? That’s the issue. ~ i did not see anything like that …. when did you make it? ~ If I thought that was a problem for you, it would not have happened … this came out of no where ~ did you not take one of my cartoons and alter it? maybe i’m mistaken. ~ where did i block you? ~ I did alter a cartoon, but you never expressed any displeaure. If you had, I would not have done it. I got a like on a comment this morning, and the originating comment was not available to me. I soon learned that I had been blocked. Blocking people is hurtful, and seldom necessary. You can mute, or unfollow a person, and have the same effect. Blocking someone is a slap in the face, and should only be done as a last resort … which this was not. ~ I wasn’t trying to protect your feelings… as you didn’t seem to care about mine or the integrity of my work. When someone obviously doesn’t care for my work, there’s no need to be delicate. anyway if you promise to not alter my art i will unblock you. ~ Ok. This is getting nasty. As I said, I will not alter your images, if that is a problem. ~ I don’t care about being delicate. But I do expect the same decency I would give to another human being. To offer a warning, or take a mild course of action, instead of going for the strongest weapon at your disposal … blocking … and then coming back with “I wasn’t trying to protect your feelings… as you didn’t seem to care about mine or the integrity of my work” when I show you the courtesy of sending a polite note when I cross your invisable boundary. If you want to unblock, that is up to you. ~ We just have a different value when it comes to blocking. I get blocked and unfollowed all the time. Anyway I can’t see where to unblock you but I’ll try to figure it out. ~ haywardart@gmail.com ~ i conceive of god as a means of liberation and not a means to control others ~ So, I found the file, and listened to the show. 1- I already knew that Katie is a dangerous lunatic. 2- Recovery stories can be tough to listen to. It is good to make it something that you are hearing because you made the choice to listen. Many of us have our own stories, and it can be tough to turn the memory/thinking valve off, and just listen. 3- The production quality of the show is excellent. Bad sound can get in the way of hearing the story. 4- I *know* Katie through BARpod. This show was not mentioned here, along with her podcast buddy Jesse Singal. Perhaps Katie could do an episode somewhere filling in the blanks here, about how the recovery from alcohol interacted with her addiction to podcasting. ~ Zig Zag Zell was an opportunist. When a Republican senator died, the Democrat governor appointed him to the seat. ZZZ later spoke at the Republican Convention. In 2003, I wrote to my representatives, opposing the invasion of Iraq. ZZZ never replied. ~ @ZaidJilani I was actually in a room with Roy Barnes and Barnes said when he appointed Zell he was worried he would be too liberal to be Georgia’s Senator. I think Zell got a bit of PTSD from 9/11 and went to the right after that, it wasn’t actually opportunism @ZaidJilani I’m talking about Zell Miller, who established free college for anyone in the state who kept a B average, and you’re telling me I’m talking about dismantling public education? You need to keep up with what I’m saying. ~ The hope scholarships were funded by a state lottery, which had long been controversial. The lottery is a big $$$ operation. I would be interested in the financial connection between Scientific Games and ZZZ. ~ I put up an image, “Jesus Cuss” I looked at the rules when I posted it, and did not think it was a violation. Here is the image onX, for reference. You have the right to interpret the rules as you see fit. I disagree with this decision. ~ Hi. Thanks for the link, and thanks for reaching out. Looking at the user’s other posts, this does not appear to be an image created by a religious fruitcake from their point of view. It’s therefore not a good fit for this sub, per Rule 7. ~ The base image was posted on X. Whether or not it was made by an RF is a judgment call. I *edited* this image into a haiku, from my point of view. Again, it is a judgment call whether I am an RF, or a pagan pizza. It is a judgement call, and you made one. Thank you for the reply, and thank you for the work you do to keep r/religiousfruitcake going. ~ Sic utere tuo alienum non laedas? … Use your own property in such a way that you do not injure other people’s ~ @peachpundit The thing about false attacks in politics is that a lot of people, maybe even most, don’t have the time to fact check the claims. We did. @chamblee54 When you hit “continue” you get a sleazy popup ad. @peachpundit You are free to stop using the site any time, as you have complained about Google’s ad placement already. And you do know Google serves ads to you that it thinks you like based on your activity. So if it’s sleazy… @chamblee54 I do not like using shady anti-virus software. I don’t know who your provider is, but it is not serving you well. When a customer lets you know there is a problem, they are doing you a favor. @peachpundit Let us know when you buy something from us. Then you are a customer. Until then, enjoy the ad supported content. And if you don’t like the ads, they are served by Google. ~ Gentiles have to “understand” a LOT these days. It is tough work, especially with all the ugly talk by Jews “explaining” the ugly behavior of Jews. Someone said that Hasbara is a Hebrew word meaning “explaining” That is more condescending and insulting than propaganda. ~ UPDATE 2024 Jamie Mortara, formerly John, is a “Data Services Associate at Earthjustice” in Oakland CA. The host of the event, Michael Hessel-Mail, is an English Instructor at Southeast Community College Lincoln NE. On May 6, I was the feature at the Little 5 Poetry Bash. ~ This is a repost from 2015. ~ @UncleHotep I for one like congress to get ghetto I want to see people getting slapped, 🥊, 🦷 knocked out and all that. Fight for my vote dammit ~ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) ~ The Library of Congress ~ selah
POTUS Jokes
After a ADHD WHCD, the Washington Post published The single best joke told by every president, from Obama to Washington. It was easier than finding anything funny said by Larry Wilmore Michelle Wolf. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
The pickins are surprisingly slim, especially for the modern era. When everything you do is recorded, something has to be funny. Three recent Republicans show a liberal capacity for humor.
George H.W. Bush, 1989 Gridiron Club: “People say I’m indecisive, but I don’t know about that.”
Richard Nixon, in Ms. magazine, 1971: “Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I wouldn’t want to wake up next to a lady pipefitter.”
Herbert Hoover “Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.”
Warren Harding was a dog. … “referring to his penis, which he named Jerry, in a 1915 love letter to his mistress Carrie Fulton Phillips: “Jerry — you recall Jerry, whose cards I once sent you to Europe — came in while I was pondering your notes in glad reflection, and we talked about it.”
You have to go back over a hundred fifty years to get a serious laugh.
Andrew Johnson “Washington, D.C., is twelve square miles bordered by reality.”
Abraham Lincoln “If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”
Franklin Pierce about duties after leaving office: “There’s nothing left. . . but to get drunk.”
Zachary Taylor when suggested that he run: “Stop your nonsense and drink your whiskey!”
John Tyler on his death bed: “Doctor, I am going. Perhaps it is best.”
James Madison on his death bed: “I always talk better lying down.”
PG found a quote once about Alexander Hamilton, by John Adams. “His ambition, his restlessness and all his grandiose schemes come, I’m convinced, from a superabundance of secretions, which he couldn’t find enough whores to absorb!” A google search for verification led to a reddit page, Fake Founder Quotes, starring John Adams. Apparently, Mr. Adams said something similar to that in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, sent January 25, 1806. According to this source, the letter was a satire of Jonathan Swift’s Tale of a Tub
George Washington in a 1788 letter congratulating the Marquis de Chastellux on his recent marriage: “Now you are well served for coming to fight in favour of the American Rebels, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, by catching that terrible Contagion — domestic felicity — which like the small pox or the plague, a man can have only once in his life: because it commonly lasts him (at least with us in America — I don’t know how you manage these matters in France) for his whole life time.”
Stacey Does It Again
This is a repost from 2019. In 2021, Donald J. Trump gave election result denial a bad reputation. Stacey pioneered the concept after the 2018 election. In 2022, Stacey was defeated in her second run for Governor. She did concede defeat. … Stacey Abrams went hardcore bless-her-heart in the New York Times yesterday. The opening line was a doozy. “In the mid-1960s, when my father was a teenager, he was arrested. His crime? Registering black voters in Mississippi.”
This is news, to anyone who has been following Ms. Abrams. Her campaign bio does not mention this incident. Nor does at least one article from Mississippi. Google is little help. The arrest story may turn out to be true. Why it is only turning up six months after the election?
PG asked the readers at GeorgiaPol if they knew anything about an arrest. There was an illuminating response. “Being obsessed with Stacey Abrams, you might have missed some of these other Georgia stories: – Georgia governor postpones Los Angeles trip as film industry protests … ” The pundit listed seven more news items. None of the items concerned an arrest for voter registration.
The New York Times did not fact check the article. Ms. Abrams dropped a few more whoppers into the order, to go with the fries and Pepsi.
“Although “exact match” lacks the explicit racial animus of Jim Crow, its execution nonetheless betrayed its true purpose to disenfranchise voters of color. Georgia’s secretary of state held 53,000 voter registrations hostage under exact match last year, 70 percent of which came from black voters, who made up only around 30 percent of Georgia’s eligible voters.” (Voters are registered by the counties, not the state.)
“We demonstrated the immensity of the problem, yet opponents to voting rights responded with the specious claim that increased turnout was somehow proof that no suppression had occurred.” (No link was provided, to show who made this claim.)
“The state’s top elections official, former Secretary of State Brian Kemp himself — functioning simultaneously as the scorekeeper, referee and contestant in the gubernatorial election — was caught revealing to supporters that he was “concerned” about record absentee ballot requests from voters of color.” (Votes are counted by the counties, not the state.)
“Across the country, voter purges employ an easily manipulated “use it or lose it” rule, under which eligible voters who exercised their First Amendment right to abstain from voting in prior elections can be booted off the rolls.”
The last item was a spectacular show of sophistry. The First Amendment mentions religion, press, speech, assembly, and petitioning the government. Yesterday, logicians at GeorgiaPol and facebook contend that not voting, and keeping your registration, is covered by the right to free speech. If Stacey says so, it must be so. This is what some people like to argue about.
The uncritical adoration of Stacey Abrams by the press is part of the problem. She receives little of the scrutiny that most politicians face. If Ms. Abrams is going to grow as a leader, she needs to be taken seriously. This includes questioning her rhetoric. Don’t expect The New York Times to cast the first stone. The yankee media adores poor widdle Stacey, and her sad tale of having the election stolen through “malfeasance, misfeasance and mismanagement.” Will long suffering Georgia voters continue to feel the magic?
Chamblee54 has written about Stacey Abrams too many times. Pictures for this celebration are from your big government buddies at The Library of Congress.
Anglo Persian Oil Company
This is a repost from 2010. People are saying more and more about the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. TomDispatch has a fascinating paragraph about one of the key players, British Petroleum (BP): “Originally known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, still later British Petroleum), BP got its start in southwestern Iran, where it once enjoyed a monopoly on the production of crude petroleum. In 1951, its Iranian holdings were nationalized by the government of Mohammed Mossadeq. The company returned to Iran in 1953, following a coup that put the Shah in power. It was finally expelled again in 1979, following the Islamic Revolution.”
If you look at the problems of the world in the last forty years, so many are affected by Iran. The 1953 revolution left great resentment, which became manifest in the 1979 revolution. Soon Iraq…whose border with Iran was clumsily drawn by the British…decides to attack Iran. A gruesome eight year war is the result, with the USA supporting both sides (as well as possibly encouraging Iraq to attack Iran). The idea was, if they are fighting each other, they will leave Israel alone.
After this war is over, Iraq has a problem with Kuwait over it’s war debt. Another war is the result, with the USA involved. Iraq is vanquished, but some in the USA are not satisfied, and after a few years the USA invades Iraq again. That war is still raging.
The biggest winner of the US-Iraq war (aka World War W) is Iran. This new influence in Persia is very troubling to Israel, which is loudly rattling it’s nuclear saber. When Israel makes noise about Iran, it takes attention away from the Palestinian tragedy.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Remarkably, Tom Dispatch is still publishing content. The situation with the countries-that-start-with-I is worse than ever.
Carolinian Manipulation
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White Carolinian Manipulation of the Memory of the Hamburg Massacre of 1876
ANOTHER woke YouTuber makes a hate video about me! 😂 (Emma Thorne)
Could You Transform Your Yard into a Flourishing Wildlife Haven?
10 rules for protesting respectfully – Here’s a guide for engaging in “legitimate” protest …
The Protest Derangement Class: A Response to John McWhorter Little Joel
Is Bari Weiss Embarrassed by the Intellectual Dark Web? 2018 “New York Times” profile …
Far Gone in 30 Seconds CNN Sentences Palestine To Death (September 2001)
‘not easy to see’ how Israeli offensive on Rafah could be compliant with international law …
Joke Origin: A Person Who Makes Puns Should Be Drawn and Quoted
Cadavre exquis (exquisite corpse) is a collaborative drawing approach first used by …
It is never an enjoyable experience to expose dysfunctional leadership.
Black American culture is dying. Ghetto blacks are to blame. Zarria Simmons
Antisemitism and Free Speech | Robert Wright & Paul Bloom
1 arrested in Dunwoody High School student cardiac arrest death | FOX 5 News
There Is No Such Thing as a New Idea. We Simply Take a Lot of Old Ideas and Put Them …
Steve Albini Really Doesn’t Like Odd Future (and Possibly Black People In General)
SBC Pastor Believe That Sex Abuse in the SBC Is a Distraction From “Real Ministry.”
Rico Tice says Martyn Lloyd-Jones ‘was right’ about evangelicals separating from the CofE
vivek ~ “identitarian deference” ~ hamas covenent ~ wildcat ~ hulga hopewell ~ midtown art walk
Marc J. LaFountain ~ manifest ~ steve albini ~ jim goad ~ steve albini
steve albini ~ steve albini ~ repaving ~ bob halford ~ sankranti ~ Cadavre exquis
hasbara ~ gollum’s sister ~ Socrates ~ bill veeck ~ andy mills ~ blocked and reporting
Manley Pointer is a recovering bible salesman, and the son of Georgia Tech legend George P. Burdell. Very few people have seen Mr. Pointer in recent years. Since he could not be located, Luther Mckinnon has agreed to read at this feature. ~ The only time this feature mentions Israel or Hamas is the remark about Ben Shapiro. “As the right-wing’s angry motormouth one-time wunderkind, he’s remained somewhat consistent—having gone from saying things like, “Israelis like to build. Arabs like to bomb crap and live in open sewage. This is not a difficult issue” to things like, “Hamas is running Columbia University.” Neither Gaza nor Palestine were mentioned. ~ I think of Jesus as being more of a spirit, than an actual historic person. If that this is true, then Jesus is an indivisible part of christianity. This is a deep subject, and di … ~ @IsraelHatzolah IDF commander reciting a prayer earlier today ahead of the ground mission in Rafah. ‘God will protect you in your departure and your coming, and will make your enemy fall at your feet and we will say Amen’. ~ Debbi דְבוֹרָה @RedeemedRags Hormel Foods made their first batch of Spam in 1937. They have announced they will be making their second batch later this week ~ @robertwrighter Anyone hoping to end the domestic unrest without ending the Gaza war should listen to this interview. The number of protesters at each campus is pretty small, but the commitment can still be intense. Protests may relocate after the semester ends, but they won’t stop. ~ @ZaidJilani This tells me Jonah and heck the whole NeverTrump Republican pundit class know next to no average voters. Their friend group are pundits, lobbyists, etc. I can drive five miles to a deep red county and 99 out of 100 people I’d ask would think Rafah is a new dish at Waffle House. @chamblee54 You can get Waffle House Rafah scattered, smothered, covered, and chunked. The Palestinian Rafah is currently having all those things done to it. ~ @chamblee54 You can get Waffle House Rafah scattered, smothered, covered, and chunked. The Palestinian Rafah is currently having all those things done to it. ~ @electricalWSOP I certainly have some ‘splainin to do, and am not shy about any of it. A lot of things I said and did from an ignorant position of comfort and privilege are clearly awful and I regret them. It’s nobody’s obligation to overlook that, and I do feel an obligation to redeem myself… ~ Jewell Pathe’s Bathing Beauty Pirates Capture Vitagraph Ships For “Captain Blood” Balboa Beach, California June 15, 1924 ~ Sorry, nobody on Reddit goes by that name. This account may have been banned or the username is incorrect. ~ Philippe Lazzarini @UNLazzarini This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. This took place while UNRWA and other UN Agencies’ staff were on the compound. While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas. The UNRWA headquarters has on its grounds a petrol and diesel station for the Agency’s fleet of cars. Our director with the help of other staff had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up. A crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed outside the compound chanting “Burn down the United Nations” (see video below 👇 from Israeli media). This is an outrageous development. Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk. In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I have taken the decision to close down our coumpound until proper security is restored. Over the past two months, Israeli extremists have been staging protests outside the UNRWA compound in Jerusalem, called by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality. This week, the protest became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings of the compound. Over the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation. Our compound has been seriously vandalized and damaged. On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns. It is the responsibility of the State of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times. UN staff, premises and operations should be protected at all times in line with international law. I call on all those who have influence to put an end to these attacks and hold all those responsible accountable. The perpetrators of these attacks must be investigated and those responsible must be held accountable. Anything less will set a new dangerous standard. ~ @iowahawkblog Not bragging, but the worms in MY brain are very much alive, because my brain is both delicious and nutritious ~ here is the full episode of the notorious Ann Coulter- Vivek R. conversation. The soundbite is 7 minutes in. AC goes on to a monolog, before VR gets to answer. He sort of answers the slur … sort of. It is not a soundbite gotcha. ~ movie attitude, sometimes that seems impossible, popcorn for the win ~ babies get to live, palestine freedom sometimes, that seems impossible ~ My cat in a dog named Mike Hat, doggie flips wig as well over pushy cat, the cat strikes back with sharp claws, found purchase in the old laws, The lack of sun shuns my skin, I grow pale as a water-filled glass vase, The middle won’t hold, break the mould ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress ~ selah
The Labyrinth And The Maze
Walking the labyrinth is a practice in many traditions. “The labyrinth is a tool for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation. … It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path from the edge to the center and back out again. A labyrinth is unicursal – it is only one path. The way in is the way out. The path leads you on a circuitous path to the center and out again.” Last Saturday, I walked into, and out of, a labyrinth.
There are similarities between the labyrinth, and her sister, the maze. Both labyrinth, and maze, have four parts. There is the path you walk on. The path has several layers. The largest layer is on the outside, and the smallest one in the center. Most, though not all, labyrinths are circular.
The layers of path are separated by a wall, which is the second part. There is an opening in this wall, which enables you to go from one layer, of path, to another one. Finally, there is a barrier across the path, which does not allow you to go any further. This is a section of wall, which crosses the path at a ninety degree angle.
Both the labyrinth and the maze consist of these four parts. The difference is the way that the openings, and the barriers, are used. In the labyrinth, you walk the entire length of the course, in an orderly manner. In the maze, you must make choices. If you make the correct choice, you can move on to the next level. If you make the wrong choice, you will come to a dead end.
Saturday’s labyrinth walk was led by a man, who we will call the Guide. He talked to the group before walking the labyrinth. I got a late start, and missed most of his comments.
Later, I spoke to the Guide, and mentioned some of the similarities between the labyrinth and the maze. The Guide became angry at my observation. He said something about sacred geometry. The Guide also mentioned that most labyrinths are on the ground only, where the maze often has walls that physically prevent you from walking over.
”Labyrinths and mazes have often been confused. When most people hear of a labyrinth they think of a maze. A labyrinth is not a maze. A maze is like a puzzle to be solved. It has twists, turns, and blind alleys. It is a left brain task that requires logical, sequential, analytical activity to find the correct path into the maze and out.”
“A labyrinth has only one path. It is unicursal. The way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The path leads you on a circuitous path to the center and out again. A labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery. With a maze many choices must be made and an active mind is needed to solve the problem of finding the center. With a labyrinth there is only one choice to be made. The choice is to enter or not. A more passive, receptive mindset is needed. The choice is whether or not to walk a spiritual path.”
Is it possible to change a labyrinth into a maze, or a maze into a labyrinth? You would leave the basic path, and walls, in place. You would then re-arrange the openings, and barriers, so that the walls and path become either a labyrinth, or a maze. It is a binary choice. Your course is a labyrinth, with a logical unicursal direction. Or, it is a maze, with both correct choices, and dead ends.
The labyrinth walk is a well established spiritual tradition. There is also the possibility of using the maze as a alternative. In the labyrinth, there are no choices, and you are free to focus on your spirit.
In the maze, you will need to make choices. You will not have any clue about which choice is correct, and which one will lead to a dead end. You will have to maintain your enlightened state, while dealing with adversity. This is life … dealing with incorrect choices, while maintaining a level of grace.
There are many labyrinths available. The labyrinth locator can direct you to one, with information about how much public access is available.
Old Men is a portable labyrinth, which frequently appears at Burning Man events. It is made of tent stakes, and fabric walls. “The labyrinth is a modification of a 15th century design. It is octagonal, with four entrances leading to the center. Each path splits and rejoins twice before reaching the center. The participant can then choose which of the four paths to exit from.”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Destroy The Village To Save It
“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.” This is one of the most familiar lines about the Vietnam War. It is often cited today, when discussing the response to COVID-19. Who said this?
It was “originally reported by Peter Arnett of the Associated Press, who quoted an unidentified American officer on why the village of Ben Tre was leveled during the Tet Offensive in early 1968. … A two-paragraph version of the AP dispatch was buried on page 14 of The New York Times, with no byline,” on Feb. 8, 1968. … “BENTRE, Feb. 7 (AP) It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,” a United States major said today. He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong.”
“Almost instantly, however, the line was being misquoted everywhere. On Feb. 10, an Oregon newspaper rendered it “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” Two weeks later the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on a group of protesters carrying a banner that read, “It Was Necessary to Destroy the Village in Order to Save It.” In whatever form, the words had become a mantra of the anti-war movement, a … summary of what was wrong with the entire Vietnam adventure.”
“The day before Arnett’s story ran, the Times’s James Reston had asked in his column, “How do we win by military force without destroying what we are trying to save?” … Associated Press itself had used a similar phrase almost exactly a year before Arnett’s dispatch. In late Jan. 1967, the AP distributed a wire photo of a different village with a caption that read in part: “The Americans meantime had started to destroy the village to deny it to the Viet Cong.” The photograph was published across the country. One wonders whether the officer Arnett was quoting had come across the caption the previous year.”
“But the actual father of the metaphor — the man who put it into roughly the form we know today — seems to have been Justice Edward White of the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 1908 decision known as the Employers’ Liability Cases, the justices were asked to give a narrow reading to a congressional enactment concerning common carriers in the District of Columbia. The court refused. The requested reading, according to White’s opinion for the majority, would in effect add a new clause to the statute. He then explained why doing so would be wrong: “To write into the act the qualifying words therefore would be but adding to its provisions in order to save it in one aspect, and thereby to destroy it in another — that is, to destroy in order to save, and to save in order to destroy.””
The fighting in Ben Tre took place during the Tet Offensive. This is widely seen as a turning point in America’s involvement in that conflict. “On January 30 1968 … the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong launched a massive military offensive that proved the battle raging in Southeast Asia was far from over, and that President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration had grossly oversold American progress to the public. Although U.S. troops ultimately ended the offensive successfully, and the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong suffered brutal loses, these bloody weeks triggered a series of events that continue to undermine Americans’ confidence in their government.”
“Cronkite was so shocked at the devastation of the communists’ Tet offensive that he went over to see for himself what was really going on.” On February 27, 1968, “he concluded the war was a stalemate, probably unwinnable. … Lyndon Johnson was said to have watched the broadcast and exclaimed to his press secretary, George Christian, “If I have lost Walter Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Chamblee54 
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